IV millennium BC e is famous for the flourishing of the culture of the Sumerians living in the interfluve of the Tigris and Euphrates in the territory of modern Iraq. The culture of the saggygs (blackheads - as the Sumerians called themselves) became the basis for the development of the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations, and also had a great influence on the development of all mankind. Over the course of two millennia, the Sumerian culture fell into decay, the language ceased to be used in everyday life (it was used only by priests for worship) and was gradually forgotten.

The Sumerian civilization developed in the ancient equal city-states:

• Akkad,
• Kish,
• Lagash,
• Nippur,
• Ummah,
• Uruk;
• Babylon, the youngest and most famous.

The level of development of the Sumerians was much higher than that of other modern civilizations, the people were a desirable trading partner for many nations.

The main achievements of the Sumerian civilization:

1. invented some methods of metal processing;
2. invented a potter's wheel;
3. created the first wheeled carts;
4. invented astrology and correlated their gods with the planets, discovered 12 constellations and their influence on human destiny;
5. learned to build multi-storey buildings, beautiful temples and cities (which were built without any system and were surrounded by a powerful wall);
6. built aqueducts to supply water to cities;
7. learned to count in tens, but preferred to count in dozens (12 each), divided the day into hours, minutes, seconds;
8. were the first to record human speech. First, information was transmitted in knots or notches in trees. After that, pictography, or drawing writing, was invented, where at first one symbol meant one word, but the gradual stylization, simplification and unification of drawings accelerated the speed of writing, which turned into ideographic-rebus. Since clay tablets and special sticks were used for writing, the symbols were obtained in the form of wedges, and such a letter began to be called cuneiform. It is on such ceramic tiles, containing information about various economic activities, that original information about the culture of the Sumerians has survived to this day. Gradually, the drawings began to be replaced by the phonetic principle: signs were invented to designate sounds and syllables, and cuneiform itself eventually became international;
9. 9. wrote the first poems, elegies, legends about the gods;
10. created the first libraries and organized them in catalogs.

Important! Until now, scientists argue about the origin of the Sumerian dialect: there were no similar ones in any other civilization in the world.

Religious representations of the saggygs

The ancient Sumerians considered the gods to be their patrons and built relationships with them according to the principle "I - you, you - me", that is, the gods are such entities that could be given a gift, and in return they gave some kind of life benefits: good harvests, victories in wars and so on. Temples (ziggurats) were built not as dwellings for deities, but as places of sacrifice, and priests were the intermediaries between people and gods.

Interesting to know! Temples were built in the center of settlements on the site of previous structures and were a high multi-stage complex, on top of which gifts for God were left. The more powerful the deity was, the higher the temple was, and the more difficult the road up was.

All Sumerian gods can be divided into 2 groups:

1. local patrons of small areas;
2. powerful guardians of big cities.

The peculiarity of the deities is that their power did not extend beyond the boundaries of their settlements. The gods were endowed with human traits, in daylight they were engaged in the fate of the wards, and at night they rested.

Major Sumerian deities:

• an (Anna) - the god of heaven and the ancestor of the entire Sumerian pantheon, could help both people and other gods, but he had an evil disposition. Guardian of Uruk.
• Enlil was considered the god of the winds and all airspace, who, despite his disdain for people, gave them a hoe and could increase the productivity of the soil, was the patron saint of Nippur.
• Nanna (Sin) is the main deity of Ur.
• Utu (Shamash) was the son of Nanna, patronized Sippara and Larsa, was the sun god.
• Inanna (Ishtar) is the patroness of Uruk, the goddess of love and military victories.
• Dumuzi (Tammuz), the husband of the goddess of love, was the god of water and all plants. He died and was resurrected annually.
• Nergal was considered the ruler of the underworld.
• Thunderstorms and storms were sent by Ishkur (Adad).
• The female goddesses were the wives of the main gods or the servants of the underworld.

The Sumerians believed that man stays in the world of the living for a short time, and then leaves for the gloomy afterlife of Chur, on the way to which there were three servants (the gatekeeper, the servant of the underground river, and the boatman). After the trial, the deceased was doomed to a joyless existence in complete darkness, feeding on dust and clay. It is for this reason that the Sumerians believed that one should live happily on earth, and in order to brighten up the dull afterlife, one should leave a memory of oneself here. For this, various cultural monuments were built, some of which have survived to this day.

Thus, the Sumerian civilization was highly developed, mankind uses many of its achievements to this day.

There are few trees and stone in Mesopotamia, so the first building materials were raw bricks made from a mixture of clay, sand and straw. The architecture of Mesopotamia is based on secular (palaces) and religious (ziggurats) monumental buildings and buildings. The first of the temples of Mesopotamia that have come down to us date back to the 4th-3rd millennia BC. These powerful iconic towers, called ziggurat (holy mountain), were square and resembled a stepped pyramid. The steps were connected by stairs, along the edge of the wall there was a ramp leading to the temple. The walls were painted black (asphalt), white (lime) and red (brick). The design feature of the monumental architecture was going from the 4th millennium BC. the use of artificially erected platforms, which may be explained by the need to isolate the building from the dampness of the soil moistened by spills, and at the same time, probably, by the desire to make the building visible from all sides. Another characteristic feature, based on an equally ancient tradition, was the broken line of the wall formed by the ledges. The windows, when they were made, were placed in the upper part of the wall and looked like narrow cracks. The buildings were also illuminated through a doorway and a hole in the roof. The roofs were mostly flat, but the vault was also known. Residential buildings discovered by excavations in the south of Sumer had an open inner courtyard around which covered premises were grouped. This layout, which corresponded to the climatic conditions of the country, formed the basis for the palace buildings of the southern Mesopotamia. In the northern part of Sumer, houses were discovered that, instead of an open courtyard, had a central room with a ceiling.

One of the most famous works of Sumerian literature is considered the "Epic of Gilgamesh" - a collection of Sumerian legends, later translated into Akkadian. The epic tablets were found in the library of King Ashurbanapal. The epic tells about the legendary king of Uruk Gilgamesh, his friend the savage Enkidu and the search for the secret of immortality. One of the chapters of the epic, the story of Utnapishtim, who saved humanity from a worldwide flood, is very reminiscent of the biblical story of Noah's Ark, which suggests that the epic was familiar even to the authors of the Old Testament. Although, it is unlikely that Moses (the author of Genesis, the book of the Old Testament, which tells about the flood) used this epic in his writings. The reason for this is the fact that the Old Testament contains significantly more details of the flood, which are consistent with other sources. In particular, the shape and size of the ship.

The monuments of the new Stone Age preserved in the territory of Western Asia are very numerous and varied. These are cult figurines of deities, cult masks, vessels. The Neolithic culture that developed on the territory of Mesopotamia in 6-4 thousand BC, in many respects preceded the subsequent culture of the early class society. Apparently, the northern part of Western Asia occupied an important position among other countries already during the tribal system, as evidenced by the remains of monumental temples and, preserved (in the settlements of Hassuna, Samarra, Tell-Khalaf, Tell-Arpagiya, in the neighboring Elam of the Mesopotamia) ceramic products , used in funeral ceremonies. The thin-walled, regular-shaped, elegant and slender vessels of Elam were covered with clear brownish-black motifs of geometrized painting on a light yellowish and pinkish background. Such a pattern, applied by the confident hand of the master, was distinguished by an unmistakable sense of decorativeness, knowledge of the laws of rhythmic harmony. It was always located in strict accordance with the form. Triangles, stripes, rhombuses, sacs of stylized palm branches emphasized the elongated or rounded structure of the vessel in which the bottom and neck were especially prominent with a colorful stripe. Sometimes the combinations of the pattern that adorned the cup told about the most important actions and events for a person of that time - hunting, harvesting, cattle breeding. In the figured patterns from Sus (Elam), one can easily recognize the outlines of hounds rushing rapidly in a circle, proudly standing goats, crowned with huge steep horns. And although the artist's close attention to the transmission of animal movements resembles primitive paintings, the rhythmic organization of the pattern, its subordination to the structure of the vessel speaks of a new, more complex stage in artistic thinking.

In V. n. 4th millennium BC In the fertile plains of the Southern Mesopotamia, the first city-states arose, which by the 3rd millennium BC. filled the entire valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. The main ones were the cities of Sumer. The first monuments of monumental architecture grew in them, and the types of art associated with it flourished - sculpture, relief, mosaics, and various kinds of decorative crafts.

Cultural communication between different tribes was actively promoted by the invention of writing by the Sumerians, first pictography (which was based on picture writing), and then cuneiform. The Sumerians have come up with a way to perpetuate their records. They wrote with sharp sticks on damp clay tablets, which were then burned in a fire. Writing has widely spread legislation, knowledge, myths and beliefs. The myths written on the tablets brought to us the names of the patron deities of various tribes associated with the cult of the fruitful forces of nature and the elements.

Each city honored its own gods. Ur honored the god of the moon Nannu, Uruk - the goddess of fertility Inanna (Innin) - the personification of the planet Venus, as well as her father god Ana, the lord of the firmament, and her brother - the sun god Utu. The inhabitants of Nippur revered the father of the moon god - the god of air Enlil - the creator of all plants and animals. The city of Lagash worshiped the god of war, Ningirsu. Each of the deities was dedicated to its own temple, which became the center of the city-state. The main features of temple architecture were finally established in Sumer.

In the country of turbulent rivers and swampy plains, it was necessary to raise the temple to a high embankment platform-foot. Therefore, an important part of the architectural ensemble was long, sometimes laid bypassing the hill, stairs and ramps along which residents of the city climbed to the sanctuary. Slow ascent made it possible to see the temple from different points of view. The first powerful structures of Sumer at the end of the 4th millennium BC. there were the so-called “White Temple” and “Red Building” in Uruk. Even from the preserved ruins it is clear that these were austere and stately buildings. Rectangular in plan, devoid of windows, with walls dismembered in the White Church by vertical narrow niches, and in the Red Building - by powerful semi-columns, simple in their cubic volumes, these structures were clearly outlined on the top of the bulk mountain. They had an open courtyard, a sanctuary, in the depths of which there was a statue of a revered deity. Each of these structures was distinguished from the surrounding structures not only by the rise upward, but also by color. The White Temple got its name from the whitewashing of the walls, the Red Building (which apparently served as a place of popular gatherings) was decorated with a variety of geometric patterns made of baked clay zigatti studs, the caps of which are painted in red, white and black. the ornament, which resembled carpet weaving from a distance, merging from a distance, acquired a single soft reddish tint, which gave rise to its modern name.

When did the Sumerian culture begin? Why did it decline? What were the cultural differences between the independent cities of the Southern Mesopotamia? Vladimir Yemelyanov, Doctor of Philosophy, talks about the culture of independent cities, the dispute between winter and summer and the image of the sky in the Sumerian tradition.

You can describe the Sumerian culture, or you can try to give its characteristic features. I will follow the second path, because the description of the Sumerian culture was given quite fully by both Kramer and Jacobsen, and in the articles of Jan van Dyck, but it is necessary to highlight the characteristic features in order to determine the typology of the Sumerian culture, put it in a row of similar ones according to certain criteria.

First of all, it must be said that the Sumerian culture originated in cities that are very distant from each other, each of which was located on its own channel, diverted from the Euphrates or from the Tigris. This is a very significant sign not only of the formation of the state, but also of the formation of culture. Each city had its own independent idea of \u200b\u200bthe structure of the world, its own idea of \u200b\u200bthe origin of the city and parts of the world, its own idea of \u200b\u200bthe gods and its own calendar. Each city was ruled by a popular assembly and had its own leader or high priest who headed the temple. Between 15–20 independent cities of the Southern Mesopotamia, there was constant competition for political supremacy. For most of Mesopotamia's history during the Sumerian period, cities tried to wrest this leadership away from each other.

In Sumeria, there was a concept of royalty, that is, royal power as a substance that passes from city to city. She moves exclusively arbitrarily: she was in one city, then she left, this city was defeated, and royalty was entrenched in the next dominant city. This is a very important concept, which shows that for a long time there was no single political center in southern Mesopotamia, there was no political capital. In conditions when political competition takes place, culture becomes inherent in competence, as some researchers say, or agonality, as others say, that is, a competitive element is fixed in culture.

For the Sumerians, there was no earthly authority that was absolute. If there is no such authority on earth, it is usually sought in heaven. Modern monotheistic religions have found such authority in the image of one God, and among the Sumerians, who were very far from monotheism and lived 6,000 years ago, Heaven became such an authority. They began to worship heaven as a sphere in which everything is exceptionally correct and happens according to once established laws. The sky has become the standard for earthly life. Hence, the thrust of the Sumerian worldview for astrolatria - belief in the power of celestial bodies - is understandable. Astrology developed from this belief in Babylonian and Assyrian times. The reason for such a gravitation of the Sumerians to astrolatry and subsequently to astrology lies precisely in the fact that there was no order on earth, there was no authority. The cities were constantly at war with each other for supremacy. Either one city was fortified, then another dominant city arose in its place. They were all united by Heaven, because when one constellation rises, it is time to harvest barley, when another constellation rises, it is time to plow, when the third is to sow, and thus the starry sky determined the entire cycle of agricultural work and the entire life cycle of nature, to which it is very the Sumerians were attentive. They believed that there was only order at the top.

Thus, the agonal nature of Sumerian culture largely predetermined its idealism - the search for an ideal above or the search for the dominant ideal. The sky was considered the dominant principle. But in the same way, in the Sumerian culture, the dominant principle was sought everywhere. There was a large number of literary works, which were based on a dispute between two objects, animals or some kind of tools, each of which boasted that it was better and more suitable for humans. And this is how these disputes were resolved: in the dispute between sheep and grain, grain won, because grain can feed most of the people for a longer period of time: there are grain reserves. In the dispute between the hoe and the plow, the hoe won, because the plow stands on the ground only 4 months a year, and the hoe works all 12 months. He who can serve longer, who can feed more people, is right. In the dispute between summer and winter, winter won, because at this time irrigation works are carried out, water accumulates in the canals, and a reserve is created for the future harvest, that is, it is not the effect that wins, but the cause. Thus, in every Sumerian controversy, there is a loser who is called the "remaining" and there is a winner who is called the "left." "The grain left, the sheep remained." And there is an arbitrator who resolves this dispute.

This wonderful genre of Sumerian literature gives a very vivid idea of \u200b\u200bthe Sumerian culture as one that seeks to find an ideal, to put forward something eternal, unchanging, long-lived, useful for a long time, thereby showing the advantage of this eternal and unchanging over something that is changing rapidly or that serves only a short time. Here lies an interesting dialectic, so to speak, a pre-dialectic of the eternal and changeable. I even call the Sumerian culture realized Platonism before Plato, because the Sumerians believed that there were some primordial forces, or essences, or potentialities of things, without which the very existence of the material world is impossible. These potencies or essences they called the word "me". The Sumerians believed that the gods are not capable of creating anything in the world if these gods do not have "me", and no heroic feat is possible without "me", no work and no craft have any sense and do not matter if they are not provided with their own " me ". There are “Me” in the seasons of the year, “Me” is also among crafts, and musical instruments have their “Me”. What are these "me" if not the embryos of Plato's ideas?

We see that the Sumerian belief in the existence of eternal essences, eternal forces is a vivid sign of idealism, which manifested itself in the Sumerian culture.

But this agonality and this idealism are rather tragic things, because, as Kramer rightly said, continuous agonality gradually leads to the self-destruction of culture. Continuous rivalry between cities, between people, continuous competition weakens statehood, and, indeed, the Sumerian civilization ended quite quickly. It faded away over a thousand years, and it was replaced by completely different peoples, and the Sumerians assimilated with these peoples and completely dissolved as an ethnos.

But history also shows that agonal cultures, even after the death of the civilization that gave birth to them, exist for quite a long time. They live after their death. And if we go here to typology, then we can say that two more such cultures are known in history: these are the Greeks in Antiquity and these are the Arabs at the junction of antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Both the Sumerians, the Greeks, and the Arabs were extraordinary admirers of Heaven, they were idealists, they were the best astrologers, astronomers, astrologers in their era. They put their trust in the power of Heaven and heavenly bodies. They have destroyed themselves, destroyed themselves by continuous competition. The Arabs survived only by uniting under the rule of a heavenly or even super-heavenly, supernatural principle in the form of the religion of Allah, that is, the Arabs were allowed to survive Islam. But the Greeks had nothing of the kind, so the Greeks were quickly absorbed by the Roman Empire. In general, we can say that a certain typology of agonal civilizations is being built in history. It is no coincidence that the Sumerians, Greeks and Arabs are similar to each other in their search for truth, in their search for the ideal, both aesthetic and epistemological, in their desire to find one generative principle through which the existence of the world can be explained. We can say that the Sumerians, Greeks, and Arabs did not live a very long life in history, but they left a legacy from which all subsequent peoples ate.

Idealistic states, agonal states of the Sumerian type live much longer after their death than in the period of time allotted to them by history.

Vladimir Emelyanov, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg State University.

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Vladimir Emelyanov

What are the theories of the origin of the Sumerian civilization? How did the Sumerians portray themselves? What is known about the Sumerian language and its relationship with other languages? Vladimir Yemelyanov, Doctor of Philosophy, talks about the reconstruction of the Sumerian appearance, the self-designation of the people and the worship of sacred trees.

Vladimir Emelyanov

What are the versions of the origin of Gilgamesh? Why were the Sumerian sports games associated with the cult of the dead? How does Gilgamesh become the hero of the twelve-part calendar year? Doctor of Philosophy Vladimir Emelyanov talks about this. Historian Vladimir Emelyanov on the origin, cult and transformation of the heroic image of Gilgamesh.

Vladimir Emelyanov

The book by the orientalist-Sumerologist V.V. Emelyanov tells in detail and fascinatingly about one of the most ancient civilizations in the history of mankind - Ancient Sumer. Unlike previous monographs devoted to this problem, here the constituent parts of Sumerian culture - civilization, artistic culture and ethnic character - are presented in unity for the first time.

In the seventies of the last century, the discovery of the biblical flood made a huge impression. One fine day, a humble worker at the British Museum in London, George Smith, set about deciphering cuneiform tablets sent from Nineveh and stacked in the museum's basement. To his surprise, he stumbled upon the oldest poem of humanity, describing the exploits and adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary hero of the Sumerians. Once, while examining the tablets, Smith literally could not believe his eyes, for on some tablets he found fragments of the flood story strikingly similar to the biblical version.

Vladimir Emelyanov

In the study of Ancient Mesopotamia, there are very few pseudoscientific ideas, pseudoscientific theories. Assyriology is unattractive to fantasy lovers, unattractive to freaks. It is a difficult science that studies the civilization of written records. There are very few images left from Ancient Mesopotamia, even more so there are no color images. There are no luxurious temples that have come down to us in excellent condition. Basically, what we know about Ancient Mesopotamia, we know from cuneiform texts, and cuneiform texts need to be able to read, and the imagination will not roam especially violently here. Nevertheless, interesting cases are known in this science too, when pseudoscientific ideas or insufficiently scientific ideas were put forward about Ancient Mesopotamia. Moreover, the authors of these ideas were both people not related to Assyriology, to the reading of cuneiform texts, and the Assyriologists themselves.

Lesson topic: Historical heritage of ancient civilizations . Antiquity: Difficulties of Understanding. Unity of the world of ancient civilizations. Sumerian model of the world. Polis: Three Ideas for Humanity. Roman law. The power of the idea and the passion for truth. Alphabet and writing. Egyptian medicine, mathematics, astronomy. Artistic values \u200b\u200bof ancient civilizations

Goal: to provide an understanding of what heritage has come down to our days from ancient civilization

Lesson type - lesson workshop

During the classes:

1. Review of homework

2. Working with new material

Introduction by the teacher: Civilization is made up of the historical heritage of the peoples who created it. The present is impossible without the past, without the memory of people who lived before us. The history of modern peoples is impossible to understand without acquaintance with the heritage of their ancestors who lived many centuries ago.

Even today, living in the 21st century, we are often unable to appreciate the true value of the contribution that our ancient ancestors made to the foundation of modern civilization.

The legends and myths of different peoples speak of ancient, highly developed civilizations that have sunk into oblivion.

The great Plato, referring to ancient sources in Egypt, describes in detail the disappeared country Atlantis, the high level of its state structure and economic life.

Different peoples have their own names for extinct civilizations and their location is indicated in different ways. This is Atlandis in the Mediterranean Sea or in the Atlantic Ocean, the country of Lemuria in the Indian Ocean, Hyperborea in the north of Europe, the mysterious Shambhala in the Himalayas.

Giant buildings have come down to us from antiquity. One cannot but admire the unique engineering structures, the pyramids of the peoples of Africa, Latin America and Asia.

These are the Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza, which are estimated to be 12,000 years old.

No less grandiose are the buildings of the Inca or Mayan pyramids. The temple of the god Viracocha is made of stone blocks weighing up to 300 tons, the precision of the fit is not inferior to the Egyptian one.

The ruins of the Baalbek Temple in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon look impressive. Stone blocks weighing more than 800 tons were laid in the foundation of the temple.

It remains a mystery how in the pyramids of Egypt and South America, in Baalbek, the ancient peoples, having no construction equipment, cut out huge blocks in the quarry, processed them, and dragged them to the construction site.

Considered allows us to conclude that ancient civilizations had a high level of knowledge: they were able to create complex mechanisms, used complex technologies to obtain different materials; possessed amazing knowledge in astronomy and had ideas about the structure of the Universe, coinciding in many respects with modern knowledge.

Accumulating knowledge, a person always strives to pass it on to his descendants. Since ancient times, chronicles of events, biographies of prominent personalities, scientific, philosophical and artistic works have been created for the future.

The keepers of many unique knowledge, in those distant times, were priests, oracles, druids, lamas, shamans.

A lot of information about the knowledge of ancient civilizations is contained in the manuscripts. The mass of knowledge disappeared in the conflagration of war. Over the past two thousand years, more than eleven thousand wars have occurred. It is tragic not only that people are dying, cities are crumbling - knowledge is lost, the culture and history of peoples are being erased.

Today in the lesson you will get acquainted with tests about different civilizations and their heritage. You will work in groups.

1st group

2. Sumerian model of the world

Speaking about the Sumerian model of the world, one must take into account the striking closeness between the states of the Southern Mesopotamia and the one that took place in the 20th century. model of a socialist state. Common here are the notions of revolution as clearing time of events, and the forced labor of the population for the state, and the state's desire to provide everyone with equal rations. In general, we can probably say that Sumer is, as it were, the subconscious of humanity - the Sumerian culture is fueled by primitive communal emotions that modern man must overcome and transform in himself. This is the desire for physical superiority over others, and the desire for equality of all people (primarily for property), and the denial of free will, and the associated denial of the human personality, and the desire to deal with everything that seems useless in the legacy of the past. At the same time, one cannot ignore some special healing of the Sumerian culture, to which a person, mired in complexes and conventions, falls in search of sincerity, warmth and answers to the main questions of life. Behind this culture, it is as if a forever lost childhood is hiding - a time of big questions to life, to which a grown-up person concerned with momentary matters could not answer. Homer and Shakespeare have always been just as naive and central to life - with all the rivers of blood, open passions - but also with that ultimate penetration into the essence of man, which only a creature with the inclinations of both a child and God is capable of. We can say that the Sumerian culture, in a Shakespearean way, is brilliant in choosing its spiritual goal - and just like Shakespeare, it repels modern man with a set of its means.

