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KNY EVNNTS IN MTSOPOTAMIAN HISTONY3500 B.c.E. The BronzeAge BeglnsBronzeAge culturesdevelop n Mesopotamia, the andbetween he rivers," oon ollowedin Egyptby about3200B.c.E'3O0O .c.E. The SumeriansThe first ,Western"civilization evelops n Sumeria, he southernportionof the TigrisandEuphratesRiverValleynear he mouthof the PersianGulf Sumerian ultureadvanceswiththe development f writ ing nd agriculture.2000 B.c.E. The Epic of GllgameshThis s collection f storiesabout he Sumerian ingof Urukand is the irstepic literaturenWestern ivilization. ittites,whowere among he first o use ron,appear n Anatolia.1792-1750e.c.e. Reignof HammurabiHammurabiwas the Amorite Babylonian) ing who ruled rom Babylonia nd establishedorder n the region hrough he fullestand best-preservedawcode extant romMesopotamia.

The Codcof HammurabiFrom2000 o 1600B.c.E.,he city-states f Mesopotamiaendured a periodof nearlycon-tinuouswarfare hat saw shiftingalliancesand frequentchaos. The most dominantper-sonality f he age,Hammurabi stablished is controlover he region ro mabout1800 o1750B.c.E. nd ruled rom he city of Babylon.Hi s greatcontributiono Western ivil iza-tionwas a seriesof laws hat sought o estabtish usticewithin his empire,Thisconceptotequity,which remedieda large numberof abuses, nfluenced aw codes ye t to come,most notably hoseof Greecean d Rome. n the followingpassages,note he continualemphasis n fairness n the regulation f property, rade, debt, amily elations, nd per-sonal njury.

\7hen the lofiyArru, king of the Anunnaki gods, andEnlil, lord of heaven and earth, he who determinesthe destiny of the land .. . pronounced the lofrynarne of Babylon; when they made it famous amongthe quarters of the world and in its midst establishedan everlasting kingdom whose foundations werefirm as heaven and earth; [they] . named me,Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshiper of thegods, to cause ustice to prevail in the land, to destroythe wicked and the evil, to prevenr the strong fromoppressing the weak, to go forth like the sun over theblack-headed people, to enlighten the land to furtherthe welfare of the people. Hammurabi, the shepherdnamed by Enlil, am I, who brought about plenry andabundance; the powerful king, the sun ofBabylon, who caused light ro go forth over the landsof Sumer and Akkad; the king who caused the fourquarters of the world to render obedience; thefavorite of Ishtar, am I.

\7hen Marduk sent me to rule the people and tobring help to the country I established law and justicein the language of the land and promoted the welfareof the people. At that dme [I decreed]:

1. If a man bring accusation against another man,charging him with murder, but cannot prove it,the accuser shall be put to death.

3. If a man bear false witness in a sme, or does norestablish the testimony that he has given, if thatcase be a case nvolving life, that man shall beput to death.

4. If he bear [false]witnessconcerninggrain ormoney, he shall himself bear the pendryimposed n that case.5. If a udge pronouncea udgment, rendera deci-sion, deliver a verdict duly signedand sealed,and afterwardalter his judgment, they shall cdlthat judge to account or the alteration of thejudgment which he has pronounced, and heshall pai welve-fold the penalry in that jrdg-ment; and, in the assembly,hey shall expelhimfrom his seatof judgmenr, and with the judgesin a case e shallnot takehis seat.22. If a man practicerobbery and is captured, hatman shall be put to death.23. If the robber is not captured, he man who hasbeen robbedshall, n drepresence f god, makean itemizedstatementof his loss,and the ciryand the governor n whoseprovinceand urisdic-tion the robbery was commired shall compen-satehim for whateverwas ost.

