The Fertile Crescent and - The Rise of Ancient Civilizations Part I

Context

"Sumerian" is the name given by the Semitic-speaking Akkadians to non-Semitic speaking people living in Mesopotamia.  City-states in the region first rose to power during the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. They are situated on the flatlands of the lower Euphrates. The people who developed Sumer are thought to have formed the first complex civilization in world history. Hunter-gathers moved into the fertile land and began to build small villages. The farmers were taught that the success of their crops depended upon the blessings of the gods. Sumer's city-states grew prosperous from the surplus food produced on their farms. These surpluses allowed Sumerians to increase long-distance trade, exchanging the extra food and other goods for items they needed with neighboring cultures. This process in which a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion.

Key Focus Points

• The Sumerians were a people living in Mesopotamia from the 27th-20th century BCE. 
• The major periods in Sumerian history were the Ubaid period (6500-4100 BCE), the Uruk period (4100-2900 BCE), the Early Dynastic period (2900-2334 BCE), the Akkadian Empire period (2334 – 2218 BCE), the Gutian period (2218-2047 BCE), Sumerian Renaissance/Third Dynasty of Ur (2047-1940 BCE), and then decline. 
• Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form that were specific to each city-state.
• Sumerians invented or perfected many forms of technology, including the wheel, mathematics, and cuneiform script.

The Sumerian villages grew into large towns and gradually transformed into theocratic city-state governments. By 3000 BCE, the Sumerian built several cities that included Ur, Uruk, Larsa, Eridu, Kish, Lagash, and Umma.  The cities were divided into several categories, with agricultural fields owned by the gods and worked on their behalf, and some fields were rented out annually to individuals and others awarded to individuals, rent-free. Massive walls surrounded the city with the farmland outside the walls. Each city-state had its government and paid tribute to a single King; the average city-state population ranged from 15,000 to 250,000. These ancient city-states functioned much as an independent country does today.

The Sumerians believed that many different gods controlled the various forces in nature. The belief in more than one god is called polytheism. Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form -- Sumerians described their gods as doing human-like things—falling in love, having children, quarreling, etc. The core pantheon consisted of An (heaven), Enki (a healer and friend to humans), Enlil (gave spells spirits must obey), Inanna (love and war), Utu (sun-god), and Sin (moon-god). The Sumerians also believed that their gods were both immortal and all-powerful, and humans were nothing but their servants. Each city worshiped a separate god and had a temple called a ziggurat that looked like a pyramid with a flat top. To keep the gods happy, the Sumerians offered sacrifices of animals, food, and wine.  In addition to the place of worship, the ziggurat was like a city hall. The priests acted as the go-between with the gods, they were the administrators of the government. Sumerian priests gave military leaders control of standing armies. In time, military leaders became the rulers who usually passed their power on to their sons, who eventually passed it on to their own heirs. This series of rulers from a single-family is called a dynasty.

Kings, landholders, and priests made up the highest levels in Sumerian society. Wealthy merchants ranked next. The vast majority of ordinary Sumerian people worked with their hands in fields and workshops. Sumerian women could work as merchants, farmers, or artisans. They could hold property in their names.  Upper-class women did learn to read and write and could join the priesthood. Sumerian women had more rights than women in many later civilizations. At the lowest level of Sumerian society were the slaves. Some slaves were foreigners captured in war. Others were Sumerians who had been sold into slavery as children to pay the debts of their poor parents. Debt slaves could hope to buy their freedom eventually.

The belief systems, social structure, technology, and arts of the Sumerians reflected their civilization’s triumph over the harsh environment. The Sumerians developed many inventions such as the first form of writing, a number system, the first wheeled vehicles, sun-dried bricks, cuneiform script, arithmetic, geometry, saws, and other tools, sandals, chariots, harpoons, beer, and irrigation for farming. They also were engaged in astronomy and the movement of the moon and the stars.

• Archaeological evidence indicates that the Sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow and that they were among the first to use bronze. Sumerians’ had achieved practical use of scient and technology that included:
• Arithmetic and geometry were used to erect city walls and buildings, plan irrigation systems, and survey flooded fields. They developed a number system in base 60, from which stem the modern units for measuring time (60 seconds = 1 minute) and the 360 degrees of a circle.
• The Sumerians' use of architectural innovations that included arches, columns, ramps, and the pyramid permanently influenced future civilizations.
• The earliest writing systems evolved independently and at roughly the same time in various regions of the world. Sumerian written history began in the 27th century BCE. Cuneiform functioned both phonetically and semantically rather than only representing objects directly as a picture.
• One of the first known maps was made on a clay tablet in about 2300 BCE. Other tablets contain some of the oldest written records of scientific investigations in the areas of astronomy, chemistry, and medicine.

