Aburr ValleyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from Aburra Valley)

Political division of the Aburr Valley (in dark gray, the urban areas of the The Metropolitan Area of the Aburr Valley).

Topographic map of the Aburr Valley.Aburr Valley (in Spanish Valle de Aburr), is the natural basin of the Medelln River and one of the most populous valleys of Colombia in its Andean Region with near 3 million inhabitants in its biggest urban agglomeration: The Metropolitan Area of the Aburr Valley. The valley is located on the Central Range, over the Antioquian Mountain just between the Magdalena and Cauca valleys from east to west. The name "Aburr" comes from an ancient language spoken in the place by the "Aburreans" (Aburraes) before the Spaniards settled the place during the 16th century.The valley is oriented from south to north being the south the highest level and the north the low level. The altitudes of the mountains around the valley (west and east mountains), can reach up to 2,800 meters above the sea level. The lowest level is 1,300 meters above the sea level. From its north natural limit to its southern part, the valley is 60 kilometers long, while there are several varieties in its wide, being the wider part the one that corresponds to the municipality of Medelln with 80 to 90 kilometers and the narrowest the part that corresponds to the municipality of Copacabana with 30 kilometers.

A northern views of the Aburr Valley from Barrio Buenos Aires, Medelln.Contents 1 History 1.1 Aborigins 1.2 The Spaniard discovering of the Valley 1.3 The development of Medelln 2 The Aburraen cities 3 Description 4 References 5 External linksHistoryAboriginsThere are archaeological evidences of human settlements in the Aburr Valley since 10,500 years by hunters and collectors. The Spaniard conquers of the Valley found groups like Aburr, Yames, Pequ, Ebejico, Norisco and Man that were in the Valley since about the 5th century. The Aburr people gave the name to the Valley. They lived from agriculture (maize, beans and cotton), textile weaving and decoration, commercialization of salt and goldsmith. Under the Spaniard rule they lost the possession of the land and were located in mines and feudalist systems. Sickness brought by the Europeans, the heavy work and mistreatments caused their extinction, at least from the Valley. Descendants and peoples related to the Aburr Valley ancient ancestors could be found today in other regions of the Antioquia State like Urab and the West and South regions.The Spaniard discovering of the Valley

Marshal Jorge Robledo.In August 1541 Marshal Jorge Robledo was in what is today Heliconia, when he saw at the distant what he thought was a valley. He sent Jernimo Luis Tejelo to explore the territory and Tejelo arrived during the night of August 23 to a plain field. The Spaniards gave the name of Valley of Saint Bartholomew that was to be changed for the Aboriginal one of Aburr that is translated as the "Painters" due to the textile decorations of the natives.[1] However, the conquerors did not feel attracted by the valley due to the lack of wealth and the bellicosity of the aborigines.In 1574 Gaspar de Rodas asked to the Antioquia's Cabildo four miles of land to establish herds and food stays in the valley. The Cabildo granted three miles.[2]In 1616 the Colonial Visitor Francisco de Herrera y Campuzano founded a settlement with 80 aborigines naming it "Poblado de San Lorenzo" in what is today "El Poblado Square". In 1646 a racist Colonial law ordered the separation of aborigines from mestizos and mulattos and for this reason the colonial administration began the construction of a new town in An, where is today the Berrio Square and where it was built a place called Nuestra Seora de la Candelaria de An (Our Lady of Candelaria of An). Three years after they started the construction of the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, rebuilt at the end of the 18th century.[2]The development of MedellnIn 1674 Medelln became the provincial capital of Antioquia. The new provincial capital would become during the next years the hub of development in the valley. The new city was located until the 19th century in what was known as El Sitio de An (nowadays the Berrio Square along the Santa Elena Creek and the Medelln River. Places like El Poblado, Barrio La Amrica, Barrio Robledo, Barrio Manrique, were just rural townships. Other towns like Envigado and Bello were very small villages.During the first part of the 20th century Medelln would start its industrial revolution attracting a great number of farmers from different regions of Antioquia. The small provincial capital became an overpopulated city by the 1960s with more than 1 million inhabitants. This had a direct effect over the other villages in the Aburr Valley: many of them were integrated in the growing city like Robledo, La Amrica, La Floresta, El Poblado, Manrique and others became themselves cities to be a part of the The Metropolitan Area of the Aburr Valley by the 1970s.The Aburraen citiesThe Aburr Valley has ten cities within its mountains: Barbosa, located in the lowest level of the Valley. Bello, the second most populous city after Medelln. Caldas, located in the highest level of the valley. Copacabana, the narrowest part of the valley. Girardota Envigado Itag Sabaneta Medelln, the flattest, widest and most populous part of the valley. La EstrellaDescription

The Aburr Valley from the Quitasol Mountain in Bello.All the flat areas of the valley are completely populated. The majority of the people live in Medelln and the density is less toward the south and toward the north. The Central Range makes two branches to form the valley and it is crossed by the Medelln River that has its beginning in Caldas and ends in the Porce River.References1. Restrepo Uribe, Jorge: Medelln, su Origen, Progreso y Desarrollo (tr. "Medelln, Its Origin, Progress and Development"), Ed. Servigrficas, Medelln, 1981. ISBN 84-300-3286-X.McIntyre Bluff

View of McIntyre Bluff from Highway 97. Okanagan Highland Okanagan Lake Okanagan River Osoyoos Lake Shuswap River Skaha Lake Swan Lake Thompson Plateau Tuc-el-nuit Lake Vaseux Lake Wood LakeMajor highways Highway 97 (Okanagan Highway) Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway) Highway 97C (Okanagan Connector) Highway 33 Highway 6 Highway 97AAdjacent regions Thompson Country - Northwest Shuswap Country - North Boundary Country, Arrow Lakes, Slocan Valley and West Kootenay - East Similkameen Country and Nicola Country - West Okanogan County, Washington, USA - SouthCommunitiesAll statistical figures are based on the Canada 2011 Census and British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development.[5][6]MunicipalitiesMunicipalities in the Okanagan

NameTypeRegional districtPopulation(2011)Area (2011)Density (2011)(Pop./km2)Incorporated

ArmstrongCityNorth Okanagan4,8155.24km2 (2.0sqmi)9201913

ColdstreamDistrictNorth Okanagan10,31467.25km2 (26.0sqmi)155.61906

EnderbyCityNorth Okanagan2,9324.26km2 (1.6sqmi)6901905

KelownaCityCentral Okanagan117,312211.82km2 (81.8sqmi)553.81905

Lake CountryDistrictCentral Okanagan11,708122.19km2 (47.2sqmi)95.81995

LumbyVillageNorth Okanagan1,7315.27km2 (2.0sqmi)301.61955

OliverTownOkanagan-Similkameen4,8244.88km2 (1.9sqmi)9901945

OsoyoosTownOkanagan-Similkameen4,8458.76km2 (3.4sqmi)553.11946

PeachlandDistrictCentr

and large-sized glaciers carve wide, deep incised valleys.Examples of U-shaped valleys are found in every mountainous region that has experienced glaciation, usually during the Pleistocene ice ages. Most present U-shaped valleys started as V-shaped before glaciation. The glaciers carved it out wider and deeper, simultaneously changing the shape. This proceeds through the glacial erosion processes of glaciation and abrasion, which results in large rocky material (glacial till) being carried in the glacier. A material called boulder clay is deposited on the floor of the valley. As the ice melts and retreats, the valley is left with very steep sides and a wide, flat floor. A river or stream may remain in the valley. This replaces the original stream or river and is known as a misfit stream because it is smaller than one would expect given the size of its valley.Other interesting glacially carved valleys include: Yosemite Valley (USA) Side valleys of the Austrian river Salzach for their parallel directions and hanging mouths. Some Scottish glens full with bushes and flowers. That of the St. Mary River in Glacier National Park in Montana, USA.Tunnel valleyMain article: Tunnel valleyA tunnel valley is a large, long, U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages.[1]A tunnel valley can be up to 100km (62mi) long, 4km (2.5mi) wide, and 400 m (1,300ft) deep (its depth may vary along its length).Tunnel valleys were formed by subglacial erosion by water. They served as subglacial drainage pathways carrying large volumes of melt water. Their cross-sections exhibit steep-sided flanks similar to fjord walls, and their flat bottoms are typical of subglacial glacial erosion.Meltwater valleyMain article: UrstromtalIn northern Central Europe, the Scandinavian ice sheet during the various ice ages advanced slightly uphill against the lie of the land. As a result its meltwaters flowed parallel to the ice margin to reach the North Sea basin, forming huge, flat valleys known as Urstromtler. Unlike the other forms of glacial valley, these were formed by glacial meltwaters.Transition forms and valley shoulders

