#early dynastic period (mesopotamia)

[a-modernmajorgeneral]

The two sides of the Standard appear to be the two poles of Sumerian kingship, war and peace.  The war side was found face up and is divided into three registers (bands), read from the bottom up, left to right. The story begins at the bottom with war carts, each with a spearman and driver, drawn by donkeys trampling fallen enemies, distinguished by their nudity and wounds, which drip with blood. The middle band shows a group of soldiers wearing fur cloaks and carrying spears walking to the right while bound, naked enemies are executed and paraded to the top band where more are killed. 

In the center of the top register, we find the king, holding a long spear, physically larger than everyone else, so much so, his head breaks the frame of the scene. Behind him are attendants carrying spears and battle axes and his royal war cart ready for him to jump in. There is a sense of a triumphal moment on the battlefield, when the enemy is vanquished and the victorious king is relishing his win. There is no reason to believe that this is a particular battle or king as there is nothing which identifies it as such; we think it is more of a generic image of a critically important aspect of Ancient Near Eastern kingship.

The opposite peace panel also illustrates a cumulative moment, that of the celebration of the king, this time for great agricultural abundance which is afforded by peace. Again, beginning at the bottom left, we see men carrying produce on their shoulders and in bags and leading donkeys. In the central band, men lead bulls, sheep and goats, and carry fish. In the top register a grand feast is taking place, complete with comfortable seating and musical accompaniment.

On the left, the largest figure, the king, is seated wearing a richly flounce fur skirt, again so large, even seated, he breaks the frame. Was it an epic tale of battle that the singer on the far right is performing for entertainment as he plays a bull’s head lyre, again, like the Queen’s Lyre? We will never know but certainly such powerful images of Sumerian kingship tell us that [whoever] ended his life with the Standard of Ur on his shoulder was willing to give his life in a ritual of kingly burial.

[athis3]

Mesopotamian religion was central to the people's lives. Humans were created as co-laborers with their gods to hold off the forces of chaos and to keep the world running smoothly. As in ancient Egypt, the gods were honored daily for providing humanity with life and sustenance, and people were expected to give back through works that honored the gods.

It was understood that, in the beginning, the world was undifferentiated chaos and that order was established by the gods. The gods had separated the sky from the earth, the land from the water, saltwater from freshwater, plants from animals, and this order needed to be maintained. As the gods had many different responsibilities, humans were created to help them in the operation of the world. The meaning of life, therefore, was to live in accordance with this understanding, and so one's daily life would be a form of worship.

Every city had a temple complex clearly visible from afar for its ziggurat, the monumental architecture most closely associated with Mesopotamia, which was usually topped by a temple or shrine, elevating the officiant closer to the gods. The gods were understood as inhabiting their own realm but also living in the temple, in the statues created in their images in every city. This belief was already firmly in place by the time of the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) and developed fully during the Early Dynastic Period (2900-2334 BCE).

Although Mesopotamian religion changed in focus and the names of the deities over the centuries, the central understanding of the relation between humanity and the gods did not. As late as c. 650 CE, the people of Mesopotamia still adhered to the belief that they were the gods' coworkers who assisted in the maintenance of order. This paradigm only changed after 651 CE with the invasion of the Muslim Arabs and the new monotheistic religious model of Islam.

[a-modernmajorgeneral]

"The Standard of Ur", decorated on four sides with inlaid mosaic scenes made from shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, set in bitumen. One side shows a war scene; a Sumerian army with wheeled waggons and infantry charges the enemy; prisoners are brought before a larger individual, who is accompanied by guards and has his own waggon waiting behind him. The reverse shows scenes of men are bringing animals, fish etc, possibly as booty or tribute; at the top the same large individual banquets with other men; they are entertained at the right by a singer and a man playing a lyre. The triangular end panels show other scenes; the object was found crushed but has since been restored, and samples retained.

The Standard of Ur, Royal Cemetery of Ur, Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq  (c.2600-2400 BCE)

“Leonard Woolley, the excavator at Ur, imagined that it was carried on a pole as a standard, hence its common name. Another theory suggests that it formed the soundbox of a musical instrument… The main panels are known as ‘War’ and 'Peace’. 'War’ shows one of the earliest representations of a Sumerian army. Chariots, each pulled by four donkeys, trample enemies; infantry with cloaks carry spears; enemy soldiers are killed with axes, others are paraded naked and presented to the king who holds a spear.The 'Peace’ panel depicts animals, fish and other goods brought in procession to a banquet. Seated figures, wearing woollen fleeces or fringed skirts, drink to the accompaniment of a musician playing a lyre.“ (Source)

[whencyclopedia]

Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

Ancient Mesopotamian art and architectural works are among the oldest in the world, dating back over 7,000 years. The works first appear in northern Mesopotamia prior to the Ubaid Period (c. 5000-4100 BCE) and then developed in the south during the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) in Sumer which established the first historical civilization.

According to some scholars, the works of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 7000 to c. 600 BCE) pre-date those of Mesopotamia, but the Indus Valley developments do not appear until the Early Harappan Period (c. 5500-2800 BCE) by which time Mesopotamian works were already established. Early artwork and construction are evidenced in northern Mesopotamia at sites such as Göbekli Tepe (c. 10,000 BCE) and Ҫatalhöyük (c. 7500 BCE), both in modern-day Turkey, and Tell Brak (c. 6500-5000 BCE), in Syria.

