COLLEGE GUIILD, PO BOrX 6448, BRUNSWICK

COLLEGEGUIILD,
PO BOrX6448,BRUNSWICK,
ME04011
HISTORIES
Unit6-Ancientlraq
Presr:ntday lraqand its;neighbor,
Alfghanistan
areverymuchon our mindsright
now. we are anxious,saddened,
perrhaps
angry,perhapshopeful,certainly
focus;ed
on the eventsthatare unfol<ling
in thosecountries.Butwe neverthink
aboutthe lraqthatis gorh€,
the "cradleof civilization"
thatwasthere. we are
goingto do thatrightnowin Unit6. 'Then,witha brieftouchdownin between,
we
willjumpover2000yearsintomodernlraqandAfghanistan
in the 2Othand21st
centuries.So preparefor a wildride!
PartI
The countrythatis now lraqwas in erncient
timescalledMesopotamiia
which
means"thelandbetweeln
the rivers."The Euphrates
Riveron the werstsiderises
in we,stern
Turkey,flowsthroughSyria,andthensoutheastthroughlraq.The
Tigris;Riveron the othensiderisesin easternTurkey,flowsthroughlraquntilit
meetsthe Euphrates,
andthenflowssouthfor 120milesas one riveralongthe
lranianborderand intothe PersianGulf. So you canseewhythe larrdin
-Fhe
betwreen
was calledMesopotamia. riverstracea coursesomething
likean
hourglass,wideapartin the north(prerhaps
200miles),thennarrowing
around
(about30 rnilesapart),thenwidening
the middlenearBaghdetd
agairrin the
soutftto a distanceof about100milesbeforegraduallycomingtogetlher.In the
justas it was in the valleyclfthe Nile.
soutfralongthe riversthe landwasfrertile
just
AndLhere, as in Eg'yptbutevenearlier,thefirststirringsof the cirrilization
that
we ciell"Western"
began.
1. Here'sa challenge.Drawan informalmap of Mesopotamia
shovuingSyriato the west,Turkey'tothe north,SaudiArabiato the south
west, and lran to the erast.Tracethe courseof the riversshowinghow they
comeclosetogetherin the middle,widenand finallycometogetherto flow
into the PersianGulf. lf you know where Baghdadis on the Tigris put that
in toron
or any other cities that you know of, ancientor modern.
The civilization
thatcameto flourishin the southernpartof Mesopotarmia
called
firstSiumerandthenBabylonia
was,evenmorethanEgypt,the ancestorof our
way of life. Thefirstknowncodeof lawswaswrittenby a kingcalled
Hammurabi.
BeforeHammurabi
as in ancientEgypt,lawandthe willof the
C cp5r+ght (D Co[Lc-jc-6vr(L 4oo3
monarchwereoneandthe samething. AfterHammurqbi
the ideathatjustice
shouldbe dispensed
equallyto all peoplebecameimpqrtant
if notallvays
observed.Maybeevenmoreimportant,
overtheir4000yearhistorythe
Sumr:rians
and Babylonians
thoughtaboutthe big questions
thatwillalways
occupyhumankind
grief,death,suffering,
everywhere:
love,hope. Andthey
wrotelaboutthesethingsin lastingand memorable
literdture.
2. Wnitea poem or es$ayabout one of thesetopicsr law,justice,loven
hope.
Likethe Egyptians,
the Mesopotamiilns
farmedand irrigated
the fertilesoil.They
traderd
up anddowntherrivers.Andveryearlyin the 4tlhmillennium
IBCE-(the
4000's)theydeveloped
a writingsystem.lt was a systQmof symbols;
which
repretsented
syllables.Althoughnotan alphabet,it waSmoreversatilethan
Egyprtian
hieroglyphics.
The systemwascalledcuneifortm.
lt waswrittenwith
sharpwedge-shaped
instruments
whichwerepressedontowet claytablets.The
tabletswereso wellmadethatthousands
of themremaintodayto tellus how
theirauthorsbought?hdss;6,whattheybelieved,
whattheirvalues\^/ere.Some
of them,no one knowshowmany,are stillthere,perhapsbeingdestroyedby
warfareor lootingnow.
Manymoreof the antiqr.rities
(likethe
of lraqandotherancientcivilizations
Rosertta
Stonefrom Egypt)havebeencarriedawayovertwo centuriers
and
placedin museums,
especially
in England,
France,
Russier
GerSnany,
andthe
U.S, Theretheyare preserved,
studlied
andmadeavailable
to thousands
of
people.
