Lecture 3. Ancient civilizations

Plan:

1. Civilization of Mesopotamia

2. Egyptian civilization

3. Indian Civilization

4. Chinese civilization

In the IV-II millennium BC. in the territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, the first civilizations in the history of mankind appear. Several centers of formation of ancient civilizations arose, four of which are connected with the basins of the large rivers of the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, Ganges, Huanghe. Independently of each other, the emergence of civilizational structures and the formation of four river civilizations - Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese.

One of the most ancient civilizations in the world arose in Mesopotamia in the fertile lowlands between the Tigris and Euphrates. Already in the IV millennium BC. irrigation began to develop here. In Mesopotamia there were clay and natural asphalt, in the north there were deposits of lead, tin, iron, copper, in mountainous regions there was a lot of stone. In the III millennium BC. The Sumerians discovered bronze. The date palm gave nutritious fruits, but wood of low quality. Other fruit trees, figs, grapes, along the banks of the rivers, willow, reeds and reeds also grew here.

The foundations of civilization in Mesopotamia were laid by the Sumerians. By the end of the III millennium BC. the Sumerian and newcomer Semitic populations mixed up, and the Akkadian language gradually replaced the language of the Sumerians. In the IV millennium BC. large settlements are transformed into city-states. The city of Uruk, located on the Euphrates, played an important role in the development of the Sumerian civilization. In the IV millennium BC. it was the largest city in Mesopotamia.

The main occupation of the Sumerians is agriculture, based on a developed irrigation system. In urban centers, handicraft was gaining strength, the specialization of which was rapidly developing. In all the cities of Sumer there were monumental temple complexes that were of great social and economic importance. At the turn of IV - III millennium BC. writing appears. Writing in Sumer first appeared as a pictogram. Then cuneiform was widely used, which contained about 800 characters, each of which depicted a word or syllable.

The Sumerian civilization created early forms of statehood. In the first half of the III millennium BC. in Sumer there were several political centers that competed with each other.

In 2312 B.C. the ruler of Umma Lugalzagesi managed to unite all of Sumer for some time. This was followed by two attempts to create a united state of Mesopotamia under Sargon of Akkad (2316-2361 BC) and during the III dynasty of Ur (about 2112-2003 BC).

By uniting Akkad and Sumer, Sargon strengthened state power. Sargon managed to create a unified irrigation system, which was regulated on a nationwide scale. Sargon created a permanent professional army for the first time in world history. The despotic-bureaucratic rule of Sargon created a whole army of officials, a new service nobility, whose ranks were not replenished. The despotic form of government was established in Mesopotamia for millennia, determining the specifics of the civilization developing here.

Despotism became a special form of state power in all ancient Eastern states. The essence of despotism was that the ruler at the head of the state had unlimited power. The stability of the despotisms was based on the belief in the divinity of the king. The despot exercised his power through an extensive administrative-bureaucratic system.

The Akkadian state, weakened by social contradictions, collapsed around 2200 BC. under the blows of an external enemy of the Gutians. The rule of the Gutians was short-lived. To replace them in 2112 BC. power came over the Mesopotamia of the city of Ur, its III dynasty, the most prominent representative of which was Shulgi. The new state was called the "Kingdom of Sumer and Akkad." The III dynasty of Ur fell under the blows of external enemies, primarily the Amorite Semites. Taking advantage of the situation, the Elamite tribes invaded from the east. In 2003 BC the city of Ur was destroyed.

In Mesopotamia, the city of Babylon advanced and gradually gained dominance. The first period - Old Babylonian covers the time from the end of the reign of the III dynasty of Ur to 1595 BC, when the Kassites conquered Babylonia. The second period, the Middle Babylonian (Kassite) occupied more than 400 years of Kassite domination (1595-1158 BC). The third Neo-Babylonian period is associated with the reign of the Chaldean dynasty, which ended with the conquest of Babylon by the Persians (626-538 BC).

In 1792 BC the sixth king of Babylon was Hammurabi, who ruled until 1750 BC. The policy of Hammurabi contributed to the transformation of Babylon into the capital of a huge state that subjugated almost all of Mesopotamia. The state power of Babylonia was one of the classic examples of ancient Eastern despotism. The administration of the country was strictly centralized. During the reign of Hammurabi, agriculture, cattle breeding, as well as crafts and trade flourished. Of particular importance was the foreign trade conducted by the Tamkars.

The population of Babylonia was divided into two classes of free and slaves. Free people were divided into two categories with different legal rights: full-fledged free citizens avilum and persons with limited legal and political rights mushkenum, they were not members of the community, did not have immovable property and were used to work on royal land. The true slaves of the Wardum in Old Babylonian society were foreign slaves.

Hammurabi created the first legislative system in the history of civilization. The Laws of Hammurabi is one of the first, most detailed codes of laws. The Code of Hammurabi included 282 articles of laws. When punishing, the law required to follow the basic principle of sentencing a tallion, i.e. recompense equal for equal.

In 538 BC The king of the Persians, Cyrus, annexed Babylonia to the powerful Persian state, and it forever lost its independence.

So, it was in Sumer at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Humanity has emerged from primitive times and entered the era of civilization. The transition to civilization has formed a new specific worldview. The people of Mesopotamia were afraid of death and strove for the fullness of their earthly existence. In the worldview of the Sumerians, and then the Akkadian Semites, an important role was played by the deification of those forces of nature, the importance of which was especially great for agriculture - sky, earth and water. A unified system of religious beliefs developed around the time of the III dynasty of Ur. Anu ruled in the sky, Enlil in the earth, Enki in the oceans. Marduk was considered the supreme god and creator of the universe. Each city and settlement revered its patron god.

Mesopotamian civilization gave the first experience of training educated people. The training was based on copying texts for various purposes. In large temples, palaces of rulers, schools, as well as private individuals, entire collections of clay books were created, a kind of library. An important role in this was played by the Sumerian school - eduba, which trained scribes and surveyors.

The treasury of world literature includes Tales and Gilgamesh, the Poem of the Suffering Righteous Man, the myths of the ancient Sumerians and many other works.

Mesopotamian architecture created the original temple ziggurats, the memories of which have been preserved in biblical legends. The population of Mesopotamia lived according to the lunar calendar, which had its own differences for each city-state. After the rise of Babylon, the whole country switched to the calendar of the city of Nippur.

The foundations of ancient scientific thought were also laid in Mesopotamia. The source of the development of science was the economic practice of royal and temple households. Significant achievements of the Mesopotamian civilization in the field of medicine. The symbol of Mesopotamian medicine, the serpent (the god Ningishzida), wrapped around a wand, has been preserved as an emblem of medicine in our time.

The Mesopotamian civilization had no immediate successors, although many civilizations of the world took advantage of its achievements and scholarship.

The first settlements on the territory of Mesopotamia existed in the Paleolithic era. In the Neolithic era, in the 7th-6th millennium BC, river valleys were settled first in the Northern, and then in the 5th millennium BC. and southern Mesopotamia. The ethnic composition of the population is unknown. At the beginning of the IV millennium BC. in the south, the Sumerians appear, who gradually occupied territories up to the point of closest convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates.

At the turn of IV-III millennium BC. the first city-states arise - Ur, Lagash, Uruk, Larsa, Nippur, etc. They fight among themselves for a predominant position in Sumer, but none of their rulers succeeded in uniting the country.

From the beginning of the III millennium BC. Semitic tribes lived in the north of Mesopotamia (their language is called Akkadian). During the III millennium BC. they gradually moved south and occupied all of Mesopotamia. Around 2334, the king of Akkad - the oldest Semitic city in Mesopotamia - became Sargon the Ancient (in Akkadian - Shurruken, which means "True King"). According to legend, he was not of noble origin, and he himself said about himself: “My mother was poor, I did not know my father ... My mother conceived me, gave birth secretly, put me in a reed basket and let me go down the river.” Under him and his successors, the power of Akkad extends over most of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians merged with the Semites, which had a great influence on the entire subsequent culture of this region. But the struggle for power between the various city-states continued.

At the end of the III millennium BC. the penetration of nomads began into the country - the West Semitic tribes (Amorites) and a number of other peoples. Amorites around the 19th century BC. created several of their states, the most famous of them - with its capital in Babylon, which played a major role in the history of Mesopotamia. The heyday of the Babylonian state (Old Babylon) is associated with the activities of King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). In the XVI century. BC. Babylon was captured by the Hittites, then by the Kassites, whose power over the country lasted almost four centuries.

From the beginning of the III millennium BC. in the north of Mesopotamia there was the city of Ashur, after which the whole country began to be called Assyria. At the end of II - beginning of I millennium BC. Assyria is gradually becoming the largest and most powerful state in the Middle East.

Starting from the IX century. BC. the Chaldeans began to play an important role in the life of Babylonia. In the 7th century BC. there is a new rise of Babylon (New Babylon), which, together with its allies (in particular, the Medes), managed to defeat Assyria. The Medes captured most of the indigenous territory of Assyria and created their own state (Medes) there.

In 539 BC the Persians, who had previously defeated the Medes, captured Babylon, and it forever lost its independence.

The contribution of the Sumerians to the development of science and world culture

Many sources testify to the high astronomical and mathematical achievements of the Sumerians, their building art (it was the Sumerians who built the world's first step pyramid). They are the authors of the most ancient calendar, recipe guide, library catalogue. However, perhaps the most significant contribution of ancient Sumer to world culture is the "Tale of Gilgamesh" ("who saw everything") - the oldest epic poem on earth. The hero of the poem, half-man-half-god, struggling with numerous dangers and enemies, defeating them, learns the meaning of life and the joy of being, learns (for the first time in the world!) The bitterness of losing a friend and the inevitability of death. Written in cuneiform, which was the common writing system for the multilingual peoples of Mesopotamia, the poem of Gilgamesh is a great cultural monument of ancient Babylon. The Babylonian (more precisely - the ancient Babylonian) kingdom united the north and south - the regions of Sumer and Akkad, becoming the heir to the culture of the ancient Sumerians. The city of Babylon reached its pinnacle when King Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BC) made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi became famous as the author of the world's first code of laws (from where, for example, the expression "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" has come down to us). The history of the cultures of Mesopotamia provides an example of the opposite type of cultural process, namely: intensive mutual influence, cultural inheritance, borrowings and continuity.

The Babylonians introduced a positional number system, an accurate system for measuring time into world culture, they were the first to divide an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds, learned to measure the area geometric shapes, to distinguish stars from planets and dedicated each day of the seven-day week they invented to a separate deity (traces of this tradition are preserved in the names of the days of the week in the Romance languages). The Babylonians also left to their descendants astrology, the science of the alleged connection of human destinies with the arrangement of heavenly bodies. All this is far from a complete enumeration of the heritage of Babylonian culture.