V. V. Emelyanov

Read text 2. What are the features common, in the author's opinion, for the Sumerian worldview and “realized in the XX century. models of a socialist state ”, are noted in it? Do you agree with this statement? In what sense is the Sumerian culture characterized by the historian as "the subconscious of humanity"? Where does he see the healing of Sumerian culture? How do you understand the analogy proposed by the author between the Sumerian culture and the works of Shakespeare: a brilliant choice of a spiritual goal, she averts humanity by defining means?

2nd group

3 . Polis: Three Ideas for Humanity

Polis bequeathed to humanity at least three great political ideas. This is primarily a civic idea. Awareness of oneself as a member of a civic collective, awareness of one's rights and obligations, a sense of civic duty, responsibility, involvement in the life of the entire community and its property, finally, the enormous importance of the opinion or recognition of fellow citizens, dependence on it - all this found in the policy the most complete, most vivid expression...

Then - the idea of \u200b\u200bdemocracy. By this we mean the idea that arose in the polis - and for the first time in history - the idea of \u200b\u200brule of the people, of its fundamental possibility, of the involvement of every citizen in government, of everyone's participation in public life and activities ... In the future, the concept of democracy also undergoes a certain evolution. The most graphic example is the question of direct rule of the people. It goes without saying that outside the conditions and framework of the polis, that is, in larger state formations, direct rule of the people is inconceivable, but after all, even in representative systems, the very principle of popular rule lives and remains ...

Finally, the idea of \u200b\u200brepublicanism. In the policy - again for the first time in history - the principle of the election of all governing bodies was implemented. But the matter is not only in the election. Three main elements of the political structure of the civic community have fused for subsequent generations into a single idea, into the idea of \u200b\u200ba republic: electivity, collegiality, short-term master's degrees. This is ... the principle that subsequently could always be opposed - and in fact opposed - to the principles of autocracy, monarchy, despotism ...

S. L. Utchenko

4. Roman law

In Roman law, in a perfect form, the Roman sense of sociality and statehood was reflected as the determining forms of the existence of human society and its history. Roman law reached the heights of abstraction in the expression and assessment of the richest and most diverse experience of live communication between people, presenting almost all types of relations between them in refined legal formulas and definitions, the correct application of which could give a definite and accurate solution to any emerging personal-social collision.

For the first time in history, Roman law presented the universal legal concept of the person, subject and object of law. Understanding law as a reflection of the world order in human society, the Romans believed that only strict adherence to the law can preserve harmony in relations between people. A strong state should be the guarantor of this harmony, for only a state that stands guard over the rule of law can ensure the observance of those rights that a person possesses by nature and by laws - divine and human.

The Roman system of law, grandiose and perfect in its internal consistency and forms of expression, has become one of the most important foundations not only of all subsequent systems of law, but also of civilization itself, which declares the priority of humanistic values \u200b\u200band human rights.

V. I. Ukolova

Read texts 3, 4. What are the key ideas bequeathed to mankind by the polis? What role do they play in the modern world? What is the significance for our country? What is the historical significance of Roman law? What role has it played in human history? How do you understand the author's assertion that it was in Roman law that the Roman sense of sociality and statehood was reflected in a perfect form?

Group 3

5. Power of ideas and passion for truth

During the period of ancient civilizations, the power of the idea was discovered as something opposed to the absolutization of ritualism. Based on the idea, it was possible to rebuild human behavior among people; Hence, such a colorfulness of unusual everyday details in the biographies of Greek philosophers, up to the barrel of Diogenes, is not an empty anecdotal side of the world history of philosophy, but an expression of the thought about the need to follow not everyday life, not habit, but the truth, brought to a visual, shocking gesture.

The thinkers of ancient civilizations are heroes of legends, sometimes bizarre ... but their criticism of everyday life by action, their superhuman authority is an alternative to the authority of habit that he has overcome.

The greatest discovery of ancient civilizations is the principle of criticism. The appeal to the idea, to the "truth" made it possible to criticize the given of human life together with myth and ritual ... Buddha-Shakyamuni is only a man, but the gods bow before him, because he overcame the inertia of world bondage and worldly attachment, but they did not ...

They liked to tell about the Old Testament prophets that they paid for the truth with their lives: Isaiah was as if sawed with a wooden saw, Jeremiah was stoned. But the same motive very often arises in the legends of the philosophers of Greece: Zeno of Elea, during interrogation in the presence of the tyrant Nearchus, bit off his tongue and spat it out in the face of the tyrant; Anaxarchus, rubbed with iron pestles in a mortar, shouted to the executioner: "Talk, talk about Anaxarh's skin - you cannot crush Anaxarchs!" The central image of the Greek tradition - Socrates calmly brings a cup of hemlock to his lips. Antiquity set the task - to seek the truth that makes a person free. Antiquity advanced the ideal of fidelity to truth, which is stronger than fear of violence. In other words, antiquity brought man out of the “uterine”, prepersonal state, and he cannot return to this state without ceasing to be a man.

Read text 5. What outstanding spiritual discoveries of antiquity does it refer to? In what sense are the expressions used in it: the power of the idea, the absolutization of ritual, criticism of everyday life by action, the principle of criticism, the ideal of fidelity to truth? Why, according to the authors, it was in ancient times that a person became a person, emerged from a prepersonal state?

4 group

9. Antiquity: Difficulties of Understanding

Chronological distances are indeed impressive: if before Rome during the time of Augustus - two millennia, before Athens during the time of Themistocles - two and a half, then before Babylon during the time of Hammurabi - a little less than four, before the beginning of Egyptian statehood - about five, and before the birth of the most ancient urban settlements in Jericho and Catal Huyuke - almost all ten ...

The world of ancient civilizations is very unusual, it is very incommensurable not only with our experience, with the experience of our era, but also with the experience of the old cultural tradition inherited by us ... Ancient civilizations have a fundamentally different level of “otherness” in relation to ours. It is enough to recall such universally accepted customs of the ancient world as human sacrifice ... We forget too easily that these customs were familiar even to Hellas. On the eve of the Battle of Salamis, Themistocles solemnly ordered the sacrifice of three noble Persian youths to be sacrificed to Dionysus the Devourer ... But during the St. Bartholomew's Night, the Huguenots were killed because they, the Huguenots, were of the Gentiles; to deal with a person for his beliefs still means to take note of him as a person, albeit in a very terrible way. The very idea of \u200b\u200bslaughter is fundamentally different: a person is simply given the status of a victim, only of a particularly high class. By the way, about sacrificial animals - when we think about classical antique architecture, is it easy for us to imagine that at the time of their functioning, ancient temples, including the Parthenon and other white marble wonders of Hellas, were supposed to resemble slaughterhouses? How would we handle the smell of blood and burnt fat? ..

The psychology of slavery alone gave rise to amazing phenomena at every step. The very people who created the ideal of freedom for subsequent eras, for they were very keenly aware of the rights of a citizen, could not at all feel the rights of a human person ... witness, it was obligatory to be interrogated under torture ...

Cruelty still needs neither justification by means of fanaticism, nor a cover up by means of hypocrisy; in relation to a slave or a stranger, to someone who is outside the community, it is practiced and taken for granted. Only by the end of antiquity the picture changes, and this marks the arrival of other times ... In Rome, Seneca spoke of slaves as fellow human beings ...

All this is true, but only one side of the truth. It was in the bosom of ancient civilizations ... for the first time, and with pristine simplicity and strength, two principles were proclaimed: universal human unity and moral self-sufficiency of the individual.

S. S. Averintsev, G. M. Bongard-Levin

Read text 9. What are the difficulties in understanding ancient civilizations? What features of antiquity and modernity are they associated with? What do the authors see as a fundamentally different level of “otherness” of ancient societies in comparison with other eras? Think about what is the meaning of the principles "discovered" by antiquity for a modern person: universal human unity and moral self-standing of the individual.

At the end of the work, the groups share the knowledge gained, complementing each other.

Homework: Supplement the materials presented in this and the previous paragraphs with the information you know about the historical heritage of ancient civilizations.

The culture of Phenicia has become a derivative of the culture of other, ancient and powerful Middle Eastern civilizations. The Phoenicians borrowed a lot from the Hittites, Greeks and the peoples of Mesopotamia, they kind of reworked neighboring cultures, mixed them, and created their own. For a long time, Phenicia was under Egyptian rule, but there were periods in its history and periods when the Hittites and Assyrians ruled on its lands. In general, their culture of ancient Phenicia began its inception as early as the 4th millennium BC.
The main cultural achievement of the Phoenicians can be called the creation of the Phoenician consonant letter, which appeared around the second half of the second millennium BC. Researchers do not know exactly where the Phoenician writing came from; most historians believe that their writing was derived from the pseudo-hieroglyphic writing of the city of Byblos, or from the proto-Sinai writing system. At the same time, the Phoenician alphabet became a kind of revolution in ancient writing - in a modified form it came to ancient Greece, from there it was borrowed by the Roman Empire. To this day, the alphabet system developed by the Phoenicians is used to write the world's most popular languages.

The oldest monuments of Phoenician literature are considered to be texts from Ugarit containing mythical stories, inscriptions of the rulers of the largest Phoenician cities. However, their literary works have not reached our time. During the Hellenistic period and the dominion of the Romans, Greek literature was widespread in the region. The authors of those times in their works referred to the so-called "Chronicles of Tire" and other works of the heyday of Phenicia. The texts transmitted in the presentation of the authors of ancient times, such as Diodorus and Justin, have also survived to our time.

Theoretically, the writings of the Carthaginian navigator Gannon can also be attributed to Phoenician literature, because Carthage was the colonial possession of the Phoenicians until the 6th century BC, so it is not surprising that the culture of ancient Phenicia left its mark on it. According to these texts, the Carthaginian seafarers adopted the astronomical knowledge so necessary on the high seas from the Phoenicians. In addition, the Phoenicians carried out the most extensive research of their time, in the 7th century BC. by order of the Egyptian pharaoh, their ships rounded the whole of Africa. At the same time, shortly before this, Gannon made a similar journey.

The culture of Phenicia, however, had something in common with the culture of other peoples of the ancient Near East. In particular, this was reflected in their architectural traditions. For the construction, the Phoenicians used large blocks of stone, which were installed on an embankment of stone and rubble. Laying stones, they tightly fitted them to each other, mixing with a mixture of lime and sand. When building, they used the architectural traditions of the Egyptians and Hittites, who ruled Phenicia at different periods of history.
Religion was an important part of Phoenician culture. They erected temples to their supreme gods in their largest cities. At the same time, their religious zeal was great - despite the fact that the sea route from distant Phoenician colonies could take a very long time, the priests from large colonial settlements in Spain and modern Tunisia. In some cases, the rulers themselves, went to Tire in order to receive the blessing of Baal and other higher Phoenician deities.

Sumerian history

Unknown where the Sumerians came from, but when they appeared in Mesopotamia, people were already living there. The tribes that inhabited Mesopotamia in ancient times lived on the islands, towering among the swamps. They built their settlements on artificial earth embankments. By draining the surrounding swamps, they created the oldest artificial irrigation system. As the finds in Kish indicate, they used microlithic tools.

The earliest settlement discovered in southern Mesopotamia was near El Obeid (near Ur), on a river island that towered over a swampy plain. The population who lived here was engaged in hunting and fishing, but was already switching to more progressive types of economy: to cattle breeding and agriculture.

On the basis of the skulls from the burials, it was determined that the Sumerians were not a one-racial ethnic group: there are also brachycephalic ("round-headed") and dolichocephalic ("long-headed"). However, this could also be the result of mixing with the local population. So we can't even relate them to a certain ethnic group with complete certainty. At present, it can only be asserted with some certainty that the Semites of Akkad and the Sumerians of Southern Mesopotamia sharply differed from each other both in their appearance and in language.

After the Sumerians, a huge number of clay cuneiform tablets remained. It may have been the first bureaucracy in the world. The earliest inscriptions date back to 2900 BC. and contain business records. Researchers complain that the Sumerians left behind a huge amount of "household" records and "lists of gods" but did not bother to write down the "philosophical basis" of their belief system.

The property stratification that took place within rural communities led to a gradual disintegration of the communal system. The growth of productive forces, the development of trade and slavery, and, finally, predatory wars contributed to the separation of a small group of the slave-owning aristocracy from the entire mass of communes. The aristocrats who owned slaves and partly the land are called “big people” (lugal), who are opposed by “small people”, that is, free poor members of rural communities.

If we talk about religion, then it can be noted that it seems that in Sumer the origins of religion had purely materialistic, and not "ethical" roots. The cult of the Gods was not aimed at "purification and holiness" but was intended to ensure a good harvest, military successes, etc. The most ancient of the Sumerian Gods, mentioned in the oldest tablets "with lists of gods" (mid-3rd millennium BC), personified the forces of nature - the sky, sea, sun, moon, wind, etc., then the gods appeared - patrons of cities, farmers, shepherds, etc. The Sumerians argued that everything in the world belongs to the gods - the temples were not the place where the gods were obliged to take care of people, but the granary of the gods - the barns.

The main deities of the Sumerian Pantheon were AN (heaven - masculine) and KI (earth - feminine). Both of these beginnings arose from the primordial ocean that gave birth to the mountain, from the firmly connected heaven and earth.

From this union was born the god of air - Enlil, who divided heaven and earth.

There is a hypothesis that in the beginning, maintaining order in the world was the function of Enki, the god of wisdom and the sea. But then, as the city-state of Nippur rose, whose god Enlil was considered to be, it was he who took the leading place among the gods.

Unfortunately, not a single Sumerian creation myth has come down to us. The course of events presented in the Akkadian myth "Enuma Elish", according to researchers, does not correspond to the concept of the Sumerians, despite the fact that most of the gods and stories in it are borrowed from Sumerian beliefs.

One of the foundations of Sumerian mythology, the exact meaning of which has not been established, is "ME", which played a huge role in the Sumerian religious and ethical system. In one of the myths, more than a hundred "ME" are named, of which less than half were read and deciphered. There are such concepts as justice, kindness, peace, victory, lies, fear, crafts, etc., everything that is somehow connected with social life. Some researchers believe that "me" are the prototypes of all living things, emitted by gods and temples, "Divine rules".

In general, in Sumer (Appendix 1) the Gods were like People. In their relationship there are matchmaking and war, rape and love, deception and anger. There is even a myth about a man who possessed the goddess Inanna in a dream (Appendix 2). Remarkably, the whole myth is imbued with sympathy for a person.

In general, the views of the Sumerians were reflected in many later religions, but now we are much more interested in their contribution to the technical side of the development of modern civilization.

One of the greatest experts on Sumer, Professor Samuel Noah Kramer, in his book "History Begins in Sumer", listed 39 subjects in which the Sumerians were pioneers. In addition to the first writing system, which we have already mentioned, he included the wheel, the first schools, the first bicameral parliament, the first historians, the first "almanac of the farmer" in this list (Appendix 3); in Sumer, cosmogony and cosmology first appeared, the first collection of proverbs and aphorisms appeared, literary debates were first conducted; the image of "Noah" was first created; here the first book catalog appeared, the first money was circulated (silver shekels (Appendix 4) in the form of "bullion by weight"), taxes began to be introduced for the first time, the first laws were adopted and social reforms were carried out, medicine appeared, and for the first time attempts were made to achieve peace and harmony in society.

In the field of medicine, the Sumerians had very high standards from the very beginning. The Ashurbanipal library found by Layard in Nineveh had a clear order, it had a large medical department, in which there were thousands of clay tablets. All medical terms were based on words borrowed from the Sumerian language. Medical procedures were described in special reference books, which contained information about hygiene rules, about operations, for example, removal of cataracts, and the use of alcohol for disinfection during surgical operations. Sumerian medicine was distinguished by a scientific approach to diagnosing and prescribing a course of treatment, both therapeutic and surgical.

The Sumerians were excellent travelers and explorers - they are also credited with the invention of the world's first ships. One Akkadian dictionary of Sumerian words contained at least 105 designations for various types of ships - according to their size, purpose and type of cargo. One inscription excavated at Lagash talks about the possibilities of repairing ships and lists the types of materials that the local ruler of Gudea brought to build the temple of his god Ninurta in about 2200 BC. The breadth of the assortment of these goods is astounding - from gold, silver, copper - to diorite, carnelian and cedar. In some cases, these materials have been transported over thousands of miles.

The first brick kiln was also built in Sumer. The use of such a large kiln made it possible to burn clay products, which gave them special strength due to internal stress, without air poisoning with dust and ash. The same technology was used to smelt metals from ore, such as copper, by heating the ore to temperatures in excess of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit in a closed furnace with a low oxygen supply. This process, called smelting, became necessary in the early stages, as soon as the supply of natural native copper was exhausted. Researchers in ancient metallurgy were extremely surprised at how quickly the Sumerians learned the methods of ore beneficiation, metal smelting and casting. These advanced technologies were mastered by them only a few centuries after the emergence of the Sumerian civilization.

Even more striking, the Sumerians mastered alloys - the process by which various metals are chemically combined when heated in a furnace. The Sumerians learned how to make bronze, a hard but workable metal that changed the course of human history. The ability to fuse copper with tin was the greatest achievement for three reasons. First, it was necessary to select a very precise ratio of copper and tin (analysis of Sumerian bronze showed the optimal ratio - 85% copper to 15% tin). Secondly, there was no tin at all in Mesopotamia. (Unlike, for example, from Tiahuanaco) Third, tin does not occur naturally in nature at all. To extract it from the ore - tin stone - requires a rather complicated process. This is not a case that can be opened by accident. The Sumerians had about thirty words for various types of copper of different qualities, while for tin they used the word AN.NA, which literally means "Heavenly Stone" - which is considered by many to indicate that Sumerian technology was a gift from the gods.

Thousands of clay tablets have been found containing hundreds of astronomical terms. Some of these tablets contained mathematical formulas and astronomical tables with which the Sumerians could predict a solar eclipse, various phases of the moon and the trajectories of planetary motion. The study of ancient astronomy has revealed the remarkable accuracy of these tables (known as ephemeris). Nobody knows how they were calculated, but we can ask ourselves - why was it necessary?

"The Sumerians measured the rise and fall of the visible planets and stars relative to the earth's horizon, using the same heliocentric system that is used now. We also adopted from them the division of the celestial sphere into three segments - north, central and south (respectively from the ancient Sumerians -" the path of Enlil "," the path of Anu "and" the path of Ea "). In essence, all modern concepts of spherical astronomy, including a full spherical circle of 360 degrees, zenith, horizon, axes of the celestial sphere, poles, ecliptic, equinox, etc. - all this suddenly arose in Sumer.

All the knowledge of the Sumerians regarding the movement of the Sun and the Earth was combined in the first calendar in the world created by them, created in the city of Nippur - a solar-lunar calendar that began in 3760 BC. The Sumerians counted 12 lunar months, which were approximately 354 days, and then 11 additional days were added to obtain a full solar year. This procedure, called intercalation, was performed annually until, 19 years later, the solar and lunar calendars were aligned. The Sumerian calendar was compiled very precisely so that key days (for example, New Year always falls on the vernal equinox). It is surprising that such a developed astronomical science was not at all necessary for this newly born society.

In general, the mathematics of the Sumerians had "geometric" roots and is very unusual. We rarely realize that not only for our geometry, but also for the modern way of reckoning time, we owe the Sumerian numbering system with a sixagesimal base. The division of the hour into 60 seconds was not at all arbitrary - it is based on the sexagesimal system. Echoes of the Sumerian number system persisted in the division of the day by 24 hours, the year by 12 months, the foot by 12 inches, and the existence of the dozen as a measure of quantity. They are also found in the modern counting system, in which numbers from 1 to 12 are singled out separately, and then numbers like 10 + 3, 10 + 4, etc. follow.

The Sumerian civilization is considered one of the oldest in the world, but was their society so different from the modern one? Today we will tell you about some of the details of the life of the Sumerians and what we have adopted from them.

To begin with, the time and place of origin of the Sumerian civilization still remain a matter of scientific discussion, the answer to which is unlikely to be found, because the number of surviving sources is extremely limited. In addition, due to the modern freedom of speech and information, the Internet is filled with many conspiracy theories, which greatly complicates the process of finding the truth by the scientific community. According to the data accepted by the majority of the scientific community, the Sumerian civilization already existed at the beginning of the 6th millennium BC in southern Mesopotamia.

The main source of information about the Sumerians is the cuneiform tables, and the science that studies them is called Assyriology.

As an independent discipline, it took shape only in the middle of the 19th century on the basis of English and French excavations in Iraq. From the very inception of Assyriology, scientists have had to fight the ignorance and lies of both non-scientific individuals and their own colleagues. In particular, the book of the Russian ethnographer Platon Akimovich Lukashevich "Charomutie" tells that the Sumerian language originated from the common Christian language "true" and is the progenitor of the Russian language. We will try to get rid of annoying witnesses of alien life and will rely on the specific works of researchers Samuel Kramer, Vasily Struve and Veronica Konstantinovna Afanasyeva.

Education

Let's start with the basics of everything - education and history. Sumerian cuneiform is the largest contribution to the history of modern civilization. The interest in learning among the Sumerians appears from the 3rd millennium BC. In the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. there is a flourishing of schools in which there are a thousand scribes. Schools, in addition to educational, were literary centers. They separated from the temple and were an elite boys' establishment. At the head was the teacher, or "the father of the school" - ummiya. They studied botany, zoology, mineralogy, grammar, but only in the form of lists, that is, the reliance was made on cramming, and not on the development of a system of thinking.

Sumerian tablet, city of Shuruppak

Among the school employees there were some “whip-wielding”, apparently to motivate the students, who had to attend classes every day.

In addition, the teachers themselves did not disdain to be assaulted and punished for every mistake. Fortunately, it was always possible to pay off, because the teachers received little and were not at all against "gifts".

It is important to note that medical training took place virtually without religious interference. So, on the plate found with 15 prescriptions of medicines, there was not a single magic formula or religious deviation.

Daily life and craft

If we take as a basis a number of extant stories about the life of the Sumerians, then we can conclude that labor activity was in the first place. It was believed that if you do not work, but walk in the parks, then you are not only not a man, but also not a man. That is, the idea of \u200b\u200blabor as the main factor of evolution was perceived at the internal level even by the most ancient civilizations.

It was customary for the Sumerians to respect their elders and help their family in their activities, be it working in the field or trading. Parents had to properly educate their children so that they would take care of them in old age. That is why the oral (through songs and legends) and written transmission of information was so valued, and with it the transfer of experience from generation to generation.

Sumerian jug

The Sumerian civilization was agrarian, which is why agriculture and irrigation developed at a relatively fast pace. There were special "landowner's calendars" that contained advice on the proper farming, plowing and management of workers. The document itself could not have been written by a farmer as they were illiterate, hence it was published for educational purposes. Many researchers are of the opinion that the hoe of an ordinary farmer enjoyed no less respect than the plow of wealthy townspeople.

Crafts were very popular: the Sumerians invented the technology of the potter's wheel, forged tools for agriculture, built sailing boats, mastered the art of casting and brazing metals, as well as inlaying precious stones. Women's crafts included skill in weaving, brewing beer, and gardening.

Politics

The political life of the ancient Sumerians was very active: intrigue, war, manipulation and intervention of divine forces. A complete set for a good historical blockbuster!

