THE SUMERIANS

1
THE SUMERIANS
2
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
Aswan Dam Draining of the Marshes
3
Pre-requisites for Civilization

• Agriculture developed in the Fertile Crescent
  around 9000 bce
• Mining and use of copper around 6000 bce
• Growth of villages and towns
• Division of labor
• Smelting of tin and copper to make bronze around
  3000 bce gt Bronze Age

4
Sumerian Inventions

• Cuneiform writing
• The wheel
• Potters wheel
• Sailing ship
• Pick-axe
• Brick mold
• Glass
• 60-based counting system 60 minutes to an hour,
  360 degrees to a circle
• Number positioning
• Beer
• Epic poetry

Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur
5
Mesopotamian Empires
6
Characteristics of Mesopotamian Civilizations

• City states
• Each city had its own king and patron god or
  goddess
• City states often warred with each other
• Theocracy -- king as gods representative
• Hierosgamos ritual marriage with the
  goddess/priestess
• Highly legalistic
• Law Codes
• Contracts
• Judicial proceedings and appeals processes
• Extensive trading networks
• Architectural Marvels of Ancient Mesopotamia

7
Lively Spirits From the Hymn to Ninkasi
You are the one who holds with both hands the
great sweet wort, Brewing it with honey and
wine (You the sweet wort to the vessel) Ninkasi,
(...) (You the sweet wort to the vessel) The
filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound, You
place appropriately on top of a large collector
vat. Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a
pleasant sound, You place appropriately on top
of a large collector vat. When you pour out the
filtered beer of the collector vat, It is like
the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates. Ninkasi, you
are the one who pours out the filtered beer of
the collector vat, It is like the onrush of
Tigris and Euphrates. Beer or Bread?
8
WritingOrigin and the Deveopment of Writing in
Mesopotamia
Tablet of pre-cuneiform scriptSouth
MesopotamiaUruk III, end of 4th millenium
BC.Clay (?sun-baked clay)Louvre
9
Writing PictogramsCylinder Seals
Cylinder Seal with Watergod, Birdman, and
DeitiesMesopotamia, Akkadian Period, 2300 - 2200
B.C.Emory University
10
Writing Cuneiform
Cuneiform Cylinder of Nabopolassar Recording
Repair of the City Wall of Babylon, Mesopotamia,
BabylonNeo-Babylonian Period, Reign of
Nabopolassar, 625 - 605 B.CEmory University
11
Sumerian Schools

• Literacy was a highly valued skill
• Sumerians set up first institutions of formal
  education edubba
• Education included writing and mathematics
• Tuition paid for education
• Educated were privileged elite government
  officials, scribes, etc.

12
Nippur Flood Tablet
...a flood will sweep over the cult centersTo
destroy the seed of mankind...Is the decision,
the word of the assembly of the gods.By the word
commanded by An and Enlil...All the windstorms,
exceedingly powerful, attacked as one,At the
same time, the flood sweeps over the cult
centers.After, for seven days and seven
nights,The flood had swept over the land,And
the huge boat had been tossed about by the
windstorms on the great waters,Utu came forth,
who sheds light on heaven and earth,Ziusudra
opened a window on the huge boat,The hero Utu
brought his rays into the giant boat.
The tablet can be dated by its script to the late
17th century BC.
13
Deciphering Cuneiform
1835 Henry Rawlinson, an English army officer,
found some inscriptions on a cliff at Behistun in
Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of
Persia (522-486 BC), they consisted of identical
texts in three languages Old Persian, Babylonian
and Elamite.
14
Enheduanna, Priestess and Poetthe worlds first
known writer
The Enheduanna Research Pages Women in Ancient
Mesopotamia Inanna The Opera
Original tablet
Reconstuction of alabaster disk,Philadephia
15
Enheduannas Inscription
Here are the first 4 lines of cuneiform 1)
en-he-du-an-na.....................En-he-du-ana,2
) MUNUS.NUNUZ.ZI.............zirru priestess3)
dam-nanna........................... wife of the
god Nanna,4) dumu-...............................
....daughter The inscription continues 5)
sarru-GI............................ of Sargon,
6) lugal...............................
king of7) KIS..................................
. the world (Kish),8) e-INANNA.ZA.ZA.............
in the temple of the goddess9)
uri.KI-ma-ka...................... Inanna- ZA.ZA
in Ur,10) bara-si-ga........................
made a socle and11) bi-e-du12) bara
bansur-an-na...........named it 'dais, table
of13) mu-se bi-sa......................the god
An'.
16
THEOCRACYKings Servants of the Gods
The powerful gods communicate their desires to
humanity through the medium of a powerful
priestly class or autocratic king who serves as
the intermediary. - Government of the
gods/priest class - Ruler may be divine
himself, or chosen by the god/gods - Each city
had its own gods This system centralizes power
in the hands of a small group of people and gives
political decisions a religious authority
Sumerian King List
17
The City Center

