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Internet Ancient History Sourcebook:
Mesopotamia

See Main Page for a guide to all contents of all sections.

• Ancient Near East
• Sumeria (c. 3100-c. 2000 BCE)
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • Sumerian Language
  • Art
  • Connections with India
• Akkadia (c.2350-2200 BCE)
• Babylonia (c.2000-1600 BCE)
  • Code of Hammarabi
  • Cities
  • Creation Myths
  • Religion
• Kassites and Hittites (c.1600-717 BCE)
  • Kassites
  • Hittites
  • Hittite Texts
  • Material Culture
• Assyria (c.1350- 612 BCE)
• Chaldea/Neo-Babylonia (612-539 BCE)
• Syrian Cities: Ebla, Ugarit, Emar
• Phoenicia 950 BCE on
• Carthage: The Punic Empire
• ANE Arts and Architecture
• ANE Mathematics and Astronomy
• Gender and Sexuality
• Modern Perspectives on Mesopotamia
• Common Issues: Mesopotamian/Egyptian/Hebrew/Greek History
  • Centuries of Darkness?

• MEGA Abzu: Guide to Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East Available on the Internet [At Chicago]
• 2ND Mesopotamia [Modern Account][At sron.nl]
• 2ND Emergence of Civilization in Ancient Near East [At Internet Archive, from UNT][Modern Account]
• 2ND The Near East 3000-1200 BCE [At Internet Archive, from UNT][Modern Account]
• 2ND The Near East 1250-500 BCE [At Internet Archive, from UNT][Modern Account]
• 2ND Arden Eby: The Origin and Development of Writing in Mesopotamia: An Economic Interpretation [At Internet Archive][Modern Illustrated Account]

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• Interactive Map: Political Change in Ancient Mesopotamia, 3000-1000 BCE [At U. Oregon]
• Map: Sumerian Archeological Sites [At Sumerian]
• The Emergence of Kingship: Inscription of Umma and Lagash, c. 2500BCE [At piney.com]
• The Sumerian King List [At CSUN]
• Proverbs from Ki-en-gir (Sumer), c. 2000 BCE [At this Site]
• Penitential Prayer to God [At Then Again]
• Inanna Texts [At CSUN]
• Enki and the World Order: A Sumerian High God [At Eliade Site]
• A Sumero-Akkadian prayer to Every God [At Eliade Site]
• Shamash Hymn [At Enteract.com]
  The justice of the god.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • Epic of Gilgamesh, Complete Text of Robert Temple translation, [At Gates of Babylon]
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh: An Outline, Much more than its name implies. This is the best place to goe for more information on the Epic, [At Cambridge]
  • Gilgamesh Tablet [At piney.com]
  • Gilgamesh in Search of Immortality [At Eliade Site]
  • Epic of Gilgamesh, entire text (you need to page down), [At Near Eastern Resources/piney.com]
    Somewhat hard to read in this format.
  • Sumerian Prologue to Gilgamesh [At UPenn]
  • Domestication of Enkidu [At piney.com]
  • Enkidu's Dream [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
  • Gilgamesh Flood Story [At Internet Archive, from Creighton]
  • Gilgamesh Flood Story [At enteract.com]
  • 2ND Arthur A. Brown: Storytelling, the Meaning of Life, and The Epic of Gilgamesh [At EAWC][Modern Account]
• The Worm and the Toothache [At piney.com]
• The Creation of the Pickax [At piney.com]
• Sumerian Mythology FAQ [At UNH]
• The Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi, c. 1700 BCE [At this Site]
  A Sumerian Job.
• Sumerian Language
  • Proverbs in Sumerian Cuneiform [At Sumerian]
  • WEB Sumerian Language Page [At Sumerian]
  • WEB Sumerian Text Archive [At Leiden]
    Texts in Sumerian. Not for the fainthearted.
• Art
  • WEB Sumerian Images in the Louvre [At the Louvre]
    Includes image of Hammarabi stele.
• Connections with India
  • WEB Harrapa [Website]
    The Indus valley culture which had some interaction with Mesopotamia.
  • WEB Harrapa Images [from the Indus Valley][At Then Again]

