White Temple and its Ziggurat - Marsha Russell

Summary

This script explores the influence of geography on ancient cultures, contrasting Egypt's Nile Valley with Mesopotamia's river valleys. It delves into Mesopotamia's unpredictable floods, leading to a culture of wariness and a series of civilizations like the Sumerians. The Sumerians are highlighted for their innovations, including writing, the wheel, and city-state governance, all centered around ziggurats—symbolic mountains for gods. The White Temple of Uruk, dedicated to Anu, exemplifies their architectural and cultural achievements.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The geography of a region, such as the Nile River Valley for Egypt and the Tigris-Euphrates river system for Mesopotamia, significantly influences the culture that develops there.
• 🌊 In contrast to Egypt's predictable Nile floods, Mesopotamia experienced sporadic and devastating floods, shaping a culture with a different relationship with the divine, viewing gods as fickle.
• 🏰 Mesopotamia lacked natural barriers like Egypt's deserts and cliffs, leading to a succession of cultures including Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians.
• 📜 The Sumerians were pioneers in many areas: they invented writing (c. 3500-3300 BCE), the wheel (initially for potter's use and later for transportation), and developed a city-state system with each having its own patron deity.
• 🛤️ Sumerians were the first to practice a true division of labor, enabled by the widespread use of irrigation for farming, which produced food surpluses.
• ⛪ The Sumerians built ziggurats, massive platforms topped with temples dedicated to their city's patron deity, serving as a 'stairway to heaven' and symbolizing a connection between earth and the heavens.
• 🏺 The White Temple in the city of Uruk, associated with the god Anu, is an example of a ziggurat and was likely the most sacred area where the statue of the deity was kept.
• 🏗️ Ziggurats were constructed from millions of sun-dried mud bricks, reflecting the lack of stone in the region and the ingenuity of Sumerian construction techniques.
• 🔄 The bent axis approach to temple access, involving a series of turns to reach the temple, contrasts with the straight axis approach of Egyptian temples.
• 🌐 City-states in Mesopotamia, despite sharing a common culture, were often at war with each other, reflecting the challenges of political unity in the region.

Q & A

How does geography influence the development of ancient cultures?

Geography significantly influences ancient cultures by defining their development. For example, the fertile river valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia both led to the emergence of great cultures, but their different experiences with flooding shaped their cultural beliefs and practices.

What is the meaning of the term 'Mesopotamia' and how does it relate to the region's geography?

The term 'Mesopotamia' means 'the land between the rivers,' referring to the region located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This geographical feature is crucial as it provided fertile land for agriculture, which was essential for the development of civilizations in the area.

How did the annual flooding of the Nile River affect the ancient Egyptian culture?

The annual flooding of the Nile River was seen as a gift from the gods by the ancient Egyptians, leading to a confident belief in the afterlife and a trusting relationship with their deities. This flooding, combined with plentiful resources, contributed to a sense of divine protection and care.

What is the difference between the floods experienced in Mesopotamia compared to Egypt?

In contrast to Egypt's gentle, predictable annual floods, Mesopotamia experienced unpredictable and devastating floods that could occur once every 50 years or so, causing significant destruction. This led to a different cultural attitude towards the gods, viewing them as fickle rather than consistently benevolent.

Why did Mesopotamia have a series of different cultures rather than a single continuous culture like Egypt?

Mesopotamia lacked the natural barriers that Egypt had, such as deserts and cliffs, which allowed a single culture to thrive uninterrupted. As a result, Mesopotamia saw the rise and fall of multiple cultures, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, among others.

Who were the Sumerians and what was their significance in the development of early civilizations?

The Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia, known for pioneering many 'firsts' such as writing, the wheel, city-state governmental systems, and a true division of labor. They are particularly noted for the construction of ziggurats and the development of irrigation for farming.

What is a ziggurat and what was its purpose in Sumerian culture?

A ziggurat is a massive platform, often with a temple on top, built by the Sumerians. It served both practical purposes, such as protecting the temple from floods, and religious purposes, as a symbolic 'stairway to heaven' where gods could descend to receive offerings.

Why were ziggurats built with mud bricks instead of stone, and what was the construction process like?

Ziggurats were built with mud bricks because stone was scarce in the Mesopotamian plains. The construction process involved using millions of sun-dried mud bricks, often built in multiple stages over centuries, to reach a significant height and create a platform for the temple.

