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Ancient Sumerians. Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates in the heart of modern-day Iraq on a dry, flat, hot plain.
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Ancient Sumerians • Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates in the heart of modern-day Iraq on a dry, flat, hot plain. • Literally, “the land between two rivers,” Mesopotamia was part of an area called the Fertile Crescent, where some of the earliest civilizations developed. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers have their sources in the mountains of northeastern Turkey and drain into the Persian Gulf. • Prior to the rise of city-states, there existed farming villages—before the villages, bands of humans hunted and gathered on the plain. • Ca. 12,000 years ago, some of these hunters and gatherers learned to domesticate plants and animals—soon these people became sedentary. • Some of the first settlement villages were at the foot of the mountains east and north of Mesopotamia. • When the soil was depleted of its nutrients, these farmers moved onto the plain, where the soil was nourished by the annual overflow of the rivers. • In this dry climate, farmers learned to irrigate (vast irrigation projects necessitated cooperation, planning, and leadership). • Soon, villages grew into cities—thus, Mesopotamia is referred to as “the cradle of civilization” because it was where the first cities emerged.
The History of Mesopotamia is measured in millennia rather than centuries.The first cities developed in the south around 3,500 B.C.E.For the next three thousand years, kingdoms rose and fell, empires expanded and contracted, outsiders conquered and were repelled (a geographic component).During this time, three dominant civilizations held center stage at various times:Sumer (3500-2006 B.C.E.)Babylonia (1792-539 B.C.E.)Assyria (1115-612 B.C.E.)
It is said that “history begins at Sumer” because history is the written record of events, and around 3000 B.C.E. the Sumerians invented writing.Since Mesopotamia had few trees for making paper, writing was scratched on clay tablets; Mesopotamian writing, cuneiform, developed from earlier pictographs (picture writing).There earliest writing kept track of business transactions. Small clay tokens, probably representing different items, such as grain or sheep, were an early form of a bill accompanying shipments. Tokens were put into a clay sphere, which had cylinder seals rolled over them to produce records.The first author to be known by name was a Mesopotamian known as Enheduanna. She was the daughter of Sargon the Great and she learned to read and write at an early age. When she was a teenager, her father made her high priestess to Nanna, the moon god of Sumer. She held the post for 25 years, expressing her religious feelings in poems. Besides penning a series of 43 hymns to the temples of Sumer and Akkad, she wrote a cycle of poetry to the moon goddess, Inanna.The Babylonian map of the world, made some 2,700 years ago, is the earliest known world map.The Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal (668-627 B.C.E.) founded the first national library, at Nineveh. Clay tablets were stored on shelves in baskets, while catalogs were prepared giving the contents and location of the various baskets.
Cylinder seal Cylinder seals combined beauty and usefulness. Carved in stone, they produced a raised image when rolled on moist clay—the image could be used to mark a merchant’s shipment or a stamp of an official document. Sons of wealthy families went to school from age six, mainly to learn to read and write cuneiform, the wedge-shaped writing inscribed on clay tablets. By copying a variety of texts, they also learned about animals and plants, mathematics, and literature (knowledge is power).
Sumer (3500-2006 B.C.E.) Marshy area at the southern end of the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates. Over time, the Sumerians converted their open villages into walled cities (what does that say)? As cities expanded their control, they became city-states, ruled by strong leaders, such as Sargon the Great, from Akkad (r. 2371-2316 B.C.E.). He conquered all of Mesopotamia. Akkadian replaced Sumerian as the spoken language.
