Enheduana of Sumer

Enheduana of Sumer

The first lady of the throne room
has accepted Enheduanda's song
Inanna loves her again
The day was good for Enheduana, for she was dressed in jewels
She was dressed in womanly beauty ,
Like the moons first rays over the horizon
how luxuriously she was dressed!
When Nanna, Innana's father made his entrance
the palace blessed Innana's mother Ningal
From the doorsill of heaven came the word "Welcome"
-Enheduana, 23,000 B.C.
2334 B.C., a great ruler named Sargon dominated the land of Mesopotamia. He had two twin sons named Rimush and Manishtusu and a daughter named Enheduana. Because Enheduana was the daughter of a great king, she was given the privilege to read. She was soon discovered for her talent with words, and her father rewarded her with the position as high priestess to the important moon god, Nanna. Enheduana left her hometown of Akkad to move to the sacred city, Ur. The sumerians believed in many gods and godesses, and that it was Enheduana's job to please all of them so that the people of Sumer would have healthy crops and lives. This meant she had to offer and lead prayers and rituals to the gods, make offering in there honor, sacrificing animals, and burning incense to please them. Enheduana became very good at channeling her religious feeling into her writing. She began to feel more connected to the moon goddess, Inanna (As shown in picture), and began to write many poems about her. Under the influence of Enduana, Inanna became the supreme being in Sumer. Enheduana wrote all of her poems on clay tablets, so over 50 tablets with her poems inscribed have been uncovered. Her writings tell archaeologist about herself, politics, and Sumerian religion. Enheduana kept her position as high priestess until her nephew came into power and forced her out to make room for his own daughter. Enheduana was the first non- anonymous women, if not person, ever to publish scripts and poems. She is an exploratory example of powerful women and even in ancient times when women weren't highly respected, that girls can do anything.

Questions:
1) During the time Enheduana was writing, books were clay tablets written by using a stylus to engrave the words in while the clay was still wet
2) Enheduana lived in the city of Akkad with her two twin brothers and her father, King Sargon.
3) Enhedana was high priestess of the moon god Nanna. She had to lead prayers and rituals, sacrifice animals, and keep the gods happy. She held down this position until her Nephew kicked her out to make room for his own daughter.
4) Enheduanas poems were widely known and so popular that many copies of the same poem were written.
5) Enheduana wrote about religion, herself, and sometimes politics. This lets us know what was going through leaders heads in the times when Sumer thrived

From earliest times, people have changed their environments. How have people today changed their environment. Discuss both the good and the bad.

From earliest times, people have changed their environments. How have people today changed their environment. Discuss both the good and the bad.

From the beginning of time, people have always been eager to upgrade and change their way of life. This could be anything from the material of the basket they store food in to the color on their kitchen walls. While we are eager to change, the impacts of our upgrades have in many ways changed our planet and the environment. Although the upgrades have made life much simpler, it has taken a huge toll on the planet.

Although some of the changes we make have killed off some of our environment, not all of it is bad. From an early time people have discovered that when you grow crops, some of the seeds will naturally fall off and re-plant itself. People then knew to leave some of their crops during the harvest so that when the seeds fall, they can depend on those instead of killing more crops. Another great change is that people have discovered natural fertilizers to keep soil healthy for years and years. They can use the same fields instead of re-plowing off new land every year and killing all of the natural plants. early civilizations also molded their houses out of dry clay of mud instead of cutting down trees as timber for houses or killing animals to use the skin as tents.

Although not everything we do kills the planet, the way we are living today is destroying out environment. People use to live in small houses made of dry mud or clay. Today we made larger houses using valuble timber. Another change we have made for the worst is our food industry. We no longer take only what we need, but we buy in massive and un-natural amounts. In order to keep up with our many demands, the food industry is genetically enhancing our food to that it grows, lays, milks, ect. twice as fast and twice as much. This has also caused and unnatural increase in cow population. We bread so many cows for hamburgers that they are now the worlds second most populated animal. One last change that humans have made for the worst is our need for spaces. As people decided that everyone should have a house with a yard and a fence to block everyone out, cities expanded. As the cities expanded we developed ways to get around more conveniently. Cars, plains, and other forms of transportation have taken a huge tool on the environment. The wast we are making is getting so bad that we are developing holes in our ozone. Although the changes make life more efficient for us it is taking its toll on the environment.

We have come up with many changes that have taken their toll on the environment. Although not all the changes we make are bad, there are still enough un- earth friendly changes that soon the entire face of the earth could change. As we move on through history, we will continue to make changes, hopefully in the future they will be more environmentally friendly.

Why is Catal Hoyuk an important archaeological find?

Why is Catal Hoyuk an important archaeological find

Catal Hoyuk was an ancient Neolithic city that may have the biggest city around 9,000 years ago. It was built in what is now central Turkey just southeast of the city Konya. Back in the Neolithic times the land was very rich and green. It is often referred to as "the fertile crescent". We have been excavating it for a number of years and have found numerous artifacts that give us a clue what life was like back then. Catal Hoyuk is considered one of the of the most important Neolithic finds of the century.

Catal Hoyuk was once a thriving city, rich in export and trade. It rose up in the time period know as the agricultural revolution. The agricultural revolution is the time period when people decided to settle and plant crops as opposed to following their food in temporary settlements. The city was positioned next to a river and the land was very fertile and this is probably what compelled the nomads to stay. Once settled in, the nomads could plant crops in the fertile soil. When it came time to harvest, there was more than enough for everybody, so starvation was no longer a problem. Another great thing about harvest was that not everyone was needed. Other people could explore and excel in other activities such as crafting, taming animals, art, building, and preaching. From this the division of labor sprang up and then they had governments, farmers, and industry workers. Another thing that bubbled up along with the agricultural revolution was the specialization of labor. When people weren’t working in the fields they were experimenting with weaving, painting, tool making, and building. Sometimes people would excel in these tasks and that became their career. Along with this they were excellent traders. Archaeologists think that they may have had to walk about 120 miles to fetch rare obsidian rocks that formed from dry lava. Obsidian was easy to carve and once made into knives it was sharp and efficient, so it was a prized material in the Neolithic tomes. If they didn’t walk to get the obsidian they would cleverly trade and re-trade from other villages. The people living in Catal Hoyuk were extremely self sufficient and could easily provide for themselves. The people of Catal Hoyuk also had lots of culture. While uncovering the city, archaeologists found human remains under the floor of the houses. Archaeologists think that these ancient people though that a dead family member was still a part of the house, so they buried them there. Archaeologists have also uncovered paintings of special events, so the people of Catal Hoyuk must have retold their stories. Archaeologists have also found small shrines and a memorial to the dead with picture of some of the events in the person’s life.

Catal Hoyuk is one of the biggest and oldest ancient cities we have ever uncovered. Archaeologists have uncovered lots of the city and have found lots of artifacts that were used in daily life. This lets us see exactly how these ancient people lived and what technology, ideas, and theories were going on during the time of the agricultural revolution. We know have a clear idea of how the people of Catal Hoyuk and many of the ancient cities and towns around them lived. It was an amazing find because without it, we would know little about Catal Hoyuk or even the Neolithic period in general.