The Ancient Near East: An Essential Guide

by John L. McLaughlin

Overview

The cultures of the great empires of the ancient Near East from Egypt to Mesopotamia influenced Israel's religion, literature, and laws because of Israel's geographic location and political position situation. Anyone who wishes to understand the Old Testament texts and the history of ancient Israel must become familiar with the history, literature, and society of the surrounding kingdoms that at times controlled the region. Brief in presentation yet broad in scope, Ancient Near East will introduce students to the information and ideas essential to understanding the texts of the Old Testament while clarifying difficult issues concerning the relationship between Israel and its neighbors. 


Abingdon Essential Guides fulfill the need for brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introductions to the core disciplines in biblical, theological, and religious studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426765506
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Series:	An Essential Guide
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Associate Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Director of Advanced Degree Programs, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College, 81 St. Mary Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1J4

Read an Excerpt

The Ancient Near East

An Essential Guide

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By John L. McLaughlin

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2012 John McLaughlin
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-6550-6

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CHAPTER 1

Mesopotamia

The region known as Mesopotamia gets its name from two Greek words: meso (between) and potamia (rivers). This refers to the area between the Tigris River in the east and the Euphrates River in the west, roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq. During the ancient period, the focus of power and control in the region shifted a number of times between the north and the south. In this chapter, I briefly outline in turn the history of the Third and Second Millennia B.C.E., plus that of the First Millennium up to the conquest of Babylonia by the Persians in 539 B.C.E., along with parallels from the region that shed light on various aspects of the First Testament.

The Third Millennium

The earliest significant cultural presence in the region was that of the Sumerians. The Sumerians were an Indo-European people who first appeared in the southern part of Mesopotamia in the latter part of the Fourth Millennium B.C.E. They probably originated in India and migrated into the area either along the Persian Gulf or through what is Iran today. They developed the first known system of written language, called cuneiform, which gets its name from the use of clusters of wedge (cuneus in Latin) shapes to represent sounds. Unlike the modern Western alphabet, in which each character represents a single letter, each cluster represented a syllable or sometimes also an idea (a logogram). Representing all possible combinations of a consonant and a vowel as well as of a vowel and a consonant required a very large number of clusters. In its earliest stage, Sumerian cuneiform had at least one thousand signs, but by the middle of the Third Millennium, this number had been reduced to about six hundred. The Sumerian language itself cannot be linked to any other known language, but the cuneiform writing system was adopted by the Semitic Akkadians of Mesopotamia to represent their own language, after which it evolved into two dialects, namely, Assyrian in the north and Babylonian in the south.

By the late Fourth Millennium, the Sumerians had established a number of city-states in southern Mesopotamia, each of which was ruled by a local priest and exercised control over the immediately surrounding area. By the beginning of the Third Millennium, local control shifted to nonpriestly rulers who passed on their power to their descendants, creating dynasties. Thus, this stage of Sumerian history is known as the Early Dynastic period and spans approximately 2900–2350 B.C.E. At times the individual city-states were independent from each other while at other periods one city-state would expand its control over its neighbors, such that the latter served as vassals to the dominant city. The cities of Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Lagash each in turn served as the center of a Sumerian kingdom that incorporated most, if not all, of southern Mesopotamia.

Around 2350 B.C.E., control of the region passed to Semites living in the area when Sharru-kin (legitimate king), better known as Sargon, overthrew the Sumerians and established the Akkadian Empire, named after its capital city of Akkad. Sargon launched military campaigns to incorporate northern Mesopotamia into his empire, followed by raids westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea. Sargon's sons Rimush (2278–2270 B.C.E.) and Manishtushu (2269–2255 B.C.E.) faced attacks from within and without, respectively, but Sargon's grandson, Naram-sin (2254–2218 B.C.E.), solidified Akkadian power throughout Mesopotamia. Naram-sin's own son Shar-kali-sharri (2217–2193 B.C.E.) maintained Akkadian control of the region, but after his reign the kingdom entered a period of weakness until its eventual collapse (ca. 2154 B.C.E.). It is uncertain whether this collapse was solely the result of internal disarray or was completed by attacks by the Gutians, invaders from the Zagros Mountains to the east, but in any case the Gutians subsequently dominated the region for about a century. However, they had neither the interest nor the ability to establish a stable central government, and this period was described in later literature as one of barbarity, cruelty, and confusion. Eventually, Utukegal succeeded in driving out the Gutians, ushering in the Third Ur Dynasty, which lasted from 2112 to 2004 B.C.E. Although this period is sometimes described as a resurgence of Sumerian power, by this point the Sumerian and Semitic populations of Mesopotamia had become intertwined. As such, it is more correct to speak of a renaissance of Sumerian culture than of the Sumerians replacing the Akkadians and their kin.