Regarding foreign policy, many stories have been preserved related to wars between cities, which were the largest political unit of the Sumerian civilization. Of particular interest is the story of the conflict between the legendary ruler of the city of Uruk, En-Merkar, and his opponent from Aratta. The victory in the war that never began was won with the help of a real psychological game using threats and manipulation of consciousness. Each ruler made riddles to another, trying to show that the gods were on his side.

Domestic politics was no less interesting. There is evidence that in 2800 BC. the first meeting of the bicameral parliament took place, which consisted of a council of elders and a lower house - of male citizens. It discussed issues of war and peace, which speaks of its key importance for the life of the city-state.

Sumerian cities

The city was ruled by either a secular or a religious ruler, who, in the absence of parliamentary power, himself decided on key issues: warfare, lawmaking, tax collection, and the fight against crime. However, his power was not considered sacred and could be overthrown.

The legislative system, according to the recognition of modern judges, including a member of the US Supreme Court, was very elaborate and fair. The Sumerians considered law and justice to be the foundation of their society. They were the first to replace the barbaric principle of "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" with a fine. In addition to the ruler, an assembly of city citizens could judge the accused.

Philosophy and ethics

As Samuel Kramer wrote, proverbs and sayings "best of all break the shell of the cultural and everyday layers of society." Using the example of Sumerian counterparts, we can say that the issues that bother them were not too different from ours: spending and saving money, justifying and finding someone to blame, poverty and wealth, moral qualities.

As for natural philosophy, by the 3rd millennium the Sumerians had developed a number of metaphysical and theological concepts that left their mark on the religion of the ancient Jews and Christians, but there were no clearly formulated principles. The main ideas concerned the issues of the universe. So, for them, the Earth was represented as a flat disk, and the sky - empty space. The world originated from the ocean. The Sumerians had sufficient intelligence, but they lacked scientific data and critical thinking, so they perceived their view of the world as correct, without questioning it.

The Sumerians recognized the creative power of the divine word. Sources about the pantheon of gods are characterized by a colorful but illogical manner of storytelling. The Sumerian gods themselves are anthropomorphic. It was believed that man was created by the gods from clay to meet their needs.

Divine powers were recognized as ideal and virtuous. The evil caused by humans seemed inevitable.

After their death, they ended up in the other world, in Sumerian he called himself Kur, to which they were transported by the "boat man". A close connection with Greek mythology is immediately visible.

In the works of the Sumerians, you can catch echoes of biblical motives. One of these is the idea of \u200b\u200ba heavenly paradise. The Sumerians called paradise Dilmun. The connection with the biblical creation of Eve from the rib of Adam is especially interesting. There was a goddess Nin-Ti, which can be translated both as "the goddess of the rib" and as "the goddess who gives life." Although researchers believe that it was precisely because of the similarity of motives that the name of the goddess was originally translated incorrectly, since "Ti" means both "rib" and "giver of life." Also in the Sumerian legends there was a great flood and a mortal man Ziusudra, who built a huge ship at the direction of the gods.

Some scientists see in the Sumerian plot of killing a dragon a connection with St. George piercing a snake.

Ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Kish

The invisible contribution of the Sumerians

What conclusion can be drawn about the life of the ancient Sumerians? They not only made an invaluable contribution to the further development of civilization, but in some aspects of their life they are quite understandable to a modern person: they had an idea of \u200b\u200bmorality, respect, love and friendship, had a good and fair judicial system, and every day faced things that were quite familiar to us.

Today, the approach to the Sumerian culture as a multifaceted and unique phenomenon, which provides for a thorough analysis of connections and continuity, makes it possible to look differently at the modern phenomena known to us, to realize their significance and deep, fascinating history.

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Sumero-Akkadian culture

Historian S. Kremer called his book about ancient civilizations “History begins in Sumer” and thus contributed to the dispute about which territory gave the world the first focus of statehood: Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia or Mesopotamia) or the Nile valley. At present, there is an increasing amount of evidence that, nevertheless, the palm should be given to Sumer, a small but amazingly powerful state in terms of achievements in various fields of culture, whose history, according to the latest data, began as early as the 6th millennium. Sumer united the most significant centers of urban culture in Mesopotamia (Ur, Eridu, Lagash, Uruk, Kish) and, judging by the available information, existed until about 2294, when the king of Akkad, another state formation of Mesopotamia, Sargon I managed to subjugate the whole of Sumer. As a result, a single state with common cultural traditions was formed. The Akkadians, whose cultural achievements were significantly inferior to those of the Sumerians, gladly embraced the various directions of Sumerian culture. Thus, the Sumerian-Akkadian culture was predominantly the Sumerian culture.

The Sumerian kingdom was the richest state. It owes its wealth to the intensive development of agriculture, crafts (especially those related to metal processing) and trade. The Sumerians proudly recorded in their epic that “they - praise to the gods - have already gone far from savagery, that they have a hoe with a copper tip, with which they dig up stubble, a copper ploughshare deep into the ground for a plow, a copper ax - to cut down bushes, copper sickle - to harvest bread; they have barges gliding quickly through the water, whose rowers, on command, keep the right pace; they have ports, embankments, where merchants from overseas countries bring wood, wool, gold, silver, tin, lead, copper, stones for construction and precious stones, resin, gypsum; they have workshops where beer is brewed, bread is baked, linen is woven and clothes are sewn from it, where blacksmiths make bronze, cast and sharpen sabers and axes; they have barns and cattle yards, where shepherds milk cattle, churn butter; they have fish ponds full of carp and perch; there are canals from which water-lifting structures transfer water to the fields; arable land on which spelled, barley, millet, peas, lentils grow; they have a threshing floor, high mills, green gardens ... ”. It is not surprising that it was the Sumerians who invented the first known artificial building material - brick, since there was very little stone and wood. Honoring the gods and turning to them with prayers, the Sumerians never limited themselves to prayers, they themselves researched, experimented, tried to find the best way to accomplish any business. In this the Sumerians were truly a great people.

The Sumerians also knew how to use fine arts to convey important moments in their history. Here, for example, is an image of a Sumerian army on a campaign, preserved on a mosaic slab excavated in Ur. The piece was created in an unusual technique that combines elements reliefand mosaics... (A relief is a type of sculpture in which the image is semi-convex in relation to the plane of the background.) On one side, a war is depicted, and on the other, a feast to celebrate a victory. Based on these images, one can easily imagine what the Sumerian army was. The Sumerian warriors did not yet use bows, but they already had leather helmets, leather shields and war wagons drawn by kulans on solid wheels, and musicians with lyres in their hands invariably accompanied the festivities.

Sumerians created cuneiform, the oldest type of writing, a kind of ideographic, semantic writing. Gradually, the drawings (pictographs) transmitting information lost their resemblance to the depicted object, acquiring a conditionally symbolic meaning. Thus, from pictography, cuneiform writing was born, which is a wedge-shaped signs applied to tablets made of wet clay. Thanks to cuneiform writing, the Sumerians were the first to write down wonderful oral legends, becoming the founders of literature. One of the most famous literary works of the ancient Sumerians is the immortal epic poem The Song of Gilgamesh. Her hero Gilgamesh- a Sumerian king who tried to grant immortality to his people.

The art of cuneiform writing required great skill and a long painstaking comprehension of its foundations. And it is quite natural that the Sumerians were the first to create schools that anticipated the school systems of the Greeks, Romans, and medieval Europe. These Sumerian schools, the first known educational institutions in cultural history, were called “ houses of plates”. The future scribes - children of the "house of tablets" - were kept by the teachers in strictness, as we can judge from the text found on one of the tablets containing the student's multiple complaints about the hardships of school life. But nevertheless, those who graduated from the "house of tablets" were happy, since over time it was they who occupied a very high social position and became rich and influential people.

The environment, nature, has left a strong imprint on the Mesopotamian culture. Here, in contrast to the almost parallel developing Egypt, man was constantly faced with hostile manifestations of nature. The Tigris and the Euphrates are not like the Nile: they can overflow impulsively and unpredictably, destroying dams and flooding crops. Sultry winds blow here, covering a person with dust and threatening to suffocate him. There are torrential rains here, turning the solid surface of the earth into a sea of \u200b\u200bmud and depriving people of freedom of movement. Here, in Mesopotamia, nature crushes and tramples on a person, makes him feel in all its fullness how insignificant he is.

Features of nature influenced the formation of a picture of the surrounding world among the Sumerians. The great rhythms of the cosmos, with their characteristic majestic order, were not overlooked; but this order was not safe and soothing. That is why the inhabitant of Sumer constantly felt the need for unity and protection. Social institutions such as the family, community, and especially the state were presented as a kind of protection. The state here was a variant of primitive democracy, where the most ordinary person in social origin could become the ruler. The Sumerian "List of Kings" mentions among the rulers of the shepherd, fisherman, shipbuilder, mason and even the innkeeper who ruled for a hundred (!) Years. The traits of collectivism are so strong in Sumerian culture that in their mythology, even the gods make decisions collectively, by voting of the seven most prominent gods.

Sumerian mythology is focused on the earthly, in perfect harmony with the rational logical thinking inherent in this people. Practicality and intelligence among the Sumerians dominate over simple superstition. The entire universe is viewed by them as a state in which obedience must certainly be the first virtue. Unsurprisingly, the Sumerians viewed the “good-natured life” as the “obedient life”. A Sumerian hymn has survived, describing the Golden Age as an age of obedience, as “the days when one did not owe the other, when the son honored his father, the days when respect lived in the country, when the little one honored the big one, when the younger brother honored the older brother, when the eldest son taught the younger son, when the younger was subordinate to the elder ”. Worldly wisdom dictated that otherwise they simply would not survive. Man, in the Sumerian minds, was created for service. A diligent and obedient worker could count on progress, on tokens of mercy and rewards from his master. Thus, the path of obedience and good service is the path of gaining protection, as well as the path to earthly success, to an honorable position in society and other benefits.

Another fundamental problem that occupied the ancient Sumerians was the legality of death, which they presented as evil and the highest punishment. Why should a person die if he has not done anything wrong? Moreover, the realism and rationality of the Sumerian worldview excluded any hope for a happy afterlife. In the famous epic about Gilgamesh, the hero says: "... Only the gods will stay with the Sun forever, and man - his years are numbered, no matter what he does - all the wind!" As a result, the dream of eternal glory replaces the dream of immortality. Gilgamesh traveled a lot around the world, wanting to find for his people a source of immortality and eternal youth, but was defeated. And now the main task is to glorify his heroic deeds. The poem carries the idea that death is evil, but it cannot negate the value of life. Death, although it marks the end of the path of life, as it were, spurs a person to live wisely and meaningfully in order to leave a memory about himself in the hearts of people. One should die in the fight against evil, even in the fight against death. The reward for this is the “name” and the grateful memory of the descendants. This is, from the point of view of the Sumerians, the immortality of man. This is the meaning of life. A person makes the first attempt to morally overcome death, carries out a rebellion against death. It is no coincidence that it was in Sumerian mythology that dreams of the golden age of mankind and paradise life, which later found development in biblical legends, were first heard.

The scientific discoveries of the Sumerians are also striking. The Sumerian priests systematically observed nature. For example, a register of astronomical observations carried out over 360 years was discovered in Ur. Based on these observations, it was found that the year is 365 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes, 41 seconds. Sumerian astronomers knew of seven celestial bodies moving in their own orbits. The same number reflected for them the eternal order of the world. This is why our week is seven, not eight or nine days. 7 was one of the sacred numbers of the ancient Sumerians. Such numbers were for them 12, 60, 360, and it is no coincidence that today we have twelve months in a year, an hour consists of 60 minutes, a minute consists of 60 seconds. It is no coincidence that we are dividing a full circle by 360 degrees, and moreover, already by minutes and seconds. The Sumerians divided the day by 12 o'clock, and on our watches, the numbers, as a rule, reach only 12. Sumerian successes in mathematics are still amazing: they knew exponentiation, extracted roots, used fractions, counted within a decimal row of numbers. They knew very well the geometric laws: the whole of Euclidean geometry is either a retelling of the experience of the Sumerians in this area, or the discovery of what they knew.

They knew how to accurately determine the length of the lunar month and solar year, the time of the spring and autumn equinox. And, of course, by the position of the stars, by the motion of the planets, they tried to find out the future. They deeply believed that nothing on earth could happen without the same happening in heaven. Without knowing it, they became the founders of astrology.

Truly huge in the Sumerian culture was the role of the priest - the mediator between man and god. In ancient times, the priests, judging by the reliefs and images on the seals, served the gods naked. Later they began to dress in loose linen robes. The main duty towards the gods was the offering of sacrifices. During the sacrifices, prayers were offered for the welfare of the donor. The more generous the gifts were, the more solemn the ceremony. Specially trained priests accompanied by prayers playing lyres, harps, cymbals, flutes and other instruments. Along with the priests, the priestesses were also revered, who did not always take a vow of purity. On the contrary, their duties included "serving the goddess with the body." Temple prostitution was surrounded by an aura of holiness, and the proceeds from it increased the wealth of the "house of God."

Also noteworthy are the legal norms developed by the Sumerians regulating all spheres of life. Sumerian laws, clearly articulated and based on tradition, were innovative for those times. Essentially, all citizens had to comply with these laws.

The first legislator and champion of justice in the history of Sumer was the ruler of Uruinimgina (the last third of the 4th millennium BC), the first reformer king in the history of mankind. By the power of the established laws, he achieved that not a single priest “walked into the garden of the poor man’s mother”, that if “the poor man’s son throws a net, no one will take his fish”. A follower of Uruinimgin was a king named Shulga. Shulga compiled and enacted his own set of laws. He also tried to make justice the basis of life, eradicate disorder and lawlessness, and made sure that "an orphan did not become a victim of a rich man, a widow - a victim of a strong man." According to researchers, the code of laws of Shulga served as a model for later legislators, and above all for the king of Babylonia Hammurabi (XVIII century BC).

Curious information about the family life of the Sumerians has also been preserved. The head of the family was the father, whose word was decisive. The paternal authority was a miniature copy of the king's authority, to a certain extent it reflected the relationship between the gods and their subjects. But the role of the mother was still very significant and honorable. Monogamous marriage was the norm, where husband and wife were almost equal partners, protected by a marriage contract. The families were not too large: on average, two or four children. The Sumerians loved children, took care of them, considering it their sacred duty, and continued to fulfill it even when the child turned into a teenager.

The culture of the Sumerians cannot be imagined without art. First of all, it should be noted the achievements in the field of urban planning. The Sumerians laid the foundation for the construction of fortified cities surrounded by walls, multi-storey buildings and multi-stage ziggurats - temples-altars (hereinafter - typical temple buildings of Ancient Mesopotamia), which formed part of a complex of sacred buildings surrounded by a wall and inaccessible to people. Ziggurats were built of bricks, faced with glazed tiles. By its design, the famous Tower of Babel was also a ziggurat, the construction of which was completed already in the Babylonian period. Ziggurats were often used for the needs of the priests of mathematics and astronomy.

The Sumerians are an artistically gifted people. Despite the fact that there was very little stone in the country, they created an original stone sculpture. Statues of kings, priests, warriors were installed in temples. In later times, statues from diorite appear, such as, for example, the image of the famous king Gudea (c. 2300 BC). This sculpture, distinguished by its simplicity and uncomplicated nature, is very expressive, which speaks of the great skill of its creator. The Sumerians also created plastic in metal, for the first time they used gold in combination with lapis lazuli, silver, mother of pearl and bronze. In Ur, in the royal tomb, where seventy courtiers were buried together with the king, the English archaeologist L. Bouli discovered skillfully made jewelry, weapons, high-quality musical instruments, four-wheeled carts, metal figurines, etc.

Sumerian legends, many of which were later included in later monuments of epic literature, including the Bible, were originally a simple retelling of events. However, having gone through several stages, by the end of the III millennium BC. Sumerian literature already contained many features of modern literature. The variety of genres and poetic techniques, the emotional motivation of the heroes' actions, the original metric form of works, the widespread use of tragic and comic effects, the philosophical depth of generalizations - all this speaks of the talent and innovation of anonymous authors. Along with epic works, the first lyrical works in history also appear. It is the Sumerians who are considered the authors of the first elegies.

Many of the cultural achievements of Mesopotamia were assimilated and creatively reworked by neighboring peoples, including Greeks and ancient Jews. Some legends of the Sumerian epic formed the basis of the Bible. Man, according to the Sumerian epic, was created from clay, just like the biblical man. The Biblical Paradise is located in Mesopotamia. The Sumerian epic for the first time contains information about the worldwide flood, about Noah with his family (naturally, in the Sumerian epic he had a different name - Utnapishti), about the city of Jericho, about the Tower of Babel, etc. The biography of Sargon I is very reminiscent of the story of the prophet Moses: they were both found in infancy in the coastal thickets, both became great kings not without divine will.

The list of examples can be continued, as, indeed, the story about the culture of the Sumerians in general. It was the greatest culture, the achievements of which were developed by other civilizations of Mesopotamia: Babylonian, Assyrian and Chaldean.

The transition to agriculture and animal husbandry began earlier than all in the Middle East region. There already in the 6th millennium there were large settlements, whose inhabitants possessed the secrets of agriculture, pottery and weaving. By the turn of the 3rd millennium, the first civilizations began to take shape in this region.

As already noted, the founder of anthropology L. G. Morgan used the concept of "civilization" to denote a higher stage in the development of society than barbarism. In modern science, the concept of civilization is used to designate the stage of development of society at which there exist: cities, class society, state and law, writing.

Those features that distinguish civilization from the primitive era originated in 4 thousand, and were fully manifested in the 3rd millennium BC. e. in the lives of people who have mastered the river valleys flowing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Later, in the middle of the 3rd millennium, civilizations began to take shape in the Indus River Valley (on the territory of modern Pakistan) and in the Yellow River Valley (China).

Let us trace the process of formation and development of the first civilizations on the example of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer.

Irrigation agriculture as the basis of civilization

The Greeks called the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia), which flow almost parallel to each other on the territory of modern Iraq. In the south of Mesopotamia, a people called the Sumerians created the first civilization in this region. It existed until the end of the 3rd millennium and became the basis for the development of other civilizations in the region, primarily for the Babylonian culture of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. e.

The basis of the Sumerian, like all other eastern civilizations, was irrigation agriculture. The rivers brought fertile silt from the upper reaches. Grains thrown into the silt produced high yields. But it was necessary to learn how to divert excess water during the flood period and supply water during the drought period, that is, to irrigate the fields. Irrigation of fields is called irrigation. As the population grew, people had to irrigate additional plots of land, creating complex irrigation systems.

Irrigated agriculture was the basis for a civilizational breakthrough. One of the first consequences of the development of irrigation was the growth of the population living in one area. Now dozens of tribal communities, that is, several thousand people, lived together, forming a new community: a large territorial community.

In order to maintain the complex irrigation system and ensure peace and order in the area with a large population, special bodies were required. This is how the state arose - the institution of power and government, which stood above all the tribal communities of the district and performed two internal functions: economic management and socio-political management (maintaining public order). Management required knowledge and experience, therefore, from the clan nobility, who had accumulated management skills within the clan, a category of people was formed who carried out the functions of state administration on a permanent basis. State power extended to the entire territory of the district, and this territory was quite definite. This gave rise to another meaning of the concept of the state - a certain territorial entity. Its territory had to be defended, so the main external function of the state was to protect its territory from external threats.

The appearance in one of the settlements of governing bodies, whose power extended to the entire district, turned this settlement into the center of the district. The center began to stand out among other settlements in size and architecture. The largest buildings of a secular and religious nature were built here, handicrafts and trade developed most actively. This is how cities appeared.

In Sumer, the cities with the adjacent rural district existed independently as city-states for a long time. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, such Sumerian city-states as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, had up to 10 thousand inhabitants. By the middle of the 3rd millennium, the population density increased. For example, the population of the city-state of Lagash exceeded 100 thousand people. In the second half of the 3rd millennium, a number of city-states were united by the ruler of the city of Akkad Sargon the Ancient into the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad. However, the union was not strong. Stronger large states existed in Mesopotamia only in the 2nd and 1st millennia (Old Babylonian kingdom, Assyrian state, New Babylonian kingdom, Persian state).

Social system

How the city-state of Sumer was organized in the 3rd millennium. It was headed by a ruler (en or ensi, then lugal). The ruler's power was limited to the assembly of the people and the council of elders. Gradually, the post of ruler from an elective one becomes hereditary, although the procedures for confirming the right of a son to take the post of father by the people's assembly remained for a long time. The formation of the institution of hereditary power was due to the fact that the ruling dynasty had a monopoly on the experience of government.

The process of sacralization of the ruler's personality played an important role in the formation of hereditary power. It was stimulated by the fact that the ruler combined secular and religious functions, since religion among the farmers was closely intertwined with production magic. The main role was played by the cult of fertility, and the ruler, as the main manager of household work, performed rituals designed to ensure a good harvest. In particular, he performed the rite of "sacred marriage", which was carried out on the eve of sowing work. If the main deity of the city was a feminine principle, then the ruler himself entered into a sacred marriage with him, if male, then the ruler's daughter or wife. This gave the ruler's family a special authority, it was considered closer and more pleasing to God than other families. The deification of living rulers was atypical for the Sumerians. Only at the end of the 3rd millennium rulers demanded to consider themselves living gods. They were officially called that, but it does not follow that people believed that they were ruled by living gods.

The unity of secular and religious power was also strengthened by the fact that in the beginning the community had a single administrative, economic and spiritual center - the temple, the house of God. There was a temple economy at the temple. It created and stored grain reserves to insure the community in case of crop failure. Plots were allocated on temple grounds for officials. Most of them combined administrative and religious functions, therefore they are traditionally called priests.

Another category of people who had separated from the community - professional artisans who donated their products to the temple - fed from the temple reserves. Weavers and potters played an important role. The latter made ceramics on a potter's wheel. Foundry workers smelted copper, silver and gold, then poured them into clay molds, they knew how to make bronze, but there was little of it. A significant part of the products of artisans and surplus grain were sold. The centralization of trade in the hands of the temple administration made it possible to more profitably purchase those goods that were not in Sumer itself, primarily metals and wood.

A group of professional warriors was also formed at the temple - the embryo of a standing army, armed with copper daggers and spears. The Sumerians created war chariots for the chiefs by harnessing donkeys.

Irrigation agriculture, although it required collective work to create an irrigation system, at the same time made it possible to make the patriarchal family the main economic unit of society. Each family worked on the plot of land allotted to it, and other relatives did not have the right to the result of the work of this family. Family ownership of the produced product arose because each family could feed itself, and therefore there was no need to socialize and redistribute this product within the clan. The presence of private ownership of the product of labor produced was combined with the absence of full private ownership of land. According to the ideas of the Sumerians, the land belonged to God - the patron of the community, and people only used it, making sacrifices for this. Thus, collective ownership of land was preserved in a religious form. Communal land could be leased out for a fee, but there are no firmly established cases of selling communal land to private ownership.

The emergence of family property contributed to the emergence of property inequality. Due to the action of dozens of everyday reasons, some families became richer and others poorer.

However, professional differentiation in society became a more important source of inequality: wealth was concentrated primarily in the hands of the managerial elite. The economic basis of this process was the emergence of a surplus product - a surplus in food. The greater the surplus, the more opportunities the managerial elite had to appropriate part of it, creating certain privileges for themselves. To a certain extent, the elite had the right to privileges: managerial work was more qualified and responsible. But gradually property, received according to merit, became a source of income disproportionate to merit.

