Difference between revisions of "*History 8 Mesopotamia Concepts"

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Page 47

• 1. What are the common markers of material civilization?

Civilizations are defined in a materialistic sense by anthropologists and archaeologists. The most common markers of civilization are cities, bronze technology, writing, ceremonial and religious buildings, large-scale art, hierarchies and class divisions, all bound by some form of law and unified by an organized military force.(Manual p.47) N.Gonzalez To learn more go to [1]

Picture from http://appletravel.cn/news-10032.html

A bronze artifcact, like this one, is one of the material markers of civilization.

• 2. According to Michael Wood, what do the material markers hide?

The basic material makers- cities, bronze technology, monumental art, writing, ceremonial buildings, temples, hierarchies and class division, law, and a military force- are very common and found in civilizations everywhere. "Nevertheless, these common material factors hide very different conceptions of what civilization actually is, the ultimate goals of organized human life on earth, moral, intellectual, political, and spiritual(Manual pg.47)." This is saying that each civilization was made to fulfill the individual and specific needs of each population. So even though all the civilizations had similar material markers, each civilization began to leave these markers behind in each culture's struggle to achieve their goals of what life on earth should be. Manual pg. 47 Claire Gorman

• 3. What are the basic tenets of the Modern West?

The most prominent tenets of the Modern West are the development of irrigation, uniformitarianism,and the first cities. Irrigation was a staple of the West because without it, modern civilization wouldn't exist. It allowed cities that were far from a body of water to get water without having to trade for it or move it to the city. This also allowed farming to be an easier process because they would not have to hand-water their crops. Uniformitarianism is a key tenet because it shows how little and how much things have changed over the course of time. Lastly, the first cities were formed in the West, because of the abundance of natural rescources in the area. The Fertile Crescent, also known as the cradle of civilization, bared the first cities because resources like grain, water, and animals could be found almost anywhere throughout the region. Michael Steiner

• 4. The Sumerians were particularly vulnerable to outside attack. Explain why.

The Sumerians lived in a flat alluvial plaine 300 miles long and never more the 150 miles wide in between the Tigris and Eupphrates Rivers. The Both rivers flood at unpredictable times. If the Sumerians where attacked from the outside during a flood, they would not be able to escape easily. Also even if the rivers were not flooding, the attack from th eoutside would be unpredicted because of the rivers. Again, if the rivers were not flooding, the Sumerians would not be able to leave the area because they would have to cross one of the rivers. If the attack came from the Euphrates side of Sumer, the Sumerians would hav e to evacuate towards the Tigris river, "the bigger, faster and more unpredictable" (Manual pg 48), river. All of this information came from the Manual page 48. Lindsey McKone

This picture is from 'http://www.ancientskies.info/about/background/'

This picture shows the map of Sumer and how it is placed between two rivers causing a difficulty to escape during an outside attack.

• 5. Explain what Wood means by "landscape and climate are the key determining factors in the rise of civilization."

The climate in Mesopotamia was very dry with unpredictable floods from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Farming was impossible in such a landscape, and irrigation needed to sustain large populations was impossible without a large scale cooperative. The civilization was unable to grow crops without farming and water. Also, the plain was not endowed with other natural resources. There was little stone, no wood, or precious metals. This limits what you build and also what you are able to trade, generating no revenue. Eventually the people discovered mudbrick and used this to built their huts with. These factors limited the rise of civilization. For more information see page 48 in your manual. Also this link will take you to a website on the climate: http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Iraq.html J Trieschman

• 6. What effect did population growth have on the environment?

With the explosion of the Mesopotamian population, the inhabitants of the land between the river began using their natural recourses at a faster rate than they could regenerate. As alluded to in Gilgamesh, the various city-states began deforesting their surrounding forests at an ever increasing and unsustainable rate. This was due to the explosion in population, where in places like the city of Uruk, the city had a population of over 40,000. As the cities grew, their need for natural resources like timber grew too. In the aforementioned Gilgamesh example, Gilgamesh and Enkinu go and chop down an entire cedar forrest, perhaps explaining why Jordan no longer has any great cedar forests. The same effect happened, but to a more extreme degree, at Easter Island. The natives took advantage of the environment, and then suffered for it. The population crisis also affected Mesopotamia's neighbors to the north. Eastern Anatolia and Kurdistan make their mark on the environment: slashing, burning, cutting down forests, clearing brushwood, leaving the distinctive, bare ribbed hilly landscape of the region today. This unfortunately had dire consequences for the downriver Mesopotamians. The soil thus eroded washed into the rivers with each winter’s rain, the alluvium, which has extended the southern plain of Iraq by a hundred miles since the fourth millennium BC, began to form. Shane Zerr

Page 50-53

• 7. What are the key arts of civilization?
• 8. The ways in which the natural environment influenced religious beliefs in Sumer?

