WRITING AND CITY LIFE

 Introduction
 Language and sources
 Mesopotamia’s geography
 Significance of Urbanism
 Movement of goods
 Development of writing
 System, Literacy & Uses
 Southern mesopotamia
 Life in the city
 Trading town
 Cities and the culture
 Legacy of writing
- by Shubhpreet Kaur
(11th Humanities)
 INTRODUCTION
 MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILISATION-name mesopotamia is derived from Greek word
mesos meaning middle and potamos meaning rivers. Thus it means the land between
the Euphrates and the Tigris river.

 SUMERIAN CIVILISATION- the 1st known language of Mesopotamia was Sumerian.

That’s why civilisation was also known as Sumerian Civilisation.

 BABYLONIAN CIVILISATION- after 2000 BCE, when Babylon flourished as an

important city in south, it was called Babylonian Civilisation.

 AKKADIAN CIVILISATION- around 2400 BCE, when Akkadians arrived and

established their rule in southern part of Mesopotamia, it was called Akkadian
Civilisation.

 ASSYRIANS CIVILISATION- from about 1100 BCE ,when Assyrians arrived and
established their rule in the north parts of Mesopotamia, it was known as Assyrian
Civilisation.
 LANGUAGES
Sumerian- the first known language of
Mesopotamia. As per archaeologists, currently
it is a dead language with no relatives known.

Akkadian- it is the earliest attested Semitic

language ,native to Assyria and Babylon. It
flourished till about Alexander’s time (336-323
BCE).
Aramaic- likely used by Jesus, it is the
language of long parts of the two Bible books of
Daniel and Ezra and is an ancestor to the Hebrew,
Syrian and Arabic alphabets.
SOURCES TO KNOW MESOPOTAMIA

Buildings Graves
Geogra Urbani
phy zation
Comm Movem
unicati ent of
on and
goods
Settlewriting Temple
ments s and
begun Kings
 GEOGRAPHY IN MESOPOTAMIA
 NORTH- EAST- here lies green, tree covered mountain ranges with clear
streams and wild flowers, with enough rainfall to grow crops. Here,
agriculture began between 7000 and 6000 BCE.
 NORTH- there is a stretch of upland called a steppe, where animal herding
offer people a better livelihood than agriculture.
 EAST- tributaries of the Tigris provide routes of communication into the
mountains of Iran.
 SOUTH- there is a desert land where first cities and writing emerged. This
desert could support cities as the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which rise in
the northern mountains carry loads of silt which when flooded or let out on
the fields, a fertile silt is deposited.

Of all ancient times, agriculture of Mesopotamia had been the most

productive.
Beside agriculture, north-eastern plains and mountain slopes produced
meat , milk and wool. Further, fish was available in rivers and date-palms as
fruits in summer.
SIGNIFICANCE OF URBANISM
MOVEMENT OF GOODS INTO CITIES

1
• Mesopotamia was rich in food resources but
its mineral resources were few.
• Most parts of the south lacked stones, woods
and metals required for various purposes.

• So we can conclude that they must have traded

their abundant textiles and agricultural
produces in exchange of wood, copper, tin,
silver, etc. from Turkey, Iran and across the
2 Gulf.
• Such regular exchange required a social
organization to equip foreign expeditions and
exchange goods.

• Beside trade and other services efficient

transport is also important for urban
development.
3 • The cheapest mode of transportation was over
water. The canals and natural channels of
ancient Mesopotamia were in fact routes of
THE DEVELOPMEN T OF WRITING
 It began when society needed to keep records of
transactions and also to pass the messages in far
away places.

 The 1st Mesopotamian tablets written around 3200

BCE contained picture like signs and numbers.

 Tablet- a scribe would wet clay and pat it into a size

he could hold easily in one hand. He would carefully
smoothen its surface and with the sharp end of reed
cut he would press cuneiform signs on it while it
was still moist. Upon drying it would harden and
become indestructible.

 By 2600 BCE, letters of Sumerian language became

cuneiformed.

 Later, as by 2400 BCE Sumerian was replaced by

Akkadian so Akkadian letters were cuneiformed
and continued in use for more than 2000 years.
 WRITING
SYSTEM

• Cuneiform signs didn’t represented a single consonant/ vowel but syllables.

• A scribe had to learn 100s of signs and he had to be able to handle a wet tablet well.
Thus writing was a skilled craft.
• Writing conveyed the sounds of particular language in visual form.

LITERACY

• There were hundreds of signs to learn and many of these were complex.
• Very few Mesopotamians could read and write.
• So, if a King could read , that was recorded in his boastful inscriptions.

