Chapter Two

Mesopotamia

•Geography

http://www.earth-history.com/_images/ancient-sumer.gif

The Fertile Crescent• the area between the Tigris-Euphr

ates Rivers. Presently Iraq

• “Unpredictable rivers; vulnerable geographic situation; erratic climate”

The Fertile Crescent• “Mesopotamia had no natural

barriers to invasion. Feeling themselves surrounded by incomprehensible and often hostile forces, Mesopotamians lived in an atmosphere of anxiety, which pervaded their civilization” (12, Perry, Western Civilization)

• “Mesopotamia’s unpredictable rivers, vulnerable geographic situation, and erratic climate contributed to the mood of fear and insecurity that is reflected in all forms of Mesopotamian expression” (Fiero 38).

•Timeline

• 3500-2350 BCE Sumerian Period

• 2350-2150 BCE Akkadian Period

• 2150-1900 BCE Neo-Sumerian Period

• 1900-1600 BCE Babylonian Period-- Babylon, chief city (presently, Baghdad, Iraq)

• 1600-1150 BCE Kassite Period

• 1150-612 BCE Assyrian Period—(Ninevah, chief city)

• 600-540 BCE The Chaldean (New Babylonian) Empire

• 550-330 BCE The Persian Empire

•Religion

• Monotheism: the Hebrews

• Polytheism: everyone else

The Epic of Gilgamesh (1)• Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is two-thirds god

and one-third man. His mother, the goddess Aruru, creates a companion for him-the wild man Enkidu, who is taken to Uruk, where he wrestles with Gilgamesh. The match is a draw and the two become inseparable companions.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (2)• One day, Gilgamesh, always looking for a

dventure, proposes that he and Enkidu travel to the distant cedar forest to kill Huwawa, its evil guardian. Enkidu protests that the journey is very dangerous and Huwawa very fierce, but Gilgamesh is determined and finally they set out. The undertaking is successful and the two are covered with glory.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (3)• But Enkidu has already had premonitions of

disaster. On their return to Uruk, the goddess Ishtar sees the beauty of Gilgamesh and proposes to him. He rejects her, reminding her of the fates of her previous lovers. She is furious and has Anu send the sacred bull of heaven to attack him. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the bull, the gods become very angry-this is too presumptuous. As punishment, Enkidu must die.

The Epic of Gilgamesh (4)• Enkidu's death is the occasion for the secti

on which we have included here, the climax and culmination of the Epic. For the first time Gilgamesh has had to face the fact of death, and it bewilders and terrifies him. Hoping to learn the secret of immortality, he makes a long and difficult journey in search of Utnapishtim, the one human being who has acquired it.

http://www.actorssceneunseen.com/images/Gilgamesh/GilgameshCover420.jpg

The Epic of Gilgamesh (5)• Utnapishtim tells his story-the famous story of th

e flood. But Gilgamesh is, after all, human and very tired. He falls asleep. Utnapishtim is about to send him away when his wife intervenes in pity. Gilgamesh is told about a wonderful plant of immortality that grows at the bottom of the sea. He obtains it; but as he stops to cool himself in a quiet pool a snake carries off the plant. Gilgamesh, completely unsuccessful, returns to Uruk, and the text concludes as he proudly shows his city to his ferryman.

• http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/159.html

The Epic of Gilgamesh

• The major theme: “The human protest against death”

• (12, Perry, Western Civilization)

•Politics

Sumerians• City-states• “A very hierarchical society with

the king at the apex of the social pyramid. Priests as intermediaries between King and people.”

• http://vandyck.anu.edu.au/work/teach/context/www.caup.washington.edu/courses/LARC352/oct10.htm#HDR%202%201

Sargon I• ca. 2350 BCE

• Created the first empire, which extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea

Sargon I

Hammurabi • Babylonian king

• Author of the Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi

• “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”

• Shows class distinction and women’s subordination to men

The Hebrews (1)• 1. The Period of the Patriarchs:

Abraham of Ur took his people from Mesopotamia to Canaan (ca. 2000 BCE).

• 2. The Period of the Exodus: Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt (ca. 1750 BCE).

The Hebrews (2)• 3. The Period of the Conquest:

The Hebrews struggled to conquer Canaan.

• 4. The United Monarchy: There were three kings → Saul, David, and Solomon.

Temple of King Solomon

http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html

http://www.templemodels.com/temple/goodfullbig600.jpg

The Hebrews (3)• 5. Divided Kingdom and Exile: The

Northern Kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. In 587 BCE the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom, destroyed Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, and carried the Hebrew people into an exile know as the Babylonian Captivity.

The Hebrews (4)• 6. The Return: The Hebrews returned from

exile about 520 BCE. The subsequent history was marked by a series of foreign rulers, one brief period of independence (c. 165 BCE), and rule by Rome after 63 BCE. In 70 CE, after a Jewish revolt, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. Jews did not hold political powers in Palestine until 1948.

•Art

The Standard of Ur (ca. 2700 BCE)

Ziggurat: man-made hill with temple on top

dominating each city

http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH1/CH1_F4.JPG

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ziggurat_diagram.gif

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ur_ziggurat.jpg

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/littlebabel.jpg

The "Little" Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-69)

Peter Bruegel the Elder, The Tower of Babel (1563)

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/babel.jpg

http://www.ldolphin.org/babel.html

• (1) The story of the tower of Babel can be found in Genesis 11:1-9 as follows: The whole human race spoke the same language, and formed one community. This community settled in a place not far from the Euphrates River. Here they built a city and a tower of such materials as a great river-basin would afford and the genius of man could manufacture. This was done to make a great center about which they might gather, and to obtain for themselves a name.

• (2) God came down to investigate the purpose of all this unusual enterprise. The self-confidence and unity of the people were everywhere prominent. Mindful that the accomplishment of this project might embolden them to still more independent movements, God said, "Let us go down, and there confound their language." Consequently they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth; "and they left off to build the city."

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/rs/7hanging.gif

http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/the_hanging_gardens.jpg

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

http://vandyck.anu.edu.au/work/teach/context/www.caup.washington.edu/courses/LARC352/006.gif

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ishtar_recon.jpg

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Neo-Babylonian, 612-530 B.C.

http://www.item.ntnu.no/~malek/pixIraq/bab3.jpg

Old Babylon

Winged Human-headed Bull from the palace of Sargon II

http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/worldhis/figure15.jpg

http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/woundedlion.jpg

Wounded Lion, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture, Palace at Nineveh, 668-630, London, British Museum

http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/warrior.jpg

Warrior, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture, Palace at Nineveh, 668-630, London, British Museum

http://www.item.ntnu.no/~malek/pixIraq/ash2.jpg

•The End