MESOPOTAMIA—— THE CRADLE OF SOCIETY AND THE FIRST HUGE CITIES
FROM THE LECTURES OF PROFESSOR ALEXIS CASTOR PhD
IN THE PREVIOUS LECTURE WE LOOKED AT VILLAGES; SPECIFICALLY THOSE IN THE UBIA PERIOD. AND WE SAW OUR FIRST INDICATION OF MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE, IN THE FORM OF A TEMPLE; AND ALSO EARLY TRACES OF IRRIGATION CANALS. SO WE DISCUSSED THESE AS IMPORTANT SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.
WE ALSO SAW HOW CHALLENGING IT CAN BE TO RECONSTRUCT CULTURE, OR EVEN HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK WITHIN THE EVIDENCE. THERE WERE LOTS OF QUESTIONS NEEDING TO BE ANSWERED, INCLUDING, A BASIC ONE— WHO LIVED IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM. WE ALSO DON’T HAVE A CLEAR IDEA AS TO HOW THESE VILLAGES WERE ORGANIZED, SOCIALLY, AND WHAT ROLE THE TEMPLE PLAYED APART FROM ITS RELIGIOUS FUNCTION.
TODAY WE SHALL EXAMINE THE EARLIEST CITIES, WHICH IN THEIR FULLEST FORM DEVELOPED ABOUT 5 THOUSAND YEAR AGO. WE SHALL LOOK AT URUK WHICH DEVELOPED IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA; IT’S THE LARGEST, IT’S IMPRESSIVELY LARGE, AND IT HAS SEVERAL KEY FEATURE OF URBAN LIFE, THAT ARE REPRESENTED IN THE REMAINS OF URUK.
CITIES HAVE SPECIFIC FEATURE THAT REQUIREMENTS, MORE THAN JUST A LARGER TYPE OF SETTLEMENT. IT’S NOT JUST A DIFFERENCE IN SIZE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT DISTINGUISH VILLAGE FROM CITY LIFE.
ONE OF THOSE FACTORS IN A VERY HOGH POPULATION DENSITY. THIS DENSITY OF CITY LIFE REQUIRES THE NECESSITY OF LIFE, SUCH AS FOOD, HAVE TO BE SUPPLIED; THERE IS A SPECIALIZATION OF PROFESSIONS, HAVE TO BE SUPPLIED NOT BY EVERYONE WORKING IN A CITY. THERE IS A SPECIALIZATION OF PROFESSIONS. THERE IS A WIDER RANGE OF PROFESSIONS AVAILABLE IN A CITY, SINCE THE BASICS OF LIFE ARE TAKEN CARE OF, INDIVIDUALS CAN EXPLORE THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF M AKING A LIVING.
AND THERE ARE CERTAINLY CHANGES NECESSARY IN ORGANIZING HOW A SOCIETY WORKS, PRODUCTIVELY, WHEN THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE IN IT.
EVIDENCE FOR ALL THESE FACTORS OF CITY LIFE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED AT THE 4TH MILLEN NIUM SITE— URUK, IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. AND IT HAS COME TO REPRESENT THE RISE OF THE CITY.
CITIES ARE A SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA CONCEPT. THE IDEA OF A CITY TRAVELLED NORTH AFTER THE BENEFITS OF CITY LIFE WERE ALREADY WORKED OUT IN THE SOUTH.
SO WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS OUR ATTENTION NOW, FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS LECTURE ON THE CITY OF URUK.
THE URUK PHENOMENON [C. 3500-3000 B. C.]:
AT THE END OF THE UBAID PERIOD [C. 4000 B.. C.], THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS THAT WE IDENTIFIED WERE BEGINNING TO CLUSTER TOGETHER MORE CLOSELY.
IN THE FIRST PART OF THE UBAID PERIOD [C. 6000 B. C.] SETTLEMENTS WERE SPREAD OUT RELATIVELY EVENLY. BUT THERE WAS A CLIMACTIC SHIFT IN THE MID-4TH MILLENNIUM, THAT STEMED THE FLOODS OF THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER, THAT MAY HAVE DRIED UP AND MADE LAND MORE AVAILABLE AS THE MARSHLANDS DRIED UP. THIS ALSO MEAT THAT THE LAND THAT WAS NEWLY CLAIMED AS A RESULT OF THIS CLIMATE SHIFT, WAS ESPECIALLY FERTILE AND PRODUCTIVE.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT FEATURE THAT MAY HAVE ENCOURAGED SETTLEMENTS TO MOVE SOUTH AND CLUSTER TOGETHER MORE CLOSELY, IS, AS THIS CLIMATE SHIFT WAS WORKING ITS WAY OUT, [TOOK A FEW GENERATION AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE]; THERE WOULD BE MORE WATER SOURCES READILY AVAILABLE, IN THE TERMS OF CREEKS, PONDS, THAT COULD BE USED TO WATER A FIELD WITHOUT REQUIRING IRRIGATION CANALS, WHICH WE DISCUSSED REQUIRE A MORE ORGANIZED FORCE.
SO THIS WOULD HAVE REALLY BEEN A PARADISE, FOR AGRICULTURE. YOU HAVE EXTREMELY FERTILE SOIL, IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, WHICH WE’VE DISCUSSED ALREADY; NOW YOU HAVE READY ACCESS TO WATER, WHICH WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN VERY HIGH YEILD HARVESTS. SO THOSE FARMERS WHO SETTLED IN THE SOUTH, WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AN IMMEDIATE BANG FOR THEIR BUCK, TO USE AN ACRONYMS.
THE TECHNOLOGY AND EXPERIENCE THAT PEOPLE HAD BEGUN TO LEARN IN THE UBAID PERIOD COULD BE APPLIED TO THEIR NEW LAND IMMEDIATELY. AND THESE FACTORS MAY BE WHY AN ADVANCED CIVILIZATION SEEMS TO HAVE DEVELOPED QUICKLY HERE, ALMOST FEELS LIKE A RACE TO GET THE BIGGEST CITY AND TO PACK IN AS MANY PEOPLE IN THE AREA, TO TRY NEW IDEAS.
URUK IS ABOUT 140 MILES SOUTH OF BAGHDAD; IT WAS EXCAVATED BY GERMANS BEFORE WORLD WAR ONE; IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SITES TO BENEFIT FROM THE STRATA-GRAPHIC METHOD; AND URUK IS ALSO THE RECIPIENT OF ANOTHER FORM OF RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS, SURFACE SURVEY.
SO WE HAVE TWO TYPES OF RESEARCH IN THIS ONE SITE. MANY OF THE IDEAS AND INTERPRET APPROACHES ABOUT SETTLEMENT, CHANGED IN PATTERNS WE DISCUSSED IN LECTURES 3 AND 4, HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO URUK, SO WE GET A VERY RICH SENCE AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.
LATE URUK PERIOD [C. 3100 B. C.]
THE SITE OF THE CITY OF URUK WAS APPROXIMATELY 200 HECTORS [ABOUT 500 ACRES] IN SIZE.
UBAID PERIOD VILLAGES [C. 4500-4000 B. C.] : 10 HECTORS.
SO WE SEE AN ENORMAS INCLEASE.
THE SIZE OF THE CITY CONTINUED TO EXPAND, BY 2500 B. C. URUK WAS ABOUT 400 HECTARES.
AND IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP THIS SIZE IN MIND, EVEN THOUGH URUK WAS THE LARGEST CITY IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, THERE WERE SEVERAL CITIES THAT DEVELOPED AFTER URUK WAS ESTABLISHED. THAT WERE COMPARABLE IN SIZE, AND EVEN LARGER.
IF WE COMPARE THE SIZE OF URUK TO THE CITY OF ATHENS FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE 5TH CENTURY B. C. ATHENS WAS ONLY HALF THE SIZE OF URUK.
SO THE CITIES OF MESOPOTAMIA ARE ENORMOUS.
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS AS TO WHY THEIR CULTURAL LIFE SEEMS SO RICH.
WHO LIVED IN THESE CITIES?, OR HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD LIVE IN THEM? ANCIENT POPULATION FIGURES ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH. YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN A CITY. HOW MANY HOUSE, HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVING TOGETHER. HOUSES VARY IN SIZE, THERE ARE BURIALS, YOU DON’T ALWAYS FIND EVERYONE. SO REALLY OUR POPULATION ESTIMATES ARE A BEST GUESS. OUR BEST GUESS FOR THE POPULATION OF URUK IS THAT IT COULD INCLUDE ANYWHERE FROM 20 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE.
WE SEE THAT THIS NUMBER, ABOUT 3000 B. C. MOVES US IMMEDIATELY INTO A MUCH MORE COMPLEX SOCIETY, FROM A FISHING VILLAGE OF A FEW HUNDRED PEOPLE.
AND THESE COMPLEXITIES CHARACTERIZE LIFE IN MESOPOTAMIA AT THIS TIME. AS FAR AS WE KNOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD!
SO AS WE DISCUSS THE FIRST CITIES WE SEE HOW PEOPLE ORGANIZED THEMSELVES ON A MASSIVE SCALE.
WE CAN IMAGINE WHAT THESE CITIES LOOKED LIKE.
AROUND 3000 B. C. A WALL WAS BUILT AROUND THE CITY THAT ENCLOSED 3 AND 1/2 SQUARE MILES. CERTAINLY WORD OF THIS MASSIVE SETTLEMENT WOULD HAVE SPREAD, IT MAY WELL HAVE ATTRACTIVE MORE PEOPLE TO COME TO THE CITY. PERHAPS THIS MAY HAVE ENCOURAGE THE SMALL SETTLEMENT TO ABANDON THEIR HOMES AND MOVE TO THE BIG CITY. SO WE START TO SEE THIS HAPPEN AND OUR EVIDENCE COMESS FROM THE SURFACE SURVEY, THAT WAS CONDUCTED AROUND THE CITY OF URUK, AS THE CITY GETS LARGER THE AREA AROUND IT GETS BLANKER, AS EVERYONE IS MOVING IN.
A CITY OF THIS SIZE COULD NOT BE SELF-CONTAINING; BUT INSTEAD HAD TO IMPORT FOOD AND OTHER NECESSITIES OF LIFE FROM SURROUNDING TERRITORY. IT’S ESTIMATED THAT A RADIUS OF ABOUT 4 MILES LAND AROUND THE CITY, WAS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT FOOD, FOR THE INHABITANTS OF THE CITY.
IT’S LIKELY THAT AS OCCURS TODAY, IN MIDDLE-EATERN COUNTRIES, FARMERS MAY HAVE LIVED IN THE CITY, AND WALKED OUT TO THEIR FEILDS, SO IT’S A COMBINATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL LIFE WITH A CITY LIFE.
IN RETURN THE CITIES WOULD PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR THE URBAN POPULATION, TO ANYONE INSIDE AND THOSE OUTSIDE WHO WANTED TO COME IN, DURING A CRISIS, AS WELL AS A WIDE RANGE OF ACCESS TO GOODS AND SERVICES.
WE SEE AT URUK THE MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE……FROM THE UBAID PERIOD….. ARCHITECTURE EXPANDING, ON AN EQUALLY LARGE SCALE.
AS WE SAW AT THE UBAID VILLAGES AT URUK WE SEE MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE TEMPLE.
TWO TEMPLES AT THE CITY OF URUK HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED—— THE TEMPLE OF INANNA, LATER KNOWN AS ISHTA. AND A TEMPLE TO ANU, THE GOD OF THE SKY.
AS THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE TEMPLES UNFOLDED, IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE TEMPLES NOT ONLY IN THEMSELVES WERE SIGNIFICANT IN SIZE, BUT THAT THEY WERE PART OF A COMPLEX. SO THEY THEMSELVES WERE SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE CITY. ONCE AGAIN THE ARTIFICIAL PLATFORM THAT RAISES THEM ABOVE THE STREET LEVEL, SEPARATES THEM VISUALLY FROM THE LIFE OF MORTALS.
THE EARLIEST TEMPLE AT URUK IS ABOUT 80 YARDS BY 30 YARDS WIDE. TO GIVE YOU THE SCALE OF THIS MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE. DURING THE SECOND FASE IS WHEN THE TEMPLE PRECINCT IS SEPARATED BY A WALL. SO THIS MAKES THE AREA MORE DISTINCT ALSO MORE CLEARLY REMARKATED, MORE FORMAL. WHAT THIS MEANT FOR THE RITUALS TO THE GODS, WE DON’T KNOW. BUT IT CERTAINLY MEANS THE TEMPLE WAS THE FOCAL POINT OF THE CITIE’S ATTENTION. THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF TERRITORY AND DECORATION.
THE TEMPLE OF ANU WAS PLASTERED WITH WHITE GYPSOM….THIS GLEAMING WHITE TEMPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN VISIBLE FAR ACROSS THE PLAIN. THIS TEMPLE HAD A PLATFORM THAT WAS ALMOST 30 FEET HIGH. WE ARE NOW MOVING FROM A 3 FOOT STEP ABOVE STREET LEVEL TO A HUGE PLATFORM, THAT MAKES THE TEMPLE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE HOMES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT IT WOULD TAKE ALMOST 2 THOUSAND PEOPLE TO MAKE THIS TEMPLE IN 30 DAYS, SO THIS IS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF LABOR.
IN HISTORIC LITERATURE, A TEMPLE IS BELIEVED TO BE A HOUSE OF A GOD. SO THE CITY IS WHERE A GOD ESTABLISHED THEIR HOME.
SO CITIES BELONGED TO A DEITY.
IN THE MIND OF A CITIZEN OF URUK THEIR PATRON GOD INNANU WOULD PROTECT THEM, AND LIVE WITH THEM. SO THIS CAN HELP MOTIVATE THE PEOPLE OF URUK, TO MAKE SURE THE TEMPLE, AND TEMPLE OF OTHER GODS, MOST BEAUTIFUL, FOR THIS TEMPLE BELONGED TO INNANU.
AS LIKE THE URIAD PERIOD, WE HAVE NO STRUCTURE LIKE A PALACE THAT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. THIS DOESN’T MEAN IT DIDN’T EXIST, OR THAT THERE WAS NOT A POLITICAL LEADER, A NON-RELIGIOUS LEADER, WE SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE ANY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. WE WILL NOT GET A BUILDING THAT CAN BE SECURELY IDENTIFIED AS A PLACE UNTIL THE 3RD MILLENNIUM. THIS SHOWS SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY. PERHAPS WE’VE JUST NOT BEEN DIGGING IN THE RIGHT PLACE, OR PERHAPS A POLITICAL LEADER OR GROUP OF LEADERS, DID NOT NEED A SEPARATE HOUSE TO SHOW OFF THEIR STANDING IN THE CITY. IDEAS DON’T ALWAYS LEAVE PHYSICAL TRACES FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO FIND.
FROM WHAT DOES SURVIVE IT SEAMS THE MANAGERS OF THE CITY, ORGANIZERS OF THE CITY, WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TEMPLE. A LOT OF KEY IDEAS FOR BUREAUCRACY OCCURRED AT THE TEMPLE. INCLUDING WRITING, WHICH WE SHALL DISCUSS IN MORE DETAIL SHORLY.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE OF BUREAUCRACY AND THIS IS SEEN WITH A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ARTIFACTS, INCLUDING WRITING, AT URUK. WE SHALL LOOK AT THIS IN MORE DETAIL LATER ON.
FOR OUR PURPOSES NOW, JUST THINK ABOUT THAT WRITING IS NECESSARY TO COUNT THE GOOD, QUANTITY OF SERVICES THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A CITY OF 20 OR 40 THOUSAND PEOPLE. AND SO THIS WRITING FITS IN MORE CLOSELY WITH A LARGE DENCE POPULATION NEEDING TO BE CONTROLLED IN A CITY THAT MAY NOT BE NECESSARY IN A VILLAGE……
URUK, C. 4000-3300 B. C. :
40 HECTARES
SURROUNDED BY MUCH MUCH SMALLER SETTLEMENT
NEAREST COMPARABLE CITY 30 MILES AWAY
BETEEN 3300 AND 3000 URUK HAD GROWN TO THE SIZE OF 200 HECTARES. AND ABOUT 4 SETTLEMENTS OF ABOUT 40 HECTARES…..