Sumero-Akkadian culture

In general, the early culture of Mesopotamia is designated as Sumero-Akkadian. The double name is due to the fact that the Sumerians and the inhabitants of the Akkadian kingdom spoke different languages ​​​​and had different scripts. Cultural communication between different tribes was actively promoted by the invention of writing by the Sumerians, first pictography (which was based on picture writing), and then cuneiform writing. Recordings were made on clay tiles or tablets with sharp sticks and burned on fire. The very first Sumerian cuneiform tablets date back to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. These are the oldest written records. Subsequently, the principle of pictorial writing began to be replaced by the principle of conveying the sound side of the word. Hundreds of characters for syllables appeared, and several alphabetic characters for vowels. Writing was a great achievement of the Sumero-Akkadian culture. It was borrowed and developed by the Babylonians and spread widely throughout Asia Minor: cuneiform was used in Syria, ancient Persia and other states. In the middle of 2 thousand BC. Cuneiform became the international writing system: even the Egyptian pharaohs knew and used it. In the middle of 1 thousand BC. cuneiform becomes alphabetic. The Sumerians created the first poem in human history - "The Golden Age"; wrote the first elegies, compiled the world's first library catalog. The Sumerians are the authors of the oldest medical books - collections of recipes. They developed and recorded the farmer's calendar, left the first information about protective plantings. Early Sumerian deities 4-3 thousand BC acted as givers of life's blessings and abundance - for this they were revered by mere mortals, they built temples for them and made sacrifices. The most powerful of all the gods were An - the god of heaven and the father of other gods, Enlil - the god of wind, air and all space from earth to sky (he invented the hoe and gave it to mankind) and Enki - the god of the ocean and fresh underground waters. Other important deities were the god of the Moon - Nanna, the god of the Sun - Utu, the goddess of fertility - Inanna, and others. The deities, which previously personified only cosmic and natural forces, began to be perceived primarily as great "heavenly chiefs" and only then - as the natural element and "giver of blessings." In the second half of the 4th millennium BC. e. in the fertile plains of the Southern Mesopotamia, the first city-states arose, which by the 3rd millennium BC. e. filled the entire valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. The main cities were Ur, Uruk Akkad, etc. The youngest of these cities was Babylon. The first monuments of monumental architecture grew up in them, the types of art associated with it flourished - sculpture, relief, mosaic, various kinds of decorative crafts. In the country of turbulent rivers and swampy plains, it was necessary to raise the temple to a high bulk platform-foot. Therefore, an important part of the architectural ensemble became long, sometimes laid around the hill, stairs and ramps along which the inhabitants of the city climbed to the sanctuary. The slow ascent made it possible to see the temple from different points. The surviving ruins show that these were austere and majestic buildings. Rectangular in plan, devoid of windows, with walls dissected by narrow vertical niches or powerful semi-columns, simple in their cubic volumes, the structures clearly loomed on the top of the bulk mountain.

In the 3rd millennium BC. e. in the Sumerian centers of Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Adaba, Umma, Eredu, Eshnun and Kish, more diverse types of architecture arose. A significant place in the ensemble of each city was occupied by palaces and temples, in the decorative design of which a great variety was manifested. Due to the humid climate, wall paintings were poorly preserved, so mosaics and inlays made of semi-precious stones, mother-of-pearl and shells began to play a special role in decorating walls, columns, statues. The decoration of columns with sheet copper, the inclusion of relief compositions, also came into use. The color of the walls was also of no small importance. All these details enlivened the strict and simple forms of the temples, giving them great spectacle. Over the course of many centuries, various types and forms of sculpture gradually developed. Sculpture in the form of statues and reliefs has been an integral part of temples since ancient times. Stone vessels and musical instruments were decorated with sculptural forms. The first monumental portrait statues of the all-powerful rulers of the states of Mesopotamia were made in metal and stone, and their deeds and victories were depicted in the reliefs of steles.

The sculptural images of Mesopotamia acquired a special inner strength in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, when Akkad won as a result of a struggle for power between city-states. New trends, images and themes appeared in the literature and art of Akkad. The most important monument of Sumerian literature was the cycle of legends about Gilgamesh, the legendary king of the city of Uruk, who ruled in the 18th century. BC. In these tales, the hero Gilgamesh is presented as the son of a mere mortal and the goddess Ninsun, his wanderings around the world in search of the secret of immortality are described in detail. The legends about Gilgamesh and the legends about the global flood had a very strong influence on world literature and culture and on the culture of neighboring peoples who adopted and adapted the legends to their national life.

Culture of the Old Babylonian Kingdom

The successor of the Sumero-Akkadian civilization was Babylonia, its center was the city of Babylon (Gate of God), whose kings in 2 thousand BC. were able to unite under their rule all the regions of Sumer and Akkad. An important innovation in the religious life of Mesopotamia 2 thousand BC. there was a gradual promotion among all the Sumerian-Babylonian gods of the city god of Babylon - Marduk. He was universally regarded as the king of the gods. According to the teachings of the Babylonian priests, it was the gods who determined the fate of people and only the priests could know this will - they alone knew how to summon and conjure spirits, talk with the gods, and determine the future by the movement of heavenly bodies. The cult of heavenly bodies becomes extremely important in Babylonia. Attention to the stars and planets contributed to the rapid development of astronomy and mathematics. A sexagesimal system was created, which exists to this day in terms of time. Babylonian astronomers calculated the laws of circulation of the Sun, Moon, and the frequency of eclipses. The religious beliefs of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were reflected in their monumental art. The classical form of the temples of Babylonia was a high stepped tower - a ziggurat, surrounded by protruding terraces and giving the impression of several towers, which decreased in volume ledge by ledge. There could be from four to seven such ledges-terraces. The ziggurats were painted, the terraces planted. The most famous ziggurat in history is the temple of the god Marduk in Babylon - the famous Tower of Babel, the construction of which is mentioned in the Bible. The landscaped terraces of the Tower of Babel are known as the seventh wonder of the world - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. architectural monuments Not much Babylonian art has come down to us, which is explained by the lack of durable building material, but the style of buildings - a rectangular shape, and massive walls, and architectural elements used - domes, arches, vaulted ceilings - were those architectural forms that became the basis of building art ancient rome and then Medieval Europe. For Babylonian fine art, the image of animals was typical - most often a lion or a bull.

The influence of Babylonian culture on Assyrian

The culture, religion and art of Babylonia were borrowed and developed by the Assyrians, who subjugated the Babylonian kingdom in the 8th century. BC. In the ruins of a palace in Nineveh, a library was found that contained tens of thousands of cuneiform texts. This library contained all the most important works of Babylonian, as well as ancient Sumerian literature. The collector of this library, the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, went down in history as an educated and well-read person. However, these features were not inherent in all the rulers of Assyria. A more common and constant feature of the rulers was the desire for power, domination over neighboring peoples. Assyrian art is filled with the pathos of strength, it glorified the power and victory of the conquerors. The image of grandiose and arrogant bulls with arrogant human faces and sparkling eyes is characteristic. A feature of Assyrian art is the depiction of royal cruelty: scenes of impalement, tearing out the captives' tongues, and ripping off the skins of the guilty. These were facts of Assyrian everyday life and these scenes are conveyed without a sense of pity and compassion. The cruelty of the mores of society was associated with its low religiosity. Assyria was dominated not by religious buildings, but by palaces and secular buildings, as well as in reliefs and murals - secular subjects. Superbly executed images of animals, mainly a lion, a camel, a horse, were characteristic. In the art of Assyria in the 1st millennium BC. e. hard canon appears. This canon is not religious, just as all official Assyrian art was not religious, and this is the fundamental difference between Assyrian monuments and monuments of the previous time. It is not anthropometric, like the ancient canon, which proceeded from the human body as a unit of measurement. Rather, it can be called an idealistic-ideological canon, because it proceeded from the idea of ​​​​an ideal ruler, embodied in the image of a powerful man. Attempts to create an ideal image of a mighty ruler had already been encountered before, in Akkadian art and in the period of the III dynasty of Ur, but they were not embodied as consistently and completely and were not so divorced from religion as in Assyria. Assyrian art was purely court art, and when the Assyrian power perished, it disappeared. It was the canon that was the organizing principle, thanks to which Assyrian art reached such an unprecedented perfection. The image of the king becomes in him a model and a role model, he is created by all possible means: purely pictorial - the image of a physically perfect, powerful man in an emphatically magnificent decoration - hence the monumental static character of the figures and attention to the fine details of the decoration; pictorial-narrative - when both in art and in literature, themes praising the military power of the country and its creator, "the ruler of all countries" stand out; descriptive - in the form of annals of the Assyrian kings, glorifying their exploits. Some descriptions in the Assyrian annals give the impression of signatures under the images, moreover, the texts of royal inscriptions with stories about royal military exploits are placed directly on the reliefs, crossing the image of the ruler, which, with a standardized image devoid of any individuality, was very significant and was an additional ornament-like decoration of the plane. relief. The formation of the canon and the development of firm rules in the depiction of the royal person, as well as the ideological tendentiousness of all court art, contributed to the preservation of high artistic standards in the craft reproduction of samples and did not fetter creative possibilities artists-masters, when it was not about the royal person. This can be seen in the freedom with which Assyrian artists experimented with composition and animal depictions.

Art of Iran 6th-4th centuries BC. even more secular and courtly than the art of his predecessors. It is more peaceful: it does not have the cruelty that was characteristic of the art of the Assyrians, but at the same time, the continuity of cultures is preserved. The most important element of fine art is the image of animals - primarily winged bulls, lions and vultures. In the 4th c. BC. Iran was conquered by Alexander the Great and included in the sphere of influence of the Hellenistic culture.

Religion and Mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia

A characteristic feature of the religion of ancient Mesopotamia is polytheism (polytheism) and anthropomorphism (human likeness) of the gods. For Sumer, the cult of local gods, and above all the patron god of the city, is typical. So, in Nippur they worshiped Enlil (Ellil) - the god of air, who would later receive the status of the supreme god in the Sumerian pantheon; in Eredu - Enki (god of underground fresh waters and god of wisdom); in Lars - Utu (to the god of the Sun); in Uruk, An and Inanna (the goddess of love and war) were revered, etc. Ereshkigal was considered the goddess of the underworld, which was underground, and her husband was the god of war, Nergal. Humans were created by the gods to serve them. After the death of a person, his soul forever ended up in the afterlife, where a very “gloomy” life awaited it: bread from sewage, salt water, etc. A tolerable existence was awarded only to those for whom the priests on earth performed special rites, the only exception was made for warriors and mothers of many children.

A deity, as a rule, was considered present in its image if it possessed certain specific features and attributes, and it was worshiped in the way it was established and consecrated by the tradition of this temple. If the image was taken out of the sanctuary, the god was removed with it, thus expressing his anger against the city or country. The gods were dressed in magnificent clothes of a special style, complemented by tiaras and breast decorations (pectorals). Clothes were changed during special ceremonies in accordance with the requirement of the ritual.

We know from Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources that images of the gods were sculpted and refurbished in special temple workshops; after that, they were subjected to a complex and completely secret ritual of consecration, which was supposed to turn lifeless matter into a vessel of the divine presence. During the night ceremonies, they were endowed with "life", their eyes and mouths "opened" so that the idols could see, hear and eat; then a ritual of “washing the mouth” was performed over them, giving them, as it was believed, a special holiness. Similar customs were adopted in Egypt, where the idols of deities were traditionally endowed with the necessary qualities with the help of magical acts and formulas. Nevertheless, the very process of making idols by hand, apparently in all religions where such images had a cult or sacred function, was felt as a kind of awkwardness, as indicated by the often encountered legends and religious tales that emphasize the miraculous origin of the most famous images of the gods.

The gods at the temple of Uruk, for example, were served food twice a day. The first and main meal was in the morning, when the temple was opened, the second - in the evening, obviously, at a time immediately before the closing of the doors of the sanctuary... Each meal consisted of two dishes, called "main" and "second". The dishes differed among themselves, apparently, rather in quantity than in composition of products. The ceremonial, the nature and number of dishes included in the divine meal are approaching human standards, generally characteristic of the Mesopotamian gods.