The family of the ruler stood out for its wealth. This is evidenced by the burials of the middle of the 3rd millennium in Ur. The tomb of the priestess Puabi was found here, buried with a retinue of 25 people. The tomb contains wonderful utensils and jewelry made of gold, silver, emeralds and lapis lazuli. Including a crown of gold flowers and two harps decorated with sculptures of a bull and a cow. The bearded wild bull is the personification of the ur god Nanna (the god of the moon), and the wild cow is the personification of Nanna's wife, the goddess Ningal. This allows us to think that Puabi was a priestess, a participant in the ceremony of a sacred marriage with the god of the moon. Burials with a retinue are rare and are associated with some very significant event.

The nature of the jewelry shows that the nobility had already lived a different life. Ordinary people at this time were content with little. The clothes of men in summer consisted of a loincloth, women wore skirts. In winter, a woolen cloak was added to this. The food was simple: barley cake, beans, dates, fish. Meat was eaten on holidays associated with the sacrifice of animals: people did not dare to eat meat without sharing it with the gods.

Social stratification gave rise to conflicts. The most serious problems arose when impoverished community members lost their land and fell into bondage to the rich due to their inability to repay borrowed money. In those cases when the community was threatened with major conflicts caused by debt bondage, the Sumerians used a custom called "return to mother": the ruler canceled all enslaving deals, returned mortgaged land to its original owners, freed the poor from debt bondage.

So, in Sumerian society there were mechanisms that protected community members from loss of freedom and livelihood. However, there were also categories of unfree people, slaves. The first and main source of slavery was intercommunal wars, that is, people who were alien to the community became slaves. At first, only women were taken prisoner. Men were killed because it was difficult to keep them in subjection (a slave with a hoe in his hands was not much of a war with a spear). Female slaves worked in the temple economy and gave birth to children who became temple workers. These were not free people, but they could not be sold, they were entrusted with weapons. They differed from free ones in that they could not receive allotments of communal land and become full members of the community. As the population grew, men were also taken prisoner. They worked at the temple and on family farms. Such slaves were sold, but they, as a rule, were not subjected to harsh exploitation, since it created the danger of an uprising and related losses. Slavery in Sumer was predominantly patriarchal in nature, that is, slaves were viewed as junior and unequal members of the family.

These were the main features of the social structure of the Sumerian city-states in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC.

Spiritual culture

Writing.We know about the Sumerians because they invented writing. The growth of the temple economy made it important to keep track of land, grain reserves, livestock, etc. These needs were the reason for the creation of writing. The Sumerians began writing on clay tablets that dried in the sun and became very durable. The tablets have survived to this day in large numbers. They are deciphered, although sometimes they are very approximate.

Initially, the letter was in the form of stylized pictogram drawings, denoting the most important objects and actions. The sign of the foot meant "to walk", "to stand", "to bring", etc. Such a letter is called pictographic (drawing) or ideographic, since the sign conveyed a whole idea, an image. Then signs appeared to denote the roots of words, syllables and individual sounds. Since the signs were squeezed out on clay with a wedge-shaped stick from a reed, scientists called the Sumerian writing wedge-shaped or kuniform (kuneus - wedge). It was easier to extrude the marks than to draw with a stick on clay. It took six centuries for the letter to turn from reminder signs into a system of transmitting complex information. This happened around 2400 BC. e.

Religion. The Sumerians moved from animism to polytheism (polytheism): from animating and worshiping natural phenomena to believing in gods as higher beings, creators of the world and man. Each city had its own main patron god. In Uruk, the supreme god was An - the god of the sky. In Ur - Nanna, the god of the moon. The Sumerians sought to place their gods in the sky, believing that it is from there that the gods observe and rule the world. The celestial, or stellar (astral) character of the cult increased the authority of the deity. The Obshemerian pantheon gradually took shape. Its basis was: An - the sky god, Enlil - the air god, Enki - the water god, Ki - the earth goddess. They represented the four main, according to the Sumerians, elements of the universe.

The Sumerians conceived of the gods as anthropomorphic creatures. Special temples were dedicated to the gods, where the priests performed certain rituals daily. In addition to temples, each family had clay figurines of gods and kept them in the house in special niches.

Mythology and literature

The Sumerians composed and recorded many myths.

In the beginning, myths were created orally. But with the development of writing, written versions of myths appeared. Fragments of surviving records date from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

There is a well-known cosmogonic myth about the creation of the world, according to which the primary element of the world was water chaos or the great ocean: “It had neither beginning nor end. Nobody created it, it has always existed. " In the depths of the ocean, the sky god An, depicted with a horned tiara on his head, and the earth goddess Ki were born. Other gods went from them. As can be seen from this myth, the Sumerians had no idea of \u200b\u200bthe Creator God who created the earth and all life on earth. Nature in the form of water chaos has existed forever, or at least, before the emergence of the gods.

An important role was played by the myths associated with the cult of fertility. A myth has come down to us about a ruler named Dumuzi, who won the love of the goddess Inanna and thus ensured the fertility of his land. But then Inanna found herself in the underworld and, in order to get out of it, sent Dumuzi there instead of herself. For six months a year he was in a dungeon. During these months the earth became dry from the sun and gave birth to nothing. And on the day of the autumnal equinox, the holiday of the new year came: Dumuzi left the dungeon and entered into a conjugal relationship with his wife, and the earth gave a new harvest. Every year in the cities of Sumer the sacred marriage between Inanna and Dumuzi was celebrated.

This myth gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe attitude of the Sumerians to the afterlife. The Sumerians believed that after death their souls fall into the underworld, from which there is no exit, and there is much worse than on earth. Therefore, they considered earthly life as the highest reward that the gods bestowed on people in exchange for serving the gods. It was the Sumerians who created the idea of \u200b\u200ban underground river as the border of the underworld and a carrier that transports the souls of the dead there. The Sumerians had the beginnings retribution teachings: clean drinking water and peace in the underworld are given to wars who died in battle, as well as parents with many children. It was also possible to improve your life there by the correct observance of the funeral rite.

Heroic or epic myths played an important role in the formation of the Sumerian worldview - legends of heroes... The most famous is the myth of Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk at the end of the XXVII century. Five stories of his exploits have survived. One of them was a trip to Lebanon for a cedar tree, during which Gilgamesh kills the giant cedar keeper Humbaba. Others are associated with victories over a monstrous bull, a gigantic bird, a magic snake, communication with the spirit of his deceased friend Enkidu, who spoke about the gloomy life in the underworld. In the next, Babylonian, period in the history of Mesopotamia, a whole cycle of myths about Gilgamesh will be created.

In total, more than one hundred and fifty monuments of Sumerian literature are currently known (many have survived only partially). Among them, in addition to myths, there are hymns, psalms, wedding love songs, funeral laments, laments about social disasters, psalms in honor of kings. Teachings, dialogues, fables, anecdotes, and proverbs are widely represented.

Architecture

Sumer is called the civilization of clay, because in architecture, clay bricks were used as the main material. This had dire consequences. Not a single surviving architectural monument has come from the Sumerian civilization. The architecture can only be judged by the surviving fragments of foundations and lower parts of the walls.

The most important task was the construction of temples. One of the earliest temples was excavated in the Sumerian city of Eredu and dates back to the end of the 4th millennium. This is a rectangular building made of bricks (clay and straw), at the ends of which were, on the one hand, a statue of a deity, and on the other hand, a table for sacrifices. The walls are decorated with protruding blades (pilasters) that dissect the surface. The temple was placed on a platform of stone, since the area was swampy and the foundation was sinking.

Sumerian temples quickly collapsed, and then a platform was made from the bricks of the destroyed temple and a new temple was erected on it. So gradually, by the middle of the 3rd millennium, a special Sumerian type of temple was formed - a stepped tower ( ziggurat). The most famous is the ziggurat in Ur: the temple was 21 meters high and stood on three platforms decorated with tiles and connected by staircases-ramps (XXI century BC).

The sculpture is mainly represented by small figurines made of soft rocks, which were placed in the niches of the temple. Few of the statues of deities have survived. The most famous is the head of the goddess Inanna. From the statues of the rulers, several sculptural portraits of Gudea, the ruler of the city of Lagash, have survived. Several wall reliefs have survived. There is a known relief on the stele of Naram-Suena, the grandson of Sargon (about 2320 BC), where the king is depicted at the head of the army. The figure of the king is larger than the figures of warriors, the signs of the Sun and the Moon shine above his head.

Glyptic, stone carving is a favorite form of applied art. The carving was done on seals, at first flat, then cylindrical seals appeared, which rolled on clay and left friezes (decorative composition in the form of a horizontal strip).

One of the seals has a relief depicting King Gilgamesh as a mighty hero with a curly beard. The hero fights with a lion, with one hand he restrains the rearing lion, and with the other he plunges a dagger into the scruff of the predator.

The high level of development of jewelry is evidenced by the above-mentioned Puabi jewelry - a harp, a crown of gold flowers.

Painting represented mainly by painting on ceramics. The surviving images allow us to judge the canons. The man was portrayed as follows: face and legs in profile, eyes in front, body turned by 3/4. The figures are shortened. The eyes and ears are depicted with emphasized large.

The science. The economic needs of the Sumerians laid the foundation for the development of mathematical, geometric, astronomical knowledge. To carry out the accounting of temple reserves, the Sumerians created two systems of counting: decimal and sixties. And both have survived to this day. The sexagesimal was preserved when calculating time: in 1 hour 60 minutes, in 1 minute 60 seconds. The number 60 was taken because it was easily divisible by many other numbers. It was convenient to divide into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. The needs associated with laying irrigation systems, measuring field areas, building buildings led to the creation of the foundations of geometry. In particular, the Sumerians used the Pythagorean theorem 2 thousand years before the Greeks formulated it. They were probably the first to split the circle 360 \u200b\u200bdegrees. They made observations of the sky, linking the position of the luminaries with river floods. Allocated various planets and constellations. Especially closely watched those luminaries who were associated with deities. The Sumerians introduced standards for measures of length, weight, area and volume, value.

Right... Order could exist only if there were laws known to all, that is, mandatory norms. The set of mandatory norms protected by the power of the state is usually called law. Law arises before the emergence of the state and exists in the form of customs - norms that have developed on the basis of tradition. However, with the emergence of the state, the concept of "law" is always associated with state power, since it is the state that officially establishes and protects legal norms.

From the III dynasty of Ur, the oldest known code of laws, compiled by the ruler of Shulga, the son of Ur - Nammu (XXI century BC), has reached us, although not completely. The laws protected the property and personal rights of citizens: the fields of community members from seizures, from being flooded by neighbors through negligence, from a lazy tenant; provided compensation to the owner for damage caused to his slave; defended the wife's right to monetary compensation in the event of a divorce from her husband, the groom's right to the bride after paying her father the marriage gift, etc. Obviously, these laws were based on a long legal tradition that has not come down to us. The legal tradition of the Sumerians had a religious basis: it was believed that it was the gods who created a set of rules that everyone should follow.

The legacy of the Sumerian civilization

Around 2000, the III dynasty of Ur fell under the blows of a new wave of Semitic tribes. The Semitic ethnic element came to dominate Mesopotamia. The Sumerian civilization seems to be disappearing, but in fact, all the main elements of its culture continue to live within the framework of the Babylonian civilization, named after Babylon, the main city of Mesopotamia in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. e.

The Babylonians took the cuneiform writing system from the Sumerians and for a long time used the already dead Sumerian language as a language of knowledge, gradually translating Sumerian scientific, legal, religious documents, as well as monuments of Sumerian literature into the Semitic (Akkadian) language. It was the Sumerian inheritance that helped the most famous king of the Old Babylonian kingdom, Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 BC), to create the largest code of laws of the Ancient world, consisting of 282 articles, regulating in detail all the main aspects of the life of Babylonian society. The famous Tower of Babel, which became a symbol of the New Babylonian kingdom that existed in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., was also the direct successor of the stepped Sumerian ziggurats.



pouring wine

sumerian pottery

The first schools.
The Sumerian school arose and developed before the appearance of writing, the very cuneiform writing, the invention and improvement of which was the most significant contribution of Sumer to the history of civilization.

The first written monuments were found among the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk (biblical Erech). More than a thousand small clay tablets covered with pictographic writing were found here. These were mainly business and administrative records, but among them there were several educational texts: lists of words for memorization. This suggests that at least 3000 years before and. e. the Sumerian scribes were already engaged in teaching. Over the next centuries, Erech business developed slowly, but by the middle of the III millennium BC. c), on the territory of Sumer). Seemingly there was a network of schools for the systematic Teaching of reading and writing. In ancient Shuruppak-pa, the homeland of the Sumerian ... during excavations in 1902-1903. a significant number of tablets with school texts were found.

From them, we learn that the number of professional scribes at that time reached several thousand. The scribes were divided into junior and senior: there were royal and temple scribes, scribes with a narrow specialization in any one area and highly qualified scribes who held important government posts. All this suggests that many fairly large schools for scribes were scattered throughout Sumer, and that considerable importance was attached to these schools. However, none of the tablets of that era still gives us a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe Sumerian schools, the system and methods of teaching in them. To obtain this kind of information, it is necessary to refer to the tablets of the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. From the archaeological layer corresponding to this era, hundreds of educational tablets with all kinds of tasks completed by the students themselves during the lessons were extracted. All stages of training are presented here. Such clay "notebooks" make it possible to draw many interesting conclusions about the teaching system adopted in the Sumerian schools, and about the curriculum that was studied there. Fortunately, the teachers themselves loved to write about school life. Many of these records have also survived, albeit in fragments. These records and educational tablets give a fairly complete picture of the Sumerian school, its tasks and goals, about students and teachers, about the program and teaching methods. This is the only case in the history of mankind when we can learn so much about the schools of such a distant era.

Initially, the goals of education in the Sumerian school were, so to speak, purely professional, that is, the school was supposed to prepare scribes necessary in the economic and administrative life of the country, mainly for palaces and temples. This task remained central throughout the entire existence of Sumer. As the network of schools develops. and as the curriculum expands, schools are gradually becoming hotbeds of Sumerian culture and knowledge. Formally, the type of a universal "scientist" - a specialist in all branches of knowledge that existed in that era: in botany, zoology, mineralogy, geography, mathematics, grammar and linguistics, rarely accounting. pog ^ shahi knowledge of their ethics. and not an era.

Finally, in contrast to modern educational institutions, the Sumerian schools were a kind of literary centers. Here they not only studied and rewrote literary monuments of the past, but also created new works.

Most of the students who graduated from these schools, as a rule, became scribes at palaces and temples or on the farms of rich and noble people, but a certain part of them devoted their lives to science and teaching.

Like the university professors of our day, many of these ancient scholars earned their living by teaching, devoting their free time to research and literary work.

The Sumerian school, which originally appeared as an appendage of the temple, eventually separated from it, and its program acquired a mostly purely secular character. Therefore, the teacher's work was most likely paid for by student contributions.

Of course, there was no universal or compulsory education in Sumer. Most of the students came from rich or well-to-do families - after all, it was not easy for the poor to find the time and money for a long study. Although Assyriologists long ago came to this conclusion, it was only a hypothesis, and only in 1946 the German Assyriologist Nikolaus Schneider was able to back it up with witty evidence based on documents from that era. Thousands of published household and administrative tablets dating back to about 2000 BC. e .. about five hundred names of scribes are mentioned. Many of them. To avoid mistakes, next to their name they put the name of their father and indicated his profession. Having carefully sorted out all the tablets, N. Schneider established that the fathers of these scribes - and all of them, of course, were educated in schools - were the rulers, "city fathers", envoys, temple managers, military leaders, ship captains, high tax officials, priests of various ranks, contractors, overseers, scribes, archivists, bookkeepers.

In other words, the scribes' fathers were the wealthiest citizens. Interesting. that none of the fragments contains the name of the woman scribe; apparently. and only boys were taught in Sumerian schools.

At the head of the school was an ummia (knowledgeable person. Teacher), who was also called the father of the school. The pupils were called "sons of the school" and the assistant teacher was called "elder brother." His duties, in particular, included the production of calligraphic sample plates, which were then copied by students. He also checked the written assignments and made students recount the lessons they had learned.

The teachers also included an art teacher and a Sumerian language teacher, a mentor who monitored attendance, and the so-called "fluent"\u003e (obviously the supervisor in charge of school discipline). It is difficult to say which of them was considered higher in rank We only know that the "father of the school" was its actual headmaster. We do not know anything about the sources of the school staff. Probably, the "father of the school" paid each of them his share of the total amount received in payment of tuition.

As for school programs, here we have at our service a wealth of information gleaned from the school tablets themselves - a truly unique fact in the history of antiquity. Therefore, we do not need to resort to circumstantial evidence or the writings of ancient authors: we have the primary sources, tablets of pupils, ranging from the scribbles of "first graders" to the works of "graduates", so perfect that they can hardly be distinguished from the tablets written by teachers.

These works make it possible to establish that the course of study followed two main programs. The first gravitated towards science and technology, the second was literary, developed creative features.

Speaking about the first program, it should be emphasized that it was by no means prompted by a thirst for knowledge, a desire to find the truth. This program gradually developed in the teaching process, the main purpose of which was to teach Sumerian writing. Based on this main task, the Sumerian teachers created a teaching system. based on the principle of linguistic classification. The vocabulary of the Sumerian language was divided by them into groups, in support of words and expressions were connected by a common one. These ground words were memorized and hired until the students got used to reproducing on their own. But by the III millennium BC, e. school textbooks began to expand noticeably and gradually turned into more or less stable textbooks, adopted in all schools in Sumer.

Some texts contain long lists of names for trees and reeds; in others, the names of all kinds of creatures (animals, insects and birds); in others, the names of countries, cities and villages; fourthly, the names of stones and minerals. Such lists testify to the considerable knowledge of the Sumerians in the field of "botany", "zoology", "geography" and "mineralogy" - a very curious and little-known fact. which has only recently attracted the attention of scientists studying the history of science.

Sumerian teachers also created all kinds of mathematical tables and compiled collections of problems, accompanying each with an appropriate solution and answer.

Speaking about linguistics, it should first of all be noted that, judging by the numerous school tablets, special attention was paid to grammar. Most of these tablets are long lists of complex nouns, verb forms, etc. This suggests that the Sumerian grammar was well developed. Later, in the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. e., when the Semites of Akkad gradually conquered Sumer, the Sumerian teachers created the first known "dictionaries". The fact is that the Semitic conquerors adopted not only the Sumerian writing: they also highly appreciated the literature of ancient Sumer, preserved and studied its monuments and imitated them even when Sumerian became a dead language. This gave rise to the need for "dictionaries". where the translation of Sumerian words and expressions into the language of Akkad was given.

Let us now turn to the second curriculum, which had a literary bias. Training in this program consisted mainly in memorizing and rewriting literary works of the second half of the III millennium BC. e .. when literature was especially rich, as well as in imitation of them. There were hundreds of such texts, and almost all of them were poetic works ranging in size from 30 (or less) to 1000 lines. Judging by those of them. which we managed to compose and decipher. these works fell into different canons: myths and epic tales in verse, glorifying songs; Sumerian gods and heroes; hymns of praise to the gods; to kings. cry; ruined, biblical cities.

Among the Literary tablets and their ilomkop. recovered from the ruins of Sumer, many are school copies, copied by the hands of students.

We still know very little about the methods and techniques of teaching in the schools of Sumer. In the morning, having come to school, the students dismantled the sign that they had written the day before.

Then the elder brother, that is, the teacher's assistant, prepared a NEW tablet, which the students began to disassemble and rewrite. Older brother. and also the father of the school, apparently, barely / followed the work of the students, checking if they were rewriting the text correctly. undoubtedly, the successes of the Sumerian students largely depended on their memory, teachers and their assistants had to accompany too dry word lists with detailed explanations. tables and literary texts rewritten by students. But these lectures, which could provide us with invaluable assistance in the study of Sumerian scientific and religious thought and literature, apparently were never written down, and therefore are forever lost.

One thing is certain: teaching in the schools of Sumer had nothing to do with the modern system of education, in which the assimilation of knowledge largely depends on initiative and independent work; the student himself.

With regard to discipline. it was not without a stick. It is possible that. without refusing to reward students for their successes, the Sumerian teachers still relied more on the Intimidating effect of the stick, which instantly punished by no means heavenly. He went to school every day and was just there from morning till night. Probably, during the year some kind of vacation was arranged, then we have no information about this. The training lasted for years, the child managed to turn into a young man. it would be interesting to see. whether the Sumerian students had the opportunity to choose a job or a different specialization. and if so. then to what extent and at what stage of training. However, about this, as well as about many other details. sources are silent.

One in Sippar. and the other is in Ur. But besides that. that in each of these buildings a large number of tablets were found, they are almost indistinguishable from ordinary residential buildings, and therefore our guess may be wrong. Only in the winter of 1934.35, French archaeologists discovered in the city of Mari on the Euphrates (north-west of Nippur) two rooms, which in their location and features clearly represent school classes. Rows of baked brick benches have been preserved in them, designed for one, two or four students.

But what did the students themselves think about the school of that time? To give at least an incomplete answer to this question. Let us turn to the next chapter, which contains a very interesting text about school life in Sumer, written almost four thousand years ago, but only recently collected from numerous passages and finally translated. This text provides, in particular, a clear picture of the relationship between students and teachers and is a unique first document in the history of pedagogy.

sumerian schools

reconstruction of the Sumerian oven

Babylonian Seals 2000-1800

about

Silver boat model, checkers game

Ancient Nimrud

Life Sumerian, scribes

Writing boards

Classroom at school

Seeder plow, 1 thousand BC

Wine Vault

Sumerian literature

Epic of Gilgamesh

Sumerian pottery

Ur

Ur

ur

Uruk

Uruk

Ubeid culture

Copper relief depicting the Imdugud bird from the El Ubeid Temple. Sumer

Fragments of fresco paintings in the Zimrilim palace.

Marie. XVIII century. BC e.

Sculpture of the professional singer Ur-Nin. Marie.

Ser. III millennium BC eh

A monster with a lion's head, one of the seven evil demons, born in the Mountain of the East and living in pits and ruins. It causes strife and disease among people. Geniuses, both evil and good, played a large role in the life of the Babylonians. 1st millennium BC e.

Carved stone bowl from Ur.

III millennium BC e.

Silver rings for donkey harness. Tomb of Queen Pu-abi.

Lvl. III millennium BC e.

Head of the goddess Ninlil - wife of the moon god Nann, patron saint of Ur

Terracotta figure of a Sumerian deity. Tello (Lagash).

III millennium BC e.

Statue of Kurlil, the chief of the granaries of Uruk. Early Dynastic period, III millennium BC e.

A vessel with the image of animals. Susa. Con. IV millennium BC e.

Stone vessel with colored inlays. Uruk (Varka) .Con. IV millennium BC e.

"White Temple" in Uruk (Warka).

Reed dwelling house of the Ubeid period. Modern renovation. Ctesiphon National Park

Reconstruction of a private house (courtyard) Ur

Ur-royal grave

Everyday life

Everyday life

Sumer carries a lamb for sacrifice

Back in the IV millennium BC. e. in the southern part of Mesopotamia on the territory of modern Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a high culture of the Sumerians was formed at that time (the self-name of the Saggyg people - black-headed), which was then inherited by the Babylonians and Assyrians. At the turn of the III-II millennia BC. e. Sumer is in decline, and over time, the Sumerian language was forgotten by the population; only the Babylonian priests knew it, it was the language of sacred texts. At the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. primacy in Mesopotamia passes to Babylon.

