Download 2. History: Mesopotamia 3000-1600

2. History:
Mesopotamia
3000-1600
BOT612: Old Testament Backgrounds
'Ubaid Period: 5000- 4000 BCE
• 'Ubaid Period: 5000- 4000 BCE
– Site located near Ur, however the
distinctive elements found in north Iraq,
Syria, Iran and in many sites in Saudi
Arabia.
– Agriculture: Wheat, barley, millet, and
other cereals (irrigation systems)
– Graves: cemeteries
– Temple: in Eridu (level VII) a high temple
built on a terrace.
Uruk Period: 4000-2900 BCE
• Uruk Period: 4000-2900 BCE
– Pottery Changes
– Temple: Warka = 1) Celestial god Anu; 2)
Inanna (Ishtar) – These were proto-types
for the ziggurats.
– Writing
– Cylinder Seals (Vol. 2: PDF OT/Lectures/)
– The Problem of the Origins of the
Sumerians.
– View – ANE Art Sumer & . . . Pdf
– Innin-Dumuzi stories begin to develop.
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
• Early Dynastic Period:
– The Golden Age: ED (Early Dynastic) I ca.
2900-2700 BCE
– The Heroic Age: ED II ca. 2700-2500 BCE
– The Dynastic Age: ED III 2500-2300 BCE
• Political & Social Organizations:
– ". . . There is the pattern of urban settlements, which
increase in density and size from the late Uruk into
the ED III period, so that by 2500 it looks as though
80 per cent of the population resided in substantial
cities of more than 100 acres." (Kuhrt, 31)
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
– Kings & city officials exist
– Popular wisdom:
Shuruppak gave instructions to his son:
'My son, let me give you instructions,
May you pay attention to them! (next line frag.)
Do not buy a prostitute, it is horrible,
Do not make a well in a field, the water will do
damage to you
Do not give evidence against a man, the city will . . . .
Do not guarantee (for someone), that man will have
a hold on you'
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
• Kings & Cities
– City-state in the South, but not in the North
– Land owned by: King, temple & private
ownership.
– Ruler were protectors of the city
– Most inhabitants of the city played a role in
the cult.
– Royal Courts
– War: King played a prominent role
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
• King Lists:
– "Several king lists are known from Mesopotamia,
some of which try to bridge the obscure,
prehistoric times with legendary dynasties. One of
these is the Sumerian King list composed in the
Isin-Larsa period, c. 1900 B.C. It begins with eight
kings who ruled 241,000 years before the Flood.
This is followed by a succession of dynasties: First
that of Kish credited with over 24,510 years;
second, Uruk - twelve kings ruling ruling 2,310
years; Third Ur – four rulers for 177 years, and so
down to the Isin-Larsa period. Beginning with
First dynasty of Ur it becomes a reliable historical
record." [Schwantes, A Short History of the
Ancient Near East, 24]
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
– Society:
• "It has been demonstrated that slavery never
played a major role in Mesopotamia, probably
because it was economically unfeasible, especially
for industrial purposes, before Greco-Roman
times; slaves were confined largely to domestic
duties and represented a luxury in any household."
[Hallo & Simpson, The Ancient Near East: A
History, 49-50]
• The "Uruinimgina reform": "Uruinimgina
solemnly promised Ningirsu that he would never
subject the waif and the widow to the powerful."
(Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, 39]
Early Dynastic Period 2900-2300
• First Dynasty of Ur (c. 2500 BCE)
– "The Sumerian king list mentions as first
ruler of this dynasty Meshannipadda,
supposed to have ruled eighty years.
Excavations in Ur have brought to light his
name, as well as that of his wife Nintur,
and his son Aannipadda, who built the
temple in Al-)Ubaid . . . ." [Schwantes, A
Short History of the Ancient Near East, 24]
– Royal Tomb . . . N.B. Queen Shubad's gold
jewery.
Standard of Ur: Sumerian, 30002340 B.C.E.
