The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History 8th Edition PDF

The Ancient World A Social and Cultural History D. Brendan Nagle University of Southern California Eighth Edition Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai...

The Ancient World A Social and Cultural History D. Brendan Nagle University of Southern California Eighth Edition Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montréal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editor in Chief: Ashley Dodge Cover Image: The J. 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Brendan Nagle, University of Southern ­California.—Eighth edition.   pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-205-94150-6 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-205-94150-8 (alk. paper) 1. Civilization, Ancient. I. Title. CB311.N25 2013 930—dc23 2013037934 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0-205-94150-8 ISBN 13: 978-0-205-94150-6  Contents Preface  vi Chapter 4 The Emergence of Greek Civilization  59 Chapter 1 The Early Civilizations of Key Topics  59 ­Mesopotamia and Egypt   1 Greece: Never A Unified State   59 Key Topics  1 Old Europe and the Origins of Greek Why Mesopotamia?  1 Culture  60 The Agricultural Revolution   2 The Minoan and Mycenaean Ages   61 The State and Urban Revolution   4 The Dark Ages: A Time of Transition   66 Early Mesopotamian History: The Sumerian Out of the Darkness: the Archaic Age   68 Period (3100–2000 b.c.)  6 The Example of Two Cities: Sparta and The Egyptian Alternative: The Old and Athens  73 Middle Kingdoms  14 The Polis: A New Form of Society   76 Questions  22 Formulating Greek Cultural and Social Chapter 2 An Age of Empires: The ­Middle East, Identity in the Archaic Age   81 2000–1000 b.c.  23 Religion and the Polis   82 Key Topics  23 Questions  88 A Time of Turmoil: New Peoples East and West   23 Chapter 5 The Wars of the Greeks   89 Mesopotamia in the Age of Key Topics  89 Hammurabi  23 Persians and Greeks   89 The Hittite Empire   26 The Military Situation after Egypt: From Isolation to Empire   28 the Persian Wars   94 Egypt in Decline   34 The Great War between Athens and Sparta  96 Questions  35 The Hegemony of Sparta and Thebes   101 Chapter 3 The Middle East to the ­Persian Questions  103 Empire  36 Chapter 6 Classical Athens   104 Key Topics  36 Key Topics  104 The New Peoples of the Middle East  36 The Early Classical Period (ca. 490–450 b.c.)  104 The Persians  46 The Classical Age, (450–430 b.c.)  107 Religion and Culture in Israel   51 The Later Classical Period (430–338 b.c.)  113 The Evolution of Judaism   55 Athenian Society  119 Questions  58 Questions  134 iii iv Contents Chapter 7 Philip, Alexander, and the Hellenistic Chapter 10 The Transformation of the Roman World  135 Republic  210 Key Topics  135 Key Topics  210 Backward Macedonia Challenges Greece   135 The Old Order Fades   210 The Genius of Philip   136 The Gracchan Revolution: Social and The Orator and the King: Demosthenes ­Political Context  217 and Philip  136 From the Gracchi to Augustus: The Roman Alexander the Great   138 Revolution  221 Campaigns in Central Asia (330–323 b.c.)  141 The Cultural Revolution   227 Alexander’s Successors  142 The Fall of the Roman Republic: A Summary  233 The State and Society in the Hellenistic World  143 Questions  235 Hellenistic Society  146 Chapter 11 The Roman World from ­Augustus Culture and Religion in the Hellenistic to the Third-Century Crisis   236 World  149 Key Topics  236 Greek High Culture Adapts to a New Environment  156 The Reforms of Augustus   236 Becoming Greek: Education in the New Rounding out the Empire   241 World  164 Questions  248 The Hellenistic Age: Achievements and Limitations  167 Chapter 12 The Roman Peace   249 Questions  167 Key Topics  249 Challenge and Response   249 Chapter 8 Early Rome   168 Society and the State in the Empire   250 Key Topics  168 Religions of the Empire   256 The Connecting Sea: The Western Roman Society  259 Mediterranean  168 The Imperial Elite   261 The Latins and Early Rome   174 The Government, the Army, and The Republic  176 Society  265 The Social and Political Achievement of Questions  269 Early Rome: Consensus   182 Questions  182 Chapter 13 The Empire from the Third-Century Crisis to Justinian   270 Chapter 9 The Building of an Empire   183 Key Topics  270 Key Topics  183 The Third-Century Crisis   270 The Growth of Rome in Italy   183 Diocletian and Constantine   273 The Punic Wars: The Conflict With Response to the Crisis   277 Carthage  190 The Army, the Empire, and the Roman Territorial Expansion After The Barbarians  280 Hannibalic War  193 The Collapse of the Western Empire   281 Society and the State in the Roman The Rise of the Byzantine Empire   284 Republic  197 Questions  284 An Estimate of Roman Society: Defending the Indefensible?  208 Questions  209  Contents v Diverging Beliefs  297 Chapter 14 The Transformed Mediterranean   285 Islam and the Transformation of the Key Topics  285 Mediterranean  298 History Moves Northward and Epilogue  301 Eastward  285 Questions  302 The Transformation of the Classical Tradition  286 Suggested Readings  304 The Empire and the Church Come to Terms  287 Glossary  309 The Christian Way of Life   290 Photo Credits  313 Civilizing the Barbarians   296 Index  314  Preface M odern authors of social and cultural ­history can generally assume that their readers will share a number of fundamental presuppositions about the ­nature of A second theme that runs throughout this book is the contrast between those societies that rapidly adopted ­urbanization and forms of the territorial state and those present-day society. For example, they can take for granted that chose to retain less complex forms of political organiza- that there will be no argument with the proposition that tion, such as the tribe or the chiefdom. In the first category society is very different from or even opposed to the state were the peoples of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and its institutions. Similarly, they do not have to ­establish coastal areas. By as early as 3100 b.c., ­Mesopotamia and that the modern state is a complex mosaic of classes and Egypt had adopted various forms of the state and never cultures that interact with a large number of public, semi- subsequently reverted to prestate political conditions. public, and private bodies such as churches, corporations, By contrast, it took some regions of Europe and Eurasia educational institutions, labor unions, branches of govern- nearly another 4,000 years to make a similar transition. ment, cultural organizations, and the like. Why this was the case is not the subject of this book, but Unfortunately, a similar set of shared presuppositions the fact of the divergence between the two regions must does not exist for the ancient world. In a majority of cases, be taken into account. That the two regions were so fun- none of the institutions previously mentioned existed in damentally dissimilar might not have made a great deal antiquity, and those that did functioned at such a rudi- of difference had they been separated by oceans, but the mentary level that they counted for little. Even the ancient fact that they shared a common land frontier meant that state’s class system operated on a set of principles quite dif- they constantly interacted with each other like two great ferent from that of the modern state. Particularly in their tectonic plates p ­ ushing and grinding against each other. classical formulations, ancient societies were tightly knit Influences from the south penetrated and affected devel- communities in which political, cultural, and religious life opments in the north. Frequently the contacts were peace- closely intermingled. Society was not something set apart ful, but at other times they were extraordinarily violent. from the state but was, instead, closely identified with it. Invaders from the steppe poured into Iran, M ­ esopotamia, As a result, it is possible to write of ancient society as an and northern ­India or from northern Europe into the independent sphere of human activity in the modern sense Mediterranean region on a predictable basis. A funda- only in a very limited way. What this book seeks to do is mental instability was thus built into the very structure to pursue the distinctive forms society took in the ancient of the ancient history of western Asia and the Mediterra- world and especially the unusual relationship between so- nean. Ethnicity or race had nothing to do with the clash ciety and the state that characterized the social order of an- between these regions. Highly complex, highly developed tiquity. Detailed descriptions of the highly integrated world societies living next to politically, socially, and culturally of the classical period are given, placing special emphasis unevolved cultures inevitably