History of Mesopotamia civiization Part 1

THE FIRST RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION PART I

MESOPOTAMIA: “THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION”

MESOPOTAMIA WAS LOCATED IN WHAT IS NOW THE COUNTRY OF IRAQ

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND LOCATION

• LOCATED IN AND AROUND THE VALLEY OF TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS IN MODERN IRAQ

• AREA IS ALSO KNOWN AS MESOPOTAMIA OR LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS

• THE LAND HAD POORLY DEFINED EDGES

• THE LAND STRETCHES FROM MEDITERRANEAN TO EASTERN BORDERS OF PRESENT IRAN

• TO THE SOUTH AND WEST, IT FADES INTO THE ARABIAN DESERT

• TO THE NORTH AND WEST, IT FADES INTO THE PLAINS OF SYRIA

• THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS SIT IN THE LAND AS DOMINANT PHYSICAL FEATURE

• THE RIVERS WERE UNPREDICTABLE, BEING SUBJECT TO ALTERNATING FLOOD AND DROUGHT

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDPERIOD

• THE AREA WITNESSED THE EARLIEST RISE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION AROUND 4500 BC

• TRANSFORMATION FROM PREHISTORY, TO VILLAGES AND CITIES OCCURRED THERE

• CIVILIZATION THERE LASTED FOR 5000 YEARS

• CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT WAS NOT HOMOGENOUS DURING THE PERIOD

• DIFFERENT CULTURES ESTABLISHED CITY STATES AND EMPIRES AT DIFFERENT PERIODS

• THE CULTURES INCLUDE SUMERIAN, AKKADIAN, ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND PERSIAN

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDSOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS

MESOPOTAMIA IS THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CIVILIZATION?

CIVILIZATION IS USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CULTURAL PRACTICES OF CITIES AND URBAN LIVING, THE PRESENCE OF WRITING AND WRITTEN LAW

IN MESOPOTAMIA, EARLIEST CITIES WERE ESTABLISHED AND URBAN CULTURE TOOK HOLD

BETWEEN 4000 AND 3000 BC, LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BEGAN LIVING IN A SMALL AREA CREATING FIRST CITIES

MANY PEOPLE BEGAN TO HAVE JOBS THAT IS UNRELATED TO AGRICULTURE


ONCE ESTABLISHED, CITIES GREW AND INCREASED POWER AND IMPORTANCE

AS CITIES GREW IN POWER AND IMPORTANCE, RIVALRIES DEVELOPED BETWEEN THEM FOR MILITARY AND ECONOMIC CONTROL

THE ANE WAS LAND WITHOUT NATURAL DEFENSES

WARFARE WAS COMMON THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY

THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES ALSO SUFFERED FROM ALTERNATE DROUGHT AND FLOODS

COMBINATION OF WARFARE AND FREQUENT DROUGHT AND FLOOD MADE A CONTINUOUS HOMOGENOUS CIVILIZATION IMPOSSIBLE

THE RESULT IS THAT SEVERAL CULTURES FLOURISHED AND DIED OUT DURING THE ANE PERIOD


CITIES IN THE ANE INITIALLY DEVELOPED WITH AUTHORITY RESIDING IN AN ASSEMBLY OF MALE CITIZENS

SHORT TERM LEADERS WERE SELECTED DURING WARS

WHEN WAR LEADERS WERE RETAINED DURING PEACE TIME, KINGSHIP EVOLVED

IT WAS INITIALLY ELECTIVE AND LATER HEREDITARY

AS SOME CITIES BECAME MORE POWERFUL, THEY DEFEATED WEAKER ONES TO CREATE EMPIRES AND KINGDOMS

THIS LED TO COLLECTIVE RULE OF CITY STATES BY A SOVEREIGN KING


• WITH KINGSHIP ALSO CAME MONUMENTAL PALACES AS PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND ADMINISTRATION FOR THE KING

