Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History.

Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. And how can one imagine oneself among them I do not know; It was all so unimaginably different And all so long ago. LOUIS MACNEICE Autumn Journal At first glance, there's not much imagination inPostgate's 'early Mesopotamia'; the commonsensical,British empiricist em��pir��i��cism?n.1. The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge.2. a. Employment of empirical methods, as in science.b. An empirical conclusion.3. that Postgate is, coolly assembling the data andcalmly and dispassionately drawing logical conclusions from the evidencewould not have it otherwise. But no reader of this book will feelcheated that s/he does not know more about Mesopotamia, c. 3000-1500 BC,than s/he did before -- and this will be as true for specialists as forthe students for whom the book is intended. And many readers willrightly wonder at the narrative skills of the author and how theMesopotamian past can be so vividly portrayed in these pages. Postgate's 'method' is direct: pull together therelevant documentary and material evidence in order to delineate themajor social and economic institutions of early Mesopotamia. The resultis rewarding, since the copious illustrations and translated texts notonly provide a state-of-the-art synthesis of the 'world'searliest urban civilization' (p. xxi); the volume is also filledwith original research findings and novel interpretative sketches thatcannot be found elsewhere. No scholar's bookshelves and no courseon early Mesopotamian history and archaeology can be without thisvolume. Is there a central theme to this book, one that is systematicallydeveloped and advocated in opposition to others' views?Doesn't imagining the past require a dialogue with the present inwhich the discourse of analysis is reflexively constituted in thetheory-laden analyst? Does Postgate really live and work in Cambridge?Allow me, good Chippindale, to lay out the contents of this remarkablevolume, to debate certain points with the author, and to consider howdispassionate an observer of the past he is. Part One, 'Setting the Scene,' is divided into threechapters on environment, a historical sequence and writing. Thesechapters set out the geographic realia of deserts and rivers, mountainsand natural routes of travel. They show that southern Mesopotamia, the'heartland of cities,' was not a land barren of naturalresources, as in many Mesopotamian histories: early Mesopotamiansexploited birds, turtles, fish, sheep, goat, cattle, pigs, onions,cucumber, lettuce, apples, pomegranate pomegranate(pŏm`grănĭt, pŏm`ə–), handsome deciduous and somewhat thorny large shrub or small tree (Punica granatum , dates, willow, tamarisk tamarisk(tăm`ərĭsk), shrub or small tree of the genus Tamarix, native chiefly to the Mediterranean area and to central Asia. The plants are often heathlike and thrive in arid and coastal regions. , poplar.(Postgate is co-editor of the newish journal Bulletin of SumerianAgriculture, which provides details of these and other naturalresources). One cannot extrapolate extrapolate - extrapolation from the present despoiledenvironment of southern Iraq to the Mesopotamian past and one cannotcompare Sumerians with Marsh Arabs. The first dynasties were preceded by small farming villages withmodest public architecture and relatively small amounts of social andeconomic differentiation. While Postgate stresses continuity in theprehistoric sequence -- rightly so, in order to dispute the notion thatSumerians were immigrants into the land -- he unfairly (in my view)underestimates the massive changes in all aspects of Mesopotamian sociallife at the end of the Uruk period, toward 3000 BC. At that time,massive citystates were formed, and the characteristic elements ofsculpture, cylinder-seals and writing in Mesopotamia appeared. Hisstress on continuity leads Postgate to endorse Schmandt-Besserat'scontroversial hypothesis that writing is the end product of a slowevolutionary process. The evidence and logic to the contrary, however,is that while the first writing owes much to a variety of precedingsymbol and communication systems, writing represented a'punctuated' change and a new semiotic semiotic/se��mi��ot��ic/ (se?me-ot��ik)1. pertaining to signs or symptoms.2. pathognomonic. system. New evidence ofearly writing in Egypt from W. Kaiser's work at Abydos (Kaiser1990) also invalidate Postgate's suggestion that the'idea' of writing spread to Egypt; nor will Indus Valleyarchaeologists accept that Mesopotamian writing provided the stimulusfor the development of the Indus script. Postgate's outline of political institutions in earlyMesopotamia admittedly owes much to Thorkild Jacobsen's pioneeringideas. Thus, Postgate reiterates Jacobsen's notion that