Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia cannot be described in the same way one would describe life in ancient Rome or Greece. Mesopotamia was never a single, unified civilization, not even under the Akkadian Empire of Sargon the Great.

Generally speaking, though, from the rise of the cities in c. 4500 BCE to the downfall of Sumer in 1750 BCE, the people of the regions of Mesopotamia did live their lives in similar ways. The civilizations of Mesopotamia placed a great value on the written word. Once writing was invented, c. 3500-3000 BCE, the scribes seem almost obsessed with recording every facet of their cities lives and, because of this, archaeologists and scholars in the present day have a fairly clear understanding of how the people lived and worked.

The American author Thornton Wilder once wrote, “Babylon once had two million people in it, and all we know about `em is the names of the kings and some copies of wheat contracts and the sales of slaves” (Our Town). Wilder was writing fiction, of course, not history, and there was much about Mesopotamian history still unknown at the time he wrote his play; still he was wrong about what the modern world, even the world of his day, knew about the people of Mesopotamia. We actually know a good deal more than just the names of kings and the sales of slaves.

Who were the Hittites? The history of the Hittite Empire explained in 10 minutes

In the annals of ancient history, the Hittites emerge as one of the most influential and enigmatic civilizations. Operating from the heartland of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), the Hittite Empire not only wielded considerable power but also left an indelible mark on the cultural, political, and military dynamics of the ancient Near East. This article delves deep into the world of the Hittites, shedding light on their origins, their zenith, and their eventual decline.

Origins of the Hittites

Early Beginnings: The origins of the Hittites can be traced back to the early 2nd millennium BCE, with their initial settlements in central Anatolia. Over time, they absorbed and integrated various indigenous cultures and groups, resulting in a unique blend of traditions.

Old Hittite Kingdom: Around 1650 BCE, under the leadership of King Hattusili I, the Hittites began expanding, marking the beginning of what historians often term the 'Old Hittite Kingdom'.

Hittite Highs

Great Kingdom: By the 14th century BCE, under the rule of Suppilulium I, the Hittite Empire reached its zenith, with territories stretching from western Anatolia to northern Syria.

Battles and Diplomacy: The Hittites were renowned warriors, often clashing with neighboring empires like the Egyptians. One of the most famous events is the Battle of Kadesh (circa 1274 BCE) against Pharaoh Ramses II. After the battle, both empires, realizing the futility of prolonged conflict, signed one of the earliest known peace treaties in history.

Religion and Culture: The Hittite pantheon was vast, comprising many deities. Storm gods were particularly revered. Alongside, they adopted and integrated gods from other cultures, showcasing their syncretic religious practices. Their written records, inscribed on clay tablets using cuneiform script, provide valuable insights into their society, laws, and diplomacy.

Decline and Aftermath

Mysterious End: By the late 13th century BCE, the mighty Hittite Empire began to wane. Reasons for their decline are still a matter of debate, with theories ranging from internal strife, economic factors, and invasions by the enigmatic 'Sea Peoples'.

Neo-Hittites: Following the collapse of the Hittite Empire, smaller Neo-Hittite or Syro-Hittite city-states emerged in parts of Anatolia and northern Syria. These states carried forward the legacy of the Hittite culture until they were eventually absorbed by the rising Neo-Assyrian Empire by the end of the 8th century BCE.

Legacy of the Hittites

Linguistic Contribution: The Hittite language, part of the Indo-European language family, has provided scholars with crucial insights into the early evolution of this linguistic group.

Archaeological Treasures: The Hittite capital, Hattusa (near modern-day Boğazkale, Turkey), is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its ruins, including grand temples, fortifications, and libraries, offer a tangible connection to this ancient civilization.

The Hittites, often overshadowed by their contemporaneous civilizations like the Egyptians or the Mesopotamians, played a pivotal role in the geopolitical dynamics of the ancient Near East. Their history, encapsulating grand conquests, sophisticated diplomacy, rich culture, and abrupt decline, stands as a testament to the intricate tapestry of ancient civilizations and the transient nature of empires. As modern archaeology continues to unearth their secrets, the legacy of the Hittites is set to shine brighter in the annals of history.

The Age of Reptiles in Three Acts

Reptiles emerged from the Paleozoic as humble creatures, but in time, they grew to become some of the largest forms of life ever to stomp, swim, and soar across the planet. This Age of Reptiles was a spectacular prehistoric epic, and it all took place in a single era: the Mesozoic.

What Was The Indus Valley/Harappan Civilisation?

In British India in the 1920's odd stone seals kept popping up at ruins near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro along the Indus river valley. They baffled everyone, with their inscriptions in a never before seen written language. Archaeologists, intrigued by this, started excavating these previously ignored sites.

They soon uncovered a 4,500-year-old civilisation. A civilisation completely absent in the historical record. One of the earliest urban civilizations in human history. It flourished alongside Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China around 3300-1900BC but was bigger than all of them. A civilisation that built wonders not to gods or kings but to sanitation. A civilisation without war. Made up of massive planned cities built in brick. Masters of bronze and sculpture. They created their own writing system, traded across the vast sea, and possibly invented the world’s first indoor toilets and then vanished for reasons still not understood.