Since the Sumerians and Akkadians predate the Israelites by at least a thousand years, it would be anachronistic to speak of any direct influence from the earliest Mesopotamians on the history or literature of the later biblical period. However, some similarities show the larger cultural context for the biblical literature itself, demonstrating that some of its concerns were already shared by much earlier people. This is most obvious in the extensive Sumerian wisdom tradition, which included proverbs, didactic tales, disputations, word lists, fables, and so on, all of which are paralleled in the Bible. In addition, in the Sumerian schools the teacher was called "father" and the student was called "son," terminology that is repeated a number of times in the opening chapters of Proverbs (e.g., 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1, 11, 21; 4:1, 10; 5:1, 7; 6:1, 3, 20; 7:1; see also 23:19, 25, 26; 24:13, 21; 27:11). This shows that the Israelites' search for insight into the world around them, especially as reflected in human experience, was not unique to Israel, as we will see more than once in dealing with other nations as well.

In addition to this general similarity concerning how both ancient Israel and ancient Mesopotamia sought to acquire wisdom and communicate it, the content of the Sumerian work A Man and His God shows some affinity with the situation of Job in the Bible. A man who had been prosperous and healthy is afflicted and then scorned by his friends. However, unlike Job's protestations of innocence, the Sumerian concludes that all humans are inherently sinful, and so he asks for forgiveness, just as Job's friends encourage him to do. He addresses his personal god (cf. Job's hope for an advocate in Job 9:33; 19:25), and his situation is reversed.

Another parallel between Sumerian and biblical texts is the concept of a universal flood, although only part of the Sumerian story has been discovered. After narrating the divine decision to cause a flood and how one of the gods warns the human Ziusudra, the text breaks off; when it resumes, the flood has lasted seven days and nights, after which Ziusudra sacrifices to the gods (cf. Gen 8:20). The damaged nature of the Sumerian tablets prevents the closer comparison to the Noah story that is possible with the later Babylonian-period material (see further below). Nonetheless, the Mesopotamian King List attributes great age to the kings who ruled prior to the flood, with the reigns of the earliest Sumerian kings of up to 62,000 years far outstripping the 969-year life span of Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible (Gen 5:27). Nevertheless, there is a shared view that the flood marks a dividing line in terms of the length of human life, although in the Bible, God announces a shorter human life span just before the flood (Gen 6:3). In addition, according to Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, all humans spoke a single language until Enki (Ea) introduced diverse tongues, which parallels how Yahweh confused the tongues of those building the tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

Traditions connected with the birth of Sargon are reflected in the story of Moses. Sargon was born in secret to a priestess, put into the river in a basket of rushes, and rescued by a water drawer named Akki; later, the goddess Ishtar elevated Sargon to the throne. Similarly, Moses was born in secret and set adrift in a basket on the Nile River, only to be discovered by an Egyptian princess and raised as her own son. Moses eventually left Egypt but was called by Yahweh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The parallels are clear, but not unique to these two individuals. There are also similarities to the story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, who were also born to a priestess and set adrift, only to be found by a she-wolf and then raised by a shepherd. It is difficult to say whether there is any direct influence among the three versions or simply a common tradition, but the latter does not lessen the fact that the details of Moses' birth were not unique in the ancient world.