24. If it be a life lthat is lost], the ciry and governorshall pay one mina [about one pound] of silverto his heirs.53. If aman neglects o maintainhis dike and doesnot strengthen t, and a break s made in hisdike and the water carries ewaryhe farmland,the man in whose dike the break has beenmade shall replace he grain which has beendamaged.54. If he is not able to replace he grain, t}rey shallsell him and his goods,and the farmerswhose'

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TlteEpic of GilgamesbTheSumerianswho inhabitedhe southern egionof Mesopotamiawere he irstpeople nWestern ivil izationo produceepic talesabout deitiesan d humanheroes.Th eEpic ofGitgamesh ates rom about2000B.c.E. nd is a collectionof storiesabout he Sumeriankingof Uruk.

There ollows he Mesopotamianaleof the Floodand the biblicalaccount ontainednthe OldTestament. loodepics werequitecommon n ancient iterature nd representedcleansingof the communityn accordancewith a higher ethical aw.But.comparehe twoaccounts losely, speciallywith regard o the attitudesand actionsof thedeities.

The Story of trheFloodThen Gilgameshsaid to Utnapishtim, t}re Faraway, Ilook at you now Utnapishtim, md your appearancesno different than mine; there s nothing strange n yourfeatures. . . Tell me truly, how was t that you came oenter .hecompanyof the godsand to possessverlast-ing life?"Utnapishtim said o Gilgamesh, I will revedto you a mystery I wilt tell you a secret f the gods.""You know the ciry Shurrupak, it standson thebanla of Euphrates? hat ciry grew old and the godsthat were n it wereold. TherewasAnu, lord of the fir-marnent, heir father, and warrior Enlil their coun-selor,Ninurta the helper,and Ennugi watcher overcanals;and with them alsowas Ea. In those days heworld teemed, he peoplemultiplied, the world bel-lowed ike a wild bull, and dre greatgod wasarousedby the clamor. Enlil heard the clamor and he said tothe gods n council, 'The uproar of mankind is intol-erableand sleep s no longerpossibleby reasonof thebabel." So the gods n their heartsweremoved to letloose the deluge;but my lord Ea warned me in adream. He whisperedtheir words to my house ofreeds,"Reed-house,eed-house!Vall, O wall, hearkenreed-house, all reflect; O man of Shurrupak,son ofUbara-Tirtu; tear down your houseand build a boat,abandonpossessionsnd look for life, despiseworldlygoodsand save our soul alive. . . . Theseare he mea-surements f the barqueasyou shdl build her: let herbeam equalher length, let her deck be roofed ike thevault that covers he abyss; hen takeup into the boatthe seedof all living creatures.'"'S7hen had understood said to my lord,'Behold,what you have commanded will honor andperform, but how shall I answer he people, he cirythe elders?'Then a openedhis mouth andsaid o me,his servant, ftfl them this: I have earnt that Enlil iswratlful againstme, I dareno longerwalk in his iand

nor live in his ciry; I will go down to the Gulf to dwellwith Ea my lord. But on you he will rain down abun-dance, rare fish and shy wild-fowl, a rich harvest-tide.In the evening the rider of the storm will bring youwheat in torrents.'

"In the first light of dawn "ll -y household gath-ered round me, the children brought pitch and themen whatever was necessary. . . On the seventh daythe boat was complete. . . .

"I loaded into her all that I had of gold and of liv-ing things, my family my kin, the beasts of the fieldboth wild and tame, and all the crafismen. I sent themon board, for the time tlat Shamash had ordained wasalready fulfilled when he said, 'ln the wening, when therider of the storm sends down the desuoying rain, enterthe boat and bamen her down.'This time was firlfilled,the evening came, the rider of the storm sent down therain. I looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so Itoo boarded the boat and banened her down. . . .

"'$7ith the first light of dawn a black cloud Gunefrom the horizon... . One whole da y the'tempestraged gathering fury * itwent, it poured over the peo-ple like the tides of battle; a man could not see hisbrother nor the people be seen rom heaven. Even thegods were terrified at the flood, they fled to the highestheaven, the firmament of Anu; they crouched againstthe walls, cowering like curs.. . . The great gods ofheaven and of hell wept, they covered their mouths.

