ARCH 0351 AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient

ARCH 0351 / AWAS 0800 Introduction to the Ancient Near East Brown University ~ Fall 2009 The rise of the Early Mesopotamian urban elite: questions of ideology and power October 15, 2009

ideology an exchange between makers of political discourse and the audience of that discourseaims to consolidate social order for the good of a dominant class public ritual, performance and legitimacy in the political sphere collective identity, gender, social status are both created and maintained through material practices and state spectacles. funerary spectacles: human sacrifice, exquisitely built artifacts

ideology an established dialogue, a social transaction, a cultural discourse that is delievered in the form of a complex worldview, power discourse that seeps into everyday life. . . not propaganda. . . not produced by the elites. . . commemorative monument steles, rock reliefs, inscribed statues, “obelisks” and a whole plethora of Near Eastern “monuments” of the public sphere, presenting pictorial and textual narrativized

Goat and the tree: a wonder to behold Long distance trade, magical craftsmanship, and exotic precious materials through which the object shines, exerts its agency.

Context: Cities, gods and citizens in Early Bronze Age Southern Mesopotamia (2950 -2000 BC)

archaeological time 5000 -4000 BC Halaf period in the Northern Mesopotamia Ubaid period in the South Eridu temple sequence (E-abzu) 4000 -3500 -3100 Early Uruk period Late Uruk period Uruk Level IV (Eanna Precinct) social complexity, urbanization, writing, mass-produced pottery potter’s wheel introduced, new bureaucratic tools such as cylinder seals, longdistance trade 3100 -2900 Jemdet Nasr period Uruk Level III (Eanna Precinct) 2950 -2750 -2600 -2350 Early Dynastic III Protoliterate Period Pre-Sargonic Period

Mesopotamian cities in the Early Bronze Age

North Palace Ci ty w al l Temple Oval Khafajah (ancient Tutub), city plan and the aerial view of Temple Oval

Stone commemorative plaques from Early Dynastic temple contexts (Nippur, Khafajah)

Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family. Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq Early Dynastic IIIA 2550 -2400 BC

Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family. Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq Early Dynastic IIIA 2550 -2400 BC

Early Mesopotamian cult places and burial space the political rivalry among the new urban elites

First dynasty of Lagash. . . (ca 2550 -2380 BC)

Border conflict between the regional states of Umma and Lagash (25 th c. BC)

Wall plaque- Ur-Nanše and family. Limestone w/ cuneiform inscription Girsu (modern Tello), Southern Iraq Early Dynastic IIIA 2550 -2400 BC

Myth and History: Stele of Eannatum. ca. 2460 BC. from Girsu (Telloh) Limestone H. 1. 8 m; L. 1. 3 m; Th. 0. 11 m Louvre Museum, Paris

Stele of Eannatum. ca. 2460 BC. from Girsu (Telloh), fragments

Vase dedicated by Entemena, king of Lagash, to Ningirsu. Silver and copper, ca. 2400 BC. Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.

Votive relief of Dudu, priest of Ningirsu, in the days of King Entemena of Lagash. Oil shale, ca. 2400 BC. Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. A bas-relief.