Ur-Nina & Family 3000-2180
Harp of
Shabad
3500-3000
Goat in
Thicket
3000 BCE
Sumerian Literature
• "Sumerian literature is comparable in sheer
size to biblical literature. A recent survey
estimates the number of lines so far recovered at
approximately 40,000; bearing in mind that
most Sumerian literature is poetic in form and
that the typical Sumerian verse may be
somewhat shorter than the typical biblical verse,
this already compares favorably with the total
of biblical verses in the Masoretic count,
recently calculated at 23,097 (Hallo 1988). Much
of Sumerian literature still remains to be
recovered." [W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian
Literature," ABD: CD-Rom]
Sumerian Literature
• Genre in the Early Period (2500-2300)
– Incantations already from Shuruppak &
Ebla, later used to ward off evil spirits.
There is no parallel literature in the Bible
– "Hymns to deities and their temples are
also attested from a very early date. Some
of the finest are attributed to Enheduanna,
daughter of Sargon of Akkad and the first
non-anonymous author in history." [W. W.
Hallo, "Sumerian Literature," ABD: CDRom]
Sumerian Literature
– "Sumerian myths and epics are generically also
hymns, but confine praise of their divine or royal
protagonist to their concluding doxology, while
the body of the poem is narrative in character."
[W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian Literature," ABD: CDRom]
– "The common man is notably the focus of
wisdom literature, so called in imitation of
the biblical category though wisdom itself is
not prominently mentioned, as it often is in
Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The earliest
attested wisdom genres are instructions and
proverbs." [W. W. Hallo, "Sumerian
Literature," ABD: CD-Rom]
Sumerian Literature
• Neo-Sumerian Period: 2200-1900
– "The deification of the Sumerian king during this
phase led to a certain commingling of sacred and
royal literature and to the emergence of several new
genres responding to the new ideology. The king was
regarded at once as of divine and human parentage,
the product of a physical union in which the royal
partners “represented” deities, most often Dumuzi
and Inanna or their Akkadian equivalents Tammuz
(cf. Ezek 8:14) and Ishtar. An extensive body of
poetry celebrated these “sacred marriage” rites and,
together with more strictly secular love poetry
addressed to the king or recited antiphonally by him
and his bride, anticipated the Song of Songs in its
explicit eroticism."
Sumerian Religion
• "Each city housed a temple that was the seat of a
major god in the Sumerian pantheon, as the gods
controlled the powerful forces which often dictated a
human's fate. The city leaders had a duty to please the
town's patron deity, not only for the good will of that
god or goddess, but also for the good will of the other
deities in the council of gods. The priesthood initially
held this role, and even after secular kings ascended
to power, the clergy still held great authority through
the interpretation of omens and dreams. Many of the
secular kings claimed divine right; Sargon of Agade,
for example claimed to have been chosen by
Ishtar/Inanna."
[http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
98/09/20]
Sumerian Religion
• "The rectangular central shrine of the temple,
known as a 'cella,' had a brick altar or offering
table in front of a statue of the temple's deity. The
cella was lined on its long ends by many rooms for
priests and priestesses. These mud-brick buildings
were decorated with cone geometrical mosaics, and
the occasional fresco with human and animal
figures. These temple complexes eventually evolved
into towering ziggurats."
[http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
98/09/20]
Sumerian Religion
• "The temple was staffed by priests,
priestesses, musicians, singers, castrates and
hierodules. Various public rituals, food
sacrifices, and libations took place there on a
daily basis. There were monthly feasts and
annual, New Year celebrations. During the
later, the king would be married to Inanna as
the resurrected fertility god Dumuzi, whose
exploits are dealt with below."
[http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
98/09/20]
Sumerian Religion
• "When it came to more private matters, a Sumerian
remained devout. Although the gods preferred justice
and mercy, they had also created evil and misfortune.
A Sumerian had little that he could do about it.
Judging from Lamentation records, the best one could
do in times of duress would be to "plead, lament and
wail, tearfully confessing his sins and failings." Their
family god or city god might intervene on their behalf,
but that would not necessarily happen. After all, man
was created as a broken, labor saving, tool for the use
of the gods and at the end of everyone's life, lay the
underworld, a generally dreary place."
[http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html
98/09/20]
Sumerian Cosmology
• "From verses scattered throughout hymns
and myths, one can compile a picture of the
universe's (anki) creation according to the
Sumerians. The primeval sea (abzu) existed
before anything else and within that, the
heaven (an) and the earth (ki) were formed.
