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2. History: Mesopotamia 3000-1600

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Title: 2. History: Mesopotamia 3000-1600


1
2. History Mesopotamia 3000-1600
  • BOT612 Old Testament Backgrounds

2
'Ubaid Period 5000- 4000 BCE
  • 'Ubaid Period 5000- 4000 BCE
  • Site located near Ur, however the distinctive
    elements found in north Iraq, Syria, Iran and in
    many sites in Saudi Arabia.
  • Agriculture Wheat, barley, millet, and other
    cereals (irrigation systems)
  • Graves cemeteries
  • Temple in Eridu (level VII) a high temple built
    on a terrace.

3
Uruk Period 4000-2900 BCE
  • Uruk Period 4000-2900 BCE
  • Pottery Changes
  • Temple Warka 1) Celestial god Anu 2) Inanna
    (Ishtar) These were proto-types for the
    ziggurats.
  • Writing
  • Cylinder Seals (Vol. 2 PDF OT/Lectures/)
  • The Problem of the Origins of the Sumerians.
  • View ANE Art Sumer . . . Pdf
  • Innin-Dumuzi stories begin to develop.

4
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • Early Dynastic Period
  • The Golden Age ED (Early Dynastic) I ca.
    2900-2700 BCE
  • The Heroic Age ED II ca. 2700-2500 BCE
  • The Dynastic Age ED III 2500-2300 BCE
  • Political Social Organizations
  • ". . . There is the pattern of urban settlements,
    which increase in density and size from the late
    Uruk into the ED III period, so that by 2500 it
    looks as though 80 per cent of the population
    resided in substantial cities of more than 100
    acres." (Kuhrt, 31)

5
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • Kings city officials exist
  • Popular wisdom
  • Shuruppak gave instructions to his son
  • 'My son, let me give you instructions,
  • May you pay attention to them! (next line frag.)
  • Do not buy a prostitute, it is horrible,
  • Do not make a well in a field, the water will do
    damage to you
  • Do not give evidence against a man, the city will
    . . . .
  • Do not guarantee (for someone), that man will
    have a hold on you'

6
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • Kings Cities
  • City-state in the South, but not in the North
  • Land owned by King, temple private ownership.
  • Ruler were protectors of the city
  • Most inhabitants of the city played a role in the
    cult.
  • Royal Courts
  • War King played a prominent role

7
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • King Lists
  • "Several king lists are known from Mesopotamia,
    some of which try to bridge the obscure,
    prehistoric times with legendary dynasties. One
    of these is the Sumerian King list composed in
    the Isin-Larsa period, c. 1900 B.C. It begins
    with eight kings who ruled 241,000 years before
    the Flood. This is followed by a succession of
    dynasties First that of Kish credited with over
    24,510 years second, Uruk - twelve kings ruling
    ruling 2,310 years Third Ur four rulers for
    177 years, and so down to the Isin-Larsa period.
    Beginning with First dynasty of Ur it becomes a
    reliable historical record." Schwantes, A Short
    History of the Ancient Near East, 24

8
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • Society
  • "It has been demonstrated that slavery never
    played a major role in Mesopotamia, probably
    because it was economically unfeasible,
    especially for industrial purposes, before
    Greco-Roman times slaves were confined largely
    to domestic duties and represented a luxury in
    any household." Hallo Simpson, The Ancient
    Near East A History, 49-50
  • The "Uruinimgina reform" "Uruinimgina solemnly
    promised Ningirsu that he would never subject the
    waif and the widow to the powerful." (Kuhrt, The
    Ancient Near East, 39

9
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
  • First Dynasty of Ur (c. 2500 BCE)
  • "The Sumerian king list mentions as first ruler
    of this dynasty Meshannipadda, supposed to have
    ruled eighty years. Excavations in Ur have
    brought to light his name, as well as that of his
    wife Nintur, and his son Aannipadda, who built
    the temple in Al-)Ubaid . . . ." Schwantes, A
    Short History of the Ancient Near East, 24
  • Royal Tomb . . . N.B. Queen Shubad's gold jewery.

