Passage 1 📖
The Warka Head
This woman’s head was sculpted in white marble at Uruk before 3000 BCE. The eyes and eyebrows would probably have taken lapis lazuli (blue) and shell (white) and bitumen (black) inlays, respectively. There is a groove along the top of the head, perhaps for an ornament. This is a world-famous piece of sculpture, admired for the delicate modelling of the woman’s mouth, chin and cheeks. And it was modelled in a hard stone that would have been imported from a distance. Beginning with the procurement of stone, list all the specialists who would be involved in the production of such a piece of sculpture.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: Who would be responsible for obtaining the hard stone used in sculpting the Warka Head?
Answer: The stone procurement specialist would be responsible for acquiring the imported hard stone used in the sculpture.
Question 2: What individual or group would have been responsible for the delicate modeling of the woman’s mouth, chin, and cheeks in the sculpture?
Answer: The sculptor or artisan would have performed the intricate modeling of the facial features on the Warka Head.
Question 3: Which specialist would have worked on incorporating lapis lazuli, shell, and bitumen inlays for the eyes, eyebrows, and other details?
Answer: The inlay craftsperson would have been responsible for adding lapis lazuli (blue), shell (white), and bitumen (black) inlays to enhance the eyes, eyebrows, and other features.
Question 4: Who might have been involved in creating or attaching an ornament to the sculpture, suggested by the groove along the top of the head?
Answer: An ornament specialist would likely have been involved in creating or attaching an ornament, indicated by the groove along the top of the head.
Question 5: Considering that the hard stone was imported, who would have managed the logistics and transportation of the stone to Uruk?
Answer: A logistics coordinator would have overseen the transportation and logistics involved in importing the hard stone to Uruk for sculpting the Warka Head.
Passage 2 📖
The Seal – An Urban Artefact
In India, early stone seals were stamped. In Mesopotamia until the end of the first millennium BCE, cylindrical stone seals, pierced down the centre, were fitted with a stick and rolled over wet clay so that a continuous picture was created. They were carved by very skilled craftsmen, and sometimes carry writing: the name of the owner, his god, his official position, etc. A seal could be rolled on clay covering the string knot of a cloth package or the mouth of a pot, keeping the contents safe. When rolled on a letter written on a clay tablet, it became a mark of authenticity. So the seal was the mark of a city dweller’s role in public life.
Questions / Answer
Question 1: How were early stone seals used in India?
Answer: Early stone seals in India were stamped onto surfaces.
Question 2: What distinguished Mesopotamian stone seals from those in India?
Answer: Mesopotamian stone seals were cylindrical, pierced down the center, fitted with a stick, and rolled over wet clay to create a continuous picture.
Question 3: What additional elements could be found on Mesopotamian stone seals?
Answer: Mesopotamian stone seals, besides images, sometimes carried writing such as the owner’s name, god, official position, etc.
Question 4: What practical purposes did seals serve in securing items?
Answer: Seals could be rolled on the clay covering the string knot of a cloth package or the mouth of a pot, providing a secure means of safeguarding the contents.
Question 5; How did the use of seals extend to written communication in Mesopotamia?
Answer: When rolled on a letter written on a clay tablet, a seal became a mark of authenticity, emphasizing the significance of the seal as a symbol of a city dweller’s role in public life.
Passage 3 📖
The Palace at Mari of King Zimrilim (1810-1760 BCE)
The great palace of Mari was the residence of the royal family, the hub of administration, and a place of production, especially of precious metal ornaments. It was so famous in its time that a minor king came from north Syria just to see it, carrying with him a letter of introduction from a royal friend of the king of Mari, Zimrilim. Daily lists reveal that huge quantities of food were presented each day for the king’s table: flour, bread, meat, fish, fruit, beer and wine. He probably ate in the company of many others, in or around courtyard 106, paved white. You will notice from the plan that the palace had only one entrance, on the north. The large, open courtyards such as 131 were beautifully paved. The king would have received foreign dignitaries and his own people in 132, a room with wall paintings that would have awed the visitors. The palace was a sprawling structure, with 260 rooms and covered an area of 2.4 hectares.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: What were the primary functions of the great palace at Mari?
Answer: The great palace at Mari served as the residence of the royal family, the center of administration, and a place of production, particularly for precious metal ornaments.
Question 2: Why did a minor king from north Syria visit the palace of Mari?
Answer: The minor king from north Syria visited the palace of Mari to see its greatness, carrying a letter of introduction from a royal friend of the king of Mari, Zimrilim.
Question 3: What can be inferred about the king’s dining habits from the daily lists mentioned in the passage?
Answer: The daily lists indicate that the king of Mari received substantial quantities of food for his table, including flour, bread, meat, fish, fruit, beer, and wine, suggesting a rich and varied diet.
Question 4: How was the layout of the palace designed with regards to entrances and courtyards?