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Akkadia (c.2350-2200 BCE)

• Birth Legend of Sargon (c. 2240 BCE)[At Skeptically.org]
• The Legend of Sargon of Akkadê, c. 2300 BCE [At this Site]
• Sargon: Establishment of Akkadian Empire (c. 2240 BCE)
• Enheduanna's Hymns (c.2280-2200 BCE)[At Angelfire]
  The first writings ascribed to an author were ascribed to this woman, a daughter of Sargon. See also the WEB Enheduanna Page [At Anglefire] and 2ND En hedu'anna, Priestess of the Moon Goddess (c. 2354 BCE)[Modern Account]
• The Advice of an Akkadian Father to His Son, c. 2200 BCE [At this Site]
• The Akkadêan Precepts, c. 2200 BCE [At this Site]
• WEBAkkadian Language Page [Website]

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Babylonia (c.2000-1600 BCE)

• Some Babylonian Proverbs from the Library of Ashurbanipal, c. 1600 BCE [At this Site]
• A Collection of Mesopotamian Laws, c. 2250 - 550 BCE [At this Site]
• A Collection of Contracts from Mesopotamia, c. 2300 - 428 BCE [At this Site]
• Code of Hammarabi
  • Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE [This Site][Full Text, with introductions]
    Hammurabi (or Hammarapi), r. c. 1792-1750 BCE
  • Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE [At EAWC][Full Text]
  • Code of Hammarabi c.1780 BCE extracts [At WSU]
• Cities
  • Map of Nippur [At Then Again]
  • WEB Nippur Expedition [Website-Chicago]
• Creation Myths
  • Babylonian Creation Myth [At Then Again]
    A 12th century BCE version of a Sumerian account.
  • The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Sacred Texts]
  • The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE and Notes [At CSUN]
  • The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Akkadian Language Page]
  • The Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Creation Story), c. 2000 BCE [At Eliade Site]
  • Atrahasis: Human Creation [At piney.com]
  • Myth of Adapa [At piney.com]
  • Adapa: The First Man [At Earth-History]
• Religion
  • The Reports of the Magicians & Astrologers of Nineveh & Babylon, c. 2500 - 670 BCE [At this Site]
  • A Collection of Babylonian Prayers, c. 1600 BCE [At this Site]
  • Ishtar's Descent into the Underworld [At piney.com]
  • The Descent of Ishtar into the Netherworld [At Eliade Site]
  • The Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal [At piney.com]
  • 2ND Babylonian and Assyrian Mythology FAQ [At UNH]

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Kassites and Hittites (c.1600-717 BCE)

• Kassites
  • 2ND Kassite Rule in Babylon c.1600-1200 BCE [At Crystal Links][Modern Summary]
  • 2ND The Kassites c.1600-1200 BCE   [At WSU][Modern Summary]
• Hittites
  • Hittite Literature in Translation [At Internet Archive, from Emory]
  • Hittite King List [At Ancient Near East.net]
  • List of Hittite Gods [At Internet Archive, from AOL-Wiccan Site]
  • The Code of the Nesilim, c. 1650-1500 BCE
    Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
  • 2ND The Hittites in Anatolia [At Crystal Links][Modern Summary]
    Has a useful timeline for putting the various Mesopotamian empires into geographical and temporal relationship to each other. Has some odd formatting problems, but scroll down to find good information.
  • 2ND Hititte and Hurrian Mythology [At UNH][Modern Account]
  • WEB The Hittite Homepage [Website]
  • WEB Hatti: Homeland of the Hittites [Website]
    Includes pictures and texts.
• Hittite Texts
  • 2ND Harry A. Hoffner, Jr.: Oil in Hittite Texts [At Internet Archive, from Emory/Bib.Arch][Modern Account]
  • WEB Catalogue of Hittite Texts [Website-Emory]
• Material Culture
  • 2ND Robert C. Henrickson: Hittite Pottery and Potters: The View from Late Bronze Age Gordion [At Internet Archive, from Emory/Bib.Arch][Modern Account]
  • WEB Museum of Anatolian Culture [At Geocities]

