Ubaid period

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farming, animal husbandry

pottery, metallurgy, wheel
circular ditches, henges, megaliths
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Chalcolithic

Pottery jar from Late Ubaid Period

Cultural influences on Ubaid culture: Samarran Farmers from the North, transArabian bifacial indigenous hunter-gatherers, and circum Arabian nomadic pastoral
complex

The Ubaid period (ca. 6500 to 3800 BC)[1] is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name
derives from Tell al-`Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was
conducted initially by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Woolley.[2]

In South Mesopotamia the period is the earliest known period on the alluvium although it is
likely earlier periods exist obscured under the alluvium.[3] In the south it has a very long duration
between about 6500 and 3800 BC when it is replaced by the Uruk period [4]
In North Mesopotamia the period runs only between about 5300 and 4300 BC.[4] It is preceded
by the Halaf period and the Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period and succeeded by the Late
Chalcolithic period.
Contents

1 Timeline

2 Description

3 Society

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

Timeline

The Ubaid period is divided into three principal phases:

Ubaid 1, sometimes called Eridu[5] (53004700 BC), a phase limited to the

extreme south of Iraq, on what was then the shores of the Persian Gulf. This
phase, showing clear connection to the Samarra culture to the north, saw the
establishment of the first permanent settlement south of the 5 inch rainfall
isohyet. These people pioneered the growing of grains in the extreme
conditions of aridity, thanks to the high water tables of Southern Iraq.[6]

Ubaid 2 [5] (48004500 BC), after the type site of the same name, saw the
development of extensive canal networks from major settlements. Irrigation
agriculture, which seems to have developed first at Choga Mami (47004600
BC) and rapidly spread elsewhere, form the first required collective effort and
centralised coordination of labour in Mesopotamia. [7]

Ubaid 3/4, sometimes called Ubaid I and Ubaid II [8] In the period from 4500
4000 BC saw a period of intense and rapid urbanisation with the Ubaid
culture spread into northern Mesopotamia replacing (after a hiatus) the Halaf
culture. Ubaid artifacts spread also all along the Arabian littoral, showing the
growth of a trading system that stretched from the Mediterranean coast
through to Oman.[9][10]

The archaeological record shows that Arabian Bifacial/Ubaid period came to an abrupt end in
eastern Arabia and the Oman peninsula at 3800 BC, just after the phase of lake lowering and
onset of dune reactivation.[11] At this time, increased aridity led to an end in semi-desert
nomadism, and there is no evidence of human presence in the area for approximately 1000 years,
the so-called "Dark Millennium".[12] This might be due to the 5.9 kiloyear event at the end of the
Older Peron.
Description

Ubaid culture is characterized by large village settlements, characterized by multi-roomed

rectangular mud-brick houses and the appearance of the first temples of public architecture in
Mesopotamia, with a growth of a two tier settlement hierarchy of centralized large sites of more
than 10 hectares surrounded by smaller village sites of less than 1 hectare. Domestic equipment
included a distinctive fine quality buff or greenish colored pottery decorated with geometric
designs in brown or black paint; tools such as sickles were often made of hard fired clay in the
south. But in the north, stone and sometimes metal were used.
During the Ubaid Period [5000 B.C. 4000 B.C.], the movement towards urbanization began.
"Agriculture and animal husbandry [domestication] were widely practiced in sedentary
communities". There were also tribes that practiced domesticating animals as far north as Turkey,
and as far south as the Zagros Mountains.[13]
Society

The Ubaid period as a whole, based upon the analysis of grave goods, was one of increasingly
polarised social stratification and decreasing egalitarianism. Bogucki describes this as a phase of
"Trans-egalitarian" competitive households, in which some fall behind as a result of downward
social mobility. Morton Fried and Elman Service have hypothesised that Ubaid culture saw the
rise of an elite class of hereditary chieftains, perhaps heads of kin groups linked in some way to
the administration of the temple shrines and their granaries, responsible for mediating intragroup conflict and maintaining social order. It would seem that various collective methods,
perhaps instances of what Thorkild Jacobsen called primitive democracy, in which disputes were
previously resolved through a council of one's peers, were no longer sufficient for the needs of
the local community.
Ubaid culture originated in the south, but still has clear connections to earlier cultures in the
region of middle Iraq. The appearance of the Ubaid folk has sometimes been linked to the socalled Sumerian problem, related to the origins of Sumerian civilisation. Whatever the ethnic
origins of this group, this culture saw for the first time a clear tripartite social division between
intensive subsistence peasant farmers, with crops and animals coming from the north, tentdwelling nomadic pastoralists dependent upon their herds, and hunter-fisher folk of the Arabian
littoral, living in reed huts.

Stein and zbal describe the Near East oikumene that resulted from Ubaid expansion,
contrasting it to the colonial expansionism of the later Uruk period. "A contextual analysis
comparing different regions shows that the Ubaid expansion took place largely through the
peaceful spread of an ideology, leading to the formation of numerous new indigenous identities
that appropriated and transformed superficial elements of Ubaid material culture into locally
distinct expressions".[14]
The earliest evidence for sailing has been found in Kuwait indicating that sailing was known by
the Ubaid 3 period.[15]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ubaid Period.
Archaeology portal
Ancient Near East portal

Ubaid house

Tell Zeidan

Notes
1.
Carter, Robert A. and Philip, Graham Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and
Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East (Studies in Ancient
Oriental Civilization, Number 63) The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
(2010) ISBN 978-1-885923-66-0 p.2, at
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc63.html; "Radiometric data
suggest that the whole Southern Mesopotamian Ubaid period, including Ubaid 0 and
5, is of immense duration, spanning nearly three millenia from about 6500 to 3800
B.C".
Hall, Henry R. and Woolley, C. Leonard. 1927. Al-'Ubaid. Ur Excavations 1.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Adams, Robert MCC. and Wright, Henry T. 1989. 'Concluding Remarks' in
Henrickson, Elizabeth and Thuesen, Ingolf (eds.) Upon This Foundation - The Ubaid
Reconsidered. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 451-456.
Carter, Robert A. and Philip, Graham. 2010. 'Deconstructing the Ubaid' in
Carter, Robert A. and Philip, Graham (eds.) Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and
Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East. Chicago: The Oriental
Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 2.

 Kurt, Amlie Ancient near East V1 (Routledge History of the Ancient World)
Routledge (31 Dec 1996) ISBN 978-0-415-01353-6 p.22
Roux, Georges "Ancient Iraq" (Penguin, Harmondsworth)
Wittfogel, Karl (1981) "Oriental Despotism: Comparative Study of Total Power"
(Vintage Books)
Issar, A; Mattanyah Zohar Climate change: environment and civilization in
the Middle East Springer; 2nd edition (20 Jul 2004) ISBN 978-3-540-21086-3 p.87
Bibby, Geoffrey (2013), "Looking for Dilmun" (Stacey International)
Crawford, Harriet E.W.(1998), "Dilmun and its Gulf Neighbours" (Cambridge
University Press)
Parker, Adrian G.; et al. (2006). "A record of Holocene climate change from
lake geochemical analyses in southeastern Arabia". Quaternary Research 66 (3):
465476. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2006.07.001.[dead link]
Uerpmann, M. (2002). "The Dark MillenniumRemarks on the final Stone Age
in the Emirates and Oman". In Potts, D.; al-Naboodah, H.; Hellyer, P. Archaeology of
the United Arab Emirates. Proceedings of the First International Conference on the
Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press. pp. 7481. ISBN 1-900724-88-X.
Pollock, Susan (1999). Ancient Mesopotamia: The Eden that Never Was. New
York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-57334-3.
Stein, Gil J.; Rana zbal (2006). "A Tale of Two Oikumenai: Variation in the
Expansionary Dynamics of Ubaid and Uruk Mesopotamia". In Elizabeth C. Stone.
Settlement and Society: Ecology, urbanism, trade and technology in Mesopotamia
and Beyond (Robert McC. Adams Festschrift). Santa Fe: SAR Press. pp. 356370.
1.

Carter, Robert (2006). "Boat remains and maritime trade in the

Persian Gulf during the sixth and fifth millennia BC". Antiquity 80 (307).

References

Martin, Harriet P. (1982). "The Early Dynastic Cemetery at al-'Ubaid, a ReEvaluation". Iraq 44 (2): 145185. doi:10.2307/4200161. JSTOR 4200161

Tell Halaf
(Redirected from Halaf)
"Halaf" redirects here. For the villages in Iran, see Halaf, Iran (disambiguation).