What is the 'bent axis approach' in Sumerian temple architecture, and how does it differ from the Egyptian 'straight axis approach'?

The 'bent axis approach' in Sumerian temple architecture refers to the use of slanted staircases and multiple 90-degree turns to access the temple, as opposed to the Egyptian 'straight axis approach,' which used a single, straight path to the temple's sacred area.

What was the White Temple in Uruk, and why was it significant?

The White Temple in Uruk was a ziggurat temple complex dedicated to the sky god Anu. It was significant because it represented the nucleus of the city-state, was the highest building in the city, and was visible for miles, serving as a central religious and cultural symbol.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Geographical Influence on Ancient Cultures

This paragraph explores the profound impact of geography on the development of ancient cultures, particularly contrasting Egypt and Mesopotamia. Egypt, with its predictable Nile floods and abundant resources, fostered a culture with a strong belief in the benevolence of gods and a confident afterlife. In contrast, Mesopotamia, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, experienced unpredictable and devastating floods, leading to a more cautious and less optimistic view of the divine. The absence of natural barriers in Mesopotamia resulted in a succession of cultures, including the Sumerians, who are highlighted for their early advancements in writing, the wheel, and city-state governance.

05:00

🏛️ The Sumerian Ziggurats and City-State Dynamics

The paragraph delves into the architectural and cultural significance of Sumerian ziggurats, which served as raised platforms for temples dedicated to patron deities. These structures were practical, protecting temples from floods, and symbolic, representing a connection between heaven and earth. The Sumerians believed that gods owned the land and humans served them, hence the construction of ziggurats to facilitate divine interaction. Despite their monumental purpose, the ziggurats' appearance in ruins today contrasts sharply with the enduring grandeur of Egyptian pyramids, highlighting the different building materials and environmental challenges faced by these ancient civilizations.

10:01

🛤️ The Bent Axis Approach and Temple Design

This section discusses the architectural layout of Sumerian temples, specifically the White Temple in the city of Uruk, attributed to the god Anu. The temple, characterized by a bent axis approach, required visitors to navigate a series of turns to reach the sacred areas, emphasizing the ritualistic and hierarchical nature of access. The temple's design, with a central area for the deity's statue and side rooms for offerings, reflects the importance of religious practices in Sumerian society. The use of white bricks and bitumen to create a dazzling white pavement further underscores the temple's significance as a spiritual and cultural epicenter of the city-state.

Keywords

💡Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia, meaning 'land between the rivers,' refers to the region in Western Asia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow. It is historically significant as one of the cradles of civilization, where some of the earliest cities and cultures developed. In the video, Mesopotamia is contrasted with Egypt to highlight how geography influenced the development of cultures. The unpredictable floods of the rivers in Mesopotamia, as opposed to the annual predictable Nile floods, shaped a culture with a different relationship with the divine and nature.

💡Ziggurat

A ziggurat is a type of step pyramid characteristic of ancient Mesopotamia, built as a platform for temple buildings. It symbolizes a connection between the earth and the heavens, serving as a meeting place for humans and their gods. The script describes the ziggurat as an imitation mountain for the gods, with the temple on top. The White Temple of Uruk, dedicated to the sky god Anu, is an example mentioned in the video, illustrating the architectural and religious significance of ziggurats in Sumerian culture.

💡Sumerians

The Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, known for their pioneering advancements in writing, the wheel, and city-state governance. The video emphasizes the Sumerians' role in the development of early civilization, including the creation of the first written language, cuneiform, and the establishment of complex social structures within city-states.

💡Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Middle East that includes the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, known for its fertile soil and arable land, which supported the growth of early civilizations. The video script uses the Fertile Crescent as a backdrop to discuss the environmental factors that contributed to the rise of Mesopotamian cultures, contrasting it with the Nile River Valley in Egypt.

💡City-State

A city-state is a sovereign state that consists of a single city and its dependent territories. In the context of the video, the city-states of Mesopotamia, each with its own patron deity and temple, are highlighted as central to the political and religious life of the Sumerians. The video discusses how these city-states, despite sharing a common culture, were often in conflict with one another, which influenced the development of their societies.

💡Cuneiform

Cuneiform is one of the earliest systems of writing, invented by the Sumerians around 3500-3300 BCE. It involves inscribing wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, which were used for record-keeping and communication. The video mentions cuneiform as a significant innovation by the Sumerians that laid the foundation for written communication and the preservation of knowledge.