Another interesting parallel from this period can be found in The Curse of Agade (i.e., Akkad). As part of his political and military expansion, Naram-sin sacked the city of Nippur, during which he defiled Enlil's sanctuary there. According to The Curse of Agade, in response to this sacrilege eight major deities supported the chief of the pantheon by withdrawing their protection of Akkad itself and bringing the Gutians into the land as punishment for Naram-sin's offense. This explanation of military defeat and subjugation as the consequence for earlier sins corresponds to the frequent biblical theme in the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings that Yahweh uses other nations to punish Israel's apostasy, culminating in the explanation for the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 587 B.C.E. that is found in Kings, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Related to this are the Laments over the destruction of Ur, Sumer, Nippur, Eridu, and Uruk, which are similar to the book of Lamentations and portions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which mourn the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian army.

Many kinds of Mesopotamian divination are paralleled in the Bible. These are attempts to determine the divine will for a given situation through the mechanical manipulation of physical elements. The most common Mesopotamian approach was the examination of the liver of sacrificed animals by the baru priests, who compared them to clay models with inscriptions; the model that best approximated the shape, size, color, and so forth of the actual liver indicated the gods' message. Although this is not reflected in the First Testament, some liver models have been found at Hazor in northern Israel.

Other Mesopotamian methods of divination include mixing water and oil (cf. Gen 44:5), taking the casual comments of others as indicating a course of action (e.g., 1 Sam 14:910; 1 Kings 20:32-33), interpreting dreams (especially Joseph and Daniel), and casting lots. Casting lots is explicitly stated as the means of selecting the "scapegoat" (Lev 16:8), dividing the land (Josh 18:6), selecting Saul as the first king of Israel (1 Sam 10:20-21), and determining guard duties (1 Chron 26:13), among other things, and is probably the way Achan is identified as the one who did not dedicate the spoils of war to Yahweh (Joshua 7). The Urim and Thummim, which were probably different colored balls signifying yes and no, were used in a similar way: Saul invoked them as the way of determining who violated his oath that no one would eat before evening (1 Sam 14:24-42, especially v. 41), and this is the best interpretation of the priestly use of the Urim and Thummim in some instances (Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh 7:65; and almost certainly Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; and Deut 33:8). In all these methods of seeking guidance from the heavenly realm, the expectation is that God (or the gods) guides the process.

Finally, we can note Mesopotamian texts from the end of the Third Millennium B.C.E. that describe occasional royal amnesties, in which a king would cancel debts as well as any enslavement that may have resulted from them. The parallel to the Jubilee Year in Lev 25:8-17, in which all debts are forgiven and all slaves set free, is obvious, although there are differences, namely, that the Mesopotamian amnesty is initiated at the option of the king, usually upon his assuming the throne or celebrating a long reign, whereas the biblical law mandates that this be done every fifty years. Nonetheless, the Hebrew word for "liberty" in Lev 25:10 (derôr) is cognate with duraru found in the Mesopotamian texts.

The Second Millennium

Following the collapse of the Third Ur Dynasty at the end of the Third Millennium B.C.E., the Amorites dominated southern Mesopotamia, ushering in what is known as the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2003–1595 B.C.E.). These Semitic peoples get their name from the Akkadian word amurru, which means "westerner," thus indicating their probable origins in what is now modern Syria. First mentioned in Sumerian texts (as MAR.TU) from the middle of the Third Millennium, they were migrating across the Euphrates by the end of that Millennium in ever increasing numbers, leading the king of Ur to build a wall to keep them out. The barrier proved unsuccessful, and together with the encroaching Elamites from the east, the Amorites contributed to the downfall of Ur. At first, the Amorites established a number of smaller kingdoms, but these eventually came under the authority of either of the rival cities of Isin or Larsa.

