mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ 
For complete access to all the files of this collection
	see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php 
==========================================================
[INLINE]

IFRAME: [1]google_ads_frame
<img>

IFRAME:
[2]http://ln.doubleclick.net/adi/tr.ln/misc;h=web;sz=728x90;ord=185851
919113295?

[3][LINK] [4]Click Here! 

The achievements of ancient Mesopotamia

The world of mathematics and astronomy owes much to the
Babylonians--for instance, the sexagesimal system for the calculation
of time and angles, which is still practical because of the multiple
divisibility of the number 60; the Greek day of 12 "double-hours"; and
the zodiac and its signs. In many cases, however, the origins and
routes of borrowings are obscure, as in the problem of the survival of
ancient Mesopotamian legal theory.

The achievement of the civilization itself may be expressed in terms
of its best points--moral, aesthetic, scientific, and, not least,
literary. Legal theory flourished and was sophisticated early on,
being expressed in several collections of legal decisions, the
so-called codes, of which the best-known is the Code of Hammurabi.
Throughout these codes recurs the concern of the ruler for the weak,
the widow, and the orphan--even if, sometimes, the phrases were
regrettably only literary clichés.

The aesthetics of art are too much governed by subjective values to be
assessed in absolute terms, yet certain peaks stand out above the
rest, notably the art of Uruk IV, the seal engraving of the Akkad
period, and the relief sculpture of Ashurbanipal .

Science the Mesopotamians had, of a kind, though not in the sense of
Greek science. From its beginnings in Sumer before the middle of the
3rd millennium BC, Mesopotamian science was characterized by endless,
meticulous enumeration and ordering into columns and series, with the
ultimate ideal of including all things in the world but without the
wish or ability to synthesize and reduce the material to a system. Not
a single general scientific law has been found, and only rarely has
the use of analogy been found. Nevertheless, it remains a highly
commendable achievement that Pythagoras' law (that the sum of the
squares on the two shorter sides of a right-angled triangle equals the
square on the longest side), even though it was never formulated, was
being applied as early as the 18th century BC. Technical
accomplishments were perfected in the building of the ziggurats
(temple towers resembling pyramids), with their huge bulk, and in
irrigation, both in practical execution and in theoretical
calculations .

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, an artificial stone often
regarded as a forerunner of concrete was in use at Uruk (160 miles
south-southeast of modern Baghdad), but the secret of its manufacture
apparently was lost in subsequent years. Writing pervaded all aspects
of life and gave rise to a highly developed bureaucracy--one of the
most tenacious legacies of the ancient Middle East. Remarkable
organizing ability was required to administer huge estates, in which,
under the 3rd dynasty of Ur, for example, it was not unusual to
prepare accounts for thousands of cattle or tens of thousands of
bundles of reeds. Similar figures are attested at Ebla, three
centuries earlier.

Above all, the literature of Mesopotamia is one of its finest cultural
achievements. Though there are many modern anthologies and
chrestomathies (compilations of useful learning), with translations
and paraphrases of Mesopotamian literature, as well as attempts to
write its history, it cannot truly be said that "cuneiform literature"
has been resurrected to the extent that it deserves. There are partly
material reasons for this: many clay tablets survive only in a
fragmentary condition, and duplicates that would restore the texts
have not yet been discovered, so that there are still large gaps. A
further reason is the inadequate knowledge of the languages:
insufficient acquaintance with the vocabulary and, in Sumerian, major
difficulties with the grammar. Consequently, another generation of
Assyriologists will pass before the great myths, epics, lamentations,
hymns, "law codes," wisdom literature, and pedagogical treatises can
be presented to the reader in such a way that he can fully appreciate
the high level of literary creativity of those times.

[5]back to the History page

[6]Home

References

1. file://localhost/www/jnocook.net/saturn/files/meso/achieve_files/ads.html
2. http://ln.doubleclick.net/adi/tr.ln/misc;h=web;sz=728x90;ord=185851919113295?
3. http://network.realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/lycosangelfire/ros/1x1/wp/ss/a/16534295 at Position3?
4. http://network.realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/lycosangelfire/ros/1x1/wp/ss/a/1766716721/Position3/OasDefault/DEF2004020008_Lycos_1x1/1x1.gif/64313730356637393430383564363230?
5. http://www.angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/history.html
6. http://www.angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/content.html