• ALMOST ALL ANE CULTURE WORSHIPED MANY GODS AND

GODDESSES

• ANE PEOPLE DID NOT BELIEVE IN IMMORTALITY OR ETERNAL LIFE

• THEY BELIEVED ONLY GODS WERE IMMORTAL

• RATHER, THEY BELIEVED IN DIVINE REWARDS FOR MORAL CONDUCT


• THE REWARD WAS ENJOYED IN THIS LIFE

•THE REWARDS INCLUDE INCREASED WORLDLY GOODS, NUMEROUS OFFSPRING AND LONG LIFE

•THE MOST POPULAR AND EARLIEST RELIGIOUS CULTS RELATED TO FERTILITY

•FERTILITY GODDESSES INFLUENCED THE GROWTH OF CROPS

•ASPECTS OF LIFE SUCH AS WAR, WEATHER, DISEASE, WERE EXPLAINED BY THE ACTIONS OF GODS

•THE SUMERIAN HAD A RELIGION BASED ON THE ELEMENTS-SKY, EARTH, WATER, SUN, MOON, ETC


LEADERS

• THERE ARE ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORDS OF TWO CENTERS OF POWER: TEMPLES AND PALACES

• TEMPLES WERE LANDHOLDERS, AND THEIR PRIESTS CONTROLLED CONSIDERABLE WEALTH. THEIR RELIGIOUS POWER PREDATES THE SECULAR POWER OF THE PALACES

• SECULAR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPED IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM B.C.E. WHEN “BIG MEN,” WHO MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN LEADERS OF ARMIES, EMERGED AS SECULAR LEADERS

• A THIRD TERRITORIAL STATE WAS ESTABLISHED BY HAMMURABI AND IS KNOWN TO HISTORIANS AS THE “OLD BABYLONIAN” STATE

• HAMMURABI IS ALSO KNOWN FOR THE LAW CODE ASSOCIATED WITH HIS NAME, WHICH PROVIDES US WITH A SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT OLD BABYLONIAN LAW, PUNISHMENTS, AND SOCIETY

• THE LUGAL RULED FROM THEIR PALACES AND TENDED TO TAKE OVER RELIGIOUS CONTROL OF INSTITUTIONS. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE OF THE EXERCISE OF SECULAR POWER


TRADE/CONTACT

• THE STATES OF MESOPOTAMIA NEEDED RESOURCES AND OBTAINED THEM NOT ONLY BY TERRITORIAL EXPANSION, BUT ALSO THROUGH A FLOURISHING LONG-DISTANCE TRADE

• MERCHANTS WERE ORIGINALLY EMPLOYED BY TEMPLES OR PALACES; LATER, IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C.E., PRIVATE MERCHANTS EMERGED. TRADE WAS CARRIED OUT THROUGH BARTER

MILITARY

• MILITARY TECHNOLOGY EMPLOYED IN MESOPOTAMIA INCLUDED PAID, FULL-TIME SOLDIERS, HORSES, THE HORSE-DRAWN CHARIOT, THE BOW AND ARROW, AND SIEGE MACHINERY

• EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY WAS A SOCIETY OF VILLAGES AND CITIES LINKED TOGETHER IN A SYSTEM OF MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE. CITIES DEPENDED ON VILLAGES TO PRODUCE SURPLUS FOOD TO FEED THE NONPRODUCING URBAN ELITE AND CRAFTSMEN. IN RETURN, THE CITIES PROVIDED THE VILLAGES WITH MILITARY PROTECTION, MARKETS, AND SPECIALIST-PRODUCED GOODS


TECHNOLOGY

• CUNEIFORM WAS DEVELOPED TO WRITE SUMERIAN, BUT WAS LATER USED TO WRITE AKKADIAN AND OTHER SEMITIC AND NON-SEMITIC LANGUAGES. CUNEIFORM WAS USED TO WRITE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, LEGAL, LITERARY, RELIGIOUS, AND SCIENTIFIC TEXTS

• MESOPOTAMIANS USED NUMBERS AND MADE ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY

• THE AREA HAS NO SIGNIFICANT WOOD, STONE, OR METAL RESOURCES

• CITY-STATES COULD MOBILIZE HUMAN RESOURCES TO OPEN NEW AGRICULTURAL LAND AND TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS REQUIRED THE ORGANIZATION OF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FOR LABOR

RELIGION

• THE RELIGION OF MESOPOTAMIA WAS A MIX OF SUMERIAN AND LATER SEMITIC BELIEFS AND DEITIES

• MESOPOTAMIAN DEITIES WERE ANTHROPOMORPHIC, AND EACH CITY HAD ITS OWN TUTELARY GODS

• HUMANS WERE REGARDED AS SERVANTS OF THE GODS

• IN TEMPLES, SPECIALIZED HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD SERVED THE GODS AS A SERVANT SERVES A MASTER. THE TEMPLES THEMSELVES WERE WALLED COMPOUNDS CONTAINING RELIGIONS AND FUNCTIONAL BUILDINGS. THE MOST VISIBLE PART OF THE TEMPLE COMPOUND WAS THE ZIGGURAT.


