Topic 2. States of the Ancient East.

Mesopotamia: the birth of civilization

From the mountains of Armenia in the north to the Persian Gulf stretches a vast territory called by the ancient GreeksMesopotamia. Translated from ancient Greek language the word "Mesopotamia" means "Land between rivers" or"Interfluve". Mesopotamia (Interfluve, Mesopotamia) - an ancient country enclosed between two rivers -Tigris and Euphrates.

Natural and climatic conditions – Winter is short, summer is long. The southern part is lowland: swampy, muddy, fertile. Lots of birds, fish and animals. There are few trees either.

Main activities – Agriculture, cattle breeding, Crafts. Draining swamps. Construction of canals.

Sumer is the oldest civilization. The Sumerian people settled in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates. The Sumerian cities were located on hills and were surrounded by walls. The city and its districts had a certain territory. It wascity-state . At the head of the Sumerian cities were the rulers -patissi. At first it was the supremepriests , and thenkings . The king was called " big man". Kings founded dynasties.Dynasty - a number of rulers from the same family, successively replacing each other by right of inheritance.

The Sumerians called their leaders- "nubanda".

« Mashki " - tax collectors.

« Duggur " - treasurers.

"Gall - uku " - leaders.

Damkar " - trade managers.

The largest and most powerful city-states of Sumer wereUr , Uruk , Lagash ( 3 thousand BC). The rulers of the city-states made laws. These were the first laws in history. They proclaimed that the king was the executor of the will of the supreme god of the city-state. The boundaries of the state were determined. The implementation of laws and orders of rulers was carried out through officials appointed by them. The city-state had its owntreasury which was at the disposal of the ruler. City-states fought among themselves, so they needed troops. During the wars, the borders of city-states expanded. Several cities could be united under the rule of one king. The Sumerians turned prisoners into slaves.

What is a state? Using the example of Sumer, you saw that the emergence of civilizations is associated with the emergence of the state.States arose more than 5 thousand years ago .

The state has a certain territory, borders, army, and collects taxes from the population. Relations in society are regulated by laws. There are different forms of state. In ancient times, the typical form of state was a monarchy. The highest power in the monarchy belonged to one person: the king. Shah, Emperor. The inhabitants of the country, subordinate to the monarch, were called subjects.A country that has a unified system of government, unified laws, an army, a treasury (taxes), and a certain territory and borders is called a state.

Sumerian culture

The emergence of writing. The development of the state administration system, the accumulation of wealth by rulers, nobility and temples required the accounting of property. To indicate who, how much and what belonged, special symbols and drawings were invented.Pictography - the oldest writing using drawings. Later, the image was simplified. Gradually it became so conventional that it turned into a sign.

Sumerian signs were extruded with a stick on wet clay tablets; they looked like wedges. The record was a complex combination of wedge signs. This writing is calledcuneiform.

The birth of literature. The first poems were created in Sumer, capturing ancient legends and stories about heroes. Writing has made it possible to convey them to our time. This is how literature was born. The most famous monument of written literature is"The Tale of Gilgamesh."

Sumerian knowledge. The Zodiac belt was discovered - 12 constellations forming a large circle along which the Sun makes its way throughout the year. The learned priests knew how to compose moon calendar, dividing the year into 12 months, and the month into 29-30 days, calculated the terms lunar eclipses. In Sumer, the beginning of one of the most ancient sciences, astronomy, was laid.

In mathematics, the Sumerians knew how to count in tens. But the numbers 12 (a dozen) and 60 (five dozen) were especially revered. We still use the Sumerian heritage when we divide an hour into 60 minutes, a minute into 60 seconds, a year into 12 months, and a circle into 360 degrees.

The first schools were created in the cities of Ancient Sumer. Only boys studied there; girls were educated at home. The boys left for classes at sunrise. Schools were organized at temples. The teachers were priests.

The teacher was called "father" and the students were called "sons of the school." And in those distant times, children remained children.

Descendants of Sumer, ancient Akkad (2109 BC – late 21st century BC) . The legacy of the Sumerians became the basis for the development of other civilizations in Mesopotamia.

IN3rd millennium BC e. In the region north of Sumer, Akkadians appeared - a people who spoke one of the Semitic languages. The Akkadians founded the city of Akkad, which became the capital of their state, also called Akkad.

The ruler of Akkad, Sharukkin (Sargon), the Ancient One, is the “true ruler,” the ruler of all four corners of the world.” First ruler in24th century BC e. conquered all the Sumerian and Akkadian cities and united them into one state. Under Sargon, the first regular army in history was created, numbering five and a half thousand people. He hiked west to the Silver Mountains in Syria.

Akkad reached its greatest prosperity under the grandson of Sargon the Ancient Naramsin (24th century BC) who ruled alone and expanded the territory.

Governing body III dynasty of Ur. King Shulgi carried out plans to conquer other lands. He was revered as a living god.

King of Ancient Babylon Hammurabi. The rise of the Babylonian kingdom (18th century BC).At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. uh . Akkad was conquered by neighboring warlike tribes. These tribes founded their state with its capital in the city of Babylon (convenient geographical location: the caravan and river routes of Western Asia passed through it).

The name Babylon meant "Gate of God."Under King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC.). The Babylonian kingdom subjugated almost all of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi published the first set of laws known to mankind that has come down to us, which went down in history as the Laws of Hammurabi. The code of laws contained 282 articles on various issues of social life.

The laws of Hammurabi are inscribed on a stone pillar that was installed in the sun temple in Babylon. The king was depicted on the top of the stele, standing in front of the sun god Shamash. In this way they wanted to emphasize that it was the sun god who gave the king the laws that he had to pass on to his subjects. The king was considered the conductor of the will of God.

How the society of Ancient Babylon was structured. The king was the supreme ruler. It was believed that he received his power and country from the gods. The king had the right to dispose of the land of the state and the property of his subjects. He allocated land to nobles and officials. Thus, the king encouraged them for public service. The higher a person's position in the government system, the more opportunities he had to enrich himself by receiving more land from the king.

The land of temples and communities was also considered the property of the king, given to him for use. No one except the king had full ownership of the land. Having fallen out of favor with the king, having ceased to serve him, a person could lose his land and wealth. This is how a special form of power-property developed, typical of most states of the Ancient East.

The life and property of subjects, regardless of their position, belonged to the king. He could act guided solely by his own will, that is, arbitrarily. The king's power was unlimited. Even the priests called themselves not only “slaves of the gods,” but also “slaves of the king.” Such a state is calleddespotism , and its unlimited rulerdespot . Despotism as a form of state prevailed in the Ancient East.

Subjects of the king. Among the subjects of King Hammurabi, three categories can be distinguished: free people who had all the rights; free people deprived of certain rights; slaves Prisoners of war were turned into slavery. However, the Babylonians who failed to pay the debt could fall into slavery. There were few slaves. After a few years of being enslaved, a person could be released.

From the laws of Hammurabi we know that punishments and fines differed depending on what category of subjects the victim belonged to. The smallest punishments were for crimes committed against slaves. In relation to free people who had all the rights, the ancient rule “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” was in effect. If a full-fledged person died from the actions of a doctor, the doctor’s hand was cut off. If the doctor could not cure the slave, he only paid a fine. If the builder built the house poorly, it collapsed and the owner’s son died under its rubble; the law commanded that the builder’s son be killed. The understanding of law in Ancient Babylon was cruel.

Hammurabi, however, did not want his laws to harm the people. He proclaimed himself the protector of widows and orphans. It was not profitable for the Tsar and the state for the number of those who paid taxes to decrease. After all, taxes enriched the treasury. The laws of Hammurabi contained articles that alleviated the situation of those who could not pay the debt to the creditor on time, and limited the debtors' stay in slavery to three years.

City of Babylon. For a long time, the lands of Babylon were subordinate to Assyria. INVIIV. BC. Babylon gained independence and again reached unprecedented prosperity. This happened in604-562 BC The heir to the throne became King Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon turned into a center of international trade; it amazed contemporaries with its splendor.

The most magnificent temple in Babylon was the "House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth." Its seven terraced steps towered over the royal city. Seven was considered a sacred number by the Babylonians. Seven planets ruled the seven days of the week. Each day was dedicated to a specific planet, personifying a god or goddess. The Babylonians believed that the movements of the planets and stars governed the lives of people and states.

Temple - Ziggurat was dedicated to the main god of BabylonMarduk . The sanctuary contained his statue and the golden throne of the god. Sacrifices were made in front of the statue and religious ceremonies took place. According to archaeologists, the ziggurat could reach a height of 90 m. At the top of the ziggurat, lined with blue glazed tiles and gold, there was an altar of the god. Only priests had access to it.

A wide street led to the ziggurat - a processional road, decorated with the magnificent gates of the goddess Ishtar.

Hanging Gardens. King Nebuchadnezzar II made sure that Babylon was not only the most powerful, but also the most beautiful city in the world. Under him, the famous Hanging Gardens were created. The most beautiful plants were planted on huge artificially created terraces. There was a system of constant watering. The gardens formed a living sea of ​​greenery with colorful splashes of flowering plants.

The ancient Greeks, who erroneously attributed the creation of these gardens to the Assyrian queen Semiramis, included them among the Seven Wonders of the World, along with the Egyptian pyramids.

Fall of Babylon. Powerful fortifications did not save Babylon from enemy conquest. The last ruler of Babylon, Belshazzar, was doomed to death. As the biblical legend tells, he held a feast at a time when Babylon was surrounded by an army of enemies. Belshazzar and his guests blasphemously drank wine from gold and silver vessels stolen from the Temple of Jerusalem. Suddenly, during the feast, a mysteriously appearing hand inscribed on the wall the fiery words “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” Nobody could understand what they meant. Belshazzar called upon the wise men of Babylon, but they were unable to interpret the inscription.

At this time, many Jews were in captivity in Babylon. The prophet Daniel was among them, he was thrown into a den of lions. Belshazzar ordered Daniel to be taken out of the ditch and brought to the palace. Daniel revealed the meaning of the mysterious words: “..-God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it... you are weighed in the scales and found very light; your kingdom is divided and given to your enemies.”

