The Development of cities: Mesopotamia

Note 4: with the new discoveries made every day, this and the following chapters may be somewhat out of date on certain points, they will be updated with further readings later on as soon as possible

[1]

Babylonia and Mesopotamia: Generalities

Al-‘Ubaid is a site where pottery with a very characteristic carbonized green paint resulting from over-firing was found, ware to which the term “’Ubaid” was applied; it would then be used for the whole period during which this ware was in use. Because it was present for such a long time, ‘Ubaid was indeed divided into four periods, following the evolution in style of the ware:

-‘Ubaid I (early Eridu ware)

-‘Ubaid II (Qal’at Hajji Muhammad)

-‘Ubaid III and IV (“’Ubaid”)

Note that elsewhere in Mesopotamia, ‘Ubaid pottery appears, in between earlier Samarra and Halaf and later Uruk.

“Uruk” itself is a term used generally to cover the gap between ‘Ubaid and Early Dynastic I (beginning of the use of writing), and is divided into 5 periods (Uruk 5-1, 5 being the oldest). But the term “Jamdat Nasr” is used as well to cover the Uruk 3 phase and specific developments in the history of writing dominated by the Sumerians.

Babylonia and Mesopotamia: ERIDU

There are 3 gods on top of the Sumerian pantheon: first comes An (or Anu), the “King of Gods”, Lord of the Heaven from which we have light, essential to life, and whose center of cult was Uruk. Then comes Enlil (sometimes En-lil), son of Anu, Lord of the Air; his main cult center was Nippur. Finally, there is Enki, Lord of the Water, god of wisdom. His cult center was Eridu[1], of which he was first the local deity. The Sumerians considered it the first of the five cities before the Flood. Now, we’ve seen that it isn’t the oldest city in the world –Catal Hüjük, with its 1000+ souls, was older than that- but it is true for southern Mesopotamia, as the first settlement is dated 5000 circa.

Eridu lay some 20km SSW from the bank of the Euphrates –to which it was connected by canals- and of the city of Ur. They were separated by a limestone ridge that prevented the floods that Ur witnessed to reach the city of Eridu (see more about that below). It didn’t make the environment any easier to live. The city lay in a depression, which made the place a quagmire in winter and a furnace in summer. Moreover, it was at the limit of the desert and its powerful, frequent sand-storms.

However, there was abundant water –water that is still running today, some 6 feet under the surface- and it was connected to the seashore, some 150 km away, by vast tidal lakes. It is therefore no wonder that the first settlers were fisherfolks and that the cult they developed revolved around a god of water. Their diet was completed by mollusks, badly milled cereals and domesticated cattle, activity that will develop steadily during the Uruk and Jamdat Nasr periods; meat was also obtained through hunting. The city must have had up to 4000 citizens.

There are two fields that are of importance at Eridu: architecture and pottery.

The interesting thing about the dwellings is that they were partly reed huts and partly mud-brick houses, the huts being used sometimes as storage to the mud-brick houses. The reed huts were plastered and divided into a number of rooms. Many clay objects have been found inside. The houses at the upper levels were divided into a number of rooms that radiated from a narrow passage, and the walls were well plastered, even sometimes painted (were there ‘Ubaid or early Uruk houses is still matter to debate).

But the most stricking feature is without doubt the impressive series of 18 temples found under the ziggurat built by Amar-Sin, which he will never get a chance to complete before his death. Temples 1-5 are Uruk or Jamdat Nasr, and temples 6-18 are ‘Ubaid, all built on hallowed, consecrated land.

The earliest group is represented by temples 18-15. There isn’t much to say about numbers 18 and 17; with number 16 though, we have the 1^st complete plan of a shrine in South Mesopotamia. About 4 m square, it had a projecting bay within which stood a podium or an altar, another one standing in the middle of the temple, and opposite which was a narrow entrance. Also, in both temples 17 and 16 were found offering tables on which the offerings were burnt. No 16’s plan will be used in other areas (like Gawra), even after ‘Ubaid.

Two features of temple 15 are noteworthy: its increase in size (8 by 6 m.) and the thumb-marks on the upper side of the mud-bricks, a technique otherwise found only in Sialk before Early Dynastic; it is quite similar to temple 17. Too little is left of temples 14-12 to discuss them here, but huge developments are witnessed in temples 11-9, although again, we haven’t found much of temple 10. Not only are they bigger (temple 11 was 15 m long), but they had rooms projecting from either side of the nave. At the narrow end stood a podium, behind which there was a long passage with buttresses. The walls were thin. Again, these temples seem to have connections with others up north in Assyria.

