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Persian

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Persian art, an introduction (article) | Khan Academy

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Cyrus managed in relatively no time to establish Persian control over the ancient Near East, Egypt, and parts of India, giving the Greek city-states a run for their money. The Persian Empire was the largest Empire that had ever been established.

The Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east.

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Persia is today the country of Iran.

By the 5th century B.C.E., it was the largest empire the world had ever seen, surpassing the size of their Assyrian predecessors.

Cyrus Is Desirous

In 539 B.C.E., King Cyrus decided to expand the boundaries of Persia. He began by conquering Babylon. Unlike Assyrian kings, Cyrus was known for his mercy rather than his cruelty.

For example, he allowed the Hebrews, who had been captives in Babylon for over fifty years to return to the holy city of Jerusalem, instead of turning them into slaves. He returned sacred items that were stolen from them and allowed the rebuilding of their capital and the temple.

Cyrus also allowed the Hebrews to continue living and worshiping as they chose. The Jewish prophet, Isaiah, called Cyrus "God's shepherd," and said that "God would go before him and level the mountains."

The Empty Quarter is the largest area of continuous sand in the world.

Cyrus's generosity toward the Jews was not an isolated event. He and his successors employed a policy of adaptation and reconciliation toward all of their new subjects. They cooperated with local rulers and interfered as little as possible in matters that did not directly relate to their rule. They respected local traditions and even adopted some of their subjects' religious practices for themselves.

A Kinder, Gentler Kingdom

Rather than destroy local economies for their own selfish gain, the Persians worked to increase trade throughout their kingdom. They standardized weights, developed official coinage, and implemented universal laws.

The Persian leaders required cooperation and imposed a 20 percent tax on all agriculture and manufacturing. They also taxed religious institutions, which despite their wealth had previously not been taxed.

The Persians themselves paid no taxes.

The Persian kings - especially Cyrus and, later, Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) - developed a model for the administration of a large empire that was copied by others in the future. Laws were carried out fairly and evenly among all of the various subject peoples.

The Persians divided their empire into 20 provinces that were managed by governors. In addition, they provided land to feudal lords in exchange for loyalty and guarantees of soldiers for the Persian army. Most of the people in the empire, including average Persians, simply remained struggling farmers or craftspeople.

Cyrus built the foundations of a courier, or mail, system. Darius I built a communication network that connected most of the empire. A 1,600-mile-long royal road was built from Sardis to Susa, one of the administrative capitals. Along this road, were numerous places for lodging, where royal couriers could obtain fresh horses and supplies.

A Bedouin man on a camel wears clothing that shields him from the heat of the hot desert sun.

Thus Spake Zarathustra

The Persians also developed a religion based on monotheism, the belief in one god. It was founded by the prophet Zoroaster, called Zarathustra in old Iranian. Many of his ideas were collected in a series of poems called the Gathas, which became part of the religion's most sacred book, the Avesta.

Zoroaster believed that people were training for a future life. He taught that the earthly world was torn by a constant struggle between good and evil. Humans would have to choose between the two in preparation for a final judgment when good would triumph over evil. When this happened, all earthly existence would disappear. The Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, embodied goodness and wisdom. Some religious scholars believe that Zoroaster's ideas strongly influenced on the development of the Hebrew and Christian religions.

Despite the Persians' effective and conciliatory leadership, their empire did not last. Under King Xerxes in 480 B.C.E., the Persians made an attempt to expand their empire into Greece. The Greek city-states cooperated and held off the Persian threat and even succeeded in almost obliterating the Persian navy.

When Alexander the Great rose to power in 331 B.C.E., he put an end to Persian dreams of expanding their empire. Only in his early twenties, Alexander had no equal as a military strategist. He swept through the ancient world, conquering all of the Persian Empire.

Persian Architecture
This site is packed with information on the unique style of Persian architecture. Bridges, mosques, minarets, domes, gardens - it's all here. Set aside some time to look at this page; there is a lot here, and it is all fascinating.

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What if the Statue of Liberty just sunk into the sea and nobody remembered its existence? Or the Eiffel Tower crumbled and no one could remember how all that metal fit together? Well, that's what happened to most of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
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Cyrus managed in relatively no time to establish Persian control over the ancient Near East, Egypt, and parts of India, giving the Greek city-states a run for their money. The Persian Empire was the largest Empire that had ever been established.

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Ancient Babylonia left behind some wonderful artifacts.

The Babylonians used the innovations of the Sumerians, added to them, and built an empire that gave the world, among other things, codified laws, a tower that soared above the earth, and one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Geographically, the empire of Babylonia occupied the middle and southern part of Mesopotamia. Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, it stretched from the present-day city of Baghdad south to the Persian Gulf.

The late Babylonian Empire controlled the Fertile Crescent, including most of modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

The first written mention of Babylonia's famous capital city, Babylon, dates to about 3800 B.C.E. During that time, most of Mesopotamia was made up of Sumerian city-states. The king of Babylonia Sargon I, however, was of Semitic background. During his reign, Semitic literature, art, and architecture flourished. He ruled from Susa and conquered lands as far away as Syria.

The First Empire

Sargon I, known as Sargon the Great, was a Semitic king who ruled the earliest Babylonian Empire.

Over the next 1,500 years, the Mesopotamia city-states vied with each other for power and influence. It was not until Hammurabi (ruled 1792-1750 B.C.E.) united most of this area after a triumphant military campaign that the city of Babylon reached its first great glory. In the years during and following Hammurabi's reign (known as the First Empire), Babylonian rulers constructed temples, roads, and an extensive canal system. They also codified laws.

The rule of the Babylonian kings contrasts favorably with the rule of the Assyrian kings who destroyed the first Babylonian Empire and left a legacy of war and destruction. After Assyrian dominance in Mesopotamia, which lasted from approximately 1400-600 B.C.E., the Babylonians established a second great Empire.