The development of these works then progressed through the following eras, though, owing to space limitations, the Hittite and Kassite periods will not be addressed:

Ubaid Period – c. 5000-4100 BCE

Uruk Period – 4100-2900 BCE

Early Dynastic Period – 2900-2334 BCE

Akkadian Period – 2334-2218 BCE

Ur III Period – 2047-1750 BCE

Old Babylonian Period – c. 2000-1600 BCE

Hittite Period – 1700-1200 BCE

Kassite Period – c. 1595 to c. 1155 BCE

Assyrian Period – c. 1307-912 BCE

Neo-Assyrian Period – 912-612 BCE

Neo-Babylonian Period – 626-539 BCE

Achaemenid Persian-Sassanian Persian Period – c. 550 BCE to 651 CE

Artworks included reliefs, sculpture, statuary cast in metal, ceramics, jewelry, cylinder seals, stele & monuments, obelisks, and wall paintings. Mesopotamian monumental architecture is epitomized by the ziggurat, but the Sumerians were also responsible for the first large-scale palaces and temples, as well as urban planning, the arch, canals, and aqueducts, landscaped gardens, and architectural ornamentation. These early innovations would become more refined in the region through succeeding periods and influence the works of other cultures in the Near East and Mediterranean regions.

Earliest Sites & Base Materials

Although the Göbekli Tepe site is dated to c. 10,000 BCE, the first permanent settlements in that area are thought to have been established earlier, and, possibly, for the sole purpose of building the structure which most scholars believe was a temple. Göbekli Tepe is among the earliest sites, along with others such as Nevalı Çori (also in modern-day Turkey), to feature monumental architecture – including the oldest known megaliths in the world at Göbekli Tepe – as well as reliefs.

Architecturally, the site is comprised of circular areas and rectangular buildings with T-shaped pillars of limestone, some carved with images of wildlife in low and high relief. There is little evidence of human activity in the sculptures which seem to emphasize the natural world and, in some interpretations, the people's relationship with their gods. Some scholars associate the site with the later settlement of Ҫatalhöyük, though this claim has been challenged as the design of Göbekli Tepe, and the tools found there, differ from the later site.

Whatever purpose Göbekli Tepe originally served, it was a communal site associated with ritual, while Ҫatalhöyük was entirely residential. No public buildings have been found at the site which is comprised of tightly clustered mudbrick residences accessed by ladders or steps from a hole in the roof. Artwork from the site includes murals and statuary – such as the famous Seated Woman of Ҫatalhöyük – as well as ceramics. The artwork seems to focus on the natural world and the concept of fertility as several pieces represent female figures and erect phalluses.

The people of Ҫatalhöyük used clay, limestone, marble, and other materials for their statuary and paint created from natural substances. The figurines, statuary, and murals are usually interpreted as representing religious concepts, but this claim is not universally accepted. There is no evidence of urban planning at the site; it seems to have developed organically with buildings attached to each other and people using the rooftops for communal activities and movement as there are no streets, courtyards, or public squares.

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[bronzeageecho]

human figurine | c. 2900-2600 BCE | mesopotamia, early dynastic period

[talonabraxas]

“This perception of division between the seer and the object that is seen, is situated in the mind. For those remaining in the heart, the seer becomes one with the sight.” — Ramana Maharshi

Anu 𒀭 Talon Abraxas

Anu (also known as An) is an early Mesopotamian sky god who was later viewed as the Father of the Gods and ruler of the heavens, a position which then passed to his son Enlil. He is the son of the couple Anshar and Kishar (heaven and earth, respectively), the second-born of the primordial couple Apsu and Tiamat.

He was originally a Sumerian sky deity known as An (meaning 'sky') first referenced in writing during the Early Dynastic Period (2900-2334 BCE) who was adopted by the Akkadians c. 2375 BCE as Anu ('heaven') the all-powerful. Sargon the Great of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE) mentions Anu and Inanna in his inscriptions as legitimizing his rule or helping him in his conquests as he established the Akkadian Empire and maintained order.

Anu is most often represented in iconography simply by a crown or crown on a throne symbolizing his status as King of the Gods, an honor and responsibility later conferred upon Enlil, Marduk (son of Enki/Ea, the god of wisdom), and Assur of the Assyrians, all of whom were believed to have been elevated by Anu and blessed by him. His consort is Antu (also known as Uras, goddess of the earth), and among their many children are the Annunaki, the gods of the earth and judges of the dead, and Nisaba, the Sumerian goddess of writing and accounts. He is also given as the husband of his sister Ki (earth) by whom his son Enlil is born.

Although Anu is not featured prominently in many myths, he is often mentioned as a background figure. This is because, as veneration of the god progressed, he became more and more remote. Initially a sky god and one of the many younger gods born of Apsu and Tiamat, Anu gradually became the lord of the heavens above the sky and the god who ordered and maintained all aspects of existence.

Along with Enlil and Enki, Anu formed a triad which governed the heavens, earth, and underworld (in one version) or, in another, heaven, the sky, and the earth. He was also listed among the oldest gods of the Seven Divine Powers: Anu, Enki, Enlil, Inanna, Nanna, Ninhursag, and Utu-Shamash.

Even though he is rarely a main character in a myth, when he does appear, he plays an important role, even when that role might seem minor. He is referenced in some of the best-known myths from Mesopotamia including Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Myth of Adapa, and the Enuma Elish.

[yamayuandadu]

New Ninshubur myth (sort of)

Kamran V. Zand's article Mesopotamia and the East: The Perspective from the Literary Texts from Fāra and Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ is interesting in general but it caught my attention first and foremost because it adds another myth to the repertoire of literary texts in which Ninshubur appears. The composition in mention is an example of UD.GAL.NUN, a notoriously difficult to decipher form of cryptography used in the Early Dynastic period for uncertain reasons. The plot is not particularly complex: the gods gather and decide to entrust Utu with traveling to a variety of places outside Mesopotamia to bring various wares, animals and in some cases deities from over there. The very first journey described involves bringing Ninshubur from her original residence, the "mountain lands of Subartu" (kur šubur). Technically this doesn't say much that we wouldn't know already - Ninshubur's association with Subartu is reflected by her very name - but as far as I am aware this is the only literary text to explicitly depict her as a former resident of a foreign land brought to Mesopotamia. Interestingly, the same myth also states that Utu's wife Sherida (better known under her Akkadian name Aya, though Sherida might ultimately be an Akkadian loanword in Sumerian too) was brought to Mesopotamia from the west ("Amurru"). As far as I am aware this is the closest to an origin myth she has.

