History of Mesopotamia civiization...

1. THE FIRST RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION
PART I

2. MESOPOTAMIA:
“THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION”

4. MESOPOTAMIA WAS LOCATED IN WHAT IS NOW THE COUNTRY OF IRAQ

5. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
LOCATION
• LOCATED IN AND AROUND THE
VALLEY OF TIGRIS AND
EUPHRATES RIVERS IN
MODERN IRAQ
• AREA IS ALSO KNOWN AS
MESOPOTAMIA OR LAND
BETWEEN TWO RIVERS
• THE LAND HAD POORLY
DEFINED EDGES
• THE LAND STRETCHES FROM
MEDITERRANEAN TO EASTERN
BORDERS OF PRESENT IRAN
• TO THE SOUTH AND WEST, IT
FADES INTO THE ARABIAN
DESERT
• TO THE NORTH AND WEST, IT
FADES INTO THE PLAINS OF
SYRIA
• THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
RIVERS SIT IN THE LAND AS
DOMINANT PHYSICAL FEATURE
• THE RIVERS WERE
UNPREDICTABLE, BEING
SUBJECT TO ALTERNATING
FLOOD AND DROUGHT

6. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
PERIOD
• THE AREA WITNESSED THE EARLIEST RISE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
AROUND 4500 BC
• TRANSFORMATION FROM PREHISTORY, TO VILLAGES AND CITIES
OCCURRED THERE
• CIVILIZATION THERE LASTED FOR 5000 YEARS
• CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT WAS NOT HOMOGENOUS DURING THE PERIOD
• DIFFERENT CULTURES ESTABLISHED CITY STATES AND EMPIRES AT
DIFFERENT PERIODS
• THE CULTURES INCLUDE SUMERIAN, AKKADIAN, ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN,
AND PERSIAN

7. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
MESOPOTAMIA IS THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CIVILIZATION?
CIVILIZATION IS USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CULTURAL PRACTICES OF
CITIES AND URBAN LIVING, THE PRESENCE OF WRITING AND WRITTEN
LAW
IN MESOPOTAMIA, EARLIEST CITIES WERE ESTABLISHED AND URBAN
CULTURE TOOK HOLD
BETWEEN 4000 AND 3000 BC, LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BEGAN LIVING IN
A SMALL AREA CREATING FIRST CITIES
MANY PEOPLE BEGAN TO HAVE JOBS THAT IS UNRELATED TO AGRICULTURE

8. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
ONCE ESTABLISHED, CITIES GREW AND INCREASED POWER AND IMPORTANCE
AS CITIES GREW IN POWER AND IMPORTANCE, RIVALRIES DEVELOPED BETWEEN
THEM FOR MILITARY AND ECONOMIC CONTROL
THE ANE WAS LAND WITHOUT NATURAL DEFENSES
WARFARE WAS COMMON THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY
THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES ALSO SUFFERED FROM ALTERNATE DROUGHT AND
FLOODS
COMBINATION OF WARFARE AND FREQUENT DROUGHT AND FLOOD MADE A
CONTINUOUS HOMOGENOUS CIVILIZATION IMPOSSIBLE
THE RESULT IS THAT SEVERAL CULTURES FLOURISHED AND DIED OUT DURING THE
ANE PERIOD

9. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
CITIES IN THE ANE INITIALLY DEVELOPED WITH AUTHORITY RESIDING IN AN
ASSEMBLY OF MALE CITIZENS
SHORT TERM LEADERS WERE SELECTED DURING WARS
WHEN WAR LEADERS WERE RETAINED DURING PEACE TIME, KINGSHIP
EVOLVED
IT WAS INITIALLY ELECTIVE AND LATER HEREDITARY
AS SOME CITIES BECAME MORE POWERFUL, THEY DEFEATED WEAKER ONES
TO CREATE EMPIRES AND KINGDOMS
THIS LED TO COLLECTIVE RULE OF CITY STATES BY A SOVEREIGN KING

10. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
• WITH KINGSHIP ALSO CAME MONUMENTAL PALACES AS
PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND ADMINISTRATION FOR THE KING
• ALMOST ALL ANE CULTURE WORSHIPED MANY GODS AND
GODDESSES
• ANE PEOPLE DID NOT BELIEVE IN IMMORTALITY OR ETERNAL
LIFE
• THEY BELIEVED ONLY GODS WERE IMMORTAL
• RATHER, THEY BELIEVED IN DIVINE REWARDS FOR MORAL
CONDUCT

11. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
• THE REWARD WAS ENJOYED IN THIS LIFE
•THE REWARDS INCLUDE INCREASED WORLDLY GOODS, NUMEROUS
OFFSPRING AND LONG LIFE
•THE MOST POPULAR AND EARLIEST RELIGIOUS CULTS RELATED TO FERTILITY
•FERTILITY GODDESSES INFLUENCED THE GROWTH OF CROPS
•ASPECTS OF LIFE SUCH AS WAR, WEATHER, DISEASE, WERE EXPLAINED BY
THE ACTIONS OF GODS
•THE SUMERIAN HAD A RELIGION BASED ON THE ELEMENTS-SKY, EARTH,
WATER, SUN, MOON, ETC

12. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
LEADERS
• THERE ARE ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORDS OF TWO CENTERS OF POWER: TEMPLES AND
PALACES
• TEMPLES WERE LANDHOLDERS, AND THEIR PRIESTS CONTROLLED CONSIDERABLE WEALTH.
THEIR RELIGIOUS POWER PREDATES THE SECULAR POWER OF THE PALACES
• SECULAR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPED IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM B.C.E. WHEN “BIG MEN,”
WHO MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN LEADERS OF ARMIES, EMERGED AS SECULAR LEADERS
• A THIRD TERRITORIAL STATE WAS ESTABLISHED BY HAMMURABI AND IS KNOWN TO
HISTORIANS AS THE “OLD BABYLONIAN” STATE
• HAMMURABI IS ALSO KNOWN FOR THE LAW CODE ASSOCIATED WITH HIS NAME, WHICH
PROVIDES US WITH A SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT OLD BABYLONIAN LAW,
PUNISHMENTS, AND SOCIETY
• THE LUGAL RULED FROM THEIR PALACES AND TENDED TO TAKE OVER RELIGIOUS CONTROL
OF INSTITUTIONS. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH PROVIDES AN EXAMPLE OF THE EXERCISE OF
SECULAR POWER

13. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
TRADE/CONTACT
• THE STATES OF MESOPOTAMIA NEEDED RESOURCES AND OBTAINED THEM NOT ONLY BY
TERRITORIAL EXPANSION, BUT ALSO THROUGH A FLOURISHING LONG-DISTANCE TRADE
• MERCHANTS WERE ORIGINALLY EMPLOYED BY TEMPLES OR PALACES; LATER, IN THE
SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C.E., PRIVATE MERCHANTS EMERGED. TRADE WAS CARRIED OUT
THROUGH BARTER
MILITARY
• MILITARY TECHNOLOGY EMPLOYED IN MESOPOTAMIA INCLUDED PAID, FULL-TIME
SOLDIERS, HORSES, THE HORSE-DRAWN CHARIOT, THE BOW AND ARROW, AND SIEGE
MACHINERY
• EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY WAS A SOCIETY OF VILLAGES AND CITIES LINKED
TOGETHER IN A SYSTEM OF MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE. CITIES DEPENDED ON VILLAGES
TO PRODUCE SURPLUS FOOD TO FEED THE NONPRODUCING URBAN ELITE AND
CRAFTSMEN. IN RETURN, THE CITIES PROVIDED THE VILLAGES WITH MILITARY
PROTECTION, MARKETS, AND SPECIALIST-PRODUCED GOODS

14. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
TECHNOLOGY
• CUNEIFORM WAS DEVELOPED TO WRITE SUMERIAN, BUT WAS LATER USED TO WRITE AKKADIAN AND
OTHER SEMITIC AND NON-SEMITIC LANGUAGES. CUNEIFORM WAS USED TO WRITE ECONOMIC,
POLITICAL, LEGAL, LITERARY, RELIGIOUS, AND SCIENTIFIC TEXTS
• MESOPOTAMIANS USED NUMBERS AND MADE ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY
• THE AREA HAS NO SIGNIFICANT WOOD, STONE, OR METAL RESOURCES
• CITY-STATES COULD MOBILIZE HUMAN RESOURCES TO OPEN NEW AGRICULTURAL LAND AND TO
BUILD AND MAINTAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS REQUIRED
THE ORGANIZATION OF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FOR LABOR
RELIGION
• THE RELIGION OF MESOPOTAMIA WAS A MIX OF SUMERIAN AND LATER SEMITIC BELIEFS AND DEITIES
• MESOPOTAMIAN DEITIES WERE ANTHROPOMORPHIC, AND EACH CITY HAD ITS OWN TUTELARY GODS
• HUMANS WERE REGARDED AS SERVANTS OF THE GODS
• IN TEMPLES, SPECIALIZED HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD SERVED THE GODS AS A SERVANT SERVES A
MASTER. THE TEMPLES THEMSELVES WERE WALLED COMPOUNDS CONTAINING RELIGIONS AND
FUNCTIONAL BUILDINGS. THE MOST VISIBLE PART OF THE TEMPLE COMPOUND WAS THE ZIGGURAT.

15. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
CULTURE/ECONOMY
• MESOPOTAMIA DOES HAVE A WARM CLIMATE AND GOOD SOIL.
– BY 4000 B.C.E. FARMERS WERE USING CATTLE-PULLED PLOWS AND A SORT OF
PLANTER TO CULTIVATE BARLEY. JUST AFTER 3000 B.C.E. THEY BEGAN CONSTRUCTING
IRRIGATION CANALS TO BRING WATER TO FIELDS FARTHER AWAY FROM THE RIVERS
• OTHER CROPS AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE AREA INCLUDED DATE PALMS,
VEGETABLES, REEDS AND FISH, AND FALLOW LAND FOR GRAZING GOATS AND SHEEP
• DRAFT ANIMALS INCLUDED CATTLE AND DONKEYS AND LATER CAMELS AND HORSES.
• THE EARLIEST PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND THE INITIAL CREATORS OF MESOPOTAMIAN
CULTURE WERE THE SUMERIANS, WHO WERE PRESENT AT LEAST AS EARLY AS 5000 B.C.E.
BY 2000 B.C.E
• THE SUMERIANS WERE SUCCEEDED BY SEMITIC-SPEAKING PEOPLES WHO DOMINATED
AND INTERMARRIED WITH THE SUMERIANS BUT PRESERVED MANY ELEMENTS OF
SUMERIAN CULTURE

16. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
• THIS REFLECTED THE AGRARIAN NATURE OF THEIR SOCIETY
• AS ANE PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO LIVE IN CITIES, THEY NEEDED
A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND RECORD KEEPING
• AROUND 3500, THE SUMERIANS INVENTED A SYSTEM OF
WRITING BASED ON PICTOGRAPH
• THIS WAS LATER DEVELOPED INTO A SIMPLER WRITING CALLED
THE CUNEIFORM
• DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE ENABLED THEM TO
PRODUCE HISTORICAL RECORDS

17. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
• WRITTEN RECORDS ALSO LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
WRITTEN LAW AS IN THE CODE OF KING HUMMURABI
•CITIES IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA WERE ENCLOSED BY WALL
FORTIFICATIONS
•THE FABRIC OF THE CITIES ARE A BLEND OF RESIDENTIAL,
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS
•HOUSES WERE ONE STORY HIGH AND MOSTLY OF MUD BRICK
•ROOMS WERE ARRANGED AROUND COURTYARDS

18. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS
• HOUSES LOOKED INWARD
• ROOMS WERE NARROW WITH THICK WALLS AND FLAT, VAULT OR DOME
ROOFS
• TIMBER AND STONE WERE SCARCE, CLAY WAS ABUNDANT AND MUD
BRICK WAS MOST COMMON BUILDING MATERIAL
• BUILDINGS WERE USUALLY RAISED ON PLATFORMS TO PROTECT THEM
FROM THE FLOODS
• CLAY WAS ALSO USED FOR POTTERY
• MESOPOTAMIANS INVENTED ASTROLOGY, WHEELED VEHICLE & MADE
ADVANCES IN SCIENCE & MATH

19. GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS
• LITTLE RAINFALL
• HOT AND DRY CLIMATE
• WIND AND RAIN STORMS
– MUDDY RIVER VALLEYS
IN WINTER
– CATASTROPHIC
FLOODING IN SPRING
• ARID SOIL CONTAINING
LITTLE MINERALS
• NO STONE OR TIMBER
RESOURCES
• MESOPOTAMIA IS THE
ALLUVIAL PLAIN AREA
ALONGSIDE AND BETWEEN
THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
RIVERS
• THE AREA IS A DIFFICULT
ENVIRONMENT FOR
AGRICULTURE BECAUSE
THERE IS LITTLE RAINFALL,
THE RIVERS FLOOD AT THE
WRONG TIME FOR GRAIN
AGRICULTURE, AND THE
RIVERS CHANGE COURSE
UNPREDICTABLY