Introduction

In the south of Mesopotamia, where agriculture was widely carried out, the ancient city-states of Ur, Uruk, Kish, Umma, Lagash, Nippur, Akkad developed. The youngest of these cities was Babylon, built on the banks of the Euphrates. Most of the cities were founded by the Sumerians, therefore the most ancient culture of Mesopotamia is called Sumerian. Now they are called "the progenitor of modern civilization" The flourishing of the city-states is called the golden age of the ancient state of the Sumerians. This is true both in the literal and figurative sense of the word: here were made of gold items of a wide variety of household purposes and weapons. The culture of the Sumerians had a great influence on the subsequent progress not only of Mesopotamia, but of all mankind.

This culture was ahead of the development of other great cultures. Nomads and trade caravans carried news of her throughout.

Writing

The cultural contribution of the Sumerians is not limited to the discovery of methods of processing metals, making wheeled carts and the pottery wheel. They became the inventors of the first form of recording human speech.

At the first stage, it was pictography (drawing writing), that is, a letter consisting of drawings and, less often, symbols denoting one word or concept. The combination of these drawings conveyed certain information in writing. However, Sumerian legends say that even before the appearance of drawing, there existed an even more ancient way of fixing thoughts - tying knots on a rope and notches on trees. At the subsequent stages, the stylization of the drawings took place (from a complete, sufficiently detailed and thorough image of objects, the Sumerians gradually move to their incomplete, schematic or symbolic depiction), which accelerated the writing process. This is a step forward, but the possibilities of such writing were still limited. Thanks to simplifications, individual symbols could be used multiple times. So, for many complex concepts, their signs did not exist at all, and even in order to designate such a familiar phenomenon as rain, the scribe had to combine the symbol of the sky - a star and the symbol of water - ripples. Such a letter is called ideographic-rebus.

Historians believe that it was the formation of the government that led to the appearance of writing in temples and royal palaces. This ingenious invention should, apparently, be considered the merit of the Sumerian temple officials, who improved the pictography to simplify the registration of economic activities and commercial transactions. The notes were made on clay tiles or tablets: the soft clay was pressed with the corner of a rectangular stick, and the lines on the tablets had the characteristic appearance of wedge-shaped indentations. In general, the entire inscription consisted of a mass of wedge-shaped lines, and therefore the Sumerian writing is usually called cuneiform. The oldest tablets with cuneiform writing that made up entire archives contain information about the temple economy: lease agreements, documents on the control of work performed and the registration of incoming goods. These are the oldest written monuments in the world.

Subsequently, the principle of pictorial writing began to be replaced by the principle of transferring the sound side of the word. Hundreds of symbols for syllables and several alphabetical symbols for the main letters appeared. They were used mainly to refer to service words and particles. Writing was a great achievement of the Sumerian-Akkadian culture. It was borrowed and developed by the Babylonians and spread widely throughout Asia Minor: cuneiform was used in Syria, ancient Persia, and other states. In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. cuneiform became an international writing system: even the Egyptian pharaohs knew and used it. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. cuneiform becomes alphabetic.

Language

For a long time, scientists believed that the language of the Sumerians was not similar to any of the living and dead languages \u200b\u200bknown to mankind, so the question of the origin of this people remained a mystery. To date, the genetic links of the Sumerian language have not yet been established, but most scientists assume that this language, like the language of the ancient Egyptians and the inhabitants of Akkad, belongs to the Semitic-Hamitic language group.

Around 2000 BC, the Sumerian language was supplanted by the Akkadian language from colloquial speech, but continued to be used as a sacred, liturgical and scientific language until the beginning of AD. e.

Culture and religion

In ancient Sumer, the origins of religion were purely materialistic, not "ethical" roots. Early Sumerian deities 4-3 thousand BC acted primarily as givers of life's blessings and abundance. The cult of the gods was not aimed at "purification and holiness" but was intended to ensure a good harvest, military successes, etc. - that is why ordinary mortals revered them, built temples for them, made sacrifices. The Sumerians argued that everything in the world belongs to the gods - the temples were not the place where the gods were obliged to take care of people, but the granary of the gods - the barns. Most of the early Sumerian deities were formed by local gods, whose power did not go beyond the limits of a very small territory. The second group of gods consisted of the patrons of large cities - they were more powerful than the local gods, but they were also worshiped only in their cities. Finally, the gods who were known and worshiped in all the Sumerian cities.

In Sumer, the gods were like people. In their relationship there are matchmaking and wars, anger and vindictiveness, deception and anger. Quarrels and intrigues were common in the circle of the gods, the gods knew love and hatred. Like people, they were engaged in business during the day - they decided the fate of the world, and at night they retired to rest.

Sumerian hell - Kur - a gloomy dark underworld, on the way where stood three servants - "door man", "underground river man", "carrier". Reminds of the ancient Greek Hades and Sheol of the ancient Jews. There a person passed through the court, and a gloomy, dull existence awaited him. A person comes into this world for a short time, and then disappears into the dark mouth of the Kur. In the culture of the Sumerians, for the first time in history, man made an attempt to morally overcome death, to understand it as a moment of transition into eternity. All the thoughts of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were directed to the living: they wished the living to prosperity and health every day, a multiplication of the clan and a happy marriage for their daughters, a successful career for their sons, and so that “beer, wine and all kinds of goodness would never run dry in the house.” The posthumous fate of man was of less interest to them and seemed to them rather sad and uncertain: the food of the dead is dust and clay, they "do not see the light" and "dwell in darkness."

In Sumerian mythology, there are also myths about the golden age of mankind and paradise life, which eventually became part of the religious ideas of the peoples of Western Asia, and later into biblical stories.

The only thing that can brighten up the existence of a person in the underground is the memory of the living on earth. The people of Mesopotamia were brought up in the deep conviction that they must leave a memory of themselves on earth. The memory is preserved the longest in the erected cultural monuments. It was they, created by the hands, thought and spirit of man, who constituted the spiritual values \u200b\u200bof this people, this country and really left behind a powerful historical memory. In general, the views of the Sumerians are reflected in many later religions.

The most powerful gods

An (in Akkadian transcription Anna) God of the sky and the father of other gods, who, like people, asked him for help if necessary. Known for his dismissive attitude and evil antics.

Patron saint of the city of Uruk.

Enlil, the God of wind, air and all space from earth to sky, also treated people and lower deities with disdain, however, he invented the hoe and gave it to mankind and was revered as the patron saint of earth and fertility. Its main temple was in the city of Nippur.

Enki (in Akkadian transcription Ea) Protector of the city of Eredu, was recognized as the god of the ocean and fresh groundwater.

Other important deities

Nanna (akkad.Sin) God of the moon, patron of the city of Ur

Utu (akkad. Shamash) Son of Nann, patron of the cities of Sippar and Larsa. He personified the merciless power of the drying heat of the sun and at the same time the heat of the sun, without which life is impossible.

Inanna (akkad. Ishtar) Goddess of fertility and carnal love, she gave military victories. Goddess of the city of Uruk.

Dumuzi (Akkad. Tammuz) Consort of Inanna, the son of the god Enki, the god of water and vegetation, which died and resurrected every year.

Nergal Lord of the kingdom of the dead and god of plague.

Ninurt Patron saint of brave warriors. The son of Enlil who had no city of his own.

Ishkur (akkad. Adad) God of thunder and storm.

The goddesses of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon usually acted as wives of powerful gods or as deities personifying death and the underworld.

In the Sumerian religion, the most important gods, in whose honor the ziggurat temples were built, were represented in human form as the rulers of the sky, sun, earth, water and storm. In each city, the Sumerians worshiped their own god.

The priests acted as an intermediary between people and gods. With the help of fortune-telling, spells and magic formulas, they tried to comprehend the will of the celestials and convey it to the common people.

Throughout 3 thousand BC. the attitude towards the gods gradually changed: new qualities began to be attributed to them.

Strengthening of statehood in Mesopotamia was reflected in the religious beliefs of the inhabitants. Deities, who personified cosmic and natural forces, began to be perceived as great "heavenly rulers" and only then as a natural element and "givers of benefits." In the pantheon of gods, a secretary god, a god-bearer of the throne of the lord, gods-gatekeepers appeared. Important deities have been associated with different planets and constellations:

Utu is with the Sun, Nergal is with Mars, Inanna is with Venus. Therefore, all the townspeople were interested in the position of the luminaries in the sky, their mutual disposition and especially the place of "their" star: this promised inevitable changes in the life of the city-state and its population, be it prosperity or misfortune. This is how the cult of heavenly bodies gradually formed, astronomical thought and astrology began to develop. Astrology was born among the first civilization of mankind - the Sumerian civilization. This was about 6 thousand years ago. At first, the Sumerians deified the 7 planets closest to the Earth. Their influence on the Earth was considered as the will of the Divine living on this planet. The Sumerians first noticed that changes in the position of celestial bodies in the sky cause changes in earthly life. Observing the ever-changing dynamics of the starry sky, the Sumerian clergy constantly studied and investigated the influence of the movement of heavenly bodies on earthly life. That is, they correlated earthly life with the movement of heavenly bodies. There, in the sky, order, harmony, consistency, legality was felt. They made the following logical conclusion: if earthly life is consistent with the will of the Gods living on the planets, then a similar order and harmony will arise on Earth. Predictions of the future were based on the study of the position of the stars and constellations in the sky, the flights of birds, according to the entrails of animals sacrificed to the gods. People believed in the predetermination of human destiny, in the subordination of man to higher powers; believed that supernatural forces are always invisibly present in the real world and manifest themselves in a mysterious way.

Architecture and construction

The Sumerians knew how to build multi-storey buildings and wonderful temples.

Sumer was a land of city-states. The largest of them had their own ruler, who was also the high priest. The cities themselves were built up without any plan and were surrounded by an outer wall that reached a considerable thickness. The dwelling houses of the townspeople were rectangular, two-storeyed with an obligatory courtyard, sometimes with hanging gardens. Many houses had sewerage systems.

The center of the city was a temple complex. It included the temple of the main god - the patron saint of the city, the king's palace and the temple estate.

The palaces of the rulers of Sumer combined a secular building and a fortress. The palace was surrounded by a wall. To supply water to the palaces, aqueducts were built - water was supplied through pipes, hermetically sealed with bitumen and stone. The facades of the majestic palaces were decorated with vivid reliefs, usually depicting scenes of hunting, historical battles with the enemy, as well as the most revered for the strength and power of animals.

Early temples were small rectangular buildings on a low platform. As cities grew rich and prosperous, temples became more imposing and majestic. New churches were usually erected in place of old ones. Therefore, the platforms of the temples increased in volume over time; a certain type of structure arose - a ziggurat (see fig.) - a three- and seven-step pyramid with a small temple at the top. All steps were painted in different colors - black, white, red, blue. The erection of the temple on the platform protected it from flooding and flooding of rivers. A wide staircase led to the upper tower, sometimes several staircases from different sides. The tower could be crowned with a golden dome, and its walls were lined with glazed bricks.

The lower powerful walls were alternating ledges and ledges, which created a play of light and shadow and visually increased the volume of the building. In the sanctuary - the main room of the temple complex - there was a statue of a deity - the heavenly patron of the city. Only priests could enter here, and access to the people was strictly prohibited. There were small windows under the ceiling, and the main decoration of the interior was mother-of-pearl friezes and a mosaic of red, black and white clay nail heads driven into the brick walls. Trees and shrubs were planted on stepped terraces.

The most famous ziggurat in history is the temple of the god Marduk in Babylon - the famous Tower of Babel, the construction of which is mentioned in the Bible.

Wealthy citizens lived in two-story houses with a very complex interior. The bedrooms were on the second floor, downstairs there were lounges and a kitchen. All windows and doors opened onto the inner courtyard, and only blank walls faced the street.

In the architecture of Mesopotamia, columns have been encountered since ancient times, which, however, did not play a large role, as well as vaults. The technique of dismembering the walls by means of protrusions and niches, as well as the ornamentation of the walls with friezes made in the mosaic technique, appears quite early.

The arch is first encountered among the Sumerians. This design was invented in Mesopotamia. There was no forest here, and the builders thought of arranging arched or vaulted ceilings instead of beams. Arches and vaults were also used in Egypt (this is not surprising, since Egypt and Mesopotamia had contacts), but in Mesopotamia they arose earlier, were used more often and from here spread throughout the world.

The Sumerians set the length of the solar year, which allowed them to accurately orient their buildings to the four cardinal directions.

The Mesopotamia was poor in stone, and the main building material there was raw brick, dried in the sun. Time has not been kind to brick buildings. In addition, the cities were often subjected to enemy invasions, during which the dwellings of ordinary people, palaces and temples were destroyed to the ground.

The science

The Sumerians created astrology, substantiated the influence of the stars on the fate of people and their health. The medicine was mostly homeopathic. Numerous clay tablets have been found with recipes and magic formulas against the demons of disease.

Priests and magicians used knowledge about the movement of the stars, the moon, the sun, about the behavior of animals for fortune telling, foreseeing events in the state. The Sumerians knew how to predict solar and lunar eclipses, created a solar-lunar calendar.

They discovered the zodiac belt - 12 constellations that form a large circle along which the Sun makes its way throughout the year. The learned priests made calendars, calculated the timing of lunar eclipses. One of the oldest sciences, astronomy, was founded in Sumer.

In mathematics, the Sumerians knew how to count in tens. But the numbers 12 (dozen) and 60 (five dozen) were especially revered. We still use the heritage of the Sumerians, when we divide the hour by 60 minutes, the minute by 60 seconds, the year by 12 months, and the circle by 360 degrees.

The earliest extant mathematical texts, written by the Sumerians in the 22nd century BC, show a high degree of computational art. They contain multiplication tables that combine the well-developed sixtieth system with the earlier decimal system. A penchant for mysticism was revealed in the fact that numbers were divided into happy and unlucky - even the invented sixty-digit system of numbers was a relic of magical ideas: the number six was considered lucky. The Sumerians created a positional notation system in which a digit will take on a different meaning depending on the place it occupies in a multi-digit number.

The first schools were established in the cities of Ancient Sumer. The wealthy Sumerians sent their sons there. Classes lasted the whole day. It was not easy to learn to write in cuneiform, to count, to tell stories about gods and heroes. Boys were subjected to corporal punishment for failing to do their homework. Anyone who successfully completed school could get a job as a scribe, official, or become a priest. This made it possible to live without knowing poverty.

A person was considered to be educated: he fully owned writing, who knew how to sing, who owned musical instruments, who was able to make reasonable and legal decisions.

Literature

Their cultural achievements are great and indisputable: the Sumerians created the first poem in human history - "The Golden Age", wrote the first elegies, and compiled the world's first library catalog. The Sumerians are the authors of the world's first and oldest medical books - collections of recipes. They were the first to develop and write down the calendar of the farmer, left the first information about protective plantings.

A large number of monuments of Sumerian literature have come down to us, mainly in copies, rewritten after the fall of the III dynasty of Ur and kept in the temple library in the city of Nippur. Unfortunately, partly due to the difficulty of the Sumerian literary language, partly due to the poor condition of the texts (some tablets were found broken into dozens of pieces, now stored in museums in different countries), these works were only recently read.

Most of them are religious hymns to the gods, prayers, myths, legends about the origin of the world, human civilization and agriculture. In addition, lists of royal dynasties have long been kept in the temples. The oldest are the lists written in the Sumerian language by the priests of the city of Ur. Particularly interesting are several small poems containing legends about the origin of agriculture and civilization, the creation of which is attributed to the gods. These poems also raise the question of the relative value of farming and cattle breeding to humans, which probably reflects the fact of the relatively recent transition of the Sumerian tribes to an agricultural lifestyle.

The myth of the goddess Inanna, imprisoned in the underworld of death and freed from there, is distinguished by extremely archaic features; along with her return to earth, the frozen life returns. This myth reflects the change of the growing and "dead" period in the life of nature.

There were also hymns addressed to various deities, historical poems (for example, a poem about the victory of the Uruk king over the Gutei). The largest work of Sumerian religious literature is a poem about the construction of the temple of the god Ningirsu by the ruler of Lagash Gudea, set out in a deliberately intricate language. This poem was written on two clay cylinders, each about a meter high. A number of moral and instructive poems have survived.

Few literary monuments of folk art have come down to us. For us, such folk works as fairy tales perished. Only a few fables and proverbs have survived.

The most important monument of Sumerian literature is the cycle of epic tales about the hero Gilgamesh, the legendary king of the city of Uruk, who, as follows from the dynastic lists, ruled in the 28th century BC In these legends, the hero Gilgamesh is presented as the son of a mere mortal and the goddess Ninsun. Gilgamesh's wanderings around the world in search of the secret of immortality and his friendship with the wild man Enkidu are described in detail. In its fullest form, the text of the great epic poem about Gilgamesh has been preserved in the Akkadian language. But the records of the primary separate epics about Gilgamesh that have come down to us irrefutably testify to the Sumerian origin of the epic.

The cycle of legends about Gilgamesh had a great influence on the surrounding peoples. It was adopted by the Akkadian Semites, and from them it spread to northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. There were also cycles of epic songs dedicated to various other heroes.

An important place in the literature and worldview of the Sumerians was occupied by the legends about the flood, with which the gods allegedly destroyed all living things, and only the pious hero Ziusudra was saved in a ship built on the advice of the god Enki. The flood legends, which served as the basis for the corresponding biblical legend, took shape under the undoubted influence of memories of catastrophic floods, which in the 4th millennium BC. e. more than once destroyed many Sumerian settlements.

Art

A special place in the Sumerian cultural heritage belongs to glyptics - carvings on precious or semi-precious stones. Many of the Sumerian cylinder-shaped carvings have survived. The seal was rolled on a clay surface and an imprint was obtained - a miniature relief with a large number of characters and a clear, carefully constructed composition. For the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the seal was not just a sign of property, but an object with magical powers. Seals were kept as talismans, donated to temples, placed in burials. In Sumerian engravings, the most frequent motives were ritual feasts with figures sitting at food and drink. Other motives were the legendary heroes Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu, fighting monsters, as well as the anthropomorphic figures of the bull-man. Over time, this style gave way to a continuous frieze depicting fighting animals, plants or flowers.

There was no monumental sculpture in Sumer. Small cult figurines are more common. They depict people in a prayer position. All sculptures have emphatically large eyes, as they were supposed to resemble an all-seeing eye. Big ears emphasized and symbolized wisdom, it is no coincidence that "wisdom" and "ear" in the Sumerian language are denoted by one word.

Sumer's art has found development in numerous bas-reliefs, the main theme is the theme of hunting and fighting. Their faces were depicted in front, and the eyes were in profile, the shoulders were in a three-quarter turn, and the legs were in profile. The proportions of human figures were not respected. But in the compositions of the bas-reliefs, the artists tried to convey movement.

The art of music undoubtedly found its development in Sumer. For more than three millennia, the Sumerians have composed their spell songs, legends, laments, wedding songs, etc. The first stringed musical instruments - the lyre and the harp - also appeared among the Sumerians. They also had double oboes, big drums.

The end of Sumer

One and a half thousand years later, the Sumerian culture was replaced by the Akkadian one. At the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. hordes of Semitic tribes invaded Mesopotamia. The conquerors adopted a higher local culture, but did not abandon their own. Moreover, they turned the Akkadian language into the official state language, and left the Sumerian language as the language of religious cult and science. The ethnic type is also gradually disappearing: the Sumerians dissolve in more numerous Semitic tribes. Their cultural conquests were continued by their successors: Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Chaldeans.

After the appearance of the Akkadian Semitic kingdom, religious ideas also changed: there was a mixture of Semitic and Sumerian deities. Literary texts and school exercises preserved on clay tablets testify to an increase in the literacy level of Akkad residents. During the reign of the dynasty from Akkad (about 2300 BC), the severity and schematics of the Sumerian style were replaced by greater freedom of composition, volumetric figures and portrait features, primarily in sculpture and reliefs.

In a single cultural complex called the Sumerian-Akkadian culture, the Sumerians played the leading role. They, according to modern orientalists, are the founders of the famous Babylonian culture.

Two and a half thousand years have passed since the decline of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, and until recently they knew about it only from the stories of ancient Greek writers and from biblical traditions. But in the last century, archaeological excavations have revealed monuments of the material and written culture of Sumer, Assyria and Babylon, and this era appeared before us in all its barbaric splendor and gloomy grandeur. There is still a lot of unsolved in the spiritual culture of the Sumerians.

List of used literature

1. Kravchenko A.I. Culturology: Uch. manual for universities. - M.: Academic project, 2001.
2. Emelyanov V.V. Ancient Sumer: Essays on culture. SPb., 2001
3. History of the Ancient World Ukolova V.I., Marinovich L.P. (Online Edition) Renaissance Culture

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The Sumerians are one of the oldest civilizations. Their development and expansion relied on the possession of the rich lands of the river valleys. The Sumerians were less fortunate than others in terms of mineral resources or strategic location, and did not last as long as the ancient Egyptians. However, thanks to their many achievements, the Sumerians created one of the most important early cultures. Due to the fact that their location was vulnerable militarily and unsuccessful in natural resources, they had to invent a lot. Therefore, they made no less significant contribution to history than the incomparably richer Egyptians.

LOCATION

Sumer was located in southern Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia), where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converged before flowing into the Persian Gulf. By 5000 BC. primitive farmers descended into the river valley from the Zagros mountains in the east. The land was good, but after the spring flood season, in the summer, it was strongly baked in the sun. Early settlers learned to build dams, control river levels, and artificially irrigate lands. The early settlements in Ur, Uruk, and Eridu became independent cities and later city-states.

CAPITAL

The Sumerians, who lived in cities, did not have a permanent capital, as the center of power moved from place to place. The most important cities were Ur, Lagash, Eridu, Uruk.

GROWTH OF POWER

In the period from 5000 to 3000 BC. BC. agricultural communities of Sumer gradually turned into city-states on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates. The culture of the city-states reached its highest peak in the years 2900-2400. BC. They periodically fought among themselves and vied for land and trade routes, but never created empires that would go beyond their traditional domains.

The river valley city-states were relatively wealthy thanks to food production, handicrafts, and trade. This made them attractive targets for warlike neighbors to the north and east.

ECONOMY

The Sumerians grew wheat, barley, legumes, onions, turnips, and dates. They raised large and small cattle, were engaged in fishing, hunting for game in the river valley. Food was usually plentiful and the population grew.

There were no copper deposits in the river valley, but it was found in the mountains to the east and north. The Sumerians had learned to extract copper from ore by 4000 BC. and make bronze items by 3500 BC.

They sold food, textiles and handicrafts, and bought raw materials, including wood, copper and stone, from which they made everyday items, weapons and other goods. Traders climbed the Tigris and Euphrates to Anatolia, reached the Mediterranean coast. They also traded in the Persian Gulf, purchasing goods from India and the Far East.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

The Sumerians worshiped thousands of gods, each city had its own patron. Major gods like Enlil, the god of the air, were too busy to worry about the troubles of an individual. For this reason, each Sumerian worshiped his own god, who was believed to be associated with the main gods.

The Sumerians did not believe in life after death and were realistic. They recognized that although the gods are above criticism, they are not always kind to people.

The soul and center of each city-state was a temple in honor of a patron deity. The Sumerians believed that the patron deity was the owner of the city. Part of the land was cultivated specifically for the deity, often by slaves. The rest of the land was cultivated by temple workers or farmers who paid rent to the temple. Rent and offerings were used to maintain the temple and help the poor.

