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1 CLAS 3305 U. STANGE 2006 Lecture 6 Thanksgiving week Sumerian Proverb: He who eats much can’t sleep. THE LATER HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA Thanksgiving week Sumerian Proverb: He who eats much can’t sleep. Norman Rockwell (part of the Four Freedoms series) Most prominent theme: Early Imperialism Sargon the Great Semitic king from Akkad (north of Sumer) Dates approximate… (2334 – 2279 BCE ) ---------------------------Sargon of Akkad fashioned the world’s first empire Ginés Quiñonero ----------------------Sargon’s name echoes through the centuries… Sargon’s Empire-Building: He spread his terror-inspiring glamour over all the countries. He crossed the Sea in the East and he, himself, conquered the country of the West. . . . He marched against the country of Kazalla and turned Kazalla into ruin-hills and heaps of rubble. He even destroyed there every possible perching place for a bird. History of the Ancient World 45 -----------------------------------Sargon legitimized the concept of ‘divine right’ The Sumerian King List states that “Kingship is lowered from heaven” In later history, this concept comes down to us as the “divine right of kings” 2 --------------------------------Sargon’s grandson: Naram-Sin Extended the empire Deified himself Claimed title to ‘King of the Four Corners of the World” -------------------------------The Gutians….foreigners…here to stay… 'Not classed among people, not reckoned as part of the land Gutian people who know no inhibitions, With human instinct but canine intelligence and monkey's features' -----------------------------Ur-Nammu 2125 BCE* capable military leader great builder great lawgiver last Sumerian dynasty -----------------------------Shulgi Son of Ur-Nammu “Whatever is acquired is destined to be lost.” -----------------------------After more than 1,500 years, political Sumer perished from the earth ----------------------Sumerian culture, however, did not perish Sumerian culture -- mythology, religion literature, math, astronomy etc. -- was transmitted through the cuneiform tablets – first to the Babylonians, – then to the Assyrians and Persians, – then to the Greeks and Romans – and finally to us. ------------------------------- 3 Babylon One of the towns the invading Amorites captured was a small river town called Babylon circa 2,000 B.C.E -----------------------------Hammurabi 18th C. BCE Established the first Babylonian Empire -- ruled for 43 years Cultural and religious inspiration from the "black-headed" people ----------------------------Hammurabi continued…. Sumerian gods Sumerian temple rituals Sumerian math and science Sumerian agricultural techniques Sumerian literature Sumerian writing system All in use in Mesopotamia down to the beginning of the Christian era ----------------------------------Babylon in Berlin: Ishtar Gate -----------------------------Hammurabi’s Code of Laws -------------------------------- 1. If a man has accused another of laying a nertu [death spell?] upon him, but has not proved it, he shall be put to death. What does this tell us about those early laws? And about that society? 2. If a man has accused another of laying a kispu [spell] upon him, but has not proved it, the accused shall go to the sacred river, he shall plunge into the sacred river, and if the river shall conquer him, he that accused him shall take possession of his house. If the sacred river shall show his innocence and he is saved, his accuser shall be put to 4 death. He that plunged into the sacred river shall appropriate the house of him that accused. 3. If a man has borne false witness in a trial, or has not established the statement that he has made, if that case be a capital trial, that man shall be put to death. 4. If he has borne false witness in a civil law case, he shall pay the damages in that suit. 6. If a man has stolen goods from a temple, or house, he shall be put to death; and he that has received the stolen property from him shall be put to death. 8. If a patrician has stolen ox, sheep, ass, pig, or ship, whether from a temple, or a house, he shall pay thirtyfold. If he be a plebeian, he shall return tenfold. If the thief cannot pay, he shall be put to death. 14. If a man has stolen a child, he shall be put to death. 21. If a man has broken into a house he shall be killed before the breach and buried there. 22. If a man has committed highway robbery and has been caught, that man shall be put to death. 23. If the highwayman has not been caught, the man that has been robbed shall state on oath what he has lost and the city or district governor in whose territory or district the robbery took place shall restore to him what he lost. 25. If a fire has broken out in a man's house and one who has come to put it out has coveted the property of the householder and appropriated any of it, that man shall be cast into the self-same fire. 129. If a man's wife be caught lying with another, they shall be strangled and cast into the water. If the wife's husband would save his wife, the king can save his servant. 