[estera-shirin]

Headdress—Ur, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), 2600-2500 BCE

According to the Met: "Kings and nobles became increasingly powerful and independent of temple authority during the course of the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 B.C.), although the success of a king's reign was considered to depend on support from the gods. A striking measure of royal wealth was the cemetery in the city of Ur, in which sixteen royal tombs were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley. These tombs consisted of a vaulted burial chamber for the king or queen, an adjoining pit in which as many as seventy-four attendants were buried, and a ramp leading into the grave from the ground.

This delicate chaplet of gold leaves separated by lapis lazuli and carnelian beads adorned the forehead of one of the female attendants in the so-called King's Grave. In addition, the entombed attendants wore necklaces of gold and lapis lazuli, gold hair ribbons, and silver hair rings. Since gold, silver, lapis, and carnelian are not found in Mesopotamia, the presence of these rich adornments in the royal tomb attests to the wealth of the Early Dynastic kings as well as to the existence of a complex system of trade that extended far beyond the Mesopotamian River valley."

[moneeb0930]

The Black Hebrew Israelites’ ideology has actually done more for the benefit of white supremacy than any other organization in history. It divides millions of Black people in the US from the billions in Africa by teaching its followers that they're not Africans although millions of DNA results have scientifically confirmed that's we are. They also base this division upon the story of Noah's sons Ham and Shem. They claims that Africans are of Ham and that African Americans are of Shem. However, Shem and Ham never actually existed, the Noah's ark story never happened. It’s not even a Hebrew mythology. It is a totally unadulterated falsehood. The men who wrote the Bible plagiarized it from a Mesopotamian story, “The Gilgamesh Epic.” That Mesopotamia story even includes the mythology that the first rainbow came after God flooded the world. As is typical for writers of mythology, the Mesopotamians took a natural phenomenon they didn’t understand, (the rainbow) and created a fantastical story around it. We also know the biblical flood never occurred, because there have existed great civilizations thriving during that time. They kept good records and never mentioned of a great flood that wiped them from the face of the earth. These civilizations included: The Chinese (Neolithic Dynasty), The Egyptians ( Dynasties 4,5, & 6), Mesopotamians ( Early Dynastic Period) Sumerians, Peruvians and more...In reality, there was never a flood that covered the entire planet and destroyed the world. It's a fairytale.

Furthermore, the Black Hebrew's claim that Africans are descendants from Ham is also totally debunked by the fact that according to Biblical scholars, the Noah’s Flood happened 4,300 years ago. The problem with this biblical timeline is that science have confirmed time and time again that Africans are much older than that date. In South Africa Scientists unearthed ancient bones belonging to at least 15 individuals. These bodies are estimated at between 20,000 and two million years old. There was also the remains called Lucy found in Ethiopia estimated at over three million years old. These findings of African bodies, that are much older than the fictional Biblical Ham timeline 4,300 years proves it irrefutably that Africans did not originate from Ham--because Africans are much older than the fictional Ham origin story. Therefore it's only by ignorance can anyone believe that Africans originated from Ham. Moreover, the Black Hebrews keep insisting that they're not Africans irrespectively of the fact that millions of DNA results have confirms that they are Africans.

Furthermore, when we critically and intelligently think of course the Noah's Ark story is totally untrue. For to believe that the story is true, one would have to believe the ridiculous premise that two of every animal walked from across the entire planet and fitted onto a large wooden boat built by a 500 year old man. That's ridiculous. Furthermore, how could one family repopulate the entire earth without engaging within incest relationships. Clearly the story is absurd. Any religion that promotes the division between millions of Black people across the world based upon a Bible that is easily proven to be false is very foolish.

When black people divide themselves over superstition they are forfeiting all hope to defeat White Supremacy. To renounce your associative power as a black person is to foolishly forfeit your numerical advantage.

THE BLACK HEBREWS ALSO DIVIDES. BLACK PEOPLE BY WRONGLY TEACHING THAT IT WAS AFRICANS THAT SOLD THEM INTO SLAVERY.

The Black Hebrews ideologies also divides millions of Black people in the US from the billions in Africa by teaching its followers to blame the enslavement of their ancestors more greatly upon Africans rather than the brutal white enslavers. However the participation of Africans in the African slave trade has also been greatly exaggerated to reduce white culpability in the slave trade. White historians depictions of the African slave trade also intentionally miseducates African Americans to believe that most of their African ancestors were merely sold away to the white invader. Their depiction of the African Slave trade deliberately hides the brutal massacre of countless of African Warriors that died in battle trying to rescuing their captured love ones. The number of Africans that died in battles fought against the white invaders far exceeded, many times over, the number of any African's that may have assisted in the slave trade. The hiding of these fierce battles and massacres is deliberately done to perpetuate the falsehood that most African Americans where sold away by their ancestors. However, to believe that the greedy white invaders ( they that bloodily brutalized our ancestors during their enslavement in the U.S.) went into Africa with weaponry advantage [of guns and cannons] but rather than maximizing their profits chosen instead to purchase most of their slaves is absolutely preposterous. Because such a claim totally contradicts 400 years of demonstrated behavior by whites in regards to Black people and making profit. Furthermore, If Africa has all the resources of gold, diamonds, ivory, animal fur, spices and minerals and western money meant nothing in Africa what could the white invaders used to buy MOST of the slaves with? Cleary the majority of slaves were not sold or given to the white invaders. That's the convenient lie that whites rewrote into history. To believe that story a person has to be totally ignorant of the white race's history of being brutally greedy.