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear
because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this
article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

Tell Halaf

Part of the excavated ruins of Tell Halaf

Shown within Syria

Location
Coordinates
Type

Al-Hasakah Governorate,
Syria
36.8266N 40.0396E
settlement
History

Founded

ca. 6,100 BCE

Abandoned

ca. 5,400 BCE

Periods

Neolithic

Cultures

Halaf culture
Site notes

Excavation dat 19111913, 1929

es
2006present
Max von Oppenheim
Archaeologists Lutz Martin
Abd al-Masih Bagdo
Ownership

Public

Public access

Yes

Tell Halaf (Arabic: ) is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of

northeastern Syria, near the Turkish border, just opposite Ceylanpnar. It was the first find of a
Neolithic culture, subsequently dubbed the Halaf culture, characterized by glazed pottery painted
with geometric and animal designs. The site dates to the 6th millennium BCE and was later the
location of the Aramaean city-state of Guzana or Gozan. During the Syrian Civil War, People's
Protection Units took control of the area.
Contents

1 Discovery and excavations

o

1.1 Discovery

1.2 Excavations by Max von Oppenheim

1.3 Tell Halaf Museum, Berlin

1.4 Reconstruction of the artefacts

1.5 New excavations

2 Halaf culture

3 Guzana

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

Discovery and excavations

Statue of a male from the cult room at Tell Halaf, today at the Adana Museum,
Turkey

Scorpion-birdman from the Scorpion Gate at the Western Palace of Tell Halaf,
damaged by fire in 1943 and restored

Replica of a gold clothing ornament found at Tell Halaf

Reconstructed statue of a bird statue found at Tell Halaf (184 by 70 by 70 cm)

The site is located near the city of Ra's al-'Ayn in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr alKhabur), close to the modern border with Turkey. The name Tell Halaf is a local Aramaic

placename[citation needed], tell meaning "hill", and Tell Halaf meaning "made of former city"; what its
original inhabitants called their settlement is not known.
Discovery

In 1899, when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire, Max von Oppenheim, a German
diplomat travelled through northern Mesopotamia on behalf of Deutsche Bank, working on
establishing a route for the Bagdad Railway. On 19 November, he discovered Tell Halaf,
following up on tales told to him by local villagers of stone idols buried beneath the sand. Within
three days, several significant pieces of statuary were uncovered, including the so-called "Sitting
Goddess". A test pit uncovered the entrance to the "Western Palace". Since he had no legal
permit to excavate, Oppenheim had the statues he found reburied and moved on.[1]:16,24,63
Excavations by Max von Oppenheim

According to noted archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld, he had urged Oppenheim in 1907 to excavate
Tell Halaf and they made some initial plans towards this goal at that time. In August 1910,
Herzfeld wrote a letter calling on Oppenheim to explore the site and had it circulated to several
leading archaeologists like Theodor Noldeke or Ignaz Goldziher to sign. Armed with this letter,
Max von Oppenheim was now able to ask for his dismissal from the diplomatic service (which
he did on 24 October 1910) while being able to call on financing from his father for the
excavation.[1]:48-49
With a team of five archaeologists, Oppenheim planned a digging campaign that began on 5
August 1911. Substantial amounts of equipment were imported from Germany, including a small
steam train. The costs totaled around 750,000 Mark and were covered by von Oppenheim's
father. On arrival, the archaeologists discovered that since 1899 locals had uncovered some of
the findings and heavily damaged them - in part out of superstition, in part to gain valuable
building material.
During the excavations Oppenheim found the ruins of the town of Guzana (or Gozan).
Significant finds included the large statues and reliefs of the so called "Western Palace" built by
King Kapara, as well as a cult room and tombs. Some of the statuary was found reused in
buildings from the Hellenistic period. In addition, they discovered Neolithic pottery of a type
which became known as Halaf culture after the site where it was first found. At the time, this
was the oldest painted pottery ever found (together with those discovered at Samarra by
Herzfeld).[1]:25,48-49,64-66
In 1913, Oppenheim decided to return temporarily to Germany.[1]:16 The finds of Tell Halaf were
left at the building he and his team had inhabited during the dig. Most of them were securely
packaged and stored. The outbreak of World War I prevented Oppenheim from returning,
however.[1]:66-67
In 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations and it thus became possible for German
nationals to conduct excavations in what was now the French Mandate of Syria. Preparing for
new excavations, in 1927 Oppenheim again travelled to Tell Halaf. Artillery fire exchanged

between Osman and French troops in the final days of the war had severely damaged the
building and the archaeological findings had to be dug out of the rubble. Once again, it was
found that the locals had damaged some of the stone workings. Since he had made plaster casts
during the original excavation, Oppenheim was able to repair most of the damage done to the
statues and orthostat reliefs. He managed to achieve a generous division of his previous finds
with the French authorities. His share (about two-thirds of the total) was transported to Berlin,
the rest was brought to Aleppo, where Oppenheim installed a museum that became the nucleus of
today's National Museum.[1]:26 In 1929, he resumed excavations and the new findings were
divided.[1]:16
Tell Halaf Museum, Berlin

Attempts by Oppenheim to have his findings exhibited at the newly constructed Pergamon
Museum in Berlin failed, as the museum refused to agree to Oppenheim's financial demands. He
thus opened his own private "Tell Halaf Museum" in an industrial complex in BerlinCharlottenburg in July 1930. The museum's concept of presenting the exhibits is considered quite
modern even by today's standards.[1]:26
In 1939, Oppenheim once more travelled to Syria for excavations, coming within sight of Tell
Halaf. However, the French authorities refused to award him a permit to dig and he had to
depart. Oppenheim also unsuccessfully tried to sell some of his finds in New York and again
negotiated with the German government about the purchase of the Tell Halaf artefacts. While
these negotiations continued, the Museum was hit by a British phosphorus bomb in November
1943. It burnt down completely, all wooden and limestone exhibits were destroyed. Those made
from basalt were exposed to a thermal shock during attempts to fight the fire and severely
damaged. Many statues and reliefs burst into dozens of pieces. Although the Vorderasiatisches
Museum Berlin took care of the remains, months passed before all of the pieces had been
recovered and they were further damaged by frost and summer heat.[1]:26,67
Reconstruction of the artefacts

Stored in the cellars of the Pergamon Museum during the period of communist rule under the
GDR, the remains were left untouched.[2] After reunification, the Masterplan Museumsinsel of
1999 brought up the idea of having the Western Palace front from Tell Halaf restored. With
financial support from Sal. Oppenheim and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft the
Vorderasiatisches Museum engaged in its largest-scale restoration project since the
reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate. From 2001 to 2010, more than 30 sculptures were
reconstructed out of around 27,000 fragments. They were exhibited at the Pergamon Museum in
Berlin in 2011 and at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn in 2014.[3][1]:67-68 When the reconstruction of the
Museumsinsel is completed around 2025, the Western Palace faade will be the entrance to the
new Vorderasiatisches Museum.[4]
New excavations

In 2006, new Syro-German excavations were started under the direction of Lutz Martin
(Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Abd al-Masih Bagdo (Directorate of Antiquities Hassake),
Jrg Becker (University of Halle) and Mirko Novk (University of Bern).

Halaf culture
Main article: Halaf culture

Tell Halaf is the type site of the Halaf culture, which developed from Neolithic III at this site
without any strong break. The Tell Halaf site flourished from about 6,100 to 5,400 BCE, a period
of time that is referred to as the Halaf period. The Halaf culture was succeeded in northern
Mesopotamia by the Ubaid culture. The site was then abandoned for a long period.
Guzana

Hunting scene relief in basalt found at Tell Halaf, dated 850830 BCE

This relief depicting a winged genius was once in the palace of King Kapara. Walters
Art Museum, Baltimore.

In the 10th century BCE, the rulers of the small Aramaean kingdom Bit Bahiani took their seat in
Tell Halaf, which was re-founded as Guzana. King Kapara built the so-called hilani, a palace in
Neo-Hittite style with a rich decoration of statues and relief orthostats.

In 894 BCE, the Assyrian king Adad-nirari II recorded the site in his archives as a tributary
Aramaean city-state. In 808 BCE, the city and its surrounding area was reduced to a province of
the Assyrian Empire. The governor's seat was a palace in the eastern part of the citadel mound.
Guzana survived the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and remained inhabited until the RomanParthian Period.
In historical times, the mound itself became the citadel of the Aramaean and Assyrian city. The
lower town extended 600 m NS and 1000 m EW. The citadel mound housed the palaces and
other official buildings. Most prominent are the so-called Hilani or "Western Palace" with its rich
decor, dating back to the time of King Kapara, and the "North-Eastern Palace", the seat of the
Assyrian governors. In the lower town a temple (or cult room) in Assyrian style was discovered.
See also
Ancient Near East portal

Cities of the Ancient Near East

Beehive tomb

Hadad-yith'i

Notes
1.
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ed.) (2014).
Abenteuer Orient - Max von Oppenheim und seine Entdeckung des Tell Halaf
(German). Wasmuth. ISBN 978-3-8030-3365-9.
Bailey, Martin (29 July 2009). "New life for ancient Syrian sculptures". The Art
News Paper. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
Brockschmidt, Rolf (26 January 2011). "Eine Gttin kehrt zurck (German)".
Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
1

Grimberg, Klaus (27 January 2011). "Ausstellung der geretteten Gtter

von Tell Halaf in Berlin (German)". Westdeutsche Allgemeine. Retrieved 22
July 2014.

References

Abd el-Mesih Baghdo, Lutz Martin, Mirko Novk, Winfried Orthmann:

Ausgrabungen auf dem Tell Halaf in Nordost-Syrien. Vorbericht ber die erste
und zweite Grabungskampagne (German), Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2009.
ISBN 978-3-447-06068-4.

Abd el-Masih Baghdo, Lutz Martin, Mirko Novk, Winfried Orthmann:

Ausgrabungen auf dem Tell Halaf in Nordost-Syrien. Vorbericht ber die dritte
bis fnfte Grabungskampagne 2008-2010. (German) Harrassowitz,
Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-447-06828-4.

Jrg Becker: Tell Halaf. Die prhistorischen Schichten - Neue Einblicke. in: D.
Bonatz, L. Martin (eds.): "100 Jahre archologische Feldforschungen in
Nordost-Syrien - eine Bilanz" (German). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2013, pp.
45-64, ISBN 978-3-447-10009-0.