130. If a man has ravished another's betrothed wife, who is a virgin, while still living in her father's house, and has been caught in the act, that man shall be put to death; the woman shall go free. 131. If a man's wife has been accused by her husband, and has not been caught lying with another, she shall swear her innocence, and return to her house. 133. If a man has been taken captive, and there was maintenance in his house, but his wife has left her house and entered another man's house; because that woman has not 5 preserved her body, and has entered into the house of another, that woman shall be prosecuted and shall be drowned. 134. If a man has been taken captive, but there was not maintenance in his house, and his wife has entered into the house of another, that woman has no blame. 135. If a man has been taken captive, but there was no maintenance in his house for his wife, and she has entered into the house of another, and has borne him children, if in the future her [first] husband shall return and regain his city, that woman shall return to her first husband, but the children shall follow their own father. 141. If a man's wife, living in her husband's house, has persisted in going out, has acted the fool, has wasted her house, has belittled her husband, he shall prosecute her. If her husband has said, "I divorce her," she shall go her way; he shall give her nothing as her price of divorce. If her husband has said, "I will not divorce her," he may take another woman to wife; the wife shall live as a slave in her husband's house. 142. If a woman has hated her husband and has said, "You shall not possess me," her past shall be inquired into, as to what she lacks. If she has been discreet, and has no vice, and her husband has gone out, and has greatly belittled her, that woman has no blame, she shall take her marriage-portion and go off to her father's house. 143. If she has not been discreet, has gone out, ruined her house, belittled her husband, she shall be drowned. 195. If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off. 196. If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be knocked out. 197. If he has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken. 198. If he has knocked out the eye of a plebeian or has broken the limb of a plebeian, he shall pay one mina of silver. 209. If a man has struck a free woman with child, and has caused her to miscarry, he shall pay ten shekels for her miscarriage. 210. If that woman die, his daughter shall be killed. 211. If it be the daughter of a plebeian, that has miscarried through his blows, he shall pay five shekels of silver. 212. If that woman die, he shall pay half a mina of silver. 218. If a surgeon has operated with the bronze lancet on a patrician for a serious injury, and has caused his death, or has removed a cataract for a patrician, with the bronze lancet, and has made him lose his eye, his hands shall be cut off. 229. If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not made his work sound, and the house he built has fallen, and caused the death of its owner, that builder shall be put to death. 230. If it is the owner's son that is killed, the builder's son shall be put to death. 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hammurabi’s Boast: I rooted out the enemy above and below; I made an end of war; I promoted the welfare of the land; I made the people’s rest in friendly habitations; I did not let them have anyone to terrorize them; .... I have governed them in peace; I have sheltered them in my strength. ---------------------------------------------The rise of Babylon…. Everything Sumerian was continued, but… a major change in the pantheon: the ascendancy of Marduk as the premier god… -----------------------------------Marduk… According to the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic poem of creation, Marduk defeated Tiamat and Kingu, the dragons of chaos, and thereby gained supreme power. -----------------------------Fall of the First Babylonian Empire 1590 B.C.E Conquered by the Kassites (from western Persia) Ruled 500 years ------------------------------------The Assyrians… A Semitic people from north-eastern Mesopotamia Took their name from their main god, Assur Genesis 10:11 7 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh -------------------------------------The First Assyrian Empire (1310 – 1232 BCE) The Second Assyrian Empire (883 – 612 BCE) ------------------------------Second Assyrian Empire (883 – 612 BCE) unprecedented display of military power army totally equipped with iron weapons (rather than bronze) new battle tactics -- cavalry -- heavy war chariots terrorization as example -- burned entire cities destroyed conquered populations deported survivors name of Assyrians blackened for all time by the account of their deeds in the Bible -----------------------------Reputation of the Assyrians… Lord Byron The Destruction of Sennacherib The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold…. -----------------------------------Assyrian military tactics… (but also practiced by other empires) -------------------------------The Assyrians… Held on