King Nabopolassar, a Chaldean, (Chaldea was a region of southern Mesopotamia), helped to conquer the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 606 B.C.E. and used the opportunity to establish his own kingdom in Babylon.

Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, succeeded his father in 604 B.C.E. During Nebuchadnezzar's reign, the Tower of Babel reached its apex, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were constructed, Babylonians destroyed the Great Temple in Jerusalem and 7,000 Jews were brought back to Babylonia in captivity.

According to legend, the magnificent ziggurat known as the Tower of Babel needed constant maintenance to keep the baked bricks from eroding away in the rain. When King Xerxes of Persia took over Babylon in 478 B.C.E., the tower began its descent into history as a pile of debris and broken bricks on the ground.

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel was a ziggurat, a pyramid-shaped temple built to a local god. The most important god of Babylon was Marduk, who outshone all other gods in the Babylonian pantheon.

Construction on the Tower of Babel had begun about 1100 B.C.E., and when Nebuchadnezzar finished it, the tower reached a height of 91 meters (295 feet). According to a tablet left by the king, the tower was made of "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue."

The Hanging Gardens

Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, for his wife who missed her lush homeland.

The gardens did not "hang" literally - that is, its plants or trees didn't dangle from ropes. "Hanging" refers to the garden's terraces which overhung one another.

But what makes a terraced garden special enough to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World?

Babylon received little rain, and stone slabs needed to hold terraces in place were almost nonexistent in the region. Ingenious engineers devised a chain pump that brought water from the nearby Euphrates River to irrigate the gardens. Specially designed bricks kept the flora in place.

The result was a green oasis that today's scholars believe rose between 80 and 300 feet into the air. The gardens were a lush mountain of foliage in the middle of a flat, dry desert.

Ultimately, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon disappeared, and the Tower of Babel and the Babylonian Empire were destroyed by the Persians around the year 478 B.C.E.

Babylonian language evolved from pictographs to cuneiforms throughout the life of the civilization.

But the sands of time cannot hide the magnificent accomplishments in engineering, law, art, and architecture that the Babylonians left as their legacy to the world.

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Ancient Babylonia left behind some wonderful artifacts. The Babylonians used the innovations of the Sumerians, added to them, and built an empire that gave the world, among other things, codified laws, a tower that soared above the earth, and one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Review: Who were the Sumerians? The Rise of Civilization The domestication of crops and animals is called agriculture. Before the rise of agriculture, people were nomadic hunter-gatherers .…

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Essential Themes
3. Government: How do humans organize their societies, and why do they organize them the way they do?
5. Conflict & Cooperation: How has warfare shaped human history?
7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history?
The Assyrians
There were three major civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia. The first civilization was ancient Sumer. About a thousand years later, first the Babylonians and then the Assyrians took over, but the Sumerian culture lived on. The Babylonians lived in lower Mesopotamia. The Assyrians lived at the same time as the Babylonians, but the Assyrians lived at the foot of the Taurus mountains in northern Mesopotamia. The Assyrians had their own language and their own lifestyle. Their religion was similar to that of Sumer, and then Babylonia, and they worshiped many of the same gods. Because they were well known traders, their donkeys and caravans were known throughout Mesopotamia.

How did the Assyrians rise to power?

Through military domination, the Assyrians conquered many lands and built a huge that included Babylon, Syria, Palestine, and even Egypt. Assyrians were cruel to the people they captured. Enemies who surrendered were allowed to choose a leader. However, those who refused to submit were captured and made slaves or were killed.

In order to control an empire as large as theirs, the Assyrians needed a well organized system of government. The Assyrians governed their conquered lands by allowing defeated peoples to be ruled by a local leader or king. The local leader would rule under the direction of the Assyrians and would send tribute to the Assyrian emperor. That meant that the ruler had to pay for the protection given by the Assyrian army. In other words, a tribute was a sort of tax paid to the Assyrians.

Military Camp: The Assyrians were forever at war with somebody, and it was through war that the Assyrian empire grew. That was expensive. As a result, taxes were terrible in ancient Assyria. But their geographic expansion was impressive and, due to that expansion, the Assyrians also advanced quickly in art and sculpture. The Assyrians used art to tell their stories of battles and to honor their war heroes.

The Assyrians were military masters. Their use of the chariot and siege engines changed how battles were fought.

Because so many of the scenes painted on their ceramics and carved in stone show pictures of military life, we know a lot about daily life in the military camps. Many pieces of art picture a royal canopy in the center of the military camp. The king's face is usually shown. The chariot of the time was mounted on six wheels.

Much of the art shows scenes from the battlefield and are quite detailed. From the art it's clear what each soldier packed and wore to battle. Included in each soldier's kit was an inflatable to aid the crossing of rivers. Other military art shows more activities. Some art features a camp bakery or soldiers at meals. Others show a servant holding a scoop from which a soldier is taking a drink. A lot of the art features horses and grooms. And some art shows men guarding the entrance to the camp wearing sandals and carrying shields.

Burial Ceremonies: Ceremonies changed over the many thousands of years that this civilization flourished. Bodies were put to res﻿t in cemeteries, and in jars with tight lids, or the deceased were buried in the desert.

The ancient Mesopotamians did not believe in a happy, busy afterlife. In the funeral ceremony itself, they would place the hand of the on a plate of food, so that the dead would have something for the trip to the after-world. They would bury their dead with a few of their favorite possessions - weapons, favorite drinking cups, and other small personal items.

The Assyrians handled burial differently. They liked to keep their dead at home. The poor would dig a hole somewhere in the house and bury their dead. The rich would build a room just for the burial. In both cases, an oil lamp would be kept burning near or at the grave site. The lantern reminded everyone that the deceased was near and well-cared for.

The Assyrians decided the smartest thing to do would be to rebuild the city, and to return the statue of Marduk to his temple. They really did not have any use for the city. And they really hated the Babylonians and everything they built, especially Babylon. But, they were more afraid of the god Marduk than they were filled with hate for the Babylonians. So, they rebuilt Babylon, but let it stand as an empty city. Eventually, however, people returned to the city and Babylon rose again.

