DOCSLIB.ORG

ARCH 0412 from Gilgamesh to Hektor: Heroes of the Bronze Age

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

ARCH 0412 From Gilgamesh to Hektor: Heroes of the Bronze Age February 8-10, 2016: Uruk: The City of Heroes & The Epic of Gilgamesh Announcements • First assignment coming up (due Feb 12, Friday): ‘Creating a Digital Gilgamesh Exhibit’ • Two parts: Prepare an exhibit, upload/post link on Canvas AND share it with the rest of the class in a 5 minute presentation. • Groups? Hero in Mesopotamia • Gilgamesh Epic • City of Uruk • Mesopotamian mythology What were the main components of the city of Uruk? What are the main themes in the epic of Gilgamesh? How does knowing about the archaeology of Uruk change our understanding of the Epic of Gilgamesh? What are some common themes in Mesopotamian myths? Within this corpus, does the Epic of Gilgamesh represent the norm or the exception? Uruk & Gilgamesh Timeline: Concentrate on Key events, monuments and objects Period Dates Key Events Key Monuments Key Objects (BCE) Early Ubaid 4500-4000 Late Ubaid 4000-3500 Early Uruk 3500-3200 White Temple, Eanna Late Uruk 3200-3000 Proto-cuneiform Warka Vase, Warka mask Early Dynastic I 2900-2750 City wall Early Dynastic II 2750-2600 Reign of Gilgamesh Early Dynastic IIIa 2600-2500 (Standard of Ur)* Early Dynastic IIIb 2500-2350 (Stele of Vultures)* Akkad 2350-2200 Neo-Sumerian (Ur III) 2100-2000 Gilgamesh written down Old Babylonian 2000-1600 * The Standard of Ur and the Stele of Vultures were not found in Uruk, but contributes significantly to our understanding of kingship in Southern Mesopotamia at the time ‘Urban Revolution’ and Uruk Urban Revolution (Gordon Childe, 1930s) 1. Extensive size and population 2. Agricultural surplus and the labour division it supports 3. Taxation 4. Monumental public buildings 5. Ruling class 6. Means of recording and exact sciences 7. Invention of writing 8. Sophisticated artistic expression 9. Trade over long distances 10. The state Early Sumerian cities Uruk: ‘The First City’ Uruk’s city wall covered c. 10 km and enclosed more than 400 ha. Uruk: The First City A reconstruction of Babylon’s city wall during the Neo-Babylonian Period (6th century BCE) The city wall of Uruk, as seen in 2003 th Mud-brick and Reconstruction of the Late Bronze Age (14-13 preservation at Uruk century BCE) city wall of Hattusa City and Countryside at Uruk City and countryside: topography, visibility Uruk as seen in aerial photography The Urban Landscape at Uruk Two key areas for the late 4th millennium BCE: - The White Temple - Eanna District The ‘White Temple’ • Dedicated to the Sky God Anu • A ‘high temple’ sitting on a 13 meter high terrace • Buttressed on the exterior • Altar and table in the central room for offerings • Mainly used in the 3rd millennium BCE The ‘White Temple’ • White plastered inside and outside (hence the name) • 3 entrances and the ramp does not lead to any of them – space, visitor, impact The Eanna Precinct • Dedicated to Inanna, goddess of love, fertility and war • Built heavily in the 4th millennium BCE, but took on White Temple’s importance during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE • All ground temples, no artificial terraces • Yielded a lot of textual records and important artifacts Composite plan of the Eanna district (note, for instance, that the Ur-Nammu ziggurat dates to 2100-2000 BCE) The Eanna Precinct The Eanna Precinct The Uruk (Warka) Vase: • ca. 3000 BCE • Alabaster vessel with scenes of ritual activity • Top register: a priestess or Inanna herself receiving gifts, the ruler is possibly depicted • Middle register: Naked priests process with food and drinks • Bottom register: The natural world- animals, plants and the Euphrates The Eanna Precinct Mask of a woman: • ca. 3200-3000 BCE • Limestone • 20 cm high • Would have been attached to a body • To be used with inlays and adornments Kingship ‘After kingship had descended from heaven, Eridu became the seat of kingship. In Eridu, Aululim reigned 28,800 years as king. Alalgar reigned 36,000 years. … Eridu was abandoned and its kingship was carried off to Bad-tabira. … The Flood then swept over. After the Flood had swept over, and kingship had descended from heaven, Kish became the seat of kingship. In Kish a total of twenty-three kings reigned 24,510 years, 3 months, 3 ½ days. Kish was defeated; its kingship was carried off to Eanna. In Eanna, Meskiaggasher, the sone of the Sun God Samas reigned as Priest and King 324 years. … Lugalbanda, the shepherd, reigned 1,200 years. … Gilgamesh, whose father was a nomad reigned 126 years. … Erech was defeated, its kingship was carried off to Ur.’ The Sumerian King List (The Weld-Blundell Prism) c. 2000-1800 BCE (Old Babylonian) Ashmolean Museum, Ashm 1923-444 Kingship and Ritual in Ancient Mesopotamia Standard of Ur, c. 2600 BCE | from the Royal Tombs of Ur Obverse Side : ‘Peace’ Kingship and Ritual in Ancient Mesopotamia Standard of Ur, c. 2600 BCE | from the Royal Tombs of Ur Obverse Side : ‘Peace’ Kingship and Ritual in Ancient Mesopotamia Standard of Ur, c. 2600 BCE | from the Royal Tombs of Ur Reverse Side : ‘War’ Kingship and Ritual in Ancient Mesopotamia The Stele of Vultures: • ca. 2500 BCE • Found in Girsu • Narrates the border conflict between the city-states of Lagash and Umma and the victory of Eannatum (king of Lagash) • Obverse (mythological): Ningirsu, the patron deity of Lagash, capturing enemy troops in a net • Reverse (historical): King Eannatum leading the troops • Collaboration of mortal and divine as a must for victory Uruk in the Later Periods Uruk in the Ur III period (21st century BCE) – when the Epic of Gilgamesh was written down Ziggurat dedicated to Inanna at the center of the city The Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet I-IV: Meeting Enkidu and Setting Off Tablet V: The Combat with Humbaba Tablet VI: Killing the Bull of Heaven Fired clay mask of Humbaba Cylinder seal and its impression depicting Gilgamesh (on the left) 2000-1700 BCE and Enkidu (on the right) killing the Bull of Heaven as Ishtar (far Excavated at Diqdiqqah left and far right) tries to prevent them 8 cm high Early 1st millennium BCE BM 127443 Made of chalcedony, 2.9 cm high and 1.3 cm in diameter BM 89435 Tablet VI-XI: Death of Enkidu, wanderings of Gilgamesh and Return Cylinder seal and its impression depicting a bearded hero, possibly Gilgamesh, grasping a bull and a lion c. 2700 BCE Made of lapis lazuli, 2.7 cm high and 1.4 cm in diameter BM 129461 The Epic of Gilgamesh: Main Themes • Fear of death and the inevitable mortality • The ‘path to wisdom’: being formed by successes and failures • Friendship • Nobility of heroic enterprise • Immortality of fame • City and countryside | Civilized and barbarian Next Class Mythology and deities in Mesopotamian pantheon: Is Gilgamesh the norm or the exception? Presentations on the Digital Gilgamesh Exhibit.
Recommended publications
  • Money, History and Energy Accounting Essay Author: Skip Sievert June 2008 Open Source Information