CULTURE/ECONOMY

• MESOPOTAMIA DOES HAVE A WARM CLIMATE AND GOOD SOIL.– BY 4000 B.C.E. FARMERS WERE USING CATTLE-PULLED PLOWS AND A SORT OF PLANTER TO

CULTIVATE BARLEY. JUST AFTER 3000 B.C.E. THEY BEGAN CONSTRUCTING IRRIGATION CANALS TO BRING WATER TO FIELDS FARTHER AWAY FROM THE RIVERS

• OTHER CROPS AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE AREA INCLUDED DATE PALMS, VEGETABLES, REEDS AND FISH, AND FALLOW LAND FOR GRAZING GOATS AND SHEEP

• DRAFT ANIMALS INCLUDED CATTLE AND DONKEYS AND LATER CAMELS AND HORSES.

• THE EARLIEST PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND THE INITIAL CREATORS OF MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE WERE THE SUMERIANS, WHO WERE PRESENT AT LEAST AS EARLY AS 5000 B.C.E. BY 2000 B.C.E

• THE SUMERIANS WERE SUCCEEDED BY SEMITIC-SPEAKING PEOPLES WHO DOMINATED AND INTERMARRIED WITH THE SUMERIANS BUT PRESERVED MANY ELEMENTS OF SUMERIAN CULTURE


• THIS REFLECTED THE AGRARIAN NATURE OF THEIR SOCIETY

• AS ANE PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO LIVE IN CITIES, THEY NEEDED A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND RECORD KEEPING

• AROUND 3500, THE SUMERIANS INVENTED A SYSTEM OF WRITING BASED ON PICTOGRAPH

• THIS WAS LATER DEVELOPED INTO A SIMPLER WRITING CALLED THE CUNEIFORM

• DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE ENABLED THEM TO PRODUCE HISTORICAL RECORDS


• WRITTEN RECORDS ALSO LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN LAW AS IN THE CODE OF KING HUMMURABI

•CITIES IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA WERE ENCLOSED BY WALL FORTIFICATIONS

•THE FABRIC OF THE CITIES ARE A BLEND OF RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

•HOUSES WERE ONE STORY HIGH AND MOSTLY OF MUD BRICK

•ROOMS WERE ARRANGED AROUND COURTYARDS


• HOUSES LOOKED INWARD

• ROOMS WERE NARROW WITH THICK WALLS AND FLAT, VAULT OR DOME ROOFS

• TIMBER AND STONE WERE SCARCE, CLAY WAS ABUNDANT AND MUD BRICK WAS MOST COMMON BUILDING MATERIAL

• BUILDINGS WERE USUALLY RAISED ON PLATFORMS TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE FLOODS

• CLAY WAS ALSO USED FOR POTTERY

• MESOPOTAMIANS INVENTED ASTROLOGY, WHEELED VEHICLE & MADE ADVANCES IN SCIENCE & MATH

GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS• LITTLE RAINFALL

• HOT AND DRY CLIMATE

• WIND AND RAIN STORMS– MUDDY RIVER VALLEYS IN

WINTER– CATASTROPHIC FLOODING

IN SPRING

• ARID SOIL CONTAINING LITTLE MINERALS

• NO STONE OR TIMBER RESOURCES

• MESOPOTAMIA IS THE ALLUVIAL PLAIN AREA ALONGSIDE AND BETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS

• THE AREA IS A DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT FOR AGRICULTURE BECAUSE THERE IS LITTLE RAINFALL, THE RIVERS FLOOD AT THE WRONG TIME FOR GRAIN AGRICULTURE, AND THE RIVERS CHANGE COURSE UNPREDICTABLY

THEN WHY LIVE IN MESOPOTAMIA?