💡Irrigation

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to land to assist in the growth of crops. The video explains how the Sumerians developed widespread irrigation for farming, which led to food surpluses and enabled a more complex division of labor. This agricultural practice was crucial for the growth of cities and the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia.

💡Patron Deity

A patron deity is a god or goddess who is considered the guardian or protector of a particular place or group. In the video, it is mentioned that each Mesopotamian city-state had its own patron deity, to whom a temple was built on a ziggurat. This reflects the integral role of religion in the social and cultural fabric of these ancient societies.

💡Standard of Ur

The Standard of Ur is a historical artifact from the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, consisting of a wooden box decorated with mosaics depicting scenes of warfare, banquets, and other aspects of Sumerian life. The video uses the Standard of Ur as an example of the artistic and cultural achievements of the Sumerians, as well as the first artistic image of wheeled transportation.

💡Bent Axis Approach

The bent axis approach refers to the architectural design in which access to a sacred space involves a series of turns or bends, rather than a straight path. In the video, this concept is applied to the ziggurat temple complexes of the Sumerians, where visitors would ascend the structure and make several 90-degree turns before reaching the temple entrance. This design is contrasted with the straight axis approach of Egyptian temples, highlighting the cultural differences in sacred space design.

Highlights

Geography plays a crucial role in shaping the culture of a region.

Mesopotamia, known as the land between the rivers, is defined by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Egypt's Nile River Valley experiences gentle annual floods, fostering a positive view of the gods.

Mesopotamia faces unpredictable floods that can devastate the region, influencing a more cautious cultural attitude.

Egypt benefits from natural barriers that allow for a continuous culture, unlike Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia's lack of natural barriers leads to a series of different cultures, including Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians.

The Sumerians were pioneers in many areas, including the invention of writing and the wheel.

Sumerians developed a city-state system with each city having its own patron deity and temple.

Irrigation and food surpluses in Sumerian culture enabled a division of labor and specialized occupations.

City-states, despite sharing culture and language, often engaged in warfare with each other.

Ziggurats were built to protect temples from floods and symbolize a connection between earth and heaven.

Sumerians believed that gods lived in the heavens and owned the land, with humans serving them.

Ziggurats were constructed with millions of sun-dried mud bricks, reflecting the lack of stone in the region.

The White Temple in Uruk was a significant religious structure, dedicated to the sky god Anu.

The temple complex was the nucleus of each city-state and a visible landmark for miles around.

Sumerian ziggurats predate the Egyptian pyramids by hundreds of years.

The bent axis approach of Sumerian ziggurats contrasts with the straight axis approach of Egyptian temples.

