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Mesopotamia

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Title: Mesopotamia


1
Mesopotamia
  • A Case Study in Civilization

2
Requirements for Civilization
  1. Urban revolution
  2. New Political and Military Structures
  3. Social Structure based on economic power
  4. The development of complex technology
  5. Development of Writing
  6. Distinct religious structure
  7. New forms of artistic and cultural activity

3
The Geography
  • The land between the rivers.
  • Arid yet, fertile.
  • Silt, irrigation, and civilization.

4
The Mesopotamian City
  • City states, large population groups ruled by all
    powerful kings grew in the place of the town.
    Famous sites such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu are
    examples.
  • Towns gradually outgrew themselves and became
    walled cities.

5
The City Center The Ziggurat
  • While the walls provided protection from without,
    the temple protected the people within.

6
Ziggurat
7
Religion
  • Gods and Goddesses owned the cities and as a
    result much wealth was devoted to temple
    construction. The temples played a significant
    role in the daily life of Mesopotamians.

8
Significant Deities
  • Anu God of the Sky
  • Enlil God of the Wind
  • Enki God of the Earth
  • Ninhursaga God of Soil and Vegetation

9
Mesopotamian Outlook
  • Many felt helpless with Anthromophorbic gods
    who meddled in the lives of people.
  • Life filled with strife, discomfort, and war.
  • The rampant flood which no man can oppose, which
    shakes the heavens and casuses the earth to
    tremble, In an appalling blanket folds mother and
    child, beats down the meadows full luxuriant
    greenery, and drowns the harvest in time of
    ripeness. Epic of Gilgamesh

10
Relationships with the divine
  • Mesopotamians believed they were placed on earth
    to serve.
  • They felt they could never be secure of the gods
    actions.

11
Economy
  • Largely agricultural
  • Small industries pottery, metallurgy, textiles,
    and crafts brought them fame and foreign trade.

12
Innovation
  • Foreign trade led to, and facilitated cultural
    diffusion.
  • As economies grew in scale, innovations such as
    writing and the wheel facilitated these
    innovations.

13
Copper
14
Mass production
15
Social Class in Sumeria
  • The Elite Nobles
  • The Labor Commoners
  • The Slaves

16
Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
  • A kingdom to which rulers have added areas
    belonging to other rulers.
  • Warfare nearly constantas men like Senacharib of
    Assyria sought conquest
  • Ur is destroyed bitter in its lament. The
    countrys blood now fills its holes like hot
    bronze in a mold. Bodies dissolve like fat in
    the sun. Our temple is destroyed,d the gods have
    abandoned us, like migrating birds. Smoke lies
    on our city like a shroud.

17
Akkadians
  • Led by the legendary Sargon.
  • Semitic language speaking peoples.
  • Overran the Sumerian city states and established
    an empire.

18
Hammurabi
  • Organized the Amorites (Old Babylonians) into an
    empire, built the legendary city of Babylon.
  • Known for incredible military discipline.
  • The Sun of Babylon.

19
The Great Lawgiver
  • An Eye For An Eye
  • Complex societies required codified legal
    systems.
  • Examples

20
The Cultivation of New Arts and Sciences
  • Cuneiform
  • Schools for the elite, scribes.
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • Time, calendar, mathematics, etc

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The Standard of Ur
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The Royal Game of Ur
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Akkadians 2340-2125 BC
Amorites 1800-1530 BC
Sumeria 3500-1800 BC
Hittites 1600-717 BC
Mesopotamian Civilization
Chaldeans 612-539 BC
Kassites 1530-1170 BC
Assyrians 1170-612 BC
31
The Worlds Oldest Story?
  • The Meaning of Life and the Epic of Gilgamesh

32
The Epic
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh is probably the oldest
    written story in the world. The story was written
    down on 12 clay tablets somewhere in ancient
    Sumer. It is the first heroic epos that we know
    of, predating the Greek by at least 1500 years.

33
Piecing Together History?
  • Problems?
  • Epic incomplete, as you can see portions of the
    original are in tatters.
  • Persia destroyed the great library of Nineveh in
    612 BCE.
  • However, we do have it in multiple ancient
    languages.

34
Gilgamesh?
  • Fabled king of Uruk, the true, legendary city in
    Sumer.

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The Story
  • The King Gilgamesh is a flawed figure, the
    worlds first tragic hero. In his story we find
    bits and pieces of all that makes us human. The
    desire for compassion, greatness, sympathy, and
    friendshipwhile displaying ignorance, greed, and
    intolerance.

37
Elements of an Epic
  • Within Gilgamesh we find
  • Flood myth
  • Eden
  • Discussion of life and death
  • Cornerstone philosophies of modern religion.

38
Assyria
39
Assyria by theme
  • Signature characteristic military prowess and
    strength.
  • Library of Nineveh
  • Geography located on upper Tigris River
  • Controlled Asia Minor, Iran, Syria, Palestine
    and northern Egypt.
  • Language Semitic speaking peoples

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  • Signature leaders Senacherib, Asurbanipal
  • Problems? Overextension of empire, anger of
    constituents, internal strife, harsh rule
  • Fall fell to Chaldean and Median coalition in
    612 BCE
  • Politics Assyrian kings had absolute, despotic
    power.

