Primary Sources - Ancient Near East

Question 1

“The Legend of Sargon”

Answer 1

• author: Sargon (purportedly)

- account of Sargon’s rise to power and his conquests in creating the Akkadian Empire

Question 2

“The Epic of Gilgamesh”

Answer 2

• author: unknown
• Mesopotamian epic
• Gilgamesh is the arrogant king of Uruk, his people hate him and ask the gods for help, the gods create the beast-man Enkidu to humble him, Gilgamesh sends a prostitute to tame Enkidu, Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight then become best friends, Enkidu tells Gilgamesh of the monster Humbaba (guardian of the Cedar Forest), they both make the journey to slay the beast, they defeat Humbaba and bring his head back to Uruk, Ishtar shows herself to Gilgamesh and begs him to be her lover, he refuses her and she becomes angry, Ishtar asks her father (Anu) to release the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh, the Bull kills a lot of people in Uruk, Enkidu grabs the bull by the horns and Gilgamesh slaughters it with a sword, Ishtar reveals herself again to threaten the heroes and Enkidu rips the bull’s leg off and throws it at her, the gods (in Enkidu’s dream) decide that one of the heroes must die, they choose Enkidu, Enkidu dies after 12 days of suffering, Gilgamesh is torn apart with grief and goes on a quest to find immortality, he seeks out Utnapishtim, Utnapishtim tells him the flood story where he gained his own immortality then tells Gilgamesh of a plant at the bottom of the sea that can also grant immortality, Gilgamesh dives underwater to get the plant, Gilgamesh stops to bathe on his way back to Uruk, a snake eats the plant he left unattended (thus the “immortality” that is skin-shedding), Gilgamesh returns to Uruk and discovers through his defeat that his legacy can only be made in ruling, living, and loving well

Question 3

“The Laws of Hammurabi”

Answer 3

• written by the Babylonian king Hammurabi
• supposedly given to Hammurabi by the sun god Shamash
• three parts:
  1) a historical prologue describing the selection of Hammurabi by the gods
  2) the corpus of 282 laws
  3) an epilogue which summarizes how his laws will protect and bring justice to his people

Question 4

“The Story of Sinuhe”

Answer 4

• author: Sinuhe (purportedly)
• Sinuhe was a court official of the pharaoh, Sinuhe was on campaign in Libya under the command of Sin-Usert (heir to the throne), Sinuhe panicked and fled after hearing about the death of the pharaoh, he lives in Syria for many years until he is old and Sin-Usert welcomes him back to Egypt, Sin-Usert restores Sinuhe’s position as a court official and allows him to make his preparations for the afterlife

Question 5

“The Story of Two Brothers”

Answer 5

• author: unknown
• the two brothers Anubis (elder) and Bata (younger) lived together with Anubis’ wife, Bata was working the fields one day with Anubis and went inside to get more seed, Anubis’ wife tried to seduce him, he refused her and swore he wouldn’t say a word if she didn’t, she painted herself to look battered and claimed to her husband that Bata had beaten her when she refused to sleep with him, Anubis hid in the barn (where Bata slept) with a lance so he could jump out and kill Bata, when Bata led the cattle in, a cow warned him of Anubis’ presence behind the barn door, Bata ran and Anubis chased after him, Bata prayed to the god Re to help him, Re made a body of water filled with crocodiles between the brothers, Bata said when the sun disc rose he would be judged in its presence, in the morning, the two brothers argued and Bata told Anubis what had truly happened (from the other side of the water), to show he was telling the truth, Bata cut off his own phallus and threw it into the water (and a shad swallowed it), Bata became weak and Anubis wept from the other side of the water, Bata limped off to the Valley of the Cedar, Anubis went home and killed his wife, throwing her body out to the dogs

Question 6

“The Expulsion of the Hyksos”

Answer 6

• autobiography of Ahmose
• Ahmose rose in the ranks from a common soldier to a ship captain, he was an eyewitness and participant in the expulsion of the Hyksos, and eventually died as a wealthy landowner

Question 7

“The Asiatic Campaign of Thutmose III”

Answer 7

• “official account”, author unknown

- first campaign…the Battle of Meggido, Egypt vs. Canaanites

Question 8

“The Hymn to the Aton”

Answer 8

• royal inscription from King Akhenaton

- theological hymn to Atonism

Question 9

The Bible: Old Testament

Answer 9

• Hebrew Bible/Torah/”Yahweh’s Law”
• begins with two back-to-back creation stories that differ significantly from one another
• books of the prophets

Question 10

The Assyrian Annals

Answer 10

• detailed accounts of exploits left by Assyrian kings
• year-by-year narrative of events
• follow a predictable pattern and usually include a series of battles and details such as the number of captured soldiers and amount of booty
• completely one-sided
• Campaigns in the Levant led by Sargon II

Question 11

Sennacherib

Answer 11

• narrative of the third campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, aimed at rebellious cities of the Levant (i.e. Jerusalem)