Writing and books

Mesopotamian writing in its most ancient, pictographic form appears at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. Apparently, it developed on the basis of the system of "recording chips", which it displaced and replaced. In the VI-IV millennium BC. Inhabitants of Middle Eastern settlements from Western Syria to Central Iran used three-dimensional symbols - small clay balls, cones, etc. - to account for various products and goods. In the IV millennium BC. sets of such tokens, which registered some acts of transfer of certain products, began to be enclosed in clay shells the size of a fist. On the outer wall of the “envelope”, all the chips enclosed inside were sometimes imprinted in order to be able to conduct accurate calculations without relying on memory and without breaking the sealed shells. The need for the chips themselves, thus, disappeared - it was enough to print alone. Later, the prints were replaced by badges scratched with a wand - drawings. Such a theory of the origin of ancient Mesopotamian writing explains the choice of clay as a writing material and the specific, cushion- or lenticular shape of the earliest tablets.

It is believed that in early pictographic writing there were over one and a half thousand signs-drawings. Each sign meant a word or several words. The improvement of the ancient Mesopotamian writing system went along the line of unification of icons, reduction of their number (a little more than 300 remained in the Neo-Babylonian period), schematization and simplification of the outline, as a result of which cuneiform (consisting of combinations of wedge-shaped impressions left by the end of a trihedral wand) signs appeared, in which it is almost impossible to recognize the original sign-drawing. At the same time, the phonetization of the letter took place, i.e. icons began to be used not only in their original, verbal meaning, but also in isolation from it, as purely syllabic ones. This made it possible to transmit exact grammatical forms, write out proper names, etc.; cuneiform became a genuine writing, fixed by living speech.

The scope of cuneiform writing is expanding: in addition to business accounting documents and bills of sale, lengthy building or mortgage inscriptions, cult texts, collections of proverbs, numerous "school" or "scientific" texts appear - lists of signs, lists of names of mountains, countries, minerals, plants, fish, professions and positions and, finally, the first bilingual dictionaries.

Sumerian cuneiform is becoming widespread: having adapted it to the needs of their languages, from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. used by the Akkadians, the Semitic-speaking inhabitants of Central and Northern Mesopotamia, and the Eblaites in Western Syria. At the beginning of the II millennium BC. Cuneiform is borrowed by the Hittites, and around 1500. BC. the inhabitants of Ugarit, on its basis, create their own simplified syllabic cuneiform, which may have influenced the formation of the Phoenician script. The Greek and, accordingly, later alphabets originate from the latter.

At schools-academies (eddubba) libraries were created in many branches of knowledge, there were also private collections of "clay books". Large temples and palaces of rulers also often had large libraries in addition to economic and administrative archives. The most famous of them is the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, discovered in 1853 during excavations on a hill near the village of Kuyundzhik on the left bank of the Tigris. Ashurbanipal's collection was not only the largest for its time; this is perhaps the world's first real, systematically selected library. The tsar personally supervised its acquisition; on his orders, scribes throughout the country made copies of ancient or rare tablets kept in temple or private collections, or delivered the originals to Nineveh.

Lengthy texts made up entire "series", sometimes including up to 150 tablets. On each such "serial" plate was its serial number; the title was initial words first plate. On the shelves "books" were placed on certain branches of knowledge. Here were collected texts of "historical" content ("annals", "chronicles", etc.), sudoviki, hymns, prayers, incantations and spells, epic poems, "scientific" texts (collections of signs and predictions, medical and astrological texts, recipes , Sumero-Akkadian dictionaries, etc.), hundreds of books in which all the knowledge, the entire experience of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization was “deposited”. Much of what we know about the culture of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians has come from studying these 25,000 tablets and fragments recovered from the ruins of the palace library that perished in the destruction of Nineveh. The school was called in Mesopotamia "eddubba", which meant "the house of tablets", the directors were called "the father of the house of tablets", and the teachers were called "elder brothers"; there were guards in schools who were called "wielding a whip", which illustrates some of the features of the teaching method. Students mastered writing by copying, first, individual characters, and then entire texts. The training took place from early morning until late at night and lasted for many years. It was difficult to study, but the profession of a scribe was profitable and honorable.

Vase from Uruk. III millennium BC. e.

Studying a culture that has left no written sources is like interrogating a mute and, moreover, an illiterate person. All the information received is reduced to drawings and violent gestures. Of course, you can understand something, but much less than we would like. An order of magnitude richer are the “testimonies” of a culture that had a written language and left various kinds of texts as a legacy to descendants.

Mesopotamia is between the Tigris and Euphrates.

Reconstruction of a drawing of a vase from Uruk. Depiction of the sacrificial scene.

It is this threshold at the turn of the IV-III millennium BC. e. passed through ancient Mesopotamia. Before that, majestic temples and powerful fortifications were already built in Mesopotamia, there was a network of canals, dams, artificial reservoirs that provided the country with water and saved it from formidable river floods, merchants went on long journeys, artisans were famous for their art and subtlety of work. By that time, there were large-scale settlements. Some scholars are cautious about calling them proto-cities, others just towns. Judging by the archaeological finds, the local population developed complex religious performances and also widely practiced magic. Thus, the country had all the signs of civilization, except for one - writing.

Cylindrical seal and impression. Uruk. Mesopotamia. 4100-3000 AD BC e.

Finally, the Sumerian people created it. A number of scientists believe that in the entire history of mankind there was no more significant upheaval.

Riddles of cuneiform

The Sumerians created writing at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. At first, it was a set of simple drawings that could only remind the reader of certain information, hint at some information, but not convey it exactly. Each drawing could represent several concepts.

straightaway. The words “bring”, “come” and “go” were equal in writing to the same sign. Two or three signs could combine, giving rise to a third, completely new one. Thus, the drawings corresponding to the concepts of “lu” (“man”) and “gal” (“big”) merged into the concept of “lugal” (“master”, “lord”, “ruler”). Gradually, the number of signs grew, it became more and more difficult to memorize them. In addition, the further, the more the drawings of the most ancient Sumerian writing lost touch with what they depict. They were squeezed out on wet clay, and it is very difficult to apply curved lines, circles on it and repeat the drawing from time to time. Eventually, scribes began to use only straight lines. Their tool - a thin stick - extruded something like a wedge on a clay tablet, since it was in contact with the clay at an angle and the pointed tip went deeper. Previous drawings became an intricate pattern of small wedges. They turned into schemes that are completely different from what they were originally drawn from. This transformation took several centuries.

The very tradition of such writing was called "cuneiform".

Gradually, cuneiform charts began to be used to compose "puzzles". The Sumerian language is rich in short words of one or two syllables. And when a scribe combined a shemka denoting one concept with a shemka denoting another concept, the result could already be read as a combination of sounds, not words. Even if the resulting word was not associated with the original concepts of two or more drawings from which it was “blinded” ...

Portrait of the German scientist Georg Grotefend.

Cuneiform tablet. Sumer. 2095-2047 BC e.

Things got more complicated when the Sumerians left the historical stage, submitting to the tribes of the Akkadians (Eastern Semites). Their language and culture enriched the conquerors. Their script was adopted by the Akkadians as their own. But they could no longer compose puzzles in Zgumer, since the Akkadian language is completely different from the Sumerian. An inexperienced reader could get confused in the meanings of cuneiform charts and completely lose the meaning of the text. The letter has become extremely complicated, the “rebus” and “semantic” meaning of each sign in different combinations I had to memorize and interpret depending on who the text was intended for - a Sumerian or an Akkadian ... Huge Sumero-Akkadian dictionaries arose, and the craft of a scribe required great learning.

All later varieties - Assyrian, Babylonian, etc. gravitate towards the Akkadian writing system.

In the XVIII - the first half of the XIX century. n. e. Europeans were well aware of the existence of writing in ancient Mesopotamia. Many clay tablets with cuneiform texts have accumulated in museums and private collections. But no one could read them for a long time. Only the joint efforts of scientists from different countries contributed to deciphering. However, in the Sumerian language and Sumerian writing, scientists still do not understand everything, and translations are very approximate.

The German Georg Grotefend (1775-1853), the Irishman Edward Hinks (1792-1866), the British Henry Rawlinson (1810-1895) and William Talbot (1800-1877) at various times made efforts to unravel cuneiform writing. In addition to them, a great many other scientists worked on it with varying degrees of success.

The key to deciphering was the so-called Behistun inscription. At the end of the VI century. BC e. it was carved by the Persian king Darius I on the rock Bisutun (or Behistun) near the modern city of Hamadan. The inscription tells about the main events in the Persian state in three languages: Assyrian, Elamite and Old Persian. The inscription is decorated with a relief: King Darius trampling a rebel with his left foot. The winged god of the Persians Ahuramazda hovers above the images of people. The inscription and relief are truly enormous. They are visible from afar. However, it was not possible to copy the inscription for a long time, since it was located at a height of one and a half hundred meters, and serious errors could creep into the work of the copyist due to the large distance.

In 1844, Henry Rawlinson, possessed by a passion for the secrets of the Ancient East, climbed a narrow ledge onto a rock and nearly fell off. For some time he hung over the abyss. Rawlinson's life could be cut short at any second, he was saved by a miracle. However, the Englishman did not lose his enthusiasm. He and his companions built a special bridge, which made it possible to get to the inscription and copy most of it. But Rawlinson, with all his skill and courage, did not dare to get to the Assyrian, the most distant and inaccessible fragment. And even experienced climbers did not dare to do this. Only an unknown boy from the locals made an extremely dangerous climb for a lot of money and brought down the last fragment of the inscription...

Experienced orientalists spent many years deciphering the inscription. At first they succumbed to the ancient Persian piece of text. Then, with the help of the acquired knowledge, it was possible to translate the Elamite fragment. And finally, after an incredible effort, the scholars read the Assyrian part. Thus, they had the key to the writing of ancient Mesopotamia. This happened around 1850.

Unraveling the secrets of cuneiform writing has become a real scientific revolution. The hills of Mesopotamia kept an incredible number of written monuments. Clay does not rot, does not disintegrate into dust, does not burn, it cannot decay, and water will not wash away the inscriptions squeezed out on the clay firmament. Therefore, this writing material has the advantage of durability over paper, vellum, and papyrus. And what an advantage! Excavations of a single Mesopotamian city, whose name is known only to narrow specialists, gave archaeologists such a number of documents that scientists do not know for whole centuries of the medieval history of Western Europe! If you collect in the archives all the papers related to the 50-year reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) in Russia, then there will be much fewer of them than were preserved from ancient Sippar or Shuruppak ... In the archives of ancient Mesopotamia, there were tens, hundreds of thousands , and maybe millions of clay tablets. The palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal alone presented historians with 100,000 documents! According to the English historian James Wellard, during excavations in the ancient city of Lagash, so many inscriptions were found that “the loss of about 30 thousand tablets, stolen by local residents and sold at a price of 20 cents per basket, remained practically unnoticed.”

Portrait of the English scientist Henry Rawlins.

Behistun relief. Fragment. End of the 6th century BC e.

Babylon fell in 538 or 539 BC. e. But after that, Mesopotamia was not devastated, its cities were not destroyed, and the population was not destroyed. It's just that in the future the lands of Mesopotamia developed within the framework of another civilization - the ancient Persian.

Plaster figurine of a praying woman from Ur. 2500 BC e.

Statue of a praying man. Alabaster. Telloch. 2400 BC e.

Clay archives made it possible to see in great detail the life of people 5000 years ago.

Mesopotamia is the territory between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris (other names: Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia - this is, literally, "the area located between two rivers"). On it in the 3rd millennium BC. e. Lagash, Uruk, Ur and other city-states were formed, whose inhabitants lived in clay houses. Only clay was the available material in Mesopotamia, since forests and mountains were absent.

