MESOPOTAMIA----- IT'S HISTORY AND WHERE CIVILIZATION WAS ONCE CENTERED
FROM THE LECTURES "BETWEEN THE RIVERS: THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA" BY PROFESSOR ALEXIS Q. CASTOR PhD
LECTURE 2 --- GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT
"THE WORD MESOPOTAMIA WHICH IS A GREEK TERM DESCRIBES THE LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS. HINTS AT THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND OF THE REGION.....IN THIS LECTURE I WILL FIRST GIVE YOU THE OVERVIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY TO ORIENT YOU; THEN WE WILL LOOK MORE SPECIFICALLY AT WATER AVAILABILITY, WITHIN THE REGION.....
AFTER DESCRIBING THE WATER RECOURSES, WE WILL EXAMINE THE VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS, AND HOW THESE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS PROMOTED DIFFERENT LIFE-STYLES, IN MESOPOTAMIA.
THEN WE LOOK AT RESOURCES THAT WERE NOT READILY AVAILABLE, BUT WERE HIGHLY DESIRED, AND HOW THEY WERE ACQUIRED, BY RULERS FOR HIS CONTROL, OF THESE EXOTIC RESOURCES.
FINANLLY I WILL TRY TO UNRAVEL THE DIFFERENT NAMES, THAT ARE APPLIED TO THEI REGION, AND WHY WE USE THEM. THERE IS A METHOD TO THE MADNESS.
A LOOK AT A MAP OF THE REGION SHOWS A DIVERSE GEOGRAPHY OF THE REGION--- PLAINS, MOUNTAINS, DESERTS, AND MARSHLANDS.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA CONTAIN A FERTILE PLAIN TO THE EAST AND WEST OF TWO RIVERS.....
NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IS HILLIER WITH ROLLING PLAINS THAT LEAD UP TO THE MOUNTAINS AROUND THEM. ONE OF THE KEY RANGE OF MOUNTAINS IS THE ZAGROS MTS. THAT RUN FROM THE NORTH-WEST TO THE SOUTH-EAST..... THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS RUN FOR OVER 9 HUNDRED MILES AND FORM THE EASTERN BORDER WITH IRAN..... SOME OF THE MOUNTAINS IN THIS RANGE .... ARE OVER 16 THOUSAND FEET HIGH. THEY FORM A FORMIDABLE BORDER BETWEEN THESE TWO REGIONS.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THESE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS IS THE IRANIAN PLATEAU......
THE MOUNTAINS OF THE ZAGRO WAS HOME TO SEMI-MIGRANT PEOPLES WHO OFTEN INVADED MESOPOTAMIA.....
WE OFTEN DON'T HAVE MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THESE TRIBES, OTHER THEN THE FACT THEY INVADED, AND FORM A SOMEWHAT MYSTERIOUS GROUP.
THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS JOIN INTO THE NORTHERN TAURUS MTS. AND FORM THE NORTH BORDER OF MESOPOTAMIA.
BEYOND THIS WAS ANATOLIA [MODERN TURKEY] AND ANATOLIA WAS AN IMPORTANT TRADING NATION. TIN WAS AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE BROUGHT FROM ANATOLIA......
THIS WAS AN AREA IN WHICH THERE WERE FREQUENT CONTACTS.....
TO THE WEST OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER ARE DESERTS, THE ARABIAN DESERT. AND THESE AREAS SEPARATE THE MESOPOTAMIA REGION FROM THE LEVANT COAST---- SYRIA AND PALESTINE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA....
THESE DESERTS WERE FORMIDABLE AND COULD NOT REALLY BE CROSSED UNTIL THE KAMEL CAME INTO USE, IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY WERE DESOLATE. WE KNOW THERE WERE SOME ANIMALS THAT SHOWED CONNECTIONS TO AFRICA.... AND THERE WERE GROUPS OF NOMADIC TRIBES....
BUT THERE WERE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THESE GROUPS AND SETTLED CULTURES. THEY BROUGHT THEIR FLOCKS TO PASTURE NEAR AREAS OF CITIES. AND THEY WOULD PROVIDE RESOURCES FOR THE CITIES IN RETURN FOR WHAT THE CITIES COULD OFFER THEM.
THE DESERTS WERE AN AFFECTIVE PROTECTIVE BORDER FOR MESOPOTAMIA. AS AFFECT AS THE MOUNTAINS TO THE EAST AND NORTH DID.
IN THE SOUTH WERE MARSHLANDS THAT COVERED MOST OF THE SOUTH REGION. AND THIS IS WHERE THE RIVERS MET AND ENTERED THE MOUTH OF THE PERSIAN GULF.
THIS AREA IS SOMEWHAT EXOTIC TO US TODAY, WE KNOW THERE WAS SETTLED LIFE THERE. AND THE PEOPLE IN THE MARSHLANDS LIVED IN REED-HUTS, THAT WERE BUILT ON ISLANDS. THEY WERE SURROUNDED BY WATER; THEIR MAIN PROFESSION AS YOU CAN IMAGINE WAS FISHING. IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO KNOW WHAT THEIR LIFE-STYLE WAS, WE DO NOT HAVE MANY TEXTS THAT DESCRIBE THEM. BUT WE KNOW IT WAS A RICH AREA AND ONE THAT HAD VERY SIGNIFICANT CONTACTS WITH THE REST OF MESOPOTAMIA, AND SO TRADING LINKS, THAT WOULD MOVE DOWN INTO THE PERSIAN GULF.
THE LANDS THAT I HAVE DESCRIBES SHOWS THAT IN THE PLAINS IT COULD SUPPORT LARGE CITIES, SURROUNDED BY AGRICULTURAL FIELDS, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA.
AND THIS COMBINATION OF URBAN AND AGRICULTURAL WAYS OF LIFE, SUPPORTED THE IDEA A RICH MESOPOTAMIA WAY OF LIFE..... WORSHIPPING THE SAME GODS.... THIS IS GOING TO CONTINUE IN WHATEVER OVERTHROW OF POLITICAL WAYS, AND SO CONTINUE.
ONE OF THE IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN REGIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA WAS THE EASE OR DIFFICULTY TO ACCESS OF WATER....
IN THE NORTH-EAST RAINFALL USUALLY ALLOWED A COMMUNITY TO SUPPLY ITSELF. BUT OF COURSE RAINFALL IS NOT ALWAYS RELIABLE. FURTHER SOUTH IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA AN ARTIFICIAL WATER SUPPLY WAS NECESSARY. AND THIS WAS SUPPLIED BY IRRIGATION FROM THE TWO RIVERS, THE TRGRIS AND ESPECIALLY THE EUPHRATES RIVER.