How do we know so much about ancient Babylon and Assyria?
The Great Library of Nineveh: The Assyrian Empire lasted for about 600 years. Around 600 BCE, before the people of ancient Mesopotamia were absorbed into the great Persian Empire, the last Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, started a project. In his capital city of Nineveh, he began collecting a library of clay tablets. Ashurbanipal wanted his library to consist of all the literature of ancient Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.

No one knows how many tablets Ashurbanipal actually collected but, when discovered in modern times, over 30,000 tablets still remained in the great library. These tablets are our single most important source of knowledge about ancient Mesopotamia.

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Essential Themes 3. Government: How do humans organize their societies, and why do they organize them the way they do? 5. Conflict & Cooperation: How has warfare shaped human history? 7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history? The Assyrians There were three major civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia.

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Essential Themes
Geography: Why do people move and live where they do?

Today, you will take a quick tour of Mesopotamia and talk about its geography and natural barriers. is the study of how humans interact with their environment. are geographic features of a landscape that make crossing that land difficult. Examples of natural barriers are rivers, mountains, deserts, ice fields, and seas.

Sometimes natural barriers isolate an area, which doesn't sound good, but isolation might also provide some security to a region. While you complete this quick tour of ancient Mesopotamia, try to pick out its natural barriers. Think about whether or not those natural barriers helped the ancient Mesopotamians who settled there and built the world's first civilization thousands of years ago.

Where is Mesopotamia?
Mesopotamia sits in the Middle East at the intersection of Europe, Africa, and Asia, where Iraq is today.

Mesopotamia is known by a few nicknames such as "﻿ The Fertile Crescent ﻿ " and "The Cradle of Civilization." Another name for Mesopotamia, though, is "The Land Between the Rivers." In fact, the word Mesopotamia, derived from ancient G reek, means "the land between the rivers."

In this case, the rivers are the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. The Tigris is east of the Euphrates or, if you're looking at a map, it's to the right side of the Euphrates.

Both rivers flow out of the Taurus Mountains to the north and, after traveling over a thousand miles through what is mostly desert, they flow into the Persian Gulf to the South. To the east, Mesopotamia is bordered by the Zagros Mountains.

The land of Mesopotamia, then as now, is mostly desert and rarely receives more than about 12 inches of rain per year. Mesopotamian deserts include the Syrian Desert and the Arabian Desert.
How did irrigation help Mesopotamia's early settlers?

Why Mesopotamia?
Drawn by the promise of the two rivers, by about 8000 BCE, that's "before the common era," communities based on and the domestication of animals were already being established in northern Mesopotamia. These agricultural communities were pe rmanent settlements .

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers made the soil of Mesopotamia good for growing crops, and by 6000 BCE farmers had already started to rely on rather than on rainfall to grow crops. Irrigation is a system of canals leading from the rivers to the fields. With the development of irrigation, people turned from being controlled by the environment to being able to change their environment. As a result, communities began to push further and further south along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers until, between 3500 and 3000 BCE, true cities emerged.

What resources did the Tigris and Euphrates provide the people who settled "the land between the rivers?"

The cities that developed in Mesopotamia were mostly concentrated in the South, near the Persian Gulf, and included such powerhouses as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Eridu and, later, Babylon. The growth of cities along the banks of those two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, depended on the ability of the farmers to use the Tigris and the Euphrates to develop robust agriculture throughout the region. Because of the acres and acres of green crops in the middle of the desert, Mesopotamia became known as the "fertile crescent." You might think living in ancient Mesopotamia, surrounded by deserts and mountains, would be an awful place to live. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, however, provided early settlers in Mesopotamian all they needed to survive and prosper. The rivers provided water for drinking, bathing, and irrigating crops. The rivers also provided an

abundance of fish and water birds, such as ducks and geese, for eating. The mud along the banks of the rivers provided clay for pottery and materials for brick making. Due to the resources provided by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Mesopotamians were able to develop agriculture, which led to a food , permanent mud brick dwellings, and specialized workers. Together, those three things led to a more complex society and the birth of "civilization."

Now, how many of the "natural barriers" that are a part of Mesopotamia can you name?

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Essential Themes Geography: Why do people move and live where they do? Today, you will take a quick tour of Mesopotamia and talk about its geography and natural barriers. is the study of how humans interact with their environment. are geographic features of a landscape that make crossing that land difficult.

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Civilization ("Harajuku Girls" by Gwen Stefani)

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Essential Themes
2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do?
3. Government: How do humans organize their societies, and why do they organize them the way they do?
7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history?

Review: What is a city-state?
Daily Life in Ancient Sumer
Ancient Sumer was a bustling place. The cities were built along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Long docks were built along the sides of the rivers so that ships could easily dock and unload the goods they had to trade. Ships brought food, drinks, clothes, jewelry, wine, and other goods up and down the rivers. Banquets with music and dancing were frequent. At such celebrations, poets would recite verses about great kingly deeds and golden cups filled with sweet delicious date wine would be lifted to toast the hosts.

Art: The Sumerians were wonderful at their crafts. They made jewelry out of precious gold and lapis lazuli, as well as fancy chairs, and unglazed vases that kept water cool. They were not very good at sculptures because their artists did not have stone with which to work. But they made beautiful things with the materials on hand. Creating colorful in intricate and beautiful patterns using little pieces of painted clay was one of the things they did very well. Archaeologists have found remains of their mosaics, helmets, harps, jewelry, pottery, decorated tablets and cylinder seals.

How did Sumerians honor their gods?

Religion: The Sumerians were polytheistic. That means that they believed in many, many gods. They believed that everything that happened to them - good and bad - was the result of a god's pleasure or displeasure. Their daily life was spent seeking ways to please their gods. It was common for a Mesopotamian home to include a shrine, a place to honor the gods. A city of any size also had a ziggurat that, in addition to other public functions, served as a temple.