A MAJOR CITY.
A MAP OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA LOOKS MUCH DIFFERENT IN GENERAL. IT IS DOTTED WITH MANY LARGER TELLS. SO INDICATING CITIES, LARGE SETTLEMENT, THERE ARE MORE OF THEM, THEY ARE CLOSER TOGETHER, THERE IS A GREATER NUMBER OF LARGER SETTLEMENT, AND VERY FEW SMALL ONES.
AND YOU CAN REALLY GET A SENCE OF THE CROWDING, THAT DEVELOPS IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, AND SO DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE, POPULATION PRESSURE, IN ANCIENT CITIES, BUT LOOKING AT SETTLEMENTS AND THE WAY THEY WERE LAYED OUT, WE CAN SEE THAT THE IDEA OF THESE WERE CLEARLY VERY SUCCESSFUL. IT CAUGHT ON QUICKLY, THE BENEFITS OF WHAT A CITY COULD PROVIDE, WERE CONSIDERED MUCH MORE USEFUL THAN LIVING INDEPENDENTLY.
THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT LOOKING AT SETTLEMENTS AND HOW THEY WERE LAYED OUT, IS VERY IMPORTANT. IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO EXCAVATE ALL THESE TELLS, THAN THE SMALL ONES. BUT IF WE GET AN IDEA OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SETTLEMENT, THEIR RELATIVE SIZE, AND SOME IDEA OF THE DATES, FROM THE OBJECTS THAT CAN BE COLLECTED FROM THE SURFACE, THAT OFTEN INCLUDE POTTERY, THAT WE CAN DATE TO THE UBAID PERIOD, OR THE URUK PERIOD, WE CAN GET QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION AS WHAT IS HAPPENING WITHOUT HAVING TO EXCAVATE, EACH ONE OF THESE SETTLEMENTS.
THAT SAID, LET’S IMMEDIATELY RUSH BACK TO EXCAVATION. AND THIS IS WHAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS LOVE, AND IT DOES GIVE US A DETAIL AS THE TYPES OF OBJECTS PEOPLE USED IN THE CITY OF URUK.
EXCAVATION IS ALSO IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING HOW FAR THE CONCEPTS PEOPLE USED IN URUK AND SPREADING OUT INTO OTHER AREAS.
AND WE SEE SOMEWHAT SURPRISINGLY, OBJECT USED AND FLOURISHED AND FOUND TO THE NORTH IS SYRIA AND TO THE EAST IN IRAN, SOUTHERN IRAN. AND AT THIS POINT SOUTHERN IRAN IS AFFECTEDLY THE THE SAME AS SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, SO WE DON’T SEE ANY DISTINCTION BETWEEN THESE TWO REGIONS, IT’S ALL THE SAME.
THIS SPREAD OF ARTIFACTS SHOWS THAT THE URUK CULTURE AND PERHAPS EVEN IDEAS EXTENDED FAR THROUGHOUT MESOPOTAMIA; SO WE SEE HOW IMPORTANT THE RIVERS ARE FOR COMMUNICATION.
IT USED TO BE THOUGHT, AND MANY SCHOLARS STILL BELIEVE THAT THESE OUTPOSTS THAT SHOW ARTIFACTS OF URUK STYLE, WERE TRADING COLONIES. THAT THEY WERE LOCATED IN AREAS THAT COULD PROVIDE URUK WITH RESOURCES, THAT WERE NOT AVAILABLE IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. WHAT ARE THOSE? WE KNOW THIS…. STONE AND TIMBER. SO MOVE UP TO SYRIA WHERE YOU CAN GET TIMBER AND DOWN THE EUPHRATES RIVER; IN IRAN STONE IS MUCH MORE WIDELY AVAILABLE, SO WHY NOT SEND YOUR POPULATION OUT OF THE CITY TO PROVIDE TRADE CONTACTS ELSEWHERE. PERHAPS MERCHANT ACTIVITY.
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE THAT URUKIANS HAD MOVED BEYOND THEIR CITY LIMITS, EVEN THEIR CULTURAL LIMITS OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA? OF COURSE POTTERY IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF ARTIFACTS. A TYPE OF POTTERY IS A BEVEL RIMBED BOWL, WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS IN MORE DETAIL WITH TEMPLES, IS ONE WHICH IS MOST WIDELY DISTRIBUTED POTTERY TYPE, THAT FIRST FLOURISHED AT URUK.
EVEN MOPRE SIGNIFICANT, IN THE NORTH AND TO EAST, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED SPECIFIC TYPES OF TEMPLE DECORATIONS, THE CONE MOSAIC, THAT WAS USED WIDELY, IN THE URUK SETTLEMENTS.
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND IS CONSERVATIVE, YOU DO NOT WANT TO ANOY YOUR GOD BY TRYING OUT SOME NEW STYLE OF HOUSE OR ITS DECORATION, THAT THEY AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH. AND SO WHEN WE FIND SIMILAR TEMPLE STYLES, TO ARCHAEOLOGISTS THIS SIGNIFIES A SHARED CULTURE, OR YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEF WHICH IS FUNDAMENTAL.
CONE MOSAICS ARE ABOUT 4 TO 6 INCHES OF COLORED CLAY, RED, WHITE, AND BLACK. THAT ARE SET INTO PLASTER ON THE EXTERIOR OF WALLS OR COLUMNS, AND THEY CREATE A DECORATIVE PATTERN. USUALLY A SHEVRON OR TRIANGLE, SOMETHING THAT IS GEOMETRIC, SOMETHING THAT IS EASY TO CREATE. AND AS YOU LOOK AT A CONE MOSAIC TEMPLE FAR AWAY YOU SEE A RIPPLING EFFECT. ANY GOD WOULD BE HAPPY TO ENJOY.
A CONE MOSAIC DECORATION WAS FOUND IN SUSAR IN IRAN, WHICH HEPS REINFORCE THIS IDEA THAT THERE IS A CULTURAL UNITY WITH SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA.
THE CONE MOSAIC WAS NOT USED VERY LONG AFTER THE URUK PERIOD; SO WHEN WE DO FIND IT, FAR OUT OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, THIS HELPS US IDENTIFY URUK CULTURE EVEN MORE SO THAN POTTERY.
IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA A SMALL CITY IN SYRIA CALLED HABUBA KABIRA HAS ALL THE SAME FEATURES WE FIND AT URUK, WITH SAME PRODUCED GOODS LIKE POTTERY, SIMILAR TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE, BOTH HOUSE ARCHITECTURE AND TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE, BUT ONE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE IN THIS NORTHERN CITY, IS THAT THERE WAS A DEFENSIVE WALL SURROUNDING IT. THE DEFENCE WALL WILL BECOME VERY IMPORTANT IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA BUT NOT QUITE YET.
AND THESE EARLIEST LEVELS OF ALL OF OUR SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA CITIES ARE FREE FROM ANY DEFENSIVE STRUCTURE.
IF WE THINK ABOUT THIS DEFENSIVE WALL MORE, CLOSELY AND SOMEWHAT MORE IMAGINARY. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THESE URUK LIKE SETTLEMENTS WERE NOT TRADING COLONIES OR OUTPOSTS, BUT REAL ADMINISTRATIVE CENTERS, ESTABLISHED AFTER A MILITARY INCURSION. THIS THEORY GAINS SOME CREDENCE IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT IN 2005 BY AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEAM FROM THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; THAT THEY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE FOR A VIOLENT DESTRUCTION AT A SITE NEAR TO HABUBA KABIRA CALLED HAMOUKAR, IN SYRIA. THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CLAIMED THAT THIS IS THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE FOR LARGE SCALE WARFARE IN MESOPOTAMIA. THUS ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY THE ARTIFACTS THAT ARE SO SIMILAR IN SSYRIA TO THAT FROM URUK, WERE BROUGHT BY PEOPLE WHO MOVED THERE AFTER PUSHING OUT THE PREVIOUS OCCUPANTS. EITHER THEY WERE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING RID OF THEM, OR THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE RECENTLY DEVOID POPULATION OF TH E AREA.
WHAT WE DO FIND IS THE SAME ACCOUNTING AND WRTING USED AT URUK STILL APPEARS, SO WE HAVE SIMILAR RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS, WE HAVE SIMILAR BUREAUCRATIC TOOLS; ALL OF THIS INDICATED THAT WHATEVER GROUP IS LIVING IN SYRIA, IN SOUTHERN IRAN, THE SAME IDEA, THE SAME MENTALITY, AS THOSE WHO ARE LIVING IN URUK. AND IT IS OUR EARLIEST EVIDENCE FOR A UNIFIED SYTEM OF WRITING BEYOND ONE PARTICULAR LOCATION.
THE URUK PERIOD HAS LONG BEEN FASCINATING TO ARCHEOLOGISTS BECAUSE SO MANY CRITICAL IDEAS SEEM TO DEVELOP AT ONCE.
IT’S INTERESTING IN LIGHT OF THIS THAT NOW A SITE IN SYRIA MAY CAUSE US TO UNDERGO A FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSTS, OF WHAT WE THOUGHT WE KNEW ABOUT URUK.
THE SITE IN SYRIA, AND I’M SURE MORE EXCAVATION WILL OCCUR; IS STILL BEING EXCAVATED, THE REPORTS ARE PRELIMINARY, BUT LET’S SPECULATE A BIT ABOUT WHAT THE IMPLICATION CAN BE FOR WHAT HAMOUKAR AND URUK CAN BE.
IF HANOUFAR WAS DESTROYED BY AN ARMY FROM SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, AND WE KNOW THE DESTRUCTION IS CERTAIN, EVEN IF THE AGENTS WHO INFLICTED IT ARE NOT CERTAIN. THEN WE SHOULD START TO RE-EVALUATE OFFICIAL ORDER. PERHAPS EVEN POLITICAL ORDER URUK. AN ARMY NEEDS A LEADER, OR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF LEADERS. AND WE DISCUSSED BOTH LAST TIME AND WITH THE UBAIR PERIOD AND WITH THE URUK PERIOD, A LEADER OUTSIDE OF THE TEMPLE. ARCHAEOLOGISTS WERE LOOKING FOR PALACES AS A WAY TO IDENTIFY WHO WAS IN CHARGE, IN THE CITY AT THE TIME. BUT MAYBE THIS LEADERSHIP IS MILITARY, MAYBE IT DOESN’T LEAVE A MATERIAL EVIDENCE. OR IT HASN’T BEEN DISCOVERED YET. WE CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE ANY EVIDENCE ANYWHERE, FOR A LARGE MILITARY FORCE IN THE URUK REGION, AND WE STILL MAY NOT. AND THIS IS ALL VERY EARLY ANALYSIS, AND SPECULATION. BUT I THINK IT ILLUSTRATES THAT CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE PAST ARE FOUNDED UPON A PARTIAL PICTURE. ONE THAT CAN BE CHANGED BOTH BY NEW DISCOVERIES BUT ALSO BY NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT OLD IDEAS.
MUCH OF THIS IS MY SPECULATION. SO I DON’T WANT TO SAY THAT WE HAVE AN ARMY THAT IS LED BY A NEW POLITICAL LEADER FROM URUK, AND YOU HEARD IT HERE FROM A COURSE BY THE TEACHING COMPANY. BUT WHAT I WANT TO DO IS ILLUSTRATE HOW HISTORIANS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS THINK ABOUGT ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF NEW DISCOVERIES, WHAT WAYS ARCHAEOLOGY CAN ILLUSTRATE KEY CONCEPTS, IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
AS WE HAVE SEEN THE URUK PERIOD PROVIDES ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE OF COMPLEX SOCIAL GROUPS, AND HEIGH-RACHY. IT IS POSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY FIRST PROFESSIONS, CRAFTS, LONG-DISTANCE EXCHANGE, PERHAPS LONG-DISTANCE MILITARY ATTACKS.
SURPLUS FOOD WAS COLLECTED AND PROVIDED TO THE HABITANTS OF A CITY IN EXCHANGE FOR THESE SERVICES.
THE CITIES OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA HAD A VERY DENCE POPULATION, THAT PROBABLY LURRED NEW COMERS TO THE REGION.
WHATEVER ROLE THE TEMPLE PLAYED WAS A MAJOR FORCE IN THE CITY. IT WAS THE CENTER FOR BUREAUCRACY THAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED AT THIS TIME. SO THEY COLLECTED RESOURCES AND THEY REDISTRIBUTED THEM.
FINALLY THE TEMPLES ARE MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES OF DESIGN AND BUILDING. SO THEY EMBODY WHAT THE COMMUNITY CAN CREATE.
WE REMAIN UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE POSITION OF ANY POLITICAL RULERS, OR GROUP OF POLITICAL ELITE. BUT ALL OF THESE FEATURE OF URBAN LIFE, COLLECTING GOODS, REDISTRIBUTING THEM, ORGANIZING LABOR, CREATING RECORD KEEPING, AND OTHER DIVERSE PROFESSIONS, CAN FIRST BE IDENTIFIED AT URUK.
…………………………
WE SEE THE RISE OF POPULATIONS AND CENTERS OF PEOPLE MAKING CITIES, AND ALL THAT WOULD COME FROM SUCH MOVEMENTS, IS IN LINE WITH THE BIBLE.
ABRAHAM CAME FROM UR, HE WAS WEALTHY IN CATTLE AND HERDS. THE AREA HE MOVED IN AFTER THE ETERNAL GOD CALLED HIM OUT OF UR, TO BE LED TO A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, WAS POPULATED BY EDUCATED CRAFTSMEN IN DIFFERENT SKILLS, AND A PEOPLE OF TADING POWER OVER LARGE AREAS, BOTH EAST AND WEST OF MESOPOTAMIA.
TRULY ARCHAEOLOGY HAS PROVED THE MESOPOTAMIA AREA OF THE EARTH WAS THE CRADLE OF SOCIETY. SOMEWHERE IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD, ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED, AND CIVILIZATION INCREASED BEFORE THE DAYS NOAH AND AFTER THE DAYS OF NOAH.
Keith Hunt
ABRAHAM WAS CONNECTED WITH THE CITY UR. HERE IN LECTURE 16 WE LEARN OF THE UR 111 DYNASTY.
WE SEE WHAT ABRAHAM LIVED IN THAT AREA OF MESOPOTAMIA, BEFORE GOD CALLED HIM TO MOVE OUT TO A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY— THE PROMISED LAND TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB. ABRAHAM AND LOT HAD A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRUE GOD IN HEAVEN ABOVE— IN FAITH THEY MOVED TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED THEM. TO THEM AND THEIR DESCENDANTS WERE THE PROMISES MADE— BUT THEY DID NOT YET RECEIVE THAT PROMISE, AND THE BOOK OF HEBREWS THE 11TH CHAPTER TELLS YOU WHY— NOTE THE LAST WORDS—THEY WILL RECEIVE THAT PROMISE THE SAME TIME ALL THEIR SPIRITUAL
CHILDREN WILL RECEIVE IT AT THE RESURRECTION OF ALL SAINST FROM ADAM TO THE COMING OF JESUS IS MIGHT, IN GLORY, IN POWER TO RAISE THE EARTH BACK TO THE LAWS OF GOD DURING THE AGE TO COME FOR 1,000 YEARS—-BOOK OF REVELATION 20.
Keith Hunt
MESOPOTAMIA— UR 111 DYNASTY
LECTURE 16 OF 36— “BETWEEN THE RIVERS - The History of Ancient Mesopotamia” produced for THE TEACHING COMPANY.
BY PROFESSOR ALEXIS Q. CASTOR
IN THE LAST LECTURE WE DISCOVERED THE END OF THE CONTROL BY ACADIA OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA……
IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THE MODEL THE ACADIAN SET FOR LATER MESOPOTAMIA RULERS.