Mirko Novk: Gozan and Guzana. Anatolians, Aramaeans and Assyrians in Tell
Halaf. in: D. Bonatz, L. Martin (eds.): "100 Jahre archologische
Feldforschungen in Nordost-Syrien - eine Bilanz. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
2013, pp. 259-281, ISBN 978-3-447-10009-0.

Hijara, Ismail. The Halaf Period in Northern Mesopotamia London: Nabu, 1997.

Axe, David. "Back from the Brink." Archaeology 59.4 (2006): 5965.

Winfried Orthmann: Die aramisch-assyrische Stadt Guzana. Ein Rckblick

auf die Ausgrabungen Max von Oppenheims in Tell Halaf. Schriften der Max
Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung. H. 15. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005. ISBN
3-447-05106-X.

U. Dubiel L. Martin, Stier aus Aleppo in Berlin. Bildwerke vom Tell Halaf
(Syrien) werden restauriert (German), Antike Welt 3/2004, 4043.

G. Teichmann und G. Vlger (ed.), Faszination Orient. Max Freiherr von

Oppenheim. Forscher, Sammler, Diplomat (German) (Cologne, Max Freiherr
von Oppenheim-Stiftung 2003).

Nadja Cholidis, Lutz Martin: Kopf hoch! Mut hoch! und Humor hoch! Der Tell
Halaf und sein Ausgrber Max Freiherr von Oppenheim. (German) Von Zaber

Samarra
Coordinates:

341154N 435227E

Smarr'

Samarra
City

The Shrine of two Shiite Imams in Samarra.

Smarr'
Coordinates:
Country
Governorate

341154N 435227E
Iraq
Salah ad Din Governorate

Population (2003 est)

Total

348,700

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Official name: Samarra Archaeological City
Type:

Cultural

Criteria:

ii, iii, iv

Designated:

2007 (33rd session)

Reference No.

276

State Party:

Iraq

Region:

Arab States

Endangered:

2007present

Smarr (Arabic: )is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris River in the
Salah ad-Din Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad. In 2003 the city had an
estimated population of 348,700. Samarra is in the Sunni Triangle.
The city was once the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and the only remaining Islamic capital
that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics.[1] In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra
one of its World Heritage Sites.[2]
Contents

1 Etymology

2 History
o

2.1 Ancient Samarra

2.2 Abbasid capital

2.3 Islamic significance

2.4 Modern era

3 Samarra in popular culture

4 References

5 Selected Bibliography

6 External links

Etymology

The official name, as referenced by coins, was the Arabic phrase Surra man raa (Arabic:
), which translates to who sees it rejoices. But in vernacular it was always called Samarra.
[citation needed]

History

Ancient Samarra

Female statuette, Samarra, 6000 BCE

The Samarra bowl, at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The swastika in the center of
the design is a reconstruction.[3]

Chinese-made sancai pottery shard, 9-10th century, found in Samarra, an example

of Chinese influences on Islamic pottery. British Museum.

The remains of prehistoric Samarra were first excavated between 1911 and 1914 by the German
Archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Samarra became the type site for the Samarra culture. Since 1946,
the notebooks, letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been in the Freer
Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
A city of Sur-marrati (refounded by Sennacherib in 690 BC according to a stele in the Walters
Art Museum, Baltimore[citation needed]) is insecurely identified with a fortified Assyrian site of
Assyrian at al-Huwaysh, on the Tigris opposite to modern Samarra.
Ancient toponyms for Samarra noted by the Samarra Archaeological Survey are Greek Souma
(Ptolemy V.19, Zosimus III, 30), Latin Sumere, a fort mentioned during the retreat of the army of
Julian the Apostate in 363 AD (Ammianus Marcellinus XXV, 6, 4), and Syriac Sumra
(Hoffmann, Auszge, 188; Michael the Syrian, III, 88), described as a village.
The possibility of a larger population was offered by the opening of the Qatul al-Kisrawi, the
northern extension of the Nahrawan Canal which drew water from the Tigris in the region of
Samarra, attributed by Yaqut (Mu`jam see under "Qatul") to the Sassanid king Khosrau I
Anushirvan (531578). To celebrate the completion of this project, a commemorative tower
(modern Burj al-Qa'im) was built at the southern inlet south of Samarra, and a palace with a
"paradise" or walled hunting park was constructed at the northern inlet (modern Nahr al-Rasasi)
near to al-Daur. A supplementary canal, the Qatul Abi al-Jund, excavated by the Abbasid Caliph
Harun al-Rashid, was commemorated by a planned city laid out in the form of a regular octagon
(modern Husn al-Qadisiyya), called al-Mubarak and abandoned unfinished in 796.

Abbasid capital

In 836 the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tasim founded a new capital at the banks of the Tigris. Here he
built extensive palace complexes surrounded by garrison settlements for his guards, mostly
drawn from Central Asia and Iran (most famously the Turks, as well as the Khurasani
Ishtakhaniyya, Faraghina and Ushrusaniyya regiments) or North Africa (like the Maghariba).
Although quite often called Mamluk slave soldiers, their status was quite elevated; some of their
commanders bore Sogdian titles of nobility.[4]
The city was further developed under Caliph al-Mutawakkil, who sponsored the construction of
lavish palace complexes, such as al-Mutawakkiliyya, and the Great Mosque of Samarra with its
famous spiral minaret or Malwiya, built in 847. For his son al-Mu'tazz he built the large palace
Bulkuwara.
Samarra remained the residence of the caliph until 892, when al-Mu'tadid eventually returned to
Baghdad. The city declined but maintained a mint until the early 10th century.
The Nestorian patriarch Sargis (86072) moved the patriarchal seat of the Church of the East
from Baghdad to Samarra, and one or two of his immediate successors may also have sat in
Samarra so as to be close to the seat of power.[5]
After the collapse of the Abbasid empire in about 940 Samarra was abandoned. Its population
returned to Baghdad and the city rapidly declined. Its field of ruins is the only world metropolis
of late antiquity which is available for serious archaeology.
Islamic significance

The city is also home to the al-Askari Mosque, containing the mausoleums of the Ali al-Hadi and
Hasan al-Askari, the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams, respectively, as well as the place from
where he went into occultation. Muhammad al-Mahdi, known as the "Hidden Imam", is the
twelfth and final Imam of the Twelvers. This has made it an important pilgrimage centre for the
Twelvers. In addition, Hakimah and Narjis, female relatives of the Muhammad and the Imams,
held in high esteem by Muslims, are buried there, making this mosque one of the most
significant sites of worship.
The Sunnis also pray in the mosques similar to the Shi'a; they also conduct pilgrimages to these
sites (coming as far as from South Asia), but they do not believe this to be obligatory, but rather
an affair providing spiritual blessings.

Modern era

Men walk down a street in Samarra in 1970. The Al-Askari Mosque is in the
background.

In the eighteenth century, one of the most bloody battles of the Perso-Ottoman wars took place
near Samarra where over 50,000 Turks and Persians became casualties. The engagement decided
the fate of Ottoman Iraq and kept it under Istanbul's suzerainty until the first world war.
During the 20th century, Samarra gained new importance when a permanent lake (Lake
Tharthar) was created through the construction of the Samarra Dam, which was built in order to
prevent the frequent flooding of Baghdad. Many local people were displaced by the dam,
resulting in an increase in Samarra's population.[citation needed]

al-Askari Shrine after the first attack.

Samarra is a key city in Salahaddin province, a major part of the so-called Sunni Triangle where
insurgents were active during the Iraq War.
Though Samarra is famous for its Shi'a holy sites, including the tombs of several Shi'a Imams,
the town is dominated by Sunnis. Tensions rose between Sunnis and Shi'as during the Iraq War
and on February 22, 2006, the golden dome of the al-Askari Mosque was destroyed by bombs,
setting off a period of rioting and reprisal attacks across the country which claimed hundreds of
lives. No organization claimed responsibility for the bombing but on June 13, 2007, suspected alQa'eda insurgents attacked the mosque again and destroyed the two minarets that flanked the
dome's ruins.[citation needed] On July 12, 2007 the clock tower was blown up. No fatalities were
reported. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations and three days of
mourning.[citation needed] He stated that he believed no Sunni Arab could have been behind the attack.
[citation needed]
The mosque compound and minarets had been closed since the 2006 bombing. An
indefinite curfew was placed on the city by the Iraqi police.[6][7]

Samarra in popular culture

The metaphor of "Having an appointment in Samarra", signifying death, is a literary reference to

an ancient Babylonian myth: Death is both the narrator and a central character, transcribed by W.
Somerset Maugham. The story was titled "The Appointment in Samarra", and subsequently
formed the germ of the novel Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara. The original story was
re-told in verse by F. L. Lucas in his poem 'The Destined Hour' in From Many Times and Lands
(1953).[8]
References
1.
UNESCO, Samarra Archaeological City, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/276
"Unesco names World Heritage sites". BBC News. 2007-06-28. Retrieved
2010-05-23.
Stanley A. Freed, Research Pitfalls as a Result of the Restoration of Museum
Specimens, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 376, The
Research Potential of Anthropological Museum Collections pages 229245,
December 1981.
Babaie, Sussan (2004). Slaves of the Shah. New York: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd.
pp. 45. ISBN 1 86064 721 9.
Mari, 801 (Arabic), 712 (Latin)
Qassim Abdul-Zahra (June 13, 2007). "Iraqi police say famous shrine
attacked". Associated Press.
"Blast hits key Iraq Shia shrine". BBC. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2012-04-21.