Transcripts

one of the things that's really

fascinating about studying ancient

cultures

is the ways in which it's clear that the

geography of a region really defines the

culture that develops there that's

what's really interesting comparing the

culture that we just learned about

egypt with the culture that's just a few

hundred miles over here to the east

the area that is known as mesopotamia

now this area that name means the land

between the rivers and it's a reference

to this land where we've got the tigris

river on the east and the euphrates

river on the west they start up here in

the mountains

and they come and come and they both

empty out down here into the persian

gulf

so what makes these two areas which have

obvious similarities they are both

fertile river valleys they both see

great cultures emerge

well one big difference is that over

here in the nile river valley where

egypt emerges

we've got a different kind of flood that

happens annually

we talked about how the the the rainy

season down in the rainforest of central

africa and the hills

lead to a gentle rise in the nile with

gentle flooding that is welcomed and is

seen as a gift from the gods and so

that combined with plentiful sunshine

plentiful water plentiful plentiful

vegetation it seems to the egyptians

that their gods take care of them that

their gods

love them and so this confidence in this

in their gods this confident

belief in the the protection of the gods

helps lead to this confident belief in

the afterlife

well we've got a much different

situation regarding floods over here in

mesopotamia

because while instead of having instead

of having gentle floods

what can occasionally happen now

certainly not every year but maybe once

every 50 years or something like this

the there will be a heavy heavy snowpack

up here in the mountains

where the headwaters of the two rivers

uh emerge and remember that this is

hundreds of miles away

from these cities that are down here

near the mouth of the rivers and the

persian gulf

so if there is a particularly heavy

snowpack and spring comes early and

there is is a

a heat wave that melts a whole lot of

that snow what we can have is

huge amounts of flood water think about

a wall of water

very rapid rise in the rivers and so it

might be a bright sunshiny day

in aurora or an ur down here hundreds of

miles away when all of a sudden the

ground starts shaking

and we there is this wall of water that

comes on it simply devastates

everything in its way so um rather than

the trusting

relationship that the egyptians have

with their gods the attitude of the

people who emerge in this geographical

area

um their their attitude is more that the

gods are fickle

and what i mean by that is is sometimes

sometimes they seem to love them and to

care about them

but other times they seem not to and

so there is not that same degree of

optimism optimism that same degree of

confidence is

it's as if the cultures here are

constantly looking over their shoulder

waiting for the next thing that is going

to happen another reason for that is

that while egypt

has perfect natural defenses with

hundreds of miles of desert

on either side and then steep cliffs

along the nile which

for the most part keep out invaders and

allow for one continuous culture

to thrive um with periods of warfare

certainly but one continuous culture to

to

develop over thousands of years we don't

have those same

natural barriers in mesopotamia and so

we have a whole a whole series of

cultures

that emerge there we've got the

sumerians and the acadians and the

neo-sumerians and the

babylonians and the and the assyrians

and the and the calvins or the

neo-samarians and and the persians and

those are just some of the biggies

and so we've got a really really

different situation here so we're going

to start

in talking about the ancient near east

mesopotamia by talking about the

earliest of these civilizations

and this earliest civilization appeared

right around this area close to where

the rivers go

into the persian gulf these are the

sumerians we're going to be talking

especially

about the white temple and it's a

ziggurat in

the early city of uruk that's not on

this map

it was very close to the city of ur that

we see right here

and it's in this city that we're going

to see some of the most

remarkable early developments um that

are pioneered by the sumerians

so for example it was the sumerians who

were the first to

use writing somewhere around 3 500 to

3300

bce this is the first group of people

who are going to invent the wheel

probably for use as um as a potter's

wheel and then

also to apply that wheel to

transportation we're actually going to

see the first artistic image

of wheeled transportation when we look

at the standard of er this is the first

civilization

to develop the city-state governmental

system each of these city-states we see

the different names of different

city-states around here this is some of

them

each of these um each of these had its

own

patron deity they would build a temple

to this patron deity on top of a

massive platform called a ziggurat

so we'll be talking about we'll be

talking about looking at that in

just a minute these are also the first

people who

really developed what we might think of

as a true division of labor

such that you'd be able to have

full-time people doing all different

kinds of occupations

and the reason for this is that they

also developed widespread use of

irrigation

for farming which would have helped

produce the kind of food surpluses which

would have enabled

people to to do full-time jobs in other

areas

so just all of these different firsts

at the same time that they have all of

these different firsts i want us to

recognize that there is an issue with

city-states

that we are going to see later on when

we get to the greeks and it was also an

issue that we discussed when we talked

about the mayans the problem with

city-states is that

even though these city-states share a

common culture

they share common foods in a common

language and common religious beliefs

and common

traditions in spite of that they tend to

be at

war with one another all the time and so

between

the unpredictability of the floods the

unpredictability of warfare

we're going to see a much different

culture emerge here so

um let's move now to talk about the

practice that the ancient sumerians had

of creating a

temple to their patron deity and

putting that temple up on a raised

platform now let's

let's look at we're going to go back and

we're going to look at that floor plan

for one in just a minute

but let's remember that with the danger

of the floods

a very practical matter a very practical

reason for

