Ancient Mesopotamia (History

Uruk, Auruk or Warka was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates 30 km (19 mi) east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.

Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. By the final phase of the Uruk period around 3100 BCE, the city may have had 40,000 residents, with 80,000-90,000 people living in its environs, making it the largest urban area in the world at the time. The legendary king Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian king list, ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. The city lost its prime importance around 2000 BC in the context of the struggle of Babylonia against Elam, but it remained inhabited throughout the Seleucid (312–63 BC) and Parthian (227 BC to 224 AD) periods until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after the Islamic conquest of 633–638.

William Kennett Loftus visited the site of Uruk in 1849, identifying it as "Erech", known as "the second city of Nimrod", and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854.

The Arabic name of Babylonia, which eventually became the name of the present-day country, al-ʿIrāq, is thought to derive from the name Uruk via Aramaic (Erech) and possibly via Middle Persian (Erāq) transmission.
In Sumerian, the word uru could mean "city, town, village, district, circular area"

A Mesopotâmia é um território situado entre os rios gémeos, Tigre e Eufrates, no Próximo Oriente, ocupado por diversos povos na antiguidade, dos quais sobressaem os sumérios, os assírios e os babilónios, tendo um carácter heterogéneo, não unificado enquanto país. O legado cultural destes povos começa a ganhar proporção com os sumérios, através da invenção da escrita cuneiforme, e consequente transição da Pré-História para a História. O seu legado alcançou uma forte projecção nas civilizações que lhe sucederam e, inclusivamente, nas sociedades actuais; noções generalizadas sobre as quais reflecte o presente texto.

“Demon” is a generic term that hardly fits the various Mesopotamian be- ings, which according to modern scholars are grouped under this category. Despite the evolution of demonic imagery through different periods and sources, these be- ings share a series of common features such as their origin, position and role in the pantheon, liminality, actions and powers, hybridity, and aerial form. In my paper I will analyze these features so as to argue that incompleteness constitutes the main aspect of their nature.

Özet
Kültürel ilişki, bir kültürün çekirdek bölgeden daha geniş bir coğrafyadaki diğer kültürlerle etkileşim içine girerek değişmesini sağlayan bir döngüdür. Akad Çağı boyunca Anadolu ile Mezopotamya’nın birbiriyle
bağlantı halinde olduğu Arkeolojik ve filolojik belgelerle kanıtlanmıştır. Anadolu’da bulunan Akad Çağı kabartmaları da bizzat Akad Krallarının bölgeye ilgisinin kanıtlarını sunar. Bu çalışmanın amacı; Arkeolojik
kanıtların tipoloji ve kronoloji bakımından değerlendirilmesiyle, Akad Çağı’nda Anadolu ile Mezopotamya arasındaki kültürel ilişkilere ışık tutmaktır. Farklı kültürel özelliklere sahip her iki bölgede de metalik seramik, Suriye şişeleri, tankardlar, ‘topf mit Zwillingsösen’ veya çift ip delikli kulplu çömlekler, ay biçimli baltalar, boğumlu mızrak uçları, toggle-pin türü iğneler, altın hilal biçimli küpeler, dörtlü spiral kolye taneleri, disk
biçimli boncuklar, uçlara doğru daralan silindir formlu akik kolye taneleri, Akad mühürleri veya bullaları ile kurşun figürinler veya taş kalıpları gibi benzer tipteki pekçok maddi kültür kalıntısı, Akad Çağı boyunca kültürel
ilişkilerin boyutunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bunlar kolay taşınabilir veya yerleşimlerde sipariş üzerine üretilebilir olmaları bakımından ticari ürün olmalıdır. Anadolu ve Mezopotamya’da yaygın bir şekilde kullanılan eserler, ortak beğeniyi yansıtmaktadır. Örneğin disk biçimli boncuklar Anadolu, Mezopotamya, Kafkasya ve Mohenjo Daro’ya kadarki geniş bir alana yayılmıştır. Bu durum Akad Çağı’nda Anadolu ve Mezopotamya’nın çevre kültür bölgelerini de zaman zaman etkilediğini gösterir. Sonuç olarak Anadolu - Mezopotamya kültürel ilişkileri ışığında ithal veya bunların yerel taklidi olan süs eşyaları, silahlar, mühürler, metal veya seramik kapların Anadolu’da ortaya çıkması; MÖ III. Bin sonunda iki bölge arasında ticaretin varlığını ve fikir alışverişinin olduğunu göstermektedir.