Look from Paria View to a valley in Bryce Canyon, Utah, with very striking shouldersDepending on the topography, the rock types and the climate, a lot of transitional forms between V-, U- and plain valleys exist. Their bottoms can be broad or narrow, but characteristic is also the type of valley shoulder. The broader a mountain valley, the lower its shoulders are located in most cases. An important exception are canyons where the shoulder almost is near the top of the valley's slope. In the Alps e.g. the Tyrolean Inn valley the shoulders are quite low (100200 meters above the bottom). Many villages are located here (esp. at the sunny side) because the climate is very mild: even in winter when the valley's floor is completely filled with fog, these villages are in sunshine.In some stress-tectonic regions of the Rockies or the Alps (e.g. Salzburg) the side valleys are parallel to each other, and additionally they are hanging. The brooks flow into the river in form of deep canyons or waterfalls. Usually this fact is the result of a violent erosion of the former valley shoulders. A special genesis we find also at artes and glacial cirques, at every Scottish glen, or a northern fjord.Hanging valleys

Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite National Park flowing from a hanging valley.A hanging valley is a tributary valley that is higher than the main valley. They are most commonly associated with U-shaped valleys when a tributary glacier flows into a glacier of larger volume. The main glacier erodes a deep U-shaped valley with nearly vertical sides while the tributary glacier, with a smaller volume of ice, makes a shallower U-shaped valley. Since the surfaces of the glaciers were originally at the same elevation, the shallower valley appears to be 'hanging' above the main valley. Often, waterfalls form at or near the outlet of the upper valley.[2]Glaciated terrain is not the only site of hanging streams and valleys. Hanging valleys are also simply the product of varying rates of erosion of the main valley and the tributary valleys. The varying rates of erosion are associated with the composition of the adjacent rocks in the different valley locations. The tributary valleys are eroded and deepened by glaciers or erosion at a slower rate than that of the main valley floor, thus the difference in the two valleys' depth increases over time. The tributary valley composed of more resistant rock then hangs over the main valley.[3]Valley floorsUsually the bottom of a main valley is broad independent of the U or V shape. It typically ranges from about one to ten kilometers in width and is commonly filled with mountain sediments. The shape of the floor can be rather horizontal, similar to a flat cylinder, or terraced.Side valleys are rather V than U-shaped; near the mouth waterfalls are possible if it is a hanging valley. The location of the villages depends on the across-valley profile, on climate and local traditions, and on the danger of avalanches or landslides. Predominant are places on terraces or alluvial fans if they exist.Historic siting of villages within the mainstem valleys, however, have chiefly considered the potential of flooding.Hollows

Wheat in the Hula Valley, IsraelA hollow (holler) is a small valley or dry stream bed. This term is commonly used in New England, Appalachia, Ozarks, Arkansas and Missouri to describe such geographic features. In rural areas, it may be pronounced as "holler". Hollows may be formed by river valleys, such as Mansfield Hollow, or they may be relatively dry clefts with a notch-like characteristic in that they have a height of land and consequent water divide in their bases.

River Indus running through Kohistan valley in PakistanFamous valleys

The Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, India

The Harau Valley in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Hell's Gate, British Columbia

A view of Oros, Costa Rica

Gudbrandsdalen in Eastern Norway near Gl Aburra Valley (Colombia) Barossa Valley (Australia) Cauca Valley (Colombia) Central Valley (California) (California, United States) Dalen, Telemark (Telemark, Norway) Danube Valley (Eastern Europe) Death Valley (California, United States) Fraser Canyon (British Columbia, Canada) Fraser Valley (British Columbia, Canada) Glen Coe (Scotland, United Kingdom) Grand Canyon (Arizona, United States) Great Glen (Scotland, United Kingdom) Gudbrandsdalen (Oppland, Norway) Hallingdalen (Buskerud, Norway) Hell's Gate (British Columbia, Canada) Heddal (Telemark, Norway) Hudson Valley (New York, United States) Hunter Region (Australia) Hunza Valley (Pakistan) Hutt Valley (New Zealand) Ihlara, Turkey Indus Valley (Pakistan) Iron Gate (Romania/Serbia) Jordan Valley Kaghan Valley (Pakistan) Kathmandu (Nepal) Las Vegas Valley (Nevada, United States) Lauterbrunnen Valley (Bern, Switzerland) Little Cottonwood Creek Valley (Utah, United States) Loire Valley with its famous castles (France) Valley of the Moon, San Juan Argentina Midt-Telemark (Telemark, Norway) Monument Valley (United States) Nant Ffrancon (Wales, United Kingdom) Napa Valley (California, United States) Neelum Valley (Pakistan) Nile Valley (Egypt/Sudan/Ethiopia/Uganda) Numedalen (Buskerud, Norway) Okanagan Valley (British Columbia, Canada) Ottawa Valley (Ontario/Quebec, Canada) Palo Duro Canyon (Texas, United States)

Kings of the Akkad DynastyOriginally a cupbearer (Rabshaqe) to a king of Kish with a Semitic name, Ur-Zababa, Sargon thus became a gardener, responsible for the task of clearing out irrigation canals. This gave him access to a disciplined corps of workers, who also may have served as his first soldiers. Displacing Ur-Zababa, Sargon was crowned king, and he entered upon a career of foreign conquest.[15] Four times he invaded Syria and Canaan, and he spent three years thoroughly subduing the countries of "the west" to unite them with Mesopotamia "into a single empire."However, Sargon took this process further, conquering many of the surrounding regions to create an empire that reached westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea and perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara); northward as far as the mountains (a later Hittite text asserts he fought the Hattian king Nurdaggal of Burushanda, well into Anatolia); eastward over Elam; and as far south as Magan (Oman) a region over which he reigned for purportedly 56 years, though only four "year-names" survive. He consolidated his dominion over his territories by replacing the earlier opposing rulers with noble citizens of Akkad, his native city where loyalty would thus be ensured.[16] Trade extended from the silver mines of Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan, the cedars of Lebanon and the copper of Magan. This consolidation of the city-states of Sumer and Akkad reflected the growing economic and political power of Mesopotamia. The empire's breadbasket was the rain-fed agricultural system of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria) and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat production.Images of Sargon were erected on the shores of the Mediterranean, in token of his victories, and cities and palaces were built at home with the spoils of the conquered lands. Elam and the northern part of Mesopotamia (Assyria/Subartu) were also subjugated, and rebellions in Sumer were put down. Contract tablets have been found dated in the years of the campaigns against Canaan and against Sarlak, king of Gutium. He also boasted of having subjugated the "four quarters" the lands surrounding Akkad to the north (Assyria), the south (Sumer), the east (Elam) and the west (Martu). Some of the earliest historiographic texts (ABC 19, 20) suggest he rebuilt the city of Babylon (Bab-ilu) in its new location near Akkad.[17]Sargon, throughout his long life, showed special deference to the Sumerian deities, particularly Inanna (Ishtar), his patroness, and Zababa, the warrior god of Kish. He called himself "The anointed priest of Anu" and "the great ensi of Enlil" and his daughter, Enheduanna, was installed as priestess to Nanna at the temple in Ur.Troubles multiplied toward the end of his reign. A later Babylonian text states;"In his old age, all the lands revolted against him, and they besieged him in Akkad (the city)"...but "he went forth to battle and defeated them, he knocked them over and destroyed their vast army".It refers to his campaign in "Elam", where he defeated a coalition army led by the King of Awan, where he forced the vanquished to become his vassals.[18] Also shortly after, another revolt had been made;"the Subartu (mountainous tribes of Assyria) the upper countryin their turn attacked, but they submitted to his arms, and Sargon settled their habitations, and he smote them grievously".Sargon had crushed opposition even at old age. These difficulties broke out again in the reign of his sons, where revolts broke out during the 9-year reign, Rimush (22782270 BC), who fought hard to retain the empire, and was successful until he was assassinated by some of his own courtiers. Rimush's elder brother, Manishtushu (22692255 BC) succeeded and reigned for a period of 15 years. The latter king seems to have fought a sea battle against 32 kings who had gathered against him and took control over their country of what is today the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Despite the success, similarly to his brother, he seems to have been assassinated in a palace conspiracy.[19]Naram-Sin

