Drink and Babylon!

 

I spent an enjoyable hour listening to a podcast from the 'National Archives.' 

I knew about these but only recently began to listen to them.  Today I listened to one from 2006.

Phillipa Glanville, from the V&A museum, discussing 'The Dichotomies of Drink.'  Very interesting this was too.  A clever woman, well researched, and clearly spoken, discussing drink from the late 1600s up until recent times.  The development of whisky taught me much I did not know, the growth of beer in its many forms, wine, political intrusion and responses to European wars, and the public response during difficult times.

Water being rough if not impure led to much beer drinking, of a  weak kind.  War in Europe led to sales of whisky and rum growing.  Drunkenness also grew alongside the increase in alcohol sales.  Who would have thought...?

A good Podcast, and well worth a listen and I suspect many more also.

This is a good book!

Good that is if you like reading about ancient Mesopotamia!

I do.

Paul Kriwaczek, a Viennese, was head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC World Service for 25 years.  His wide knowledge of many languages no doubt aided his studies.  This book was published in 2010, a year before he died.

Beginning by comparing Saddam Hussein with the great leaders who had gone before him millennia ago helps us understand, he says, how life in the region continues in similar fashion since settlement began.  Human nature after all, does not change.

From Eridu in the south, where incoming peoples gathered around 5000 BC, through until the fall of Babylon to the Persians and the end of what the author calls the 'first stage' in civilisation, we follow the development of the various societies and indeed Pauls interesting, but not always correct thoughts on the matter.  

Paul was an intelligent and thoughtful man, however, some of his opinions were lacking in my view, indeed, somewhat idiosyncratic I would say.  His view on what was the 'Flood,' is worth reading, but somehow lacks substance to me.  

We hear of the rise of the Sumer super states, Ur and Uruk, the opposition from Elam, and the constant flow of peoples throughout time who eventually take over and, according to the author, continue the culture that they find.  

We read of Gilgamesh, and the various people who brought the rise and fall, and rise again, of Babylon and then Assyria.  Famous names such as Hammurabi pass by, less famous names come and go, leaving a mark in their day and going the way of all flesh into obscurity.  

Of course the rise of both Babylon and Assyria, and her fall, takes up some room.  Both, thanks to scripture, are renown in the west, though not accurately I suggest.  Paul describes the situation at various times attempting to enliven the image, he makes a story of the situation, often I found quite well, and throughout the book he remains easily readable, even I could understand the big words.

The study of those clay tablets covered in 'cuneiform' have offered us much detail on the life of people in the area.  This includes letters from a wife to her far off husband complaining about what he has taken with him on business, or detailing her efforts to sell the goods he has sent back from far off.  

It amazes me how much detail can be found, and it is exciting to consider how many thousands of these tablets have still to be translated.

We see the rise and fall of Assyria, her determination never to be put down again, resulting in her harsh treatment of those who resist.  Our author details also Assyria's harsh treatment of women, so harsh that it is possible to see how Islam can regard their treatment of women as protective!   

States cannot exist for ever under violence, eventually people rebel.  Babylon took over for a period, then the Persians ended this period of life.  Things were never the same again.

Ancient Sumer, and those that came after, developed the sciences as far as possible in their day.  Much of the maths known to the Greeks was already found in Ur and Uruk.  Architecture and art developed quickly, agriculture, in spite of mistakes, fed the people well, and life developed from Temple led authority governing an organised society, to a more 'free enterprise' world under the Kings.  The rich got richer and the poor remained poor as in all societies, but differing times had different responses to human need.

I liked this book, I disagreed with much of Pauls understanding of the situation, but I would wouldn't I?

This book is an easy read, full of information, offers a large reading list at the end, and is well worth spending time on.  Such a shame the author has passed on.

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

 

 

This is the video I talked about yesterday.  I forgot to link to it as I was rushing to get ready for the football!  Be warned, it is very long and needs to be taken in half hour sections.  Well worth it mind.  The computerised graphics are helpful, the photos good, and the History quite good also.  As always there is room for debate but watch it anyway.  It appears to be some sort of Podcast to which he has added pictures.  Enjoy two hours worth!

 

 

Sumer Writing

Waiting for the football last night I watched this excellent programme, on ancient Sumer.  The Sumerians appeared in the far distant past, possibly from the hills, possibly from the desert, or even possibly arriving by sea not long after the Ice Age ended and sea levels even in the Gulf rose high, some say as high asd a 13 storey building.  

