Intro to Humanities
Lecture 1a
Civilization before the Greeks:
Mesopotamia
By David Kelsey
The Humanities
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The study of human civilization with a focus on culture
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The study of how western cultures developed their value systems…
Questions: what is value? What is culture?
In this class:
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We will focus on the history and culture of western civilization.
We will focus on the history and culture of western civilization and how it relates to Philosophy…
Our study will be chronological. We begin with the earliest civilizations and end with the modern
world…
Culture
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Questions:
– what is culture?
– Can anyone think of
examples of cultural
differences they have seen
or experienced?
– Other questions…
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Source: studentsoftheworld.info
Culture
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Culture:
– We will try to understand how politics, and other social and economic causes influence
human attitudes, beliefs and ideals…
– Culture is what remains after a society has vanished:
• their value system
– Value system:
• The dreams, hopes and visions of the individuals making up a society
Western Civilization
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Western Civilization is Multicultural:
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It has assimilated elements of every advanced culture in the west
Scientific methods and technologies
Social and political ideals
The Greeks invented democracy, speculative philosophy and formal logic
The Scientific method
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The influence of Western Civilization:
– The scientific method comes from western scientists like Bacon and Newton…
– According to Albert Einstein: Western science is based on 2 great achievements:
• formal logic
• The discovery of the possibility to find out causal relationships by systematic experiment
– Any thoughts on science and the scientific method?
Art
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What is art?
– Intention
– Creative or abstract thought
– The expression of emotion or
attitude in a medium
– the exploration by means of
sensory percepts of the emotions,
mind and personality of human
beings?
– Examples: literature, sculpture,
painting, philosophical study,
poetry, music…
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Source: artistique.viewworks.nl
The emergence of early culture:
the Stone Age
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Stone Age (2,500,000-3,000 B.C.)
– Called this for their use of stone tools
– The Paleolithic Age (2,500,000-10,000 B.C.)
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Begins at the time Homo sapiens evolved from proto-humans
Reliance on hunting and gathering
the invention of art (painting and sculpture)
Didn’t know how to grow crops or raise animals
Nomadic
Tools invented, the use of fire & shelter
The Stone Age Continued
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The Stone Age continued
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The Neolithic Age (10,000-4,000 B.C.)
• Last ice age ends about 10,000 B.C.
• the New Stone Age
• From hunting and gathering to systematic agriculture & the domestication of animals
• Crops planted include: wheat, barley, lentils, rice, millet, yams, beans, potatoes and corn
• Animals domesticated include: cattle, pigs…
• Created farming villages
• Inventions: trade, crafts, pottery & warfare
• Patriarchy develops
Images from the Stone Age
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Image of Stone Age huts:
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Image of Stone Age European Cave Art
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Source: lookandlearn.com
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Source: livelikedirt.blogspot.com
The Bronze and Iron Ages
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The development of civilization:
– Bronze Age (3,000 B.C.)
• The use of Bronze begins
• Egypt and Mesopotamia
– Iron Age (1,000 B.C.)
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The upper image is a reconstruction of
bronze age round house
The lower image is of bronze age weapons
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Source of upper image: toryjim.tumblr.com
Source of lower image: simple.m.wikipedia.org
Mesopotamia
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Civilization begins around 8000 B.C. in the valleys between the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers
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The old ways: nomadic tribes used to follow the seasons as they hunted game and gathered fruits
Once these tribes figured out how to plant crops everything changed
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About 8000 B.C. nomadic Mesopotamian tribes settled into permanent villages
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The establishment of permanent agricultural communities…
Map of Mesopotamia
Source: mrkash.com
Map of Mesopotamia
1200 B.C.
Source: dominiosperu.com
Map of Mesopotamia
Source: permaculturemarin.com
Current Map of Mesopotamia
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Map of Mesopotamia:
– In late spring the Tigres
and Euphrates rivers flood
the region depositing rich
silt
– But the flooding is caused
by snow melts
– So the flooding is
unpredictable and
sometimes catastrophic
Source: bbc.co.uk
Current Map of Mesopotamia
Source: armandoplata10.blogspot.com
The establishment of Agriculture
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The establishment of agriculture changes civilization forever:
– Permanent houses
• Cultivated land is divided and property is identified
• thus, innovations in mathematics, maps, surveying and writing
– Privately owned lands
• Defense and armies
– The calendar
• Flooding occurs on a regular basis. Thus, the floods must be recorded and anticipated which
leads to the calendar, the damn, irrigation…
– Buying and selling of crops
• Leftover crops resulting from extra yield of crops…
– Mathematics & Writing
– Pottery & Weaving
The Sumerian Period
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Sumerians:
– 3000-2350 B.C.
