OBJECTS AS HISTORY – LECTURE 3.

In this lecture we started to study the Mesopotamian civilization.

• Mesopotamia is located on the western side of Asia.
• It has a large amount of habitable land.
• It is near the water bodies– mainly river- hence there is fertile land.
• They were an organized civilization.
• The earliest language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian.
• The carvings depicted various events that took place back then, like the victory.
• Their main weapon was bow and arrow.
• The first surviving religion was Zoroastrianism.
• Maps were also drawn back then using symbols.
• A sense of devotion existed – their hairstyle, their attire, trade.
• Seals are now used for story-telling. 
• Zoos were first found in Mesopotamia. 
•  Zigorets, from the Mayan Civilization, are a symbol for architectural development.
• Warfare was endemic in early Mesopotamian society, as cities quarrelled over land and water rights. The Sumerian city-states organized the first true armies (as opposed to warrior bands) in history.
• We know very little about how these armies were composed or organized. Fragmentary evidence suggests that there was a small permanent corps of trained soldiers, which would be supplemented in times of war by a larger group of citizens, called up until they were no longer needed (presumably at the end of the years’ fighting season).
• Their elite soldiers were armed with bronze armour and weapons, and less-well armed but more mobile troops were deployed slings and bows and arrows
• Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic; more than 2,000 gods and goddesses have been identified. The chief of the gods varied from period to period. For the Sumerians, it was Enlin, the Sky God. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk above all others, and Ashur was the supreme god of the Assyrians. Other notable gods and goddesses were Ishtar, goddess of love and fertility, Tiamat, god of the sea and chaos, and Sin, the moon god.
• The Mesopotamians grew a variety of crops, including barley, wheat, onions, turnips, grapes, apples and dates. They kept cattle, sheep and goats; they made beer and wine. Fish were also plentiful in the rivers and canal.