provoke interaction and, at on its culture, social structures, moral values, and political times, ­collisions. Complex societies were not by any means processes. The inner workings of the Athenian democracy always victorious. Rome, for instance, strove mightily to and the Roman Republic are discussed at length, and art, introduce urbanization and state organization to north- literature, and religion—especially how they functioned, ern, western, and central Europe and, in the end, despite its vis-à-vis society—receive prominent attention. At the same great resources, failed. At times even the states of the core time, recognizing that the closely unified societies of the region of the Middle East—Mesopotamia, Syria-Palestine, classical period changed radically over the course of time, and Egypt—teetered on the brink of dissolution. special consideration is given to the much altered world of In the years since the first edition of this book ap- the Hellenistic period (third to second centuries b.c.) and peared, a great deal has been written on the social history the Roman Empire (first to fifth centuries a.d.). The last of antiquity. Despite this outpouring, the social history of chapters describe the new societies that began to make an the ancient world remains at an early stage of its develop- appearance toward the end of antiquity, laying the founda- ment. For example, any attempt to write a comprehensive tions for the modern world. survey of the family or gender relations from Sumerian to vi  Preface vii Byzantine times will quickly demonstrate the sketchiness Stephen ­Ruzicka; and Joanne Scurlock. Special thanks go to of our sources and the lack of scholarly investigation into ­Howard Shealy, Kennesaw State University, for his ­helpful particular periods or areas. However, enormous strides ­suggestions for this eighth edition and to Jackie Burns of have been made, and this new edition makes a special the Getty Museum for her help with images. ­Unless other- point of adding to and updating the social material in the wise noted translations are the author’s. text. Where appropriate, emphasis has been placed on the interconnections that permeate the history of the Middle New To This Edition East, Greece, and Rome. I owe special thanks to the following people, who at Whole book reorganized for ease of reading one stage or another in this book’s publishing history Clarification of key topics and names made helpful critical suggestions: Thomas A. ­Anderson, Illustrations Jr.; Richard Beal; John A. Brinkman; Stanley M. ­Burstein; Annotated art works T. F. Carney; Stefan Chrissanthos; Walter Donlan; Original documents H. A. Drake; Katherine F. Drew; Rory Egan; John K. Battle plans ­E vans; Arther ­F errill; R.I Frank; James Halverson; Graphs and Diagrams ­Gerald E. Kadish; Richard W. Kaeuper; Barbara ­Kellum; John A. ­K oumoulides; Eric Leichty; Michael Maas; This text is available in a variety of formats—digital and W. J. McCoy; Richard E. Mitchell; Jasonne G. O’Brien; Kate print. To learn more about our programs, pricing options, Porteus; Chris Rasmussen; Lee Reams; Brigette Russell; and customization, visit www.pearsonhighered.com. This page intentionally left blank  Chapter 1 The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt Key Topics Why Mesopotamia? As far as we can tell, the great leap from peasant village to true city Events occurred around 3000 b.c. in the land of Sumer, in the southern part of Mesopotamia. Here, for the first time, human energies were chan- Temple and Palace in neled into the creation of great temple complexes as well as large-scale ­Mesopotamian Society irrigation and flood-control projects. Directing these operations was a talented elite that drew on the then-revolutionary information storage The Pharaonic Ideology of Rule recovery technique of writing to control the collection, storage, and redistribution of the agricultural surpluses on which this new mode of human organization depended. Culture and Society A Hostile Environment The Social and Cultural Impact of the Agricultural and Paradoxically, this spectacular development took place in what is, State and Urban Revolutions from many viewpoints, a hostile environment. The climate of central and southern Mesopotamia is dry and subtropical, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and an average annual Daily Life in Mesopotamia rainfall of less than ten inches. Unlike the Nile, which floods at a time suitable for the cereal crop cycle, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood Egyptian Religion between April and June: too late for the summer planting and too early for the winter planting. As a result, agriculture is possible only by means of artificial irrigation and careful crop management. To bring moisture to the fields at the low water levels of the planting seasons, deep canals must be dug and maintained. Silting is a perennial prob- lem that can be resolved only by unending labor and a high degree of community cooperation. Salinization Salinization has always been another challenge, especially in the south, where the low water table encourages salt to collect and rise to the surface when the fields are not properly leached by fresh inundations. Without adequate drainage, the soil quickly becomes sterile, ­making it difficult, if not impossible, to restore to productivity. The rivers, with their unpredictable and often violent floods, are yet another threat to the cities and villages precariously located along their banks. Without human intervention, southern Mesopotamia hovers between swamp 1 2 The Ancient World 308 408 508 B L AC K S E A C AS PIA N S LYDIA Sardis HITTITES EA URARTU Tigris Rive r ASSYRIA Haran MEDIA Nineveh 358 CYPRUS Ebla Euphr ate MESOPOTAMIA r s e Riv SYRIA Ri ve la Orontes River r iya Byblos D ELAM MEDITERRANEAN PHOENICIA Sidon Sippar AKKAD Susa SEA Damascus Tyre Babylon Kish Sea of Galilee Nippur El Alamein CANAAN Umma Lagash Jerusalem SUMER Uruk Larsa Dead Sea Gaza Ur EGYPT Avaris Eridu Heliopolis Pe u Memphis i l f an rs G FAYUM Heracleopolis SINAI Akhetaten The Ancient Middle East Ni le Re Ri r ve d 0 100 200 300 Miles Abydos Se Thebes 0 100 200 300 Kilometers a and desert, yet it offers immense a­ dvantages over the Why Then? ­surrounding regions. When properly irrigated, the land is That it was a revolution there can be no dispute. It trans- immensely fertile, and in antiquity it was one of the rich- formed the way human beings lived and shattered a tra- est food-producing areas in the world. The Tigris and dition over two million years old. However, why the ­Euphrates rivers are excellent means of transportation, and Agricultural Revolution occurred at this precise time is still their regular burden of mud, though not as rich as that of largely a matter of conjecture. Why, for instance, did it not the Nile, is the basis for the natural fertility of the ­region. It occur during one of the earlier interglacial periods when, was these factors and, most importantly, the organizational presumably, the same conditions prevailed? It is ­difficult abilities of the Mesopotamians themselves that sustained to find any uniformly satisfying answers. We know that the brilliant civilization that flourished there for thousands ­a griculture developed more or less simultaneously in of years—one that has never ceased to influence our own many different parts of the globe, so it is unlikely that it culture. resulted from any single cause, such as climatic change or population growth, although both have been offered as The Agricultural ­explanations. We also know that the move to agriculture was not always permanently successful. In some places Revolution it was tried for a while and then abandoned. It is even The story of the growth of Mesopotamian civilization ­begins ­possible that certain plants and animals were domesticated in the fringes of the region, in the foothills of the Zagros more than once and by different peoples. Mountains to the north, and in the hills of Palestine and Most modern explanations of the origins of agricul- Lebanon to the west. There, between 8000 and 6000 b.c., ture tend to emphasize the role of microenvironments and occurred an extraordinary event that changed forever longstanding human–plant and human–animal relation- the history of the region: the Agricultural, or Neolithic, ships. Such factors as changing climatic conditions, the Revolution. presence of animals and plants that offered good potential  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 3 for domestication, and the cultural and technological put to work in the fields or gardens at an early age, and at ­levels of achievement of the human populations present harvest time that was essential to maximize the number ­undoubtedly played important roles in the development of of people who could be mobilized. Overpopulation was agriculture. solved