FUNCTION BASED UPON A CURSE

The Black Hebrews also teach their followers that they're cursed therefore white societies mistreatment of them fulfills God's plan. This creates mindsets that are more complacent towards their oppression. This also makes them more compliant with their oppression - because they believe it's prophetic-and softens their aggressions towards their white oppressors.

4. The Black Hebrew teachings also makes many of its followers complacent by teaching them that the messiah Yeshua ( their perceived accurate Black version of Jesus) is returning someday to rescue them. However a thorough review of how the modern Bible was actually written, most specifically the Nicean Creed, clearly reveals that the Jesus messiah myth was created by the Roman Emperor Constantine and the Council of Bishops in 325 A.D. Therefore, there is no returning messiah. That myth is a tool used to keeps us complacently waiting for nothing.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF HEBREWS IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

The Bible is not a history book.

There is No Evidence of the Existence of Hebrews in Egypt. According to Exodus 12:40, the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. The Bible mentions Egypt about 700 times, yet there is no mention of the Israelites in any Egyptian history, nor archaeological evidence outside the Hebrew Scriptures that records the sojourn of the Israelite in Egypt. There is no evidence of a leader name Moses and no synagogue. There is no mention of Jews or 10 plagues in this extensive history of Egypt. We have no clue, not even a single word, about the early Israelites in Egypt: neither in monumental inscriptions on the walls of temples, nor in tomb inscriptions, nor in papyri. Israel is absent – as a possible foe of Egypt, as a friend, or as an enslaved nation. If the story of the “Israelites in Egypt was true there would have been some evidence of this account having assimilated into the Egyptian culture. Because they left such a rich legacy, the Egyptians are more familiar to us than perhaps any other ancient civilization. However, they've left us no evidence of Israelites ever being in Egypt. Most Important: The Egyptian records themselves have no mention of anything recorded in Exodus.

Although the walls of the pyramids were left with thousands of writings upon them documenting the long history of ancient Egypt, the enslavement of a Jewish people was not written even once? Nor was the name of Moses ever written! Nor was the story about the Red Sea parting even mentioned. Certainly if the Red Sea had actually parted to allow the Jews to walk through it -and then rejoined itself to drown a Pharaoh and his army- such an event would have been documented upon the walls of Egypt. It's not documented because the story is totally fabricated.

Furthermore, says Amihai Mazar, professor at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “No Jews built the pyramids because Jews didn't exist at the period when the pyramids were built.” It wasn’t until over 600 years after the last of the large pyramids had been built that Israel came into existence, and over 2,000 years after the Great Pyramid had been completed.

This is irrefutable because the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx are also thousands of years older than the biblical time line of when Shem, the supposed father of the Jews, had lived. According to biblical scholars Shem survived the flood 4,300 years ago. However, according to several experts, the Great Pyramid of Giza is around 12,000 years old. The leading experts find the Sphinx is several times much older than the Great Pyramid. Since they're both many thousands of years older than Shem, the father of the Jews, it's therefore impossible that any Jew was involved in the building of the Sphinx and Great pyramid. Furthermore, the city of Egypt is even older than when Adam and Eve were supposedly to have lived. According to Biblical experts, that used detailed family trees in the Bible to make their calculations, Adam and Eve lived about 6,000-8,000 years ago. If Shem is supposedly the father of the Jews and the Great Sphinx was built long before even his great, great grandparents Adam and Eve were born than its absolutely impossible that the Jews built the Great Sphinx. The story that Jews were enslaved in Egypt and built the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx are lies that the false White Khazars Jews created to insert themselves into the history of Africa's Egypt.

We also know that the Bible is untrue because according to it the first man and woman were Adam and Eve that, according to Biblical experts, lived about 6,000-8,000 years ago. The problem with these calculated numbers is that science have confirmed time and time again that Africans are much older than that date. In South Africa Scientists unearthed ancient bones belonging to at least 15 individuals. These bodies are estimated at between 20,000 and two million years old. There was also the remains called Lucy found in Ethiopia estimated at over three million years old. These findings of African bodies, that are much older than the fictional Biblical Ham timeline 4,300 years proves it irrefutably that Adam and Eve story is untrue.

The Myth of the Jewish Slave

So where did the myth of the pyramid-building Jewish slaves come from? Herodotus of Greece – “The Father of History” or “The Father of Lies” – inadvertently facilitated the myth in 450 BCE. During his time, creating a good story was more important than adhering to the facts. But the historian took his responsibility seriously, being one of the first to meticulously document his work.He believed that about “100,000 workers” constructed a single pyramid in 30 years – nowhere did he specify Jews or slaves. “And the origin of the idea of Jews building the pyramids remains a mystery.”

Egyptian Paid Laborers Built Elaborate Pyramids

It is now estimated that about 10,000 – 30,000, rather than 100,000, paid workers were responsible for building a single pyramid in ancient Egypt. Local Egyptians from poor families worked on the tombs “out of loyalty to the pharaohs,” said Dieter Wildung, a former director of Berlin’s Egyptian Museum. They were respected and earned the right to be buried near their pharaohs.

In the 1990s graves of the laborers were found by a tourist, who came across what appeared to be a wall but was actually a tomb. Egypt’s archaeology chief Zahi Hawass concluded, “No way would they have been buried so honorably if they were slaves.” Workers built their own tombs with leftover supplies. Hieroglyphics on the inside walls of the tomb indicated that there were bread makers and beer makers among the pyramid laborers, and their bodies were perfectly preserved by dry sand.