Answer: The palace at Mari had only one entrance, located on the north side. Additionally, large, open courtyards, such as courtyard 131, were beautifully paved and likely served various purposes within the complex.
Question 5: What were the dimensions and extent of the palace at Mari?
Answer: The palace at Mari was a sprawling structure with 260 rooms, covering an area of 2.4 hectares, indicating its significant size and importance in the region.
Passage 4 📖
Excavating Mesopotamian Towns
Today, Mesopotamian excavators have much higher standards of accuracy and care in recording than in the old days, so that few dig huge areas the way Ur was excavated. Moreover, few archaeologists have the funds to employ large teams of excavators. Thus, the mode of obtaining data has changed.
Take the small town at Abu Salabikh, about 10 hectares in area in 2500 BCE with a population less than 10,000. The outlines of walls were at first traced by scraping surfaces. This involves scraping off the top few millimeters of the mound with the sharp and wide end of a shovel or other tool. While the soil underneath was still slightly moist, the archaeologist could make out different colors, textures and lines of brick walls or pits or other features. A few houses that were discovered were excavated. The archaeologists also sieved through tons of earth to recover plant and animal remains, and in the process identified many species of plants and animals and found large quantities of charred fish bones that had been swept out on to the streets. Plant seeds and fibre remained after dung cakes had been burned as fuel and thus kitchens were identified. Living rooms were those with fewer traces. Because they found the teeth of very young pigs on the streets, archaeologists concluded that pigs must have roamed freely here as in any other Mesopotamian town. In fact, one house burial contained some pig bones – the dead person must have been given some pork for his nourishment in the afterlife! The archaeologists also made microscopic studies of room floors to decide which rooms in a house were roofed (with poplar logs, palm leaves, straw, etc.) and which were open to the sky.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: How have Mesopotamian excavation standards changed over time?
Answer: Today, Mesopotamian excavators adhere to higher standards of accuracy and recording compared to the past, with a shift away from massive area excavations like that of Ur.
Question 2: What methods were initially used to trace the outlines of walls in the small town at Abu Salabikh?
Answer: The outlines of walls in Abu Salabikh were initially traced by scraping surfaces, involving the removal of the top few millimeters of the mound with a sharp tool to reveal different colors, textures, and lines of brick walls or other features.
Question 3: How did archaeologists identify kitchens in the excavated houses at Abu Salabikh?
Answer: Archaeologists identified kitchens by sieving through tons of earth to recover plant and animal remains. They found plant seeds and fiber, along with large quantities of charred fish bones, indicating areas where kitchens were located.
Question 4: What evidence led archaeologists to conclude that pigs roamed freely in the town of Abu Salabikh?
Answer: The discovery of the teeth of very young pigs on the streets led archaeologists to conclude that pigs must have roamed freely in Abu Salabikh, similar to other Mesopotamian towns.
Question 5: What microscopic studies were conducted by archaeologists at Abu Salabikh to understand the roofing of rooms in houses?
Answer: Archaeologists conducted microscopic studies of room floors to determine which rooms in a house were roofed, using materials such as poplar logs, palm leaves, straw, etc., and which were open to the sky.
Passage 5 📖
An Early Library
In the iron age, the Assyrians of the north created an empire, at its height between 720 and 610 BCE, that stretched as far west as Egypt. The state economy was now a predatory one, extracting labour and tribute in the form of food, animals, metal and craft items from a vast subject population. The great Assyrian kings, who had been immigrants, acknowledged the southern region, Babylonia, as the centre of high culture and the last of them, Assurbanipal (668-627 BCE), collected a library at his capital, Nineveh in the north. He made great efforts to gather tablets on history, epics, omen literature, astrology, hymns and poems. He sent his scribes south to find old tablets. Because scribes in the south were trained to read and write in schools where they all had to copy tablets by the dozen, there were towns in Babylonia where huge collections of tablets were created and acquired fame. And although Sumerian ceased to be spoken after about 1800 BCE, it continued to be taught in schools, through vocabulary texts, sign lists, bilingual (Sumerian and Akkadian) tablets, etc. So even in 650 BCE, cuneiform tablets written as far back as 2000 BCE were intelligible – and Ashurbanipal’s men knew where to look for early tablets or their copies. Copies were made of important texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the copier stating his name and writing the date. Some tablets ended with a reference to Assurbanipal: ‘I, Assurbanipal, king of the universe, king of Assyria, on whom the gods bestowed vast intelligence, who could acquire the recondite details of scholarly erudition, I wrote down on tablets the wisdom of the gods … And I checked and collated the tablets. I placed them for the future in the library of the temple of my god, Nabu, at Nineveh, for my life and the well-being of my soul, and to sustain the foundations of my royal throne…’ More important, there was cataloguing: a basket of tablets would have a clay label that read: ‘n number of tablets about exorcism, written by X’. Ashurbanipal’s library had a total of some 1,000 texts, amounting to about 30,000 tablets, grouped according to subject.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: Who was Assurbanipal, and what did he do during his reign (668-627 BCE)?
