• Sumeria
• Akkad
• Babylonia
• Assyria
• Persia
• Think & Quest
  

Sumer was a loosely associated group of isolated city states in the lower Mesopotamian valley. ( The Tigris and the Euphrates ) 

• Near the edge of the sea ...
• With rich, fertile soil making it an area that led the way in the adoption of agriculture as a way of life... 

These were urban cities, that were dependent upon their agriculture. Because there were few natural features to help create defensible cities, the cities were easy to attack leading to constant conflict between them. 

The Sumerians developed new forms of government, religion and social structure. Their culture is contemporary with the development of civilization in Egypt during the Old Kingdom. 

Important Sumerian developments include:

• The concept of a city state was developed by the Sumerians.
• Writing was developed by the Sumerians - Cuneiform characters on clay tablets
• One of the most important cultural developments of this period is the concept of the powerful god communicating their desires to humanity through the medium of a powerful priest class or autocratic ruler who serves as the intermediary.

• Theocracy govt. of the gods/priest class
• The ruler may be divine himself, or chosen by the god/gods
• Each city had it's own gods

This system centralizes power in the hands of a small group of people and gives political decisions a religious authority.

The Head of an Akkadian Ruler is identified as possibly that of Sargon I ---- The Akkadians gained control of Sumeria around 2300 and created an empire of the formerly independent Sumerian city states.

Attention!! Sargon was the first ruler to call himself a king.

The head above illustrates the typical Mesopotamian style of combining conceptual and naturalistic styles. Note how his hair and beard is stylized into a decorative pattern.

The severe and imposing image of Sargon serves to glorify him and presents an image worthy of fear and homage.

Hammurabi was a powerful king of Babylon, known for his civil and criminal law code. This stele depicts the king receiving the inspiration for his code of law from the sun god Shamash. Note the flames rising from Shamash's shoulders - a sight intended to show the god's power.

Note, also, how Hammurabi and the deity are presented in the typical, combined frontal and side views. How tall would Shamash be if he stood up? Elements of Hammurabi's Code are found in the Law of Moses 2/3 of the stele is inscribed in cuneiform with the text of Hammurabi's Law Code - see the detail of the text at the left.

The Neo-Babylonian Period was the period when Babylon regained independence from the Assyrians under Nebuchadnezzar.

One of Babylon's noteworthy claims to fame was the construction of the infamous ziggurat, the Tower of Babel dedicated to the god Bel. Babylon also had a grand Processional Way with the beautifully decorated gate dedicated to the goddess Ishtar - seen in a reconstruction drawing to the right. 

Nebuchadnezzar is the king of the Book of Daniel who first put Daniel in the lions' den and then made him governor of Babylon.

After putting Shadrak, Meshach and Abednego in a brick furnace for refusing to worship a golden idol and their lives were saved by an angel who joined them and fanned the flames away from them Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the god of the Jews.

Their capital cities Khorsabad, Nineveh and Nimrud (Sounds like Klingons?) were citadels. As they created their short lived and violent empire they adopted many aspects of the other Mesopotamian cultures who they enslaved.

Through a program of regular military campaigns they expanded their empire to the point where at one time it stretched from Turkey to the Persian Gulf and from the Tigris to the Nile: including the Egyptian Empire at one point.

It is difficult to maintain an empire in a land which has few natural boundaries, such as mountains, seas, deserts, etc. and they were constantly defending it against rebellions and incursions.

Here the figures indicate the proper behavior for visitors, i.e. bringing tribute to the ruler. Another example of the iconographic depiction of a rulers power. See Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute at the top. They bring a broad variety of goods from sheep to fabric and jewels. 

It is very orderly and realistic as if they are climbing the stairs. It is carved in higher relief and with more rounded forms than Assyrian reliefs.

• Did Reglion make any influence you can in the lives between these races?
• When a men started calling himself a king... What did it mean? What change happened?
• Which races do you like most? Why?