Introduction

Culture is one of the most ancient phenomena human life. It arose and developed together with man, making up what qualitatively distinguishes him from all other living beings and nature as a whole. However, interest in its study and comprehension as a special phenomenon of reality has developed relatively recently. For a long time - for millennia - culture existed as something taken for granted, unconscious, inseparable from man and society and not requiring any special, close attention.

Culturology - humanities studying culture as a system, i.e. generally. It originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and was widely recognized in Europe and around the world. Cultural studies began to develop in our country in the early 90s.

In general, culturology has not yet reached a fully mature level and is in its infancy.

Culture of Mesopotamia

The culture of Mesopotamia arose around the same time as that of Egypt. It developed in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and existed from 4 thousand BC. e. until the middle of the 6th century BC. e. Unlike the Egyptian culture of Mesopotamia, it was not homogeneous, it was formed in the process of repeated interpenetration of several ethnic groups and peoples, and therefore was multilayer . The main inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Chaldeans in the south; Assyrians, Hurrians and Arameans in the north. The cultures of Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria reached the greatest development and significance.

The origin of the Sumerian ethnos is still a mystery. It is only known that in 4 thousand. BC. the southern part of Mesopotamia is inhabited by the Sumerians and lay the foundations for the entire subsequent civilization of this region. Like the Egyptian, this civilization was river. By the beginning of 3 thousand BC. in the south of Mesopotamia, several city-states appear, the main of which are Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Larsa and others. They alternately play a leading role in the unification of the country.

The history of Sumer knew several ups and downs. The 24th - 23rd centuries BC deserve special mention, when the rise Semitic city of Akkad north of Sumer. Under King Sargon the Ancient, Akkad managed to subjugate all of Sumer to his power. The Akkadian language replaces the Sumerian, and becomes the main language throughout Mesopotamia. Semitic art also has a great influence on the entire region. In general, the significance of the Akkadian period in the history of Sumer turned out to be so significant that some authors call the entire culture given period Sumero-Akkadian.

Culture of the Sumerian-Akkadian state

The basis of the Sumerian economy was agriculture with a developed irrigation system. Hence it is clear why one of the main monuments Sumerian culture became the "Land Owner's Almanac", containing instructions on farming - how to maintain soil fertility and avoid clogging it. Cattle breeding was also important. High level reached Sumerian metallurgy. Already at the beginning of 3 thousand. BC. the Sumerians began to manufacture bronze tools, and at the end of 2000. BC. entered into iron age.

From the middle of 3 thousand. BC. potter's wheel is used in the manufacture of dishes. Other crafts are successfully developing - weaving, stone-cutting, blacksmithing. Extensive trade and exchange take place both between the Sumerian cities and with other countries - Egypt, Iran, India, the states of Asia Minor.

The importance of Sumerian writing should be emphasized. The cuneiform script invented by the Sumerians turned out to be the most successful and effective. Improved in 2 thousand. BC. Phoenicians, it formed the basis of almost all modern alphabets.

The system of religious and mythological ideas and cults of Sumer partly echoes the Egyptian one. In particular, it also contains the myth of a dying and resurrecting God, which is the God Dumuzi. As in Egypt, the ruler of the city-state was declared a descendant of God and was perceived as an earthly God. At the same time, there were noticeable differences between the Sumerian and Egyptian systems. So the Sumerians have a funeral cult, faith in afterworld did not take on much importance. Equally, the priests among the Sumerians did not become a special layer that played a huge role in public life. In general, the Sumerian system religious beliefs seems less complicated.

As a rule, each city-state had its patron God. However, there were gods who were revered throughout Mesopotamia. Behind them stood those forces of nature, the importance of which for agriculture was especially great - sky, earth and water. These were the sky god An, the earth god Enlil and the water god Enki. Some stars were associated with individual stars or constellations. It is noteworthy that in the Sumerian writing, the pictogram of a star meant the concept of "God". Of great importance in the Sumerian religion was the Mother Goddess, the patroness of agriculture, fertility and childbearing. There were several such goddesses, one of which was the goddess Inanna, the patroness of the city of Uruk. Some Sumerian myths - about the creation of the world, about the global flood - had a strong influence on the mythology of other peoples, including Christian ones.

AT artistic culture Architecture was the leading art in Sumer. Unlike the Egyptians, the Sumerians did not know stone construction, and all structures were made of raw brick. Due to the swampy terrain, buildings were erected on artificial platforms - embankments. From the middle of 3 thousand. BC. The Sumerians were the first to widely use arches and vaults in construction.