to empire through a series of powerful kings: Sargon II Sennacherib Essarhaddon Ashurbanipal ------------------------------Sargon II Usurper Began last Assyrian dynasty 8 Defeated Israel Dispersed the inhabitants “Ten lost tribes” -------------------------Sargon’s Palace at Khorsabad ---------Sennacherib Son of Sargon II Built palace at Nineveh Dealt with the western territories which rose against the empire Besieged Jerusalem and Lachish ------------------------------ Ruled a kingdom which reached from “the upper sea of the setting sun to the lower sea of the rising sun.” ------------------------Biblical connections… Sennacherib and the Bible II Kings 18:13 Now in the 14th year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib, King of Assyria, come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. ----------------------------Inscription at Nineveh… Sennacherib, the mighty King, King of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish: I gave permission for its slaughter ..... ----------------------http://fontes.lstc.edu/%7Erklein/images2/LAKISCOL.JPG ---------------------Sennacherib receiving tribute… -----------------------Sennacherib’s Palace at Nineveh ------------------------- 9 Assyrian boasts: (found at Nineveh) And Hezekiah of Judah who had not submitted to my yoke ... him I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him, and anyone coming out of his city gate I made to pay for his crime. His cities which I had plundered I cut off from his land. -------------------------Hezekiah’s Tunnel http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/hez1.html The account of the construction of Hezekiah's water tunnel under Jerusalem by King Hezekiah shortly before the city was besieged by Sennacherib in about 701 BC is described in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:2-4, 30. Archaeologists discovered the tunnel in the 19th century. ------------------------ As for Hezekiah, the splendour of my majesty overwhelmed him. . . 30 gold talents . . .valuable treasures as well as his daughters, the women of his harem, singers both men and women, he caused to be brought after me to Nineveh. To pay his tribute and to do me homage he sent his envoys. ---------------------Compare: Gustave Doré (1832-1883) Destruction of the Army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35) II Kings 18:14: And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. II Kings 19:35,36: And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. --------------------Other corroboration of Assyrian history in the Bible…. The Death of Sennacherib II Kings 19:37: And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adremmelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Essarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. 10 ------------------------------- By great good fortune we have Essarhaddon's version: Disloyal thoughts inspired my brothers. . . they rebelled. In order to exercise royal authority they killed Sennacherib. I became a raging lion, my mind was in a fury. . . ----------------------He set out to destroy his brothers… These usurpers. . . fled to an unknown land. I reached the quay on the Tigris, sent my troops across the broad river as if it were a canal. In Addar. . . I reached Nineveh well pleased. I ascended my father's throne with joy. The south wind was blowing. . . whose breezes are propitious for royal authority. . . I am Essarhaddon king of the world, king of Assyria. . . son of Sennacherib. --------------------------Assurbanipal A different kind of Assyrian Assembled the most impressive library in the ANE -- also collected antiquities Capital at Nineveh --------------------------Ginés Quiñonero ----------------------- Slaying a lion British Museum ---------------------Map of Nineveh Palaces plundered since first Gulf War 1990 ------------------Ashurbanipal in his old age: I did well unto god and man, to dead and living. Why have sickness and misery befallen me? I cannot do away with the strife in my country and the dissensions in my family; disturbing scandals oppress me always. Illness of mind and flesh bow me down; with cried 11 of woe I bring my days to an end. On the day of the city god, the day of the festival, I am wretched; death is seizing hold upon me, and bears me down. With lamentation and mourning I wail day and night, I groan, “O God! Grant even to one who is impious that he may see thy light.” -------------------------Assyrian achievements… military rule extended over all of Mesopotamia entire Near East paid tribute of one kind or another most advanced administration up to that time – absolute monarchy – highly centralized bureaucracy – postal service over national highways ------------------------ distinctive sculpture and art preserved the Sumerian and Babylonian culture culture) (much like Rome preserved Greek -----------------------------Gilgamesh ---------------------Assyrian art… -------------------- Nabopolassar, a Babylonian, had ruled Babylonia for the Assyrians (puppet king) rebelled after death of Ashurbanipal declared himself King of Babylonia made alliance with Medes -- destroyed Nineveh 612 BCE ---------------------End of an Empire… Nineveh destroyed in 612 B.C. The Assyrian Empire overthrown by a combination of Chaldeans and Medes Legend says not a single building was left standing… 12 --------------------------Biblical connections… Nahum 3: 1. Woe to the bloody city it is all full of lies and robbery. 3. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: 19: There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually? --------------------Nebuchadnezzar son of Nabopolassar -- succeeded in 605 B.C. ruled 43 years height of New Babylonian Empire restored the Empire -- rebuilt Babylon even more splendidly ---------------------Hanging Gardens of Babylon One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World -----------------------Babylonian military rule extended over Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia --------------------Biblical connections… Babylonian Captivity: For Hebrews, the time between the fall of Jerusalem in 586 to rebuilding of the Temple in 516 B.C. (70 years) Jeremiah 25:11 ---------------------- 8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants 13 and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. -------------------------Nebuchaddnezzar: the rest of the story… Daniel 4:31 By William Blake ----------------------King Belshazzar’s Feast Daniel 5 5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way. -----------------------The Handwriting on the Wall… MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN numbered, numbered, weighed, divided. ------------------------- Eschatological myth -- story about the end of things – Religion, mythology, the Bible, prophecy Two later lectures–The Bible and the ANE and Eschatology in the second term ------------------------Deus ex machina…. God uses the Persian, Cyrus, to complete the story: The Hebrews are sent home after their long captivity (after learning their lesson) --------------------- 14 Cyrus Cylinder Found by Hormuz Rassam in the 1890s Sometimes referred to as the world’s first Bill of Rights -But rather followed in the tradition of other ANE rulers broadcasting their reforms --------------------------A new empire…. The Medes and Persians are Indo-Europeans They are young and vigorous when the old empires are old and tired They had aided in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire (612 BCE) Their cultural importance exceeds their political power ---------------------Medes passed down to the Persians: their language alphabet of 36 letters parchment and pen as writing materials use of the column in architecture sacred scripture called the Zend-Avesta Zoroastrian religion: Ahura-mazda, Ahriman patriarchy polygamous marriage a significant body of law -------------------------------The Persians…. Series of immensely successful kings Cyrus (550-531 BCE) Cambyses (528-522 BCE) Darius (521-486 BCE) -------------------------Persian Empire: Absolute hereditary authority (king rules with divine assistance – but isn’t divine) System of satraps – (royal governors) and secretaries (spies) Efficiently organized system of taxation Introduction of coinage throughout the empire (from Lydia) 15 Complex system of roads (and pony express) for commercial and military use ------------------------- As Prof. Richard Frye of Harvard said (in The Heritage of Persia): "In the victories of the Persians... what was different was the new policy of reconciliation and together with this was the prime aim of Cyrus to establish a pax Achaemenica..... If one were to assess the achievements of the Achaemenid Persians, surely the concept of One World, .... the fusion of peoples and cultures in one 'Oecumen' was one of their important legacies" -----------------------Sumerian motifs survived into our era Gilgamesh eventually reappeared as Ulysses in the Odyssey of Homer Utnapishtim, survivor of the great flood, reappeared as Noah in the Old Testament The innocent long-suffering man made a reappearance in the Bible as Job --------------------- Innana reappeared as Ishtar, then as Astarte, finally as Aphrodite and Venus Her marriage to Dumuzi foreshadows the death and rebirth motifs of the Egyptians (Isis and Osiris) and the Greeks (Demeter and Persephone) There are also forerunners of the Cain and Abel motif The paradise motif reappears in Persian religion and art and then in Christian religion and art The story of Sennacherib in the Bible Sennacherib set off on campaigns to shore up the western edges of his empire (along the Mediterranean) Fought an Egyptian army on his way down to Judah And then made his way into Biblical history by attacking Jerusalem Lachish first…. Have to follow several leads II Kings 18:13 16 Now in the 14th year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib, King of Assyria, come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. ---------------------------------- after successfully defeating Lachish: Sennacherib turned his attention to Jerusalem ---------------------------------Assyrian boasts: (found at Nineveh) And Hezekiah of Judah who had not submitted to my yoke ... him I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him, and anyone coming out of his city gate I made to pay for his crime. His cities which I had plundered I cut off from his land. . . As for Hezekiah, the splendour of my majesty overwhelmed him. . . 