Ancient Near East Flashcards
Bronze age
middle of the 4th millennium BCE to the 13th century BCE
called bronze age because they smelted bronze at this point
middle of the 4th millennium BCE to the 13th century BCE
Bronze age
What are the nations?
Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Levant, Tigris, Euphrates, Girsu, Umma, Lagash
Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent
Iraq, Iran
Sumerians
Anatolia
Turkey
Levant
Syria, Israel, east coast of Med Sea
Tigris
next to the Tigris river
Euphrates
next to Euphrates river
Fertile crescent
area that’s fertile, has trade, lively
4th millennium BCE to 11th century BCE
Sumerians
lived in Mesopotamia
first people to write historical narrative (cuneiform)
polytheism: most important one Inanna (goddess of love and war)
- Ningirsu: warrior god, god of Girsu
- Ninhursag: mother goddess
- Imdugud/Anzu bird: god of unknown
- Enlil*: chief diety
*all on “Stele of Eannatum
Akkadian
late 3rd millennium BCE, after Sumerian
came from Arabian desert
Sargon I: Akkadian king and conqueror, said that kings are gods
Neo-Sumerian
third dynasty of Ur, after Akkadian
Sumerinas came back and conquered Akkadian
Have empires
Babylonian
Early 2nd mill BCE, after Neo-Sumerian
Hammurabi: Babylonian king that commissioned first set of laws known in Western civilization (Stele of Hammurabi)
Shamash: Babylonian chief god, solar deity
Assyrian
after Babylonian
Conquered everyone: really tall wall, defenses from others
Neo-Babylonian
after Assyrian
Assyria fell from the inside (civil strife and war)
Nebuchadnezzar II: ruler, came on top
“Ishtar Gate”
Sumerian
goddess of love and war
Inanna
Sumerian
warrior god, god of Girsu
Ningirsu
Sumerian
mother goddess
Ninhursag
Sumerian
god of unknown
Imdugud/Anzu bird
Sumerian
chief diety
Enlil
Tablets of Destiny
they can see the past present and future
Enlil has them
they can see the past present and future
Enlil has them
Tablets of Destiny
Babylonian chief god, solar deity
Shamash
Legendary king of Uruk; protagonist in the “Epic of ________”, one of the world’s oldest epic tales
Gilgamesh
Sumerian
Legendary Wildman; ally and friend to Gilgamesh in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”
Enkidu
Winged bull with the head of a man, a guardian composite creature from ancient Mesopotamia
Lamasu
Lamasu
Winged bull with the head of a man, a guardian composite creature from ancient Mesopotamia
composite creature
Composed of various known animals; used to indicate a supernatural setting, often serving as guardian figures poised in liminal locales
Composed of various known animals; used to indicate a supernatural setting, often serving as guardian figures poised in liminal locales
composite creature
pictographs
Proto-writing reliant on symbols, frequently precede writing systems
Proto-writing reliant on symbols, frequently precede writing systems
pictographs
cuneiform
Ancient Near Eastern writing system; first known in western history
Ancient Near Eastern writing system; first known in western history
cuneiform
ziggurat
Ancient Near Eastern sacred structure, composed of a temple atop a large sloping platform
Ancient Near Eastern sacred structure, composed of a temple atop a large sloping platform
ziggurat
hieratic scaling
Compositional strategy that makes most important figure largest
Compositional strategy that makes most important figure largest
hieratic scaling
language vs writing system
???????
speaking vs writing it down??
stylized
Figural representation that schematizes subject/object
Figural representation that schematizes subject/object
stylized
naturalistic
Representational art that looks to mimic nature
Representational art that looks to mimic nature
naturalistic
historical narrative
record real-world happenings, usually defining moments in the life of an elite figure, a community, or culture.
record real-world happenings, usually defining moments in the life of an elite figure, a community, or culture.
historical narrative
role of ritual activation
a set of instructions to produce a god, demon, ghost, ancestor, etc. If done correctly, the inanimate object became the desired supernatural entity.
didn’t matter if the effigy didn’t look like the supernatural entity
a set of instructions to produce a god, demon, ghost, ancestor, etc. If done correctly, the inanimate object became the desired supernatural entity.
role of ritual activation
Imaging the gods
“making the intangible tangible”
creating likeness of deities makes them more tangible
creating likeness of animals makes them appear (Lascaux)
center vs periphery
cosmic geography
their native state is the center of their universe
periphery idk
natural vs supernatural
cosmic geography
both natural and supernatural realms coexist
most mortal were physically impeded from entering godly abodes
Denise Schmandt-Besserat
discovered the reasons for development of writing in ancient Mesopotamia (accounting)
discovered the reasons for development of writing in ancient Mesopotamia (accounting)
Denise Schmandt-Besserat