Slaves were an important part of society and were the main target of military campaigns. Even local residents could become slaves in case of non-payment of debt. Slaves were allowed to work overtime and buy their freedom with the savings they made.

ADMINISTRATIVE-POLITICAL SYSTEM

Each city in Sumer was governed by a council of elders. In wartime, a special lugal leader was elected, who became the head of the army. Ultimately, the lugals turned into kings and founded dynasties.

According to some reports, the Sumerians took the first steps towards democracy, elected a representative assembly. It consisted of two chambers: the Senate, whose members were noble citizens, and the lower chamber, which included citizens who were subject to conscription.

Preserved clay tablets indicate that the Sumerians had courts where fair trials were conducted. One of the tablets depicts one of the oldest murder trials.

Most of the production and distribution of food was controlled by the temple. The nobility was formed on the basis of income from land ownership, trade and handicraft production. Trade and crafts were largely outside of temple control.

ARCHITECTURE

The disadvantage of the Sumerians was that they did not have easy access to building stone and timber. The main building material, which they skillfully used, were clay bricks, baked in the sun. The Sumerians were the first to learn how to build arches and domes. Their cities were surrounded by brick walls. The most important structures were temples, which were built in the form of large towers, called "ziggurats". After the destruction, the temple was rebuilt in the same place, and each time it became more and more magnificent. However, raw brick is subject to erosion much more than stone, and therefore little of the Sumerian architecture has survived to this day.

MILITARY ORGANIZATION

The main factor affecting the Sumerian army was that it was forced to reckon with the country's vulnerable geographical position. Natural barriers necessary for defense existed only in the western (desert) and southern (Persian Gulf) directions. With the appearance of more numerous and powerful enemies in the north and east, the vulnerability of the Sumerians increased.

The surviving works of art and archaeological finds indicate that the Sumerian soldiers were equipped with spears and short bronze swords. They wore bronze helmets and protected themselves with large shields. Little information has survived about their army.

During the numerous wars between cities, great attention was paid to the art of siege. The mud brick walls could not resist in the face of the determined attackers, who had time to knock out the bricks or break them into crumbs.

The Sumerians invented and were the first to use it in battle. Early chariots were four-wheeled, harnessed to wild onager donkeys, and were not as efficient as the two-wheeled horse chariots of later periods. Sumerian chariots were used primarily as a vehicle, but some works of art indicate that they took part in hostilities.

Decline and collapse

A group of Semitic peoples - the Akkadians - settled north of Sumer along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates. Akkadians very quickly mastered the culture, religion and writing of the more advanced Sumerians. In 2371 BC. Sargon I seized the royal throne in Kish and gradually subjugated all the city-states of Akkad. Then he went south and captured all the city-states of Sumer, which were unable to unite in self-defense. Sargon founded the first ever empire during his reign from 2371 to 2316. BC, subjugating the territory from Elam and Sumer to the Mediterranean Sea.

Sargon's empire collapsed after his death, but was restored briefly by his grandson. Around 2230 BC The Akkadian Empire was destroyed as a result of the invasion of the barbarian people of the Gutians from the Zagros mountains. New cities soon emerged in the river valley, but the Sumerians disappeared as an independent culture.

HERITAGE

The Sumerians are known primarily as the inventors of the wheel and writing (around 4000 BC). The wheel was important for the development of transport and pottery (potter's wheel). Sumerian writing - cuneiform - consisted of pictograms denoting words that were carved with special wedges in clay. Writing arose from the need to keep records and make trade transactions.

Sumerian art

The active, productive nature of the Sumerian people, who grew up in a constant struggle with harsh natural conditions, left to mankind many remarkable achievements in the field of art. However, among the Sumerians themselves, as well as among other peoples of pre-Greek antiquity, the concept of "art" did not arise due to the strict functionality of any product. All works of Sumerian architecture, sculpture and glyptics had three main functions: cult, pragmatic and memorial. The cult function included the participation of the item in a temple or royal ritual, its symbolic correlation with the world of dead ancestors and immortal gods. The pragmatic function allowed a product (for example, a seal) to participate in the current social life, showing the high social status of its owner. The memorial function of the product was to appeal to posterity with an appeal to forever remember their ancestors, make sacrifices to them, pronounce their names and honor their deeds. Thus, any work of Sumerian art was called upon to function in all spaces and times known to society, carrying out a sign communication between them. Actually, the aesthetic function of art at that time had not yet emerged, and the aesthetic terminology known from the texts is in no way connected with the understanding of beauty as such.

Sumerian art begins with painting ceramics. Already on the example of ceramics from Uruk and Sus (Elam), which came down from the end of the 4th millennium, one can see the main features of the Near Asian art, which is characterized by geometry, strictly sustained ornamentation, rhythmic organization of the work and a subtle sense of form. Sometimes the vessel is decorated with geometric or floral designs, in some cases we see stylized images of goats, dogs, birds, even an altar in the sanctuary. All ceramics of this time are painted with red, black, brown and purple patterns on a light background. There is no blue color yet (it will appear only in Phenicia of the II millennium, when they learn to obtain indigo paint from seaweed), only the color of the lapis lazuli stone is known. Green in its pure form was also not obtained - the Sumerian language knows "yellow-green" (salad), the color of young spring grass.

What do the early pottery images mean? First of all, a person's desire to master the image of the external world, to subjugate it and adapt it to his earthly goal. A person wants to contain in himself, as if "eat" through memory and skill, what he is not and what is not. While displaying, the ancient artist does not even allow the thought of a mechanical reflection of an object; on the contrary, he immediately includes him in the world of his own emotions and thoughts about life. This is not just mastering and accounting, it is almost immediately systematic accounting, placing inside "our" idea of \u200b\u200bthe world. The object will be symmetrically and rhythmically placed on the vessel, it will be shown where it is in the order of things and lines. At the same time, the object's own personality, with the exception of texture and plastics, is never taken into account.

The transition from ornamental painting of vessels to ceramic relief is accomplished at the beginning of the 3rd millennium in a work known as “Inanna's alabaster vessel from Uruk”. Here we see the first attempt to move from a rhythmic and haphazard arrangement of objects to a certain prototype of the story. The vessel is divided by transverse stripes into three registers, and the "story" presented on it must be read in registers, from bottom to top. In the lowest register - a certain designation of the scene: a river, depicted by conventional wavy lines, and alternating ears, leaves and palms. The next row is a procession of domestic animals (long-haired rams and sheep) and then a row of nude male figures with vessels, bowls, dishes full of fruits. The upper register depicts the final phase of the procession: the gifts are folded in front of the altar, next to them are the symbols of the goddess Inanna, a priestess in a long robe as Inanna meets the procession, and a priest in a dress with a long train is sent to her, which is supported by a person following him in a short skirt ...

In the field of architecture, the Sumerians are known mainly as active temple builders. It must be said that in the Sumerian language the house and the temple are called the same, and for the Sumerian architect "to build a temple" sounded the same as "to build a house." God, the master of the city, needed a dwelling that corresponded to the idea of \u200b\u200bpeople about his inexhaustible power, a large family, military and labor valor and wealth. Therefore, a large temple was built on a high platform (to some extent, this could protect from destruction caused by floods), to which stairs or ramps led from both sides. In early architecture, the temple sanctuary was moved to the edge of the platform and had an open courtyard. In the depths of the sanctuary there was a statue of the deity to whom the temple was dedicated. From the texts it is known that the sacred center of the temple was the throne of God (bar), which had to be repaired and in every possible way protected from destruction. Unfortunately, the thrones themselves have not survived. Until the beginning of the III millennium, there was free access to all parts of the temple, but later the uninitiated were no longer allowed into the sanctuary and the courtyard. It is quite possible that the temples were painted from the inside, but in the humid climate of Mesopotamia, the paintings could not survive. In addition, in Mesopotamia, the main building materials were clay and adobe bricks molded from it (with an admixture of reeds and straw), and the age of adobe construction is short, therefore, only ruins have survived from the most ancient Sumerian temples to our days, according to which we are trying to reconstruct the device and decoration of the temple.

By the end of the III millennium, another type of temple was attested in Mesopotamia - a ziggurat, erected on several platforms. The reason for the appearance of such a structure is not known for certain, but it can be assumed that the attachment of the Sumerians to the sacred place played a role here, which resulted in the constant renewal of short-lived adobe temples. The renewed temple was to be erected on the site of the old one, while preserving the old throne, so that the new platform towered over the old one, and during the life of the temple such renewal took place several times, as a result of which the number of temple platforms increased to seven. There is, however, another reason for the construction of high multi-platform temples - this is the astral orientation of the Sumerian intellect, the Sumerian's love for the upper world as the bearer of properties of a higher and unchanging order. The number of platforms (no more than seven) could symbolize the number of heavens known to the Sumerians - from the first heaven of Inanna to the seventh heaven of An. The best example of a ziggurat is the temple of Ur-Nammu, the king of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, which has been perfectly preserved to this day. Its huge hill still rises to 20 meters. The upper, relatively low tiers rest on a huge truncated pyramid about 15 meters high. Flat niches dissected the sloping surfaces and softened the impression of the massiveness of the building. The processions moved along wide and long converging stairs. Solid adobe terraces were of different colors: the bottom was black (coated with bitumen), the middle tier was red (facing with fired bricks), and the top was whitewashed. At a later time, when seven-story ziggurats began to be built, yellow and blue ("lapis lazuli") colors were introduced.

From the Sumerian texts dedicated to the construction and consecration of temples, we learn about the existence of the chambers of the god, the goddess, their children and servants inside the temple, about the “Abzu pool”, which kept the consecrated water, about the courtyard for offering sacrifices, about the strictly thought out decor of the temple gates guarded by images of a lion-headed eagle, snakes and dragon-like monsters. Alas, with rare exceptions, none of this can be seen now.

Housing for people was not built so carefully and thoughtfully. Development was carried out spontaneously, between the houses there were unpaved curves and narrow alleys and dead ends. The houses were mostly rectangular in plan, without windows, illuminated through doorways. A courtyard was required. Outside, the house was surrounded by an adobe wall. Many buildings had sewerage systems. The settlement was usually surrounded from the outside by a fortress wall, reaching a considerable thickness. According to legend, the first settlement surrounded by a wall (that is, the “city” itself) was the ancient Uruk, who received the permanent epithet “Uruk enclosed” in the Akkadian epic.

The next in importance and development type of Sumerian art was glyptics - carving on cylindrical seals. The drilled through cylinder shape was invented in the Southern Mesopotamia. By the beginning of the III millennium, it becomes widespread, and carvers, improving their art, place rather complex compositions on a small printing plane. Already on the first Sumerian seals, we see, in addition to traditional geometric ornaments, an attempt to tell about life around us, whether it be the beating of a group of connected naked people (possibly prisoners), or the construction of a temple, or a shepherd in front of the sacred herd of the goddess. In addition to scenes of everyday life, there are images of the moon, stars, solar rosettes and even two-level images: the symbols of astral deities are placed in the upper level, and animal figurines in the lower one. Later, there are plots related to ritual and mythology. First of all, this is the "frieze of the fighting" - a composition depicting a scene of a battle between two heroes with a certain monster. One of the heroes has a human appearance, the other is a mixture of an animal and a savage. It is quite possible that we have before us one of the illustrations to the epic songs about the exploits of Gilgamesh and his servant Enkidu. The image of a certain deity sitting on a throne in a boat is also widely known. The range of interpretations of this plot is quite wide - from the hypothesis of the travel of the moon god across the firmament to the hypothesis of the ritual travel to the father, traditional for the Sumerian gods. A big mystery for researchers is still the image of a bearded long-haired giant holding a vessel in his hands, from which two streams of water rush down. It was this image that was subsequently transformed into the image of the constellation Aquarius.

In the glyptic plot, the master avoided random postures, turns and gestures, but conveyed the most complete, general description of the image. Such a characteristic of the human figure turned out to be a full or three-quarter turn of the shoulders, the image of the legs and face in profile, the eyes from the front. With such a vision, the river landscape was quite logically conveyed by wavy lines, the bird - in profile, but with two wings, animals - also in profile, but with some face details (eyes, horns).

The cylindrical seals of the Ancient Mesopotamia are able to tell a lot not only to an art critic, but also to a historian of society. On some of them, in addition to images, there are inscriptions consisting of three or four lines, where it is reported that the seal belongs to a certain person (named), who is a "slave" of such and such a god (the name of the god follows). A cylindrical seal with the owner's name was attached to any legal or administrative document, serving as a personal signature and attesting to the owner's high social status. Poor and innocent people were limited to the application of the fringed edge of their clothes or the imprint of a nail.

Sumerian sculpture begins for us with figurines from Jemdet-Nasr - images of strange creatures with phallus-shaped heads and large eyes, somewhat similar to amphibians. The purpose of these statuettes is still unknown, and the most common hypothesis is their connection with the cult of fertility and reproduction. In addition, one can recall the small sculptural figures of animals of the same time, very expressive and accurately repeating nature. Deep relief, almost high relief, is much more characteristic of early Sumerian art. Of the works of this kind, the earliest is, perhaps, the head of Inanna of Uruk. This head was a little smaller than a human, flatly cut at the back and had holes for mounting on the wall. It is possible that the figure of the goddess was depicted on a plane inside the temple, and the head protruded in the direction of the worshiper, creating an effect of intimidation caused by the exit of the goddess from her image into the world of people. Examining Inanna's head, we see a large nose, a large mouth with thin lips, a small chin and eye sockets, in which huge eyes were once inlaid - a symbol of all-seeing, insight and wisdom. The nasolabial lines are emphasized by soft, barely perceptible modeling, giving the entire appearance of the goddess an expression of haughty and somewhat gloomy.

The Sumerian relief of the middle of the 3rd millennium was a small-sized palette or plaque made of soft stone, erected in honor of some solemn event: victory over the enemy, foundation of a temple. Sometimes such a relief was accompanied by an inscription. For him, as in the early Sumerian period, horizontal division of the plane, register-based narration, the allocation of central figures of rulers or officials, and their size depended on the degree of social significance of the character, are characteristic. A typical example of such a relief is the stele of the king of the city of Lagash Eanatum (XXV century), erected in honor of the victory over the hostile Ummah. One side of the stele is occupied by a large image of the god Ningirsu, who holds in his hands a net with small figures of captured enemies floundering in it. On the other side there is a four-register story about Eanatum's campaign. The story begins with a sad event - the mourning of the dead. The two subsequent registers depict the king at the head of a lightly armed, and then a heavily armed army (perhaps this is due to the order of action of the combat arms in battle). The upper stage (worst of all) - kites over an empty battlefield, taking away the corpses of enemies. All relief figures, possibly, are made according to the same stencil: identical triangles of faces, horizontal rows of spears clenched in fists. According to V.K. Afanasyeva's observation, there are much more kulaks than persons - this technique achieves the impression of a large army.

But back to Sumerian sculpture. She experienced her true heyday only after the Akkadian dynasty. From the time of the Lagash ruler Gudea (died c. 2123), who stood at the head of the city three centuries after Eanatum, many of its monumental statues made of diorite have survived. These statues sometimes reach the size of human growth. They depict a man in a beanie sitting with his hands folded in a prayer pose. On his knees, he holds a plan of some structure, and below and on the sides of the statue is a cuneiform text. From the inscriptions on the statues, we learn that Gudea is renewing the main city temple on the instructions of the Lagash god Ningirsu and that these statues are erected in the temples of Sumer in the place of commemoration of the departed ancestors - for his deeds Gudea is worthy of eternal afterlife feeding and commemoration.

Two types of statues of the ruler can be distinguished: some are more squat, with somewhat shortened proportions, others are more slender and graceful. Some art historians believe that the difference in types is due to the difference in craft technologies between the Sumerians and Akkadians. In their opinion, the Akkadians more skillfully worked the stone, more accurately reproduced the proportions of the body; the Sumerians, on the other hand, strove for stylization and convention due to their inability to work well with imported stone and accurately convey nature. While recognizing the difference between the types of statues, one can hardly agree with these arguments. The Sumerian image is stylized and conditional in its very function: the statue was erected in the temple in order to pray for the person who installed it, and the stele is also intended for this. There is no figure as such - there is the influence of the figure, prayer worship. There is no face as such - there is an expression: big ears are a symbol of tireless attention to the advice of elders, big eyes are a symbol of intent contemplation of invisible secrets. There were no magical requirements for the similarity of the sculptural images to the original; the transmission of internal content was more important than the transmission of form, and the form was developed only to the extent that it responded to this internal task (“think about the meaning, and the words will come by themselves”). Akkadian art from the very beginning was devoted to the development of form and, in accordance with this, it was able to execute any borrowed plot in stone and clay. This is how the difference between the Sumerian and Akkadian types of Gudea statues can be explained.

Sumer's jewelry art is known mainly from the richest materials from the excavations of the tombs of the city of Ur (I dynasty of Ur, approx. XXVI century). While creating decorative wreaths, headband crowns, necklaces, bracelets, various hairpins and pendants, the craftsmen used a combination of three colors: blue (lapis lazuli), red (carnelian) and yellow (gold). In fulfilling their task, they achieved such sophistication and subtlety of forms, such an absolute expression of the object's functional purpose and such virtuosity in technical techniques that these products can rightfully be attributed to the masterpieces of jewelry art. In the same place, in the tombs of Ur, a beautiful sculpted head of a bull with inlaid eyes and a lapis lazuli beard was found - an adornment of one of the musical instruments. It is believed that in the art of jewelry and inlays of musical instruments, the masters were free from an ideological super task, and these monuments can be attributed to manifestations of free creativity. This is probably not the case. After all, the innocent bull that adorned the Ur harp was a symbol of tremendous, frightening power and longitude of sound, which fully corresponds to the general Sumerian ideas about the bull as a symbol of power and continuous reproduction.

The Sumerian ideas of beauty, as already mentioned above, did not correspond at all to ours. The Sumerians could have given the epithet "beautiful" (step) a sheep fit for a sacrifice, or a deity that possessed the necessary totemic-ritual attributes (dress, dress, make-up, symbols of power), or a product made in accordance with the ancient canon, or a word spoken to delight the royal ear. The beauty of the Sumerians is that which is best suited for a specific task, which corresponds to its essence (me) and your destiny (gish-hoor). If you look at a large number of monuments of Sumerian art, it turns out that all of them are made in accordance with precisely this understanding of the beautiful.

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Space homeland of the Sumerians? About the Sumerians - perhaps the most mysterious people of the Ancient World - it is only known that they came to their historical habitat from nowhere and surpassed the aboriginal peoples in terms of development. And most importantly, it is still unclear where

From the book of Sumer. Babylon. Assyria: 5000 years of history author Gulyaev Valery Ivanovich

The discovery of the Sumerians Based on the results of the analysis of the Assyrian-Babylonian cuneiform, philologists became more and more convinced that behind the powerful kingdoms of Babylonia and Assyria there was once an older and highly developed people who created cuneiform writing.

From the book Address - Lemuria? author Alexander Mikhailovich Kondratov

From Columbus to the Sumerians So, Christopher Columbus shared the idea of \u200b\u200ban earthly paradise in the east, and it played a role in the discovery of America. As Academician Krachkovsky, genius Dante notes, “owes much to the Muslim tradition, as it turned out in the XX century,

From the book Ancient East author Nemirovsky Alexander Arkadievich

"Universe" of the Sumerians The Sumerian-Akkadian civilization of Lower Mesopotamia existed in a far from "airless space" filled with peripheral barbarian tribes. On the contrary, it was associated with a dense network of trade, diplomatic and cultural contacts.

From the book History of the Ancient East author Deopik Dega Vitalievich

THE CITY-STATE OF THE SHUMERS IN THE III THOUSAND. DO R. Kh. 1a. Population of Southern Mesopotamia; general appearance. 2. Proto-written period (2900-2750). 2a. Writing. 2b. Social structure. 2c. Economic relations. 2d. Religion and culture. 3. Early Dynastic period I (2750-2600).

From the book General History of the World's Religions author Karamazov Voldemar Danilovich

Religion of the ancient Sumerians Along with Egypt, the lower reaches of two large rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates - became the homeland of another ancient civilization. This region was called Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia in Greek), or Mesopotamia. The conditions for the historical development of the peoples of Mesopotamia were

The transition to agriculture and animal husbandry began earlier than all in the Middle East region. There already in the 6th millennium there were large settlements, whose inhabitants possessed the secrets of agriculture, pottery and weaving. By the turn of the 3rd millennium, the first civilizations began to take shape in this region.

As already noted, the founder of anthropology L. G. Morgan used the concept of "civilization" to denote a higher stage in the development of society than barbarism. In modern science, the concept of civilization is used to designate the stage of development of society at which there exist: cities, class society, state and law, writing.

Those features that distinguish civilization from the primitive era originated in 4 thousand, and were fully manifested in the 3rd millennium BC. e. in the lives of people who have mastered the river valleys flowing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Later, in the middle of the 3rd millennium, civilizations began to take shape in the Indus River Valley (on the territory of modern Pakistan) and in the Yellow River Valley (China).

Let us trace the process of formation and development of the first civilizations on the example of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer.

Irrigation agriculture as the basis of civilization

The Greeks called the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia), which flow almost parallel to each other on the territory of modern Iraq. In the south of Mesopotamia, a people called the Sumerians created the first civilization in this region. It existed until the end of the 3rd millennium and became the basis for the development of other civilizations in the region, primarily for the Babylonian culture of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. e.

The basis of the Sumerian, like all other eastern civilizations, was irrigation agriculture. The rivers brought fertile silt from the upper reaches. Grains thrown into the silt produced high yields. But it was necessary to learn how to divert excess water during the flood period and supply water during the drought period, that is, to irrigate the fields. Irrigation of fields is called irrigation. As the population grew, people had to irrigate additional plots of land, creating complex irrigation systems.

Irrigated agriculture was the basis for a civilizational breakthrough. One of the first consequences of the development of irrigation was the growth of the population living in one area. Now dozens of tribal communities, that is, several thousand people, lived together, forming a new community: a large territorial community.

In order to maintain the complex irrigation system and ensure peace and order in the area with a large population, special bodies were required. This is how the state arose - the institution of power and government, which stood above all the tribal communities of the district and performed two internal functions: economic management and socio-political management (maintaining public order). Management required knowledge and experience, therefore, from the clan nobility, who had accumulated management skills within the clan, a category of people was formed who carried out the functions of state administration on a permanent basis. State power extended to the entire territory of the district, and this territory was quite definite. This gave rise to another meaning of the concept of the state - a certain territorial entity. Its territory had to be defended, so the main external function of the state was to protect its territory from external threats.

The appearance in one of the settlements of governing bodies, whose power extended to the entire district, turned this settlement into the center of the district. The center began to stand out among other settlements in size and architecture. The largest buildings of a secular and religious nature were built here, handicrafts and trade developed most actively. This is how cities appeared.

In Sumer, the cities with the adjacent rural district existed independently as city-states for a long time. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, such Sumerian city-states as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, had up to 10 thousand inhabitants. By the middle of the 3rd millennium, the population density increased. For example, the population of the city-state of Lagash exceeded 100 thousand people. In the second half of the 3rd millennium, a number of city-states were united by the ruler of the city of Akkad Sargon the Ancient into the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad. However, the union was not strong. Stronger large states existed in Mesopotamia only in the 2nd and 1st millennia (Old Babylonian kingdom, Assyrian state, New Babylonian kingdom, Persian state).