30 gold talents . . .valuable treasures as well as his daughters, the women of his harem, singers both men and women, he caused to be brought after me to Nineveh. To pay his tribute and to do me homage he sent his envoys. 17 Compare II Kings 18:14: And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. II Kings 19:35,36: And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. 18 What happened? The Bible says no more than that. Look for clues in other places 20th century Excavation of Lachish -- a mass grave in the rock with 2,000 human skeletons found -- date uncertain – identification uncertain only conjecture Other corroboration of Assyrian history in the Bible The Death of Sennacherib II Kings 19:37: And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adremmelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Essarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. 19 By great good fortune we have Essarhaddon's version: Disloyal thoughts inspired my brothers. . . they rebelled. In order to exercise royal authority they killed Sennacherib. I became a raging lion, my mind was in a fury. . . he set out to destroy his brothers These usurpers. . . fled to an unknown land. I reached the quay on the Tigris, sent my troops across the broad river as if it were a canal. In Addar. . . I reached Nineveh well pleased. I ascended my father's throne with joy. The south wind was blowing. . . whose breezes are propitious for royal authority. . . I am Essarhaddon king of the world, king of Assyria. . . son of Sennacherib. Essarhaddon conquered Egypt -- extended the Assyrian Empire Ashurbanipal assembled a great library of 20,000 cuneiform tablets capital at Nineveh -- surpassed all cities in splendor luxurious temples and palaces Assyrian achievements: military rule extended over all of Mesopotamia entire Near East paid tribute of one kind or another --------------------------------------Not surprisingly, Assyria had many enemies After the death of Ashurbanipal -- empire overthrown by a combination of Chaldeans and Medes Nabopolassar - had ruled Babylonia for the Assyrians -- rebelled after death of Ashurbanipal declared himself King of Babylonia 20 made alliance with Medes -- destroyed Nineveh Nineveh destroyed utterly in 612 B.C. ****** -- not a single building left standing ----------------------------------------------- Bible Nahum 3 1. Woe to the bloody city it is all full of lies and robbery. 2. The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. 3. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: 19: There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually? CHALDEAN (NEO BABYLONIAN) EMPIRE Chaldeans a Semitic tribe settled in southern Mesopotamia 1000 B.C. had waited for chance to rebel subject under Assyrian Empire for generations Nabopolassar - had ruled Babylonia for the Assyrians as a puppet king -- rebelled after death of Ashurbanipal declared himself King of Babylonia made alliance with Medes -- destroyed Nineveh Nebuchadnezzar - son of Nabopolassar -- succeeded in 605 B.C. 21 ruled 43 years height of New Babylonian Empire restored the Empire -- rebuilt Babylon even more splendidly Hanging Gardens of Babylon built at this time Perhaps pleasure garden for concubine who missed her foreign home she missed Perhaps lushly planted ziggurat lush ----------------------------------------Jerusalem captured twice -- 597 B.C. and in 586 B.C. city destroyed and Jews taken into captivity in Babylon Babylonian Captivity: For Hebrews, the time between the fall of Jerusalem in 586 to rebuilding of the Temple in 516 ---B.C. (70 years) --------------------------------8Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. -------------------------------------God sent them into captivity to teach them a lesson -- and when they had learned it (after 70 years), he rescued them: ------------------------------------These books of the Bible written much later of course After the fact – when the end of the story was known -------------------------But God now has punishment for the Babylonians 22 For Nebuchaddnezzar Insanity Daniel translates dreams and omens for Nebuchaddnezzar Son Belshazzar -- Story of the handwriting on the wall ------------------------------------------And this is the inscription that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN—numbered, numbered, weighed, divisions. ------------------------------------------------------------------The Fall of Babylon The Myth and the History ----- Babylon fell shortly after the death of Nebuchadnezzar Eschatological myth -- story about the ends of things -----------------------------------------The Bible says that Cyrus freed the Hebrews from their Babylonian captivity and decreed that they should return home and rebuild their temple Cyrus cylinder cuneiform Discovered in 1879 Hormudz Rassam In Babylon now in British museum ----------------------------------------------PERSIAN EMPIRE The End of an Era We are nearing the end of the story of the ancient orient (although we will still have some things to say about Egypt and Israel separately) The old empires are weary. They are easy prey now for conquest by outsiders. 