Ziggurats: The Sumerians believed that powerful gods lived high up in the sky atop the mountains in the distance. Because of that belief, the Sumerians built huge structures called ziggurats to bring them closer to the gods. The ziggurats looked like a "stepped pyramid" and were built to resemble the mountains that the Sumerians could see in the distance. The word, ziggurat, means "mountain of the gods."
Why was education so important to the Sumerians?
Ziggurats had stairs climbing up to the top where a special temple was decorated with blue tiles to resemble the sky. Only priests could ascend to that uppermost level. It was there that the priests conducted religious ceremonies. Sumerians regularly went to the ziggurat to leave offerings for the gods. Usually, such offerings were food or wine. Because the gods could not eat for themselves, the priests enjoyed those offerings.

The ziggurat was built in the center of town. It was also the center of daily life. Except for festivals, which, for the most part, were gloomy things, the ziggurat's courtyard was lively and fun. You might see an artist painting, a boy racing by on his way to school, or someone milking a cow or making a basket. From the top of the ziggurat, you could see the protective wall built around the entire town and, over the wall, you would look out to the farmlands beyond.

Why were priests powerful in ancient Sumer?
Education: The ancient Sumerians believed in education. Record keeping was very important to them. They wrote everything down. They wanted their sons to learn how to read and write. Public education probably began with the Sumerians. Schools were attached to temples. Only boys went to school. Teachers were very strict. Students had to do a perfect job, or they were punished. Because someone who could read and write could always find a good job, most students wanted to go to school.

Social Classes: There were four main classes of people in ancient Sumer: the priests, the upper class, the lower class, and the slaves.

The Priests: The Sumerians believed that all forces of nature were alive. Because they could not control the forces of nature, they viewed such forces as the will of gods. Remember, the Sumerians were polytheistic. They had more than 3,000 gods and goddesses. Only priests could know the gods' will. Therefore, priests were in charge of making sure everyone behaved in a way that would make the gods happy. Because of this, Sumerian priests were very powerful.

Because the Sumerians believed that the gods owned all of the land, one way that priests exercised their power was by administering the land in the god's name. The priests also ran schools and were considered the doctors of the time. If you were sick, you called for a priest. There is a written record of two priests, by the bed of a sick boy, dressed to look like fish to better speak with the water god.

The Upper Class: Men and women wore jewelry, especially rings. Men wore skirts and had long hair, curly mustaches, and long beards. Women wore dresses, off one shoulder. They had long hair, which they braided or wore up in fancy arrangements. It was easy to tell who was a priest. The priests shaved their heads. Everyone wore cloaks made from sheep wool to keep warm in winter.

Homes: The rich lived in large homes, and the poor lived in small homes. Most homes were clustered around the ziggurat and each other. Most houses shared walls, like townhouses do today. There was little wood or stone available for use as building materials, so city people built their homes of sun-dried mud bricks. Doors led into a small family courtyard and then to the roof. The roofs were flat. When weather permitted, people cooked and slept on their roofs. As the cities grew, rich and poor sections of town developed, but all families had a home of their own.

How did the rights of women compare to the rights of men in ancient Sumer?
The Lower Class: In ancient Sumer, people were paid for their work. If they ran a shop or worked in the fields, they were paid for their goods or labor. Stealing was a serious crime and punishment was severe. Everybody paid for the things they received, even the king. Although the lower class did not have the luxurious lifestyle of the rich, they were comfortable. They worked very hard, but they had homes. They followed the clothing fashions of the time as much as possible. They wore jewelry, although perhaps it was not made of gold. There was no law that said the lower class could not move up the social scale, and most worked hard so that their children could move up the social scale by becoming a scribe, or a priest or priestess.

The Slaves: When the Sumerians conquered another town, they brought prisoners back with them to serve as slaves. Slaves worked for the king, the temple, and the wealthy. Slaves were bought and sold. Records have been found recording the amount paid for a slave. Typically, a slave bought at auction cost less than a donkey but more than a cow.

The Standard of Ur: The Standard of Ur is a magnificent piece of Sumerian art discovered by Leonard Wooley in the Royal Tombs of Ur. It depicts social classes in ancient Sumer. The pictures below show the two sides of the Standard of Ur. On the left is the "Peace" side. On the right is the "War" side. The Peace side represents the Sumerian society and its three divisions of social classes (Upper, Middle, and Lower). The War side represents the different classes of the Sumerian Army (Chariots, Soldiers, and Warriors).

CLICK the pictures above to go inside the Standard of Ur

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Essential Themes 2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do? 3. Government: How do humans organize their societies, and why do they organize them the way they do? 7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history? Review: What is a city-state?

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Essential Themes
2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do?
Gods, Goddesses, & Creation Stories
Imagine it's a dark, cloudy night. It is raining. You can't see the moon or the stars. Then, suddenly, a lightning bolt explodes the tree a little ways down the street. How do you feel?

Now, imagine you don't have the benefit of science that can explain the lightning bolt. What would you think might have caused the lightning? If you lived in ancient Mesopotamia you would probably think that some force greater than man had done it. You might call this force a god.

The Mesopotamians had gods for everything. If you got sick, one of the gods was mad at you. If your door stuck and was hard to open, maybe you weren't paying enough attention to the gods. If two fields were side by side and one was growing tall with thick crops and the other was full of weeds, then it was obvious that the gods favored the one and disliked the other. You couldn't see the gods, at least normal people couldn't. But the ancient Mesopotamian people believed that the gods ruled every aspect of their lives.

The gods, however, could be unpredictable. You never knew what the gods might do. Thus, it was the responsibility of every individual to do everything they could at all times to keep the gods happy. Kings were not gods. Kings were mortals, just like in the common man. In this, at least, all men were equal in ancient Mesopotamia. All men,including the king, were supposed to spend their time , or satisfying the gods.