Stele of Naram-Sin,[20] celebrating victory against the Lullubi from Zagros 2260 BC.He is wearing a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, and is also portrayed in a larger scale in comparison to others to emphasize his superiority.[21] Brought back from Sippar to Susa as war prize in the 12th century BCManishtushu's son and successor, Naram-Sin (22542218 BC) (Beloved of Sin), due to vast military conquests, assumed the imperial title "King Naram-Sin, king of the four quarters" (Lugal Naram-Sn, ar kibrat 'arbaim"), the four quarters as a reference to the entire world. He was also for the first time in Sumerian culture, addressed as "the god (Sumerian = DINGIR, Akkadian = ilu) of Agade" (Akkad), in opposition to the previous religious belief that kings were only representatives of the people towards the gods.[21][22] He also faced revolts at the start of his reign,[23] but quickly crushed them.Naram-Sin also recorded the Akkadian conquest of Ebla as well as Armanum and its king.[24] Armanum location is debated, its sometimes identified with a Syrian kingdom mentioned in the tablets of Ebla as Armi, the location of Armi is also debated, historian Adelheid Otto identify it with the Citadel of Bazi Tall Banat complex on the Euphrates River between Ebla and Tell Brak,[25][26] others like Wayne Horowitz identify it with Aleppo,[27] and while most scholars place Armanum in Syria, Michael C. Astour believes it to be located north of the Hamrin Mountains in northern Iraq.[28]To better police Syria, he built a royal residence at Tell Brak, a crossroads at the heart of the Khabur River basin of the Jezirah. Naram-Sin campaigned against Magan which also revolted; Naram-Sin, "marched against Magan and personally caught Mandannu, its king", where he instated garrisons to protect the main roads. The chief threat seemed to be coming from the northern Zagros Mountains, the Lulubis and the Gutians. A campaign against the Lullubi led to the carving of the famous "Victory Stele of Naram-Suen", now in the Louvre. Hittite sources claim Naram-Sin of Akkad even ventured into Anatolia, battling the Hittite and Hurrian kings Pamba of Hatti, Zipani of Kanesh, and 15 others. This newfound Akkadian wealth may have been based upon benign climatic conditions, huge agricultural surpluses and the confiscation of the wealth of other peoples.[29]

Inscription of Naram Sin found at the city of Marad in Iraq, ca. 2260 BCEThe economy was highly planned. Grain was cleaned, and rations of grain and oil were distributed in standardized vessels made by the city's potters. Taxes were paid in produce and labour on public walls, including city walls, temples, irrigation canals and waterways, producing huge agricultural surpluses.[30]In later Assyrian and Babylonian texts, the name Akkad, together with Sumer, appears as part of the royal title, as in the Sumerian LUGAL KI-EN-GI KI-URI or Akkadian ar mt umeri u Akkadi,[31] translating to "king of Sumer and Akkad". This title was assumed by the king who seized control of Nippur,[31] the intellectual and religious center of southern Mesopotamia.During the Akkadian period, the Akkadian language became the lingua franca of the Middle East, and was officially used for administration, although the Sumerian language remained as a spoken and literary language. The spread of Akkadian stretched from Syria to Elam, and even the Elamite language was temporarily written in Mesopotamian cuneiform. Akkadian texts later found their way to far-off places, from Egypt (in the Amarna Period) and Anatolia, to Persia (Behistun).

Collapse of the Akkadian EmpireThe Empire of Akkad collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 years of its founding, ushering in a Dark Age period of regional decline that lasted until the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in 2112 BC. By the end of the reign of Naram-Sin's son, Shar-kali-sharri (22172193 BC), the empire had weakened. There was a period of anarchy between 2192 BC and 2168 BC. Shu-Durul (21682154 BC) appears to have restored some centralized authority, however he was unable to prevent the empire eventually collapsing outright from the invasion of barbarian peoples from the Zagros Mountains known as the Gutians.Little is known about the Gutian period, or how long it endured. Cuneiform sources suggest that the Gutians' administration showed little concern for maintaining agriculture, written records, or public safety; they reputedly released all farm animals to roam about Mesopotamia freely, and soon brought about famine and rocketing grain prices. The decline coincided with severe drought, possibly connected with climatic changes reaching all across the area from Egypt to Greece. The Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (21122095 BC) cleared the Gutians from Mesopotamia during his reign.It has recently been suggested that the regional decline at the end of the Akkadian period (and of the First Intermediary Period that followed the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom) was associated with rapidly increasing aridity, and failing rainfall in the region of the Ancient Near East, caused by a global centennial-scale drought.[32][33] H. Weiss et al. have shown "Archaeological and soil-stratigraphic data define the origin, growth, and collapse of Subir, the third millennium rain-fed agriculture civilization of northern Mesopotamia on the Habur Plains of Syria. At 2200 B. C., a marked increase in aridity and wind circulation, subsequent to a volcanic eruption, induced a considerable degradation of land-use conditions. After four centuries of urban life, this abrupt climatic change evidently caused abandonment of Tell Leilan, regional desertion, and collapse of the Akkadian empire based in southern Mesopotamia. Synchronous collapse in adjacent regions suggests that the impact of the abrupt climatic change was extensive.".[34] Peter B. deMenocal, has shown there was an influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the stream flow of the Tigris and Euphrates at this time, which led to the collapse of the Akkadian Empire".[35]The Sumerian King List, describing the Akkadian Empire after the death of Shar-kali-shari, states:"Who was king? Who was not king? Irgigi the king; Nanum, the king; Imi the king; Ilulu, the kingthe four of them were kings but reigned only three years. Dudu reigned 21 years; Shu-Turul, the son of Dudu, reigned 15 years. ... Agade was defeated and its kingship carried off to Uruk. In Uruk, Ur-ningin reigned 7 years, Ur-gigir, son of Ur-ningin, reigned 6 years; Kuda reigned 6 years; Puzur-ili reigned 5 years, Ur-Utu reigned 6 years. Uruk was smitten with weapons and its kingship carried off by the Gutian hordes.However, there are no known year-names or other archaeological evidence verifying any of these later kings of Akkad or Uruk, apart from a single artifact referencing king Dudu of Akkad. The named kings of Uruk may have been contemporaries of the last kings of Akkad, but in any event could not have been very prominent.In the Gutian hordes, (first reigned) a nameless king; (then) Imta reigned 3 years as king; Shulme reigned 6 years; Elulumesh reigned 6 years; Inimbakesh reigned 5 years; Igeshuash reigned 6 years; Iarlagab reigned 15 years; Ibate reigned 3 years; ... reigned 3 years; Kurum rained 1 year; ... reigned 3 years; ... reigned 2 years; Iararum reigned 2 years; Ibranum reigned 1 year; Hablum reigned 2 years; Puzur-Sin son of Hablum reigned 7 years; Iarlaganda reigned 7 years; ... reigned 7 years; ... reigned 40 days. Total 21 kings reigned 91 years, 40 days.

"Cylinder Seal with King or God and Vanquished Lion" (Old Akkadian).[36] The Walters Art Museum.Evidence from Tell Leilan in Northern Mesopotamia shows what may have happened. The site was abandoned soon after the city's massive walls were constructed, its temple rebuilt and its grain production reorganised. The debris, dust and sand that followed show no trace of human activity. Soil samples show fine wind-blown sand, no trace of earthworm activity, reduced rainfall and indications of a drier and windier climate. Evidence shows that skeleton-thin sheep and cattle died of drought, and up to 28,000 people abandoned the site, seeking wetter areas elsewhere. Tell Brak shrank in size by 75%. Trade collapsed. Nomadic herders such as the Amorites moved herds closer to reliable water suppliers, bringing them into conflict with Akkadian populations. This climate-induced collapse seems to have affected the whole of the Middle East, and to have coincided with the collapse of the Egyptian Old Kingdom.[37]This collapse of rain-fed agriculture in the Upper Country meant the loss to southern Mesopotamia of the agrarian subsidies which had kept the Akkadian Empire solvent. Water levels within the Tigris and Euphrates fell 1.5 metres beneath the level of 2600 BC, and although they stabilised for a time during the following Ur III period, rivalries between pastoralists and farmers increased. Attempts were undertaken to prevent the former from herding their flocks in agricultural lands, such as the building of a 180km (112mi) wall known as the "Repeller of the Amorites" between the Tigris and Euphrates under the Ur III ruler Shu-Sin. Such attempts led to increased political instability; meanwhile, severe depression occurred to re-establish demographic equilibrium with the less favorable climatic conditions.[38]The period between ca. 2112 BC and 2004 BC is known as the Ur III period. Documents again began to be written in Sumerian, although Sumerian was becoming a purely literary or liturgical language, much as Latin later would be in Medieval Europe.[39]

