Ancient Mesopotamia
What does "Mesopotamia" mean?
the land between two rivers
This character uses her "love arts" to civilize Enkidu
Shamhat
T/F: In Sapiens, Harari argues that the Agricultural Revolution only benefited humanity.
False
Why does Ishtar seek revenge on Gilgamesh?
Because he insults her and won't marry her
This is the section where we are invited to "find the cornerstone...and copper box...Unlock it. Open the lid....Read how Gilgamesh suffered all and accomplished all."
The Prologue
"civilization" derives from the Latin word for...
city
This "character" has no equal on earth. "Its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun...its brickwork is masterfully build/...the land it encloses has palm trees, the gardens/the orchards/the glorious palaces and temples"
Urak
Around the world, what were some of the first plants to be cultivated as monocrops?
Wheat, maize, soybeans
Who are Gilgamesh's parents?
Ninsun and Lugalbanda
This is a Book full of repetition: 5 times we read about journeys, dreams, and interpretation
Book 4
What is a "ziggurat"?
A pyramidal stepped temple; an architectural monument often found in the major cities of Mesopotamia
This character is insulted as a "son of a fish/or a turtle, you gutless, fatherless spawn/who never suckled on mother's milk/I saw you in the pastures when you were young/I saw you graze with the wandering hers/but I didn't kill you, you were too scrawny"
Enkidu
How did social groupings change with the advent of the Agricultural Revolution?
Larger groups, highly stratified system of classes, development of Kings
What do Gilgamesh and Enkidu do after killing Humbaba?
They cut down cedar trees to make a ceremonial gate and float it down the river to their city.
(They cut off Humbaba's head)
The book in which Enkidu dies
Book 7
Why did civilization develop near rivers?
Agricultural Revolution
Farming
Irrigation
This character asks Gilgamesh to "marry me, give me your luscious fruits/be my husband, be my sweet man"
Ishtar
Why did the Agricultural Revolution lead to labor specialization?
High food production means not everyone required to meet basic needs, to freed from the need to constantly hunt/gather/cultivate food, there was opportunity for labor specializes
Who is angry that the gods created a ship to help humans survive the Flood?
Enlil
The book in which the Flood occurs
Book 11
Akkadians, Assyrians, Persians, Parthians, Sumerians, or Babylonians
This character gives the Bull of Heaven to Ishtar, but checks that she has supplied Urak for the famine that will result
Amu
In the Ancient Mesopotamian polytheistic religion, what did the most powerful gods controlled?
yearly floods
What happens to the "marvelous plant/the antidote to the fear of death" that Gilgamesh finds in the "waters of the Great Deep"?
It is stolen by a snake!
This is the book with Enkidu's funeral
Book 8