Sumerian Civilization
Mesopotamia: An ancient region of southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq. Probably settled before 5000 B.C., the area was the home of numerous early civilizations, including Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria.
Fertile Crescent:: A region of the Middle East arching across the northern part of the Syrian Desert and extending from the Nile Valley to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Located on an arc of land that curves from the Persian Gulf to the eastern Mediterranean coast. The dark, rich soils and golden wheat fields earned it the name Fertile Crescent.The first known civilization in the Fertile Crescent was uncovered in the 1800s in Mesopotamia which means “between the rivers” of Euphrates and Tigris. Control of these rivers was key to developments in Mesopotamia. To survive and protect their farmland, villages along the riverbanks had to work together. Temple priests or royal officials provided the leadership that was necessary to ensure cooperation.
Around 3200 B.C., the first Sumerian cities emerged in the southern part of Mesopotamia. They used earth and water to make bricks for building.Trade brought riches to Sumerian cities. The Sumerians were the first to make wheeled vehicles.
In each Sumerian city-state, the ruler was responsible for maintaining the city walls and irrigations systems.
Each Sumerian city-state had a distinct social hierarchy. At the base of society were the majority of people, peasant farms.
Sumerians practiced polytheistic and their gods were thought to control every aspect of life.
Each city built a ziggurat, a pyramid-temple that soared toward the heavens. At the top was a shrine to the chief god or goddess of the city.
The Sumerians believed in an afterlife, but thought the underworld was a grim place of no-release. They buried food and tools with their dead.
Unlike the Egyptians, they did not imagine the afterlife in detail.They did not believe in rewards and punishments.
Gods
Sumerians invented the earliest known form of writing called cuneiform using a reed pen to make wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.
Cuneiform is from the Latin word for wedge. Sumerian scribes went through years of difficult schooling to acquire their skills.
A series of strong rulers united the lands of the Fertile Crescent into well organized empires.
Again and again, nomadic warriors invaded the rich cities of the Fertile Crescent. Some looted and burned the cities. Others stayed to rule them.
Fertile Crescent:: A region of the Middle East arching across the northern part of the Syrian Desert and extending from the Nile Valley to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Located on an arc of land that curves from the Persian Gulf to the eastern Mediterranean coast. The dark, rich soils and golden wheat fields earned it the name Fertile Crescent.The first known civilization in the Fertile Crescent was uncovered in the 1800s in Mesopotamia which means “between the rivers” of Euphrates and Tigris. Control of these rivers was key to developments in Mesopotamia. To survive and protect their farmland, villages along the riverbanks had to work together. Temple priests or royal officials provided the leadership that was necessary to ensure cooperation.
Around 3200 B.C., the first Sumerian cities emerged in the southern part of Mesopotamia. They used earth and water to make bricks for building.Trade brought riches to Sumerian cities. The Sumerians were the first to make wheeled vehicles.
In each Sumerian city-state, the ruler was responsible for maintaining the city walls and irrigations systems.
Each Sumerian city-state had a distinct social hierarchy. At the base of society were the majority of people, peasant farms.
Sumerians practiced polytheistic and their gods were thought to control every aspect of life.
Each city built a ziggurat, a pyramid-temple that soared toward the heavens. At the top was a shrine to the chief god or goddess of the city.
The Sumerians believed in an afterlife, but thought the underworld was a grim place of no-release. They buried food and tools with their dead.
Unlike the Egyptians, they did not imagine the afterlife in detail.They did not believe in rewards and punishments.
Gods
- An, lord of heaven
- Enlil, god of air and storms
- Enki, god of water and wisdom
Sumerians invented the earliest known form of writing called cuneiform using a reed pen to make wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.
Cuneiform is from the Latin word for wedge. Sumerian scribes went through years of difficult schooling to acquire their skills.
A series of strong rulers united the lands of the Fertile Crescent into well organized empires.
Again and again, nomadic warriors invaded the rich cities of the Fertile Crescent. Some looted and burned the cities. Others stayed to rule them.
- 2300 B.C. –Sargon, the ruler of Akkad, conquered Sumer and built the first known empire.
- 1790 B.C.–Hammurabi, King of Babylon, united the Babylonian empire.
