For many centuries, in the culture of Mesopotamia there was a process of eliminating some deities and cults and exalting others, processing and merging mythological stories, changes in the character and appearance of those gods who were destined to rise and become universal (as a rule, the deeds and merits of those who remained in the shadows or died in the memory of generations were attributed to them). The result of this process was the formation of the religious system in the form in which it has survived to this day according to surviving texts and archaeological excavations.

The religious system bore a noticeable imprint of the socio-political structure that actually existed in this region. In Mesopotamia, with its many successive state formations (Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia), there was no strong stable state power. Therefore, although at times individual successful rulers (Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi) achieved considerable power and recognized power, as a rule, there were no centralized despotisms in this region. Apparently, this also affected the status of the Mesopotamian rulers recorded by the religious system. Usually they did not call themselves (and they were not called by others) sons of the gods, and their sacralization was practically limited to granting them the prerogatives of the high priest or the right recognized for them to have direct contact with God (an obelisk has been preserved with the image of the sun god Shamash, handing Hammurabi a scroll with the laws that entered history as the laws of Hammurabi).

This relatively low degree of centralization of political power and, accordingly, the deification of the ruler contributed to the fact that in Mesopotamia, many gods with the temples dedicated to them and the priests who served them got along with each other quite easily, without fierce rivalry (which took place in Egypt). Mythology has preserved information about the Sumerian pantheon, which already existed at the early stages of civilization and statehood in Mesopotamia. The main ones were the sky god An and the earth goddess Ki, who gave birth to the powerful god of air Enlil, the god of water Ea (Enki), often depicted as a fish man and who created the first people. All these and many other gods and goddesses entered into complex relationships with each other, the interpretation of which changed over time and depending on the change of dynasties and ethnic groups (the Semitic tribes of the Akkadians, who mixed with the ancient Sumerians, brought with them new gods, new mythological subjects).

Most of the Sumerian-Akkadian-Babylonian gods had an anthropomorphic appearance and only a few, like Ea or Nergal, bore zoomorphic features, a kind of memory of totemistic ideas of the distant past. The sacred animals of the Mesopotamians included the bull and the snake: in myths the gods were often called “mighty bulls,” and the snake was revered as the personification of the feminine principle.

Already from the ancient Sumerian myths it follows that Enlil was considered the first among the gods. However, his power in the pantheon was far from absolute: seven pairs of great gods, his relatives, at times challenged his power and even removed him from office, casting him into the underworld for offenses. The underworld is the kingdom of the dead, where the cruel and vengeful goddess Ereshkigal reigned supreme, who could only be pacified by the god of war Nergal, who became her husband. Enlil and other gods and goddesses were immortal, so even if they fell into the underworld, they returned from there after a series of adventures. But people, unlike them, are mortal, so their lot after death is an eternal stay in the dark kingdom of the dead. The border of this kingdom was considered to be a river, through which the souls of the buried were transported to the kingdom of the dead by a special carrier (the souls of the unburied remained on earth and could cause a lot of trouble to people).

Life and death, the kingdom of heaven and earth and the underground kingdom of the dead - these two principles were clearly opposed in the religious system of Mesopotamia. And not only were they opposed. The real existence of farmers with their cult of fertility and the regular change of seasons, awakening and dying nature could not but lead to the idea of ​​​​a close and interdependent connection between life and death, dying and resurrection. May people be mortal and never return from the underworld. But nature is immortal! She annually gives birth to new life, as if resurrecting it after a dead winter hibernation. It was this pattern of nature that the immortal gods were supposed to reflect. It is not surprising, therefore, that one of the central places in the mythology of the Mesopotamians was occupied by the story of the death and resurrection of Dumuzi (Tammuz).

The goddess of love and fertility in Mesopotamia was the beautiful Inanna (Ishtar), the patron goddess of the city of Uruk, where a temple was built in her honor (something like a temple of love) with priestesses and temple servants who gave anyone their caresses (temple prostitution). Like them, the loving goddess bestowed her caresses on many - both gods and people, but the story of her love for Dumuzi became the most famous. This story had its own development. In the beginning (Sumerian version of the myth), Inanna, having married the shepherd Dumuzi, sacrificed him to the goddess Ereshkigal as payment for her liberation from the underworld. Later (Babylonian version) everything began to look different. Dumuzi, who turned out to be not only the husband, but also the brother of Ishtar, died while hunting. The goddess went to the underworld to get him. The evil Ereshkigal kept Ishtar with her. As a result, life on earth ceased: animals and people stopped reproducing. The alarmed gods demanded from Ereshkigal the return of Ishtar, who came to earth with a vessel of living water, which allowed her to resurrect the deceased Dumuzi.