    Money, History and Energy Accounting Essay Author: Skip Sievert June 2008 Open Source Information

    Some Historic aspects of money... Money, History and Energy accounting Essay author: Skip Sievert June 2008 open source information. The Technocracy Technate design uses Energy accounting as the viable alternative to the current Price System. Energy Accounting- Fezer. The Emergence of money The use of barter like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago. To organize production and to distribute goods and services among their populations, pre- market economies relied on tradition, top-down command, or community cooperation. Relations of reciprocity and/or redistribution substituted for market exchange. Trading in red ochre is attested in Swaziland. Shell jewellery in the form of strung beads also dates back to this period and had the basic attributes needed of commodity money. In cultures where metal working was unknown... shell or ivory jewellery was the most divisible, easily stored and transportable, relatively scarce, and impossible to counterfeit type of object that could be made into a coveted stylized ornament or trading object. It is highly unlikely that there were formal markets in 100,000 B.P. Nevertheless... something akin to our currently used concept of money was useful in frequent transactions of hunter-gatherer cultures, possibly for such things as bride purchase, prostitution, splitting possessions upon death, tribute, obtaining otherwise scarce objects or material, inter-tribal trade in hunting ground rights.. and acquiring handcrafted implements. All of these transactions suffer from some basic problems of barter — they require an improbable coincidence of wants or events. History of the beginnings of our current system Sumerian shell money below. Sumer was a collection of city states around the Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now southern Iraq.
  • Art List by Year

    Art List by Year

    ART LIST BY YEAR Page Period Year Title Medium Artist Location 36 Mesopotamia Sumerian 2600 Standard of Ur Inlaid Box British Museum 36 Mesopotamia Sumerian 2600 Stele of the Vultures (Victory Stele of Eannatum) Limestone Louvre 38 Mesopotamia Sumerian 2600 Bull Headed Harp Harp British Museum 39 Mesopotamia Sumerian 2600 Banquet Scene cylinder seal Lapis Lazoli British Museum 40 Mesopotamia Akkadian 2254 Victory Stele of Narum-Sin Sandstone Louvre 42 Mesopotamia Akkadian 2100 Gudea Seated Diorite Louvre 43 Mesopotamia Akkadian 2100 Gudea Standing Calcite Louvre 44 Mesopotamia Babylonian 1780 Stele of Hammurabi Basalt Louvre 45 Mesopotamia Assyrian 1350 Statue of Queen Napir-Asu Bronze Louvre 46 Mesopotamia Assyrian 750 Lamassu (man headed winged bull 13') Limestone Louvre 48 Mesopotamia Assyrian 640 Ashurbanipal hunting lions Relief Gypsum British Museum 65 Egypt Old Kingdom 2500 Seated Scribe Limestone Louvre 75 Egypt New Kingdom 1400 Nebamun hunting fowl Fresco British Museum 75 Egypt New Kingdom 1400 Nebamun funery banquet Fresco British Museum 80 Egypt New Kingdom 1300 Last Judgement of Hunefer Papyrus Scroll British Museum 81 Egypt First Millenium 680 Taharqo as a sphinx (2') Granite British Museum 110 Ancient Greece Orientalizing 625 Corinthian Black Figure Amphora Vase British Museum 111 Ancient Greece Orientalizing 625 Lady of Auxerre (Kore from Crete) Limestone Louvre 121 Ancient Greece Archaic 540 Achilles & Ajax Vase Execias Vatican 122 Ancient Greece Archaic 510 Herakles wrestling Antaios Vase Louvre 133 Ancient Greece High
  • The Calendars of Ebla. Part III. Conclusion

    The Calendars of Ebla. Part III. Conclusion

    Andrews Unir~ersitySeminary Studies, Summer 1981, Vol. 19, No. 2, 115-126 Copyright 1981 by Andrews University Press. THE CALENDARS OF EBLA PART 111: CONCLUSION WILLIAM H. SHEA Andrews University In my two preceding studies of the Old and New Calendars of Ebla (see AUSS 18 [1980]: 127-137, and 19 [1981]: 59-69), interpreta- tions for the meanings of 22 out of 24 of their month names have been suggested. From these studies, it is evident that the month names of the two calendars can be analyzed quite readily from the standpoint of comparative Semitic linguistics. In other words, the calendars are truly Semitic, not Sumerian. Sumerian logograms were used for the names of two months of the Old Calendar and three months of the New Calendar, but it is most likely that the scribes at Ebla read these logograms with a Semitic equivalent. In the cases of the three logograms in the New Calendar these equiva- lents are reasonably clear, but the meanings of the names of the seventh and eighth months in the Old Calendar remain obscure. Not only do these month names lend themselves to a ready analysis on the basis of comparative Semitic linguistics, but, as we have also seen, almost all of them can be analyzed satisfactorily just by comparing them with the vocabulary of biblical Hebrew. Given some simple and well-known phonetic shifts, Hebrew cognates can be suggested for some 20 out of 24 of the month names in these two calendars. Some of the etymologies I have suggested may, of course, be wrong; but even so, the rather full spectrum of Hebrew cognates available for comparison probably would not be diminished greatly.
  • The Quest for Order O Mesopotamia: “The Land Between the Rivers”