THESE RIVERS BEGAN IN ARMENIA AND CAME THROUGH THE TAURUS MOUNTAINS FROM THE NORTH AND RAN DOWN TO THE PERSIAN GULF. THE TIGRUS RIVER IS ABOUT 1100 MILES LONG, IT'S A FASTER RIVER, IT'S STRAIGHTER, AND HAS A DEEPER RIVER BED, AND MADE IT MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO EXPLOIT WITH CHANNELS OF IRRIGATION. DEEPER RIVER BED MEANT WATER HAD TO BE LIFTED OVER THE BANKS, COULD NOT JUST DIG A CHANNEL AND LET THE WATER DRAIN OUT. IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE ASSYRIANS GAINED ENOUGH TECHNOLOGY AND MAN-POWER THAT THE TIGRUS WAS USED FOR IRRIGATION. AND THE ASSYRIANS WERE ACTIVE IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B. C.
THE EUPHRATES IS A LONGER RIVER, IOT'S ABOUT 1700 HUNDRED MILES LONG, MUCH SLOWER AND MUCH MORE GEBTLE RADIANT, WITH NUMEROUS TURNS AND ZIG-ZAGS, WITH OFFSHOOT, THAT COULKD ALSO BE USED FOR AGRICULTURE. IT HAS A MUCH LOWER BANK THAN THE TIGRUS. MAKES IT VERY EASY TO CUT INTO FOR IRRIGATION DITCHES, AND CANALS.
BOTH OF THESE RIVERS TEND TO FLOOD. AND FLOODS WERE A GREAT THREAT TO THE AGRICULTURE OF THE AREA..... SO STILL A LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE AGRICULTURAL HARVEST.
THE TIGRUS AND EUPHRATES ARE THE CLOSEST TOGETHER IN THE CENTAL AND SOUTHERN PART OF MESOPOTAMIA, WHERE WE'LL SEE SETTLEMENTS AND CITIES RISE THE EARLIEST.
CITIES WERE OFTEN FOUNDED TO THE EAST OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT ACCESS TO IRRIGATION CANALS LEADING FROM THE RIVER.
IF YOU LOOK AT A MAP OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA CITIES WITH THIS IDEA IN MIND, YOU MAY BE SURPRISED HOW FAR THEY WERE FROM IT, THE EUPHRATES. THIS WAS CAUSED BY ARTIFICIAL CHANGES, USE OF IRRIGATION CANALS IN ANTIQUITY UP THROUGH THE MODERN DAY, WITH DAMS TO DEVERT THE WATER TO AGRICULTURE WHERE IT IS TODAY. AND ALSO BY THE SILT THAT IS CARRIED BY THE RIVERS THAT NATURALLY SHIFTS THE RIVER BED OFF ITS COURSE.
AGRICULTURAL AND IRRIGATIONS IN THE SOUTH BROUGHT SOCIAL INTERMIXING, SO IMPORTANT FOR DOING LARGE PROJECTS AS IRRIGATION CANALS. THIS MEANS A COMMUNITY HAS TO HAVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO AGREED, OR WERE FORCED BY SOME AUTHORITY WHO WERE JOINED IN THIS GROUP PROJECT.
IRRIGATIONAL CANALS WERE AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR IN THE GROWTH OF A CITY. AND EVENTUALLY THE LARGER STATES. AS I'VE SAID THE ASSYRIANS WERE THE FIRST TO USE THE TIGRUS RIVER, SO THIS SHOWS US AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THEIR WAY OF RULING......
KINGS.... IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO ASSURE THEIR PEOPLE THEY HAD THE MEANS FOR GOOD AGRICULTURE AND AND SO A GOOD WAY OF LIFE.
A FINAL ASPECT OF WATER IN THE AREA IS FOUND IN THE HIGH WATER TABLE OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA..... THE TWO PLATES UNDER THIS AREA BRING THE WATER TO THE TOP, BUT ALSO SALT. THE SALINIZATION REDUCES FERTILITY DRASTICALLY AND CAN EVENTUALLY REDUCE IT TO A DESERT AND INSUFFICIENT AGRICULTURE CAN BE PRODUCED.....
THIS MAY BE A CAUSE OF THE FAMINE SOME OF OUR TEXTS RECORD.
LET'S MOVE NOW FROM WATER TO OTHER ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
SPECIFICALLY FOOD RESOURCES.
CONTINUING LECTURE 2 ON MESOPOTAMIA
BY ALEXIS CASTOR PhD
“LET’S MOVE NOW FROM WATER TO OTHER ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT; SPECIFICALLY FOOD RESOURCES.
WHAT DID THESE PEOPLE EAT?
AWAY FROM THE RIVERS MESOPOTAMIA CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS A SUB-DESTER. KIND OF A DESTER BUT NOT SO BAD. IT CERTAINLY WOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH SUBSTANCE FOR HERDS OF SHEEP AND GOATS. SO YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO SACRIFICE VALUABLE AGRICULTURAL LAND IN ORDER TO PASTURE YOUR FLOCKS. YOU TAKE THEM INTO THE DESERT. THIS WOULD REQUIRE YOU TO TRAVEL FARTHER, BUT IT WOULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER AREA TO USE. THE DESERT ALSO SUPPORTED A NUMBER OF WILD ANIMALS THAT WERE USED FOR MEAT. JACKALS, LIONS, GAZELS…. MANY OF THESE ANIMALS HAVE BEEN HUNTED INTO EXTINCTION. BUT WE SEE THEM REPORTED IN THE TEXTS AND SERVED AT FEATS IN MESOPOTAMIA.
THE MARSHES IN THE LOW-LYING AREAS SUPPORTED AN EVEN GREATER VARIETY OF WILD LIFE. INCLUDING SEVERAL SPECIES OF BIRDS, FISH AND OTHER WATER CREATURES. AND AGAIN TEXTS RECORED OF OF THESE SPECIES BROUGHT IN AT LAVISH FEASTS…..
THE MARSHLANDS ALSO SERVED FOR POLITICAL REFUGEES, CRIMINALS. THIS IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THIS ENVIRONMENT. AN 8TH CENTURY BABYLONIAN KING ESCAPED TWICE TO THE REGION HE CALLED “THE SEA LAND” FROM HIS ASSYRIAN OVER-LORD. HE MANAGED TO COLLECT REINFORCEMENTS FROM THIS AREA.
THIS KIND OF THING REMAINED TO THE PRESENT AREA, WHEN HUSAIN ORDERED THE DRAINING OF THAT AREA, AGAINST THOSE WHO OPPOSED HIS RULE. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ONLY 10 TO 20 PERCENT OF THE MARSHES REMAIN TODAY. A RECLAMATION HAS BEEN BEGUN BUT IT IS UNLIKELY TO BE SUCCESSFUL; TOO MUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN INFLICTED.
AS WE LOOK AT THE SOUTHERN COAST LINE THERE IS SOME DEBATE ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE PERSIAN GULF. IT USED TO BE ASSUMED THAT THE COAST-LINE WAS FARTHER INLAND, RIGHT UP TO THE BORDERS OF THE SOUTHERN CITIES THAT WERE DISCOVERED. BUT IN THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY THIS IDEA WAS CHALLENGED. AND GEOLOGISTS ACCEPTED THAT THE ANCIENT COAST-LINE WAS ABOUT WHERE IT IS TODAY. THE ISSUE IS NOT SETTLED HOWEVER, AND AS YOU LOOK AT MAPS YOU MAY FIIND DIFFERENT LEVELS. KEEP IN MIND THIS IS STILL AN ONGOING STUDY AND DEBATE.
