Ancient Near East Essay Research Paper Ancient — страница 2

  • Просмотров 267
  • Скачиваний 9
  • Размер файла 16
    Кб

possible historical factors, one must not forget the effects of climatic determinism. Many attempts have been made to explain the course of history because of large-scale climatic change. These theories are called climatic determinism, but again this is just part of the picture. In the name of determinism let the record show that the climate of this era was at least conducive to irrigation of a desert valley because of snow and rain in the northern and eastern mountains. Furthermore, as far as determinism goes, the term economic determinism should not be viewed as a good descriptor for the factors surrounding the rise of high civilization. A better term is economic facilitation . This describes the path of irrigation and excess production of wealth as it leads to full-blown

civilization with a command economy. It is made possible by this act of facilitation. Certain institutional establishments and sociopolitical structures attest to the status of First High Civilization for Sumer and Akkad. It is true that the Sumerians were the first people known to have devised a scheme of written representation as a means of record keeping and communication, but analysis reveals the true status importance of the institutions of literature and education. The people responsible for the first monumental temples and palaces, for the founding of the first city-states and most likely for the invention of writing (all in the period of 3100-3000 BCE) are the Sumerians. The first written signs are pictographic, so they can be read in any language and one cannot infer a

particular language. A pictogram of an arrow means `arrow in any language. A few centuries later, however, these signs were used to represent Sumerian phonetic values and Sumerian words. It seems that the bean counters or accountants first used their written scheme to keep accounting records, but the system did not stop with accounting. The system evolved into full-blown cuneiform, a way of arranging impression stamped on clay by the wedge-like section of chopped-off reed that eventually allowed the existence of actual written stories and literature. Much is known today because of the important Sumerian legacy of recording literature. With the rise of early cities, and the actual advent of urban life, came changes in social organization. Urban life necessitated changes in social

organization: loyalties were redirected from kin to kings (Knapp, 62). One of these changes was the reliance upon the institutional establishment of kingship. It seems inevitable in every society that a ruling class will eventually evolve, and the leaders in this case evolved to be kings. The institutions of education, writing, literature and a religious priesthood also show the advanced level of this society. The civilization worked well, and the king lead a redistributive economy fueled by peasant agricultural labor. The educators and priests were taken care of because of the accumulation of wealth. In a true high civilization, some of the members of society do have time to pursue literature, art, and religion. When temple structures were built, independence became a

deep-rooted cultural norm, reinforced by the belief that each Sumerian city-state was the individual, inviolable estate of a particular god (Knapp, 68). The existence of religion resulted in the construction of temples and the early literature points to the inner workings of the religion. According to Jacobson, starting with the forces of nature (Numen), and then personalizing these forces as gods create myths or mythic gods. The gods are natural forces that reflect the environment or local surroundings. The gods play many roles in early civilization. They start out as providers, become temple gods or rulers, and finally serve to represent quasi-benevolent parents of the society at large. They come to eventually represent caring, nurturing providers who are personal protectors in

an impersonal world. Ishtar s descent is an example of this. Filled with complex abstraction and emotional expression, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld reflects the intellectual sophistication of the educated citizens of this early high civilization. The story takes place in a universe seen as a stratification of three layers. It seems to consist of heaven, sky and earth. This supernatural universe of Ishtar reeks of divine beings, gods, and demons. Ishtar is portrayed in an anthropomorphic way as superior human, imaging the ruling class of society. She is, however, more powerful, and is viewed as the cause of seasonality and fertility because of her ritual journey to and from the dark house.” The action in the story reflects the patriarchal society of the times. The