The first monuments of architecture were two temples, White and Red, discovered in Uruk and dedicated to the main deities of the city - the god Anu and the goddess Inanna. Both temples are rectangular in plan, with ledges and niches, decorated with relief images in the "Egyptian style". Another significant monument is the small temple of the fertility goddess Ninhursag at Ur. It was built using the same architectural forms, but decorated not only with relief, but also with round sculpture. In the niches of the walls there were copper figurines of copper gobies, and on the friezes there were high reliefs of lying gobies. At the entrance to the temple - two statues of lions made of wood. All this made the temple festive and elegant.

In Sumer, a peculiar type of religious building developed - a ziggurat, which was a stepped, rectangular tower. On the upper platform of the ziggurat there was usually a small temple - "the dwelling of God." Sumerian literature reached a high level. In addition to the aforementioned "agricultural almanac", the most significant literary monument became the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this epic poem tells about a man who saw everything, experienced everything, and knew everything, and who was close to unraveling the mystery of immortality.

By the end of 3 thousand. BC. Sumer gradually falls into decay, and, in the end, Babylonia conquers it.

In the history of world culture, the Mesopotamian civilization is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in the world. It was in Sumer at the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. mankind for the first time left the stage of primitiveness and entered the era of antiquity, here the true history of mankind begins.

The spirit of Mesopotamian culture reflected the crushing power of nature. The man was not inclined to overestimate his strength, observing such powerful natural phenomena like a thunderstorm or an annual flood. The Tigris and Euphrates often flooded violently and unpredictably, destroying dams and flooding crops. Heavy rains turned the solid surface of the earth into a sea of ​​mud and deprived a person of freedom of movement. The nature of Mesopotamia crushed and trampled on the will of man, constantly made him feel how powerless and insignificant he was. In such an environment, a person was fully aware of his weakness and understood that he was involved in the game of monstrous irrational forces.

Interaction with natural forces gave rise to tragic moods, which found expression in people's ideas about the world in which they lived. Man saw order in it, cosmos, not chaos. But this order did not ensure his safety, as it was established through the interaction of many powerful forces, potentially diverging from each other, periodically entering into mutual conflicts. Therefore, all present and future events arose and were controlled by a single will of natural forces united together, the hierarchy and relationships of which resembled a state. With such a view of the world, there was no division into animate or inanimate, living and dead. In such a universe, any objects and phenomena had their own will and character.

In a culture that viewed the entire universe as a state, obedience had to be the first virtue, because the state is built on obedience, on the unconditional acceptance of power. Therefore, in Mesopotamia, the "good life" was also the "obedient life." The individual stood at the center of expanding circles of power that limited his freedom of action. The circle of power closest to him included his own family: father, mother, older brothers and sisters, and disobeying the older members of the family was only the beginning, a pretext for more serious offenses, because outside the family there are other circles of power: the state, society , gods.

This practiced system of obedience was the rule of life in ancient Mesopotamia, because man was created from clay, implicated in the blood of the gods and created for the slave service of the gods, in order to work instead of the gods and for the gods. Accordingly, a diligent and obedient slave could count on signs of mercy and rewards from his master. And on the contrary, a careless, disobedient slave, of course, could not even dream about it.

Euphrates, i.e. in Mesopotamia. Or, say, comparing the biblical description of the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis with the Babylonian poem "Enuma Elish" ("When above"), we can be convinced that cosmogony, the creation of man from clay and the rest of the creator after hard work coincide in many details.

Mesopotamian spiritual culture a huge impact on the culture of many ancient Eastern peoples, mainly in Western Asia. And in subsequent eras, the spiritual heritage of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia was not forgotten and firmly entered the treasury of world culture.

The culture of Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) arose at about the same time as the Egyptian. It is worth noting that it developed in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and existed from the 4th millennium BC. until the middle of the VI century. BC. Unlike the Egyptian culture of Mesopotamia, it was not homogeneous; it was formed in the process of repeated interpenetration of several ethnic groups and peoples, and therefore was multilayer.

The main inhabitants of Mesopotamia were Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Chaldeans in the south: Assyrians, Hurrians and Arameans in the north. The culture of Sumer reached the greatest development and importance. Do not forget that Babylonia and Assyria.