CITIES WOULD APPEAR CLOSE TO WHERE THERE WAS NATURAL RECOURSES; AND IN MESOPOTAMIA, THE PLAINS NEAR THE RIVERS WERE THE GREAT CULTURAL CENTERS. THE RIVERS NOT ONLY SUPPLIED THE WATER FOR FOOD SUPPLY, FOR THE CITIES, BUT ALSO AN EASY MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. SO GOODS, PEOPLE, IDEAS, CAN TRAVEL UP AND DOWN THE RIVERS. IF YOU KEEP THIS IN MIND THAT THE RIVERS WERE USED IN MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF LIFE, IT WILL HELP TO EXPLAIN THE COHERENT LIFE THAT IS SO STRIKING, FOR LIFESTYLES, AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF MESOPOTAMIA.
IN CONTRAST, THE MOUNTAIN RANGES FOSTERED SMALLER AND MORE ISOLATED, AND MORE INDEPENDENT GROUPS. CITIES APPEAR SOMEWHAT LATER HERE. LARGE CITIES WERE NOT THE NORM UNTIL THE END OF THE SECOND MILLENNIUM, AND INTO THE FIRST MILLENNIUM. AND TRADE BECOMES A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT AND DOCUMENTED ASPECT OF SOCIETY. IN THE NORTH THEY WERE MUCH CLOSER TO KEY TRADE ROUTES THAT CONNECTED EAST AND WEST, AND TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.
SO AS WE LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THIS AREA WE CAN BEGIN TO SEE WHY PEOPLE SETTLED WHERE THEY DID. IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA THER’S NOT ENOUGH RAINFALL TO SUPPLY AGRICULTURE WITH ONLY ABOUT AN AVERAGE 10 INCHES A YEAR. SO YOU NEED A PRETTY COMPELLING REASON TO LIVE THERE. AND THAT COMPELLING REASON WAS THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL, WHICH CAN REACH A ONE TO TWENTY SEED TO HARVEST YIELD PER YEAR. THE TRADE-OFF IS THAT A COMMUNITY WOULD HAVE TO EXPEND A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF LABOR, TO CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL WATER SOURCE, DRAINING FROM THESE RIVERS.
AND AS POPULATION DENSITY IN THE AREA INCREASED NEIGHBORING CITIES BEGAN TO COMPETE FOR PRIME FARM LAND. WHICH WOULD BE THE AREA RIGHT NEAR THE RIVER. ONE OF OUR EARLIEST HISTORICAL CONTEXT IS THE 150 YEAR WAR, LASTING FROM ABOUT 2500 TO 2350 B. C. BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN CITIES OF UMMA AND LAGASH. AND THIS WAR WAS PROMPTED BY CONFLICTS OVER BORDERS AND FARM LANDS.
IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA THE REGION BENEFITS FROM A MORE ABUNDANT RAINFALL WHICH OFFSETS THE NEED FOR IRRIGATION. BEING HILLIER THE TERRANE WOULD MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR IRRIGATION CANALS, THAN IN THE SOUTHERN LOWLANDS. THE LAND IN THIS AREA COULD BE USED FOR GRAZING FLOCKS OR FOR AGRICULTURE, SINCE YOU NEEDED LESS LABOR TO PRODUCE THE NECESSARY SUPPLIES, THAN TO CHANGE WHAT THE AREA WAS BEST FOR.
IN GENERAL THERE SEEMS TO BE LESS PRESSURE IN THE NORTH THAN IN THE SOUTH. AND SO FROM THE BEGINNING WE CAN SEE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHER REGION. AND AS WE START TO COLLECT MORE EVIDENCE AND LOOK AT THIS IDEA MORE CLOSELY WE SHALL SEE THAT THE CONTRAST CONTINUES.
WE’VE SEEN WHAT THE LAND LOOKED LIKE AND WHAT RESOURCES WERE AVAILABLE, SO WHAT RESOURCES WERE NOT AVAILABLE?
THERE WERE TWO THAT WERE ESPECIALLY DESIRABLE. METAL AND TIMBER.
AND MESOPOTAMIA RULERS WANTED THESE RESOURCES, IN ALMOST EVERY PERIOD THAT WE SHALL DISCUSS.
THEY ARE NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE IN MESOPOTAMIA ITSELF, THOUGH THERE ARE SOME TIMBER RESOURCES IN THE NORTH, BUT USUALLY BOTH TIMBER AND METAL WERE IMPORTED FROM THE EAST AND FROM THE WEST. THESE ARE BOTH LUXERY GOODS ESSENTIAL FOR THE BUILDING PROJECTS THAT WOULD HANCE A RULERS PRESTIGE. SO A RULER WHO WANTED TO SHOW OFF HIS CONTROL OF RESOURCES MIGHT USE CEDER FROM LEBANON IN A TEMPLE HE WAS RENOVATING. THIS WOULD BE RECOGNIZED BY VISITORS AS SOMETHING THAT WAS EXOTIC, AND SOMETHING THAT WAS EXPENSIVE, AND THEREFORE IT SHOWED OFF WHAT THE KING COULD OFFER TO HIS PEOPLE.
CONTROL OF TRADE ROUTES WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY MOTIVATIONS APART FROM LAND, FOR DISPUTES BETWEEN CITIES AND WITH OTHER CULTURES……
HISTORIANS APPLY DIFFERENT NAMES TO THESE AREAS DEPENDING ON A PARTICULAR AREA UNDER REVIEW.
AND SO IT CAN SEEM VERY CONFUSING AT FIRST. KNOWING THE CODE YOU WILL SEE IMMEDIATELY WHAT AREA AND WHAT CULTURE WAS MOST IMPORTANT IN MESOPOTAMIA. AND YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND GIVES YOU A ROUGH IDEA OF THE DATE.
SOME OF THE NAMES THAT WILL B ECOME FAMILIAR TO YOU AND THE AREA——
SUMERIA
AKKAD
BABYLONIA
ASSYRIA
PERSIA
AND THESE ALL REFLECT THE DOMINANT CULTURE OF THE TIME. SOMETIMES THE CONTROL IS CULTURAL AND SOMETIMES IT IS POLITICAL. SUMERIA OR SUMER WILL BE ONE OF THE FRASES WE USE IN THE FIRST PART OF THE COURSE. THIS IS THE AREA WHERE CITIES BEGIN, SO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. IT IS ALSO THE LANGUAGE THAT IS USED IN THESE REGIONS. BUT IT DOES NOT REPRESENT A SPECIFIC ETHNIC GROUP…..
AT THE SAME TIME NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, THIS AREA THAT IS HILLIER AND HAS MORE MOUNTAINS, IS CALLED AKKAD. WHICH WAS ALSO NAMED AFTER THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS USED, EVEN THOUGH BOTH CULTURES USED THE LANGUAGES INTERCHANGEABLY, NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD WE WILL BE DISCUSSING.