Meanwhile, in northern Mesopotamia King Naram-sin of Eshnunna exerted power over the region, in the course of which he captured the city of Ashshur. However, that city was soon conquered by Shamshi-Adad I, who extended his control farther northwest, annexing Mari and sending his armies as far west as modern Lebanon, thereby establishing the first, but short-lived, Assyrian Empire. He divided his territory between his two sons, but they were unable to maintain control over the region, falling prey to the Babylonians in the south. Babylon had emerged as a small city-state around 1894 B.C.E., but its first five kings played minor roles in southern Mesopotamia. However, that changed after Hammurabi came to the throne in 1792 B.C.E. For the first decade or so he focused on solidifying his power both internally in Babylon and externally by annexing nearby cities, followed by eighteen years consolidating his control over both aspects of his kingdom. Then, he began to expand his power, conquering in turn the Elamite invaders from the east (1764 B.C.E.), the kingdom of Larsa to the south (1763 B.C.E.), the important city-state of Mari (1761 B.C.E.), and the now weakened Assyria to the north (1756 B.C.E.), thus establishing the first (Old) Babylonian Empire.

In keeping with an established pattern, this empire did not long survive his death, and the conquered territories gradually slipped away from his successors, although his dynasty survived in the capital city of Babylon until the Hittites sacked it in 1595 B.C.E., only to withdraw immediately to their homeland (cf. Chapter 3). After the Hittites left, the city of Babylon fell to the Kassites, invaders from the east, who went on to rule southern Mesopotamia for 435 years, although often subservient to Assyria in the north, until defeated by raiding Elamites in 1158 B.C.E. Little is known of their rule, other than that it was characterized by the restoration of Babylonia's infrastructure and preservation of its culture. The Kassites assimilated with their subjects and left no records in their native language. They were followed by the Second Dynasty of Isin, which ruled Babylonia from 1158 to 1027 B.C.E.

Meanwhile, Assyria regained its independence from Babylonia following Hammurabi's death and, after about thirty years of civil war, established a stable presence in northern Mesopotamia for the next two hundred years. They lived undisturbed by their neighbors until Mitanni, a Hurrian kingdom in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia (see Chapter 6), made Assyria its vassal at the beginning of the Fifteenth Century B.C.E. This situation lasted to varying degrees for about 150 years until the reign of Ashuruballit I (1365–1330 B.C.E.), who took advantage of Hittite encroachment on Mitanni from the west to throw off Mitanni's shackles, thus beginning Assyria's return to regional domination. Shalmaneser I (ca. 1273–1244 B.C.E.) eventually conquered Mitanni itself and, along with his successor Tukulti-Ninurta I (ca. 1243–1207 B.C.E.), expanded Assyrian territory, including portions of Kassite Babylonia to the south. However, in the Twelfth Century B.C.E. the ancient world from the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia experienced a major societal collapse, brought on by massive and extended drought, with the Hittite empire collapsing and Egypt and Assyria entering a period of weakness. This upheaval was reinforced by major migrations throughout the area, including the Sea Peoples marching through the Hittite Empire, destroying Ugarit, and eventually being repulsed by Egypt, while at the same time the Arameans of northern Syria encroached on Mesopotamia. Although Assyria managed to keep from being overrun, its imperial aspirations were checked until the middle of the Tenth Century B.C.E., at which point it would rise again to expand relentlessly westward.

As with the Third Millennium, there are Mesopotamian compositions from the Second Millennium that parallel elements of biblical literature. In contrast to the Third Millennium literature, however, there are also indications that some of these may have directly influenced the biblical texts in more than one area. The first of these is related to creation. For instance, some general parallels can be seen between the Babylonian work Enuma Elish (from the text's opening words, meaning "When on high") and the creation story in Genesis 1. In Enuma Elish, the god Marduk defeats the sea goddess, Tiamat, cuts her body in half, and uses the two portions to make the earth and the sky. This compares with Yahweh's division of the primeval waters into those above and below, a point reinforced by the Hebrew word tehôm translated as "deep" (Gen 1:2), which is cognate with Tiamat. In Enuma Elish the sun, the moon, and the heavenly bodies are also created to mark the passage of time, just as in Gen 1:14.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Ancient Near East by John L. McLaughlin. Copyright © 2012 John McLaughlin. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction,
Chapter 1: Mesopotamia,
Chapter 2: Egypt,
Chapter 3: Hatti,
Chapter 4: Persia,
Chapter 5: Greece,
Chapter 6: Syro-Palestine,
Index of Ancient Texts,
Index of Names,
Index of Locations,