The Treatment of Pyramid Workers

The workers were well fed: “laborers working on the pyramids ate 21 cattle and 23 sheep sent to them daily from farms.” They also worked in 3-month shifts. There is evidence that brain surgery had been done on a worker, who went on to live at least two more years. And some lived to old age. Nevertheless, “their skeletons have signs of arthritis, and their lower vertebrae point to a life passed in difficulty.”

But the most undeniable evidence that Egypt’s pyramids were built by paid workers and not slaves is the pyramids themselves: due to a shrinking budget, pyramids gradually got smaller over time. In other words, money paid to pyramid laborers to construct elaborate tombs helped destroy ancient Egypt’s economy.

Today the world recognizes the novelty and intricacy of Egypt’s pyramids: The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the United States one-dollar bill includes an Egypt-inspired pyramid. It is only fitting that those who built such masterpieces be given credit after so many centuries of obscurity.

Some African Americans have been so programmed by whites to be ashamed of their African heritage that they will accept any frivolous premise that gives them a reason to separate themselves from Africa. This programming is so deeply entrenched within the minds of the many Hebrew Israelites that they even ignore the millions of DNA's testings that have confirmed their African ancestry.

The Black Hebrew ideology greatly benefits white supremacy ( literally making it stronger) because it divides the Black world, softens Black aggressions towards their white oppressors, and causes millions of Black people to complacently wait for a fictional messiah to float down from the sky and rescue them.

"When black people divide themselves over superstition they are forfeiting all hope to defeat White Supremacy. To renounce your associative power as a black person is to forfeit your numerical advantage."

Furthermore the Bible favorable stance on slavery, as evident within many of its scriptures, totally disqualifies if from being the true words of God.

By Franklin Jones

[arthistoryanimalia]

Seal: Pattern of Two Running Goats, One Above the Other

Mesopotamia, Early Dynastic I period (c.2900-2750 BCE); serpentine inscription (illegible) added c.400 BCE

on display at Morgan Library

“Several styles prevailed in the glyptic art of Early Dynastic I. The example shown here (No. 10) belongs to the ‘Brocade’ style.”

[uchidachi]

A while ago I saw an exhibit that included this carving, the oldest known piece of art that bears the artist’s signature.

It’s thousands of years old, and we know the name of the artist: Enhegal

That just gets me so emotional

(Transcript of the text is below the cut)

WOMEN OF PROMINENCE

38 Stele of Shara-igizi-Abzu

Mesopotamia, Sumerian, possibly Umma (modern Tell Jokha)

Early Dynastic I-II period, ca. 2900-2600 BC

Cuneiform inscription identifying Shara-igizi-Abzu; her father, Ushumgal; and four other represented figures, including: IGI.RU?.NUN, daughter of Mesi; Ag, chief of the assembly; Nanna, the foreman of the assembly; X.KU.EN, chief herald; Enhegal, the maker of the stele

Gypsum alabaster

This stele, bearing the earliest known signature of an artist, records one of the first transactions involving land, livestock, and houses. The two principal figures - Ushumgal, a priest of the god Shara, and his daughter Shara-igizi-Abzu - face one another on two sides. They are identified by inscriptions carved on their bodies. Shara-igizi-Abzu, who holds a vessel in her right hand, is shown taller than her father. Behind her appears a smaller female figure, and behind Ushumgal are three male figures in two registers, all of whom may have witnessed the transaction that takes place in front of a monumental building. Shara-igizi-Abzu's prominent appearance suggests that the stele documents Ushumgal's donation of an estate on her behalf.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, FUNDS FROM VARIOUS DONORS, 1958; 58.29

[sag-dab-sar]

Deity Dagan

Originally a god of West Semitic speakers from the Levant, but worshipped widely throughout the Near East, including Mesopotamia.

Deity of grain, as well as its cultivation and storage. Indeed, the common word for "grain" in Ugaritic and Hebrew is dagan. According to one Sumerian tradition and to the much later Philo of Byblos, Dagan invented the plow. In the north, he was sometimes identified with Adad. Thus, he may have had some of the characteristics of a storm god. In one tradition his wife was Ishara, in another Salas, usually wife of Adad. Salas was originally a goddess of the Hurrians. Dagan also had netherworld connections. According to an Assyrian composition, he was a judge of the dead in the lower world, serving with Nergal and Misa-ru(m), the god of justice. A tradition going back at least to the fourth century BCE identified Dagan as a fish god, but it is almost certainly incorrect, presumably having been based upon a false etymology that interpreted the element "Dag" in Dagan as deriving from the Hebrew word dag "fish."

The earliest mentions of him come from texts that indicate that, in Early Dynastic times, Dagan was worshipped at Ebla. Dagan was taken into the Sumerian pantheon quite early as a minor god in the circle of Enlil at Nip-pur. Kings of the Old Akkadian peri-od, including Sargon and Narām-Sin, credited much of their success as conquerors to Dagan. Sargon recorded that he "prostrated (himself in prayer before Dagan in Tutul [sic]" (Oppen-heim, ANET: 268). At the same time, he gave to the god a large area of the country he had just conquered, including Mari, Ebla, and larmuti in western Syria. A number of letters from the Mari archives, dated mainly to the reign of Zimri-Lim, record that Dagãn was a source of divine revela-tion. The letters reported prophetic dreams, a number of which came from Dagan, conveyed by his prophets and ecstatics. In his law code, Hammu-rapi credits Dagan with helping him subdue settlements along the Euphrates.

The Assyrian king Samsi-Adad I commissioned a temple for him at Terqa, upstream from Mari, where funeral rites for the Mari Dynasty took place.

