What they are and their importance

MESOPOTAMIANARTIFACTS

The Lapis Lazuli is a precious stone, being mined in the Afghanistan province, Badakhshan for nearly 6500 years. In Mesopotamian times, it was prized for its extreme blue color. It was used for jewelry, boxes, carving, mosaics, ornaments, vases, cladding walls, and columns of palaces. It was used by Assyrians and Babylonians for their cylinder seals.

It is very important to Mesopotamian history because it was used in many pieces of royal jewelry and carvings, not to mention the cylinder seals. It was also mentioned very often in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

LAPIS LAZULI

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a tale – the tale – of a great king who ruled over Uruk. It was written on 12 stone tablets, the 12th one consisting of an epilogue. There are 2 versions – the old Sumerian version and the more modern, standard version of the Akkadians.

The reason as to why it is so important to Mesopotamian culture is because it is the earliest known works of fiction. However, this Epic may not be fiction because Gilgamesh may have been a real king. It was also written in cuneiform, an extinct language as of today.

EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Cylinder seals were used to ‘sign’ names on important documents. Others, however, engraved ‘picture stories’ onto clay tablets. They were made from stone, glass, ceramics, obsidian rocks, amethysts, but most popular of all, lapis lazuli. People were buried in their graves with these. Many of the Mesopotamian cultures, such as the Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Sumerians and Syrians used these. The text that imprinted were cuneiform.

The reason why these were so important was because it was the first form of imprints, and they presented the ideal ideas of the society, whether it be religious or sociological ideas.

CYLINDER SEALS

The salt symbolized why Mesopotamia fell – their irrigation systems were the reason why.

Although their irrigation systems left them with plenty of food, they irrigated all the way out to the sea, and the salty water caused the salt and other minerals to rise from the deeper parts of the soil, causing the dirt to go from fertile to poisoned, killing or poisoning the crops and causing the people to leave.

While a small amount of salt may be good for some types of crops, high levels of salt are extremely toxic for plants and humans alike.

SALT

The glazed brick was a part of Ishtar Gate, a beautiful, blue gate created by glazed bricks. The Ishtar Gate was part of Babylon, built somewhere in 575 BC. It was the 8th gate to the inner part of the city, build by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II. It was dedicated to the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar. The roof and doors were made of cedar. It was a part of the Walls of Babylon and used to be part of the Seven Wonders of the world until the Lighthouse of Alexandria replaced it.

GLAZED BRICK

The code of Hammurabi was the best-preserved ancient set of laws, created in 1760 BC in ancient Babylon by the 6th Babylonian king, Hammurabi. It was written on a 7 ft. 4 inch tall stone slab, called stele. Only one of the stele survives today.

The Code of Hammurabi is very important to the world, because of the fact that it was the first ever written code of law. It established basic laws for the citizens to follow. Although there were older codes, such as the Code of Ur-Nammu, the code set by Hammurabi was the best-preserved one.

THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the 7 Wonders of the ancient world, the greatest of human kind to date. It held exotic fruits and flowers, animals, aromatic palms, and a terrace. There were streams, sloping hills, channels that provided water for the garden. The floor was made of grass as well. There were 80ft thick, 320ft high walls surrounding it. The garden, however, did not hang literally – there were vines that hung over the walls. The foundation was build inside, using clay bricks with bitumen in it, as to keep the foundation from crumbling because of the water.

It is important to Mesopotamia because it represents one of the best innovations and technology of the era. There was striving for unique and bold ideas – things considered insane and idiotic at the time. There was clever irrigation systems, such as chain pumps and the special bricks. It represented how man conquered the environment, the reason why it is one of the 7 wonders.

However, there are non-believers because of the fact that there is actual evidence as to that this garden existed, other than the word of Roman writers who wrote about an amazing garden in the dry lands of Mesopotamia.

THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON

All images courtesy of Google (http://www.google.ca)

All facts courtesy of Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org)

And Google (http://www.google.ca)

REFERENCES