Today's Topics: 

Today I introduced the themes of the readings for Unit 2: The Age of Aries.

If you missed the test, please arrange a make-up time with me as soon as possible.

If you still need it, here is the Test 1 Study Guide.

Also, here is a list of groundrules and hints regarding the test: Test 1 Guidelines. I displayed this on the screen before the test, and the same policies will apply to the make-up versions of the test (except for the test times).

Transition from the Age of Taurus to the Age of Aries

We began our second unit by acknowledging that a shift in tone and perspective is going to take place. The image of the bull, representing fertility, was ubiquitous in the fourth and third millennia, BCE. This image corresponded with the image of Taurus, the constellation bull head that appeared in the eastern sky before sunrise on the first day of spring. However, a scientific phenomenon rotates the 12 constellations of the zodiac over time with a process called precession.

Precession

We began class with a quick overview of an astronomical concept called precession, the slow rotation (or wobble) of the earth as it spins on its axis. Because the poles don't stay stationary while spinning, the stars in the sky appear to shift and rotate as the years go by. The entire process takes nearly 26,000 years to complete, so you would never notice the difference. If the rotation circle is measured in degrees (360 degrees being the total), then movement of only one degree would take 72 years, a normal human lifespan.

Measured in larger figures, the precessional cycle can be charted by examining the shifting around of the zodiac, the 12 astronomical constellations that are relatively equidistant from each other. Each zodiac would therefore represent 30 degrees in the sky, so one zodiac sign repaces the other in the sky roughly every 2,100 years. Therefore, each zodiac sign gets about 2,100 years of glory at sunrise before the next sign pushes it under. After Taurus came Aries, then Pisces, then Aquarius. This is how I have divided the first two units: the Age of Taurus and the Age of Aries. We will examine how each age reflected opposing values: feminine, then masculune, respectively.

Visit the handout on precession to get a better explanation of the science behind this concept and how the magical precessional munbers came about from these measurements.

Likewise, educate yourself by looking at a few coursepacket documents located in the appendix:

The Zodiac and the Ages of Time

The Ages of Man

Theogony of Dunnu

Here is a story that falls apart very quickly, but notice the symbolism on the first page. In all the previous creation stories, we see them begin with the dark primordial ocean -- the original feminine sea of chaos upon which an active male force is applied. In this myth, we see plough "decide" to mate with earth, thus creating the sea. What?

Notice that the plough, an invention of MAN, suddenly has thoughts. We can more easily accept that Nature creates things, but a plough? Do you see that the sea (feminine) now becomes the creation, not the creator? This mentality showing woman born from man will reappear in Genesis.

We also see patricide occur, as well as incest. The sons typically kill their fathers in this tale, and then marry their own mothers. Metaphorically, this suggests that the younger generation is more powerful than the older one. Marrying one's mother suggests that the women were now being considered to be property, not magical womb goddesses. We will see another creation story next week that also shows the male forces dominating over the female ones.

The Rulers of Lagash / The Real Rulers of Lagash

Interestingly, this document begins with a reference to the Great Flood, which we will discuss in the next few weeks. After the flood, the male gods An and Enlil "called the name of mankind." In other words, they used words to anoint mortals with heavenly authority in the form of kingship. This is the original divine right of kings. If the king tells his people that the gods have ordained him, then the people likely would listen and believe. If they denied their king's claims, then they would show disloyalty to either their king or their god, if not both. This would not be advantageous.

Mankind apparently lived for 200 years old, but due to their lack of industry the men became weaker and their world turned to disarray. Now the people were totally dependent on Ezina (a grain goddess) providing their food. The mentality here reflects the value of work ethic: that people need to pull their weight and do their jobs. Don't depend on the gods for everything! we can see again the feminine being replaced by the masculine: the feminine farmers depend on the whim of Nature, but the self-guided masculine shepherds, cattle ranchers, and warriors began to take control by force when Nature failed to provide.

The list of kings that follows is interesting due to the exaggerated lengths of their reigns, often surpassing thousands of years. However, compare the years of the kings' reigns with the real years. Notice that some of the names are omitted, but (for the most part) the years don't compare between these two versions. Expanding the years of rule in an historical record to impossible proportions allows the scribe to convey the importance or status of the king. Humans are not immortal, but we can expand their years of rule to place them a little closer to gods. We see many other cultures use this tactic as well, since it is an excellent way to command authority to the law. In the Age of Aries, the Law is more important than Nature, which is fickle and unpredictable. Laws are more consistent, and therefore attributed to the male.

The Sumerian King List

You are probably wondering what we could possibly discuss about this selection, but hold on.

An "antediluvian" king is one who reigned before the Great Flood. All mythologies contain stories of destructive floods, but the ones in the Near East were hauntingly similar. The Mesopotamians believed that kingship was granted from the heavens, so the earliest kings were nearly equated with the gods themselves. One way to make sure that these early leaders received their due respect was to exaggerate their years in power. Notice the lengths of the reigns of the first three kings: 28,800, 36,000, and 43,200 years. Keep in mind that a person would have to live until about age 79 in order to live 28,800 DAYS, so we know their numbers are exaggerated.

Some will claim that people really did live longer back then because there was no pollution or desease, yet there is proof to the contrary. We have already read (and will continue to see) stories about the ongoing suffering of the people, usually in the forms of fertility problems, disease, poverty, etc. They drank polluted water, never wore sunscreen, and drank lots of beer. Most children never saw adulthood.