NATURAL LEVEES: EMBANKMENTS PRODUCED BY BUILD-UP OF SEDIMENT OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF FLOODING

NATURAL LEVEE

CREATE A HIGH AND SAFE FLOOD PLAIN

MAKE IRRIGATION AND CANAL CONSTRUCTION EASY

PROVIDE PROTECTION

THE SURROUNDING SWAMPS WERE FULL OF FISH & WATERFOWL

REEDS PROVIDED FOOD FOR SHEEP / GOATS

REEDS ALSO WERE USED AS BUILDING RESOURCES

MESOPOTAMIA• EARLIEST OF ALL SETTLEMENTS –

PERMANENT

• LASTED FOR ALMOST 3000 YEARS

• MEANS “LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS”– TIGRIS ON THE NORTHWEST– EUPHRATES ON THE SOUTHEAST

• SOUTHERN MOST REGION OF MESOPOTAMIA WAS CALLED “SUMER”– CHARACTERIZED BY SMALL,

NEOLITHIC FARMING VILLAGES UNTIL 3500 BC

ITS PEOPLE WERE THE FIRST TO -

Mesopotamia

Sumer

–IRRIGATE FIELDS–DEVISE A SYSTEM OF WRITING–DEVELOP MATHEMATICS

–INVENT THE WHEEL–WORK WITH METAL–DEVISE A WRITTEN LAW CODE

TIMELINE

GOVERNMENT

CITY-STATES WITH HEREDITARY RULERS.

RULER LED ARMY IN WAR AND ENFORCED LAWS.

COMPLEX GOVERNMENT WITH SCRIBES TO COLLECT TAXES AND KEEP RECORDS.

RELIGION

• WORSHIPED MANY GODS.

• BELIEVED GODS CONTROLLED EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE.

• SAW AFTERLIFE AS A GRIM PLACE. EVERYBODY WOULD GO INTO DARKNESS AND EAT DUST.

• TO KEEP THE GODS HAPPY, EACH CITY BUILT A ZIGGURAT, OR PYRAMID TEMPLE.SOCIAL STRUCTURE

EACH STATE HAD DISTINCT SOCIAL HIERARCHY, OR SYSTEM OF RANKS.

MOST PEOPLE WERE PEASANT FARMERS.

WOMEN HAD LEGAL RIGHTS; SOME ENGAGED IN TRADE AND OWNED PROPERTY

TRADE

THE TWO RIVERS PROVIDED A WAY TO SHIP GOODS

THE WHEEL AND THE SAIL IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

MARKETPLACE WERE PRESENT IN MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES

SUMERIANS• WRITING FIRST BEGAN IN SUMERIAN CITIES.

• THE FIRST SCHOOLS WERE SET UP IN SUMER OVER 4,000 YEARS AGO.

• SUMERIAN SCHOOLS TAUGHT BOYS THE NEW INVENTION OF WRITING.

• THEY WERE SONS OF UPPER-CLASS PROFESSIONALS (PRIEST, TEMPLE AND PALACE OFFICIALS, ARMY OFFICERS, SEA CAPTAINS AND OTHER SCRIBES)

• THOSE WHO GRADUATED BECAME PROFESSIONAL WRITERS CALLED SCRIBES.

• THE STUDENTS WHO LEARNED THE ART COULD WORK AS SCRIBES FOR THE TEMPLE, THE ROYAL COURT OR WEALTHY MERCHANTS

• SCRIBES WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COULD KEEP RECORDS FOR THE KINGS AND PRIESTS.

• BOYS THAT WANTED TO BE SCRIBES HAD TO ATTEND SCHOOL FROM THE AGE OF 8 TO THE AGE OF 20.

REMEMBER, SUMER IS THE REGION WHERE THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS MEET.

CUNEIFORM WRITING

THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERS WHICH EVOLVED OVER TIME. MOST STOOD FOR OBJECTS BUT OTHERS REPRESENTED ABSTRACT CONCEPTS

VERY DIFFICULT TO MASTER—TOOK YEARS AND YEARS OF SPECIALIZED TRAINING.

