...Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In ancient times, many resources in Mesopotamia were scarce or absent, which stimulated trade within the region and beyond. Supported by lucrative trade with its neighbors, Mesopotamia grew to become a powerful empire. Life in Mesopotamia Prehistory The settlement of humans in the Near East began with the movement of Homo erectus off the African continent roughly 2 million years ago during the Paleolithic period. Over the course of several thousand years, Homo erectus spread rapidly throughout the Near East and then into Europe and Southeast Asia. The first three phases of the Paleolithic period (Lower, Middle, and Upper) extend from roughly 2.5 million years BC through 14,000 BC. Each phase is defined by changes in human habitat, stone tool technology, and diet. During most of that time, humans lived in open-air campsites and in small natural caves. They hunted wild animals and fished, gathered wild plants, and wandered over a large geographic area. During the Epipaleolithic period, between 14,000 BC and 9000 BC, humans lived in circular or semi-circular structures called pit houses. These houses often had hearths and plaster floors and sometimes several pits were linked together to form various rooms. Plants and animals were domesticated in the Near East roughly between 11,000 and 6500 BC. By 9000 BC, modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) were...
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...Irene Wanja Dr Lancaster Eng 230.06 24 February 2014 Role of women in “the epic of Gilgamesh” The epic of Gilgamesh (King of Uruk) is a story his personality and his beliefs. Gilgamesh is a tyrant, a “powerful warrior who shows his mettle in battle” (Abusch 2001). This Mesopotamian hero is a tyrant, big and prominent. He goes through some things in his life that have him making a three hundred and sixty degree turn around in all aspects of his life. It is not written by just one author but has been an evolving story over a millennium. Women in ancient Mesopotamia were considered property of the husband. The man was the head of the house, and the woman’s duty was to cook, bare children for the men and raise them. The main value of women in ancient Mesopotamia was child bearing. The stages of life for the women of Mesopotamia went from being a daughter to being a bride, then a spouse and finally a housekeeper. Though they are not prominently features, the epic of Gilgamesh shows the importance of women and their role in everyday life. They are valuable in the story because without them, the men would not have gotten as far as they did. They are highly influential because they have power, which they each use differently. Shamhat is the temple prostitute, very morally loose woman who will lay with any man. She is sent by Gilgamesh to give herself to Enkidu and have sex with him so that the animals will see and not want to be associated with him anymore. The king’s thinking is that...
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...Mesopotamia Historically, the ancient city states of Mesopotamia in the fertile crescent are most cited by Western and Middle Eastern scholars as the cradle of civilization. The convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers produced rich fertile soil and a supply of water for irrigation. The civilizations that emerged around these rivers are among the earliest known non-nomadic agrarian societies. Because Ubaid, Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylon civilizations all emerged around the Tigris-Euphrates, the theory that Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization is widely accepted.[14]The Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer emerges in the Ubaid period (6500-3800 BC) and Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC), culminating in the mid-3rd millennium before giving rise to the Akkadian Empire in the 24th century BC. This is often identified as the first empire in history. Eridu was the oldest Sumerian site, settled during the proto-civilized Ubaid period. Situated several miles southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of early temple-cities, in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, with the earliest of these settlements dating to around 5000 BC. By the 4th millennium BC in Nippur we[who?] find — in connection with a sort of ziggurat and shrine — a conduit built of bricks in the form of an arch. Sumerian inscriptions written on clay also appear in Nippur. By 4000 BC an ancient Elamite city of Susa, in Mesopotamia, also seems to emerge from earlier villages. Whilst the Elamites...
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...Tablet I Summary The story begins with a prologue introducing us to the main character, Gilgamesh, the Priest-King of Uruk. Gilgamesh’s mother is Ninsun, sometimes referred to as the Lady Wildcow Ninsun. She was a goddess, endowing Gilgamesh with a semi-divine nature. Lugulbanda, a priest, was his father. Gilgamesh constructed the great city of Uruk along the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia, and surrounded it intricately decorated walls. He also built a temple for the goddess Ishtar, the goddess of love, and her fatherAnu, the father of the gods. Gilgamesh is credited with opening passages through the mountains. He traveled to the Nether World and beyond it, where he met Utnapishtim, the sole survivor of the great flood that almost ended the world, the one who had been given immortality. When he returned to Uruk, he wrote everything down on a tablet of lapis lazuli and locked it in a copper chest. As the story begins, Gilgamesh is a tyrannical leader who shows little regard for his people. He takes what he wants from them and works them to death constructing the walls of Uruk. He sleeps with brides on their wedding night, before their husbands. It is said that no one can resist his power. The old men of Uruk complain and appeal to the gods for help. The gods hear their cries and instruct Aruru, the goddess of creation, to make someone strong enough to act as a counterforce to Gilgamesh. Aruru takes some clay, moistens it with her spit, and forms another man, namedEnkidu. Enkidu...
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...Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is epic poetry from Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the protagonist of the story,Gilgamesh, which were fashioned into a longer Akkadian epic much later. The most complete version existing today is preserved on 12 clay tablets from the library collection of 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. It was originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī). The story revolves around a relationship between Gilgamesh (probably a real ruler in the late Early Dynastic II period ca. 27th century BC)[1] and his close companion, Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens of Uruk. Together they undertake dangerous quests that incur the displeasure of the gods. Firstly, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven that the goddess Ishtar has sent to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. The latter part of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's distressed reaction to Enkidu's death, which takes the form of a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh attempts to learn the secret of eternal life by undertaking a long and perilous journey to meet the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. Ultimately the poignant words addressed to Gilgamesh in the midst...