The story speaks for itself: Dumuzi, who personified the fertility of nature, dies and is resurrected with the help of the fertility goddess, who conquers death. The symbolism is quite obvious, although it did not appear immediately, but only as a result of the gradual transformation of the original mythological plot.

The mythology of Mesopotamia is rich and very diverse. In it you can find cosmogonic subjects, stories about the creation of the earth and its inhabitants, including people sculpted from clay, and legends about the exploits of great heroes, especially Gilgamesh, and, finally, a story about the great flood. The famous legend about the great flood, which subsequently spread so widely among different nations, was included in the Bible and accepted by Christian teaching, is not an idle invention. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia, who particularly singled out among other gods the god of the south wind, which drove the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates against the current and threatened with catastrophic floods, could not perceive this kind of flood (especially the most destructive of them) as anything other than a great flood. The fact is that this kind of catastrophic flood really happened real fact, are convinced by the excavations of the English archaeologist L. Woolley in Ur (in the 20-30s), during which a multi-meter layer of silt was discovered, separating the most ancient cultural layers of the site from the later ones. It is interesting that the Sumerian story about the flood, preserved in fragments, in some details (the message of the gods to the virtuous king about their intention to cause a flood and save him) resembles the biblical legend of Noah.

The religious system of Mesopotamia, changed and improved by the efforts of different peoples over many centuries, in the 2nd millennium BC. e. was already quite developed. From the great variety of small local deities, often duplicating each other’s functions (note that in addition to Ishtar there were two more goddesses of fertility), several main ones stood out, universally known and most revered. A certain hierarchy of them also emerged: the patron god of the city of Babylon, Marduk, took the place of the supreme god, whose influential priests placed him at the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon. The rise of Marduk was also associated with the sacralization of the ruler, whose status became increasingly sacred over time. In the 2nd millennium BC. e. The mythological interpretation of the deeds, merits and spheres of influence of all the forces of the other world of all gods, heroes and spirits, including the lords of the underworld and numerous demons of evil, disease and misfortune, in the fight against which the Mesopotamian priests developed a whole system of spells and amulets, was also somewhat revised. In particular, each person turned out to be the owner of his own divine patron-patron, sometimes several, which contributed to the formation of personal connections “man-deity”. A complex cosmological system was developed of several heavens, covering the earth in a hemisphere, floating in the world's oceans. Heaven was the abode of the highest gods, and the sun god Shamash made his daily journey from the eastern mountain towards the western mountain, and at night he retired to the “insides of heaven.”

Magic and mantika, which had achieved considerable success, were put into the service of the gods. Finally, through the efforts of the priests, much was done in the field of astronomy and the calendar, mathematics and writing. It should be noted that, although all this pre-scientific knowledge had completely independent cultural value, their connection with religion (and the connection is not only genetic, but also functional) is undeniable. And not so much because the priests were at their source, but because all this knowledge was associated with religious ideas and even mediated by them.

To be fair, it should be noted that not all aspects of life, not the entire system of ideas and institutions of the ancient Mesopotamia were determined by religious ideas. For example, the texts of the laws of Hammurabi convince us that the rules of law were practically free from them. This very significant point indicates that the religious system of Mesopotamia, in the image and likeness of which similar systems of other Middle Eastern states were subsequently formed, was not total, that is, it did not monopolize the entire sphere of spiritual life. It left room for views, actions and practices not directly related to religion, and it was this practice that could influence the nature of the religious ideas of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean, from the Semitic tribes of Syria and Phenicia to the Cretan-Mycenaean predecessors of the ancient Greeks. It is possible that she played a certain role in the emergence of free thought in antiquity. This is worth paying attention to because the second version of the oldest religious system in the world, the ancient Egyptian, almost contemporaneous with the Mesopotamian, led in this sense to different results.