What role did the council of elders serve in Mesopotamia?
The king sought approval for his actions from this assembly, just like everyone else. The assembly might say to a king, "No king, you can't do that. That would anger the gods." And the king would not do that. The Assembly: The Assembly was a council comprised of some of the community's distinguished elder citizens. Since the King was just as eager and just as responsible for keeping the gods happy as were the common people, it made sense to these early people to elect a council - an assembly of wise men - people you could check in with to make sure that what you were planning to do would not anger the gods.

​ Everybody had to work together to keep the gods happy. That's how things were in ancient Mesopotamia. And government by assembly can mean a form of democracy. Thus, because of their religion, the ancient Mesopotamians practiced an early form of democracy. Even the gods had to seek the approval of the assembly. Although it would be a neat trick, the gods didn't actually appear in front of the assembly, but the assembly did discuss how the gods should behave and arrange themselves in the heavens - who could marry whom and who had what job, that type of thing - and that's how it was.
BRAINBOX: Why did the good gods want to get rid of Tiamat?

Above, a cylinder seal showing the water god, Ea. CLICK to learn more about Mesopotamian gods and goddesses.

Ancient Babylonian Creation Story
The Problem: Once upon a time, a long time ago, the gods in the heavens wanted to rid themselves of the evil goddess Tiamat, the goddess of chaos. Although every good god agreed that this was a great plan, no one wished to battle the evil goddess Tiamat, as she was very powerful.

The Good Guys: In desperation, Ea, the wise water god, decided that Marduk had the best chance of defeating the evil goddess. True, Marduk was young, but he had many powerful skills and was extremely quick witted. Ea asked Marduk if he would be willing to challenge the evil goddess Tiamat on behalf of all the good gods.

​ Marduk's Terms: Marduk knew, if he took the job, he would have quite a fight on his hands. Marduk thought it over. He told Ea he would try to conquer the evil goddess Tiamat if the good gods agreed to his terms. The good gods had to promise to reward Marduk with the permanent position of "Chief of the Gods" if he battled the evil goddess Tiamat and won.

Ea's Tricky Plan: Ea knew he could not make such a deal on his own. Something of such importance would need the approval of the entire Assembly of the Gods. Ea was pretty sure that a lot of the gods would not be happy about this, especially the older ones who typically teamed up so their collective vote quite often ruled the day.

Ea decided to throw a banquet and invite the entire Assembly to the party. He really went all out to lull the gods into a peaceful and happy state. Ea had his servants serve mounds of pancakes, a most favorite and sought after food in ancient Mesopotamia. He ordered that many huge vases, brimming with delicious date wine, be placed on the floor around the banquet table. Each god was given a tube (somewhat like a very long straw) to use to drink from the vases of wine. He had musicians play soft music on their pipes, accompanied by the bleating of live sheep, which was thought to be a most restful sound.

The combination of pancakes and date wine, and the bleating of sheep put all the good gods in such a great mood that the entire Assembly agreed to Marduk's terms. Besides, the gods really did not think the boy had a chance.

The Battle: Marduk armed himself with a bow and several arrows, a thunderous club, a net of storms, and a saw-toothed lightning dagger. He went in search of Tiamat. Rolling his thunder and storms before him, Marduk fought one monster after another that the evil goddess Tiamat kept creating and throwing in his way. Each time he killed a monster, he moved closer to the evil goddess Tiamat. One day, he got close enough to catch her in his nets! When he did, Tiamat howled with fury. Before she could conjure yet another monster, Marduk shot an arrow down her howling throat, and killed her!

What were Marduk's main weapons?
The mighty Marduk took his club and split Tiamat's body in half. He placed half of her body in the sky and made the heavens. He posted guards to make sure she did not escape and gave them twinkling lights to show that all was well. He created the moon to guard the heavens, and set it moving back and forth on an endless patrol. With the other half of Tiamat's body he made the land. From both her eyes, he set the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers flowing. He planted fields of grain and vegetables, and blessed the land with rain, cows, forests, and orchards.

Marduk told the gods who had supported Tiamat that they had to work the fields and tend the canals as punishment. These gods soon complained of all the work they had to do. They burnt their spades and baskets in protest. Marduk, with an eye on the future, promised that if they agreed to recognize Marduk for all time as the Chief of all the gods, he would release them and find others to do the work in their place. That's how humans were first put upon the earth. Marduk created humans to do the work, to till and hoe, to tend the canals and animals, and to worship all the gods at festivals.

Marduk is the patron god of which Mesopotamian city?

​Chief of the Assembly of Gods: Impressed, and as promised, the gods awarded Marduk with the permanent position of first Chief, leader of the Assembly of all the Gods. To this day, Marduk's symbols are the saw-toothed lightning dagger that he holds in his belt, his trusty weapon that still helps him keep order in the heavens, and the ring and the rod.
Brainbox Question: What are the Ring and the Rod and what do they symbolize?

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Essential Themes 2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do? Gods, Goddesses, & Creation Stories Imagine it's a dark, cloudy night. It is raining. You can't see the moon or the stars. Then, suddenly, a lightning bolt explodes the tree a little ways down the street. How do you feel?

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of King Gilgamesh. It was written thousands of years ago. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that recounts the many adventures that our hero, Gilgamesh, experienced in his search for everlasting life.

The story opens with an unnamed narrator who states, "I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh." The narrator introduces himself before he introduces the hero, King Gilgamesh of Uruk, and by doing so, he welcomes us into the story.

The narrator explains that after Gilgamesh returned from his journey, and after he had rested, Gilgamesh engraved the whole story of his adventures on a clay tablet. It is that story, Gilgamesh's own story, that the narrator is sharing with us in the "Epic of Gilgamesh."

It's important to know that the ancient Sumerians believed in many, many gods. They believed in super powerful gods, like the god of the sky and the god of the sea. And, they believed in little tiny gods, like the household god who watched over the broom they used to sweep their house, or the god in the tree out back who watched over that particular tree. Each of these magical creatures had special powers. They did not all have the same special powers, but they were each magical in their own special way. These various magical creatures did have something in common. They were immortal, which means they could live forever.