Temple 8 is even bigger (21 by 12m) and presents a clear tripartite plan, with the projecting rooms well integrated into the whole. The nave could be accessed from every side. The podium stood at the short SW end, opposite the offering table, and behind it were cruciform buttresses forming 2 niches. Within one was a kind of fish-kettle (of which we should talk again), and plenty of fish offerings. Other objects offered seemed to be parts of fishermen’s equipment.

Temple 7 (18.5 by 13m) was both more elaborate and orderly and is similar in plan of those built in Uruk 4 and 3. On the long SE side was a flight of steps flanked by parapets leading to the main entrance and then a vestibule. At the far end stood an altar opposite a podium behind which were two smaller entrances. Finally, the last ‘Ubaid temple, no 6 (23 by 12m) was narrower and more symmetrical, with the corner rooms less prominent than before.

Now on to pottery. Generally speaking, its progresses reflect those of the architecture, only at a faster pace. The Eridu ware (levels 18-15) is a fine monochrome ware with a buff or cream slip painted chocolate, which decoration, exclusively geometric, was based on rectilinear designs covering the inside, and sometimes the outside too –an influence from Halaf, with which it may have been contemporary. Coarser, greenish pottery was also present, typical Al-‘Ubaid ware of Babylonia.

It is followed in levels 14-12 by Hajji Muhammad ware, with its characteristic deep bowl which displays the quality of the crowded painted designs. On top of the refined geometrical decoration is introduced the application of a purplish-black paint. It again shows the influence from northern cultures.

Also at level 12, the ‘Ubaid ware is abundant for the first time; also to be noted the apparition of the clay sickle, a sign that an easy-to-replace tool was needed in those times of richer harvest, certainly possible thanks to advances in irrigation. These sudden developments lead of course to the question as to whether those were the signs that new people, namely the Sumerians, had arrived in town and would be responsible for those changes. However, there is no clear archeological break, so the question remains open for debate.

At levels 12-10, old forms are still heavily used, but new, such as the fish-kettle, make an appearance. More will be introduced at levels 9-8, partially replacing the older models; stricking are the delicate “egg-shell” bowls, with their rosettes and stylized foliage decoration. Other decorations are clay “horn” and bent nails, which must have been ex voto objects.

The levels 7-6 witness the final stage of ‘Ubaid which announces, with again new forms, the succeeding Uruk period. Gone are the Eridu ware and the egg-shell bowls. Also, some pieces betray turning –typical of Uruk- although must still are hand-made. The firing is ill-controlled and the painting becomes perfunctory and minimalist.

The best examples of pottery at those final ‘Ubaid levels were found in the graves of a cemetery, which exceeded 1000 graves in total. The pottery –at least a cup and a plate for the food of the departed dead, probably to avoid him or her coming back to haunt the living- was deposited in every one of them, alongside bodies that were all found extended. Some stone vases and beads were also found among all kinds of clay vessels. But there was no metal object.

Also, two outstanding objects were found. One is a model of the primitive sailing-boat called shakhtur, probably the boat used by the fishermen of Eridu. The other is a terracotta statuette found in a woman’s grave. Most of them at that period were of the Mother-Goddess, but this one was a long-legged, nude male with a lizard-like head and a polos (a kind of high hat), carrying a staff or a mace.

As a conclusion, one can say that the ‘Ubaid levels are considered as part of the late Neolithic because of the rarity of metal. The most stricking point though, is that while architecture developed from extremely simple to quite elaborate, the pottery lost its specific beautiful painting to become more perfunctory.

Babylonia and Mesopotamia: Ur AND Neighborhood

We now come back to Ur, which lay on the bank of the main channel of the Euphrates, this location gave the city fertile soil and made it “the perfect place to irrigate the land and raise productive crops, as well as domesticate sheep, goats and other animals”[2]. It was most probably no smaller than Eridu, and maybe was it almost as ancient; yet that one is difficult to judge. Firstly because there isn’t much left of the architecture of the ‘Ubaid period. Especially, we haven’t found traces of the temples yet, even though they must have existed. And the bulk of the pottery found is mostly ‘Ubaid ware (present at Eridu during ‘Ubaid 3-4). Yet some sherds of Eridu ware (‘Ubaid 1 in Eridu) have been found also, so the foundation of both cities must have been quite contemporary. Therefore, it is not agreed today if the first settlers, called by us Ubaidis, arrived by 4000 B.C. circa[3], or earlier[4]

From the development of pottery, the ‘Ubaid period has been divided a little bit differently in Ur. There are 3 subdivisions: ‘Ubaid 1 corresponds to level 13 and up at Eridu, ‘Ubaid 2 to levels 8-6, and ‘Ubaid 3 to the transition from ‘Ubaid to Uruk.