20. THEN WHY LIVE IN MESOPOTAMIA?
NATURAL LEVEES: EMBANKMENTS PRODUCED BY BUILD-UP OF SEDIMENT
OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF FLOODING

21. NATURAL LEVEE
CREATE A HIGH AND SAFE FLOOD PLAIN
MAKE IRRIGATION AND CANAL CONSTRUCTION EASY
PROVIDE PROTECTION
THE SURROUNDING SWAMPS WERE FULL OF FISH &
WATERFOWL
REEDS PROVIDED FOOD FOR SHEEP / GOATS
REEDS ALSO WERE USED AS BUILDING RESOURCES

22. MESOPOTAMIA
• EARLIEST OF ALL SETTLEMENTS –
PERMANENT
• LASTED FOR ALMOST 3000 YEARS
• MEANS “LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS”
– TIGRIS ON THE NORTHWEST
– EUPHRATES ON THE SOUTHEAST
• SOUTHERN MOST REGION OF
MESOPOTAMIA WAS CALLED “SUMER”
– CHARACTERIZED BY SMALL,
NEOLITHIC FARMING VILLAGES
UNTIL 3500 BC
ITS PEOPLE WERE THE FIRST TO -
Mesopotamia
Sumer
–IRRIGATE
FIELDS
–DEVISE A
SYSTEM OF
WRITING
–DEVELOP
MATHEMATICS
–INVENT THE
WHEEL
–WORK WITH
METAL
–DEVISE A
WRITTEN LAW
CODE

23. TIMELINE

24. GOVERNMENT
CITY-STATES WITH HEREDITARY
RULERS.
RULER LED ARMY IN WAR AND
ENFORCED LAWS.
COMPLEX GOVERNMENT WITH
SCRIBES TO COLLECT TAXES
AND KEEP RECORDS.
RELIGION
• WORSHIPED MANY GODS.
• BELIEVED GODS CONTROLLED EVERY
ASPECT OF LIFE.
• SAW AFTERLIFE AS A GRIM PLACE.
EVERYBODY WOULD GO INTO DARKNESS
AND EAT DUST.
• TO KEEP THE GODS HAPPY, EACH CITY
BUILT A ZIGGURAT, OR PYRAMID TEMPLE.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
EACH STATE HAD DISTINCT SOCIAL
HIERARCHY, OR SYSTEM OF RANKS.
MOST PEOPLE WERE PEASANT FARMERS.
WOMEN HAD LEGAL RIGHTS; SOME
ENGAGED IN TRADE AND OWNED
PROPERTY
TRADE
THE TWO RIVERS PROVIDED A WAY
TO SHIP GOODS
THE WHEEL AND THE SAIL
IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM
MARKETPLACE WERE PRESENT IN
MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES

25. SUMERIANS• WRITING FIRST BEGAN IN SUMERIAN CITIES.
• THE FIRST SCHOOLS WERE SET UP IN SUMER
OVER 4,000 YEARS AGO.
• SUMERIAN SCHOOLS TAUGHT BOYS THE NEW
INVENTION OF WRITING.
• THEY WERE SONS OF UPPER-CLASS
PROFESSIONALS (PRIEST, TEMPLE AND
PALACE OFFICIALS, ARMY OFFICERS,
SEA CAPTAINS AND OTHER SCRIBES)
• THOSE WHO GRADUATED BECAME
PROFESSIONAL WRITERS CALLED SCRIBES.
• THE STUDENTS WHO LEARNED THE ART COULD
WORK AS SCRIBES FOR THE TEMPLE, THE
ROYAL COURT OR WEALTHY MERCHANTS
• SCRIBES WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COULD
KEEP RECORDS FOR THE KINGS AND PRIESTS.
• BOYS THAT WANTED TO BE SCRIBES HAD TO
ATTEND SCHOOL FROM THE AGE OF 8 TO THE
AGE OF 20.
REMEMBER, SUMER IS THE REGION WHERE THE
TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS MEET.

