HUM 103

HUMANITIES

• EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
AND THEIR CULTURAL
HERITAGE – I
• MESOPOTAMIA
• A civilization is often defined as a complex culture with
five characteristics:
• (1) advanced cities, -not just population, but also trade
• (2) specialized workers,
• (3) complex institutions, -government, religion, the
economy
• (4) record keeping,
• government officials had to document tax collections, the passage
of laws, and the storage of grain.
• Priests needed a way to keep track of the calendar and important
rituals.
• Merchants had to record accounts of debts and payments.
• (5) advanced technology
Agriculture and the Rise of Civilization
Civilization gradually emerged in the Middle East and northeast
Africa along great river systems as sedentary agricultural
societies increased production and developed new forms of
social organization.
• Agriculture did not always lead to civilization
• but it could stimulate the development of government
• HOW? to define property rights and organize irrigation.
– Rights over property stimulated improvements that passed on to heirs
– more extensive government.
– Irrigation projects along major rivers required cooperation among farmers, a
large labor supply, and political and economic organization to manage the
systems
• New inventions more directly promoted civilization
• HOW ?
• enabled large agricultural surpluses available in the Middle East
by 4000 B.C.,
Innovation, Specialization, and Productivity
• Among the most important technological advances
were
- The plow
– the potter’s wheel,
– wheeled vehicles,
– improved shipbuilding,
– the introduction of bronze tools.
• Each of these inventions gave rise to
– greater economic specialization,
– improved productivity,
– greater surpluses.
• The first full civilizations that arose in the Tigris-
Euphrates (by 3500 BCE)and Nile valleys (by
3000 BCE) were both dependent on the river
systems around which they were organized
• Mesopotamian civilization differed from Egyptian
in significant ways
– Different political and cultural characteristics
• By 1000 B.C.E. –river valley period ended-, both
of these formative civilizations had begun to
decline, but they produced smaller civilizations
dependent on their initial contributions.
River valleys
• Over time small and simple settlements >> larger and
complex centers with a variety of activities –agriculture,
trade, manufacturing
• Specialization>> more efficient production

• Agricultural production needs regular water supply

• Irrigation systems and canal networks
• Common and organized labor needed
• Management of irrigation systems + controlling the
redistribution process >> collective organization
• Centralization of coordinative functions and distinct
administrative institutions >> the formation of the state
Characteristics of the first civilizations ;
• food production,
• processing of metals and other natural resources
• division of labor according to professional expertise
• the development of writing.

• Societies with these characteristics emerged in different parts of the prehistoric world such as
Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India, more or less independent of each other in different
time periods.

• Early civilizations settled on fertile flood plains on the banks of great rivers and they were
close to grasslands suitable for raising farm animals.

• The formation of the state is a very important development in the history of humanity.

• Need for security

• Division of labour

• Desire for coordination

• Ideal of justice
 WHAT IS MESOPOTAMIA?
• It is formed by combining the Greek words —mesos—
meaning middle and —potamos—meaning river, and
literally means “the land between two rivers.”
• It is the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
stretching from the southeast of Anatolia to the Persian
Gulf.
• It is the intersection point of the Nile and Indus river
civilizations.
• different cultures and languages come together; therefore,
it has been a region where permanent effects were left in
the fields of writing, technology, language, trade, religion
and law.
• the Fertile Crescent
• hosted settlement with the drying of the swamps in 4000 BC.

• on the migration routes,

• fertile soil,
• Favorable climate,
• invaded by tribes because of its closeness to the rivers.

• About 3500-4000 years passed before the first important civilizations of

agricultural culture came.
• During this time, the formation of villages and evolution into cities took
place.
• The material used is mud brick. For this reason, not many works could last
until present day.
 CIVILIZATIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA-SUMERS
(4000 BC. - 2350 BC.)