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The foundations of Hinduism go back to the Vedas and the legends and texts surrounding them, which largely determined the character and parameters of Indian civilization in its historical, cultural, philosophical

Trimurti - Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu
The most important of the many gods of Hinduism are considered to be three (trimurti) - Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. It is usually noted that these three in the Hindu system, as it were, divided among themselves the main principles

Shiva and the cult of the linga
The vast majority of Hindus are divided into Shaivites and Vaishnavites, preferring Shiva or Vishnu respectively. Shiva, genetically descended from the Vedic Rudra, but practically in

Shiva and shakti
Hindus, especially Shaivites, find in the great Shiva many merits, deeds and hypostases, and attribute to him many important functions. However, it is believed that all the strength and power

Durga and Kali
Their collective name, like other hypostases of Shiva’s wives, is Devi, but at the same time Devi also has an independent cult; many temples are dedicated to her. And yet she is best known in her guise

Rama and Ramayana
Rama is the hero of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. This classic epic took shape in its completed written form several centuries BC and came into widespread use, becoming one

Tales and myths. Mahabharata
Traditions and myths have firmly entered the life of every Indian, becoming an important part of Hinduism. Among the epic tales of a wide range, in addition to the Ramayana, Indians know the Mahabharata, the great

Brahmins and temples
The priests of Hinduism, the bearers of the foundations of its religious culture, ritual rites, ethics, aesthetics, forms of social and family structure and life were members of the Brahman castes, descendants of

Mantras and Witchcraft
The belief in the need for the mediation of a priest to achieve goals that can only be realized with the assistance of supernatural forces goes back to ancient magic. In India and

Rituals and holidays
And the Brahmin priests with their highly solemn temple and respectable home rituals, and the semi-literate village sorcerers and healers with their mantra spells

Family and caste
Something similar is represented by numerous home and family rituals associated with a wedding, the birth of a son, and the presentation of a cord to a young man as a sign of his “new birth” (this is only

Hinduism and Islam. Modernization of Hinduism
Hinduism, which absorbed and reflected many features of the national culture and psychology of Indians with their way of life, character of thinking, value orientations, including horse

Islamization of India
The process of Islamization of India took many centuries. During its course, many millions of Indians were converted to Islam, first in the north-west of the country, in the contact zone, where its influence was felt

Interaction between Islam and Hinduism
True, the privileges that the adoption of Islam gave in India were significantly weakened by the passivity of Hinduism, which still embodied the foundations of the Indian way of life and cultures

Guru Nanak and the Sikhs
At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. The legendary Nanak, the founder of the Sikh teachings, preached the foundations of a new teaching that called for uniting Muslims and Hindus. In his homeland, Punjab

Govind and Khalsa
The name of Govinda is associated with a radical reorganization of the Sikh communities and the transformation of the Sikhs into a powerful political and military force. Having become the leader of the Sikhs at a difficult time for them, Govind took charge

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda
One of the most prominent personalities among the reformers of Hinduism was Ramakrishna (1836–1886). A devout Brahmin, prone to ecstatic impulses, he spent time in temples from his youth, then

Neo-Hinduism and modernity
In the neo-Hinduism that emerged on this basis in the 20th century. different directions and currents began to differ. On the one hand, it was a movement for more or less progressive reforms.

Religion in ancient China
If India is a kingdom of religions, and Indian religious thinking is saturated with metaphysical speculation, then China is a civilization of a different type. Social ethics and administrative

Shans, Zhous and Shang Di
All these and many other important features of the religious structure of China were laid down in ancient times, starting from the Shang-Yin era. Shan urban civilization appeared

Fortune telling and fortune telling in Shan
The main point in the ritual of communication with divine ancestors was the ritual of fortune telling, which was usually combined with the ritual of sacrifice. The purpose of fortune telling was to make a prediction

Zhous, Shandi and the Cult of Heaven
The Shang-Yin era was relatively short-lived. In 1027 BC. e. The union of the peoples surrounding the Shang, united around the Zhou tribe, defeated the Shang in the decisive battle of Mus.

Cult of dead ancestors
If the highest transcendental principle in the cult of Shandi was transferred in Zhou China to the cult of Heaven, then the attitude towards Shandi as the first ancestor and in general the practice of deifying the dead before

Cult of the Earth
The lower classes of Chinese Zhou society were peasant communities with their usual rituals and cults, among which the central place was occupied by the cult of the earth. Since Neolithic times this ku

Priest-officials
Ancient China did not know priests in the proper sense of the word, just as it did not know the great personified gods and temples in their honor. The same high deities that the Shan worshiped

Rituals in Zhou China
The interests of administrative regulation, political control and ensuring the effectiveness of the leadership of the son of Heaven practically dissolved the sacred principle in themselves. This did not exclude