CUNEIFORM WRITING WAS THEREFORE NOT “DEMOCRATIC”—ONLY A SMALL ELITE HAD MASTERED AND USED IT

MOTIVATION FOR INVENTING THIS SYSTEM WAS THE NEED TO KEEP COMMERCIAL RECORDS

WRITING ALLOWEDTRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGETHE CODIFICATION OF LAWSRECORDS TO FACILITATE TRADE/FARMING

CUNEIFORM MEANING “WEDGE SHAPED”WET CLAY TABLETS DRIED IN THE SUN TO MAKE A TABLET WRITTEN WITH THE POINT OF A REED (STYLUS)

SCRIBES ONLY COULD READ AND WRITE SERVED AS PRIESTSRECORD KEEPERSACCOUNTANTS

SPREAD TO PERSIA AND EGYPT VEHICLE FOR THE GROWTH AND SPREAD AND EXCHANGE OF IDEAS AMONG CULTURES

SUMERIAN INVENTIONS• WAGON WHEEL

• POTTER’S WHEEL

• NUMBER SYSTEM USING BASE 60 – TIME AND CIRCLES• 12 MONTH CALENDAR

• METAL PLOW

• SAIL

• SOME OF THE 1ST KNOWN MAPS

• NEW ARCHITECTURE: BRICKS

• ARCH AND RAMP

MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE• MESOPOTAMIA, SPECIFICALLY BABYLON USED A MATHEMATICAL

SYSTEM BASED ON SIXTY

• SOME PARTS OF THE ‘BASE-SIXTY’ SYSTEM STILL REMAIN TODAY– 360 DEGREES IN A CIRCLE– 60 SECONDS IN A MINUTE – 60 MINUTES IN 1 HOUR

• CALENDAR BASED ON CYCLES OF THE MOON– NUMBER OF DAYS BETWEEN

THE APPEARANCE OF TWO NEW MOONS WAS SET AS A MONTH

– 12 CYCLES MADE UP A YEAR

THEY DREW UP MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION TABLES AND MAKING CALCULATIONS USING GEOMETRY

OTHER SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS• BRICK ARCHITECTURE• BRONZE TOOLS AND WEAPONS• ENGAGED IN TRADE WITH

PLACES AS FAR AWAY AS AFRICA AND ASIA

• FIRST MONEY• FIRST SCHOOLS (TRAINED

SCRIBES AND PRIESTS)• FIRST LITERATURE– EPIC POEM– WISDOM LITERATURE

• MEDICINAL DRUGS• ACCURATE LUNAR CALENDAR

SUMERIAN SOCIETY• SUMER WAS DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER EARLIER CIVILIZATIONS

– ADVANCED CITIES– SPECIALIZED WORKERS– COMPLEX INSTITUTIONS– RECORD KEEPING– ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

• DEVELOPED CITY-STATES

• FOOD SURPLUS - INCREASED POPULATION - EXPANDED TRADE EXPANSION OF SUMERIAN SOCIETY

• POLYTHEISTIC

• WROTE MYTHS (EPIC OF GILGAMESH)

• HAD SOCIAL CLASSES– PRIESTS AND KINGS WERE AT THE TOP– SLAVES WERE AT THE BOTTOM

• WOMEN PROBABLY COULDN’T ATTEND SCHOOL BUT HAD MANY OTHER RIGHTS

• ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICS– NUMBER SYSTEM BASED ON 60 (60 SECONDS = 1 MINUTE)

A SUMERIAN CITY

ON HOT NIGHTS, PEOPLE SLEPT OUTDOORS ON THE TOP OF THEIR HOUSE’S FLAT ROOF.

SUMERIANS HAD A FORM OF LIGHT AT NIGHT. THEY BURNED OIL LAMPS.

SUMERIANS EVEN HAD PLUMBING! CLAY PIPES THAT WERE BURIED UNDERGROUND CARRIED THEIR WASTE AWAY. INVENTIONS LIKE PLUMBING WOULDN’T COME AROUND FOR ANOTHER THOUSAND YEARS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD!