The narrator is quick to tell us that the king of Uruk, the great King Gilgamesh, was two-thirds god and one-third man. Because of this, Gilgamesh was far more beautiful and far more courageous than a common person. Gilgamesh was not just a hero; he was the first superhero! Yet, according to this story, he was also mortal, which might explain why he was determined to find the key to everlasting life - so he could live forever like the rest of the gods.

Gilgamesh was the King of Uruk. Though he was King, he didn't care about his people. He only cared about himself. And nobody could do anything about it because, not only was he a king, and not only was he the biggest, baddest guy in all of ancient Mesopotamia, but he was also two-thirds god and one-third mortal.

He was strong enough to pick up mountains. He was fast enough to dive down to the deepest point in the ocean and back again in just one breath. But he couldn't fly. And he couldn't live forever. It was that "couldn't live forever" part that really got his camel. After all, wasn't he a god? Well, not totally anyway. Maybe it was that, but for whatever reason, Gilgamesh was nearly always very cranky.
Why did the gods send Enkidu to Gilgamesh?
He was also very bored. He had run out of cities to conquer. All the monsters ran away the minute they heard he was coming. Basically, he had nothing to do except mope about and scare his citizens silly with his tempers and his tantrums and his bawdy bad ways.

The gods looked down and decided that what Gilgamesh needed was a challenge. So, they created a really wild man, one who was stronger and faster than Gilgamesh, and they named him Enkidu. The gods sent Enkidu down to earth to cut Gilgamesh down to size. Enkidu went roaring into the city of Uruk, where Gilgamesh had his palace.

Immediately, Gilgamesh perked up. The two men - gods roared and wrestled and bit and scratched, but neither could beat the other. Soon, they started laughing, and they became the very best of friends. Since there was nothing much to do around town, the citizens of Uruk were most relieved when they heard that the two men-gods had gone off to the forbidden cedar forest, looking for monsters to battle. This was very good news, everyone agreed!

The forest was forbidden because it was guarded by the evil demon Humbaba. The most evil thing he did was to make fun of people, which hurt peoples' feelings. Gilgamesh and Enkidu tried to hide when they spotted Humbaba, but his teasing made them so mad that they came out of hiding and ran full tilt into him. Surprised by the attack, Humbaba fell over. Gilgamesh raised his sword to cut off Humbaba's head, but he wasn't quick enough. Before he could kill the evil demon, the demon put a curse on Enkidu. Shortly thereafter, Enkidu became sick and died.

Gilgamesh was incredibly sad. Enkidu was the first best friend he ever had. Gilgamesh sat in the forbidden forest and drank from the forbidden stream and thought things over. Gilgamesh had heard stories of the incredible plant of everlasting life. He had heard that the plant grew in the darkest regions of the universe. He decided it was time to find this special plant. He started walkin
What is the purpose of Gilgamesh's quest?
After 40 days and 40 nights, Gilgamesh came to a pass in the mountains. Two huge, giant, extremely big demon scorpions guarded the pass. "Go back, little man," sneered the twin demon scorpions. "Do you know who I am?" thundered Gilgamesh. "I am Gilgamesh the GOD, "he snarled. "Get out of my way, you stupid bugs."

The demons knew the name of Gilgamesh. Some of the monsters that had limped through the pass told awful tales of the horrible Gilgamesh, pointing to a missing tail here and a ripped out claw there. Gilgamesh! With a pop, the scorpions disappeared.

Through the pass Gilgamesh crossed, until he entered the kingdom on the other side. In the distance, he saw a beautiful palace. Near the palace was a rather large boat. The boat was laying on the ground, tilted to one side. There was no town, no river, no sea; there was not even a moat. There was only a boat and a palace. The King and Queen who lived in the palace seemed very nice. They even invited him to stay the night, and Gilgamesh accepted.

Having assumed Gilgamesh was out and about, visiting lands near his own kingdom of Uruk, over dinner, the Queen asked Gilgamesh if he was having a nice trip. Gilgamesh sighed. He told the King and Queen about the forbidden forest and about his friend Enkidu.

"That's so sad," sighed the Queen sadly.

"I happened to notice your boat," said Gilgamesh, mostly to change the subject.

"My boat!" beamed the King. "Isn't she a beauty? I built it after the gods warned me about the flood. I loaded the boat with every kind of plant and animal. When the rains came, I loaded my family as well. For six days and six nights, rain poured down. It rained so hard that my boat was soon afloat. On the seventh day, it finally stopped raining. My boat was afloat on a vast ocean of water.

When the sun came out, I sent a swallow to see if she could spot land. But she found nothing. The next day, I sent a dove. On the third day, I sent a raven. And on the fourth day, my boat slowly settled down right where you see it today! In those days, it was still floating. It took a few days for the water to ease away.

On that day, we opened the hatches and all the animals and all my family walked off the boat. We built this palace, and scattered the seeds to the winds. And that's how the world began for the second time. We did it, my Queen & I!"

Gilgamesh shook his head in wonder. The King's accomplishments made his own seem very small and unimportant. It occurred to him that if anyone knew where the plant of eternal life might be found, this would be the person to ask. The King hesitated. He did know, but did he wish to tell this brash young man? This would take thought.

Gilgamesh thanked his hosts for a most delicious dinner and took himself to bed. He was so tired after his long walk that he slept for six nights. While he slept, the Queen convinced her husband to tell Gilgamesh the secret of everlasting life.

"He seems like a good boy," said the Queen. "And he just lost his best friend. And he's traveled so far. And he did listen to your boat story without interrupting once."

"That's true," nodded the King. "That was very polite of him." And that just goes to show that good manners really do pay off.

