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Mesopotamia |
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Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "The land
between the two rivers")[1] is an area
geographically located between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern
Iraq[2], northeastern Syria,[2] southeastern
Turkey,[2] and the Khūzestān Province of
southwestern Iran[3][4].
Commonly known as the "Cradle of civilization",
Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the
Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian Empires. In the Iron
Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and
Neo-Babylonian Empire, and later conquered by the
Achaemenid Empire. It mostly remained under Persian
rule until the 7th century Islamic conquest of the
Sassanid Empire. Under the Caliphate, the region
came to be known as Iraq. |
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Etymology |
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The
regional toponym Mesopotamia ( < meso (μέσος) =
middle and potamia < ποταμός = river, literally
means "between two rivers") was coined in the
Hellenistic period without any definite boundaries,
to refer to a broad geographical area and probably
used by the Seleucids. The term biritum/birit narim
corresponded to a similar geographical concept and
coined at the time of the Aramaicization of the
region.[5] It is however widely accepted that early
Mesopotamian societies simply referred to the entire
alluvium as kalam in Sumerian (lit. "land"). More
recently terms like "Greater Mesopotamia" or
"Syro-Mesopotamia" have been adopted to refer to
wider geographies corresponding to the Near East or
Middle East. The later euphemisms are Eurocentric
terms attributed to the region in the midst of
various 19th century Western encroachments.[6] |
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Cultural Dynamics |
Mesopotamia is a semi-arid environment which ranges
from the northern areas of rain fed agriculture, to
the south where irrigation of agriculture is
essential if a surplus energy returned on energy
invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation
is aided by a high water table and by melted snows
from the high peaks of the Zagros and from the
Armenian cordillera, the source of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, that give the region its name. The
usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to
mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and
maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest
period, has assisted the development of urban
settlements and centralized systems of political
authority. Agriculture throughout the region has
been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent
dwelling nomads move herds of sheep and goats (and
later camels) from the river pastures in the dry
summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on
the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area
is generally lacking in building stone, precious
metals and timber, and so historically has relied
upon long distance trade of agricultural products to
secure these items from outlying areas. In the
marshlands to the south of the country, a complex
water-borne fishing culture has existed since
pre-historic times, and has added to the cultural
mix.
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have
occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for
labour has from time to time led to population
increases that push the limits of the ecological
carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic
instability ensue, collapsing central government and
declining populations can occur. Alternatively,
military vulnerability to invasion from marginal
hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists have led to
periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation
systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst
city states has meant that central authority over
the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be
ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into
tribal or smaller regional units.[7] These trends
have continued to the present day in Iraq. |
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History |
The
history of Mesopotamia begins with the emergence of
urban societies in southern Iraq in the 5th
millennium BC, and ends with either the arrival of
the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, when
Mesopotamia began being colonized by foreign powers,
or with the arrival of the Islamic Caliphate, when
the region came to be known as Iraq.
A cultural continuity and spatial homogeneity for
this entire historical geography ("the Great
Tradition") is popularly assumed, though the
assumption is problematic. Mesopotamia housed some
of the world's most ancient states with highly
developed social complexity. The region was famous
as one of the four riverine civilizations where
writing was first invented, along with the Nile
valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian
subcontinent and Yellow River valley in China
(Although writing is also known to have arisen
independently in Mesoamerica and the Andes).
Mesopotamia housed historically important cities
such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, and Babylon as well
as major territorial states such as the Akkadian
kingdom, Third Dynasty of Ur, and Assyrian empire.
Some of the important historical Mesopotamian
leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur), Sargon (who
established the Akkadian Kingdom), Hammurabi (who
established the Old Babylonian state), and
Tiglath-Pileser I (who established the Assyrian
Empire).
"Ancient Mesopotamia" begins in the late 6th
millennium BC, and ends with either the rise of the
Achaemenid Persians in the 6th century BC or the
Islamic conquest of Persian Mesopotamia in the 7th
century AD. This long period may be divided as
follows:
Pre-Pottery Neolithic:
Jarmo (ca. 7000 BC-? BC)
Pottery Neolithic:
Hassuna (ca. 6000 BC-? BC), Samarra (ca. 5500
BC-4800 BC) and Halaf (ca. 6000 BC-5300 BC)
"cultures"
Chalcolithic:
Ubaid period (ca. 5900 BC–4000 BC)
Uruk period (ca. 4000 BC–3100 BC)
Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 3100 BC–2900 BC)
Early Bronze Age
Early Dynastic Sumerian city-states (ca. 2900
BC–2350 BC)
Akkadian Empire (ca. 2350 BC–2193 BC).
