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The Ancient Near East

The Ancient Near East. The Larger Picture. The Sumerians Invented: . Writing Farming Technology Architecture Codes of Law Cities and Regional Governments Formal System of Education. Writing. Cuneiform etched on clay tablets baked for permanence

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The Ancient Near East

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  1. The Ancient Near East

  2. The Larger Picture

  3. The Sumerians Invented: • Writing • Farming Technology • Architecture • Codes of Law • Cities and Regional Governments • Formal System of Education

  4. Writing • Cuneiform etched on clay tablets baked for permanence • Originally invented to keep business and temple records • Eventually grew to include writings of philosophy, literature, mathematics, architecture, law, politics, and religion • The oldest surviving documents in the world

  5. Farming Technology • Irrigation Systems • Complex system of canals, dikes, weirs and reservoirs to turn desert into farmland • Regional authorities set up to build and regulate irrigation systems • Led to development of cities and city-states • Wheel • Plow

  6. Architecture • Originally built with bundled reeds, and later, sun-baked brick • Developed measuring and surveying instruments • Eventually erected temples [ziggurats] as high as 75 feet above the ground

  7. Codes of Law • Code of Ir-Nammu • Overall, more humane • Allowed a cash payment for some offenses, rather than “an eye for an eye” • Code of Hammurabi • Characterized by vengeance, as well as the visiting of the parents’ sins on the children

  8. Cities and Regional Governments • Three classes of people under the king: • Aristocratic nobles (administrators, priests and military officers) • Middle class people (businessmen, teachers, farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, artisans [especially potters and metal workers], carpenters, weavers, and masons) • Slaves (captives or sold by families)

  9. Formal System of Education • Began as a way of training scribes and administrators to keep business and other temple records • Later, moved from strictly vocational schools to become centers of culture • Students were taught writing, drawing, Sumerian, and mathematics • Culture remained more concerned overall with accounts than academic learning

  10. Religion • Anu—God of the Heavens • Ea (also called Enki)—God of earth and water • Enlil—God of order; in charge of men’s destiny or fate • Ishtar (also called Inanni)—Goddess of love and war • Aruru—Goddess of creation and birth • Shamash—Sun God; patron of Uruk

  11. The Epic of Gilgamesh • Gilgamesh found in official lists of kings • Reigned in Uruk around 2800 BC • After his death, worshipped as a God • Epic composed around 1200 BC • Traditionally, author was Sin-leqe-unninni, a Babylonian scribe • Incorporates earlier materials, some dating back to 2100 BC, nearly a millenium before

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