Concept of Kingship and Powerful
Kings of Mesopotamia.
The East has been the
cradle of civilization, the fertile river valleys if Tigris-Euphrates, Nile,
Indus, Yellow, and Yangtze have witnessed the emergence of a settled way of
life and appearance of some of the early cities. Each of these ancient
civilizations had distinct character with their own unique system of polity,
economy, and religion. Some of these developed and advanced technologies of
hydraulics and engineering and most of these societies were integral parts of a widespread trade network and therefore
interacted with one another.
The river valleys of
the Tigris and Euphrates in the Western Asia region was sometimes called
Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia comes from a Greek word mesos (middle) and potamas
(rivers) meaning land between rivers. Its physiographic feature lies within the
fertile river valley with Syrian and Arabian Desert to the south and Zagros
mountain range towards the north. Mesopotamia was divided into two parts north
and south. North consisted of Assyria and south consisted of Sumer, Babylon and
Akkad. It was a flourishing city, since they had a good irrigation facility
because of the two main rivers, a good economic system, polity ruled by the
kings or the high priests in the temple, and they also believed in god. They
were highly religious
Some great kings of
Mesopotamia are Gilgamesh, Sargon 1, Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar 2 and
Ahurnasirpal 2. They changed and shaped the history of Mesopotamia completely. The concept of king ship began in the 3rd
millennium BCE. The Sumerian documents showed the emergence of “lugal” – big
man. The earliest rulers were considered to have been chosen by god for protection
and prosperity of people. Earlier both the chief priests and rulers had equal
kingship and power. But soon after that,
a major change was seen in the political ideology that portrayed the king as a
heroic military leader whose royal authority was based on the conquest of the
city states of Mesopotamia and other external enemies. Gradually kingship
dominated over priesthood. Both the institutions separated. The Kings was
considered as the ‘god’s’ representatives on earth.
Gilgamesh was a
historical king of Uruk in Babylonia; on the river Euphrates in modern Iraq. He
lived about 2700 BCE. Many stories and myths were written about Gilgamesh, some
of which were written down in 200 BCE in the Sumerian language on the clay
tablets which still survive. The epic of Gilgamesh was the first written story.
Gilgamesh is presented as a super human, so powerful that the gods had to
create a counterpart to moderate his desires and actions. The great hero who had all the knowledge,
Gilgamesh built the great city of Uruk. The tablets tell us to look at the
greatness of the city, its high walls, its mason work, and here at the base of its gates, as
the foundation of the city walls, a stone of lapis lazuli on which has carved
on it, Gilgamesh's account of his exploits. Both
Enkidu and Gilgamesh were growing lazy living in the city, so Gilgamesh proposed
a great adventure, a journey to the great Cedar Forest in the south and to cut
down all the cedar trees. To do this, they would need to kill the Guardian of
the Cedar Forest, the great demon, Humbaba the Terrible. Enkidu knows about
Humbaba from his days running wild in the forest, he tries to convince
Gilgamesh not to undertake this folly but unfortunately Gilgamesh does not listen
to him. Gilgamesh was considered to be a legendary figure, but could have been
the historical king of Uruk.
In
2334 BCE, an official seized the control of the city Kish and became the ruler
of Akkad. It was the famous King Sargon. Although Sargon began his life as an
orphan adopted by a gardener and not in a royal family, he rose up in power and
conquered all the great kings around him. Sargon conquered other city states
and established an empire. He conquered the dominant Sumerians; he created the
first great Semitic empire. He
appointed his officials as the governors of defeated city states. He founded a
new capital city called Agade (located near Baghdad). He also confiscated large
tracts of land from defeated cities and used it for its personal domain. He
made Akkadian the official language. He also expanded his empire to Elam, Mari
(Northern Mesopotamia), Ebla and other cities in Syria. In the Akkadian
administration there was a centralized bureaucracy, he granted lands to
soldiers, also had uniform system of weights and measures, standardized formats
for official documents. These measures facilitated collection of taxes,
recruitment of soldiers and organization of labor projects. He is
sometimes regarded as the first person in recorded history to create a
multiethnic, centrally ruled empire. His dynasty
controlled Mesopotamia for around one and a half centurys.
the head of the sargon the great.