And so it happened. The guards of Babylon did not serve well. The city was left without proper cover. The enemies - the Persians - freely entered Babylon and betrayed the city to fire and sword. The drunken king Belshazzar was killed.

This is how the history of the great Babylon ended ingloriously, but it itself went down in history as a symbol of the ruler city, the confusion of languages ​​and peoples, idolatry, and a grandiose marketplace where everything is bought and sold.

Gods and temples of Ancient Mesopotamia. The main building of any city-state in Ancient Mesopotamia was the temple. The temples had the appearance of a high stepped tower. Such stepped temples are calledziggurats.

Worship of many gods is calledpaganism. The pagans imagined their gods as idols, animals or higher beings, similar to perfect people.

Ishtar (Venus) is the name of the goddess of fertility and love in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Sin is the name of the god of the moon and night in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Shamash is the name of the god of the Sun and justice in ancient Mesopotamia.

Ea is the name of the god of water and wisdom in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Enki is the lord of the earth and the lord of fresh waters.

Enlil is the name of the god of wind and air.

The main god of Babylon was Marduk, considered the creator of the world and people.

Priests played a very important role in Sumer, Akkad and Babylon. The main occupation of the priests was serving the gods.

II. Testing and measuring materials.

1. Alternative (closed) tests.

1.Mesopotamia is….

A) the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates B) the territory between the Indus and the Ganges C) the territory of Asia MinorD) territory along the Nile River E) territory between the Tigris and Ganges

2. Rulers of city-states in Mesopotamia?

A) duggur B) Patesi C) damkarD) Mashki E) gal-uku

3. Who expanded the territory of the Akkadian state?

A) Sharukkin B) Shulga C) Ur-NansheD) Naramsin E) Ur

4. In what year did the Guteans conquer the Akkadian state?

A) 2200 BC B) 2000 BC C) 2100 BCD) 2109 BC E) 1500 BC

5. In what century did the 3rd dynasty of Ur lose power and the Akkadian state broke up into small states?

A) 19th century BC B) 20th century BC C) 21st century BCD) 22 in BC E) 25th century BC

6.According to the laws of Hammurabi, what was the punishment for self-mutilation?

A) prison B) death penalty C) fineD) self-harm in response to one’s offender E) labor work

7.The most magnificent gate in Babylon, made of copper and decorated with images of animals?

A) Ishtar B) Marduk C) Bab-ilu C) BabylonianD) Mystical

8. Great literary work of Mesopotamia?

A) Pandemonium of Babylon B) Gardens of Babylon C) Laws of HammurabiD) The Poem of Gilgamesh E) there is no such work

9.What is the name of the letter from Mesopotamia?

A) hieroglyphs B) cuneiform C) petroglyphsD) pictography E) alphabetic letter

10. Human belief in supernatural forces of good and evil

A) magic B) totemism C) worshipD) religion E) anemism

2. Creative tasks.

A) What country are we talking about?

"…fruit trees They don’t even grow there at all: neither a fig tree, nor a grapevine, nor an olive tree. As for the fruits of Demeter, the earth bears them in abundance. The leaves of wheat and barley reach four fingers wide there. Date palms grow everywhere on the plain. Bread, wine and honey are made from palm fruits.”(Mesopotamia)

B) What information about life in Mesopotamia does archaeological data provide?

During the study of burials in the Sumerian city of Ur, the following were found: copper spearheads, vases made of clay, alabaster, flint arrowheads, gold cups and daggers; jewelry (tiaras, belts, necklaces) made of silver, gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian; harps decorated with gold, carnelian and mother-of-pearl; chariots, silver boat models; images of bulls, bones of donkeys and oxen; plates depicting hunting scenes.

Q) Which king is the text below talking about? Read it, at the end of the text, instead of the ellipses, write the name of this king.

He was the most powerful king of Babylon, and he was among the most famous rulers ancient world. Having defeated his opponents, he subjugated Mesopotamia to Babylon, united all the lands of the Sumero-Akkadian kingdom into one Babylonian kingdom ………………………….. (Hammurabi).

Mesopotamian civilization is one of the oldest in the world

General information about Mesopotamia and the peoples inhabiting it

Geographical description

(More detailed description in this)

Map of Mesopotamia III millennium BC.

Ancient Greek geographers called Mesopotamia (Interfluve) the flat area between the Tigris and Euphrates, located in their lower and middle reaches. From the north and east, Mesopotamia was bordered by the outlying mountains of the Armenian and Iranian plateaus, in the west it was bordered by the Syrian steppe and semi-deserts of Arabia, and from the south it was washed by Persian Gulf. Now almost the entire territory where ancient Mesopotamia was located coincides with the territory of the state of Iraq.

The center of development of the most ancient civilization was in the southern part of this territory - in ancient Babylonia. Northern Babylonia was called Akkad, southern Babylonia was called Sumer. Assyria was located in northern Mesopotamia, which is a hilly steppe that extends into mountainous areas.

Ubaid culture

Even before the arrival of the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, there was a peculiar culture called. It existed in the 6th – early 4th millennium BC. and it is believed that the tribes carrying this culture were subarii and they came from the northeast, from the foothills of the Zagros range back in the Neolithic era.

Arrival of the Sumerians

No later than the 4th millennium BC. The first Sumerian settlements arose in the extreme south of Mesopotamia. As already mentioned, the Sumerians were not the first inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia, since many of the toponymic names that existed there after the settlement of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates by these people could not come from the Sumerian language. The Sumerians found tribes in southern Mesopotamia who spoke a language (the language of the Ubaid culture), different from Sumerian and Akkadian, and borrowed ancient place names from them. Gradually, the Sumerians occupied the entire territory of Mesopotamia (in the north - from the area where modern Baghdad is located, in the south - to the Persian Gulf). But it is not yet possible to find out where the Sumerians came to Mesopotamia. According to tradition among the Sumerians themselves, they came from the Persian Gulf Islands.

The Sumerians spoke a language whose kinship with other languages ​​has not yet been established. Attempts to prove the relationship of Sumerian with Turkic, Caucasian, Etruscan or other languages ​​did not yield any positive results.

Semites (Akkadians)

In the northern part of Mesopotamia, starting from the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Semites lived. They were pastoral tribes of ancient Western Asia and the Syrian steppe. The language of the Semitic tribes who settled in Mesopotamia was called Akkadian. In southern Mesopotamia, the Semites spoke Babylonian, and to the north, in the middle Tigris Valley, they spoke the Assyrian dialect of Akkadian.

For several centuries, the Semites lived next to the Sumerians, but then began to move south and by the end of the 3rd millennium BC. occupied all of southern Mesopotamia. As a result, the Akkadian language gradually replaced Sumerian. However, the latter remained the official language of the state chancellery well into the 21st century. BC, although in everyday life it was increasingly replaced by Akkadian. By the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Sumerian was already dead tongue. Only in the remote swamps of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates was it able to survive until the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, but then Akkadian took its place there too. However, as a language of religious worship and science, Sumerian continued to exist and be studied in schools until the 1st century. AD, after which cuneiform, along with the Sumerian and Akkadian languages, was completely forgotten. The displacement of the Sumerian language did not at all mean the physical destruction of its speakers. The Sumerians merged with the Babylonians, preserving their religion and culture, which the Babylonians borrowed from them with minor changes.

Amorites

At the end of the 3rd millennium BC. West Semitic pastoral tribes began to penetrate into Mesopotamia from the Syrian steppe. The Babylonians called these tribes Amorites. In Akkadian, Amurru meant "west", mainly referring to Syria, and among the nomads of this region there were many tribes speaking different but closely related dialects. Some of these tribes were called Suti, which translated from Akkadian meant “nomads.”

Kutians and Hurrians

From the 3rd millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia, from the headwaters of the Diyala River to Lake. Urmia, on the territory of modern Iranian Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, was inhabited by the Kutia, or Gutia, tribes. Since ancient times, Hurrian tribes lived in the north of Mesopotamia. Apparently, they were autochthonous inhabitants of Northern Mesopotamia, Northern Syria and the Armenian Highlands. In Northern Mesopotamia, the Hurrians created the state of Mitanni, which in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. was one of the largest powers in the Middle East. Although the Hurrians were the main population of Mitanni, tribes of Indo-Aryan language also lived there. In Syria, the Hurrians appear to have formed a minority of the population. In terms of language and origin, the Hurrians were close relatives who lived in the Armenian Highlands. In the III-II millennium BC. The Hurrito-Urartian ethnic massif occupied the entire territory from the plains of Northern Mesopotamia to Central Transcaucasia. The Sumerians and Babylonians called the country and tribes of the Hurrians Subartu. In certain areas of the Armenian Highlands, the Hurrians persisted in the 6th-5th centuries. BC. In the 2nd millennium BC. The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian cuneiform script, which they used to write in Hurrian and Akkadian.

Arameans

In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. A powerful wave of Aramaic tribes poured from Northern Arabia into the Syrian steppe, into Northern Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. At the end of the 13th century. BC. The Arameans created many small principalities in Western Syria and southwestern Mesopotamia. By the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The Arameans almost completely assimilated the Hurrian and Amorite populations of Syria and northern Mesopotamia.

In the 8th century BC. the Aramaic states were captured by Assyria. However, after this the influence of the Aramaic language only increased. By the 7th century BC. all of Syria spoke Aramaic. This language began to spread in Mesopotamia. His success was facilitated by both the large Aramaic population and the fact that the Arameans wrote in a convenient and easy-to-learn script.