Third dynasty of Ur ("Sumerian Renaissance" or
"Neo-Sumerian Period") (ca. 2119 BC–2004 BC)
Middle Bronze Age:
Early Assyrian kingdom (20th to 18th c. BC)
First Babylonian Dynasty (18th to 17th c. BC)
Late Bronze Age
Kassite dynasty, Middle Assyrian period (16th to
12th c. BC)
Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th c. BC)
Iron Age:
Neo-Hittite or Syro-Hittite regional states
(11th–7th c. BC)
Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th to 7th c. BC)
Neo-Babylonian Empire (7th to 6th c. BC)
Classical Antiquity:
Achaemenid Assyria (6th to 4th c. BC)
Seleucid Mesopotamia (4th to 1st c. BC)
Parthian Mesopotamia (3rd c. BC to 3rd c. AD)
Roman Mesopotamia (2nd c. AD)
Sassanid Mesopotamia (3rd to 7th c. AD)
Islamic conquest of Persian Mesopotamia (7th c. AD)
Dates are approximate for the second and third
millennia BC; compare Chronology of the Ancient Near
East. |
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Language and
Writing |
The
earliest language written in Mesopotamia was
Sumerian, an agglutinative language isolate.
Scholars agree that other languages were also spoken
in early Mesopotamia along with Sumerian. Later a
Semitic language, Akkadian, came to be the dominant
language, although Sumerian was retained for
administration, religious, literary, and scientific
purposes. Different varieties of Akkadian were used
until the end of the Neo-Babylonian period. Then
Aramaic, which had already become common in
Mesopotamia, became the official provincial
administration language of the Achaemenid Persian
Empire. Akkadian fell into disuse, but both it and
Sumerian were still used in temples for some
centuries.
In Early Mesopotamia (around mid 4th millennium BC)
cuneiform script was invented. Cuneiform literally
means "wedge-shaped", due to the triangular tip of
the stylus used for impressing signs on wet clay.
The standardized form of each cuneiform sign appear
to have been developed from pictograms. The earliest
texts (7 archaic tablets) come from the E-anna super
sacred precinct dedicated to the goddess Inanna at
Uruk, Level III, from a building labeled as Temple C
by its excavators.
The early logographic system of cuneiform script
took many years to master. Thus only a limited
number of individuals were hired as scribes to be
trained in its reading and writing. It was not until
the widespread use of a syllabic script was adopted
under Sargon's rule[citation needed] that
significant portions of Mesopotamian population
became learned in literacy. Massive archives of
texts were recovered from the archaeological
contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools, through
which literacy was disseminated. |
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Literature and
Mythology |
In
Babylonian times there were libraries in most towns
and temples; an old Sumerian proverb averred that
"he who would excel in the school of the scribes
must rise with the dawn." Women as well as men
learned to read and write, and for the Semitic
Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct
Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive
syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was
translated from Sumerian originals, and the language
of religion and law long continued to be the old
agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies,
grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled
for the use of students, as well as commentaries on
the older texts and explanations of obscure words
and phrases. The characters of the syllabary were
all arranged and named, and elaborate lists of them
were drawn up.
There are many Babylonian literary works whose
titles have come down to us. One of the most famous
of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books,
translated from the original Sumerian by a certain
Sin-liqe-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical
principle. Each division contains the story of a
single adventure in the career of Gilgamesh. The
whole story is a composite product, and it is
probable that some of the stories are artificially
attached to the central figure. |
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Philosophy |
The
origins of philosophy can be traced back to early
Mesopotamian wisdom, which embodied certain
philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the
forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore,
hymns, lyrics, prose, and proverbs. Babylonian
reasoning and rationality developed beyond empirical
observation.[8]
The earliest form of logic was developed by the
Babylonians, notably in the rigorous nonergodic
nature of their social systems. Babylonian thought
was axiomatic and is comparable to the "ordinary
logic" described by John Maynard Keynes. Babylonian
thought was also based on an open-systems ontology
which is compatible with ergodic axioms.[9] Logic
was employed to some extent in Babylonian astronomy
and medicine.
Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on
early Greek philosophy and Hellenistic philosophy.