Hammurabi
was the 6th king of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 BCE. He extended
Babylon’s control all over Mesopotamia by winning a number of wars with his
neighboring kingdoms. He control all over Mesopotamia at the time of his death,
but his successors were unable to maintain his empire. Hammurabi was known for
his set of laws called Hammurabi’s code. His codes of laws are still followed today. These
laws were on a stone tablet and were founded in 1901. Hammurabi undertook many
military campaigns. He extended his Babylonian empire from Sumer to Akkad. The
three most important divisions evident from the law oh Hammurabi are free land
owning, dependent farmers and artisans and slaves. It was a hierarchy.
Code
of Hammurabi.
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The principle of retaliation (an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) was fundamental.
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A member of a lower class would be
punished more severely than a member of the upper class for the same offence.
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The governors of an area are supposed
to control the crime the crime in their surroundings.
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If they failed to do so, they had to
replace the lost property.
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If the murderers weren’t found they had
to pay a fine to the concerned family.
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The largest no. of laws was dedicated
to marriage and family.
Nebuchadnezzar
2 was the king of the Neo Babylonian Empire who reigned from 604 to 562
BCE. According to the bible he destroyed
or conquered Jerusalem and Judah and sent the Jews to Babylonian exile. He was
the eldest son and was the successor of Nobopolassar, who delivered Babylon
from its dependence on Assyria and Nineveh in ruins. Some years before he
became the king of Babylon, he married Amytis of Media, the daughter of
Cyaxares. Nebuchadnezzar engaged in
several military campaigns designed to increase Babylonian influence in Syria
and Judah. An attempted invasion of Egypt in 601 BCE
was met with setbacks, however, leading to numerous rebellions among the states
of the Levant,
including Judah. Nebuchadnezzar soon dealt with these rebellions, capturing Jerusalem
in 597 BC and deposing King Jeconaih, then in 587 BC due to rebellion,
destroying both the city and the temple, and deporting many of the prominent
citizens along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judea to
Babylon. Hanging gardens of Babylon. We really do not know whether it was a
legend or reality.
It
is believed that Nebuchadnezzar 2 had built it for his Persian wife Amytis, who
longed for the mountains and greenery of her homeland. But is also been
believed that it was built by a semi legendary Assyrian queen Sammu Rawat. The
gardens did not really “hang” but were built on terraces which were part of the
ziggurat. It was irrigated by water and lifted up by the Euphrates. But there is no single mention of the hanging
gardens in Babylon cuneiform records. It is assumed that it was destroyed due to an
earthquake in 2nd century BCE.
Nebuchadnezzar died in Babylon between the second and sixth months of the
forty-third year of his reign.
An
engraving inside an onyx-stone that depicts Nebuchadnezzar II
Ashurnasirpal
2 was the king Assyria from 883 to 859 BCE. He succeeded his father Tukulti-
Ninurta 2 in 884 BCE. He was renowned for his brutality. He built Nimrud making
it the capital of the Assyrian empire. He
conquered Mesopotamia and the territory of what now is known as Lebanon, adding
them to the growing Assyrian empire. He was also a shrewd administrator who
realized that he could gain greater control over his empire by appointing
Assyrian governors rather than depending on the local client rulers paying
tribute. Ashurnasirpal 2 did not annex the Phoenician cities but instead only
aimed to establish them as a source to gain raw materials for Assyrian war
machine. Iron was needed for weapons, Lebanese cedar for construction, gold and
silver for the payment of troops, etc. But his campaigns were only a short term
success. His palace was built and
completed in 879 BCE in Kalhu, which is in modern day Iraq slightly north of
Baghdad. The palace walls were lined with reliefs carved in alabaster. These
reliefs bore elaborate carvings, many portraying the king surrounded by winged
protective spirits and engaged in hunting or on campaign. He also built a
massive gateway at Nimrud.
Mesopotamia
has a long history and was ruled by various kings. We spoke about some of the
most powerful kings and how each one made a difference in shaping the history
and the culture of Mesopotamia. They created a life in the cities of
Mesopotamia.
Each
of the kings we discussed had significant to contribute to the history of
Mesopotamia. The epic of Gilgamesh, who was part god and part human, is one of
the first and the most famous works of literary fiction in the Mesopotamian
era. Sargon established the empire and made Akkadian the official language. He
also a uniform system of weights and measures which simplified internal and
external trade. Some of Hammurabi’s laws are adapted even today. Nebuchadnezzar
2 made the hanging garden of Babylonia for his Persian wife who longed for her
home. Ashurnasirpal
2 was renowned for his brutality and made Nimrud making it the capital of the
Assyrian empire. Each king played an individual part in shaping the flourishing
life of Mesopotamia
Bibliography.
Latika Parmar
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