Lucas, F. L., The Destined Hour in From Many Times

and Lands (London, 1953); reprinted in Every Poem Tells a
Story: A Collection of Stories in Verse, ed. Raymond Wi
Tell Hassuna
(Redirected from Hassuna)

Tell Hassuna

Location

Nineveh Province, Iraq

Region

Mesopotamia
362750.4000N

Coordinates 425748.6000ECoordinates:
362750.4000N
425748.6000E
Type

tell

Length

200 meters

Width

150 meters

Height

7 meters
History

Material

mud-brick
Site notes

Excavation
dates

1943, 1944

Archaeologi
S. Lloyd
sts

Tell Hassuna is a tell, or settlement mound, in the Nineveh Province (Iraq). It is the type site for
the Hassuna culture (early sixth millennium BCE).
Contents

1 History of archaeological research

2 Tell Hassuna and its environment

3 Occupation history

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

History of archaeological research

Tell Hassuna was found in 1942 by Fuad Safar, and excavated in 1943 and 1944 by a team from
the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities led by Seton Lloyd. Excavations revealed that there
was once an advanced village culture that was spread throughout northern Mesopotamia. At
Hassuna, six different layers of houses were uncovered, revealing various vessels and pottery
that date ~5600-5350 BCE, with each layer becoming more substantial. Similar vessels were
found throughout the Middle East, showing that there was an extensive trade network that was
present as early as the 6th Millennium BCE. Pottery found at Hassuna can be divided into three
different categories: Hassuna Archaic, Hassuna Standard, and Samarran. These also include
painted, incised, and painted-incised ware. The decoration of the Samarra Painted Fine Ware is
always monochrome, but it seems as if three types of paint have been used: an ivory black, a
dark violet brown, and a medium chocolate brown. Circumstances of firing and variations in the
concentration of the paint have caused color changes, so that for example an oxidizing firing of
vessels painted with ivory black has produced an Indian red color. In general, the designs of the
Samarra Painted Fine Ware are carefully painted. Occasionally, however, parallel lines approach
or diverge slightly, and the thickness of some lines varies, apparently due to the use of a soft

painting-brush. The outside rim motifs are spaced and limited by groups of horizontal lines. [1]

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
The Neolithic
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Fertile Crescent
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Europe

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culture
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culture
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culture
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farming, animal husbandry

pottery, metallurgy, wheel
circular ditches, henges,
megaliths
Neolithic religion
Chalcolithic

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is a division of the Neolithic developed by Kathleen Kenyon

during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the West Bank.

Cultural tendencies of this period differ from that of the earlier Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)
period in that people living during this period began to depend more heavily upon domesticated
animals to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and hunter-gatherer diet. In addition the flint
tool kit of the period is new and quite disparate from that of the earlier period. One of its major
elements is the naviform core. This is the first period in which architectural styles of the southern
Levant became primarily rectilinear; earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical and
occasionally even octagonal. Pyrotechnology was highly developed in this period. During this
period, one of the main features of houses is evidenced by a thick layer of white clay plaster
floors highly polished and made of lime produced from limestone. It is believed that the use of
clay plaster for floor and wall coverings during PPNB led to the discovery of pottery.[1] The
earliest proto-pottery was White Ware vessels, made from lime and gray ash, built up around
baskets before firing, for several centuries around 7000 BC at sites such as Tell Neba'a Faour
(Beqaa Valley).[2] Sites from this period found in the Levant utilizing rectangular floor plans and
plastered floor techniques were found at Ain Ghazal, Yiftahel (western Galilee), and Abu
Hureyra (Upper Euphrates).[3] The period is dated to between ca. 10,700 and ca. 8,000 BP or
7000 - 6000 BCE.
Danielle Stordeur's recent work at Tell Aswad, a large agricultural village between Mount
Hermon and Damascus could not validate Henri de Contenson's earlier suggestion of a PPNA
Aswadian culture. Instead, they found evidence of a fully established PPNB culture at 8700 BC
at Aswad, pushing back the period's generally accepted start date by 1,200 years. Similar sites to
Tell Aswad in the Damascus Basin of the same age were found at Tell Ramad and Tell Ghoraif.
How a PPNB culture could spring up in this location, practicing domesticated farming from 8700
BC has been the subject of speculation. Whether it created its own culture or imported traditions
from the North East or Southern Levant has been considered an important question for a site that
poses a problem for the scientific community.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Like the earlier PPNA people, the PPNB culture developed from the Earlier Natufian but shows
evidence of a northerly origin, possibly indicating an influx from the region of north eastern
Anatolia. The culture disappeared during the 8.2 kiloyear event, a term that climatologists have
adopted for a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years
before the present, or c. 6200 BCE, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. In the
following Munhatta and Yarmukian post-pottery Neolithic cultures that succeeded it, rapid
cultural development continues, although PPNB culture continued in the Amuq valley, where it
influenced the later development of Ghassulian culture.
Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period
which existed between 8,200 and 7,900 BP. Juris Zarins has proposed that a Circum Arabian
Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BCE, partly
as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon animal domesticates, and a fusion
with Harifian hunter gatherers in Southern Palestine, with affiliate connections with the cultures
of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the
Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq.[12]

Syro-Hittite states
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Neo-Hittite)
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The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite were Luwian, Aramaic and
Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age in northern Syria and southern Anatolia
that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and which lasted until
roughly 700 BC. The term "Neo-Hittite" is sometimes reserved specifically for the Luwianspeaking principalities like Milid and Carchemish, although in a wider sense the broader cultural
term "Syro-Hittite" is now applied to all the entities that arose in south-central Anatolia
following the Hittite collapsesuch as Tabal and Quwas well as those of northern and
coastal Syria.[1]
Contents

1 Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition

2 List of Syro-Hittite states

3 Inscriptions

4 See also

5 Notes

6 External links

Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition

This section may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion,
tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (November 2014)
Further information: Bronze Age collapse

The vast Hittite empire at its maximum expansion in the lands of central Anatolia

The collapse of the Hittite Empire is usually associated with the gradual decline of Eastern
Mediterranean trade networks and the resulting collapse of major Late Bronze Age cities in the
Levantine coast, Anatolia and the Aegean.[2] In the middle of the 13th century BC, great groups
of Greeks speaking ancient Dorian dialects moved from the north through the Balkan region to
the south. The Thracians who occupied this region, and northern Greece, were forced to move to
the western coasts, and later to the inland of Anatolia, where they became known as Phrygians
and Mysians. At the end of the 13th century BC, the Mycenean palaces in inland Greece were
destroyed by invaders and almost simultaneously sea-raiders devastated the palace at Pylos. [3] [4]
A few decades later, at the beginning of the 12th century BC, Homeric Troy was destroyed[5] and
the Hittite Empire suffered a sudden devastating attack from the Kaskas, who occupied the coasts
around the Black Sea, and who were joined with the Mysians. They proceeded to destroy almost
all Hittite sites but they were finally defeated by the Assyrians beyond the southern borders near
Tigris[6] These great population movements in the Eastern-Meditterannean are documented in the
records of Ramesses III (11861155 BCE) as an invasion by the so-called sea peoples.[7]
Mentioned as being among them are the people of Adana (Dnnym or Danuna) in Cilicia and
probably the Troyans. Hatti, Arzawa (Lydia), Alashiya (Cyprus), Ugarit and Alalakh were
destroyed.[8] The invaders were defeated near the borders of Egypt.
It seems that the sea-peoples contributed to the collapse of the Empire, although they are only
mentioned in the Egyptian records and the archaeological evidence is insufficient. Their invasion
caused the movement, by both land and sea, of large populations seeking new land to settle.[9] In
fact, it is recorded that the foreign countries made a conspiracy in their islands and that no land
could stand before their arms. The Hittites were strong enough to survive the first stream of
emigrations, but they didn't escape the second, where they were surrounded by enemies. The
Caska were a continuous trouble, the borders with Arzawa were never considered safe, Mitanni
to the south was always an enemy and a few decades earlier the Hittites suffered a great defeat
against the Assyrians beyond the borders.[10] These Neo-Hittite Kingdoms gradually fell under
the control of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911608 BC).
Hattusa, the Hittite capital, was completely destroyed. Following this collapse of large cities and
the Hittite state, the Early Iron Age in northern Mesopotamia saw a dispersal of settlements and
ruralization, with the appearance of large numbers of hamlets, villages, and farmsteads.[11] Syro
Hittite states emerged in the process of such major landscape transformation, in the form of
regional states with new political structures and cultural affiliations. David Hawkins was able to
trace a dynastic link between the Hittite imperial dynasty and the "Great Kings" and "Countrylords" of Melid and Karkamish of the Early Iron Age, proving an uninterrupted continuity
between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age at those sites.[12]
Aside from literary evidence from inscriptions, the uninterrupted cultural continuity in the region
of Neo-Hittite states from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age is now further confirmed by
the recent archaeological work at the sites of Aleppo (Temple of the Storm God on the Citadel)[13]
and Ain Dara (Temple of Ishtar-Shawushka),[14] where temples built in the Late Bronze Age

continue into the Iron Age without hiatus, and those temples witness multiple rebuildings in the
Early Iron Age.
List of Syro-Hittite states

Historical map of the Neo-Hittite states, c. 800 BCE. Borders are approximate only.