Ancient Chinese religious philosophy
The division of all things into two principles was perhaps the most ancient principle of philosophical thinking in China, as evidenced, in particular, by those reflected in the trigrams and hexagrams

Confucius and Confucianism
All the noted features of the system of beliefs and cults in ancient China played a huge role in the formation of the foundations of traditional Chinese civilization: not mysticism and metaphysical abst

Confucius
Confucius (Kunzi, 551–479 BC) was born and lived in an era of great social and political upheaval, when Zhou China was in a state of severe internal crisis

Social ideal of Confucius
The highly moral Junzi, constructed by the philosopher as a model, a standard to follow, was supposed to have two most important virtues in his view: a humane

Social order according to Confucius
Confucius, starting from the social ideal he constructed, formulated the foundations of the social order that he would like to see in the Celestial Empire: “Let the father be the father,

Ancestor cult and xiao norms
We are talking about the cult of ancestors - both dead and living. Having significantly changed the content and forms of this cult, known in its basic features to almost all nations (“Honor your father and

Cult of family and clan
Confucian ancestor cult and xiao norms contributed to the flourishing of the cult of family and clan. The family was considered the core of society; the interests of the family were given much more importance than

Confucianism and Legalism
The process of turning Confucianism into the official doctrine of the centralized Chinese empire took a long time. First it was necessary to develop the doctrine in detail, to achieve its

Transformation of Confucianism
The transformation of Confucianism into the official ideology was a turning point both in the history of this teaching and in the history of China. Having entered the service, becoming officials, taking control of

Confucian upbringing and education
Since the Han era, Confucians not only held the government and society in their hands, but also ensured that Confucian norms and values ​​became

The examination system and the shenshi class
The origins of the competitive selection system go back to Zhou China: the rulers of the kingdoms were interested in nominating suitable candidates for official positions, which is mentioned

Confucians in Chinese history
The Confucians and the officials recruited from their number usually effectively ruled the entire vast empire, with the exception of those periods when China was in a state of crisis and prices.

The cult of form in Confucianism
The concept of “Chinese ceremonies” affects the life and everyday life of every Chinese - just as much as every Chinese in old China was involved in Confucianism. In this sense, the ceremony

Confucianism - the regulator of Chinese life
The Confucian centralized state, which existed through rent-taxes from peasants, did not encourage the excessive development of private land ownership. As soon as the gain is private

Taoism
The top of Chinese society lived according to Confucian norms, performed rites and rituals in honor of their ancestors, Heaven and Earth, in accordance with the requirements of Liji. Anyone who was above the level

Philosophy of Taoism
Taoism arose in Zhou China almost simultaneously with the teachings of Confucius in the form of an independent philosophical doctrine. The founder of Taoist philosophy is considered to be ancient Chinese

Theocratic state of Taoists
The “state” of Taoist popes-patriarchs, who passed on their power by inheritance, existed in China until recently (the 63rd Taoist pope from the Zhang family

Taoism about achieving immortality
The human body is a microcosm, which, in principle, should be likened to the macrocosm, i.e., the Universe. Just as the Universe functions through the interaction of Heaven and Earth,

Pseudoscience of Taoists
The fascination with magical elixirs and pills in medieval China led to the rapid development of alchemy. The Taoist alchemists, who received funds from the emperors, worked hard on transmu

Taoists in medieval China
Strengthened by the further development of their theory, the Taoists in early medieval China managed to become a necessary and indispensable part of the spiritual culture of the country and people. During the Tang era

The upper and lower layers of Taoism
Over the centuries, Taoism has experienced ups and downs, support and persecution, and sometimes, albeit for short periods, it became the official ideology of a dynasty. Taoism

Pantheon of Taoism
Having included over time all ancient cults and superstitions, beliefs and rituals, all deities and spirits, heroes and immortals, eclectic and indiscriminate Taoism easily satisfied

Chinese Buddhism
Buddhism entered China from India mainly in its northern Mahayana form in the 2nd century. The process of its strengthening and development in China was complex and lengthy. It took many centuries and

Spread and sinicization of Buddhism
As Buddhism spread and strengthened, it underwent significant Sinicization. In general, Chinese Confucian civilization is unique in its degree of stability, adaptability, and ability

Buddhism in the Tang era (VII-X centuries). Decline of Buddhism
At the beginning of the Tang era, China was covered with a dense network of Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries. Many of them were famous and influential. Often these were entire monastic towns with many