So, why are these years to impossibly large? Turn to the presession document and recall the concept of precession. Remember that 72 is the most significant precessional number, so a curious person will take the number 28,800 and see if it is divisible by 72. It is (72 x 400 = 28,800). To show that this is not a mere coincidence, look at this handout to see a page devoted to the magic numbers of the Mesopotamian gods. Here is a list that shows the number 28,800 is divisible by the magic numbers of the following gods:

Anu (60)	60 x 480 = 28,800
Enlil (50)	50 x 576 = 28,800
Ea (40)	40 x 720 = 28,800 (and note that 720 = 72 x 10)
Ishtar (15)	15 x 1440 = 28,800 (but 1440 can be broken down:)
Shamash (20)	20 x 72 = 1440

This demonstrates that the earliest kings were merged with the cosmos, as their years of rule are divisible by precessional numbers as well as the numbers associated with the local gods. You can experiment with other numbers as well. Here's one more:

The first three kings can also be broken down to show a sequence:

Alilum	28,800 years = 72 x 400
Alalgar	36,000 years = 72 x 500
En-men-lu-ana	43,200 years = 72 x 600

So now we know one of the reasons that years of reign were exaggerated in ancient documents.

Here are some other observations about this text:

Notice that Dumuzi is listed as the fifth king, reigning for 36,000 years. However, the kingdom crumbled (or "fell") after his death, so now we know what happened to the city after he was taken to the underworld.

You will see Etana listed, and we see evidence of his son and the many generationed that followed, filling in the broken text at the end of the Etana story. Notice that these mortal kings only reigned for hundreds or thousands of years, not tens of thousands.

By the next few pages, the demise of the kingdoms changes from "fell" to "defeated," suggesting that armies and invasions were involved. By the next page the word "destroyed" is used instead, which sounds a lot worse.

Notice that the lengths of rule become realistic after Gilgamesh, considered to be the greatest hero in this culture. We'll read his story later.

We also see the one and only female "king," serving for 100 years even. I suspect that she really didn't exist. Her son becomes king too, but only after a hundred years in between (the Akshak Dynasty, which takes on the word "abolished" for the first time in this document). I wonder if this dynasty fell out of political favor and perhaps was simply erased from the records, or maybe the female ruler (Kug-Bau) was inserted simply to legitimize the rules of the later serving sons.

The Victory of Utu-hegal

The king who is credited with kicking out the gutians was Utu-hegal, who reigned over 124 years after the Gutians did. Utu-hegal begins by telling his followers that the gods have spoken to him directly and asked him to become the king. Here the Gutians are described as a "fanged snake." We will see that serpents begin to take on a different meaning in this unit. Associated with the female, and especially with the feminine goddess literature, the serpent needed to be tamed. One method of subjugating women was to change the myths and introduce a new hierarchy of influence. No more womb mother, now we have the sky gods and the Law.

Utu-hegal refers to many of the gods, such as Enlil, Inanna, and Gilgamesh, as being his assistants. The gods are assistants to a mortal? Since when?

A Praise Poem of Ur-Namma

Here is a praise poem written by the king himself. Ur-Namma was a master of several languages, so he decided to puff up his own ego while he lived rather than commission others to carve out a legacy for him. He claims that he was actually born of the gods, which is a little silly when you realize that he claims that Nintura assisted in his birth (Nintura was a war god who would not have been a midwife). Receiving orders from a god is one thing, but claiming to be born from them adds more credibility to your rule ... at least on paper!

Later, he takes credit for driving out the Gutians. Right.

A Praise Poem of Shulgi

Do you want to see an even larger ego? Look no further than King Shulgi, who claims to have already achieved hero status in the womb. We will discuss heroes and hero journeys in the next few weeks, and we will find that a hero cannot achieve anything great by sitting at home (or in your mother's womb).

He makes other claims as well, such as his incredible strength and genius that makes Inanna attracted to him. On page 149 he calls Inanna his "spouse" as well as his "maiden." A maiden is a virgin, and we know by now that Inanna lost her virginity a long time ago. How dare Shulgi then say that he is not boasting!

Letter from Aradgu to Shulgi and Letter from Shulgi to Aragdu

Thousands of Mesopotamian letters and legal documents exist, but I chose these two letters for their entertainment value.

Shulgi sends his messenger to a neighboring kingdom to collect the taxes and assert Shulgi's authority there. The servant, Aradgu, writes a long letter to Shulgi indicating his harsh treatment by their king, Apillaca. He complains that Apillaca didn't rise from his throne or even put down his feet, amongst other complaints. Shulgi write back and scolds him for not knowing the protocol and the pecking orders. We then hear from Shulgi himself that he is allowing Apillaca to have a little authority because it is mutually beneficial. He then urges the two to work out their differences.

I wonder if Aradgu got a promotion ("You're doin' a heckuva job, Aragi!")

A Balbale to Inanna for Shu-Suen

This poem is just really messed up. We have seen how each king tries to become bigger than the king who came before, and the progression (or devolution?) just gets more lofty with each generation. In this poem, Shu-Suen writes through the perspective of Inanna who apparently cannot control herself since the attractiveness of Shu-Suen is irresistible. We see Inanna literally throwing herself on the king, eager to please him in every way, but she will sacrifice her own pleasure simply to serve him.

Give me a break.

Announcements:

I should have news regarding the coursepackets next week. I will inform you as soon as I know something.

Again, if you missed the test, please arrange your make-up test appoitntment as soon as possible.

Due Next Time:

 

The Cursing of Agade (141-146)

The Epic of Creation (Enuma elish) (Dalley, 228-277); READING GUIDE (156-161)

Quiz 4 (Due Wed. 2/13/06)

The Creation of Man (Babylonian Version) (162)

The Creation of Man (Ashur Version) (163-164)

 

COLOR CODES:
		-= Required		-= Supplemental