After 2500 BCE, many Sumerian city-states came under the rule of dynasties. The first dynasty of Ur was that of Mesannipadda ("youngling chosen by An"), the first king listed on the Sumerian king list (royal genealogical tablets found on the site) about 2700 BCE, and it lasted approximately 177 years. During the latter part of this time, at about 2600 BCE. It succeeded in conquering various surrounding areas, under King Urukagina, followed by neighboring Umma by King Lugalzaggesi.

Watch the video: Sumerian Civilization

Akkadian 

About 2350 BCE, the northern region of Mesopotamia, became known as the Akkadian Empire. The Akkadian Empire reached westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea and perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara); northward as far as the mountains; eastward over Elam; and as far south as Magan (Oman). The Empire's breadbasket was the rain-fed agricultural system of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria), and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat production. Trade extended from the silver mines of Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan, and from the cedars of Lebanon to the copper of Magan.

Learning Outcome

• Describe the critical political characteristics of the Akkadian Empire

Key Focus Points

• The Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region in ancient Mesopotamia, which united all the indigenous Akkadian speaking Semites and the Sumerian speakers under one rule within a multilingual empire.
• King Sargon I, the founder of the Empire, conquered several regions in Mesopotamia and consolidated his power by instating Akkadian officials in new territories. He extended trade across Mesopotamia and strengthened the economy through rain-fed agriculture in northern Mesopotamia.
• The Akkadian Empire experienced a period of successful conquest due to benign climatic conditions, huge agricultural surpluses, and the confiscation of wealth.

At its height, the Akkadian Empire controlled land from the Mediterranean Coast in the west to present-day Iran in the east. Akkad was an empire that continued the Sumerian culture and spread beyond the Tigris-Euphrates Valley under the control of one ruler. Its founder was Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BCE). Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history. King Sargon’s dynasty lasted only about 200 years.  Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BCE.  Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BCE and continued the Sumerian culture that spread beyond the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.

The Akkadian Empire had a traditional standard in governance; its economy was dependent on irrigated farmlands, and rain-fed agriculture of Northern Iraq. There was often a surplus of agriculture but shortages of other goods, like metal ore, timber, and building stone. Sumerians and Akkadians were bilingual in each other's languages. Over time, the Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian. The Empire had postal service, and a library featuring astronomical observations.

The Empire of Akkad collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 years of its founding. The collapse ushered in a Dark Age period of regional decline that lasted until the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in 2112 BCE. The collapse of rain-fed agriculture in the Upper Country due to drought meant the loss of the agrarian subsidies, which had kept the Akkadian Empire solvent in southern Mesopotamia. Rivalries between pastoralists and farmers increased. Changing climatic conditions also contributed to internal rivalries and fragmentation, and the Empire eventually split into the Assyrian Empire in the north and the Babylonian Empire in the south.

Watch the video: Akkadian Civilization

Elamite 

The Elamites reigned from the fourth millennium to the first millennium BCE on a large part of present-day southwest Iran. The area occupied for millennia by the Elamite Empire was affluent agriculturally and provided access to major shipping routes across land and sea. The Elamite culture included several dynastic lines. Elamite history can be divided into three main phases: The Old, Middle, and Late, or Neo-Elamite periods. In all periods, Elam was closely involved with Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria, sometimes through peaceful trade, and sometimes through war. 

Learning Outcomes

• Discuss the chronology of and the material culture of the Elamite Civilization

Key Focus Points

• During the late prehistoric periods, Elam had cultural ties to ancient Mesopotamia.
• The capital of Elam was Susa, and it became dominant in the year 2000 BCE when Babylon was captured.
• Elam's art and architecture styles appear to have been borrowed from Babylonia.
• The appearance of metals in Elamite life was evident through figurines with stylistic features that included intertwined metals.
• The Elamites practiced polytheism (belief in multiple deities).

The Elamites maintained power through a strict system of accession and inheritance, which allowed power to stay focused within the Elamite mainstream culture. Elamite Culture was arranged around trade and resources and generated cosmopolitan wealth. The people of Elam benefited from the riches, artwork, and resources of many cultures and places.

Elamite Culture was a patriarchal (led by men) society, reflecting the vast majority of surrounding civilizations. Marriages were generally polygamous with the practice of levirate marriage (the practice of a brother marrying his deceased brother's widow) a means by which to keep wealth centered within the family or tribe. Death was culturally similar to other peoples as the dead were entombed, sometimes with representative statues that depicted the deceased person.

Religion was a central part of Elamite society and served a couple of purposes; first, it connected religion to the throne – placing religion under government sponsorship, and second, by establishing a temple for sacrifices, gathering, and festivals, the King could gain wealth and tribute from his people while providing them a peaceful and necessary spiritual outlet. The Elamites defeated invades that included Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon and kept protected their independence and identity, but finally, they assigned their reign to Assyrian.

Watch the video: Elamite Civilization