In contact with

For construction, clay bricks were dried in the sun. The walls were built thick, as this prevented the destruction of buildings. So, a wagon could pass along the city wall- such was its width. The found ancient graves are a confirmation that the craft in these cities was at a high level.

Mesopotamia is an ancient civilization, and the population of its cities numbered up to 40 thousand people. The Tigris and Euphrates contributed to the emergence and formation of an agricultural civilization in these territories: after the floods of the rivers, fruitful silt remained along the coastlines - the main wealth of Mesopotamia.

Attention! The floods were so stormy that people had to build special embankments along the banks, otherwise the waters would demolish animal pens, wash away numerous crops in the fields, flood not only pastures, but also residential villages. Canals were dug to irrigate the land.

Culture of Mesopotamia

In the 3rd millennium BC. e. cuneiform writing appeared in the cities. This writing was the application of dashes in the form of wedges on a stone or clay surface with a pointed stick. At first, cuneiform in the cities appeared as rebus ideographic writing, and after a while - as a verbal-syllabic.

The state of Assyria is especially famous for its writing in the period of its cultural heyday. Its ruler created the city of Nineveh (survived to this day in a ruined state), on the territory of which scientists discovered the archive of the king, consisting of 30 thousand clay tablets of that period. They contained various texts related to ancient areas of knowledge that were relevant at that time.

At the same time, learning to write and read was available only to children from wealthy families. For the first time, schools on the territory of ancient cities appeared in the 3rd millennium BC. e., and they had to pay for education. In order to learn a complex writing system, it was necessary to study at the school of scribes for many years.

In the mythology of the inhabitants, gods such as:

• Shamash (god of the Sun);
• Sin (God of the Moon);
• Ea (god of Water);
• Ishtar (goddess of fertility and love).

Among the myths, two stand out - about Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh. The legend of Utnapishtim tells how the gods gathered and planned to destroy people, but one of them saved his pet, Utnapishtim, and ordered him to build a ship. He obeyed, loaded his property on him, as well as his family, relatives, craftsmen, animals and birds.

The next day, storms arose, and a terrible flood frightened even the gods, who repented of their decision. On the seventh day, the flood stopped, and Utnapishtim and his wife, having received immortality from the gods, were settled at the source of the Euphrates and the Tigris.

The Tales of Gilgamesh is one of the most ancient literary works that have survived to this day. The legends are among the greatest works of ancient Eastern literature, they reflect philosophical views on life and the world around them, the fate of people and their place. They tell about the main character's conflicts with the king, about his campaigns, the struggle with an angry goddess, the Underworld, the death of Gilgamesh, the flood.

In the central part of the cities there was a ziggurat. This is tall stepped tower, and on its top a temple of the deity, who is the patron of the city, was built. Today, ziggurats are archaeological sites that the territory of Mesopotamia can boast of. Sights also contain necropolises, the remains of the palace ensemble.

Only priests could climb to the very top of the tower - in this sanctuary they watched how the Moon and two heavenly deities moved. The priests compiled calendars, predicted the future according to. There were also scientists, also priests - they were engaged in mathematics. For them, the number 60 seemed sacred, so in the modern world every hour consists of 60 minutes, and the circle is 360 degrees. So the culture of Mesopotamia had a significant impact on the whole world.

Ancient cities of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia on the map proves that its territory was rich in states. The Sumerian cities were replaced by kingdoms:

• Akkadian;
• Sumero-Akkadian;
• Old Babylonian.

In the 16th century BC. e. and later in ancient Mesopotamia statehood was absent for a long time. There were only separate rather large cities that for a long time preserved and increased cultural unity - Assyria, the ancient Neo-Babylonian kingdom. In the 4th century BC e. Persians conquered Babylon.

Sumerian city-states

According to scientists, the cities of Mesopotamia began to appear in the period of 4-5 millennium BC. e. in southern region Mesopotamia. They were small and not numerous, and their inhabitants were called Sumerians. Ur, Uruk, Lagash and other cities of this territory are currently well studied. The Sumerians built ziggurats and other archaeological sites.

Akkadian kingdom

The territory of the Sumerians at the end of the 24th century BC. e. conquered by the Akkadian king Sargon. The Sumerian city-states came under his rule and became part of the empire. In order to reconcile the vastly different customs and norms of the Akkadians and the Sumerians, a Akkadian law which is one of the oldest.

Soon the state founded by Sargon broke up into several parts. They were joined by the city of Akkad and a number of similar settlements. The rulers of the region, independent of each other's decisions, exercised their power.

During this period, the laws of Uruinimgina were drawn up. They have survived to this day in the form of fragments and are the first monument of legislative significance.

Old Babylonian kingdom

In the 20th century BC e. the rise of Babylon began (in translation - “the gates of God”). This city was located in the center of Mesopotamia, and on its territory many channels converged, vital for every inhabitant of the region, whether they were Akkadians, Sumerians or other peoples.

In the process of development and gaining power of Babylon, an important role was played by its policy of conquest. During the reign of King Hammurabi, under the authority of this city, a significant territory of Ancient Mesopotamia was united. And Hammurabi himself developed Eastern laws, which became world famous and have survived to this day.

Together with the capture of Babylon by the Hittite tribes, the fall of Ancient Mesopotamia began, and the civilization of Mesopotamia was under threat. This period was difficult and long, information about it is scarce and was found as a result of correspondence with the pharaohs that has survived to this day and the discovery of archaeological artifacts.

Assyria

Assyria played a significant role in the unification of Mesopotamia. In the 8th century BC e. the inhabitants of Assyria for the first time created on their territory imperial centralized state. Thus began the gradual change from early to late antiquity. Technological development was observed, and discoveries in technology helped to feed not only officials, but also a large army. There was an opportunity for large-scale conquest and the production of goods for exchange.

Comparison of early and late antiquity

	Early antiquity of Mesopotamia	Late antiquity of Mesopotamia
Economy	Land sharing and the community played a fundamental role	With the permission of the state, private property spread to land areas, individualism appeared, the importance of the community began to decline, the communal ownership of land began to gradually disintegrate.
Forms of government	Territorial reign, nome state, which included communities	Empire - a state characterized by large size, centralized, characterized by an intensive foreign policy
Religious features	Tribal religions were decentralized, there was polytheism, or polytheism	World religions arose, the religious worldview was ethical in nature, monotheism, or monotheism, was observed
Slavery	Slaves were treated like people, their work was temporary	Slaves were treated like things

During the existence of Assyria, the rise of this state on the territory of Mesopotamia was observed. Was formed large and powerful army, which had all the necessary military equipment. The Assyrians went on a campaign against Egypt twice. The state was assigned a significant territory of the modern Middle East.

Then the Assyrian state began to decline, and its complete defeat dates back to 609 BC. when the battle of Haran was fought. This led to the development of another kingdom.

Neo-Babylonian kingdom

The heyday of Babylon began after the decline of Assyria. During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, this Big city turned into a world capital. It was inhabited by 200 thousand people of various nationalities, which led to a mixture of languages ​​and cultures. Babylon stood under the protection of a double 8-meter wall, which had many towers and gates. Quarters were built, the central territory of the city was assigned to the market.

Interesting! Also during this period, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon appear in Mesopotamia. At the moment they are among the wonders of the world.

However, this state did not differ in strength and was soon conquered by the Persians.

Nature and population of Mesopotamia (Russian) History of the ancient world.

Video lesson "Ancient two rivers" - HISTORY - 5 cells.