In the VIII-VII centuries. BC. The Assyrian administration pursued a policy of forcibly relocating conquered peoples from one region of the Assyrian state to another. The purpose of such “shuffles” is to complicate mutual understanding between different tribes and prevent their rebellion against the Assyrian yoke. In addition, the Assyrian kings sought to populate the territories devastated during endless wars. As a result of the inevitable mixing of languages ​​and peoples in such cases, the Aramaic language emerged victorious and became the dominant one. spoken language from Syria to the western regions of Iran, even in Assyria itself. After the collapse of the Assyrian power at the end of the 7th century. BC. The Assyrians completely lost their language and switched to Aramaic.

Chaldeans

Since the 9th century. BC. Chaldean tribes related to the Arameans began to invade southern Mesopotamia, which gradually occupied all of Babylonia. After the Persian conquest of Mesopotamia in 539 BC. Aramaic became the official language of the state office in this country, and Akkadian was preserved only in large cities, but even there it was gradually replaced by Aramaic. The Babylonians themselves by the 1st century. AD completely merged with the Chaldeans and Arameans.

Early states of Sumer

At the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, approximately simultaneously with the emergence of the state in Egypt, the first state formations appeared in the southern part of the interfluve of the Tigris and Euphrates. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. Several small city-states arose on the territory of southern Mesopotamia. They were located on natural hills and surrounded by walls. Approximately 40-50 thousand people lived in each of them. In the extreme southwest of Mesopotamia there was the city of Eridu, near it the city of Ur, which was of great importance in the political history of Sumer. On the banks of the Euphrates, north of Ur, was the city of Larsa, and to the east of it, on the banks of the Tigris, was Lagash. The city of Uruk, which arose on the Euphrates, played a major role in the unification of the country. In the center of Mesopotamia on the Euphrates was Nippur, which was the main sanctuary of all of Sumer.

In the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. Several political centers were created in Sumer, whose rulers bore the title of lugal or ensi. Lugal means “big man”. This is what kings were usually called. Ensi was the name of an independent ruler who ruled any city with its immediate surroundings. This title is of priestly origin and indicates that initially the representative of state power was also the head of the priesthood.

Rise of Lagash

In the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Lagash began to claim a dominant position in Sumer. In the middle of the 25th century. BC. Lagash, in a fierce battle, defeated its constant enemy - the city of Umma, located to the north of it. Later, the ruler of Lagash, Enmethen (circa 2360-2340 BC), victoriously ended the war with the Umma.

The internal position of Lagash was not strong. The masses of the city were infringed upon in their economic and political rights. To restore them, they united around Uruinimgina, one of the influential citizens of the city. He removed the ensi named Lugalanda and took his place himself. During his six-year reign (2318-2312 BC), he carried out important social reforms, which are the oldest legal acts known to us in the field of socio-economic relations. He was the first to proclaim the slogan that later became popular in Mesopotamia: “Let the strong not offend widows and orphans!” Extortions from priestly personnel were abolished, natural allowances for forced temple workers were increased, and independence from the tsarist administration was restored. Certain concessions were made to ordinary segments of the population:

• reduced fees for performing religious ceremonies,
• some taxes on artisans have been abolished,
• duty on irrigation facilities has been reduced.

In addition, Uruinimgina restored the judicial organization in rural communities and guaranteed the rights of the citizens of Lagash, protecting them from usurious bondage. Finally, polyandry (polyandry) was eliminated. Uruinimgina presented all these reforms as an agreement with the main god of Lagash, Ningirsu, and declared himself the executor of his will.

However, while Uruinimgina was busy with his reforms, war broke out between Lagash and Umma. The ruler of Umma Lugalzagesi enlisted the support of the city of Uruk, captured Lagash and reversed the reforms introduced there. Lugalzagesi then usurped power in Uruk and Eridu and extended his rule over almost all of Sumer. Uruk became the capital of this state.

Economy and economics of the Sumerian states

The main branch of the Sumerian economy was agriculture, based on a developed irrigation system. By the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. refers to a Sumerian literary monument called “Agricultural Almanac”. It is presented in the form of a teaching given by an experienced farmer to his son, and contains instructions on how to maintain soil fertility and stop the process of salinization. The text also gives a detailed description of field work in its time sequence. Cattle breeding was also of great importance in the country's economy.

The craft developed. Among the city's artisans there were many house builders. Excavations at Ur of monuments dating back to the mid-3rd millennium BC show a high level of skill in Sumerian metallurgy. Among the grave goods, helmets, axes, daggers and spears made of gold, silver and copper were found, as well as embossing, engraving and granulation. Southern Mesopotamia did not have many materials, their finds at Ur indicate brisk international trade. Gold was delivered from the western regions of India, lapis lazuli - from the territory of modern Badakhshan in Afghanistan, stone for vessels - from Iran, silver - from Asia Minor. In exchange for these goods, the Sumerians sold wool, grain and dates.

Of the local raw materials, artisans had at their disposal only clay, reed, wool, leather and flax. The god of wisdom Ea was considered the patron saint of potters, builders, weavers, blacksmiths and other artisans. Already in this early period, bricks were fired in kilns. Glazed bricks were used for cladding buildings. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. The potter's wheel began to be used for the production of dishes. The most valuable vessels were covered with enamel and glaze.

Already at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. began to produce bronze tools, which remained the main metal tools until the end of the next millennium, when the Iron Age began in Mesopotamia.

To obtain bronze, they did not add to molten copper. a large number of tin.

Mesopotamia during the era of Akkad and Ur

(this period is described in more detail in a separate map)

Since the 27th century. BC e. The northern part of Mesopotamia was inhabited by the Akkadians. The most ancient city founded by the Semites in Mesopotamia was Akkad, later the capital of the state of the same name. It was located on the left bank of the Euphrates, where this river and the Tigris come closest to each other.

Reign of Sargon the Ancient

Around 2334 BC became the king of Akkad. He was the founder of a dynasty: starting with himself, five kings, the son replacing the father, ruled the country for 150 years. He probably adopted the name Sargon only after his accession to the throne, since it means “true king” (in Akkadian Sharruken). The personality of this ruler was shrouded in many legends during his lifetime. He spoke about himself: “My mother was poor, I didn’t know my father... My mother conceived me, gave birth to me secretly, put me in a reed basket and sent me down the river.”.

Lugalzagesi, who established his power in almost all Sumerian cities, entered into a long struggle with Sargon. After several failures, the latter managed to win a decisive victory over his opponent. After this, Sargon made successful campaigns in Syria, in the regions of the Taurus Mountains and defeated the king of the neighboring country of Elam. He created the first standing army in history, consisting of 5,400 people, who, according to him, dined at his table every day. It was a well-trained professional army, whose entire well-being depended on the king.

Under Sargon, new canals were built, an irrigation system was established on a national scale, and one system measures and weights. Akkad conducted maritime trade with India and Eastern Arabia.

Reign of Naram-Suen

At the end of Sargon's reign, famine caused a rebellion in the country, which was suppressed after his death, around 2270 BC, by his youngest son Rimush. But later he became a victim of a palace coup that gave the throne to his brother Manishtush. After fifteen years of reign, Manishtushu was also killed in a new palace conspiracy, and Naram-Suen (2236-2200 BC), son of Manishtushu and grandson of Sargon, ascended the throne.

Under Naram-Suen, Akkad reached its greatest power. At the beginning of the reign of Naram-Suen, the cities of southern Mesopotamia, dissatisfied with the rise of Akkad, rebelled. It was only suppressed after many years of struggle. Having strengthened his power in Mesopotamia, Naram-Suen began to call himself the “mighty god of Akkad” and ordered himself to be depicted on reliefs in a headdress decorated with horns, which were considered divine symbols. The population was supposed to worship Naram-Suen as a god, although before him none of the kings of Mesopotamia had claimed such an honor.

Naram-Suen considered himself the ruler of the entire then known world and bore the title “king of the four countries of the world.” He waged many successful wars of conquest, winning a number of victories over the king of Elam, over the Lullube tribes living in the territory of modern Northwestern Iran, and also subjugated the city-state of Mari, located in the middle reaches of the Euphrates, and extended his power to Syria.

Fall of the Akkadians

Under Naram-Suen's successor Sharkalisharri (2200-2176 BC), whose name translated means “king of all kings,” the collapse of the Akkadian state began. The new king had to enter into a long struggle with the Amorites pressing from the west and at the same time resist the invasion of the Kutians from the northeast. In Mesopotamia itself, popular unrest began, the cause of which was acute social conflicts. The size of the economy, which subjugated the temple economy and exploited the labor of the landless and land-poor Akkadians, increased incredibly. Around 2170 BC Mesopotamia was conquered and plundered by the Gutian tribes living in the Zagros mountains.

III Dynasty of Ur

By 2109 BC. The militia of the city of Uruk, led by their king Utuhengal, defeated the Kutians and expelled them from the country. Having defeated the Gutians, Utukhengal laid claim to kingship over all of Sumer, but soon dominion over southern Mesopotamia passed to the city of Ur, where the Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2003 BC) was in power. Its founder was Urnammu, who, like his successors, bore the pompous title “king of Sumer and Akkad.”

Under Urnammu, royal power acquired a despotic character. The tsar was the supreme judge, the head of the entire state apparatus, and he also decided issues of war and peace. A strong central administration was created. In royal and temple households, a large staff of scribes and officials recorded all aspects of economic life down to the smallest detail. Well-established transport operated in the country; messengers were sent with documents to all corners of the state.

The son of Urnammu Shulgi (2093-2046 BC) achieved his deification. His statues were placed in temples, to which sacrifices had to be made. Shulgi issued laws indicating the existence of a developed judicial system. They, in particular, established a reward for bringing a runaway slave to his owner. There were also penalties for different kinds self-harm. At the same time, unlike the later Laws of Hammurabi, Shulgi was not guided by the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” but established the principle of monetary compensation to the victim. Shulga's laws are the oldest legal acts known to us.