The origin of the Sumerian ethnos is still a mystery. It is only known that in the IV millennium BC. the southern part of Mesopotamia is inhabited by the Sumerians and lay the foundations for the entire subsequent civilization of this region. Like the Egyptian, this civilization was river. By the beginning of the III millennium BC. in the south of Mesopotamia there will be several city-states, the main ones being Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Jlapca, etc. It is worth noting that they alternately play a leading role in uniting the country.

The history of Sumer knew several ups and downs.
It should be noted that the XXIV-XXIII centuries deserve special mention. BC when the elevation occurs Semitic city of Akkad north of Sumer. Under King Sargon the Ancient of Akkad, I succeed in subordinating all Sumer to her power. Akkadian replaces Sumerian and becomes the main language throughout Mesopotamia. It is important to know that Semitic art also has a great influence on the entire region. In general, the significance of the Akkadian period in the history of Sumer turned out to be so significant that some authors call the entire culture of this period Sumero-Akkadian.

Culture of Sumer

The basis of the economy of Sumer was agriculture with a developed irrigation system. Hence it is clear why one of the main monuments of Sumerian literature was the "Agricultural Almanac", containing instructions on farming - how to maintain soil fertility and avoid salinization. Don't forget that importance had also cattle breeding. metallurgy. Already at the beginning of the III millennium BC. the Sumerians began to manufacture bronze tools, and at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. entered the Iron Age. From the middle of the III millennium BC. potter's wheel is used in the production of dishes. Other crafts are successfully developing - weaving, stone-cutting, blacksmithing. Extensive trade and exchange takes place both between the Sumerian cities and with other countries - Egypt, Iran. India, the states of Asia Minor.

It should be emphasized the importance Sumerian writing. The cuneiform script invented by the Sumerians turned out to be the most successful and effective. Improved in the II millennium BC. Phoenicians, it formed the basis of almost all modern alphabets.

System religious and mythological ideas and cults Sumer partly echoes the Egyptian. In particular, it also contains the myth of a dying and resurrecting god, which is the god Dumuzi. Just as in Egypt, the ruler of the city-state was declared a descendant of a god and was perceived as an earthly god. With all this, there were noticeable differences between the Sumerian and Egyptian systems. So, among the Sumerians, the funeral cult, belief in the afterlife did not acquire great importance. Equally, the priests among the Sumerians did not become a special layer that played a huge role in public life. In general, the Sumerian system of religious beliefs seems to be less complex.

As a rule, each city-state had ϲʙᴏ its patron god. At the same time, there were gods who were revered throughout Mesopotamia. Behind them stood those forces of nature, the significance of which for agriculture was especially great - sky, earth and water. These were the sky god An, the earth god Enlil and the water god Enki. Some gods were associated with individual stars or constellations. It is noteworthy that in Sumerian writing, the pictogram of a star suggested the concept of "god". It's important to know that great importance in the Sumerian religion had a mother goddess, the patroness of agriculture, fertility and childbearing. There were several such goddesses, one of them was the goddess Inanna. patroness of the city of Uruk. Some myths of the Sumerians - about the creation of the world, the Flood - had a strong influence on the mythology of other peoples, including Christian ones.

In the artistic culture of Sumer, the leading art was architecture. Unlike the Egyptians, the Sumerians did not know stone construction and all structures were created from raw brick. Due to the swampy terrain, buildings were erected on artificial platforms - embankments. From the middle of the III millennium BC. the Sumerians were the first to widely use arches and ϲʙᴏdy in construction.

The first architectural monuments were two temples, White and Red, discovered in Uruk (end of the 4th millennium BC) and dedicated to the main deities of the city - the god Anu and the goddess Inanna. Both temples are rectangular in plan, with ledges and niches, decorated with relief images in the "Egyptian style". Another significant monument will be the small temple of the goddess of fertility Ninhursag in Ur (XXVI century BC). It is worth noting that it was built using the same architectural forms, but decorated not only with a relief, but also with a round sculpture. In the niches of the walls there were copper figurines of walking gobies, and on the friezes there were high reliefs of lying gobies. At the entrance to the temple there are two statues of lions made of wood. Everything ϶ᴛᴏ made the temple festive and elegant.

In Sumer, a ϲʙᴏ-shaped type of cult building developed - a ziggurag, which was a stepped, rectangular in plan tower. On the upper platform of the ziggurat there was usually a small temple - "the dwelling of the god." The ziggurat has for thousands of years played roughly the same role as Egyptian pyramid, but unlike the latter, it was not an afterlife temple. The most famous was the ziggurat (“temple-mountain”) in Ur (XXII-XXI centuries BC), which was part of a complex of two large temples and a palace and had three platforms: black, red and white. Only the lower, black platform has been preserved, but even in this form, the ziggurat makes a grandiose impression.