Ancient Sumerians • Typical settlement of Sumerians, direct descendants of Al-Ubaids, was the city-state (political/religious center devoted to serving the gods) • Sumerians believed each city was the divine property of its patron deity to whom it had been entrusted on the day of creation. • Sometimes, these city-states warred with one another. • Residential areas of Sumerian cities consisted of mud brick (Mesopotamia had few natural resources; stone, wood, and metal were scarce whereas clay was abundant) one/two story homes built around a central courtyard and separated by narrow alleys. • These homes contained family units (nuclear or extended) and perhaps their slaves. • City-states ruled by bureaucracy and theocracy. • Bureaucrats/theocrats may have served in a Council of Elders (most likely ran day-to-day affairs). • During crises (war/forging peace over land/water) decisions taken by a general decision of all citizens.
l • Uruk: believed to be first city state (Erech of the Old Testament)—Sumerians themselves regarded Eridu as the first city (When Sumerians looked back to beginning of time, they saw, not a garden, but a city. • Cuneiform tablet found in Nippur inscribed with Sumerian creation myth. • Speaks of pure/bright land that knew neither sickness nor death. • Into this land the fresh water god and god of wisdom Enki had fresh water brought so a lush garden might grow. • Enki than ordered his mother, Nammu, to form man from “the clay that is over the abyss”. • Enki than pro-created with the earth mother goddess, Ninhursag, three generations of goddesses all born with painless labor. • Ninhursag, in turn, created 8 precious plants which Enki ate. • This angered Ninhursag who declared that Enki must die and abandoned him. • When 8 parts of Enki’s body began to fail (one for each plant), a clever fox persuaded Ninhursag to save him. • Seated beside Enki, Ninhursag brought into being a healing deity for each afflicted part. • One healing goddess, created to cure his rib was Ninti. • Translated into both “lady of the rib” and “lady who makes live”. • Sumerian word for rib is “ti”. • Sumerian genesis (creation myth appears on clay tablets ca. 2000 B.C.E.): “A reed had not come forth. A tree had not been created. A house had not been made. A city had not been made. All the lands were sea. Then Eridu was made.”
Sumer Not only did the Sumerians develop a system of writing, they also developed metal-working and were early users of the wheel.
Gudea of Lagash King Gudea developed long-distance trade in timber and metal artistry.
Mesopotamian city-states with patron deities: • Uruk (Anu—sky god—god of heavens) • Ur (Nanna) • Nippur (Enlil—will emerge as the leader of the gods—and Inanna—goddess of love, war, and procreation—Queen of Heaven) • Lagash (Ningirsu—took the form of a lion headed eagle) • Mari (Temple of Ishtar—later Temple of Shamash—Akkadian sun god) • Eridu (Enki—fresh water god and god of wisdom)
Uruk • In the fourth millennium B.C. Uruk was most important city in Mesopotamia. • By 3500 B.C.E. Uruk was a city of thousands. • Uruk was occupied for 5,000 years.
Anu Ziggurat, Uruk • Ziggurat: stepped temple tower comprised of superimposed shrines. • Ziggurat was the first form of monumental architecture in the world in the greater sense of the word. • Forms a man made (artificial) mountain—many Sumerian ziggurats feature the word “mountain” in their name. • Shows that man on top is important because they are “looking down” on everyone else. • Can be built to tremendous height.
White Temple at Uruk • Located in an area/precinct adjacent to Anu Ziggurat. • Early example of high temple. • White-washed walls of sun-dried brick. • Temple also dedicated to Anu. • Could have been used as a portal through which god could pass on his visits to earth. • Could also show figure of authority to be an intermediary between god and man. It has been suggested that a greater sense of religion was developed perhaps to subjegate groups of people (idea of theocracy). • Temple elevated on artificial mountain (platform) forty feet above street level—elevation both symbolic (emphasized its importance) and practical (made the temple safe from flood prone areas).
Polychrome mosaics • Another nearby precinct (temple complex) at Uruk was dedicated to Inanna, goddess of love and war and procreation. • The precinct includes a series of very large religious, perhaps administrative buildings, including two temples, and a 100 foot long hall of 8 columns, each six feet in diameter. • The facades of some walls bore polychrome mosaic decorations. • Consisted of geometric shapes of circular elements. • Made from small colored terra cotta cones of baked clay approximately 4” long and ½” in diameter—the base (head) of each cone was dipped in either black, white, or red glaze and was then inserted into the clay. • Cones were about 4” long and ½” in diameter. • These cones also used to waterproof the structure. Through time they changed from sun-dried bricks to glazed bricks (waterproof and could be painted on more easily).
