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_WHY ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHS?_

_[1]1. Chronology of Ancient Mesopotamian History
__[2]2. An overview of ancient mesopotamian History
[3]3. Why mesopotamian Myths?_
_________________________________________________________________

_1. CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORY_

_  BEFORE OUR
COMMON ERA_

_PERIODS IN MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORY _

_RESULTS_

_5500 BCE _

_First village settlements in the South _

_  _

_3500 BCE _

_Uruk period _

_first pictographic texts _

_3000 BCE _

_Early Dynastic Period (ca. 2800-2270) _

_Old Sumerian literature _

_2500 BEC _

_Sargonic Dynasty (ca. 2270-1083)_

_Neo Sumerian period (c.2100-1004) _

_Old Akkadian _

_2000 BCE _

_3rd Dynasty of Ur/Isin-Larsa_

_Old Babylonian Period (c. 2000-1760)_

_Middle Babylonian period (c. 1600-1000) _

_Royal hymns, courtly love poetry _

_1500 BCE _

_Kassite dynasty _

_  _

_1000 BCE _

_Second Dynasty of Isin_

_Neo Assyrian period _

_  _

_500 BCE _

_Neo Babylonian period _

_Fall of Nineveh 621_

_Babylon captured __in 539 by Cyrus _

_
____2. AN OVERVIEW OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORY_

_Dr. PAUL COLLINS, PhD Archaeology University College London, UK -
BRITISH MUSEUM GALLERY LECTURER_

Mesopotamia is a Greek term meaning ` between the rivers', and refers
to the land bordered by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. In modern
political terms this covers the country of Iraq and parts of Syria and
Turkey. Mesopotamian region was (and still today is) very diverse:
undulating plains in the North, where wheat growing and cattle rearing
could be practised; further South, the rivers were rich in marine life
and the river banks jungles of vegetation where lions prowled and wild
boar could be hunted. The rich wildlife was probably what first
attracted humans to the Mesopotamian plain. The Southern plain,
outside the area of rain, fed agriculture, but, over the millennia,
the rivers have laid down thick deposits of very fertile silt and,
once water is brought to this soil in ditches and canals, it proves a
very attractive area to farmers. For materials such as wood, stone and
metals, however, people have to look North and East, to the mountains
where the first settlers had originated.

As far as we can tell, farmers and fishermen started to settle the
Mesopotamian plain around 5,500 Before Common Era. Over time, their
small villages grew into large settlements. The focus of these
communities appears to have been the temple of the town's patron god
or goddess. The rich farmland provided a surplus of agricultural goods
and any wealth generated was invested in monumental temple buildings,
such as those found at Eridu, Uruk and Ur. Temples and ordinary houses
were built using the reeds and mud that line the river banks.
Centuries of rebuilding using sun-dried mud-bricks resulted in high
mounds, or Tells, rising above the fields and canals. These now
dominate the flat Mesopotamian plain and, when abandoned by people,
are the sites chosen by archaeologists for their excavations.

At the end of the fourth millennium, Uruk was probably the largest
city in the world (estimated by some scholars at 400 hectares - the
size of Rome in the first century of our Common Era). Centred on the
important temple of Inanna (the Great Goddess of Love and War), the
city has produced beautiful stone sculptures depicting the temple
flocks of sheep and goats. Of more significance, however, is the
discovery at Uruk of the world's earliest recorded writing. Using a
reed stylus to draw on tablets of clay, the temple administrators
recorded the movement of agricultural produce and out of the temple
storerooms including beer, bread and sheep. Initially the records took
the form of pictures of the objects being counted together with signs
representing numerals. Gradually, these pictographs became more
stylised and wedge-like or cuneiform (Latin for wedge = cuneus) and
adapted to write the local language, or Sumerian. The ability to write
allowed the Sumerians to record not only lists of goods but also
events around them. This development therefore takes us from
pre-history to history.

Uruk was not the only large settlement in Southern Mesopotamia. The
wealth of one of these city-states is demonstrated by the Royal Graves
of Ur, which date to around 2600 BCE. Of the thousands of graves
excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley at Ur in the 1920s, sixteen were
particularly rich. Woolley called them `Royal' because he believed
they were the graves of Ur's queens and kings. The most remarkable
aspect of these burials is the large number of human bodies found in
the pits. These are interpreted as sacrificial victims, accompanying
their leader in death, and it would appear that they died relatively
peacefully. The excavations found cups close to some of the bodies:
where these perhaps poison chalices? The victims are identified as
soldiers, harpists and serving ladies on their rich clothes and
ornaments - made from gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian and shell.