In particular, the Babylonian text Dialog of
Pessimism contains similarities to the agonistic
thought of the sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of
contrasts, and the dialectic and dialogs of Plato,
as well as a precursor to the maieutic Socratic
method of Socrates.[10] The Phoenician philosopher
Thales is also known to have studied philosophy in
Mesopotamia. |
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Astronomy |
The
Babylonian astronomers were very interested in
studying the stars and sky, and most could already
predict eclipses and solstices. People thought that
everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of
these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian
astronomers worked out a 12 month calendar based on
the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into
two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of
astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian
astronomers developed a new approach to astronomy.
They began studying philosophy dealing with the
ideal nature of the early universe and began
employing an internal logic within their predictive
planetary systems. This was an important
contribution to astronomy and the philosophy of
science and some scholars have thus referred to this
new approach as the first scientific revolution.[11]
This new approach to astronomy was adopted and
further developed in Greek and Hellenistic
astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical
reports were of a thoroughly scientific character;
how much earlier their advanced knowledge and
methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian
development of methods for predicting the motions of
the planets is considered to be a major episode in
the history of astronomy.
The only Babylonian astronomer known to have
supported a heliocentric model of planetary motion
was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[12][13][14]
Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch. He
supported the heliocentric theory where the Earth
rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved
around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even
proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known
what arguments he used.
Babylonian astronomy was the basis for much of what
was done in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy, in
classical Indian astronomy, in Sassanian, Byzantine
and Syrian astronomy, in medieval Islamic astronomy,
and in Central Asian and Western European
astronomy.[15] |
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Mathematics |
The
Mesopotamians used a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral
system. This is the source of the current 60-minute
hours and 24-hour days, as well as the 360 degree
circle. The Sumerian calendar also measured weeks of
seven days each. This mathematical knowledge was
used in mapmaking.
The Babylonians might have been familiar with the
general rules for measuring the areas. They measured
the circumference of a circle as three times the
diameter and the area as one-twelfth the square of
the circumference, which would be correct if p were
estimated as 3. The volume of a cylinder was taken
as the product of the base and the height, however,
the volume of the frustum of a cone or a square
pyramid was incorrectly taken as the product of the
height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there
was a recent discovery in which a tablet used p as 3
and 1/8 (3.125 for 3.14159~). The Babylonians are
also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a
measure of distance equal to about seven miles (11
km) today. This measurement for distances eventually
was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the
travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[16] |
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Medicine |
The
oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the
Old Babylonian period in the first half of the 2nd
millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical
text, however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by
the physician Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[17]
during the reign of the Babylonian king
Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC).[18]
Along with contemporary ancient Egyptian medicine,
the Babylonians introduced the concepts of
diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and
prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic Handbook
introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and
the use of empiricism, logic and rationality in
diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains
a list of medical symptoms and often detailed
empirical observations along with logical rules used
in combining observed symptoms on the body of a
patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[19]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated
through therapeutic means such as bandages, creams
and pills. If a patient could not be cured
physically, the Babylonian physicians often relied
on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses.
Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a
logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the
modern view that through the examination and
inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is
possible to determine the patient's disease, its
aetiology and future development, and the chances of
the patient's recovery.[17]
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses
and diseases and described their symptoms in his
Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for
many varieties of epilepsy and related ailments
along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[20] |
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Technology |
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Mesopotamian people invented many technologies, most
notably the wheel, which some consider the most
important mechanical invention in history.[21] Other
Mesopotamian inventions include metalworking,
copper-working, glassmaking, lamp making, textile
weaving, flood control, water storage, as well as
irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze
age people in the world. Early on they used copper,
bronze and gold, and later they used iron. Palaces
were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these
very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and
iron were used for armor as well as for different
weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and maces. |
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Religion |
Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded.
Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat
disc, surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above
that, heaven. They also believed that water was
everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the
universe was born from this enormous sea. In
addition, Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic.
Although the beliefs described above were held in
common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional
variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki,
which refers to the god An and the goddess Ki. Their
son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil
was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of
the Pantheon, as the Greeks had Zeus and the Romans
had Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed philosophical
questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How
did we get here?. They attributed answers to these
questions to explanations provided by their gods.
Primary gods and goddesses
Anu was the Sumerian god of the sky. He was married
to Ki, but in some other Mesopotamian religions he
has a wife called Uraš. Though he was considered the
most important god in the pantheon, he took a mostly
passive role in epics, allowing Enlil to claim the
position as most powerful god.
