Mesopotamia: the Origin of Cities and Sumero-Akkadian Culture

1. Mesopotamia: the Origin of Cities and Sumero-Akkadian Culture Ancient History Prof. Marc Cooper

2. Timeline for Early Mesopotamia • Settlement 5500 BCE • Uruk Expansion 3500 BCE • City States 3200 – 2350 BCE • Gilgamesh 2700 BCE • Lagash dynasty 2500 - 2340 • Akkadian Empire 2350 - 2200 BCE • Ur III Empire 2125 - 2000 BCE • Hammurabi 1750 BCE

4. Languages of Mesopotamia

5. Cuneiform writing • Earliest texts from Uruk ca. 3500 BCE • Complex system (rebus writing) • Used to write: • Sumerian • Akkadian • Hittite • Persian • Canaanite

6. Rebus Writing • Pictogram: a sign that represents an object • Logogram: a sign that represents an idea • Phonogram: a sign that represents a sound

7. Pictogram ca. 3500 BCE • Pictogram • Ka = mouth (pu in Akkadian) • Kir = nose (appu in Akkadian) • Zu = tooth (shinnu in Akkadian) • Logogram • Inim = word • Du = to speak • Gu = to cry out • Phonogram – ka, qa, zu, su, du

8. Change in the form of signs 3500 BCE 2800 BCE Variant forms 700 BCE 1200 BCE

9. Cuneiform ca. 3200 BCE

10. Lagash cuneiform ca. 2500

11. Ur III cuneiform ca. 2100

12. Sumerian Religion • Many anthropomorphic gods • Pairs of gods owned each city • Lived in temple • Required food, clothing, worship • Required justice and harmony not morality • Each Sumerian had a personal god • Cult of ancestors • Cult of dead kings • Fear of demons and roving dead • Divination • Magic

13. Sumerian Gods

14. Inanna – Sumerian goddess of grain and war

15. Ishtar appears as both a virginal bride and a sexualized goddess in the Old Babylonian period ca. 1800 BCE

16. Sumerian kingship • War leader • Steward of the gods • Responsible for determining the will of the gods • Responsible for keeping order which requires justice – law codes • Wealth from agricultural land, taxes • A bad king would be replaced by the gods through loss in war • Some ruling queens

17. Babylonian Creation • Marduk, the god of Babylon, destroys Tiamat (personified ocean) and splits her apart creating the heavens and the earth in the midst of water. He creates human beings in the image of the gods out of the blood of the rebel god Kingu. • The story exalts Marduk, explains how the gods created order out of chaos, and addresses the place of Man in the universe. Marduk is a model king and the patron of the Babylonian state.

18. Marduk fighting Tiamat

19. Uruk Vase King (Note: cap and fishnet skirt with long belt.) supervising animal and agricultural sacrifices made in front of the Inanna temple.

20. Gilgamesh • Real king of Uruk ca. 2600 BCE • Worshipped as a god after death • Becomes subject of Sumerian stories by 2100 BCE • Stories translated into Akkadian and expanded during Old Babylonian period ca. 1700 BCE • Shin-eqi-unninni created a lengthy “epic” out of separate stories ca. 1200 BCE • Several different editions widely read in Assyria and Babylonia from 1200 – 300 BCE.

21. Gilgamesh • The ideal king? • A story about immortality? • A story about hubris? • A story explaining the structure of the world? • A story explaining the structure of society?

22. Ur Dynasty ca 2500 BCE • City-state ruled by king called “lugal” • Main god was Nanna • Richest tomb was Queen Pu-Abi • Royal tombs included: • Burial goods • Tools • Chariots • Servants

23. Treasures from Pu-Abi’s tomb

24. Pu-Abi

25. Ur Standard (Banquet)

26. Ur Standard (Warfare)

27. Lagash Dynasty King as war leader King and queen at a banquet King and priests worshipping Inanna

28. Akkadian Empire • Sargon – created empire uniting Sumer, capital at Akkad, promoted Akkadian language • Naram-Sin – Sargon’s grandson, strengthened empire • Sharkalisharri – last strong king • Enheduanna – Sargon’s daughter, high priestess of Nanna at Ur.