SUMERIAN CITY STREETS WERE SO NARROW THAT YOU COULD HARDLY GET A CART THROUGH THEM

SUMERIAN HOUSES FACED AWAY FROM CROWDED STREETS. INSTEAD, THEY FACED ONTO COURTYARDS WHERE FAMILIES ATE AND CHILDREN PLAYED

Courtyard Area

SUMERIANSSOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA 3500-2000 BCE

• IRRIGATED FIELDS AND PRODUCED 3 MAIN CROPS – BARLEY, DATES AND SESAME SEEDS– BUILT CANALS, DIKES, DAMS AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

• DEVELOPED CUNEIFORM WRITING

• INVENTED THE WHEEL

• ABUNDANCE OF FOOD = INCREASE OF POPULATION

• FIRST CITY OF THE WORLD

• DEVELOPED A TRADE SYSTEM WITH BARTERING

– MAINLY BARLEY BUT ALSO WOOL AND CLOTH – FOR STONE, METALS, TIMBER, COPPER, PEARLS AND IVORY

• INDIVIDUALS COULD ONLY RENT LAND FROM • PRIESTS

– CONTROLLED LAND ON BEHALF OF GODS– MOST OF PROFITS OF TRADE WENT TO TEMPLE

• THE SUMERIANS WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL IN UNITING LOWER MESOPOTAMIA

RUINS OF BABYLON IN PRESENT DAY BAGHDAD

SUMERIAN CITY OF LAGASH

ARCHITECTURE• MUD WAS THEIR MAIN BUILDING MATERIAL

• MUD WAS FORMED INTO BRICK, SUN DRIED AND BUILT INTO MASSIVE WALLS

• WALLS WERE THICK TO COMPENSATE THE WEAKNESS OF MUD

• THEY WERE REINFORCE WITH BUTTRESSES

• SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE WALLING MATERIAL

• SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE WALLING MATERIAL

• FAÇADE OF BUILDINGS WERE WHITEWASHED AND PAINTED TO DISGUISE THE LACK OF ATTRACTION OF THE MATERIAL

• BUTTRESSES AND RECESSES ALSO RELIEVE THE MONOTONY OF THE PLASTERED WALL SURFACES

• TEMPLES WAS THEIR MAJOR BUILDING TYPE

ARCHITECTURE THE THREE MAIN BUILDINGS WERE THE PALACE THE TEMPLE THE ZIGGURAT

THE TEMPLE WAS A RELIGIOUS, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CENTER.

THE TEMPLE HAD FARMLAND AND HERDS OF SHEEP, AS WELL AS, WAREHOUSES AND WORKSHOPS.

THE PALACE WAS ORGANIZED AROUND AN INNER COURTYARD AND WAS USUALLY SURROUNDED BY A WALL.

RELIGION POLYTHEISTIC

– OVER 3600 GODS AND DEMIGODS

KINGSHIP CREATED BY GODS – KING’S POWER WAS DIVINELY

ORDAINED

GODS LIVED ON THE DISTANT MOUNTAINTOPS

EACH CITY WAS RULED BY A DIFFERENT GOD

KINGS AND PRIESTS ACTED AS INTERPRETERS – THEY TOLD THE PEOPLE WHAT THE

GOD WANTED THEM TO DO – BY EXAMINING THE LIVER OR LUNGS

OF A SLAIN SHEEPISHTAR, GODDESS OF FERTILITY AND WAR

ENKI, GOD OF WATER, LIFE, MEDIATION

ENLIL – SUPREME GOD OF AIR

SHAMASH SUN GOD AND GIVER OF LAW

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Ishtar_vase_Louvre_AO17000-detail.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Copia_de_Enki.jpg

http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vcGhvdG9idWNrZXQuY29tL2ltYWdlcy9lbmxpbA==