The boundary between heaven and earth
was a solid (perhaps tin) vault, and the earth
was a flat disk. Within the vault lay the gaslike 'lil', or atmosphere, the brighter portions
therein formed the stars, planets, sun, and
moon. (Kramer, The Sumerians 1963: pp.
112-113) Each of the four major Sumerian
Sumerian Cosmology
deities is associated with one of these regions.
An, god of heaven, may have been the main
god of the pantheon prior to 2500 BC.,
although his importance gradually waned. Ki
is likely to be the original name of the earth
goddess, whose name more often appears as
Ninhursag (queen of the mountains), Ninmah
(the exalted lady), or Nintu (the lady who
gave birth). It seems likely that these two
were the progenitors of most of the gods."
[http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html 98/09/20]
The Akkad Empire
• Lugalzagesi of Uruk:
– "Stemming, apparently, from Umma,
Lugal-zagesi succeeded, either by force or
through a dynastic arrangement, in
establishing himself at Uruk and Ur
(Cooper 1983b: 33–36). He then added
Lagash to his possessions and, by securing
for himself the recognition of the Nippur
priesthood, became the first S ruler to
achieve an effective hegemony over the
whole S."
The Akkad Empire
• Period Names: Agade Empire; Old
Akkadian Empire/period; Akkadian Period;
Sargonic Period.
• Sargon the Great:
– "Sargon's origins and rise to power are
totally obscured by the various romances
associated with him later . . . . a 'rag to
riches' story. . . ." [Kuhrt, 48]
The Akkad Empire
Sargon, mighty king, king of Agade, am I
My mother was an e4ntum, my father I
knew not;
My father's brother(s) dwell in the mountain;
My city is Azupiranu, situated on the banks of
the Euphrates;
My mother, the e4ntum, conceived me, in
secret she bore me;
She placed me in a basket of rushes, she sealed
'my door' with bitumen;
She cast me into the river which did not rise over
The Akkad Empire
The river bore me up and carried me to Aqqi,
the water-drawer.
Aqqi, the water-drawer, lifted me out as he
dipped his ewer;
Aqqi, the water-drawer, adopted me,
brought me up;
Aqqi, the water-drawer, set me up as his
gardener.
As a gardener, Ishtar loved me;
For [55] years I exercised kingship.
The Akkad Empire
– "Sargon seems to have been of humble
birth." [Hallo & Simpson, 55]
– Becomes the cup-bearer to Ur-Zababa of
Kish.
– Makes Agade his capital & boasts of
feeding 5400 daily.
– Troops used bow and spears and move
with more freedom than Uruk & Ur . . . .
– Rule extents into Anatolia, down to the
Persian Gulf.
– Makes Akkadian the universal language.
The Akkad Empire
– Makes his daughter Enheduanna a
priestess. (See CD-Rom Vol. 1
D:\Enheduanna\index.html)
• Rimush
– Subdued several revolts
– Assassinated after 9 years
• Manishtushu
– Ruled for 15 years
• Naram-Sin
– Rules for 56 years
The Akkad Empire
– ". . . The royal titulary, which hitherto had been
content to specify the political or cultic
relationship between the ruler and his
geographical domain – that is, "lord/high priest
of Sumer, king of the nation" or "lord/high priest
of the territory of Uruk, king of the territory of
Ur." On what appears to be his earliest
inscription, Naram-Sin claims, or was accorded,
the modest title of king of the Akkad. But about
halfway through his reign he introduced the title
"king of the four quarters [of the world]" which
was assumed after him by all those kings who
The Akkad Empire
proudly aspired to universal dominion from a
Mesopotamian base. Not content with earthly
honors, Naram-Sin presently also allowed himself
to be entitled "god of Akkad," which at first may
have implied only that he was the guiding
"genius" or good fortune of his country. The
concept of a "divine Naram-Sin" quickly evolved,
however, and with it a cult of the living ruler and
his deceased predecessors that was, for practical
purposes, indistinguishable from the cult of the
'real' gods and, like theirs, centered around the
king's statue." [Hallo & Simpson, 60-1]
The Akkad Empire
– A Period of great battles won by NaramSin (N.B. Victory Stela)
– Period of great Art
• Shar-kali-sharri
• The End of Akkad Empire:
– Gutians from Zagros
– Amorites from Syria
– Hurrians from Anatolia
– Lullubi
– Elamites
The Akkad Empire
• Major Significance:
– "Sumerian language, culture and military
art were superseded by that of the
Akkadian."