10
Standard of Ur Sumerian, 3000-2340 B.C.E.
11
Ur-Nina Family 3000-2180
12
Harp of Shabad 3500-3000
13
Goat in Thicket 3000 BCE
14
Sumerian Literature
  • "Sumerian literature is comparable in sheer size
    to biblical literature. A recent survey estimates
    the number of lines so far recovered at
    approximately 40,000 bearing in mind that most
    Sumerian literature is poetic in form and that
    the typical Sumerian verse may be somewhat
    shorter than the typical biblical verse, this
    already compares favorably with the total of
    biblical verses in the Masoretic count, recently
    calculated at 23,097 (Hallo 1988). Much of
    Sumerian literature still remains to be
    recovered." W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian Literature,"
    ABD CD-Rom

15
Sumerian Literature
  • Genre in the Early Period (2500-2300)
  • Incantations already from Shuruppak Ebla, later
    used to ward off evil spirits. There is no
    parallel literature in the Bible
  • "Hymns to deities and their temples are also
    attested from a very early date. Some of the
    finest are attributed to Enheduanna, daughter of
    Sargon of Akkad and the first non-anonymous
    author in history." W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian
    Literature," ABD CD-Rom

16
Sumerian Literature
  • "Sumerian myths and epics are generically also
    hymns, but confine praise of their divine or
    royal protagonist to their concluding doxology,
    while the body of the poem is narrative in
    character." W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian Literature,"
    ABD CD-Rom
  • "The common man is notably the focus of wisdom
    literature, so called in imitation of the
    biblical category though wisdom itself is not
    prominently mentioned, as it often is in
    Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The earliest
    attested wisdom genres are instructions and
    proverbs." W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian Literature,"
    ABD CD-Rom

17
Sumerian Literature
  • Neo-Sumerian Period 2200-1900
  • "The deification of the Sumerian king during this
    phase led to a certain commingling of sacred and
    royal literature and to the emergence of several
    new genres responding to the new ideology. The
    king was regarded at once as of divine and human
    parentage, the product of a physical union in
    which the royal partners represented deities,
    most often Dumuzi and Inanna or their Akkadian
    equivalents Tammuz (cf. Ezek 814) and Ishtar. An
    extensive body of poetry celebrated these sacred
    marriage rites and, together with more strictly
    secular love poetry addressed to the king or
    recited antiphonally by him and his bride,
    anticipated the Song of Songs in its explicit
    eroticism."

18
Sumerian Religion
  • "Each city housed a temple that was the seat of a
    major god in the Sumerian pantheon, as the gods
    controlled the powerful forces which often
    dictated a human's fate. The city leaders had a
    duty to please the town's patron deity, not only
    for the good will of that god or goddess, but
    also for the good will of the other deities in
    the council of gods. The priesthood initially
    held this role, and even after secular kings
    ascended to power, the clergy still held great
    authority through the interpretation of omens and
    dreams. Many of the secular kings claimed divine
    right Sargon of Agade, for example claimed to
    have been chosen by Ishtar/Inanna."
    http//pubpages.unh.edu/cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
    98/09/20

19
Sumerian Religion
  • "The rectangular central shrine of the temple,
    known as a 'cella,' had a brick altar or offering
    table in front of a statue of the temple's deity.
    The cella was lined on its long ends by many
    rooms for priests and priestesses. These
    mud-brick buildings were decorated with cone
    geometrical mosaics, and the occasional fresco
    with human and animal figures. These temple
    complexes eventually evolved into towering
    ziggurats." http//pubpages.unh.edu/cbsiren/sume
    r-faq.html 98/09/20

20
Sumerian Religion
  • "The temple was staffed by priests, priestesses,
    musicians, singers, castrates and hierodules.
    Various public rituals, food sacrifices, and
    libations took place there on a daily basis.
    There were monthly feasts and annual, New Year
    celebrations. During the later, the king would be
    married to Inanna as the resurrected fertility
    god Dumuzi, whose exploits are dealt with below."
    http//pubpages.unh.edu/cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
    98/09/20

21
Sumerian Religion
  • "When it came to more private matters, a Sumerian
    remained devout. Although the gods preferred
    justice and mercy, they had also created evil and
    misfortune. A Sumerian had little that he could
    do about it. Judging from Lamentation records,
    the best one could do in times of duress would be
    to "plead, lament and wail, tearfully confessing
    his sins and failings." Their family god or city
    god might intervene on their behalf, but that
    would not necessarily happen. After all, man was
    created as a broken, labor saving, tool for the
    use of the gods and at the end of everyone's
    life, lay the underworld, a generally dreary
    place." http//pubpages.unh.edu/cbsiren/sumer-fa
    q.html 98/09/20