26. CUNEIFORM
WRITING
THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERS WHICH EVOLVED OVER
TIME. MOST STOOD FOR OBJECTS BUT OTHERS REPRESENTED
ABSTRACT CONCEPTS
VERY DIFFICULT TO MASTER—TOOK YEARS AND YEARS OF
SPECIALIZED TRAINING.
CUNEIFORM WRITING WAS THEREFORE NOT “DEMOCRATIC”—
ONLY A SMALL ELITE HAD MASTERED AND USED IT
MOTIVATION FOR INVENTING THIS SYSTEM WAS THE NEED TO
KEEP COMMERCIAL RECORDS
WRITING ALLOWED
TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE
THE CODIFICATION OF LAWS
RECORDS TO FACILITATE TRADE/FARMING
CUNEIFORM MEANING “WEDGE SHAPED”
WET CLAY TABLETS DRIED IN THE SUN TO MAKE A TABLET
WRITTEN WITH THE POINT OF A REED (STYLUS)
SCRIBES ONLY COULD READ AND WRITE
SERVED AS PRIESTS
RECORD KEEPERS
ACCOUNTANTS
SPREAD TO PERSIA AND EGYPT
VEHICLE FOR THE GROWTH AND SPREAD AND EXCHANGE OF
IDEAS AMONG CULTURES

27. SUMERIAN INVENTIONS
• WAGON WHEEL
• POTTER’S WHEEL
• NUMBER SYSTEM USING BASE 60 – TIME AND CIRCLES
• 12 MONTH CALENDAR
• METAL PLOW
• SAIL
• SOME OF THE 1ST KNOWN MAPS
• NEW ARCHITECTURE: BRICKS
• ARCH AND RAMP

28. MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
• MESOPOTAMIA, SPECIFICALLY
BABYLON USED A MATHEMATICAL
SYSTEM BASED ON SIXTY
• SOME PARTS OF THE ‘BASE-
SIXTY’ SYSTEM STILL REMAIN
TODAY
– 360 DEGREES IN A CIRCLE
– 60 SECONDS IN A MINUTE
– 60 MINUTES IN 1 HOUR
• CALENDAR BASED ON CYCLES
OF THE MOON
– NUMBER OF DAYS BETWEEN
THE APPEARANCE OF TWO
NEW MOONS WAS SET AS A
MONTH
– 12 CYCLES MADE UP A YEAR
THEY DREW UP MULTIPLICATION
AND DIVISION TABLES AND MAKING
CALCULATIONS USING GEOMETRY

29. OTHER SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS
• BRICK ARCHITECTURE
• BRONZE TOOLS AND WEAPONS
• ENGAGED IN TRADE WITH
PLACES AS FAR AWAY AS AFRICA
AND ASIA
• FIRST MONEY
• FIRST SCHOOLS (TRAINED
SCRIBES AND PRIESTS)
• FIRST LITERATURE
– EPIC POEM
– WISDOM LITERATURE
• MEDICINAL DRUGS
• ACCURATE LUNAR CALENDAR

30. SUMERIAN SOCIETY
• SUMER WAS DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER EARLIER CIVILIZATIONS
– ADVANCED CITIES
– SPECIALIZED WORKERS
– COMPLEX INSTITUTIONS
– RECORD KEEPING
– ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
• DEVELOPED CITY-STATES
• FOOD SURPLUS - INCREASED POPULATION- EXPANDED TRADE
EXPANSION OF SUMERIAN SOCIETY
• POLYTHEISTIC
• WROTE MYTHS (EPIC OF GILGAMESH)
• HAD SOCIAL CLASSES
– PRIESTS AND KINGS WERE AT THE TOP
– SLAVES WERE AT THE BOTTOM
• WOMEN PROBABLY COULDN’T ATTEND SCHOOL BUT HAD MANY OTHER RIGHTS
• ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICS
– NUMBER SYSTEM BASED ON 60 (60 SECONDS = 1 MINUTE)

31. A SUMERIAN CITY
ON HOT NIGHTS, PEOPLE SLEPT
OUTDOORS ON THE TOP OF
THEIR HOUSE’S FLAT ROOF.
SUMERIANS HAD A FORM OF
LIGHT AT NIGHT. THEY BURNED
OIL LAMPS.
SUMERIANS EVEN HAD
PLUMBING! CLAY PIPES THAT
WERE BURIED UNDERGROUND
CARRIED THEIR WASTE AWAY.
INVENTIONS LIKE PLUMBING
WOULDN’T COME AROUND FOR
ANOTHER THOUSAND YEARS IN
OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD!
SUMERIAN CITY STREETS WERE SO NARROW THAT YOU
COULD HARDLY GET A CART THROUGH THEM
SUMERIAN HOUSES FACED AWAY FROM CROWDED STREETS.
INSTEAD, THEY FACED ONTO COURTYARDS WHERE FAMILIES
ATE AND CHILDREN PLAYED
Courtyard Area

