Transcript Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Mesopotamia
•Geography
http://www.earth-history.com/_images/ancient-sumer.gif
The Fertile Crescent
• the area between the TigrisEuphrates Rivers. Presently Iraq
• “Unpredictable rivers; vulnerable
geographic situation; erratic
climate”
The Fertile Crescent
• “Mesopotamia had no natural
barriers to invasion. Feeling
themselves surrounded by
incomprehensible and often
hostile forces, Mesopotamians
lived in an atmosphere of anxiety,
which pervaded their civilization”
(12, Perry, Western Civilization)
• “Mesopotamia’s unpredictable
rivers, vulnerable geographic
situation, and erratic climate
contributed to the mood of fear
and insecurity that is reflected
in all forms of Mesopotamian
expression” (Fiero 38).
•Timeline
• 3500-2350 BCE Sumerian Period
• 2350-2150 BCE Akkadian Period
• 2150-1900 BCE Neo-Sumerian
Period
• 1900-1600 BCE Babylonian
Period-- Babylon, chief city
(presently, Baghdad, Iraq)
• 1600-1150 BCE Kassite Period
• 1150-612 BCE Assyrian
Period—(Ninevah, chief city)
• 600-540 BCE The Chaldean (New
Babylonian) Empire
• 550-330 BCE The Persian Empire
•Religion
• Monotheism: the Hebrews
• Polytheism: everyone else
The Epic of Gilgamesh (1)
• Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is two-thirds god
and one-third man. His mother, the
goddess Aruru, creates a companion for
him-the wild man Enkidu, who is taken to
Uruk, where he wrestles with Gilgamesh.
The match is a draw and the two become
inseparable companions.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (2)
• One day, Gilgamesh, always looking for
adventure, proposes that he and Enkidu
travel to the distant cedar forest to kill
Huwawa, its evil guardian. Enkidu protests
that the journey is very dangerous and
Huwawa very fierce, but Gilgamesh is
determined and finally they set out. The
undertaking is successful and the two are
covered with glory.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (3)
• But Enkidu has already had premonitions of
disaster. On their return to Uruk, the goddess
Ishtar sees the beauty of Gilgamesh and
proposes to him. He rejects her, reminding
her of the fates of her previous lovers. She is
furious and has Anu send the sacred bull of
heaven to attack him. When Gilgamesh and
Enkidu slay the bull, the gods become very
angry-this is too presumptuous. As
punishment, Enkidu must die.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (4)
• Enkidu's death is the occasion for the
section which we have included here, the
climax and culmination of the Epic. For the
first time Gilgamesh has had to face the
fact of death, and it bewilders and terrifies
him. Hoping to learn the secret of
immortality, he makes a long and difficult
journey in search of Utnapishtim, the one
human being who has acquired it.
http://www.actorssceneunseen.com/images/Gilgamesh/GilgameshCover42
0.jpg
The Epic of Gilgamesh (5)
• Utnapishtim tells his story-the famous story of
the flood. But Gilgamesh is, after all, human and
very tired. He falls asleep. Utnapishtim is about
to send him away when his wife intervenes in
pity. Gilgamesh is told about a wonderful plant of
immortality that grows at the bottom of the sea.
He obtains it; but as he stops to cool himself in a
quiet pool a snake carries off the plant.
Gilgamesh, completely unsuccessful, returns to
Uruk, and the text concludes as he proudly
shows his city to his ferryman.
• http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/159.html
The Epic of Gilgamesh
• The major theme: “The
human protest against
death”
• (12, Perry, Western Civilization)
•Politics
Sumerians
• City-states
• “A very hierarchical society with
the king at the apex of the social
pyramid. Priests as intermediaries
between King and people.”
• http://vandyck.anu.edu.au/work/teach/context/www.caup.washington
.edu/courses/LARC352/oct10.htm#HDR%202%201
Sargon I
• ca. 2350 BCE
• Created the first empire,
which extended from the
Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea
Sargon I
Hammurabi
• Babylonian king
• Author of the Code of
Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi
• “an eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth”
• Shows class distinction and
women’s subordination to men
The Hebrews (1)
• 1. The Period of the Patriarchs:
Abraham of Ur took his people
from Mesopotamia to Canaan (ca.
2000 BCE).
• 2. The Period of the Exodus:
Moses led the Hebrews out of
Egypt (ca. 1750 BCE).
The Hebrews (2)
• 3. The Period of the Conquest:
The Hebrews struggled to
conquer Canaan.
• 4. The United Monarchy:
There were three kings →
Saul, David, and Solomon.
Temple of King Solomon
http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html
http://www.templemodels.com/temple/goodfullbig600.jpg
The Hebrews (3)
• 5. Divided Kingdom and Exile: The
Northern Kingdom was destroyed by the
Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. In
587 BCE the Babylonians conquered
the Southern Kingdom, destroyed
Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, and
carried the Hebrew people into an exile
know as the Babylonian Captivity.
The Hebrews (4)
• 6. The Return: The Hebrews returned from
exile about 520 BCE. The subsequent
history was marked by a series of foreign
rulers, one brief period of independence (c.
165 BCE), and rule by Rome after 63 BCE.
In 70 CE, after a Jewish revolt, the
Romans destroyed Jerusalem. Jews did
not hold political powers in Palestine until
1948.
•Art
The Standard of Ur (ca. 2700 BCE)
Ziggurat:
man-made hill with temple on top
dominating each city
http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH1/CH1_F4.JPG
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ziggurat_diagram.gif
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ur_ziggurat.jpg
The "Little" Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-69)
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/littlebabel.jpg
Peter Bruegel the
Elder, The Tower of
Babel (1563)
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/babel.jpg
http://www.ldolphin.org/babel.html
• (1) The story of the tower of Babel can be
found in Genesis 11:1-9 as follows: The
whole human race spoke the same
language, and formed one community.
This community settled in a place not far
from the Euphrates River. Here they built
a city and a tower of such materials as a
great river-basin would afford and the
genius of man could manufacture. This
was done to make a great center about
which they might gather, and to obtain for
themselves a name.
• (2) God came down to investigate the
purpose of all this unusual enterprise. The
self-confidence and unity of the people
were everywhere prominent. Mindful that the
accomplishment of this project might
embolden them to still more independent
movements, God said, "Let us go down, and
there confound their language." Consequently
they were scattered abroad upon the face of
all the earth; "and they left off to build the
city."
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of
the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/rs/7hanging.gif
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/the_hanging_gardens.jpg
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
http://vandyck.anu.edu.au/work/teach/context/www.caup.washington.edu/co
urses/LARC352/006.gif
The Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Neo-Babylonian, 612-530 B.C.
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/ishtar_recon.jpg
Old Babylon
http://www.item.ntnu.no/~malek/pixIraq/bab3.jpg
Winged Humanheaded Bull from the
palace of Sargon II
http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/worldhis/figure15.jpg
Wounded Lion, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture, Palace
at Nineveh, 668-630, London, British Museum
http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/woundedlion.jpg
http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/Meso/warrior.jpg
Warrior, Assyrian bas-relief sculpture, Palace at Nineveh, 668-630,
London, British Museum
http://www.item.ntnu.no/~malek/pixIraq/ash2.jpg
•The End