Answer: Assurbanipal was an Assyrian king during the Iron Age, and during his reign (668-627 BCE), he collected a library at his capital, Nineveh, making extensive efforts to gather tablets on various subjects like history, epics, omen literature, astrology, hymns, and poems.
Question 2: Why did Assurbanipal send his scribes south in search of old tablets?
Answer: Assurbanipal sent his scribes south to find old tablets because towns in Babylonia, particularly in the southern region, had large collections of tablets created by scribes who were trained to read and write in schools, copying numerous tablets.
Question 3: What subjects were covered in the cuneiform tablets gathered by Ashurbanipal’s library?
Answer: Ashurbanipal’s library contained tablets covering various subjects, including history, epics, omen literature, astrology, hymns, and poems.
Question 4: How did scribes in Babylonia ensure the continuity of understanding ancient texts written in Sumerian?
Answer: Although Sumerian ceased to be spoken after about 1800 BCE, it continued to be taught in schools through vocabulary texts, sign lists, bilingual (Sumerian and Akkadian) tablets, etc. This educational practice allowed cuneiform tablets from as far back as 2000 BCE to remain intelligible in 650 BCE.
Question 5: What measures were taken for preservation and cataloging in Ashurbanipal’s library?
Answer: Ashurbanipal’s library had copies made of important texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, with the copier stating their name and writing the date. Cataloging was done with clay labels on baskets of tablets, indicating the subject and the author, contributing to a well-organized library with around 1,000 texts and approximately 30,000 tablets grouped by subject.
Passage 6 📖
And, an Early Archaeologist!
A man of the southern marshes, Nabopolassar, released Babylonia from Assyrian domination in 625 BCE. His successors increased their territory and organized building projects at Babylon. From that time, even after the Achaemenids of Iran conquered Babylon in 539 BCE and until 331 BCE when Alexander conquered Babylon, Babylon was the premier city of the world, more than 850 hectares, with a triple wall, great palaces and temples, a ziggurat or stepped tower, and a processional way to the ritual centre. Its trading houses had widespread dealings and its mathematicians and astronomers made some new discoveries. Nabonidus was the last ruler of independent Babylon. He writes that the god of Ur came to him in a dream and ordered him to appoint a priestess to take charge of the cult in that ancient town in the deep south.
He writes: ‘Because for a very long time the office of High Priestess had been forgotten, her characteristic features nowhere indicated, I bethought myself day after day …’ Then, he says, he found the stele of a very early king whom we today date to about 1150 BCE and saw on that stele the carved image of the Priestess. He observed the clothing and the jewellery that was depicted. This is how he was able to dress his daughter for her consecration as Priestess. On another occasion, Nabonidus’s men brought to him a broken statue inscribed with the name of Sargon, king of Akkad. (We know today that the latter ruled around 2370 BCE.) Nabonidus, and indeed many intellectuals, had heard of this great king of remote times. Nabonidus felt he had to repair the statue. ‘Because of my reverence for the gods and respect for kingship,’ he writes, ‘I summoned skilled craftsmen, and replaced the head.’
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: Who released Babylonia from Assyrian domination in 625 BCE, and what were his successors known for?
Answer: Nabopolassar, a man from the southern marshes, released Babylonia from Assyrian domination in 625 BCE. His successors increased the territory and organized building projects in Babylon.
Question 2: What characterized Babylon during its prominence from 625 BCE to 331 BCE?
Answer: Babylon was the premier city of the world, spanning more than 850 hectares, featuring a triple wall, great palaces and temples, a ziggurat, and a processional way to the ritual center. Its trading houses had widespread dealings, and mathematicians and astronomers in Babylon made new discoveries.
Question 3: Who was Nabonidus, and what unusual task did he undertake based on a dream?
Answer: Nabonidus was the last ruler of independent Babylon. He claimed that the god of Ur came to him in a dream and ordered him to appoint a priestess to take charge of the cult in the ancient town of Ur in the deep south.
Question 4: How did Nabonidus rediscover the characteristics of the forgotten office of High Priestess for the cult in Ur?
Answer: Nabonidus found the stele of a very early king dating to about 1150 BCE, which depicted the carved image of the Priestess and provided details about her clothing and jewelry. This information guided him in dressing his daughter for her consecration as Priestess.
Question 5: What historical artifact did Nabonidus repair, and why did he feel compelled to do so?
Answer: Nabonidus’s men brought him a broken statue inscribed with the name of Sargon, king of Akkad, who ruled around 2370 BCE. Out of reverence for the gods and respect for kingship, Nabonidus summoned skilled craftsmen and replaced the head of the statue.
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