Sculpture in Sumer was less developed than architecture. As a rule, it had a cult, "initiatory" character: the believer placed a figurine made to his order, most often small in size, in the temple, which, as it were, prayed for his fate. The person was depicted conditionally, schematically and abstractly. without respect for proportions and without a portrait resemblance to the model, often in the pose of a prayer. An example is a female figurine (26 cm) from Lagash, which has mostly common ethnic features.

In the Akkadian period, sculpture changes significantly: it becomes more realistic, acquires individual features. by the most famous masterpiece of this period there will be a portrait head made of copper of Sargon the Ancient (XXIII century BC), which perfectly conveys the unique traits of the king's character: courage, will, severity. This rare expressive work is almost no different from modern ones.

Sumerian reached a high level literature. In addition to the above-mentioned "Agricultural Almanac", the most significant literary monument was the Epic of Gilgamesh. The ϶ᴛᴏth epic poem tells about a man who saw everything, experienced everything, knew everything, and who was close to unraveling the mystery of immortality.

By the end of the III millennium BC. Sumer is gradually falling into decay, and eventually conquered. Do not forget that Babylonia.

Do not forget that Babylonia

Its history is divided into two periods: the Ancient, covering the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, and the New, falling in the middle of the 1st millennium BC.

The Ancient One should not forget that Babylonia reaches its highest rise under the king Hammurabi(1792-1750 BC) Two significant monuments remain from his time. The first one is Laws of Hammurabi became the most outstanding monument ancient Eastern legal thought. 282 articles of the Code of Law cover almost all aspects of the life of Babylonian society and constitute civil, criminal and administrative law. The second monument will be a basalt pillar (2 m), on which King Hammurabi himself is depicted, sitting in front of the god of the sun and justice Shamash, and also a part of the text of the famous codex is imprinted.

New Do not forget that Babylonia reached its highest peak under the king Nebuchadnezzar(605-562 BC) The famous "Hanging Gardens of Babylon", become one of the seven wonders of the world. They can be called a grandiose monument of love, since they were presented by the king to his beloved wife, in order to alleviate her longing for the mountains and gardens of her homeland.

Not less than famous monument will also Do not forget that the Tower of Babel. It was the highest ziggurat in Mesopotamia (90 m), consisting of several towers stacked on top of each other, on the top of which there was also the saint of Marduk, the main god of the Babylonians. Seeing the tower, Herodotus was shocked by its greatness. It is worth noting that it is mentioned in the Bible. When the Persians conquered Do not forget that Babylonia (VI century BC), they destroyed Do not forget that Babylon and all the monuments that were in it.

Achievements deserve special mention. Do not forget that the Babylonians gastronomy and mathematics. It should not be forgotten that the Babylonian astrologers calculated with amazing accuracy the time of the Moon's revolution around the Earth, compiled a solar calendar and a map of the starry sky. Names of the five planets and twelve constellations solar system are of Babylonian origin. Astrologers gave people astrology and horoscopes. Even more impressive were the successes of mathematicians. It is worth noting that they laid the foundations of arithmetic and geometry, developed a “positional system”, where the numerical value of a sign depends on its “position”, knew how to square a power and extract Square root, created geometric formulas for measuring land.

Assyria

The third powerful power of Mesopotamia - Assyria - arose in the 3rd millennium BC, but reached its peak in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Assyria was poor in resources, but achieved exaltation thanks to ϲʙᴏ geographic location. It is worth noting that she was at the crossroads of caravan routes, and trade made her rich and great. The capitals of Assyria were successively Ashur, Calah and Nineveh. By the XIII century. BC. it became the most powerful empire in the entire Middle East.

In the artistic culture of Assyria - as in the whole Mesopotamia - the leading art was architecture. The most famous architectural monuments were the palace complex of King Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin and the palace of Ashur-banapala in Nineveh.

The Assyrian reliefs, decorating the palace premises, the subjects of which were scenes from royal life: religious ceremonies, hunting, military events.

It is important to note that one of best examples Assyrian reliefs is considered "It is important to know that the great lion hunt" from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, where the scene depicting the wounded, dying and killed lions is filled with deep drama, sharp dynamics and vivid expression.

In the 7th century BC. the last ruler of Assyria, Ashur-banapap, created in Nineveh a magnificent library, containing more than 25 thousand clay cuneiform tablets. The library has become the largest in the entire Middle East. It contained documents that in one way or another concerned the entire Mesopotamia. Among them was kept the above-mentioned "Epic of Gilgamesh".

