ESS:
Mesopotamia
& Egypt
Mesopotamia
& Egypt
True or False: Egyptian hieroglyphics were created to document written laws.
False. Egyptian hieroglyphics served many purposes but written laws were not a high priority in the development of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Religious texts, monumental inscriptions, administrative texts, funerary rights, and literary works were more culturally significant.
How was the Uluburun Shipwreck dated?
Where was it found?
- Dated using Dendochronology (built 1400BC, wrecked 1300BC).
- Discovered off Uluburun, Turkey.
Excavated 1984-1994 over 22k dives.
What is Rule 1 of Geochemical Sourcing?
Rule 1: Provenance Postulate
There must be a greater difference between sources than within sources.
! You have to be able to tell the sources apart from each other!
When did the following occur?
How were they characterized?
- Egyptian Pre-Dynastic Period
- Mesopotamian Uruk Period
- Mediterranean/Aegean Neolithic to Early Bronze Age
4000-3200 BC
Egypt: (Formation of early settlements, development of agriculture and trade)
Mesopotamia: (Development of urban centers, agriculture, writing, and long distance trade)
Mediterranean/Aegean:(Development of early settlements and trade networks)
True or False: The Greek Dark Ages occurred in Egypt from 1200-700BC.
False:
The Greek Dark Ages occurred in the Mediterranean/Aegean from 1200-700BC, following the Bronze Age Collapse.
What was Egyptian hieroglyphic writing used for?
Developed for multiple purposes
● Religious texts
● Monumental inscriptions
● Administrative texts
● Funerary texts (e.g., Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead)
● Literary works
What did the cargo of the Uluburun Shipwreck tell us?
Tools and equipment located in association with the vessel originated from Syro-Palestine regions (oil lamps), Syria, Mesopotamia, Mycenae, Egypt, and Italy/Sicily. Raw commodities and finished goods were located in great number (iron and copper in the right ratio to make bronze, resin, glass, pottery, etc.)
This indicated long distance trade of luxury and practical goods.
What is Rule 2 of geochemical sourcing?
Rule 2: Provenance Hypothesis
You can never 'prove' and artifact came from a particular source, you can only disprove hypotheses of provenance (possible sources).
You CAN exclude possible sources where the geochem does not "match". When all but one possibility is excluded, the remaining source is the most likely.
Why? Because there might be more than one source with similar compositions, but you just haven't found them yet!
When did the following occur?
By what are they characterized?
- Egyptian Early Dynastic Period
- Mesopotamian Early Dynastic Period
- Mediterranean/Aegean Early Helladic Period
2300-2700 BC
Egypt: (Formation of centralized state, hieroglyphic writing)
Mesopotamia: (Establishment of powerful city-states: growth of Ur)
Mediterranean/Aegean: (Development of early Greek civilization)
True or False:
The Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Collapse have been identified with a specific ancestral and cultural origin.
False. The exact origin(s) of the Sea Peoples has not been definitively identified, and the group may not have been a homogonous tribe or society.
What was Mesopotamian cuneiform script used for?
Developed for record keeping:
● Contracts and seals
● Shipping manifests
● Administrative texts
● Legal texts (law codes) such as:
– Code of Ur-Nammu (Sumerian, 2100-2050 BC)
– Code of Hammurabi (Babylonian, ca. 1754 BC)
What is geochemistry and what does it allow us to do?
Geochemistry is the study of the chemical and isotopic composition of earth materials.
It allows us to investigate how, when, and why the materials formed.
- X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)
- Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)
When did the following take place? What characterized them?
- Egyptian Old Kingdom
- Mesopotamian Early Dynastic Period/Akkadian Empire
- Mediterranean/Aegean Early Minoan Period
2700-2200 BC
Egypt: (Pyramid construction, centralized administration)
Mesopotamia: (Sargon of Akkad unifies Mesopotamia)
Mediterranean/Aegean: (Development of Minoan civilization on Crete)
What significant event occurred in 1177 BC? What happened in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean/Aegean?
Bronze Age Collapse:
Egypt: Raiding by the Sea Peoples
Mesopotamia: Draught, famine, plague
Mediterranean/Aegean: Raiding by the Sea Peoples
Describe key features of Mesopotamian writing.
Cuneiform script
– Earliest: ca. 3400 BC
– Developed from pictograms
Why and how is geochemistry possible?
Geochemistry is possible because different earth materials (rocks, minerals, metals) sometimes even of the same type can form in different contexts.
They can form under different conditions or at different times, resulting in different geochemical characteristics.
Why use X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) for geochemical sourcing?
● Non-destructive; non-invasive
● Elemental concentrations
● Can be portable! (pXRF)
When did the following occur? What characterized them?
- Egyptian First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom
- Mesopotamian Ur III Period/Old Babylonian Period
- Mediterranean/Aegean Middle Minoan Period/Middle Helladic Period
2200-1700 BC
Egypt: First Intermediate Period (Political fragmentation, social upheaval), Middle Kingdom (Reunification, expansion of trade and military)
Mesopotamia: Ur III Period (Reestablishment of centralized control, Sumerian culture) / Old Babylonian Period (Rise of Babylon, Hammurabi’s Code)
Mediterranean/Aegean: Middle Minoan Period (Peak of Minoan civilization, large palatial complexes) / Middle Helladic Period (Development of Mycenaean civilization)
What were two consequences of the Bronze Age collapse?
- Destruction of the Mycenaean "palace system"
- Weakening of Egypt
(Also: Widespread violence observable through archaeological evidence of burned cities + palaces, arrowheads.)
Define key features of Egyptian writing.
Hieroglyphic script; ca. 3100 BC
– Developed from pictograms
● Monumental heiroglyphs (ceremonial) – Formal; ornate
● Hieratic Script (mundane)
– Written on papyrus with a reed pen
– Admin. Texts; letters; religious texts
● Demotic Script (mundane) – Dev. ca. 660 BC
– Business, legal, scientific, literary, and religious texts
How does geochemical sourcing work to determine where a material is from?
The unique and differing geochemical characteristics of materials allow us use the trace element concentrations (<0.1%) and other variables measured in toolstones to 'link' them back to their geological (notably not always geographical) source.
Why use laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry? (LA-ICP-MS)?
● Minimally-destructive/invasive
(samples the size of the tip of a needle)
● Higher-precision than XRF
● Elemental concentrations and isotopic ratios
When did the following occur? What characterized them?
- Egyptian Second Intermediate Period/New Kingdom
- Mesopotamian Old Babylonian Period(cont)/Kassite Period
- Mediterranean/Aegean Late Minoan Period/Late Helladic Period
1700-1200 BC
Egypt: Second Intermediate Period (Hyksos invasion, foreign rule) / New Kingdom (Expansionist policies, major construction projects)
Mesopotamia: Old Babylonian Period (continued) / Kassite Period (Kassites control Babylon, stability, cultural exchange) / Hittites in Anatolia
Mediterranean/Aegean: Late Minoan Period (Continuation of Minoan culture) / Late Helladic Period (Mycenaean dominance, Linear B script)
What happened after the Bronze Age Collapse in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean/Aegean? For what length of time?
1200-700BC
Egypt: Third Intermediate Period (Decline in central authority, division)
Mesopotamia: Kassite Period (cont)/ Iron Age (Assyrian Empire rises to power)
Mediterranean/Aegean: Greek Dark Ages (Decline in population, loss of writing)