• They came (from

Central Asia) towards
the end of the
Chalcolithic period in
4000 BC and settled
in Mesopotamia.
They founded the
first city-states
around their temples
in 3000 BC.
Improved swamp areas
Irrıgation
Close houses, neighborhoods, cities

Starts with Sumers:

Cities
Wheel used in transportation
Boats in water transportation
Pottery wheel
Monumental architecture
Establishment of City-States
• In the 5th millennium BC, larger structures and temples
were found instead of the village altar in the first layers.
• Eridu is the first city of humankind in world
archaeology, hence its first civilization.
• The exploiter-exploited, employer-employee relations
developed and political differentiation, that is the
relation between the ruler and the ruled, ceased to be
personal and became an institution. The formation of
political cadres that fill the institutions will appear in
the form of states, city-states
• political formations go beyond the chiefdom.
City States
• Cities such as Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, Zabalam,
Eridu, Lippur, Larsa, which were built around a central
temple, were called "sites".
• These city-states could not achieve political unity and were
in conflict with each other.
• Uruk King Lugalzagiz gathered the city-states in lower
Mesopotamia under one administration (2750 BC).
• At the head of the city-states was a king named Ensi or
Patesi.
• A Patesi was called “Lugal” if he took several cities under his
protection, and “Lugal Kalma” if he dominated the whole
Sumerian country.
• Sumerian Inventions:

• When they settled in the region, they knew how to make pottery.
The first real mechanical tool, The "potter's wheel", which is thought
to have appeared around 3500 BC, is one of the Sumerian inventions.
• Again, the oldest known sailing boat is a model found in a Sumerian
tomb around 3500 BC. Shortly thereafter, two-wheeled chariots and
wheeled vehicles used for intercity transportation of goods appeared.
• Invention of writing: The first writing system was developed by the
Sumerians in 4000 BC. After about 1000 years, the cuneiform script
was adopted. Especially the Sumerian priests used writing to record
the goods that were previously found in temples, and warehouses.
• The Sumerians produced written works in the
field of written literature for the first time in
history. Creation and the Epic of
Gilgamesh, The Flood Story

• With the discovery of writing by the Sumerians,

knowledge, transfer of knowledge and
educational activities became easier.
• Their temples are called the Ziggurat.
• Ziggurat: A tower temple in the form of a
truncated pyramid, consisting of floors
connected by ramps.
• Temenos: The region with the temple at the top
of the ziggurats.

• The lowest part of the ziggurats was used as a

market place (trade), the middle part was used as
a place of worship (temple) and the upper part
was used as an observatory.
• They believed in a polytheistic religion
Ur Nammu Ziggurat/Ur (2125 BC.)
• They found the calendar based on the lunar year.
This calendar year is 360 days and 30 days each
month. It consists of 12 hours each day and night.
• They laid the foundations of Geometry and
Arithmetic, used four operations, calculated the
area of the circle and divided the circle into 360
degrees.
• They also calculated the base 60 number system,
where an hour is 60 minutes, a minute is 60
seconds, and a week is 7 days.
MESOPOTAMIA CIVILIZATIONS-
ACCADS (2350 BC - 2100 BC)
• The Accadians, who were of Semitic origin, came
from Arabia and destroyed the Sumerians in
Mesopotamia in 2350 BC and established their
own state with Agade as its capital.
• They took Syria, Southeastern Anatolia and
Western Iran and formed the first empire known
in history and spread the Mesopotamian culture
to these geographies.
• Powerful kings such as Sargon and Naram-Sin
met the raw material needs of the capital with
the booty they collected from these regions.
State Administration-Accadians
• They became a state during the reign of King
Sargon. Naram-Sin, one of the Accadian kings,
used titles such as "king of Agade", "ruler of the
four corners" and "king of the universe".
• With Naram-Sin, the idea of god-king emerged.
• They were destroyed by the Gutians from Iran in
2100 BC.
MESOPOTAMIA CIVILIZATIONS - ELAMS (3000 BC-640 BC)
State Administration-Elams
• They were established in Southern Mesopotamia. Their capital is the
city of "Sus".
• They were organized in the form of city-states called "sites".
• In the early 2000s BC , the Sihaha dynasty established a state
system based on feudalism in Elam.
• Chief king-Sukkalmah
• Other princes-Sukkal
• Kings were regarded as representatives of God.
• In Elam, military and civil administration were separated from each
other. The king was considered the head of his two administrations.
• Next to the king was an advisory council called the "council of four".
• Along with the ruler's name in the earliest Elam documents, the
names of mothers, daughters, and sisters appear.
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATIONS-
BABYLONIANS (2100 BC. - 539 BC.)
State Administration-Babylons
• Their strongest king is Hammurabi.
• By basing his power on the law and
the army, Hammurrabi created the
first absolute kingdom (monarchy) in
history. He gave importance to
worldly understanding by adopting
the understanding of a just or
benevolent king instead of a god
king.
• Instead of the understanding of the
state based on religion, he brought
the understanding of absolute
kingship, which takes its power from
the army.
Code of Hammurabi 1750s BC.
• The most important
development of the
Babylonian I. period
was the laws created
with the logic of eye for
an eye written on
obelisks and clay
tablets, consisting of
282 laws, which were
accepted as the first
constitution.
Codes of Hammurabi
• At the top of the stele, we see the depiction of King
Hammurabi receiving a prayer before Shamash, who is
also the god of justice and the sun god, and seated on the
throne. The text of the laws is written below the depiction
of Shamash and Hammurabi, all around the monument.
• The crimes against the court are collected on theft and
abetting crimes, various land and housework, trade,
shopping, marriage, family ownership, adoption, assault
and retaliation, crimes belonging to professionals,
agricultural matters, various lease agreements and
prisoners.
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATIONS-ASSYRIANS (2000 BC – 609 BC)