Mesopotamia, like Egypt, has become a real cradle of human culture and civilization. Sumerian cuneiform and Babylonian astronomy and mathematics - ϶ᴛᴏ is already enough to speak of the exceptional significance of Mesopotamian culture.

L IV-III millennium BC on the territory of Mesopotamia - the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - a culture as high as in Egypt arose and established itself. It was one of the oldest centers of human civilization. However, unlike the Nile Valley, where the same people lived for three millennia and the same state existed - Ancient Egypt, in Mesopotamia rapidly (by historical standards) various state formations replaced each other, including Sumer, Akkad , Babylonia, Assyria, Iran, mixed, traded and fought with each other different nations, temples, fortresses, cities were quickly erected and destroyed to the ground. More dynamic than in Egypt were the history and culture of Mesopotamia.

Sumero - The most ancient culture of Mesopotamia - Sumero-RKU "DSKYAYA Akkadian. According to most modern Orientalists, the Sumerians are the founders of the entire Babylonian culture. Their cultural achievements are great and indisputable: the Sumerians created the first human history poems - about the "Golden Age"; wrote the first elegies, compiled the world's first library catalog. Sumerians

Authors of the world's first and oldest medical books - collections of recipes. They developed and recorded the first calendar for two seasons (winter and summer), divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days each. Each new month began in the evening with the disappearance of the crescent moon. Compiled the first information about protective plantings. Even the idea of ​​​​creating the first fish reserve in the history of people was also recorded for the first time in writing by the Sumerians. The first clay map also belongs to the Sumerians. The first stringed musical instruments - lyre and harp

Appeared also among the Sumerians.

The oldest writing on Earth belongs to the same people - this is the Sumerian cuneiform1. It is very decorative and, as the researchers believe, originates from drawings. However, old legends say that even before the emergence of picture writing, there existed an even more ancient method of fixing

thoughts - tying knots on a rope. Over time, pictorial writing improved and changed: from a complete, fairly detailed and thorough depiction of objects, the Sumerians gradually move on to its incomplete or symbolic depiction. The oldest written monuments in the world - Sumerian cuneiform tablets - date back to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. Cuneiform writing is a script whose signs consist of groups of wedge-shaped lines, they are squeezed out on wet clay. For a long time, the rchians believed that the language of the Sumerians was not similar to any of the living or dead languages ​​of humanity, and the question of the existence of this people remained a mystery. However, now we can consider it established that the language of the Sumerians, like the language of the Egyptians, belonged to the Semitic-Hamitic language family. Many monuments of Sumerian literature have been preserved - they are engraved on clay tablets, and almost all of them succeeded in pro-These are mainly hymns to the gods, religious myths and legends, in particular, about the emergence of civilization and agriculture,

attributed to the gods.

Sumerian tablets dating back to about 2800 BC contain the works of the first known to the world poetesses -!, daughters of the Akkadian king Sargon. Elevated to the rank of yu priestess, she wrote several hymns in honor of the greats and gods of the Earth.

The most important monument of Sumerian literature is a cycle of legends about \, the king of the city of Uruk, the son of a mortal and the goddess Ninsun. about the hero Gilgamesh had a very strong influence on the neighboring peoples, who accepted and adapted them to yu life. Legends about global flood. In them, the race is that the flood was arranged by the gods, who conceived all life on Earth. Only one person was able to escape - the pious Ziusudra, who on the advice of the gods in advance ship.

Ktlytpa The successor of the Sumero-Akkadian civilization of Babylonia was Babylonia. In the middle of the II millennium BC. under King Hammurabi (ruled in 1792-1750 before), the city of Babylon2 united all regions under its rule

i letter (from gr. idea - idea, image and graft "- I write) - the principle of writing, isslol-I ideograms - a written sign (conditional image or drawing) corresponding to the

r, pelvis - “see”, k - Sumerian. - Kadingirra, Akkhad. - Babil, letters, the gates of God.

Sumer and Akkad. Under Hammurabi, the famous Code of Laws appeared, written in cuneiform on a two-meter stone pillar. These laws reflected the economic life, way of life, customs and worldview of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. Their worldview was determined by the need for constant struggle with the surrounding tribes. All main interests were focused on reality. The Babylonian priest did not promise blessings and joys in realm of the dead, but in case of obedience he promised them during his lifetime. There are almost no depictions of funerary scenes in Babylonian art. In general, religion, art and ideology Ancient Babylon were more realistic than culture ancient egypt.