Enlil was initially the most powerful god in
Mesopotamian religion. His wife was Ninlil, and his
children were Iškur (sometimes), Nanna - Suen,
Nergal, Nisaba, Namtar, Ninurta (sometimes),
Pabilsag, Nushu, Enbilulu, Uraš Zababa and Ennugi.
His position at the top of the pantheon was later
usurped by Marduk and then by Ashur.
Enki (Ea) god of Eridu. He was the god of rain.
Marduk was the principal god of Babylon. When
Babylon rose to power, the mythologies raised Marduk
from his original position as an agricultural god to
the principal god in the pantheon.
Ashur was god of the Assyrian empire and likewise
when the Assyrians rose to power their myths raised
Ashur to a position of importance.
Gula or Utu (in Sumerian), Shamash (in Akkadian) was
the sun god and god of justice.
Ishtar or Inanna was the goddess of sex and war.
Ereshkigal was goddess of the Netherworld.
Nabu was the Mesopotamian god of writing. He was
very wise, and was praised for his writing ability.
In some places he was believed to be in control of
heaven and earth. His importance was increased
considerably in the later periods.
Ninurta was the Sumerian god of war. He was also the
god of heroes.
Iškur (or Adad) was the god of storms.
Erra was probably the god of drought. He is often
mentioned in conjunction with Adad and Nergal in
laying waste to the land.
Nergal was probably a plague god. He was also spouse
of Ereshkigal.
Pazuzu, also known as Zu, was an evil god, who stole
the tablets of Enlil’s destiny, and is killed
because of this. He also brought diseases which had
no known cure.
Burials
Hundreds of graves have been excavated in parts of
Mesopotamia, revealing information about
Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most
people were buried in family graves under their
houses (as in Catalhuyuk), along with some
possessions. A few have been found wrapped in mats
and carpets. Deceased children were put in big
"jars" which were placed in the family chapel. Other
remains have been found buried in common city
graveyards. 17 graves have been found with very
precious objects in them ; it is assumed that these
were royal graves. |
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Culture |
Music, songs and instruments
Some songs were written for the gods but many were
written to describe important events. Although music
and songs amused kings, they were also enjoyed by
ordinary people who liked to sing and dance in their
homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to
children who passed them on to their children. Thus
songs were passed on through many generations until
someone wrote them down. These songs provided a
means of passing on through the centuries highly
important information about historical events that
were eventually passed on to modern historians.
The Oud (Arabic:العود) is a small, stringed musical
instrument. The oldest pictorial record of the Oud
dates back to the Uruk period in Southern
Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder
seal currently housed at the British Museum and
acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts
a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat,
playing right-handed. This instrument appears
hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history
and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty
onwards in long- and short-neck varieties.
The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European
lute. Its name is derived from the Arabic word العود
al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably the name of the
tree from which the oud was made. (The Arabic name,
with the definite article, is the source of the word
'lute'.)
Games
Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and
wrestling feature frequently in art, and a form of
polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the
shoulders of other men rather than on horses.[22]
They also played a board game similar to senet and
backgammon, now known as the "Royal Game of Ur."
Family life
The Babylonian marriage market, in the Royal
Holloway College. Mesopotamia across its history
became more and more a patriarchal society, in which
the men were far more powerful than the women. As
for schooling, only royal offspring and sons of the
rich and professionals such as scribes, physicians,
temple administrators, and so on, went to school.
Most boys were taught their father's trade or were
apprenticed out to learn a trade.[23] Girls had to
stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping
and cooking, and to look after the younger children.
Some children would help with crushing grain, or
cleaning birds. Unusual for that time in history,
women in Mesopotamia had rights. They could own
property and, if they had good reason, get a
divorce. |
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Economy |
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Sumer
developed the first economy, while the Babylonians
developed the earliest system of economics, which
was comparable to modern post-Keynesian economics,
but with a more "anything goes" approach.[9] |
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Agriculture |
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Food
supply in Mesopotamia was quite rich due to the
location of the two rivers from which its name is
derived, Tigris and Euphrates. The Tigris and
Euphrates River valleys formed the north eastern
portion of the Fertile Crescent, which also included
the Jordan River valley & that of the Nile. Although
land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for
crops, portions of land further from the water were
dry and largely uninhabitable. This is why the
development of irrigation was very important for
settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian
innovations include the control of water by dams and
the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of fertile land
in Mesopotamia used wooden ploughs to soften the
soil before planting crops such as barley, onions,
grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamian settlers
were some of the first people to make beer and wine.