The SyroHittite states may be divided into two groups: a northern group where Hittite rulers
remained in power, and a southern group where Aramaeans came to rule from about 1000 BC.
Although these states are considered somewhat unified, they were thought to actually be
disunified, even in separate kingdoms.[15][16]
The northern group includes:

Tabal. It may have included a group of city states called the Tyanitis (Tuwana,
Tunna, Hupisna, Shinukhtu, Ishtunda)

Kammanu (with Melid)

Hilakku

Quw (with a stronghold at modern Karatepe)

Gurgum

Kummuh

Carchemish

The southern, Aramaic, group includes:

Palistin (cpital was probably Tell Tayinat)[17][18]

Bit Gabbari (with Sam'al)

Bit-Adini (with the city of Til Barsip)

Bit Bahiani (with Guzana)

Pattin (also Pattina or Unqi) (with the city of Kinalua, maybe modern Tell
Tayinat[19])

Ain Dara, a religious center

Bit Agusi (with the cities of Arpad, Nampigi, and (later on) Aleppo)

Hatarikka-Luhuti (the capital city of which was at Hatarikka)

Hamath

Inscriptions

Luwian monumental inscriptions in Anatolian hieroglyphs continue uninterrupted from the 13thcentury Hittite imperial monuments to the Early Iron Age Syro-Hittite inscriptions of Karkamish,
Melid, Aleppo and elsewhere.[20] Luwian hieroglyphs was chosen by many of the Syro-Hittite
regional kingdoms for their monumental inscriptions, which often appear in bi or tri-lingual
inscriptions with Aramaic, Phoenician or Akkadian versions. The Early Iron Age in Northern
Mesopotamia also saw a gradual spread of alphabetic writing in Aramaic and Phoenician. During
the cultural interactions on the Levantine coast of Syro-Palestine and North Syria in the tenth
through 8th centuries BCE, Greeks and Phrygians adopted the alphabetic writing from the
Phoenicians.[21]

Hammurabi
For other uses see Hammurabi (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Ammurapi.

Hammurabi

Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving

his royal insignia from Shamash. Hammurabi
holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of
prayer[1] (relief on the upper part of the stele of
Hammurabi's code of laws).
Born

~1810 BC
Babylonia

Died

1750 BC middle chronology

Babylon

Known for

Code of Hammurabi

Title

King of Babylon

Term

42 years; c. 1792 1750 BC

(middle)

Predecessor

Sin-Muballit

Successor

Samsu-iluna

Religion

Babylonian religion

Partner(s)

Unknown

Children

Samsu-iluna

Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in c. 1792 BC

and upon his death in c. 1750 BC

Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite Ammurpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from Ammu,
"paternal kinsman", and Rpi, "healer"; died c. 1750 BC) was the sixth Amorite king of Babylon
(that is, of the First Babylonian Dynasty, the Amorite Dynasty) from 1792 BC to 1750 BC
middle chronology (1728 BC 1686 BC short chronology[2]). He became the first king of the
Babylonian Empire following the abdication of his father, Sin-Muballit, who had become very ill
and died, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against
neighboring kingdoms.[3] Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his
death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire. Hammurabi is known for the set of
laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history.

This bust, known as the "Head of Hammurabi", is now thought to predate

Hammurabi by a few hundred years [4] (Louvre)

Hammurabi was an Amorite First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon, and inherited the
power from his father, Sin-Muballit, in c. 1792 BC.[5] Babylon was one of the many largely
Amorite ruled city-states that dotted the central and southern Mesopotamian plains and waged
war on each other for control of fertile agricultural land.[6] Though many cultures co-existed in
Mesopotamia, Babylonian culture gained a degree of prominence among the literate classes
throughout the Middle East under Hammurabi.[7] The kings who came before Hammurabi had
founded a relatively minor City State in 1894 BC which controlled little territory outside of the
city itself. Babylon was overshadowed by older, larger and more powerful kingdoms such as
Elam, Assyria, Isin, Eshnunna and Larsa for a century or so after its founding. However his
father Sin-Muballit had begun to consolidate rule of a small area of south central Mesopotamia
under Babylonian hegemony and, by the time of his reign, had conquered the minor city-states of
Borsippa, Kish, and Sippar.[7]
Thus Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a
complex geopolitical situation. The powerful kingdom of Eshnunna controlled the upper Tigris
River while Larsa controlled the river delta. To the east of Mesopotamia lay the powerful
kingdom of Elam which regularly invaded and forced tribute upon the small states of southern
Mesopotamia. In northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I, who had already
inherited centuries old Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor, had expanded his territory into the
Levant and central Mesopotamia,[8] although his untimely death would somewhat fragment his
empire.[9]

The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to
undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes,
and expanding the temples.[10] In c. 1801 BC, the powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled
important trade routes across the Zagros Mountains, invaded the Mesopotamian plain.[11] With
allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying
a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.[12] In order to
consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and
the kingdom of Larsa.[13] Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they
discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute
greatly to the military effort.[13] Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned
on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by
c. 1763 BC.[14]
As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as
Yamhad and Mari, the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.[14] Continuing his expansion,
Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest and soon after crushing
Eshnunna.[15] Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including
Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the 'conquest' of Mari was a surrender
without any actual conflict.[16][17][18]
Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with Ishme-Dagan I of Assyria for control of
Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain the upper
hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. MutAshkur the new king of Assyria was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi, however Babylon did
not rule Assyria directly.
In just a few years, Hammurabi had succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.[18]
The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major
city-states in the region, only Aleppo and Qatna to the west in the Levant maintained their
independence.[18] However, one stele of Hammurabi has been found as far north as Diyarbekir,
where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".[19]
Vast numbers of contract tablets, dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been
discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters.[20] These letters give a glimpse into the daily trials of
ruling an empire, from dealing with floods and mandating changes to a flawed calendar, to
taking care of Babylon's massive herds of livestock.[21] Hammurabi died and passed the reins of
the empire on to his son Samsu-iluna in c. 1750 BC, under whose rule the Babylonian empire
began to quickly unravel.[22]
Contents

1 Code of laws
o

1.1 Significant laws in Hammurabi's code

2 Legacy and depictions

3 See also

4 Notes

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

Code of laws
Main article: Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi stele. Louvre Museum, Paris

Hammurabi is best known for the promulgation of a new code of Babylonian law: the Code of
Hammurabi. One of the first written laws in the world,[citation needed] the Code of Hammurabi was
inscribed on a stele and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that
few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital,
Susa; it was rediscovered there in 1901 in Iran and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The
code of Hammurabi contained 282 laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it
was written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any
literate person in the city.[23]

The structure of the code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment.
The punishments tended to be very harsh by modern standards, with many offenses resulting in
death, disfigurement, or the use of the "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Lex Talionis "Law of
Retaliation") philosophy.[24] The code is also one of the earliest examples of the idea of
presumption of innocence, and it also suggests that the accused and accuser have the opportunity
to provide evidence.[25] However, there is no provision for extenuating circumstances to alter the
prescribed punishment.
A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from the god Shamash or
possibly Marduk,[26] and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by the gods of his people
to bring the laws to them. Parallels between this narrative and the giving of laws by God in
Jewish tradition to Moses and similarities between the two legal codes suggest a common
ancestor in the Semitic background of the two. Fragments of previous law codes have been
found.[27][28][29][30] David P. Wright argues that the Jewish law used Hammurabi's collection as a
model, imitating both its structure and content.[31]
Similar codes of law were created in several nearby civilizations, including the earlier
Mesopotamian examples of Ur-Nammu's code, Laws of Eshnunna, and Code of Lipit-Ishtar, and
the later Hittite code of laws.[32]
Significant laws in Hammurabi's code
(Text taken from Harper's translation, readable on wikisource)

59 - If a man cut down a tree in a man's orchard, without the consent of the
owner of the orchard, he shall pay one-half mina of silver.

55 - If a man open his canal for irrigation and neglect it and the water carry
away an adjacent field, he shall measure out grain on the basis of the
adjacent fields.

168 - If a man set his face to disinherit his son and say to the judges: "I will
disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his antecedents, and if the
son have not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from
sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship.

169 - If he have committed a crime against his father sufficiently grave to

cut him off from sonship, they shall condone his first (offense). If he commit a
crime a second time, the father may cut off his son from sonship.

8 - If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong

to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they
belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has
nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.

196-201 - If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his
eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the

eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one mana of
silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's
slave he shall pay one-half his price. If a man knock out a tooth of a man of
his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth. If one knock out a tooth of a
freeman, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

218-219 - If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound with a bronze

lancet and cause that man's death; or open an abscess (in the eye) of a man
with a bronze lancet and destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers.
If a physician operate on a slave of a freeman for a severe wound with a
bronze lancet and cause his death, he shall restore a slave of equal value.

229-232 - If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its
construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the
death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it cause
the death of a son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of
that builder. If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he
shall give the owner of the house a slave of equal value. If it destroy property,
he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the
house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which
collapsed from his own property (i.e., at his own expense).

21 - If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front
of that breach and they shall thrust him therein.

195 - If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers.