23 Paradoxically, this fading of empires is the prelude to the greatest empire of all The Persian -- reaching out from its center in Iran, it eventually stretches into India in the east, to the very borders of Libya in the west, it brings a final glory and unity not even dreamt of in the earlier empires it calls itself “the kingdom of the four quarters of the earth” it is a nearly universal monarchy – only the far east and the west remain outside its sway The Indo-Europeans ---------------------------------------------------------Medes passed down to the Persians: their language alphabet of 36 letters parchment and pen as writing materials use of the column in architecture sacred scripture called the Zend-Avesta Zoroastrian religion Ahura-mazda Ahriman patriarchy polygamous marriage a body of law --------------------------------------------------The Persians 24 The earliest extant recorded mention of Persia dates from a tablet recording the expedition of Shalmaneser III (an Assyrian king) into a country called Parsua in the mountains of Kurdistan (837 B.C.) Cyrus (550-531 BCE) --------------------------------------------------As Prof. Richard Frye of Harvard said (in The Heritage of Persia, p10-151): "In the victories of the Persians... what was different was the new policy of reconciliation and together with this was the prime aim of Cyrus to establish a pax Achaemenica..... If one were to assess the achievements of the Achaemenid Persians, surely the concept of One World, .... the fusion of peoples and cultures in one 'Oecumen' was one of their important legacies" -------------------------------------------------------Cambyses (528-522 BCE) Son of Cyrus -- continues and extends empire – westward into Egypt -- down into the African continent Darius (521-486 BCE) Darius the Great Re-establishes the dynasty Inscriptions legitimizing his power give thanks to the help of Ahura-Mazda -------------------------------------------------------------Persian Empire: Absolute hereditary authority (rules with divine assistance – but isn’t divine) System of satraps – (royal governors) and secretaries (spies) Efficiently organized system of taxation Coinage introduced throughout the empire (from Lydia) Complex system of roads for commercial and military use 25 ----------------------------------------Getting up into Greek times – history told in Herodotus -- other Classics courses Persia fell to ALEXANDER THE GREAT (334 TO 331 BCE) --------------------------------------------- But in the same way it is said of the Greeks that they conquered their conquerors, the Romans it can be said of the Sumerians also that they conquered their conquerors the power of their knowledge, their discoveries, their religion, their mythology, their literature was so great the many people who came after them borrowed their culture, internalized it, used it and made it their own -- passed it on in their turn In this way Sumerian culture adapted and metamorphosed by all the peoples who came and went in the Near East -- never completely lost but no longer identified as Sumerian -----------------------------------------------------Sumerian motifs survived into our era Gilgamesh eventually reappeared as Ulysses in the Odyssey of Homer Utnapishtim, survivor of the great flood, reappeared in the Old Testament The innocent long-suffering man made a reappearance in the Bible as Job Innana reappeared as Ishtar, then as Astarte, finally as Aphrodite and Venus 26 Her marriage to Dumuzi foreshadows the death and rebirth motifs of the Egyptians (Isis and Osiris) and the Greek tales of Demeter and Persephone There are also forerunners of the Cain and Abel motif The paradise motif reappears in Persian religion and art and then in Christian religion and art All of these we will follow with more attention in a later lecture 27 IN A NUTSHELL AKKADIAN EMPIRE (C. 2300 – 2230 BCE) Sargon (Moses story) Ur-Nammu beginning of Golden Age of Sumer earliest law reforms (2100 B. C.) Destroyed by Elamites (from the east) and Amorites (from Syria - west) BABYLONIAN EMPIRE (AMORITE DYNASTY) (18TH C BCE) Hammurabi 18th C. B.C. sacked by Hittites (didn't stay) and Kassites (did stay) ASSYRIAN EMPIRES (1310 - 1232) (883 - 612) Sargon II preserved Sumerian culture Sennacherib destroyed Babylon attacked King Hezekiah in Judah (mouse story in Herodotus) Essarhaddon (son) Ashurbanipal (son) great library beautified capital at Nineveh NEO BABYLONIAN (CHALDEAN) EMPIRE Nabopolassar destroyed Nineveh in 612 B.C. (with Medes) Nebuchadnezzar (son) succeeded in 605 B.C. restored the empire rebuilt Babylon Attacked Jerusalem twice ( 597 and 586 B.C.) Hebrews taken into captivity en masse (586 B.C.) Belshazzar -- handwriting on the wall PERSIAN EMPIRE (550 BCE ON) Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon Cambyses conquered Egypt Darius tried to conquer Greek cities of Ionia