USES

• Keeping records and making dictionaries

• Giving legal validity to land transfers and narrating the deeds of a King.
• Storing information and sending messages.
• Announcing the changes made by a King.
CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF TEMPLES

From 5000 BCE, settlements begun and from these the earliest cities
emerged around temples, as centres of trade; and imperial cities.

The earliest known temple was a small shrine made of unbaked bricks. Temples were
the residences of various gods: the Moon God of Ur or of Inanna the Goddess of Love
and War.

Temples became larger over time with several rooms around open courtyards. And
always had their outer walls going in and out at regular intervals unlike any ordinary
building.

The God was the focus of worship: to him/her people brought grain,curd and fish.
The God was also the theoretical owner of agricultural fields, fisheries, herds, etc.

Production processes such as oil pressing, grain grinding, spinning and weaving of
woolen clothes was also done in the temples. The temple gradually developed its
activities and became the main urban institution.
 ROLE OF KINGS: CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLES

 As archaeological records show, due to floods one year and no water

left the other year, early Mesopotamia countryside saw repeated
conflict over land and water.

 When there was continuous warfare in a region, those chiefs who had
won in war could oblige their followers by distributing the loot.

 And could take prisoners from the defeated group to employ as their
guards or servants. This increased their status and authority.

 In time, victorious chiefs began to offer precious booty to God to

beautify the temples and also organized the distribution of temple
wealth by keeping records.

 War captives or local people were put to work for the temple or directly
the ruler and were paid rations. This rather than agricultural tax , was
compulsory.

 It has been estimated that one of the temple took 1500 men working 10
hours a day, 5 years to build.

 Also with the development of temples, there were technical advances

like bronze tools and potter’s wheel came into use.
 LIFE IN THE CITY OF UR
o Here, nuclear family was the norm, although a married son and
his wife often resided with his parents. The father was the head
of the family.

o Marriage’s procedure- a declaration about the will to marry was

made and the bride’s parents gave their consent to the marriage.
When wedding took place, gifts were exchanged and offerings
were made in a temple.

o Its narrow winding streets indicate that wheeled carts could not
have reached many of the houses. Also, irregular shapes of house
plots indicate an absence of town planning.

o There were no street drains or pipes, rather they were found in

inner courtyards of Ur houses. Light came into houses not from
windows but from doorways opening into the courtyards.

o Superstitions- a raised threshold brought wealth; a front door

that didn’t opened towards another house was lucky; if main
wooden door of a house opened outwards, the wife would be a
torment to her husband.
The silver lyre of Ur
o There was a town cemetery at Ur in which the graves of royalty
and commoners have been found.
 A TRADING TOWN: MARI
 Mari stands on much further upstream on the Euphrates. Here, agriculture
and animal rearing both were carried out close to each other.

 Herders need to exchange young animals, cheese, leather and meat in

return for grain, metal tools, etc . Yet, there may be a conflict- a shepherd
may take his flock to water across sown field and ruin the crop.

 Soon nomadic communities of the western desert filtered into the

prosperous agricultural heartland.

 Such groups would come in as herders, harvest labourers or hired soldiers.

A few gained the power to establish their own rule – Akkadians, Amorites,
Assyrians, Aramaeans. The kings of Mari were Amorites.

 Although herders were allowed to move in Kingdoms, but they were

watched by the king.

 In Mari various goods were carried in boats along the Euphrates- between
the south and mineral rich uplands of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. They
would stop on their way , for inspection and were made to levy a charge of Lion of Mari
about 1/10th the value of goods by the officers before continuing to move
downstream. (Bronze statue)
 CITIES IN MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE

Mesopotamian The Epic of

s valued city He got a shock
Gilgamesh when his heroic
life where reminds us the friend died. He
many pride of than sat out to
communities Mesopotamians find the secret of
and cultures who took in immortality.
lived side by their cities. After a heroic
side. After Gilgamesh was attempt he failed
cities were the ruler of and returned to
destroyed in Uruk and a Uruk and then he
great hero who consoled himself
war, they by walking along
recalled them subdued people
far and wide. the city.
in poetry.

Gilgamesh
 LEGACY OF WRITING
ADOPTION OF
CALENDER & TIME MATHEMATICS TIME DIVISION

The division of year Dating around 1800 Successors of Alexander

into 12 months. BCE are tablets found
with:
The division of month Multiplication and
into 4 weeks division tables Roman World
The division of a day Square and square-
into 24 hours. root tables
Roman world
The division of an Tables of compound
hour into 60 minutes. interest
Islamic world
Solar and lunar
eclipse were observed
and recorded.
Medieval Europe
THANK YOU