2.1 Classical dating

3 Early Assyria, 26002335 BC

4 Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires

5 Old Assyrian Kingdom

5.1 Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire

5.2 Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BC

5.3 Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BC

5.4 Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BC

5.5 Assyria in decline, 14501393 BC

6 Middle Assyrian Empire, 13921056 BC

6.1 Assyrian expansion and empire, 13921056 BC

6.2 Assyria during the Bronze Age Collapse, 1055936 BC

6.3 Society in the Middle Assyrian period

7 Neo-Assyrian Empire, 911612 BC

o

7.1 Expansion, 911627 BC

7.2 Downfall, 626605 BC

8 Assyria after the empire

o

8.1 Achaemenid Assyria, Athura, Assuristan, Assyria province,

Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra

8.1.1 Achaemenid Assyria (549330 BC)

8.1.2 Seleucid Assyria

8.1.3 Parthian Assyria (150 BC 116 AD); Adiabene (69 BC 117

AD)

8.1.4 Roman Assyria (116 AD 118 AD)

8.1.5 Parthian Assyria restored (119 AD 225 AD), Osroene,

Hatra

8.1.6 Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan (226 AD circa 650 AD)

9 Assyrians after Assyria

10 Assyrian religion

11 Language

12 Arts and sciences

13 Legacy

14 See also

15 Notes

16 References

17 Literature

18 External links

Names

Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu prior to the rise of the city state of Ashur after
which it was Aryu, and after its fall, from 605 BC through to the late 7th century
AD variously as Athura and also referenced as Atouria[4] according to Strabo, Syria (Greek),
Assyria (Latin) and Assuristan. After its dissolution in the mid 7th century AD it remained The
Ecclesiastical Province of Ator. The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or
heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The
modern Assyrian Christian (AKA Chaldo-Assyrian) ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east
Syria, south east Turkey and north west Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see
Assyrian continuity).[5][6]
Pre-history of Assyria

In prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria (and Subartu) was home to
a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in
Assyria were the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture,
c. 6000 BC.
During the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the
Sumerians and the Semitic Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread
bilingualism.[7] The influence of Sumerian (a language isolate, i.e. not related to any other
language) on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a
massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[7] This has prompted
scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC as a sprachbund.[7]

Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of Lagash (maybe Urukagina),
informing him of his son's death in combat, c. 2400 BC, found in Girsu.

Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere after
the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[8] but

Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in

Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
The cities of Assur (also spelled Ashur or Aur) and Nineveh, together with a number of other
towns and cities, existed since at least before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC (c. 2600 BC),
although they appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time, rather than
independent states.
According to some Judaeo-Christian writers[who?], the city of Ashur was founded by Ashur the son
of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god[citation needed]. However, it is
not among the cities said to have been founded by him in Genesis 10:1112, and the far older
Assyrian annals make no mention of the much later Judeo-Christian figures of Shem and Ashur.
Assyrian tradition lists an early Assyrian king named Ushpia as having dedicated the first temple
to the god Ashur in the city in the 21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in
honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name.
Classical dating

George Syncellus in his Chronographia quotes a fragment from Julius Africanus which dates the
founding of Assyria to 2284 BC.[9] The Roman historian Velleius Paterculus citing Aemilius Sura
states that Assyria was founded 1995 years before Philip V was defeated in 197 BC (at the Battle
of Cynoscephalae) by the Romans.[10] The sum therefore 197 + 1995 = 2192 BC for the
foundation of Assyria. Diodorus Siculus recorded another tradition from Ctesias, that dates
Assyria 1,306 years before 883 BC (the starting date of the reign of Ashurnasirpal II) and so the
sum 883 + 1306 = 2189 BC.[11] The Chronicle of Eusebius provides yet another date for the
founding of Assyria, with the accession of Ninus, dating to 2057 BC, but the Armenian
translation of the Chronicle puts this figure back slightly to 2116 BC. Another classical dating
tradition found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari dates the foundation of Assyria, under Belus, to
2206 BC.
Early Assyria, 26002335 BC

The city of Ashur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seem to have been established
by 2600 BC, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian dominated administrative
centres. In c. the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in
Mesopotamia, mentions "smiting Subartu" (Subartu being the Sumerian name for Assyria).
Similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of
Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him.
Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. In the Assyrian King
List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. In archaeological reports from Ebla, it appeared that
Tudiya's activities were confirmed with the discovery of a tablet where he concluded a treaty for
the operation of a karum (trading colony) in Eblaite territory, with "king" Ibrium of Ebla (who is
now known to have been the vizier of Ebla for king Ishar-Damu). This entire reading is now

questionable, as several scholars have more recently argued that the treaty in question may not
have been with king Tudiya of Assyria, but rather with the unnamed king of an uncertain location
called "Abarsal".
Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu and then a further thirteen rulers (Yangi, Shuhlamu,
Harharu, Mandaru, Imshu, Harshu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belu and Azarah).
Nothing concrete is yet known about these names, although it has been noted that a much later
Babylonian tablet listing the ancestral lineage of Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon,
seems to have copied the same names from Tudiya through Nuabu, though in a heavily corrupted
form.
The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were
independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers.[2] These kings at some point became fully urbanised
and founded the city state of Ashur.[12]
Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires

During the Akkadian Empire (23342154 BC) the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites
(and also the Sumerians), became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, centered in
central Mesopotamia. The Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great, claimed to encompass
the surrounding "four quarters". The region of Assyria, north of the seat of the empire in central
Mesopotamia had also been known as Subartu by the Sumerians, and the name Azuhinum in
Akkadian records also seems to refer to Assyria proper.
Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became a
regional administrative center of the Empire, implicated by the Nuzi tablets.[13]
During this period, the Akkadian-speaking Semites of Mesopotamia came to rule an empire
encompassing not only Mesopotamia itself but large swathes of Asia Minor, ancient Iran, Elam,
the Arabian Peninsula, Canaan and Syria.
Assyria seems to have already been firmly involved in trade in Asia Minor by this time; the
earliest known reference to Anatolian karums in Hatti, was found on later cuneiform tablets
describing the early period of the Akkadian Empire (c. 2350 BC). On those tablets, Assyrian
traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, and this appellation
continued to exist throughout the Assyrian Empire for about 1,700 years. The name "Hatti" itself
even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia.
Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian
cuneiform script to Asia Minor and The Levant (modern Syria and Lebanon).
However, towards the end of the reign of Sargon the Great, the Assyrian faction rebelled against
him; "the tribes of Assyria of the upper countryin their turn attacked, but they submitted to his
arms, and Sargon settled their habitations, and he smote them grievously".[14]

The Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by
attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC.
The rulers of Assyria during the period between c. 2154 BC and 2112 BC once again became
fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia.
However, the king list is the only information from Assyria for this period.
Most of Assyria briefly became part of the Neo-Sumerian Empire (or 3rd dynasty of Ur) founded
in c. 2112 BC. Sumerian domination extended as far as the city of Ashur, but appears not to have
reached Nineveh and the far north of Assyria. One local ruler (shakkanakku) named Zriqum
(who does not appear on any Assyrian king list) is listed as paying tribute to Amar-Sin of Ur.
Ashur's rulers appear to have remained largely under Sumerian domination until the mid-21st
century BC (c. 2050 BC); the king list names Assyrian rulers for this period and several are
known from other references to have also borne the title of shakkanakka or vassal governors for
the neo-Sumerians.
Old Assyrian Kingdom

The first written inscriptions by 'urbanised' Assyrian kings appear in the mid-21st century BC,
after they had shrugged off Sumerian domination. The land of Assyria as a whole then consisted
of a number of city states and small Semitic kingdoms, some of which were initially independent
of Assyria. The foundation of the first major temple in the city of Ashur was traditionally
ascribed to king Ushpia who reigned c. 2050 BC, possibly a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin
and Naplanum of Larsa.[15] He was reputedly succeeded by kings named Apiashal, Sulili,
Kikkiya and Akiya (died c. 2026 BC), of whom little is known, apart from much later mentions
of Kikkiya conducting fortifications on the city walls, and building work on temples in Ashur.
The main rivals, neighbours or trading partners to early Assyrian kings during the 22nd, 21st and
20th centuries BC would have been the Hattians and Hurrians to the north in Asia Minor, the
Gutians, Lullubi and Turukku to the east in the Zagros Mountains of northwest Ancient Iran, the
Elamites to the southeast in what is now south central Iran, the Amorites to the west in what is
today Syria, and their fellow Sumero-Akkadian city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Isin,
Kish, Ur, Eshnunna and Larsa.[2]
Like many city-states in early Mesopotamian history, Ashur was, to a great extent, originally an
oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with "the City", and the polity
had three main centres of poweran assembly of elders, a hereditary ruler, and an eponym. The
ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with the
usual Akkadian term for "king", arrum/Sharru; that was instead reserved for the city's patron
deity Assur, of whom the ruler was the high priest. The ruler himself was only designated as "the
steward of Assur" (iiak Assur), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian
ensi(k). The third centre of power was the eponym (limmum), who gave the year his name,
similarly to the later archons and consuls of Classical Antiquity. He was annually elected by lot
and was responsible for the economic administration of the city, which included the power to

detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iiak
Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout the history of the
Assyrian monarchy.[16]
Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire

In approximately 2025 BC (long chronology), Puzur-Ashur I (perhaps a contemporary of Shuilishu of Larsa and Samium of Isin) is speculated to have overthrown Kikkiya and founded a new
dynasty which was to survive for 216 years. His descendants left inscriptions mentioning him
regarding the building of temples to gods such as Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in Assyria. The length
of his reign is unknown.
Shalim-ahum (died c. 2009 BC) succeeded the throne at a currently unknown date. He left
inscriptions in archaic Old Assyrian regarding the construction of a temple dedicated to the god
Ashur, and the placement of beer vats within it.
Ilushuma[17] (c. 20081975 BC) took the throne in c. 2008 BC, and is known from his inscription
(extant in several copies) where he claims to have "washed the copper" and "established liberty"
for the Akkadians in Sumerian city-states as far as the Persian Gulf. This has been taken by some
scholars to imply that he made military campaigns into Southern Mesopotamia to relieve his
fellow Mesopotamians from Amorite and Elamite invasions, however some recent scholars have
taken the view that the inscription means he supplied these areas with copper from Hatti, and that
the word used for "liberty" (adduraru) is usually in the context of his exempting the southern
Mesopotamian kings from tariffs.
"The freedom[nb 1] of the Akkadians and their children I established. I purified their copper. I
established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, and Kish,
Der of the goddess Ishtar, as far as the City of (Ashur)."[18]
Assyria had long held extensive contact with Hattian, Hittite and Hurrian cities on the Anatolian
plateau in Asia Minor. The Assyrians who had for centuries traded in the region, and possibly
ruled small areas bordering Assyria, now established significant colonies in Cappadocia (e.g., at
Kanesh (modern Kltepe) from 2008 BC to 1740 BC). These colonies, called karum, from the
Akkadian word for 'port', were attached to Hattian cities in Anatolia, but physically separate, and
had special tax status. They must have arisen from a long tradition of trade between Assyria and
the Anatolian cities, but no archaeological or written records show this. The trade consisted of
metals (copper or tin and perhaps iron; the terminology is not entirely clear) being traded for
textiles from Assyria.
Erishum I[19] (c. 19741935 BC) vigorously expanded Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his
long reign, the major ones appearing to be at Kanesh, attua (Boazky) (the future capital of
the Hittite Empire) and Amkuwa (Alisar Hyk), together with a further eighteen smaller
colonies. He created some of the earliest examples of Written Law, conducted extensive building
work in the form of fortifying the walls of major Assyrian cities and the erection of temples
dedicated to Ashur and Ishtar. It is from his reign that the continuous limmum lists are known,

however there are references to the eponym-books for his predecessors having been destroyed at
some point.
Ikunum (c. 19341921 BC)[20] built a major temple for the god Ningal. He further strengthened
the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained Assyria's colonies in Asia Minor.
Sargon I (c. 19201881 BC)[21] succeeded him in c. 1920 BC, and had an unusually long reign of
39 years. It is likely he was named after his illustrious predecessor Sargon of Akkad. He is
known to have refortified the defences of major Assyrian cities, and maintained Assyrian
colonies in Asia Minor during his reign. Apart from this, little has yet been unearthed about him.
At some point he appears to have withdrawn Assyrian aid to southern Mesopotamia. It was
during his reign in Assyria that the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in 1894 BC
by an Amorite Malka (prince) named Sumuabum.
Puzur-Ashur II (c. 18811873 BC) came to the throne as an already older man due to his fathers
long reign. Little is known about his rule, but it appears to have been uneventful.
Naram-Suen (c. 18721818 BC) ascended to the throne in 1872 BC, and is likely named after his
predecessor Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire. Assyria continued to be wealthy during his 54
year long reign (one of the longest in the ancient Near East), and he defeated the future usurper
king Shamshi-Adad I who attempted to take his throne.
Erishum II (c. 18181809 BC) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded
c. 2025 BC. After only eight or nine years in power he was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I, the
Amorite usurper who had previously been defeated in an attempt to unseat Naram-Suen, and
who claimed legitimacy by asserting descent from the mid 21st century BC Assyrian king,
Ushpia.
Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BC

The Amorites were successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings of the 20th and 19th centuries
BC. However, in 1809 BC the native Mesopotamian king of Assyria Erishum II was deposed,
and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 1776 BC) in the expansion
of Semitic Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant.
Although regarded as an Amorite by later Assyrian tradition, Shamshi-Adad's descent is
suggested to be from the same line as the native Mesopotamian ruler Ushpia in the Assyrian
King List. He put his son Ishme-Dagan on the throne of a nearby Assyrian city, Ekallatum, and
maintained Assyria's Anatolian colonies. Shamshi-Adad I then went on to conquer the kingdom
of Mari (in modern Syria) on the Euphrates putting another of his sons, Yasmah-Adad on the
throne there. Shamshi-Adad's Assyria now encompassed the whole of northern Mesopotamia and
included territory in central Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and northern Syria. Shamshi-Adad I
mentions conducting raids on the Canaanite coasts of the far off Mediterranean, where he erected
stelae to commemorate his victories. He himself resided in a new capital city founded in the
Khabur valley in northern Mesopotamia, called Shubat-Enlil.

Ishme-Dagan I (17741763 BC) inherited Assyria, but Yasmah-Adad was overthrown by a new
king called Zimrilim in Mari. The new king of Mari allied himself with the Amorite king
Hammurabi of Babylon, who had made the recently created, and originally minor state of
Babylon into a major power. It was from the reign of Hammurabi onwards that southern
Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
Assyria now faced the rising power of Babylon in the south. Ishme-Dagan responded by making
an alliance with the enemies of Babylon, and the power struggle continued without resolution for
decades. Ishme-Dagan, like his father was a great warrior, and in addition to repelling
Babylonian attacks, campaigned successfully against the Turukku and Lullubi of the Zagros
Mountains (in modern Iran) who had attacked the Assyrian city of Ekallatum, and against
Dadusha, king of Eshnunna, and the state of Iamhad (modern Aleppo).
Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BC

Hammurabi, after first conquering Mari, Larsa, and Eshnunna, eventually prevailed over IshmeDagan's successor Mut-Ashkur (17501740 BC), and subjected him to Babylon c. 1750 BC.
With Hammurabi, the various karum colonies in Anatolia ceased trade activityprobably
because the goods of Assyria were now being traded with the Babylonians. The Assyrian
monarchy survived, however the three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan, Mut-Ashkur
(who was the son of Ishme-Dagan and married to a Hurrian queen), Rimush (17391733 BC)
and Asinum (1732 BC), were vassals, dependent on the Babylonians during the reign of
Hammurabi, and for a short time, of his successor Samsu-iluna.
Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BC

The short lived Babylonian Empire quickly began to unravel upon the death of Hammurabi, and
Babylonia lost control over Assyria during the reign of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna
(17501712 BC). A period of civil war ensued after Asinum (a gran
used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[18]
Astronomy
Main article: Mesopotamian astronomy

From Sumerian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain
positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times when Limmu lists were
created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have
survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for
establishing the history of Mesopotamia.
The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict eclipses and
solstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related
to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the
cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of
astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to
astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe
and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an
important contribution to astronomy and the philosophy of science and some scholars have thus
referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.[19] This new approach to
astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how much
earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian
development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major
episode in the history of astronomy.
The only Greek Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of
planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[20][21][22] Seleucus is known from the
writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the Earth
rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch,
Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used
(except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).
Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian, Sassanian,
Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European astronomy.[23]
Medicine

The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the first half
of the 2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the
Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummn, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[24]
during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC).[25]
Along with contemporary Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts of
diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic
Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and the use of empiricism, logic, and
rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and
often detailed empirical observations along with logical rules used in combining observed
symptoms on the body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[26]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such as
bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians
often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic
Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the modern view that
through the examination and inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine
the patient's disease, its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's
recovery.[24]

Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described their symptoms in his
Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties of epilepsy and related
ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[27]
Technology

Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass
and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also
one of the first Bronze age people in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold
on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals.
Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as
swords, daggers, spears, and maces.
According to a recent hypothesis, the Archimedes' screw may have been used by Sennacherib,
King of Assyria, for the water systems at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Nineveh in the
7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a Greek invention of later times.
[28]
Later during the Parthian or Sassanid periods, the Baghdad Battery, which may have been the
world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.[29]
Religion and philosophy

The Burney Relief, Old Babylonian, around 1800 BC

Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world was
a flat disc,[citation needed] surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, heaven. They also
believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born
from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic. Although the
beliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional

variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess
Ki.[citation needed] Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful
god. He was the chief god of the Pantheon, equivalent to the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god
Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are
we?, How did we get here?.[citation needed] They attributed answers to these questions to explanations
provided by their gods.
Philosophy

Giorgio Buccellati believes that the origins of philosophy can be traced back to early
Mesopotamian wisdom, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the
forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose works, and proverbs.
Babylonian reasoning and rationality developed beyond empirical observation.[30]
The earliest form of logic was developed by the Babylonians, notably in the rigorous nonergodic
nature of their social systems. Babylonian thought was axiomatic and is comparable to the
"ordinary logic" described by John Maynard Keynes. Babylonian thought was also based on an
open-systems ontology which is compatible with ergodic axioms.[31] Logic was employed to
some extent in Babylonian astronomy and medicine.
Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on early Greek and Hellenistic philosophy. In
particular, the Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism contains similarities to the agonistic
thought of the sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of contrasts, and the dialectic and dialogs of
Plato, as well as a precursor to the maieutic method of Socrates.[32] The Ionian philosopher
Thales was influenced by Babylonian cosmological ideas.
Culture