Social system

How the city-state of Sumer was organized in the 3rd millennium. It was headed by a ruler (en or ensi, then lugal). The ruler's power was limited to the assembly of the people and the council of elders. Gradually, the post of ruler from an elective one becomes hereditary, although the procedures for confirming the right of a son to take the post of father by the people's assembly remained for a long time. The formation of the institution of hereditary power was due to the fact that the ruling dynasty had a monopoly on the experience of government.

The process of sacralization of the ruler's personality played an important role in the formation of hereditary power. It was stimulated by the fact that the ruler combined secular and religious functions, since religion among the farmers was closely intertwined with production magic. The main role was played by the cult of fertility, and the ruler, as the main manager of household work, performed rituals designed to ensure a good harvest. In particular, he performed the rite of "sacred marriage", which was carried out on the eve of sowing work. If the main deity of the city was a feminine principle, then the ruler himself entered into a sacred marriage with him, if male, then the ruler's daughter or wife. This gave the ruler's family a special authority, it was considered closer and more pleasing to God than other families. The deification of living rulers was atypical for the Sumerians. Only at the end of the 3rd millennium rulers demanded to consider themselves living gods. They were officially called that, but it does not follow that people believed that they were ruled by living gods.

The unity of secular and religious power was also strengthened by the fact that in the beginning the community had a single administrative, economic and spiritual center - the temple, the house of God. There was a temple economy at the temple. It created and stored grain reserves to insure the community in case of crop failure. Plots were allocated on temple grounds for officials. Most of them combined administrative and religious functions, therefore they are traditionally called priests.

Another category of people who had separated from the community - professional artisans who donated their products to the temple - fed from the temple reserves. Weavers and potters played an important role. The latter made ceramics on a potter's wheel. Foundry workers smelted copper, silver and gold, then poured them into clay molds, they knew how to make bronze, but there was little of it. A significant part of the products of artisans and surplus grain were sold. The centralization of trade in the hands of the temple administration made it possible to more profitably purchase those goods that were not in Sumer itself, primarily metals and wood.

A group of professional warriors was also formed at the temple - the embryo of a standing army, armed with copper daggers and spears. The Sumerians created war chariots for the chiefs by harnessing donkeys.

Irrigation agriculture, although it required collective work to create an irrigation system, at the same time made it possible to make the patriarchal family the main economic unit of society. Each family worked on the plot of land allotted to it, and other relatives did not have the right to the result of the work of this family. Family ownership of the produced product arose because each family could feed itself, and therefore there was no need to socialize and redistribute this product within the clan. The presence of private ownership of the product of labor produced was combined with the absence of full private ownership of land. According to the ideas of the Sumerians, the land belonged to God - the patron of the community, and people only used it, making sacrifices for this. Thus, collective ownership of land was preserved in a religious form. Communal land could be leased out for a fee, but there are no firmly established cases of selling communal land to private ownership.

The emergence of family property contributed to the emergence of property inequality. Due to the action of dozens of everyday reasons, some families became richer and others poorer.

However, professional differentiation in society became a more important source of inequality: wealth was concentrated primarily in the hands of the managerial elite. The economic basis of this process was the emergence of a surplus product - a surplus in food. The greater the surplus, the more opportunities the managerial elite had to appropriate part of it, creating certain privileges for themselves. To a certain extent, the elite had the right to privileges: managerial work was more qualified and responsible. But gradually property, received according to merit, became a source of income disproportionate to merit.

The family of the ruler stood out for its wealth. This is evidenced by the burials of the middle of the 3rd millennium in Ur. The tomb of the priestess Puabi was found here, buried with a retinue of 25 people. The tomb contains wonderful utensils and jewelry made of gold, silver, emeralds and lapis lazuli. Including a crown of gold flowers and two harps decorated with sculptures of a bull and a cow. The bearded wild bull is the personification of the ur god Nanna (the god of the moon), and the wild cow is the personification of Nanna's wife, the goddess Ningal. This allows us to think that Puabi was a priestess, a participant in the ceremony of a sacred marriage with the god of the moon. Burials with a retinue are rare and are associated with some very significant event.

The nature of the jewelry shows that the nobility had already lived a different life. Ordinary people at this time were content with little. The clothes of men in summer consisted of a loincloth, women wore skirts. In winter, a woolen cloak was added to this. The food was simple: barley cake, beans, dates, fish. Meat was eaten on holidays associated with the sacrifice of animals: people did not dare to eat meat without sharing it with the gods.

Social stratification gave rise to conflicts. The most serious problems arose when impoverished community members lost their land and fell into bondage to the rich due to their inability to repay borrowed money. In those cases when the community was threatened with major conflicts caused by debt bondage, the Sumerians used a custom called "return to mother": the ruler canceled all enslaving deals, returned mortgaged land to its original owners, freed the poor from debt bondage.

So, in Sumerian society there were mechanisms that protected community members from loss of freedom and livelihood. However, there were also categories of unfree people, slaves. The first and main source of slavery was intercommunal wars, that is, people who were alien to the community became slaves. At first, only women were taken prisoner. Men were killed because it was difficult to keep them in subjection (a slave with a hoe in his hands was not much of a war with a spear). Female slaves worked in the temple economy and gave birth to children who became temple workers. These were not free people, but they could not be sold, they were entrusted with weapons. They differed from free ones in that they could not receive allotments of communal land and become full members of the community. As the population grew, men were also taken prisoner. They worked at the temple and on family farms. Such slaves were sold, but they, as a rule, were not subjected to harsh exploitation, since it created the danger of an uprising and related losses. Slavery in Sumer was predominantly patriarchal in nature, that is, slaves were viewed as junior and unequal members of the family.

These were the main features of the social structure of the Sumerian city-states in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC.

Spiritual culture

Writing.We know about the Sumerians because they invented writing. The growth of the temple economy made it important to keep track of land, grain reserves, livestock, etc. These needs were the reason for the creation of writing. The Sumerians began writing on clay tablets that dried in the sun and became very durable. The tablets have survived to this day in large numbers. They are deciphered, although sometimes they are very approximate.

Initially, the letter was in the form of stylized pictogram drawings, denoting the most important objects and actions. The sign of the foot meant "to walk", "to stand", "to bring", etc. Such a letter is called pictographic (drawing) or ideographic, since the sign conveyed a whole idea, an image. Then signs appeared to denote the roots of words, syllables and individual sounds. Since the signs were squeezed out on clay with a wedge-shaped stick from a reed, scientists called the Sumerian writing wedge-shaped or kuniform (kuneus - wedge). It was easier to extrude the marks than to draw with a stick on clay. It took six centuries for the letter to turn from reminder signs into a system of transmitting complex information. This happened around 2400 BC. e.

Religion. The Sumerians moved from animism to polytheism (polytheism): from animating and worshiping natural phenomena to believing in gods as higher beings, creators of the world and man. Each city had its own main patron god. In Uruk, the supreme god was An - the god of the sky. In Ur - Nanna, the god of the moon. The Sumerians sought to place their gods in the sky, believing that it is from there that the gods observe and rule the world. The celestial, or stellar (astral) character of the cult increased the authority of the deity. The Obshemerian pantheon gradually took shape. Its basis was: An - the sky god, Enlil - the air god, Enki - the water god, Ki - the earth goddess. They represented the four main, according to the Sumerians, elements of the universe.

The Sumerians conceived of the gods as anthropomorphic creatures. Special temples were dedicated to the gods, where the priests performed certain rituals daily. In addition to temples, each family had clay figurines of gods and kept them in the house in special niches.

Mythology and literature

The Sumerians composed and recorded many myths.

In the beginning, myths were created orally. But with the development of writing, written versions of myths appeared. Fragments of surviving records date from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

There is a well-known cosmogonic myth about the creation of the world, according to which the primary element of the world was water chaos or the great ocean: “It had neither beginning nor end. Nobody created it, it has always existed. " In the depths of the ocean, the sky god An, depicted with a horned tiara on his head, and the earth goddess Ki were born. Other gods went from them. As can be seen from this myth, the Sumerians had no idea of \u200b\u200bthe Creator God who created the earth and all life on earth. Nature in the form of water chaos has existed forever, or at least, before the emergence of the gods.

An important role was played by the myths associated with the cult of fertility. A myth has come down to us about a ruler named Dumuzi, who won the love of the goddess Inanna and thus ensured the fertility of his land. But then Inanna found herself in the underworld and, in order to get out of it, sent Dumuzi there instead of herself. For six months a year he was in a dungeon. During these months the earth became dry from the sun and gave birth to nothing. And on the day of the autumnal equinox, the holiday of the new year came: Dumuzi left the dungeon and entered into a conjugal relationship with his wife, and the earth gave a new harvest. Every year in the cities of Sumer the sacred marriage between Inanna and Dumuzi was celebrated.

This myth gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe attitude of the Sumerians to the afterlife. The Sumerians believed that after death their souls fall into the underworld, from which there is no exit, and there is much worse than on earth. Therefore, they considered earthly life as the highest reward that the gods bestowed on people in exchange for serving the gods. It was the Sumerians who created the idea of \u200b\u200ban underground river as the border of the underworld and a carrier that transports the souls of the dead there. The Sumerians had the beginnings retribution teachings: clean drinking water and peace in the underworld are given to wars who died in battle, as well as parents with many children. It was also possible to improve your life there by the correct observance of the funeral rite.

Heroic or epic myths played an important role in the formation of the Sumerian worldview - legends of heroes... The most famous is the myth of Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk at the end of the XXVII century. Five stories of his exploits have survived. One of them was a trip to Lebanon for a cedar tree, during which Gilgamesh kills the giant cedar keeper Humbaba. Others are associated with victories over a monstrous bull, a gigantic bird, a magic snake, communication with the spirit of his deceased friend Enkidu, who spoke about the gloomy life in the underworld. In the next, Babylonian, period in the history of Mesopotamia, a whole cycle of myths about Gilgamesh will be created.

In total, more than one hundred and fifty monuments of Sumerian literature are currently known (many have survived only partially). Among them, in addition to myths, there are hymns, psalms, wedding love songs, funeral laments, laments about social disasters, psalms in honor of kings. Teachings, dialogues, fables, anecdotes, and proverbs are widely represented.

Architecture

Sumer is called the civilization of clay, because in architecture, clay bricks were used as the main material. This had dire consequences. Not a single surviving architectural monument has come from the Sumerian civilization. The architecture can only be judged by the surviving fragments of foundations and lower parts of the walls.

The most important task was the construction of temples. One of the earliest temples was excavated in the Sumerian city of Eredu and dates back to the end of the 4th millennium. This is a rectangular building made of bricks (clay and straw), at the ends of which were, on the one hand, a statue of a deity, and on the other hand, a table for sacrifices. The walls are decorated with protruding blades (pilasters) that dissect the surface. The temple was placed on a platform of stone, since the area was swampy and the foundation was sinking.

Sumerian temples quickly collapsed, and then a platform was made from the bricks of the destroyed temple and a new temple was erected on it. So gradually, by the middle of the 3rd millennium, a special Sumerian type of temple was formed - a stepped tower ( ziggurat). The most famous is the ziggurat in Ur: the temple was 21 meters high and stood on three platforms decorated with tiles and connected by staircases-ramps (XXI century BC).

The sculpture is mainly represented by small figurines made of soft rocks, which were placed in the niches of the temple. Few of the statues of deities have survived. The most famous is the head of the goddess Inanna. From the statues of the rulers, several sculptural portraits of Gudea, the ruler of the city of Lagash, have survived. Several wall reliefs have survived. There is a known relief on the stele of Naram-Suena, the grandson of Sargon (about 2320 BC), where the king is depicted at the head of the army. The figure of the king is larger than the figures of warriors, the signs of the Sun and the Moon shine above his head.

Glyptic, stone carving is a favorite form of applied art. The carving was done on seals, at first flat, then cylindrical seals appeared, which rolled on clay and left friezes (decorative composition in the form of a horizontal strip).

One of the seals has a relief depicting King Gilgamesh as a mighty hero with a curly beard. The hero fights with a lion, with one hand he restrains the rearing lion, and with the other he plunges a dagger into the scruff of the predator.

The high level of development of jewelry is evidenced by the above-mentioned Puabi jewelry - a harp, a crown of gold flowers.

Painting represented mainly by painting on ceramics. The surviving images allow us to judge the canons. The man was portrayed as follows: face and legs in profile, eyes in front, body turned by 3/4. The figures are shortened. The eyes and ears are depicted with emphasized large.

The science. The economic needs of the Sumerians laid the foundation for the development of mathematical, geometric, astronomical knowledge. To carry out the accounting of temple reserves, the Sumerians created two systems of counting: decimal and sixties. And both have survived to this day. The sexagesimal was preserved when calculating time: in 1 hour 60 minutes, in 1 minute 60 seconds. The number 60 was taken because it was easily divisible by many other numbers. It was convenient to divide into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. The needs associated with laying irrigation systems, measuring field areas, building buildings led to the creation of the foundations of geometry. In particular, the Sumerians used the Pythagorean theorem 2 thousand years before the Greeks formulated it. They were probably the first to split the circle 360 \u200b\u200bdegrees. They made observations of the sky, linking the position of the luminaries with river floods. Allocated various planets and constellations. Especially closely watched those luminaries who were associated with deities. The Sumerians introduced standards for measures of length, weight, area and volume, value.

Right... Order could exist only if there were laws known to all, that is, mandatory norms. The set of mandatory norms protected by the power of the state is usually called law. Law arises before the emergence of the state and exists in the form of customs - norms that have developed on the basis of tradition. However, with the emergence of the state, the concept of "law" is always associated with state power, since it is the state that officially establishes and protects legal norms.

From the III dynasty of Ur, the oldest known code of laws, compiled by the ruler of Shulga, the son of Ur - Nammu (XXI century BC), has reached us, although not completely. The laws protected the property and personal rights of citizens: the fields of community members from seizures, from being flooded by neighbors through negligence, from a lazy tenant; provided compensation to the owner for damage caused to his slave; defended the wife's right to monetary compensation in the event of a divorce from her husband, the groom's right to the bride after paying her father the marriage gift, etc. Obviously, these laws were based on a long legal tradition that has not come down to us. The legal tradition of the Sumerians had a religious basis: it was believed that it was the gods who created a set of rules that everyone should follow.

The legacy of the Sumerian civilization

Around 2000, the III dynasty of Ur fell under the blows of a new wave of Semitic tribes. The Semitic ethnic element came to dominate Mesopotamia. The Sumerian civilization seems to be disappearing, but in fact, all the main elements of its culture continue to live within the framework of the Babylonian civilization, named after Babylon, the main city of Mesopotamia in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. e.

The Babylonians took the cuneiform writing system from the Sumerians and for a long time used the already dead Sumerian language as a language of knowledge, gradually translating Sumerian scientific, legal, religious documents, as well as monuments of Sumerian literature into the Semitic (Akkadian) language. It was the Sumerian inheritance that helped the most famous king of the Old Babylonian kingdom, Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 BC), to create the largest code of laws of the Ancient world, consisting of 282 articles, regulating in detail all the main aspects of the life of Babylonian society. The famous Tower of Babel, which became a symbol of the New Babylonian kingdom that existed in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., was also the direct successor of the stepped Sumerian ziggurats.



Back in the IV millennium BC. e. in the southern part of Mesopotamia on the territory of modern Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a high culture of the Sumerians was formed at that time (the self-name of the Saggyg people - black-headed), which was then inherited by the Babylonians and Assyrians. At the turn of the III-II millennia BC. e. Sumer is in decline, and over time, the Sumerian language was forgotten by the population; only the Babylonian priests knew it, it was the language of sacred texts. At the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. primacy in Mesopotamia passes to Babylon.

Introduction

In the south of Mesopotamia, where agriculture was widely carried out, the ancient city-states of Ur, Uruk, Kish, Umma, Lagash, Nippur, Akkad developed. The youngest of these cities was Babylon, built on the banks of the Euphrates. Most of the cities were founded by the Sumerians, therefore the most ancient culture of Mesopotamia is called Sumerian. Now they are called "the progenitor of modern civilization" The flourishing of the city-states is called the golden age of the ancient state of the Sumerians. This is true both in the literal and figurative sense of the word: here were made of gold items of a wide variety of household purposes and weapons. The culture of the Sumerians had a great influence on the subsequent progress not only of Mesopotamia, but of all mankind.

This culture was ahead of the development of other great cultures. Nomads and trade caravans carried news of her throughout.

Writing

The cultural contribution of the Sumerians is not limited to the discovery of methods of processing metals, making wheeled carts and the pottery wheel. They became the inventors of the first form of recording human speech.

At the first stage, it was pictography (drawing writing), that is, a letter consisting of drawings and, less often, symbols denoting one word or concept. The combination of these drawings conveyed certain information in writing. However, Sumerian legends say that even before the appearance of drawing, there existed an even more ancient way of fixing thoughts - tying knots on a rope and notches on trees. At the subsequent stages, the stylization of the drawings took place (from a complete, sufficiently detailed and thorough image of objects, the Sumerians gradually move to their incomplete, schematic or symbolic depiction), which accelerated the writing process. This is a step forward, but the possibilities of such writing were still limited. Thanks to simplifications, individual symbols could be used multiple times. So, for many complex concepts, their signs did not exist at all, and even in order to designate such a familiar phenomenon as rain, the scribe had to combine the symbol of the sky - a star and the symbol of water - ripples. Such a letter is called ideographic-rebus.

Historians believe that it was the formation of the government that led to the appearance of writing in temples and royal palaces. This ingenious invention should, apparently, be considered the merit of the Sumerian temple officials, who improved the pictography to simplify the registration of economic activities and commercial transactions. The notes were made on clay tiles or tablets: the soft clay was pressed with the corner of a rectangular stick, and the lines on the tablets had the characteristic appearance of wedge-shaped indentations. In general, the entire inscription consisted of a mass of wedge-shaped lines, and therefore the Sumerian writing is usually called cuneiform. The oldest tablets with cuneiform writing that made up entire archives contain information about the temple economy: lease agreements, documents on the control of work performed and the registration of incoming goods. These are the oldest written monuments in the world.

Subsequently, the principle of pictorial writing began to be replaced by the principle of transferring the sound side of the word. Hundreds of symbols for syllables and several alphabetical symbols for the main letters appeared. They were used mainly to refer to service words and particles. Writing was a great achievement of the Sumerian-Akkadian culture. It was borrowed and developed by the Babylonians and spread widely throughout Asia Minor: cuneiform was used in Syria, ancient Persia, and other states. In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. cuneiform became an international writing system: even the Egyptian pharaohs knew and used it. In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. cuneiform becomes alphabetic.

Language

For a long time, scientists believed that the language of the Sumerians was not similar to any of the living and dead languages \u200b\u200bknown to mankind, so the question of the origin of this people remained a mystery. To date, the genetic links of the Sumerian language have not yet been established, but most scientists assume that this language, like the language of the ancient Egyptians and the inhabitants of Akkad, belongs to the Semitic-Hamitic language group.

Around 2000 BC, the Sumerian language was supplanted by the Akkadian language from colloquial speech, but continued to be used as a sacred, liturgical and scientific language until the beginning of AD. e.

Culture and religion

In ancient Sumer, the origins of religion were purely materialistic, not "ethical" roots. Early Sumerian deities 4-3 thousand BC acted primarily as givers of life's blessings and abundance. The cult of the gods was not aimed at "purification and holiness" but was intended to ensure a good harvest, military successes, etc. - that is why ordinary mortals revered them, built temples for them, made sacrifices. The Sumerians argued that everything in the world belongs to the gods - the temples were not the place where the gods were obliged to take care of people, but the granary of the gods - the barns. Most of the early Sumerian deities were formed by local gods, whose power did not go beyond the limits of a very small territory. The second group of gods consisted of the patrons of large cities - they were more powerful than the local gods, but they were also worshiped only in their cities. Finally, the gods who were known and worshiped in all the Sumerian cities.

In Sumer, the gods were like people. In their relationship there are matchmaking and wars, anger and vindictiveness, deception and anger. Quarrels and intrigues were common in the circle of the gods, the gods knew love and hatred. Like people, they were engaged in business during the day - they decided the fate of the world, and at night they retired to rest.

Sumerian hell - Kur - a gloomy dark underworld, on the way where stood three servants - "door man", "underground river man", "carrier". Reminds of the ancient Greek Hades and Sheol of the ancient Jews. There a person passed through the court, and a gloomy, dull existence awaited him. A person comes into this world for a short time, and then disappears into the dark mouth of the Kur. In the culture of the Sumerians, for the first time in history, man made an attempt to morally overcome death, to understand it as a moment of transition into eternity. All the thoughts of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were directed to the living: they wished the living to prosperity and health every day, a multiplication of the clan and a happy marriage for their daughters, a successful career for their sons, and so that “beer, wine and all kinds of goodness would never run dry in the house.” The posthumous fate of man was of less interest to them and seemed to them rather sad and uncertain: the food of the dead is dust and clay, they "do not see the light" and "dwell in darkness."

In Sumerian mythology, there are also myths about the golden age of mankind and paradise life, which eventually became part of the religious ideas of the peoples of Western Asia, and later into biblical stories.

The only thing that can brighten up the existence of a person in the underground is the memory of the living on earth. The people of Mesopotamia were brought up in the deep conviction that they must leave a memory of themselves on earth. The memory is preserved the longest in the erected cultural monuments. It was they, created by the hands, thought and spirit of man, who constituted the spiritual values \u200b\u200bof this people, this country and really left behind a powerful historical memory. In general, the views of the Sumerians are reflected in many later religions.

The most powerful gods

An (in Akkadian transcription Anna) God of the sky and the father of other gods, who, like people, asked him for help if necessary. Known for his dismissive attitude and evil antics.

Patron saint of the city of Uruk.

Enlil, the God of wind, air and all space from earth to sky, also treated people and lower deities with disdain, however, he invented the hoe and gave it to mankind and was revered as the patron saint of earth and fertility. Its main temple was in the city of Nippur.

Enki (in Akkadian transcription Ea) Protector of the city of Eredu, was recognized as the god of the ocean and fresh groundwater.

Other important deities

Nanna (akkad.Sin) God of the moon, patron of the city of Ur

Utu (akkad. Shamash) Son of Nann, patron of the cities of Sippar and Larsa. He personified the merciless power of the drying heat of the sun and at the same time the heat of the sun, without which life is impossible.

Inanna (akkad. Ishtar) Goddess of fertility and carnal love, she gave military victories. Goddess of the city of Uruk.

Dumuzi (Akkad. Tammuz) Consort of Inanna, the son of the god Enki, the god of water and vegetation, which died and resurrected every year.

Nergal Lord of the kingdom of the dead and god of plague.

Ninurt Patron saint of brave warriors. The son of Enlil who had no city of his own.

Ishkur (akkad. Adad) God of thunder and storm.

The goddesses of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon usually acted as wives of powerful gods or as deities personifying death and the underworld.

In the Sumerian religion, the most important gods, in whose honor the ziggurat temples were built, were represented in human form as the rulers of the sky, sun, earth, water and storm. In each city, the Sumerians worshiped their own god.

The priests acted as an intermediary between people and gods. With the help of fortune-telling, spells and magic formulas, they tried to comprehend the will of the celestials and convey it to the common people.

Throughout 3 thousand BC. the attitude towards the gods gradually changed: new qualities began to be attributed to them.