– Notable cities at Ur, Uruk, and Lagash
– Cities protected by walls
– Houses built of sun dried bricks
– Built massive temples called Ziggurat’s
– The economy was primarily agricultural
– Credited with inventing the first written language, Cuneiform
• Used initially to record the floods and astronomical events.
Cuneiform tablet
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An example of a Cuneiform tablet
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Source: salenacastro7.wordpress.com
Cuneiform tablet
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Administrative tablet: impression of a
male figure, hunting dogs, and boars
3100–2900 B.C.
From Uruk
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Source: metmuseum.org
The development of cuneiform
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The development of cuneiform
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Source: world-history.nmhblogs.org
The Cuneiform alphabet
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The Cuneiform alphabet
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Source: uphillwriting.org
Polytheism
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Sumeria was a theocracy
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Believed in a polytheistic religion:
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Believed that the Gods owned the cities
Kings derived their power from the Gods and were the agents of the Gods
the gods were immortal and quite like humans at times:
The creation of the Gods:
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The union of Anu (God of heaven) and Enki (God of freshwater) produced Enlil (God of the air).
Enlil becomes leader of the Pantheon
The other deities banish Enlil for raping Ninlil (the air goddess)
Ninlil has a child Nanna (God of the moon)
Nanna and Ningal give birth to Inanna (goddess of warfare) and to Utu (God of the Sun)
More on Polytheism
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More on Polytheism:
– Natural phenomena such as floods or storms were acts of the Gods
– Astrology to determine the will of the Gods...
– Sumerians attempted to keep the Gods happy through prayer, magic and incantations…
– The King of the Sumerians was chief servant of the Gods and their earthly representative
– Ziggurats were constructed as temples
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Towers constructed as terraced pyramids
Constructed of sun dried mud bricks
Ziggurat of Ur
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Depiction of the Ziggurat of Ur
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Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Ziggurat of Ur
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The Ziggurat of Ur
The largest stepped pyramid left standing
from the Sumerians
210 ft. x 150 ft.
Corners point towards north, south, east
and west
Thought to be the home of the moon God
Nanna
Built about 2100 B.C.
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Source: markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca
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Ziggurat of Ur
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Another picture of the Ziggurat of Ur
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Source: joker-6.com
The steps at the Ziggurat at Ur
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The steps of the Ziggurat at Ur
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Source: fineartamerica.com
Sumerian Achievments
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Sumerian achievements:
– Created multiplication, division and square roots
– Used a 10 base (decimal) system of mathematics
– Used a 60 base system from which the origins of the 60 second minute and 60 minute
hour were derived.
– The Epic of Gilgamesh...
The Epic of Gilgamesh
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The oldest work in literature
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The earliest written versions of the story date back to 2000 B.C.
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Originally written in the Sumerian language
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The first story in history to have a central character…
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The story developed over the course of 1000 years: Sumerians, Akkadians & Babylonians
The Epic of Gilgamesh
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The Prologue:
– “I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things
were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw
mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on
a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone
the whole story.”
– “When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun
endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great
gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds
they made him god and one third man.”
– “In Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the god of the
firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love. Look at it still today: the outer wall where
the cornice runs, it shines with the brilliance of copper; and the inner wall, it has no equal.
Touch the threshold, it is ancient. Approach Eanna the dwelling of Ishtar, our lady of love and
war, the like of which no latter-day king, no man alive can equal. Climb upon the wall of Uruk;
walk along it, I say; regard the foundation terrace and examine the. masonry: is it not burnt
brick and good? The seven sages laid the foundations.”
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Source: aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf
The Epic of Gilgamesh
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The story begins:
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GILGAMESH went abroad in the world, but he met with none who could withstand his arms till be
came to Uruk. But the men of Uruk muttered in their houses, ‘Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his
amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for
Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust
leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the
shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.'
The gods heard their lament, the gods of heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of Uruk: ‘A
goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms. No son is left with his
father, for Gilgamesh takes them all; and is this the king, the shepherd of his people? His lust leaves
no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble. When Anu had heard
their lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the goddess of creation, ‘You made him, O Aruru; now
create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self; stormy heart for stormy
heart. Let them contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.’
Source: aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf
The Epic continued
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The story continued:
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“So the goddess conceived an image in her mind, and it was of the stuff of Anu of the firmament. She
dipped her hands in water and pinched off clay, she let it fall in the wilderness, and noble Enkidu was
created. There was virtue in him of the god of war, of Ninurta himself. His body was rough, he had
long hair like a woman's; it waved like the hair of Nisaba, the goddess of corn. His body was covered
with matted hair like Samugan's, the god of cattle. He was innocent of mankind; he knew nothing of
the cultivated land.”
“Enkidu ate grass in the hills with the gazelle and lurked with wild beasts at the water-holes; he had
joy of the water with the herds of wild game. But there was a trapper who met him one day face to
face at the drinking-hole, for the wild game had entered his territory. On three days he met him face
to face, and the trapper was frozen with fear. He went back to his house with the game that he had
caught, and he was dumb, benumbed with terror.”