When Gilgamesh finally awoke from his nap, and after a huge delicious breakfast of mounds and mounds of pancakes, the King told Gilgamesh how to find the plant of everlasting life.

"You have to dive into the deepest part of the ocean," the King said. "Then, you have to defeat the giant octopus and cut one branch only from the tree of life."

Gilgamesh was excited. He could do that. He could dive to the deepest part of the ocean on one breath. In fact, he knew right where the giant octopus hung out. He usually avoided that part of the ocean. He liked to battle monsters, but he needed air to do it well.

Gilgamesh set off that very day, back towards home and the ocean. Once there, he grabbed some heavy rocks and dove to the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh quickly hit the octopus with the rocks he carried. While the octopus was stunned, Gilgamesh quickly broke off one branch from the tree of life, and shot towards the surface of the sea.

With the plant secure, he swam to shore. He was going to eat his plant right away. Then he thought he might hurry into town, waving his prize. Then he decided what he really wanted to do was throw a huge party, apologize to the town for his hideous behavior in the past, promise to change, and then eat the tree of life and live forever!

Happily, he curled up, hugging his branch, and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, the gods sent a snake to steal the branch. Only true gods could live forever. Gods that were only two-thirds gods simply did not qualify. The snake quietly crawled up to Gilgamesh and, then, ate the plant! That was not what the snake was supposed to do. In anger, the gods punished the snake by making it crawl on its belly forever.

As for Gilgamesh, when he woke up and found the plant gone, he wasn't worried. He knew he could dive down and get another branch whenever he wanted. He headed for town, wanting only a warm bath and a great dinner.

Gilgamesh lived a full rich life. He became a model King. All his people loved him. But he never seemed to find time to dive back down and get another branch from the plant of everlasting life. Why was that, I wonder?
Did Gilgamesh achieve immortality?

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The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of King Gilgamesh. It was written thousands of years ago. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that recounts the many adventures that our hero, Gilgamesh, experienced in his search for everlasting life. The story opens with an unnamed narrator who states, "I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh."

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Cuneiform

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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In addition to creating the first civilization, the Mesopotamians invented all sorts of things that are still in use today. Among other things, the ancient Mesopotamians invented the wheel, the sailboat, the first written language, frying pans, razors, cosmetic sets, shepherd's pipes, harps, kilns to cook bricks and pottery, bronze hand tools like hammers and axes, the plow, the plow seeder, a working pump and, believe it or not, the first battery. Essential Themes:
4. Technology: How does technology affect people's lives?
7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history?
Mesopotamian Inventions

How did early inventions lead to civilization?

Many of these early inventions helped drive the need for specialized workers. By increasing the demand for labor, early inventions directly influenced the growth of cities and, therefore, the growth of their civilization. Before potter's wheels were invented, Mesopotamian potters had to make each pot by coiling together individual strands of clay. That was a lengthy and labor intensive process. The potter's wheel made it easier for Mesopotamian potters to create surpluses to trade for other goods or services.

Historians think that the invention of the wheel, the kind used on carts and wagons, was modeled after the potter's wheel. Wheels placed on carts helped farmers get their surpluses to market more easily and more quickly. Farmers also used wagons to transport goods over longer distances. Travel by water was still more efficient, however, so Mesopotamians invented the sailboat.

Even with all of these great inventions, the Mesopotamian invention most important to future civilizations, was the creation of a written language.

The first pottery was made by coiling strands of clay one on top of the other (far left). This method , however, resulted in pots of non - uniform shapes and inconsistent wall thickness. The pottery wheel resulted in both sturdier and more beautiful pottery, as well as one of the first examples of "specialized jobs." It's believed that the potters wheel and the first wheels used for transportation were invented in Mesopotamia at roughly the same time, about 6000 years ago.

Cuneiform
The ancient Sumerians developed a written language called . Cuneiform began as pictographs, pictures of things that acted as words. Pictographs worked, but they were rather cumbersome. Soon, the clever ancient Sumerians started to use wedge-shaped symbols for objects and ideas instead of pictures. Today, we call this written language of wedge-shaped symbols cuneiform.

We know a great deal about ancient Sumerian civilization from the written records they left behind in stone and clay. The ancient Sumerians kept excellent records and lists of things. They listed their household goods. They listed their court activity. They listed their sales and purchases. They even kept a list of their kings that was updated from time to time as new kings came to power.

One of the best things the Sumerians wrote down was a great story called The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the oldest recorded story in the world. It tells about the adventures of a king of Uruk, one of the city-states in ancient Sumer. King Gilgamesh may actually have existed. His name is on the list of Sumerian kings, a list we know about because the ancient Sumerians wrote it down.

Cuneiform became a written language as early as 5000 BCE. As the civilization of Sumer started to decline, other civilizations adapted the symbols created by the Sumerians and continued to use cuneiform. Thanks to the Sumerians' great invention, we now also know a great deal about the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations of Babylon and Assyria.

Although cuneiform was used for many thousands of years, and many things have been discovered written in cuneiform, it is still not easy to read. It is not easy to read because the shape of cuneiform letters and the meanings of various cuneiform symbols changed over time and varied by region.
What was the earliest form of Mesopotamian writing?

A precursor to writing involved the use of symbolic clay tokens placed in a bullae, which is a sort of ball - shaped clay envelope. To read more about this early writing system and to view a chart that identifies the clay tokens, CLICK on the picture above.

When archaeologists find ancient cuneiform script, they are always excited about it. But, they need time to translate it to discover if they have found a household list of repaired items, or a new poem or story. There is much yet to be discovered about these ancient people as archaeologists continue to translate the ancient written language of Cuneiform.

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In addition to creating the first civilization, the Mesopotamians invented all sorts of things that are still in use today. Among other things, the ancient Mesopotamians invented the wheel, the sailboat, the first written language, frying pans, razors, cosmetic sets, shepherd's pipes, harps, kilns to cook bricks and pottery, bronze hand tools like hammers and axes, the plow, the plow seeder, a working pump and, believe it or not, the first battery.

