Early Sumerian Cities PDF

EARLY SUMERIAN CITIES ANTH 116 CAROLINE ARBUCKLE MACLEOD UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN OBJECT ANALYSIS games keep track of trade/currency music math/counting piggy bank *foun...

EARLY SUMERIAN CITIES ANTH 116 CAROLINE ARBUCKLE MACLEOD UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN OBJECT ANALYSIS games keep track of trade/currency music math/counting piggy bank *found under a temple floor* the marks pressed in to match the counters infront bullie **was a way of insuring that what was sent was all sent while trading** * the trade was based around the the temple*  REVIEW The Neolithic Period = beginning of settled communities Early agriculture, animal domestication First fortified communities Jericho (walls, tower) First Megalithic Religious Constructions Göbekli Tepe Intensification of art, decoration, craft technologies Çatalhöyük  TODAY’S CLASS The “Urban Revolution” Protoliterate / Uruk Period Uruk The Development of Writing Early Dynastic Period Ur  CHILDE’S “CITY” CRITERIA URBAN REVOLUTION "this is what made a city" 1. Concentrations of people in a restricted area. 2. Developed social stratification. 3. Non-agricultural occupations: craft specialists, priests, administrators, etc. 4. An economic surplus and its appropriation by a central authority. 5. Writing. 6. Exact and predictive sciences, to forecast the weather for agricultural production. 7. Monumental public architecture 8. Figural art. 9. Foreign trade. 10.Residence-based group membership - a sense of community.  UN DEFINITION OF A CITY: The UN definition involves three steps. An area is divided into a one- kilometre-square grid. Each box is assessed to see if it has at least 1,500 residents. If there are enough contiguous boxes with that minimum density to total a population of more than 50,000, it’s a city.  SUMER AND THE SUMERIANS: GENERAL BACKGROUND Ubaid Period ca. 5000-3500 BCE (Chalcolithic) Protoliterate / Uruk Period ca. 3500-2900 BCE (Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age) Early Dynastic Period ca. 2900-2350 BCE (Early Bronze Age) https://www.worldhistory.org/video/1102/irrigation-in-mesopotamia/  SUMER AND THE SUMERIANS: GENERAL BACKGROUND once they were able to control the water into their fields they ended up having a problem with salt build up. Ubaid Period most communities would have to get up and relocate due to the salt ca. 5000-3500 BCE (Chalcolithic) Protoliterate / Uruk Period ca. 3500-2900 BCE (Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age) Early Dynastic Period ca. 2900-2350 BCE (Early Bronze Age)  URUK – SITE CARD Name: Uruk (Warka) Location: Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq Excavators: Robert Adams, Hans Nissen, German Oriental Society Phases of Archaeological Interest: Uruk Period, Early Dynastic Period ca. 3500-2350 BCE Particular Significance: Contender for “earliest city”, prime example of Sumerian city-state, earliest evidence for writing  URUK – URUK PERIOD barley was a popular food Uruk Period: ca. 3500-2900 BCE Named for the dominant city: Uruk (Warka) ca. 3500 BCE – total 435 ha (ED I) Urban center – rural support Long-distance trade Habuba Kabira specialized craftspeople Full-time administrative and religious personnel  URUK – URUK PERIOD Residential Areas Division into different districts Administration, industrial, religious Not organized by social status Houses tended to be large – maybe kin households Difficult to distinguish social hierarchies based on housing Habuba Kabira and Abu Salabikh Large houses at Habuba Kabira Habuba Kabira Expedition Sumerian cities often had canals  URUK – URUK PERIOD Temple Areas sumerian cities main focus was usually the temples focus of Urban life in Sumerian cities Ensi (viceroy), lugal (king) Manufactured temple mounds = ziggurats “a monumental stepped platform with a temple on the top” Reconstruction of Anu Ziggurat with White Temple By DAI  URUK – URUK PERIOD Anu Ziggurat and the White Temple God An or Anu – sky god “High Temple” – c. 3000 BCE Terrace 13m