MESOPOTAMIA
ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
Mesopotamia is the country where the oldest civilization in the world arose, which lasted approx. 25 centuries, from the time of the creation of writing and ending with the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539 BC.
Geographical position."Mesopotamia" means "Land between the rivers" (between the Euphrates and the Tigris). Now, Mesopotamia is understood mainly as a valley in the lower reaches of these rivers, and lands are added to it east of the Tigris and west of the Euphrates. In general, this region coincides with the territory of modern Iraq, with the exception of mountainous regions along the borders of this country with Iran and Turkey. Most of the elongated valley, especially the whole of Lower Mesopotamia, was covered for a long time by sediments brought by both rivers from the Armenian Highlands. Over time, fertile alluvial soils began to attract the population of other regions. Since ancient times, farmers have learned to compensate for scarce rainfall by creating irrigation facilities. The absence of stone and wood gave impetus to the development of trade with lands rich in these natural resources. Tigris and Euphrates turned out to be convenient waterways, connecting the Persian Gulf region with Anatolia and the Mediterranean. The geographical position and natural conditions allowed the valley to become a center of attraction for peoples and an area for the development of trade.
Archaeological monuments. The first information of Europeans about Mesopotamia goes back to such classical authors of antiquity as the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) and the geographer Strabo (turn of AD). Later, the Bible contributed to interest in the location of the Garden of Eden, the Tower of Babel, and the most famous cities of Mesopotamia. In the Middle Ages, notes about the journey of Benjamin Tudelsky (12th century) appeared, containing a description of the location of ancient Nineveh on the banks of the Tigris opposite Mosul, which flourished in those days. In the 17th century the first attempts were made to copy tablets with texts (as it turned out later, from Ur and Babylon) written in cuneiform characters, which later became known as cuneiform. But systematic large-scale studies with careful measurements and descriptions of the surviving fragments of monuments fall on the beginning of the 19th century; in particular, such works were undertaken by the English traveler and politician Clodis James Rich. Soon the visual examination of the surface of the monuments gave way to excavations of cities. During the excavations carried out in the middle of the 19th century. near Mosul, amazing Assyrian monuments were discovered. After unsuccessful excavations in 1842 on the Kuyundzhik hill (part of ancient Nineveh) in 1843, a French expedition led by Paul Emil Botha continued to work in Khorsabad (ancient Dur-Sharrukin), the majestic but short-lived capital of Assyria under Sargon II. Great successes were achieved by a British expedition led by Sir Austin Henry Layard, who, from 1845, excavated two other Assyrian capitals - Nineveh and Kalah (modern Nimrud). The excavations sparked a growing interest in Mesopotamian archeology and, most importantly, led to the final decipherment of Akkadian (Babylonian and Assyrian) cuneiform writing. The beginning was laid in 1802 by the German scientist Georg Friedrich Grotefend, who was trying to read the ancient Iranian text on a trilingual inscription from Iran. It was an alphabetic cuneiform script with a relatively small number of characters, and the language was a dialect of the well-known Old Persian. The second column of the text was written in Elamite in a syllabic script containing 111 characters. The writing system in the third column was even more difficult to understand, as it contained several hundred characters representing both syllables and words. The language coincided with the language of the inscriptions found in Mesopotamia, i.e. with Assyro-Babylonian (Akkadian). The numerous difficulties that arose when trying to read these inscriptions did not stop the British diplomat Sir Henry Rawlinson, who was trying to decipher the signs. Findings of new inscriptions at Dur-Sharrukin, Nineveh and other places ensured the success of his research. In 1857, four Assyriologists meeting in London (Rawlinson was among them) received copies of the newly discovered Akkadian text. When their translations were compared, it turned out that they coincided in all major positions. The first success in deciphering the Akkadian writing system - the most common, centuries-old and complex of all cuneiform systems - led to the suggestion that these texts could certify the veracity of biblical texts. Because of this, interest in the plates has greatly increased. The main goal was not the discovery of things, artistic or written monuments, but the restoration of the appearance of bygone civilizations in all their connections and details. Much in this regard has been done by the German archaeological school, whose main achievements were the excavations under the direction of Robert Koldewey in Babylon (1899-1917) and Walter André in Ashur (1903-1914). Meanwhile, the French were doing similar work in the south, primarily in Tello (ancient Lagash), in the heart of ancient Sumer, and the Americans in Nippur. In the 20th century, between the world wars, many new monuments were explored. Among the major discoveries of this period are the Anglo-American excavations at Ur, probably made especially famous by the finds in the so-called Royal Necropolis, with its incredibly rich, if often cruel, evidence of Sumerian life in the 3rd millennium BC; German excavations in Varka (ancient Uruk, biblical Erech); the beginning of French excavations at Mari on the Middle Euphrates; the work of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago at Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna), as well as at Khafaj and Khorsabad, where the French began excavations almost a century earlier; excavations of the American School of Oriental Studies (Baghdad) at Nuzi (together with Harvard University), as well as at Tepe Gavre (together with University of Pennsylvania). After World War II, the Iraqi government began independent excavations, mainly in the south of the country.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
ethnic groups. Mesopotamia from ancient times was supposed to attract both temporary and permanent settlers - from the mountains in the northeast and north, from the steppes in the west and south, from the sea in the southeast. Before the advent of writing c. 3000 BC the ethnic map of the area is difficult to judge, although archeology provides abundant evidence that all of Mesopotamia, including the alluvial valley of the south, was inhabited long before writing arose. Evidence of earlier cultural stages is fragmentary, and their validity, as one plunges into antiquity, becomes more and more doubtful. Archaeological finds do not allow us to determine their belonging to one or another ethnic group. Bone remains, sculptural or pictorial images cannot serve as reliable sources for identifying the population of Mesopotamia in the pre-literate era. We know that in historical times all of Mesopotamia was inhabited by peoples who spoke the languages ​​of the Semitic family. These languages ​​were spoken by the Akkadians in the 3rd millennium BC, by the Babylonians who succeeded them (two groups that originally lived in Lower Mesopotamia), as well as by the Assyrians of Central Mesopotamia. All these three peoples are united according to the linguistic principle (which turned out to be the most acceptable) under the name "Akkadians". The Akkadian element played an important role throughout long history Mesopotamia. Another Semitic people who left a noticeable mark in this country were the Amorites, who gradually began to penetrate into Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. Soon they created several strong dynasties, among them - I Babylonian, the most famous ruler of which was Hammurabi. At the end of the II millennium BC. another Semitic people appeared, the Arameans, who for five centuries posed a constant threat to the western borders of Assyria. One branch of the Arameans, the Chaldeans, came to play such an important role in the south that Chaldea became synonymous with late Babylonia. Aramaic eventually spread as a common language throughout the ancient Near East, from Persia and Anatolia to Syria, Palestine, and even Egypt. It was Aramaic that became the language of administration and commerce. The Arameans, like the Amorites, came to Mesopotamia through Syria, but they came, in all probability, from Northern Arabia. It is also possible that the Akkadians, the first of the known peoples of Mesopotamia, used this route earlier. There were no Semites among the autochthonous population of the valley, which was established for Lower Mesopotamia, where the Sumerians were the predecessors of the Akkadians. Outside Sumer, in Central Mesopotamia and further north, traces of other ethnic groups have been found. The Sumerians represent in many ways one of the most significant and at the same time mysterious peoples in the history of mankind. They laid the foundation for the civilization of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians left an important mark on the culture of Mesopotamia - in religion and literature, legislation and administration, science and technology. The world owes the invention of writing to the Sumerians. By the end of the III millennium BC. the Sumerians lost their ethnic and political significance. Among the most famous peoples who played an important role in ancient history Mesopotamia, the most ancient and at the same time permanent neighbors of the Sumerians were the Elamites. They lived in the southwest of Iran, their main city was Susa. From the time of the early Sumerians until the fall of Assyria, the Elamites occupied a prominent political and economic place in Mesopotamian history. The middle column of a trilingual inscription from Persia is written in their language. However, it is unlikely that they were able to penetrate far into Mesopotamia, since signs of their habitation have not been found even in Central Mesopotamia. The Kassites are the next important ethnic group, immigrants from Iran, the founders of the dynasty that replaced the I Babylonian. They lived in the south until the last quarter of the 2nd millennium BC, but in the texts of the 3rd millennium BC. are not mentioned. Classical authors mention them under the name of the Cossians, at that time they already lived in Iran, from where, apparently, they came to Babylonia. The surviving traces of the Kassite language are too scarce to be attributed to any language family. The Hurrians played an important role in interregional relations. Mentions of their appearance in the north of Central Mesopotamia date back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC. By the middle of the II millennium BC. they densely populated the region of modern Kirkuk (here information about them was found in the cities of Arrapha and Nuzi), the valley of the Middle Euphrates and the eastern part of Anatolia; Hurrian colonies arose in Syria and Palestine. Initially, this ethnic group probably lived in the Lake Van region next to the pre-Indo-European population of Armenia, the Urartians related to the Hurrians. From the central part of Upper Mesopotamia, the Hurrians in ancient times could easily penetrate into the neighboring regions of the valley. Perhaps the Hurrians are the main, and it is possible that the original ethnic element of pre-Semitic Assyria.
Further to the west lived various Anatolian ethnic groups;
some of them, such as the Hattians, were probably an autochthonous population, others, in particular the Luwians and the Hittites, were the remnants of the migration wave of the Indo-Europeans.
prehistoric cultures. The most important feature of the information about prehistoric Mesopotamia and its surrounding lands is that it is based on a continuous succession of evidence that, layer by layer, leads to the beginning of written history. Mesopotamia demonstrates not only how and why the actual historical period arises, but also what happened in the critical previous period. Man discovered a direct link between sowing and reaping ca. 12 thousand years ago. The period of hunting and gathering was replaced by regular food production. Temporary settlements, especially in fertile valleys, were replaced by long-term settlements in which their inhabitants lived for generations. Such settlements, which can be excavated layer by layer, make it possible to reconstruct the dynamics of development in prehistoric times and trace the progress in the field of material culture step by step. The Near East is dotted with traces of early agricultural settlements. One of the oldest villages found in the foothills of Kurdistan. The settlement of Jarmo, east of Kirkuk, is an example of the application of primitive farming methods. The next stage is represented in Hassun near Mosul with architectural structures and pottery. The Hassunan stage was replaced by the rapidly developing Khalaf stage, which received its name from a settlement on the Kabur, one of the largest tributaries of the Euphrates. The art of pottery production has reached a high level of development in terms of the variety of forms, the quality of the firing of the vessels, the thoroughness of the finishing and the sophistication of the multi-colored ornament. Construction technology has also taken a step forward. Figurines of people and animals were made from clay and stone. People wore not only beads and pendants, but also stamps. The Khalaf culture is of particular interest in connection with the vastness of the territory in which it was distributed - from Lake Van and northern Syria to the central part of Mesopotamia, the environs of modern Kirkuk. By the end of the Khalaf stage, probably from the east, carriers of another culture appeared, which over time spread across the western part of Asia from the deep regions of Iran to the Mediterranean coast. This culture - Obeid (Ubeid), got its name from a small hill in Lower Mesopotamia near ancient city Hooray. During this period, significant changes occur in many areas, especially in architecture, as evidenced by the buildings at Eridu in southern Mesopotamia and at Tepe Gavre in the north. Since that time, the south has become the center of the development of metallurgy, the emergence and development of cylinder seals, the emergence of markets and the creation of writing. All these were heralds of the beginning of a new historical era. The traditional vocabulary of historical Mesopotamia in terms of geographical names and cultural terms has developed on the basis of various languages. Many toponyms have survived to our time. Among them are the names of the Tigris and Euphrates and most of the ancient cities. The words "carpenter" and "chair", used in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages, still function in the Semitic languages ​​to this day. The names of some plants - cassia, cumin, crocus, hyssop, myrtle, nard, saffron and others - date back to the prehistoric stage and demonstrate a striking continuity of culture.
historical period. Perhaps the most significant thing about the history of Mesopotamia is that its beginning coincides with the beginning of world history. The first written documents belong to the Sumerians. It follows that history in the proper sense began in Sumer and may have been created by the Sumerians. However, writing did not become the only determining factor in the beginning of a new era. The most important achievement was the development of metallurgy to the point where society had to create new technologies in order to continue its existence. The deposits of copper ores were far away, so the need to obtain this vital metal led to the expansion of geographical horizons and a change in the very pace of life. Historical Mesopotamia existed for almost twenty-five centuries, from the beginning of writing to the conquest of Babylonia by the Persians. But even after that, foreign domination could not destroy the cultural independence of the country.