by emigrating and opening up new land for cultiva- tion. By about 6000 b.c., villages with populations in the The Technology of Agriculture: thousands were common throughout the Middle East. Domestication Defined The key to understanding agriculture is the process known Counting the Cost for Society: as domestication. Domestication was the essential techno- The Impact on Gender Roles logical breakthrough that allowed human beings to escape The growth of population and the accumulation of mate- the age-old system of hunting and gathering and to con- rial goods changed the way human beings lived. Under trol the production of food, rather than being at the mercy hunting–gathering conditions, a rough egalitarianism of what sustenance the terrain might offer at any given prevailed: No one had (or needed) more than anyone else. moment. What was the point of accumulating things that could not Domestication can be defined as a primitive form of be carried from place to place during long nomadic treks? genetic engineering in which certain plants and animals In the settled conditions of agriculture, however, this was are brought under human control, their objectionable not the case. Now there was a reason to expand one’s pos- characteristics eliminated, their favorable ones enhanced, sessions, whether farm or flock. Wealth was its own self- and in the case of animals, inducing them to reproduce evident justification. Material goods could be accumulated, in ­captivity. If wild animals cannot be induced to breed in enjoyed during one’s lifetime, and then passed on to the captivity, they cannot be domesticated. Modern domes- next generation. With the advent of the A ­ gricultural ticated cattle, sheep, and pigs, for example, look only re- ­Revolution, inequality became, for the first time, an aspect motely like their lean, mean, and fast-moving ancestors. of the human condition because not everyone could be Domestication is best viewed as the creation of an artificial equally successful in the quest for material possessions. environment in which the chosen plants or animals come to exist exclusively. Left alone, domesticated species either Inequality and Gender die or revert to their original wild forms. Because herds, The new way of life had a powerful impact on gender re- farms, orchards, and gardens are permanent, static enti- lations. With the introduction of agriculture, the role and ties once they came into being, the old hunting–gathering status of women changed. It is estimated, for instance, that forms of social organization had to be replaced. in some present-day hunting–gathering groups, women contribute more than 70 percent of the daily food supply Accumulation of Goods and as a result have higher status than their counterparts Hunter–gatherers place a low value on possessions and in agrarian societies. In hunting–gathering bands, children a high value on mobility. Always on the move, they carry are usually spaced at three- to four-year intervals (by means only a few tools and weapons with them. Agriculture re- of late weaning), whereas in agricultural societies women verses this way of life. It cannot be practiced without a have frequent pregnancies and spend more time caring commitment to permanence and the accumulation of large for small children. In addition, men dominate agriculture amounts of material goods. Homes, villages, and storage wherever it involves the use of the plow and ­herding. As facilities must be constructed; fields cleared, divided, and their roles changed and as they lost the ability to contribute fenced; herds built up and maintained; and tools fabri- directly to the economic well-being of the community, the cated. Constant effort is required to maintain all of these. status of women declined. Once settled, farmers may not move again for generations. ­Pastoralists are equally committed to their flocks and herds. The Public Realm For practical purposes, hunting–gathering bands ­always Another factor contributing to this decline was the emer- remained small, in the range of thirty to fifty people. gence of a form of public life. In hunting–gathering bands Larger groups would have been difficult to sustain in most hierarchy was minimized and authority rested in the hands environments; smaller groups could not reproduce them- of the most trusted and able members of the community, selves. Agriculture, by contrast, knew no limits as far as as well as the elders. Everyone knew everyone else, and the population growth was concerned. Thus, where ­hunting– older members of the community mediated disputes. This gathering bands restricted their numbers, agricultural changed with the development of large villages, where more communities tended to expand them. Children could be formal and less personal methods of administering justice 4 The Ancient World and maintaining order became necessary. The power of history, the only two other events that can be compared ­coercion and patriarchal control went hand in hand: Men to the Agricultural Revolution in terms of their effects on easily assumed the new roles of judges, which comple- ­human relations are the State and Urban Revolution (to be mented their responsibility for defending villages from considered next) and the Industrial Age ­Revolution—the outside marauders and policing the more unruly members age in which we live. of their own community. The realm of justice, administra- tion, and warfare was defined as an arena of public concern under male control in opposition to, and superior to, the The State and Urban private realm of the family and the household, to which Revolution women, children, servants, and, for the first time, slaves were assigned. This distinction between public and private About the middle of the sixth millennium b.c. (ca. 5500 b.c.), realms is a key to understanding ancient society. groups of settlers driven by a mixture of enterprise and The Agricultural Revolution had thoroughly mixed re- pressure from a growing population made their way down sults. It is usually regarded as a great leap forward for hu- to the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and took up mankind, as indeed it is if we focus only on its ability to residence in the more promising riverbank environments. provide large food surpluses and to create new and more In the marshy south, fish and wildfowl contributed to the varied jobs for men. In other respects, though, it posed diet of the settlers, and in the central steppe area, sheep, challenges in terms of cooperation and the ownership of cattle, and goats were raised. Having brought with them goods that have never been adequately resolved. the grains they had cultivated in the northern hills and valleys, the settlers quickly found that barley could toler- Gender, Wealth, and War ate the somewhat more salty farmlands of the south, and Apart from its lowering of the status of women, the ag- wheat did better in the north. There was a catch, however: ricultural way of life created new stresses for everyone. Both crops required drainage and irrigation. Herds and farms had to be maintained. New sources of friction arose over boundary lines, possessions, and the Mastery of Irrigation equitable distribution of goods and responsibilities. Rela- Initial irrigation efforts occurred on a small scale, but it was tions between men and women and between children and soon learned that the volume of grain from the irrigated their parents changed. New relations between haves and patches of farmland was disproportionate to the amount of have-nots, masters and servants, owners and non-owners, land irrigated and a lot more than had been produced by means freemen and slaves came into being. Warfare became a of dry-farming techniques in the surrounding hill c­ ountry. much more serious business than it had been. There was The settlers also found that date palms flourished along the now something worth fighting over beyond mere disputes irrigation ditches and riverbanks and provided a high-calorie about hunting territory: valuable booty in the form of source of food that was easily stored. Through the transfer movable goods and people who could be put to work for and adaptation to a potentially richer area of techniques and their new masters, as well as herds and farms that could be crops that had proved successful elsewhere, the foundation for appropriated, with their previous owners enslaved. a truly self-sustained agricultural economy was established in southern Mesopotamia between 5000 and 3000 b.c. The End of Hunting-Gathering Archaeological sources demonstrate that during the It is undoubtedly true that plain superiority in force al- fourth millennium (4000–3000 b.c.), many widespread, lowed agriculturalists to overwhelm hunting–gathering uniformly distributed agricultural settlements in southern peoples everywhere in the world. It was not a peaceful Mesopotamia practiced small-scale irrigation and mixed process. Even when not in direct confrontation, agricultur- food production with food gathering. A number of reli- alists always encroached aggressively on the territories of gious centers also had been established, such as the one hunter–gatherers. The problems that arose from rapid pop- at Uruk, which by 3500 b.c. was a substantial ceremonial ulation growth were solved as surplus population moved hub surrounded by a large number of towns and villages. into the territories of hunter–gatherers. In all the sus- Around 3000 b.c., Uruk suddenly expanded and, drawing tained confrontations between agriculturalists and hunter–­ population from the surrounding communities, became a gatherers, the latter have always lost. Today, what was once true city with a population of approximately 50,000 ­people. the only way of life for the human race is practiced by a This pattern of rural incorporation was repeated again and tiny and ever-shrinking percentage of people in the most again throughout southern Mesopotamia, and then spread inaccessible parts of the globe. In the great sweep of human west toward Syria and north into Elam.  