3. Recentlythe countriesfrom which these qrtifactswere taken are
protesting"robbery!" Whatdo you think aboutthiE? Was "stealing"
antic;uitiesfor any purposejustified? Shouldthey be returned?
Frornaround4000until2000B.C.E.the Sumeriancivilization
was brornand
flourished.Thenit graclually
disintegrated
intotribalwarfare.ButtherSumerians;
had laidthe foundations
of a thrivingeconomy,a systeffrof writing,a literature,
and a religious
traditionwhichwerellakenoverby KingHammurabi
of Babylonia.
ln 1792BCEhe usheredin a newera which,althoughhrokenby periodsof
severewarfare,lastedlor nearly2000years. Oneof HAmmurabi's
secretsin
consolidating
formerSumerianterritorywasto continueto honorthe Sumerian
gods. As in Egypt,therewas a hugepantheonof gods, (Remember
thatword?
personglgodswereerspecially
lf youdon't, lookbackttoUnit5). In Babylonia
important.Peoplefeltcloseto theirpersonalgodswhowerealwaysnear,
available,
and protecting.Thechiefgodwas Mardukwhowas all-powerful
and
mysterious
oftenr
in his'ways.Unlikethe Egyptianmonarchy,
kingshipin
Baby'l6p;u
was not a divineinstitutiorr,
worshipgrelatly
althoughuniversgl
it.
stabilized
4: Whatare the consequencesof havinga Kifrg/ Pharoahwho is
thoughtto be divine as contrasteclwith a King/ Mo4archwho is human?
Longperiodsof peaceand a thrivingtradealsostrengthened
the country.Therer
wastradealongthe riverrs,
butactiver
tradeacrossthe tvliddle
Eastflourished
too,
especially
withEgypt. []lue,semi-pr,ecious
lapislazulisitones,
horses;,
and
textileswereexportedto Egyptin ret,urn
for gold. TherQis a fascinating
correspondence
whichwasfoundall Amarnain Egyptin the late19thcentury.
TheseAmarnaLetterswerewrittenin Babylonian
(whichvrasthe
cuneifiorm
languageof the timeas Englishis now)betvVeen
diplomatic
the Pharroah
Akhenaten
andthe Kin_qs
and servantsof Egyptacrossthe MiddleEast. Hereis;
partof a negotiation
betweenthe Pharaohandthe Kingof Babylonia
aboutthe
marriageof theirdaughters.The letteris fromthe Kingof Babylonia:
To the kin:gof Egypt,nty brother: For me and my countryall goes
very well. For you, for your wives,fiaryour sons,for yQurhorses,your chariots,
and your entire countryr,may all go'very well. Withregprd to the girl, my
daug,hter,about whom.youwroteto ,mein viewof marripge,she has becomea
woman;she is nubile. ,lust send a alelegationto fetch her.
Yourdaughtersare available. Whyhaveyou not givenme one?
I hav'ebuilt a new hous,e.I am goin17to havea house-Qpening.Cometo eat
and drink withme. I send to you 10 woodenchariotsalVd10 teamsctf horsesas
your greetinggift.
So hrowis thatfor a merrriage
to a party'?
agreement
andan invitation
* Scholarsnowspeakc,fB.C.E.(Beforethe CommonEp'a)
insteadof B.C.(Before
Chris;t)
andof C.E.(Common
Era)insteadof A.D.(inthpYearof ourLord)in
recor;nition
of the factthatnotall peoplewhousethissfstemof datingare
Chris;tians.Referto yorurtimelinefor this.
5. Why do you think royalfamiliesarrangen'larriagesof family
memberswith foreign Kings and Queens?
Babyrlsni2
andfor the breautiful
and
becameknownfar andwidefor its prosperity
luxurious
River,whichwas its culturaland
cityof Babylonon the Euphrates
weren'tso
administrative
center.\ffithprosperity
camecreativity.Babylonians
muclrdecorators
and painterslikethe Egyptians.The)lweremorethinkersand
poets.Onepoemraisesa questionrrvhich
mostof us hflvethoughtahoutat one
good
mansutfersdis{sterafterdisilstervery
timeor another.A manwho is a
muclrlikeJob in the Bible,if you knowthatstory. He is rejectedby tlheking;his
lovedonesturnawayfromhim;hiscropsfail;he becomesill;he feelsabandonerd
by threpersonalgod whohas alwaysprotected
him.
so he feelsbewildered
and overwhelmed.