Around 5500 BC they began to erect huts used as temples at Eridu, now far to the south in Iraq.  The civilisation flourished once they understood how to manage the land and by use of the massive amount of crops they grew became wealthy and the number of cities grew.  

By 3500 BC huge numbers lived in cities, some 20,000 or so in URUK the capital itself, clearly an elite had risen and the masses worked the land and gave their craftsmanship to the state.  This would entail grumbling similar to what we hear daily around us, but obviously not from ourselves.

This also required a better means of accounting, and these people were good at accounting.  Clay tablets were used to keep records and over the years a form of writing developed, civil servants arose and multiplied, administrators took their important pompous positions, and soon writing concerning numbers, merchandice and payment became what is now called literature.  (This does not include the daily press, obviously).  

To think that those first words, soon developed from indications of how many sheep had been sold or how much Beer had been given to workers, those words today allow us into the minds of a people 5500 years from us.

They do not appear to be much different from us.

It was the thought of what writing can do for us that struck me, not for the first time, and how powerful this is.  Printed words take us back thousands of years, into foreign minds, new understandings in science, maths (the Sumerians were good at numbers, they gave us 60 seconds in a  minute, and had complicated maths long before the Greeks were thought off), farming techniques, stories and histories, many of which kings of old gathered together with the intention of helping them rule better. 

It is also interesting that as far away as China and in South Americas that writing developed not that much later.  Growing population leading to growth of cities, dominationg personalities, and need for organisation appearing at almost the same time everywhere.      

Note: Any spelling mistakes here are in fact 'Sumerian' spellings.

   

First Day of Spring

Spring music for the official first day of Spring. 

Naturally the sun is shining and the wind is just above freezing, as it is in Spring.  All day people have walked around almost smiling as they considered the worst has passed.  Maybe they are right but as we know another day or two of snow and storm will appear before May.  

The weathermen use the 1st of March as the beginning of Spring for reasons unknown but this time of the year is when the hemispheres share the change over, in the north Spring begins while in the south Autumn arrives.  I read that the cuneiform tablet shown above speaks of this event.  This dates form around 3000 years ago, most likely from Ashurbanipal's library in  Nineveh, Assyria.  

The King liked to gather information that would help him run his kingdom, he lasted around 40 years and built up a large Assyrian Empire so he learnt well.  This king not only gathered information it is possible he was academically inclined, unlike some of his kind.  As is the way he obtained high office when the legitimate heir died and he was selected to the position, a good decision it turns out.

The scribes and learned men in Babylon might not have thought so however, Ashurbanipal's desire to know more led him to take such men into Nineveh and make them write out all the knowledge they had.  To ensure they reluctant ones did so he chained them there until they had furnished him with knowledge.

The Babylon folks did not take kindly to their northern neighbours and once Ashurbanipal had gone the Assyrian Empire went into decline.  Another couple of Kings later and an uprising from the south saw an end of the Assyrians empire making for good.  

Down there in far off Mesopotamia (the land between two rivers) the people five thousand and more years BC were happily working out the earth was round, the times table and other difficult maths (they taught the Greeks) and building high Ziggerat temples and other buildings, often just from mud brick, long before most of us considered such things important.

Staring up into the sky their 'Magi' would soon learn the movement of the stars and planets (would they know the difference I wonder?) and interpreting the movements as indication of events on earth.  They would not tell you a 'tall dark man will come to your door on Tuesday' however that is the stuff of girlies magazines not the real world.  Clear skies in the night sky would allow a wonderful panorama above and these men would quickly learn the change of the seasons.  Their understanding from away back is still relevant today (they gave us '60' for minutes in the day) and recognising Spring would be a reason for a celebration I would think.

Spring is here, the skies are bluer, the early morning brighter, now we can enjoy it as the weather improves.

Reading the Distant Past

What a great book!
The author takes us through ten cities beginning five millenniums BC and ending with Babylon and its fall.  Indeed she steps over into the first century AD but the bulk of the book concerns the far distant and still much unknown past.
5000 years BC people had begun to develop cities instead of large family groups spread over the area.  Increased population saw a drift into the far south of Mesopotamia (the land between two rivers) and Eridu the first stop is far in the south of what we know call Iraq.