At the end of the 24th century, c.2300±30 bce, Sargon of Akkade (2324–2285±30 bce) defeated Lugalzagesi, king of Uruk, unified the whole of Babylonia proper in a single territorial state, and laid the foundation of the Akkadian Empire. Sargon, his sons Rimush and Manishtushu, and his grandson Naramsuen led their armies as far as the Mediterranean in the west, reached the springs of Euphrates and Tigris in the north, and campaigned as far as highland Iran in the east and the Arabian Gulf in the south, dominating the political landscape of Mesopotamia for more than a century (2300–2181±30 bce). Under Sharkalisharri, westerners and Guteans penetrated the empire, provinces defected, and Akkade was reduced to a petty state. After a short period of confusion, Dudu and Shudurul (2177–2142±30 bce) presided over an Akkadian resurgence, but the Guteans successively conquered central and northern Babylonia and thus eliminated Akkade from the political stage.

Median Empire in the cuneiform sources
Medes were from the Aryan tribes that have emerged in the northern and north-western areas of the Iranian plain, at the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the first millennium BC. They were initially living in the form of tribal groups depending on cattle and horse breeding, and then learned agriculture, and they used in the economic lives. The Medes are frequently mentioned in the writings of the Assyrian kings, and reported to their country (kurMa-da-a) means (Medes country), while named in the cuneiform sources (Madai dannuti) sense (Medes powerful). And so much what the Assyrians attacked the Median cities and looted and burned them, and they transferred their residents to other areas or took them as prisoners to Assyria. In some times left the city in exchange for the obeying the power of the Assyrian ruler Median recognition and give them the tribute annually. At the end of the seventh century BC, Median appeared as a great strength and known in cuneiform sources (umman-manda) sense (crowds), where they were able to attack on Assyria and eliminate once and for all and in partnership with the Babylonians.

The Uruk Expansion, which took place during various phases throughout the 4 th millennium BC, also developed in Northern Mesopotamia. In the area of Birecik, in eastern Turkey, on the edge of the Euphrates, various archaeological sites have been discovered, showing different phases of expansion of the Uruk culture. We focus this study on the Surtepe site, a 8 ha settlement, where we have distinguished a possible Late Calcolithic 5 ritual building, in a phase that we consider Terminal Uruk within the chronology of this Mesopotamian culture.

A re-analysis of Old Babylonian letters (2003–1595 BC) reveals the construction of class identity for men called “gentlemen” (awīlū) through their use of sympathetic expressions positioning correspondents as brothers, friends, colleagues, etc. While this observation is not new, this article makes two further points. First, I argue that class consciousness was created through the policing of failures to enact the social relations expressed in the letters, rather than superficial claims that such relations existed in the first place. This reading requires that we engage seriously with the contingent nature of class identity—that fears and anxieties about falling out of status were more in evidence as the motor for and incentive towards class membership than simple claims of inclusion or group solidarity. Second, I argue that the sympathy enjoined by the letters simulated the affective-spatial cognitive states necessary for group identity. Group problems of geographic and physical distance and even loneliness were solved by the letters’ production of sympathy. Not only does a sincere consideration of the subjective experience of class formation require an understanding of individual and group emotional states, the letters themselves, filled with expressions of pathos and worry, invite it.

La Estela de la Victoria de Naram-Sin constituye el máximo exponente del arte acadio donde se congregan gran parte de los avances artísticos y particularidades políticas de este período. Como expresión plástica de una ideología que hasta la fecha resultaba ignota no tiene parangón. Su elocuencia acerca de la vocación imperial de la dinastía sargónida es manifiesta, un proyecto a gran escala cuyo epicentro lo constituye ahora el soberano, quién desde su ciudad fundacional, Agadé, pretende sojuzgar el mundo:  Naram-Sin, el poderoso, rey de las cuatro regiones, vencedor de nueve batallas en un año…

Sargon the Great (reigned c. 2334-2279 BC) was ruler of Mesopotamia near the end of the Early Bronze Age. He was a powerful and innovative warrior who brutally subdued his opponents and established a precedent for imperialism in Mesopotamia.  Ruling from the archaeologically lost city of Akkad, perhaps near modern Baghdad, he established what might have been the world’s first empire. Sargon expanded his influence beyond Akkad and the neighboring cities to build an empire that encompassed much of the Fertile Crescent at a time when most other rulers controlled only individual city-states, foreshadowing later conquerors such as Hammurabi, Tiglath-Pileser, and Nebuchadnezzar. Unfortunately, the historical Sargon and the legendary Sargon are inseparably blurred due to the lack of historical sources and the aggrandizement of various traditional accounts. As a result, historians have only a vague historical image of Sargon, a man whose enormous accomplishments arguably merit the numerous legends and traditions about him. Sargon was a powerful warrior and the first great empire builder of Mesopotamia.