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Mesopotamia  The Development of Written Language

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004Mesopotamia  Trade Routes and Transportation

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HISTORY'S HISTORIES You are history. We are the future.

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Essential Themes
1. Geography: Why do people move and live where they do?

2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do?

6. Economics: How has the quest for resources and trade shaped human history?

7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history?

​Daily Life in Babylon: As the civilization of Sumer weakened, the Babylonians took over. King Hammurabi declared Babylon to be the capital of Babylonia. The Babylonians had a different language than the Sumerians. However, they believed in most of the same gods. To the Sumerians, Marduk was an important god. To the Babylonians, Marduk was the most important god of all.
What is the name of the king who declared Babylon his capital?
3500 years ago, ancient Babylon was quite a place! It was a massive walled city, with a network of canals and vivid green crops. In ancient times, it was the custom for each city to select one god as their special patron. It will probably come as no surprise to you to discover that the special patron god selected by King Hammurabi for his capital city of Babylon was the one and only, chief of all the gods, Marduk. Since the city was built in honor of Marduk, it had to be the best city in the world. Indeed, for its time, it probably was. While Babylon was both large and crowded, Babylon remained greatly calm and at peace for a city of its size. Order was kept by Hammurabi's Code of Law, a standing in the center of town with each of Hammurabi's laws engraved in the stone. Because his Code of Law is recognized as one of the word's first set of written laws, it may be what Hammurabi is best remembered for. There was much to buy, like fresh fruits and vegetables, baked breads and cheese, warm coats, gold jewelry, and date wine. Inside Babylon's walls, life

teemed.

Homes: A typical Babylonian house was designed with three floors and with a flat roof. Even the very poor, who lived in tiny townhouses, had three levels of living space. The first floor in each house, usually comprised of a courtyard, was very important. Behind the home's front door, a visitor might find a tiny garden and domesticated animals such as chickens.

Due to the law and order provided by Hammurabi's code, the city thrived. Due to its central geographic location, situated between cities to the north and cities to the south, Babylon became a center for trade and the city prospered.

Why were rooftops important to the ancient Babylonians?

Rooftops were especially important. People had easy access to their roofs from inside their homes. Roofs were flat for a reason. Flat roofs provided a fourth living space. Much of a Babylonian's life was spent on their roof. Why? Remember, Babylon was a walled city and these roofs were inside the city walls. Remember also that Mesopotamia is a desert region. Roof tops gave the Babylonians hope of catching a breeze off of the river and getting some relief from the desert heat. Consequently, Babylonians cooked and even slept on their roofs. Some of the fancier roofs were designed with four walls for privacy, and some had grape arbors that provided food and shelter from the sun.

Inside the walled city, the streets in ancient Babylon were very narrow. Most streets were unpaved. Streets or alleyways provided access to everyone's front door. The streets also served as a garbage dump. People simply threw their trash out the door. Occasionally, the city covered the streets with a new layer of clay. This buried the trash, but made the level of the street higher. It soon became necessary to build steps down to your front door. Most people filled in the area between the road and their door and, if needed they punched in a new door and built up.
What is the name of Babylon's ceremonial gate?
Babylon was a sight. Even from a distance, Babylon was an impressive place. Visitors could see the top of the 300-ft. high ziggurat, or temple tower, in the city's center long before they reached the huge city gates.

Procession Avenue: One of the most impressive sites was the street that led into the city. This street was called Procession Avenue. Huge pacing brick animals were positioned along both sides of the Avenue as decoration. The Avenue passed under gates dedicated to the Babylonian goddess of love, Ishtar. The Ishtar Gates were designed with dragons and bulls in honor of Babylon's patron god, Marduk. Most mythical dragons have wings. Marduk's dragon was wingless. It looked somewhat like a huge dragon dog.

The Procession of the Gods: Each year, during the New Year Festival, statues of the gods were paraded along Processional Avenue. The statue of Marduk, Chief of all the Gods, led the parade, attended by his caretaker priests. Next in line was a statue of Marduk's goddess wife attended by her caretaker priests. The third statue in the parade featured the sun god Shamash. More statues followed, in a seemingly endless procession of gods and goddesses, each attended by their respective caretaker priests.

When the parade reached the Euphrates River, each statue was carefully placed into a waiting boat, one statue per boat. As they were loaded, the boats sailed or were rowed in a continuing parade toward the Garden Temple. When the boats landed at the Garden Temple, each statue was transferred to a waiting chariot, one statue per chariot, and the Procession of the Gods continued. At the end of the procession, the statues were returned to their temples.

Each major city in ancient Babylonia celebrated the festival of the New Year in much the same way. Many people, however, braved the terrors of travel so that they could visit the capital city Babylon at festival time because they so wanted to see its famous annual Procession of the Gods.

One of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have really existed. Some historians believe the gardens existed, but that they were built in another ancient town. Hanging Gardens:

Legend says that the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, built the Hanging Gardens to please his wife who was homesick for her native land, Media. In order to make her happy, Nebuchadnezzar built the Gardens to resemble a mountain from her homeland. He even had the Garden's plants imported from Media so that his queen could spend hours walking through the gardens, be reminded of her homeland, and be cured of her homesickness.

The Hanging Gardens were perhaps the first roof garden. Although the garden had walls, the top of this massive area was left open. The tops of trees could be glimpsed from a great distance. To the traveler approaching the city, this gave the appearance of a garden hanging in thin air, and that is how the garden received its name. The gardens were terraced, and rose about 75 feet high. There were flowers and fruit trees and cascading waterfalls. The gardens were built as a gift of love from a king for his queen.
Brainbox: What problems might arise from people throwing their garbage in the streets?

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Essential Themes 1. Geography: Why do people move and live where they do? 2. Beliefs: Why do people live the way they do? 6. Economics: How has the quest for resources and trade shaped human history? 7. Culture: How do we know what we know about human history?