The era of Sumerian dominance. During the first three quarters of the III millennium BC. The leading place in the history of Mesopotamia was occupied by the South. In the geologically youngest part of the valley, along the coast of the Persian Gulf and in the adjoining regions, the Sumerians dominated, and upstream, in the later Akkad, the Semites predominated, although traces of earlier settlers are found here. The main cities of Sumer were Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Umma and Nippur. The city of Kish became the center of Akkad. The struggle for dominance took the form of rivalry between Kish and other Sumerian cities. Uruk's decisive victory over Kish, a feat attributed to the semi-legendary ruler Gilgamesh, marks the rise of the Sumerians as a major political force and a decisive cultural factor in the region. Later the center of power moved to Ur, Lagash and other places. During this period, called the Early Dynastic period, the main elements of the civilization of Mesopotamia were formed.
Dynasty of Akkad. Although Kish had previously submitted to the expansion of the Sumerian culture, his political resistance put an end to the dominance of the Sumerians in the country. The ethnic core of the opposition was formed by the local Semites under the leadership of Sargon (c. 2300 BC), whose throne name, Sharrukin, in Akkadian meant "lawful king". To break with the past, Sargon moved his capital from Kish to Akkad. The whole country from then on became known as Akkad, and the language of the victors was called Akkadian; it continued to exist in the form of the Babylonian and Assyrian dialects as the state throughout the further history of Mesopotamia. Having consolidated their power over Sumer and Akkad, the new rulers turned to neighboring regions. Elam, Ashur, Nineveh and even regions in neighboring Syria and Eastern Anatolia were subordinated. The old system of a confederation of independent states gave way to an empire that had a system of central authority. With the armies of Sargon and his famous grandson Naram-Suen, cuneiform writing, the Akkadian language and other elements of the Sumero-Akkadian civilization spread.
The role of the Amorites. The Akkadian empire ceased to exist by the end of the 3rd millennium BC, becoming a victim of unrestrained expansion and barbarian invasions from the north and west. About a century later, the vacuum was filled, and under Gudea of ​​Lagash and the rulers of the III dynasty of Ur, a renaissance began. But the attempt to restore the former greatness of Sumer was doomed to failure. Meanwhile, new groups appeared on the horizon, which soon mingled with the local population to create Babylonia on the site of Sumer and Akkad, and in the north - a new state formation, Assyria. These widespread aliens are known as the Amorites. Wherever the Amorites settled, they became devoted followers and protectors of local traditions. After the Elamites put an end to the III dynasty of Ur (20th century BC), the Amorites gradually began to gain strength in the states of Issin, Larsa, Eshnunna. They were able to establish their own dynasty in the central part of Akkad with its capital in the previously little-known city of Babylon. This capital became the cultural center of the region for the entire existence of the Mesopotamian civilization. The first dynasty of Babylon, identified with good reason as the Amorites, ruled for exactly three hundred years, from the 19th to the 16th centuries. BC. The sixth king was the famous Hammurabi, who gradually gained control over the entire territory of Mesopotamia.
Alien invasion. The Amorite dynasty lost control over Babylonia, which it held for a long time, after the capital around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. was plundered by the Hittite king Mursilis I. This served as a signal for other invaders, the Kassites. At this time, Assyria fell under the rule of Mitanni, a state founded by the Aryans, but inhabited mainly by the Hurrians. Foreign incursions were the result of extensive ethnic movements that occurred in Anatolia, Syria and Palestine. Mesopotamia suffered the least from them. The Kassites held power for several centuries, but soon adopted the Babylonian language and traditions. The revival of Assyria was even more rapid and complete. From the 14th century BC. Assyria was in decline. For a long time, Ashur felt the strength to enter into rivalry with Babylon. The most striking event in the dramatic reign of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (late 13th century BC) was his conquest of the southern capital. This meant the beginning of a fierce and long struggle between the two powerful states of Mesopotamia. Babylonia could not compete with Assyria in the military field, but felt its cultural superiority over the "northern upstarts." Assyria, for its part, deeply resented these accusations of barbarism. There is no doubt that the historical and cultural traditions of Babylonia have always been a powerful reserve in the struggle waged by this state. Thus, having captured Babylon, Tukulti-Ninurta immediately assumed the ancient title of king of Sumer and Akkad - a thousand years after it was established. This was his own calculation - to add splendor to the traditional title of the king of Assyria.
The Rise and Fall of Assyria. The center of gravity of the further historical development of Mesopotamia, with the exception of recent decades its independent history, was located in Assyria. The very first sign of this process was expansion, first into Iran and Armenia, then into Anatolia, Syria and Palestine, and finally into Egypt. The Assyrian capital moved from Ashur to Kalah, then to Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad), and finally to Nineveh. Among the prominent rulers of Assyria are Ashurnatsirapal II (c. 883-859 BC), Tiglapalasar III (c. 745-727 BC), perhaps the most powerful of them, and the glorious successive rulers - Sargon II (c. 721-705 BC), Sennacherib (c. 704-681 BC), Assargadon (c. 680-669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (c. 668-626 BC) AD). The life of the last three kings was greatly influenced by the wife of Sennacherib - Nakiya-Zakutu, probably one of the most influential queens in history. A powerful political and military state arose as a result of military campaigns in the remote mountainous regions of Iran and Armenia and as a result of the struggle against the stubbornly resisting cities of the Aramaeans, Phoenicians, Israelites, Jews, Egyptians and many other peoples. All this required not only great military efforts, but also economic and political organization, and finally, the ability to control an ever-growing number of heterogeneous subjects. To this end, the Assyrians practiced the deportation of the conquered population. So, after the conquest of the Israeli city of Samaria in 722-721 BC. its population was resettled in the most remote provinces of Assyria, and its place was taken by people who were also driven from various regions and did not have ethnic roots here. Babylonia languished under the Assyrian yoke for a long time, unable to throw it off, but never lost hope of liberation. In the same position was the neighboring Elam. At this time, the Medes, after a long period of formation of their state, conquered Elam and established power over Iran. They offered help to Babylonia in the fight against Assyria, weakened by constant attacks from the north. Nineveh fell in 612 BC, and the conquerors divided the defeated empire. The northern provinces went to the Medes, the southern provinces to the Babylonians, who by that time had become known as the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans, heirs to the traditions of the south, enjoyed a brief prosperity, especially under Nebuchadnezzar II (c. 605-562 BC). The main danger came from Egypt, which saw in the Chaldeans, who fortified themselves in Syria and Palestine, a constant threat to their borders. In the course of the rivalry between two powerful empires, an independent tiny Judea (the southern kingdom of the Jews) suddenly acquired great strategic importance. The outcome of the battle turned out to be favorable for Nebuchadnezzar, who took Jerusalem a second time in 587 BC. However, the kingdom of the Chaldeans was not destined to have a long life. The Persian armies of Cyrus the Great at that time wrested power over Iran from the Medes, captured Babylon in 539 BC. and thus opened a new chapter in world history. Cyrus himself was keenly aware of the unrequited debt that his country owed to Mesopotamia. Later, when the era of Persian rule was replaced by the era of Hellenism, Alexander the Great, the leader of the Macedonian conquerors, wanted to make Babylon the capital of his new empire.

CULTURE
saterial culture. Ceramics gradually improved in terms of manufacturing techniques, variety of shapes and ornaments, this can be traced from the ancient Jarmo culture through other prehistoric cultures up to the emergence of a single technology for the production of stone and metal vessels. Now it is impossible to say what important discoveries in the field of ceramics were brought to Mesopotamia from outside. A significant development was the introduction of the closed kiln, which allowed the craftsman to achieve a higher temperature and more easily control it, and as a result to obtain dishes of high quality in shape and finish. Such ovens were first discovered at Tepe Gavre, north of present-day Mosul. In the same settlement, the oldest known samples of carefully made seals-stamps were found. Mesopotamia created the oldest known structures of monumental architecture in the north - in Tepe Gavre, in the south - in Eridu. The high technical level of this time can be judged by the aqueduct in Jervan, approx. 50 km, through which water entered Nineveh. Mesopotamian craftsmen brought metal work to the level of high art. This can be judged by items made of precious metals, remarkable samples of which, dating back to the early dynastic period, were found in burials in Ur, and a silver vase of the Lagash ruler Entemena is also known. Sculpture in Mesopotamia reached a high level of development even in prehistoric times. Cylinder seals with indented images are known, and rolling them on clay made it possible to obtain convex impressions. Reliefs on the Naram-Suen stela, carefully executed portrait sculptures of the ruler of Lagash Gudea and other monuments are examples of a large form of the ancient era. Mesopotamian sculpture reached its highest development in the 1st millennium BC. in Assyria, when colossal figures and exquisite reliefs were created with images of animals, in particular, galloping horses, wild donkeys struck by hunters, and dying lionesses. In the same period, magnificent reliefs depicting individual episodes of hostilities were sculpted. Little is known about the development of painting. Murals could not survive due to moisture and soil conditions, but surviving examples from various eras show that this type of art was widespread. Magnificent examples of painted ceramics were found, in particular, in Ashur. They testify that their creators preferred bright colors.

Economy. The economy of Mesopotamia was determined by the natural conditions of the region. The fertile soils of the valley gave rich harvests. The South specialized in date palm cultivation. The vast pastures of the nearby mountains made it possible to keep large herds of sheep and goats. On the other hand, the country felt a shortage of stone, metal, wood, raw materials for the manufacture of dyes and other vital materials. The surplus of some goods and the lack of others led to the development of trade relations.