a'Kengir' (Sumerian) amphictyonic league of city-statesflourished in the early 3rd millennium BC (see Yoffee 1993). Hisanalysis of seal-impressions decorated with the names of cities asindicating the existence of such a league, however, is not supported bythe evidence of pandemic pandemic/pan��dem��ic/ (pan-dem��ik)1. a widespread epidemic of a disease.2. widely epidemic.pan��dem��icadj.Epidemic over a wide geographic area.n. warfare and the lack of any politicalunification at that time. I further take issue with Postgate'spicture of Mesopotamian history as one of 'alternation of strongcentralized political control with periods of turmoil'; I return tothe point anon a��non?adv.1. At another time; later.2. In a short time; soon.3. Archaic At once; forthwith.Idiom: ever/now and anon . As elsewhere in the volume, this Part One is filled withelegant apercus and excellent illustrations -- original data that allowglimpses of actors, not simply disembodied historical forces in earlyMesopotamia. Part Two, 'Institutions', contains chapters on 'cityand countryside', 'household and family','temple' and 'palace'. No Mesopotamian historycovers these topics in as much depth and with the authority of thisvolume. Postgate shows that some aspects of life, such as the productionof crafts, are illustrated by reference to the material record, whilelocal political authority of assemblies is known from texts. In order todelineate these institutions, the narrative pace quickens. The result isthat the character of co-resident extended families, marital andfunerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner rituals and inheritance practices has an air of timelessness toit and the dynamism of social life is thereby occluded. For example, inthe Old Babylonian period, c. 2000--1600 BC, there were many sales ofproperty, including houses under which were 'ancestral tombs'.Presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. the political and economic flux of this period necessitatedsuch sales, which were perhaps local disasters for the unfortunatesellers. Whereas the chapter on 'the temple' documents the manyfestivals and journeys of the gods, most of the attention is on theeconomic role of Mesopotamian religion. Postgate dismisses theTempelstadt theory (which held that early citystates were theocracies)and shows the powerful presence of temples as land-owners. Templessupported orphans and unfortunates, temple offices were bought and sold,certain classes of Mesopotamian 'nuns' were the real-estateentrepreneurs of the Old Babylonian period. The role of the palace is trickier. Postgate argues that palaceswere as ancient as (big) temples in early Mesopotamia but at Warka inthe late Uruk period, it is unclear that the building called'palace' is actually the home of royalty or seat ofadministration. Indeed, from the Ur III period (c. 2100--2000 BC), themost centralized time in early Mesopotamian history, no palace at Ur hasbeen located. One thinks that palaces were shifted frequently bycompeting dynasties and new kings while temples, built on hallowedground, were rebuilt continually. It was the temple, especially of thepatron god of the city-state, that had symbolic importance to kings, nottheir own residences. Part Three includes chapters on 'crops and livestock','water and land', 'the domestic economy' and'foreign trade'. The material assembled in these chapters willnot be found elsewhere. Crops and agricultural practices, especiallyirrigation irrigation,in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. routines, are delineated, and social institutions aremeasured according to their success in dealing with harsh environmentalcircumstances. Similarly, when discussing trade, Postgate presents suchtitbits as the carrying capacity carrying capacitythe number of animal units that a farm or area will carry on a year round basis, including that needed for conservation of winter feed. Usually stated as dry cows or dry sheep equivalents per hectare. of boats. The primary message of thissection of the book is to show that the palace and temple regularlyhired private entrepreneurs to supply goods, both from foreign trade(of, for example, copper from Oman) and local goods (for example,massive quantities of sheep and fish). The fourth and concluding part has chapters on 'craft andlabour', 'war and peace', 'laws and the law'and 'order and disorder'. The discussions on these topics varyfrom detailed listings of craft workers (for which terms in lexicallists are legion, but without any context in which to put them) andarchaeological finds of craft products to general pronouncements thatdisorder comes from enemies abroad. Whereas his comments on'religion', separated from his chapter on 'thetemple' by about 150 pages, might be expected to focus on thesacred and belief systems, Postgate