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...1)What does the study of humanities involve? What is the relevance of humanities in architecture? 1.The study of humanities involves academic disciplines that study human culture and history. The humanities include ancient and modern languages ,literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theatre. We learn about distant cultures or past cultures. Through the exploration of humanities we learn how to think creatively and critically to reason and ask questions. These efforts preserve the great accomplishments of the past help us understand the world we live in and give us tools to imagine the future. 2.What are the broad divisions of human history? Write a brief on each. Prehistory (meaning "before history", or "before knowledge acquired by investigation", from the Latin word for "before," præ, and historia) is the span of time before recorded history or the invention of writing systems. Prehistory refers to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it can refer to all the time preceding human existence and the invention. The term "prehistory" can refer to the vast span of time since the beginning of the Universe, but more often it refers to the period since life appeared on Earth, or even more specifically to the time since human-like beings appeared.[4][5] In dividing up human prehistory, prehistorians typically use the three-age system, whereas scholars...
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...Hogarth Blake Presents: Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire By Drusilla Dunjee Houston First published in 1926 This e-book was edited by Hogarth Blake Ltd Download this book and many more for FREE at: hh-bb.com hogarthblake@gmail.com ‘Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire’ by Drusilla Dunjee Houston Reproduction & duplication of this work for FREE is permitted. Refer to the terms & conditions page for more details. Terms & Conditions Scanned at sacred-texts.com, October, 2004. John Bruno Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was not renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely fashion as required by law at the time. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact in all copies and subject to the sacred texts Terms of Service at http://www.sacred-texts.com/tos.htm Hogarth Blake presents this e-book FREE of charge; it may be used for whatever purpose you see fit. The only limitations are that you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, modify, create derivative works based upon, sell, publish, license or sub-license the work or any part of it without the express written consent of Hogarth Blake Ltd. The work is provided as is. Hogarth Blake Ltd. makes no guarantees or warranties as to the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of or results to be obtained from using the work via hyperlink or otherwise, and expressly...
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...Hogarth Blake Presents: Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire By Drusilla Dunjee Houston First published in 1926 This e-book was edited by Hogarth Blake Ltd Download this book and many more for FREE at: hh-bb.com hogarthblake@gmail.com ‘Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire’ by Drusilla Dunjee Houston Reproduction & duplication of this work for FREE is permitted. Refer to the terms & conditions page for more details. Terms & Conditions Scanned at sacred-texts.com, October, 2004. John Bruno Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was not renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely fashion as required by law at the time. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact in all copies and subject to the sacred texts Terms of Service at http://www.sacred-texts.com/tos.htm Hogarth Blake presents this e-book FREE of charge; it may be used for whatever purpose you see fit. The only limitations are that you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, modify, create derivative works based upon, sell, publish, license or sub-license the work or any part of it without the express written consent of Hogarth Blake Ltd. The work is provided as is. Hogarth Blake Ltd. makes no guarantees or warranties as to the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of or results to be obtained from using the work via hyperlink or otherwise, and expressly...
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...HUM 1000: WORLD CIVILIZATIONS NOTES BY DR. KAKAI P.W THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA Definition of key terms As we begin this course, it is crucial to first discuss our understanding of the concept ‘civilization’. This is a comparative term which is usually applied in comparison to such words as ‘barbarian’ ‘savage’ and ‘primitive’. In classical antiquity the Europeans used the word ‘barbarian’ to refer to a foreigner who was regarded as inferior (Ogutu and Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African History, 1991 p33). Do you think this is still the way we use the word barbarian? The Latin speakers referred to hunters, food-gatherers as savage. In the 17th century this term ‘savage’ referred to a person without art, literacy, or society who lived in fear of existence and death. ‘Primitive’ on the other hand, in Latin meant ‘the first or original’. Europeans used these words interchangeably when referring to non-Europeans while the word civilization was preserved to describe historical developments of European people (ibid). Now the term civilization is no longer confined to the above development but also extends reference to non-European communities. Attributes of civilization includes observance to law, belonging to an organized society, having a society of literate people with advanced developments in urbanization, agriculture, commerce, arts and technology. The French thinkers of the 18th century referred to a person of the arts and literature...
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...www.GetPedia.com History of China: Table of Contents q q Historical Setting The Ancient Dynasties r r r Dawn of History Zhou Period Hundred Schools of Thought q The Imperial Era r r r r r r First Imperial Period Era of Disunity Restoration of Empire Mongolian Interlude Chinese Regain Power Rise of the Manchus q Emergence Of Modern China r r r r r r Western Powers Arrive First Modern Period Opium War, 1839-42 Era of Disunity Taiping Rebellion, 1851-64 Self-Strengthening Movement Hundred Days' Reform and Aftermath Republican Revolution of 1911 q Republican China r r r Nationalism and Communism s Opposing the Warlords s Consolidation under the Guomindang s Rise of the Communists Anti-Japanese War Return to Civil War q People's Republic Of China r r Transition to Socialism, 1953-57 Great Leap Forward, 1958-60 r r r r r Readjustment and Recovery, 1961-65 Cultural Revolution Decade, 1966-76 s Militant Phase, 1966-68 s Ninth National Party Congress to the Demise of Lin Biao, 1969-71 s End of the Era of Mao Zedong, 1972-76 Post-Mao Period, 1976-78 China and the Four Modernizations, 1979-82 Reforms, 1980-88 q References for History of China [ History of China ] [ Timeline ] Historical Setting The History Of China, as documented in ancient writings, dates back some 3,300 years. Modern archaeological studies provide evidence of still more ancient origins in a culture that flourished between 2500 and 2000 B.C....
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