Lecture 3: Ancient Mesopotamia

Overview of the Region

Mesopotamia ("the land between the two rivers")

The area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

(larger version of map)

approximately modern Iraq

Northern part (north of modern Baghdad) was Assyria.

Rolling plains on a bed of rocks.

In ancient times, the main language was Assyrian, a dialect of Akkadian

Capitals: first Ashur, later Nineveh

Southern Mesopotamia was ancient Babylonia.

Country is a flat alluvial plain.

Date groves from Uruk south.

Language: Babylonian dialect of Akkadian.

Capital: Babylon

Ashur and Babylon rose to prominence about 1700 bce.

Before then, Babylonia consisted of Akkad to the north and Sumer to the south.

The Penn Sumerian Dictionary project is a major project that will take several lifetimes to complete.

For more background, consult "Exploring Ancient World Cultures: The Near East".

Overview of History

Assyria had small agricultural villages from the seventh millenium. Babylonia had seminomadic small villages on watercourses. Around the middle of the fourth millenium BCE (3500 BCE), Mesopotamian culture developed planned large- scale irrigation by means of canals. This permitted a spectacular increase in concentrated populations. The first cities arose: Eridu, Ur, Uruk.

At that time, we can speak of true civilization: monumental architecture, magnificent sculpture, and the world's first writing system: a pictographic system. Later, cuneiform would replace it as a more abstract version. (See sketch of development of writing in the Ancient Near East). The writing medium was clay. After being baked, it turned out to be a very durable material. It has survived better than the papyrus of Egypt.

Because Mesopotamia had little stone and no timber, they built with bricks hardened from mud. Unfortunately, the monumental buildings of ancient Mesopotamia have over the centuries crumbled into low mounds of mud. The ancient Mesopotamians would not be surprised.

In each city-state, political authority rested in a political assembly that practiced a primitive democracy. The assembly elected officers, such as the "en" (a religious and economic manager) and the "lugal" (an emergency war leader). Over time, these positions merged into that of a king.

The early dynastic period consisted of wars between the various city states. Later, various city-states were able to wield enough power to hold together empires: the Babylonian Empire, Assyrian Empire, Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Persian Empire.

Hammurabi of Babylon flourished about 1792-1750. He is famous for his remarkably early code of law. (See stele with code in cuneiform below the image. In this detail, Shamash, the sun god gives the scepter and globe of kingship to Hammurabi.)

By the first millenium there was a steady rivalry between Babylonia and Assyria. Tiglath-pilesar III (745-727) conquered Babylon. His important successors included Sargon II and Sennacherib. Assyria fell in 609 to the combined forces of the Babylonians and the Medes. Nabopolassar, an Aramaean) founded a dynasty. His son Nebuchadrezzar (alias Nebuchadnezzar) conquered Syria (and Canaan). Aramaic became the lingua franca (the language everyone in the empire spoke to communicate with one another). Aramaic is very closely related to the Hebrew.

In 539, Babylon accepted Cyrus the Persian as king. Persian period begins.

For more on chronology, see "Chronology: The Near East"

The Numinous

Thorkild Jacobsen points out that the environment of ancient Mesopotamia shaped the Mesopotamiam worldview. Unlike the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates rise unpredictably, and when they do that can break the dikes that hold it back. Torrential rains turn the land into a bog. Standing among such powers, human beings in Mesopotamia realized they are caught up in forces much larger than themselves.

The phenomena of the world were experienced as full of life and independent will. The thunderstorm that dominated the low Mesopotamian plain was a warrior; lightning was his spear and thunder the sound of his chariot. The earth was a mother, giving birth to new vegetation each year.

The earliest Mesopotamian deities seem to be personified aspects of nature: for example, Anu ("Heaven") or Hursag ("Foothills").
Some times a "en" ("productive manager", "master") or "nin" ("mistress") was added to the name, as in Enlil, "Master of storm" or Ninana, "Mistress of date clusters."

The deities could also be represented as anthropomorphic (having a human form). So Inanna (earlier Ninana) could be represented either physiomorphically as the gateposts to a storehouse or as the morning star -- or anthropomorphically in human form. Hursag ("Foothills") became Ninhursag ("Mistress of foothills").

Mesopotamian culture viewed the universe as a state -- a cosmic version of their own city-states, a state complete with with its own assembly and primitive democracy, productive managers, and military leaders for times of crisis. Human beings had no standing in this assembly, just as slaves had no standing in the Mesopotamian city-states. The gods deliberated on matters of destiny until they reached consensus. Once coming events were backed by the united wills of the great powers of the universe, Enlil carries them out.