So what was this civilisation in the Indus Valley, what did they achieve, and what does it have to do with rubber duckies? Well let’s find out.

Apocalypto and the Warning Signs of Societal Collapse (Film Analysis)

Apocalypto is one of the most unique actions films ever made. In its simplest form, Apocalypto is just another "hero's journey," but Mel Gibson also explores a variety of ideas that make it much more. Apocalypto is about civilization and why it collapses. It shows the audience warning signs to look out for in their own nations, and in this video, we point out what those warning signs are.

Top 20 Most Unexplored Places on Earth

Feeling claustrophobic? Why not move to one of these remote locations! For this list, we’ll be looking at remote locations around Earth that have seen very few or no human visitors. Our countdown includes Cape Melville, Northeast Greenland National Park, Surtsey Island, Amazon Rainforest, Devon Island, and more!

Muslim Schism: How Islam Split into the Sunni and Shia Branches

In today’s video we will discuss the events that led to the schism within the Muslim community, as Islam split into two branches - Sunni and Shia Islam. This happened in the latter stages of the Early Muslim Expansion, as the Rashidun caliphs - Umar, Uthman and Ali were assassinated, which led to the war of succession, killing of Ali's son Husayn in Karbala, and the creation of the Umayyad dynasty under Muawiyah I.

The Real Reason Why the Sphinx of Giza was Built!

Located on the Giza plateau, on the western bank of Egypt’s Nile River, the Great Sphinx stands guard. Carved out of a large block of limestone, the impressive monumental sculpture is often regarded as one of the largest and oldest monuments in the world and is perhaps as impressive as the pyramids of Egypt. Despite being older than old, and although experts have studied and surveyed it for more than 200 years, we have still not solved the riddle of the Sphinx. The monolithic monument refuses to give up its secrets. We’ve still not been able to firmly conclude when the statue was carved, who it was commissioned by, and its original purpose.

Historian Reacts to Evidence for Ancient High Technology in Egypt

Many ancient cultures are known for their fabulous megalithic structures and impressive artifacts. Some have wondered whether some of these magnificent structures were made by a lost civilization from the far distant past, one with technology more advanced than perhaps even our own.

How was England conquered? Battles of William the Conqueror

William's story is truly a remarkable one. He endured a childhood in which others battled to seize his title and lands and had fought wars against his neighbours in France. But William the Conqueror is best known for his invasion of England in 1066. In the years that followed he conquered England, made agreements in Wales and turned the Scottish King into a vassal.

400-year-old shark is still going strong

Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say.

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals, and estimated that one female was about 400 years old.

The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150.

The research is published in the journal Science.

Lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, said: "We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were."

The former vertebrate record-holder was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old.

But if invertebrates are brought into the longevity competition, a 507-year-old clam called Ming holds the title of most aged animal.

Slow swimmers

Greenland sharks are huge beasts, that can grow up to 5m in length.

They can be found, swimming slowly, throughout the cold, deep waters of the North Atlantic.

With this leisurely pace of life and sluggish growth rate, the sharks were thought to live for a long time. But until now, determining any ages was difficult.

For some fish, scientists are able to examine ear bones called otoliths, which when sectioned, show a pattern of concentric rings that scientists can count as they would the rings in a tree.

Sharks are harder, but some species, such as the Great White, have calcified tissue that grows in layers on their back bones, that can also be used to age the animals.

"But the Greenland shark is a very, very soft shark - it has no hard body parts where growth layers are deposited. So it was believed that the age could not be investigated," Mr Nielsen told the BBC.

However the team found a clever way of working out the age.

"The Greenland shark's eye lens is composed of a specialised material - and it contains proteins that are metabolically inert," explained Mr Neilson.

"Which means after the proteins have been synthesised in the body, they are not renewed any more. So we can isolate the tissue that formed when the shark was a pup, and do radiocarbon dating."

The team looked at 28 sharks, most of which had died after being caught in fishing nets as by-catch.

Using this technique, they established that the largest shark - a 5m-long female - was extremely ancient.

Because radiocarbon dating does not produce exact dates, they believe that she could have been as "young" as 272 or as old as 512. But she was most likely somewhere in the middle, so about 400 years old.

It means she was born between the years of 1501 and 1744, but her most likely date of birth was in the 17th century.

"Even with the lowest part of this uncertainty, 272 years, even if that is the maximum age, it should still be considered the longest-living vertebrate," said Mr Nielsen.

Conversely, if her age is at the upper end of the scale, she will have out-lived Ming the clam - although her age has a greater probability of lying in the middle.

Conservation lessons

The team believes the animals only reach sexual maturity when they are 4m-long. And with this new, very lengthy age-range, it suggests this does not occur until the animals are about 150 years old.