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 5 Why Cities? outperform entire groups of villages or towns whose col- Urbanization was not brought about solely by the need for lective population was much larger. Consider just one concentrating resources for irrigation, although the advan- common example: warfare. tages of large-scale organization for such purposes must Warfare have been clear by this time. The growth of population, the resulting need for greater productivity, ecological factors, Because a city-state had significant numbers of specialized and the need for defense against competing communities craftspeople, it was able to produce and store huge quan- nearby would all have contributed, though it is hard to tities of weapons of all kinds. Its bureaucrats could keep identify any one of them as the primary cause. An impor- track of supplies of metal and other materials needed in tant, if not essential, role was played by the centers of com- warfare. These officials could also find, draft, and equip mon worship scattered throughout Mesopotamia. These large numbers of soldiers and then supply them even at focal points of community life, with their temples and great distances from home. When new technologies, such priesthoods, must have been attractive places for craftsmen as chariots, were introduced, it was again the cities that had and traders to settle, and their presence in turn attracted the wealth and resources to obtain them in large numbers. the local landowners and farmers. Thus the temples be- Kings and their officers provided specialized leadership. came centers of economic as well as religious activities. In addition, the city itself, together with its temples, gods, The need for a place of refuge might have been a final fac- religious festivals, and homes, provided an identity and a tor that drew the population from the scattered towns and sense of belonging for its inhabitants. The city-state had villages to the city center. Thick walls, adequate supplies of become something worth fighting for, and propaganda and food, and a large population would have been effective in ideology emerged simultaneously with its appearance. deterring potential aggressors, whereas small or poorly de- The Price of Urbanization fended villages or towns would have been tempting targets. The price paid for the new way of life came in the form of The Social Consequences of Urbanization weakened family and kin relations and the unequal stratifi- Coming soon after the Agricultural Revolution, the cation of society into privileged and less-privileged classes. State and Urban Revolution introduced yet another set Justice was administered on the basis of impersonal law, and of social relations and released new floods of human en- the state assumed a monopoly of power to wage war, punish ergy. Because the form of the state that first emerged in criminals, and execute any other policy it established. Family ­Mesopotamia was the independent, self-sufficient city with and clan heads lost their special power to rule their own kin. its attached rural territory, the term city-state was coined Private wars and vendettas between individuals or groups of to describe the phenomenon. However, it was also possible individuals were outlawed. Religious rituals that previously for the state to evolve with little or no urbanization. Early had been exclusively clan affairs could now be shared by Egypt is a good example of this latter kind of development. ­everyone, clan members or not. In gender relations, the state reinforced the changes that the introduction of agriculture A New Form of Society had brought about between males and females. In the city-state kin and tribal loyalties are, by defini- The public realm of politics, administration, manage- tion, subordinated and replaced by political ties. This new ment, religion, warfare, and economics was enormously ex- ­organization is something much more than just a large panded, and men were the principal beneficiaries. This was town. Political ties are human relations of an entirely new especially true in societies such as those of ­Mesopotamia, kind; indeed, it is their existence that makes possible all where warfare was a regular part of life. New areas of of civilization. Population size is not the only factor. An ­human endeavor, such as art and monumental architecture, agricultural town might have a huge population and still came into being. The invention of writing opened the pos- not qualify as a city-state. What makes a city-state differ- sibility of careers in a dozen new fields, which were almost ent from an agricultural town is the synergy created by its exclusively restricted to males. Women benefited from people interacting with each other on the basis of political generally rising standards of living, better food supplies, relationships rather than traditional blood ties. and the more stimulating life of the city. Trade brought The concentration, diversity, and complexity of popu- ­luxury goods and contact with the outside world. Religion, lation and organization characterize states and city-states. as always, offered its own special sphere of activities that These features encourage the specialization of craft and were solely female. In general, however, women’s exclusion the stimulation of new ideas, arts, and technologies. Thus from the most significant parts of the public realm meant even a small Mesopotamian city-state had the capacity to their restriction to the less-privileged private world. 6 The Ancient World Early Mesopotamian records indicate. We do not know where any of these people originated. All of them emerge into the sudden light of his- History: The Sumerian tory with their languages and cultures wholly formed. Period (3100–2000 b.c.) It is possible that the Sumerians, the creators of ur- ban society, were not native to the region. Despite the Around 3100 b.c., at the same time that the city-state emerged, Mesopotamia passed another threshold: It went from prehistory to history. For the first time we learn the names of some of the men and women involved in these Chronology revolutionary changes and of the places where they lived. All the earliest names of people, such as the Sumerian Events of Early Uanna-Adapa (better known in its Hebrew form, Adam), Mesopotamian History are legendary—the inventions of later writers—but the Agricultural Revolution 8000–6000 b.c. earliest cities mentioned, such as Eridu, Sippar, and ­Shuruppak, are places familiar in later times. Development of agriculture ca. 5500 b.c. in Mesopotamia Languages and Ethnicities A little is known about the principal linguistic and ethnic State and Urban Revolution: ca. 3100 b.c. groups of Mesopotamia at the time of the State and Urban emergence of the world’s Revolution. The northern and middle Euphrates region was first cities and states in Sumer inhabited by people who spoke a Semitic language called Sargon of Akkad unifies ca. 2240 b.c. Akkadian (better known as its dialects, Babylonian and Mesopotamia: world’s ­Assyrian); in the south the language groups were Sumerian first empire and Elamite. Neither of the latter is related to any known language group, although it is generally assumed that they Decline of Sumer, sack of Ur ca. 2000 b.c. were probably at one time more widespread than the present The Origins of Writing in Mesopotamia Clay tokens in the form of cones, spheres, disks, and cylinders five markings on an envelope indicated that it contained were used from about 8000 b.c. in the Middle East to store five ­tokens. These markings also indicated the shapes of the and transmit economic data. Four thousand years later these tokens contained in the envelopes. A crucial