In the Old Babylonian period, kings of the Amorites erected temples for Dagan at Isin and Ur. In the Anzû(m) myth, Dagan was favorably coupled with Anu(m). At Ugarit Dagan was closely associated with, if not equated to, the supreme god El/I(u). Although he is mentioned in the mythic compositions of Ugarit as the father of the storm god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad, Dagan plays only a very minor role. His popularity is indicated by his importance in offering and god lists, one of which places him third, after the two chief gods and before the active and powerful god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad. Dagan is attested in Ugaritic theophoric names. In Ugaritic texts the god is often referred to as "Dagan of Tuttul." It might also be the case that one of the two major temples of the city of Ugarit was dedicated to him, and he might there have been identified with the chief god I(u) / El.

Festivals for Dagãn took place at Ter-ga and Tuttul, both of which were cult centers of the god. He was certainly worshipped at Ebla and also at Mari.

At Mari, in Old Babylonian times, he appears as fourth deity on a god list; that is, he was very important. He was venerated also at Emar. There a "Sacred Marriage" ritual between Dagan and the goddess Nin-kur was celebrated.

At the same city, a festival was held in honor of "Dagan-Lord-of-the-Cattle," at which the herds of cattle and prob. ably sheep were blessed.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Dagan was the national god of the Philistines. I Samuel:5-6 tells of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. It was customary in the Ancient Near East for the conquerors to carry off the deity statues of the conquered to mark the surrender not only of the people, but also of their deities.

So the Philistines took the Ark, the symbol of the god of the Israelites, into the temple of Dagan at Ashdod. Since the Israelites had no statues of their deity, the much revered Ark was an obvious substitute. In this way, the Philistines marked the submission of the Israelite god to Dagan. However, on the next day, the people of Ashdod found the statue of Dagan lying face down in front of the Ark. The following day the same thing happened except that the head and hands of Dagan's statue lay broken on the temple threshold. This biblical account seems to be an etiology for a practice of the priests of the temple of Dagan at Ashdod, for it states that for this reason it is the custom of the priests of Dagan not to tread on the threshold as they enter the temple of Dagan. The best-known of the biblical stories that mention Dagan is in Judges 16, the tale of Samson and Delilah. After Delilah arranged for the Philistines of Gaza to capture Samson, they blinded him, shackled him, and made him a slave at a mill. During a festival to Dagan, the Philistines took Samson to be exhibited in Dagan's temple, where thou sands of Philistines had gathered for the celebrations. After praying to the Israelite god, the now long haired Samson got back his old strength. By pushing against two central pillars, he brought the temple crashing down on himself and on more Philistines than he had killed in his whole lifetime of killing Philistines.

— From a Handbook to Ancient Near Eastern Gods & Goddesses by Frayne & Stuckey page 67-69

[athis3]

The Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia is the modern-day archaeological term for the era in Mesopotamian history – 2900-2334 BCE – during which some of the most significant cultural advances were made including the rise of the cities, the development of writing, and the establishment of governments.

This era was preceded by the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) when the first cities were established in the region of Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) and succeeded by the Akkadian Period (2334-2218 BCE) when Mesopotamia was conquered by Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE) and ruled by him and his successors as the Akkadian Empire.

The term Early Dynastic Period was coined by Orientalist Henri Frankfort (l. 1897-1954 CE) to mirror the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt, a similar period of development. It should be noted, however, that the advances of Mesopotamia's Early Dynastic Period differed from Egypt's in significant ways, notably in that Mesopotamia – even under the rule of Sargon or later empires – was never the cohesive ethnic or political entity Egypt was and the kinds of cultural development cited for this era were not as uniform as they were in Egypt.

The city-states of Sumer were, for much of their history, each independently governed – not united under the reign of a single king as in the case of Egyptian government – and so a city like Uruk or Ur might have developed some important cultural advance which was not shared – at least not readily – with others.

The era is divided by archaeologists into three subperiods:

Dynastic I – 2900-2800 BCE

Dynastic II – 2800-2600 BCE

Dynastic III – 2600-2334 BCE

These are considered arbitrary divisions by some scholars and historians as there is no clear demarcation line separating one from the next. Even so, there is enough of a subtle difference that division is considered justified.

[ollieofthebeholder]

🌹

“Seriously, though, in my case it’s usually research rabbit holes. I get started looking for something, I find a reference to something else that catches my attention, I start looking at that, and next thing I know the library’s closing and I have zero notes for the essay due tomorrow on the Corn Laws but I do have an almost excessive level of knowledge about the symbolism of pottery in the early dynastic period of ancient Mesopotamia.”

Send me a 🌹 to get a line from a WIP!

[whencyclopedia]

A Gallery of Lions of Mesopotamia

The Asiatic lion in Mesopotamia symbolized the forces of chaos, which the king defeated in his role as a champion of order and civilization. Lions appear in works of art from the Early Dynastic Period through the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as a symbol of the ruler’s strength in defeating untamed forces that threatened stability.

Lions frequently attacked livestock on the Mesopotamian plains, threatened merchants traveling the roads, and killed herdsmen, shepherds, dogs, children, and others. They came, therefore, to symbolize the chaotic nature of the untamed world – the world thought to exist outside of the civilized and orderly realm of a given monarch – and so threats to that order needed to be neutralized.

Lion hunts, whether in the wild or staged in an arena or park, were reserved solely for the king. In Mesopotamian belief – whether Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, or Assyrian – humans were understood as co-workers with the gods. The gods had established order at the beginning of time, and it was up to the people to maintain it. The king, as the divinely appointed leader of his people, was expected to serve as a role model and the lion hunt, in which the lion represented the threat of chaos and destruction, provided him the opportunity to do so publicly.

Lions were depicted in statuary and reliefs to illustrate how the king had tamed the wild forces of nature – as in the lion reliefs from the walls of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon – as the lion in these works is no longer a dangerous menace roaming freely but has been caught by the king and held eternally. The king, then, took the power from the lion as his own, and so lions came to symbolize royal authority in maintaining order and supremacy over any threats to that order, in the same way that imagery associating the lion with a deity – such as Ishtar – would do. A statue or image of a lion assured the people that the king, anointed by the gods, was in control and would protect them from all dangers.