ACAD WAS THE FIRST CITY STATE THAT EXPANDED ITS CONTROL FAR BEYOND ITS ORIGIN, IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA TO THE SOUTH. NO OTHER KING BEFORE SAGON HAD TRAVELLED SO FAR, TAKEN HIS ARMY ON SUCH EXOTIC EXPEDITIONS AND BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL. NARAM-SIN WAS ALSO SUCCESSFUL MILITARILY. SO IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT ONE OF THE REASONS WHY SAGON AND NARAM-SIN BECAME SO LEGENDARY….. THEY ESTABLISHED THIS NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT KINGSHIP AND EMPIRE.
ONE OF THE NEW CITY STATES WAS UR, WHICH SOON DOMINATED BABYLONIA. DURING THEIR RULE THE UR 111 DYNASTY ORGANIZED A MUCH MORE CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT; THAT EFFECTUALLY CONTROLLED THE REGION FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS. THIS CONTRASTED DYNASTIES OF PREVIOUS YEARS, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD A STRONG MILITARY, WE SAW IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE REGION CLOSELY AND MONITOR ACTIVITIES.
A HALLMARK OF THE UR 111 PERIOD IS THE OVER-WHELMING NUMBER OF TEXTS, THAT DOCUMENT ITS POLITICAL AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT ITS ECONOMICAL HISTORY. OVER 40,000 TEXTS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED, AND THOUSAND MORE, PERHAPS EVEN ANOTHER 30 OR 40 THOUSAND, MUST STILL BE PUBLISHED AND ANALYZED. AND ONE OF THE CHALLENGES FOR SCHOLARS IS TO EVALUATE THIS HUGE MASS OF MATERIAL. IT CAN BE VERY EXCITING TO GET SO MANY DETAILS BUT THEY HAVE TO BE EVALUATED IN ORDER TO GET THE SENSE OF THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE UR 111 SOCIETY.
YOU SHOULD BE SAYING BY NOW I’M NEVER HAPPY, EITHER TOO FEW TEXTS OR TOO MANY. AND THAT IS THE CONSTANT CHALLENGE FOR SCHOLARS TO TRY AND RE-CONSTRUCT EVENTS.
THE TEXTS FROM UR 111 ARE LARGELY ECONOMIC AND ALMOST ALL ARE OFFICIAL STATE RECEIPTS AND RECORDS. VERY FEW TRADE OR OTHER TRANSACTIONS ARE NOTED. SO IT’S VERY MUCH AS IF WE TRIED TO RE-CONSTRUCT AMERICA HISTORY BY LOOKING AT ONLY TAX RETURNS. AND SO YOU CAN SEE THE CHALLENGES AND EMPHASIS ON SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY THAT WOULD RESULT FROM SUCH SOURCES.
ANOTHER CAVIARE ABOUT THIS PERIOD IS THAT— VERY FEW HISTORICAL RECORDS THAT WOULD DOCUMENT SAY MILITARY CAMPAIGNS, FOR EXAMPLE, SURVIVE. SO DETAILS OTHER THAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO SORT OUT.
UR-NAMMU, WAS THE FIRST OF 5 KINGS [KING OF UR 111 DYNASTY R. C. 2112-2094 B. C.] OF THE UR 111 DYNASTY, CALLED THE UR 111 DYNASTY OR PERIOD BECAUSE ACCORDING TO THE SUMARIAN KING LIST IT IS THE 3RD TIME THAT RULERS FROM THE CITY OF UR HELD KINGSHIP. YOU HAVEN’T MISSED THE FIRST TWO, I JUST HAVEN’T DISCUSSED THEM IN MUCH DETAIL.
UR-NAMMU TOOK THE TITLE OF KING OF SUMAR AND ACAD, AND THIS SHOWS THAT THE PHRASE NOW INDICATES REGIONAL CONTROL. HE’S PICKING UP ON WHAT SAGON FIRST CREATED. UR-NAMMU RULED OVER BABYLONIA AND THE LANDS TO THE EAST ALONG THE ZARGOS MOUNTAINS.
ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT UR-NAMMU IS BEST KNOWN FOR IS THE TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS PRE-EMINENCE THROUGH NUMEROUS BUILDING PROJECTS. INCLUDING ZIGGURATS AT UR, NIPPUR AND ERIDU. THIS SHOWS US HOW IMPORTANT HIS REGIONAL CONTROL WAS, ALSO THAT HE USE THE BUILDING OR RE-CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLES, AS A WAY TO CONSOLIDATE HIS POWER. WE KNOW HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE ZIGGURATS BECAUSE HIS NAME IS INSCRIBED ON THE MUD-BRICKS USED TO CONSTRUCT THEEM.
THE ZIGGURAT AT UR IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED OF THIS TYPE OF STRUCTURE. REMEMBER WHEN LENARD WOOLY EXCAVATED AT UR, IT WAS BECAUSE THE ZIGGURAT WAS STILL VISIBLE IN THE AREA. THE ZIGGURAT WAS PLACED IN A WALLED OFF STRUCTURE, WHICH ITSELF WAS RAISED ON A PLATFORM, SO THE ENTIRE TEMPLE PRECINCT IS ABOVE THE REST OF THE CITY. TWO OF THREE STORIES OF THE ZIGGURAT ARE PRESERVED AND THEY NOW STAND ABOUT 60 FEET HIGH, ON A FOUN DATION THAT SPREADS ABOUT 200 BY 150 FEET. THERE ARE 3 LONG STAIRWAYS ON THE NORTH-EAST SIDE OF THE ZIGGURAT, ONE IN THE CENTER AND ONE ON EACH SIDE, AND THESE PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE LANDING BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND LEVELS OF THE ZIGGURAT. THE CENTRAL STAIRCASE WOULD HAVE CONTINUED UP TO THE TOP LEVEL; GIVING ACCESS TO THE SHRINE, THAT WOULD HAVE ORIGINALLY STOOD AT THE TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT.
IF YOU SEE A RE-CONSTRUCTION OF A ZIGGURAT ITS PROBABLY DRAWS ON UR-NAMMU’S ZIGGURAT AT UR….
BOTH THE WRITTEN AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL OF UR-NAMMU’S REIGN DESCRIBES HIS BUILDING AND RE-STORING TEMPLES. AND ALSO TO HIS WORK OF FREEING HIS PEOPLE FROM THIEVES, ROBBERS AND REBELS. AND THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE INVADERS THAT CAME FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BORDERS OF MESOPOTAMIA, AND HE HAD TO REOPEN THE HIGHWAYS TO MAKE THEM SAFE FOR HIS PEOPLE TO TRAVEL, ALSO TO RESTORE THE TRADE THAT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE MESOPOTAMIA ECONOMY.
IT COMES AS SOMETHING OF A SURPRISE THAT ALL THIS FOCUSS OF UR-NAMMU’S RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY, AND WE LEARN HE DIED IN BATTLE. AN INSCRIPTION RECORDS THAT HE WAS LEFT ON THE BATTLE-FIELD LIKE A SMASHED VESSEL. AND IT IS VERY RARE FOR A MESOPOTAMIA RULER TO DIE IN BATTLE. SO WHEN IT HAPPEN BOTH THE SOURCES NOTE THAT AS THE USUAL WAY TO DESCRIBE PUNISHMENT FOR SOME IMPIOUS ACTION THAT HE’S TAKEN, THAT WAS NOT THE CASE WITH UR-NAMMU, BUT IT DOES CAUSE QUITE A BIT OF CONCERN, FOR HIS SUCCESSORS AND HIS PEOPLE TO LEARN THAT A KING COULD DIE IN BATTLE.
WE HAVE THE MOST COMPLETE EVIDENCE FOR THE UR 111 PERIOD, DURING THE LONG REIGN OF UR-NAMMU’S SON SHULGI [R. C. 2094-2047 B. C.]. A NUMBER OF SOURCES ATTEST TO SHULGI’S SUCCESS AND TRACES THE MAJOR EVENTS OF HIS REIGN. MOST IN THE AREA OF HIS GOVERNANCE AND CONTROL, OVER BABYLONIA.
THE EARLIEST COLLECTION OF ROYAL LAWS, JUST A FEW FRAGMENTS, ARE ATTRIBUTED TO EITHER SHULGI OR TO HIS FATHER UR-NAMMU. THESE LAWS SHOW THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE KING ENSURING JUSTICE FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND WE’LL COME TO THIS CONCEPT IN A LATER LECTURE, WHEN WE DISCUSS THE LAW CODE OF OMIRADI.
DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS, SPECIFICALLY MARRIAGE, WITH FAMILIES OF POWERFUL NEIGHBORING STATES, ARE ATTESTED FOR THE UR 111 PERIOD. AND THESE WOULD INCREASE BOTH THE SIZE AND PROSPERITY OF THE KINGDOM. SHULGI HIMSELF HAD 9 WIVES, INCLUDING A PRINCESS FROM MARI, A WEALTHY TRADING CENTER OF THE NORTH OF THE EUPHRATES. IF YOU RECALL THE ACADIAN KINGS SARGON AND NAR-UNSIN, TAXED THESE CITIES AS A WAY TO CONTROL THEM, BUT SHULGI NOW RETURNS TO A MORE DIPLOMATIC ALLIANCE, AS IT WAS FAR FROM HIS HEART-LAND KINGDOM.
ONE OF THE MOST DOMESTIC REFORMS ENACTED BY SHULGI WAS A LABOURITE UNIFIED BUREAUCRACY, THAT JOINED SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN BABYLONIA. IT IS KNOWN FROM THE EXTENSIVE RECORD KEEPING, THAT PRESERVES A STANDARDIZED SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. A NEW CALENDAR, AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND MILITARY OF THE HIERARCHY OF THE COURT.
SHULGI WAS ACTIVE IN THE RE-CONSTRUCTION OF HIS KINGDOM— IN THE HEARTLAND OF THE UR 111 KINGDOM. HE CREATED ABOUT 20 PROVINCES, EACH GOVERNED BY AN ENSI, WHO USUALLY BELONGED TO THE LOCAL ELITE. AND THIS IS A PATTERN THAT WE SHALL SEE LATER RULERS DRAW ON, THEY WOULD ALTERNATE BETWEEN SOME THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA WHO HAD BEEN IMPORTANT IN THE CITY IN PREVIOUS YEARS, REQUIRING THEM TO BE LOYAL TO THE STATE, BUT OFTEN THE DRAWBACK TO THIS IS THAT THE LOCAL RULER DECIDED THAT HE SHOULD REBEL FROM HIS OVERLORD. AND SO THIS WILL HAPPEN AT THE END OF THE UR 111 PERIOD. WE WILL SEE MESOPOTAMIA KINGS ALTERNATE ON DRAWING BETWEEN LOCAL ELITE TO HELP THEM GOVERN, OR INSTALLING MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILY WHO WOULD BE LOYAL TO THEM.
SHULGI— SENDING A MILITARY COMMANDER OR SHAGINA TO REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE PALACE. AND THIS WOULD BE SOMEONE WHO SHULGI FELT COMFORTABLE WITH AND KNEW WOULD BE LOYAL TO HIM. OFTEN A SHAGINA WAS RELATED TO THE ROYAL FAMILY, WITH 9 WIVES THAT WAS NOT DIFFICULT, AND THIS WOULD MAKE HIM MORE LOYAL TO THE KING THAN AN ENSI WOULD BE.
SHULGI TRIES TO USE BOTH MODELS BUT WE SHALL SEE IT DOESN’T QUITE WORK.
SHULGI’S TAX REFORM— A NEW WAY OF TAXING HIS KINGDOM [TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS; BOTH DREW ON THE CONCEPT OF A BALA TAX]—BALA IS THE SUMERIAN WORD FOR EXCHANGE. AN EXCHANGE OF GOODS PRODUCED LOCALLY FOR WHAT THE PALACE WANTED.
THE CITIES CLOSEST TO UR WOULD PROVIDE GOODS THAT THEY HAD PRODUCED LOCALLY, AND THIS WOULD COMPEL SHULGI TO A HIGH TRIBUTE BECAUSE HE KNEW THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE AREA WAS VERY HIGH. SO FOR EXAMPLE, A CITY THAT WAS FOCUSED ON GROWING GRAIN, AN AGRICULTURAL BASED ECONOMY, WOULD HAVE TO PROVIDE GRAIN TO THE COURT, WHEREAS ANOTHER CITY THAT HAD A WIDER MANUFACTURING ECONOMY, SUCH AS LEATHER MAKING OR FURNITURE MAKING OR REED WEAVING, THEY WOULD SEND THOSE TYPES OF GOODS TO THE KING AS PART OF THEIR TRIBUTE.
FARTHER AWAY FROM SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, PROVINCES WOULD SEND SHEEP OR GOATS, OR OTHER TYPES OF ANIMALS, AS TRIBUTE TO THE KING. THESE WERE SENT TO A SITE CALLED PUZRISH-DAGAN, NEAR NIPPUR, THEN DISTRIBUTED TO FEED THE PALACE; THEY WOULD BE USED AS SACRIFICES IN THE TEMPLES, AND THEY MAY HAVE EVEN BEEN SENT TO OTHER PROVINCES, THAT REQUIRED SHEEP OR MEAT PRODUCT, AND WOOL IN THE CASE OF SHEEP. AND THE PALACE WOULD OVERSEE THIS DISTRIBUTION. SO WE GET BACK TO THE IDEA WE SAW EARLY ON AS THE TEMPLE BEING THE CENTER OF RE-DISTRIBUTION, THAT WOULD COLLECT ECCESS GOODS AND SEND THEM WHERE THEY WERE NECESSARY.
NOW THE COURT DOES THIS, THE KING OVERSEES THIS AND SOME OF THESE RECORDS HAVE SURVIVED.
WE KNOW WHAT GOODS WERE COLLECTED, HOW MANY WERE COLLECTED, AND WE GET A SENCE OF AN ENORMOUS SCALE THAT THE KING OF THE UR 111 DYNASY HELD.
ONE ANNUAL REPORT RECORDS THAT 350,000 SHEEP AND 28,000 CATTLE PASSED THROUGH PUZRISH-DAAGAN DURING THAT SINGLE YEAR. SO THAT GIVES YOU SOME SENCE OF THE AMOUNT OF GOODS BEINGS SENT TO COLLECTION CENTERS, AND COULDS BE RE- DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM.
THIS REQUIRED A DETAILED SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING, AND DURING THIS TIME, SHULGI’S REFORM—— SCRIBAL SCHOOLS ADOPTED A NEW CURRICULUM THAT ALLOWED THEM TO LEARN THE NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM.
SHULGI INTRODUCED NEW THINGS SO THEY HAD TO LEARN THE ACCOUNTING FOR THE NEW REFORMS.
AND THERE WAS A SHIFT IN THE WAY THAT TEXTS WERE WRITTEN ON THE TABLETS. SO THE SHIFT WAS FROM THE VERTICAL WAY OF DIVIDING THE TABLETS TO THE HORIZONTAL WAY.
THESE INNOVATIONS IN RECORD KEEPING IS ONE REASON AS TO WHY WE HAVE SO MUCH EVIDENCE TO THIS PERIOD, BECAUSE A LOT OF EVIDENCE, A LOT OF TEXT FROM EARLIER PERIOD HAD TO BE RE-WRITTEN.
SHULGI’S EXTENSIVE BUREAUCRACY SUPPLIES US WITH THE EARLIEST INFORMATION ABOUT SCRIBES. BOTH PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL SCRIBAL SCHOOLS, WHICH ARE CALLED EDUBA OR TABLET HOUSES EXISTED, AND WE LEARN THAT A SCRIBE WOULD BEGIN HIS EDUCATION AT A YOUNG AGE, PERHAPS AS EARLY AS 7 YEARS OLD. BOTH MALE AND FEMALE SCRIBES ARE RECORDED, THOUGH IT IS RARE FOR A FEMALE NAME TO APPEAR IN THESE RECORDS, BUT THEY DO EXIST.
IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL YEARS TO LEARN THE VAST NUMBER OF SIGNS NECESSARY TO GAIN EMPLOYMENT. ESPECIALLY EMPLOYMENT FOR THE CROWN, THE KING. IN ADDITION TO THE CANAIA FORM SIGNS, SCRIBES WOULD ALSO HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE NEW ACCOUNTING METHODS, THAT WOULD BE USED TO RECORD RATIONS, AND ANY OTHER NECESSITY THAT RECORDS ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE PALACE, IN SOME INSTANCES THE TEMPLE, AND EVEN PRIVATE TRANSACTION.
THE SCRIBES WERE COMPENSATED WITH RATIONS, TEXTILES, BEER, LAND. WE SEE EVIDENCE OF SCRIBES AT ALL ECONOMIC LEVELS. SOME ARE VERY WEALTHY, AND THOSE WOULD BE THE SCRIBES WHO WORKED FOR THE KING. OTHERS EARNED A MUCH MORE MODEST LIVING, SCRATCHING OUT SOME WAY OF SUPPORTING THEMSELVES, SCRIBES THAT RECORDED INDIVIDUAL TRANSACTION, WHO COULD NOT COUNT ON A STEADY INCOME.
SHULGI, MUCH LIKE OUR ACADIAN PREDECESSOR NARUM-SIN, MADE HIMSELF A GOD, ABOUT HALF WAY THROUGH HIS REIGN. AND THIS PRECEDENT DURING THE UR 111 DYNASTY FOR KINGS TO BE WORSHIPPED AS GODS.
AS WITH NARUM-SIN THIS MAY HAVE BEEN AN ATEMPT TO WEAKEN THE CITY STATE, TO STRENGTHEN THE CONNECTION TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
WE HAVE NO LATTER SOURCES THAT CONDEMN SHULGI AS THEY DID NARUM-SIN, SO THE IDEA AS THE KING AS A GOD SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN WELL ACCEPTED.
SHULGI ALSO TOOK THE TITLE “KING OF THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD” WHICH NARUM-SIN AHD CREATED. SO IT’S A RETURN TO A BROADER SENSE OF SCALE AND POWER THAT THESE LATER RULERS TOOK FROM THE ACADIAN PREDECESSORS.
PRAISE POEMS OFTEN CALLED HYMNS BY MODERN TRANSLATORS, DESCRIBES THE PROWESS OF THE KING IN EVERY ASPECT OF HIS RULE, AND THESE ARE MUCH MORE DETAILED THAN EARLIER INSCRIPTIONS THAT MIGHT FOCUS ON MILITARY PROWESS, SOME SENCE OF DOMINANCE. BUT SHULGI’S PRAISE POEMS, HYMNS, ARE QUITE DETAILED AND LONG AND THEY CELEBRATE HIS PREEMINENCE AMONG RULERS. AS WELL AS HIS DIVINE HERITAGE. AND THERE ARE LONG DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS PHYSICAL STRENGTH, AND HIS INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES.
IN ONE POEM IT’S WRITTEN HOW QUICKLY HE CAN RUN, NOT JUST FAST BUT HE HAS A LOT OF ENDURANCE. HE DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS A DONKEY.
ALL OF THESE PRAISE POEMS ARE WRITTEN IN THE FIRST PERSON. SO IT MAKES SENCE TO THE MODERN WAY OF POLITICAL LEADERS, HE WAS AN ARROGANT KING. WE SHOULD PROBABLY THINK OF HIM AS ENTHUSIASTIC AND TRYING TO SHOW EVERY AREA HE SUCCEEDS IN, AND THIS WOJULD BE COMFORTING TO HIS PEOPLE, THEY WOULD KNOW THAT HE WAS NOT JUST PHYSICALLY STRONG BUT HE WAS ALSO SMART.
SHULGI IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW LITERATE RULERS WE KNOW OF, MOST KINGS DID NOT BOTHER TO LEARN TO READ OR WRITE, BECAUSE THEY WOULD HAVE A WHOLE FORCE OF SCRIBES TO DO THAT FOR THEM.
SHULGI WRITES IN ONE OF THESE POEMS— “WHEN I WAS SMALL I WAS AT THE ACADEMY, WHERE I LEARNED THE SCRIBAL ART FROM THE TABLETS OF SUMMER AND AKKAD. NONE OF THE NOBLES COULD WRITE AS I COULD. I QUALIFIED FULLY IN SUBTRACTION, ADDITION, RECKONING, AND ACCOUNTING.”
WE SEE HE IS LITERATE AND LEARNED ALL THE MATH SKILLS NECESSARY, WHICH WOULD BE A USEFUL SKILL FOR A RULER.
KINGS OFTEN RELIED ON PRIESTS OR DIVINERS TO REVEAL THE MEANING OF SIGNS. THERE WAS DREAMS BUT ALSO A METHOD OF DIVINE CORRESPONDENCE WITH HUMANS, AS THE STUDY OF ANIMAL ORGANS— EXTISPICY— THE ONLY WAY TO EXPLAIN THIS IS TO KEEP IN MIND ALL OF NATURE IS DIVINE, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE LIVER OF A SHEEP, THE GODS WOULD HAVE SENT SOME MESSAGE, TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS LIVER.
PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT RELIGIOUS ASPECTS TO RECONCILE WITH.
SHULGI PERFORMS THIS DIFFICULT TASKE, HE HIMSELF, HE WRITES— “THEN, AS I PREPARE THE SHEEP WITH WORDS OF PRAYER, MY DIVINER WATCHES IN AMAZEMENT LIKE AN IDIOT. THE PREPARED SHEEP IS PLACED AT MY DISPOSAL, AND I NEVER CONFUSE A FAVORABLE SIGN WITH AN UNFAVORABLE ONE. I MYSELF HAVE CLEAR INTUITION, AND I JUDGE BY MY OWN EYES. IN THE INSIDES OF JUST ONE SHEEP, I, THE KING, CAN FIND THE INDICATIONS FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYWHERE.”
SO HE HAD COMPLETE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING HE NEEDS AS KING. HE DOESN’T NEED TO RELY ON HIS SERVANTS OR OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS COURT. HE CONTINUES— HE’S NOT SOMEONE WHO JUST NEEDS TO CONCENTRATE ON…. MATHEMATICS, OR DIVINATION.
HE IS ALSO A MUSICIAN.
“I SHULGI, KING OF UR, HAVE ALSO DEVOTED MYSELF TO THE ART OF MUSIC. NOTHING IS TOO COMPLICATED FOR ME. I KNOW THE PERFECTION OF THE ART OF MUSIC.”
WE HAVE SEEN THE FROM THE ROYAL CEMETERY OF UR. AND KINGS MAY WELL HAVE PARTICIPATED IN RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS, AND SUNG HYMNS TO THE GODS THEMSELVES. SO THIS TOO IS AN INTELLECTUAL ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR SHULGI, AND IS ONE WORTHY OF NOTE FOR HIS SUBJECTS.
THE HYMN CLOSES WITH A SUMMARY OF HIS SKILLS—
“UNTIL THE DISTANT FUTURE MAY THIS SONG BLESS THE NAME OF ME, THE KING, WITH A LIFE OF LONG DAYS…. WITH THE AWESOMENESS THAT RADIATES FROM MY FOREHEAD, WHICH I MAKE THE FOREIGN LANDS WEAR LIKE A NOSE-ROPE, AND THE FEAR INSPIRING LUSTER… I AM ABLE TO ROOT OUT AND UNDO CRIME. I HAVE THE ABILITY TO RECONCILE GREAT MATTERS WITH ONE WORD.”
HE IS ALSO A DIPLOMAT, A JUDGE, AND HE IS CONCERNED WITH THE JUSTICE AND CRIME HIS PEOPLE HAVE TO ENDURE.
THESE PRAISE POEMS GIVE US A VERY GOOD ASPECT OF THE DUTIES OF A KING. AND THE DETAILS SHOW A KING HAD TO DEMONSTRATE HIS SKILLS. HIS INTEREST IN THE WELLBEING OF HIS PEOPLE HAD TO BE REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN, TO SHOW HE REALLY WAS CONCERNED FOR THEM. AND HE HAD TO MAKE THE MASTERY OF HIS LAND AND EVERYTHING NEEDED TO GOVERN IT.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE RULERS; WHEN HAVING A BAD DAY YOU CAN READ ALL ABOUT THE GREAT QUALITIES SHULGI HAD.
SHULGI’S REIGN WAS THE HIGH POINT OF THE UR 111 PERIOD. IT’S ALSO THE BEST DOCUMENTED, AND RECEIVES THE MOIST ATTENTION FROM
SCHOLARS.
AFTER HIS REIGN A COMBINATION OF INTERNAL ECONOMICAL ERUPTIONS, AND THREATS FOR THE BORDERS, WOULD RESULT IN THE END OF THE UR 111 ERA, AND THE LAST OF THE UR 111 DYNASTY— OBBI-SIN - R. C. 2028-2004 B. C.
SHULGI’S SON — SHUSIN— 2037-2029 B. C. HAD BUILT A DEFENSIVE WALL THAT WAS OVER 150 MILES LONG, ALONG THE NORTHERN BORDER OF HIS LAND. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE SOME PROTECTION FROM THE INCURSIONS OF THE AMORITES….. WE KNOW THAT BESIDES THIS PRESSURE FROM THE NORTH, THE CULTURE OF ALLAM TO THE SOUTH FURTHER WEAKENED THE STATE, AND CREATED DEMANDS ON ITS LIMITED RESOURCES.
ONE OF THE IMPORTANT DOMESTIC PROBLEMS WAS THE END OF THE BALA TAX SYSTEM, FAILURE OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT TO COLLECT TRIBUTE. THE VAST TREASURY IT HELD FROM ITS PROVINCES WAS NOT THERE. THIS AND THE KING NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR THE PEOPLE, WOULD HAVE WEAKENED LOYALTY….
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL ITS PROVINCES.
WE ALSO LEARN FROM SURVIVING TEXTS THAT THERE WAS A FAMINE, AND HUGE INFLATION, AND HUGE GRAIN PRICES AT ABOUT THIS TIME…..
THERE IS A TEXT FROM ABI-SIN TO ONE FORMER ALLY, ASKING, ACTUALLY BEGGING HIM, TO SEND GRAIN…. THIS SHOWS THE DIFFICULTY TO MAINTAIN LOYALTY TO A RULER.
HE HAD SET UP CONTROL OF THE CITY ISIN, AND ESTABLISHED A NEW RIVAL DYNASTY THERE, THAT WOULD CHALLENGE QUITE SUCCESSFULLY, THE UR 111 KINGS.
LATER TEXTS AS USUAL BLAME FOREIGNERS, THIS CASE THE AMORITES, FROM THE WESTERN DESERT FOR DISRUPTING THE KINGS OF UR 111.
WHAT IS STRIKING ABOUT THESE FORCES IN DESCRIBING THE END OF THE UR 111 KINGS, IS THAT THERE IS A LACK OF SURPRISE, FOR ONE OF THE FEW TIMES IN MESOPOTAMIA HISTORY, IS NOT BLAMED ON THE IMPROPRIETY OF A RULER, IT’S SIMPLE CREDITED THAT IT CAME TO THE END OF ITS ERA. IT’S TIME FOR CONTROL OF THE KINGSHIP— IT’S ENDED.
WE SEE ARCHAEOLOGICALLY THERE IS OTHER EVIDENCE FOR DISRUPTION AT THE END OF THE UR 111 PERIOD, AS CITIES IN THE KINGDOM DEFECTED TOP LOCAL RULERS, OR OTHER LEADERS. ABI-SIN RETREATED BACK TO THE CITY OF UR AND HE FORTIFIED IT WITH LARGE WALLS, WHICH ARE DOCUMENTED IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD. AFTER A LONG SEIG, THE
AMORITES CAPTURED ABI-SIN AND DESTROYED THE CITY OF UR AND TOOK HIM BACK TO ALAM AS PRISONER.
WHILE LATER KINGS RARELY MENTION THE KINGS OF UR 111, IN CONTRAST TO THE ACADIAN KINGS, THE LARGE NUMBER OF SURVIVING TEXTS ALLOWS US TO SEE THE PROSPERITY HOWEVER BRIEF OF THIS ERA. IT ALSO MEANS SCHOLARS ARE VERY FOCUSED ON THE UR 111 PERIOD, BECAUSE WE HAVE EVIDENCE FOR IT, SO IT CASN OFTEN RECEIVE MORE ATTENTION THAN OTHER PERIODS THAT WE ARE LESS INFORMED ABOUT.
WITH THE END OF THE UR 111 DYNASTY ABOUT 2000 B. C. WE WILL ENTER A STAGE WHERE MANY CITY STATES WILL RE-EMERGE WITH LESS CONTROL. SOME STRONG MILITARY MEN COULD CONTROL A LARGER AREA, AROUND A CITY STATE FOR A BRIEF TIME, BUT NO SINGLE CITY OR RULER UNITED NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, UNDER HIS RULE UNTILL HAMMURABI OF BABYLON, WHO RULED FROM 1792 TO 1750.
IN THE NEXT LECTURE WE WILL DEPART FROM THE POLITICAL HISTORY AND GO BACK TO EXAMINE THE SOCIETY, AND SPECIFICALLY WHAT CITIES LOOK LIKE IN THIS PERIOD WHEN THEY ARE SO IMPORTANT. AND WE WILL RETURN TO THE THEME OF URBANISM.
………………………………….
MESOPOTAMIA—— LIFE IN THE CITY AROUND THE TIME OF ABRAHAM AND AFTER.
VERY FINE LECTURES BY PROFESSOR ALEXIS Q. CASTOR [FROM HER 36 LECTURE ON MESOPOTAMIA—- DONE FOR THE TEACHING COMPANY].
LECTURE 17— LIFE IN A MESOPOTAMIA CITY
WE SAW IN THE LAST LECTURE THAT THE UR 111 KINGSHIP WAS PROSPEROUS AND CULTURALLY VIBRANT. MOST OF OUR EVIDENCE CAME FROM THE PALACE. SPECIFICALLY FROM THE REIGN OF SHULGI.
IN THIS LECTURE I WOULKD LIKE TO RETURN TO ONE OF OUR THEMES IN THIS COURSE, URBANISM. TO SEE WHAT HAS HAPPENED FROM THE URUC ERA— 2 THOUSAND B. C. AND AFTER.
WE KNOW HOW IMPORTANT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS WERE IN CITIES, WE ARE BEST INFORMED ABOUT THE TEMPLE, AND HAVE INCREASINGLY BETTER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PALACE, WHICH SUPPORTED, TOGETHER WITH THE TEMPLE, A LARGE WORK FORCE THAT COULD PROVIDE— WORK AND FOOD FOR THE POOREST MEMBERS OF THE CITY.
CAN WE RECONSTRUCT THE REST OF THE CITY? KEEP IN MIND THAT MOST OF OUR ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IS RICHEST FOR TEMPLES AND PALACES. WHAT HAS SURVIVED, WHAT HAS BEEN EXCAVATED, IN THE REST OF THESE ENORMOUS TELLS, IS VERY SCATTERED.
SO AS I TALK ABOUT CITIES IN THE SOUTH OF MESOPOTAMIA, IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM, I’M GOING TO EXTRAPOLATE, FROM SEVERAL CENTURIES, AND FROM MANY DIFFERENT SITES, TO CREATE A PICTURE.
TEXTS FILL IN SOME OF THE GAPS THAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS LEAVES FOR US. BUT THERE ARE STILL MANY QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN.
WE WILL BEGIN ON A SMALL SCALE, BY LOOKING AT THE HOUSE AND ITS OCCUPANTS AND THEN MOVE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
AND I HAVE TO WARM YOU THIS IS A SPECIALTY OF LIFE THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO BE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT.
THEN I WILL MOVE ON TO DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT PROFESSIONS THAT ARE ATTESTED FOR CITIES, AND FINALLY WITH TWO STUDIES OF SPECIFIC CITIES, SIPAR AND MUZI.
