WRITING AND CITY LIFE (Question & Answer) 11th class history CBSE Board

             WRITING AND CITY LIFE

Q. 1. The kingdom of Mari was not militarily strong yet it was exceptionally prosperous. Given any four reasons.

 Ans. After 2000 BCE the royal capital of Mari flourished. Among the factors which contributed to its prosperity were

 1. The geographical location of Mari Mari stood on the southern plain which was highly productive agriculturally

2 Moreover animal rearing was yet another profitable occupation of the people as some of the communities were both farmers and pastoralists.

3. Mesopotamian society and culture was basically inclusive. This added to the vitality of the civilisation and was reflected in the prosperity of Mari.

4. Located on the Euphrate's, Mari, occupied an advantageous position. It profited from trade both upstream and downstream in wood, copper, tin, oil, wine, barley and various other goods carried in boats between the south and mineral rich uplands of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

 5. It profited immensely by levying charge of 1/10 of the value of goods before allowing the boat to continue downstream.

6. Clay tablets refer to copper from "Alashiya" the island by Cyprus, Rich agricultural produce enabled exchange and was a source of prosperity of Mari. 

Q. 2. Write a short note on the development of writing in Mesopotamian civilisation.

 Ans. By 3500 BCE the economy of Sumeria had become sufficiently complex to necessitate a proper note of various transactions rather than having to rely on memory alone. It was temples, that pioneered the use of a written script.

Clay tablets were used for writing. Impressions were made on these tablets, while thec lay was still wet with a hard pointed device (stylus). The clay tablets were then driedi n the sun or baked in the oven. This gave permanent shape to the document.

The earliest such tablets were pictograms in the nature of temple accounts and ration lists. These contain about 5000 lists of crude pictures of certain objects (fish, goats, ears of barley etc.) Later these symbols were simplified further so that only the bare outline was depicted.

Later by 2600 BCE the script that evolved out of these pictograms is known as cuneiform script. Wedge shaped signs were made on the smoothened surface of the still moist clay tablet. Each symbol was a combination of these wedges.

 Thus writing conveyed in visual form the system of sounds. The sound that the cuneiform signs represented was not a single consonant or vowel as in English but syllables. 

The signs the scribe had to learn ran into hundreds and were complex. So writing was a skilled craft and an enormous intellectual achievement. 

Q. 3. Give an account of religion in Mesopotamia.

Ans. 1. Mesopotamian religion was in a sense not a single unified belief. The Mesopotamian's believed in a number of gods. The chief among them were. An (Uruk), Enlil (Nippur), Marduk, Assur (Nineveh), Ishtar.

2. Each city had their respective gods and goddesses. The main deity of the city had a big temple (ziqqurat) dedicated to it. e.g., Moon God of Ur.

3. By a process of assimilation many smaller dieties became merely relative of the great gods. Also these gods have features which overlap because of adoption of diverse cults. At the popular level, minor deities, as distinct from official cults were worshipped by particular groups.

4.The god was theoretical owner and the focus of worship, to him or her people brought n, curd, fish. Rent from the land was collected, and all government regulations e carried on in his name.

5. In time temples gradually, became the point of collection, storage, redistribution and main urban institution (e.g. Uruk).

6. They symbolised community as a whole so much, so many cities had priest kings.

7. Progress of the bronze age with the exception of goddess "Inanna" saw decline of female ties. This marginalisation of goddesses was the outcome of general relegation of men to an inferior position during bronze age.

8. People believed in life after death, as remains of food and other necessities of daily life ve been excavated from burials in Sumer.

Q. 4. Why were mobile animal herders not necessarily a threat to town life?

 Ans. Mobile herders were not necessarily a threat to town life because:

1. Agriculture and animal rearing were carried out close to each other in souther Mesopotamia.

2. Herders needed to exchange young animals, cheese, leather and meat in return for gram and metal tools thereby adding to trade and exchange.

3. Throughout Mesopotamian history nomadic communities of the western desert filtered into the prosperous agricultural heartland and served as harvest labourers or hired soldiers.

4. Some became prosperous and settled down and a few gained even power to establish their own rule, for example, the Akkadians, Amorites and Assyrians.

