Lecture 16: Ur, Mesopotamia

what does “Mesopotamia” mean and why was the city named this way?

• “the land between rivers”

• because the city was surrounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

what are the today countries that cover Mesopotamia? (5)

• Iraq

• Iran

• Syria 

• Southern Turkey 

• Kuwait

true or false: agriculture started in Mesopotamia, but not irrigation

false: both started there

how are we still able to do agriculture in an arid place such as Mesopotamia?

because of irrigation

what’s the name of the area where Mesopotamia is located?

fertile crescent

true or false: the readiness hypothesis is based on Mesopotamia 

true

^{*readiness hypothesis: there was a mountain where there were fertile lands and ready to be domesticated animals for humans} 

true or false: while it was an arid region, there were still heavy rainfalls

true: probably why agriculture was developed there

what were the ways of sustenance? (3)

agriculture, hunting, herding

true or false: there were a lot of raw materials 

false: it was rather rare, so we needed to import the goods and finish them by craft specialists in Mesopotamia 

what were the sections of Mesopotamia? (2)

• Northern Mesopotamia: “Assyria”

• Southern Mesopotamia: “Babylonia”

what were the city states found in Southern Mesopotamia? (2)

• Akkad (North)

• Sumer (South)

what was the main difference found between Akkad and Sumer?

linguistic, the rest is pretty similar (writing initially, changed later)

Ur is part of [Akkad/Sumer] culture

Sumer

why were the advantage and disadvantage of doing excavations?

• advantage: extremely rich region with a lot of big sites that were occupied for a long time

• disadvantage: massive, so if you want to find the foundations of the city… good luck

why were the past massive excavation projects done in Mesopotamia considered as the golden age of archeology?

because there were a lot of facilities: small cities around the archeological sites, built by money of rich people 

what are the temporal periods? (4)

1. Uruk period

2. early dynastic period

3. akkadian

4. imperial empire

what was the city that “birthed” Mesopotamia?

Uruk 

based on what ideologies did the Uruk revolution emerge?

marxism and Childe

what were some things we found Uruk? (2)

• bevel rimmed bowls (made in clay or ceramic)

• early Annu temple structure

true or false: all cities that are named have been found

false: some of them have only been found in books, not on the ground

what are the new kinds of settlement patterns found?

roads that connect primary, secondary and tertiary (city, villages)

what’s the city that was the most important religious centre?

Nippur

true or false: power was given through democracy

false: it was hereditary

why is the early dynastic period called this way?

because the writings found from that time were mostly about the rulers and not about people or cities 

what was the role of authority?

to maintain canals and irrigation that were used to feed people

true or false: there were a lot of conflicts between cities

true: but there were also alliances and diplomacies, which make the conflict decrease over time

when did we start having a significant political consolidation?

during the late early dynastic period 

what are the sources of authority during the early dynastic period? (3)

• temple: temple in the middle of the city for a deity associated to an element

• palace: king had jurisdiction over commercial activities, punishment for violent acts, aspects of family life

• city council: consulted by king for major decisions

true or false: the king is considered as a god

true and false: at first no, the king was only a representation of a god. over time, they were seen as gods

how did we mark wealth status?

with clothing and jewelry: more clothes and jewels = rich

who was the king Sargon?

• king who conquered all city states to create a massive empire

• humble beginning: farmer dad, priestess mom, but abandoned

• recruited as cup servant (either served king or food tester)

• then rose in army before becoming king

• started conquest with sumer, akkad and west of fertile crescent

• conquest helped the empire grow and expand trade routes

who is Enheduanna?

daughter of Sargon, priestess and first great poet

what’s the dark age?

• after the 5th Sargon dynasty, there was a collapse 

• during that period, we don’t know what happened (dark age)

who was Ur-Nammu?

recontrolled all south Mesopotamia after the dark age

Sargon came from [Akkad/Sumer] while Nammu came from [Akkad/Sumer]

• Sargon: Akkad

• Nammu: Sumer

→ this explains why the main language changed

what’s the difference between Ur and Ur III?

• Ur: city 

• Ur III: dynasty

what changed under Ur-Nammu’s rule? (2)

• ziggurat reached peak height

• new monumental architecture

by who was Ur-Nammu defeated? (5)

• Elamite Army

• Babylonians

• Kassites

• Assyrian Empire

• Persians

(so yeah his rule didn’t last long)

before cuneiform, how did we write?

with pictographs 

what was writing used for when we used pictograph?

for receipts of good, labor

[cuneiform/pictograph] could be read no matter the language you used

• pictograph (works like numbers do: cinq = five, signs)

• cuneiform was based on sounds

when did we start using cuneiform tablets?

late Uruk period 

what were cuneiform tablets used for? (5)

• economic (taxes, tributes)

• law codes

• contracts

• religious texts

• astrology

by who was modern alphabet introduced?

greeks or persians 

true or false: anyone could read cuneiform

false: only scribes could read and write, used special tools to write

true or false: all cuneiform tablets were kept by the owner 

false: most of them were receipts so thrown away 

why was Ur (Tell Muquayyar) a strategic point?

the location allowed to control things coming from the persian golf (and could put taxes on it)

who was Leonard Woolley?

• freelance archeologist who led a lot of excavations with his wife

• was responsible for projects at Ur