The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often
hard on farmers; crops were often ruined so backup
sources of food such as cows and lambs were also
kept. As a result of the skill involved in farming
in the Mesopotamian, farmers did not depend on
slaves to complete farm work for them, with some
exceptions. There were too many risks involved to
make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of
the slave). |
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Government |
Kings
Further information: Sumerian king list, List of
Kings of Babylon, and Kings of Assyria
The Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens
were descended from the city gods, but, unlike the
ancient Egyptians, they never believed their kings
were real gods.[24] Most kings named themselves
“king of the universe” or “great king”. Another
common name was “shepherd”, as kings had to look
after their people.
Notable Mesopotamian kings include:
Eannatum of Lagash who founded the first
(short-lived) empire.
Sargon of Akkad who conquered all of Mesopotamia and
created the first empire that outlived its founder.
Hammurabi founded the first Babylonian empire.
Tiglath-Pileser III founded the neo-Assyrian empire.
Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king in the
neo-Babylonian Empire. He was thought to be the son
of the god Nabu. He married the daughter of Cyaxeres,
so the Median and the Babylonian dynasties had a
familial connection. Nebuchadnezzar’s name means:
Nabo, protect the crown!
Belshedezzar was the last king of Babylonia. He was
the son of Nabonidus whose wife was Nictoris, the
daughter of Nebuchadnezzar.
Power
When Assyria grew into an empire, it was divided
into smaller parts, called provinces. Each of these
were named after their main cities, like Nineveh,
Samaria, Damascus and Arpad. They all had their own
governor who had to make sure everyone paid their
taxes; he had to call up soldiers to war, and supply
workers when a temple was built. He was also
responsible for the laws being enforced. In this way
it was easier to keep control of an empire like
Assyria. Although Babylon was quite a small state in
the Sumerian, it grew tremendously throughout the
time of Hammurabi's rule. He was known as “the law
maker”, and soon Babylon became one of the main
cities in Mesopotamia. It was later called
Babylonia, which meant "the gateway of the gods." It
also became one of history's greatest centers of
learning.
Warfare
Assyrian soldiers, from a plate in THE HISTORY OF
COSTUME by Braun & Schneider (ca. 1860).As
city-states began to grow, their spheres of
influence overlapped, creating arguments between
other city-states, especially over land and canals.
These arguments were recorded in tablets several
hundreds of years before any major war - the first
recording of a war occurred around 3200BC but was
not common until about 2500BC. At this point warfare
was incorporated into the Mesopotamian political
system, where a neutral city may act as an
arbitrator for the two rival cities. This helped to
form unions between cities, leading to regional
states.[25] When empires were created, they went to
war more with foreign countries. King Sargon, for
example conquered all the cities of Sumer, some
cities in Mari, and then went to war with northern
Syria. Many Babylonian palace walls were decorated
with the pictures of the successful fights and the
enemy, whether desperately escaping, or hiding
amongst reeds. A king in Sumer, Gilgamesh, was
thought two-thirds god and only one third human.
There were legendary stories and poems about him,
which were passed on for many generations, because
he had many adventures that were believed very
important, and won many wars and battles.
Laws
King Hammurabi, as mentioned above, was famous for
his set of laws, The Code of Hammurabi (created ca.
1780 BC), which is one of the earliest sets of laws
found and one of the best preserved examples of this
type of document from ancient Mesopotamia. He made
over 200 laws for Mesopotamia For more information,
see Hammurabi and Code of Hammurabi. |
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Architecture |
The
study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based
on available archaeological evidence, pictorial
representation of buildings and texts on building
practices. Scholarly literature usually concentrates
on temples, palaces, city walls and gates and other
monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds
works on residential architecture as well.[26]
Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the
study of urban form in early Mesopotamian cities.
Most notably known architectural remains from early
Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from
the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the
Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River
valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third
Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur (Sanctuary of Enlil)
and Ur (Sanctuary of Nanna), Middle Bronze Age
remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari,
Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces
at Bogazkoy (Hattusha), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron
Age palaces and temples at Assyrian (Kalhu/Nimrud,
Khorsabad, Nineveh), Babylonian (Babylon), Urartian
(Tushpa/Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir,
Erebuni, Bastam) and Neo-Hittite sites (Karkamis,
Tell Halaf, Karatepe). Houses are mostly known from
Old Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the
textual sources on building construction and
associated rituals, Gudea's cylinders from the late
3rd millennium are notable, as well as the Assyrian
and Babylonian royal inscriptions from the Iron Age.