Strengthening of statehood in Mesopotamia was reflected in the religious beliefs of the inhabitants. Deities, who personified cosmic and natural forces, began to be perceived as great "heavenly rulers" and only then as a natural element and "givers of benefits." In the pantheon of gods, a secretary god, a god-bearer of the throne of the lord, gods-gatekeepers appeared. Important deities have been associated with different planets and constellations:

Utu is with the Sun, Nergal is with Mars, Inanna is with Venus. Therefore, all the townspeople were interested in the position of the luminaries in the sky, their mutual disposition and especially the place of "their" star: this promised inevitable changes in the life of the city-state and its population, be it prosperity or misfortune. This is how the cult of heavenly bodies gradually formed, astronomical thought and astrology began to develop. Astrology was born among the first civilization of mankind - the Sumerian civilization. This was about 6 thousand years ago. At first, the Sumerians deified the 7 planets closest to the Earth. Their influence on the Earth was considered as the will of the Divine living on this planet. The Sumerians first noticed that changes in the position of celestial bodies in the sky cause changes in earthly life. Observing the ever-changing dynamics of the starry sky, the Sumerian clergy constantly studied and investigated the influence of the movement of heavenly bodies on earthly life. That is, they correlated earthly life with the movement of heavenly bodies. There, in the sky, order, harmony, consistency, legality was felt. They made the following logical conclusion: if earthly life is consistent with the will of the Gods living on the planets, then a similar order and harmony will arise on Earth. Predictions of the future were based on the study of the position of the stars and constellations in the sky, the flights of birds, according to the entrails of animals sacrificed to the gods. People believed in the predetermination of human destiny, in the subordination of man to higher powers; believed that supernatural forces are always invisibly present in the real world and manifest themselves in a mysterious way.

Architecture and construction

The Sumerians knew how to build multi-storey buildings and wonderful temples.

Sumer was a land of city-states. The largest of them had their own ruler, who was also the high priest. The cities themselves were built up without any plan and were surrounded by an outer wall that reached a considerable thickness. The dwelling houses of the townspeople were rectangular, two-storeyed with an obligatory courtyard, sometimes with hanging gardens. Many houses had sewerage systems.

The center of the city was a temple complex. It included the temple of the main god - the patron saint of the city, the king's palace and the temple estate.

The palaces of the rulers of Sumer combined a secular building and a fortress. The palace was surrounded by a wall. To supply water to the palaces, aqueducts were built - water was supplied through pipes, hermetically sealed with bitumen and stone. The facades of the majestic palaces were decorated with vivid reliefs, usually depicting scenes of hunting, historical battles with the enemy, as well as the most revered for the strength and power of animals.

Early temples were small rectangular buildings on a low platform. As cities grew rich and prosperous, temples became more imposing and majestic. New churches were usually erected in place of old ones. Therefore, the platforms of the temples increased in volume over time; a certain type of structure arose - a ziggurat (see fig.) - a three- and seven-step pyramid with a small temple at the top. All steps were painted in different colors - black, white, red, blue. The erection of the temple on the platform protected it from flooding and flooding of rivers. A wide staircase led to the upper tower, sometimes several staircases from different sides. The tower could be crowned with a golden dome, and its walls were lined with glazed bricks.

The lower powerful walls were alternating ledges and ledges, which created a play of light and shadow and visually increased the volume of the building. In the sanctuary - the main room of the temple complex - there was a statue of a deity - the heavenly patron of the city. Only priests could enter here, and access to the people was strictly prohibited. There were small windows under the ceiling, and the main decoration of the interior was mother-of-pearl friezes and a mosaic of red, black and white clay nail heads driven into the brick walls. Trees and shrubs were planted on stepped terraces.

The most famous ziggurat in history is the temple of the god Marduk in Babylon - the famous Tower of Babel, the construction of which is mentioned in the Bible.

Wealthy citizens lived in two-story houses with a very complex interior. The bedrooms were on the second floor, downstairs there were lounges and a kitchen. All windows and doors opened onto the inner courtyard, and only blank walls faced the street.

In the architecture of Mesopotamia, columns have been encountered since ancient times, which, however, did not play a large role, as well as vaults. The technique of dismembering the walls by means of protrusions and niches, as well as the ornamentation of the walls with friezes made in the mosaic technique, appears quite early.

The arch is first encountered among the Sumerians. This design was invented in Mesopotamia. There was no forest here, and the builders thought of arranging arched or vaulted ceilings instead of beams. Arches and vaults were also used in Egypt (this is not surprising, since Egypt and Mesopotamia had contacts), but in Mesopotamia they arose earlier, were used more often and from here spread throughout the world.

The Sumerians set the length of the solar year, which allowed them to accurately orient their buildings to the four cardinal directions.

The Mesopotamia was poor in stone, and the main building material there was raw brick, dried in the sun. Time has not been kind to brick buildings. In addition, the cities were often subjected to enemy invasions, during which the dwellings of ordinary people, palaces and temples were destroyed to the ground.

The science

The Sumerians created astrology, substantiated the influence of the stars on the fate of people and their health. The medicine was mostly homeopathic. Numerous clay tablets have been found with recipes and magic formulas against the demons of disease.

Priests and magicians used knowledge about the movement of the stars, the moon, the sun, about the behavior of animals for fortune telling, foreseeing events in the state. The Sumerians knew how to predict solar and lunar eclipses, created a solar-lunar calendar.

They discovered the zodiac belt - 12 constellations that form a large circle along which the Sun makes its way throughout the year. The learned priests made calendars, calculated the timing of lunar eclipses. One of the oldest sciences, astronomy, was founded in Sumer.

In mathematics, the Sumerians knew how to count in tens. But the numbers 12 (dozen) and 60 (five dozen) were especially revered. We still use the heritage of the Sumerians, when we divide the hour by 60 minutes, the minute by 60 seconds, the year by 12 months, and the circle by 360 degrees.

The earliest extant mathematical texts, written by the Sumerians in the 22nd century BC, show a high degree of computational art. They contain multiplication tables that combine the well-developed sixtieth system with the earlier decimal system. A penchant for mysticism was revealed in the fact that numbers were divided into happy and unlucky - even the invented sixty-digit system of numbers was a relic of magical ideas: the number six was considered lucky. The Sumerians created a positional notation system in which a digit will take on a different meaning depending on the place it occupies in a multi-digit number.

The first schools were established in the cities of Ancient Sumer. The wealthy Sumerians sent their sons there. Classes lasted the whole day. It was not easy to learn to write in cuneiform, to count, to tell stories about gods and heroes. Boys were subjected to corporal punishment for failing to do their homework. Anyone who successfully completed school could get a job as a scribe, official, or become a priest. This made it possible to live without knowing poverty.

A person was considered to be educated: he fully owned writing, who knew how to sing, who owned musical instruments, who was able to make reasonable and legal decisions.

Literature

Their cultural achievements are great and indisputable: the Sumerians created the first poem in human history - "The Golden Age", wrote the first elegies, and compiled the world's first library catalog. The Sumerians are the authors of the world's first and oldest medical books - collections of recipes. They were the first to develop and write down the calendar of the farmer, left the first information about protective plantings.

A large number of monuments of Sumerian literature have come down to us, mainly in copies, rewritten after the fall of the III dynasty of Ur and kept in the temple library in the city of Nippur. Unfortunately, partly due to the difficulty of the Sumerian literary language, partly due to the poor condition of the texts (some tablets were found broken into dozens of pieces, now stored in museums in different countries), these works were only recently read.

Most of them are religious hymns to the gods, prayers, myths, legends about the origin of the world, human civilization and agriculture. In addition, lists of royal dynasties have long been kept in the temples. The oldest are the lists written in the Sumerian language by the priests of the city of Ur. Particularly interesting are several small poems containing legends about the origin of agriculture and civilization, the creation of which is attributed to the gods. These poems also raise the question of the relative value of farming and cattle breeding to humans, which probably reflects the fact of the relatively recent transition of the Sumerian tribes to an agricultural lifestyle.

The myth of the goddess Inanna, imprisoned in the underworld of death and freed from there, is distinguished by extremely archaic features; along with her return to earth, the frozen life returns. This myth reflects the change of the growing and "dead" period in the life of nature.

There were also hymns addressed to various deities, historical poems (for example, a poem about the victory of the Uruk king over the Gutei). The largest work of Sumerian religious literature is a poem about the construction of the temple of the god Ningirsu by the ruler of Lagash Gudea, set out in a deliberately intricate language. This poem was written on two clay cylinders, each about a meter high. A number of moral and instructive poems have survived.

Few literary monuments of folk art have come down to us. For us, such folk works as fairy tales perished. Only a few fables and proverbs have survived.

The most important monument of Sumerian literature is the cycle of epic tales about the hero Gilgamesh, the legendary king of the city of Uruk, who, as follows from the dynastic lists, ruled in the 28th century BC In these legends, the hero Gilgamesh is presented as the son of a mere mortal and the goddess Ninsun. Gilgamesh's wanderings around the world in search of the secret of immortality and his friendship with the wild man Enkidu are described in detail. In its fullest form, the text of the great epic poem about Gilgamesh has been preserved in the Akkadian language. But the records of the primary separate epics about Gilgamesh that have come down to us irrefutably testify to the Sumerian origin of the epic.

The cycle of legends about Gilgamesh had a great influence on the surrounding peoples. It was adopted by the Akkadian Semites, and from them it spread to northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. There were also cycles of epic songs dedicated to various other heroes.

An important place in the literature and worldview of the Sumerians was occupied by the legends about the flood, with which the gods allegedly destroyed all living things, and only the pious hero Ziusudra was saved in a ship built on the advice of the god Enki. The flood legends, which served as the basis for the corresponding biblical legend, took shape under the undoubted influence of memories of catastrophic floods, which in the 4th millennium BC. e. more than once destroyed many Sumerian settlements.

Art

A special place in the Sumerian cultural heritage belongs to glyptics - carvings on precious or semi-precious stones. Many of the Sumerian cylinder-shaped carvings have survived. The seal was rolled on a clay surface and an imprint was obtained - a miniature relief with a large number of characters and a clear, carefully constructed composition. For the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the seal was not just a sign of property, but an object with magical powers. Seals were kept as talismans, donated to temples, placed in burials. In Sumerian engravings, the most frequent motives were ritual feasts with figures sitting at food and drink. Other motives were the legendary heroes Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu, fighting monsters, as well as the anthropomorphic figures of the bull-man. Over time, this style gave way to a continuous frieze depicting fighting animals, plants or flowers.

There was no monumental sculpture in Sumer. Small cult figurines are more common. They depict people in a prayer position. All sculptures have emphatically large eyes, as they were supposed to resemble an all-seeing eye. Big ears emphasized and symbolized wisdom, it is no coincidence that "wisdom" and "ear" in the Sumerian language are denoted by one word.

Sumer's art has found development in numerous bas-reliefs, the main theme is the theme of hunting and fighting. Their faces were depicted in front, and the eyes were in profile, the shoulders were in a three-quarter turn, and the legs were in profile. The proportions of human figures were not respected. But in the compositions of the bas-reliefs, the artists tried to convey movement.

The art of music undoubtedly found its development in Sumer. For more than three millennia, the Sumerians have composed their spell songs, legends, laments, wedding songs, etc. The first stringed musical instruments - the lyre and the harp - also appeared among the Sumerians. They also had double oboes, big drums.

The end of Sumer

One and a half thousand years later, the Sumerian culture was replaced by the Akkadian one. At the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. hordes of Semitic tribes invaded Mesopotamia. The conquerors adopted a higher local culture, but did not abandon their own. Moreover, they turned the Akkadian language into the official state language, and left the Sumerian language as the language of religious cult and science. The ethnic type is also gradually disappearing: the Sumerians dissolve in more numerous Semitic tribes. Their cultural conquests were continued by their successors: Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Chaldeans.

After the appearance of the Akkadian Semitic kingdom, religious ideas also changed: there was a mixture of Semitic and Sumerian deities. Literary texts and school exercises preserved on clay tablets testify to an increase in the literacy level of Akkad residents. During the reign of the dynasty from Akkad (about 2300 BC), the severity and schematics of the Sumerian style were replaced by greater freedom of composition, volumetric figures and portrait features, primarily in sculpture and reliefs.

In a single cultural complex called the Sumerian-Akkadian culture, the Sumerians played the leading role. They, according to modern orientalists, are the founders of the famous Babylonian culture.

Two and a half thousand years have passed since the decline of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, and until recently they knew about it only from the stories of ancient Greek writers and from biblical traditions. But in the last century, archaeological excavations have revealed monuments of the material and written culture of Sumer, Assyria and Babylon, and this era appeared before us in all its barbaric splendor and gloomy grandeur. There is still a lot of unsolved in the spiritual culture of the Sumerians.

List of used literature

1. Kravchenko A.I. Culturology: Uch. manual for universities. - M.: Academic project, 2001.
2. Emelyanov V.V. Ancient Sumer: Essays on culture. SPb., 2001
3. History of the Ancient World Ukolova V.I., Marinovich L.P. (Internet edition)

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The ancient Sumerians are peoples who inhabited the territory of the Southern Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) at the very dawn of the historical period. The Sumerian civilization is considered one of the oldest on the planet.

The culture of the ancient Sumerians is striking in its versatility - it is an original art, and religious beliefs, and scientific discoveries that amaze the world with their accuracy.

Writing and architecture

The writing of the ancient Sumerians was the deduction of written signs with the help of a reed stick on a plate made of raw clay, from which it got its name - cuneiform.

Cuneiform very quickly spread to the surrounding countries, and became, in fact, the main type of writing in the entire Middle East, until the beginning of the new era. Sumerian writing was a set of certain signs, thanks to which certain objects or actions were designated.

The architecture of the ancient Sumerians consisted of religious buildings and secular palaces, the material for the construction of which was clay and sand, since there was a shortage of stone and wood in Mesopotamia.

Despite not very strong materials, the buildings of the Sumerians had high strength and some of them have survived to this day. The cult buildings of the ancient Sumerians had the shape of stepped pyramids. Usually, the Sumerians painted their buildings with black paint.

Religion of the ancient Sumerians

Religious beliefs also played an important role in Sumerian society. The pantheon of the Sumerian gods consisted of 50 main deities, who, according to their beliefs, decided the fate of all mankind.

Like Greek mythology, the gods of the ancient Sumerians were responsible for various spheres of life and natural phenomena. So the most revered gods were the sky god An, the Earth goddess - Ninhursag, the air god - Enlil.

According to Sumerian mythology, man was created by the supreme god-king, who mixed clay with his blood, molded a human figurine from this mixture and breathed life into it. Therefore, the ancient Sumerians believed in a close relationship between man and God, and considered themselves representatives of deities on earth.

Sumerian art and science

The art of the Sumerian people to a modern person may seem very mysterious and not entirely clear. The drawings depicted ordinary subjects: people, animals, various events - but all objects were depicted in different temporal and material spaces. Behind each plot there is a system of abstract concepts that were based on the beliefs of the Sumerians.

Sumerian culture is shaking the modern world also with its achievements in the field of astrology. The Sumerians were the first to learn to observe the movement of the Sun and Moon and discovered the twelve constellations that make up the modern Zodiac. The Sumerian priests learned to calculate the days of lunar eclipses, which is not always possible for modern scientists even with the help of the latest astronomical technology.

The ancient Sumerians also created the first schools for children organized at temples. Schools taught writing and religious principles. Children who showed themselves to be diligent students, after graduating from school, had the opportunity to become priests and provide themselves with a further comfortable life.

We all know that the Sumerians were the creators of the first wheel. But they made it not to simplify the workflow, but as a toy for children. And only over time, having seen its functionality, they began to use it in household work.

Conclusion. Sumer and we

In the modern world, there is no Sumerian and even wider - the Mesopotamian myth. Egypt, for example, has been replicated in a multiply distorted form by third-rate Hollywood films about the revenge of the pharaoh's mummy, cheap counterfeits for antiquity that are still sold in different countries of the world, and poems by European poets on pseudo-Egyptian themes. Once Egypt was considered the birthplace of world esoteric knowledge, its shrines and texts, unable to read them, were worshiped by Italian and German Hermeticists. Copernicus, Bruno and Kepler called Egypt to witness the truths they discovered. Even earlier, the ancient Greeks and Romans marveled at the mysteries of Egypt, who considered the Egyptians their teachers in all fields of knowledge. Thus, we can say that since ancient times there has been a cultural myth of Egypt, and this testifies to a special property of the most ancient Egyptian culture - the inherent ability to mystify a person from the outside. In addition, of course, two more extremely significant factors should not be disregarded. Firstly, Egyptian culture is known primarily visually, that is, through numerous images, the number of which prevails over the number of written monuments. Looking at the image, a person can impose any "sound" on it, give it any meaning that is available to his imagination. Secondly, modern Egypt is one of the most popular tourist destinations, and the maintenance of the Egyptian cultural myth in all forms and at all levels allows this country to increase its already considerable wealth, maintaining its high economic position in the Arab world.

Things are quite different with the Mesopotamian culture from antiquity to the present day. The Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians left more texts than images, these texts are not easy to read and are mainly devoted to issues far from solving the last mysteries of life and death. As we have already shown, the Sumerian culture and its successors are strongly rooted in being, there is much more imagery here than symbolism, the concreteness, detail of the description generally prevails over theoretical reflections. Mesopotamian culture cannot mystify, inspire terror in front of an inaccessible secret, because it is not conceptual enough and not adequately addressed to the soul (one might say, not introverted enough). A person here is interested either in the world order and its correlation with it (Sumerians and the calendar), or in the social order and its participation in maintaining this order (Babylonians and the law). Therefore, the experience of Mesopotamian culture can be of interest only to sane people with a scientifically oriented worldview, or to people of serious art who learn from the colossal experience of ancient masters. But this tradition is not designed for mass perception - at least for today - because it contains neither psychotechnics nor mystical teachings, and everything somewhat magical and astrological is subordinated to quite specific pragmatic tasks. Lack of external showiness and hard-to-reach depth scare off the mass reader, and as a result, one can sadly state the absence of feedback between the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia and the modern world.

But if it only concerned the ancient peoples! The situation in modern Iraq is comparable only to the life of the besieged Leningrad, with the difference that the Iraqi blockade and isolation from the world community have been going on for about a decade. The tragedy of the ancient land scares away tourists from Iraq, and this, in turn, slows down the process of replicating Iraqi culture on the world market. As a result, there are no, for example, films and performances based on the plots of the Akkadian epic about Gilgamesh, there are almost no popular books that carry primary information about the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia. The sections on Mesopotamia in school and university textbooks are incomparably more boring and lapidary than articles on Egypt or Israel. The student cannot receive any information, except for the fact that there were irrigation, cuneiform and slaves in Mesopotamia.

Against the background of the unfortunate situation with Mesopotamian culture in general, the fate of the Sumerian heritage in the modern world can be called simply frustrated. The student body, like the general reader, begins to more or less consciously perceive the history of Mesopotamia only from the Laws of Hammurabi. Sumerian history and culture do not enter consciousness for several reasons. I don’t want to talk about the first reason for a long time - the point is the absence of competently and colorfully compiled albums on the art of Mesopotamia, which would help to introduce a student (or simply a curious one) into the space of Sumerian culture. The second reason is much more serious and fundamental. Sumerian culture is a splinter of that part of the archaic world, which was made up of peoples that existed even before the heyday of the first Egyptian states and subsequently did not enter the ranks of the leaders of antiquity. to a completely different pole, the location of which we can only guess today. The Sumerian world is such an archaic, which in some manifestations can be compared with the archaic of pre-Aryan India and Dravidian Iran, in some respects with Siberian shamanism, and in some respects even with Indo-European peoples (for example, with the ancient Iranians and Slavs). Here the existential, plural, material, sedentary, more connected with home and land, rather than with the cult of ancestors, is valued here. There is no absolute human power over the world, feeling is equal to reason and will, and sometimes overshadows them. The laws of the forces of the external world are valued here more than the laws of society. Such a "non-Phrasian" coding of the universe does not fit into the consciousness of people who have grown up on typical Afrasian values: one God, one world, one sovereign, the primacy of the spiritual over the material, the relative over the territorial, the rational and volitional over the sensual, the social over the natural. An adequate understanding of the Sumerian world would mean understanding another approach to the structure of the human world, and this world is much wider and larger than the Procrustean bed of the Biblical-Germanic model.

I would like to hope that in the future, the multipolarity of world cultural development will become the main principle of humanitarian research, and the study of non-Afrasian archaic (or non-classical archaic) societies in the aspect of the value system will become one of the priority areas of activity of historians and culturologists. If these conditions are met, it will be possible not only to deeply read the various monuments of Sumerian culture, but also for the first time impartially consider the Sumerian heritage as a variant of an alternative social stratagem that is interesting to modern man as a model for predicting the future development of mankind.

Speaking of the Sumerian model of the world, one must take into account the striking closeness between the states of the Southern Mesopotamia and the model of the socialist state that was realized in the 20th century. Common here are the notions of revolution as clearing time of events, and the forced labor of the population for the state, and the state's desire to provide everyone with equal rations. In general, we can probably say that Sumer is a kind of subconsciousness of humanity - the Sumerian culture is fed by primitive communal emotions that modern man must overcome and transform in himself. This is the desire for physical superiority over others, and the desire for equality of all people (primarily for property), and the denial of free will, and the associated denial of the human personality, and the desire to deal with everything that seems useless in the legacy of the past. At the same time, one cannot ignore some special healing of the Sumerian culture, to which a modern man, mired in the complexes and conventions of society, falls in search of sincerity, warmth and answers to the main questions of life. Behind this culture, it is as if a forever lost childhood is hiding - a time of big questions to life, to which a grown-up person concerned with momentary matters could not answer. Homer and Shakespeare have always been just as naive and central to life - with all the rivers of blood, open passions - but also with that ultimate penetration into the essence of man, which only a creature with the inclinations of both a child and God is capable of. We can say that the Sumerian culture, in a Shakespearean way, is brilliant in choosing its spiritual goal - and just like Shakespeare, it repels modern man with a set of its means.

If the reader, having closed the last page of this book, was able to perceive Sumer as something fundamentally significant and at the same time unlike anything that still has to be understood, then we can consider our goal achieved.

The Appendix contains translations of Sumerian texts from different eras. All translations were made according to editions of cuneiform autographs, taking into account the Latin transliteration of the texts. Each translation is preceded by a short explanation. The translators tried to preserve the rhythmic and intonational basis of the text, avoiding appeals to the high style and poetic embellishments leading to the perception of the text as a kind of "oriental exoticism". The broken parts of the tablets are taken in square brackets, words added by the authors of the translation to preserve the integrity of the Russian sentence are in round brackets. Unclear places are indicated by ellipsis; well-preserved words, the translation of which is unknown, - in italics. Words and concepts, the meaning of which is unclear, are enclosed in quotation marks.

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Sumer until the end of the Early Dynastic period With the arrival of the Sumerians, the archaeological culture of Ubeid was replaced in Lower Mesopotamia by the culture of Uruk (4th millennium BC). The Sumerians mingled with the local Subareans and assimilated them, in turn taking over from them many craft skills and

From the book Jesus. The mystery of the birth of the Son of Man [collection] by Conner Jacob

The Land of Sumer The original home of the Semites was undoubtedly Arabia, now a hot and barren land, while just above its winding northern rim lies the "Fertile Crescent." The western horn of this crescent runs southwest along the eastern