    The Quest for Order O Mesopotamia: “The Land Between the Rivers”

    A wall relief from an Assyrian palace of the eighth century B.C.E. depicts Gilgamesh as a heroic figure holding a lion. Page 25 • The Quest for Order o Mesopotamia: “The Land between the Rivers” o The Course of Empire o The Later Mesopotamian Empires • The Formation of a Complex Society and Sophisticated Cultural Traditions o Economic Specialization and Trade o The Emergence of a Stratified Patriarchal Society o The Development of Written Cultural Traditions • The Broader Influence of Mesopotamian Society o Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews o The Phoenicians • The Indo-European Migrations o Indo-European Origins o Indo-European Expansion and Its Effects o EYEWITNESS: Gilgamesh: The Man and the Myth B y far the best-known individual of ancient Mesopotamian society was a man named Gilgamesh. According to historical sources, Gilgamesh was the fifth king of the city of Uruk. He ruled about 2750 B.C.E.—for a period of 126 years, according to one semilegendary source—and he led his community in its conflicts with Kish, a nearby city that was the principal rival of Uruk. Historical sources record little additional detail about Gilgamesh's life and deeds. But Gilgamesh was a figure of Mesopotamian mythology and folklore as well as history. He was the subject of numerous poems and legends, and Mesopotamian bards made him the central figure in a cycle of stories known collectively as theEpic of Gilgamesh. As a figure of legend, Gilgamesh became the greatest hero figure of ancient Mesopotamia. According to the stories, the gods granted Gilgamesh a perfect body and endowed him with superhuman strength and courage.
  • O L O G Y Ancient Society and Economy

    O L O G Y Ancient Society and Economy

    oi.uchicago.edu O L O G Y Ancient Society and Economy I. J. Gelb This report gives the gist of a paper that was read in the "Special Session on Archaeology of Syria: 'The Origins of Cities of Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium B.C.' " In order to avoid further confusion in geographical terminology, two names were introduced in the paper: "Ebla" for northern Syria and "Lagash" for southern Mesopotamia or ancient Babylonia. The names of Ebla and Lagash were chosen to be used symbolically for Syria and Babylonia for obvious reasons, "Ebla" because it is the only site from which doc­ umentation is available, and "Lagash" because it contains the best documentation. For a person who, like myself, has worked for years on the socio-economic history of ancient Babylonia, working on Ebla has been like working in a different world. The vast majority of the sources pertaining to Lagash and its area concern agriculture, including not only plowed fields but also the adjoining pastures, orchards, and forests, pro­ cessing of agricultural products, manufacture of finished goods, and registration of the incoming and outgoing prod­ ucts in the chancellery and its affiliates. Contrasting with the Lagash sources, one finds almost no texts pertaining to agriculture at Ebla, as the overwhelming mass of the economic and administrative sources of Ebla deal with the production of sheep's wool (and much less of linen and goat's hair), manufacture of textiles, and the registration of finished products for internal consumption and export in the chancellery and its affiliates. Facing the archival treasures of Ebla, I felt somewhat like Francisco Pizarro when he entered an Inca storehouse in Cuzco and was overwhelmed by the mountain of wool blan­ kets piled up from floor to ceiling.
  • The Lagash-Umma Border Conflict 9