Houses
The materials used to build a Mesopotamian house
were the same as those used today: mud brick, mud
plaster and wooden doors, which were all naturally
available round the city,[27] although wood could
not be naturally made very well during the
particular time period described. Most houses had a
square center room with other rooms attached to it,
but a great variation in the size and materials used
to build the houses suggest they were built by the
inhabitants themselves [1]. The smallest rooms may
not have coincided with the poorest people; in fact
it could be that the poorest people built houses out
of perishable materials such as reeds on the outside
of the city, but there is very little direct
evidence for this.[28]
The Palace
The palaces of the early Mesopotamian elites were
large scale complexes, and were often lavishly
decorated. Earliest examples are known from the
Diyala River valley sites such as Khafajah and Tell
Asmar. These third millennium BC palaces functioned
as a large scale socio-economic institutions,
therefore, along with residential and private
function, they housed craftsmen workshops, food
storehouses, ceremonial courtyards, and often
associated with shrines. For instance, the so-called
"giparu" (or Gig-Par-Ku in Sumerian) at Ur where the
Moon god Nanna's priestesses resided was a major
complex with multiple courtyards, a number of
sanctuaries, burial chambers for dead priestesses, a
ceremonial banquet hall, etc. A similarly complex
example of a Mesopotamian palace was excavated at
Mari in Syria, dating from the Old Babylonian
period.
Assyrian palaces of the Iron Age, especially at
Kalhu/Nimrud, Dur Sharrukin/Khorsabad and Ninuwa/Nineveh,
have become famous due to the pictorial and textual
narrative programs on their walls, all carved on
stone slabs known as orthostats. These pictorial
programs either incorporated cultic scenes or the
narrative accounts of the kings' military and civic
accomplishments. Gates and important passageways
were flanked with massive stone sculpture of
apotropaic mythological figures. The architectural
arrangement of these Iron Age palaces were also
organized around large and small courtyards. Usually
the king's throneroom opened to a massive ceremonial
courtyard where important state councils met, state
ceremonies performed.
Massive amounts of ivory furniture pieces were found
in many Assyrian palaces pointing out an intense
trade relationship with North Syrian Neo-Hittite
states at the time. There is also good evidence that
bronze repousse bands decorated the wooden gates.
Ziggurats
Ziggurats (Akkadian ziqquratu from the verb zaqāru)
were massive stepped cult platforms found in certain
Mesopotamian sanctuaries. The idea seems to have
originated in early Mesopotamian temples which were
built successively, one building over another on the
same site over centuries, creating a massive mound
that raised the new temples over the rest of the
city. A good example of such structure was the
temple dedicated to Ea at Eridu (Tell Abu Shahrain)
excavated by Fuad Safar and Seton Lloyd in 1940s, or
the "White" Temple dedicated to Anu at Uruk in the
Late Uruk period. Ur-Nammu's ziggurat, built at the
height the Third Dynasty of Ur, at the site of Ur
(Tell al Mugayyar) in the sanctuary of the Moon God
Nanna, is also believed to be encasing earlier
temples of the Early Dynastic Period. Ur-Nammu's
ziggurat is considered one of the earliest of all
planned ziggurats. After that time Kassites and
Elamites of the Late Bronze Age, and Assyrians and
Babylonians of the Iron age continued to build
artificially erected ziggurats. Examples of such
structures were found in Dur Kurigalzu (Aqar Quf),
Dur-Untash (Tschoga Zanbil), Kalhu (Nimrud),
Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad) and Babylon among others.
It has been suggested that ziggurats were built to
resemble mountains, but there is little textual or
archaeological evidence to support that hypothesis.
Ur-Nammu's ziggurat at Ur was designed as a
three-stage construction, today only two of these
survive. This entire mud brick core structure was
originally given a facing of baked brick envelope
set in bitumen, circa 2.5 m on the first lowest
stage, and 1.15 m on the second. Each of these baked
bricks were stamped with the name of the king. The
sloping walls of the stages were buttressed. The
access to the top was by means of a triple
monumental staircase, which all converges at a
portal that opened on a landing between the first
and second stages. The height of the first stage was
about 11 m while the second stage rose some 5.7 m.
Usually a third stage is reconstructed by the
excavator of the ziggurat (Leonard Woolley), and
crowned by a temple. At the Tschoga Zanbil ziggurat
archaeologists have found massive reed ropes that
ran across the core of the ziggurat structure and
tied together the mud brick mass. |
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"Mesopotamia" Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopaedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 10 Aug. 2004.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia
All
text is available under the terms of the Wikipedia - Text
of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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