5. These herders once settled respected many elements of Mesopotamian culture for example, the Akkadians respected the gods of Mesopotamia, and even adopted the cuneiform script

6. The nomads added to the vitality of the Mesopotamian society and culture. However despite Mesopotamian society being open to different people and cultures. herders were a subject of constant vigil. Mobility of herders many a times was a cause of conflict, e.g, at times when herders raided agricultural villages or seized stored grains or on a issue of access to river and land water.

 Q. 5. What do ancient stories tell us about the civilisation of Mesopotamia?

Ans. We get a glimpse of Mesopotamia in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. For instance, the Book of Genesis, of the Old Testament there is reference to Shimar' meaning Sumer as a land of brick built cities. Many European travellers and scholars look upon it as a land of their ancestors. By trying to locate the tablet of the flood there have been attempts by European archaeologists and scholars to prove the literal truth of the Old Testament.

According to the Bible, the flood was meant to destroy all life on earth. The Almighty assigned the task of sustaining the earth, to a man Noah. Noah built a huge boat, an ark, and took a pair of each known species of animals and birds on board the ark. Thus when every other thing was destroyed by the flood, this ark (ship) remained safe along with the pairs of all species. Thus began a new life on this Earth.

There is reference to a strikingly similar story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the principal character instead of Noah, was called. Ziusudra or Utnapishtim.

Q. 6. Briefly outline the specific geographical features of Mesopotamia which had bearing on its civilisation. 

Ans. The specific geographical features which had a bearing on Mesopotamian civilisation were: 

Two major rivers flow through the country the Euphrates and Tigris that flowed from north to south and discharged their waters into the Persian Gulf. These rivers, along with their sediments made the land fertile, and the natural channels provided not only means of irrigation, but also cheap, easy mode of transport. It is because of this like other old civilisations of the world. eg., Indus valley, Mesopotamian civilisation is also known as river valley civilisation.

1. It was a land of diverse environments. In the north east the undulating plains, with enough rainfall to grow crops were ideal for development of agriculture.

 2. The upland called steppe in the North the stretch of are well suited for animal herding. Sheep and goats produced meat, milk and wool in abundance.

3. To the east, the tributaries of Tigris provide routes of communication. 

4. In the west the region is bound by the Syrian desert which merges with the Arabian desert.

5. The south is a desert but it is here that the first cities and writing emerged. This desert could support cities because rivers Euphrates and Tigris carried loads of silt. These rivers when flooded provided possibilities of cultivation.

6. As Mesopotamia was not protected by natural features streams of people poured, and this intermixture added to the vitality of the civilisation. Mesopotamia can roughly be divided into two distinct regions, north and south having very different environments. The Southern most part of Mesopotamia was known as Sumeria. The area lying between Sumeria and Northern Mesopotamia was called Akkad. Sumeria and Akkad together constituted southern Mesopotamia and from 2000 BCE onwards are referred to as Babylonia.

Q. 7. How far are clay tablets relevant in the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history? 

Ans. Clay tablets (written records) which occur by the hundreds at Mesopotamian sites when studied along with archaeological remains of Mesopotamian buildings, statue, ornaments, graves, tools and seals, enable scholars to:

1. Understand trade transactions within and with the outside world for many tablets of delivery of pieces of metal have been found discarded. Examples

(a) clay tablets refer to copper coming from "Alashiya", the island of Cyprus.

(b) How Enmarker sent his messenger to get lapiz lazuli and precious metals for beautification of the temple to a very distant land "Arate".

2. Help understand land transfers deeds of kings, changes made in customary laws of the land (Hammurobi code of law) how Sumerian the early language was replaced by Akkadian under Akkadian civilisation.

3. Above all, they help understand development of script, i.e., writing from pictographic to cuneiform script. 

4. The Omen tablets at Ur help reflects upon some of the superstitions about building houses.

(a) a raised threshold was said to bring wealth.

(b) a front door that did not open towards another house was lucky.

(c) If the main door opened outwards instead of inwards the wife would be a torment to her husband.

5. The epic poem about Enmarker one of the earliest rulers of Uruk, enlightens about connection between city life, trade and writing. How it was kingship that organised trade and writing.

