Download the burney relief

A. MESOPOTAMIAN RECEIPTS
Most of the early writing of Mesopotamians was used to make lists of commodities. The
writing system is believed to have developed in response to an increasingly complex society in
which records needed to be kept on taxes, rations, agricultural products and tributes to keep
society running smoothly.
The oldest examples of Sumerian writing were bills of sales that recorded transactions between
a buyer and seller. When a trader sold ten head of cattle he included a clay tablet that had a
symbol for the number ten and a pictograph symbol of cattle.
The Mesopotamians could also be described as the world’s first great accountants. They
recorded everything that was consumed in the temples on clay tablets and placed them in
the temple archives. Many of the tablets recovered were lists of items like this. Royal
seals were affixed to products.
B. SOCIAL HIERARCHY
This is a visual representation of the social levels in Mesopotamia.
There were four main classes of people in ancient Sumer - the priests, the upper class, the lower
class, and the slaves.
The Priests:
The priests were powerful. They were in charge of making sure everyone behaved in a way that
would make the gods happy. They were the doctors of the time. If you were sick, you called for a
priest.
The Upper Class:
Men and women wore jewelry, especially rings. Men wore skirts and had long hair, curly
moustaches, and long beards. Women wore dresses, off one shoulder. They had long hair, which
they braided or wore up in fancy arrangements. It was easy to tell who were the priests. The
priests shaved their heads. Everyone wore cloaks made from sheep wool to keep warm in winter.
The Lower Class:
In ancient Sumer, people were paid for their work. If they ran a shop or worked in the fields, they
were paid for their goods or labor. Stealing was a serious crime and punishment was severe.
Everybody paid, even the king.
Although the lower class did not have the luxury lifestyle of the rich, they were comfortable.
They worked very hard, but they had homes. They wore jewelry, although perhaps it was not
made of gold. They followed the clothing fashions of the time as much as possible.
There was no law that said they could not move up the social scale, or more likely, have their
children move up the social scale by becoming a scribe, or a priest or priestess.
The Slaves:
When the Sumerians conquered another town, they brought prisoners back with them to act as
slaves. Slaves worked for the king, the temple and the wealthy. Slaves were bought and sold.
Records have been found recording the amount paid for a slave. Typically, a slave bought at
auction cost less than a donkey but more than a cow.
C. STATUE OF KING GUDEA
The Akkadian empire collapsed after two centuries of rule, and during the succeeding
fifty years, local kings ruled independent city-states in southern Mesopotamia. The
city-state of Lagash produced a remarkable number of statues of its kings as well as
Sumerian literary hymns and prayers under the rule of Gudea (ca. 2150–2125 B.C.)
and his son Ur-Ningirsu (ca. 2125–2100 B.C.). Unlike the art of the Akkadian period,
which was characterized by dynamic naturalism, the works produced by this NeoSumerian culture are pervaded by a sense of pious reserve and serenity.
This sculpture belongs to a series of diorite statues commissioned by Gudea, who
devoted his energies to rebuilding the great temples of Lagash and installing statues
of himself in them. Many inscribed with his name and divine dedications survive.
Here, Gudea is depicted in the seated pose of a ruler before his subjects, his hands
folded in a traditional gesture of greeting and prayer. The Sumerian inscription on his
robe lists the various temples that he built or renovated in Lagash and names the
statue itself, "Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long."
D. LIBRARY OF JOJO NEBUCHADNEZZER
The "book shelf" shown above was excavated at Sippar, an ancient city of North Babylon on
the Euphrates in present Iraq, 20 miles (32km) SW of Baghdad. It was one of the capitals of
Sargon and had a great temple to the sungod, Shamash. Excavations begun in 1882 have
yielded thousands of inscribed tablets, many of which have yet to be deciphered.
The King who founded the library, Nebuchadnezzer, had a school of scribes trained to write
his laws and other ideas on clay tablets. They would then give the tablets to the library.
If a clay “book” would fall, a scribe would have to quickly make another one…or else!
E. CHARIOT
Chariots were used in Mesopotamia from before 3000 B.C. The earliest chariots had
either two or four solid wheels. Chariots with spoked wheels were invented about
1900 B.C.
Early Sumerian chariots were pulled by donkeys. The charioteer steered the chariot
using reins which went through a ring carried on the donkey's back and attached to
rings in their noses.