The CurseLater material described how the fall of Akkad was due to Naram-Sin's attack upon the city of Nippur. When prompted by a pair of inauspicious oracles, the king sacked the E-kur temple, supposedly protected by the god Enlil, head of the pantheon. As a result of this, eight chief deities of the Anunnaki pantheon were supposed to have come together and withdrawn their support from Akkad.[40]For the first time since cities were built and founded,The great agricultural tracts produced no grain,The inundated tracts produced no ostriches,The irrigated orchards produced neither wine nor syrup,The gathered clouds did not rain, the masgurum did not grow.At that time, one shekel's worth of oil was only one-half quart,One shekel's worth of grain was only one-half quart. . . .These sold at such prices in the markets of all the cities!He who slept on the roof, died on the roof,He who slept in the house, had no burial,People were flailing at themselves from hunger.[41]For many years, the events described in "The Curse of Akkad" were thought, like the details of Sargon's birth, to be purely fictional. But now the evidence of Tell Leilan, and recent findings of elevated dust deposits in sea-cores collected off Oman, that date to the period of Akkad's collapse suggest that this climate change may have played a role.[42][43]GovernmentThe Akkadian government formed a "classical standard" with which all future Mesopotamian states compared themselves. Traditionally, the ensi was the highest functionary of the Sumerian city-states. In later traditions, one became an ensi by marrying the goddess Inanna, legitimising the rulership through divine consent.Initially, the monarchical lugal (lu = man, gal = great) was subordinate to the priestly ensi, and was appointed at times of troubles, but by later dynastic times, it was the lugal who had emerged as the preeminent role, having his own "" (= house) or "palace", independent from the temple establishment. By the time of Mesalim, whichever dynasty controlled the city of Kish was recognised as ar kiati (= king of Kish), and was considered preeminent in Sumer, possibly because this was where the two rivers approached, and whoever controlled Kish ultimately controlled the irrigation systems of the other cities downstream.As Sargon extended his conquest from the "Lower Sea" (Persian Gulf), to the "Upper Sea" (Mediterranean), it was felt that he ruled "the totality of the lands under heaven", or "from sunrise to sunset", as contemporary texts put it. Under Sargon, the ensis generally retained their positions, but were seen more as provincial governors. The title ar kiati became recognised as meaning "lord of the universe". Sargon is even recorded as having organised naval expeditions to Dilmun (Bahrain) and Magan, amongst the first organised military naval expeditions in history. Whether he also did in the case of the Mediterranean with the kingdom of Kaptara (possibly Cyprus), as claimed in later documents, is more questionable.With Naram-Sin, Sargon's grandson, this went further than with Sargon, with the king not only being called "Lord of the Four Quarters (of the Earth)", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (= gods), with his own temple establishment. Previously a ruler could, like Gilgamesh, become divine after death but the Akkadian kings, from Naram-Sin onward, were considered gods on earth in their lifetimes. Their portraits showed them of larger size than mere mortals and at some distance from their retainers.[44]One strategy adopted by both Sargon and Naram-Sin, to maintain control of the country, was to install their daughters, Enheduanna and Emmenanna respectively, as high priestess to Sin, the Akkadian version of the Sumerian moon deity, Nanna, at Ur, in the extreme south of Sumer; to install sons as provincial ensi governors in strategic locations; and to marry their daughters to rulers of peripheral parts of the Empire (Urkesh and Marhashe). A well documented case of the latter is that of Naram-Sin's daughter Tar'am-Agade at Urkesh.[45]EconomyThe population of Akkad, like nearly all pre-modern states, was entirely dependent upon the agricultural systems of the region, which seem to have had two principal centres: the irrigated farmlands of southern Iraq that traditionally had a yield of 30 grains returned for each grain sown and the rain-fed agriculture of northern Iraq, known as the "Upper Country."Southern Iraq during Akkadian period seems to have been approaching its modern rainfall level of less than 20mm (1in) per year, with the result that agriculture was totally dependent upon irrigation. Before the Akkadian period the progressive salinisation of the soils, produced by poorly drained irrigation, had been reducing yields of wheat in the southern part of the country, leading to the conversion to more salt-tolerant barley growing. Urban populations there had peaked already by 2,600 BC, and illogical pressures were high, contributing to the rise of militarism apparent immediately before the Akkadian period (as seen in the Stele of the Vultures of Eannatum). Warfare between city states had led to a population decline, from which Akkad provided a temporary respite.[46] It was this high degree of agricultural productivity in the south that enabled the growth of the highest population densities in the world at this time, giving Akkad its military advantage.The water table in this region was very high and replenished regularlyby winter storms in the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates from October to March and from snow-melt from March to July. Flood levels, that had been stable from about 3,000 to 2,600 BC, had started falling, and by the Akkadian period were a half-meter to a meter lower than recorded previously. Even so, the flat country and weather uncertainties made flooding much more unpredictable than in the case of the Nile; serious deluges seem to have been a regular occurrence, requiring constant maintenance of irrigation ditches and drainage systems. Farmers were recruited into regiments for this work from August to Octobera period of food shortageunder the control of city temple authorities, thus acting as a form of unemployment relief. Some[who?] have suggested that this was Sargon's original employment for the king of Kish, giving him experience in effectively organising large groups of men; a tablet reads, "Sargon, the king, to whom Enlil permitted no rival5,400 warriors ate bread daily before him".[47]

Sea shell of a murex bearing the name of Rimush, king of Kish, ca. 2270 BC, Louvre, traded from the Mediterranean coast where it was used by Canaanites to make a purple dye.Harvest was in the late spring and during the dry summer months. Nomadic Amorites from the northwest would pasture their flocks of sheep and goats to graze on the stubble and be watered from the river and irrigation canals. For this privilege, they would have to pay a tax in wool, meat, milk, and cheese to the temples, who would distribute these products to the bureaucracy and priesthood. In good years, all would go well, but in bad years, wild winter pastures would be in short supply, nomads would seek to pasture their flocks in the grain fields, and conflicts with farmers would result. It would appear that the subsidizing of southern populations by the import of wheat from the north of the Empire temporarily overcame this problem,[citation needed] and it seems to have allowed economic recovery and a growing population within this region.As a result, Sumer and Akkad had a surplus of agricultural products but was short of almost everything else, particularly metal ores, timber and building stone, all of which had to be imported. The spread of the Akkadian state as far as the "silver mountain" (possibly the Taurus Mountains), the "cedars" of Lebanon, and the copper deposits of Magan, was largely motivated by the goal of securing control over these imports. One tablet reads "Sargon, the king of Kish, triumphed in thirty-four battles (over the cities) up to the edge of the sea (and) destroyed their walls. He made the ships from Meluhha, the ships from Magan (and) the ships from Dilmun tie up alongside the quay of Agade. Sargon the king prostrated himself before (the god) Dagan (and) made supplication to him; (and) he (Dagan) gave him the upper land, namely Mari, Yarmuti, (and) Ebla, up to the Cedar Forest (and) up to the Silver Mountain".CultureLanguageSee also: Sumerian languageDuring the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[5] The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[5] This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund.[5] Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[6] but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.[48]Poetpriestess EnheduannaSumerian literature continued in rich development during the Akkadian period (a notable example being Enheduanna). Enheduanna, the "wife (Sumerian "dam" = high priestess) of Nanna [the Sumerian moon god] and daughter of Sargon"[49] of the temple of Sin at Ur, who lived ca. 22852250 BC, is the first poet in history whom we know by name. Her known works include hymns to the goddess Inanna, the Exaltation of Inanna and In-nin sa-gur-ra. A third work, the Temple Hymns, a collection of specific hymns, addresses the sacred temples and their occupants, the deity to whom they were consecrated. The works of this poetess are significant, because although they start out using the third person, they shift to the first person voice of the poet herself, and they mark a significant development in the use of cuneiform. As poetess, princess, and priestess, she was a personality who, according to William W Hallo, "set standards in all three of her roles for many succeeding centuries"[50]In the Exultation of Inanna,Enheduanna depicts Inanna as disciplining mankind as a goddess of battle. She thereby unites the warlike Akkadian Ishtar's qualities to those of the gentler Sumerian goddess of love and fecundity. She likens Inanna to a great storm bird who swoops down on the lesser gods and sends them fluttering off like surprised bats. Then, in probably the most interesting part of the hymn, Enheduanna herself steps forward in the first person to recite her own past glories, establishing her credibility, and explaining her present plight. She has been banished as high priestess from the temple in the city of Ur and from Uruk and exiled to the steppe. She begs the moon god Nanna to intercede for her because the city of Uruk, under the ruler Lugalanne, has rebelled against Sargon. The rebel, Lugalanne, has even destroyed the temple Eanna, one of the greatest temples in the ancient world, and then made advances on his sister-in-law.[51]Technology