DETAILS: This searchable Excel database reflects the collection of key Egyptological, Near Eastern, Nubian, Arabian, Anatolian, and Aegean, plus some selected European, Viking/Norse (new), Newfoundland archaeology (new), Beothuk/Amerindian (new), and other regions' book titles, journal issues, Great Courses lectures, and dvd documentary resources, spanning mainly Prehistory to the Roman period (but also later periods [for selected areas]), to aid in research, teaching courses, and related ventures.  It may be of use to others (e.g., students/public/scholars/librarians), and has formed a base from which I have been building my University's library collections (M. H. Sterne, UAB) on Ancient Egypt, Nubia, Near East, and other areas.  I update this database continuously, and will update this online posting once every six months, or so.  The database is arranged by multiple fields such as author(s), date of publication, title, publication series, edition, translator(s), place of publication, publisher, dates/periods covered by each title, and topic area(s) (I have omitted additional fields here, including the sources already obtained for UAB Sterne Library and sources to be obtained).  The collection is fairly representative for Egyptology, albeit tending to English publications, while other areas are more sporadic (based upon personal research needs, availability of resources, and other factors).  It is searchable within each column, plus region, such as Egypt, Nubia, Near East, Aegean, Europe, Viking, Indus Valley, Southeast Asia, Canada, etc.; DECEMBER 24, 2023: 207 new entries (n = 6,187) since September 30, 2022.

Vorliegende Studie befasst sich mit einem Thema, dessen Relevanz bis in die Gegenwart zu verfolgen ist: der Auseinandersetzung mit fremden Kulturen. Im konkreten Fall handelt es sich um die Wahrnehmung des Achaimeniden‐Reiches in (pseudo‐)historiographischen Quellen des vierten Jahrhunderts v.Chr. Die Verfasserin untersucht mithilfe moderner sozialpsychologischer und literaturwissenschaftlicher Instrumentarien, wie die Achaimeniden in der sogenannten Persika‐Literatur dargestellt wurden. Durch exakte Analyse des Perser‐Stereotyps bei Ktesias, Dinon und Herakleides wird dessen Inhalt, Uniformität und Veränderung deutlich. Die gewonnenen Ergebnisse werden in den Kontext des sozio‐politischen Diskurses über Persien gestellt, der sich in literarischen, inschriftlichen und archäologischen Zeugnissen manifestiert. Gerade der Vergleich der kleinasiatischen Persika‐Autoren mit zeitgleichen athenischen Rhetoren oder Komödiendichtern macht deutlich, dass der biographische Hintergrund des jeweiligen Autors zu unterschiedlichen Wahrnehmungen über die Achaimeniden führte. Dabei reichte das Spektrum von extremer Abwertung, über Idealisierung bis hin zu einer absichtlichen Negierung bzw. Normalisierung der anderen Kultur. So entstand jenes verzerrte Orient‐Bild, das bis heute das westliche Denken prägt, jedoch mit einer historischen Realität des vierten vorchristlichen Jahrhunderts wenig bis gar nichts gemein hat.

The research seeks to highlight the most prominent architectural features characterized by Nippur. Those monuments were characterized by various architectural methods and especially the worshipped and residential. The extend of which the patterns of its designs have changed during its historical period. The worshipped monuments had participated in some of their artistic and architectural characteristics and had differed in terms of the materials used and their size according to the worshipped value God. As for residential monuments had varied designs from one era to another according to the availability of the first material. Clay was the most prominent material that was available to the population of Mesopotamia which was developed during the subsequent eras by using imported materials as wood and stones. They contributed to show the architectural development in the old cities of Iraq.

The theological beliefs of the ancient Israelites developed within the greater context of late Second and First Millennia, B.C. ancient Near Eastern culture and thought.  Their roots in ancient Mesopotamian civilizations and contacts with the peoples of ancient Egypt, Canaan, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia ensured that their own kingdom was a marketplace of ideas affording them the opportunity to interpret their own beliefs through the prism of new concepts.  The biblical figure of Satan, as an ancient Israelite belief, demonstrates development throughout the pages of the Old Testament.  By examining the differences in depiction and levels of understanding surrounding this adversarial figure through comparative analysis with surrounding ancient Near Eastern cultures a developmental process can be determined and thus applied to the Old Testament writings in which Satan is mentioned, both directly and indirectly, in order to date their composition.

This paper was due to be published in the proceedings of the 2014 University of Copenhagen symposium on cultural contacts between Mesopotamia and India, and when that fell through with the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. However, as my book has appeared in the meantime, it seemed better simply to publish it here on Academia.edu.
This paper deals with a major theme of my 2018 book in summary form, though for complete references to the claims made, the reader will have to consult my book.