high – c. 3500 BCE Tripartite plan there was burning on the alter which suggest it was done while Central altar worshipping Stairs to flat roof Processional ramps Plan of White Temple and Ziggurat Gates 2.3  URUK – URUK PERIOD Anu Ziggurat and the White Temple God An or Anu – sky god “High Temple” – c. 3000 BCE Terrace 13m high – c. 3500 BCE Tripartite plan Central altar Stairs to flat roof Processional ramps Reconstruction of Anu Ziggurat with White Temple By DAI  URUK – URUK PERIOD Eanna Precinct “Ground-level” temple Goddess Inanna – love and warfare Became associated with Astarte, Ishtar, Cybele, Artemis Included a series of temples and buildings date back to mid-4th mill BCE Eanna Precinct – Gates 2.5  URUK – URUK PERIOD Eanna Precinct Mosaic Court Painted ”cone mosaics” Some of the earliest evidence for writing Eanna Precinct – Gates 2.5  URUK – THE FINDS Uruk Mask (Lady of Uruk) 20 cm high Found in Eanna Precinct Part of a figure Holes at the back for attaching Would have been inlaid  URUK – THE FINDS The Uruk Vase (Warka Vase) Alabaster 1.05m (base reconstructed) From the Eanna Precinct Created c. 3000 BCE Originally painted An image of Sumerian society repaired  temple world THE URUK VASE on the exam good example about river on the exam animals ag river  URUK – THE FINDS Bevel-Rimmed Bowls Mass produced Evidence of redistribution? Found at Habuba Kabira (north-west Syria) may be the unit of measure its self  URUK – THE FINDS Cylinder Seals Unique seals rolled out on clay to signify ownership Help to track bureaucratic areas, trade, and communication Helpful dating indicators Imagery often religious in nature Cylinder seal from Uruk c.3300-3000 BCE – BM 116721  THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING Cuneiform Script this is not a language it is a script Developed as a bureaucratic recording system Late fourth, early third millennium BCE Means “wedge-shaped” Developed out of “Protocuneiform” Largest collection from Eanna Precinct Significant text: “Standard List of Professions” Protocuneiform Tablet  THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Early Dynastic Period – c. 2900- 2350 BCE Uruk begins to lose prominence Becomes one among many Sumerian city-states Writing, historical documents The Sumerian King List Significant warfare among city-states In later period (EDIII) start to see palaces – but temples remain central  THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Temple Oval at Khafajeh Example of “High Temple” from ED Sacred area (100m across) purified with clean sand Surrounded by oval wall Inner oval enclosed court with workshops and storage rooms Large central temple on platform – no longer tripartite (though exact plan uncertain)  THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Stele of the Vultures Describes semi- mythical battle between Lagash and Umma Found at Telloh (Girsu) of Lagash Ensi - Eannatum Ningirsu, Imdugud (Anzu)  EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Bronze lintel from Ubaid High Temple Shows Imdugud (Anzu) and stags Worshipper Figurines From Square Temple at Tell Asmar  UR: THE ROYAL TOMBS Name: Ur Location: Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq Excavators: Leonard Woolley Phases of Archaeological Interest: 5th – 1st millennia BCE (here, EDIII) Particular Significance: Royal Tombs – elaborate goods and human sacrifice  UR: THE ROYAL TOMBS 16 royal tombs around 2000 burials Some names known from inscribed objects Queen Pu-abi, kings Akalamdug and Meskalamdug Deceased laid in room at the bottom of a ramp Funerary procession of people laid neatly on ramp Tomb no. 1237 – 74 bodies 68 women dressed with fine gold jewelry Layout of the Tomb of Puabi Woolley 1934 UR: THE ROYAL TOMBS UR: THE ROYAL TOMBS THE STANDARD OF UR THE STANDARD OF UR THE STANDARD OF UR  SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The beginning of true cities Focused on Uruk Ubaid, Uruk, and Early Dynastic Periods Clear rulers and subjects Central, large temples Narrative artwork Monumental tombs The beginning of writing