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Assyria (c.1350- 612 BCE)

• Map: Assyrian Empires [At Nineveh.com]
• Assyrian Kings List [at aina.org]
• Assyrian Army Attacks a City [At Then Again]
• Letter of Pabi, Prince of Lachish, to Akhnaton, King of Kemet (i.e. Egypt), circa 1350 BCE.  [At this Site]
• The Code of the Assyrians, c. 1075 BCE
  Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
• Tiglathpileser I (r. 1115-1077 BCE): Inscription [At Then Again]
• Tiglath Pileser I, King of Assyria, B.C  (r. 1115-1077 BCE): Inscription [At Loyola]
• Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (d. 823 BCE) [At M UNiv]. Images can be found here [British Museum]
  Each of its four sides is divided into five compartments of sculpture representing the tribute brought to the Assyrian King by vassal princes, Jehu of Israel being among the number. Shalmaneser, whose annals and conquests are recorded upon it, was the son of Assur-natsir-pal, and died in 823 BCE. [Note this king has now been renumbered as III rather than II!]
• Annals of Assur-nasir-pal (prob. r. 883 to 858 BCE) [At M Univ]
• Sennacherib's Campaign vs. Judea 701 BCE [At Internet Archive, from ANET]
• Accounts of the Campaign of Sennacherib, 701 BCE  [At this Site]
• Banquet of Ashurnasirpal II (669-626 BCE), [At Wittenberg]
• Account of Revolt of the City of Suru of Bit-Halupe 7th Cent BCE [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
• Legend of Ahikar the Wise [At Internet Archive]
• Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria [At This Site]
  Includes accounts of Semiramis and Nitocris, Marriage customs, and the Persian conquest.
• 2ND The Great Ashurbanipal [At UT]
  Ashurbanipal (Sardanapalus)(r.668-626 BCE). Collected a libary of 22,000 clay tablets which was discovered in the late 19th century.
• 2ND John Malcolm Russel: Stolen Stones: The Modern Sack of Nineveh [At Archeology]
  Splendid photographs of the modern sites.
• 2ND Austen Henry Layard:  A Popular Account of Discoveries in Nineveh. (New York. 1854) Complete text. [At Assyrian International News Agency]
• WEB Nineveh Online [Website]
  Ancient and modern Assyrian culture.

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Chaldea/Neo-Babylonia (612-539 BCE)

• Inscription of   Nebuchadnezzar (r. 604-561 BCE) [At M Univ]
• Ishtar Gate Inscription c.600 BCE [At Hanson's web page]
• Treaty between Mursilis and Duppi-Tessub ANET 203-5 [At Internet Archive, from Creighton]
• Some Neo-Babylonian Legal Decisions, c. 555-427 BCE [At this Site]
• Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria [At this Site]
  Includes accounts of Semiramis and Nitocris, Marriage customs, and the Persian conquest.

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Syrian Cities: Ebla, Ugarit, Emar

Ebla was an ancient city in Syria at Tell Mardikh. The palace library, with thousands of tablets, was excavated by an Italian expedition in1975. These showed that Ebla had been a major commercial center. The tablets, written in a Canaanite language (Eblaite), date from c.2500 BCE. Exacavations over the past century have revealed more and more about Syrian cities.