raising the temple to their patron deity

up onto a tall platform

would have been that it would have

protected that temple from the flood

waters

but there's another reason why they

raised

the temple to the to the deity up on

these tall cigarette platforms

and that is the sumerians believed that

the gods

lived up in the heavens and so this

notion of god being up in heaven

actually originated with the sumerians

now they also believed

that the deities owned the land they

believed that all

of the earth belonged to the gods and

the goddesses human beings had

one purpose and that purpose was to

serve the gods

so again each city-state built a temple

to its patron deity and put it on top of

a high

base like this and so the temple itself

would would be a convenient place

for the god coming from the heaven uh

coming down to earth

and and receiving offerings from from

the people who were left there by the

priests a sort of stairway to heaven

apologies to led zeppelin there so um

when we look

at the ziggurat this looks very very

different doesn't it

from what we think of when we think of

the egyptian pyramids now we are looking

at a model and we might ask

why are we looking at a model instead of

this the real thing well

guys this is what the real thing looks

like it's not really impressive is it

so earlier when we talked about why is

it that elementary school children are

taught about egypt and they get these

really strong visual images of the

pyramids and yet if you ask them about

if you ask them about the sumerians

ziggurats really don't come into their

minds

that's because the ziggurats just don't

capture the imagination

in the same way do they well when we

look at these modern day photographs

of the ruins of the zika garage the

remains of a cigarette

what this points out is yet another

advantage that the egyptian had over

that the egyptians had over the people

living here near the mouth of the tigers

and euphrates rivers and that is why the

egyptians had

just huge limitless quantities of

building stone

the people living in these flat plains

near the mouth of the tigers and

euphrates rivers

did not have building stone it was very

rare

and so for them to build their temple

bases

to put their ziggurats to put the

temples on top of what they were going

to have to do is the same thing

for construction that we see the people

in mali in the city of jenae doing

which is they are going to use mud

bricks and so

sun dried mud bricks millions of sun

dried mud bricks

would have been necessary to be able to

build this platform

which ultimately is built in many many

many different stages

some at least 10 different stages over

centuries

before it ultimately reached a height of

40 feet

now we can tell that there is a slope on

the sides we can see that there are

levels

that are um are horizontal across the

top so let's go back

and let's look at this model so when we

think about

a ziggurat what would we say is a um a

definition

for a ziggurat it is an imitation

mountain for the gods with the temple

on top as the home of the gods and that

that deity resides in the statue that is

found

in the temple the mountains were

believed to be powerful the sources

of the water that made farming possible

um the goddess minharsa the great mother

and the goddess of the earth was called

the lady of the mountain and so as

temple platforms the ziggurats also

symbolize

what gardner's textbook calls lofty

bridges between the earth

and the heavens a meeting place for

humans

and their gods and so what a ziggurat is

composed of as millions of my bricks

it's got four sides with these long

sloping

vertical grooves going down the sides in

the sunlight

that would have been really really

striking and a major contrast is that

while egyptians had what we call a stray

axis approach

one straight walkway that would lead

them straight up to the most sacred part

of any temple what we have instead with

the sumerians is what is known as

the bent axis approach so what that

means is we've got the slanting we've

got the staircase on

one side that they go up and then they

have to do a 90 degree turn

so they continue up this ramp do another

90 degree turn

continue up that ramp come all the way

up to the platform

on which the temple stands then they've

got to do one more

final 90 degree turn in order to enter

the temple itself now once one gets up

there what they're going to be seeing

is that this will be paved with white

bricks what they did

on top of that mound of all of those

millions of blood bricks is they put a

layer of bitumen which is a tar-like

substance that is used

to pave roads in the modern world and so

on top of that car

they would light white bricks so on top

of the dazzling brilliance of that white

pavement

what emerges is this what has been

called the white temple

now again we are talking about the

specific temple

um that is found in the earliest of

sumerian cities the city of uruk

which was founded by gilgamesh many of

you have read the epic of gilgamesh

and we believe that the white temple was

dedicated to

the god the god of the sky whose name

was anu

the outer walls were probably painted

white this is why it's referred

to as the white temple so let's take a

minute to look at the plan

of the temple here and then to compare

that with the model that has been

created

we can see that the plan shows a

rectangular form

in the center is the area where

the deity would actually reside this is

the most sacred area called the kela

and right here there would be a kind of

stepped altar

and that is where the statue of the

deity would reside

and so the notion was that when it when

the when the deity decided to come down

to earth

and visit his temple that this is where

this is what he would inhabit

and so the only people who were ever

allowed up here were the priests

themselves they would bring offerings

from the people there would be

votive offerings and so we're going to

be looking at some um some votive

statues that were found

buried underneath one of the altars in a

different cigarette in a different city

state

and so when we look at this we can see

that there are also these

side rooms along the main room of the

tele

right here so this whole structure is

about 5 000

years old the sumerians were building

their ziggurats with their temples on

top

hundreds of years before the ancient

egyptians started building the great

pyramids at giza

the ziggurat temple complex would have

been the nucleus of

each city-state and certainly would have

been the highest

building in the city and given the flat

landscape that we

were talking about would have been

visible for miles a really imposing site

to anyone entering one of these great

ancient city-states