22
Sumerian Cosmology
  • "From verses scattered throughout hymns and
    myths, one can compile a picture of the
    universe's (anki) creation according to the
    Sumerians. The primeval sea (abzu) existed before
    anything else and within that, the heaven (an)
    and the earth (ki) were formed. The boundary
    between heaven and earth was a solid (perhaps
    tin) vault, and the earth was a flat disk. Within
    the vault lay the gas-like 'lil', or atmosphere,
    the brighter portions therein formed the stars,
    planets, sun, and moon. (Kramer, The Sumerians
    1963 pp. 112-113) Each of the four major Sumerian

23
Sumerian Cosmology
  • deities is associated with one of these regions.
    An, god of heaven, may have been the main god of
    the pantheon prior to 2500 BC., although his
    importance gradually waned. Ki is likely to be
    the original name of the earth goddess, whose
    name more often appears as Ninhursag (queen of
    the mountains), Ninmah (the exalted lady), or
    Nintu (the lady who gave birth). It seems likely
    that these two were the progenitors of most of
    the gods." http//pubpages.unh.edu/cbsiren/sumer
    -faq.html 98/09/20

24
The Akkad Empire
  • Lugalzagesi of Uruk
  • "Stemming, apparently, from Umma, Lugal-zagesi
    succeeded, either by force or through a dynastic
    arrangement, in establishing himself at Uruk and
    Ur (Cooper 1983b 3336). He then added Lagash to
    his possessions and, by securing for himself the
    recognition of the Nippur priesthood, became the
    first S ruler to achieve an effective hegemony
    over the whole S."

25
The Akkad Empire
  • Period Names Agade Empire Old Akkadian
    Empire/period Akkadian Period Sargonic Period.
  • Sargon the Great
  • "Sargon's origins and rise to power are totally
    obscured by the various romances associated with
    him later . . . . a 'rag to riches' story. . . ."
    Kuhrt, 48

26
The Akkad Empire
  • Sargon, mighty king, king of Agade, am I
  • My mother was an e4ntum, my father I knew not
  • My father's brother(s) dwell in the mountain
  • My city is Azupiranu, situated on the banks of
    the Euphrates
  • My mother, the e4ntum, conceived me, in secret
    she bore me
  • She placed me in a basket of rushes, she sealed
    'my door' with bitumen
  • She cast me into the river which did not rise
    over me

27
The Akkad Empire
  • The river bore me up and carried me to Aqqi, the
    water-drawer.
  • Aqqi, the water-drawer, lifted me out as he
    dipped his ewer
  • Aqqi, the water-drawer, adopted me, brought me
    up
  • Aqqi, the water-drawer, set me up as his
    gardener.
  • As a gardener, Ishtar loved me
  • For 55 years I exercised kingship.

28
The Akkad Empire
  • "Sargon seems to have been of humble birth."
    Hallo Simpson, 55
  • Becomes the cup-bearer to Ur-Zababa of Kish.
  • Makes Agade his capital boasts of feeding 5400
    daily.
  • Troops used bow and spears and move with more
    freedom than Uruk Ur . . . .
  • Rule extents into Anatolia, down to the Persian
    Gulf.
  • Makes Akkadian the universal language.

29
The Akkad Empire
  • Makes his daughter Enheduanna a priestess. (See
    CD-Rom Vol. 1 D\Enheduanna\index.html)
  • Rimush
  • Subdued several revolts
  • Assassinated after 9 years
  • Manishtushu
  • Ruled for 15 years
  • Naram-Sin
  • Rules for 56 years

30
The Akkad Empire
  • ". . . The royal titulary, which hitherto had
    been content to specify the political or cultic
    relationship between the ruler and his
    geographical domain that is, "lord/high priest
    of Sumer, king of the nation" or "lord/high
    priest of the territory of Uruk, king of the
    territory of Ur." On what appears to be his
    earliest inscription, Naram-Sin claims, or was
    accorded, the modest title of king of the Akkad.
    But about halfway through his reign he introduced
    the title "king of the four quarters of the
    world" which was assumed after him by all those
    kings who

31
The Akkad Empire
  • proudly aspired to universal dominion from a
    Mesopotamian base. Not content with earthly
    honors, Naram-Sin presently also allowed himself
    to be entitled "god of Akkad," which at first may
    have implied only that he was the guiding
    "genius" or good fortune of his country. The
    concept of a "divine Naram-Sin" quickly evolved,
    however, and with it a cult of the living ruler
    and his deceased predecessors that was, for
    practical purposes, indistinguishable from the
    cult of the 'real' gods and, like theirs,
    centered around the king's statue." Hallo
    Simpson, 60-1