F. THE BURNEY RELIEF
The Burney Relief (also known as the Queen of the Night relief) is a Mesopotamian terracotta plaque in
high relief of the Isin-Larsa- or Old-Babylonian period, depicting a winged, nude, goddess-like figure
with bird's talons, flanked by owls, and perched upon supine lions. The relief is displayed in the British
Museum in London, which has dated it between 1800 and 1750 BCE. It originates from southern Iraq, but
the exact find-site is unknown. Apart from its distinctive iconography, the piece is noted for its high relief
and relatively large size, which suggests that is was used as a cult relief, which makes it a very rare
survival from the period. However, whether it represents Lilitu, Inanna/Ishtar, or Ereshkigal, is under
debate. The authenticity of the object has been questioned from its first appearance in the 1930s, but
opinion has generally moved in its favour over the subsequent decades.
G. TRADE
Mesopotamia was a region which did not have many natural resources. Therefore, the
people who lived there needed to trade with neighbouring countries in order to
acquire the resources they needed to live.
Grain, oils and textiles were taken from Babylonia to foreign cities and exchanged
for timber, wine, precious metals and stones. In addition, merchants from other
countries travelled to Babylonia to exchange their goods.
Merchants used several different methods for transporting their goods depending on
what they were transporting. For example, grain was quite bulky and was best
transported on a boat, whereas precious stones were likely to be small, so they could
be transported on foot or by donkey.
H. HEADDRESS OF QUEEN PUABI
Queen Puabi was the name of a woman buried in one of the richest of the tombs excavated
by Woolley at the Royal Cemetery. Puabi (her name, found on a cylinder seal within the
tomb, was probably closer to Pu-abum) was approximately 40 years old at the time of her
death.
Puabi's tomb (RT/800) was a stone and mud brick structure measuring 4.35 x 2.8 meters. She
was placed on a raised platform, wearing this elaborate gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian
headdress and the beaded jewelry seen on additional pages below. A large pit, probably
representing a sunken courtyard or entry shafts into Puabi's burial chamber, held over
seventy skeletons. Woolley called this area the Great Death Pit. the individuals buried here
are thought to have been sacrificial victims who had attended a banquet in this spot before
their deaths. Although they are believed to have been servants and laborers, most of the
skeletons wore elaborate pieces of jewelry, and held precious stone and metal vessels.
I. THE CODE OF HAMMURABI
The first written laws in human history.
Hammurabi was an ancient Babylonian king. He did something that no one had ever
done before. The Sumerians had created the first written cuneiform. Using this written
language, Hammurabi created the first written set of laws.
In Hammurabi's court, it did not matter if you were rich or poor. If you broke the law,
and were found guilty, you would be punished.
Since the laws were clearly written down, everyone was expected to obey them.
Here are some examples of the laws:
1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he cannot prove it, then he that
ensnared him shall be put to death.
2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the
river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove
that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall
be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had
belonged to his accuser.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has
charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
J. SEATED SCRIBE
Scribes were very important people. They were trained to write cuneiform and record
many of the languages spoken in Mesopotamia.
Without scribes, letters would not have been written or read, royal monuments would
not have been carved with cuneiform, and stories would have been told and then
forgotten.
Scribes wrote on different shaped objects depending on the type of information they
wanted to record.
K.ZIGGURAT
Ziggurats (/ˈzɪɡʊˌræt/, Akkadian ziqqurat, D-stem of zaqāru "to build on a raised
area") were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western
Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding
stories or levels.
Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat
of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, Iraq; Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān, Iran; and Sialk near
Kashan, Iran.
According to Herodotus, at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine, although none of
these shrines has survived.[1] One practical function of the ziggurats was a high place
on which the priests could escape rising water that annually inundated lowlands and
occasionally flooded for hundreds of miles, as for example the 1967 flood.[5] Another
practical function of the ziggurat was for security. Since the shrine was accessible
only by way of three stairways,[6] a small number of guards could prevent non-priests
from spying on the rituals at the shrine on top of the ziggurat, such as cooking of
sacrificial food and burning of carcasses of sacrificial animals. Each ziggurat was
part of a temple complex that included a courtyard, storage rooms, bathrooms, and
living quarters, around which a city was built.[7]
L. PRAYING STATUES
Where: Esnunna; The Square Temple
When: c. 2900-2600 BCE
Who: The Sumerians
What: Stone (limestone, alabaster and gypsum) figurines of people.
Why: These were left in temples to represent Sumerian men and women who left
prayers at the temple.
How: Artists would make these at the temple complexes for a price, most likely
depending on the size, and possibly which type of stone was used.
Fun Facts:
Accurate to how the people really looked at the time; styles and dress.
Writing on the back or bottom state who the statue represents and what they
are praying for, although a common phrase found on them states "One who
offers prayers".
Wide open eyes represent better contact with the god.
Large head and shoulders are an elaboration of where they believed the soul
resides.
There would be thousands of these left in ziggurats.