    The Lagash-Umma Border Conflict 9

    CHAPTER I Introduction: Early Civilization and Political Organization in Babylonia' The earliest large urban agglomoration in Mesopotamia was the city known as Uruk in later texts. There, around 3000 B.C., certain distinctive features of historic Mesopotamian civilization emerged: the cylinder seal, a system of writing that soon became cuneiform, a repertoire of religious symbolism, and various artistic and architectural motifs and conven- tions.' Another feature of Mesopotamian civilization in the early historic periods, the con- stellation of more or less independent city-states resistant to the establishment of a strong central political force, was probably characteristic of this proto-historic period as well. Uruk, by virtue of its size, must have played a dominant role in southern Babylonia, and the city of Kish probably played a similar role in the north. From the period that archaeologists call Early Dynastic I1 (ED 11), beginning about 2700 B.c.,~the appearance of walls around Babylonian cities suggests that inter-city warfare had become institutionalized. The earliest royal inscriptions, which date to this period, belong to kings of Kish, a northern Babylonian city, but were found in the Diyala region, at Nippur, at Adab and at Girsu. Those at Adab and Girsu are from the later part of ED I1 and are in the name of Mesalim, king of Kish, accompanied by the names of the respective local ruler^.^ The king of Kish thus exercised hegemony far beyond the walls of his own city, and the memory of this particular king survived in native historical traditions for centuries: the Lagash-Umma border was represented in the inscriptions from Lagash as having been determined by the god Enlil, but actually drawn by Mesalim, king of Kish (IV.1).
  • Ancient Near East Art

    Ancient Near East Art

    ANCIENT NEAR EAST ART ANCIENT NEAR EAST ANCIENT NEAR EAST IRAQ ANCIENT NEAR EAST “Some Apples, Bananas And Peaches…” -- Mr. Curless ANCIENT NEAR EAST City of UR (first independent city-state) – Anu and Nanna Ziggurats – developed 1st writing system – VOTIVE SUMERIAN FIGURES – Cylinder seals for stamping – EPIC OF GILGAMESH – invention of the wheel Sargon I defeats Sumerians – Stele of Naramsin – AKKADIAN heiratic scale – brutality in art Neo-Sumerian – Gudea of Lagash United Sumer under Hammurabi (1792 – 1750 BCE) BABYLONIAN – Stele of Hammurabi with his Code of Laws – Creation Myths Took control around 1400 BCE – King Assurbanipal – kept library, ziggurat form & Sumerian texts – Human-head lion LAMASSUs ASSYRIAN guard palace Neo-Babylonian – Nebuchadnezzar II PERSIAN Cyrus & the citadel at Persepolis (built between 521-465 BCE) ANCIENT NEAR EAST Sumerian Art White Temple and its ziggurat at Ur. Uruk (now Warka, Iraq), 3500-3000 BCE. Sun-dried and fired mudbrick. SUMERIAN The temple is named after its whitewashed walls and it stands atop a ziggurat, a high platform. Sumerian builders did not have access to stone quarries and instead formed mud bricks for the superstructures of their temples and other buildings. Almost all these structures have eroded over the course of time. The fragile nature of the building materials did not, however, prevent the Sumerians from erecting towering works, such as the Uruk temple, several centuries before the Egyptians built their stone pyramids. Enough of the Uruk complex remains to permit a fairly reliable reconstruction drawing. The temple (most likely dedicated to the sky god Anu) stands on top of a high platform, or ziggurat, 40 feet above street level in the city center.
  • " King of Kish" in Pre-Sarogonic Sumer