SUMER, SUMERIAN, AKKAD, AKKADIAN, WERE MOST IMPORTANT IN THE 3RD AND 2ND MILLENNIUM B. C. AND IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THEY EXISTED AT THE SAME TIME, AND THAT THEY WERE TWO EQUALLY IMPORTANT CULTURES. THEY WERE INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER UNTIL SAGON OF AKKAD UNIFIED THE REGION IN THE 23RD CENTURY
B. C.
IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM THE SOUTH AND CENTRAL MESOPOTAMIA WAS CALLED BABYLONIA AFTER THE CITY OF BABYLON. THE TERM IS USED TO FIRST DESCRIBE THE RISE OF HAMARBI THE 18TH CENTURY RULER AND LAW GIVER, KING OF BABYLON, WHO LIKE SAGON UNIFIED THE NORTH AND SOUTH.
THE POLITICAL CONTROL THAT HAMARBI ESTABLISHED DID NOT LAST LONG AFTER HIS DEATH. BUT THE CULTURAL UNITY EXISTED FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES AFTER HIS DEATH. AND SO THAT MEANS THAT THE AREA CONTINUED TO BE REFERRED TO AS A SINGLE CULTURE.
ASSYRIA, LIES ABOVE BABYLONIA, IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, AND WAS THE LEADING STATE OF MESOPOTAMIA IN THE LATE 2RD AND EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM. ASSYRIA GREW FROM THE CITY OF ASHUR WHICH WAS A TRADING POST WITH CONNECTION TO ANATOLIA [MODERN TURKEY]. AND WOULD EXTEND TO THE COAST OF SYRIA, PALESTINE, ASLO CALLED THE LAVANT, AND EVEN REACHED EGYPT, FOR A FEW YEARS ANYWAY.
WHILE ASSYRIA IS GROWING AND EXPANDING IN THE NORTH, BABYLONIA CONTINUED AND IT MAINTAINED THAT CULTURAL ASPECT THAT EVEN THE ASSYRIANS RESPECTED, THAT WOULD CAUSE THE ASSYRIANS TO LEAVE BABYLONIA ALONE AND GIVE THEM SPECIAL TREATMENT, EVEN AS THEY POLITICAL REBELS, DESIRING TO DEFEAT ASSYRIA.
BY THE 6TH CENTURY, ASSYRIA WAS DEFEATED BY THE PERSIAN TRIBE WHO WERE SOUTH WEST IN IRAN. THEY CONTROLLED MESOPOTAMIA, SYRIA, PALESTINE, EGYPT, AND ATOLIA, AND EVEN REACH INTO TRYING TO GO INTO EUROPE VIA GREECE, IN THE 5TH CENTURY B. C.
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WOULD CONTINUE UNTIL ALEXANDER THE GREAT CROSSES INTO ASIA MINOR [TURKEY] IN 334 B. C. AND MOVED ACROSS TO IRAN AND INDIA. CREATING AN EMPIRE THAT NO ONES WAS ABLE TO REPLICATE.
WE HAVE SEEN IN THIS LECTURE A GREAT VARIETY IN ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY, AND HAVE SEEN THEY HAVE IMPORTANT RAMIFICATIONS. THE RIVERS, ESPECIALLY THE EUPHRATES RIVER, MITIGATES THE LACK OF RAINFALL IN THE SOUTH. IT HAS CERTAIN FEATURES, SHALLOWER, AND IS ESPECIALLY WELL SUITED FOR IRRIGATION AND LARGE SETTLEMENT. THIS DESIRABILITY OF THE EUPHRATES CREATES SOME PRESSURE OR ARIBLE OR FERTILE LAND AND THIS WILL CAUSE CONFLICTS.
IN THE NORTH THE MOUNTAINS WERE BARRIERS AND ALSO THE SOURCE OF SOME TIMBER. AN EREA THAT RECEIVED MORE RAIN. NO IRRIGATION WAS NEEDED FOR SURVIVAL. AND AN AREA WHICH FLOCKS COULD BE PASTURED. AND THE LAND USED FOR AGRICULTURE AS WELL. THE DESERTS TO THE WEST, LIKE THE MOUNTAINS, PROVIDED A NATURAL DEFENCE, AND WERE THE HOME OF SEMI-NOMADIC TRIBES.
THE MARSHLANDS IN THE SOUTH, THE MOST ROMANTIC AND PROVOCATIVE FOR US TO TRY TO IMAGINE A VERY DIFFERENT STYLE OF LIVING. THIS WAS AN AREA OF FISHERMEN. HUNTERS, AGRICULTURE, HAD NO ROLE TO PLAY HERE. AND LIKE THE MOUNTAINS AND EVEN THE DESERTS, THIS AREA COULD EASILY CREATE COMMUNITIES THAT FELT INDEPENDENT AND UNCONNECTED TO THE LARGE CITIES.
IN LECTURE 5 WE SHALL RETURN TO EXAMINE CONDITIONS FOR AGRICULTURE AND URBANIZATION THAT MADE MESOPOTAMIA THE SITE OF EARLY SETTLEMENT…..”
……………………………………………
TO BE CONTINUED
LECTURE 5a—- BETWEEN THE RIVERS:
The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
by Professor Alexis Q. Castor
FARMING AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS
“…WE WILL NOW APPLY WHAT WE’VE LEARNT FROM ARCHEOLOGY ABOUT THE PRE-HISTORIC ERA, THAT IS THE PERIOD BEFORE WRITTEN HISTORY. AND IMAGINE WHAT WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THESE SETTLEMENT AND THE PEOPLE LIVING AT THIS TIME.
MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED. BUT IT IS VERY INTERESTING TO SPECULATE WHAT TYPE OF EVENTS NEEDED TO HAPPEN TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO FORM VILLAGES AND ALLOW THESE VILLAGES TO EXPAND INTO CITIES.
IN THIS LECTURE WE’RE COVERING AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TIME, FROM PALAEOLITHIC TO BYUN PERIOD, IN MESOPOTAMIA, ABOUT 12 THOUSAND B. C. TO 4 THOUSAND B. C. [12 THOUSAND IS PROBABLY MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN 6, 7, 8. THOUSAND YEARS WHEN GOD CREATED ADAM AND EVE - Keith Hunt].
WE SHALL LOOK AT THE VILLAGES THAT WERE THE PRECURSOR TO CITIES, WHICH WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF THE FOLLOWING LECTURE.
IN THIS LECTURE WE’RE GOING TO EXAMINE WHY HUMANS WOULD CHOOSE TO SETTLE DOWN AND DEVELOP AN AGRICULTURAL LIFE, OVER A LIFE OF HUNTING AND GATHERING.
WHAT SORT OF FOOD AND ANIMALS HAD TO BE DOMESTICATED, AND WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WHO WAS LIVING IN MESOPOTAMIA AT THE TIME. THIS IS A SCHOLARLY DEBATE OVER THIS SEEMING SIMPLE QUESTION. FINALLY WE’LL END UP LOOKING AT WHY AND WHERE THESE EARLY SETTLEMENTS OF VILLAGES APPEAR IN MESOPOTAMIA. AND HOW WE START TO THINK ABOUT SOCIAL COMPLEXITY. AND WHAT THIS EVIDENCE SUGGESTS TO US, ABOUT HUMAN SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS.