Bassetki Statue from the reign of Naram-Sin with an inscription mentioning the construction of a temple in AkkadOne tablet from this period reads, "(From the earliest days) no-one had made a statue of lead, (but) Rimush king of Kish, had a statue of himself made of lead. It stood before Enlil; and it recited his (Rimush's) virtues to the idu of the gods". The copper Bassetki Statue, cast with the lost wax method, testifies to the high level of skill that craftsmen achieved during the Akkadian period.[52]AchievementsThe empire was bound together by roads, along which there was a regular postal service. Clay seals that took the place of stamps bear the names of Sargon and his son. A cadastral survey seems also to have been instituted, and one of the documents relating to it states that a certain Uru-Malik, whose name ap The Adaptation of Cuneiform to Akkadian Piotr Michalowski.[6]painting-brush. The outside rim motifs are spaced and limited by groups of horizontal lines. [1]

Pre-Pottery Neolithic BThe NeolithicThis box: view talk edit

Mesolithic

Fertile Crescent Levantine corridorHeavy NeolithicShepherd NeolithicTrihedral NeolithicQaraoun cultureTahunian cultureYarmukian CultureHalaf cultureHalaf-Ubaid Transitional periodUbaid cultureByblosJerichoPre-Pottery (A, B)Tell AswadatalhykJarmoEurope Boian cultureButmir cultureCernavod cultureCoofeni cultureCucuteni-Trypillian cultureDudeti cultureGorneti cultureGumelniaKaranovo cultureHamangia cultureLinear Pottery cultureMalta TemplesPetreti cultureSesklo cultureTisza cultureTiszapolgr cultureUsatovo cultureVarna cultureVina cultureVuedol cultureNeolithic TransylvaniaNeolithic Southeastern EuropeChina Peiligang culturePengtoushan cultureBeixin cultureCishan cultureDadiwan cultureHouli cultureXinglongwa cultureXinle cultureZhaobaogou cultureHemudu cultureDaxi cultureMajiabang cultureYangshao cultureHongshan cultureDawenkou cultureSongze cultureLiangzhu cultureMajiayao cultureQujialing cultureLongshan cultureBaodun cultureShijiahe cultureTibetSouth Asia Mehrgarh

farming, animal husbandrypottery, metallurgy, wheelcircular ditches, henges, megalithsNeolithic religion

Chalcolithic

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is a division of the Neolithic developed by Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the West Bank.Cultural tendencies of this period differ from that of the earlier Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period in that people living during this period began to depend more heavily upon domesticated animals to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and hunter-gatherer diet. In addition the flint tool kit of the period is new and quite disparate from that of the earlier period. One of its major elements is the naviform core. This is the first period in which architectural styles of the southern Levant became primarily rectilinear; earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical and occasionally even octagonal. Pyrotechnology was highly developed in this period. During this period, one of the main features of houses is evidenced by a thick layer of white clay plaster floors highly polished and made of lime produced from limestone. It is believed that the use of clay plaster for floor and wall coverings during PPNB led to the discovery of pottery.[1] The earliest proto-pottery was White Ware vessels, made from lime and gray ash, built up around baskets before firing, for several centuries around 7000 BC at sites such as Tell Neba'a Faour (Beqaa Valley).[2] Sites from this period found in the Levant utilizing rectangular floor plans and plastered floor techniques were found at Ain Ghazal, Yiftahel (western Galilee), and Abu Hureyra (Upper Euphrates).[3] The period is dated to between ca. 10,700 and ca. 8,000 BP or 7000 - 6000 BCE.Danielle Stordeur's recent work at Tell Aswad, a large agricultural village between Mount Hermon and Damascus could not validate Henri de Contenson's earlier suggestion of a PPNA Aswadian culture. Instead, they found evidence of a fully established PPNB culture at 8700 BC at Aswad, pushing back the period's generally accepted start date by 1,200 years. Similar sites to Tell Aswad in the Damascus Basin of the same age were found at Tell Ramad and Tell Ghoraif. How a PPNB culture could spring up in this location, practicing domesticated farming from 8700 BC has been the subject of speculation. Whether it created its own culture or imported traditions from the North East or Southern Levant has been considered an important question for a site that poses a problem for the scientific community.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]Like the earlier PPNA people, the PPNB culture developed from the Earlier Natufian but shows evidence of a northerly origin, possibly indicating an influx from the region of north eastern Anatolia. The culture disappeared during the 8.2 kiloyear event, a term that climatologists have adopted for a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years before the present, or c. 6200 BCE, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. In the following Munhatta and Yarmukian post-pottery Neolithic cultures that succeeded it, rapid cultural development continues, although PPNB culture continued in the Amuq valley, where it influenced the later development of Ghassulian culture.Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period which existed between 8,200 and 7,900 BP. Juris Zarins has proposed that a Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BCE, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon animal domesticates, and a fusion with Harifian hunter gatherers in Southern Palestine, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq.[12]

Syro-Hittite statesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from Neo-Hittite)Part of a series on the

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The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age in northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and which lasted until roughly 700 BC. The term "Neo-Hittite" is sometimes reserved specifically for the Luwian-speaking principalities like Milid and Carchemish, although in a wider sense the broader cultural term "Syro-Hittite" is now applied to all the entities that arose in south-central Anatolia following the Hittite collapsesuch as Tabal and Quwas well as those of northern and coastal Syria.[1]Contents 1 Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition 2 List of Syro-Hittite states 3 Inscriptions 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External linksLate Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transitionThis section may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (November 2014)

Further information: Bronze Age collapse

The vast Hittite empire at its maximum expansion in the lands of central AnatoliaThe collapse of the Hittite Empire is usually associated with the gradual decline of Eastern Mediterranean trade networks and the resulting collapse of major Late Bronze Age cities in the Levantine coast, Anatolia and the Aegean.[2] In the middle of the 13th century BC, great groups of Greeks speaking ancient Dorian dialects moved from the north through the Balkan region to the south. The Thracians who occupied this region, and northern Greece, were forced to move to the western coasts, and later to the inland of Anatolia, where they became known as Phrygians and Mysians. At the end of the 13th century BC, the Mycenean palaces in inland Greece were destroyed by invaders and almost simultaneously sea-raiders devastated the palace at Pylos. [3] [4] A few decades later, at the beginning of the 12th century BC, Homeric Troy was destroyed[5] and the Hittite Empire suffered a sudden devastating attack from the Kaskas, who occupied the coasts around the Black Sea, and who were joined with the Mysians. They proceeded to destroy almost all Hittite sites but they were finally defeated by the Assyrians beyond the southern borders near Tigris[6] These great population movements in the Eastern-Meditterannean are documented in the records of Ramesses III (11861155 BCE) as an invasion by the so-called sea peoples.[7] Mentioned as being among them are the people of Adana (Dnnym or Danuna) in Cilicia and probably the Troyans. Hatti, Arzawa (Lydia), Alashiya (Cyprus), Ugarit and Alalakh were destroyed.[8] The invaders were defeated near the borders of Egypt.It seems that the sea-peoples contributed to the collapse of the Empire, although they are only mentioned in the Egyptian records and the archaeological evidence is insufficient. Their invasion caused the movement, by both land and sea, of large populations seeking new land to settle.[9] In fact, it is recorded that the foreign countries made a conspiracy in their islands and that no land could stand before their arms. The Hittites were strong enough to survive the first stream of emigrations, but they didn't escape the second, where they were surrounded by enemies. The Caska were a continuous trouble, the borders with Arzawa were never considered safe, Mitanni to the south was always an enemy and a few decades earlier the Hittites suffered a great defeat against the Assyrians beyond the borders.[10] These Neo-Hittite Kingdoms gradually fell under the control of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911608 BC).Hattusa, the Hittite capital, was completely destroyed. Following this collapse of large cities and the Hittite state, the Early Iron Age in northern Mesopotamia saw a dispersal of settlements and ruralization, with the appearance of large numbers of hamlets, villages, and farmsteads.[11] SyroHittite states emerged in the process of such major landscape transformation, in the form of regional states with new political structures and cultural affiliations. David Hawkins was able to trace a dynastic link between the Hittite imperial dynasty and the "Great Kings" and "Country-lords" of Melid and Karkamish of the Early Iron Age, proving an uninterrupted continuity between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age at those sites.[12]Aside from literary evidence from inscriptions, the uninterrupted cultural continuity in the region of Neo-Hittite states from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age is now further confirmed by the recent archaeological work at the sites of Aleppo (Temple of the Storm God on the Citadel)[13] and Ain Dara (Temple of Ishtar-Shawushka),[14] where temples built in the Late Bronze Age continue into the Iron Age without hiatus, and those temples witness multiple rebuildings in the Early Iron Age.List of Syro-Hittite states