Buddhism and Chinese culture
Buddhism existed in China for almost two millennia. During this time, he changed a lot in the process of adapting to Chinese civilization. However, he had a huge impact on the

Religious syncretism in China. Tradition and modernity
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, coexisting for many centuries, gradually came closer to each other, and each of the doctrines found its place in the emerging all-Chinese

All-China Pantheon
The system of gods, rituals and cults within the gigantic structure of religious syncretism was complex and multi-tiered. At its highest tier were the national cults of Heaven and

Cult of the forces of nature and animals
In the bureaucratic apparatus of Yuhuang Shandi there were ministries and departments of thunder, fire, water, time, five sacred mountains, exorcism of demons, etc. These departments held various

Good and evil spirits. Cult of good wishes
Using the example of the cult of foxes, another feature of the system of religious syncretism and religions in general in China is visible - lack of differentiation, practically blurred lines between the forces of good and

Value system in traditional China
So, what are the basic positions that characterize the traditional Chinese value system, formulated primarily by Confucianism? Confucians from ancient times

Transformation of traditional China
The clash of traditional Chinese structure with European capitalism and colonialism in the mid-19th century. caused a strong response in China. First it was the Taiping Rebellion

Peasantry and its traditions
The Chinese peasantry - unlike, say, the Indian peasantry with its castes and karma - has always been rebellious during years of social crisis. It (especially the poorest part of it) b

Revival of traditions
China - most likely, to the great happiness of this huge and ancient country - is not Russia. This elementary truth should have been learned long ago by all those who today are so often and already accustomed to

Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan
Over the centuries, Indian and Chinese civilizations have had a significant impact on neighboring countries and peoples. And although this influence was multifaceted, and on the periphery

Shintoism
The complex process of cultural synthesis of local tribes with newcomers laid the foundations of Japanese culture itself, the religious and cult aspect of which was called Shintoism.

Buddhism in Japan
Having penetrated Japan in the middle of the 6th century, the teachings of the Buddha turned out to be a weapon in the acute political struggle of noble families for power. By the end of the 6th century. this fight was won by those who did

Buddhism and Shintoism
The Kegon sect, which took shape and gained strength in the 8th century, turned the capital Todaiji Temple, which belonged to it, into a center that claimed to unite all religious movements, including

Buddhism under regents and shoguns
From the 9th century the importance of the political power of emperors is becoming a thing of the past. The functions of the regent-ruler are in the hands of representatives of the aristocratic house of Fujiwara, in women

Zen aesthetics
Buddhism and especially Zen had a huge influence on the development of various aspects of Japanese national culture, and above all on the cultivation of a sense of beauty. Experts have repeatedly

Confucianism in Japan
Japanese culture differs from Chinese-Confucian culture in one more aspect. If China was almost completely dominated by conformism, which had only weak outlets in the form of Taoism

Confucianism and Shintoism
Yamazaki Ansai, like other Japanese Confucians, sought to combine Confucian principles with the norms of Shintoism. He put forward the theory that Neo-Confucian Li (not the old

The cult of the emperor and the rise of nationalism
On the eve of a new era of bourgeois development, Japan rallied ever more closely around the figure of the divine tenno, the Mikado, who symbolized its highest unity, its far-reaching claims

New religious situation in Japan
The defeat of Japan in the Second World War meant the decline of Shintoism as a state ideology that fostered militarism and nationalism, the cult of the emperor and “great Japan.” Shintoism n

Soka Gakkai Sect
Formally, this sect, founded in 1930 on the basis of the teachings of the Nichiren school, can be considered Buddhist. However, in reality, it, like the overwhelming majority of new sects and religious teachings,

Lamaism
Buddhism, as already mentioned, was that universal world religion that represented the common religious component of various civilizations of the East, from India to Japan. Distributed

The origins of Lamaism. Tantrism
The doctrinal basis of Lamaism (from Tib. “Lama” - the highest, i.e. adept of the teaching, monk) is, as mentioned, Buddhism. However, since the predecessor of Buddhism in Tibet was the month

Stages of the genesis of Lamaism
The first traces of the penetration of Buddhism into Tibet are recorded quite late - only in the 5th century, when it was already well known and widespread in India and China. Up to the era

Activities of Tsongkhawa
A native of eastern Tibet, Tsonghawa (Tsongkaba, 1357–1419) from a young age became famous for his exceptional abilities, which later formed the basis for those that developed around his name

