Mesopotamia Document Analysis

Document 1: Hammurabi’s Code Excerpt

Document 3: Hanging Gardens of Babylon

In the past

Today

Information about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon: King Nebuchadnezzar (605 B.C.) updated the city of Babylon- lush greenery, bright flowers, fountains, marble columns, statues, etc. His wife was homesick for the natural and wild surroundings of the country side. Greek historians claimed the gardens were 400ft wide, 400ft long, and over 80ft tall- a manmade mountain of wildlife hiding an entire city. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Some say they never existed because there hasn’t been any clay tablets mentioning the gardens. Today, you see the ruins- nothing remains. This is located in present-day Iraq. Did they exist?

Document 4: Assyrian Conquest Stone

This stone relief carving from Mesopotamia shows Assyrian soldiers attacking an enemy city. The Assyrians are using tall ladders to try to reach the top of the city walls, where defenders await with swords and bows.

Document 5: Ancient Mesopotamian Artifacts Smashed by ISIS (terrorists) Feb. 2015

"This mindless attack on great art, on history and on human understanding constitutes a tragic assault not only on the Mosul Museum, but on our universal commitment to use art to unite people and promote human understanding," Campbell said in a statement.

Suzanne Bott became familiar with the Mosul Museum when she spent 2008-2010 in the Iraqi city as a cultural heritage reconstruction advisor with the U.S. State Department. Bott, who now works at the University of Arizona, told Live Science *To the horror of archaeologists and history buffs that she believes most of the artifacts shown in the around the world, militants with the extremist video were authentic. group ISIS released a new video (Feb. 2015) that Many of the more valuable objects in the Mosul shows ancient Mesopotamian sculptures and other Museum had been moved to Baghdad for security artifacts being smashed inside northern Iraq's reasons during the Iraq War, Bott said, but a lot of Mosul Museum. the heavier sculptures and artifacts were left behind. The museum hasn't been open to the public The destruction — which comes weeks after ISIS for a long time due to ongoing conflicts, but Bott deliberately destroyed library collections in Mosul said she visited numerous times to help with — is part of an ongoing effort by ISIS militants to repairs and collection maintenance. get rid of objects and structures they consider Bott said some of the artifacts in the video appeared idolatrous, (meaning worshiping something other to have been from the fortified ancient city of Hatra than God) whether that means obliterating — a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iraq that dates archaeological relics or demolishing shrines. back to the 3rd century B.C. The clip also showed militants using power tools to destroy the colossal According to a translation by The New York Times, winged bull statues that stand guard at the Nergal a man shown in the video says, "The prophet, peace Gate Museum at Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian capital near Mosul. be upon him, ordered us to remove and obliterate statues. And his companions did the same, after "There's certainly no comparison to the loss of him, when they conquered countries." human life," Bott said, "but I think ISIS has done irreparable harm to the knowledge and information we have been able to gain about our ancestors and The Mosul Museum was considered "the most the earliest civilizations. It's done through important museum in Iraq outside of the Iraqi ignorance." National Museum," according to a 2009 UNESCO assessment of the site. It's particularly painful when that destruction takes place in Mesopotamia, the backdrop for some of At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York "the earliest leaps forward" in astronomy, medicine, City, director Thomas Campbell strongly law, commerce and agriculture, Bott said. condemned the destruction in Mosul, calling for an end to such "wanton (cruel) brutality."

Name: ______Class:______Date:______Mesopotamia Document Analysis Questions

Directions: Use the documents sent to you in class to analyze. Answer the following questions regarding each set of documents. Use complete sentences!

Document: Hammurabi’s Code

1. How was a person who broke another’s arm punished? ______

2. Did the code apply equally to all people, why or why not? ______

3. Do you agree or disagree with the way the laws were set up? Explain your answer. ______

4. What was the point of making the punishments for crimes known to all? ______

Document 2: Epic of Gilgamesh

5. When was the Epic of Gilgamesh written and what is it about? ______

6. Why is Gilgamesh grieving at the beginning of this excerpt? ______

7. What danger does Gilgamesh encounter as he begins his journey to find Utnapishtim, and how does he deal with the danger? ______

8. Based on this passage, what can you assume about the Sumerian view of death?______

Document 3: Hanging Gardens of Babylon then & now

9. Describe what you see in the first image. ______

10. Who built the hanging gardens and for what reason? ______11. Do you think they were real? Why or why not? ______

12. Describe the second photo. Where is this located? ______

Document 4: Assyrian Conquest stone

13. Based on this carving, how did the Assyrians form their empire? ______

14. Do you think the Assyrians would agree with their leader’s view of empire building? Why or why not? ______

15. What forms of ancient technology did the Assyrians use (what items do you see in the stone). ______

Document 5: Ancient Mesopotamian Artifacts Smashed by ISIS

16. In Feb. 2015, ISIS destroyed Mesopotamian artifacts. Where did this take place? ______

17. Why did ISIS say they were destroying these artifacts? ______

18. Explain why you would agree or disagree with Thomas Campbell’s quote: “This mindless attack on great art, on history, and on human understanding constitutes a tragic assault not only on the Mosul Museum, but on our universal commitment to use art to unite people and promote human understanding.” ______

19. Where can we find other valuable objects/artifacts in Iraq? ______

20. Explain why ISIS’s actions could cause irreparable harm to the knowledge of our ancestors/Mesopotamia. ______