Continue reading...

[enkhanthor]

LEGACY HISTORY CHALLENGE - INTERLUDE - THE GREAT FLOOD (JEMDET NASR PERIOD)

*Note: English isn’t my mother language and I’m not an expert in idiomatic expression. So if you find any errors or something weird, please forgive me and let me know on “ask me” if you want.

Tradução em português aqui.

LHC Doc - EN/US - Complete Doc with all Ages.

LHC Doc - PT/BR- Doc Completo com todas as Eras.

INTRODUCTION

Many civilizations have in their beliefs the story of a great flood, sent by one or more deities, which devastated humanity at some point in ancient times. In Greek mythology, Zeus became enraged with mankind and decided to destroy humanity by asking the God of the Sea, Poseidon, to flood the world. However, the Titan Prometheus warned his son Deucalion and his daughter-in-law Pyrrha, who built a chest and saved themselves. After the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha repopulated humanity by throwing stones (the bones of the earth) onto their backs. Pyrrha's stones formed women and Deucalion's stones formed men.

The Greek story finds parallels in the biblical narrative, where God regretted creating man and decided to kill humanity because of their vices and perversities, causing a flood that lasted 40 days. Nonetheless, God knew that Noah was a devout and just man and ordered him to build an ark to save himself and his descendants. Noah was tasked with placing a pair of animals of each species inside this ark and repopulating the world. After the flood, the ark ran aground on Mount Ararat (Turkey), Noah became a vineyard worker and made a sacrifice to God. Then, God made a covenant with Noah, promising never to try to destroy humanity with another flood and commanding Noah's children to multiply on the earth.

The biblical story probably originated with the Sumerians. In the Eridu Genesis, after the creation of the world, each god was given a city to rule until the gods An and Enlil decided to destroy humanity with a flood. The God Enki, who was a friend of men, warned the king of Shuruppak, Ziusudra, to build a large boat and save himself. This story was found on several cuneiform tablets with slight variations. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a tale found in the library of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, the hero who built the boat, called “The Preserver of Life,” was Utnapishtim. Another Babylonian poem, Atrahasis, names the owner of the boat as Atra-Hasis, telling the story of the creation of humans by Ninhursag and Enki to work in the place of the gods. Then, humans become too numerous and noisy, angering the God Enlil, who decides to kill them with pestilences, droughts, famine and finally a flood.

These narratives have led to theories about tsunamis, floods, or large-scale sea level rises in the Mesopotamian region. However, a flood on a global scale finds no correspondence in natural history or geology. Likewise, there is no possibility of building such a large ark in the Fertile Crescent region due to the lack of local vegetation with sufficient raw materials. Nevertheless, archaeological discoveries in Shuruppak and other cities suggest the occurrence of a pluvial flood around the year 2900 BCE, in the Jemdet Nasr period (3100 BCE - 2900 BCE), which marks the transition between the Uruk Period (4100 BCE - 3100 BCE) and the Early Dynastic Period (2900 BCE - 2334 BCE). Based on dust deposits found at archaeological sites, the french geologist Marie Agnès Courty has also proposed that some event that occurred between 2350 BCE and 2000 BCE triggered a series of natural disasters in Mesopotamia. An asteroid impact could have triggered local flooding, among other catastrophes.

Adapting the myth to The Sims 4, in the twenty-first year of the Sim Calendar, your heir Sim received a mission from the Watcher: to build an ark, as it will rain for 28 days. Your heir Sim tried to warn everyone in the neighborhood, but they didn't believe him. They think the Watcher is nothing more than a lunatic's fantasy. So, your heir Sim must build the ark alone, to ensure the preservation of life. Just like the Original Age - Genesis, this Age is optional, if you want to remove the mythological part you can skip to the next Age, but you must simulate a flood and roll the dice to reduce the local population. If you skip this Age, roll the dice for your heir Sim and descendants too, without exceptions.

RULES

1 - Noah, the Public Enemy:

1.1 - Choose one of the descendants of the Matriarch's lineage who already has 3 male children to be the heir of that Age or has 3 male children who are teenagers and married until the day 22p1 on the Sim Calendar.

1.2 - “Noah” and his three sons, “Shem”, “Ham” and “Japheth”* don't need to roll the dice. They received the Watcher’s blessing to survive, because they need to produce heirs. (*You can name your Sims whatever you want.)

1.3 - The sons of “Noah” must marry women of different ethnicities: “Ham” with a black woman, “Japheth” with a white woman and “Shem” with an oriental woman (with physical characteristics of the Middle East).

1.4 - Your Heir Sim's aspiration must be Public Enemy and he must complete it only up to the second level, without entering the criminal career.

1.5 - One of your Heir Sim's traits must be “Erratic”.

1.6 - Have 10 declared enemies.

1.7 - Be hated by the entire neighborhood.

1.8 - Start fights and trouble with all neighbors whenever possible.

2 - The Ark

2.1 - In the second week of the 21st Sim Year (21v1), start building a gigantic boat with materials that appear to be made of wood. The ark must have 3 floors and each week you can build one of them. You have until day 21i7 of the Sim Calendar to finish it and you must live in it while you build it. The boat must have a roof and windows are only allowed on the third floor.

2.2 - Equip your ark with everything you need to spend 1 Sim year (28 days) inside it without being able to leave.

2.3 - The rules about money, lots, crops and skills from the Early Simvilization still apply.

2.4 - Until the 21i1 day in Sim Calendar you must withdraw 90% of your household's money as if you had bought wood with that money.