Historical map of the Neo-Hittite states, c. 800 BCE. Borders are approximate only.The SyroHittite states may be divided into two groups: a northern group where Hittite rulers remained in power, and a southern group where Aramaeans came to rule from about 1000 BC. Although these states are considered somewhat unified, they were thought to actually be disunified, even in separate kingdoms.[15][16]The northern group includes: Tabal. It may have included a group of city states called the Tyanitis (Tuwana, Tunna, Hupisna, Shinukhtu, Ishtunda) Kammanu (with Melid) Hilakku Quw (with a stronghold at modern Karatepe) Gurgum Kummuh CarchemishThe southern, Aramaic, group includes: Palistin (cpital was probably Tell Tayinat)[17][18] Bit Gabbari (with Sam'al) Bit-Adini (with the city of Til Barsip) Bit Bahiani (with Guzana) Pattin (also Pattina or Unqi) (with the city of Kinalua, maybe modern Tell Tayinat[19]) Ain Dara, a religious center Bit Agusi (with the cities of Arpad, Nampigi, and (later on) Aleppo) Hatarikka-Luhuti (the capital city of which was at Hatarikka) HamathInscriptionsLuwian monumental inscriptions in Anatolian hieroglyphs continue uninterrupted from the 13th-century Hittite imperial monuments to the Early Iron Age Syro-Hittite inscriptions of Karkamish, Melid, Aleppo and elsewhere.[20] Luwian hieroglyphs was chosen by many of the Syro-Hittite regional kingdoms for their monumental inscriptions, which often appear in bi or tri-lingual inscriptions with Aramaic, Phoenician or Akkadian versions. The Early Iron Age in Northern Mesopotamia also saw a gradual spread of alphabetic writing in Aramaic and Phoenician. During the cultural interactions on the Levantine coast of Syro-Palestine and North Syria in the tenth through 8th centuries BCE, Greeks and Phrygians adopted the alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians.[21]

HammurabiFor other uses see Hammurabi (disambiguation).Not to be confused with Ammurapi.

Hammurabi

Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from Shamash. Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer[1] (relief on the upper part of the stele of Hammurabi's code of laws).

Born~1810 BCBabylonia

Died1750 BC middle chronologyBabylon

KnownforCode of Hammurabi

TitleKing of Babylon

Term42 years; c. 1792 1750 BC (middle)

PredecessorSin-Muballit

SuccessorSamsu-iluna

ReligionBabylonian religion

Partner(s)Unknown

ChildrenSamsu-iluna

Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in c. 1792 BC and upon his death in c. 1750 BCHammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite Ammurpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from Ammu, "paternal kinsman", and Rpi, "healer"; died c. 1750 BC) was the sixth Amorite king of Babylon (that is, of the First Babylonian Dynasty, the Amorite Dynasty) from 1792 BC to 1750 BC middle chronology (1728 BC 1686 BC short chronology[2]). He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire following the abdication of his father, Sin-Muballit, who had become very ill and died, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms.[3] Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire. Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history.

This bust, known as the "Head of Hammurabi", is now thought to predate Hammurabi by a few hundred years[4] (Louvre)Hammurabi was an Amorite First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon, and inherited the power from his father, Sin-Muballit, in c. 1792 BC.[5] Babylon was one of the many largely Amorite ruled city-states that dotted the central and southern Mesopotamian plains and waged war on each other for control of fertile agricultural land.[6] Though many cultures co-existed in Mesopotamia, Babylonian culture gained a degree of prominence among the literate classes throughout the Middle East under Hammurabi.[7] The kings who came before Hammurabi had founded a relatively minor City State in 1894 BC which controlled little territory outside of the city itself. Babylon was overshadowed by older, larger and more powerful kingdoms such as Elam, Assyria, Isin, Eshnunna and Larsa for a century or so after its founding. However his father Sin-Muballit had begun to consolidate rule of a small area of south central Mesopotamia under Babylonian hegemony and, by the time of his reign, had conquered the minor city-states of Borsippa, Kish, and Sippar.[7]Thus Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex geopolitical situation. The powerful kingdom of Eshnunna controlled the upper Tigris River while Larsa controlled the river delta. To the east of Mesopotamia lay the powerful kingdom of Elam which regularly invaded and forced tribute upon the small states of southern Mesopotamia. In northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I, who had already inherited centuries old Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor, had expanded his territory into the Levant and central Mesopotamia,[8] although his untimely death would somewhat fragment his empire.[9]The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples.[10] In c. 1801 BC, the powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across the Zagros Mountains, invaded the Mesopotamian plain.[11] With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.[12] In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa.[13] Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort.[13] Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by c. 1763 BC.[14]As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as Yamhad and Mari, the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.[14] Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest and soon after crushing Eshnunna.[15] Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the 'conquest' of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict.[16][17][18]Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with Ishme-Dagan I of Assyria for control of Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain the upper hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. Mut-Ashkur the new king of Assyria was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi, however Babylon did not rule Assyria directly.In just a few years, Hammurabi had succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.[18] The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major city-states in the region, only Aleppo and Qatna to the west in the Levant maintained their independence.[18] However, one stele of Hammurabi has been found as far north as Diyarbekir, where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".[19]Vast numbers of contract tablets, dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters.[20] These letters give a glimpse into the daily trials of ruling an empire, from dealing with floods and mandating changes to a flawed calendar, to taking care of Babylon's massive herds of livestock.[21] Hammurabi died and passed the reins of the empire on to his son Samsu-iluna in c. 1750 BC, under whose rule the Babylonian empire began to quickly unravel.[22]Contents 1 Code of laws 1.1 Significant laws in Hammurabi's code 2 Legacy and depictions 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksCode of lawsMain article: Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi stele. Louvre Museum, ParisHammurabi is best known for the promulgation of a new code of Babylonian law: the Code of Hammurabi. One of the first written laws in the world,[citation needed] the Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a stele and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, Susa; it was rediscovered there in 1901 in Iran and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The code of Hammurabi contained 282 laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it was written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city.[23]The structure of the code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment. The punishments tended to be very harsh by modern standards, with many offenses resulting in death, disfigurement, or the use of the "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Lex Talionis "Law of Retaliation") philosophy.[24] The code is also one of the earliest examples of the idea of presumption of innocence, and it also suggests that the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide evidence.[25] However, there is no provision for extenuating circumstances to alter the prescribed punishment.A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from the god Shamash or possibly Marduk,[26] and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by the gods of his people to bring the laws to them. Parallels between this narrative and the giving of laws by God in Jewish tradition to Moses and similarities between the two legal codes suggest a common ancestor in the Semitic background of the two. Fragments of previous law codes have been found.[27][28][29][30] David P. Wright argues that the Jewish law used Hammurabi's collection as a model, imitating both its structure and content.[31]Similar codes of law were created in several nearby civilizations, including the earlier Mesopotamian examples of Ur-Nammu's code, Laws of Eshnunna, and Code of Lipit-Ishtar, and the later Hittite code of laws.[32]Significant laws in Hammurabi's code(Text taken from Harper's translation, readable on wikisource) 59 - If a man cut down a tree in a man's orchard, without the consent of the owner of the orchard, he shall pay one-half mina of silver. 55 - If a man open his canal for irrigation and neglect it and the water carry away an adjacent field, he shall measure out grain on the basis of the adjacent fields. 168 - If a man set his face to disinherit his son and say to the judges: "I will disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his antecedents, and if the son have not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship. 169 - If he have committed a crime against his father sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, they shall condone his first (offense). If he commit a crime a second time, the father may cut off his son from sonship. 8 - If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death. 196-201 - If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one mana of silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price. If a man knock out a tooth of a man of his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth. If one knock out a tooth of a freeman, he shall pay one-third mana of silver. 218-219 - If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause that man's death; or open an abscess (in the eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers. If a physician operate on a slave of a freeman for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause his death, he shall restore a slave of equal value. 229-232 - If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it cause the death of a son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of that builder. If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give the owner of the house a slave of equal value. If it destroy property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed from his own property (i.e., at his own expense). 21 - If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and they shall thrust him therein. 195 - If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers. 2.1 Classical dating 3 Early Assyria, 26002335 BC 4 Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires 5 Old Assyrian Kingdom 5.1 Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire 5.2 Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BC 5.3 Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BC 5.4 Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BC 5.5 Assyria in decline, 14501393 BC 6 Middle Assyrian Empire, 13921056 BC 6.1 Assyrian expansion and empire, 13921056 BC 6.2 Assyria during the Bronze Age Collapse, 1055936 BC 6.3 Society in the Middle Assyrian period 7 Neo-Assyrian Empire, 911612 BC 7.1 Expansion, 911627 BC 7.2 Downfall, 626605 BC 8 Assyria after the empire 8.1 Achaemenid Assyria, Athura, Assuristan, Assyria province, Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra 8.1.1 Achaemenid Assyria (549330 BC) 8.1.2 Seleucid Assyria 8.1.3 Parthian Assyria (150 BC 116 AD); Adiabene (69 BC 117 AD) 8.1.4 Roman Assyria (116 AD 118 AD) 8.1.5 Parthian Assyria restored (119 AD 225 AD), Osroene, Hatra 8.1.6 Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan (226 AD circa 650 AD) 9 Assyrians after Assyria 10 Assyrian religion 11 Language 12 Arts and sciences 13 Legacy 14 See also 15 Notes 16 References 17 Literature 18 External linksNamesAssyria was also sometimes known as Subartu prior to the rise of the city state of Ashur after which it was Aryu, and after its fall, from 605 BC through to the late 7th century AD variously as Athura and also referenced as Atouria[4] according to Strabo, Syria (Greek), Assyria (Latin) and Assuristan. After its dissolution in the mid 7th century AD it remained The Ecclesiastical Province of Ator. The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The modern Assyrian Christian (AKA Chaldo-Assyrian) ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, south east Turkey and north west Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see Assyrian continuity).[5][6]Pre-history of AssyriaIn prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria (and Subartu) was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria were the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture, c. 6000 BC.During the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Semitic Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread bilingualism.[7] The influence of Sumerian (a language isolate, i.e. not related to any other language) on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[7] This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC as a sprachbund.[7]

Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of Lagash (maybe Urukagina), informing him of his son's death in combat, c. 2400 BC, found in Girsu.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere after the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[8] but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.The cities of Assur (also spelled Ashur or Aur) and Nineveh, together with a number of other towns and cities, existed since at least before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC (c. 2600 BC), although they appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time, rather than independent states.According to some Judaeo-Christian writers[who?], the city of Ashur was founded by Ashur the son of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god[citation needed]. However, it is not among the cities said to have been founded by him in Genesis 10:1112, and the far older Assyrian annals make no mention of the much later Judeo-Christian figures of Shem and Ashur.Assyrian tradition lists an early Assyrian king named Ushpia as having dedicated the first temple to the god Ashur in the city in the 21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name.Classical datingGeorge Syncellus in his Chronographia quotes a fragment from Julius Africanus which dates the founding of Assyria to 2284 BC.[9] The Roman historian Velleius Paterculus citing Aemilius Sura states that Assyria was founded 1995 years before Philip V was defeated in 197 BC (at the Battle of Cynoscephalae) by the Romans.[10] The sum therefore 197 + 1995 = 2192 BC for the foundation of Assyria. Diodorus Siculus recorded another tradition from Ctesias, that dates Assyria 1,306 years before 883 BC (the starting date of the reign of Ashurnasirpal II) and so the sum 883 + 1306 = 2189 BC.[11] The Chronicle of Eusebius provides yet another date for the founding of Assyria, with the accession of Ninus, dating to 2057 BC, but the Armenian translation of the Chronicle puts this figure back slightly to 2116 BC. Another classical dating tradition found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari dates the foundation of Assyria, under Belus, to 2206 BC.Early Assyria, 26002335 BCThe city of Ashur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seem to have been established by 2600 BC, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian dominated administrative centres. In c. the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, mentions "smiting Subartu" (Subartu being the Sumerian name for Assyria). Similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him.Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. In the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. In archaeological reports from Ebla, it appeared that Tudiya's activities were confirmed with the discovery of a tablet where he concluded a treaty for the operation of a karum (trading colony) in Eblaite territory, with "king" Ibrium of Ebla (who is now known to have been the vizier of Ebla for king Ishar-Damu). This entire reading is now questionable, as several scholars have more recently argued that the treaty in question may not have been with king Tudiya of Assyria, but rather with the unnamed king of an uncertain location called "Abarsal".Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu and then a further thirteen rulers (Yangi, Shuhlamu, Harharu, Mandaru, Imshu, Harshu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belu and Azarah). Nothing concrete is yet known about these names, although it has been noted that a much later Babylonian tablet listing the ancestral lineage of Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon, seems to have copied the same names from Tudiya through Nuabu, though in a heavily corrupted form.The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers.[2] These kings at some point became fully urbanised and founded the city state of Ashur.[12]Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian EmpiresDuring the Akkadian Empire (23342154 BC) the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites (and also the Sumerians), became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, centered in central Mesopotamia. The Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great, claimed to encompass the surrounding "four quarters". The region of Assyria, north of the seat of the empire in central Mesopotamia had also been known as Subartu by the Sumerians, and the name Azuhinum in Akkadian records also seems to refer to Assyria proper.Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became a regional administrative center of the Empire, implicated by the Nuzi tablets.[13]During this period, the Akkadian-speaking Semites of Mesopotamia came to rule an empire encompassing not only Mesopotamia itself but large swathes of Asia Minor, ancient Iran, Elam, the Arabian Peninsula, Canaan and Syria.Assyria seems to have already been firmly involved in trade in Asia Minor by this time; the earliest known reference to Anatolian karums in Hatti, was found on later cuneiform tablets describing the early period of the Akkadian Empire (c. 2350 BC). On those tablets, Assyrian traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, and this appellation continued to exist throughout the Assyrian Empire for about 1,700 years. The name "Hatti" itself even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia.Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script to Asia Minor and The Levant (modern Syria and Lebanon).However, towards the end of the reign of Sargon the Great, the Assyrian faction rebelled against him; "the tribes of Assyria of the upper countryin their turn attacked, but they submitted to his arms, and Sargon settled their habitations, and he smote them grievously".[14]The Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC.The rulers of Assyria during the period between c. 2154 BC and 2112 BC once again became fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia. However, the king list is the only information from Assyria for this period.Most of Assyria briefly became part of the Neo-Sumerian Empire (or 3rd dynasty of Ur) founded in c. 2112 BC. Sumerian domination extended as far as the city of Ashur, but appears not to have reached Nineveh and the far north of Assyria. One local ruler (shakkanakku) named Zriqum (who does not appear on any Assyrian king list) is listed as paying tribute to Amar-Sin of Ur. Ashur's rulers appear to have remained largely under Sumerian domination until the mid-21st century BC (c. 2050 BC); the king list names Assyrian rulers for this period and several are known from other references to have also borne the title of shakkanakka or vassal governors for the neo-Sumerians.Old Assyrian KingdomThe first written inscriptions by 'urbanised' Assyrian kings appear in the mid-21st century BC, after they had shrugged off Sumerian domination. The land of Assyria as a whole then consisted of a number of city states and small Semitic kingdoms, some of which were initially independent of Assyria. The foundation of the first major temple in the city of Ashur was traditionally ascribed to king Ushpia who reigned c. 2050 BC, possibly a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin and Naplanum of Larsa.[15] He was reputedly succeeded by kings named Apiashal, Sulili, Kikkiya and Akiya (died c. 2026 BC), of whom little is known, apart from much later mentions of Kikkiya conducting fortifications on the city walls, and building work on temples in Ashur.The main rivals, neighbours or trading partners to early Assyrian kings during the 22nd, 21st and 20th centuries BC would have been the Hattians and Hurrians to the north in Asia Minor, the Gutians, Lullubi and Turukku to the east in the Zagros Mountains of northwest Ancient Iran, the Elamites to the southeast in what is now south central Iran, the Amorites to the west in what is today Syria, and their fellow Sumero-Akkadian city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Isin, Kish, Ur, Eshnunna and Larsa.[2]Like many city-states in early Mesopotamian history, Ashur was, to a great extent, originally an oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with "the City", and the polity had three main centres of poweran assembly of elders, a hereditary ruler, and an eponym. The ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with the usual Akkadian term for "king", arrum/Sharru; that was instead reserved for the city's patron deity Assur, of whom the ruler was the high priest. The ruler himself was only designated as "the steward of Assur" (iiak Assur), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian ensi(k). The third centre of power was the eponym (limmum), who gave the year his name, similarly to the later archons and consuls of Classical Antiquity. He was annually elected by lot and was responsible for the economic administration of the city, which included the power to detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iiak Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout the history of the Assyrian monarchy.