A huge role in the beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia was played by the cult of water. The attitude towards water was not unambiguous. Water was considered the source good will bringing harvest and life, water is a cult of fertility. Water is also a powerful and unkind element, the cause of destruction and misfortune.

Another very important cult was the cult of the heavenly bodies. In their immutability and miraculous movement along a once and for all set path, the inhabitants of Babylon saw the manifestation of divine will. Attention to the stars and planets contributed to the rapid development of mathematics and astronomy. Thus, a sexagesimal system was created, which to this day exists in terms of time - minutes, seconds. Babylonian astronomers for the first time in the history of mankind calculated the laws of revolution of the Sun, Moon and the frequency of eclipses, and on the whole they were significantly ahead of the Egyptians in astronomical observations. However, all the scientific knowledge and research of the scientists of Babylonia was connected with magic and divination; both scientific knowledge and magical formulas and spells were the privilege of sages, astrologers and priests.

Scientific knowledge, for example in the field of mathematics, often outstripped practical needs, religious beliefs responded to the spiritual needs of society.

According to the teachings of the Babylonian priests, people were created from clay to serve the gods. The Babylonian gods were numerous. The most important of them were: Shamash - the goddess of the Sun, Sin - the god of the moon, Adad - the god of bad weather, Ishtar - the goddess of love, Nergal - the god of death, Irra - the god of war, Vilgi - the god of fire. The gods were portrayed as patrons of the king, which testifies to the formation of a strong ideology of deification. royal power. At the same time, the gods were humanized: like people, they strove for success, desired benefits, arranged their affairs, acted according to circumstances. They were not indifferent to wealth, owned property, could acquire families and offspring. They are

they had to drink and eat like people; they, like people, had various weaknesses and shortcomings: envy, anger, non-eity. The gods determined the fate of people. The will of the gods could only be priests: they alone could and knew how to call and exorcise. spirits, talk with the gods, determine the future by movement

People obeyed the will of the priests and kings, believing in predetermined human fate, in the subordination of man to the higher powers, good and evil. But resignation to fate was far from abso-yaoi: it was combined with the will of people to win in the fight against the fucking environment of a person. Constant consciousness is dangerous: for a person in the world around him, it was combined with a desire to half-enjoy life. Riddles and fears, superstition, mysticism, witchcraft were combined with sober thought, exact calculation and

The religious beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia are reflected. in their monumental art. In the cities they built temples dedicated to the gods; near the temple of the main local deity, there was usually a ziggurat - high tower made of brick, girded with you-eschie terraces and creating the impression of several ba-i, which decreased in volume ledge by ledge. There could have been from 4 to 7 such mouth-to-terraces. The ziggurats were painted: the lower ledges are darker than the upper ones; the terraces were, as a rule, landscaped. The upper tower of the ziggurat was often crowned with a golden dome. It contained the sanctuary of the god, his, where, as the Sumerians believed, the god stayed at night.

Inside the tower there was nothing but a couch and a gilded table. I, this tower was also used for more specific and earthly needs: the priests conducted astronomical observations from there. The architectural monuments of Babylonian art came to much less than, for example, Egyptian. This is quite lo: unlike Egypt, the territory of Mesopotamia was poor, and the main building material was a brick. One-th brick is a short-lived material, and brick buildings have not been preserved. Nevertheless, the surviving buildings: art critics to express the point of view that it was the Vaennese architects who were the creators of those architectural forms, the era formed the basis of building art ancient rome, and I eat and Medieval Europe. Many scholars believe that the pro-European architecture of our era is to be found in the Great Dane of the Tigris and Euphrates. The main elements of this architecture were domes, arches, vaulted ceilings, the rhythm of horizontal and vertical sections, which determined the architectural position of the temple in Babylonia.

Babylon was a huge and noisy eastern city. It was surrounded by a powerful and thick wall, on which two chariots drawn by four horses could freely pass. There were 24 large avenues in the city, the attraction was the seven-tiered ziggurat of the god Etemenanka, 90 meters high - the Tower of Babel - one of the seven wonders of the world. Landscaped terraces Tower of Babel, known as the hanging gardens of Babylon - the Assyrian queen who lived in the 9th century. BC, is also one of the seven wonders of the world. There are many legends about Babylon, and scientists still have a lot to do to distinguish truth from fiction in them.