Fall of Ur

Under Shulgi's successors, the Amorite tribes, who attacked Mesopotamia from Syria, began to pose a great danger to the state. To stop the advance of the Amorites, the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur built a long line of fortifications. However, the internal position of the state was also fragile. The temple economy required huge amount workers who were gradually deprived of the rights of free members of society. For example, the temple of the goddess Baba in Lagash alone owned a land area of ​​more than 4,500 hectares. The army of Ur began to suffer defeats in wars with the Amorite tribes and Elamites. In 2003, the power of the Third Dynasty of Ur was overthrown, and its last representative, Ibbi-Suen, was taken captive to Elam. The temples of Ur were plundered, and an Elamite garrison was left in the city itself.

Babylonia in the 2nd millennium BC.

The time from the end of the reign of the Third Dynasty of Ur to 1595 BC, when the dominance of the Kassite kings was established in Babylonia, is called the Old Babylonian period. After the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur, many local dynasties of Amorite origin arose in the country.

Around 1894 BC The Amorites created an independent state with its capital in Babylon. From this time on, the role of Babylon, the youngest of the cities of Mesopotamia, grew steadily over many centuries. In addition to Babylon, there were other states at that time. In Akkad, the Amorites formed a kingdom with its capital in Issin, which was located in the middle part of Babylonia, and in the south of the country there was a state with its capital in Larsa, in the northeast of Mesopotamia, in the valley of the river. Diyala, with its center in Eshnunna.

Reign of Hammurappi

At first, the Babylonian kingdom did not play a special role. The first king who began to actively expand the borders of this state was Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). In 1785 BC, with the help of Rimsin, a representative of the Elamite dynasty in Lapse, Hammurabi conquered Uruk and Issin. Then he contributed to the expulsion from Mari of the son of the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I, who ruled there, and the accession of Zimrilim, a representative of the old local dynasty. In 1763, Hammurabi captured Eshnunna and the following year defeated the powerful king and his former ally Rimsin and captured his capital Larsa. After this, Hammurabi decided to subjugate Mari, which had previously been a friendly kingdom to him. In 1760 he achieved this goal, and two years later he destroyed the palace of Zimrilim, who sought to restore his independence. Hammurabi then conquered the area along the middle Tigris, including Ashur.

Samsuilong's reign

After the death of Hammurabi, his son Samsuiluna (1749-1712 BC) became king of Babylon. He had to repel the onslaught of the Kassite tribes who lived in the mountainous areas east of Babylonia. Around 1742 BC The Kassites, led by their king Gandash, made a campaign against Babylonia, but were able to establish themselves only in the foothills to the northeast of it.

The Fall of Babylon and the Arrival of the Kassites

IN late XVII V. BC. Babylonia, which was experiencing an internal crisis, no longer played a significant role in the political history of Western Asia and could not resist foreign invasions. In 1594 BC. the reign of the Babylonian dynasty came to an end. Babylon was captured by the Hittite king Mursili I. When the Hittites returned with rich booty to their country, the kings of Primorye, the coastal strip near the Persian Gulf, captured Babylon. After this, around 1518 BC. the country was conquered by the Kassites, whose rule lasted 362 years. The entire period indicated is usually called Kassite or Middle Babylonian. However, the Kassite kings were soon assimilated by the local population.

Legal acts of Babylonia

In the 2nd millennium BC. Radical changes were taking place in the Babylonian economy. This time was characterized by active legal activity. The laws of the Eshnunna state, drawn up at the beginning of the 20th century. BC. in the Akkadian language, contain tariffs for prices and wages, articles of family, marriage and criminal law. For adultery on the part of a wife, rape of a married woman and abduction of a free person's child, the death penalty was provided. Judging by the laws, slaves wore special brands and could not leave the city without the permission of the owner.

By the second half of the 20th century. BC. include the laws of King Lipit-Ishtar, which, in particular, regulate the status of slaves. Punishments were established for the escape of a slave from the owner and for harboring a runaway slave. It was stipulated that if a slave married a free man, she and her children from such a marriage became free.

Laws of Hammurabi

The most outstanding monument of ancient Eastern legal thought is the Laws of Hammurabi, immortalized on a black basalt pillar. In addition, a large number of copies of individual parts of this code of law on clay tablets have been preserved. The Code of Law begins with a lengthy introduction, which states that the gods gave Hammurabi royal power so that he would protect the weak, orphans and widows from insults and oppression from the powerful. This is followed by 282 articles of laws, covering almost all aspects of the life of Babylonian society of that time (civil, criminal and administrative law). The code ends with a detailed conclusion.

The laws of Hammurabi, both in content and in the level of development of legal thought, represented a big step forward compared to the Sumerian and Akkadian legal monuments that preceded them. The Code of Hammurabi accepts, although not always consistently, the principle of guilt and ill will. For example, a difference is established in punishment for premeditated and accidental murder. But bodily injuries were punished according to the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” dating back to ancient times. In some articles of the law, a class approach is clearly expressed in determining punishment. In particular, severe punishments were provided for obstinate slaves who refused to obey their masters. A person who stole or hid someone else's slave was punishable by death.

In the Old Babylonian period, society consisted of full citizens, who were called “sons of the husband” and muskenums, who were legally free, but not full rights people, since they were not members of the community, but worked in the royal household, and slaves. If someone inflicted self-mutilation on the “husband’s son,” then the punishment was imposed on the perpetrator according to the principle of talion, i.e., “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and the corresponding self-mutilation inflicted on the muskenum was punishable only by a monetary fine. If the doctor was guilty of an unsuccessful operation on the “husband’s son,” then he was punished by cutting off his hand; if a slave suffered from the same operation, it was only necessary to pay the owner the cost of this slave. If, through the fault of the builder, a house collapsed and the son of the owner of the house died in its ruins, the builder was punished by the death of his son. If someone stole the property of the muskenum, then the damage had to be restored tenfold, while for the theft of royal or temple property, compensation was provided for thirtyfold.

In order not to decrease the number of soldiers and taxpayers, Hammurabi sought to alleviate the plight of those sections of the free population who were in a difficult economic situation. In particular, one of the articles of the law limited debt slavery to three years of work for the creditor, after which the loan, regardless of its amount, was considered fully repaid. If, due to a natural disaster, the debtor's crop was destroyed, then the repayment period of the loan and interest was automatically postponed to the next year. Some articles of the law are devoted to rental law. Payment for a rented field was usually equal to 1/3 of the harvest, and for a garden - 2/3.

For a marriage to be considered legal, a contract had to be concluded. Adultery on the part of the wife was punishable by drowning. However, if the husband wanted to forgive his unfaithful wife, not only she, but also her seducer was freed from punishment. Adultery on the part of a husband was not considered a crime unless he seduced the wife of a free man. The father had no right to disinherit his sons if they had not committed a crime, and had to teach them his craft.

Warriors received land plots from the state and were obliged to go on a campaign at the first request of the king. These plots were inherited through the male line and were inalienable. The creditor could take for debts only that property of the warrior that he himself acquired, but did not endow, which was granted to him by the king.

Assyria in the III-II millennium BC.

Position of Assyria in Mesopotamia

Back in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. in Northern Mesopotamia, on the right bank of the Tigris, the city of Ashur was founded. The entire country located on the middle reaches of the Tigris (in Greek translation - Assyria) began to be called by the name of this city. Already by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Immigrants from Sumer and Akkad established themselves in Ashur, forming a trading post there. Later, in the XXIV-XXII centuries. BC, Ashur became a major administrative center of the Akkadian state created by Sargon the Ancient. During the III dynasty of Ur, the governors of Ashur were proteges of the Sumerian kings.

Unlike Babylonia, Assyria was a poor country. Ashur owed its rise to its favorable geographical position: important caravan routes ran here, along which metals (silver, copper, lead) and building timber, as well as gold from Egypt, were delivered from Northern Syria, Asia Minor and Armenia to Babylonia, and in exchange they were exported Babylonian products Agriculture and crafts. Gradually, Ashur turned into a large trade and transshipment center. Along with him, the Assyrians founded many trading colonies outside their country.

The most important of these colony-factories was located in the city of Kanes (Kanish) in Asia Minor (the modern area of ​​Kul-Tepe, near the city of Kaysari in Turkey). An extensive archive of this colony dating back to the 20th-19th centuries has been preserved. BC. Assyrian merchants brought dyed woolen fabrics to Kanes, the mass production of which was established in their homeland, and took home lead, silver, copper, wool and leather. In addition, Assyrian merchants resold local goods to other countries.

The relations of the members of the colony with the inhabitants of Kanes were regulated by local laws, and in internal affairs the colony was subordinate to Ashur, who imposed significant duties on its trade. The supreme authority in Ashur was the council of elders, and by the name of one of the members of this council, which changed annually, events were dated and time was counted. There was also a hereditary position of ruler (ishshak-kum), who had the right to convene a council, but without the latter’s sanction he could not make important decisions.

Capture of Assyria first by the Babylonians and then by the kingdom of Mitanni

To keep the caravan roads in their hands and seize new routes, Assyria had to have strong military power. Therefore, the influence of ishshak-kum began to gradually increase. But in the second half of the 18th century. BC. Assyria was subjugated by the Babylonian king Hammurabi. Around the same time, Assyria also lost its monopoly in caravan trade.

By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. weakened Assyria was forced to recognize the power of the kings of Mitanni. Around 1500 BC Mitanni reached the zenith of its power, capturing areas of Northern Syria. But soon the decline of Mitanni begins. The Egyptians first drove the Mitannians out of Syria, and around 1360 BC. the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I defeated them. Then the Assyrian king Ashuruballit I took advantage of the defeat of Mitanni and captured part of the territory of this state. Later, King Adadnerari I of Assyria (1307-1275 BC) fought with Babylonia and conquered the entire territory of Mitanni. After this, he wanted to enter into an alliance with the Hittite king Hattusili III and invited him to consider him his brother. But the answer was insulting: “What is this talk about brotherhood?.. After all, you and I, we were not born of the same mother!”

