Archaeology, history and culture of Ancient Mesopotamia

History and culture of ancient Mesopotamia

1. FIRST COMPLEX SOCIETIES (RIVER-VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS ) MESOPOTAMIA CA.7000-1590 B.C.E

2. RIVER-VALLEYS & FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIETY https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D3rDC_odRs Tigris/Euphrates Mesopotamia 6000-586 B.C.E. Nile: Egypt, Axum 3100-1500 B.C.E. Indus/Ganges: Harappa 2500-1900 B.C.E. China Huang He: 2500-221 B.C.E . REED PAPYRUS DIS/ADVANTAGES OF RIVER-VALLEYS? DISCUSS Provided alluvium and deposits of silt Irrigation, canals, Qanat ; domestic water; transport SWAMP/WETLANDS CLASS DISCUSIONS: GIVE OTHER DIS/ADVANTAGES

3. COMPLEX SOCIETY OR CIVILIZATION CONTEXTUALIZED FEATURES /CHARACTERISTICS 1 . Irrigation; surplus production; resource use 2. Were agric-based urban centers - city-states 3 . Labor and social stratification 4 . Writing/artistic, & application of science City-states/Metropolis e.g.. Susa, Babylon CLASS DISCUSSIONS: PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS COMPLESOCIETY OR CIVILIZATION

4. IRRIGATION AND SEDENTISM LOCATION : Fertile Crescent - Mesopotamia Iraq, also parts of Iran, Turkey, etc. Mesopotamia means “ land between 2 rivers ” https :// www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8S5I83Ccc Area was first settled about 7500-4000 B.C. Undulating valleys of Tigris/Euphrates Called for innovations: dams, canals, levees , qanat From 6000 BCE : used small-scale irrigations Result : became farmers, herders, and fishermen Made tools, bricks, clay figurines , and pottery TURNING POINTS : QANAT Area became a breadbasket RESULTS? 5000 BCE : used complex irrigation Led to adequate food surplus Further attracted Semitic immigrants By 3000 BCE had large populations IRRIGATION & ITS EFFECTS

5. SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION 1. L ed to planning & teamwork WHY e.g.: building dikes; sharing water PLOW Urbanization 2. NATURAL RESOURCES Swamps had numerous resources 3. FAMILY LIFE Built around agricultural tasks Childrearing placed women at home 5. LABOR SPECIALIZATION WHEEL Based on surplus production Specialization expanded; standardization E.g.: Farmers, herdsmen, artisans Facilitated technology, e.g . plow, wheel TRADE both local and long distance E.g. Copper (Oman) tin (Iran) to make bronze SWAMP/WETLANDS Imports - wood, silver, gold, tin, bronze Exports - wool, cloth, barley CITY STATES

6. CITY STATES – 3200-1600 BCE 2900-2334 BCE Mesopotamia had 35 city-states: E .g. Uruk, Sumer, Nippur, Akkad, Babylon GEOGRAPHY had great effects on politics Swamps/wetlands, deserts roamed by armed nomads Distance isolated cities Thus autonomous City-States emerged City-states tried to control its region e.g.: Akkadia took Sumeria in 2331 BC: 1 st Regional Empire GOVT based on Divine Rights Kingship EXPLAIN ZIGGURAT RELIGION : Temple – Z iggurat DESCRIBE Served as a pedestal for the gods to descend to Earth Housed deities, priests, govt. o fferings to goddess Inanna Temple headed by Priest-King EXPLAIN TITLE Polytheism: sky (An); Nanna (grain) CUNEIFORM

7. CUNEIFORM WRITING https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSTsscuw9Rg (SHOW) 1st language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian, Sumerian kept for administrative, religious, technological uses Later Akaddian became dominant language CUNEIFORM invented around 3500 BCE Means "wedge-shaped"; used stylus Written on wet clay S trict schools ( edubbas, 12 hours daily) After 12 years of schooling – one became a scribe Standardized cuneiform was pictograms Akkadian era syllabic script was adopted Led to more scribes and spread of literacy Libraries existed in towns and temples Females and males learnt to read and write Literary works, including Epic of Gilgamesh   EXPLAIN THE USES OF CUNEIFORM

8. HAMMURABI- BABYLON (R. 1792-1750 BCE) BACKGROUND 2200 BCE Amorites founded Babylon Hammurabi was a legal scholar Began aggressive military campaigns Dominated Sumer, Akkad, etc. Used centralized bureaucratic admin Regularized tributes into taxation ADVANTAGES Decline of Babylon 1595 B.C.E. Wealth attracted enemies: HAMMURABI Hittites of Anatolia (Turkey) Led to regional anarchy HAMMURABI LAWS & SIGNIFICANCE

9. HAMMURABI LAWS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEko2CMykuk Dated back to around 1754 BCE Carved into a basalt steele 7.4 ft ; orderly groups Discovered in 1901; published in 1902 Based on Sumerian & Akkadian laws 280-300 legal articles on a 7 ft. tablet Criminal laws : death penalty, e.g.: murder Civil laws regularized prices, wages, trade, etc . Lex talionis - law of exact retaliation HAMMURABI RECEIVING LAWS FORM GOD Fines in fixed amount of silver or grain Post-2000 BCE rigorous commercial laws WHY ? DISCUSS SIGNIFICANCE OF HAMMURABI’S LAWS https ://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/hammurabi%27s%20code/Hamrabi.htm VIEW ASPECTS OF THE LAW ON YOUR OWN TIME OVERALL EMERGING SOCIAL ORDER IN MESOPOTAMIA

10. EMERGING NEW SOCIAL ORDER/CLASSES SOCIAL ORDER Social hierarchies at village & urban settings Agric., land, trade; labor specialization Led accumulation of wealth Used public labor to build infrastructure & agric Patriarchal society EXPLAIN SOCIAL CLASSES Upper classes: priest-kings, army Free commoners : family-peasants; artisans, scribes Dependent classes : l andless peasants; share-cropping Slaves were POWs , convicted criminals, debtors Were chattel; auctioned Social mobility was allowed SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

11. TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS Compiled Sumerian-Akkadian language Cuneiform by 3100 B.C.E.: Irrigation - canals, dams; boats, qanats Metals (copper + arsenic/tin = bronze) EAR RINGS WHEEL Wheel; plows, carts Potter's wheel in 4000 B.C.E. Clay (mud-brick), potter’s wheel Mathematics, astronomy, base 60, etc. Architecture; literature https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFA7e02LS_U 12-month lunar calendar CHARIOT HARP POTTER’S WHEEL High –rise buildings Sailboat; Metallurgy Musical instruments Organized religion & Ziggurats

12. POST-CLASS DISCUSSIONS In your opinion which one Mesopotamian invention was their most significant achievement. Give four reasons for your answer.