PAST CRIMESAssyrian empire around 1,000BC, a time when there appears to have been a
widespread disaster affecting most of Eurasia. Their settlements consisted of a
maze of stone or mudbrick buildings in narrow alleys; some of the largest
cities held up to 60,000 people, usually around a royal residence and temple
complex, and a ziggarut. A ziggarut was a massive artificial mound made up
of mudbricks, sometimes glazed with bright colours, which rose in a series of
terraces to a shrine on the top, which was believed to be the dwelling place of
the city’s patron god. The Great Ziggarut of Ur, dedicated to the moon god
Nanna, was probably over 30m high.
Most houses were singlestorey, but some of the wealthier residents had
houses with an upper floor. There was some sort of sewage system beneath the
streets, but there were no markets or workshops. These were confined to the
temple precincts, under the control of the priests. Many cities were also
enclosed by massive walls and gateways.
Surrounding the cities were the zones of irrigated fields and peasant
communities who produced the food that supported the city. Compared to the
kind of civilisations to be found in Northern Europe at the time, where small
dispersed farmsteads made of timber were scattered across the countryside,
without any major urban centres or central government, these Near Eastern
cities were extremely advanced. At least to some extent, the development of
cities was the result of a relatively harsh landscape–water sources were few,
cropland had to be created through the use of irrigation techniques, and
survival depended on cooperation and organisation. In the north, there was
plenty of water and the land was richer–people did not need to band together
to such a degree to survive. They had far more resources to hand, and could
live more independently.
Life in the first cities revolved around the temples. They were not only
religious centres, but also the places where scribes were taught writing and
mathematics, where taxes and tribute were gathered, and where records were
produced and kept. The society was highly stratified, with the king and his
court, and the temple priests at the top and slaves at the bottom. This hierarchy
was reflected in the way laws were administered, and in which criminals were
punished. Legal disputes were debated before an arbitrator, and if a settlement
could not be reached, the matter was referred to a panel of trained judges. If a
crime was committed against someone from the upper classes, it was regarded
as more severe, and carried a harsher punishment, than one committed against
a lower class citizen. But if the criminal was himself from the upper classes,
he could expect a harsher punishment than would a low class law breaker.