Around 2350 BCE the southern city states were united into one empire
by Sargon, king of the city of Akkad (also read as Agade). The
administration was centralised and the Semitic language Akkadian
(named after Sargon's capital) was introduced as the official language
in preference to Sumerian. Akkad has not been located but the period
produced some astonishing works of art, including fine cylinder seals.

Sargon and his sons ruled Mesopotamia for 150 years. The last of the
great Akkadian emperors was Naram-Sin. Later stories present this man
very unfavourably. He is said to have angered the Air God Enlil by
taking his army into the god's temple. Enlil then sent against
Naram-Sin a people from the mountains bordering Mesopotamia who, we
are told, destroyed the capital Akkad. The location of the city
remains unknown to this day.

The Akkadian Empire had collapsed and Mesopotamia was in turmoil. The
southern cities began to reassert their independence. Chief among
these was the city of Ur. Under king Ur-Nammu, the city established
itself as the capital of an empire that rivalled that of the Akkadian
rulers. Sumerian (although no longer a spoken language) was
reintroduced as the official written language of the dynasty known to
historians as the Third Dynasty of Ur.

Ur-Nammu was a prodigious builder. The most impressive monument of his
reign was the ziggurat at Ur. Although similar in shape to the
pyramids of Egypt, ziggurats were not tombs but made of solid
brickwork. Often, as at Ur, three staircases led up one side of the
tower to several stages. At the summit was a shrine to the god. One of
the most famous ziggurats was built in the city of Babylon and gave
rise to the story of the Tower of Babel.

Like the earlier kings of Akkad, the rulers of the Third Dynasty of Ur
had to fight with groups of people moving into Mesopotamia from the
surrounding mountains and deserts, attracted by the wealth of the
country. Under Ur-Nammu's grandson, Ibbi-Su (around 2028-2004 BCE),
the empire collapsed as Amorite and Hurrian tribes established
themselves throughout Mesopotamia. At the same time, the Akkadian
language replaced Sumerian, which continued to be used by scribes only
for monumental inscriptions and religious literature. For the next
three hundred years the cities of Lower Mesopotamia, chiefly Isin and
Larsa, competed for control of the region.

Further North lay the city of Ashur on a rocky promontory overlooking
an important crossing of the River Tigris. From here the city
dominated the caravans of donkeys carrying metals and rare materials
from the east and west, and the boats moving to and from the cities of
Sumer to the South. As an important trading centre, Ashur had by 1900
BCE established commercial colonies in Anatolia (modern day Turkey).
Cloth and Iranian tin were exchanged for Anatolian silver and records
of these activities on clay tablets have been found at a number of
sites in Turkey. The letters were often protected by an envelope of
clay on which the recipient's name was written and sealed with a
cylinder seal. In other examples, a copy of the letter was written on
the envelope as a safeguard.

At the end of the nineteenth century BCE an ambitious solder called
Shamshi-Adad brought Ashur under his control. He established an empire
which stretched across the North of Mesopotamia. Around 1780 BCE,
Shamshi-Ada died and his sons lacked their father's abilities. The
empire collapsed and Ashur and the North were now open to attack. When
attack came, it came from the South.

As king of the small town of Babylon, Hammurapi united Southern
Mesopotamia into a single empire. In the second half of his reign, he
marched North and received the submission of Northern kingdoms,
including the rulers of the kingdom of Ashur. As with Shamshi-Adad,
however, Hammurapi's death caused his empire to fall apart. Despite
this, the city of Babylon was to remain the capital of a Southern
kingdom. Hammurapi is best remembered for his code of laws (the famous
stela of Hammurapi is now in the Louvre in Paris). In 1595 BCE the
dynasty of Hammurapi was brought to an end. It is possible that the
Hittites from Anatolia made a lightning raid down the Euphrates,
sacked Babylon and captured the statue of Marduk, patron god of
Babylon.

For the next 150 years or so, there is little information to
reconstruct events. When evidence becomes available, it is clear that
Mesopotamia is dominated by two major powers: the Kassites ruling
Babylon and a Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the North. What little
that is known of these two empires often comes from areas outside
Mesopotamia, such as the New Kingdom Egypt and Hittite Anatolia.

Around 1350 BCE, however, it is clear that the kingdom of Mitanni
collapsed under increasing pressure from the Hittites to the West.
With the fall of Mitanni, Assyria reasserted her independence and
began a process of consolidation which would lead the country to
create a vast empire during the first millennium BCE.