32
The Akkad Empire
  • A Period of great battles won by Naram-Sin (N.B.
    Victory Stela)
  • Period of great Art
  • Shar-kali-sharri
  • The End of Akkad Empire
  • Gutians from Zagros
  • Amorites from Syria
  • Hurrians from Anatolia
  • Lullubi
  • Elamites

33
The Akkad Empire
  • Major Significance
  • "Sumerian language, culture and military art were
    superseded by that of the Akkadian."
  • "The state socialism of the Sumerian cities gave
    place to a centralized government, operated by a
    bureaucracy under the surveillance of the crown."
  • "Trade caravans follow everywhere in the wake of
    the army."

34
The Akkad Empire
  • "The tension between the classes is forgotten in
    the splendor of world dominion."
  • "The political ascendancy of Akkad is accompanied
    by the rising prestige of the Akkadian god
    Shamash, the sun-god of Sippar, son of the
    moon-god Sin. Together Shamash, Sin, and the
    Venus-goddess Ishtar Anunitu build the core of an
    Akkadian religion of astral character which
    contrasts with the agrarian religion of the
    Sumerians."
  • Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near
    East, 29

35
Enheduanna Sargon the Great's Daughter
36
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
  • From the End of Akkad to the rise of Ur
  • "The picture of south Mesopotamia under the last
    Agade rulers and for a generation beyond is
    reminiscent of the political pattern of the ED
    III period, when power was divided among several
    different local rulers the main centres now were
    Uruk, Lagash, Kish, Agade and Gutians in the
    Diyala." Kuhrt, 56

37
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
  • Utuhegal of Uruk
  • "The expulsion of the Gutians was achieved by
    Utuhegal of Uruk. But Utuhegal did not enjoy his
    victory long. His vassal, Urnammu of Ur, revolts
    against him and makes himself "king of Sumer and
    Akkad." He thus inaugurates the Third Dynasty of
    Ur which is able to hold the rule for about a
    century." Schwantes, 29

38
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
  • Urnammu of Ur
  • Non-expansionist policy
  • Collected a law code that was found in Nippur
  • Nabonidus (7th century BCE) identifies Urnammu
    and his son Shulgi as those who built the
    ziggurat at Ur.
  • The population of Ur at this time was about
    25,000 according to Frankfort

39
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
  • Shulgi
  • Rules for 50 years after his father.
  • "The orphan I certainly did not consign to the
    rich man, the widow I certainly did not consign
    to the powerful man, the 'man of 1 sheqel' I
    certainly did not consign to the 'man of 1 mina',
    the 'man of 1 sheep' I certainly did not consign
    to the 'man of 1 ox' . . . Hostility, violence,
    (and) lamentation to Utu (sungod, and god of
    justice) I caused to disappear definitively I
    set justice in the land of Sumer."
  • Succeeded by Amarsin, Shusin, Ibbisin.

40
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
  • Gudea, ensi in Lagash
  • "He left so may sculpture of himself, and so many
    inscriptions, that no other Sumerian character is
    so well known as he." Schwantes, 31

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Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • Background
  • Ibbisin of Ur defeated by the Elamites.
  • Kudur-Mabug takes the mountain area of West Iran,
    Yamutbal
  • Waradsin . . . . Younger brother, Rimsin. Takes
    Uruk, Isin and Larsa.
  • The Amorites move into Western Mesopotamia
  • Mari dominated by Amorites
  • Ishbi-irra takes over Isin . . . . The last in
    this line is the famous Lipit-ishtar
  • Naplanum is over Larsa

44
Elamite Rule 2100-2000 BCE
45
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • Babylon
  • Amorite Sumu-abum
  • Sumulailu (36 years) collects a law code.
  • Assyria
  • Take Ilishuma and Irishum
  • The only kings without foreign blood

46
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • Hammurapi
  • "The sixth and best attested of 11 kings in the
    so-called First Dynasty of Babylon (also known as
    Hammurabi), whose extensive collection of laws
    provides numerous correspondences with biblical
    law. During his 43-year reign the city of Babylon
    for the first time rose to prominence as the hub
    of a short-lived but extensive empire, which
    declined after his death. Although each of the 42
    years following his accession year is identified
    sequentially with an event considered significant
    (building projects, pious royal donations to
    temples, wars), like other events in the early 2d
    millennium b.c. the absolute dates of Hammurapi

