Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia

Birth Legend of Sargon (c. 2240 BCE)[At Crieghton]
The Legend of Sargon of Akkadê, c. 2300 BCE [At this Site]
Sargon: Establishment of Akkadian Empire (c. 2240 BCE)
Enheduanna's Hymns (c.2280-2200 BCE)[At Angelfire]
The first writings ascribed to an author were ascribed to this woman, a daughter of Sargon. See also the WEB Enheduanna Page [At Anglefire] and 2ND En hedu'anna, Priestess of the Moon Goddess (c. 2354 BCE)[Modern Account]
The Advice of an Akkadian Father to His Son, c. 2200 BCE [At this Site]
The Akkadêan Precepts, c. 2200 BCE [At this Site]
WEB Akkadian Language Page [Website]

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Babylonia (c.2000-1600 BCE)

Amorite Expansion (2100-1900 BCE)
Some Babylonian Proverbs from the Library of Ashurbanipal, c. 1600 BCE [At this Site]
A Collection of Mesopotamian Laws, c. 2250 - 550 BCE [At this Site]
A Collection of Contracts from Mesopotamia, c. 2300 - 428 BCE [At this Site]
Code of Hammarabi
- Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE [This Site][Full Text, with introductions]
  Hammurabi (or Hammarapi), r. c. 1792-1750 BCE
- Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE [At EAWC][Full Text]
- Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE extracts [At WSU]
- Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE extracts and images [At St Olaf]
Cities
- Map of Nippur [At Northpark]
- WEB Nippur Expedition [Website-Chicago]
Creation Myths
- Babylonian Creation Myth [At Northpark]
  A 12th century BCE version of a Sumerian account.
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Creighton]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE and Notes [At CSUN]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At SJU]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Gilgamesh]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Akkadian Language Page]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At AOL-Wiccan Site]
- The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Eliade Site]
- Atrahasis: Human Creation [At Creighton]
- Atrahasis: Human Rebellion [At Creighton]
- Myth of Adapa [At Creighton]
- Adapa: The First Man [At AOL-Wiccan Site]
Religion
- The Reports of the Magicians & Astrologers of Nineveh & Babylon, c. 2500 - 670 BCE [At this Site]
- A Collection of Babylonian Prayers, c. 1600 BCE [At this Site]
- Ishtar's Descent into the Underworld [At AOL-Wiccan Site]
- The Descent of Ishtar into the Netherworld [At Eliade Site]
- The Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal [At AOL-Wiccan Site]
- 2ND Bablonian and Assyrian Mythology FAQ [At UNH]

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Kassites and Hittites (c.1600-717 BCE)

Kassites
- 2ND Kassite Rule in Babylon c.1600-1200 BCE [At Crystal Links][Modern Summary]
- 2ND The Kassites c.1600-1200 BCE [At WSU][Modern Summary]
Hittites
- Hittite Literature in Translation [At Emory]
- List of Hittite Gods [At AOL-Wiccan Site]
- Hittite Invasion c.1600 BCE
- Hittite Laws c.14th Cent BCE
- The Code of the Nesilim, c. 1650-1500 BCE
  Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
- 2ND The Hittites in Anatolia [At Crystal Links][Modern Summary]
  Has a useful timeline for putting the various Mesopotamian empires into geographical and temporal relationship to each other.
- 2ND Hititte and Hurrian Mythology [At UNH][Modern Account]
- WEB Hatti: Homeland of the Hittites [Website]
  Includes pictures and texts.
Hittite Texts
- 2ND Harry A. Hoffner, Jr.: Oil in Hittite Texts [At Emory/Bib.Arch][Modern Account]
- WEB Catalogue of Hittite Texts [Website-Emory]
Material Culture
- 2ND Robert C. Henrickson: Hittite Pottery and Potters: The View from Late Bronze Age Gordion [At Emory/Bib.Arch][Modern Account]
- WEB Museum of Anatolian Culture [At Turkey.org]

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Assyria (c.1350- 612 BCE)

Map: Assyrian Empires [At Nineveh.com]
Assyrian Kings List [at aina.org]
Assyrian Army Attacks at City [At Northpark]
Letter of Pabi, Prince of Lachish, to Akhnaton, King of Kemet (i.e. Egypt), circa 1350 BCE. [At this Site]
The Code of the Assyrians, c. 1075 BCE
Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
Tiglathpileser I (r. 1115-1077 BCE): Inscription [At Northpark]
Tiglath Pileser I, King of Assyria, B.C (r. 1115-1077 BCE): Inscription [At MUniv]
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (d. 823 BCE) [At M UNiv]
Each of its four sides is divided into five compartments of sculpture representing the tribute brought to the Assyrian King by vassal princes, Jehu of Israel being among the number. Shalmaneser, whose annals and conquests are recorded upon it, was the son of Assur-natsir-pal, and died in 823 BCE. [Note this king has now been renumber as III rather than II!]
Annals of Assur-nasir-pal (prob. r. 883 to 858 BCE) [At M Univ]
Sennacherib's Campaign vs. Judea 701 BCE [At ANET]
Accounts of the Campaign of Sennacherib, 701 BCE [At this Site]
Banquet of Ashurnasiral II (669-626 BCE), [At CCNY]
Account of Revolt of the City of Suru of Bit-Halupe 7th Cent BCE [At CCNY]
Legend of Ahikar the Wise [At Aldawood]
Fall of Nineveh 615 BCE
Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria [At this Site]
Includes accounts of Semiramis and Nitocris, Marriage customs, and the Persian conquest.
2ND The Great Ashurbanipal [At Aldawood]
Ashurbanipal (Sardanapalus)(r.668-626 BCE). Collected a libary of 22,000 clay tablets which was discovered in the late 19th century.
2ND John Malcolm Russel: Stolen Stones: The Modern Sack of Nineveh [At Archeology]
Splendid photographs of the modern sites.
2ND Austen Henry Layard: A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh. (New York. 1854) Complete text. [At M Univ]
WEB Ninevah Online [Website]
Ancient and modern Assyrian culture.