– "The state socialism of the Sumerian cities
gave place to a centralized government,
operated by a bureaucracy under the
surveillance of the crown."
– "Trade caravans follow everywhere in the
wake of the army."
The Akkad Empire
– "The tension between the classes is forgotten
in the splendor of world dominion."
– "The political ascendancy of Akkad is
accompanied by the rising prestige of the
Akkadian god Shamash, the sun-god of
Sippar, son of the moon-god Sin. Together
Shamash, Sin, and the Venus-goddess Ishtar
Anunitu build the core of an Akkadian
religion of astral character which contrasts
with the agrarian religion of the Sumerians."
[Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near
East, 29]
Enheduanna: Sargon the Great's Daughter
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
• From the End of Akkad to the rise of Ur:
– "The picture of south Mesopotamia under
the last Agade rulers and for a generation
beyond is reminiscent of the political
pattern of the ED III period, when power
was divided among several different local
rulers; the main centres now were Uruk,
Lagash, Kish, Agade and Gutians in the
Diyala." [Kuhrt, 56]
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
• Utuhegal of Uruk:
– "The expulsion of the Gutians was achieved
by Utuhegal of Uruk. But Utuhegal did not
enjoy his victory long. His vassal,
Urnammu of Ur, revolts against him and
makes himself "king of Sumer and Akkad."
He thus inaugurates the Third Dynasty of
Ur which is able to hold the rule for about a
century." [Schwantes, 29]
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
• Urnammu of Ur:
– Non-expansionist policy
– Collected a law code that was found in
Nippur
– Nabonidus (7th century BCE) identifies
Urnammu and his son Shulgi as those who
built the ziggurat at Ur.
– The population of Ur at this time was about
25,000 according to Frankfort
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
• Shulgi
– Rules for 50 years after his father.
– "The orphan I certainly did not consign to the
rich man, the widow I certainly did not consign to
the powerful man, the 'man of 1 sheqel' I certainly
did not consign to the 'man of 1 mina', the 'man of
1 sheep' I certainly did not consign to the 'man of
1 ox' . . . Hostility, violence, (and) lamentation to
Utu (sungod, and god of justice) I caused to
disappear definitively; I set justice in the land of
Sumer."
– Succeeded by Amarsin, Shusin, Ibbisin.
Ur III Period (2100-2000)
• Gudea, ensi in Lagash
– "He left so may sculpture of himself, and so
many inscriptions, that no other Sumerian
character is so well known as he."
[Schwantes, 31]
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
• Background:
– Ibbisin of Ur defeated by the Elamites.
• Kudur-Mabug takes the mountain area of West
Iran, Yamutbal
• Waradsin . . . . Younger brother, Rimsin. Takes
Uruk, Isin and Larsa.
– The Amorites move into Western
Mesopotamia:
• Mari dominated by Amorites
• Ishbi-irra takes over Isin . . . . The last in this
line is the famous Lipit-ishtar
• Naplanum is over Larsa
Elamite Rule 2100-2000 BCE
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
– Babylon:
• Amorite – Sumu-abum
• Sumulailu (36 years); collects a law code.
– Assyria:
• Take Ilishuma and Irishum
• The only kings without foreign blood
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
• Hammurapi:
– "The sixth and best attested of 11 kings in the socalled First Dynasty of Babylon (also known as
Hammurabi), whose extensive collection of laws
provides numerous correspondences with biblical
law. During his 43-year reign the city of Babylon
for the first time rose to prominence as the hub of
a short-lived but extensive empire, which declined
after his death. Although each of the 42 years
following his accession year is identified
sequentially with an event considered significant
(building projects, pious royal donations to
temples, wars), like other events in the early 2d
millennium b.c. the absolute dates of Hammurapi
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
remain uncertain. Astronomical data narrow the
likely date for Hammurapi’s first year to the years
1848 or 1792 or 1736 (the so-called high, middle, and
low chronology respectively)." [Samuel A. Meier,
"Hammurapi," ABD: CD-Rom]
– Amorite descent
– "There is no king mighty by himself."