The Dalai Lama and the theory of incarnations
Even in early Buddhism, the doctrine of rebirth was developed, genetically dating back to the theories of the Upanishads. This theory of karmic rebirth, which boils down to the disintegration of the dharma complex

Basics of Lamaism theory
The foundations of the theory of Lamaism were laid by Tsonghava, who in a number of his works substantiated his own reforms and synthesized the theoretical heritage of his predecessors. Subsequently

Ethics of Lamaism
Having gotten rid of avidya and, with the help of the lama, having entered the path of knowledge-prajna, the lamaist thereby improves his karma and can ultimately make it so good that one

Magical practice of Lamaists
Since this minimum was not easy for everyone, Lamaism has always paid great attention to other, simpler and faster methods of achieving the goal, i.e. the very mysticism and magic that

Pantheon of Lamaism
The world of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, saints and heroes, which had already become very populous in Mahayana Buddhism, continued to grow and become organized in Lamaism. The hierarchy of all these divine persons is layered

Monasteries, lamas and rituals
Temples and shrines containing images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas and saints of the Lamaist pantheon, as well as various accessories of Lamaist magical practice (from prayer bars

Lamaism and modernity
Lamaism played a huge role in the historical destinies of a number of peoples of Central Asia, primarily Tibetan. The Lamaist doctrine, having exalted the Dalai Lama, turned Tibet into a sak

Civilizations of the East: religious and cultural traditions and modernity
Over the course of thousands of years, religion, the tradition sanctioned by it, and the culture that emerged on this basis not only formed the group experience of generations and a stable system of common

Arab-Islamic civilization
Arab-Islamic civilization has its roots - like the ancient Christian European civilization - in the ancient Middle East, this cradle of world culture. Myths and le

Hindu-Buddhist tradition-civilization
The Hindu-Buddhist tradition-civilization, like the Chinese-Confucian one, belongs to a different meta-tradition than the Middle Eastern-Mediterranean one.

Chinese-Confucian tradition-civilization
Chinese-Confucian tradition-civilization, based on indifference to religion as such with its faith, gods, mysticism and metaphysics (Taoism and Buddhism with all their

Comparative analysis of eastern traditions
After a brief description of the main Eastern traditions-civilizations, let us turn to a more in-depth comparison of them. It's not so much about comparing them with each other, but about

Religious traditions of the East and the problem of development
European tradition-civilization gave birth to capitalism and thereby caused a sharp acceleration in the pace of evolution, including in the sphere of its influence almost the entire world, primarily

Religions today. Islamic fundamentalist extremism
The inferiority complex, caused at one time, especially in the 19th century, by a clear comparison of backward Asia with advanced Europe, is now a thing of the distant past. Traditional structure B

Introduction

Culture is one of the most ancient phenomena human life. It arose and developed together with man, constituting what qualitatively distinguishes him from all other living beings and nature as a whole. However, interest in its study and understanding as a special phenomenon of reality has developed relatively recently. For a long time - entire millennia - culture existed as something taken for granted, unconscious, inseparable from man and society and not requiring any special, close attention.

Culturology is a humanitarian science that studies culture as a system, i.e. generally. It arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and received wide recognition in Europe and around the world. In our country, cultural studies began to develop in the early 90s.

In general, cultural studies has not yet reached a fully mature level and is in its infancy.

Culture of Mesopotamia

The Mesopotamian culture arose around the same time as the Egyptian one. It developed in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and existed since 4 thousand BC. e. until the middle of the 6th century BC. e. Unlike the Egyptian culture, Mesopotamia was not homogeneous; it was formed in the process of repeated interpenetration of several ethnic groups and peoples, and for this reason it was multilayer . The main inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Chaldeans in the south; Assyrians, Hurrians and Arameans in the north. The cultures of Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria reached the greatest development and importance.

The emergence of the Sumerian ethnic group still remains a mystery. It is only known that in 4 thousand. BC. The southern part of Mesopotamia is inhabited by the Sumerians and lays the foundations for the entire subsequent civilization of this region. Like the Egyptian, this civilization was river. By the beginning of 3 thousand BC. In the south of Mesopotamia, several city-states appear, the main ones being Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Larsa and others. They take turns playing a leading role in unifying the country.