Rise of Assyria

In the second half of the 13th century. under King Tukulti-Ninturta I (1244-1208 BC), Assyria became the most powerful state in the Middle East. The Assyrian ruler, having captured Babylonia, appointed his governors there and took the statue of the supreme god of the Babylonians, Marduk, to Ashur from the Temple of Esagila in Babylon. During numerous wars, the power of the Assyrian king increased significantly, but the country was exhausted and weakened by internal unrest. One of the texts reports, for example, that in the middle of the 11th century. BC. The king's son and the nobles of Assyria rebelled, threw the ruler off the throne and killed him with the sword.

Period XV-XI centuries. BC. called in the history of Assyria Middle Assyrian. The so-called Middle Assyrian laws, which were the most cruel of all ancient Eastern laws, date back to this time. Initially, land in Assyria belonged mainly to community members and was subject to systematic redistribution. But starting from the 15th century. BC. it became the subject of purchase and sale, although it was still considered the property of the communities.

Slaves at that time were very expensive, and there were few of them. Therefore, the rich sought to enslave free farmers through usurious loan transactions, since the loan was issued under difficult conditions and secured by the field, house or family members. But the laws to some extent limited the arbitrariness of the creditor in relation to persons pledged as debt. However, if the loan was not repaid on time, the hostage became the full property of the lender. If the debt is not paid on time, the creditor could do whatever he wanted with the hostage: "beat, pluck hair, hit ears and drill them" and even sell it outside of Assyria.

Babylonia in the XII-VII centuries. BC. and Assyrian power

The struggle between Babylon and Elam

At the end of the 13th century. BC e. The decline of Babylonia begins. A century later, the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I decided that the time had come for reckoning with an old enemy and, attacking Babylonia, plundered the cities of Eshnunna, Sippar, Opis and imposed a heavy tax on them. Shutruk-Nahhunte's son, Kutir-Nahhunte III, continued the policy of plundering Babylonia. The Babylonians rallied around their king Ellil-nadin-ahhe (1159-1157 BC) to liberate the tormented country. However, the war, which lasted three years, ended in victory for the Elamites. Babylonia was captured, its cities and temples were plundered, and the king and his nobles were taken captive. Thus ended the almost six-century reign of the Kassite dynasty, and an Elamite protege was appointed governor of Babylonia.

But soon Babylonia began to gain strength, and under Nebuchadnezzar I (1126-1105 BC) the country experienced a short-term prosperity. A fierce battle took place near the fortress of Der, on the border between Assyria and Elam, in which the Babylonians defeated the Elamites. The victors invaded Elam and inflicted such a crushing defeat on it that after that it was not mentioned in any source for three centuries. Having defeated Elam, Nebuchadnezzar I began to claim power over all of Babylonia. He, and after him and his successors, bore the title “king of Babylonia, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four countries of the world.” The capital of the state was moved from the city of Issin to Babylon. In the middle of the 11th century. BC. semi-nomadic Aramean tribes living west of the Euphrates began to invade Mesopotamia, plunder and destroy its cities and villages. Babylonia again found itself weakened for many decades and, in alliance with Assyria, was forced to fight against the Arameans.

New rise of Assyria

By the end of the 10th century. BC. The Assyrians restored their dominance in northern Mesopotamia and resumed a series of campaigns. By that time, the Assyrian army was superior in size, organization and weapons to the armies of other countries in the Middle East. The Assyrian king Ashurnasir-apal II (Ashurnasirpal) (883-859 BC) passed through the territory of Babylonia and Syria, exterminating the inhabitants of these countries for the slightest resistance. The disobedient were skinned, impaled or tied into entire living pyramids, and the remnants of the surviving population were taken into captivity.

In 876 BC. During one of the campaigns, the Assyrian army reached the Phoenician coast. When in 853 B.C. The Assyrians, under the leadership of their king Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC), made a new campaign in Syria, they met with organized resistance from the states: Syria, Phenicia and Cilicia. At the head of this union was the city of Damascus. As a result of the battle, the Assyrian army was defeated. In 845 BC. Shalmaneser III gathered an army of 120 thousand people and again marched against Syria. But this action was not successful either. However, soon a split occurred in the Syrian union itself, and, taking advantage of this, the Assyrians in 841 BC. undertook another campaign and managed to establish their dominance in Syria. But soon Assyria again lost control over its western neighbor. Under Adad-nerari III, who ascended the throne as a boy, his mother Sammuramat, known in Greek legend as Semiramis, actually ruled for many years. Campaigns in Syria were resumed, and the supreme power of the Assyrian king over Babylonia was established.

Arrival of the Chaldean tribes

Since the 9th century. BC. For many centuries in the history of Babylonia, a large role was played by the Chaldean tribes, who spoke one of the dialects of the Aramaic language. The Chaldeans settled between the shores of the Persian Gulf and the southern cities of Babylonia, in the area of ​​swamps and lakes along the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates. In the 9th century. BC. The Chaldeans firmly occupied the southern part of Babylonia and began to move north, adopting the ancient Babylonian culture and religion. They lived in clans, under the leadership of leaders who sought to maintain independence from each other, as well as from the Assyrians, who were trying to establish their power in Babylonia.

Under Shamshi-Adad V (823-811 BC), the Assyrians frequently invaded Babylonia and gradually captured the northern part of the country. The Chaldean tribes took advantage of this and took possession of almost the entire territory of Babylonia. Later, under the Assyrian king Adad-nerari III (810-783 BC), Assyria and Babylonia had fairly peaceful relations. In 747-734. BC. Nabonassar reigned in Babylonia, who managed to establish stable rule in the central part of the state, but over the rest of the country he exercised only weak control.

Strengthening Assyria under Tiglath-pileser III

The new strengthening of Assyria falls during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BC), who carried out important administrative and military reforms that laid the foundations for the new power of the country. First of all, the governorships were disaggregated, the rights of the governors were limited to collecting taxes, organizing subjects to perform duties and leading military detachments of their regions. The policy towards the conquered population also changed. Before Tiglath-pileser III, the purpose of the Assyrian campaigns was mainly plunder, collection of tribute and the removal of some of the indigenous inhabitants of the captured territories into slavery. Now such people began to be resettled en masse to areas ethnically alien to them, and in their place prisoners were brought in from other areas conquered by the Assyrians. Sometimes the population was left on the land of their ancestors, but was subject to heavy taxes, and the conquered territory was included in Assyria. It paid taxes in agricultural and livestock products, was involved in construction, road and irrigation duties, and was partially obliged to serve in the army (mainly in the wagon train).

A standing army was created, which was fully supported by the state. Its core was the “royal regiment”. The army consisted of charioteers, cavalry, infantry and sapper units. Assyrian warriors, protected by iron and bronze armor, helmets and shields, were excellent soldiers. They knew how to build fortified camps, build roads, and use metal and incendiary weapons. Assyria emerged as the militarily leading power in the Middle East and was able to resume its policy of conquest. The advance of the Urartians into areas previously captured by the Assyrians was stopped.

In 743 BC. Tiglath-pileser set out on a campaign against Urartu, which sought to establish its dominance in Syria. As a result of two battles, the Urartians had to retreat beyond the Euphrates. In 735 BC. The Assyrians made a campaign through the entire territory of Urartu and reached the capital of this state, the city of Tushpa, which they, however, could not take. In 732 BC. Damascus was captured by them. At the same time, Assyria subjugated Phenicia to its power.

Three years later, Tiglath-pileser captured Babylon, after which Babylonia lost its independence for an entire century. However, the Assyrian king refrained from turning it into an ordinary province, but retained the status of a separate kingdom for this country. He solemnly reigned in Babylonia under the name Pulu and received the crown of the Babylonian ruler, performing ancient sacred rites on the day of the New Year's holiday.

Now the Assyrian power covered all countries "from the Upper Sea, where the sun sets, to the Lower Sea, where the sun rises" - in other words, from Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. Thus, the Assyrian king became the ruler of all of Western Asia, with the exception of Urartu and several small regions on the outskirts.

Tiglath-pileser's successors were Sargon II (722-705 BC), Sennacherib (705-681 BC), Esarhaddon (681-669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (669 - about 629 BC) for a hundred years quite successfully maintained a gigantic empire. On a short time The Assyrians even managed to subjugate Egypt.

The Death of Assyria and the Neo-Babylonian Power

IN last years During the reign of Ashurbanipal, the collapse of the Assyrian state began, its individual centers began to compete with each other. In 629 BC. Ashurbanipal died, and Sinshar-ishkun became king.

Revolt of Babylonia

Three years later, a rebellion broke out in Babylonia against Assyrian rule. It was led by the Chaldean leader Nabopolassar. In his later inscriptions, he emphasized that he had previously been “a little man, unknown to the people.” At first, Nabopolassar was able to establish his power only in the north of Babylonia.

Having restored the traditional alliance of the Chaldean tribes with Elam, Nabopolassar besieged Nippur. However, pro-Assyrian sentiments were strong in the city, and it was not possible to take it. In October 626 BC. The Assyrians defeated the army of Nabopolassar and broke the siege of Nippur. But by this time, Babylon had gone over to the side of Nabopolassar, and already on November 25, the latter solemnly reigned in it, founding a new, Chaldean (or neo-Babylonian) dynasty. However, a long and fierce war with the Assyrians still lay ahead.

The arrival of the Medes and the destruction of Assyria

Only ten years later did the Babylonians manage to capture Uruk, and the next year Nippur also fell, which, at the cost of great hardship and suffering, remained faithful to the Assyrian king for so long. Now the entire territory of Babylonia was cleared of Assyrians. In the same year, Nabopolassar's army besieged Ashur, the capital of Assyria. However, the siege was unsuccessful and the Babylonians retreated, suffering heavy losses. But soon Assyria suffered a crushing blow from the east. In 614 BC. The Medes surrounded the largest Assyrian city, Nineveh. When they failed to take it, they besieged and captured Ashur and massacred its inhabitants. Nabopolassar, true to the traditional policy of his Chaldean ancestors, came with an army when the battle was over and Ashur was reduced to ruins. The Medes and Babylonians entered into an alliance between themselves, consolidating it with a dynastic marriage between Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, and Amytis, the daughter of the Median king Cyaxares.

