Week 3 - Mesopotamian Cities

Question 1

Uruk period (protoliterate period)

Answer 1

early version of literacy

uruk is a prominent city in the city at the time

Question 2

Early Dynastic Period

Answer 2

identify dynasties of rulers through written sources

Question 3

The Akkadian Era

Answer 3

conquers Sumeria

Question 4

Neo-Sumerian Empire

Answer 4

resurgence of Sumerian culture / third dynasty of Uruk

Question 5

who are the Sumerians?

Answer 5

ancient people from the region of Sumer / unclear origin with neighbours

southern mesopotamia

Question 6

Languages in this region

Answer 6

Indo-European and Semitic

Akkadian is Semitic; Sumerian is an isolate (no known ancestors / languages)
theorized by linguists

Question 7

logographic script

Answer 7

each word is a seperate character

Question 8

syllabic script

Answer 8

each sylable is a seperate character

Question 9

alphabet

Answer 9

each sound is a separate character

Question 10

Sumerian language

Answer 10

commonlu spoken until ca 19th century BCE
isolate language

Question 11

Cuneiform Script

Answer 11

STARTED as logographic to record inventories
BECAME syllabic to record myths, ritual, history

Question 12

Religion in the Sumerian Citieis

Answer 12

each city had its own patron diety, the city’s main temple was the center of religious, governmental, and economic activity

Question 13

How did kings rule in Sumer

Answer 13

on behalf of the patron God

Sumerians did not believe that the king was ruling on his own behalf, he just carried out God’s wishes on Earth

Question 14

The White Temple at Uruk

Answer 14

dedicated to the sky god, Anu

ritual at temple: walking around the whole exterior of the temple

Question 15

Eanna Precint

Answer 15

dedicated to the fertility goddess

Question 16

Iconography

Answer 16

the study of images and symbols in works of art

understanding a cultures iconography helps us understand what they were trying to communicate

Question 17

The Uruk Vase (will 100% be tested)

Answer 17

• meter tall
  a vase used to store things
  the bottom band represented the Euphrates river
  next band shows animals/baskets/baskets of animals
  variety of people (clothed, nude, people carrying objects, braided belt = missing person in broken section..could be the king)
  nude men in next band, they are carrying objects that might be an offering to Gods
  major interpretation is gifts being gives to goddess Eanna
  gate posts of the temple in front of the goat in picture to the left (shows us the location)
  style: very distinct, everyone is in profile, no attempt to illustrate real motion, everyone looks very still, very common style in this period, banded vase illustrations are also very common
  vases like this are also represented in art (on the vases there are picture of vases)