First Sumerians - Ancient History - Lecture Notes, Study notes of History

Download First Sumerians - Ancient History - Lecture Notes and more Study notes History in PDF only on Docsity! First Sumerians • Sumerians first arrived in region around 5000 BC – Typical Paleolithic people motivated by search for game – Settled in region and took up farming • Built dams, dikes, and short canals to use water from the Euphrates • Grew barley and dates and raised sheep and goats • SUMERIAN CITY-STATES • City-states gradually emerged over next 1000 years – Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Kish, Umma, etc. – Larger than Neolithic settlements and displayed evidence of economic specialization and strong political organization – Included the urban center plus surrounding countryside – Each was also an independent political unit • SUMERIAN AGRICULTURE • Each was crisscrossed by irrigation system of major canals and minor channels – Designed to bring water from Euphrates to farmland • Farmland divided into square and rectangle-shaped plots – Farmers worked land with plows, seed-drills, and stone hoes and received yield of 40:1 • Other areas set aside as gardens and fruit orchards • Carts pulled by donkeys and boats on the canals took produce to the urban center itself • CITY CHARACTERISTICS • Each city surrounded by walls – Permanent garrisons of soldiers stationed in towers and at each gate • Wide boulevards crossed city, lined by houses of the wealthy – Rest of city made up of narrow, twisting alleys surrounded by small, flat-roofed huts Docsity.com • Homes of farmers, and small craftsmen • ZIGGURAT • Most dominant structure in each city was its temple – Dedicated to patron god of the city – Largest structure in city – Resembled a gigantic stepped pyramid • Designed to look like mountains because Sumerians believed their gods liked to live on top of mountains • LUGAL • Cities originally governed by an assembly of adult males • Kings appeared who claimed to be representatives of the gods and who took control of most government functions – Called lugals – Not originally an hereditary position and the king’s power was limited to interpreting the will of the gods – But this position would become extraordinarily powerful in a relatively short period of time • GENERAL ANARCHY • Although an occasional city-state would temporarily control the region from time to time, more common were long, anarchic periods where the various city-states fought each other over boundaries and water rights • Constant warfare, shifting alliances, and double-crosses were important characteristics of ancient Sumer • SARGON THE GREAT • MORE SARGON THE GREAT • STILL MORE ON SARGON THE GREAT • According to legend, he was a poor orphan adopted by a gardener • Not a harsh ruler Docsity.com • SUMERIAN GODS • At top of Sumerian pantheon of gods was An – Divine force, the creator, thought to be the sky • Below An came Enhil – Controlled the weather – Capricious • Then came Enki – Controlled fertility of the earth and abundance of harvests • Also capricious and cruel • Then 50 other major gods and a host of minor gods, demons, spirits, and the like • FIRST CREATION MYTH • World was originally nothing but water • From this water, two forces—one male and one female—arose and created An through procreation • An then created the other gods, who then worked with him to make the sky, earth, and human beings • Sumerians believed the world was the conscious product of a divine force and that it was created for a divine purpose – Although this might be difficult for human beings to ascertain • NATURE OF RELIGION • Sumerian gods did not pay much attention to mortals – More interested in drinking, partying, and fighting among themselves • Sumerians did not therefore worship their gods out of any sense of devotion or love – They worshipped them out of fear of the gods’ power and capriciousness • Sumerian religion was pessimistic Docsity.com – Reflected mentality of a people who had just recently raised themselves to the level of civilization in a land marked by a severe climate and where the dangers of flood and disease were always present (and also unexplainable and incurable) • RELIGIOUS DILEMMA I • Sumerians were proud of their achievements – But they worried about to what extent did their achievements, or at least their pride in their achievements, go against what the gods wanted • To what extent did man’s achievements upset the natural order created by the gods? • RELGIOUS DILEMMA II • This dilemma was reflected in their mythology – Myth of Great Flood • Gods, angry at the pride of men, destroyed mankind (except one person) in order to teach humans a lesson – Myth of the “Garden of Eden” • Humans kicked out of this paradise by refusing to be passive and obey the rules of the gods – Mythology reflected Mesopotamian insecurity over the alleged contradiction between their growing belief in the importance of man and his earthly accomplishments and the ingrained belief that they were the insignificant creation of divine beings much more important than they were • GILGAMESH I • Epic poem first written down around 2000 BC – Part of oral tradition for at least 1000 years before it was written down – Hero is legendary king of the city-state of Uruk – Began career as good ruler – But turned into a tyrant – Gods decide to punish him for his pride • GILGAMESH II Docsity.com • Gods send wild man named Enkidu to kill Gilgamesh • Gilgamesh recruits a prostitute to tame Enkidu – She does and Enkidu “became like a man” (ie., civilized) – Also becomes loyal companion of Gilgamesh • GILGAMESH III • Gilgamesh becomes obsessed with his mortality and tries to find a way to cheat death • At first he tries to become so famous that his reputation will live forever – Fights and defeats numerous monsters – In the course of these adventures, Enkidu offends a god and is made to die • GILGAMESH IV • Gilgamesh is devastated by Enkidu’s death – Mopes around for a while – Then searches for Ut-Napishtim • Sumerian Noah who survived the Great Flood • Person to whom the gods had given the secret of eternal life • GILGAMESH V • Ut-Napishtim tells Gilgamesh how to find magic plant that will bring Enkidu back to life – Also tells entire story of the Great Flood – Gilgamesh finds plant after difficult quest – But a snake steals it from him before he arrives home – Story then suddenly ends • MEANING • Don’t mess with the gods – Gilgamesh defied the gods several times, only to be slapped down by them • Men can achieve but they must remember that they were only men Docsity.com