CERTAINLY OTHER EARLY CULTURES ARE KNOWN TO US, EGYPT, CHINA, THE INDUS VALLEY, ARE ALL IMPORTANT LOCATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLED LIFE FOR AGRICULTURE AND DOMESTICATION.
WE TALK ABOUT MESOPOTAMIA AS THE AREA OF FIRST SETTLEMENT, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IS BEST PRESERVED AND WHERE IT HAS BEEN MOST THOROUGHLY STUDIED.
EXCAVATIONS CONTINUE IN MESOPOTAMIA AS WELL AS TO THE WEST IN SYRIA AND LATONIA, AND THE CLAIM TO BE THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION, OR THE HOME OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS, WHICH MAY EVENTUALLY BE OVERTURNED, BUT AT THIS POINT MESOPOTAMIA IS STILL THE BEST LABORATORY FOR HOW HUMANS SETTLED DOWN AND WHAT THEY DID TO CREATE A COMPLEX SOCIETY.
IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA THE EARLY SETTLEMENT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO RECOVER BECAUSE THEY ARE COVERED BY MANY FEET OF ALLUVIAL SILT. THIS SILT THAT HAS BEEN BUILD UP FROM RIVERS THAT DRAIN INTO THE GULF. SO IT’S DIFFICULT TO GET DOWN TO THE LEVEL OF OCCUPATION. WE WILL SEE THAT OUR STUDIES FOCUSS ON A FEW KEY SITES. AND THESE AREAS ARE THE BEST EXCAVATED AND THE BEST UNDERSTOOD.
BEFORE WE START LOOKING AT THE VILLAGES WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHY HUMANS CHOSE TO SETTLE DOWN, INSTEAD OF CONTINUING IN A PERFECT NOMADIC LIFE-STYLE, OF HUNTING AND GATHERING. HUNTERS AND GATHERS LED A MUCH MORE PREDICTABLE LIFE, THAN THOSE WHO WOULD SETTLE DOWN INTO AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES. WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF FOOD YOU MOVE TO A NEW PLACE AND GET MORE FOOD. YOU KNOW YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ABLE, WITH ENOUGH TRAVEL TO GET A SOURCE OF FOOD SUPPLY.
OUR EARLIEST EVIDENCE FOR OCCUPATION IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IS IN THE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD, AND REMEMBER THE RICH ENVIRONMENT WE TALKED ABOUT IN THE SECOND LECTURE, BROUGHT TOGETHER A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CLIMATES AND REQUIREMENT. AND WHEN THESE WERE NOT EXPLOITED WITH AGRICULTURE, THERE WAS STILL AN ENORMOUS RANGE OF FOOD SUPPLY AND DIFFERENT WAYS TO COLLECT SUPPLIES FOR A FULL AND RICH AND HAPPY LIFE.
ONE CONCEPT AS WE TALK ABOUT HUNTERS AND GATHERS IS THAT THOUGH THEY ARE SOMEWHAT NOMADIC, THEY DO CREATE LONG TERM CAMPS. SO IT’S NOT AS IF GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS WERE CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE, AND STAYING OVERNIGHT IN ONE CAMP OR A WEEK OR SO. THERE’S DEFINITE EVIDENCE FOR SEASON CAMPS , SO A GROUP COULD STAY IN ONE REGION, ESPECIALLY FRUITFUL TO STAY A SUMMER, AND THEN MOVE TO SOMEWHERE WARMER, WITH ACCESS TO FOODS THEY NEEDED DURING THE WINTER.
ANOTHER POPULAR MISCONCEPTION IS THAT HUNTER-GATHERS DIDN’T CULTIVATE ANY SORT OF AGRICULTURE, THIS ISN’T TRUE EITHER. EVEN THOUGH WE DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT LARGE AGRICULTURE IN MESOPOTAMIA REQUIRE THE USE OF IRRIGATION CANALS AND SO NEED BIG COMMUNITIES TO REALLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FERTILE SOIL, SMALL SCALE FARMING FOR A FAMILY COULD BE SUPPORTED WITH RAINFALL EVEN IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. AND SO IF YOU KEEP IN MIND THAT THE HUNTER-GATHER COMMUNITIES WERE MUCH SMALLER, YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE AND GROW ENOUGH FOOD OVER A SEASON, TO KEEP YOU AND THOSE WITH YOU, VERY WELL SUPPLIED.
SO ALL OF THIS SEEMS GREAT, SO WHY SETTLE DOWN? THERE ARE CERTAINLY DRAW BACKS TO A SETTLED LIFE. AGRICULTURE, THOUGH WE ARE VERY DEPENDANT ON IT NOW, IS NOT NECESSARILY
A MORE DEPENDENT WAY OF COLLECTING FOOD. THINK OF ALL THE STORIES, WE ALL KNOW FARMERS, THERE IS DROUGHT, HAIL, THAT CAN THREATEN A HARVEST. SO AGRICULTURE DOES NOT NECESSARILY PROVIDE YOU WITH MORE FOOD. AND REQUIRES, IF YOU KNOW ANY FARMERS, LOTS MORE TIME AND LABOR, TO PRODUCE A HARVEST, THAN TRAVELLING TO AN AREA THAT MIGHT HAVE WILD WHEAT AND BARLEY, TO SIMPLY COLLECT.
AGRICULTURE ALSO REQUIRE THAT ONCE YOU START HARVESTING YOUR GOODS, YOU NEED TO STORE THEM. AND THEN IN CONTRAST TO THE HUNTER-GATHER GROUPS WHICH CONSUME THE FOOD THEY COLLECT, OR MAYBE ONLY HAVE TO STORE IT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES NEED A MUCH MORE PERMANENT STORAGE LOCATIONS FOR THE FOOD THEY ARE PRODUCING. SO THAT IN ITS SELF REQUIRES MORE WORK. THIS IS CERTAINLY WHAT STARTED THE PRODUCTION OF POTTERY. A MORE PERMANENT AND HEAVIER CASING TO STORE FOOD, ON A LONG TERM BASIS. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE CARRYING IT OVER YOUR SHOULDER AS YOU CROSS THE STEP.
ALL OF THIS MAKES US WONDER WHY BOTHER; IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A HARD LIFE FOR THE GROUPS THAT SETTLED DOWN, AND WENT THROUGH A LONG PROCESS OF DOMESTICATING GRAIN AND DOMESTICATING ANIMALS, TO ENSURE THEY WOULD HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO SURVIVE, AND TO PRODUCE FOOD ON A MORE RELIABLE BASIS. AND REALLY ONE OF THE KEY REASONS WE THINK THAT SETTLED LIFE BEGAN IS THAT THE HEALTH BENEFITS, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF INFANT LIFE MORTALITY, WITH HIGHER RATE OF INFANT MORTALITY THAN THOSE THAT ARE SETTLED. AND SO AS MORE CHILDREN WERE BEING PRODUCED THERE WAS A DESIRE TO ESSURE THEIR SAFETY, AND TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WAS STABLE FOR THEM.