The natural environment influenced religious beliefs in Sumer in many ways. For example, their gods were the gods of ideas and needs supplied by the environment. The people of Sumer had a god of grain, a god of fishermen, and a god of fertility. These concepts all come from nature, like grain, - a staple in their everyday diet, and something they cannot live without - fishermen, - again, another necessity in their lives, because fishermen meant fish, which could be sold for food or money - and fertility - a vital part of life to sustain and uphold the Sumerian civilization. Another way the natural environment influenced their religious beliefs was the location of shrines and places of worship. A shrine worshiping a fresh water god would be found near fresh water, but a worshiping place for the ind god would be in a very windy location. These shrines played a huge role in the religious aspect of the life of a Sumerian. The shrine decided what foods could be given to the gods, when it could be given to the gods, and how it could be given to the gods. As is obvious, the natural environment influenced religious beliefs in Sumer, and helped to shape the famous culture we know and strive to learn about today. For more information, go to page 50 in the Manual. I got my information from the Manual and from [[2]].

• 9. The basic features of Mesopotamian culture as reflected in its literature and art?

Sumer was the first state to have developed writing, sometime around 3000BC. Writing was the most important and greatest invention, along with astronomy, literature, law, school, and map of the world. More than 95% of this writing contained texts; such as facts and figures, traditions, bills, accounts, inventories, measures of crops, and amount of land. Also, most of the writing contained facts about their gods and what they believed in. Therefore, the basic features that Mesopotamian culture contained as reflected in literature and art are its religion (which contained a great amount of gods), culture (writings about tales, stories, happenings, events), and records of various agricultural means (predicting crops, keeping records of harvest amounts, etc). Sumer was by far the most advanced and most impressive city or state at the time. It developed many inventions that would lead to the modern ones of today. It is no surprise that it is said that Sumer was the birth of the economic human being, homo economicus. (CF Manual Pages 50-53) ~Stefania Ciurea

• 10. What was the role of writing in Ancient Sumer?

The greatest of all Sumerian inventions was writing. Writing was first found in Uruk. It is believed to be invented no longer before 3000 BC. Most of the writing found seemed to be for an economic use. Symbols carved into clay tablets recorded bills, accounts, inventories, and measures of crops harvested. Writing was also used to create the first calender, which was used to predict the dates of the floods and just to keep track of time over the coarse of a year. The Sumerians also had an incredible imagination when it comes to writing literature. Myths were used to explain the unexplainable, like telling the stories of the gods. One of the most famous myths created by the Sumerians was the Epic of Gilgamesh. This illustrates the tale of the Flood and the great ark and the magnificent power of their king, Gilgamesh. The invention of writing changed the coarse of the Sumerians life and the coarse of history itself. Olivia Havel

• 11. What is the enduring legacy of Mesopotamia and why?

The most enduring legacy of Mesopotamia is its myths. The world's first piece of literature, which is the epic of Gilgamesh, comes from Mesopotamia and contains a Flood story and a futile quest for everlasting life. A Flood story similar to the one in Gilgamesh shows up in the bible centuries later. To see a chart comparing the flood in the bible to the flood in Gilgamesh, go to [3]. The quest for everlasting life is also a theme found repeatedly in other literature: for example, the Odyssey and the Holy Grail. Noel Higgason

• 12. The role of technology in the rise of empires in Mesopotamia?
• 13. How does Wood characterize this civilization and why?
• 14. What were the reasons for the fall of Sumerian civilization?

Page 53-54

• 15. What significant changes in government happened in the shift to the Babylonian Empire?
• 16. The function of written law in ancient Babylon?

*17. ID Hammurabi.

• 18. Explain the Law of Talon? How did influence Hammurabi's code?

Page 55-56

• 19. Using Turner's Theory, explain the physical environment of the Assyrians.
• 20 Detail the effects of the Assyrian policy of deportation of conquered peoples.
• 21. What innovations in technology occurred during the Assyrian period and what effects did they have?
• 22. What caused the end of the Assyrian empire? Whose theory best describes the Assyrians?

Page 57-58

• 23. Why and how did the Neo Babylonian empire end?
• 24. What was the legacy of Mesopotamia and how does the manual describe them?