Chapter Two

1
Chapter Two

• Mesopotamia

2

• Geography

3
(No Transcript)
4
http//www.earth-history.com/_images/ancient-sumer
.gif
5
The Fertile Crescent

• the area between the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers.
  Presently Iraq
• Unpredictable rivers vulnerable geographic
  situation erratic climate

6
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)

7

• Mesopotamias 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).

8

• Timeline

9

• 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)

10

• 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

11

• Religion

12

• Monotheism the Hebrews
• Polytheism everyone else

13
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.

14
The Epic of Gilgamesh (2)

• One day, Gilgamesh, always looking for adventure,
  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.

15
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.

16
The Epic of Gilgamesh (4)

• Enkidu's death is the occasion for the section
  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.

17
http//www.actorssceneunseen.com/images/Gilgamesh/
GilgameshCover420.jpg
18
The Epic of Gilgamesh (5)

• Utnapishtim tells his story-the famous story of
  the 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/jwal
  z/Eliade/159.html

19
The Epic of Gilgamesh

• The major theme The human protest against
  death
• (12, Perry, Western Civilization)

20

• Politics

21
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.c
  aup.washington.edu/courses/LARC352/oct10.htmHDR2
  02201

22
Sargon I

• ca. 2350 BCE
• Created the first empire, which extended from the
  Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea

23
Sargon I
24
Hammurabi

• Babylonian king
• Author of the Code of Hammurabi

25
(No Transcript)
26
The Code of Hammurabi

• an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
• Shows class distinction and womens subordination
  to men

27
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).

28
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.

29
Temple of King Solomon
http//www.templemount.org/solomon.html
30
http//www.templemodels.com/temple/goodfullbig600.
jpg
31
(No Transcript)
32
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 Solomons temple
  in Jerusalem, and carried the Hebrew people into
  an exile know as the Babylonian Captivity.

33
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.

34

• Art

35
The Standard of Ur (ca. 2700 BCE)
36
Ziggurat man-made hill with temple on top
dominating each city
http//www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH1/CH1_F4.JPG
37
http//faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/zigg
urat_diagram.gif
38
http//faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ur_z
iggurat.jpg
39
The "Little" Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel
(c. 1525-69)
http//www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/littl
ebabel.jpg
40
Peter Bruegel the Elder, The Tower of Babel
(1563)
http//www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/babel
.jpg
41
http//www.ldolphin.org/babel.html
42

• (1) The story of the tower of Babel can be found
  in Genesis 111-9 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.

43

• (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."

44
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7
wonders of the ancient world.
http//www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/rs/7hanging.
gif
45
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
http//www.atlastours.net/iraq/the_hanging_gardens
.jpg
46
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
http//vandyck.anu.edu.au/work/teach/context/www.c
aup.washington.edu/courses/LARC352/006.gif
47
The Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Neo-Babylonian,
612-530 B.C.
http//faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/isht
ar_recon.jpg
48
Old Babylon
http//www.item.ntnu.no/malek/pixIraq/bab3.jpg
49
Winged Human-headed Bull from the palace of
Sargon II
http//xenohistorian.faithweb.com/worldhis/figure1
5.jpg
50
Wounded Lion, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture,
Palace at Nineveh, 668-630, London, British
Museum
http//iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/wo
undedlion.jpg
51
http//iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/wa
rrior.jpg
52
Warrior, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture, Palace at
Nineveh, 668-630, London, British Museum
http//www.item.ntnu.no/malek/pixIraq/ash2.jpg
53

• The End