Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE

The Middle East: “The Crossroads of Three Continents”

The Ancient Fertile Crescent Area

The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”

City-StateUrban

Rural

LeadershipLugal (king)

Increased warfare over resourcesMilitary leaders rose to powerNot hereditary (but usually passed to son)Power grew at expense of priesthood

The gods’ earthly representative (intermediary)

Duties of KingUpkeep of buildings / templesMaintain defensesInfrastructureMilitary leadershipJustice

EconomyAgriculturalGov’t did not control long distance tradeConquest gave access to resourcesWool, cloth, barley vegetable oilEarly metallurgy (tin)Semi-precious stonesMerchant class emerges (palaces/temples)Barter system (mostly)

SocietyUrbanization divisionsFree landowners

Royalty, high officials, warriors, priests, merchants, shopkeepers)

Dependent farmers and artisansSlaves

Mostly POW’s, debtorsHairstyles

Role of WomenBearing / raising childrenOwn propertyControl dowryTradeNo political roleTextiles, breweries, prostitutes, bakers,

fortunetellersSteadily declines

Men take 2nd wife (if no kids)Marriage alliances

ReligionPolytheisticAnthropomorphic

Nourishment from sacrificesHuman emotions

Nature Anu (sky); Enlil (air); Innana (sex / violence)

Environment cruel therefore deities must be as wellEnvironment affects beliefs in gods /

afterlife!!!!!!!

ReligionsPriesthood (hereditary powerful)

Lived off rations / foods from sacrificesHigh Priest (took care of gods)High walled complexesZigguratsAmulets (ie. miscarriages)Festivals

SumerCollective name for

Sumerian citiesWagon wheelPlowPotter wheelCuneiformZiggurats (temple

w/shrine on top – wealth/stability- glorified gods- bridge b/w heavens and earth

Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar (Sumer) ... Genesis 11:2 And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there ...

SusaB/w Tigris and

Zagros mts4200 BCE

UrukWarka, IraqIst independent city

states1000 acres2 large complexes

Uruk: alabaster vases

Registers

Lower: natural world 9water, plants, barley)2nd rams/ewes3rd: nude men carry food basketsTop: Inanna stands in front of her shrine, accepting offerings for storehouse from priest-kingRitual marriage b/w king and deityMeant to ensure fertility

Urul VaseUruk (Wakra, Iraq)C 3300-3000 BCEAlabasterPicture space organized

into registersCondenses narrativeLike comic stripProfile legs/heads¾ torso

White Temple (Anu-sky god)

White Temple

Sumerians

Votive FiguresEshunna (Iraq)C 2900-2600Limestone, alabaster, gypsumImages dedicated to the godsImages of donorsRepresentation dedicated in

the shrineInscriptions detail

accomplishments of donorPerpetual eye contact

Traditional representation w/simplified faces and bodies

Cylindrical bodiesHands clasped in

respectTallest 30” highBeards and hair styles

of males pertain to social status (nobility or royalty)

Eshunna Votives

The Great Lyre with Bulls Head2550-2400 BCE

Great Lyre with Bull’s HeadRoyal Tomb of UrC 2550-2400Wood w/gold, silver,

lapis, bitumen, shellHead 14”, panel 13”Lapis lazuli imported

from Afghanistan (long distance trade)

Lifelike depiction of bullPanel shell inlaid in

bitumen

Front Panel of Great Lyre Athletic, deceased, heroic featsLong hair, beard = semi divineAnimal attendants bringing food

for feast (hyena, lion)3 animal musicians (donkey and

lyre, bear w/frame, fox and sistrum-rattle)

Scorpion man (land of demons) and journey of the dead attended by gazelle

Imagery depicts funeral banquet in realm of dead

Animals guardians of gateway

Sumerian Religion - Polytheistic

Enki

Innana

Anthropomorphic Gods

Mesopotamian Trade

“The Cuneiform World”

Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped” Writing

Cuneiform Writing

Sumerian Scribes

“Tablet House”

Cylinder SealsSeals to identify docs

and establish property ownership

Rolled across soft clay

2’’ in heightMade of hard stoneLeader protecting

people from enemies (both human and animal)

Cylinder Seals

Sumerian Cylinder Seals

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh Epic Tablet:Flood Story

Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who was two-thirds god and one-third man. He built magnificent ziggurats, or temple towers, surrounded his city with high walls, and laid out its orchards and fields. He was physically beautiful, immensely strong, and very wise. Although Gilgamesh was godlike in body and mind, he began his kingship as a cruel despot. He lorded over his subjects, raping any woman who struck his fancy, whether she was the wife of one of his warriors or the daughter of a nobleman. He accomplished his building projects with forced labor, and his exhausted subjects groaned under his oppression. The gods heard his subjects’ pleas and decided to keep Gilgamesh in check by creating a wild man named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as Gilgamesh. Enkidu became Gilgamesh’s great friend, and Gilgamesh’s heart was shattered when Enkidu died of an illness inflicted by the gods. Gilgamesh then traveled to the edge of the world and learned about the days before the deluge and other secrets of the gods, and he recorded them on stone tablets.

Ziggurat at Ur

Temple “Mountain of the Gods”

The Royal Standard of Ur

Board Game From Ur

Sophisticated Metallurgy Skillsat Ur

Sargon of Akkad:The World’s First Empire

[Akkadians]

The Babylonian Empires

Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.] Code

Hammurabi, the Judge

Babylonian Math

Babylonian Numbers

AchievementsIrrigation (canals,

dams, dikes)CuneiformBronze metallurgyClay bricksPotters wheelHorse drawn

chariotsInfantry

60 base # systemAstronomyCalendarHammurabi’s CodeRoadsPlowsSailboatsWheelsCylinder seals