ARCH 0351 / AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient Near East
Brown University ~ Fall 2009
The rise of the Early Mesopotamian urban elite: questions of ideology and power
October 15, 2009
ideology
an exchange between makers of political discourse
and the audience of that discourseaims to consolidate social order for the good of
a dominant class
public ritual, performance and legitimacy in the political sphere
collective identity, gender, social status are both created and
maintained through material practices and state spectacles.
funerary spectacles: human sacrifice, exquisitely built artifacts
ideology an established dialogue, a social transaction,
a cultural discourse that is delievered in the form of a
complex worldview, power discourse that seeps into
everyday life... not propaganda... not produced by the
elites...
commemorative monument steles, rock reliefs, inscribed
statues, “obelisks” and a whole plethora of Near Eastern
“monuments” of the public sphere, presenting pictorial and
textual narrativized
Goat and the tree: a wonder to behold
Long distance trade, magical craftsmanship, and
exotic precious materials through which the
object shines, exerts its agency.
Context:
Cities, gods and citizens in Early Bronze Age Southern Mesopotamia
(2950-2000 BC)
archaeological time
5000-4000 BC
Halaf period in the Northern Mesopotamia
Ubaid period in the South
Eridu temple sequence (E-abzu)
4000-3500
3500-3100
Early Uruk period
Late Uruk period
Uruk Level IV (Eanna Precinct)
social complexity, urbanization, writing, mass-produced pottery potter’s
wheel introduced, new bureaucratic tools such as cylinder seals, longdistance trade
3100-2900
Jemdet Nasr period
Uruk Level III (Eanna Precinct)
2950-2750
2750-2600
2600-2350
Early Dynastic I
Early Dynastic II
Early Dynastic III
Protoliterate Period
Pre-Sargonic
Period
Mesopotamian cities in the Early Bronze Age
North Palace
Temple Oval
Khafajah (ancient Tutub),
city plan and the aerial view of
Temple Oval
Stone commemorative plaques from Early Dynastic temple contexts (Nippur, Khafajah)
Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family.
Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription
Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq
Early Dynastic IIIA 2550-2400 BC
Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family.
Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription
Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq
Early Dynastic IIIA 2550-2400 BC
Early Mesopotamian cult places and burial space the political rivalry among the new urban elites
First dynasty of Lagash...
(ca 2550-2380 BC)
Border conflict between the regional states of Umma and Lagash (25th c. BC)
Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family.
Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription
Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq
Early Dynastic IIIA 2550-2400 BC
Myth and History:
Stele of Eannatum. ca. 2460 BC. from Girsu (Telloh)
Limestone H. 1.8 m; L. 1.3 m; Th. 0.11 m
Louvre Museum, Paris
Stele of Eannatum. ca. 2460 BC. from Girsu (Telloh), fragments
Vase dedicated by Entemena, king of
Lagash, to Ningirsu.
Silver and copper, ca. 2400 BC.
Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.
Votive relief of Dudu, priest of
Ningirsu, in the days of King
Entemena of Lagash.
Oil shale, ca. 2400 BC.
Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. A
bas-relief.