Walls of Uruk, built by Gilgamesh • Collectively, the outer and inner walls encompassed over 5 miles. • The wall encompassed over 988 acres. • Today, the wall encompassing Uruk now stands some 12 miles from the Euphrates that gave it life. • Likewise, the ancient site of Ur, which was originally surrounded by branches of the Euphrates, today lie 10 miles from the river, due to the fact the river’s course has shifted over time.
The Legendary Gilgamesh Little is known about the historical Sumerian Gilgamesh, who ruled the city-state of Uruk probably around 2600 B.C.E. He is considered among the most famous Mesopotamians—he is the hero of stories first told aloud in the marketplaces of Mesopotamia and later recorded as one of the world’s first epics. Twelve tablets that tell parts of the tale were found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. In these tales, Gilgamesh is half-god, half-man; a great builder and warrior, and fallible. In one of these stories, Gilgamesh meets Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods in response to prayers offered by Gilgamesh’s people, who were complaining that he worked them too hard to build walls around the city. Enkidu challenges Gilgamesh and, of course, they fight: “They broke the door posts and the walls shook, they snorted like bulls locked together.” Finally, Gilgamesh throws Enkidu who is impressed: “There is not another like you in the world.” In another adventure of Enkidu and Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh attempts to make a name for himself by challenging the guardian-demon Humbaba. Because Enkidu kills Humbaba, who pleads for his life, the gods decide Enkidu must die (and Gilgamesh mourns his friend). At one point in the epic, Gilgamesh sought immortality. He travelled across the waters of death to speak to the wise man Utnapishtim, the only human to have escaped death. Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh the story of the flood, in which the gods saved him and his family. He challenged Gilgamesh to stay awake for six days and seven nights; Gilgamesh failed: “Even as he sat there on his haunches, sleep, like a wet haze blew over him.” As Gilgamesh prepares to return to Uruk, Utnapishtim offers him a final secret—a plant called “The-Old-Man-Will-Be-Made-Young.” Gilgamesh finds it, but a serpent carries it away and he is resigned to die a mortal death.
Uruk, like other city-states, set up outposts (Tell Brak, Jebel Aruda) where raw materials were assembled and then transported to city industries (e.g. ores, timber, etc.). • Jebel Aruda, which is perched nearly 200 feet above the Euphrates in northern Syria, the ruins of Jebel Aruda marks the site of one of a chain of administrative and trading center (Southern Mesopotamia). • Jebel Aruda outpost may have sent downstream copper ore, semiprecious stones, timber, skins, animals, and other goods that were unavailable in the homeland to the south. • The walls of Jebel Aruda suggest a threat, perhaps posed by the local inhabitants, that might have led the colonists to desert it around 3500 B.C.E. after only 100-150 years of occupation.
Aerial view of Ur • Ur was one of the most powerful cities in Mesopotamia (ca. 5500-400 B.C.E.). • Bible lists Ur of Chaldees as the home of the Patriarch Abraham. • 1854: Englishman J.E. Taylor, who was a consular official in Basra, traveled into the remains of a ziggurat near the Euphrates, the same ziggurat the Roman traveler, della valle, visited in 1625. • Taylor discovered buried in the foundations, cylinder seals that permitted Rawlinson to identify the site as Ur—”Ur of Chaldees” was inscribed on a number of cylinder seals discovered at the site. • Stratigraphic digging used at Ur by a joint British Museum and University of Pennsylvania sponsored team led by British archaeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley. • 1929: Woolley decided to dig a trial pit, starting from his earlier excavation of the Royal Cemetery (discussed under religion). • Included within the site: Shrine of Nanna, ziggurat, Court of Nanna, Temple, Treasury, Residence of high priestess, Palace of Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, enclosure wall, royal cemetery (tombs of Shulgi and Amar-Sin).