EVEN HERE THOUGH THERE IS A DRAW-BACK BECAUSE IN A SETTLED COMMUNITY DISEASE CAN TRAVEL MUCH MORE QUICKLY BETWEEN GROUPS THAT ARE LIVING TOGETHER IN A VILLAGE OR A CITY, SO A PLAGUE CAN BE QUITE DEVASTATING, AND AGAIN IF YOU ARE A GROUP THAT MOVES YOU CAN MOVE AWAY FROM THE SICK INDIVIDUALS, AND OFTEN PRESERVE YOURSELF.
[THE WORLD HAS CERTAINLY SEEN THIS IN THE RECENT YEARS WITH THE COVID 19 VIRUS; CITIES WERE THE FOREMOST IN SPREADING THE VIRUS— Keith Hunt]
A FEW CRITICAL EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN NECESSARY BEFORE HUMANS TACKLED THIS NEW WORLD OF AGRICULTURE AND A SETTLED LIFE. LANGUAGE WAS CERTAINLY A VITAL TOOL FOR THE EARLY EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURE, DOMESTICATING PLANTS AND ANIMALS. YOU WOULD NEED TO MEET OTHERS TO FORSTER THIS WAY OF LIFE. CERTAIN TOOLS SHAPES AND TYPES AND MATERIALS WERE DISCOVERED IN THE STONE AGE THAT COULD AID IN CONSTRUCTING HOUSES, AND DIGGING DITCHES. BOTH OF THESE WOULD ENCOURAGE A SETTLEMENT LIFE.
ONCE GROUPS DECIDED TO SETTLE DOWN THE DOMESTICATION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS OCCURRED RELATIVELY QUICKLY. AND THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF DOMESTICATED WHEAT EMER WHEAT AND BARLEY WHEAT, THAT COULD BE CULTIVATED AND ADAPTED TO MAKE THEM MUCH EASIER TO HARVEST. THESE WOULD BE THE STAPLES OF THE MESOPOTAMIA DIET FOR MILLENNIA . THE MAIN STAPLES FOR MESOPOTAMIA FOOD WAS BEER AND BREAD. BOTH EMMA AND INCOR WHEAT WERE USED TO CREATE THESE PRODUCTS. AS THEY WERE DOMESTICATED STURDIER EARS OF WHEAT WERE DEVELOPED THAT COULD BE COLLECTED MORE EASIER, INSTEAD OF SCATTERING ON THE GROUND….. THESE TWO TYPES OF WHEAT WERE DEVELOPED TO MAKE SOFTER HUSKS THAT MADE THEM LESS LABOR INTENSIVE TO PROCESS, TO GET TO THE KERNEL OF THE WHEAT BY DEVELOPING A SOFTER HUSK, THAT WOULDN’T REQUIRE SO MUCH GRINDING.
THE DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS IS A BIT MORE ELUSIVE. IT MAY SIMPLY NOT SURVIVE IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD; WE MAY YET COME ACROSS IT. WE KNOW THAT SHEEP AND GOATS WERE DOMESTICATED AND HERDING PROCESSES TO MAKE THEM HARDIER, MORE RESISTANT TO DISEASE. HERE WE SHOULD NOTE THE FIRST OF MANY TIMES THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE TWO ANIMALS TO THE MESOPOTAMIA ECONOMY.
WHEN RECORDS SURVIVE ABOUT FLOCKS THEY ROUTINELY RECORD WHAT FLOCKS YIELDED WITH RESPECT TO WOOL AND TEXTILE PRODUCTION AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE TWO ANIMALS WAS TO MESOPOTAMIA LIFE, AND ITS ECONOMY, CAN NOT BE OVERSTATED. WE SHALL SEE LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SHEEP, AND THEY ARE BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT USE IN MESOPOTAMIA. THEIR VALUE LAY IN THE FACT THEY CAN PRODUCE MILK, CERTAINLY WOOL, AND OCCASIONALLY MEAT, THOUGH THEY WEREN’T OFTEN USED FOR MEAT. THEIR VALUE WAS IN REALLY WHAT THEY COULD PROVIDE AND KEEP PROVIDING WHILE THEY WERE ALIVE.
CATTLE WERE USED FOR PLOWING FIELDS, VERY RARELY FOR MEAT, EVEN LESS RARELY THEN SHEEP OR GOATS. SO CATTLE WERE AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE RECOURSE……
THIS FOCUS ON HERDING COMPLIMENTS AGRICULTURE, IN LAND THAT IS BEING LEFT FALLOW FOR A YEAR, AND SO SHEEP AND GOATS CAN GO SURVIVE OFF A TRACT OF LAND THAT NEEDS TO REST BEFORE IT IS USED AGAIN FOR AGRICULTURE. AND WE SHALL SEE THAT VERY RARELY DO COMMUNITIES DEPEND SOLELY ON AGRICULTURE, OR ON SHEPHERDING; IT’S A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
WHEN DO WE BEGIN TO SEE THE FIRST VILLAGES AND SMALL TOWNS, THAT SHOW A SIMILAR USE OF ARCHITECTURE AN D ALSO A SIMILAR STYLE IN POTTERY?”
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TO BE CONTINUED
MESOPOTAMIA—— THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION
FROM THE LECTURES BY ALEXIS CASTOR PhD
LECTURE 5b— continuing from 5a
5th-early 4th millennium
“WE BEGIN TO IDENTIFY THE FIRST VILLAGES AND SMALL TOWNS THAT SHOW A SIMILAR USE OF ARCHITECTURE AND ALSO A SIMILAR STYLE OF POTTERY.
THIS OCCURS FIRST IN THE SOUTH.
WE’VE SEEN TRACES OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT AS EARLY AS THE 7TH MILLENNIUM BUT THEY ARE VERY SMALL, LESS THAN TWO-AND-HALF ACRES
[IT COULD BE POSSIBLE ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED IN THE 7TH CENTURY B. C. BUT THE TEXT IN THE BIBLE SHOWS THINGS LIKE A CITY WAS DONE NOT THAT LONG AFTER CHILDREN WERE BORN TO ADAM AND EVE— Keith Hunt]
AND THAT IS DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY SURROUNDED BY ALL OF THESE TELLS, AND ALSO DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET. WE FIND THESE SETTLEMENTS IN REGIONS WHERE RAIN-FED FARMING WAS TYPICAL, SO IT’S IN THE NORTHERN PART OF CENTRAL MESOPOTAMIA. REMEMBER THAT WAS AN AREA WHERE RAIN COULD SUPPLY AGRICULTURE.
WE SEE THESE COMMUNITIES CONTINUED TO HUNT, FOR WE FIND BONES OF WILD ANIMALS …. THAT WERE PREVALENT OUT IN THE DESERT AND STEP. WE FIND DOMESTICATED SHEEP AND WE FIND TRACES THAT THESE ANIMALS WERE USED, SO THERE MAYBE INDICATIONS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE A SPECIALIZATION OF PROFESSION. WE START TO FIND THE EARLIEST SPINDLE WHIRLS WHICH WERE USED TO SPIN WOOL. SO RIGFHT AT THE BEGINNING WE SEE SHEEP WERE FOR THE WOOL THEY PRODUCED TO MAKE CLOTHING.
