1/29/2012. Seated Statue of Gudea from Lagash Neo-Sumerian c BCE. Post Akkadian (Gutian) Sumerian Revival (Ur III)

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Lecture 6: Ur III and Neo-Sumerian Empire Plan of the city of Umma, with indications of property boundaries

HIST 213 Spring 2012 Post Akkadian (Gutian) 2160-2100 Sumerian Revival (Ur III) 2100-2000 Last Akkadian King

very poor rulers of Sumer crude administrators prosperity declined canal network failed famine lack of

1 Lecture 6: Ur III and Neo-Sumerian Empire Plan of the city of Umma, with indications of property boundaries during the Third Dynasty of Ur. Paris, Louvre. HIST 213 Spring 2012 Post Akkadian (Gutian) Sumerian Revival (Ur III) Last Akkadian King Shar-kali-sharri overthrown Series of Gutian Warlords from Zagros Mountains capital at Agade proved to be very poor rulers of Sumer crude administrators prosperity declined canal network failed famine lack of literature let south rule themselves Lagash assumes control over S. Mesopotamia 2 nd Dynasty of Lagash Gudea ( BCE) Seated Statue of Gudea from Lagash Neo-Sumerian c BCE 1

Gudea foundations of temples Gudea built numerous

again in Ur III period Utu-hegal of Uruk fends of

installs brother Ur-Nammu as ensi of Ur When

Sumer and Akkad 5 generations of same family (70

2 Gudea foundations of temples Gudea built numerous temples rekindled religious practice Sumerians rise again in Ur III period Utu-hegal of Uruk fends of Gutians and takes over several other city-states installs brother Ur-Nammu as ensi of Ur When Utu-hegal dies, Ur-Nammu takes new title King of Sumer and Akkad 5 generations of same family (70 years) starts Ur III Period Detail of reconstructed stele of Ur-Nammu 2

Ur III Dynasty (2112-2004 BCE) Sumerian Renaissance 5 generations of Sumerian rulers over unified Mesopotamia improvements in: bureaucracy urban density literacy

heartland 20 provinces ensi ruled on behalf of king (hereditary) B. military zone generals foreign names C.

3 Ur III Dynasty ( BCE) Sumerian Renaissance 5 generations of Sumerian rulers over unified Mesopotamia improvements in: bureaucracy urban density literacy centralized administration religious practices Ur III Empire Smaller than Akkad more centralized 3 districts A. heartland 20 provinces ensi ruled on behalf of king (hereditary) B. military zone generals foreign names C. trade zone Ur Ur III (Sumerian Renaissance) Incredible amount of extant written records 40,000 texts published comparable to what remains of Greece and Rome military campaigns building activity fabulous ziggurat at Ur economic and bureaucratic texts religious hymns hymns of Shulgi Law Codes Ur-Nammu 3

Long-Range Economic planning Textiles were a particularly important industry in Ur run by the state Men, women, and children alike were employed to produce wool and linen clothing.

4 Long-Range Economic planning Textiles were a particularly important industry in Ur run by the state Men, women, and children alike were employed to produce wool and linen clothing. startling amount of centralization scholars have gone so far as to say no other period in Mesopotamian history reached the same level. Trading was another huge industry. The state employed independent merchants to run such commercial activities through a barter system. A standard system of weights was established to aid this process. Coins made of copper, bronze, gold, or silver were produced in certain, pre-set weights so merchants could easily discern values Plan of a real estate of the city of Umma, with indications of the surfaces of the parts. Ur III Louvre. Standardized Weights and Measures 5-mina weight with the name of Shu-Shin, king of Sumer and Akkad. Diorite, ca BCE From Telloh, ancient Girsu. Akkadian form of bureaucratic centralization measurement used all over the Empire Ur III Economy: the bala-fund System of taxation called bala (exchange) each province gave what resource they had in abundance Girsu gave grain Umma gave manufactured goods each province s contribution was calculated in advance on the basis of it s production potential Royal chancellor (sukka-mah) represented the interests of the crown supervised the system 4

Ur III Economy: Labor Highest level of urbanization and population density in Mesopotamia men and women conscripted into the bala-fund 2 classes of workers A. labor all year round B.

weights and measures standardized calendar Nippur became of standard for official business only Religious worship children placed as high priests and priestesses deification of King Shulgi Kings of