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Tigleth-Pilsar II
  • Most centralized and efficient state the world
    had seen. (745 BCE)

45
Military Might
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Use of terror
  • I fixed up a pile of copses in front of the
    citys gate. I flayed the nobles, as many as had
    rebelled and spread their skins out on the
    pilesI flayed many leaders and spread their
    skins on the walls. Ashurbaninapl

52
  • Political leaders were directly responsible to
    the king. Rarely acted without divine approval
  • Developed an efficient administrative system to
    govern more effectively.
  • Developed a primitive postal system.
  • Military was gifted in all types of fighting and
    was extremely large and well organizaed.
  • Technological superiority came from their use of
    Hittite technology of Iron weapons.

53
  • Economics largely agrarian. Did trade in
    metals,, precious metals, and acted in control of
    regional trade routes.
  • Culture despite their violent reputation. They
    acted as guardians of Mesopotamian heritage and
    built the great library to safeguard it.
  • Religion patron god of Ashur, the rest were
    previously existing Mesopotamian gods.

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Indo Europeans
  • Subfamily Languages
  • Indo-Iranian Sanskrit, Persian
  • Balto-Slavic Russia, Serbo-Croat, Polish, Czech.
  • Italic Latin, Romantic languages
  • Celtic Irish, Gaelic
  • Germanic Swedish, Danish, German, English

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History
  • Based somewhere in black sea region. Substantial
    migration of peoples to diverse areas.
  • Empires and groups formed Hittites, Aryan,
    Greeks, Romans, and Persians

58
Phoenicians
  • Language Semitic
  • Geography Palestine along the mediteranean coast
  • Signature achievement Phonetic alphabet.
  • Identifying trait trade, commerce, and sea
    faring ability, trade in Phoenecian purple and
    the famed Lebanese cedars.

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The Hebrews
  • Lived to the south of the Phoenecians.
  • Identifying characteristic Judaism.
  • Great cultural achievement Old Testament (Torah)
  • Nomadic people in earliest times.
  • Patriarch-Abraham.
  • Drought caused movement to Egypt where they lived
    until enslaved.

61
  • Exodus in the first half of the 13th millenium
    BCE-wandered in desert for many years until
    resettleing into Palestine.
  • Organized into 12 tribesbecame embroiled in
    conflict with Phillistines, living in the same
    region.
  • 1000 BCE organized into a league of tribes who
    established the kingdom of Israel.

62
Hebrew challenges
  • Egyptian enslavement
  • Philistine conflicts
  • Babylonian captivity (role of Persians)
  • Assyrian siege

63
United Kingdom
  • First kingdom under Saul, later reunified under
    David who united reunited the Israelites and led
    a siege against the Philistines and established
    control over the area. David centralized the
    kingdom into an agrarian culture with an urban
    center.
  • Solomon, Davids son is known for his great
    building projects, high taxes and military
    expansion.

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Divided Kingdom
  • Tribal tensions emerge between Northern and
    Southern tribes within Israel.
  • Two kingdoms created
  • 10 Northern tribesIsrael
  • 2 Southern tribesJudah capital at Jerusalem
  • Each kingdom threatened at brought under the
    control of Assyria by 722 BCE
  • Gradually moved and merged with other cultures
    and lost their identity (Ten lost tribes of
    Israel)
  • South preserved their culture and heritageuntil

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Babylonian Captivity
  • 586 BCE Chaldeans destroy Assyria (what is left)
    conquer Judah and destroy Jerusalem in the
    process deporting thousands to Bablyon for
    captivity.
  • Psalm 137
  • By the rivers of Bablyon we sat and remembered
    Zion. How can we sing the songs of the Lord in a
    Foreign land.
  • Persians destroy Chaldeans and liberate the
    Hebrews even helping the people of Jerusalem
    return and build their temples.

68
Liberation
  • The Babylonian Captivity lasted exactly 70 years
    as predicted, extending from the burning of the
    Temple to its reconstruction, 586 B.C. - 516 B.C.
  •  
  • The Babylonian captivity ended with the decree of
    Cyrus in 537 B.C.
  •  
  • Ezra 12-4
  • 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia All the
    kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has
    given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a
    house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
  • 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God
    be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which
    is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God
    of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem

69
Hittites
70
Capital City Hattusa
71
Technology
72
Hittite legacy
  • Controlled Turkey as far back as 1800 BCE
  • Part of IE migrations
  • Pioneers of Iron usage
  • Governed with a despotic king who received advice
    from the first known assembly the Hittite Pankus,
    a council of warriors that acted as a
    cabinet/legislature.
  • Treaty of Kadesh-1st international peace treaty
  • Destroyed by the Sea Peoples the mystery group
    that also befell Egyptian civilization

73
Treaty of Kadesh Egypt and Hittites
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