"For six days andiix nights the winds blew, torrentand tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempestand flood raged together like warring hosts. \7hen theseventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided,the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled; I looked at theface of the world and there was silence, all mankind wasturned to clay. The surface of the seastretched as flat asa roof-top; I opened a hatch and the light fell on myface. Then I bowed lo*, I sat down and I wept, the tearsstreamed down my face, for on every side was the wasteof water. . . . I *rew everphing open to the four winds,made a sacrifice and poured out a libation on themountain top... . \flhen the gods smelled the sweetsavor, they gathered like flies over the sacrifice. . . .*\7hen Enlil had come, when he saw the boat, hewas wrath and swelled with anger at the gods, the hostof heaven, 'Has any of these mortals escaped?Not onewas to have survived the destruction.' . . . Then Ea

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openedhis mouth and spoke o warrior Enlil, ''Wisestof gods,hero Enlil, how could you so senselesslyringdown the flood?'Lay upon the sinnerhis sin,Lay upon the transgressoris ffansgression,Punish him a litde when he breals oose,Do not drive him too hard or he perishes;\7ould that a lion had ravagedmankindRather han the flood,\?'ould that awolf had ravagedmankindRather than the flood,\7ould that famine hadwasted he worldRather han the flood,

'!?'ould that pesdlence had wasted mankindRather than the flood.It was nor I that revealed the secret of the gods; thewise man learned it in a dream. Now take your coun-sel what shall be done with him.''Then Enlil went up into the boat, he rook me bythe hand and my wife and made us enrer the boat andkneel down on either side, he standing between us. Hetouched our foreheads to bless us saying, 'ln time pasrUtnapishtim was a moftal man; hencefonh he and hiswife shall live in the distance ar rhe mouth ofthe rivers.,Thus it was that the gods took me and placed me hereto live in the disance at the mouth of the rivers."

TIte Biblical FhodGod said to Noah, 'I have decided that the end hascome for all living things, for the earth s frrll of law-lessness ecause f human beings.So I am now aboutto destroy hem and the earth. Make yourself an arkout of resinouswood. Make it of reedsand caulk itwith pitch insideand out. This is how to make t: thelength of the ark is to be three hundred cubits, itsbreadth ifty cubits,and ts height,ltitty cubits. . .'For my part, I am going to send the flood, thewaters, on earth, to destroy iving things having thebreath of life under heaven:everythingon earth is toperish.But with you I shall establishmy covenantandyou will go aboard he ark, yourself, your sons,yourwife, and your sons'wivesalongwith you. From allliving creatures,rom all living things, you must taketwo of each kind aboard the ark, to save heir liveswith yours; heymustbea male and a female.Of everyspeciesof bird, of every kind of animal and of everykind of creature hat creepsalong the ground, twomust go with you so that their lives may besaved. . .'Noah did this, exacdyasGod commandedhim. . . .

The flood lasted orry days on earth.The watersswelled, lifting the ark until it floated off theground....The waters osehigherand higherabovethe ground until all the highestmountainsunder thewhole of heavenwere submerged. .. Every iving

thing on the face of the earth waswiped out, people,animals, creeping hings and birds; they werewipedoff the earth and only Noah was eft, and thosewithhim in the ark. . . .

Thdn God said to Noah, 'Come out of the ark,Iou, Iour wife, your sons,and your sons'wiveswithyou. Bring out all the animals with you, all livingthings....' Then Noah built an altar o Yahwehand,choosing rom all the clean animalsand all the cleanbirds, he presentedburnt offerings on the altar.Yahweh smelt the pleasingsmell and said to himseffi,'Never again will I curse he earth because f humanbeings,becauseheir heart contrivesevil from theirinfancy. Never againwill I strike down every livingthing as have done....' God blessed oah and hissons and saidto them, 'Breed,multiply and fill theearth.'