Calliope articles from September 2003

Calliope archives from September 2003

The World of Sumer.(Musings)
September 1, 2003... A fox had a stick with him, [which meant] "whom shall I hit?" [Another] fox had a legal document with him, [which meant] "What can I challenge?" --Sumerian proverbs THE LAND OF FIRSTS--THAT IS HOW HISTORY OFTEN REFERS TO SUMER AND ITS...

Time line.(Musings)
September 1, 2003... 3500 B.C. Sumerians form their first city-states. 3400 B.C. Writing is invented in Uruk. 2900 B.C. The Early Dynastic period begins. It ends around 2350. 2300 B.C: Sargon of Akkad takes control of Sumer. ...

The cradle of civilization.
September 1, 2003... Deep beneath the sands that cover much of present-day southern Iraq lies an ancient country known as Sumer. It occupied approximately half of the area called Mesopotamia, a Greek word meaning, "between the rivers." Today, these rivers are known...

The race to write.
September 1, 2003... Sumer is often called the "cradle of civilization." This is because many of the developments that led to the formation of cities and complex social and political organizations are first seen in that region. Sumer, however, was not alone. Around...

Eridu: City of the First Kings.
September 1, 2003... A holy house, a house of the gods in a holy place, had not been made; A reed had not come forth, a tree had not been created; A house had not been made, a city had not been built... All the lands were sea... Then Eridu was made... --The...

Kish: ancient Mesopotamia's heartland.
September 1, 2003... Of all the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, few were considered as important as Kish. Today, its ruins cover an area in present-day Iraq that measures 50 by 15 miles. In the early historic period, ancient rulers of Mesopotamia advertised their...

Life in early Uruk.
September 1, 2003... He built the walls of ramparted Uruk, The lustrous treasury of hallowed Eanna... Approach Eanna, the dwelling of Ishtar, Which no future king, no human being will equal. --From Epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh was one of the most beloved...

Buying, selling, and renting in sumer.
September 1, 2003... MESOPOTAMIA HAD FEW NATURAL RESOURCES. THOSE THAT WERE READILY AVAILABLE INCLUDED mud, reeds, bitumen (a petroleum-based, tar-like substance), and limestone. Together with the region's arable land these resources more than met the needs of...

The Royal Game of Ur.
September 1, 2003... The world's oldest board game is yours to win. While excavating near the ancient city of Ur in 1925, the famed archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley unearthed a fabulous prize: an ancient game board covered with jewels. Woolley had discovered...

Royal finds at Ur.
September 1, 2003... By the early third millennium B.C., the Sumerian city-state of Ur had become a major religious center and a strong political and military power in the region. Among the best-known rulers are Ur's Third Dynasty kings, who unified the city-states...

Saving face.
September 1, 2003... WHEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATE A SITE, SOME OBJECTS COME OUT OF THE GROUND in relatively good condition, needing only a bit of cleaning and possibly some repair. This is often the case with items made of stone, pottery, and glass. Objects...

Nippur: Enlil's city.
September 1, 2003... Throughout its early history, Nippur held an important, if not unique, position among the cities of Mesopotamia. It lay on the banks of the Euphrates River on the border between Sumer and Akkad. Today, its ruin mound--called Niffar or...

Early Mesopotamian religion.
September 1, 2003... The early Mesopotamians viewed the world as divided into heaven (an) and earth (ki). The flat earth floated in a freshwater sea (abzu), and above it was the vault of heaven. Hundreds of deities were responsible for this universe. The Sumerians...

The role of king.
September 1, 2003... EACH OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA'S 20 OR 30 city-states had its protective deity. For example, Enlil ruled Nippur; Inanna ruled Uruk; Enki ruled Eridu; and Nanna ruled Ur. A city-state was considered the property of its principal deity, but earthly...

Umma vs Lagash.
September 1, 2003... The Sumerian King List (SKL) presents many difficult problems. One of the most puzzling is that it completely omits some seemingly powerful, major dynasties. Were the composers of SKL biased against certain city-states? Or do the omissions...

Writing in Mesopotamia.
September 1, 2003... The people of Mesapotamia left behind hundreds of thousands of clues about |what life was like 4,000 years ago. These clues are inscribed clay tablets that contain administrative documents, letters, historical inscriptions, literary and...

Try reading Sumerian.(Activity)
September 1, 2003... Sumerian was the spoken language during the Early Dynastic period (c. 2900-2350 B.C.), while Akkadian-a language similar to Arabic and Hebrew-had replaced it as the spoken language by the beginning of the second millennium B.C., but Sumerian...

Word origins.(Fun With Words)
September 1, 2003... Homonym By definition, the term "homonym" defines a word that has the same pronunciation as another word. However, the meaning, origin, and, usually, spelling of each homonym are different. The roots of the term are--quite appropriately--two...

Word stories.(Fun With Words)
September 1, 2003... Hamal Hamal is one of the stars in the constellation Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. It is also the brightest and easiest to locate. Hamal traces its roots through the Arabic phrase al Ras al Hamal, meaning "the head of the sheep," to...

Expressions.(Fun With Words)
September 1, 2003... The article "Writing in Mesopotamia" on pages 38-41 tells of the Sumerian homonym sum, which means "garlic" and "give." The English language has many homonyms. For example: The English word "bow" can be a noun meaning "the front part of a...

Ask Calliope.
September 1, 2003... [?] Could you tell me if it is true that there were undefeated gladiators as in the movie? --Amber, Web post [!] Gladiators have become a very popular topic! Evidence indicates that gladiators first performed around 264 B.C. They did...

Books.
September 1, 2003... City of Rainbows: A Tale From Ancient Sumer wonderfully retold and illustrated by Karen Foster (The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 1999) is one of the world's oldest folktales, featuring a wise king, magic deeds, talking...

On the net.(Off the Shelf)
September 1, 2003... For a great overview of Sumerian history with many links to related topics, go to: www.becunited.co.uk/mesopotamia/SUMER.html For information--including virtual tours--on Sumer, its neighbors, and much, much more, check out: ...

Cobblestone resources.
September 1, 2003... Other issues of CALLIOPE that complement this issue's topic, "Sumer and Its City-States," are: Epic Heroes (January/February 1991), article "The Adventures of Gilgameh, pp. 7-12. Mesopotamia (September/October 1993) The...

The legacy of Sumer.(From Past to Present)
September 1, 2003... It is fitting to find the world's earliest cities in the land of Mesopotamia, where so many human inventions were made. The urbanization process, however, entailed more than just the gathering of people and buildings in a single place. It also...