transition was simple tokens began to be replaced by new types that had thus made from simple tokens to symbols representing the a much larger repertoire of shapes such as triangles, ovoids, tokens. One envelope from Susa, for example, contained rectangles, and paraboloids. Each token had a specific mean- three disks and three cylinders, which were symbolized on ing. For example, the cone and sphere represented separate the envelope by three circular and three long markings that measures of grain, while the ovoid stood for a jar of oil, and a could be read as “33 animals” (sheep?). Three-dimensional disk with an incised cross meant a sheep. ­tokens could now be expressed in two-dimensional signs. Simple as this system of accounting was, it represented a The next logical stage soon followed: The tokens were major breakthrough in the technology of communication. omitted, and the envelopes became clay tablets bearing Tokens had the advantage of moving beyond verbal commu- impressed signs. The signs on the tablets were the same nication to translating concrete information (e.g., numbers of as those used on the envelopes. From impressed signs the animals) into abstract symbols that could be manipulated and ­Sumerians moved on to signs incised with a stylus. The transmitted. Information could be separated from the items ­earliest signs were pictographic, but by the end of the fourth being counted, stored, and referred to independently of the ­millennium the signs took on a phonetic value. individual counter’s all-too-fallible memory. Probably without realizing it, the accountants who Tokens were probably originally kept in jars, but after launched the new method of inscribed markings on clay en- 3350 b.c. they began to be enclosed in cylindrical or ­spherical velopes had invented writing. About 200 of these envelopes clay envelopes. The envelopes in turn were stamped by the have been found in Mesopotamia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and sender with symbols indicating the number of tokens in the Palestine. Some 80 are still intact. About 240 of the earliest envelope and what they represented. Thus, for example, impressed tablets have also been found.  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 7 difference in language among the three major ethnic extending the city’s irrigation network, and fostering long- groups, ­Sumerians, Elamites, and Semites, they soon be- distance trade. Yet two hundred years after that, Lagash came culturally indistinguishable from one another. All was embroiled with Larsa, another Sumerian city, and tem- of them adopted some form of the Sumerian city-state porarily came under its control. and adapted the Sumerian technique of writing to their own languages. They fought among themselves with Sargon: The World’s First Emperor about equal ferocity, their capacity to do so having been This kind of endless warfare exhausted Sumerian energies ­immensely ­enhanced by their successful urbanization. and periodically gave outsiders an opportunity to meddle in Sumerian affairs. Around 2350 b.c. Sargon, the powerful Ak- Unity or Independence? kadian ruler of Agade in the middle Euphrates region, seized From the beginning, Mesopotamia fluctuated between times his opportunity and conquered Sumer, declaring himself of unification, when one or another city succeeded in domi- king of Kish, Uruk, and Ur. He went on to build an empire— nating some or all of the others, and times of fragmentation, the world’s first—that stretched from Syria to the Persian when the individual city-states went their own anarchic ways. Gulf. For a brief time, the fiercely independent city-states of At an early date the city of Kish gave some kind of unity to Mesopotamia were forced to stop their quarreling and accept the states of Sumer, and the title King of Kish became synony- the overlordship of Sargon, his family, and his appointees. mous with King of Sumer. Another city, Nippur, provided the Sargon’s empire lasted through the long and vigorous religious sanction for Sumerian overlordship, and in times of reign of his grandson, Naram-Sin, but then sank slowly extraordinary danger the leaders of the cities assembled there into anarchy, aptly described by the words of the Sume- to elect one of their number to the kingship. Eventually, the rian List of Kings: “Who was king? Who was not king!” endorsement of the priesthood of Nippur became an essen- Various enemies, among them the Amorites of the Syr- tial part of the legitimation process and was eagerly sought by ian desert fringes, the peoples of the Zagros Mountains, would-be contenders for the overlordship of Sumer. and the seething cities of Sumer, had a hand in its down- Although the unity of the cities under the leadership of fall. After its collapse, Ebla in Syria, the “Akkad of the one of their number represents one aspect of M ­ esopotamian North,” which had been sacked by Naram-Sin, recov- political life, another, more common characteristic was the ered and held sway over northern Mesopotamia, while struggle of the cities among themselves over boundaries in the south the individual city-states once more became and irrigation water. We know, for example, of the quarrels independent. around 2500 b.c. between Lagash and its neighbor Umma over a stretch of territory that lay between them. We learn Ur Nammu first that the ensi [governor] of Umma, at the command Between the fall of Sargon’s empire and the rise of Baby- of his god, raided and devoured the ­Gu-edin, the irrigated lon under Hammurabi four hundred or so years later, land, the field beloved of Ningirsu [the god of Lagash].1 Sumer had a brief revival, the so-called “renaissance of Ur The phalanx of Lagash, however, led by its ensi Eannatum, III” (ca. 2100–2000 b.c.). Under the vigorous leadership of attacked the invaders and “heaped up piles of bodies on the ­Ur-Nammu, temples were rebuilt, and Ur’s ziggurat, a py- plain.”2 A century or so later the tables were reversed when ramidal mud-brick tower, was erected. Overseas trade de- Lugalzaggesi of Umma sacked Lagash, and an unknown au- veloped, and irrigation was extended. One of Ur-Nammu’s thor wrote the following lament over the ruined city: greatest achievements was the publication of a code of laws intended to systematize and make public the customary The men of Umma have set fire to the temple rules by which cases were decided. This late flourishing of ­Antasurra [in Lagash], they have carried away the sil- Sumer under Ur’s leadership was the last major effort of the ver and the precious stones.... They have shed blood Sumerians as an independent people. Continuing pressure in the temple of E-engur of the goddess Nanshe.3 from the ­Amorites and from Elam gradually weakened Ur, Despite this setback, Lagash recovered, and two centu- and the city was ­finally captured and sacked, probably by the ries later its leader, Gudea, was dedicating huge temples, Elamites. 1. Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, Worldviews: Ancient and Modern 1966), p. 131. By permission of George Allen and Unwin Ltd. In dealing with any of the societies of the ancient world, but 2. Ibid. especially those in their early phases, it is important to recog- 3. From Samuel Noah Kramer, The Sumerians: Their History, nize that the viewpoints of these peoples are radically differ- ­Culture, and Character (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ent from our own. This is not simply because they lived long 1963), pp. 322–323. ago and did not possess industrial and scientific know-how 8 The Ancient World Eannatum leads the army of Lagash into battle (left) assisted by the god Ningirsu (right), who holds a net symbolically containing the enemies of his city. Enheduanna: The World’s First Author When Sargon conquered Sumer he was faced with a major survive, thus making her the world’s first-known literary fig- problem in reconciling Sumerian-speaking southerners and ure. In the hymns the Sumerian goddess Inanna is syncretized their Akkadian-speaking conquerors. His approach was to try (identified) with her Akkadian counterpart, the goddess Ishtar. to fuse the two cultures by identifying ­Akkadian and Sumerian So successful was Enheduanna in smoothing over the differ- gods with each other and by ­appointing ­members of his own ences between north and south that the king of Sumer contin- family to religious positions in ­Sumerian temples. ued to appoint his daughter to the position of high priestess One of these appointees was his daughter, Enheduanna, of Ur and Uruk long after Sargon’s dynasty disappeared. Some- whom he made high priestess of both An, the god of heaven, times these priestesses outlived even their own dynasties and at Uruk, and of Nanna, the moon god, at Ur. Her portrait, as became the legitimating link between one dynasty and the well as two long, well-crafted cycles of hymns that she wrote, next. The Sack of Ur O Father Nanna [the chief god of Ur], that city into strong—perished through ­hunger.... O Nanna, Ur has ruins was made.... Its walls were breached; the people been destroyed, its people have been dispersed. groan; In its lofty gates, where they were wont to promenade, dead bodies were lying about; In its boule- From “A Sumerian Lamentation,” trans. S. N. Kramer in James B. vards, where the feasts were celebrated, scattered they Pritchard, ed., Ancient Middle Eastern Texts: Relating to the Old Testa- lay.... In its places, where the festivities of the land took ment, 3rd ed. with Supplement. Copyright © 1950, 1955, 1969, 1978 place, the people lay in heaps.... Ur—its weak and its by Princeton University Press. Excerpt, pp. 459–460. