Mesopotamian thought (general concepts, genres of lit, science, and math)
-General Concepts –earth and heaven are interdependent (what happens in one sphere must produce its counterpart in the other).
-The world must continue since the gods cannot do without humans
-Creation of the world followed by the earliest age, gods had adobe on earth then went back to heaven and humans talk to them through prayer, gods gave man communication, magic, and divination all, which are part of their religion
-Doctrine of name very important, nothing existed without a name
-Good name (good destiny) was given for good life from peasant to prince along with streets, canals, and walls of city to ensure good influences on the city
-Knowledge of a person’s name gave power over the owner so care was taken to prevent it from becoming know (true name)
-Numbers were also regarded as a method of expression. They had a numerical hierarchy of the gods, perfect number was 60 god Anu, letters were used as numerals-a value was ascribed to each letter.
-Pums/play on words were taken seriously, regarded as a sign and warning of positive relationship between 2 objects
-Riddles were used by various princes to assert their intellectual superiority
-Written and spoken words along with numbers and names were concealed real meaning
-Babylonians was to break down 1 meaning of a worked to reveal several meanings
-Words were read backwards to reveal secrets
-Thought was covered by symbolism
-Knowledge was given by the gods and man could only systemize it
-King was of the divine. King (in theory) promulgated laws, fixed calendar and taxation, made decisions about war and peace (was really done by court officials).
-Warfare was main source of revenue
-After a successful war, there was celebration
-Reasoning was analogist, with extensive practice of divination and magic, which were their forms of science along with sacerdotal aspect of medicine.
Genres of Lit religious lit was most common and attached to worship and gods
-Poem of Creation answers all questions of mankind about the origins of life and all problems are due to Marduk. Recited repeatedly on New Years celebrations
-Flood poems, never re-written nor include Marduk, its entwined with Gilgamesh poem in the form of a story by Uta-Napishtim to explain how his wife became immortal
-Nippur cycle includes Myths of Zu (Enil is at his toilet), the Dragon Labbu (Enil scared gods by creating a dragon in the sky), and Legend of Ninurta (shows sense of order of universe, and boundaries between the different categories of physical existence)
-Enlil cycle, Poem called the Fall (earthly consequences)
-Nether Regions, root of certain myths
-Gilgamesh Epic, heroic poem, hero was King of Uruk, he built the city with its palaces and temples. He was 2/3 divine son of goddess Nin-Sun and 1/3 human. Ends with him having to have scraps left on the streets
-Heroic poems convey moral lessons
-Lyric Poetry, Hymns invocations to the gods with religious ceremonies
-Fables, animals taking human positions, moral and convey lessons
-Historical Doc’s, 1) Annals recorded outstanding events of the reign in historical sequence 2) Display Inscription describes different stages of conquest in and area 3) account of a campaign submitted by the King to the divinity of his temple (rare).
-Historical accounts were interested in themselves, used large numbers with no point except for a general idea of size, not very valid
-Letters, were on business and commercial matters not intimate, delt with a variety of subjects and switched abruptly between topics
-Police reports, about missing persons
Science knowledge was given to the primitive people at the beginning of civilization on the lagoons of the Persian Gulf by Oannes, half man, half fish.
-Knowledge was confined to a few privileged few deemed worthy
-All science was regarded as equal
-Geography, thought earth was a circular disc with a rim of mountains, earth floated on top of water,
-Calendar/Astronomy, astronomy was principal used to make a fixed calendar, believed sky was divided into zones as the earth was divided into kingdoms, recorded and named visible stars, distinguished between planets and fixed starts, compiled tables of the fixed starts with distance using calculation and observation (1) units, 2) degrees, 3) absolute)
-Natural Sciences, used purely empirical approach to classifying different varieties, named objects after their resemblances to something familiar, knew wide range of stones
-Chemistry, skilled metal workers, expert in treatment of mineral substance in refining metals and compounding unusual alloys-knew how to mix the ingredients just right
-Math, sexagesimal system, could calculate exact volume of pyramid and truncated cone, used pie, described shapes as known objects, had geometry and algebra
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mr. charles11
