Between the Rivers - The History of Ancient Mesopotamia, History

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Between the Rivers:
The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
Part I: The Rise of Civilization
Professor Alexis Q. Castor
T
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EACHING
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Alexis Q. Castor, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Classics,
Franklin & Marshall College
Alexis Q. Castor received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College.
She received her B.A. in history from George Mason University and completed graduate courses in Greek, Roman,
and Near Eastern History at The George Washington University.
Dr. Castor has taught at The George Washington University and has been a research associate at the Center for
Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Since 2000, she has taught ancient history,
archaeology, and Greek at Franklin & Marshall College. In 2004, she team-taught “Between the Rivers,” with
Hilary Gopnik, Ph.D. In addition to survey courses of Greek and Roman history and archaeology, she has taught
upper-level courses on Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic Near East, and the ancient house. She has been named
Most Influential Professor by the senior class twice.
Dr. Castor’s research interests are in the area of social history in the Greek world, specifically, the use of luxury
goods to display status. In addition, she is interested in interconnections among Greece, the Black Sea, and Asia
Minor.
©2006 The Teaching Company
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Table of Contents
Between the Rivers:
The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
Part I: The Rise of Civilization
Professor Biography
............................................................................................i
Course Scope
.......................................................................................................1
Lecture One
The Iraq Museum.......................................................3
Lecture Two
Geography and Environment.....................................6
Lecture
Three
Discovering Mesopotamia .........................................9
Lecture Four
Archaeological Methods..........................................12
Lecture Five
Farming and Early Settlements................................15
Lecture Six
The Uruk Phenomenon ............................................18
Lecture Seven
Writing.....................................................................21
Lecture Eight
Temples ...................................................................24
Lecture Nine
Mesopotamian Deities .............................................27
Lecture Ten
Gilgamesh—Hero and King ....................................30
Lecture Eleven
The Early Dynastic Period.......................................33
Lecture Twelve
Warfare and Diplomacy...........................................36
Maps
..............................................................................................................39
Timeline
.............................................................................................................44
Glossary
.............................................................................................................45
Biographical Notes
......................................................................................Part II
Bibliography
.............................................................................................. Part III
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©2006 The Teaching Company
Between the Rivers:
The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
Scope:
Six thousand years ago, in the land bordered by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the first cities arose, ruled by kings
who created complex bureaucracies that fostered the invention of writing and other technological advances. The
Greeks coined the term
Mesopotamia
, “the land between the rivers,” for this region, a name that the Romans later
applied when they conquered the territory. In this course, we will explore Mesopotamian societies from the
Neolithic era (c. 9,000 B.C.) to the defeat of the great Persian Empire at Gaugamela by Alexander the Great (331
B.C.). Our study will take us from the world of international diplomacy with powerful neighbors in Egypt, Syria,
and Anatolia to the mundane issues of daily life, such as providing food for the family, curing disease, and settling
legal disputes. We will examine archaeological discoveries, historical documents, and literary texts to explore how
these lands between the rivers created a civilization that has contributed to the development of our own. A recurring
theme of the course will be the creation of an urban lifestyle, which becomes increasingly sophisticated and
complex as cultures expand.
This introduction to the history and culture of Mesopotamia is divided into three parts. We will begin by looking at
the region in which we see the development of agriculture, settlements, and the rise of cities. What do these early
cities look like? What can we say about the people who lived in them? How were they organized and in what
professions did the populace engage? Temples were the earliest public architecture and required thousands of
laborers to erect the structures; the organization of this labor force results in an early form of bureaucracy. Because
much of the evidence for this era derives from archaeological remains, we will explore the methods used to
reconstruct history from artifacts ranging from broken pieces of pottery to city walls.
In the second part of the course, we will study how the early city-states grew in size and complexity. Rulers
promoted building projects, encouraged trade, and protected their people from harm. The ideal ruler was hailed as
the shepherd of his people who had the favor of the gods. Literature and art celebrate the king in these roles, and we
see energetic leaders digging irrigation canals and dedicating temples to the gods. During this era, we will meet
historical figures, such as Hammurabi, the king of Babylon in the 18
th
century B.C. Hammurabi is most famous for
his law code, in which the ruler legislates a wide range of punishments for theft, property disputes, and familial
quarrels. Sentences are levied based on one’s social standing; these laws reveal a strictly hierarchical society in
which the wealthy man pays fines, while the poor man suffers more extreme physical punishment.
International contacts with other areas of the Near East flourish at this time. We will examine diplomatic
correspondence between the great cities in Mesopotamia and the powerful states of Egypt and Syria, as well as the
influence visible in the art and architecture of the era. Society grew ever more complex and cultured. Developments
in such fields as medicine and astronomy reveal the Mesopotamian interest in understanding and ordering the world.
The last section of the course will explore the rise of empires, specifically, the great Assyrian and Persian empires.
A strongly militaristic society, the Assyrians dominated much of the Near East and effected enormous cultural
changes for the peoples of this region through their practice of mass transfers of population. Enormous palaces
displayed images of their kings engaged in lion hunts and at the head of the mighty Assyrian army, reinforcing the
strength of the state. Such a disciplined society required the smooth transfer of power from ruler to ruler to oversee
the complicated bureaucracy necessary to control an empire of such great size. When palace intrigues weakened the
throne, the neighboring Medes and Persians quickly seized power and established themselves at the head of the
empire.
The interaction between the East and the West is the focus of the last six lectures of the course. During this time, the
small and distant country of Greece was able to fend off two invasions led by the Persian king Darius and his son
Xerxes in the early 5
th
century B.C. Although these defeats had little impact on the Persian Empire, which
flourished for another century and a half, they were significant for the Greeks. The Greek historian Herodotus
recorded these events from the side of the victors, and his account had enormous influence on the way that later
generations of scholars understood the peoples of Mesopotamia. Despite the image that Herodotus and other Greek
authors drew of a weak and corrupt Persian state, it remained a wealthy and vital empire that fell only as a result of
the military brilliance of Alexander the Great. Alexander’s victory allowed him to rule briefly at the head of the
largest empire then known, reaching from Greece to western India, but after his death in Babylon in 323 B.C., no
©2006 The Teaching Company
1
single ruler was able to control these lands again. Many of the great cities of Mesopotamia were abandoned, known
only as legends until archaeologists uncovered them 2,000 years later.
2
©2006 The Teaching Company
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