Religion. The religion of Mesopotamia in all its major moments was created by the Sumerians. Over time, the Akkadian names of the gods began to replace the Sumerian ones, and the personifications of the elements gave way to star deities. Local gods could also lead the pantheon of a particular region, as happened with Marduk in Babylon or Ashur in the Assyrian capital. But the religious system as a whole, the view of the world and the changes taking place in it differed little from the initial ideas of the Sumerians. None of the Mesopotamian deities was an exclusive source of power, none had supreme power. The fullness of power belonged to the assembly of the gods, who, according to tradition, elected the leader and approved all important decisions. Nothing was set forever or taken for granted. But the instability of the cosmos led to intrigues among the gods, and therefore promised danger and gave rise to anxiety among mortals. At the same time, there was always the possibility that events would turn into better side if the person behaves correctly. The temple tower (ziggurat) was the place where the celestials stayed. She symbolized the human desire to establish a connection between heaven and earth. As a rule, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia relied little on the goodwill of the gods. They tried to propitiate them by performing increasingly complex rites.
State power and legislation. Since Sumerian society and the later societies of Mesopotamia saw themselves as a kind of self-governing community of gods, power could not be absolutist. Royal decisions had to be approved by collective bodies, a meeting of elders and warriors. In addition, the mortal ruler was a servant of the gods and was responsible for the administration of their laws. The mortal king was rather a confidant, but not an autocrat. Above him there was an impersonal law established by the gods, and he limited the ruler no less than the humblest subject. Evidence for the effectiveness of laws in Mesopotamia is numerous and dates from different eras. Since the king was a servant of the law, and not its creator or source, he had to be guided by codes of laws containing both traditional regulations and amendments to laws. Extensive vaults, usually referred to as codices, testify to the fact that in general terms such a system had already developed by the 3rd millennium BC. Among the surviving codes are the laws of the founder of the III dynasty of Ur Ur-Nammu, the Sumerian laws and the laws of Eshnunna (north-eastern part of Akkad). All of them precede the famous laws of Hammurabi. Later periods include the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian collections.
Writing and science. The supreme authority of the law was a characteristic feature of the Mesopotamian historical period and may even precede it, but the effectiveness of legislative activity is associated with the use of written evidence and documents. There is reason to believe that the invention of the written language of the ancient Sumerians was led primarily by concern for private and communal rights. Already the earliest texts known to us testify to the need to fix everything, whether it be objects necessary for a temple exchange, or gifts intended for a deity. Such documents were certified by an imprint of a cylinder seal. The most ancient writing was pictographic, and its signs depicted objects of the surrounding world - animals, plants, etc. The signs formed groups, each of which, for example, consisted of images of animals, plants or objects, was composed in a certain sequence. Over time, the lists acquired the character of a kind of reference book on zoology, botany, mineralogy, etc. Since the Sumerian contribution to the development of the local civilization was perceived as very significant, and after the establishment of the Akkadian dynasty, colloquial Sumerian became of little use, the Akkadians did everything in their power to preserve the Sumerian language. Efforts in this direction did not stop with the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur and continued into Amorite times. As a result, word lists, numerous Sumero-Akkadian dictionaries, and grammar studies were created. There were many other cultural phenomena that were systematized thanks to writing. Among them, a special place is occupied by omens, through which people tried to know their future through various signs, such as the shape of the liver of a sacrificed sheep or the location of the stars. The list of omens helped the priest to predict the consequences of certain phenomena. Compilation of lists of the most common legal terms and formulas was also widespread. In mathematics and astronomy, the ancient Mesopotamians also made significant advances. According to modern scholars, the system of Egyptian mathematics was crude and primitive compared to the Babylonian; it is believed that even Greek mathematics learned much from the achievements of earlier Mesopotamian. A highly developed area was the so-called. "Chaldean (i.e. Babylonian) astronomy".
Literature. The most famous poetic work is the Babylonian epic about the creation of the world. But the most ancient work, the legend of Gilgamesh, seems much more attractive. The characters of the world of animals and plants that appeared in fables were very loved by the people, just like proverbs. Sometimes a philosophical note slips through literature, especially in works devoted to the theme of innocent suffering, but the attention of the authors is focused not so much on suffering as on the miracle of liberation from it.
Influence of the Mesopotamian Civilization. The first significant evidence of the penetration of the achievements of Mesopotamian culture into other areas dates back to the 3rd millennium BC, at the time of the emergence of the Akkadian empire. Another evidence is that in the capital of the Elamite state of Susa (southwestern Iran), they used not only cuneiform writing, but also the Akkadian language and the administrative system adopted in Mesopotamia. At the same time, the leader of the barbarians, Lullubey, erected a stele with an inscription in Akkadian to the northeast of Akkad. The Hurrian ruler of Central Mesopotamia adapted cuneiform to write texts on his mother tongue. The texts adopted by the Hurrians and most of the information contained in them were preserved and passed on to the Anatolian Hittites. A similar situation develops during the reign of Hammurabi. From this time legal and historical texts in Akkadian have come down, which were reproduced in the Amorite-Hurrian center of Alalakh, in northern Syria; this is indicative of Babylonian influence in a region that was not under Mesopotamian control. The same cultural unity, but on an even larger scale, took place in the conditions of political fragmentation in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. By this time, in Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and even Egypt, cuneiform and Akkadian were used as a means of interethnic communication. Furthermore, various languages , among them Hurrian and Hittite, willingly adopted cuneiform writing. In the 1st millennium BC Cuneiform began to be used for records in other languages, in particular, in Urartian Old Persian. Along with writing, ideas also spread as a medium. This concerned primarily the concepts of jurisprudence, public administration, religious thought and such types of literature as proverbs, fables, myths and epics. Akkadian fragments of the story of Gilgamesh reached as far away as the Hittite capital of Hattusa (modern Bogazkoy) in northern Central Turkey or Megiddo (in Israel). Translations of the epic into the Hurrian and Hittite languages ​​are known. The spread of Mesopotamian literature was connected not only with the borrowing of cuneiform. Its examples reached Greece, where there were fables about animals that reproduced the Akkadian prototypes almost word for word. Parts of Hesiod's Theogony go back to Hittite, Hurrian, and ultimately Babylonian origins. The similarity between the beginning of the Odyssey and the first lines of the Epic of Gilgamesh is not a coincidence either. Many close links are found between the opening chapters of the biblical Genesis and early Mesopotamian texts. The clearest examples of these connections are, in particular, the order of events of the Creation of the world, the peculiarities of the geography of Eden, the story of the Tower of Babel, and especially the story of the flood, the harbinger of which is contained in the eleventh tablet of the legend of Gilgamesh. The Hittites, from the time of their arrival in Anatolia, made extensive use of cuneiform, using it to write texts not only in their own, but also in Akkadian. In addition, they were indebted to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia for the basics of legislation, as a result of which their own code of laws was created. Similarly, in the Syrian city-state of Ugarit, the local West Semitic dialect and alphabetic script were used to record various literary works, including epic and religious writings. When it came to legislation and government, the Ugarit scribes resorted to the Akkadian language and the traditional syllabary. The famous stele of Hammurabi was not found on the ruins of Babylon, but in the distant Elamite capital, in Susa, where this heavy object was delivered as a valuable trophy. No less striking evidence of the influence of Mesopotamia is found in the Bible. The Jewish and Christian religions have invariably opposed the spiritual direction that was formed in Mesopotamia, but the legislation and forms of government discussed in the Bible owe to the influence of Mesopotamian prototypes. Like many of their neighbors, the Jews were subject to legislative and social regulations that were generally characteristic of the countries of the Fertile Crescent and largely dated back to Mesopotamian.
RULERS OF MESOPOTAMIA
The following are brief information about the most significant rulers of Mesopotamia. URUCAGINA
(c. 2500 BC), ruler of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. Before he reigned in Lagash, the people suffered from excessive taxes levied by greedy palace officials. The practice included illegal confiscations of private property. The reform of Urukagina was to abolish all these abuses, to restore justice and grant freedom to the people of Lagash. LUGALZAGESY
(c. 2500 BC), son of the ruler of the Sumerian city-state of Umma, who created the short-lived empire of the Sumerians. He defeated the Lagash ruler Urukagina and subjugated the rest of the Sumerian city-states. In the campaigns he conquered the lands north and west of Sumer and reached the coast of Syria. The reign of Lugalzagesi lasted 25 years, his capital was the Sumerian city-state of Uruk. He was eventually defeated by Sargon I of Akkad. The Sumerians regained political power over their country only two centuries later, under the 3rd Dynasty of Ur. Sargon I
(c. 2400 BC), creator of the first lasting empire known in world history, which he himself ruled for 56 years. Semites and Sumerians lived side by side for a long time, but political hegemony belonged mainly to the Sumerians. The accession of Sargon marked the first major breakthrough of the Akkadians into the political arena of Mesopotamia. Sargon, a court official in Kish, first became the ruler of this city, then conquered the south of Mesopotamia and defeated Lugalzagesi. Sargon united the city-states of Sumer, after which he turned his eyes to the east and captured Elam. In addition, he carried out aggressive campaigns in the country of the Amorites (Northern Syria), Asia Minor and, possibly, Cyprus. NARAM-SUEN
(c. 2320 BC), grandson of Sargon I of Akkad, who gained almost the same fame as his famous grandfather. Ruled the empire for 37 years. At the beginning of his reign, he suppressed a powerful uprising, the center of which was in Kish. Naram-Suen led military campaigns in Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, Assyria, the Zagros mountains northeast of Babylonia (the famous stele of Naram-Suen glorifies his victory over the local inhabitants of the mountains), in Elam. Perhaps he fought with one of the Egyptian pharaohs of the VI dynasty. Gudea (c. 2200 BC), ruler of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, a contemporary of Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, the first two kings III dynasty of Ur. Gudea - one of the most famous Sumerian rulers, left behind numerous texts. The most interesting of them is the hymn, which describes the construction of the temple of the god Ningirsu. For this major construction, Gudea brought materials from Syria and Anatolia. Numerous sculptures depict him seated with a plan of the temple on his knees. Under the successors of Gudea, power over Lagash passed to Ur. Rim-Sin (ruled c. 1878-1817 BC), king of the South Babylonian city of Larsa, one of the strongest opponents of Hammurabi. The Elamite Rim-Sin subjugated the cities of southern Babylonia, including Issin, the seat of a rival dynasty. After 61 years of reign, he was defeated and captured by Hammurabi, who by this time had been on the throne for 31 years. SHAMSHI ADAD I
(ruled c. 1868-1836 BC), king of Assyria, an older contemporary of Hammurabi. Information about this king is drawn mainly from the royal archives in Mari, a provincial center on the Euphrates, which was subordinate to the Assyrians. The death of Shamshi-Adad, one of the main rivals of Hammurabi in the struggle for power in Mesopotamia, greatly facilitated the expansion of Babylonian power to the northern regions. HAMMURAPI
(reigned 1848-1806 BC, according to one of the systems of chronology), the most famous of the kings of the 1st Babylonian dynasty. In addition to the famous code of laws, many private and official letters, as well as business and legal documents, have been preserved. The inscriptions contain information about political events and military actions. From them we learn that in the seventh year of Hammurabi's reign, Uruk and Issin were taken from Rim-Sin, his main rival and ruler of the powerful city of Lars. Between the eleventh and thirteenth years of Hammurabi's reign, the power of Hammurabi was finally strengthened. In the future, he made aggressive campaigns to the east, west, north and south and defeated all opponents. As a result, by the fortieth year of his reign, he led an empire that stretched from the Persian Gulf to the upper Euphrates. TUKULTI-NINURTA I
(reigned 1243-1207 BC), king of Assyria, conqueror of Babylon. Around 1350 BC Assyria was liberated from Mitanni rule by Ashshuruballit and began to gain more and more political and military power. Tukulti-Ninurta was the last of the kings (including Ireba-Adad, Ashshuruballit, Adadnerari I, Salmanasar I), under whom the power of Assyria continued to grow. Tukulti-Ninurta defeated the Kassite ruler of Babylon, Kashtilash IV, for the first time subjugating the ancient center of Sumero-Babylonian culture to Assyria. When trying to capture Mitanni, a state located between the eastern mountains and the Upper Euphrates, met with opposition from the Hittites. TIGLAT-PALASAR I
(reigned 1112-1074 BC), an Assyrian king who tried to restore the power of the country, which it had enjoyed during the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta and his predecessors. During his reign, the main threat to Assyria was the Arameans, who invaded the territories in the upper Euphrates. Tiglathpalasar also undertook several campaigns against the country of Nairi, located north of Assyria, in the vicinity of Lake Van. In the south, he defeated Babylon, the traditional rival of Assyria. ASSHURNASIRPAL II
(reigned 883-859 BC), energetic and cruel king who restored the power of Assyria. He delivered devastating blows to the Aramaic states located in the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Ashurnasirpal became the next Assyrian king after Tiglathpalasar I, who went to the Mediterranean coast. Under him, the Assyrian Empire began to take shape. The conquered territories were divided into provinces, and those into smaller administrative units. Ashurnasirpal moved the capital from Ashur to the north, to Kalakh (Nimrud). SALMANASAR III