KEEP IN MIND THAT ONE OF THE REASONS WE CHOSE THE ASPECT OF URBANISM, TO EXPLORE IN THIS COURSE, IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHILE POLITICAL EVENTS ARE MOMENTOUS TO US, MOST PEOPLE IN MESOPOTAMIA CONTINUED LIVING THEIR LIVES RELATIVELY UNAFFECTED BY WHAT HAPPENED AMONG THE POLITICAL ELITE. SO IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP RETURNING TO THIS THEME TO KEEP IN MIND, WHAT THE AVERAGE CITIZEN WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING, WHILE SHULGI WAS TRAVELLING AROUND BUILDING TEMPLES.
CITIES CAN BE BEST UNDERSTOOD AS LARGE VERSIONS OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS. AND SO ANY STUDY OF AN INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS, BOTH THE OCCUPANTS AND THE STRUCTURE ITSELF IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR UNDERSTAND THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
FATHERS WERE THE UNDISPUTED HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD. AND THEY LIVED SURROUNDED BY THEIR FAMILY. PARENTS, SONS, THEIR SON’S WIVES, AND SOMETIMES THEIR CHILDREN, AND ANY UNMARRIED DAUGHTERS. THEY LIVED TOGETHER IN ONE HOUSEHOLD. SO IT’S AN EXTENDED FAMILY, BUT IT’S NOT A VAST EXTENDED FAMILY. NO MORE THAN 3 GENERATIONS AT MOST.
FATHERS ARRANGED THE MARRIAGE OF THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS. AND WOMEN WERE MARRIED IN THEIR LATE TEENS, MEN IN THEIR LATE TWENTIES. SO THERE WAS ABOUT A 10 YEAR AGE GAP IN THE AGE OF FIRST MARRIAGE.
THE GROOM’S FAMILY WOULD GIVE A GIFT TO THE FAMILY OF THE BRIDE. IN THE EARLY DYNASTIC ERA, COULD CONSIST OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF FOOD, MEANT TO PROVIDE FOR THE WEDDING FEAST. BUT LATER BY THE 18 CENTURY, THIS WAS SILVER IN THE AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE DOWRY GIVEN TO THE GROOM, BY THE BRIDE’S FATHER AND THE DOWRY WAS A GIFT GIVEN BY THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE, TO SUPPORT HER, TO MAKE SURE SHE DIDN’T GET MARRIED AND….HER HUSBAND LOST HIS JOB, LOST HIS LIVELIHOOD, AND SHE AND CHILDREN WOULD BE LEFT TO STARVE.
INSTEAD THE DOWRY WAS MEANT TO PROVIDE THE NECESSITIES FOR HER. IT WAS OVERSEEN BY THE GROOM, BY THE HUSBAND, BUT IN THE EVENT OF DIVORCE, THE DOWRY WOULD HAVE TO BE RETURNED TO THE BRIDE’S FAMILY.
WE WILL COME BACK TO THIS IDEA WHEN WE DISCUSS LAWS, AS THE DOWRIES ARE OFTEN INVOLVED IN LEGAL DISPUTES.
IT WAS CUSTOMARY TO TAKE ONLY ONE WIFE, UNLESS SHE WAS UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN, IN WHICH CASE A SECOND WIFE COULD BE TAKEN BY THE HUSBAND. ALTHOUGH HE COULD ALSO USE ANOTHER WAY, OF RESOLVING THE PROBLEM— ADOPTION!
WE KNOW THERE ARE MANY RECORDS OF ADOPTIONS, OFTEN A FAMILY MEMBER, A NEPHEW OR A CUSIN, OR SOME FRIEND’S CHILD, WOULD BE ADOPTED.
SLAVES WERE A PART OF MESOPOTAMIA LIFE. AND THEY WERE ACQUIRED IN MANY WAY— AS PRISONERS OF WAR, INFANTS BOUGHT FROM PARENTS IN TIMES OF FINANCIAL SITUATIONS. BUT MOST OF THE SLAVES THAT ARE RECORDED WERE ENSLAVED BECAUSE THEY WERE PAYING OFF A DEBT. SO SOMEONE WHO NEEDED A LOAN, WOULD OFFER THEMSELVES OR FAMILY AS SURITY FOR THE LOAN, SO WHEN THEY FELL BEHIND THEY WOULD BE ENSLAVED TO PAY OFF WITH THE LABOR TO COMPLETE THE LOAN.
THIS DEBT SLAVERY COULD BE TEMPORALLY, BUT WE KNOW FOR THOSE WORKING THE DEBT OFF, WORKING THEIR WAY OUT WITHOUT SOME LEGAL RECOURSE, WAS OFTEN VERY LONG.
FAMILIES OF SLAVES WERE KNOWN AND THEY WERE SOLD AND SEPARATED, CHILDREN OF A SLAVE WOMAN WOULD BE SOLD AT VERY YOUNG AGES.
THIS MULTI-GENERATION HOUSEHOLD RESULTED IN VARIOUS HOUSE PLANS; WITH ROOMS ADDED WHEN NECESSARY, OR AFFORDABLE. AND ARCHAEOLOGY CAN STRACE THE HISTORY OF A HOUSE BY ALTERATIONS TO THE PLAN. SO WHEN A FAMILY EXPANDS, OR ACQUIRED MORE LAND, THE HOUSE GETS BIGGER. NOW WHAT WE CAN’T KNOW, DID THE FAMILY STAY IN THE HOUSE OR WHETHER SOME OTHER FAMILY CAME IN, BOUGHT THE HOUSE, THEN EXPANDED IT TO FIT THEIR OWN NEEDS.
A TYPICAL HOUSE PLAN IS ARRANGED AROUND AN OPEN COURT- YEARD, IN THE CENTER OF THE HOUSE. WHICH THEN WOULD PROVIDE LIGHT AND AIR. THE PURPOSE OF THE ROOMS OFF THIS COURT-YARD, USUALLY CAN’T BE IDENTIFIED FROM THE PLANS OF THE HOUSE OR THE REMAINS, BECAUSE HOUSES WOULD BE CLEARED OUT WHEN THEY WERE SOLD OR RE-BUILY, AS LIKE TODAY. SO THERE ARE VERY FEW OBJECTS THAT HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT WENT ON IN THE ROOMS. THERE ARE TWO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE.
THE FIRST IS WEAVING, WHICH USUALLY OCCURRED IN THE COURT-YARD OF THE HOUSE, SO THE WEAVER WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO LIGHT AND AIR. WE FIND WEAVING IMPLEMENTS IN THE CORNERS OF COURT-YARDS, SO FOR EXAMPLE, LOOM WEIGHTS, WHICH WOULD BE USED TO KEEP THE WOOL TIGHT AT THE BACK OF THE LOOM, WHILE THE CREATOR WAS WEAVING A TEXTILE. LOOM WEIGHTS ARE A COMMON FIND FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS, SO THAT HELPS US IDENTIFY WHERE WEAVING TOOK PLACE.
THE SECOND EXCEPTION, TO ROOM IDENTIFICATION, IS THAT WE CAN USUALLY FIGURE OUT WHERE THE KITCHEN WAS, BECAUSE THE GROUND IS BLACKENED BY FIRE.
HOUSES COULD BE EITHER OWNED OR RENTED. AND WE HAVE A RENTAL AGREEMENT FROM THE 5TH CENTURY B. C. THAT NOTES THAT THE TENANT WAS ALSO A BUILDER. HE RECEIVED A REDUCED RENT IN EXCHANGE FOR REPAIRS CONTRACTED TO MAKE ON THE BUILDING DURING HIS TENANCY. IF THE TENANT DID NOT COMPLETE THE REPAIRS, HE WOULD HAVE TO PAY THE FULL RATE. SO A LANDLORD MUST HAVE BEEN VERY EXCITED HE COULD GET THOSE PROFESSIONALS TO SPRUCE UP THE PLACE DURING THE YEAR HE WAS ALSO RECEIVING RENT.
THE TITLES OF MANY LOCAL OFFICIALS ARE PRESERVED, BUT IT CAN BE QUITE CHALLENGING TO UNDERSTAND THEIR SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES.
THE MAYOR WAS THE LEADER OF THE COURT. AND OFTEN APPEARED AS A WITNESS IN LAW-SUITES. THE MAYOR IS ONE OF THOSE POSITIONS ARCHAEOLOGISTS WISH WE KNEW MORE ABOUT, AND WHAT A MAYOR ACTUALLY DID. SEEMS TO BE QUITE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT MAYORS DO TODAY. BUT THE TERM IS BEST TRANSLATED AS MAYOR.
THE MAYOR IS FREQUENTLY LISTED AS RESPONSIBLE SPECIFICALLY FOR PROSECUTING THEFT. THE TEXT STATES THAT A MAYOR WAS A MIDDLE MAN, COLLECTING TAXES FROM HIS PEOPLE AND THEN SENDING THEM ON TO ANOTHER AUTHORITY, USUALLY THE PALACE OR PERHAPS A REGIONAL GOVERNOR. AND THIS TEXT THAT RECORDS THIS DUTY OF A MAYOR WAS ACTUALLY FROM A LAWSUIT, WHICH THE MAYOR WAS ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLING FUNDS…THE GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE WAS THREATENING TO BRING HIS ARMY TO ATTACK THE PEOPLE IN ORDER FOR THEM TO PAY THE TAXES THAT HAD BEEN EMBEZZLED BY THE MAYOR.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT RESOURCE THAT A MAYOR WOULD PROVIDE, WOULD BE TO DELIVER THE MANPOWER NECESSARY FOR BUILDING PROJECTS AND OTHER WORK REQUIRED BY THE KING, PERHAPS EVEN SERVING IN THE ARMY.
THE STORY OF A POOR MAN FROM NIPUR, RECORDS A POOR MAN’S INTERACTION WITH A MAYOR, AND ONE OF HIS LESS PROSPEROUS CITIZENS. THE MAYOR COMES OFF POORLY AS OFTEN POLITICIANS DO IN SATIRICAL LITERATURE. THE POOR MAN GAVE A FINE GOAT TO THE MAYOR, HOPING THAT THEN THE MAYOR IN RETURN FOR THIS, WOULD INVITE THE ENTIRE FAMILY OF THE POOR MAN TO DINNER. THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THIS IS THAT THE POOR MAN COULD NOT FEED THE ENTIRE OF HIS FAMILY WITH JUST ONE GOAT, HE NEEDED A LARGER MEAL, SO HE THOUGHT IF HE CURRIED FAVOR WITH THE MAYOR, AND WAS INVITED TO DINNER, MORE OF HIS FAMILY COULD EAT. THE MAYOR DOES NOT BEHAVE QUITE AS THE POOR MAN HOPED, AND REWARDED HIM WITH A SMALL CUP OF CHEAP BEER, AND SOME GRIZZLY MEAT, WHICH WAS LARGELY BONE. THE POOR MAN SPENDS QUITE A BIT OF TIME PLOTTING HIS REVENGE, WHICH WAS ELABORATE AND INVOLVED NUMEROUS DISGUISES. FIRST DISGUISES HIMSELF AS A RICH MAN, THEN LATER AS A PHYSICIAN. ONCE HE REVEALS HIS TRUE IDENTITY TO THE MAYOR AND EXPLAINS WHY HE HAS PUBLICLY HUMILIATED THE MAYOR, THE POINT OF THE WHOLE STORY IS THAT THERE IS RESOLUTION BETWEEN THE WEALTHY MAYOR AND THE POOR MAN.
MAYOR SHOULD BE PROBABLY THOUGHT OF AS BEST, THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PEOPLE TO THE PALACE, AND VICE-VERSER. SO THEY WOULD SERVE AS INTERMEDIATORS BETWEEN THESE TWO GROUPS.
WE KNOW THAT IN ADDITION TO A MAYOR, THERE WAS AN ASSEMBLY, PERHAPS EVEN MORE THAN ONE IN A LARGE CITY. A LARGE CITY MIGHT BE DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, AND EACH ONE WOULD HAVE AN ASSEMBLY. THE ASSEMBLY HAD A LEADER, WHOSE MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO IMPRISON PEOPLE, SO THEY FORMED A LEGAL OVERSIGHT OF THE CITY OR THEIR DISTRICT.
THERE IS NO INDICATION WHO COULD BELONG TO AN ASSEMBLY. IT IS ASSUMED THAT ONLY MEN WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THIS ASSEMBLY, A POLITICAL ROLE, BECAUSE NO WOMEN ARE MENTIONED. BUT THAT’S AN ARGUMENT FROM SILENCE, SO I DON’T THINK WE SHOULD ASSUME THAT IN EVERY CASE.
SCATTERED SOURCES INDICATE THAT CITIES WERE DIVIDED INTO QUARTERS OF NEIGHBORHOODS. AND THERE WERE PROBABLY LEADERS AT THIS LEVEL WHO OVERSAW THE MUNDANE NEEDS OF THE CITY, LIKE KEEPING STREETS CLEAR OF LITTER, POLICING PETY CRIME, ISSUES LIKE THAT. AND AGAIN WHEN WE DISCUSS LAWS, SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT AFFECTED URBAN LIFE. WHICH WOULD BE RESOLVED THROUGH THE ASSEMBLIES OR THROUGH ADJUDICATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
THERE ARE MANY TITLES OF OFFICIALS RECORDED IN TEXTS, SO WE KNOW THERE WAS A THRIVING BUREAUCRACY, BUT THE TERMS OF HOW THIS BUREAUCRACY WORKED, OR WHAT THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY WAS WE DON’T KNOW IN DETAIL.
LET’S MOVE NOW TO LOOK AT WHAT THE REST OF THE PEOPLE ARE DOING IN THE CITY, IF THEY ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY; WHAT ARE THEIR PROFESSIONS?
WE’VE SPOKEN MOST ABOUT AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, WEAVERS, AND PRIESTS. BUT TEXT RECORD MANY WAYS OF MAKING A LIVING. SOME OF THESE PROFESSIONS WERE SEASONAL, SO THINK IMMEDIATELY OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, BUT THERE WAS MONTHS WHEN THEIR SERVICE WAS NOT NECESSARY, AND THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD SOME OTHER WAY OF GETTING INCOME DURING THE DOWN TIME. THE FOOD INDUSTRY REQUIRED BAKERS, BUTCHERS, GARDENERS, BREWERS, TAVEN KEEPERS AND SERVERS, AND THESE LAST TWO WERE USUALLY WOMEN. ARCHITECTS, CRAFTSMEN, MASONS, CARPENTERS, ALL CREATED HOMES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, AND WRECKERS WOULD TEAR DOWN OLD STRUCTURES, TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW ONES. BOAT-MAKERS CREATED RIVER CRAFT AND SAILORS HELP MERCHANTS PLY THEIR TRADE. FORESTERS AND TIMBER WORKERS WOULD SUPPLY THE WOOD FOR THE VESSELS. GATE-KEEPERS CONTROLLED THE ACCESS TO A CITY, A TEMPLE, OR A PALACE. ARTISANS SUCH AS BASKET MAKERS, LEATHER WORKERS, FURNITURE MAKERS OR SEAL CUTTERS, WOULD PRODUCE THE CRAFT FOR PRIVATE CITIZENS OR THE PALACE. THERE WOULD BE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LUXURIOUSNESS BASED ON WHO THE CUSTOMER WAS.
CERTAIN QUARTERS OF THE CITY WAS DEVOTED TO CRAFT PRODUCTIONS, CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD. IF THEY WERE ESPECIALLY DISRUPTIVE SUCH AS TANNING, WHICH CAN BE PROCESSED TO MAKE LEATHER, OR IF THEY HAD SPECIAL TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS, SUCH AS LARGE KILNS TO MAKE POTTERY, THEN THEY WOULD BE PLACED EITHER OUTSIDE THE CITY WALL OR IN SPECIFIC SECTIONS OF THE CITY, FAR FROM THE MAJORITY OF THE URBAN POPULATION.