Alabaster with shell eyes, Sumerian male worshiper, 2750-2600 BC

Festivals

Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and festivals for
each month was determined by at least six important factors:
1. The Lunar phase (a waxing moon meant abundance and growth, while a
waning moon was associated with decline, conservation, and festivals of the
Underworld)
2. The phase of the annual agricultural cycle
3. Equinoxes and solstices
4. The local mythos and its divine Patrons
5. The success of the reigning Monarch
6. The Akitu, or New Year Festival (First full moon after spring equinox)
7. Commemoration of specific historical events (founding, military victories,
temple holidays, etc.)
Music
Main article: Music of Mesopotamia

Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important events.
Although music and songs amused kings, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked
to sing and dance in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to children who passed
them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through many generations as an oral
tradition until writing was more universal. These songs provided a means of passing on through
the centuries highly important information about historical events.
The Oud (Arabic: )is a small, stringed musical instrument used by the Mesopotamians. The
oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia over
5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by
Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat,
playing right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian
history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck
varieties. The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is derived from the
Arabic word al-d 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud
was made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)
Games

Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature frequently in art, and
some form of polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather
than on horses.[33] They also played majore, a game similar to the sport rugby, but played with a
ball made of wood. They also played a board game similar to senet and backgammon, now
known as the "Royal Game of Ur."
Family life

The Babylonian marriage market by the 19th-century painter Edwin Long

Mesopotamia, as shown by successive law codes, those of Urukagina, Lipit Ishtar and
Hammurabi, across its history became more and more a patriarchal society, one in which the
men were far more powerful than the women. For example, during the earliest Sumerian period,
the "en", or high priest of male gods was originally a woman, that of female goddesses, a man.
Thorkild Jacobsen, as well as many others, has suggested that early Mesopotamian society was
ruled by a "council of elders" in which men and women were equally represented, but that over
time, as the status of women fell, that of men increased. As for schooling, only royal offspring
and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, temple administrators, went to
school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a trade.[34]
Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after

the younger children. Some children would help with crushing grain or cleaning birds. Unusual
for that time in history, women in Mesopotamia had rights. They could own property and, if they
had good reason, get a divorce.
Burials

Hundreds of graves have been excavated in parts of Mesopotamia, revealing information about
Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most people were buried in family graves under
their houses, along with some possessions. A few have been found wrapped in mats and carpets.
Deceased children were put in big "jars" which were placed in the family chapel. Other remains
have been found buried in common city graveyards. 17 graves have been found with very
precious objects in them. It is assumed that these were royal graves. Rich of various periods,
have been discovered to have sought burial in Bahrein, identified with Sumerian Dilmun.[35]
Economy and agriculture

Mining areas of the ancient West Asia. Boxes colors: arsenic is in brown, copper in
red, tin in grey, iron in reddish brown, gold in yellow, silver in white and lead in
black. Yellow area stands for arsenic bronze, while grey area stands for tin bronze.

Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and Hadji
Muhammed culture, from about 5,000 BC.[36] Sumerian temples functioned as banks and
developed the first large-scale system of loans and credit, but the Babylonians developed the
earliest system of commercial banking. It was comparable in some ways to modern postKeynesian economics, but with a more "anything goes" approach.[31]
In the early period down to Ur III temples owned up to one third of the available land, declining
over time as royal and other private holdings increased in frequency. The word Ensi was used to
describe the official who organized the work of all facets of temple agriculture. Villeins are
known to have worked most frequently within agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples
or palaces.[37]
The geography of southern Mesopotamia is such that agriculture is possible only with irrigation
and good drainage, a fact which has had a profound effect on the evolution of early
Mesopotamian civilization. The need for irrigation led the Sumerians, and later the Akkadians, to
build their cities along the Tigris and Euphrates and the branches of these rivers. Major cities,
such as Ur and Uruk, took root on tributaries of the Euphrates, while others, notably Lagash,
were built on branches of the Tigris. The rivers provided the further benefits of fish (used both
for food and fertilizer), reeds, and clay (for building materials). With irrigation, the food supply

in Mesopotamia was compabale to the Canadian prairies.[38] The Tigris and Euphrates River
valleys form the northeastern portion of the Fertile Crescent, which also included the Jordan
River valley and that of the Nile. Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for
crops, portions of land farther from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. This is why the
development of irrigation was very important for settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian
innovations include the control of water by dams and the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of
fertile land in Mesopotamia used wooden plows to soften the soil before planting crops such as
barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people
to make beer and wine. As a result of the skill involved in farming in the Mesopotamian, farmers
did not depend on slaves to complete farm work for them, but there were some exceptions. There
were too many risks involved to make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of the slave).
Although the rivers sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire
cities. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often
ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept. Over time the
southernmost parts of Sumerian Mesopotamia suffered from increased salinity of the soils,
leading to a slow urban decline and a centring of power in Akkad, further north.
Government

The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of the
region. Among the rivers and streams, the Sumerian people built the first cities along with
irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or swamp where nomadic
tribes roamed. Communication among the isolated cities was difficult and, at times, dangerous.
Thus, each Sumerian city became a city-state, independent of the others and protective of its
independence. At times one city would try to conquer and unify the region, but such efforts were
resisted and failed for centuries. As a result, the political history of Sumer is one of almost
constant warfare. Eventually Sumer was unified by Eannatum, but the unification was tenuous
and failed to last as the Akkadians conquered Sumeria in 2331 BC only a generation later. The
Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see the peaceful
succession of kings. The empire was relatively short-lived, as the Babylonians conquered them
within only a few generations.
Kings
Further information: Sumerian King List, List of kings of Babylon and List of Assyrian
king
Slow loss over geologic time
Main article: Atmospheric escape

The hydrodynamic wind within the upper portion of a planet's atmosphere allows light chemical
elements such as Hydrogen to move up to the exobase, the lower limit of the exosphere, where
the gases can then reach escape velocity, entering outer space without impacting other particles
of gas. This type of gas loss from a planet into space is known as planetary wind.[25] Planets with

hot lower atmospheres could result in humid upper atmospheres that accelerate the loss of
hydrogen.[26]
History of hydrologic cycle theory
Floating land mass

In ancient times, it was thought that the land mass floated on a body of water, and that most of
the water in rivers has its origin under the earth. Examples of this belief can be found in the
works of Homer (circa 800 BCE).
Precipitation and percolation

By roughly 500 BCE, Greek scholars were speculating that much of the water in rivers can be
attributed to rain. The origin of rain was also known by then. These scholars maintained the
belief, however, that water rising up through the earth contributed a great deal to rivers.
Examples of this thinking included Anaximander (570 BCE) (who also speculated about the
evolution of land animals from fish[27]) and Xenophanes of Colophon (530 BCE).[28] Chinese
scholars such as Chi Ni Tzu (320 BC) and Lu Shih Ch'un Ch'iu (239 BCE) had similar thoughts.
[29]
The idea that the water cycle is a closed cycle can be found in the works of Anaxagoras of
Clazomenae (460 BCE) and Diogenes of Apollonia (460 BCE). Both Plato (390 BCE) and
Aristotle (350 BCE) speculated about percolation as part of the water cycle.
Precipitation alone

Up to the time of the Renaissance, it was thought that precipitation alone was insufficient to feed
rivers, for a complete water cycle, and that underground water pushing upwards from the oceans
were the main contributors to river water. Bartholomew of England held this view (1240 CE), as
did Leonardo da Vinci (1500 CE) and Athanasius Kircher (1644 CE).
The first published thinker to assert that rainfall alone was sufficient for the maintenance of
rivers was Bernard Palissy (1580 CE), who is often credited as the "discoverer" of the modern
theory of the water cycle. Palissy's theories were not tested scientifically until 1674, in a study
commonly attributed to Pierre Perrault. Even so, these beliefs were not accepted in mainstream
science until early nineteenth century.[30]

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements.[1] Waste sorting
can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or
automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment
systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting.[2]
Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.
Waste segregation means dividing waste into dry and wet. Dry waste includes wood and related
products, metals and glass. Wet waste, typically refers to organic waste usually generated by
eating establishments and are heavy in weight due to dampness. Waste can also be segregated on
basis of biodegradable or non-biodegradable waste.
Landfills are an increasingly pressing problem.[citation needed] Less and less land is available to deposit
refuse, but the volume of waste is growing all time. As a result, segregating waste is not just of
environmental importance, but of economic concern, too.
Contents
[hide]

1 Methods

2 By country

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

Methods[edit]

Waste is collected at its source in each area and separated. The way that waste is sorted must
reflect local disposal systems. The following categories are common:

Paper

Cardboard (including packaging for return to suppliers)

Glass (clear, tinted no light bulbs or window panes, which belong with
residual waste)

Plastics

Scrap metal

Compost

Special/hazardous waste

Residual waste

Organic waste can also be segregated for disposal:

Leftover food which has had any contact with meat can be collected
separately to prevent the spread of bacteria.
o

Meat and bone can be retrieved by bodies responsible for animal waste

If other leftovers are sent, for example, to local farmers, they can be
sterilised before being fed to the animals

Peel and scrapings from fruit and vegetables can be composted along with
other degradable matter. Other waste can be included for composting, too,
such as cut flowers, corks, coffee grindings, rotting fruit, tea bags, egg- and
nutshells, paper towels etc.

Chip pan oil (fryer oil), used fats, vegetable oil and the content of fat filters can be collected by
companies able to re-use them. Local authority waste departments can provide relevant
addresses. This can be achieved by providing recycling bins.
By country[edit]

In Germany, regulations exist that provide mandatory quotas for the waste sorting of packaging
waste and recyclable materials such as glass bottles.[3]