    " King of Kish" in Pre-Sarogonic Sumer

    "KING OF KISH" IN PRE-SAROGONIC SUMER* TOHRU MAEDA Waseda University 1 The title "king of Kish (lugal-kiski)," which was held by Sumerian rulers, seems to be regarded as holding hegemony over Sumer and Akkad. W. W. Hallo said, "There is, moreover, some evidence that at the very beginning of dynastic times, lower Mesopotamia did enjoy a measure of unity under the hegemony of Kish," and "long after Kish had ceased to be the seat of kingship, the title was employed to express hegemony over Sumer and Akked and ulti- mately came to signify or symbolize imperial, even universal, dominion."(1) I. J. Gelb held similar views.(2) The problem in question is divided into two points: 1) the hegemony of the city of Kish in early times, 2) the title "king of Kish" held by Sumerian rulers in later times. Even earlier, T. Jacobsen had largely expressed the same opinion, although his opinion differed in some detail from Hallo's.(3) Hallo described Kish's hegemony as the authority which maintained harmony between the cities of Sumer and Akkad in the First Early Dynastic period ("the Golden Age"). On the other hand, Jacobsen advocated that it was the kingship of Kish that brought about the breakdown of the older "primitive democracy" in the First Early Dynastic period and lead to the new pattern of rule, "primitive monarchy." Hallo seems to suggest that the Early Dynastic I period was not the period of a primitive community in which the "primitive democracy" was realized, but was the period of class society in which kingship or political power had already been formed.
  • Statue of Gudea

    Statue of Gudea

    An Artifact Speaks • Artifact Information Sheet Artifact Name: Statue of Gudea Time Period of the Original: ca. 2150–2125 BCE Culture/Religion Group: Neo-Sumerian Material of the Original: Diorite Reproduction? Yes Background Information: During the Neo-Sumerian period, rulers controlled large, independent city-states in southern Mesopotamia. Lagash was ruled by Gudea ca. 2150–2125 BCE. Unlike the kings of the previous Akkadian period, who represented themselves as strong, active, military leaders, Gudea emphasized his religious activities. He is known to have rebuilt at least fifteen temples, often using timbers and stones brought from faraway lands to replace the mud bricks that were the common building compo- nents. The greatest of the temples, known as Eninnu, was for Ningirsu, the national god. Gudea said he had been instructed to build the temple in a dream by the god himself. Gudea’s personal deity was Ningishzida, a fertility god called “Lord of the Tree of Life.” Found in excavations in the area of Lagash was a series of partial statues of Gudea. In some the king is standing; in others he is shown seated, as he is here. This statue was found at the site of Girsu, the ancient capital of Lagash, in two separate pieces at two different times. The head was found in 1877; the body was found in 1903. The two pieces, once it was found that they fit togeth- er, resulted in the only complete Gudea statue. The king is shown calm and smiling, resting on a low stool in the traditional pose of greeting, prayer, and attentiveness to divine command.
  • A HISTORY of the WORLD in 100 OBJECTS Neil Macgregor

    A HISTORY of the WORLD in 100 OBJECTS Neil Macgregor

    A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 100 OBJECTS Neil MacGregor THE EBB RADI a BRITISH ° MUSEUM 92-95 FM ALLEN LANE an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS Contents Preface: Mission Impossible xiii Introduction: Signals from the Past xv PART ONE Making us Human 2,000,000-9000 BC 1. Mummy of Hornedj itef 2 2. Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool 9 3. Olduvai Handaxe 15 4. Swimming Reindeer 19 5. Clovis Spear Point 26 PART TWO After the Ice Age: Food and Sex 9000-3500 BC 6. Bird-shaped Pestle 32 7. Ain Sakhri Lovers Figurine 37 8. Egyptian Clay Model of Cattle 43 9. Maya Maize God Statue 49 10. JomonPot 55 PART THREE The First Cities and States 4OOO-2OOO BC 11. King Den's Sandal Label 62 12. Standard of Ur 68 i). Indus Seal 78 14. Jade Axe 84 ij\ Early Writing Tablet 90 Vll CONTENTS PART FOUR The Beginnings of Science and Literature 2000-700 BC 16. Flood Tablet 96 iy. Rhind Mathematical Papyrus 102 18. Minoan Bull-leaper 111 19. Mold Gold Cape 117 20. Statue of Ramesses II 124 PART FIVE Old World, New Powers IIOO-3OO BC 21. Lachish Reliefs 132 22. Sphinx of Taharqo 140 23. Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel 146 24. ParacasTextile 153 25. Gold Coin of Croesus 158 PART six The World in the Age of Confucius 500-300 BC 2.6. Oxus Chariot Model 164 27. Parthenon Sculpture: Centaur and Lapith 171 28. Basse-Yutz Flagons 177 29. Olmec Stone Mask 183 30. Chinese Bronze Bell 190 PART SEVEN Empire Builders 300 BC-AD 10 31.
  • Art History Timeline Art Periods Characteristics Chief Artists Historical Events Movements Major Works