SUMERIAN RELIGION - POLYTHEISTIC

• ENKI - THE GOD OF RAIN

• MARDUK - PRINCIPAL GOD OF BABYLON

• ASHUR - GOD OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

• GULA (IN SUMERIAN) OR SHAMASH (IN AKKADIAN) - SUN GOD AND GOD OF JUSTICE

• ISHTAR - GODDESS OF WAR

• ERESHKIGAL- GODDESS OF THE UNDERWORLD

• NABU- GOD OF WRITING

• NINURTA- SUMERIAN GOD OF WAR AND GOD OF HEROES

• IŠKUR- GOD OF STORMS

• PAZUZU - AN EVIL GOD WHO BROUGHT DISEASES WHICH HAD NO KNOWN CURE

ENKI

INNANA

ANTHROPOMORPHIC GODS

ZIGGURAT

TEMPLES DEDICATED TO THE GOD OF THE CITY

MADE OF LAYERS OF MUD BRICKS IN THE SHAPE OF A PYRAMID ON PLATFORMS DUE TO CONSTANT FLOODING

TEMPLE ON TOP GOD’S HOME BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED A ROOM FOR OFFERINGS OF FOOD AND GOODS TEMPLES EVOLVED TO ZIGGURATS A STACK OF 1-7 PLATFORMS DECREASING IN SIZE FROM BOTTOM TO TOP

FAMOUS ZIGGURAT WAS TOWER OF BABEL OVER 100M ABOVE GROUND AND 91M BASE

ZIGGURAT OF UR -2000BCE

ZIGGURAT THE ZIGGURAT IS A TEMPLE-

SHAPED TOWER.

IT IS BUILT ON SUN-DRIED BRICK (LADRILLOS DE ADOBE).

THE ZIGGURAT WERE CONSIDERED THE HOUSES OF THE GODS. CEREMONIES WERE HELD OUTSIDE THE BUILDING.

TO ACCESS THE ZIGGURAT THERE WAS A SERIES OF STEPS UP TO THE CHAPEL AT THE TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT.

ZIGGURAT

THE ZIGGURAT MAY BE A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF THE UNION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

IN TOTAL 32 ZIGGURAT ARE KNOWN, MOST ARE IN IRAQ AND IRAN.

THE BEST KNOWN IS THE ZIGGURAT OF UR, REBUILT IN THE 80S BY SADDAM HUSSEIN. IN REBUILDING ONE OF 200 BRICKS CONTAINS THE NAME OF THE DICTATOR.

ZIGGURAT AT UR

TEMPLE “MOUNTAIN OF THE GODS”

THE ROYAL STANDARD OF UR

MESOPOTAMIAN HARP

BOARD GAME FROM UR

SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS

• THE TEMPLE SITS ON A THREE MULTI-TIERED ZIGGURAT MOUNTAIN

• ACCESS TO THE TEMPLE IS THROUGH TRIPLE

• STAIRWAYS THAT CONVERGE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE FIRST PLATFORM

• FROM THIS STAGE, ONE PASSED THROUGH A PORTAL WITH DOME ROOF TO FOURTH STAIRCASE


• THE FOURTH STAIRCASE GAVE ACCESS TO THE SECOND AND THIRD STAGES OF THE ZIGGURAT AND TO THE TEMPLE

• THE TEMPLE IS USUALLY ACCESS ONLY BY THE PRIEST, WHERE GODS ARE BELIEVED TO COME DOWN AND GIVE INSTRUCTIONS


• THE ZIGGURAT IS BELIEVED BY THE SUMERIANS TO UNIT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH

• THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT CLIMBING THE STAIRCASE OF THE ZIGGURAT GIVES A HOLY EXPERIENCE

• THE CHIEF TEMPLE WAS ALSO USED AS A LAST LINE OF DEFENSE DURING TIMES OF WAR

• MOST OF WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT WHAT EXIST ON TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT IS PROJECTION

FROM SUMERIANS TO BABYLONIANS

• THE SUMERIAN CITY-STATES EVENTUALLY FELL TO FOREIGN INVADERS (2000 BC)

• THE AKKADIANS:

– SEMITES- NOMADIC PEOPLE FROM THE ARABIAN PENINSULA THAT MIGRATED TO MESOPOTAMIA

– SARGON I (2300-2200 BC) UNITES ALL MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES (CREATES FIRST EMPIRE)

THE ANCIENT BABYLONIANS

• AMORITES (2000-1600 BC)

• CONQUERED MANY PARTS OF OLD SUMERIA (INCLUDING BABYLON)

• HAMMURABI - CREATED A LAW CODE WITH HARSH PUNISHMENTS

• BORROWED HEAVILY FROM SUMERIAN CULTURE

• AFTER HAMMURABI’S DEATH BABYLON DECLINED

Design

History of Mesopotamia civiization Part 1