5 Ur III Economy: Labor Highest level of urbanization and population density in Mesopotamia men and women conscripted into the bala-fund 2 classes of workers A. labor all year round B. ½ year labor Paid in rations from the bala-fund barley, oil, wood specific tasks: weaving, harvesting, cutting reeds Methods of Centralization Uniform writing system schools established system of weights and measures standardized calendar Nippur became of standard for official business only Religious worship children placed as high priests and priestesses deification of King Shulgi Kings of the Ur III Period Ur-Nammu ( BCE) Founded dynasty Moved capital to Ur United Sumerian and Akkadian cities First law-code Constructed ziggurat at Ur Shulgi ( BCE) Greatest king Patron of the arts Court poetry and literature Sumerian disappeared as a spoken language Created a highly organized hierarchical state Defeated northern and eastern barbarians Built a great defensive wall 120 mile long Shu-Sin ( BCE) 5

6 Ziggurat at Ur built by King Ur-Nammu 70 feet high 150 x 200 foot base 8 thick layer of brick set in bitumen Ziggurat at Ur 6

Significance of Monumental Architecture Indicates social and cultural sophistication control of resources from distant lands control of science

The Deification of Shulgi his first 20 years are concerned with cultic matters becomes divine in the middle of his reign names such as Shulgi is

7 Significance of Monumental Architecture Indicates social and cultural sophistication control of resources from distant lands control of science needed in construction applied mathematics and technical skill control of labor force (population) Centralized governmental and taxation system The Deification of Shulgi his first 20 years are concerned with cultic matters becomes divine in the middle of his reign names such as Shulgi is my god becomes popular one of many innovations during his rule scholars see this as a reinvigoration of the state main architect of the Ur III Period 7

Divine Kingship What were the perks of divine kingship? we don t know What difference did it make how a ruler portrayed himself? seem purely ideological What was the difference to the average peasant?

8 Divine Kingship What were the perks of divine kingship? we don t know What difference did it make how a ruler portrayed himself? seem purely ideological What was the difference to the average peasant? very little Hymn to Shulgi I am accomplished in wisdom, I vie with wisdom s true word, I love justice, I do not love evil, I hate the evil word, I, Shulgi, a mighty king, supreme am I. Because I am a powerful man rejoicing in his loins, I enlarged the footpaths, straightened the highways of the land, I made travel secure, built there big house [rest houses for travelers] Planted gardens alongside of them, established resting places there Settled there friendly folk I will raise my spear against the enemy I will set my banner against the border of a foreign land I will fill my quiver. My bow is ready to shoot like a raging serpent. The crushed people of the rebellious land. I will cut them down with my bow and sling like locusts. The inscription on the door-socket of King Shu-Sin reads: Inscribed Door-Socket of a Temple Umma, Sumer, modern Iraq, reign of King Shu Sin ( BCE), Ur III Period ( BCE). Stone. For the god Shara, distinguished one of the god An, beloved son of the goddess Inanna, his (Shu-Sin s) father, the divine Shu-Sin, purification priest of the god An, anointed priest with clean hands for the gods Enlil, Ninlil, and the great gods, the king whom the god Enlil lovingly chose in his (own) heart for the shepherdship of the land, mighty king, king of Ur, king of the four quarters, when he built the Amorite wall (called) It keeps Tidnum at a distance and returned the foot of the Amorites to their land, he built for him (Shara) and for his (own) life, E-shage-pada, his beloved temple. 8

Life of the Average Peasant Crowded urban life houses: 1- or 2- story houses made of thick mud brick shared common walls garden attached staple was barley vegetables, cheese fish milk and

slain by the axe were not covered with a cloth. Like a gazelle caught in a trap, their mouths bit the dust. Men struck down by the spear were not bound with bandages.

9 Life of the Average Peasant Crowded urban life houses: 1- or 2- story houses made of thick mud brick shared common walls garden attached staple was barley vegetables, cheese fish milk and beer children could be disinherited or sold into slavery schools for promising students temple or palace bureaucracy The Lament for Urim (~2000 BCE) lines : The heads of its men slain by the axe were not covered with a cloth. Like a gazelle caught in a trap, their mouths bit the dust. Men struck down by the spear were not bound with bandages. As if in the place where their mothers had labored, they lay in their own blood. Its men who were finished off by the battle-mace were not bandaged with new (?) cloth. important trading post on the Middle Euphrates 9

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1/29/2012. Akkadian Empire BCE

1/29/2012. Akkadian Empire BCE Lecture 5 Akkad and Empire HIST 213 Spring 2012 Akkadian Empire 2334-2193 BCE Semitic Dynasty three generations stretched from Elam to the Mediterranean sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day