ONE PROFESSION THAT WE COULD EXPECT TO LEAVE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, IS A SCRIBE OR A SCRIBAL SCHOOL. AT NIPUR A HOME WAS DISCOVERED THAT SEEMS TO BE THE SITE OF A VERY SMALL SCRIBAL SCHOOL. NOT A LARGE SCHOOL THAT WAS OVERSEEN BY THE PALACE, BUT THIS IS THE NEXT STEP UP FROM HOME-SCHOOLING.
HOW DO WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REGULAR HOME AND A HOME OF A SCRIBE?
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF HINTS.
FIRST THERE ARE A WIDE VARIETY OF TOPICS WRITTEN ON THE TABLETS, THAT WERE FOUND IN THIS PARTICULAR HOME, AND EVEN MORE COMPELLING ARE THE NUMEROUS EXAMPLE OF MIS-SPELLING AND AWKWARD SIGNS THAT SUGEST THEY WERE PRACTICE TABLETS OF STUDENTS NOT YET COMFORTABLE WITH THE MASTERY OF CUNAIA FORM, THEY WOULD NEED TO CARRY ON WITH THEIR PROFESSION.
CENTRALIZED CRAFT PRODUCTION IS BEST KNOWN FROM THE UR 111 PERIOD. AS THE ADMINISTRATED DOCUMENTS ARE SO PLENTIFUL. AT THIS TIME, 13,200 WEAVERS WERE EMPLOYED BY THE PALACE AT UR. MOST OF THEM WERE WOMEN WHO WOULD BRING THEIR CHILDREN TO THE PALACE WHILE THEY WORKED. AND WE CAN IMAGINE THESE WERE SOME OF THE POOREST WOMEN, WIDOWS, WHO HAD NO OTHER MEANS OF SUPPORT. THEY WOULD BE PAYED IN RATIONS. RATIONS WOULD BE GIVEN TO THEM AND ALSO TO THEIR CHILDREN.
ONE REASON WHY SO MAMNY WORKERS WERE NEEDED WAS THAT WEAVING WAS A VERY TIME CONSUMING PROCESS. IT TOOK A TOTAL OF 400 DAYS TO CREATE A GARMENT WEIGHING APPROXIMATELY SEVEN POUNDS. SO IF WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF WEAVERS WORKING TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME AT THE PALACE, THE OUTPUT WOULD BE STEADY AND PRODUCTIVE. BUT IT WOULD REQUIRE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF LABOR.
LET’S MOVE NOW TO LOOK AT A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF SECOND MILLENNIUM CITIES. AT SIPPAR AND NUZI.
THESE ARE QUITE DIFFERENT EXAMPLES OF CITIES, AND THEY GIVE AN IDEA OF THE RANGE OF URBAN CENTERS THAT WERE PRESENT IN MESOPOTAMIA.
AT SIPPAR IN CENTRAL MESOPOTAMIA, THE DISCOVERY OF DIFFERENT GROUPS OF TABLETS CAN YEID VALUABLE INFORMATION, ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY AND PROFESSIONS. SO HERE THERE HAS BEEN A STUDY AS WHAT SURVIVED IN THE HOUSES. ONE HOME BELONGING TO A CERTAIN BUR-HOTO, WHO WAS THE CHEIF SINGER OF LAMENTATIONS, FOR THE GODESS LAMETUM, CONTAINED OVER TWO THOUSAND TABLETS. SO REMEMBER I HAVE SPOKEN ALONG THE WAY ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO STUDY TABLETS WHEN THEY ARE NOT IN CONTEXT. SO HERE WE GET A SENCE OF AN IMPORTANT MEMBER OF THE CITY OF SIPPAR, BUT IN HIS HOUSE HE LEFT BEHIND 2,000 TABLETS. SO THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ACHIVE FROM ONE INDIVIDUAL AND WHAT HIS FAMILY CONTROLLED AND THE AREA HE WAS ACTIVE IN, WHAT WAS REQUIRED— RECEIPTS AND OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.
BUR-HOTO WAS QUITE THE REAL-ESTATE MAGNET. HE OWNED EXTENSIVE PROPERTY IN THE AREA OF SIPPAR. AND THE RECEIPTS THAT RECORD THE TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN BUR-HOYO AND INDIVIDUALS HE BOUGHT LAND FROM, USUALLY SUPPLY A HISTORY OF THE PLOT OF THE LAND. SO JUST LIKE MODERN DEEDS, WILL NOTE PAST SALES, ANY DIVISIONS OF THE PROPERTY. THIS GIVES US THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHEN LARGE PEICES OF PROPERTY WERE CUT UP INTO SMALLER PEICES. AND THEN THE FINAL CURRANT TRANSFER OF PROPERTY IS RECORDED. BUR-HOTO’S FATHER FROM WHOM HE HAD INHERITED THE HOUSE, WHICH WE KNOW FROM ONE OF THE TEXTS, KEPT COPIES OF NUMEROUS CONTRACTS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOR. SO IN THIS HOUSE WE NOT ONLY HAVE RECORDS OF BUT-HUTO BUT THE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS, THE KEEPING OF A LOT OF DOCUMENTATION.
WE SEE FROM THIS HOW THE RECORDS WERE STORED AND KEPT, AND IT WOULD BE VERY ILLUMINATING IF WE HAD MORE OF THESE PERSONAL ARCHIVES. THE WAY INDIVIDUALS STORED INFORMATION DOES GIVE US A SENCE OF WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS IMPORTANT, AND WHAT WOULD BE ESSENTIAL, FOR LATER LEGAL TRANSACTIONS OR ANY OTHER DISRUPTION THEY MIGHT NEED TO GET INVOLVED IN.
THE REASON WE FOUND SO MANY TABLETS AT BUR-HOTO HOUSE IS THAT HE APPARENTLY LEFT IN A HURRY. SOME OF THE TABLETS WERE STREW BETWEEN SEVERAL ROOMS, SOME FELL DOWN A STAIR-CASE. SO THERE IS AN INDICATION OF A VERY QUICK DEPARTURE. AND THERE IS ALSO THE INDICATION THAT SOMEONE WAS IN THERE TOSSING THE TABLETS AROUND. SO RIFLING THROUGH THEM. AND WE CAN IMAGINE BUR-HOTO HAVING TO LEAVE TOWN IN A HURRY, WE DON’T KNOW WHY. BUT SOMEONE TRYING TO ABSTRACT FROM THIS LARGE ARCHIVE OF SAVING THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WHILE TOSSING THE REST ASIDE.
IF WE HAD JUST RECEIVED THESE TABLETS ON THE ART MARKET OR IN A MUSEUM, OUR INTERPRETATION WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT, THAN IF WE HAD THE EXCAVATION DATA, ASSOCIATED WITH IT. NOW WE KNOW THAT ALL THESE REAL-STATES RECORDS WERE KEPT BY ONE PERSON, AND WE KNOW THERE WAS A COUPLE OF GENERATIONS FROM ONE FAMILY, VERY IMPORTANT IN THE CITY OF SIPPAR.
THE LAST CITY WE WILL EXAMINE IS NUZI. REALLY NOT MUCH MORE THAN A LARGE VILLAGE. AND IT IS FOUND IN THE AREA OF KURKOOK, NORTH EASTERN IRAQ.
NUZI LIES IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, THEY ARE ONLY ABOUT TEN MILES AWAY. AND IF YOU THINK BACK TO OUR EARLY DISCUSSIONS OF THE GEOGRAPHY, YOU CAN IMAGINE THIS IS THE AREA THAT IS MUCH HILLIER, IT’S ALSO AN AREA WHERE AGRICULTURE CAN BE PRODUCED BY RAINFALL. SO IT IS MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE SEE IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA, WHICH IS DEPENDANT ON IRRIGATION FOR AGRICULTURAL HAVEST.
ASSYRIA LIES TO THE WEST OF NUZI AND BABYLONIA TO THE SOUTH.
THERE IS REALLY NOTHING NOTEWORTHY ABOUT NUZI’S ECONOMY, ITS AGRICULTURE AND TRADE, IT PLUGGED ALONG AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT. WHAT’S EXITING ABOUIT NUZI IS THAT WE DON’T KNOW WHAT VILLAGES THIS SIZE WERE LIKE. SO THIS ALMOST GIVES US UNIQUE INSIGHT TO WHAT A SMALL CITY WAS LIKE.
THE TEXTS DATE TO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B. C. AT THIS POINT IT IS IN THE HEART-LAND OF ASSYRIAN TERRITORY. BUT AT THIS TIME ASSYRIA WAS NOT A DOMINANT POLITICAL POWER. THE POPULATION OF NUZI IS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 1,600 AND IF YOU COMPARE THIS TO URUK’S POPULATION OF AT LEAST 40,000 AROUND 3 THOUSAND B. C. YOU CAN SEE THIS IS JUST A SMALL CITY ON THE BORDER OF… NOWHERE.
THE CITY HAD 3 LARGE PUBLIC COMPLEXES AND 3 LARGE SUBURBAN VILLAS, BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE TOWN. A DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF PIPES, REMOVED RAIN WATER AND WASTE FROM THE BUILDINGS TO STREET OR TO LARGER DRAINS. AND MAN-HOLES COULD ALLOW THE SEWERS TO BE CLEANED, WASTE WENT OUT TO THE SIDE OF THE CITY TO THE TELL ON WHICH THE CITY WAS BUILT. THE LARGEST BUILDING WAS THE ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING, WHICH WAS NOT A PALACE BUT PROBABLY WHERE THE ASSEMBLY MET AND THE MAYOR CONDUCTED BUSINESS.
THIS PUBLIC STRUCTURE WAS LARGE ABOUT 130 BY 85 YARDS, AND IT HAD OVER A HUNDRED ROOMS. IT HAD NUMEROUS STORAGE CHAMBERS.
THE BUSINESS SECTION OF THIS LARGE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER HAD A LOT OF TEXTS THAT WERE EXCAVATED THERE. SO WE GET A LOT ABOUT THE ECONOMY OF NUZI FROM THESE STORAGE ROOMS.
THE COURT-YARDS OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS WERE HIGHLY DECORATED AND THEY WOULD BE PLACES WHERE MOST OF THE POPULATION OF NUZI COULD GATHER, IF THEY HAD TO DISCUSS A CERTAIN ISSUE.
LIVING SPACE HAS ALSO BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THIS PUBLIC BUILDING, AND IT INCLUDES A SMALL PRIVATE CHAPLE, AND PAINTED WALLS THAT ARE MUCH MORE DECORATED THAN OTHER AREAS OF THE BUILDING. AND ALSO THERE WERE A NUMBER OF TEXTS THAT ARE FOUND HERE. THESE ARE THE ONES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAYOR’S ACTIVITIES. IT’S PROBABLY WHERE THE MAYOR LIVED.
AMONG THE PRIVATE BUILDINGS THERE’S A WIDE RANGE OF VARIETY OF HOUSE TYPES, AND SO THERE IS NO TYPICAL HOUSE PLAN. WE CAN IDENTIFY A WEALTHY AREA AT NUZI AND THAT’S IN THE NORTH AND NORTH-WEST OF THE TOWN. IT IS VERY RARE TO BE ABLE TO MAKE DISTINCTIONS LIKE THIS, BECAUSE MOST LARGE CITIES ARE NOT ANYWHERE COMPLETELY EXCAVATED, BUT WE CAN SEE THE HOUSES IN THE NORTHERN QUARTER ARE A LARGER AREA AND MORE DECORATED.
THE TEXTS FROM NUZI ARE ESPECIALLY INFORMATIVE ABOUT WOMEN’S ECONOMIC STATUS. AND WE SEE THAT WOMEN OWNED REAL-ESTATE IN THEIR OWN NAME. WE HAVE EXAMPLES OF WOMEN OWNING BOTH DOUBLE AND SINGLE LOTS, A HOUSE, OR PERHAPS SOME LAND, AND SOME LARGER URBAM COMPLEXES. SO SEVERAL HOUSES OR A NEIGHBORHOOD.
WOMEN SUID AND WERE SUID, IN CIVIL CASES OVER LAND AND IN CRIMINAL CASES CONCERNING PROPERTY. THEY WON AND LOST THESE LEGAL SUITS.
IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WOMEN WERE OWNERS OF PROPERTY,
BECAUSE THAT ACCORDING TO ALL OF OUR WRITTEN SOURCES, AND ALL OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MESOPOTAMIA AT THIS TIME, WE KNOW THAT LAND WAS A KEY SOURCE TO WEALTH. SO IF WOMEN OWNED PROPERTY THEY TO HAD ACCESS TO WEALTH AND PROSPERITY.
WE ALSO SEE THE WOMEN OF NUZI ALSO ARRANGING MARRIAGES OF THEIR CHILDREN, REMEMBER I SAID THAT, OFTEN IT IS THE FATHER WHO ARRANGES THESE MARRIAGES, BUT AT NUZI WE SEE WOMEN DOING IT AS WELL.
ALL IN ALL AT NUZI, WOMEN HAD EQUAL LEGAL STATUS AS MEN. THEY WERE WITNESSES, THEY WERE TREATED IN THE SAME WAY BEING CALLED AS WITNESSES. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS THAT WOMEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE JUDGES. THAT WAS EXPLICITLY STATED ON ONE OF THE TEXT.
WE ALSO SEE A PARITY OF MEN AND WOMEN WHEN IT COMES TO INHERITANCE. DAUGHTERS COULD INHERIT THE SAME AMOUNT OF LAND THAT SONS COULD.
ALL OF THIS SEEMS LIKE A LITTLE WONDERFUL HAVEN, IN NORTH-EASTERN IRAQ, FOR A WOMAN. SO LET’S BALANCE THE PICTURE A LITTLE BIT.
EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE A LOT OF TEXT THAT DESCRIBE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, LEGAL ACTIVITIES, ON THE WHOLE THERE WERE FAR FEWER WOMEN THAN MEN ENGAGED IN BUSINESS. EVEN AT NUZI. AND THOSE WOMEN WHO WERE INVOLVED IN BUSINESS, WERE ALMOST USUALLY IN SOME DIFFERENT MARRIAGE SITUATION WHERE THERE WAS NO MALE REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE FAMILY. THE MOST COMMON EXAMPLE IS THAT OF A WIDOW. WHOSE SON WAS BELOW THE AGE OF MAJORITY. SO A YOUNG SON, SMALL, AND A WOMAN TRYING TO KEEP THE PROPERTY TOGETHER FOR HER SON, TO EVENTUALLY TURN IT OVER TO HIM.
BY ABOUT 1,3000 B. C. TEXT INFORM US OF AN INCREASING POLARIZATION AT NUZI, AND THERE IS A NOTABLE SUB-DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE INTO SMALLER AND SMALLER PLOTS. OWNED BY A FEW INDIVIDUALS WHO BOUGHT UP THE MAJORITY OF THE LAND. SO THE RICH ARE GETTING RICHER AND THE POOR GETTING POORER.
EVEN THOUGH WE CAN TRACE THIS DEVELOPMENT, WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THE CITY WAS DECLINING AT THIS TIME, OR WHY IT WAS NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE. BUT SHORTLY AFTER 1,300 NUZI WAS ABANDONED.
CITY LIFE IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B. C. IN MESOPOTAMIA WAS A GATHERING OF MANY PEOPLE OF MANY PROFESSIONS, AND INCOMES. WE SEE A WIDE RANGE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND WRITTEN EVIDENCE, THAT INFORMS US ABOUT URBANISM.
IN THE NEXT LECTURE WE SHALL MOVE TO A MORE MUNDANE TOPIC— FOOD AND DRINK!
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VERY INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE AT AND AFTER THE TIME OF ABRAHAM.
ABRAHAM AND HIS FATHER WERE IN THE CATTLE BUSINESS.
IT SHOULD BE EASY TO SEE THAT SOME OF THE LIFE FOR PEOPLE BACK THEN HAD COME DOWN, BEEN HANDED DOWN, FROM THE GENERATIONS AFTER NOAH. YES THE PEOPLE WERE INTO FALSE GODS, AND FALSE WORSHIP TO THESE GODS, BUT WE CAN ALSO SEE THEY HAD BEEN HANDED DOWN SOME GOOD LAWS, THAT MOST CERTAINLY WENT BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF CREATED HUMAN LIFE.