[16]Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian EmpireIn approximately 2025 BC (long chronology), Puzur-Ashur I (perhaps a contemporary of Shu-ilishu of Larsa and Samium of Isin) is speculated to have overthrown Kikkiya and founded a new dynasty which was to survive for 216 years. His descendants left inscriptions mentioning him regarding the building of temples to gods such as Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in Assyria. The length of his reign is unknown.Shalim-ahum (died c. 2009 BC) succeeded the throne at a currently unknown date. He left inscriptions in archaic Old Assyrian regarding the construction of a temple dedicated to the god Ashur, and the placement of beer vats within it.Ilushuma[17] (c. 20081975 BC) took the throne in c. 2008 BC, and is known from his inscription (extant in several copies) where he claims to have "washed the copper" and "established liberty" for the Akkadians in Sumerian city-states as far as the Persian Gulf. This has been taken by some scholars to imply that he made military campaigns into Southern Mesopotamia to relieve his fellow Mesopotamians from Amorite and Elamite invasions, however some recent scholars have taken the view that the inscription means he supplied these areas with copper from Hatti, and that the word used for "liberty" (adduraru) is usually in the context of his exempting the southern Mesopotamian kings from tariffs."The freedom[nb 1] of the Akkadians and their children I established. I purified their copper. I established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, and Kish, Der of the goddess Ishtar, as far as the City of (Ashur)."[18]Assyria had long held extensive contact with Hattian, Hittite and Hurrian cities on the Anatolian plateau in Asia Minor. The Assyrians who had for centuries traded in the region, and possibly ruled small areas bordering Assyria, now established significant colonies in Cappadocia (e.g., at Kanesh (modern Kltepe) from 2008 BC to 1740 BC). These colonies, called karum, from the Akkadian word for 'port', were attached to Hattian cities in Anatolia, but physically separate, and had special tax status. They must have arisen from a long tradition of trade between Assyria and the Anatolian cities, but no archaeological or written records show this. The trade consisted of metals (copper or tin and perhaps iron; the terminology is not entirely clear) being traded for textiles from Assyria.Erishum I[19] (c. 19741935 BC) vigorously expanded Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his long reign, the major ones appearing to be at Kanesh, attua (Boazky) (the future capital of the Hittite Empire) and Amkuwa (Alisar Hyk), together with a further eighteen smaller colonies. He created some of the earliest examples of Written Law, conducted extensive building work in the form of fortifying the walls of major Assyrian cities and the erection of temples dedicated to Ashur and Ishtar. It is from his reign that the continuous limmum lists are known, however there are references to the eponym-books for his predecessors having been destroyed at some point.Ikunum (c. 19341921 BC)[20] built a major temple for the god Ningal. He further strengthened the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained Assyria's colonies in Asia Minor.Sargon I (c. 19201881 BC)[21] succeeded him in c. 1920 BC, and had an unusually long reign of 39 years. It is likely he was named after his illustrious predecessor Sargon of Akkad. He is known to have refortified the defences of major Assyrian cities, and maintained Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his reign. Apart from this, little has yet been unearthed about him. At some point he appears to have withdrawn Assyrian aid to southern Mesopotamia. It was during his reign in Assyria that the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in 1894 BC by an Amorite Malka (prince) named Sumuabum.Puzur-Ashur II (c. 18811873 BC) came to the throne as an already older man due to his fathers long reign. Little is known about his rule, but it appears to have been uneventful.Naram-Suen (c. 18721818 BC) ascended to the throne in 1872 BC, and is likely named after his predecessor Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire. Assyria continued to be wealthy during his 54 year long reign (one of the longest in the ancient Near East), and he defeated the future usurper king Shamshi-Adad I who attempted to take his throne.Erishum II (c. 18181809 BC) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded c. 2025 BC. After only eight or nine years in power he was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I, the Amorite usurper who had previously been defeated in an attempt to unseat Naram-Suen, and who claimed legitimacy by asserting descent from the mid 21st century BC Assyrian king, Ushpia.Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BCThe Amorites were successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings of the 20th and 19th centuries BC. However, in 1809 BC the native Mesopotamian king of Assyria Erishum II was deposed, and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 1776 BC) in the expansion of Semitic Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant.Although regarded as an Amorite by later Assyrian tradition, Shamshi-Adad's descent is suggested to be from the same line as the native Mesopotamian ruler Ushpia in the Assyrian King List. He put his son Ishme-Dagan on the throne of a nearby Assyrian city, Ekallatum, and maintained Assyria's Anatolian colonies. Shamshi-Adad I then went on to conquer the kingdom of Mari (in modern Syria) on the Euphrates putting another of his sons, Yasmah-Adad on the throne there. Shamshi-Adad's Assyria now encompassed the whole of northern Mesopotamia and included territory in central Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and northern Syria. Shamshi-Adad I mentions conducting raids on the Canaanite coasts of the far off Mediterranean, where he erected stelae to commemorate his victories. He himself resided in a new capital city founded in the Khabur valley in northern Mesopotamia, called Shubat-Enlil.Ishme-Dagan I (17741763 BC) inherited Assyria, but Yasmah-Adad was overthrown by a new king called Zimrilim in Mari. The new king of Mari allied himself with the Amorite king Hammurabi of Babylon, who had made the recently created, and originally minor state of Babylon into a major power. It was from the reign of Hammurabi onwards that southern Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.Assyria now faced the rising power of Babylon in the south. Ishme-Dagan responded by making an alliance with the enemies of Babylon, and the power struggle continued without resolution for decades. Ishme-Dagan, like his father was a great warrior, and in addition to repelling Babylonian attacks, campaigned successfully against the Turukku and Lullubi of the Zagros Mountains (in modern Iran) who had attacked the Assyrian city of Ekallatum, and against Dadusha, king of Eshnunna, and the state of Iamhad (modern Aleppo).Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BCHammurabi, after first conquering Mari, Larsa, and Eshnunna, eventually prevailed over Ishme-Dagan's successor Mut-Ashkur (17501740 BC), and subjected him to Babylon c. 1750 BC. With Hammurabi, the various karum colonies in Anatolia ceased trade activityprobably because the goods of Assyria were now being traded with the Babylonians. The Assyrian monarchy survived, however the three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan, Mut-Ashkur (who was the son of Ishme-Dagan and married to a Hurrian queen), Rimush (17391733 BC) and Asinum (1732 BC), were vassals, dependent on the Babylonians during the reign of Hammurabi, and for a short time, of his successor Samsu-iluna.Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BCThe short lived Babylonian Empire quickly began to unravel upon the death of Hammurabi, and Babylonia lost control over Assyria during the reign of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna (17501712 BC). A period of civil war ensued after Asinum (a granused for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[18]AstronomyMain article: Mesopotamian astronomyFrom Sumerian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times when Limmu lists were created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for establishing the history of Mesopotamia.The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict eclipses and solstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and the philosophy of science and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.[19] This new approach to astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the history of astronomy.The only Greek Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[20][21][22] Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used (except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian, Sassanian, Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European astronomy.[23]MedicineThe oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummn, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[24] during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC).[25]Along with contemporary Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and the use of empiricism, logic, and rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and often detailed empirical observations along with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[26]The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such as bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination and inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient's disease, its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.[24]Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described their symptoms in his Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties of epilepsy and related ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[27]TechnologyMesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze age people in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and maces.According to a recent hypothesis, the Archimedes' screw may have been used by