Mesopotamia

Mespotamia

OBJECTIVES

1. Be able to explain how the geography of Mesopotamia affected society, religion and the perception of nature in antiquity. 2. Be able to describe the succession of kingdoms and empires in ancient Mesopotamia. 3. Be able to discuss the social structure and legal systems in ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms and empires. 4. Be able to discuss the cultural contributions of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms and empires. 5. Be able to distinguish between a kingdom and an empire.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Is Gilgamesh an example of the undaunted spirit of humanity triumphing in spite of all the odds, or is he the quintessential example of human folly who refuses to see his own insignificance in the face of eternity? IS the picture of human life in Gilgamesh a pessimistic or an optimistic vision? Would it be a philosophy you could live by? The ancient world is quite literally "the world which has gone before us." We begin our journey through antiquity with Mesopotamia, the "Cradle of Civilization." The fertile lands between the Tigris and Euprhates gave rise to the oldest known civilization. It was here that writing first appeared, as well as the wheel and the calendar. Despite the immense importance of Mesopotamia, the picture of life and the afterlife was dismal. Mesopotamians were at the mercy of their hostile environment, and believed themselves to be at the mercy of angry and irrational gods. The civilization which produced one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the hanging gardens of Babylon, also compiled The Epic of Gilgamesh, a pessimistic portrayal of the futile search for immortality and human meaning. City states rose and fell, empires rose and fell, yet the human spirit of the Mesopotamians endured. Although Gilgamesh believed that human names would soon be forgotten, we begin our study of the civilized world with Gilgamesh's Mesopotamia, that "land between two rivers" to which we owe so much of our human culture. How comforting it is to know that Gilgamesh and others like him have "gone before us," have wrestled with the same concerns we have, and have left to us their legacy. Although the following quotations are from Greek and Hebrew culture, they capture something of the ethos of ancient Mesopotamia. Consider the ways in which the following thoughts are similar to those found in the Epic of Gilgamesh: When the blessed gods bring sorrows to pass, even these he bears, against his will, with steadfast spirit, for the thoughts of earthly men are like the day which the father of gods and men brings upon them. Homer, The Odyssey, bk. VIIIm l.130. Men flourish only for a moment. Homer, The Odyssey, bk. XIX, 328. Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful. Proverbs 14:13

Outline

I. Geography i. meaning of "Mesopotamia" a. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers ii. fertility iii. flooding iv. constant warfare v. general pessimistic attitude of Mesopotamians vi. Some modern reflections: Iraq II. The Sumerians i. location of Sumer ii. Early City States: a. Ur i)biblical and archaeological evidence b. Uruk i) Gilgamesh ii) The Sumerian King List c. Lagash i) civilization's first recorded treaty: the Stele of the Vultures iii. importance of religion a. the ziggurat i)eddubas ii) market place iii) government -- King/priests = theocracy iv. General cultural characteristics a. writing: Henry Creswicke Rawlinson and the Rock of Behistun b. mythology III. Empires a. Akkad i) the historic and legendary Sargon I ii) The Akkadian Language b. The Amorites (Babylon) i. cultural achievements a) mathematics b) astronomy c) architecture -- ziggurat at Babylon/observatory d) Hanging Gardens: i) the reign of Nebuchadnezzar e) The Code of Hammurabi: i) an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth ii) inequalities between classes iii) slaves and women under the code f) mythology: i) creation legend ii) The Epic of Gilgamesh a) the story b) what it reveals about Mesopotamian Kingship and the city state c) the outlook on life and the afterlife: i) Enkidu's death lament ii) Siduri's advice iii) Utnapishtim and the flood iv) The serpent and the plant v) Gilgamesh and immortality

Excerpts from the Epic of Gilgamesh

What vision of life and human potential do you see in the following excerpts? (Remember that Gilgamesh is called both a god and a man!) What role do the gods play in human life? Contrast these excerpts to the epilogue of Gilgamesh found in your reader. IS there hope for happiness in human life? Excerpts taken from Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative by Herbert Mason. New York: Penguin Books, 1970. "It is an old story but one that can still be told about a man who loved and lost a friend to death and learned he lacked the power to bring him back to life. It is the story of Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu .............." "Gilgamesh was king of Uruk ............ and was called a god and a man ............. " From Enkidu's death scene: "I have seen death as a stranger sees another person's world, or as a freak sees whom the gods created when they were drunk on too much wine and had a contest to show off the greatness of the harm they could do, creating a man who had no balls or a woman without a womb, a crippled or deliberately maimed child or old age itself, blind eyes, trembling hands contorted in continual pain, a starving dog too weak to eat, a doe caught in a trap wincing for help, or death. The contest rules, the one who makes the greatest wretchedness wins." "When Gilgamesh emerged from the pool, the plant was gone; the discarded skin of the serpent was all he saw. He sat down on the ground and wept." "In time, he recognized this loss as the end of his journey and returned to Uruk. Perhaps, he feared, his people would not share the sorrow that he knew. He entered the city and asked a blind man if he had ever heard the name Enkidu, and the old man shrugged and shook his head, then turned away as if to say it is impossible to keep the names of friends whom we have lost."