Hammurabi
Hammurabi was the sixth king in the Babylonian dynasty, which ruled in central Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) from c.1894 to 1595 B.C. His family was descended from the Amorites, a semi-nomadic tribe in western Syria, and his name reflects a mix of cultures: Hammu, which means “family” in Amorite, combined with rapi, meaning “great” in Akkadian, the everyday language of Babylon. In the 30th year of his reign Hammurabi began to expand his kingdom up and down the Euphrates, overthrowing Larsa, Eshunna, Assyria and Mari until all of Mesopotamia under his sway.
Hammurabi Code
The black stone stela containing Hammurabi’s Code was carved from a single, four-ton slab of diorite, a durable but incredibly difficult stone for carving. At its top is a two-and-a-half-foot relief carving of a standing Hammurabi receiving the law—symbolized by a measuring rod and tape—from the seated Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice. The rest of the seven-foot-five-inch monument is covered with columns of chiseled cuneiform script.
Source - History.com
Hammurabi Code
The black stone stela containing Hammurabi’s Code was carved from a single, four-ton slab of diorite, a durable but incredibly difficult stone for carving. At its top is a two-and-a-half-foot relief carving of a standing Hammurabi receiving the law—symbolized by a measuring rod and tape—from the seated Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice. The rest of the seven-foot-five-inch monument is covered with columns of chiseled cuneiform script.
Source - History.com
Hammurabi was not the author of the code. Most of the laws had been around since Sumerian Times, but Hammurabi wanted everyone in his empire to know the legal principles his government would follow. He had artisans carve nearly 300 laws on a stone pillar for all to see.
This was the first time a ruler attempted to solidify all of the laws that would govern a state.
Hammurabi's Code is about:
This was the first time a ruler attempted to solidify all of the laws that would govern a state.
Hammurabi's Code is about:
- Criminal laws that dealt with offenses against others. Hammurabi’s Code limited personal vengeance and encouraged social order.
- Civil laws that dealt with private rights and matters, such as business contracts, marriage, taxes, and divorce. Much of Hummurabi’s Code was designed to protect the powerless
Example of Hammurabi's Code
"Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind ..."
If any one finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.
If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not accept corn according to gross weight in payment of a drink, but takes money, and the price of the drink is less than that of the corn, she shall be convicted and thrown into the water.
If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: "You are not my father, or my mother," his tongue shall be cut off.
If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off.
If a slave says to his master: "You are not my master," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.
If any one finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.
If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not accept corn according to gross weight in payment of a drink, but takes money, and the price of the drink is less than that of the corn, she shall be convicted and thrown into the water.
If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: "You are not my father, or my mother," his tongue shall be cut off.
If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off.
If a slave says to his master: "You are not my master," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.
Gilgamesh
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the great king is thought to be too proud and arrogant by the gods and so they decide to teach him a lesson by sending the wild man, Enkidu, to humble him. Enkidu and Gilgamesh, after a fierce battle in which neither are bested, become friends and embark on adventures together. When Enkidu is struck with death, Gilgamesh falls into a deep grief and, recognizing his own mortality through the death of his friend, questions the meaning of life and the value of human accomplishment in the face of ultimate extinction. Casting away all of his old vanity and pride, Gilgamesh sets out on a quest to find the meaning of life and, finally, some way of defeating death. In doing so, he becomes the first epic hero in world literature. The grief of Gilgamesh, and the questions his friend's death evoke, resonate with every human being who has wrestled with the meaning of life in the face of death. Although Gilgamesh ultimately fails to win immortality in the story, his deeds live on through the written word and, so, does he.
Source: Epic of Gilgamesh |
Marduk
Marduk is the patron deity of the city of Babylon.
Although known as a minor god as early as the third millennium, Marduk became an important local deity at the time of the advent of the First Babylonian Dynasty as can be seen mainly from the literary introduction of the Hammurabi Stele and other documents. However, he was elevated to the rank of the chief deity and national god of Babylon only during the Middle Babylonian period and especially during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I and not, as is commonly assumed, during the reign of Hammurabi
Source: Jewish Virtual Library
Although known as a minor god as early as the third millennium, Marduk became an important local deity at the time of the advent of the First Babylonian Dynasty as can be seen mainly from the literary introduction of the Hammurabi Stele and other documents. However, he was elevated to the rank of the chief deity and national god of Babylon only during the Middle Babylonian period and especially during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I and not, as is commonly assumed, during the reign of Hammurabi
Source: Jewish Virtual Library