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Hammurabi, King of Babylon: The Uses of the Past in Ancient and Modern Mesopotamia Lecture 5 Babylon (modern central Iraq) Wednesday, October 7, 2009 BABYLON Wednesday, October 7, 2009 A Sumerian city-girl’s view of the nomadic lifestyle: “Martu doesn’t grow grain, but digs roots in the desert. He wears animal skins and does not bend his knee (in worship before the gods). He has no house when he is alive, and not even a proper burial when he is dead.” Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Modern Nomads: Cultural Descendants of “Martu” Wednesday, October 7, 2009 STELE OF UR-NAMMU, KING OF UR Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Built under the third dynasty of Ur during the 21rst century BC (!), the ziggurat at Ur was frequently repaired by subsequent rulers. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The Ziggurat at Ur The area around Ur witnessed intense combat during the first Gulf War. The ziggurat at Ur was heavily restored by Iraqi archaeologists under Saddam Hussein, who liked to present himself as the legitimate successor of ancient Mesopotamian rulers. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Green stone seal, which belonged to Hashhamer, governor of the city of Ishkun-Sin, servant of Ur-Nammu, strong man, king of Ur. This was the first Sumerian text to be published (1820). Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Seal of governor under the III Dynasty of Ur The seal depicts the goddess Ishtar and another goddess introducing the governor before Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, seated on his throne. Amorites Sumerian Cities Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Note the location of Mari, on the upper Euphrates River. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Mudbrick remains of the palace at Mari today. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Palace of King of Mari in the era of Hammurabi Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Model of the Palace of Zimri-Lim, King of Mari Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The grinding room in the palace at Ebla in northern Syria, second millennium B.C. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Drawing of the frescoes decorating the throne room in the palace of Zimri-Lim at Mari. ca. 1780 BC Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The central panels of the frescoes at the palace of Zimri-Lin at Mari, ca. 1780 BC. In the upper scene, the king receives symbols of royal power from the goddess Ishtar. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 A bull and driver depicted in the palace of the king of Mari, ca. 1780 BC. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Statue of worshipper found in the royal palace at Mari in northern Syria. The style is reminiscent of the early dynastic statues (ca. 2800 BC) found in southern Mesopotamia. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Statue of a governor in the service of the king of Mari. ca. 1800 BC. The style anticipates later Assyrian sculpture from northern Iraq. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Excavation of the cuneiform tablet archive in the palace at Mari, which was burned and (ironically) thus preserved during the Babylonian sack of the city in 1760 B.C. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Old Babylonian ruler portrait, often identified as Hammurabi. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 “I raised the top of the foundation of Sippar’s city wall with earth so that it was like a mighty mountain. That mighty wall I built. From the distant past no king among kings had ever made such a wall for my Lord, the god Shamash. I named the wall ‘At-the-command-of-the-god-Shamash, may-Hammurabi-have-no-rival.’” Numerous copies of this inscription were found by archaeologists excavating at Sippar. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 European painters, under the influence of the Bible, often depicted Babylon as a sensuous, decadent civilization. Here, a “Babylonian wedding” is depicted as a kind of slave sale. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The stele was excavated at Susa in the land of Elam in 1902. In his own era, Hammurabi sacked Elam, but the Elamites got their revenge 600 years later by hauling off his stele. The stele originally stood in the city of Sippar or one of the other Mesopotamian cities. Ironically, its removal to Elam ensured its survival and Hammurabi’s fame. The Stele of Hammurabi Louvre Museum, Paris Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Hammurabi stands as a supplicant before the enthroned god Marduk, whom the Babylonians revered as the high god of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Marduk is no longer a household name -- except among fans of heavy metal. “Marduk” at the 2008 Metalmania concert. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Saddam Hussein, an avid patron of reconstruction efforts at the site of ancient Babylon, also built one of his own (numerous) palaces in the vicinity. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 In direct imitation of ancient Mesopotamian rulers, Saddam had his inscription recorded on the bricks of the palace of ancient Babylon as restored by Iraqi archaeologists. Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The cultural system rooted in the cuneiform system of writing spread from the Levant and Central Anatolia to SW Iran and lasted more than 3000 years in its Mesopotamian homeland Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Since the late 1990s, the sites of several major Sumerian cities have been badly pillaged by looters. Although many objects resurface on the antiquities market, the Wednesday, October 7, 2009 damage to the sites and the heritage of ancient Mesopotamia is irreparable.