Source: aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf
The Epic continued
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The story continued:
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“His face was altered like that of one who has made a long journey. With awe in his heart he spoke to
his father: ‘Father, there is a man, unlike any other, who comes down from the hills. He is the
strongest in the world, he is like an immortal from heaven. He ranges over the hills with wild beasts
and eats grass; the ranges through your land and comes down to the wells. I am afraid and dare not
go near him. He fills in the pits which I dig and tears up-my traps set for the game; he helps the
beasts to escape and now they slip through my fingers.’”
“His father opened his mouth and said to the trapper, ‘My son, in Uruk lives Gilgamesh; no one has
ever prevailed against him, he is strong as a star from heaven. Go to Uruk, find Gilgamesh, extol the
strength of this wild man. Ask him to give you a harlot, a wanton from the temple of love; return
with her, and let her woman's power overpower this man. When next he comes down to drink at the
wells she will be there, stripped naked; and when he sees her beckoning he will embrace her, and
then the wild beasts will reject him”
Source: aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf
The Epic continued…
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The Epic of Gilgamesh continued…
– The story of a half legendary king, Gilgamesh, whom the Gods propose to chastise
– To humble the king, the Gods create Enkidu
– Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet in combat and it ends in a draw
– They then go on adventures together…
Gilgamesh continued
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As their adventures ensue:
– Enkidu dies in the arms of Gilgamesh, who is left alone to face the meaning of life...
– Gilgamesh hears that Utnapishtim possesses the secret to eternal life.
• So Gilgamesh tracks him down and finds the thorny plant.
• Gilgamesh celebrates by bathing in a nearby pool.
• Just then a serpent comes up from the water and carries the plant away…
– The lesson: only the Gods are immortal
The Akkadian period
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The Akkadian Period (2350-2150 BCE)
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Their territory was to the north of the Sumerians
Semitic people
– Introduced the concept of Divine Monarchy
• Supported by force of arms
– Sargon the Great (2334-2279 B.C.)
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The first notable military conqueror in human history
About 2340 B.C. overran the Sumerian city states and established an empire.
Had an army of about 5,000
Built an empire from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean.
Map of the Akkadian empire
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Map of the Akkadian Empire
The yellow arrows indicate the directions
of military campaigns
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Source: wikipedia.org
Sargon the Great
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Sargon the Great:
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Created an Akkadian empire which was the first
to unify Akkad and Sumer politically and
administratively…
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A king of Akkad who “had no rival or equal,
spread his splendor over all the lands, and
crossed the sea in the east. In his eleventh year,
he conquered the western land to its furthest
point, and brought it under his sole authority.”
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Source: historyfiles.co.uk
Old Babylonia
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Old Babylonia: 1900-1500 B.C.
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The Babylonians had a powerful state centered on the city of Babylon
Consisted of the territories of Sumer and Akkad
Survived until 1550 B.C.
Hammurabi
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1792-1750 B.C.
Had a well disciplined army of foot soldiers who carried axes, spears and daggers
Was able to regain control of Sumer and Akkad and reunify Mesopotamia to the borders Sargon had
established
Established the capital at Babylon
Built temples, Defensive walls, Irrigation canals and encouraged trade
Hammurabi’s code of laws
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Hammurabi developed a code of laws
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Its purpose was to “bring order to my people…so that I might free them from…wicked men, that I
should defend the weak from the oppression of the mighty.”
Hammurabi’s code of laws:
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A system of strict justice, penalties were severe and varied according to the social class of the victim
Lists 282 regulations on topics such as:
• Theft and land tenure
• Marriage & divorce
• Construction & Employment…
Hammurabi’s code continued
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Hammurabi’s code continued:
– The basic principle is retaliation in kind
• From this we get the famous saying: an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth
– “If a free man has destroyed the eye of a member of the aristocracy, they shall
destroy his eye.”
– Many crimes punishable by death
– But it did replace some retaliation in kind with fines
Hammurabi’s code continued
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Hammurabi’s code continued:
– Laws protected the victims of crimes:
• If a burglary or murder occurred and the criminal wasn’t caught the Government officials had
to pay fines to the victim or his family
– Consumer protection laws:
• Builders were responsible for their buildings so that if a building collapsed killing the owner the
builder was then put to death
– Commercial laws:
• if a lender raised the interest rate on a loan after it was made, the lender lost the entire
amount of the loan
– Laws on marriage & family:
• Marriage contacts were signed by both parties
• If the wife committed adultery she was put to death
Map of the Babylonian Empire
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Map of Babylonia at the time of Hammurabi
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Source: worldhistoryman.blogsport.com
Old Babylonia under the rule of
Hammurabi
Source: lasalle.edu
Hammurabi
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Picture of Hammurabi
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Source: planszuffka.blox.pl
The Assyrian Empire
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The Assyrian empire:
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Tiglath-Pileser (1114-1076 B.C.)