• They were founded by the Sami and the Subaris.

Its founders are Ilushuma. Their capital is
Nineveh
• They have empires based on military power.
• Having permanent and regular armies, they took
Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Cyprus, and
Cappadocia in Anatolia.
• They prepared penal codes that were more
stringent than the Code of Hammurabi.
 It was built by Ashurbanipal, who ruled between
B.C. 668-627
• It was the
Assyrians who
started archiving
and the first
librarianship.
 TRADE-COLONY
• Since the lands they lived in were not suitable for
agriculture, they were engaged in animal husbandry and
trade.
• With the wide trade network they created, they enabled
Mesopotamia to interact with different cultures.
• In order to revive trade, they used the King's Road, which
started from the city of Sard and stretched to Nineveh.
• They established market place colonies called Karum.
• Colony: The country in which a state gains economic or
political interests by establishing sovereignty outside its
own country's borders, exploited country.
THE AGE OF THE ASSYRIAN TRADE COLONIES
1950-1750 BC.
• They traded with Anatolia via the king road. With the
trade colonies they established, they brought the
cuneiform script they learned from the Sumerians to
Anatolia, thus enabling Anatolia to enter the Ages of
History.
• They established market place colonies called Karum. The
biggest Karum is Kaniş in Kayseri-Kültepe.
• Merchants often sold tin and various cloths, in exchange
for gold and silver.
• Anatolia's acquaintance with the writing and entering the
historical ages was also thanks to the Assyrian merchants.
Social life
Temple- administration, social, economic
center
Priest- king- temple
Palace- kings and priests

Private property
Social stratification
Lowest: small peasants, daily
workers, serfs, slaves
Slaves
Born as a slave
Becomes a slave
Middle strata:
scribes, artisans, traders
Craftsmen:
pottery, metalworking, weaving, carpentry, boat
making, stone carving, brewing, goldsmithing,
bakery, basketry, pastry making, perfumery
Law: marriage, divorce, inheritance, corruption
Women's right to divorce and remarriage
A woman can own property.
Receives a share of the inheritance
Writing:
Collection, storage, distribution of surplus product

Writing is learned by copying original texts in temple-

affiliated schools

Sumerian proverbs, hymns, Epic of Gilgamesh

Special power of clerks

A limited group was literate

Literacy privilege
•
• Gods in human form –forces of nature

• Humans have no control over natural events.

• Clergy try to mediate the gods—sacrifice and ceremonies

•
• They also do astronomical calculations for irrigation systems.

• Everyone should sing, pray, sacrifice

• Influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

• Monumental temples, ziggurat

• Fortune telling
Science ?
• advanced in mathematics
• used their calculations to help understand the
movement of the sun and stars.
• The Sumerians created patterns of observation
and abstract thought,
• the science of astronomy
• a numeric system based on units of 12,60, and
360, still useful to many societies
• Calendars –phases of the Sun and the Moon
– Important for agricultural societies
– Lunar calendar with 12 lunar months