For Babylonian fine art, the image of animals was typical - most often a lion or a bull. Also remarkable are the marble figurines from Tel Asmar depicting a group male figures. Each figurine is placed in such a way that the viewer always meets her gaze. Characteristic features of these figurines were more subtle, in comparison with figurines from Egypt, elaboration of details, greater realism and liveliness of the image, somewhat less conventionality.

Culture The culture, religion and art of Babylonia were

Assyria was borrowed and developed by the Assyrians. In the collapse

At the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (7th century BC) in Nineveh, scientists discovered a huge library for that time, which included many (tens of thousands!) cuneiform texts. It is assumed that this library contained all the most important works of Babylonian literature. King Ashurbanipal - an educated and well-read man - went down in history as a collector of ancient written monuments: according to him, written down and left for posterity, it was a great joy for him to parse beautiful and incomprehensible texts written in the language of ancient Sumerians.

More than 2 thousand years separated King Ashurbanipal from ancient culture Mesopotamia, but, realizing the value of old clay tablets, he collected and preserved them. Education, however, was not inherent in all the rulers of Assyria. A more common and constant feature of the Assyrian rulers was the desire for power, domination over neighboring peoples, the desire to assert and demonstrate their power.

Assyrian art of the 1st millennium BC full of pathos of strength, it glorified the power and victories of the conquerors. Characteristic images of grandiose and arrogant winged bulls, with arrogant human faces and sparkling eyes. Each bull had five hooves. For example, images from

| Palace of Sargon II (VII century BC). But other famous reliefs from Assyrian palaces are always the glorification of the king - powerful, formidable and merciless. Such were the rulers of Assisi in life. Such was the reality of Assyria. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the peculiarity of Assyrian art is images of royal cruelty, unparalleled in world art: for example, there are scenes of impalement, tearing out the captives tongue, skinning in the presence of the king. All this was the facts of the everyday life of the Assyrian state, and these scenes are conveyed without a sense of pity. The cruelty of the customs of the Assyrian society was combined, apparently, with its low religiosity. In the cities of Assyria, it was not religious buildings that prevailed, but palaces and secular buildings, just as in the reliefs and paintings of Assyrian palaces - not religious, but secular subjects. Numerous and magnificent images of animals, mainly a lion, a camel, a horse, were characteristic.

Engineering art was greatly developed in Assyria; the first canal-water supply and aqueduct 90 yards long and IS wide were built.

Iranian culture Replaced Babylon and Assyria in the 6th century. BC. Iranian empire. The art of Iran, the researchers believe, is even more secular and courtly, [the art of its predecessors, more calm: it honors the cruelty that was so characteristic of the art of the Riyans. But the continuity of cultures is preserved. The image remains the most important element of fine art here - these are primarily winged bulls, as well as lions and ens. Reliefs depicting solemn processions of warriors, tributaries, and lions were widespread.

4th century BC. Iran, like Egypt, was conquered by Alexander Ma-

i and included in the sphere of influence Hellenistic culture. 3rd century Sassanids become the ruling dynasty in Iran. tried to prove that they were descended from the gods, and for this purpose, on their orders, colossal reliefs were created, depicting scenes from their victorious wars of conquest. But wars were not successful for Iran. Many monuments to the cult of Sasanian Iran perished in the fire of these wars, many perished in ke. All that remains of the high Sasanian art is palaces and temples, several dozen gold and silver vessels, the remains of silk fabrics and carpets. Medieval eras brought to us the story of one such luxurious carpet, which covered the entire floor in the huge front hall of the palace -i-Kesra in Ctesiphon. By order of one of the Arab military commanders,

nikov who captured the palace, the carpet was cut into pieces and divided among the soldiers as spoils of war, and each piece was sold for 20 thousand dirhems1. The walls of the palaces were decorated with frescoes with portraits of nobles, court beauties, musicians, gods.

The state religion in Sasanian Iran was Zoroastrianism (named after the founder of this religion, the Bactrian thinker Zarathushtra (Zoroaster, 599/598-522/521 BC). This doctrine explained the world as an arena of struggle between two opposite principles - good, just and false , evil. The main deity, personifying good, was Ahura Mazda, the bearer of the evil principle was Anghro Mainyu. According to Zoroastrianism, a person makes ethical decisions, being between these two forces. An important part of Zoroastrianism was the cult of fire (fire altars). The doctrine of the thinker is set forth in 17 parts of the Avesta , a collection of Zoroastrian canonical texts.