32. SUMERIANS
SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA 3500-2000 BCE
• IRRIGATED FIELDS AND PRODUCED 3 MAIN CROPS
– BARLEY, DATES AND SESAME SEEDS
– BUILT CANALS, DIKES, DAMS AND DRAINAGE
SYSTEMS
• DEVELOPED CUNEIFORM WRITING
• INVENTED THE WHEEL
• ABUNDANCE OF FOOD = INCREASE OF POPULATION
• FIRST CITY OF THE WORLD
• DEVELOPED A TRADE SYSTEM WITH BARTERING
– MAINLY BARLEY BUT ALSO WOOL AND CLOTH
– FOR STONE, METALS, TIMBER, COPPER, PEARLS
AND IVORY
• INDIVIDUALS COULD ONLY RENT LAND FROM
• PRIESTS
– CONTROLLED LAND ON BEHALF OF GODS
– MOST OF PROFITS OF TRADE WENT TO TEMPLE
• THE SUMERIANS WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL IN
UNITING LOWER MESOPOTAMIA
RUINS OF BABYLON IN PRESENT
DAY BAGHDAD
SUMERIAN CITY OF LAGASH

33. ARCHITECTURE
• MUD WAS THEIR MAIN BUILDING MATERIAL
• MUD WAS FORMED INTO BRICK, SUN DRIED AND BUILT INTO MASSIVE WALLS
• WALLS WERE THICK TO COMPENSATE THE WEAKNESS OF MUD
• THEY WERE REINFORCE WITH BUTTRESSES
• SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE WALLING MATERIAL
• SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE WALLING MATERIAL
• FAÇADE OF BUILDINGS WERE WHITEWASHED AND PAINTED TO DISGUISE THE LACK OF
ATTRACTION OF THE MATERIAL
• BUTTRESSES AND RECESSES ALSO RELIEVE THE MONOTONY OF THE PLASTERED WALL
SURFACES
• TEMPLES WAS THEIR MAJOR BUILDING TYPE

34. ARCHITECTURE
 THE THREE MAIN BUILDINGS WERE
THE PALACE
THE TEMPLE
THE ZIGGURAT
 THE TEMPLE WAS A RELIGIOUS, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
CENTER.
 THE TEMPLE HAD FARMLAND AND HERDS OF SHEEP, AS WELL AS,
WAREHOUSES AND WORKSHOPS.
 THE PALACE WAS ORGANIZED AROUND AN INNER COURTYARD
AND WAS USUALLY SURROUNDED BY A WALL.

35. RELIGION
POLYTHEISTIC
– OVER 3600 GODS AND DEMIGODS
KINGSHIP CREATED BY GODS
– KING’S POWER WAS DIVINELY
ORDAINED
–
GODS LIVED ON THE DISTANT
MOUNTAINTOPS
EACH CITY WAS RULED BY A DIFFERENT
GOD
KINGS AND PRIESTS ACTED AS
INTERPRETERS
– THEY TOLD THE PEOPLE WHAT THE
GOD WANTED THEM TO DO
– BY EXAMINING THE LIVER OR LUNGS
OF A SLAIN SHEEP ISHTAR, GODDESS OF
FERTILITY AND WAR
ENKI, GOD OF
WATER, LIFE,
MEDIATION
ENLIL – SUPREME GOD OF AIR
SHAMASH SUN GOD AND
GIVER OF LAW

36. SUMERIAN RELIGION - POLYTHEISTIC
• ENKI - THE GOD OF RAIN
• MARDUK - PRINCIPAL GOD OF
BABYLON
• ASHUR - GOD OF THE ASSYRIAN
EMPIRE
• GULA (IN SUMERIAN) OR SHAMASH
(IN AKKADIAN) - SUN GOD AND
GOD OF JUSTICE
• ISHTAR - GODDESS OF WAR
• ERESHKIGAL- GODDESS OF THE
UNDERWORLD
• NABU- GOD OF WRITING
• NINURTA- SUMERIAN GOD OF WAR
AND GOD OF HEROES
• IŠKUR- GOD OF STORMS
• PAZUZU - AN EVIL GOD WHO BROUGHT
DISEASES WHICH HAD NO
KNOWN CURE
ENKI
INNANA
ANTHROPOMORPHIC GODS