declares that 'Mesopotamianreligion is politics' (p. 260). Kings are enthroned in temples,enrich temples, rebuild temples; kings are divinized; kings seeklegitimation through the support of the gods and political disasters areascribed to divine displeasure. Disputes are settled, however, outside the crown's apparatusby local assemblies and elders. Legal transactions are accompanied bysymbolic acts, such as cutting the hem of a garment, dropping a lump ofearth in a canal, passing a pestle pestle/pes��tle/ (pes��'l) an implement for pounding drugs in a mortar. pes��tlen.A club-shaped, hand-held tool for grinding or mashing substances in a mortar. . Law codes are'prescriptive', meaning that the 'law' is to be'universally applicable' within a realm, and abstractstatements are intended to standardize legal practice. Although Postgatedismisses concern over whether the law codes are anything more than aspecies of literature in which justice is the prerogative of royalauthority, it is perverse to disarticulate dis��ar��tic��u��late?v. dis��ar��tic��u��lat��ed, dis��ar��tic��u��lat��ing, dis��ar��tic��u��latesv.tr.To separate at the joints; disjoint.v.intr.To become disjointed. the law code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi was a comprehensive set of laws, considered by many scholars to be the oldest laws established; they were handed down four thousand years ago by King Hammurabi of Babylon. (for example) from the political deeds of that Babylonian king. Far from'standardizing legal practice', Hammurabi ruled conqueredterritory in southern Mesopotamia with an iron hand, pumped resources tothe capital in Babylon, and only overruled his puppet administrators inorder to tax the conquered regions more efficiently (typically bygranting new lands for subjects to cultivate while their own land wasunder water). These conquered territories were ruled for less than 10years by Hammurabi and broke away from Babylonian control beginning inthe ninth year of his successor. In the final chapter and in the epilogue, Postgate rightly pondersthe continuity in Mesopotamian civilization over 3000 years (well beyondthe purview of the volume and including north Mesopotamia, Assyria,which is only alluded to occasionally), which is apparent in spite ofthe many ethnic and linguistic groups in Mesopotamia, the changes ofdynasties, and the cycles of local city-state autonomy and brief periodsof regional integration. Characteristically, Postgate presents not onlyimportant and interesting data, but also up-to-date and new ideas aboutsocial and economic affairs. In particular, he joins a number of workers(including myself) in seeking to delineate the 'overlap betweendifferent sectors of society' (p. 303). That is, Mesopotamianhistory must eventually be written not solely in terms of institutions,but rather in the interplay of power relations, the multiple roles ofindividuals as members of several social groups simultaneously and whocould manipulate their identities and also be co-opted by others. In this volume Postgate has not spent much time in developing thesepoints about the intersection and overlap of social roles, and he hasnot considered how Mesopotamian 'culture' was systematicallyrevised and reproduced over time, resulting in the standardization ofcultural forms. Indeed, the history of Mesopotamian culture standscuriously in contradistinction con��tra��dis��tinc��tion?n.Distinction by contrasting or opposing qualities.contra��dis��tinc to the lack of political unity in theland. No one has attempted to write such a Mesopotamian history, andwhen it is done, perhaps Postgate will be the author. Meanwhile, we have in this volume a very British imagination ofMesopotamia, one in which the private sector is foregrounded as ensuringthe prosperity of the land, but with a conserving ideology of values andsocial controls guaranteed by the crown, and with social conflict beingexceptional and overcome in the end -- and we are glad to have it. References KAISER, W. 1990. Zur Entstehung des gesamtagyptischen Staates,Mitteilung des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 46:287--99. YOFFEE, N. 1993. The late great tradition in ancient Mesopotamia,in M.E. Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , D.C. Snell & D.B. Weisberg (ed.), The tablet and thescroll: Near Eastern studies in honor of William W. Hallo William W. Hallo is an emeritus professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature at Yale. He also used to be curator of the Babylonian collection at the same university. : 300--308.Bethesda (MD): CDL 1. CDL - Computer Definition anguage. A hardware description language. "Computer Organisation and Microprogramming", Yaohan Chu, P-H 1970.2. CDL - Command Definition Language. Portion of ICES used to implement commands. Sammet 1969, p.618-620.3. Press.