Mesopotamian Part 2

Uruk period which occured during 3500-3000 BC

thousands of people moved into towns with successful irrigation systems and productive agriculture. The first true cities emerged

Rural areas

between cities apparently became unsafe, encouraging migration into cities

Large workforces were needed

to build and maintain irrigation systems

During the Early Dynastic Period, after 3000 BC

a truly urban-based civilization was present in lower Mesopotamia – independent Sumerian city-states were the basis of this civilization

States (and the Civilizations they are part of) are characterized by the following cultural traits

• Dense population and cities with a network of dependent smaller communities

• Division of labor with food producers living outside cities and goods and services
  provided by skilled craftspeople and administrators who live in cities

• Tax collection from citizens who live within a territorial boundary

• Monumental architecture which sites where civic and ceremonial events occur

• Social and economic stratification – organization is not based on kinship

• Systems of writing or other record keeping

• Development of sciences, engineering, mathematics, astronomy

• Long-distance trade

• State ideology and religion often including the ruler as a god or demi-god

• State army to control populations and conduct foreign campaigns

Ziggurats typically have ruins

of earlier temples in their foundations. Eridu has about 20 temples on the same spot

Ziggurats and temple complexes were

• were central storehouses for the city. On the temple grounds were quarters for priests, officials, accountants, musicians, and singers; treasure chambers; storehouses for grain, tools, and weapons; and workshops for bakers, pottery makers, brewers, leatherworkers, spinners and weavers, and jewelers.

• There were also pens for keeping the sheep and goats that were destined for sacrifice to the temple god

The Real Gods and Goddesses of Mesopotamia

• Selfish

• Egocentric

• Argumentative

• Narcissistic

• Demand offerings

• Self-serving

• People were created in order to work to supply the gods with food and material goods

• Religious practice focused on appeasing the gods through worship and offerings

These concepts of Sumerian deities may be linked

to the harsh and unpredictable nature of the Mesopotamian environment (floods from the mountains, very little rainfall, extreme heat and cold, and dust storms from the Syrian Desert)

Sumerians commissioned statues of themselve

be made and put in the temples so they could worship their gods continually

Sumerian’s concept of what happened after death

• was based on dust storms. After death you spend the rest of time in a blinding dust storm.

• The idea was that you should enjoy yourself while you lived

Early in Sumerian times, priest-kings

• were not just members of the temple elite, but also the primary controllers of trade, economic life, and political matters.

• As societies became more complex, control of cities became divided between religious and secular leaders

Specialized labor is a hallmark of states

occupations shown on Standard of Ur

Clay tokens

recovered from early temples

Early pictographs on clay tablets

show a commodity (wheat or donkeys, etc) and marks for quantities. Most early tablets record information about transactions

Using a stylus

to make wedge-shaped symbols in a damp clay tablet in Cuneiform writing

Painted Pottery

made by farming peoples in Mesopotamia prior to the development of the state

Wheel-thrown bowls

found in the city of Uruk. They used the wheel to make standard- sized bowls