One very interesting feature to compare between the 2 cities are the cemeteries. Again at Ur, we find the bodies extended during ‘Ubaid 2, although this will not always be the case anymore during ‘Ubaid 3. They were interred with pottery of the ‘Ubaid type (in ‘Ubaid 3, alongside them were also found the typical unpainted Uruk one), and sometimes also with statuettes of the “Mother Goddess” which are in the same style than that of a male described in Eridu. Besides, both a copper harpoon and a strip of gold were found, proof that metal was worked, although it appears to be still rarely in use. Another great progress made at the time was in irrigation, as some species of plants found couldn’t have been grown without advanced technology.

A point that may well interest many is the water-laid sand, especially evident in a pit called Pit F, that could only have been laid there by a violent flooding, and they appear in 2 not-so-separated strata. The question is, of course, if this could have been the consequence of the Biblical Flood, itself derived from Babylonian and Sumerian tablets.

Although they are not separated by a long period of time, the 2 strata correspond to 2 different sets of burials, those found for ‘Ubaid 2, and those for ‘Ubaid 3. The latest of the 2 must have happened thus about 3500 B.C., whereas Noah, or Ziusudra as the Babylonians called him, reigned in Shuruppak at the end of Early Dynastic I, that is at about 2900 B.C.

Therefore, those may not be the signs of the mythical Flood. However, at the site of Shuruppak itself and at Kish, there is alluvial clay in a stratum between ‘Ubaid and Jamdat Nasr, which may be the evidence for the Flood that was lacking in Ur.

There haven’t been much remains found so far of the period marking the beginning of Uruk in Mesopotamia, yet there have been some at Ur, like the white cement bricks with a convex face, or the appearance of mud-brick walls on stone foundation, all found in the kiln stratum which lay above the clay Flood-bank. ’Ubaid-type potsherds have been excavated as well, although they gradually disappear, progressively replaced by the monochrome Uruk ware. A wheel was also found on the level above, proof of the mechanization, another typical Uruk feature, and some cold-hammered copper, still not abundant.

The fact that that kiln level was inclusive lead to problems about allocating the objects to one or another period. The wheel may well have appeared as late as Uruk 4, and the same doubts also remain for the white marble stamp-seal or a fine cylinder seal, found in the lower part of the kiln level. Some other types of objects were identified as having survived the transition form ‘Ubaid to Uruk, such as the bent nails, the clay sickles or some wall-cones. Another worthy discovery is an amazonite ring bead, as this type of stone must have come from Nigrilli hills in India.

Above the kiln were found 2 Uruk Jamdat Nasr levels, with various pottery evidences. But it remains difficult to draw conclusions, because of the lack of architecture and the ill-stratification of pottery.

At the site of Al-‘Ubaid itself, 6 km west of Ur, many potsherds have been found, but few complete vases. Most of the objects are typical of the period. More terracotta statuettes and boats models were found, reminiscent of those from Eridu and Ur. Also, there was one ax model that must have been a copy of another ax, made in metal. That would be one of the first evidence for the making of the making of an efficient metal weapon.

There was a huge Early Dynastic temple to the goddess Ninkhursag also, and certainly there must have been others, at least one late ‘Ubaid and one Uruk-Jamdat Nasr. This may well mean then that the cult to the goddess must have been as old as ‘Ubaid, and that, in that case, we may already face proto-Sumerians during the end of that period. This would come as more proof of the theory from Eridu level 12.

Other smaller ‘Ubaid settlements existed in the area, like those of Reijibeh and Mereijeb.

Babylonia and Mesopotamia: URUK (Warka)

Now if we continue up north following the Euphrates, we end up on Uruk (named Erech in the Old Testament), or Warka, as it is called today. Although the site lies now some 20 from the Euphrates, at the time, it must have flowed closer by[5]. It must have been a prosperous city during ‘Ubaid. Traces of this period have been found so far at 2 locations in the city, namely under the Anu and E-anna zikkurats. Embeded within the former is a series of temple of which little is known, although evidences seem to indicate that the earliest occupation must have been as early as ‘Ubaid.