Reading the Epic of Gilgamesh can lead to confusion insofar as the versions of the story and the variations of character names therein. Moreover, since the unearthing of the cuneiform tablets over a century ago at Nineveh, there have been exponential developments in the field which lead to a challenging literature review: continuous new discoveries of texts; progressive improvement in decipherment superseding past works; new publications of private collections; lack of accreditment to, or complete omission of, the works of early pioneering researchers; and multifarious interpretations of the Sumerian and Semitic texts among scholars. This paper assists readers with a perspicuous review of nascent writing systems, geocultural timelines, Mesopotamian city-states, and the Dynastic Periods. A historical overview is provided on the works of the early pioneers of Assyriology. Modern scholarship is then briefly analyzed for the most current data available, including the questionable epilogue of Tablet XII. Students outside of philological or Assyriological studies will benefit from this comprehensive, well-encompassed guide on the discoveries of the cuneiform tablets, their decipherment, and the metamorphoses of Gilgamesh from Ancient Sumerian tales to Akkadian epic through millennia.
(International Journal of Literary Humanities 14.4 (2016): 39-54.)

What is legitimacy, and what does narrative have to do with it? “Legitimacy” might be the most commonly used word in all of ancient Near Eastern political history writing, but its premises have been woefully undertheorized. What follows will, perhaps predictably, quibble over the meaning of a word which is important to many of the papers in this and many other books. But rather than just kibitz over a term and muddy the waters, my goal is to elucidate how narrativity produced political authority through “validity.” I will argue that we ought to use the term “validity” to refer to the concepts of wholeness and cogency of political authority that narrativity creates, rather than the rule-bound criteria that “legitimacy” suggests.

Sargon II’s throneroom, six palace temples, the temple of Nabu, and the residences of the grand vizier and other high officials are identified. A group of Assyrian sculptures has been rescued from destruction, among them a number of imposing bulls.

It is now firmly established that Sargon II's brother Sīn-aḫu-uṣur was also his vizier (sukkallu). He was the addressee of many letters written by the subjects of the Empire. He appears on a number of contemporary documents. The present study demonstrates that the correspondence of Sargon's brother and vizier, together with some historical documents, show that Sīn-aḫu-uṣur was ruling Babylonia on behalf of his brother, the king. The paper will analyse the spheres of the king's brother's involvement in the state affairs. The article investigates the extraordinary status and functions of the sukkallu of Sargon, who restored the grandeur of this office based on the Middle Assyrian precedent especially for his brother. The author further explores Ḫarrān as the seat of the collateral royal family members and the role of the precedent of the Middle Assyrian dynasty of sukkallus, the kings of ḪaniGALbat, 2) in the ideology of the Sargonids. Lastly, I will argue that the relationship between Sargon and Sīn-aḫu-uṣur served a model for Esarhaddon in his division of power between his two sons and heirs, Assurba-nipal and Šamaš-šumu-ukīn.

SUMMARY
This thesis shall identify the date origin of the composite bow within Mesopotamia and Elam. and both identify and quantify the design factors which lead to increased performance possible with composite construction. To accomplish this, the thesis begins by summarizing the problems and flaws that currently exist in the field of history as it applies specifically to archery and bow use. With problems identified, the thesis will then introduce the reader to the basics of bow mechanics, thereby laying the basis for physical testing. This in turn will empirically demonstrate flaws in the current iconographical method of bow identification. The thesis will then devise a new method for iconographic identification of composite construction that has greater proven accuracy, based upon proportional length, which will link extant artifacts with both physical test results and iconographic evidence.

The reader shall then be led through a complete reevaluation of iconographical evidence for Mesopotamia and Elam starting at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and working backwards using this new method of iconographic evaluation to determine the point at which composite bow technology first appears in the ancient Near East. The thesis will finish with an overview of the above accomplishments and their potential impact on the study of ancient and military history.

KEY TERMS
Ancient History, Military History, Archery, Bow, Composite, Experimental Archaeology, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Elam, Arrow

Glass and Glass Production in the Near East during the Iron Age: Evidence from objects, texts and chemical analysis examines the history of glass in Iron Age Mesopotamia and neighbouring regions (1000–539 BCE). This is the first monograph to cover this region and period comprehensively and in detail and thus fills a significant gap in glass research. It focusses on identification of the different types of glass objects and their respective manufacturing techniques from the the Iron Age period. Both glass as material and individual glass objects are investigated to answer questions such as as how raw glass (primary production) and glass objects (secondary production) were manufactured, how both these industries were organised, and how widespread glass objects were in Mesopotamian society in the Iron Age period. Such a comprehensive picture of glass and its production in the Iron Age can only be achieved by setting archaeological data in relation to cuneiform texts, archaeometric analyses and experimental-archaeological investigations. With regard to the different disciplines incorporated into this study, an attempt was made to view them together and to establish connections between these areas.

Please download the PDF for free under the following link:

http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/download.asp?id={32C30534-51EE-4E02-9834-B5999F7E8B14}