Keith Hunt
MESOPOTAMIA— Foods and Drink at the time of Abraham and after.
From the 36 lectures by Professor Alexis Q. Castor “BETWEEN THE TWO RIVERS - A History of Ancient Mesopotamia”
THE LAST LECTURE WE DISCUSSED MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES, AND WHAT EXISTED IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C. AND I WARNED YOU THAT I WAS DRAWING FROM SITES ALL OVER MESOPOTAMIA AND A LOT OF TIME PERIODS TO CREATE THAT PICTURE OF WHAT CITY LIFE WAS LIKE.
IN TODAY’S PICTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA, FOOD AND DRINK, I WILL BE DOING THE SAME THING, ONLY I WILL BE DRAWING FROM AN EVEN BROADER TIME PERIOD. BASICALLY FROM PRE-HISTORY DOWN TO THE END OF OUR COURSE.
I WILL TRY TO GIVE SENCE OF WHAT TYPES OF FOOD AND DRINK ENJOYED BY MESOPOTAMIANS; THIS WOULD CONSIST OF THE DIET THEY WOULD HAVE MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD OF HISTORY. SO IT MAKES SENSE TO DRAW ON AS MUCH EVIDENCE AS POSSIBLE.
WHEN WE DISCUSS FOOD AND DRINK WE USE REPRESENTATIONS OF FOOD AND DRINK IN ART, AND ALSO AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, AND SCATTERED WRITTEN REFERENCES. ALSO TO FEASTS THAT MIGHT BE SPONSORED BY THE TEMPLE, PERHAPS BY RULERS, AND SOMETIMES EVEN POETRY CAN GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT FOODS WERE ESPECIALLY EXOTIC AND TASETY.
THE WRITTEN EVIDENCE ALSO COMES FROM RATION LISTS, AND CAN BE FROM ROYAL BANQUETS, AND THERE IS ONE TEXT THAT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN PROVIDING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOODS AVAILABLE. THIS IS AN ANCIENT DICTIONARY OF ARCADIAN AND SUMERIAN TERM, FOR DIFFERENT FOODS. THERE IS A ROW OF ARCADIAN TERMS AND A SUPPORTING ROW OF SAMARIUM TERMS.
SO WHEN I SAY WE HAVE EX NUMBER OF TERMS FOR BREAD, YOU’LL KNOW IT COMES FROM THIS DICTIONARY.
MANY REFERENCES TO RATIONS OR EVEN THE TYPES OF FOOD EATEN, AND DISTRIBUTED, SURVIVE. BUT ONLY A FEW RECIPES ARE KNOWN, SO THE KNOWLEDGE OF MESOPOTAMIAN MEALS IS SOMEWHAT HINDERED. SO WE HAVE TO USE OUR IMAGINATION TO THINK ABOUT HOW A COOK COULD COMBINE THE DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS TO CREATE A GOOD MEAL.
CERTAINLY THE RICH ENVIRONMENT OF MESOPOTAMIA SUPPLIED A GOOD DIET FOR THE INHABITANTS OF THE REGION. WE TALKED ABOUT HOW GRAINS, NUTS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, WERE DOMESTICATED IN THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD, AND THEY WERE FULLY DOMESTICATED BY THE END OF THE 3RD MILLENNIUM B. C.
BARLEY AND EMMA WHEAT WERE THE MOST REDILY AVAILABLE GRAINS. AND OFTEN BARLEY APPEARS IN FOOD DISTRIBUTED. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF GRAINS. CHICK-PEAS WERE ALSO ESPECIALLY DESIRED, THEY ARE A GOOD SOURSE OF PROTEIN. I ADD THEM TO STEWS, AND I’M SURE THIS WAS DONE IN ANTIQUITY AS WELL.
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS WOULD PROVIDE BEEF, LAMB, AND GOAT, BUT WE KNOW FROM OTHER SOURCES, THE ANIMALS WERE TO PRECIOUS FOR MEAT ON A REGULAR BASIS. AND IT WAS PROBABLY MUCH MORE COMMON TO HUNT WILD ANIMALS, TO PROVIDE MEAT FOR THE TABLE. MANY TYPES OF BIRDS AND FISH WERE PLENTIFUL FROM THE AREAS AROUND THE RIVERS, IN THE MASHES AND EVEN ARTIFICIAL PONDS WOULD BE STOCKED WITH FISH WHEN NECESSARY TO HELP SUPPLY FOOD FOR THE CITY.
ANOTHER, LESS WIDELY USE TODAY FOR PROTEIN WOULD BE LOCUSTS. ONE LETTER TO A KING RECORDS THERE HAD BEEN A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS, ON THE ONE HAND DESOLATED GRAINS, AND OTHER CROPS, BUT DID IN THEMSELVES PROVIDE FOOD, WHEN THEY WERE FRIED FOR DINNER.
EGGS TOO COULD SUPPLY PROTEIN, AND OVER 150,000 EGGS AND 50,000 BIRDS, WERE COLLECTED IN A TWO AND A HALF YEAR PERIOD BY SHULGI. AND REMEMBER THE UT 111 KINGS REQUIRED TAX FROM DIFFERENT RESOURCES, DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE KINGDOM, AND SO THIS PARTICULAR REGIONS SUPPLIED BIRD AND EGGS. THEN THE PALACE WOULD USE THEM, FOR BANQUETS AND EVEN DISTRIBUTE TO OTHER REGIONS.
DAIRY PRODUCTS WERE OF COURSE AVAILABLE FROM THE PREVALENCE OF GOATS AND SHEEP AND CATTLE. BUT IT’S UNCLEAR HOW THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESERVED WITHOUT SPOILING UNLESS THEY WERE MADE INTO CHEESE. AND ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT TERMS FOR CHEESE ARE KNOWN. PROBABLY AND FREQUENTLY A TYPE OF CHEESE WAS SOME SORT OF CREAM CHEESE THAT COULD BE FLAVORED WITH DIFFERENT SPECIES OR OTHER ADDITIONS.
ONIONS, LEAKS AND GARLIC SEASONED DISHES, BUT OTHER SPICES WERE COSTLY, AND MOSTLY AVAILABLE ONLY TO THE WEALTHY.
A VARIETY OF OILS— SESAMI, LINSEED AND OLIVE OIL WERE AVAILABLE TO ADD TO DISHES AND HELP IN THEIR PREPARATION.
SPICES DON’T SHOW UP OFTEN IN TEXTS, BUT CORIANDER AND MUSTARD WERE AVAILABLE. SOME VERY SCATTERED REFERENCES OF THOSE SPICES BEING IMPORTED FROM THE EAST, HAVE APPEARED IN 6TH CENTURY B. C. TEXTS.
AS FAR AS WE KNOW HONEY WAS NOT CULTIVATED, BUT IT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN COLLECTED IN THE WILD. HONEY DOES APPEAR IN TEXTS BUT THERE IS NO REFERENCE TO HONEY-KEEPS OR BEE FARMS.
TRUFFLES WERE A DELECY THAT COULD PLEASE A RULER. AT MARI A WORKMAN DELIVERED TRUFFLES TO THE PALACE, PROBABLY IN HOPES OF SOME SORT OF REWARD, WHICH HE RECEIVED WITH THE GRATITUDE OF THE KING.
DATES WERE A POPULAR FRUIT AND DATE ORCHARDS WERE AMONG THE HIGHLY DESIRE AGRICULTURAL PART OF LIFE. OTHER FRUITS AVAILABLE WERE APPLES, PEARS, FIGS, AND POMEGRANATES.
THIS LIST OF AVAILABLE FOODS GIVES YOU A SENSE OF THE RESOURCES.
BUT NOW, LET’S TRY TO COMBINE THEM INTO A MEAL AND GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE MESOPOTAMIANS ATE.
TWO MEALS A DAY, ONE IN THE MORNING AND ONE IN THE EVENING WERE CUSTOMARY. AND YOU MIGHT REMEMBER WHEN I DISCUSSED TEMPLES THAT THE GODS RECEIVED TWO MEALS A DAY, JUST LIKE HUMANS.
BREAD AND BEER WERE THE STAPLES OF MOST MEALS. OVER THREE HUNDRED OF MESOPOTAMIA TERMS FOR BREAD HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. NO RECEIPTS SURVIVE, UNFORTUNATELY. BAKERS PROBABLY ADDED DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS TO BREAD TO CREATE THIS VARIETY OF TYPES. WE KNOW SOME OF THE FLAVORINGS USED WERE— FRUITS LIKE CUT UP DATES, POMEGRANATES WERE USED IN SOME BREAD. DIFFERENT TYPES OF OILS; SESIME AND OLIVE OIL WERE KNOWN TO BE ADDED TO BREAD, TO CREATE A MORE SAVORY BREAD. TERMS ALSO REFER TO THE SIZE, LARGE LOAF OR SMALL LOAF, AND EVEN TERMS FOR BREADS OF SPECIFIC SHAPE, AND DIFFERENT GRAINS. ALL OF THIS WOULD CREATE ENOUGH BREAD TO PLEASE ANYONE. EVEN THOUGH BREAD IS ONE OF THE STAPLES OF MESOPOTAMIA DIET, YOU ARE NOT EATING THE SAME LOAF EVERY DAY FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE; YOU HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF CHOICES.
SEVERAL CLAY MOLDS WERE FOUND IN THE PALACE KITCHEN AT MARI. AND SOME SCHOLARS SAY THAT THESE WERE USED TO MAKE DECORATIVE BREADS. THE SHAPES FOUND INCLUDE FISH; THERE IS A MOLD OF CONCENTRIC CIRCLES. OTHER SCHOLARS BELIEVE THE MOLDS WERE FOR DISHES, OR MAYBE USED TO MAKE SOME OTHER SORT OF FOODS, LIKE CHEESE OR JELLY OF SOME SORT. TO MY MIND IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT THE SPECIFIC USE WAS FOR, IT SHOWS THAT FOOD WAS MANIPULATED TO PLEASE THE EYE, AS WELL AS THE PALET.
THE OTHER STAPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA DIET WAS BEER. AND BEER MADE OF BARLEY WOULD PROVIDE A NUTRITIOUS MESOPOTAMIAN MEAL. BEER COULD BE MADE AT HOME OR ON A LARGER SCALE, THAT WE KNOW MOST ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL BREWERS. IT WAS MADE AT HOME FROM BARLEY, WHICH WOULD BE ALLOWED TO SPROUT, AND THEN THE BREWER WOULD CRUSH THEM INTO A MASH, THAT WAS MALTED AND FERMENTED IN A LARGE VAT. ONCE THE FERMENTATION OCCURRED THE MALT WAS DRIED AND THIS WOULD ALLOW IT TO BE TRANSPORTED OR STORED VERY EASILY. SO YOU CAN SEND THE RAW INGREDIENTS UP THE RIVER, OR YOU CAN KEEP IT OVER THE WINTER. WHEN YOU WANTED TO MAKE BEER YOU’D ADD WEATER, SOMETIMES OTHER FLAVORS. WE KNOW OF POMEGRANATE AND ANA-SEED, LIQUORICE, GAVE TASTE TO THE BEER AS MENTIONED IN TEXTS. AND ONCE THE WATER WAS ADDED, AGAIN, FERMENTATION IN A LARGE STORAGE VAT AND THE DREGS WOULD SETTLE THERE. THE RESULT IS BEER. WHICH COULD BE SOLD IN TAVENS, OR USED AT HOME.
SPECIFIC BREWS ARE DESCRIBED AS ESPECIALLY SWEET OR OLD, AND WE ASSUME THAT OLD MEANS GOOD IN THIS CASE. SOME ARTISTIC REPRESENTATIONS SHOW DRINKERS DRINKING BEER FROM A LARGE VAT, AND THERE ARE SEVERAL DRINKERS SITTING AROUND THE VAT PLACED ON THE GROUND, EACH DRINKER HAS THEIR OWN LONG STRAW. SO IT REALLY IS A COMMUNAL BEVERAGE.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT INDIVIDUAL BEAKERS WERE USE, SO NOT ALWAYS THIS COMMUNAL DRINKING, THAT WE SEE IN SOME OF THE EARLIEST REPRESENTATIONS.
THE ALCOHOL CONTENT OF BEER WAS NOT ESPECIALLY HIGH. AT ITS STRONGEST IT WOULD APPROXIMATELY BE AS THE CONTENT IN MODERN BEERS.
THE GODESS NINCASI WAS THE PATRON DEITY OF BREWERS. AND FEMALE BREWERS ARE LISTED REGULARLY; THEY ARE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH TAVERNS. IF YOU REMEMBER WE MET A FEMALE TAVEN KEEPER— SUDORI, IN THE EPIC OF GILDERMESH, AND SHE PROVIDED OUR EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF THE WISDOM OF A BAR-KEEPER, WHEN SHE TRIED TO PREVENT GILDERMESH FROM GOING ON HIS FRUITLESS QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY.
FOOD PREPARATION USED FIRE IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. FOOD COULD BE BROILD OR ROASTED OVER AN OPEN FLAME, OR WARMED WITH A GOOD AMOUNT OF HOT COALS.
BREAD WAS BAKED IN NEIGHBORHOOD OVENS AND YOU’LL REMEMBER BAKERS WERE ONE OF THE PROFESSIONS DISCUSSED IN THE PREVIOUS LECTURE. A NEIGHBORHOOD OVEN WOULD ALLOW A LOT OF BREAD TO BE MADE WITHOUT HEATING UP A LOT OF HOUSES, AND THIS IS STILL THE PRACTICE IN MANY PLACES IN THE NEAR EAST TODAY. BREAD IS BOUGHT ON A DAILY BASIS RATHER THAN MADE AT HOME.
THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF HOME BAKERIES, BREAD COULD BE MADE ON A CLAY CIRINGLIER BURNER, GOTTEN VERY HOT, SO IT WOULD BE PLACED OVER A FIRE AND THE BREAD WAS PLACED AT THE TOP, SO IT WOULD CREATE UN-LEAVENED BREAD, THAT COULD BE USED, AS WE USE WRAPS TODAY.
THERE ARE ALSO OVENS THAT ARE COVERED AND HAVE A DOMED TOP, SO THIS WOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH HUMIDITY TO PRODUCE LEAVENED BREAD.
POTS AND KETTLES OF CLAY OR METAL, WOULD BE USED FOR BOILING, STEWING, AND SOUPS, WHICH WE KNOW WERE VERY POPULAR.
BRASIERS FOR COOKING STRIPS OF MEAT, VEGETABLES, PROVIDED A SMALL PORTABLE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT, AND AGAIN THIS WOULD ALLOW THE HOME SHEF TO ADAPT TO THE ENVIRONMENT; IF IT WAS ESPECIALLY HOT OUTSIDE YOU DON’T WANT TO BUILD A LARGE FIRE OVEN INSIDE. YOU WANT TO HAVE THE SMALLEST COOKING SPACE NECESSARY, SO THESE LITTLE HIBACHIS SERVED THE PURPOSE QUITE WELL.
PALACE ARCHIVES FILL IN THE OTHER DETAILS OF THE MESOPOTAMIAN DIET. WHICH ALSO INDICATE WHICH SPECIFIC OCCASIONS WHEN RULERS HOSTED LARGE BANQUETS.
WINE IS DESCRIBED IN SOME OF THESE TEXTS, ALMOST ALWAYS IN A ROYAL ARCHIVE THAN IN A PRIVATE TEXT, AND THERE IS ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR WINE. SPECIFICALLY FROM THE ANALYSIS OF JARS THAT HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED. AND YOU MIGHT RECALL I MENTIONED THAT A FAIRLY RECENT DISCOVERY UNCOVERED WINE JARS, IN THE CITY OF ERUK. THAT WAS BY FAR THE EARLIEST INDICATION OF WINE IN MESOPOTAMIA. WHERE UNTIL THIS WAS DISCOVERED WINE WAS THOUGHT TO EMERGE SOMEWHERE OVER THE SECOND MILLENNIUM, AND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS IMPORTANT THAN BEER.