Eridu

 

Eridu was considered the first city by the Sumerians, Sumer being the name given to the area, the city built they say by the god Enki.  He is said to have built his great temple here and over the centuries this was rebuilt time and again, each occasion carefully flattening and sealing the previous building before rebuilding began.  The archaeologists who dug deep into the mound found there was indeed a temple, a small square box shaped building the size of an average room dating from around five thousand years previously.

The gods feature much in the history.  Each city had its own, usually a female and male and the women often more important for reasons unknown.  Greeks and some early Christians developed the idea of a female goddess, pure and holy, clearly not based on any real woman around them.  I wonder why such goddesses are sought by so many?

The gods become confusing as time passes, some visit one another, several become top god depending on who is the top man, and all look after their city if they are fed and watered properly.   Some temples had at the top a variety of rooms for the gods use, each with following helpers.  The fact is we know god exists and if we don't find the real one we need to invent one to suit.  This did not help when cities went to war and one or other destroyed the loser mind.

The difference between these gods and the real God is that Jesus is alive and can be found, reading the theology here made the biblical story appear so much clearer and straight forward.

 

 Ubaid

 

Certainly the folks back then knew how to make pottery.  This bowl goes back to 5400BC and was found in a grave at Eridu.  That's seven thousand years ago and more!

The cities had various problems with water.  To the north the desert region depended in the end on irrigation making use of the changing rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates, later water came from the Zargos mountains when the Assyrians took charge.  In the south near the Gulf the tides from the Gulf caused different problems in the southern marshes.  It is thought the varying weather and shifting water led to a fatalism that permeates even Islam today, whether this is true I know not but it is a thought.  When you depend on the weather you tend to live with your eye one the sky.

The early chapters appear to indicate a lifestyle in which peace and love circulates and everyone shares everything and lives in harmony with one another.  Certainly this is possible, ancient cities on the Indian/Pakistan border had no walls and appear to have settled lives so why not Eridu.  We know however that human nature is corrupt and already people spoke of the flood and what had occurred in the distant past, human nature does not change.  It is possible a decent society existed but on occasion as time moves on through the millenniums it is clear soldiers exist, walls are created and aa dominant level of society is calling the shots.

The increase in exchange of goods required better husbandry and records of trade, the beginning of writing appears about 3500BC and by then someone, possibly in the temple is organising society to ensure life continues and this means ensuring the farmers plant crops, the herdsmen and shepherds do their stuff and appropriate offerings are made to the gods.  A powerful civil service arises everywhere and soon scribes become just as important.  

Early writing featuring simple signs indicating beer or wheat eventually develop into Cuneiform script which exists for thousands of years afterwards.  Many late clay tablets feature translations into Greek on the reverse side.  Where would we be without writing?

 

   UR

Ur is one of the most famous cities discussed in the book.  Famous because Abram, who you may have heard off originated here before making his way north to Harran with his father than setting off to Canaan to become the first of the Hebrews.  It was fascinating to discover something of the situation 2000BC when he left.  UR had developed into a small state and ruled over many for over a hundred years or so and near the end of that time Abram and all his moved away.  The folks in UR had not been good at treating the neighbours well and by 2000 the Elamites had come from the east miffed at their treatment and laid waste the city.  They were very miffed!

 

The author, a woman, begins with the historical dig at each city, tells us the history and of the discoveries made at each city.  This is an excellent read and not boring, at least not to me.  She flows along making special mention of women whenever she can, as women do!  Each town has its occupation indicated, the ideology if it had one and the various gods enthroned.  Some reveal a great deal about those who inhabited the city while others leave a lot to be desired.  Where possible Gwendolyn Leick explains the various interpretations for the difficulties presented and the glossary and notes at the back help a great deal while pondering the findings.

 

 Adad Gate

Nineveh offers an interesting problem for those wishing to dig into the remains.  It is situated opposite Mosul, the city now controlled by Daesh (what we should call ISIS).  This makes it interesting as Daesh refuse to accept the past as important and tend to chop heads of those who dig there.  Most now avoid the area and this appears reasonable to me.  The ancient city is a huge space in which hundreds of archaeologists could spend years researching the past, that however will not happen for some time.

 

 Sippar

This is a poor review of a good book.  My excuse is the tendency I suffer at the moment to fall asleep, sometimes when walking down the street, and the feeble mind is even more feeble than ever this week

If you wish to understand the past read this book.  One thing that we know from such works is that human nature does not change and people now are just as they were ten thousand years ago, people do not change.