Around 1250 BCE the Near East faced general conflict and devastation.
The Hittite Empire collapsed as part of a general movement of people
(the so-called Peoples of the Sea - a mixture of dispossessed people,
brigands and mercenaries) moving around the Mediterranean coast
looking for areas to settle. In the course of these disturbed times
several unsuccessful raids were made by the Sea Peoples against Egypt
under the Pharaohs Memeptah and Rameses III. Tribes of Arameans were,
meanwhile, moving into Mesopotamia from the west, pushing the
boundaries of Assyria back to the capital Ashur.

The first millennium revealed a Near East markedly changed
politically. The Mediterranean coast, North of Egypt, was now settled
by Philistines. Further inland, Hebrew tribes were settling in the
hill country. In the North (modern Syria), traditions of the now
vanished Hittite Empire were maintained, known today as Neo-Hittites.
In Mesopotamia, various Aramean and Chaldean tribal groups competed
for supremacy in Babylonia while the Assyrians maintained a firm hold
on their homeland, slowly moving against the groups which had settled
in the region.

At the beginning of the 9th century BCE, Assyrian kings started
sending military expeditions west in an attempt to control important
trade routes and receive tribute from less powerful states. Among the
first important kings of this so-called Neo-Assyrian period was
Ashurnasirpal II. He moved away from Ashur and built himself a new
capital city at Kalhu (Biblical Calah, modern Nimrud).

To commemorate their achievements and glorify their names, the kings
of Assyria built huge palaces and temples in their capital cities,
which they decorated with stone reliefs. Some of the most spectacular
examples of this type of decoration are displayed on the ground floor
of the British Museum, in London, England. They also used brightly
coloured glazed tiles showing the king participating in state
ceremonies. Ivory, often carved with scenes similar to those on the
bricks, was also used to decorate furniture and small exotic objects.

The movement of the Assyrian armies towards the Mediterranean
continued under Ahurmasirpal's successors but there was no real
attempt to incorporate conquered territories into an empire. In 745
BCE, however, Tiglath-pileser III came to the throne after a rebellion
at court. The new king initiated changes in the administration of
Assyria, including the annexation of countries into an empire. Over
the following one hundred years, kings such as Sargon, Sennacherib and
Esarhaddon not only built new capitals (Khorsabad and Nineveh), but
also expanded the empire until Assyrian control stretched from Iran to
Egypt. On his death in 668 BCE, Esarhaddon was succeeded by his son
Ashurbanipal, who, though faced with trouble in Babylonia and Egypt,
boasts of a peaceful and prosperous reign, allowing the king time to
learn to read and write as well as engage in the royal sport of lion
hunting.

However, within 20 years of Ashurbanipal's death around 627 BCE,
Assyria was faced with internal strife and destruction. To the East,
(in modern day Iran) lay the empire of the Medes. In 614 BCE a Median
army under Cyaxares invaded the Assyrian homeland, attacked Nineveh
and destroyed the ancient city of Ashur. Tow years later the combined
forces of Cyaxares and the king of Babylon, Nabopolassar, captured
Nineveh. The Assyrian court fled west to the town of Harran where they
were finally defeated in 609 BCE by Nabopolassar's son,
Nebuchadnezzar. While the Medes withdrew to consolidade their
conquests in the east, the Assyrian empire passed into the hands of
the kings of Babylon.

Sixty years of Babylonian supremacy was threatened during the reign
of king Nabonidus, when Mesopotamia was faced with the expansion of
yet another eastern power, the Persians. In 539 BCE, the armies of the
Persian king Cyrus (a member of the Achaemenid family) marched upon
Babylon and captured the city and with it all the Neo-Babylonian
Empire. This, in effect, brought to an end three thousand years of
self-rule in Mesopotamia. While many of the traditions and way of life
in the region continued under the new rulers, Mesopotamia was now part
of the much greater empire of the Persians which stretched from Egypt
to India. Over the next 200 years the region would see the advance of
Greek civilisation and the eventual destruction of the Persian Empire
at the hand of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great.

_3. WHY ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHS?_

The importance of Ancient Mesopotamia to understand our own
present-day civilisation cannot be underestimated. It was Mesopotamia
the home of some of the world's earliest cities and the place where
writing was invented. For these two major developments, namely to have
originated a society both urban and literate, Mesopotamia might be
rightly called ` the cradle of civilisation', as well as its
literature, religious philosophy and art can be placed firmly as
direct ancestor to the Western world and the Judeo-Christian tradition
in special.

Indeed, it is possible to trace back to Mesopotamia pieces of wisdom
found later in Jewish, Phoenician, Egyptian (especially Alchemy) and
even Greek tradition, and these similarities, whenever they take
place, will be highlighted in the myths amd essays that follow.