Ziggurat at Ur • Dedicated to moon goddess Nanna. • Once stood 80 feet high; 150-200 feet at its base. Today it rises from fields of rubble to 50 feet, having been built/rebuilt as many as seven times. • Triple staircase led to the first of its three levels. • Shrine at the top was where the Sacred Marriage was performed. • Built by Ur-Nammu during the third dynasty of Ur. • Walls bowed horizontally and vertically to give the illusion it was straight from a distance. • Temple precinct walled in by Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar II (6th century B.C.) • The 100 steps leading to the first stage of the temple had to be restored after sustaining damage during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. • During the War the Iraqis sheltered aircraft in Ur’s sacred precinct and U.S. forces attacked the area. • Originally encircled by branches of the Euphrates, Ur, home to 30,000 withered away in the fourth century B.C. as the river shifted its course to a point some 10 miles away.
Ziggurat at Ur • Temple Complex • Shrine of Nanna • Ziggurat • Court of Nanna • Temple • Treasury • Residence of high priests/priestesses • Palace of Ur-Nammu and Shulgi • Royal Cemetery: tombs of Shulgi and Amar-Sin • Enclosure wall
Stele of Ur-Nammu • Stone or wooden slab, generally taller than wide, erected for funerals, commemorative purposes (e.g. victories, or as territiorial markers. They are usually decorated with the names/titles of the deceased or living inscribed or carved in relief. • Discovered by Leonard Woolley in shadow of the ziggurat of Ur. • Over nine feet tall. • Over 4,000 years old. • Original piece had been smashed by invaders. • 1926: University of PA Museum acquired the stele. • Musuem restorer rebuilt it from larger sections as best he could and with little direction. • For more than 60 years, 89 pieces of carved limestone from the piece stored in basement of the museum. • 1986: museum researcher Jeanny V. Canby began examining the pieces in effort to reassemble parts of ancient sculpture. • Upon dismantling the work, she found that coat hangers, shoe strings, newspapers, and bits of crate used as filler. • Once freed, the pieces, along with the other surviving fragments were compared and scrutinized, some scientifically. • The piece includes reliefs depicting Ur-Nammu’s ceremonial activities such as offering libations to Nanna—the king is pouring out what may be wine, water, oil, or blood from a newly sacrificed animal.
Stele of Ur-Nammu • 1992 diagram of front of stele showing the partially reordered reliefs and the integration of some of the fragments not included in the original construction.
Bronze head of Akkadian ruler, Naram-Sin Stele of Naram-Sin
Discovered in cemeteries: pottery, painted jars, cups, dishes, belongings, food, etc. suggest a journey in the afterlife; were providing sustenance. • Sumerian burial practices: • Ordinary citizens: • Buried in simple rectangular graves, laid, as if asleep, either wrapped in matting or placed with jewelry and other personal items in wooden or reed baskets. • Outside burial casket, mourners left offerings of food and drink. • Rulers and princes: • Laid to rest in elaborate vaulted stone/brick burial chambers. • Buried with great treasures, most of which were robbed over the centuries. • Death pits (use of human sacrifice) • Named for those who attended their rulers in death (attendants, guards, animals) • Death ritual (could have taken weeks to conclude) • Harps and lyres (rearing bearded lapis/ram with shelled fleece—head of hammered gold over wooden core—adorned the lyre/mounted on soundbox) played the funeral dirge until the end. • Victims were members of the royal household—sacrificed to minister to their ruler’s needs in afterlife. • No signs of resistance—perhaps victims drank a drugged drink or were poisoned—presence of a cup near each body. • Head dresses still in place and bodies laid out in neat rows head to feet. • Tomb with the royal body and the attendants then sealed by a door. • Another sacrifice followed outside the entrance and was covered with fill. • Process contd. until only the dome of the tomb was exposed. • Funeral feast and libations (ceremony by which wine/oil/blood is poured over ground/victim of sacrifice in honor of a god) to the dead poured onto clay drain running down into the soil beside the tomb. • More dirt then thrown into shaft. • Then an offering, covered by a bowl to protect it from the fresh earth about to cover it, was offered to the underworld gods. • By now, the pit was half filled—it was in this half-filled pit that a subterranean building was constructed of mud brick. • This building was filled up by degrees—clay brought in and trampled upon underfoot to set offerings before another sacrifice—then, another floor added, another sacrifice—process continued until top of the walls nearly reached. • The half subterranean building was roofed in with mud brick vault—it was in this subsidiary tomb that the casket holding the chief sacrifice was placed—this chamber too was buried. • On top, a funeral chapel was probably erected so as to perpetuate the sanctity of the spot.