• 2ND Biblical Origins in Canaan [Modern Accounts of Ebla findings]
• 2ND Account of Ebla and here 14th Cent. BCE [At Internet Archive, from Emory][Modern Accounts]
• 2ND Ugarit and the Bible 12th Cent BCE [At theology.edu][Modern Account]
  Includes some texts and pictures.
• 2ND Trade at Ugarit In The 13th Century BCE [At Internet Archive, from Farras]

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• Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): Hellenes & Phoenicians, c. 430 BCE [At this Site]
• WEB A Bequest Unearthed: Phoenicia [Website]
  Includes a useful Table of Phoenician Alphabet: Names of Letters, Phonetics, Derivatives and Modern Equivalents

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• Map: Phoenicia Colonies [At A Bequest Unearthed]
• Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): The Carthaginian Attack on Sicily, 480 BCE [At this Site]
• Aristotle (384-323 BCE): The Constitution of Carthage, c. 340 BCE, from Politics [At this Site]
• The Carthaginian Law of Sacrifices, c. 400 BCE [At this Site]
• Polybius  (c.200-after 185 BCE): Rome at the End of the Punic Wars [History, Book 6] [At this Site] (Public Domain unlike next selection, which is a more recent version.)
  Includes an extended comparison of Rome and Carthage.

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• WEB Photo Gallery of Mesopotamia [At Hanson's homepage]
• WEB Near East Image Index [At EAWC]
• 2ND Music of the Ancient Near East [At AOL]
  On the world's oldest written music, with a MIDI transcription of Hurrian Hymn H6.

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• 2ND Babylonian and Egyptian Mathematics [At St. Andrews]
  Illustrations and modern presentations of the calculation methods.

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• For Women: see WEB Diotima
  • Old Assyrian Marriage Contract 19th Cent. BCE [At U. Penn]
• For Gender variants: See WEB People With a History: Near East and Egypt
• The Code of the Nesilim, c. 1650-1500 BCE
  Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
• The Code of the Assyrians, c. 1075 BCE
  Excerpts on sex and gender matters.
• The Advice of an Akkadian Father to His Son, c. 2200 BCE

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Common Issues: Mesopotamian/Egyptian/Hebrew/Greek History

There are a number of problems in the various proposed chronologies of ancient Mediterranean cultures. One that most students might notice is a diversity in the dates given for Egyptian and Mesopotamian states, periods, and monarchs. The variety of methods used to ascertain dates leads to rival schemes with dates which vary by nearly a century. There is also a much large inconsistency claimed by credentialed scholars whose motives seem, however, to derive from Biblical literalism.

• 2ND R. Wright: Survey of Regional Prehistory: Egypt and the Near East: Chronology [At NYU]
  Wright explains the difference between absolute and relative chronology.
• 2ND David Meadows: Problems with Greek and Roman Calendars [At Atrium]
• 2ND  Dating Problems in Aegean History [At Dartmouth]
• 2ND David Gill, Review of Robert Drews, The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 BC [At Princeton][Modern Account]
• 2ND Bill Schell: Mediterranean Dating and the Chronology of Kemet [At WHA][Modern Account]
• 2ND Are the Bible's Stories True?, TIME Magazine, December 18, 1995 Volume 146, No. 25 [At Time]
  Reviews Archeological finds in recent years..
• 2ND Fred G. Zaspel: Ancient & Biblical Chronology & Genealogies [At WOL]
  This is a clear explanation of "Biblical Chronology." It's not scientific, but shows the problem for literalists: the Biblical data seems to put the days of the Biblical patriarchs (none of whom are witnessed outside the Bible) and the exodus, much earlier than most scholar's estimates. A number of the credentialed scholars who challenge conventional schemes seem to be driven by such Bible-based schemes.
• Centuries of Darkness?
  • 2ND Peter James: Centuries of Darkness:Update (scroll down) and a response [At British Archeology][Modern Account]
  • 2ND T.E. Wilder: A Chronological Revolution, [At Internet Archive][Modern Account]. Positive review of Centuries of Darkness, showing its appeal to Biblical literalists.
  • 2ND Review of Centuries of Darkness [At Egyptology.com]

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NOTES:

Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page..

The date of inception was 4/8/1998.

Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location].

Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site].

WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.