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LECTURE 2
A B H I S H E K K . V E N K I TA R A M A N I Y E R
A S S I S TA N T P RO F E S S O R
Overview and Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamia is one of the cradles of human civilization. Here, the earliest cities in world history
appeared, about 3500 BC.
c. 5000-3500 BC: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia. This is the
achievement of the Sumerian people.
c. 3500: Writing begins to be developed. At first this is based on pictograms, and takes about
a thousand years to evolve into a full cuneiform script.
c. 2300: King Sargon of Akkad starts conquering the first empire in world history. The empire
reaches its height in c. 2220.
c. 2100: The city of Ur becomes the centre of a powerful Mesopotamian state. It soon falls into
decline. This marks the decline of the Sumerians as the Amorites, a nomadic people, start moving
into Mesopotamia.
1792-49: King Hammurabi of Babylon conquers a large empire. Hammurabi is famous for the
law code which he issues. His empire begins to decline immediately after his death.
c. 1530: Babylonia is conquered by the Kassites, who rule the area for 400+ years.
c. 1500: The Mitanni, an Indo-European people, conquer northern Mesopotamia, plus areas of
Syria and Asia Minor. After 200 years the kingdom of Assyria conquers northern Mesopotamia
from the Mitanni
From 1100: Nomadic peoples such as the Aramaeans and the Chaldeans overrun much of
Mesopotamia. The kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria go into temporary decline.
Ancient River Valley
Civilizations
ANCIENT
MESOPOTAMIA
Oldest known civilization
Cradle of Human
Civilization
Nebuchadnezzar
Ziggurat
Hanging gardens
FIRST SUMERIANS
Sumerians first arrived in region around
5000 BC
◦ Typical Paleolithic people motivated by
search for game
◦ Settled in region and took up farming
◦ Built dams, dikes, and short canals to use
water from the Euphrates
◦ Grew barley and dates and raised sheep
and goats
SUMERIAN AGRICULTURE
Each was crisscrossed by irrigation system of
major canals and minor channels
◦ Designed to bring water from Euphrates to
farmland
Farmland divided into square and rectangle-
shaped plots
◦ Farmers worked land with plows, seed-drills, and
stone hoes and received yield of 40:1
Other areas set aside as gardens and fruit
orchards
Carts pulled by donkeys and boats on the canals
took produce to the urban center itself
The Beginnings of Writing
Farmers needed to keep records.
The Sumerians were very good farmers. They raised animals such
as goats and cows. Because they needed to keep records of their
livestock, food, and other things, officials began using tokens.
Lagash
In the city-state (or state), kin and tribal loyalties are, by definition, subordinated and replaced by
political ties. What makes a city-state different from an agricultural town is the synergy created
by its people interacting with each other on the basis of political relationships rather than
traditional blood ties.
Why Did These Cities Develop?
Due to the fertile soil in
Mesopotamia, farming was very
successful. In fact, people were
able to create surpluses of food.
This meant that some people could
stop farming and begin doing other
things, like building a city.
4-Assyrian Period:
The northern region of the two rivers
now flourishes at the expense of
lower Mesopotamia. The Assyrian by
their imposing state reliefs and their
palaces, like the one at Khorsabad.
A Sumerian City
Sumerian city streets were
so narrow that you could
hardly get a cart through
them.
5
7 1.Temenos Precinct
2.Nimin-Tabba Temple
1
3.Royal Cementery
4 4.Royal Mausolea
3
5 5.Residential Area
9 2. 5
6.City Wall
7.Fortification Tower
8.North Harbor
7
9.West Harbor
7
6
Traffic along the twisted network of unpaved streets was mostly pedestrian. At Ur, one
sees on occasion a low flight of steps against a building from which riders could mount,
and the street corners were regularly rounded to facilitate passage.
Street width at the very most , would be 3 meters (9 feet) or so, and that only for the
few principal thoroughfares that led to the public buildings. These would be bordered with
the houses of the rich.
Poorer folk lived at the back ,along narrow lanes and alleys. It is hard to imagine much
wheeled traffic in this maze, though both service carts (with solid wheels) and chariots had
been in use from an early date.
Once walled the land became precious, and the high value of private property kept
public space to a minimum. Ample squares or public gardens were very rare.
The houses were grouped into congested blocks, where partition walls were common.
Ur, residential area southeast of
the
royal mausolea in the twentieth
century B.C.;Plan
Ur, Residential quarter between the Ziggurat precinct and the West
Harbor , Plan
Temple and Ziggurats:
CANAL TEMPLE
TEMPLE
PARK
Political Timeline
Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C. Sargon’s Empire, 2350-2320B.C. The Dynasty of Ur, 2100-2000B.C.
The Amorite invasions, 2100-1900 B.C. Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon, 1792-1750 B.C.
Economic: trade and farming
The Governors
The Aristocracy
The Peasantry
SLAVERY
Originated with practice of men selling
themselves and/or their families to pay off
debts
◦ Supplemented by using prisoners of war as
slaves
Demand for slaves increased as
civilization progressed
◦ Advance of civilization did not bring same
benefits to everyone
◦ Some benefited a great deal
◦ Others saw a deterioration in their situation
From Akkad
North of Sumer
Originally settled by
nomads from Arabia
Fairly untouched by
Sumerian civilization
for centuries
THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
Hammurabi
Hanging gardens of Babylonia
The ancient city of Babylon, under
King Nebuchadnezzar II, must
have been a wonder to the
traveler's eyes. "In addition to its
size," wrote Herodotus, a
historian in 450 BC, "Babylon
surpasses in splendor any city in the
known world."
Herodotus claimed the outer walls
were 56 miles in length, 80 feet
thick and 320 feet high. Wide
enough, he said, to allow a four-
horse chariot to turn. The inner walls
were "not so thick as the first, but
hardly less strong." Inside the walls
were fortresses and temples
containing immense statues of solid
gold. Rising above the city was the
famous Tower of Babel, a temple to
the god Marduk, that seemed to
reach to the heavens
Khorsabad:
KHORSABAD
The city was a royal Assyrian foundation, begun in 706 B.C., and abandoned, unfinished,
shortly afterward.
It covered 2.5 Sq.Km. (almost 1 Sq.mile).
There were two arched gates on each side of the square, guarded by stone demons in the
form of human-headed bulls.
On the North-West side one of the gates had been replaced by a bastion that served as a
platform for the royal place.
The entrance court is associated with a number of temples grouped along the west side.
They were all served by single ziggurat that was no other example of this Mesopotamian
building type.
4.
3.
2.
1. Citadel wall
2. Entrance court
3. Court of honor
4. Unexcavated