The history of Sumer has seen several ups and downs. The 24th - 23rd centuries BC deserve special mention, when the rise of Semitic city of Akkad, located north of Sumer. Under King Sargon the Ancient Akkad managed to subjugate all of Sumer to its power. The Akkadian language displaces Sumerian and becomes the main language throughout Mesopotamia. Semitic art also has a great influence on the entire region. In general, the significance of the Akkadian period in the history of Sumer turned out to be so significant that some authors call the entire culture of this period Sumerian-Akkadian.

Culture of the Sumerian-Akkadian state

The basis of the Sumerian economy was agriculture with a developed irrigation system. Hence it is clear why one of the main monuments of Sumerian culture was the “Landowner's Almanac”, containing instructions on farming - how to maintain soil fertility and avoid clogging. Cattle breeding was also important. High level reached Sumerian metallurgy. Already at the beginning of 3 thousand. BC. The Sumerians began making bronze tools, and at the end of the 2000s. BC. entered the Iron Age.

From the middle of 3 thousand. BC. A potter's wheel is used in the production of tableware. Other crafts are successfully developing - weaving, stone-cutting, and blacksmithing. Widespread trade and exchange took place both between the Sumerian cities and with other countries - Egypt, Iran, India, and the states of Asia Minor.

The importance of the Sumerian script should be especially emphasized. The cuneiform script invented by the Sumerians turned out to be the most successful and effective. Improved in 2 thousand. BC. by the Phoenicians, it formed the basis of almost all modern alphabets.

The system of religious and mythological ideas and cults of Sumer partly echoes the Egyptian one. In particular, it also contains the myth of a dying and resurrecting God, which is God Dumuzi. As in Egypt, the ruler of the city-state was declared a descendant of God and perceived as an earthly God. At the same time, there were noticeable differences between the Sumerian and Egyptian systems. Thus, among the Sumerians, the funeral cult and belief in the afterlife did not acquire much importance. Equally, the Sumerian priests did not become a special stratum that played a huge role in public life. In general, the Sumerian system religious beliefs seems less complicated.

As a rule, each city-state had its own patron God. At the same time, there were Gods who were revered throughout Mesopotamia. Behind them stood those forces of nature, the importance of which for agriculture was especially great - sky, earth and water. These were the sky god An, the earth god Enlil and the water god Enki. Some stars were associated with individual stars or constellations. It is noteworthy that in Sumerian writing the star pictogram meant the concept of “God”. The Mother Goddess, the patroness of agriculture, fertility and childbirth, was of great importance in the Sumerian religion. There were several such goddesses, one of which was the goddess Inanna, the patroness of the city of Uruk. Some Sumerian myths - about the creation of the world, about the global flood - had a strong influence on the mythology of other peoples, including Christians.

IN artistic culture Sumerian leading art was architecture. Unlike the Egyptians, the Sumerians did not know stone construction, and all structures were created from adobe brick. Due to the swampy terrain, buildings were erected on artificial platforms - embankments. From the middle of 3 thousand. BC. The Sumerians were the first to widely use arches and vaults in construction.

The first architectural monuments were two temples, White and Red, discovered in Uruk and dedicated to the main deities of the city - the god Anu and the goddess Inanna. Both temples are rectangular in plan, with projections and niches, and decorated with relief images in the “Egyptian style.” Another significant monument is the small temple of the fertility goddess Ninhursag at Ur. It was built using the same architectural forms, but decorated not only with relief, but also with circular sculpture. In the niches of the walls there were copper figurines of copper bulls, and on the friezes there were high reliefs of lying bulls. At the entrance to the temple there are two wooden lion statues. All this made the temple festive and elegant.

In Sumer, a unique type of religious building developed - the ziggurat, which was a stepped tower, rectangular in plan. On the upper platform of the ziggurat there was usually a small temple - “the dwelling of God.” Sumerian literature reached a high level. Apart from the aforementioned “agricultural almanac”, the most significant literary monument became The Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic poem tells the story of a man who saw everything, experienced everything, and knew everything, and who was close to solving the mystery of immortality.

By the end of 3 thousand. BC. Sumer gradually declines and is eventually conquered by Babylonia.

L IV-III millennium BC On the territory of Mesopotamia - the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - a culture as high as in Egypt arose and established itself. It was one of the oldest centers of human civilization. However, unlike the Nile Valley, where the same people lived for three thousand years and the same state existed - Ancient Egypt, in Mesopotamia rapidly (by historical standards) various state formations replaced each other, including Sumer, Akkad , Babylonia, Assyria, Iran, different peoples mixed, traded and fought with each other, temples, fortresses, and cities were quickly erected and destroyed to the ground. The history and culture of Mesopotamia were more dynamic than in Egypt.