The researchers say this has consequences for future conservation of the animals.

Because of their extreme longevity, Greenland sharks may still be recovering from being over-fished before WW2.

The sharks' livers were once used for machine oil, and they were killed in great numbers before a synthetic alternative was found and the demand fell.

"When you evaluate the size distribution all over the North Atlantic, it is quite rare that you see sexually mature females, and quite rare that you find newborn pups or juveniles," Mr Nielsen explained.

"It seems most are sub-adults. That makes sense: if you have had this very high fishing pressure, all the old animals - they are not there any more. And there are not that many to give birth to new ones.

"There is, though, still a very large amount of 'teenagers', but it will take another 100 years for them to become sexually active."

Another author of the study, Prof Christopher Ramsey, director of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, said that radiocarbon dating could be used to determine the ages of other animals, but was not likely to be chosen as the primary method.

"For many animals we have other methods to determine age," he said.

"Also, the radiocarbon method is not very precise, and so is only really relevant for very long-lived species."

He added that the statistical method used to determine the sharks' ages was Bayesian statistics.

"Bayesian statistics were first worked out by the Rev Bayes in the 18th Century. This means he will have been working on this when some of these oldest sharks were young."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environme...

Decoding the Cat: Mythology, Legend and Folklore

Cats have captured the imaginations of people for thousands of years, and have established themselves as a very important animal in human culture. But why are they not as well known in mythology as they are in folklore? In this video, we will delve into the rise of the cat in mythology and explore some of the myths and tales surrounding these mysterious creatures. From Viking Scandinavia to ancient Egypt, and into modern day Japan, cats have a rich history in folklore. But to understand the full story, we must first understand how cats became domesticated, especially considering that humans have spent a majority of the last 100,000 years avoiding them as natural predators. Join us as we uncover the fascinating history of cats, from their domestication around 15,000 years ago, to their current role in human culture.

Units of History - The Praetorian Guard (Documentary)

In this history documentary we explore the legendary Praetorian Guard of the Roman Army. We begin with their origins which had its start in a tradition of bodyguard troops dating back to the Roman monarchy.

In these early years, chieftains would have their elite retinue by their side both in peace and in war. During the early Republic, it became practice for allied latin units to be selected as a part of the Extraordinarii which were to camp besides a Roman general in camp and be at his direct disposal. In later years, powerful Roman generals would begin forming their own bodyguard troops such as Caesar's Germanic cavalry which accompanied him throughout the Gallic Wars. At the end of the Republic, so called Cohors Praetoriae would be used by both Augustus and Mark Antony in their civil war.

In the aftermath Augustus would merge these units and institutionalize them as an important part of his new regime. From then on, the Praetorian Guard would play a key part in the history of the Roman Empire, especially when they became involved with politics in Rome and in the transitions of power therein.

A Mysterious Grove of 400 Oddly Bent Pine Trees in Poland

This stand of bent pine trees known as the Crooked Forest is easily one of the strangest places in Central Europe. Located outside of Nowe Czarnowo, West Pomerania, Poland, the nearly 400 trees are widely agreed to have been shaped by human hands sometime in the 1930s, but for what purposes is still up for debate.

Each tree is bent near the base at 90 degrees, a form that could possibly be helpful in boat or furniture making. Strangely enough, every tree is bent in exactly the same direction: due North. A quick search online reveals a host of conspiracy theories ranging from witchcraft to energy fields.

Whatever the reason, we’re glad photographer Kilian Schönberger (previously) stopped by to capture these photos. You can see more from the series on Behance.

Source: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/11/cro...

People Can’t Get Enough Of The Armadillo Lizard As It Looks Like A Tiny Dragon

If you are a big fan of reptiles, especially lizards, we are sure that you have heard about armadillo lizards. This is a unique heavily-armored reptile native to South Africa. With its thorny exterior and unique defenses, the armadillo lizard might be both adorable and terrifying at the same time. Because of their sharp armors along their bodies, they look like a medieval fairytale dragon.

Armadillo lizards have a variety of coloring, which varies from light to dark brown with a yellow underbelly with a black pattern. Their backside is completely covered in spikey armor, so when they feel threatened, they curl up and bite their tails to protect the soft belly. They can stay in a curled position for up to an hour. This defense mechanism keeps them safe from predators like snakes, big birds, and mongoose. It also allows them to spend most of their time sunbathing in the warmth of the sun.

These species live on a carnivorous diet, and insects are one of their foods. They tend to live in large family groups and hide under rock crevices in South Africa’s desert to shield themselves against the harsh environment and predators.

They can live up to a little over a decade and are one of the few reptile species that do not reproduce by laying eggs. These dragon-like creatures are usually three to four inches long, but some may grow as long as eight.

The eye-catching looks of the armadillo lizard attracts a lot of poachers. They are somewhat easy to catch, so the creature faces a threat to its population. So please share this post with your friends to raise awareness of protecting animals.

Source: https://aubtu.biz/33450/?utm_source=VO93&u...