29. Sargon • Founded Akkadian empire • Raided throughout SW Asia • Put Akkadians in charge of conquered cities • Syncretized Sumerian and Akkadian gods, i.e., Inanna and Ishtar • First written Akkadian

30. Enheduanna • En priestess of Nanna at Ur • Probably ruled Ur for her father and brothers • Wrote 45 poems about the gods, set them to music. • Exaltation of Inanna, her personal god, earliest authored poem.

31. Naram-Sin • Grandson of Sargon • Great warrior • Inspired a revolution in art • Created a stable imperial state • Defeated the mountain barbarians • Created the largest empire in SW Asia

32. Empire of Naram-Sin

33. Stele of Naram-Sin

34. 3rd Dynasty of Ur (Ur III) • Ur-Namma • Founded dynasty • Moved capital to Ur • United Sumerian and Akkadian cities • First law-code • Constructed ziggurat at Ur • Shulgi • Greatest king • Patron of the arts • Court poetry and literature • Sumerian disappeared as a spoken language • Created a highly organized hierarchical state • Defeated northern and eastern barbarians • Built a great defensive wall 120 mile long

35. Ur III Empire

36. Ziggurat and Ur-Namma stele

37. Why do empires arise? • Some cities prevail in war due to a charismatic leader. • Cities with greater populations can overwhelm those of lesser population. • According to tradition, the gods chose one city to rule the others.

38. Why do empires fall? • Cities were sometimes weakened by disunity. • Leading citizens of conquered cities often felt compelled to rebel to further their ambition. • Tradition accepted the idea that the gods removed failed kings through battle. • Foreign invaders found easy roads into Mesopotamia. • Upland tribesmen regularly moved their flocks through areas controlled by cities. • Irrigation produced occasional instability attributed to bad kings (it’s the economy stupid).

39. Babylonian food • Meat – Beef, mutton, fowl, fish, turtle • Grain – Wheat, barley, emmer • Dairy – Milk, cheese, butter, ghee • Oil – Palm oil, olive oil • Vegetables – Chickpeas, onion, pea, leek • Fruits – dates, figs, apples, pear, peach, grapes • Flavorings – garlic, saffron, cumin • Beverages – Wine (Geshtinanna), Beer (Ninkash)

40. Cultural innovations • Writing • Metal working • Bronze • Iron • Precious metal • Architecture (mud brick) • Science • Commerce

41. Babylonian Calendar • Natural units of time – day, month, year • Day ends at sundown • Year ends with harvest • 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days each • Month length was new moon to new moon • Extra harvest month determined by • Observation of crops (to 1700) • According to crude astronomical observations (1700 – 700) • According to Metonic Cycle – 7 extra months in 19 years (700-100 BCE)

42. Mathematics Sexagesimal arithmetic (base 60)

43. Translate to decimal 1,57,46,40 424,000

44. Mathematics • Place system notation • Placeholder for zero • Solved all quadratic equations • Areas of plane figures • Pythagorean theorem • Discovered value of Pi • Solved square roots

45. Astronomy • Named constellations • Discovered zodiac • Divided zodiac into houses • Discovered planetary periods • Worked out lunar theory • Several theories for each planet • Predicted lunar eclipses

46. Commerce • Used temples as banks • Traders lived together in “karum” • Family businesses • Women often important • Loaned money at interest • “Paper” loans common • Kept accurate records • Traded by ship and caravan • Wholesale and retail manufacturing • Ideal trader amassed gold and silver • Cities taxed exports and imports • Smuggling to avoid taxes very common

48. Important trade goods • Textiles • Craftwork • Jewelry and gems • Statues • Furniture • Wood • Weapons

49. Law Codes • Urkagina legal reform – ca. 2380 • Ur III Law code - ca. 2100 • Laws of Lipit-Ishtar – ca.1934-1924 • Laws of Eshnunna - ca. 1900 • Code of Hammurapi - ca.1792-1750 • Middle Assyrian laws – ca. 1300 • Hittite laws – ca. 1300

50. Are these laws? • No legal document ever cites a law code. • Legal documents do not follow any of the law codes. • Three classes found in HC: free men (majority), royal dependents, slaves. Gender difference major part of the HC. • The codes appear to borrow freely from each other in specific content and form. • Perhaps the codes collect particularly good judicial decisions which were models of justice rather than precedents.