• Temples served civic and religious purposes
• Daily sacrifices and rituals
• Storage of surplus grain and other foods
• Dwelling of priests and priestesses
• Locale where craftsmen and artisans could
  practice their trades

Ziggurats Temples to the Gods
18
Gilgamesh, the Hero-King

• Ruled in Sumer c. 2700 bc
• Epic of Gilgamesh chronicles his reign
• Evolves from selfish, uncontrolled autocrat to
  benevolent ruler via
• friendship
• rebellion
• loss
• quest
• recognition of mortality
• acceptance of responsibilty and service to the
  goddess Ishtar (Inanna)

19
LAWS The Code ofHammurabi, ca. 1760 bce

• 2350 bce law reform by King Urukagina of Lagash
  to protect exploited citizens
• 21st c. bce earliest extant law code from
  Ur-Nammu (1000 years before the 10 Commandments

Law-Codex of Hammurabi,first half of the 18th
century BCE, Basalt, Louvre Full Text of the Code
of Hammurabi
20
A stele is a monolithic monument that
commemorates an historical event. The Stele of
Naram Sin has a formality and rigidity similar to
Egyptian art. Compare its strong diagonal
composition with the horizontal registers of the
Standard of Ur.
Continual warfare among Sumerian city states and
against invading tribes eventually led to the
downfall of Sumerian civilization. But the
influence of Sumerian civilization was felt in
throughout the Near East, Egypt, India, the
Mediterranean civilizations Crete, Mycenae,
Greece, Rome, and in Judeo-Christian traditions.
Victory Stele of Naram Sim c. 2300- 2200 B.C.E.
61/2' tall, sandstone
21
Flood Myths

• Flood myths are present on every continent
• Leeming The pattern behind the many forms that
  the flood myth takes is the archetype of the
  productive sacrifice. The flood mythreminds us
  that life depends on death, that without death
  there can be no cycle, no birth.
• Floods connected with cleansing, washing away of
  blunders or evil
• Spared survivors are heroes of a new life

22
Ante- Diluvian Post- Diluvian

• Blundered creation
• Error or evil by mankind
• Period of degradation

• Sacrifice and thanksgiving
• Salvation of survivors
• Retreat of gods from intimate relationship with
  mankind
• But new and renewed relationship between
  humanity and divine consecrated
• Humans must work to live learned arts and
  skills for survival

23
Mesopotamian and Hebrew Flood Myths

• Gilgamesh text ca. 2000 bce
• Utnapishtim or Ziusudra
• Enlil annoyed by human noise
• Ea/Enki warns Utnapishtim in dream of oncoming
  flood
• Boat built in 7 days
• Contents family, kin, animals, craftsmen, gold
• 6 days and 6 nights of rain and rising water
• Ishtar (Inanna) regrets divine councils
  decision
• Boat lands on Mt. Nisir
• Dove, swallow and raven released
• Sacrifice and libation
• Ishtars necklace set in sky as token

• Genesis text ca. 1000 bce
• Noah
• God dismayed by evil of mankind
• Noah chosen as righteous man
• Noah follows Gods directions to build ark
• Contents family, 7 of clean beasts, 2 of unclean
• 40 days and 40 nights of rain
• All mankind perishes except Noahs family
• Ark lands on Mt. Ararat
• Raven, dove, dove released\
• Burnt offerings
• Rainbow sent in sky as token of new covenant
  between God and mankind.