Royal Standard of Ur • Discovered by Leonard Woolley at the Royal Cemetery (tomb) at Ur. Remainder of the tomb plundered. • Dated 3rd millennium B.C.E. (ca. 2700 B.C.E.). • Standards were carried on a pole by ancient soldiers when they went to war (like a battle flag). Standard may also be the sound board of a musical instrument (lyre). • Standard is oblong (18 inches long). • This side of the standard depicts scenes of war (the battlefield). • Top panel: King (centered and enlarged) dismounted his chariot and is waiting to receive naked/bound prisoners. • Middle panel: soldiers marching in close order (phalanx) toward the enemy. Reading left to right—infantry captures and leads off the enemy. • Lower panel: Royal chariots (shock troops) manned by javelin throwers. Sumerian axe carrying warriors (infantry) preceded into battle by missile (javelin) throwing shock troops riding in donkey-drawn wooden battle wagons (chariots). Reading left to right—charioteers charge enemy and knock him over. • Soldiers shown wearing body armor (long cloaks made of leather and dotted with metal disks to guard against broad axes, spears, and arrows from simple bows) and copper helmets.
Royal Standard of Ur • This side of the standard depicts peace and celebration of victory. • Shows the king and his court. • Top panel: The king and his nobles. The seated figure (facing right) is the king being serenaded by a harpist and a singer (far right). • Lower/Middle panels: Figures bringing in livestock, goats, fish, produce, and other food supplies.
Royal Standard of Ur • Figures made of small pieces of shell and set into a background of blue stone (lapis lazuli—found in East Iran and as far away as Indus Valley and prized as religious/personal adornment similar to gold) using bitumen as glue. • Overall, the Standard offers evidence of a civilized society—agricultural products, domesticated livestock, important inventions such as the wheel, the cultivation of leisurely activities such as a formal banquet, musical instruments such as the harp, and the art piece itself, an organized society and the instillation of discipline indicated by the infantry, porters, musicians, servants, and the king who represents a centralized political authority that is directly tied to military prowess. • Note: the sole female figure is the singer.
Ram in the Thicket from the Royal Cemetery at Ur • Some people from the lands of Bible worshipped bulls (story in the Bible about worshipping a Golden Calf).
Nippur site • This structure was put up in the 1890’s to protect American excavators from hostile tribesmen and it crowns the great ziggurat of Nippur, built by king Ur-Nammu around 2100 B.C.E.. • Nippur was Sumer’s most important religious center. • Believed to be where Enlil separated heaven and earth—where he took a pick axe and with it made a hole in the ground from which humans sprang. • Believed to be the meeting place of the gods where they decided the fate of Sumer. • Nippur was never the seat of a ruling dynasty, although it was of strategic importance—rulers of Sumer and Akkad ventured to gain control of it and to maintain/restore its temples. • 3 temples at Nippur (early one not yet identified, Temple of Enlil, Temple of Inanna) • Nippur, too, once stood on the Euphrates; today, however, the bulk of the river’s water flows 40 miles to the west of the ruins.