2.5 - Until the 21i1 day in Sim Calendar you must stock up on as many cooking supplies as you can buy from merchants (requires “The Sims 4 Cottage Living”) and harvest from your crops or the world.

2.6 - On 21i7, day in Sim Calendar moves at least one pair of lions, one pair of raccoons, and one pair of zebras into your household. Or other types of wild animals of your choice (requires “The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs”  and  “The Sims 4 Horse Ranch”). If you want, you can increase the number of households to have more animals. (Wild Animals Creators in the Gallery: TheKalino, Pugowned, hingedrocket233, Krestovka2137, SimShizo.)

2.7 - If you don't want to use cheats or mods to increase the number of households, you can use rooms as rental housing and move your sons and their spouses into them. Requires the expansion “The Sims 4 For Rent”. If you don't have the expansion, move your sons and their wives to other worlds.

2.8 - Purchase a rooster and a hen, two cows, two mini goats, and two mini sheep (requires “The Sims 4 Cottage Living” and “The Sims 4 Horse Ranch”). You cannot milk one of the cows and one of the mini goats, but you must care for them. They represent the male pair.

3 - The Flood

3.1 - On 22p1 day in Sim Calendar you must lock the doors of the Ark to all Sims. No one can enter or leave for 28 days.

3.2 - Place the “Private Dwelling” lot trait (so no one can visit) and the “Quake Zone” lot challenge (to simulate fluctuations during storms) Requires  “The Sims 4 City Living” expansion pack.

3.3 - Use cheats to activate stormy weather in the mailbox. Requires “The Sims 4 Seasons” expansion pack. It must rain for 28 days, or 672 hours. (Requires MC Command Center. Click on the mailbox, choose the “change weather” option, then choose “storms” and enter the value 672 for the number of hours the storm will last.)

3.4 - Keep all Sims and animals alive and well cared for until the flood ends.

3.5 - You can't buy supplies while the flood lasts.

3.6 - There is no refrigerator, so leftover food can't be preserved and will spoil.

3.7 - You don't have to pay bills while the flood lasts. (Observe the household simoleons before paying the bill. Pay the bill. Press “Ctrl+Shift+C”, activate testingcheats.true and type “money�� + observed amount. The amount paid to the bills will be added.)

3.8 - Roll a dice for each Sim in all Worlds except your heir, their descendants, and their spouses. Even numbers mean the Sim lives, odd numbers mean the Sim dies.

4 - Repopulating the world

4.1 - On 23p1 day in the Calendar Sim you can leave the Ark.

4.2 - On 23p1 day in the Calendar Sim free the wild animals from the ark. Pass them on to NPC families or delete them.

4.3 - You can keep with the domestic animals.

4.4 - Send your sons married to the black and white women to other worlds, “Cam” to Oasis Springs and “Japheth” to Willow Creek, and let the stories of the neighborhood or MC Command Center continue their descendants.

4.5 - Choose “Shem” or his firstborn son to be the heir of the next Age.

5 - Requirements to advance to the Ancient Age (Bronze Age Part I):

5.1 - Build the ark.

5.2 - Noah, his sons and the animals must survive the 28-day flood.

6 - Expansions, Game Packs and Stuff Packs:

6.1 - The Sims 4 Seasons (essential) - Make rain for 28 days.

6.2 - The Sims 4 City Living (optional) - Enable earthquakes as fluctuations.

6.3 - The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs (essential) - Have animal pairs.

6.4 - The Sims 4 Horse Ranch” (essential) - Have animal pairs.

6.5 - The Sims 4 Cottage Living (essential) - “Simple Living” lot challenge and farm animals.

6.6 - The Sims 4 For Rent (optional) - Your sons' rooms inside the Ark.

7 -  MC CC Settings:

7.1 - Keep the settings from the Early Simvilization (see item 14).

7.2 - Increase the household size so that all Sims can fit inside the Ark. (I usually increase it to 16, as up to this number it is easy to quickly remove them by creating another household through the “Manage Households Menu”.)

8 - Recommended mods:

8.1 - MC Command Center by Deaderpool - Manages various game resources.

8.2 -  T.o.o.l. by Twisted Mexi - Add and edit objects in the world.

8.3 - Blowtorch by Simsverses - Modern items are already deleted.

8.4 - Sulani Hiders - Early Simvilization Saves by Enkhanthor - Hides items from the world that don't match the Age. Note: If you use Blowtorch most items in the world will be deleted, however my Sulani Hiders mod is still useful for hiding buckets when making sculptures and beach trash. You can download the Modders version of Sulani Hiders and choose just which items you want to hide.

8.5 - Assign NPC Jobs (before No Random Townies) by Zero - Allows you to assign roles to NPCs.

8.6 - Arranged Marriages by MizoreYukii - Allows you to make marriage agreements without the need for romance.

8.7 - No Sad Moddlet on Birthday by ClaudiaSharon - Removes forgotten birthday buff.

8.8 - Cut Down Tree by LiraSims - Cut firewood.

8.9 - No Bicycle Bicycle by Bosselady - No NPCs riding bicycles. It probably comes into conflict with Dapple the Donkey.

8.10 - Custom content befitting the Age. You can check the list of CCs I found in CC Links - LHC Directory in my homepage.

9 - Sources (Books, Series and Movies):

9.1 - The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian (Book translated by Andrew George - 2003).

9.2 - Eridu Genesis - World History Encyclopedia (Website about history).

9.3 - Genesis - The Creation and the Flood (Italian film directed by Ermanno Olmi - 1994).

9.4 - Noah (Movie directed by Darren Aronofsky - 2014).

9.5 - Noah’s Ark Part 1 and Part 2 (TV series directed by John Irvin - 1999).

9.6 - Gênesis (Brazilian TV series by TV Record).