6. How much Mesopotamians valued city life e.g., Gilgamesh Epic which was written on twelve tablets.

7. Our knowledge of legacy of Mesopotamian civilisation is science, mathematic, and aestronomy would not have been possible without the clay tablets.

8. Moreover they help scholars understand development of ideas, spread of education and communication skills in Mesopotamia.

. 7. Briefly explain the contribution of Mesopotamian civilisation to world civilisation.

Ans. Some of the important legacies of Mesopotamian Civilisation to World Civilisation are :

 1. The use of the potters wheel to the world.

2. Probably the first to make glassware.

3. First to devise the use of arch, domes, and pillars to support their roofs in the absenc large quantities of wood and stones in their region.

4. Development of writing-written code of laws, trade agreements, and frame rules debt recovery etc.

5. Perhaps the greatest legacy to the world is its scholarly tradition of time reckoning a mathematics, division of an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds, and circle into 360 degrees.

6. Observation and noting, of solar and lunar eclipses in an ordered way i.e., according year, month and day.

7. Maintaining records, about the observed position of stars and constellations in the nigh sky.

8. Probably the first to establish reading rooms and libraries.

Q Briefly discuss the salient features of town planning of the city of Ur.

Ans. Ur was one among the earliest cities to have been excavated.

(i) Ur indicates lack of town planning.

(ii) Narrow winding lanes.

(iii) Irregular shapes of house plots. No street drains. 

(iv) Light came into the house not from windows but from doors opening into the courtyards. This also ensured privacy of the families. (v) Construction of houses was guided by superstitious, which are recorded in Omen tablets at Ur.

Examples 

(i) a raised threshold brought wealth. (ii) a front door which did not open

towards another house was lucky.

(iii) There was a town cementary at Ur in which graves of royalty and commoners have been found but a few individuals have been found buried under the floors of ordinary houses. This has led scholars to opinate as in other ancient civilisations dead were looked upon as protectore of families and perhaps also worshipped in the home.

Q.3. Why was development of art of writing important?

 Ans. The early Mesopotamian script was "pictographic". They later evolved a proper system of writing called "cuneiform". Development of art of writing was important for:

1. Keeping record of transactions and faciliated trade.

2. Enabled communication of ideas. It helped enrich literature, mathematics, science, formulation of dictionaries and spread of education.

3. For giving legal validity to land transfers.

4. For narrating the deeds of kings. 5. For announcing changes a king had made in customary laws of the land.

6. To make available to students written material to read, build upon, and pass on to the next generation. None of the momentous Mesopotamian scholarly traditions of time reckoning, astronomy and mathematics would have been possible without art of writing. Moreover, today because of the written sources. e.g., clay tablets, Gilgamesh Epic poem about Enmerkar, Hammurbi code of law we are able to reconstruct the political, social and economic life of the people of early. Mesopotamian civilisation.

Q. 4. Mesopotamian's valued city life in which people of many communities and cultures lived side by side. Give example in support of the statement.

 Ans. The most poignant reminder to us of the pride Mesopotamians took in their cities comes from poetry, written after cities were destroyed in war e.g., Gilgamesh Epic. The Gilgamesh Epic was written on twelve tablets. Gilgamesh was a great hero, who is said to have ruled the city of Uruk sometime after Enmerkar. It is believed Gilgamesh sought consolation after loss of his heroic friend by walking back and forth along the city wall of Uruk. Realising no man could be immortal, he sought consolation not in the fact that the same would continue as any tribal hero would have done but in the fact that the city his people had built, would outlive him.

5. What do you know about the time division of Mesopotamians?

 

Ans. The greatest legacy of Mesopotamia to the world is its scholarly tradition of time reckoning and mathematics. 

Dating around 1800 BCE are tablets with the division of the year into 12 months according to the revolution of the moon around the earth. The division of the month into 4 weeks, the day into 24 hours, and the hour into 60 minutes.

These time divisions were adopted by the successors of Alexander and from there transmitted to the Roman world, then to the world of Islam and then to medieval Europe. 

Whenever solar and lunar eclipses were observed there occurrence was noted methodically according to years, month and day. 

Also there were records about the observed position of stars and constellations in the night sky.