Although the fall of Ashur weakened the position of the Assyrian power, while the victors were busy dividing the spoils, the Assyrians, under the leadership of their king Sinsharishkun, resumed military operations in the Euphrates Valley. But in the meantime, the Medes and Babylonians jointly laid siege to Nineveh, and three months later, in August 612 BC, the city fell. After this, brutal reprisals followed: Nineveh was plundered and destroyed, its inhabitants slaughtered.

Part of the Assyrian army managed to make its way to the city of Harran in the north of Upper Mesopotamia and there, under the leadership of its new king Ashur-uballit II, continued the war. However, in 610 BC. The Assyrians were forced to leave Harran, mainly under the blows of the Median army. A Babylonian garrison was left in the city. But the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, fearing the excessive strengthening of Babylonia, a year later sent strong reinforcements to help the Assyrians. Ashuruballit II again managed to capture Harran, killing the Babylonians stationed there. However, Nabopolassar soon arrived with the main forces and inflicted a final defeat on the Assyrians.

As a result of the collapse of the Assyrian power, the Medes captured the indigenous territory of this country and Harran. The Babylonians gained a foothold in Mesopotamia and were preparing to establish their control over Syria and Palestine. But the Egyptian pharaoh also laid claim to dominance in these countries. Thus, in the entire Middle East there were only three powerful states left: Media, Babylonia and Egypt. In addition, there were two smaller but independent kingdoms in Asia Minor: Lydia and Cilicia.

Wars of Babylon and Egypt

In the spring of 607 BC. Nabopolassar transferred command of the army to his son Nebuchadnezzar, concentrating control in his hands internal affairs states. The heir to the throne was faced with the task of capturing Syria and Palestine. But first it was necessary to capture the city of Karkemish on the Euphrates, where there was a strong Egyptian garrison, which included Greek mercenaries. In the spring of 605 BC. The Babylonian army crossed the Euphrates and attacked Karkemish simultaneously from the south and north. A fierce battle began outside the city walls, as a result of which the Egyptian garrison was destroyed. After this, Syria and Palestine submitted to the Babylonians. Somewhat later, the Phoenician cities were also conquered.

While in conquered Syria, Nebuchadnezzar in August 605 BC. received news of his father's death in Babylon. He hurriedly went there and on September 7 was officially recognized as king. At the beginning of 598 BC. he made a trip to Northern Arabia, trying to establish his control over the caravan routes there. By this time, the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, prompted by the persuasion of Necho, fell away from Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and on March 16, 597 BC. took him. More than 3 thousand Jews were taken captive to Babylonia, and Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as king in Judea.

In December 595 - January 594 BC. unrest began in Babylonia, probably coming from the army. The leaders of the rebellion were executed and order was restored in the country.

Soon, the new Egyptian pharaoh Apries decided to try to establish his power in Phenicia and captured the cities of Gaza, Tire and Sidon, and also persuaded King Zedekiah to revolt against the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar, with decisive actions, pushed the Egyptian army back to the previous border and in 587 BC. After an 18-month siege, he captured Jerusalem. Now the kingdom of Judah was liquidated and annexed to the Neo-Babylonian power as an ordinary province, thousands of residents of Jerusalem (all the Jerusalem nobility and part of the artisans), led by Zedekiah, were taken into captivity.

Babylonia under Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidus

Under Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia became a prosperous country. This was the time of its revival, economic and cultural upsurge. Babylon became a center of international trade. Much attention was paid to the irrigation system. In particular, a large basin was built near the city of Sippar, from where many canals originated, with the help of which the distribution of water during drought and flood was regulated. Old churches were restored and new ones were built. A new royal palace was built in Babylon, the construction of the seven-story ziggurat of Etemenanki, called the Tower of Babel in the Bible, was completed, and the famous hanging gardens were laid out. In addition, powerful fortifications were erected around Babylon to protect the capital from possible enemy attacks.

In 562 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II died, and after this the Babylonian nobility and priesthood began to actively interfere in the policies pursued by his successors and eliminate kings they disliked. Over the next twelve years, there were three kings on the throne. In 556 BC. the throne went to Nabonidus, who was an Aramean, unlike the Neo-Babylonian kings of Chaldean origin who preceded him.

Nabonidus began to carry out religious reform, putting in first place the cult of the moon god Sin to the detriment of the cult of the supreme Babylonian god Marduk. Thus, he apparently sought to create a powerful power, uniting around himself numerous Aramaic tribes, among whom the cult of Sin was very popular. However, the religious form brought Nabonidus into conflict with the priesthood of the ancient temples in Babylon, Borsippa, and Uruk.

In 553 BC. A war began between Media and Persia. Taking advantage of the fact that the Median king Astyages recalled his garrison from Harran, in the same year Nabonidus captured this city and ordered the restoration of what was destroyed there during the war with the Assyrians in 609 BC. temple of the god Sin. Nabonidus also conquered the Tema region in north-central Arabia and established control of the desert caravan routes through the Tema oasis to Egypt. This path had great importance for Babylonia, since by the middle of the 6th century. BC. The Euphrates changed its course, and therefore maritime trade across the Persian Gulf from the harbors in the city of Ur became impossible. Nabonidus moved his residence to Teima, entrusting the rule in Babylon to his son Bel-shar-utsur.

Fall of Babylon

While Nabonidus was busy with an active foreign policy in the west, a powerful and determined enemy appeared on the eastern borders of Babylon. The Persian king Cyrus II, who had already conquered Media, Lydia and many other countries up to the Indian borders and had at his disposal a huge and well-armed army, was preparing for a campaign against Babylonia. Nabonidus returned to Babylon and began organizing the defense of his country. However, the situation in Babylonia had already become hopeless. Since Nabonidus sought to break the power and influence of the priests of the god Marduk and neglected religious holidays Associated with his cult, influential priestly circles, dissatisfied with their king, were ready to help any of his opponents. The Babylonian army, exhausted in many years of wars in the Arabian desert, was unable to repel the onslaught of the many times superior forces of the Persian army. In October 539 BC. Babylonia was captured by the Persians and lost its independence forever.

Nature, population, periodization of the history of Ancient Mesopotamia

Lecture 5. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (MESOPOTAMIA)

Mesopotamia is a region in the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (hence the second name - Mesopotamia). Its location at the crossroads of trade routes ensured it a leading role in international trade. The climate of Mesopotamia differed in the north and south: in the north it snowed and rained, in the south it was dry and hot. Fruit, grain (barley, spelt, millet), industrial (flax), vegetable (onions, cucumbers, eggplants, pumpkin) and legume crops, as well as date palms and grapes were grown here. The fauna in ancient times was rich.

The population of Mesopotamia was characterized by ethnic diversity, partly due to the policy of forced resettlement of peoples of the 1st millennium BC. e. Settlement began in ancient times. Peoples: Sumerians, Akkadians, etc. Later, the Sumerians merged with the Semites, but retained their religion and culture.

In these territories there were several successive civilizations, which is reflected in the accepted periodization of the history of Ancient Mesopotamia:

– Ancient Sumer(III millennium BC): early dynastic period, creation of despotic monarchies, emergence of the Akkadian state;

– Babylonian kingdom: Old Babylonian (Amorite) period XIX–XVI centuries. BC e., Middle Babylonian (Kassite) XVI–XII centuries. BC e. and Neo-Babylonian (VII–VI centuries BC) periods; the conquest of the country by the Persians;

– Assyrian power: Old Assyrian period (XX–XVI centuries BC), Middle Assyrian (XV–XI centuries BC), New Assyrian (X–VII centuries BC).

Ancient Sumer. In Mesopotamia, the development of civilization depended on irrigation, which was supposed to regulate the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This problem was solved around the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. Around the same time, the first Sumerian tribes appeared in Southern Mesopotamia and the Uruk culture emerged with cities such as Eridu, Ur, and Uruk. It is characterized by the creation of the foundations of Sumerian civilization, the emergence of a class society and statehood. Around the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. pictographic writing arises, the need for which is associated with the need to strictly take into account the complex and diverse temple economy that has arisen. In the first half of the 3rd millennium, Southern Mesopotamia dominated the region economically and politically over the Akkadians and Hurrians living to the north. Irrigated agriculture was improved, the number of metal products increased, and the first bronze tools appeared. Slave relations are developing rapidly, government bodies with all the characteristic attributes are being improved: the army, bureaucracy, prisons, etc. In the 28th - 24th centuries. BC e. the cities of Kish, Uruk, Ur, Lagash, and Umma successively rise and gain hegemony. In the XXIV–XXIII centuries. BC e. Sumer falls under the rule of Akkadian rulers, the most influential of whom was Sargon. He organized the first standing army in history and managed to create a large centralized state in Mesopotamia with unlimited power of the king. In the XXII century. BC e. the territory of Sumer was conquered by the nomadic tribes of the Gutians, whose power was overthrown by the founders of the III dynasty of Ur (XXII - early XX centuries BC).
At this time, significant changes took place in the economy, society acquired a pronounced slave-owning character, and grandiose construction was underway. This type of temple building, the ziggurat, is being improved. The Sumerian-Akkadian state system acquires typical features of eastern despotism, and a significant layer of bureaucratic bureaucracy appears in the country. Writing is being improved, the myth of Gilgamesh is being created and written down, where for the first time in world history we encounter the legend of the global flood. At the beginning of the 20th century BC e. The Sumerian-Akkadian state perished under the onslaught of neighboring tribes and peoples.