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 9 but also because they started out with different assumptions cities were not merely engaged in the secular, humdrum about the world and the place of human beings in it. tasks of making a living or raising a family. As servants of the gods, they also participated in a much larger drama in Public vs. Private Realms which the gods themselves were the principal a­ ctors: the Most modern Western societies are made up of conglom- job of making the universe work. erations of competing (and sometimes cooperating) public, For Mesopotamians, the universe—the cosmos—was semipublic, and private bodies, such as business corpora- seen as an orderly whole. However, it had not started out tions, unions, churches, government agencies, schools, that way, and there was no guarantee that it would remain clubs, and private societies of all kinds. The term civil so- orderly. It was always possible that it would slip back into ciety is given to this kind of society. Private life is highly its original form, and then both gods and humans would developed, and most citizens, except those who choose disappear into the watery, inert chaos of the world’s origins. a life in politics or government, have little to do with the public realm. Life in modern industrialized countries re- Akkadian Cosmology volves around jobs, families, social acquaintances, and pri- According to the Akkadian creation myth, the Enuma vate organizations to which people belong. Self-expressive ­Elish (“When on High”), at the beginning the universe con- individualism is at least officially encouraged. In fact, one sisted of an undifferentiated, watery mass with two basic of the highest compliments we can bestow on people is to elements: the fresh waters (the male principle), known as say that they think for themselves. Apsu, and the salt waters (the female principle), known as Tiamat. From these two original deities all the other gods The Community Supreme were born. The gods were so rowdy that their parents de- To understand most ancient societies, however, we must cided to destroy them. When the gods got wind of this plan, reverse many of these assumptions. Outside the family little they were horrified, but they took heart when one of their or no difference or separation existed between public and number, the god of intelligence and wisdom, Ea, succeeded private realms. Society and the state practically coincided. in putting their father, Apsu, into a trance and then killing All the institutions of society—family, government, reli- him. Ea next constructed his dwelling on top of the mon- gion, and economic and cultural spheres—were integrated strous remains of Apsu, which thus became earth. Under- with one another. The community, not the individual, was standably, Tiamat was disturbed by her spouse’s destruction supreme. People were supposed to fit in, not to be individ- and rounded up the forces of chaos to continue the war ualistic. There were no private codes of morality or inde- with her upstart children. The gods were again dismayed, pendent lifestyles. However, individualism could express but this time they found a champion in the storm god Mar- itself in one area: the choice of one’s personal gods. Because duk. After a titanic struggle, Marduk defeated Tiamat and the religions of Mesopotamia and Egypt were polytheistic, used part of her body to form the sky, then went on to cre- a great variety of cults were available for every need, every ate the rest of the universe, including the human race. occasion, and every taste. There was no single set of reli- Chaos or Order? gious doctrines and related moral rules to which a person had to adhere as they later did in monotheistic religions. Despite the gods’ apparent victory, there was no guarantee that the forces of chaos might not recover their strength and overturn the orderly creation of the gods. Gods and humans Religion and Society: Laboring for the Gods alike were involved in the perpetual struggle to restrain the In the Mesopotamian worldview, the cities and their inhabit- powers of chaos, and they each had their own role to play in ants, together with their domestic animals and even the land this dramatic battle. The responsibility of the dwellers of Mes- itself, belonged to the gods; specifically, they belonged to the opotamian cities was to provide the gods with everything they god or goddess of each particular city. Reversing modern as- needed to run the world. Without this support, the gods could sumptions, individual men and women were thought to ex- not perform their proper function; it was an awesome respon- ist for the sake of the gods, not for their own self-fulfillment. sibility for the people of Mesopotamia. At least in early times, According to the Mesopotamian creation myth, the gods it had the effect of inspiring them to superhuman tasks. had become tired of working for a living and thus had cre- ated human beings to take their place. In this way, although Festivals they had solved the problem of work, the gods came to de- The role of the city and its inhabitants in the maintenance pend on humans to supply them with their food, drink, of the cosmos was brought home with great force at the clothing, and shelter. The inhabitants of Mesopotamian time of the major festivals. Most of these were associated in 10 The Ancient World some way with the agricultural cycle of the year. They were had seven magnificent entrances with impressive names enacted to keep the natural world functioning properly. such as Lofty Gate and Door of Refreshing Shade. Mesopotamians did not view the world as a natural system functioning on its own, independent of human agency, but Caring for the Gods as something that had to be activated by their personal in- The temple buildings themselves were divided into three tervention. The fertility cycle, for instance, could be made rooms by partitions or curtains, one behind the other. to function only by means of a religious ritual in which These rooms had doors of precious wood and ceilings and a marriage between the ensi, or king of the city, and the walls paneled with sweet-smelling cedar. Lions, bulls, and priestess of Inanna took place. Similarly, each year when griffins guarded the entrances. In the innermost room the flooding Tigris and Euphrates rivers threatened to was the statue of the god or goddess surrounded by vo- bring back the primeval watery chaos, the victorious battle tive offerings, pots of flowers, and incense burners. In the of the gods was reenacted in ritual form, and the triumph room immediately preceding the god’s was an altar or table of gods and humans over chaos was ensured for another for offerings and meals, along with a large basin for sa- year. Given these attitudes, the importance of the temple in cred washings. Daily, to the sound of music, hymns, and Mesopotamian life can easily be appreciated. prayers, the god was washed, clothed, perfumed, fed, and entertained by minstrels and dancers. In clouds of incense, Temples and Ziggurats meals of bread, cakes, fruit, and honey were set before the The temples where the gods lived varied in size, shape, deity, along with offerings of beer, wine, and water. Ani- and function. The main god or goddess of the city had the mals were slaughtered, and portions of the sacrificial meat largest temples and lived there with his or her family and were burned in his or her honor. On feast days the statues relatives. Scattered throughout the various regions of the of the deities were taken in solemn procession through the city were neighborhood chapels consisting of a small, open courtyard or the streets of the city accompanied by singing courtyard and a pedestal for a statue of the god or goddess. and dancing. Some temples were built on top of high mud brick ­towers called ziggurats. At Ur, for instance, the ziggurat of Priests and Priestesses Ur-Nammu’s time was over 70 feet tall and had a base of Large numbers of priests were involved in the daily wor- 150 by 200 feet. It was composed of three separate stories ship of the god or goddess. Some of them