BEFORE WE START INTO JOSHUA ETC. I'LL GIVE YOU AGAIN THE OVERALL OF CIVILIZATION, WHICH DID NOT START IN AFRICA AS EVIL-UTION TEACHES.
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?”
………………..
TO BE CONTINUED
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