Babylonian kingdom. After the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Mesopotamia experienced a period of political fragmentation, with a number of small kingdoms fighting for dominance in the region. As a result of this struggle, the city of Babylon gained political independence and rose, where the First Babylonian (Amorite) dynasty reigned. The rise of Babylon is associated with the name of King Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC). He managed to unite all of Mesopotamia under his rule, successively subjugating Uruk, Isip, Larsa, Mari, and Assyria. During the reign of Hammurabi, monumental construction was carried out in Babylon, as a result of which the city became the largest center of Mesopotamia, the administration was strengthened and social and property relations were streamlined, as evidenced by the famous “Laws of Hammurabi”. But already under the son of Hammurabi, the struggle for the liberation of the regions and states conquered by Babylon intensified, the pressure of the warlike Kassite tribes intensified, the state of Mitanni was formed in the north-west of Mesopotamia, and finally, in 1595 BC. e. The Hittites destroy Babylon, after which it falls under the rule of the Kassite rulers. During Kassite rule, horses and mules were regularly used in military affairs, a combined plow-seeder was introduced, a network of roads was created, and foreign trade was intensified. From the 13th century BC. Assyria deals increasingly strong blows to Babylon, which is eventually joined by Elam, local rulers, and, as a result, around 1155 BC. e. The Kassite dynasty ends. In 744 BC. e. The Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III invaded Babylonia, maintaining its status as a separate kingdom. In 626 BC. e. a rebellion broke out against Assyria (leader Nabopolassar, founder of the Chaldean dynasty). Under King Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia began to flourish. He pursues an active foreign policy (with varying success he fights in Egypt and more successfully in Judea). After the death of Nebuchadnezzar II, the throne went to Nabonidus, who tried to create a powerful power with the help of religion. He declared Sin instead of Marduk as the supreme god, which led to conflict with the priesthood.

In the VI century. BC e. A powerful enemy appeared in the East - the Persians, who defeated the Babylonians in 539. Nabonidus was captured and exiled. King Cyrus was portrayed as the liberator of the country. His policy was distinguished by respect for the religion of the Babylonians and the forcibly displaced peoples. Cyrus retained Babylonia as a separate unit within the Persian Empire.

Assyria. The state, which arose at the crossroads of profitable trade routes and was centered in the city of Ashur, initially focused on the development of profitable trade relations with different regions. To this end, the Assyrians tried to establish a number of colonies outside of Assyria proper, but this was prevented by the rise of the state of Mari on the Euphrates, the formation of the Hittite state and the advancement of the Amorite tribes. At the end of the 19th – beginning of the 18th centuries. BC e. Assyria becomes active foreign policy and becomes a large state with a new management organization and a strong army. Further confrontation with Babylon led to the subjugation of Assyria to this state, and at the end of the 16th century. BC e. Ashur becomes dependent on Mitanni. In the 15th century BC e. attempts are being renewed to revive the power of the Assyrian state, which by the end of the 14th century. were crowned with success. The state reached its highest rise in the 13th century. King Tiglath-pileser makes over thirty campaigns, as a result of which Northern Syria and Northern Phenicia were annexed. The objects of aggression are the south-eastern regions of Asia Minor and Transcaucasia, where Assyria is fighting with Urartu. But at the turn of the XI - X centuries. BC e. the country was invaded by the Semitic-speaking Aramean tribes who came from Arabia. The Arameans settled in Assyria and mixed with the indigenous population. The further history of Assyria during the 150 years of foreign rule is practically unknown. At the end of the 10th century. BC e. Assyria was able to recover from the Aramaic invasion, largely thanks to the introduction of iron products into economic circulation and military affairs. Since the 9th century. BC e. The expansion of Assyria is developing in almost all directions, especially intensively under the kings Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III. As Assyria moves westward it reaches the Mediterranean coast. The richest military booty that flocked to Assyria was used to decorate the capital, build royal palaces, and improve fortifications.

At the end of the 9th - first half of the 8th centuries. BC e. Assyria is experiencing a decline caused by both internal and external reasons, from which it was able to emerge only after Tiglath-pileser III came to power, who carried out administrative and military reforms. Somewhat earlier, an important event in the field of military affairs took place in Assyria: the appearance cavalry(previously only chariots were used). The organization and armament of the Assyrian army began to far surpass the armies of its neighbors. Permanent units with a clear gradation into units were introduced, the size of the army reached 120 thousand people.

These reforms ensured the flourishing of Assyria’s foreign policy in the 8th–7th centuries. BC e. As a result of several wars, it turned into the largest state in Western Asia, which included Mesopotamia, most of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a number of regions of the Medes. For the first time in history, the Assyrians began to practice the resettlement of significant masses of the population from conquered territories to other lands. The huge power was not distinguished by internal calm. Along with successful wars, the Assyrian kings had to constantly pacify the conquered peoples. Late 50's - 40's. VII century BC e. characterized by uprisings when a powerful coalition consisting of Babylon, Elam, Lydia, Egypt, and Media acts against Assyria. But Assyria manages to suppress them. During these wars, the Assyrians lost their “monopoly” on military innovations; they were successfully adopted by Media, Egypt, and Babylon. In 614–605 BC e. the new coalition managed to inflict military defeat on the Assyrians. Their largest cities - Ashur and Nineveh - were destroyed, the nobility was exterminated, the ordinary population scattered and mixed with other peoples and tribes. Assyria ceased to exist.

Control questions

1. What are the features of the natural and geographical conditions of Ancient Mesopotamia?

2. Name the main stages in the periodization of the history of Mesopotamia.

3. What are the features of the economic and political development of Ancient Sumer?

4. Describe the main stages in the formation of the Babylonian kingdom.

5. Why is the reign of Hammurabi called the time of the greatest prosperity of Babylon?

6. What are the features of the development and reasons for the decline of the Assyrian power?

The First Civilization arose in the 59th century. back.

The last Civilization stopped in the 26.5th century. back.

Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia, is the country where the world’s oldest civilization arose, which lasted approx. 25 centuries, from the creation of writing to the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539 BC.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PThe first information Europeans have about Mesopotamia goes back to such classical authors of antiquity as the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) and the geographer Strabo (at the turn of AD). Later, the Bible contributed to interest in the location of the Garden of Eden, the Tower of Babel, and the most famous cities of Mesopotamia.

INIn the Middle Ages, notes appeared on the journey of Benjamin of Tudela (12th century), containing a description of the location of ancient Nineveh on the banks of the Tigris opposite Mosul, which was flourishing in those days.

IN17th century The first attempts are being made to copy tablets with texts (as it later turned out, from Ur and Babylon) written in wedge-shaped characters, which later became known as cuneiform.

INUnlike other civilizations, Mesopotamia was an open state. Many trade routes passed through Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was constantly expanding, involving new cities, while other civilizations were more closed. Here appeared: a potter's wheel, a wheel, bronze and iron metallurgy, a war chariot, and new forms of writing. Farmers settled Mesopotamia in the 8th millennium BC. Gradually they learned to drain wetlands.

ABOUTThe bottom community could not cope with such work, and there was a need to unite communities under the control of a single state. For the first time this happens in Mesopotamia (Tigris River, Euphrates River), Egypt (Nile River) at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. Later, states emerged in India and China; these civilizations were called river civilizations.

DThe river area was rich in grain. Residents exchanged grain for missing items on the farm. Clay replaced stone and wood. People wrote on clay tablets. At the end of the 4th millennium BC, in the southern Mesopotamia, the state of Sumer arose.

INHistorically, all of Mesopotamia was inhabited by peoples who spoke the languages ​​of the Semitic family. These languages ​​were spoken by the Akkadians in the 3rd millennium BC, the Babylonians who succeeded them (two groups that originally lived in Lower Mesopotamia), as well as the Assyrians of Central Mesopotamia. All these three peoples are united according to the linguistic principle (which turned out to be the most acceptable) under the name “Akkadians”. The Akkadian element played an important role throughout the long history of Mesopotamia.

DAnother Semitic people who left a noticeable mark in this country were the Amorites, who gradually began to penetrate Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. They soon created several strong dynasties, among them the First Babylonian dynasty, whose most famous ruler was Hammurabi.

INend of the 2nd millennium BC Another Semitic people appeared, the Arameans, who for five centuries posed a constant threat to the western borders of Assyria. One branch of the Arameans, the Chaldeans, came to play such an important role in the south that Chaldea became synonymous with later Babylonia. Aramaic eventually spread as a common language throughout the ancient Near East, from Persia and Anatolia to Syria, Palestine and even Egypt. It was Aramaic that became the language of administration and trade.

AThe Ramaeans, like the Amorites, came to Mesopotamia through Syria, but they, in all likelihood, originated from Northern Arabia. It is also possible that this route was previously used by the Akkadians, the first known people of Mesopotamia. There were no Semites among the autochthonous population of the valley, which was established for Lower Mesopotamia, where the predecessors of the Akkadians were the Sumerians. Outside of Sumer, in Central Mesopotamia and further north, traces of other ethnic groups have been found.

ShThe Umer represent in many respects one of the most significant and at the same time mysterious peoples in the history of mankind. They laid the foundation for the Mesopotamian civilization. The Sumerians left a major mark on the culture of Mesopotamia - in religion and literature, legislation and government, science and technology. The world owes the invention of writing to the Sumerians. By the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The Sumerians lost their ethnic and political significance.

EThe Lamites lived in the southwest of Iran, their main city was Susa. From the time of the early Sumerians until the fall of Assyria, the Elamites occupied a prominent political and economic place in Mesopotamian history. The middle column of the trilingual inscription from Persia is written in their language.

TOAssites are the next important ethnic group, immigrants from Iran, the founders of the dynasty that replaced the First Babylonian dynasty. They lived in the south until the last quarter of the 2nd millennium BC, but in the texts of the 3rd millennium BC. are not mentioned. Classical authors mention them under the name of the Cossaeans; at that time they already lived in Iran, from where they apparently once came to Babylonia.

INThe Hurrians played an important role in interregional relations. Mentions of their appearance in the north of Central Mesopotamia date back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC. By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. they densely populated the area of ​​modern Kirkuk (here information about them was found in the cities of Arrapha and Nuzi), the Middle Euphrates valley and the eastern part of Anatolia; Hurrian colonies arose in Syria and Palestine.

POriginally an ethnic group of Hurrians, they lived in the area of ​​Lake Van next to the pre-Indo-European population of Armenia, related to the Hurrians, the Urartians. Perhaps the Hurrians are the main, and it is possible that the original ethnic element of pre-Semitic Assyria.