The E-amma zikkurat’s region gives us much more details. A deep sounding revealed as many as 18 strata, of which strata 18-5 were prehistoric, covering the main developments of ‘Ubaid and Uruk. However, there is again a lack of architecture remains that must somewhat limit the conclusions we can draw from this part of the site. Still, there are a few points worth underlying:

Although the levels were contaminated by earlier and later debris, the ‘Ubaid pottery found in the early Uruk levels were from the latest stages of its development, thus corresponding with those from Eridu 8-6. There is also, at one point, a great depth of ‘Ubaid pottery, certainly indicating that the ‘Ubaid period must indeed have been a long one (covering at least 5 centuries). Some of the sherds were of Eridu-Hajji-Muhammad type, suggesting that maybe, although it is mostly considered that the first setllers arrived during the last 2 phases of ‘Ubaid, traces of earlier settlements could be found.

Moreover, at the bottom level 18, there is some trace of polychrome black and red pottery, originally considered typical of the Jamdat Nasr period. This would indicate that this type of pottery has older origins than it is usually believed. The same could be said for the “Glockentopf” found at level 12.

Besides that, little is known prior to Early Dynastic. The first settlers lived in reed huts, soon to be replaced by mud-brick houses. It may be that their culture was that of early ‘Ubaid, but there’s been too little evidences have been discovered to be certain. Not much more is known from the Uruk period, only that they must have developed metallurgy; also, people used to do many burnt offerings of various nature and sizes.

Uruk had a district, Raidau Sherqi, that seems to have been well populated by the end of ‘Ubaid and early Uruk. Another site, Qal’at Hajji-Muhammad, lay 16 km SW of Uruk. The architecture, a mix of reed huts and mud-brick houses, as well as the pottery, influenced by Halaf, lead us to think that it was of early ‘Ubaid. This Halaf influence must be underlined, as it is further proof of the influence on southern Babylonia’s development by the north. The sequence of pottery, more complete than that of Eridu, helps us better understand the transition from Eridu and Hajji-Muhammad to ‘Ubaid.

Babylonia and Mesopotamia: Other Sites

There are quite a few of other sites which held some more clues about the ‘Ubaid and early Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. I will not go through them as thoroughly as the CAH, but I will underline a few interesting points.

At Ras El-Amiya, some 8 km N from Kish, between the Tigris and the Euphrates, have been found remains from both ‘Ubaid and ‘Hajji Muhammad some 2.5 m. under a sterile humus, whereas there’s been no trace of any culture earlier than Jamdat Nasr found at Kish itself, meaning that they must exist there nonetheless. What is interesting is that the sequence of pottery, at least as good as that at Hajji-Muhammad, allows to observe closely the gradual development from Eridu and Hajji Muhammad into ‘Ubaid, along with the ever-present Halaf influence, as well as evidence that those different wares have coexisted during a short period of time at least.

Farther north is Tell ‘Uqair. On top of the objects, like the clay sickle or bent nails, found at other sites, and the pottery, like a series of late ‘Ubaid ware with an unusual number of animal designs, the most important discovery was that of the so-called “Painted Temple”, probably a late ‘Ubaid temple of tripartite plan, set on a high platform and accessed by three sets of stairs flanked by parapets. It resembled the latest ‘Ubaid temples of Eridu, except that the biggest part of the building was also painted, as well as the podium inside. There were covered with both geometric and naturalistic designs –men bringing a cattle to the god and leopards. It will be renovated twice and followed by five or more buildings; therefore, more will be told about this temple further ahead.

In the district of ‘Uqair lay Jamdat Nasr, famous for lending its name to the pottery contemporary with the first writings.

Further north, in the Diyala district, there hasn’t been substantial ‘Ubaid evidence discovered. That it is because they have been settlements there during this period, or because they need more soundings remains to be seen. Maybe that was because the climatic conditions were more difficult than in Assyria and at the same time, the region was less canalized than the south, making agriculture more difficult. But it is evident that, even if the settlements there were fewer, most remains to be discovered.

To Assyria

[1] This map has been found by my friend Caileadair over at Ancient Worlds. However, if you recognize this as yours and I need permission to use it, please let me know. I don’t want to steal anyone….*g*

[2] JESTIN, Raymond in « Histoire des religions 1a », 1970, Gallimard, Saint-Amand and http://i-cias.com/e.o/index.htm

I will talk in much more depth about the Sumerian religion in a future chapter.