had highly connected by ramps of stairs and was sealed by an 8-foot- specialized jobs, such as those who recited incantations, thick layer of baked bricks set in bitumen. To give its huge interpreted dreams, or anointed the statues of the deities. bulk a sense of lightness, its lines were slightly curved, a Others were singers or musicians. Women played impor- technique later used by the Greeks in the building of the fa- tant roles. As in the case of Enheduanna, the daughter mous temple of Athena at Athens, the Parthenon. ­Ziggurats of Sargon of Akkad, the high priestess was often of royal were regarded by Mesopotamians as staircases between blood. Other priestesses, naditu (“barren” or “fallow”), heaven and earth, the connecting link between gods and could marry but were not allowed to have children while humans. The people of Israel, who knew these structures they remained attached to the temple. The oddity of not well, took a different view and mocked them in the story of being allowed to bear children while being married was the Tower of Babel as symbols of human arrogance. handled by allowing the naditu to obtain a second wife Other types of temples were built on level ground, usu- for her husband. This second wife acted as childbearer for ally surrounded by a number of spacious courtyards, each him and as servant for the first wife. one opening into the other. These courtyards were lined with rooms that served as lodgings for the priests and tem- Palaces ple workers, schools, libraries, workshops, and storehouses. The other essential institution of the Mesopotamian city- All day long the courtyards were full of people coming and state was the palace. As population and prosperity in- going, men and women bringing their offerings to the creased, the cities became less vulnerable to the old threats gods, merchants supplying the worshippers, drovers with of natural disaster and starvation but more exposed to their animals, idlers gossiping in the shade, temple atten- destruction at human hands. Accumulated wealth could dants coming and going. Some of the temples were huge. be looted, the population enslaved, and the canal system At Uruk the building dubbed the Limestone Temple by its destroyed or taken over. The cities, accordingly, sought excavators measured over 350 by 100 feet and was built on for more and more effective defensive (and offensive) a base of limestone brought from a quarry forty miles away. measures. The principal of these was the kingship. From The temple at Adab dedicated to the mother goddess Nintu about 2600 b.c. onward the kings became central to the  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 11 organization of the cities, not just ad hoc war leaders cho- Mesopotamian Society sen for a particular campaign. The maintenance of the Although Mesopotamians believed that the city and its in- army and of the city fortifications was institutionalized and habitants belonged to the gods, this was not meant to be put under the control of the king. taken in the literal sense that the god, through the temple, The king’s administration was modeled on that of the owned all the land of the state. In early times especially, the temple and imitated its protocol. Like the god, the king was temples were undoubtedly among the largest landholders, surrounded by his servants. Often located in the same area but even then the nobility, as well as ordinary free citizens, and surrounded by the same thick protecting walls, palace owned large amounts of land. and temple together came to form a kind of sacred city In Sumerian times (ca. 3000–2000 b.c.) it is estimated within the city proper. that about half the population consisted of commoners or Many of the palaces were beautifully laid out and free citizens. Of lesser status than the free citizenry were handsomely decorated. The palace at Mari in northern the dependents, or clients, of the nobility and the temples, ­Mesopotamia is considered one of the gems of Middle who did not own land and worked, often as tenants, for Eastern architecture. It covered seven acres and had over the nobles and priests. At the bottom of the social pyramid three hundred well-planned rooms and sunny courtyards were the slaves, who never seem to have been very numer- paved with gypsum. The walls were decorated with paint- ous at any time during Mesopotamian history. ings. The audience room where the king received ambas- sadors and the throne room where he held court formed Slavery the heart of the palace. Other parts of the building were used for lodging the garrison, guests, scribes, and other at- The Mesopotamian system was not based on caste, but it is tendants of the king. There were also chapels for the king’s safe to assume that most people born into a particular sta- private devotions and schoolrooms for training palace tus or occupation remained in it for the rest of their lives. personnel. Other sections of the palace were given over to However, catastrophe or—less likely—extraordinary good workshops, armories, archives, kitchens, and storerooms. luck could change a person’s status overnight. Because war- Bathrooms had floors sealed with bitumen, and efficient fare was constant, enslavement for noble and commoner clay pipes provided excellent drainage; when the palace alike was always possible. Economic hard times could have was excavated 3,500 years after its destruction, the plumb- the same result because it was legal for a father to sell his ing was found to be still working. wife and children into slavery for up to three years; he could even sell himself. Conversely, the status of a slave was Essential Scribes not immutable. A slave could work to escape from bond- Among the most important functionaries of the temples age by setting aside income earned while a slave, and it was and palaces were the scribes, whose exclusive understand- always possible to be freed through a gesture of generosity ing of the complicated cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script or kindness by one’s owner. Slaves also had a number of made them key figures in the administration of the city. rights. They could own property, engage in business activi- Incoming taxes and tribute were recorded along with the ties, and even give evidence in court—more than women yields of the temple and palace possessions. The amount could do in most Western societies until recent times. If of inventory and the disbursement of goods from storage a freeman took a slave as his mistress and had children by were recorded, for it was as distribution and regulatory her, she could not be sold, and on his death she and her agencies that these two key institutions performed their children were automatically free. If a freewoman married a most important functions. slave, her children were born free. Hence the gulf between Thousands of contracts, payrolls, vouchers, labels, wills, slave and free was not as great as it was to be in other soci- marriages, deeds of property, and lists of inventories have eties, especially because the stigma of race was not present survived. Some of the correspondence of the kings with to perpetuate the memory of people having once belonged fellow monarchs, provincial governors, and army chiefs to a servile class. has also endured. The letters admonish, order, request in- formation, threaten, and boast. Canals are ordered dug or Women’s Legal Rights cleared, troops are mobilized, goods (usually arms or food) Women had important legal rights. They could own prop- or the return of an escaped prisoner are requested, crimes erty and slaves, engage in business, and appear in court as are reported, and strange events that might reveal the will witnesses. Marriage was monogamous, although in prac- of the gods are noted, along with the details of pragmatic tice a man could have a concubine, especially if his wife marriage and property arrangements. was not able to bear children. Parents or elders of the clan 12 The Ancient World usually arranged marriages. Betrothal was recognized heat of the summer, the cold of the winter, and the noise when the groom presented his father-in-law with a gift of the city. Rooms were arranged around a bright, open of money, which was lost if he broke off the engagement. courtyard where most of the cooking and family living Upon marriage the bride assumed possession of these took place. Sometimes the structure had a second story or gifts and of the dowry given to her by her own family. The a small attached garden, but generally space in the city was dowry was regarded as inalienable—that is, it could not be at a premium. Walls were usually painted white, and floors sold or given away by her, and on her death it went to her were covered with a layer of hard gypsum. children; if she had no children, the dowry reverted to her father’s family. In case of divorce, which was easy for a man Food Mesopotamian