    Art History Timeline Art Periods Characteristics Chief Artists Historical Events Movements Major Works

    Art History Timeline Art Periods Characteristics Chief Artists Historical Events Movements Major Works Stone Age Cave painting Lascaux Cave Painting 10,000-8,000 BC Ice Age ends (30,000–2500BC) Fertility goddesses Hall of Bulls 8000-2500 BC Stone Age, permanent settlements Paleo/Meso/ Megalithic structures Venus of Willendorf 3000-2200 BC Stonehenge Neolithic Mesopotamian Warrior art Akkadian Ruler 3400 BC Sumerians invent cuneiform writing (3500–539 BC) Narration in stone relief Ishtar Gate 2332-2150 BC Akkadians assumed divine attributes Citadels 2000 BC Abraham founds monotheism Persia Ziggurats Standard of Ur 2600 (BM) 1780 BC Hammurabi writes his law code Babylon Fertile crescent Stele of Vultures 2600 (L) 1496 BC Ten Commandments Mt. Sinai Turkey Votive Statuettes Bull Harp 2600 (BM) 1020-930 BC Kingdom of Israel (United) Iraq Gods & Goddesses Victory Stele Naram-Sin 2254(L) 980 BC Iliad and the Odyssey Iran Cradle of civilization Gudea 2100(L) 653 BC Rise of Persian Empire Syria Cuneiforms Stele of Hammurabi 1780(L) 586 BC First Temple (Solomon) in Jerusalem destroyed by Babylonians Registers Statue Queen Napir-Asu 1350(L) 539 BC Fall of Babylonian Empire –Jews Freed Seals Lamassu 750(L) Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions 640(BM) Persepolis 521-465 BC Egyptian Afterlife focus Palette of King Narmer 3100 BC King Narmer unites Upper/Lower Egypt (3500-30 BC) Pyramids Imhotep Hatshepsut 3100 BC First Dynasty of Egypt Tomb painting Ahmen Re of Karnak 3000 BC Papyrus by Egyptians Predynastic Great Pyramids Bust of Nefertiti 2700 BC Old Kingdom
  • Sargon of Akkad: Rebel and Usurper in Kish

    Sargon of Akkad: Rebel and Usurper in Kish

    Chapter 3 Sargon of Akkad: Rebel and Usurper in Kish Marlies Heinz When Sargon of Akkad (ca. 2340–2280 b.c.) seized power in Kish, it was the begin- ning of a reign that would restructure the entire political landscape of the Near East. Legend has it that Sargon was the son of a high-ranking priestess who immediately after his birth placed him in a basket and abandoned him to the Euphrates.1 A man named Aqqi discovered the baby, pulled him out of the river, and adopted him. Sar- gon became a gardener at his father’s estate. It is not known in detail how he ended up at the royal court in Kish. Traditionally it is believed that he was taken there by the town goddess, Ishtar, who had seen him in his father’s garden. Sargon did not belong to the traditional elite of Kish; he did not know anything about his origins. At court he became the king’s cupbearer. From this position, he re- belled against the authorities and deprived the legitimate (!) king, Urzababa, of his power with the approval of, and by the will of, the deities An, Enlil, and Ishtar. Sargon became Urzababa’s successor and sealed his accession to the throne by taking the title Sharru-kin (= Sargon), which means ‘the legitimate king’. At the beginning of his reign, Sargon changed most of the traditional political structure of Kish. The “old ones” (intimates of the former king?) and the temple priests were deprived of their power, and the palace took over the economic domains of the temples.