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Located on the upper Tigris river
Good rainfall
Semitic people
In their early history were vassals to foreign rulers including Sargon the Great and Hammurabi
Survived until 612 B.C.
reasserts Assyrian power
Was a brutal conqueror who had a policy of deliberate terror
Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.C.)
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Expansion of the Assyrian empire
Conquests into Canaan and Babylonia
Tiglath-Pileser III &
Sargon II
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Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 B.C.)
Sargon II (721-705 B.C.)
– There is continuous warfare after
Shalmaneser III until TiglathPileser III and Sargon II reestablish
control over Mesopotamia
– They centralized the government
to increase power to the king
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Source of upper image: emp.byui.edu
Source of lower image: pinterest.com
Ashurnasirpal II
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Ashurnasirpal II
– Ruled 883-859 B.C.
– Upon capturing an enemy town his
policy was to have his soldiers round
up surviving inhabitants, cut off their
hands and feet and leave them in the
town square to bleed to death…
– It was the brutal nature of such
Assyrian leaders and their combat
tactics that ultimately ended the
Assyrian empire
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Source: en.wikipedia.org
Assyria
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The first militaristic state in history
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The “lord of the world”,
• the most powerful of all near eastern empires
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Conquered Babylon in 689 B.C. and Egypt in 670 B.C.
Brutal combat tactics
• To encourage a quick surrender the Assyrians would terrorize the captured enemy
• Killed, maimed and tortured their captives
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A coordinated effort by the Babylonians, Medes and a group of Palestinians defeated the Assyrians in
612 B.C..
• The Assyrians disappeared…
Map of the Assyrian Empire
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The Assyrian Empire at its
peak about 650 B.C.
It includes Mesopotamia,
sections of Asia minor, Syria,
Canaan and Egypt up to
Thebes
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Source: faculty.catawba.edu
The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
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This slide compares the
Assyrian and Babylonian
empires
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Source: evcforum.net
Assyrian Empire before and after
conquering Egypt and Babylon
Source: middleeastinfo.org
The art of ancient Mesopotamia
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The art of ancient Mesopotamia:
– The main emphasis was on durable sculpture in stone and clay
– Painting was mainly used for geometrical and plant-based decorative schemes
– Many masterpieces have been found at the cemetery of Ur
The Ram in a thicket
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The Ram in a thicket:
– One of a pair of figures excavated
in Ur
– 16.5 inches tall
– Dates from about 2500 B.C.
– Presently, one is exhibited at the
British Museum in London, the
other at the University of
Pennsylvania Museum
– Closer to goats
– Were discovered together in the
‘Great Death Pit’, one of the graves
in the Royal cemetery at Ur, in
1928
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Source: en.wikipedia.org
The Copper Bull
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The Copper Bull
– Discovered near the ancient
Sumerian city of Ur in 1923
– Dates to 2600 B.C.
– At the British museum, London
– Found under a platform which had
originally supported a temple to the
goddess Ninhursag, a Sumerian
goddess of the pastures
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Source: en.wikipedia.org
The Standard of Ur
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The Standard of Ur:
– Sumerian
– Excavated in 1923 from a Royal
cemetery in Ur
– Created in 2600 B.C.
– A hollow wooden box with glue
cementing the mosaics in place
– Scenes of war and peace
represented on each side
– It was found next to the skeleton of
a ritually sacrificed man
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Source: penn.museum
Statue of Gudea
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Statue of Gudea:
– So far, 27 statues of Gudea have been
found
– Most discovered in 1924
– The 27 are made of different materials
including Diorite, Limestone &
Alabaster
– Gudea was a ruler of southern
Mesopotamia from 2144 to 2124 B.C.
– The statue to the right is displayed
currently at the Louvre in Paris
– The statues were placed in various
temples, Prayers and offerings were
made to them
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Source: en.wikipedia.org
Burney Relief
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Burney Relief:
– The Queen of the Night
– Terracotta Plaque from Old Babylonia,
originating near 1750 B.C.
– Depicts a winged, nude, goddess with
bird talons, flanked by owls and
perched atop lions
– At the British Museum in London
– Its origins are unknown as it wasn’t
archeologically excavated
– Is 19.5 by 15 inches
– Likely depicts Goddess Inanna
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Source: en.wikipedia.org
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
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Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III:
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A Black limestone Assyrian sculpture
from Nimrud
Commemorates the deeds of King
Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.C.)
Thought to display the earliest ancient
depiction of a biblical figure, (Jehu, king
of Israel)
Discovered in 1846 and is currently in
the British museum in London
Source: en.wikipedia.org