THE HOUSES IN THESE SETTLEMENTS ARE ROUND AND ABOUT 10 TO 15 FEET IN DIAMETER. THIS WOULD BE ENOUGH TO HOUSE A FAMILY, A SMALL FAMILY, SO NOT EXTENDED FAMILIES, BUT PARENTS AND CHILDREN IN WHAT WE CALL A NUCLEAR FAMILY. I MENTIONED LAST TIME A SITE THAT YEILDS A SPECIFIC TYPE OF POTTERY IS OFTEN THE SOURCE FOR THE NAME OF THE PERIOD AS WE SAW WITH THE HALAF POTTERY…..
WE’LL TALK ABOUT THE HALAF SETTLEMENT TODAY AND ALSO THE UBAID SETTLEMENTS WHICH FOLLOW THE HALAF WARE.
THE HALAF POTTERY WAS VERY HIGHLY DECORATED, THESE ARE ARTISTIC PIECES THAT ARE QUITE EXTRAORDINARY DECORATED, SOME OF THE LOVELIEST POTTERY THAT SURVIVES FROM MESOPOTAMIA. MOST OF IT WAS FOUND IN THE NORTH AND THE WEST; IT DATES TO ABOUT THE 6TH MILLENNIUM B. C.
SINCE THIS POTTERY WAS HAND PAINTED WE CAN START TO THINK ABOUT HOW A PROFESSION DEVELOPED. SPECIFICALLY THE POTTERS PROFESSION. BUT WE’LL ALSO BE ABLE TO USE THIS AS A WAY TO EXPLORE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL HIERARCHY. SO THE HAND PAINTED POTTERY WAS PERHAPS USED BY THE HIGHER CLASS PEOPLE. BECAUSE THE CLAY ITSELF IS SO FINE AND THE DECORATION SO ARTISTIC, IT IS BELIEVED THAT IT WAS USED AND PRESERVED BY THE HIGHER SOCIETY OF PEOPLES. NOW WHO THESE HIGHER ONES WERE, DID THEY BELONG IN TEMPLES, DID THEY BELONG TO THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF PEOPLE; WERE THEY ECONOMICALLY OF A HIGHER STATUS OF OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY, WE DO NOT KNOW.
BUT WHEN POTTERY IS RESERVED FOR CERTAIN GROUPS AND IT TAKES A LONG TIME, WE START TO CONSTRUCT A SOCIALLY HIGHER LEVEL OF SOCIETY. NOT EVERYONE HAS IT.
ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE INDUSTRY OF POTTERY MAKING IS SEEN IN THE WAY THE POTTERY IS MADE. AT THIS POINT WE DON’T KNOW WHO THE POTTERS WERE; MEN OR WOMEN, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THIS COMMUNITY WERE WILLING TO PROVIDE THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE SO THESE POTTERS COULD CREATE WARE FOR THEM TO EXCHANGE. WE START TO SEE—
INCREASING ECONOMIC SPECIALIZATION AROUND THE LATE HALAF PERIOD [C. 5400 B. C.]
AND A CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE TECHNOLOGY OF POTTERY MAKING, THE USE OF A TOURNETTE OR A PIVOTED WORKING SURFACE.
NOW THIS IS NOT A POTTERS WHEEL THOUGH WE’LL GET TO THAT SHORTLY, BECAUSE A TOURNETTE REQUIRES THAT SOMEONE PHYSICALLY TURN THE WHEEL. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN THAT AS TO A POTTER’S WHEEL. WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS THAT THIS CIRCULAR MOVEMENT LETS THE POTTER DECORATE THE EXTERIOR OF THE POT WHEREVER HE WANTS. AND WE SEE A SHIFT IN THE STYLE OF DECORATION FROM THE BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL DESIGNS, PERHAPS EVEN TEXTILE INSPIRED DESIGNS, TO LOTS OF GEOMETRIC DESIGNS, AND CONCENTRIC CIRCLES. WHICH IS FAR LESS EXCITING FOR US TO LOOK AT; BUT IT SHOWS THAT THERE IS AN INTEREST IN MAKING THIS CRAFT, PERHAPS HIGHER PRODUCTION OF MAKING POTTERY FOR SOME SORT OF DEMAND. PERHAPS OPENING THE PROFESSION TO THOSE WHO ARE LESS TRAINED. MAKING IT MORE AVAILABLE, TO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE SEE THAT HALAF POTTERY COVERED MOST OF NORTH MESOPOTAMIA AND THEN IN THE MID-6TH MILLENNIUM BEGINS TO STRECH DOWN INTO SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. WHICH IS WHERE OUR EARLIEST CITIES WILL DEVELOP.
IF WE TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THE SOUTH AND START TO LOOK AT THESE SETTLEMENT ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS WE THINK OF IS ‘WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?’ WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? THIS IS CALLED THE ‘SUMERIAN QUESTION’ AS IN ‘WHO WERE THE FIRST SUMERIANS’. REMEMBER THAT WE REFER TO SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE EARLY PART OF OUR COURSE AS SUMER.
HOW SCHOLARS TRY TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION SHOWS HOW CHALLENGING IT CAN BE TO INTERPRET PRE-HISTORIC EVIDENCE.
SCHOLARS TRY TO LOOK AT THE SUMERIAN LANGUAGE THAT DEVELOPED MUCH LATER BUT IT IS NOT RELATED TO ANY OF THE NEIGHBORING LANGUAGES FOUND AROUND IRAQ. SO THAT DOES NOT HELP US UNDERSTAND ANY MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE.
SOME OF THE NAMES OF THE OLDEST CITIES IN THE SOUTH, SUCH AS URUK, WHICH WE’LL FOCUS ON NEXT TIME, AND NIPPUR ARE NOT SUMERIAN. SO THAT INDICATED THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THEM WERE NOT USING A SUMERIAN LANGUAGE; THEY MAY HAVE BEEN OF A DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUP. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SHOWS A BASIC CONTINUITY THROUGH THE 5TH MILLENNIUM IN THE SOUTH THROUGH THE ARUK PERIOD.
SINCE WE CAN’T REALLY DISCOVER MUCH EVIDENCE FOR THE EARLIER PERIOD THIS IS REALLY THE LIMIT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE AT THE MOMENT.
AND SO I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THE QUESTION ‘WHO WERE THE SUMERIANS?’
I’M NOT SURE IT’S POSSIBLE TO GET ONE.
SO WE HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT AT SOME POINT A GROUP OF PEOPLE MOVED INTO SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, AND MAYBE WE WILL HAVE MORE SUCCESS IN RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST IN THINKING WHY THEY SETTLED THERE AND NOT WHO THEY WERE.
IN THE SOUTH WE TURN AGAIN FOR SOME GEOGRAPHY AND THE RICHES OF ECOLOGICAL ZONES, THAT LAY NEXT TO EACH OTHER. WE HAVE THE MARSHLANDS, WE HAVE THE DESERT; WE HAVE THE NEW ALUVIAL PLAIN.