The Mesopotamian pantheon included the following prominent members.

Anu,

god of the sky and father of the gods, the archetypal king.

Enlil,

"Lord Storm," god of wind and storms, executive officer of the divine assembly.

Ninurta,

the son of Enlil, god of the plow.

Ninhursaga,

Mistress of the Foothills, the fertile slopes leading to the eastern mountains, "the lady who gives birth"

Enki or Ea,

"Lord Earth," god of the underground fresh waters.

Inanna (earlier Ninana, also known as Ishtar),

"mistress of the date clusters" and "mistress of heaven", goddess of fertility and love, protector of harlots

Dumuzi,

a shepherd-god, Inanna's husband (mentioned in Ezekiel 8:14)

Ereshkigal,

"queen of the greater earth," that is, the underworld

Marduk or Merodakh,

"young bull of the thunderstorms," city god of Babylon.

Another interesting feature of the Mesopotamian mythological world was the Lammasu or winged bulls. For more information on Mesopotamian mythology, visit Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ

Temples

Temples were usually built of mud brick (stone and timber were too far away).

They were often rebuilt on the ruins of the previous temple.

The filling was known as the temple terrace or temen (Greek temenos).

Artificial mountains of sun-dried bricks were squared off to form a staged tower, the ziggurat. (Ziggurat at Ur)

Cult

Various cult dramas were performed: the Sacred Marriage, the Death Drama, the Battle Drama, and others.

In the Sacred Marriage, the en became the god of the date palm and brought the date harvest to the storeroom of the temple. In order to ensure productivity, he consummated his marriage with Inanna (that is, presumably, with his wife).

death scene, headdress, Tomb drawing

In the Death Drama, processions of mourners went into the desert in early summer to lament the dying god of fertility, usually Dumuzi. (See Ezekiel 8:14)

The name of Marduk's main festival was Akitu ("time of the earth reviving") at Near Year's.

"Enuma Elish" ("The Epic of Creation" in the photocopied readings) is considered a myth corresponding to an annual ritual re-enactment of the battle at the Akitu.

At the New Year's festival, the story of creation was recited and a mock battle was fought in which the king played the role of the god who is victorious over the forces of chaos.

In Babylon, a king's coronation was postponed until the New Year's festival.

Note: The idea of a cosmic battle between a creator god and the forces of chaos (especially, a dragon or sea-monster) is common in the Ancient Near East. Compare Baal's defeat of Yamm ("Sea") in Canaanite myth; especially,

Though you did slay Lotan the fleeing [or primeval] serpent,
Did make an end of the twisting [or crooked] serpent
The Foul-fanged with Seven Heads.

We see references to it in the Hebrew Bible as well, in places like Job 26:12-13; Psalm 74:13-14; 89:9-10 and this passage in Isaiah 27:1, which uses some of the same words the Canaanite myth uses:

On that day the LORD with his cruel and great and strong sword
will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan the twisting serpent,
and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

In Mesopotamia, any deviation from the ordinary was considered ominous -- literally, an omen containing a divine message. It was common to seek omens in the livers of sacrificed goats. This practice is called "hepatoscopy". There was an extensive omen literature.

Babylonian Calendar, Mathematics, Astronomy

Babylonia had a base-60 mathematical system. That's why we have 60 minutes in an hour, 360 degrees in a circle and so on.

Babylonia had sophisticated observational astronomy (see footnote in readings). They had identified astronomical regularities such as the Tropic of Cancer (the Line of Enlil), the Tropic of Capricorn (the Line of Ea), and the Ecliptic (the Crossing-Line, approximately the orbit of Jupiter). All of these elements are incorporated into the form of the flood story we have in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

The Mesopotamian astronomers organized the belt of stars around the celestial Equator (Equinoctial) into the 12 major divisions we know as the Zodiac. In addition, each zodiacal division had 3 way-station stars ten degrees apart.

Jewish and other traditions used the Babylonian names of the months and their calendrical system, which was able to keep the lunar calendar coordinated with the solar year.

Assignment for This Week's Recitation

Read the Ancient Near Eastern myths handed out in class, especially the excerpts from Enuma Elish and the Gilgamesh Epic. Also read Genesis 1-11, focusing on the creation stories in 1:1-2:4a; 2:4b-3:24 and the flood story in chapters 6-9. Be prepared to compare and contrast the biblical stories with the others.

For More Information

For more about Gilgamesh, check out this summary

Here are some more web resources for Ancient Near East