He hasalwaysdonewhathe
to be rightand
worshiped
the godsas he hadbeentold. He hastried is hardestto be good(al:
leastmostof thetime).Hebecomes
lostin despair cries:
Whocan learn t,heplan of the gods in heaven's
Whocan fathomthose deep waters,
Wherehas man ever learned what the god will ?
I reflectedon tho'sethings,and their meaningI
notlearn.
6. Put these lines into your own words.
The mostfamouspoernleftto us by the Babylonians
is longonecalledthe Epic
of Gilgamesh.lt tellsthe storyof Gilgamesh,
mythicalherowho is
a king
withwhomhe goeson
strongandbrave.Hedeeplylovesa friendnamed
journeys,slayinga monsterandtrudgingover
gloriclus
mountains.
But
grief,Gilgamesh
Enki<lu
dies,andin histerrible
wa
acrosstheworldin
poem,
Flerein thisancient
searchof immortality.
storyof the suffering
as in
man,aresomeof the d,oep€st
ng questions
thatare
emotionsandmost
partof all of our lives.
I grieve for the cleathof Enkiduthe companion,
he who has faught with lions and with wolves.
We foughtthe b'ullof Heaventogetherand
Enkidu, the companion,whomI loved.
Now Enkiduhas undergonethe fate
the high gods hizveestablishedfor mankind.
Sevendays anclnights I sat beside the body,
weepingfor Enkidubeside the body.
It was then lfell'the fear of it in my belly.
I roam the wildernessbecauseof the fear.
Enkidu, the companion,whomI loved,
is dirt, nothingbut clay is Enkidu.
Weeping as if lwere a woman lroam
the paths and s,horesof unknown places
'Mustldie too? Must Gilgameshbe like that?'
Gilgarmesh
returnswithoutimmortality
butwitha
sensethatit is goodtcr
be human.He was "werarV
but at peace."Babylonians
people,
a pragnratic
who appreciated
this lift;eventhouglh
theyknewhowh
life couldbe.
Gilgarmesh
spokefor threm.
7. Writea poenl or a story about a hero or a
imaglined,who has trclublesand adventuresbut
It can be funny or serious. lt can be someoneyou
your life.
real or
triumphsin the end.
re from history or
The luxuryandcultureof Babylonia
lbrought
withit not{nly the admiration
of its
neighbors,
butalsotheirenvy. To the northbetweenth! riverswererthe
Assyrians
who covetedthe richesandthe civilization
of Babylon.Theywerea
war-likepeopleitchinglo conquer.The poetByronwrofieabouttheirattack:
TheAssyriancane down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts ureregleamingin purple and golQ
And the sheenof theirspearswaslike starson tlJ, sea,
Whenthe blue waverolls nightlyon deep GalilleQ.
It soundsglorious
doesn'tit? Gilgamesh
gloriedin wartooandcelebrated
his
own and Enkidu'sbravelry.Herearesomequestionsapoutwarfor youto think
about.
8. Whatdo you think makespeoplewant to $o to war? Explain.
9. Can you imaginewantinEto go to war yourself? Why or why not'?
10.Do you thinlithat humankind will everstQpwagingwar? Why or
why not?
The lBabyonian
culturesurvivedthe Assyrian
It'straditions
were
revivedand continued
undertwo Kirrgsnamed
I and ll, butthe
wonclerand creativity
gradually
the
of
earliertime
died ay andwithit camethe
writingaboutthe firstcenturyB.CE... thenAlexander
end of cuneiform
the
Greart
andthenthe Ronnans
hadconquered
a, andso we willendour
studyof ancientlraqhere.
Partll
Nowfor anotherguessinggame,thistimeaboutancierittimes. Seeif you can
identifythe selections
arndwritea sentenceor two aboUtthem. Someyouwill
find in the textsof Units;
5 and6. Othersyouwon't.
1 . Abraham
2. Amarna
3. Aosyria
4. Persian
5. King
6. Moses
7. Cuneiform
8. Enkidu
Wh
lrar
one of the
why?
do you think best
Youhavefi
the cultureof ancient
Unit6, andnowyouh4vea
background
for Units7
willbe modern
lraqanditsneighbor, anistan.Wewillstudy
history d thenlookintosomeof the p
thatwe must
therein the st century.
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