HUNTING WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY EASY AT THE TIME SO ANY NEW ARRIVALS IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, COULD BE GUARANTEED SOME ACCESS TO FOOD. AND ACTUALLY A FARELY RICH DIET. THEY WOULD KNOW THAT THERE WERE RIVERS THAT EMPTIED INTO THE GULF AND MASHLANDS SO THAT THEY COULD USE THIS FOPR WATER, IF THEY FIGURED OUT A WAY TO EXPLOIT IT SUCCESSFULLY. AND THIS EARLY SUCCESS IN PROVIDING FOOD, A SEEMING PARADISE REALLY, MAY HAVE ATTRACTED OTHER PEOPLE TO COME TO THE REGION.
SO WE START TO SEE A MOVEMENT, AN INCREASING POPULATION IN THE SOUTH.
THE PERIOD IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE SOUTH IS BEST UNDERSTOOD AS THE UBAI PERIOD. WHICH LASTS FROM ABOUT 6TH THOUSAND TO 4 THOUSAND B. C. AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME TO CAN TRACE SETTLEMENTS LARGE ENOUGH TO BE TERMED VILLAGES, IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA.
THE UBAI PERIOS IS AS YOU WILL SPECULATE BY NOW, NAMED AFTER A POTTERY STYLE, THAT WAS DISCOVERED AT THE SITE OF TELL—al-UBAID. IT’S NEAR THE CITY OF UR [Hummmm…… CONNECTED WITH ABRAHAM IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS - Keith Hunt]— EXCAVATED BY SIR LENORD WOOLY…..
THE UBAI POTTERY ….. WE SEE A TRUE POTTERS WHEEL, ON AN AXIL WITH A WHEEL, IT CAN BE SPUN WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE CONSTANTLY TURNED; WE IDENTIFY THIS BY OVERWHELMING USE OF CONCENTRIC CICLES, TO DECORATE THE OUTSIDE OF THE POTTERY. NOW YOU REALLY NEED NO SKILL TO DECORATE A POT, WHICH IS OF COURSE THE WAY OF TECHNOLOGY.
UBAI POTTERY HAS BEEN FOUND IN IRAN AND ALSO IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. SO IT SEEMS TO EXPAND OVER THE REGION WE SAW HALAF POTTERY IN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION.
OUR BEST EVIDENCE FOR THE UBAI PERIOD COMES FROM THE CITY OF ERIDU WHICH IS ONE OF THE SOUTHERN MOST CITIES. AND IT HAS ABOUT 40 FEET OF UBAI OCCUPATION THAT GEOLOGISTS HAVE EXCAVATED. SO THERE IS A VERY RICH BODY OF EVIDENCE.
LATER SUMERIAN LITERATURE CREDITS EREDU AS THE HOME OF FIRST SETTLEMENTS. IT WAS THE HOME OF THE WATER GOD ENKI, PROBABLY RIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE MARSHES, AND PERHAPS IT WAS RECENTLY DRIED OUT BECAUSE OF A CLIMATE SHIFT AREA, SO IT REALLY COULD BE NEW LAND.
JUST AS IN THE HALOF PERIOD WE SEE SHARED POTTERY TYPES, HOUSE ARCHITECTURE. PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT WE FIND SIMILAR TEMPLE PLANS IN DIFFERENT SITES THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN AND UP TO NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA.
THE HOUSES ARE MUCH DIFFERENT THEY ARE ABOUT 300 TO 600 FEET, THEY ARE SQUARE, AND SO THIS INDICATES THAT LARGER FAMILIES ARE LIVING TOGETHER, A MOVE FROM SMALL FAMILIES, PARENTS/CHILDREN TO MORE EXTENDED FAMILY. WHAT THIS INDICATED ABOUT THE SOCIAL SHIFT WE DON’T KNOW BUT IT’S INTERESTING TO IMAGINE. AND SEEMS TO BE A MUCH DIFFERENT CULTURE.
WE CAN IMAGINE THAT THESE LARGER HOUSE TYPES WOULD BE IMPORTANT IN ATTRACTING MORE PEOPLE TO THE AREA AND INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE VILLAGE TO EVENTUALLY BECOME A CITY. HOUSES COULD BE ENLARGED TO WHATEVER THEY NEEDED TO BE, REMEMBER THEY WERE BUILT FROM MUD BRICK AND WITH ENJOINING WALLS. SO LITTLE ROWS OF HOUSES AND STREETS, WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE MORE LIVING TOGETHER.
TEMPLES CAN BE IDENTIFIED FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND THEY LOOK JUST LIKE HOUSES, ONLY BIGGER. THEY ARE ALSO SET ON A PLATFORM, ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE REST OF THE POPULATION. THIS PLATFORM IS ABOUT 3 FEET HIGH. AND INDICATES THIS HOUSE IS MORE IMPORTANT AND IT IS RESERVED FOR THE GODS.
DURING THE UBAI PERIOD WE FIRST FIND THE EVIDENCE OF IRRIGATION CANALS AND SETTLEMENTS. AND WE’VE REFERRED TO THE FACT THAT THESE ARE ENGINEERING PROJECTS, SO THEY NEEDED MULTIPLE PEOPLE TO WORK ON IT; WE ARE STARTING TO SEE A SHIFT TO ORGANIZED LOBOR FORCE. AND SO A SHIFT TO MORE COMPLEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS, BUT AS WE TRACE THE FACTORS OF VILLAGES COMING TOGETHER WE SEE IT WOULD PRODUCE A MORE DIVERSE POPULATION.
UBAID PERIOD [C. 6000-4000 B. C.]
THESE UBAID SETTLEMENTS CAN REALLY BE BEST UNDERSTOOD AS THE SMALL VILLAGES THAT PRECEDED CITIES, THAT ESTABLISHED MANY OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ORGANIZATION METHODS NEEDED TO ALLOW CITIES TO FLOURISH.
WHILE WE SEE EVIDENCE FOR A COMMON CULTURE OF SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, WE LACK DETAILS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS. ONE OF THE INSTITUTIONS WE FOCUS ON IS THE TEMPLE. WHAT THE ROLE OF THE TEMPLE WAS. AS I’VE SAID THIS IS THE LARGEST HOUSE IN THE SETTLEMENT, THERE DOESN’T SEEM TO BE ANY SIGNIFICANT HOUSE THAT COULD BE IDENTIFIED AS ‘A PALACE’ OR THE HOME OF THE LEADER OF THE CITY. SO THE HOMES ARE THE SAME, THEN THERE IS THE HOUSE OF THE GOD. THE TEMPLE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN ORGANIZING THE VILLAGE.
THE LARGE SIZE OF THE TEMPLES LETS THEM STORE GOODS CREATED BY THOSE IN THE VILLAGE. SO THIS MAY BE THE IMPORTANT WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE REDISTRIBUTION MODEL OF EXCESS GOODS, AND AN IDEA OF THE ORGANIZATION IN THE SENCE OF AUTHORITY THAT THE TEMPLES WOULD HAVE…..MORE ABOUT THE TEMPLES LATER IN THE COURSE.”
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TO BE CONTINUED
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