How not to perish if the two rivers on which your life depends are stormy and unpredictable, and of all earthly riches only clay is abundant? The peoples of the Ancient Mesopotamia did not die, moreover, they managed to create one of the most developed civilizations of their time.

background

Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) is another name for Mesopotamia (from other Greek Mesopotamia - "two rivers"). So the ancient geographers called the territory located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the III millennium BC. Sumerian city-states, such as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, and others, formed on this territory. The emergence of an agricultural civilization became possible thanks to the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates, after which fertile silt settled along the banks.

Developments

III millennium BC- the emergence of the first city-states in Mesopotamia (5 thousand years ago). The largest cities are Ur and Uruk. Their houses were built of clay.

Around the 3rd millennium BC- the emergence of cuneiform (more about cuneiform). Cuneiform arose in Mesopotamia, initially as an ideographic-rebus, and later as a verbal-syllabic script. They wrote on clay tablets with a pointed stick.

Gods of Sumerian-Akkadian mythology:

• Shamash - sun god
• Ea - god of water
• Sin is the god of the moon,
• Ishtar is the goddess of love and fertility.

A ziggurat is a pyramid-shaped temple.

Myths and legends:

• The myth of the flood (about how Utnapishti built a ship and was able to escape during the global flood).
• The story of Gilgamesh.

Members

To the northeast of Egypt, between two large rivers - the Euphrates and the Tigris - is the Mesopotamia, or Mesopotamia, also known as Mesopotamia (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Ancient Mesopotamia

Soils in the Southern Mesopotamia are surprisingly fertile. Just like the Nile in Egypt, the rivers gave life and prosperity to this warm country. But the floods of the rivers were stormy: sometimes the streams of water fell on the villages and pastures, demolishing dwellings and pens for livestock. It was necessary to build embankments along the banks so that the flood would not wash away the crops in the fields. Canals were dug to irrigate fields and gardens.

The state arose here at about the same time as in the Nile Valley - more than 5,000 years ago.

Many settlements of farmers, growing up, turned into centers of small city-states, the population of which was no more than 30-40 thousand people. The largest were Ur and Uruk, located in the south of Mesopotamia. Scientists have found ancient burials, the objects found in them testify to high development crafts.

There were neither mountains nor forests in the Southern Mesopotamia, the only building material was clay. The houses were built from clay bricks, dried due to lack of fuel in the sun. To protect buildings from destruction, the walls were made very thick, for example, the city wall was so wide that a wagon could drive along it.

Towering in the center of the city ziggurat- a high stepped tower, at the top of which there was a temple of the god - the patron of the city (Fig. 2). In one city it was, for example, the sun god Shamash, in another it was the moon god Sin. Everyone revered the water god Ea, and people turned to the goddess of fertility Ishtar with requests for rich grain harvests and the birth of children. Only the priests were allowed to climb to the top of the tower - to the sanctuary. The priests observed the movement of the heavenly gods - the Sun and the Moon. They made a calendar, predicted the fate of people by the stars. The learned priests were also involved in mathematics. The number 60 they considered sacred. Under the influence of the inhabitants of the Ancient Mesopotamia, we divide an hour into 60 minutes, and a circle into 360 degrees.

Rice. 2. Ziggurat in Ur ()

During excavations of ancient cities in Mesopotamia, archaeologists found clay tablets covered with wedge-shaped icons. Badges were squeezed out on wet clay with a pointed stick. To give hardness, the tablets were fired in a kiln. Cuneiform badges are a special letter of Mesopotamia - cuneiform. Icons denoted words, syllables, combinations of letters. Scientists have counted several hundred characters used in cuneiform writing (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Cuneiform ()

Learning to read and write in Ancient Mesopotamia was no less difficult than in Egypt. Schools, or "Houses of Tablets", which appeared in III millennium BC e., only children from wealthy families could attend, since education was paid. For many years it was necessary to attend the school of scribes in order to master the complex system of writing.

Bibliography

1. Vigasin A. A., Goder G. I., Sventsitskaya I. S. History ancient world. Grade 5 - M .: Education, 2006.
2. Nemirovsky A. I. A book for reading on the history of the Ancient World. - M .: Education, 1991.

Additional precommended links to Internet resources

1. STOP SYSTEM() project.
2. Culturologist.ru ().

Homework

1. Where is Ancient Mesopotamia located?
2. What is common in the natural conditions of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt?
3. Describe the cities of Ancient Mesopotamia.
4. Why are there ten times more characters in cuneiform than in the modern alphabet?