Origin of Kingship? • It may have been during periods of crisis that the first man bearing the title lugal (“big man”) came to rule in Sumer. • Perhaps elected from group of bureaucrats/theocrats to command only for duration of hostilities. • Eventually, however, he gained control of army and took complete control of city-state. • Ultimately made their system hereditary—dynastic rule and rise of kingship. • Sumerians believed their ruler descended from heaven (origins of their rulership). • The ruler, as head of city-state or society, was also the chief servant of their patron deity/deities who created humans to care for their needs (e.g. food and shelter). • Rulers were regarded by their citizens as the living link between humans and the gods/goddesses. • By serving the gods/goddesses, they would, in turn, be providing the blessings for their people.
Excerpt from Ancient Sumerian King Lists as translated by Professor Samuel Noah Kramer: • After kingship had descended from heaven, Eridu became (the seat) of kingship. In Eridu Alulim reigned 28,800 years as king; Alalgar reigned 36,000 years—two kings reigned 64,800 years. Eridu was abandoned, (and) its kingship was carried off to Badtibira….In Sippar, Emmeduranna reigned 21,000 years as king—one king reigned 21,000 years. Sippur was abandoned (and) its kingship was carried off to Shruppak….The Flood then swept over (the land). After the Flood had swept over (the land) and kingship had descended from heaven (a second time), Kish became (the seat) of kingship. In Kish, Gaur reigned 1,200 years as king; Gulla-Nidaba0annapad reigned 960 years; Palakinatim reigned 900 years….In Ur, Mesannepadda reigned 960 years; Palakinatim reigned 900 years….In Ur, Mesannepadda reigned 80 years as king; Meskiagnunna, the son of Mesannepadda reigned 36 years as king; Elulu reigned 25 years; Balulu reigned 36 years. (Total) four kings reigned 177 years. Ur was defeated (in battle), (and) its kingship was carried off to Awan.”
Law Code of Hammurabi • Dated ca. 1800 B.C.E. • Hammurabi took the throne of Babylon in 1792 B.C.E. • A skilled statesman and warrior, he consolidated rival kingdoms and made Babylon the center of power (By 2006 B.C.E., Sumer had become weakened by constant warfare, was overrun by invaders, and the region splintered into small kingdoms). • Hammurabi claimed the gods told him to write a legal code “to make justice appear in the land” so that “the strong may not oppress the weak.” • Hammurabi ordered his code to be inscribed on a stone pillar and set up in public. • At the top of the pillar Hammurabi is depicted receiving the sceptor of authority from the god Shamash. • god Shamash, Lord of Justice and Law Giver. • The code of law demanded “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” • This same principle appears in the Biblical book of Exodus.
Babylonia (1792-539 B.C.E.) The city of Babylon inherited the culture of Sumer and, under Hammurabi, became the seat of a strong central government and a great cultural and religious center. During the following centuries, Babylon was often invaded by groups such as the Kassites and the Assyrians. The Assyrians destroyed Babylon ca. 689 B.C.E. In 612 B.C.E., Babylon was dominated by Chaldeans who, along with the Medes, crushed the Assyrian Empire.
Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 B.C.E.) • Chaldean king who rebuilt Babylon into the greatest city in the World following its destruction by the Assyrians. • Temples and palaces were decorated with lavish gold and silver ornaments. • His most noted contribution was a series of terraced gardens (“the Hanging Gardens of Babylon”) kept lush and green by an elaborate irrigation system. • These towering gardens were considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. • He may have built the gardens to please his wife, who was from Mede and missed the forested mountains of her homeland. • Babylonians created the 60 minute hour, a calendar with 12 lunar months, and advanced multiplication tables. • Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylonia in 539 B.C.E., ending its glory days forever.
King for a day! The Mesopotamian New Year was a highly dramatic festival. Mesopotamians believed that each New Year the gods decided the peoples’ fate for the coming year. To please the gods, the people would sacrifice their king—but not their real king. Instead, they would choose one person to be king for a day. In one instance, Enlil Bani, a gardener, was chosen. While Enlil Bani was sitting atop his throne, awaiting his hanging execution in order to appease the gods, a servant arrived from the palace to announce that the real king had unexpectedly died. So indeed, Enlil Bani was king—he ruled successfully for 24 years!