WE KNOW THAT SOME VINES GREW IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA BUT THERE’S VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE IN CONTRAST TO BEER MAKING, THAT INFORMS USE ABOUT WINE MAKING IN MESOPOTAMIA ITSELF. MOST WINE WHEN IT APPEARS ON OUR DOCUMENTS WAS IMPORTED. AND WE GET REFERENCES TO CERTAIN VINTAGES. SUCH AS WINE FROM CARCHEMISH WHICH IS IN ANATOLIA, WHICH MAY SUGGEST WINE WAS IDENTIFIED FROM SPECIFIC REGIONS, JUST AS IT IS TODAY.
WE HAVE DESCRIPTIONS OF RED WINE, WHITE WINE, WINE OF DIFFERENT QUALITIES, SO AT ONE OF THESE ROYAL BANQUETS THE BEST WINE IS RESERVED FOR THE KING, AND THE REST OF THE GUESTS GET A MUCH LESS A QUALITY OF WINE. AND ALSO WINE OF DIFFERENT STRENGTHS, SOME WINE IS DESCRIBED AS ESPECIALLY STRONG, OTHER WINE IS SWEET OR VERY CLEAR.
WINE WAS OFTEN SENT TO A KING AS A GIFT, USUALLY FROM ANOTHER KING, AND IN RETURN THE RECIPIENT OF THE WINE WOULD GIVE IT TO HIS FAVORITE OFFICIALS. KANARABI RECEIVED WINE FROM A RULER OF A KIND THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD DRINK. SO WE SEE THAT THIS WAS PART OF THE LUXURY GOODS THAT KINGS WOULD RECEIVE TO SOLIDIFY ALLIANCES BETWEEN KINGS, AND CREATE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THEM.
THE ASSYRIAN RULERS OF THE FIRST CENTURY B. C. WERE ESPECIALLY FOND OF RECEIVING LARGE GIFTS OF WINE, EITHER FROM OFFICIALS OR FROM OTHER RULERS.
EVEN AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS POPULARITY THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT WINE EVER REPLACED BEER AS THE BEVERAGE OF CHOICE IN MESOPOTAMIA.
THE 18TH CENTURY B. C. KING OF MARI, SIMURI-LIM WAS JUSTLY PROUD OF HIS ICE-HOUSE, WHICH HE HAD BUILT IN HIS PALACE, ALONG THE NORTHERN EUPHRATES. AN INSCRIPTION ON THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE ICE-HOUSE, THAT WAS DISCOVERED, CREDITS SIMURI-LIM AS “THE BUILDER OF AN ICE-HOUSE, WHICH NO PREVIOUS KING HAD EVER BUILT ON THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.”
LETTERS FROM THE PREVIOUS KING OF MARI, WHOM SIMURI-LIM SUPPLANTED— YASMA-ADAD, HAD ALSO REFERRED TO ICE. YASMA-ADAD WAS QUITE THE GURMONT, HE OFTEN REFERRED TO FOOD AND WINE IN HIS TEXTS. HE WAS VERY CONCERNED WITH HIS PARTICULAR DIET AND MAKING SURE HE GOT THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. SO IT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISING HE WAS ALSO INTERESTED IN GETTING ICE FOR COOL DRINKS, OR TO PRESERVE FOOD.
YASMA-ADAD’S FATHER ADVISED HIM FROM THE CITY OF ASTU “GIVE ORDERS TO THE CUP-BEARER’S SERVANTS AND MAKE THEM COLLECT THE ICE, LET THEM WASH IT FREE OF TWIGS, AND DUNG, AND DIRT.”
THE ICE WAS PROBABLY COLLECTED FROM A MOUNTAIN THEN BROUGHT DOWN TO MARI, WHERE IT WOULD BE STORED AND WRAPPED IN SOME WAY.….
WE KNOW THAT ICE WAS SPECIFICALLY USED TO COOL DRINKS, BOTH WINE AND FRUIT DRINKS, ARE MENTIONED AS BEING COOLED BY ICE. AND THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE REFRESHING ON A HOT SUMMER DAY ALONG THE NORTHERN EUPHRATES.
KINGS SPONSORED FEASTS ON A HUGE SCALE. AND THIS WOULD EARN THEM SUPPORT AMONG THEIR OWN PEOPLE, AND ALSO IMPRESS VISITORS.
THE PALACE KITCHEN STAFF WERE QUITE EXTENSIVE, BECAUSE THEY WOULD HAVE TO SERVE MANY PEOPLE ON A DAILY BASIS, SO ON THESE SPECIAL OCCASIONS PROVIDE FOOD FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF VISITORS. THE PALACE WAS ALWAYS A BUSY CENTER, RECEIVING ENVOYS, MERCHANTS, AS WELL AS SPONSORING MANY DIFFERENT CRAFT INDUSTRIES. SO THEY WOULD NEED TO HAVE SOMEONE OVERSEEING ITS KITCHEN, THE SUPPLIES RECEIVED AND HOW THEY WERE DISTRIBUTED.
A WOMAN NAMED AMADUGA WAS THE KEEPER OF THE KITCHEN AT MARI. HER NAME APPEAR FIRST DURING THE EIGN OF YASMA-ADAD, WHO WAS SO CONCERNED WITH HIS TUMMY AND ICE, AND SHE RETAINED HER POSITION EVEN WHEN THE KING WAS DEPOSED, AND SIMERI-LIM TOOK OVER THE PALACE. HER NAME IS KNOW FROM HER CYLINDER SEAL, UISED TO AUTHORIZE RECEIPTS OF OIL AND GRAIN, AND THIS MINOR PEICE OF EVIDENCE INFORMS US THAT— FIRST OF ALL, THAT PALACE STAFF COULD STAY DESPITE WHOEVER WAS ON THE THRONE AT THE TIME. NOTING HOW LARGE A PALACE COULD BE IT’S NOT SURPRISING A RULER WOULD WANT SOMEONE WITH EXPERIENCE.
ANOTHER DETAIL ABOUT AMADUGA IS THAT HER CYLINDER SEAL REVEALS HER IDENTIFICATION AS THE SERVANT OF YASMA-ADAD RATHER THAN THE SERVANT OF SIMURI-LIM. SO EVEN THOUGH THERE IS THIS CHANGE OF RULER, AMADUGA CONTINUES TO DESCRIBE HERSELF BY HER EARLIER KING. AND SHE MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY POWERFUL WOMAN TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS IN THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD.
LET’S LOOK AT ONE BANQUET SPONSORED BY A KING. IT GIVES US A SENCE OF WHAT A HOUSEKEEPER LIKE AMADUGA WOULD HAVE OVERSEEN.
THE 9TH CENTURY B. C. ASSYRIAN KING ASANASOPOL 11 SPONSORED A FEAST AT THE OPENING OF HIS NEW CAPITAL, FOR 609, 574 PEOPLE. HE PROUDLY RECORDED HIS GENEROSITY ON AN INSCRIPTION THAT IS IN DETAIL. THE CELEBRATION LASTED FOR 10 DAYS, AND THE GUEST LIST INCLUDED BOTH LOCALS, HIS ASSYRIAN SUBJECTS, AND 5, 000 FOREIGN AMBASSADORS. BY THIS TIME ASSYRIA WAS A POWERFUL NATION, SO THEY COULD ENCOURAGE THEIR PROVIDENCES TO SEND DIGNITARIES ON SUCH AS THIS BANQUET. THE MENUE FOR THIS FEAST SHOWS THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FOOD THAT A RULER SUPPLIED. 10 THOUSAND SHEEP, 34 THOUSAND TYPES OF FOWL, 10 THOUSAND FISH, AND OTHER TYPES OF MEAT. THE GUESTS WOULD ENJOY THIS WITH 10 THOUSAND JARS OF BEER, THE SIZE IS NOT GIVEN. AND 10 THOUSAND CONTAINERS OF WINE.
IN ADDITION TO FOOD, PUBLIC BANQUETS LIKE THIS WOULD ALSO SUPPLY ENTERTAINMENT. WE KNOW OF DANCING, ACROBATS, MUSICIANS WOULD BE THERE ALSO, TO ENTERTAIN THE GUESTS. AND THE FEAST WAS ANOTHER OCCASION FOR THE RULER TO DEMONSTRATE HIS WEALTH AND GENEROSITY. AT THE SAME TIME A FEAST LIKE THIS WOULD ENCOURAGE HIS PEOPLE TO BE ESPECIALLY FAVORABLE TOWARDS HIM, THE KING. AFTER ALL YOU LEAVE A DINNER AND YOU’VE HAD LOTS OF FOOD AND LOTS TO DRINK, YOU OFTEN HAVE GOOD-WILL TOWARDS YOUR HOST….. ALL THE PEOPLE WOULD MEET THE KING, EAT WITH THE KING, DRINK WITH THE KING, AND THAT TOO WOULD CREATE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE RULER AND HIS PEOPLE.
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE PALACE AND THE TEMPLE, WERE CONNECTED WITH FOOD SUPPLY IN ANOTHER VENUE— PROVIDING RATIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR LABOR. IF YOU THINK BACK TO THE 4TH MILLENNIUM B. C. WE’VE ALREADY CONSIDERED THIS RESPONSIBILITY WITH THE RULING AND RELIGIOUS ELITE. THE BEVIL RIMMED BOWL WE’VE DISCUSSED, THIS DISPOSABLE CONTAINER, THAT SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE WAS A WAY FOR GRAIN OR BEER TO BE DISPERSED TO WORKERS, WAS PREVALENT IN THE 4TH MILLENNIUM B. C. WE SEE THIS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE., WHERE THE TEMPLE’S ROLE WAS IN DISTRIBUTING FOOD.
RATION LISTS SURVIVE FROM MANY DIFFERENT PERIODS. AND THE RATIONS VARIED BY THE AGE OF THE GENDER INDIVIDUALS, BUT ALL OF THEM FULFILLED THE CALORIES NEEDED FOR A DAYS WORK. THESE WORKERS WERE USUALLY EMPLOYED IN COMMUNAL PROJECTS IN BUILDING TEMPLES, PALACES, OR LARGE AGRICULTURAL HARVESTS; THEY MIGHT WORK AT BUILDING CANALS TO BRING THIS ABUNDANCE TO THE TABLE.
THE RATIONS GIVEN IN RETURN FOR LABOR, AVERAGED ABOUT 16 GALLONS OF BARLEY A MONTH, FOR A MALE WORKER. CHILDREN FROM THE AGE OF 10 TO 15, WOULD RECEIVE 10 GALLONS OF BARLEY, AND THE ELDERLY GOT ABOUT HALF OF THAT. THE RECORDS TELLS US THAT A MALE WORKER WOULD CONSUME ABOUT 1/2 A GALLON OF BARLEY AND 1/2 A GALLON OF BEER PER DAY. IN CONTRAST WHEN AN EMPLOYER HAD TO PAY WORKERS FOR THEIR LABOR, OTHER THAN SIMPLY PROVIDING RATIONS, A MALE WORKER COULD RECEIVE UP TO 62 AND 1/2 GALLONS OF BARLY A MONTH. PRESUMABLY THE WORKER COULD SELL OR BARTER THE EXESS FOOD, AND THAT COULD SUPPLEMENT HIS INCOME.
WE SEE THAT THOSE WORKERS WHO WERE GIVEN RATIONS, COULD NOT COMMAND MORE IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR WORK. AND THEY WERE PROBABLY THE LOWEST MEMBERS OF SOCIETY. SO WHEN WE SEE A DIVISION BY AGE, THE AGE OF THE CHILDREN, AND CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 ARE RECORDED IN THESE RATION LISTS, AND THE ELDERLY, THERE ARE DISTINCTIONS IN WHAT RATIONS THEY RECEIVED. WE ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT THE TEMPLE AND THE PALACE WERE THEIR DUTY TO PROVIDE FOOD FOR THEIR PEOPLE. AND THE WAY THEY DID THIS WAS TO PUT THEM TO WORK, AND DIFFERENT TASKS.
WE’VE SEEN HOW THE TEMPLE AND THE KING ARE ORDERED TO SUPPLY FOOD FOR THEIR PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T EASILY SUPPLY FOOD FOR THEMSELVES. AND THEIR ARE ALSO OCCASIONS WHEN, SOMEHOW THE KING COULD NOT SUPPLY FOOD FOR HIS WORKERS. AND THESE DON’T RECEIVE MUCH ATTENTION IN THE TEXTS BECAUSE KINGS DON’T LIKE TO REVEAL THEIR WEAKNESSES. WE CAN IDENTIFY CERTAIN PERIODS OF FAMINE. AND I THINK I MENTIONED ONE OF THESE AT THE END OF THE UR 111 DYNASTY, THE LAST KING ABI-SIN WAS FACING A WIDE-SPREAD FAMINE IN HIS KINGDOM. AND HE SENT LETTERS TO A GENERAL BEGGING THE GENERAL TO SEND HIM FOOD, SO HE COULD SUPPLY THE PEOPLE AT UR WITH BREAD. AND HE DEMANDED THE FOOD AT ANY PRICE. SO WE GET A SENSE THAT THERE WERE DEFINITELY TIMES WHEN THERE WAS INFLATION FOR THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE.
ANOTHER OCCASION THAT WOULD CAUSE A DISRUPTION OF FOOD SUPPLY, WOULD BE WHEN A CITY WOULD BE BESIEGED. AND THIS IS ONE OF THE DRAWBACKS TO CITY LIFE, WHEN AS WAR INCREASED IN THE SECOND AND FIRST MILLENNIUM B. C. , CITIES WOULD MORE OFTEN BE BESIEGED BY RULERS TRYING TO CONTROL A LARGE TERRITORY. SO AN ARMY ENCAMPED AROUND A CITY WOULD PREVENT WORKERS FROM GOING OUT TO THEIR FIELDS. AND ANY FOOD THAT WAS SUPPLY THOSE WHO WERE CUPPED UP BEHIND THE CITY WALLS, HAD TO BE BROUGHT IN BEFORE THE SIEGE BEGAN. EVENTUALLY THE FOOD WOULD RUN OUT, IN NO SMALL PART BECAUSE THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WALLS OF THE CITY DEPENDING ON IT FOR PROTECTION.
AS WE LOOK AT MILITARY RECORDS WE CAN USUALLY FIGURE OUT WHEN FOOD, SOME TIMES THE WATER SUPPLY, RAN OUT IN THE CITY…….
THIS FOOD STUDY ALLOWS US TO SEE THE LOCAL FOODS AND SOME EXOTIC FOODS, THAT WERE AVAILABLE IN MESOPOTAMIA. SOMETIMES WHEN WE THINK OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, WE THINK THAT EVERYONE WAS EATING A TASTELESS MUSH, A VERY BLEAK DIET RARELY COOKED MEAT, BUT IN FACT THE TEXTS IMAGINE US TO SEE MEALS THAT WERE MUCH CLOSER TO MODERN MEALS— VARIETY, AND TASTES OF DIFFERENT TEXTURES.
WE’VE ALSO LEARNED FOOD WAS A COMMODITY EXCHANGED FOR WORK, OR AS A TREAT GIVEN BY A RULER TO HIS PEOPLE ON THE OCCASION OF A BANQUET. IT COULD ALSO BE THE WEAK LINK IN A CITY, WHEN THE CITY WAS UNDER SIEGE.
KEEP IN MIND THE PICTURE OF CITIES WE HAVE BEEN CREATING OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF LECTURES.
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YES INDEED AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM AND AFTER THERE WAS QUITE THE CITY LIFE, IN HOW CITIES FORMED, AND THE DAILY WORK THAT WAS PART OF CITIES, WITH ALSO THE VARIETY OF FOODS AND PREPARATION OF FOODS AND DRINKS, TO MAKE PHYSICAL LIFE ENJOYABLE.
Keith Hunt
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