For example, Sargon, the Akkadian, the king who unified Sumer, has a
childhood in many aspects similar to Moses, the leader who conducted
Israel out of Egyptian slavery. Sargon was found in a reed basket
flowing upon a river and raised by a man of faith, probably a priest
of Enki, the Sweet Waters Lord and god of Magic and Wisdom, under the
protection of the local high priestess of Inanna, most certainly a
royal princess herself. Adapa, the wise priest king, much before
Solomon of the Jews, preferred Wisdom to life-everlasting in the myth
that bears his name. In Enki and Ninhursag, we have the exact reversal
of the myth of the Genesis in the Old Testament Bible, and it is quite
clear that the Mesopotamian myth is wholer, much more fun and
passionate, lacking the guilt that is a trademark of its Jewish
counterpart. The tale of the floods, of Sumerian origin, predates
other versions of the same phenomenon, which seemed to have affected a
large area of the Near East in ancient times. And, naturally, the most
romantic chapter of the Bible, the Song of Songs, a masterpiece of
love poetry, can have its origins traced back to the Bridal Songs and
Courtly Love Poetry which marked the Sumerian revival and glory of the
Third Dynasty of Ur. In Mesopotamian Courtly Love Poetry, the
archetypal couple are Inanna/Ishtar, the Goddess of Love and War, and
her consort, Dumuzi/Tammuz, the priest-king and shepherd of the land,
who had his kingship conferred by the goddess represented by her high
priestess. Courtly love poetry is both earthly and spiritual, because
human partners represented their Divine Counterparts: lovemaking was
seen as a religious experience to be shared in all levels, by everyone
in the land, especially during the time of the Sacred Marriage Rite.
Moreover, the Mesopotamian formula for prayers and incantations
normally contains the expression "by the bond of heaven and earth" (or
duranki), as well as "from the Great Above to the Great Below" is
another very common expression. We believe this is the Mesopotamian
way of saying "as above, so below", much before the Emerald Tablet of
Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt, Ki being the wondrous lapis, the Earth
Queen, Beloved of Anu and Mother of all Creation. These are only a few
examples of the importance of Mesopotamian mythology, which shaped up
the psyche, religion, culture and values of the peoples who had some
contact with them.

In what follows, we will unearth passionate stories inscribed in clay
with the cuneiform system of writing invented by the ancient
Mesopotamians, many dated from pre-biblical times. The presentation
and retelling of such great myths in this work is intended to
demonstrate the timelessness and profound wisdom for present day
generations embedded in such age-old stories.

Myths can be described as the narratives by which civilisations
continually struggle to make their experience intelligible to
themselves by means of large, evoking images that carry philosophical
meaning to the facts of life, from the mundane to the extraordinary.
Fundamentally, myths show dramatic representations of human
aspirations and awareness of the universe. They also carry political
and moral values of the source culture, and at the same time provide
the means for interpreting individual and collective experiences
within a universal perspective. Furthermore, as the poet W.B. Yeats
put so well:

` _it is the charm of mythic narrative that it cannot tell one thing
without telling a hundred others. The symbols are an endlessly
inter-marrying family. They give life to what, stated in general
terms, appears only a cold truism, by hinting how the apparent
simplicity of the statement is due to an artificial isolation of a
fragment, which, in its natural place, is connected with all the
infinity of truths by living fibres (Comments on Blake that carry
organising value experienced by living fibres_ (comments on Blake,
quoted by Block:15).

In perfect harmony with Yeat's quotation introduced above, it is the
purpose of this work to cover three aspects of the countless ` one
thing ` that make myths worth telling through the ages. These are the
following: 1) to present the chosen myths in a loose chronological
sequence, as far as present day sources allow, through the lineage and
ancestry of gods and goddesses, and mortal men and women who
interacted with them; 2) to establish the possible links with
developments of the Ancient Near East history and politics as far as
archaeological data and findings are concerned (under construction,
and conclusions will be presented as essays involving where myth and
history dance and play), and 3) to show the joy, passion and values
embedded in such narratives that reveal themselves as amazingly valid
for our present-day generations.

_Thus, join us on a Journey that will take you through the Gates of
the Everlasting Babylon of all Mysteries, Magic, Passion and Healing.
By the bond of Heaven and Earth, may your Journey be safe, may the
words that were sung by so many take you to all homes where your Soul
may have once belonged, and may they take you back to everyday
reality, here and now, to live the Truths you experienced in the
Realms of Beyond!_

_[4]Back
Back To Myths_

References

1. file://localhost/www/sat/files/cul/whymeso.htm#chronology
2. file://localhost/www/sat/files/cul/whymeso.htm#overview
3. file://localhost/www/sat/files/cul/whymeso.htm#myths
4. http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/myths.htm