47
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • remain uncertain. Astronomical data narrow the
    likely date for Hammurapis first year to the
    years 1848 or 1792 or 1736 (the so-called high,
    middle, and low chronology respectively)."
    Samuel A. Meier, "Hammurapi," ABD CD-Rom
  • Amorite descent
  • "There is no king mighty by himself."
  • ". . . five primary coalitions 10 to 15 kings
    follow Hammurapi of Babylon, a like number of
    kings each following Rim-Sin of Larsa, Ibal-pi-el
    of Eshnunna, and Amut-pi-el of Qatana, while
    Yarim-Lim of Yamhad stands out with 20 kings
    following him."

48
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • "This balance began to shift when, according to
    Hammurapis 30th-year date formula, he fought and
    protected his borders against Elam, Assyria,
    Gutium, Eshnunna, and Malgium the following year
    he defeated Rim-Sin of Larsa. In order to defeat
    Rim-Sin, Hammurapi exploited the combined power
    of the above-noted royal coalitions by soliciting
    military support from the kings of Mari and
    Eshnunna (ARM 2. 33). Kings with foresight
    advised, Dont provide the man of Babylon with
    auxiliary troops! (ARM 6. 27) for Hammurapi
    eventually turned against even those to whom he
    once turned for help, a notable case being the
    king of Mari, who had commemorated

49
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • his assistance in his own year date formula
    The year Zimri-Lim went to the aid of Babylon.
  • "The year following Rim-Sins defeat began an
    eight-year period of persistent attacks by
    Hammurapi to the N, beginning with his defeat of
    the armies of Eshnunna, Assyria, and Gutium. This
    N campaign was repeated in the following year
    when he this time defeated Mari and Malgu,
    returning two years later to demolish their
    walls. The 37th-, 38th-, and 39th-year date
    formulas record Hammurapis victories against his
    foes to the N."

50
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • Prologue to Law Code
  • "The Shepherd . . . who gathers the scattered
    people of Isin . . . who causes justice to appear
    . . . who causes the light to shine for the land
    of Sumer and Akkad, . . . I uprooted the enemies
    above and below, I extinguished strife, I
    promoted the welfare of the land, . . . I
    tolerated no trouble-makers . . . that the strong
    might not oppress the weak, to guide properly the
    orphan and the widow."

51
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • ". . . when Amorite messengers from the N once
    received an audience with Hammurapi, an
    inequality in gifts of garments on this occasion
    was perceived as an insult. Hammurapi was
    reported to have replied curtly to the messengers
    as he insisted on his absolute sovereignty You
    always cause trouble for me. Now you are
    harassing my palace about garments. I clothe
    those whom I wish and if I dont wish, I dont
    provide garments! (ARM 2. 76)."
  • "Hammurapi is heard elsewhere imperiously
    insulting visiting dignitaries Ill return the
    Elamite messengers to their lord without escort!
    (ARM 2. 73)."

52
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • "On the other hand, Hammurapis vassal rulers of
    what is now Tell-Rimah received a report from
    their son, who notes I reached Babylon safely
    and have seen the king Hammurapi in a good mood
    (Dalley et al. 1976 135)."
  • "The reign of Hammurapi, with its expanding
    horizons for Babylon, facilitated the enhancement
    of enriched cultural and cosmopolitan dimensions
    in Babylonian society. The flourishing of scribal
    activity is evident not only in the numerous
    administrative documents from this period, but
    also in the quantity of OB literary texts
    (themselves already heirs to a long tradition),
    which were to set the standard for future
    literary activity into the 1st millennium b.c."

53
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
  • Successors
  • "Under the successors of Hammurabi, Babylon
    gradually loses its power. Shamshuiluna his son
    must fight internal revolts and repel an invasion
    of the Kassites which poured in from the
    mountains of Luristan. In the south, Ilumailu a
    descendant of the last ruler of the dynasty of
    Isin succeeds in breaking away from Babylon,
    founding by the Persian Gulf the Sea-land
    dynasty, which remains independent for several
    centuries . . . . Things go from bad to worse
    until under Shamshuditana, the last king of the
    dynasty, the Hittite Mursilis I conquers Babylon
    in 1531 BC and carries a heavy booty away."
    Schwantes, 40

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