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Anthropology 112 Civilizations: Mesopotamia Jodi Perin Review: Power and Authority Power is the ability to exercise one’s will over others. Authority is the socially approved use of power. Ranked chiefdoms (e.g. Pacific Islands) • Intensified agriculture/technology • Increased specialization (e.g. priests) • Concentration of power in the hands of a few • Emergence of inequality • A chief or senior leader makes a decision and a group of subordinates carries out this decision. What’s a “civilization”? Civilizations/empires Some similarities to chiefdoms, but also: Cities Emergence of writing/calendrical systems Monumental architecture Code of laws Etc. “Civilization gives some households institutionalized coercive power to permanently control property in ways that reduce material opportunities of other households”(Bodley p.204-5) Why civilizations? “Civilization is about social power” (Bodley pg. 204) “Rulers took advantage of crisis situations in order to force people to accept the elite’s self-interested solutions” (Bodley pg. 211) “Political centralization was not inevitable, but under some circumstances aspiring elites could force the majority to accept their domineering leadership” (Bodley pg. 214) Chapter 7 (part 1): Mesopotamia Where is Bodley getting his information? Environment: the fertile crescent Arid desert w/ major rivers, variable elevation and land cover Fragile and unpredictable natural environment • Sea level/climatic changes Prone to flooding and drought Earliest known domestication of plants/animals Example: Sumer (Southern Mesopotamia) 5500 BC - small villages, farming w/out irrigation 5000 BC - climate change and sea level fluctuations bring droughts, floods • Refugees • Creation of larger villages • Emergence of irrigation and chiefdoms 4000 BC - sea level stabilizes, irrigation becomes more reliable • Successful chiefs move to consolidate power • Intensified production of food, other goods • Intensified warfare 3500 BC - first city-states in place >> beginning of Sumerian civilization • Centralized economic systems, mass production • High status wealth objects • Scribes keep records with cuneiform writing • Long-distance trade • Colonization Ur III (Southern Mesopotamia) 2112 - 2004 BC Taxation system (barley, wool, etc.) Ranks/social classes • Small farmers, low-wage workers, indentured servants/slaves (> 90%) • Managers, majors, large landowners, merchants • Royal officials/top administrators • Emperor and extended royal family Elite private dynasties (e.g. political/religious offices) Food - lots of barley! + some fruits, meat, oil, etc. Intensive irrigated agriculture Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia Rulers as divine Temples (ziggurats) Creation myths and political dynasties Hierarchical cosmos Human sacrifice A few questions for discussion . . . • What have you learned previous to this class about Mesopotamia and other civilizations, if anything? • Do you think civilization in the Mesopotamian form was inevitable? • In your opinion, did the emergence of civilizations constitute progress? •Would you prefer to live as a hunter gatherer (e.g. like the !Kung) or as a citizen of a Mesopotamian city-state? (be prepared to explain your answer) • Later on we will discuss why civilizations like those in Mesopotamia were inherently unstable and prone to collapse. Why might these kinds of societies be so unstable, compared to domestic scale societies?