Dfurther to the west lived various Anatolian ethnic groups; some of them, such as the Hatti, were probably autochthonous populations, others, in particular the Luwians and Hittites, were remnants of the Indo-European migration wave.

WITHThe Neo-Babylonian state was established in the Mesopotamian region by ice. In the 6th century BC, Babylon was conquered by the Persian kingdom.

4 thousand BC Babylonian-Assyrian culture, the culture of the peoples who inhabited in ancient times, in the 4th-1st millennium BC, Mesopotamia - the Tigris and Euphrates Mesopotamia (the territory of modern Iraq), - Sumerians and Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians, who created large states - Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria, characterized by relatively high level science, literature and art, on the one hand, and the predominance of religious ideology, on the other.

38th century BC. The oldest culture of Mesopotamia is Sumerian-Akkadian (from the name of the two parts of the territory, northern and southern). The oldest city on our planet is considered to be Sumerian Ur, the heyday of which some scientists attribute to 3800-3700 BC. Not much younger is the ancient Sumerian Uruk, Shuruppak.

INsecond half of the 4th millennium BC e. - the appearance of clear signs of civilization. Cities surrounded by walls, with a royal palace, temples of the gods, and craft districts. The emergence of writing.

XXVIII century BC e. - the city of Kish becomes the center of the Sumerian civilization.

XXVII century BC e. - Weakening of Kish, Ruler of the city of Uruk - Gilgamesh repels the threat from Kish and defeats his army. Kish is annexed to the domains of Uruk and Uruk becomes the center of the Sumerian civilization.

XXVI century BC e. - weakening of Uruk. The city of Ur became the leading center of Sumerian civilization for a century.

XXIV century BC e. - the city of Lagash reaches its highest political power under King Eannatum. Eannatum reorganizes the army, introduces a new combat formation. Relying on the reformed army, Eannatum subjugates most of Sumer to his power and undertakes a successful campaign against Elam, defeating a number of Elamite tribes. Needing large funds to carry out such a large-scale policy, Eannatum introduces taxes and duties on temple lands. After the death of Eannatum, popular unrest began, incited by the priesthood. As a result of these unrest, Uruinimgina comes to power.

2318-2312 BC e. - reign of Uruinimgina. To restore deteriorated relations with the priesthood, Uruinimgina carries out a number of reforms. The state's takeover of temple lands is stopped, taxes and duties are reduced. Uruinimgina carried out a number of reforms of a liberal nature, which improved the situation not only of the priesthood, but also of the ordinary population. Uruinimgina entered the history of Mesopotamia as the first social reformer.

2318 BC e. - The city of Umma, dependent on Lagash, declares war on him. The ruler of Umma Lugalzagesi defeated the army of Lagash, ravaged Lagash, and burned its palaces. For a short time, the city of Umma became the leader of a united Sumer, until it was defeated by the northern kingdom of Akkad, which gained dominance over all of Sumer.

XXIII century BC e. - unification of the Sumerian and Akkadian states by the Akkadian king Sargon I.

XXI century BC e. - invasion from the east and west of numerous tribes of Elamites and Amorites. The disappearance of the Sumerians as a people from the political arena (even the authors of biblical legends know nothing about its existence).

INAbout the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia the importance of Babylon, where King Hammurabi reigned, increased.

XIX-XVIII centuries BC e. - the rise of a new kingdom with its capital in Babylon, near present-day Baghdad, led by the kings of the Amorite dynasty. Hammurabi's unification of Mesopotamia and Syria.

18th century BC. The city of Babylon reached the pinnacle of greatness when King Hammurabi (reigned 1792-1750 BC) made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi became famous as the author of the world's first set of laws (from which, for example, the expression “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” came to us). The history of the cultures of Mesopotamia provides an example of the opposite type of cultural process, namely: intense mutual influence, cultural inheritance, borrowing and continuity.

XVI century BC e. - the emergence in the upper reaches of the Tigris of the Assyrian kingdom with the main cities of Assur and Nineveh - the capital of Nin and Semiramis.

WITH14th to 7th century BC Assyria strengthens in Mesopotamia.

743-735 BC e. - reign of Nabonassar. Beginning of regular astronomical observations.

729 BC e. - capture of Babylon by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III.

680-669 BC e. - reign of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon.

538 BC e. - Persian king Cyrus captures Babylon and Assyria.

336 BC e. - Alexander the Great conquers Mesopotamia. After his death, it becomes one of the regions of the Hellenistic Seleucid state.

II century BC e. - Babylon is already a dead city and lies in ruins.

I century BC e. - the last cuneiform tablets that have reached us.

MNumerous sources testify to the high astronomical and mathematical achievements of the Sumerians, their construction art (it was the Sumerians who built the world's first step pyramid). They are the authors of the most ancient calendar, recipe book, and library catalogue.

ABOUTHowever, perhaps the most significant contribution of ancient Sumer to world culture is “The Tale of Gilgamesh” (“who saw everything”) - the oldest epic poem on earth. The hero of the poem, half-man, half-god, struggling with numerous dangers and enemies, defeating them, learns the meaning of life and the joy of being, learns (for the first time in the world!) the bitterness of losing a friend and the irrevocability of death.

ZWritten in cuneiform, which was the common writing system for the peoples of Mesopotamia who spoke different languages, the poem about Gilgamesh is a great monument to the culture of Ancient Babylon. The Babylonian (actually, Old Babylonian) kingdom united the north and south - the regions of Sumer and Akkad, becoming the heir to the culture of the ancient Sumerians.

INThe Avilonians introduced a positional number system and a precise system for measuring time into world culture; they were the first to divide an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds, and learned to measure area geometric shapes, distinguish stars from planets and dedicated each day of their “invented” seven-day week to a separate deity (traces of this tradition are preserved in the names of the days of the week in Romance languages).

ABOUTThe Babylonians also introduced astrology to their descendants, the science of the supposed connection of human destinies with the location of the heavenly bodies. All this is far from a complete listing of the heritage of Babylonian culture in our everyday life.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ancient Greek geographers called the flat region between the Tigris and Euphrates Mesopotamia (Interfluve). The self-name of this area is Shinar. From the north and east, Mesopotamia was surrounded by the mountains of the Armenian and Iranian plateaus, in the west it was bordered by the Syrian steppe and semi-deserts of Arabia, and from the south it was washed by the Persian Gulf. Natural conditions contributed to the emergence of settlements and even cities in Mesopotamia already in the 6th-5th millennia BC (Eridu, Tel el-Obeid, Jarmo, Ali Kosh, Tell Sotto, Tel Halaf, Tel Hassun, Yarym Tepe) .

On the territory of Mesopotamia in the 4th–3rd millennium BC, the Sumerian city-states of Eshnunna, Nippur, Ur, Uruk, Larsa, Lagash, Kish, Shuruppak, and Umma were formed. In the 23rd century BC, Mesopotamia was united under the rule of Sargon the Ancient, founder of the great Akkadian power.

At the very end of the 3rd millennium, the kings of the third dynasty of Ur managed to unite Mesopotamia under their rule. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, the state of Babylonia was formed in the southern part of Mesopotamia, with its center in the city of Babylon. The center of development of the most ancient civilization was in Babylonia. Northern Babylonia was called Akkad, and southern Babylonia was called Sumer. No later than the 4th millennium BC, the first Sumerian settlements arose in the extreme south of Mesopotamia, and they gradually occupied the entire territory of Mesopotamia. Where the Sumerians came from is still unknown, but according to a legend widespread among the Sumerians themselves, from the Persian Gulf islands. The Sumerians spoke a language whose kinship with other languages ​​has not been established.

In the northern part of Mesopotamia, starting from the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, there lived Semites, cattle-breeding tribes of ancient Western Asia and the Syrian steppe, the language of the Semitic tribes was called Akkadian. In the southern part of Mesopotamia, the Semites spoke Babylonian, and to the north they spoke the Assyrian dialect of the Assyrian language. For several centuries, the Semites lived next to the Sumerians, but then began to move south and by the end of the 3rd millennium BC they occupied all of southern Mesopotamia, as a result of which the Akkadian language gradually replaced Sumerian, but it continued to exist as the language of science and religious worship until the 1st millennium. century AD.

At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, West Semitic pastoral tribes, which the Babylonians called Amorites (nomads), began to penetrate into Mesopotamia from the Syrian steppe. Since the 3rd millennium, in Northern Mesopotamia, from the upper reaches of the Diyala River to Lake Urmia, tribes of the Kutia, or Gutians, lived. Since ancient times, Hurrian tribes also lived in the north of Mesopotamia, who created the state of Mitanni. In the 3rd – 2nd millennia BC, the Hurrians and their close relatives, the Urartian tribes, occupied the entire territory from the plains of Northern Mesopotamia to Central Transcaucasia. The Sumerians and Babylonians called the tribe and country of the Hurrians Subartu.

In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, a powerful wave of Aramaic tribes poured from Northern Arabia into the Syrian steppe, Northern Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. By the end of the 13th century BC, the Arameans created many small principalities in Western Syria and Southern Mesopotamia, and by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the Arameans almost completely assimilated the Hurrian and Amorite populations of Syria and northern Mesopotamia.

In the 8th century BC, the Aramaic states were captured by Assyria, but after that the influence of the Aramaic language increased, and by the end of the 7th century BC, all of Syria spoke Aramaic. This language began to spread in Mesopotamia.

In the 8th – 7th centuries BC, the Assyrian administration pursued a policy of forcibly relocating conquered peoples from one region of the Assyrian state to another, the goal was to complicate mutual understanding between different tribes, thereby preventing their rebellion against the Assyrian yoke and populating the territories devastated during endless wars. As a result of the inevitable confusion of languages, Aramaic emerged victorious. Starting from the 9th century BC, Chaldean tribes related to the Arameans began to invade Southern Mesopotamia, gradually occupying all of Babylonia; in the 1st century AD, the Babylonians completely merged with the Chaldeans and Arameans.