(reigned 858-824 BC; 858 was considered the year of the beginning of his reign, although in reality he could ascend the throne a few days or months before the new year. These days or months were considered the time of the reign of his predecessor). Shalmaneser III, son of Ashurnasirpal II, continued to subdue the Aramaic tribes to the west of Assyria, in particular, the warlike tribe of Bit-Adini. Using their captured capital, Til-Barsib, as a stronghold, Shalmaneser pushed west into northern Syria and Cilicia and attempted to conquer them several times. In 854 BC at Karakar on the Oronte River, the combined forces of twelve leaders, among whom were Benhadad of Damascus and Ahab of Israel, repelled the attack of the troops of Shalmaneser III. The strengthening of the kingdom of Urartu to the north of Assyria, near Lake Van, made it impossible to continue expansion in this direction. TIGLAT-PALASAR III
(ruled c. 745-727 BC), one of the greatest Assyrian kings and the true builder of the Assyrian Empire. He removed three obstacles that stood in the way of establishing Assyrian dominance in the region. Firstly, he defeated Sarduri II and annexed most of the territory of Urartu; secondly, he proclaimed himself king of Babylon (under the name of Pulu), subjugating the Aramaic leaders, who actually ruled Babylon; finally, he decisively crushed the resistance of the Syrian and Palestinian states and reduced most of them to the level of a province or tributaries. As a method of management, he widely used the deportation of peoples. Sargon II
(reigned 721-705 BC), king of Assyria. Although Sargon did not belong to the royal family, he became a worthy successor to the great Tiglath-pileser III (Salmaneser V, his son, ruled for a very short time, in 726-722 BC). The problems that Sargon had to solve were basically the same that faced Tiglath-Pileser: a strong Urartu in the north, an independent spirit that reigned in the Syrian states in the west, the unwillingness of Aramaic Babylon to submit to the Assyrians. Sargon began to solve these problems with the capture of the capital of Urartu Tushpa in 714 BC. Then in 721 BC. he conquered the fortified Syrian city of Samaria and deported its population. In 717 BC he took possession of another Syrian outpost, Karchemysh. In 709 BC, after a short stay in the captivity of Marduk-apal-iddina, Sargon proclaimed himself king of Babylon. During the reign of Sargon II, the Cimmerians and Medes appeared on the arena of the history of the Near East. SINACHERIBE
(reigned 704-681 BC), son of Sargon II, king of Assyria, who destroyed Babylon. His military campaigns were aimed at the conquest of Syria and Palestine, as well as the conquest of Babylon. He was a contemporary of the Jewish king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah. Besieged Jerusalem, but could not take it. After several trips to Babylon and Elam, and most importantly, after the murder of one of his sons, whom he appointed ruler of Babylon, Sennacherib destroyed this city and took the statue of its main god Marduk to Assyria. ASARHADDON
(reigned 680-669 BC), son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. He did not share his father's hatred of Babylon and rebuilt the city and even the temple of Marduk. The main act of Esarhaddon was the conquest of Egypt. In 671 BC he defeated the Nubian pharaoh of Egypt, Taharqa, and destroyed Memphis. However, the main danger came from the northeast, where the Medes were intensifying, and the Cimmerians and Scythians could break through the territory of the weakening Urartu into Assyria. Esarhaddon was unable to resist this onslaught, which soon changed the entire face of the Middle East. ASSHURBANIPAL
(reigned 668-626 BC), son of Esarhaddon and last great king of Assyria. Despite the success of military campaigns against Egypt, Babylon and Elam, he was unable to resist the growing power of the Persian state. The entire northern border of the Assyrian Empire was under the rule of the Cimmerians, Medes and Persians. Perhaps Ashurbanipal's most significant contribution to history was the creation of a library in which he collected priceless documents from all periods of Mesopotamian history. In 614 BC Ashur was captured and plundered by the Medes, and in 612 BC. The Medes and Babylonians destroyed Nineveh. NABOPALASAR
(reigned 625-605 BC), the first king of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) dynasty. In alliance with the Median king Cyaxares, he participated in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire. One of his main deeds was the restoration of the Babylonian temples and the cult of the main god of Babylon, Marduk. NEBUCHADONOSOR II
(reigned 604-562 BC), second king of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty. He became famous for his victory over the Egyptians at the Battle of Karchemysh (in the south of modern Turkey) in the last year of his father's reign. In 596 BC captured Jerusalem and captured the Jewish king Hezekiah. In 586 BC recaptured Jerusalem and put an end to the existence of an independent kingdom of Judah. Unlike the Assyrian kings, the rulers of the Neo-Babylonian Empire left few documents testifying to political events and military enterprises. Their texts are mostly about construction activities or glorify deities. NABONID
(reigned 555-538 BC), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. Perhaps, in order to create an alliance against the Persians with the Aramaic tribes, he moved his capital to the Arabian desert, to Tayma. He left his son Belshazzar to rule Babylon. The veneration of the moon god Sin by Nabonidus caused opposition from the priests of Marduk in Babylon. In 538 BC Cyrus II occupied Babylon. Nabonidus surrendered to him in the city of Borsippa near Babylon.
Mesopotamian deities and mythological beings
ADAD, the god of storms, was known in Sumer as Ishkur, the Arameans called him Hadad. As a deity of thunder, he was usually depicted with lightning in his hand. Since agriculture in Mesopotamia was irrigated, Adad, who controlled the rains and annual floods, occupied an important place in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He and his wife Shala were especially revered in Assyria. Temples of Adad existed in many major cities of Babylonia. ADAPA, the main character in the myth of human mortality. Adapa, half-god-half-man, the creation of the god Ea, was once caught in a storm while fishing. His boat capsized and he was in the water. Angered, Adapa cursed the god of storms, as a result of which the sea was calm for seven days. To explain his behavior, he had to appear before the supreme god Anu, but with the help of Ea he was able to moderate his anger, enlisting the support of two divine intercessors, Tammuz and Gilgamesh. On the advice of Ea, Adapa refused food and drink offered to him by Anu. Anu, in this way, wanted to turn him completely into a deity and deprive Ea of such an amazing creature. From Adapa's refusal, Anu concluded that he was ultimately only a foolish mortal and sent him to earth, but decided that he would be protected from all diseases. ANU(M), Akkadian form of the name of the Sumerian god An, meaning "sky". The supreme deity of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He is the "father of the gods", his domain is the sky. According to the Babylonian creation hymn Enuma Elish, Anu is descended from Apsu (the original fresh water) and Tiamat (the sea). Although Anu was worshiped throughout Mesopotamia, he was especially revered in Uruk (biblical Erech) and Dere. Anu's wife was the goddess Antu. Its sacred number is 6. ASSHUR, the main god of Assyria, as Marduk is the main god of Babylonia. Ashur was the deity of the city that bore his name from ancient times, and was considered the main god of the Assyrian Empire. The temples of Ashur were called, in particular, E-shara ("House of omnipotence") and E-hursag-gal-kurkura ("House of the great mountain of the earth"). "Great Mountain" - one of the epithets of Enlil, passed to Ashur when he became the main god of Assyria. DAGAN, a non-Mesopotamian deity by origin. He entered the pantheons of Babylonia and Assyria during the mass penetration of Western Semites into Mesopotamia ca. 2000 BC The main god of the city of Mari on the Middle Euphrates. In Sumer, the city of Puzrish-Dagan was named after him. The names of the kings of the north of Babylonia of the Issin dynasty Ishme-Dagan ("Dagan heard") and Iddin-Dagan ("given by Dagan") testify to the prevalence of his cult in Babylonia. One of the sons of the king of Assyria Shamshi-Adad (a contemporary of Hammurabi) was named Ishme-Dagan. This god was revered by the Philistines under the name Dagon. Temple of Dagan excavated at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in Phoenicia. Shala was considered Dagan's wife. EA, one of the three great Sumerian gods (the other two are Anu and Enlil). His original name is Enki ("lord of the earth"), but to avoid confusion with Enlil, whose possession was also the earth, he was called Ea (Sumer. "e" - "house", and "e" - "water") . Ea is closely associated with Apsu, the personification of fresh waters. Because of the importance of fresh water in the religious rituals of Mesopotamia, Ea was also considered the god of magic and wisdom. In the Enuma Elish, he is the creator of man. The cult of Ea and his wife Damkin flourished in Eridu, Ur, Lars, Uruk and Shuruppak. Its sacred number is 40. ENLIL, along with Anu and Enki, is one of the gods of the main triad of the Sumerian pantheon. Initially, he is the god of storms (Sumer. "en" - "lord"; "lil" - "storm"). In Akkadian he was called Bel ("master"). As the "master of storms" he is closely associated with the mountains, and therefore with the earth. In Sumero-Babylonian theology, the universe was divided into four main parts - heaven, earth, water and the underworld. The gods who ruled over them were respectively Anu, Enlil, Ea and Nergal. Enlil and his wife Ninlil ("nin" - "lady") were especially revered in the religious center of Sumer Nippur. Its sacred number is 50. ENMERKAR, legendary king of Uruk and hero of Sumerian myth. Wanting to conquer rich country Aratta, turned to the goddess Inanna for help. Following her advice, he sent a messenger to the ruler of this country, demanding his obedience. The main part of the myth is devoted to the relationship between the two rulers. Aratta eventually gave Enmerkar treasures and gems for the temple of the goddess Inanna. ETANA, the legendary thirteenth king of the city of Kish. Having no heir to the throne, he tried to get the "grass of birth" that grew in heaven. Etata saved the eagle from the snake that attacked him, and in gratitude the eagle offered to carry him on his back to the sky. The end of this myth is lost. Gilgamesh, the mythical ruler of the city of Uruk and one of the most popular heroes of Mesopotamian folklore, the son of the goddess Ninsun and a demon. His adventures are recorded in a long tale on twelve tablets; some of them, unfortunately, have not been completely preserved. Rugged ruler of Uruk and a crude creature of the goddess Aruru, Enkidu, created to oppose Gilgamesh, became his friend after succumbing to the spell of one of Uruk's harlots. Gilgamesh and Enkidu made a campaign against the monster Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forest in the west, and defeated him with the help of the sun god Shamash. The goddess of love and war, Ishtar, was offended by Gilgamesh after he rejected her love claims, and asked her father, the supreme god Anu, to send a huge bull on two friends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu slew the bull, after which they began to mock Ishtar. As a result of the sacrilege, Enkidu died. Desperate for the loss of a friend, Gilgamesh set out in search of the "secret of life". After long wanderings, he found a plant that restores life, but at the moment when Gilgamesh was distracted, he was kidnapped by a snake. The eleventh tablet tells the story of Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah. ISHTAR, the goddess of love and war, the most significant goddess of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. Her Sumerian name is Inanna ("lady of heaven"). She is the sister of the sun god Shamash and the daughter of the moon god Sin. Identified with the planet Venus. Her symbol is a star in a circle. As a goddess of war, she was often depicted sitting on a lion. As the goddess of physical love, she was the patroness of temple harlots. She was also considered a merciful mother, standing up for people before the gods. In the history of Mesopotamia in different cities she was revered under different names. One of the main centers of the Ishtar cult was Uruk. MARDUK, chief god of Babylon. The temple of Marduk was called E-sag-il. The temple tower, the ziggurat, served as the basis for the creation of the biblical legend of the Tower of Babel. In fact, it was called E-temen-an-ki ("House of the foundation of heaven and earth"). Marduk was the god of the planet Jupiter and the main god of Babylon, in connection with which he absorbed the features and functions of other gods of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. In the Neo-Babylonian time, in connection with the development of monotheistic ideas, other deities began to be considered as manifestations various parties"character" of Marduk. The wife of Marduk is Tsarpanitu. NABU, god of the planet Mercury, son of Marduk and divine patron of scribes. Its symbol was "style", a reed rod used to mark cuneiform characters on unbaked clay tablets for writing texts. In Old Babylonian times it was known under the name of Nabium; his veneration reached highest point in the neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire. The names Nabopolassar (Nabu-apla-ushur), Nebuchadnezzar (Nabu-kudurri-ushur) and Nabonidus (Nabu-na "id) contain the name of the god Nabu. The main city of his cult was Borsippa near Babylon, where his temple of E-zid was located (" House of hardness"). His wife was the goddess Tashmetum. NERGAL, in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon, the god of the planet Mars and the underworld. The name Ne-iri-gal in Sumerian means "The Power of the Great Abode". Nargal also assumed the functions of Erra, originally the god of the plague "According to Babylonian mythology, Nergal descended into the World of the Dead and took away power over it from his queen Ereshkigal. The center of the cult of Nergal was the city of Kuta near Kish. NINGIRSU, the god of the Sumerian city of Lagash. Many of his attributes are the same as those of the common Sumerian god Ninurta. He appeared to the ruler of Lagash, Gudea, and ordered him to build a temple to E-ninnu.His consort is the goddess Baba (or Bau). birth"). Under the name Ki ("Earth"), she was originally wife Ana ("Heaven"); from this divine couple all the gods were born. According to one myth, Ninmah helped Enki create the first man out of clay. In another myth, she cursed Enki for eating the plants she created, but then she repented and cured him of the diseases resulting from the curse. NINURTA, Sumerian god of the hurricane, as well as war and hunting. Its emblem is a scepter surmounted by two lion heads. The wife is the goddess Gula. As the god of war, he was highly revered in Assyria. His cult especially flourished in the city of Kalhu. SHAMASH, the Sumerian-Akkadian god of the sun, in Akkadian his name means "sun". The Sumerian name for the god is Utu. The symbol is a winged disk. Shamash is the source of light and life, but also the god of justice, whose rays illuminate all evil in a person. On the stela of Hammurabi, he is depicted passing laws to the king. The main centers of the cult of Shamash and his wife Aya were Larsa and Sippar. Its sacred number is 20. SIN, Sumero-Akkadian deity of the Moon. Its symbol is the crescent. Since the Moon was associated with the measurement of time, he was known as the "Lord of the Month". Sin was considered the father of Shamash (the god of the sun) and Ishtar, also known as Inanna or Ninsianna, the goddess of the planet Venus. The popularity of the god Sin throughout Mesopotamian history is attested by the large number of proper names of which his name is an element. The main center of the cult of Sin and his wife Ningal ("Great Lady") was the city of Ur. The sacred number of Sin is 30. Tammuz, Sumerian-Akkadian god of vegetation. His Sumerian name is Dumuzi-abzu ("True Son of Apsu") or Dumuzi, from which the Hebrew form of the name Tammuz is derived. The cult of Tammuz, revered under the West Semitic name Adonai ("My Lord") or under the Greek Adonis, was widespread in the Mediterranean. According to the surviving myths, Tammuz died, descended into the world of the dead, was resurrected and ascended to earth, and then ascended to heaven. During his absence, the land remained barren and the herds fell. Because of the closeness of this god with the natural world, fields and animals, he was also called the "Shepherd".

Collier Encyclopedia. - Open society. 2000 .