Because cities belonged to their gods/goddesses, church and state (religion and politics) closely linked. • To provide shelter for their gods/goddesses, the lugal conscripted labor for projects to build temple complexes which stood at the center of the city. • In Mesopotamian society, church and state were literally married (Sacred Marriage of church and state). • The Sacred Marriage took place on the shrine of the temple. • The king played the role of Dumuzi, an early ruler who was elevated to the divine status of a god. • The Temple priestess played the role of Innana, the goddess of love, war, and procreation and also the Queen of Heaven. • After the ceremony, the King and his princess consummated the relationship (i.e. marriage).
Temple complexes: • Temple (ziggurat) • Shrine (top of temple) • Residences of high priests/priestesses (theocracy) • Palace (king/queen and their family and servants) • Mud-brick tables/altars for offerings and sacrifices to meet needs of their gods/goddesses • Miniature statues/figurines of animals left at temples and intended as religious offerings (not live, but intended to serve as permanent reminders of worshippers’ devotion • Worshippers left food and gifts as sustenance for their gods—obviously, cult statues could not eat the offerings, so they passed on to the king afterwards for his consumption. Before consumption, the food was blessed by temple priests during a ritual. When eaten, these blessings would be passed onto the king by extension, onto his people. • Cult statues/statuettes—images of gods/goddesses placed in niches behind the altar—crafted in human form and treated as if they were living beings—they watched over temple rituals and accepted offerings. Temple priests and priestesses adorned these images in fine cloth and jewelry, played music for them, entertained them with circuslike acts, even transported them from temple to temple to talk. • King may have commissioned artworks to furnish temples and plazas (early patron of the arts) • Further showing the marriage between church and state, temple complexes also employed a large secular staff (scribes, administrators, artisans, fieldworkers).
Votive Statues • Praying statue—statues made to pray for them. • Stood in front of altar to intercede on behalf of worshipper. • Statues’ hands are clasped in prayer. • Huge staring eyes (usually hollow and filled in with precious stones and shells (e.g. limestone). • Eyes huge because they are in the presence of a god (awe-inspired). • Some votive figures, like one found in a temple at Nippur, contained inscriptions with sayings like “May the statue, to which let my mistress turn her ear (Innana), speak my prayers.” • Votive figures allowed an ancient citizenry to attend to daily life without neglecting their gods.
Polytheistic (many gods/goddesses) • Deism: gods represented/embodied nature. • Sumerians attributed blessings and calamities to divine will—though they apparently never felt their own behavior brought about misfortunes, since, to date, no hymns/prayers seem to express the notion of guilt or sin. • Pantheon (family of gods/goddesses) that managed the earth—belief that everything worked according to divine forces—also believed these divine forces were even bargained over by the immortals. • creator gods/goddesses • Anu: god of heavens • Enlil: god of the atmosphere • Enki: god of the waters • lesser gods/goddesses • Inanna • Ninhursag (mother of the gods) • Bau (identified by a goose accompanying her image—another mother goddess—mother goose?) • Existed in humanlike form—though invisible to the eyes of mortals • Held by humans to be essentially moral (like humans) and subject to the same failures, sufferings, passions, love, hatred, jealousies, bickering, and vices—they were even capable, it was believed, of committing evil deeds. • Required food and shelter (reason people were created—to serve their basic needs) • Babylonian priests received gifts from people who wanted to please gods. • Belief in demons and dragons and belief use of magic would protect them from illness and evil spirits. • Pazuzu: demon of the wind and bringer of storms; shown with body of a man with wings and feet having talons and hands with claws. • Marduk: Great Babylonian god; deified dragon—god of earth.