food was plain but plentiful. to obtain but difficult for a woman, the dowry went with ­Barley was the staple of the south, wheat of the north. Veg- the wife. In a husband’s absence, the wife could administer etables, cheese, and fish were always available, and most his estate; if he died, she inherited the same share in his es- meals would have been accompanied by milk or beer— tate as her children. She could marry again at will and still Mesopotamians were especially fond of the latter. Because a keep her original dowry. good deal of land was devoted to herding, ­Mesopotamians probably ate more meat than many other ancient peoples. Daily Life Figs and dates or a thick, sweet treacle made from dates or The excavated houses of Ur give a good idea of how ordi- grapes were typical desserts. nary Mesopotamians lived. Made of mud brick, the houses often shared common walls. Their doors opened onto nar- Education: Formal and Informal Children were row, winding streets. Yet the blank exterior walls, with their under the complete control of their parents and could be single small doorways and uninteresting appearance, gave disinherited or, as we have seen, sold into slavery for a pe- little idea of the comfort, quiet, and privacy that existed riod of time. In normal situations, however, children were within. The thick mud-brick walls gave insulation from the cherished and loved. Childhood education was largely The Ideals of Mesopotamian Law In peace the kings of Mesopotamia were supposed to be monument enlighten him as to his case and may he un- the upholders of justice and the protectors of the weak and derstand his case! May he set his heart at ease! And let poor against the rich and powerful. This ideal is expressed him exclaim: “Hammurabi indeed is a ruler who is like a in the epilogue of the law code of Hammurabi, king of real father to his people.”... ­Babylon (ca. 1792–1750 b.c.), part of which appears here. In the days that are yet to come, for all future time, ­Hammurabi’s code, although more systematic than any may the king who is in the land observe the words of known prior collection, was by no means the first publica- justice which I have written upon my monument! May tion of laws for Mesopotamia, although it probably was the he not alter the judgments of the land which I have first region wide promulgation. The existence of such an pronounced, or the decisions of the country which I accessible source of law undercut the influence of local au- have rendered. May he not efface my statutes! If that thorities, for by providing individuals with knowledge of the man have wisdom, if he wish to give his land govern- law, Hammurabi empowered them to seek justice on their ment, let him give attention to the words which I have own behalf. written upon my monument! And may this monument enlighten him as to procedure and administration, the That the strong might not oppress the weak, and that judgments which I have pronounced, and the decisions they should give justice to the orphan and the widow which I have rendered for the land! Let him justly rule I have inscribed my words upon my monument and the Black-Head people [the traditional name for the established them in the presence of my statue, “King of ­Sumerians]. Let him pronounce judgments for them Justice,” in Babylon.... and render for them decisions! Let him root out the These are the just laws which Hammurabi, the wise wicked and the evildoer from the land! Let him pro- king, established and by which he gave the land stable mote the welfare of his people! support and good government.... Let any oppressed man, who has a case, come before my image, “King of Justice.” Let him read the inscription on my monument! Source: Based on The Code of Hammurabi, trans. Robert F. Harper Let him give heed to my weighty words! And may my (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1904), pp. 99–103.  The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt 13 informal. Children learned from being members of a fam- Although survival in a hostile environment dominated ily and observing its older members at work. Most of all, the concerns of these early years, in time Mesopotamians they learned from belonging to the vibrant communities began to look beyond the restrictive ties of their com- that were the cities of Mesopotamia. Crowded, narrow munities, and at the beginning of the second millennium streets, marketplaces covered with awnings, and busy, sun- (ca. 2000 b.c.) the needs of the individual—fears, guilt, filled plazas around the great temples were all within walk- and sufferings—began to be heard for the first time. ing distance of everyone’s house. Traders from distant lands ­Complaints and petitions were not directed to the gods on brought their wares to the cities, and visitors and travel- high but to the individual’s own personal god, who might, ers were at hand at all times. The cities themselves were if sufficiently pressed, do something to help. constantly abuzz with activities of one kind or ­another. The assemblies of citizens were consulted on major issues A Sumerian Job One such complaint from the pe- throughout a good portion of the history of Mesopotamia, riod has survived in literary form, by an author sometimes and perhaps a major trial or some other public business known as the Sumerian Job. In this tale a just, wealthy, and was underway. Great festivals to the gods were held on a benevolent man is struck down suddenly with sickness and regular basis. War and preparations for war were common, misfortune of all kinds. Even so, he says he will continue and building activities were perpetual. If the inhabitants to praise his god and will keep lamenting until he is heard: tired of the city, they could always explore the local coun- My god, the day shines bright over the land, for me the tryside with its grain fields, date-palm groves and intricate day is black.... network of canals and ditches. Tears, lament, anguish, and depression are lodged In addition to the informal education that took place within me, in the streets of the cities, schools prepared promising stu- Suffering overwhelms me like one chosen for nothing dents (or at least those whose parents could afford the fees) but tears, for a career in the temple or palace bureaucracy or one of Malignant sickness bathes my body. the many professions. Many years were spent memorizing How long will you neglect me, leave me unprotected?5 the thousands of tiny wedge-shaped signs of cuneiform and becoming familiar with the methods of administration The afflicted man goes on to say that although he realizes used in the temples and palaces. For specific professions the blame for his misfortunes rests on him, he asks that his such as medicine, engineering, business, and accounting, hidden faults be revealed so that he may seek forgiveness specialized vocabularies were learned. Because so much of for them. Mesopotamian life revolved around irrigation and farm- ing, specialists were needed who could do the surveying Gilgamesh and the Afterlife For Mesopotamians required to establish claims of ownership and help keep the afterworld was a dreary and cheerless place, ruled by disputes out of court. Even genuine research was under- a fearsome hierarchy of demons. At best it was a dismal taken, with schools serving as libraries and depositories for reflection of life on Earth. No one was exempted from it, records, technical manuals, and literary works of all kinds. not even the heroes who struggled to avoid being dragged down into it. Of these the best known was Gilgamesh, Moral Values and the Afterlife one of the early rulers of Uruk, about whom developed a In early Mesopotamian society, primary emphasis was cycle of tales that ultimately came to make up the Epic of placed on the virtue of obedience to the gods and subservi- ­Gilgamesh, probably the finest product of Middle Eastern ence to the needs of the community. An orderly world was literature outside the Hebrew scriptures. not possible without firm authority. The ideal society was In one of the early versions of this epic, the hero, described as follows: ­Gilgamesh, is saddened by the thought of death brought home to him by the sight of “dead bodies floating in the Days when one man is not insolent to another, when a river’s waters,” and he determines to make a name for him- son reveres his father, self before his own death: Days when respect is shown in the land, when the lowly honor the great.4 I peered over the wall, Saw the dead bodies floating in the river’s waters, As for me, I too will be served 4. H. Frankfort et al., Before Philosophy (Harmondsworth, UK: thus, verily it is so! Penguin, 1949), pp. 212–213. Originally published as The ­Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 5. Kramer, The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, 1946). By permission of the Universi