Western Civilization

the gods and supervised the temples and their property.

The priests and priestesses had great power. The temples

ownedmuchofthecitylandandlivestockandserved

not only as the physical center of the city but also as its

economic and political center. In fact, historians believe

that in the early stages of a few city-states, priests and

priestesses may have played an important role in ruling.

The Sumerians believed that the gods ruled the cities,

making the state atheocracy(government by a divine

authority). Ruling power, however, was primarily in the

hands of worldly figures known as kings.

KINGSHIP Sumerians viewed kingship as divine in origin;

they believed kings derived their power from the gods

and were the agents of the gods. As one person said in

a petition to his king, “You in your judgment, you are

the son of Anu [god of the sky]; your commands, like

the word of a god, cannot be reversed; your words, like

rain pouring down from heaven, are without number.”^2

Regardless of their origins, kings had power—they led

armies, initiated legislation, supervised the building of

public works, provided law courts, and organized work-

ers for the irrigation projects on which Mesopotamian

(^)
(^)
(^) Ti
gr
is
R.
(^) Eu
phr
ate
s
R.
N
ile
R
.
Medi
terranea
n (^) Sea
Black Sea
Caspian
Sea
Red Sea
Persian
Gulf
Jordan R.
Dead
Sea
0 200 400 Miles
0 200 400 600 Kilometers
F
E
RTILE
(^)
C R E S C E N T
SUMER
ASIA
MINOR
ASSYRIA
AKKAD
IRAN
CANAAN
Cyprus
PHOENICIA
LOWER
EGYPT SINAI
Jericho
Jerusalem
Tyre
Ebla
Çatal Hüyük Nineveh
Babylon
Lagash
Ur
Uruk
Ashur
Eridu
Umma
Arabian Desert
Taur
us Mts.
Zag
ro
s (^)
(^) M
ts.
Syrian Desert
Sahara
(^) Cau
casus (^) Mts.
MAP 1.2The Ancient Near East.The Fertile Crescent encompassed land with access to
water. Employing flood management and irrigation systems, the peoples of the region
established civilizations based on agriculture. These civilizations developed writing, law
codes, and economic specialization.
Q What geographic aspects of the Mesopotamian city-states made conflict
between them likely?
8 Chapter 1The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
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