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Chaldea/Neo-Babylonia (612-539 BCE)

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar (r. 604-561 BCE) [At M Univ]
Ishtar Gate Inscription c.600 BCE [At St. Olaf]
Treaty between Mursilis and Duppi-Tessub ANET 203-5 [At Creighton]
Court of Nebuchadnezzar: Daniel I
Some Neo-Babylonian Legal Decisions, c. 555-427 BCE [At this Site]
Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria [At this Site]
Includes accounts of Semiramis and Nitocris, Marriage customs, and the Persian conquest.

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Syrian Cities: Ebla, Ugarit, Emar

Ebla was an ancient city in Syria at Tell Mardikh. The palace library, with thousands of tablets, was excavated by an Italian expedition in1975. These showed that Ebla had been a major commercial center. The tablets, written in a Canaanite language (Eblaite), date from c.2500 BCE. Exacavations over the past century have revealed more and more about Syrian cities.

WEB Image of Italian Excavations at Ebla c.2500 BCE [Icot.it]
2ND Biblical Origins in Canaan [Modern Accounts of Ebla findings]
2ND Account of Emar and here 14th Cent. BCE [At Emory][Modern Accounts]
2ND Ugarit and the Bible 12th Cent BCE [At theology.edu][Modern Account]
Includes some texts and pictures.
2ND Trade at Ugarit In The 13th Century BCE [At Farras]

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Phoenicia 950 BCE on

Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): Hellenes & Phoenicians, c. 430 BCE [At this Site]
WEB A Bequest Unearthed: Phoenicia [Website]
Includes a useful Table of Phoenician Alphabet: Names of Letters, Phonetics, Derivatives and Modern Equivalents
WEB The Phoenicians [At Mariners' Museum]

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Carthage: The Punic Empire

Map: Phoenicia Colonies [At A Bequest Unearthed]
Foundation by Tyre c.800 BCE
Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): The Carthaginian Attack on Sicily, 480 BCE [At this Site]
Aristotle (384-323 BCE): The Constitution of Carthage, c. 340 BCE, from Politics [At this Site]
The Carthaginian Law of Sacrifices, c. 400 BCE [At this Site]
Polybius (c.200-after 185 BCE): Rome at the End of the Punic Wars [History, Book 6] [At this Site] (Public Domain unlike next selection, which is a more recent version.)
Includes an extended comparison of Rome and Carthage.
Sack by Rome, 146 BCE

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ANE Arts and Architecture

WEB Photo Gallery of Mesopotamia [Website -St Olaf]]
WEB Near East Image Index [At EAWC]
2ND Music of the Ancient Near East [At AOL]
On the world's oldest written music, with a MIDI transcription of Hurrian Hymn H6.

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ANE Mathematics and Astronomy

2ND Babylonian and Egyptian Mathematics [At St. Andrews]
Illustrations and modern presentations of the calculation methods.

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Gender and Sexuality

For Women: see WEB Diotima
- Ancient Near East Laws Concerning Kinship and Marriage [At Creighton]
- Old Assyrian Marriage Contract 19th Cent. BCE [At Creighton]
For Gender variants: See WEB People With a History: Near East and Egypt or here
The Code of the Nesilim, c. 1650-1500 BCE
Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
The Code of the Assyrians, c. 1075 BCE
Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
The Advice of an Akkadian Father to His Son, c. 2200 BCE

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Modern Perspectives on Mesopotamia

text

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Common Issues: Mesopotamian/Egyptian/Hebrew/Greek History

There are a number of problems in the various proposed chronologies of ancient Mediterranean cultures. One that most students might notice is a diversity in the dates given for Egyptian and Mesopotamian states, periods, and monarchs. The variety of methods used to ascertain dates leads to rival schemes with dates which vary by nearly a century. There is also a much large inconsistency claimed by credentialed scholars whose motives seem, however, to derive from Biblical literalism.

2ND R. Wright: Survey of Regional Prehistory: Egypt and the Near East: Chronology [At NYU]
Wright explains the difference between absolute and relative chronology.
2ND David Meadows: Problems with Greek and Roman Calendars [At Atrium]
2ND Dating Problems in Aegean History [At Dartmouth]
2ND David Gill, Review of Robert Drews, The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 BC [At NCSU][Modern Account]
2ND Bill Schell: Mediterranean Dating and the Chronology of Kemet [At WHA][Modern Account]
2ND Are the Bible's Stories True?, TIME Magazine, December 18, 1995 Volume 146, No. 25 [At Millersville]
Reviews Archeological finds in recent years..
2ND Fred G. Zaspel: Ancient & Biblical Chronology & Genealogies [At WOL]
This is a clear explanation of "Biblical Chronology." It's not scientific, but shows the problem for literalists: the Biblical data seems to put the days of the Biblical patriarchs (none of whom are witnessed outside the Bible) and the exodus, much earlier than most scholar's estimates. A number of the credentialed scholars who challenge conventional schemes seem to be driven by such Bible-based schemes.
Centuries of Darkness?
- 2ND Peter James: Centuries of Darkness:Update and a response [At British Archeology][Modern Account]
- 2ND T.E. Wilder: A Chronological Revolution, [At British Archeology][Modern Account]. Positive review of Centuries of Darkness, showing its appeal to Biblical literalists. See also Bob Porter Summary [At BCS], from the same perspective.
- 2ND Review of Centuries of Darkness or here [At KMT]

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NOTES:

Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page.. The date of inception was 4/8/1998.

Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site].

WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.

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