37. ZIGGURAT
TEMPLES DEDICATED TO THE GOD OF THE CITY
MADE OF LAYERS OF MUD BRICKS IN THE SHAPE OF A PYRAMID ON
PLATFORMS DUE TO CONSTANT FLOODING
TEMPLE ON TOP GOD’S HOME BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED A ROOM FOR OFFERINGS
OF FOOD AND GOODS TEMPLES EVOLVED TO ZIGGURATS A STACK OF 1-7
PLATFORMS DECREASING IN SIZE FROM BOTTOM TO TOP
FAMOUS ZIGGURAT WAS TOWER OF BABEL OVER 100M ABOVE GROUND AND 91M
BASE
ZIGGURAT OF UR -2000BCE

38. ZIGGURAT
 THE ZIGGURAT IS A TEMPLE-
SHAPED TOWER.
 IT IS BUILT ON SUN-DRIED
BRICK (LADRILLOS DE
ADOBE).
 THE ZIGGURAT WERE
CONSIDERED THE HOUSES OF
THE GODS. CEREMONIES WERE
HELD OUTSIDE THE BUILDING.
 TO ACCESS THE ZIGGURAT
THERE WAS A SERIES OF
STEPS UP TO THE CHAPEL AT
THE TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT.

39. ZIGGURAT
 THE ZIGGURAT MAY BE A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF THE UNION OF HEAVEN
AND EARTH.
 IN TOTAL 32 ZIGGURAT ARE KNOWN, MOST ARE IN IRAQ AND IRAN.
 THE BEST KNOWN IS THE ZIGGURAT OF UR, REBUILT IN THE 80S BY SADDAM
HUSSEIN. IN REBUILDING ONE OF 200 BRICKS CONTAINS THE NAME OF THE
DICTATOR.

40. ZIGGURAT AT UR
 TEMPLE
 “MOUNTAIN OF THE GODS”

41. THE ROYAL STANDARD OF UR

42. MESOPOTAMIAN HARP

43. BOARD GAME FROM UR

44. SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
• THE TEMPLE SITS ON A THREE
MULTI-TIERED ZIGGURAT
MOUNTAIN
• ACCESS TO THE TEMPLE IS
THROUGH TRIPLE
• STAIRWAYS THAT CONVERGE
AT THE SUMMIT OF THE FIRST
PLATFORM
• FROM THIS STAGE, ONE
PASSED THROUGH A PORTAL
WITH DOME ROOF TO FOURTH
STAIRCASE

45. SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
• THE FOURTH STAIRCASE
GAVE ACCESS TO THE
SECOND AND THIRD
STAGES OF THE ZIGGURAT
AND TO THE TEMPLE
• THE TEMPLE IS USUALLY
ACCESS ONLY BY THE
PRIEST, WHERE GODS ARE
BELIEVED TO COME
DOWN AND GIVE
INSTRUCTIONS

46. SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
• THE ZIGGURAT IS BELIEVED BY
THE SUMERIANS TO UNIT THE
HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
• THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT
CLIMBING THE STAIRCASE OF THE
ZIGGURAT GIVES A HOLY
EXPERIENCE
• THE CHIEF TEMPLE WAS ALSO
USED AS A LAST LINE OF DEFENSE
DURING TIMES OF WAR
• MOST OF WHAT IS KNOWN
ABOUT WHAT EXIST ON TOP OF
THE ZIGGURAT IS PROJECTION

47. FROM SUMERIANS TO BABYLONIANS
• THE SUMERIAN CITY-STATES EVENTUALLY FELL TO FOREIGN
INVADERS (2000 BC)
• THE AKKADIANS:
– SEMITES- NOMADIC PEOPLE FROM THE ARABIAN
PENINSULA THAT MIGRATED TO MESOPOTAMIA
– SARGON I (2300-2200 BC) UNITES ALL MESOPOTAMIAN
CITIES (CREATES FIRST EMPIRE)

48. THE ANCIENT BABYLONIANS
• AMORITES (2000-1600 BC)
• CONQUERED MANY PARTS OF OLD SUMERIA (INCLUDING
BABYLON)
• HAMMURABI - CREATED A LAW CODE WITH HARSH
PUNISHMENTS
• BORROWED HEAVILY FROM SUMERIAN CULTURE
• AFTER HAMMURABI’S DEATH BABYLON DECLINED