Chapter 2: Early Societies in Southwest Asia

Vocabulary

• Epic Of Gilgamesh: A collection of stories that tell of Gilgamesh, the fifth king of the Mesopotamian city of Uruk, and the adventures of him and his companion Enkidu. Gilgamesh was said to have been blessed by the gods with superhuman strength and courage, while also being blessed with immense wisdom. These were often used as means for reflecting upon moral issues.

• Sumer: A common name for the southern portion of Mesopotamia. They were some of the first, if not the very first, to use widespread irrigation.

• City-states: Small independent states that expanded from cities. The city’s government did not only control affairs within the city boundaries, but they also were in control of surrounding territories and agricultural regions as well. The first city- states were in Sumer and some examples are; Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, and Kish. 

• Sargon of Akkad: Sargon was a minister to king of Kish, before he led an uprising to take over Kish. From there he went throughout southern Mesopotamia taking control of the city-states with his large army. Sargon was the first of many to try to conquer Mesopotamia, and was the first to successfully create an “empire”. His empire did eventually collapse though, after nearly 180 years of standing. 

• Hammurabi’s Laws: The most extensive, and most complete, written form of the Mesopotamian law code. These laws established high standards and also harsh punishment. For example, it included laws about punishment for theft, murder, adultery, fraud, and more. Civil laws monitored other things, such as; marital relationships, the conditions of slavery, and wages. 

• Lex Talionis: Literally translated into “Law of Retaliation”, which is what it was called when the offenders of the law would receive punishment that resembled in some way, shape, or form, the crime they had committed. That is not the only subject this covers, however. It also explains how social standing plays a role; for example, a royal wronging a royal would be treated differently than a royal wronging a commoner. 

• Patriarchal societies: Societies in which, while differences of rank, wealth, and social classes existed, the authority was mainly vested in adult men. Men decided who would do what around the house, while also arranging marriages, and were also the rulers of these societies. They were the kings, and they made decisions about policies and public affairs. In conclusion, patriarchal societies are a male-dominated society. 

• Cuneiform: The world’s earliest know writing; comes from the two Latin words that translate to “wedge-shaped”. Writing was done on soft clay with a stylus that was made from a reed. From there it would be left in the sun to dry, thus hardening the message. 

• Judaism: Were descendents from the southern Israelites who inhabited the Kingdom of Judah, who in turn were descendents of the Hebrews who branched in Palestine, who in turn were descendents of any who spoke Hebrew. Those who practiced Judaism were known as Jews and the majority lived in the city of Judah. The central city of Judah was Jerusalem. This is a monotheistic religion. 

• Phoenicians: The Phoenicians live between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lebanon Mountains, and we’re often referred to Canaanites (because that is what they called themselves in their Semitic tongue). Had numerous city-states, ruled by different kings, much Mesopotamia. Phoenicians were generally more interested in trade networks and communication networks than trying to conquer the surrounding territories. They were known for the ship building, which gave them the ability to go many places in search of natural resources to trade to the likes of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

• Indo-European migrations: The migration of those who spoke an Indo-European language explains why the base of so many languages (in this language family) are extremely similar. The origin of the Indo-European language family may have been in southern Russia, near modern-day Ukraine. They had the means necessary to migrate because they domesticated horses, which was extremely helpful in the transporting of goods and people. 

Focus Question #1

            Mesopotamian society has been said to be the first of the complex societies. What institutions and changes did Mesopotamian society develop that met those standards and distinguished it from earlier societies?

            The cultural, the military, and the economic advances are all factors contributing to the argument of why Mesopotamia was the first complex society- but perhaps the most important factors of all, are the advances in agriculture and that of social stratification. Mesopotamia’s culture can largely be reflected in the Epics Of Gilgamesh, which are embellished stories that explored the interests and concerns of the people of Mesopotamia, things such as; friendship, death, and morality. There is no doubt the military advances made in Mesopotamia were great, for through a man named Sargon of Akkad, who is famous for conquering much of Mesopotamia, the idea of an empire was created. The economic advances are interwoven with the advances in agriculture (among all other aspects), because agriculture allowed for job specialization, which in turn led to the production of higher quality goods. Also advancing the economy, the military helped certain cities economies receive large amounts of tax money from the cities that certain empires had control over.

            The advances in agriculture were largely due to the invention of irrigation systems. Irrigation systems were systems in which crops would be watered through the means of tapping rivers, and creating reservoirs and canals. This irrigation, known as artificial irrigation, allowed for larger crops, which in allowed for larger populations. Therefore the population growth created more workers, some to be involved in agriculture, others to be involved in job specialization. Social stratification was created when people began to accumulate different amounts of wealth, and because they were wealthier, they were considered the better people. Therefore, the wealthy adult men ended up becoming the important people in the city, running the religious centers (except for a few female exceptions here), and eventually became the rulers of the city. That would be a patriarchal society.

Focus Question #2

            In what ways did Mesopotamian society influence other societies around it? Describe both the parts of society that were shared and the ways in which that influence spread.

            Mesopotamian society pioneered many of the inventions at this time, including such things as the wheel, bronze and iron metallurgy, ship building, and the early forms of writing. They also pioneered such ideas as empires, trade networks, patriarchal societies, and education. The material aspects were simply diffused through migration, trading, and such. What made those diffusions possible though was the invention of the wheel, which influenced all types of movement, and the amount of cargo you can carry or migrate with.  Bronze and iron metallurgy were used at first only for weapons to be used in battles or war, but eventually came to be used for the creation of farming implements as well. Ship building was an integral part of establishing trade networks as well, for this allowed the Mesopotamians to trade with territories such as India, by being able to sail through the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The early forms of writing, known as cuneiform, is a written language using pictographs and other symbols. Cuneiform was written on soft clay with a reed stylus, and than baked in the sun to create a clay tablet that permanently records something such as a transaction, or a message, which allowed for better documentation of events that occurred.

            Non material ideas also affected societies around Mesopotamia. The idea of an empire was experimented with many times, through Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi of Babylon, the Hittites, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and other empires, such as the Assyrian Empire. Trade between cities and city-states was made easier by the creation of the wheel and the ship. Patriarchal societies, or male dominated societies, also originated in Mesopotamia and diffused outward. Education was extremely primitive and consisted of either learning a particular trade or craft, or if you learned to read and write you would most likely become a scribe or a government official. But without literacy, and scribes to keep records, Mesopotamia would not have functioned as smoothly as it did

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