Zara Mahmood Professor Belkin AR100 June 4 2013 Lecture 9 Notes The First Cities Sumerian Civilization Sumerian Civilization The earliest civilization ca 3500 2000 BC What defines a state organized society o Hierarchy of citizens o Centralized bureaucracy o Existence of armies and religious organizations o Monumental infrastructure and architecture Fully complex society Vere Gordon Childe Theory of the rise of complex society o Where civilization emerged all over the world Indus Valley China Egypt Mesopotamia Mesoamerica Andes 10 criteria for what makes a complex society o Emergence of urban settlement Urbanized layouts neighborhoods civic and state buildings Surplus of food supply allows specialization Began during Neolithic government food tax Distinguish cities from villages skyscrapers o Division of labor o Accumulation of surplus o Monumental buildings o Ranked societies o Writing system Hierarchy within the society carefully distinguished Emerged to record economic transactions legitimize rulership o Exact and Predictive Sciences Taxes surplus trade religion calendars o Craft specialization and works of art Art for arts sake o Trade o Social organization Not kinship based on politics and economy Civilizations trading with each other industry and exotic goods Mesopotamia Neolithic 9000 BC Zara Mahmood Professor Belkin AR100 June 4 2013 Large cities not yet civilization 5000 BC Complex societies 4 3000 BC Fertile climate during 5000 BC with good resources o Flat treeless plains good for growing crops canal systems Pottery used to define different periods in Mesopotamia o Halaf pottery 6000 5000 BC o Uruk pottery 5000 3500 BC o Sumerian pottery 3000 2350 BC Used to define three Mesopotamia era Eridu both a site and culture o Started as a Neolithic village and progressed into a preliminary society not yet complex o 17 different levels with 20 temples for 3000 years Temples were stacked on each other o Enki god of water and intelligence Each city had their own god goddess to worship Uruk 4000 3100 BC o Urban settlements were fully settled o Full complex society o Ishtar goddess of love and war in Mesopotamia Anu Ziggurat White Temple power of elite o Elite ruling class upper class people with power and authority o Anu primary god in Mesopotamia The Sumerians 3000 2350 BC o Group of people that came into Mesopotamia o Brought in new language and pottery Replace Europe empire not done through military means Uruk people incorporated into culture o Many city states within Sumer Citystate Independent city each with their own ruler Urban settlement cities and buildings mudbrick with drainage systems Division of labor peasants farmers scribe merchant ruling class soldiers Accumulation of Surplus find storage rooms connected to palaces Monumental buildings ziggurats and palaces Ranked society Upper class Awilu Lower class Mushkenu Slaves Wardu dependent o Awilu kings priests and scribes literacy is important religion o Mushkenu farmers merchants craftsmen musicians o Wardu someone who owes money or captive from war Exact and Predictive Sciences Zodiac signs astronomical recordings mathematical calculations using the sky as omens interpretations Craft specialization and art God figurines animals shell inlay Trade Import and export of many goods from surrounding countries Zara Mahmood Professor Belkin AR100 June 4 2013 Sir Leonard Woolley Excavated Ur city o Bribed locals to help them excavate Was a spy in WWI informant for the British Empire Ur Excavation Excavated between 1922 1924 by Leonard Woolley Royal graves were found Sterile layer without artifacts o Argued that it was Noah s flood o Most likely flood of Euphrates Nanna Ziggurat Built by the King Ur Namu 21 Century BC o Dedicated to the moon goddess Nanna E hur sag Palace Palace of the King Ur Namu o Found many tablets and seals to indicate administrative center palace Royal cemetery Huge complex made up of thre different groups of burials o Large number of common people 2000 Rectangular shafts 4 12 ft with bodies just placed in there No grave goods and not elaborate burials o Burials of upperclass royal tombs o 2 Royal burials of King and Queen Elaborate burials with grave goods Clothed in textiles and beads King Meshkalamdug first royal grave excavated Oxen chariots gold helmet game boards Queen Pu abi Under King tomb Tendants court ladies buried with her Head dress and elaborate grave Cuneiform earliest writing form dating to the Uruk period The writing form but not the language language is Sumerian Blau Monument cuneiform o List of things they were giving as tribute to Ishtar Epic of Gilgamesh 2600 BC first tablet with story written down o First literature every created origins of humans adventures of Gilgamesh