– ". . . five primary coalitions: 10 to 15 kings follow
Hammurapi of Babylon, a like number of kings each
following Rim-Sin of Larsa, Ibal-pi-el of Eshnunna,
and Amut-pi-el of Qatana, while Yarim-Lim of
Yamhad stands out with 20 kings following him."
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
– "This balance began to shift when, according to
Hammurapi’s 30th-year date formula, he fought
and protected his borders against Elam, Assyria,
Gutium, Eshnunna, and Malgium; the following
year he defeated Rim-Sin of Larsa. In order to
defeat Rim-Sin, Hammurapi exploited the
combined power of the above-noted royal
coalitions by soliciting military support from the
kings of Mari and Eshnunna (ARM 2. 33). Kings
with foresight advised, “Don’t provide the man of
Babylon with auxiliary troops!” (ARM 6. 27); for
Hammurapi eventually turned against even those
to whom he once turned for help, a notable case
being the king of Mari, who had commemorated
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
his assistance in his own year date formula: “The
year Zimri-Lim went to the aid of Babylon.”
– "The year following Rim-Sin’s defeat began an
eight-year period of persistent attacks by
Hammurapi to the N, beginning with his defeat of
the armies of Eshnunna, Assyria, and Gutium.
This N campaign was repeated in the following
year when he this time defeated Mari and Malgu,
returning two years later to demolish their walls.
The 37th-, 38th-, and 39th-year date formulas
record Hammurapi’s victories against his foes to
the N."
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
– Prologue to Law Code:
"The Shepherd . . . who gathers the scattered
people of Isin . . . who causes justice to
appear . . . who causes the light to shine for
the land of Sumer and Akkad, . . . I
uprooted the enemies above and below, I
extinguished strife, I promoted the welfare
of the land, . . . I tolerated no troublemakers . . . that the strong might not
oppress the weak, to guide properly the
orphan and the widow."
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
– ". . . when Amorite messengers from the N once
received an audience with Hammurapi, an
inequality in gifts of garments on this occasion
was perceived as an insult. Hammurapi was
reported to have replied curtly to the messengers
as he insisted on his absolute sovereignty: “You
always cause trouble for me. Now you are
harassing my palace about garments. I clothe
those whom I wish; and if I don’t wish, I don’t
provide garments!” (ARM 2. 76)."
– "Hammurapi is heard elsewhere imperiously
insulting visiting dignitaries: “I’ll return the
Elamite messengers to their lord without escort!”
(ARM 2. 73)."
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
– "On the other hand, Hammurapi’s vassal rulers of
what is now Tell-Rimah received a report from
their son, who notes: “I reached Babylon safely
and have seen the king Hammurapi in a good
mood” (Dalley et al. 1976: 135)."
– "The reign of Hammurapi, with its expanding
horizons for Babylon, facilitated the enhancement
of enriched cultural and cosmopolitan dimensions
in Babylonian society. The flourishing of scribal
activity is evident not only in the numerous
administrative documents from this period, but
also in the quantity of OB literary texts
(themselves already heirs to a long tradition),
which were to set the standard for future literary
activity into the 1st millennium b.c."
Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE
• Successors:
– "Under the successors of Hammurabi, Babylon
gradually loses its power. Shamshuiluna his son
must fight internal revolts and repel an invasion of
the Kassites which poured in from the mountains of
Luristan. In the south, Ilumailu a descendant of the
last ruler of the dynasty of Isin succeeds in breaking
away from Babylon, founding by the Persian Gulf
the Sea-land dynasty, which remains independent
for several centuries . . . . Things go from bad to
worse until under Shamshuditana, the last king of
the dynasty, the Hittite Mursilis I conquers Babylon
in 1531 BC and carries a heavy booty away."
[Schwantes, 40]