Belief in an underworld (Lower World/Land of No Return) • Dark/dusty—even the most privileged during life walked eternally naked and thirsty after death (ancient proverb: death is the great leveller of society) • Ningizzida: god of the underworld.
Archeologist, S.G.F. Brandon, explains the ethos (attitude/characterization of a distinctive spirit) of Ancient Mesopotamians: • “[In Mesopotamian art], there is a notable absence of representation of the events of everyday life; warfare and its consequences form the subject of the bulk of the surviving monuments, and in its depiction a grim satisfaction seems to show itself by rendering [showing] with the utmost realism the grisly [horrible] details of the fate of those who were conquered….The inhabitant of ancient Mesopotamia…had no such hope [of reaching a new and blessed life after death]. His religion taught a dismal eschatology [outlook]. He was instructed to believe that the gods had created mankind to serve them by building temples and offering regular sacrifices. But that was mankind’s only raison d’etre [reason for existing]; beyond that there was nothing for which its members could strive or hope. To their human servants the gods were generally thought to be benevolent [kind]…provided that men in their turn were loyal and diligent in their service….But divine providence extended only to this life; for the gods had withheld immortality from their creatures. Thus, even a life of pious [holy] service to the gods was of no avail [help]; man’s destiny, as an individual, was limited to the years of life in this world. But the ancient Mesopotamian did not believe that death brought annihilation [total destruction]. Indeed, he might have been happier if he could have believed so….Death was thought to effect [cause] an awful change in the individual….It is not certain how this change was envisaged [imagined]. Some texts seem to imply that there was a transformation of being into something hideous and repulsive….At death they departed to the realm of the infernal god Nergal, which was grimly named kur-nu-gi-a “the land of no-return”. It was thought to lie deep beneath the earth on which mankind dwelt. It is graphically described in a curious text known as the Descent of Ishtar into the Underworld as “the house in which there is no light, and those who dwell therein have earth for their sustenance [nourishment] and clay for their food, and are in profound darkness; they are clothed like birds with wings; dust is both door and bolt of this place.” Moreover, in kur-nu-gi-a there was no [difference] between the dead high or low, good or bad—all were in the same condition of hopeless misery. Hence this life had not… moral significance for the Mesopotamian.”
At the top of Mesopotamian society were kings and their families.Below kings and their families were large landholders and high ranking government officials, military leaders, and priests.The next rung of society was held by merchants, scribes, and craftspeople. City artisans, including potters, carpenters, metal workers, leather workers, basket weavers, and jewelers, produced both necessities and luxury items.Below them were farmers, hunters, and herders.At the lowest level of society were slaves—military captives or citizens who had fallen into debt.
Day to Day • Even though the ruins of Mesopotamia reveal more about kings and battles than about ordinary citizens who lived there, both artifacts and ancient writings tell us something about the day-to-day lives of the people. • Houses were made of the only abundant material, mud bricks. Square or rectangular, the houses were constructed around a central courtyard. • Cities were mazes of narrow, winding streets. • Some cities had drainage systems (some homes even had flush toilets). • Because trash was thrown in to the street until it piled up so high that steps had to be cut down to doorways!
Early garments were knee-to-calf-length skirts worn by women and men. Later, a shawl-like piece of wool was draped over one shoulder. Outside of cities, farmers raised cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs for meat, milk, leather, and wool. They also grew wheat, barley, and millet in their fields. Fig, pomegranate, and other fruit trees shaded gardens full of cucumbers, peas, onions, garlic, lettuce, lentils, turnips, and chickpeas. Domesticated animals (cows and goats) were raised on the pastures and provided a steady supply of milk, butter, meat, and skins. In the home, women spun sheep’s wool with hand spindles. The thread was then woven into cloth, both for their family’s use and for extra income (excess crops and cloth were traded for wood, gold, silver, precious gems, and other natural resources lacking in Mesopotamia). Traders went as far as Syria, Africa, and India.
Mesopotamian girls learned cooking, spinning, and household management from their mothers and family slaves. Some were taught cuneiform in the home.