Sumerian - The most ancient culture of Mesopotamia - Sumerian-RKU "DSKYA Akkadian. According to most modern orientalists, the Sumerians are the ancestors of the entire Babylonian culture. Their cultural achievements are great and indisputable: the Sumerians created the first human history poems - about the “Golden Age”; wrote the first elegies, compiled the world's first library catalogue. Sumerians

Authors of the world's first and oldest medical books - collections of recipes. They developed and recorded the first calendar for two seasons (winter and summer), divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days each. Each new month began in the evening when the crescent moon disappeared. We compiled the first information about protective plantings. Even the idea of ​​​​creating the first fish reserve in human history was first recorded in writing by the Sumerians. The first clay map also belongs to the Sumerians. The first stringed musical instruments - lyre and harp

They also appeared among the Sumerians.

The oldest written language on Earth belongs to the same people - Sumerian cuneiform1. It is very decorative and, as researchers believe, originates from drawings. However, old legends say that even before the emergence of picture writing, there was an even more ancient method of recording

thoughts - tying knots on a rope. Over time, pictorial writing improved and changed: from a complete, fairly detailed and thorough depiction of objects, the Sumerians gradually moved to its incomplete or symbolic depiction. The world's oldest written monuments - Sumerian cuneiform tablets - date back to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. Cuneiform is a writing system whose characters consist of groups of wedge-shaped dashes, they were extruded onto raw clay. Cuneiform arose as an ideographic-rebus script1, which subsequently turned into a verbal-syllabic one. For a long time, believers believed that the language of the Sumerians was not similar to any of the living or dead languages ​​of mankind, and the question of the origin of this people remained a mystery. However, we can now consider it established that the language of the Sumerians, like the language of the Egyptians, belonged to the Semitic-Hamitic language family. Many monuments of Sumerian literature have been preserved - they are on clay tablets, and almost all of them were pro- Mostly these are hymns to the gods, religious myths and legends, in particular, about the emergence of civilization and agriculture, merits

attributed to the gods.

Sumerian tablets dating back to approximately 2800 BC record the works of the first poetess known to the world - !, the daughter of the Akkadian king Sargon. Elevated to the rank of Yu priestess, she wrote several hymns in honor of the great ones and the gods of the Earth.

The most important monument of Sumerian literature is a cycle of tales about \, the king of the city of Uruk, the son of a mortal and the goddess Ninsun. about the hero Gilgamesh had a very strong influence on neighboring peoples, who accepted and adapted them to modern life. Exclusively strong impact legends about the global flood influenced [urban literature]. They say that the flood was caused by the gods, who planned all life on Earth. Only one person was able to escape - the pious Ziusudra, who, on the advice of the gods, took the ship in advance.

Ktlytpa Babylonia was the heir to the Sumerian-Akkadian civilization. In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. under King Hammurabi (reigned 1792-1750 BC), the city of Babylon2 united all regions under its leadership

i letter (from the gr. idea - idea, image and graft "- I write) - the principle of writing, islol-I ideogram - a written sign (conventional image or drawing) corresponding to the

r, pelvis - “to see”, k - Sumerian. - Kadingirra, akhad. - Babilu, literally, the gate of God.

Sumer and Akkad. Under Hammurabi, the famous Code of Laws appeared, written in cuneiform on a two-meter stone pillar. These laws reflected the economic life, way of life, customs and worldview of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. Their worldview was determined by the need for constant struggle with the surrounding tribes. All main interests were focused on reality. The Babylonian priest did not promise blessings and joys in the kingdom of the dead, but in case of obedience he promised them during his lifetime. There are almost no depictions of funerary scenes in Babylonian art. In general, the religion, art and ideology of Ancient Babylon were more realistic than the culture of Ancient Egypt.

The cult of water played a huge role in the beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The attitude towards water was not clear. Water was considered a source of goodwill, bringing harvest and life; water is a cult of fertility. Water is also a powerful and unkind element, the cause of destruction and misfortune.

Another very important cult was the cult of the heavenly bodies. In their immutability and miraculous movement along a once and for all given path, the inhabitants of Babylon saw a manifestation of the divine will. Attention to the stars and planets contributed to the rapid development of mathematics and astronomy. Thus, the sexagesimal system was created, which to this day exists in the calculation of time - minutes, seconds. For the first time in human history, Babylonian astronomers calculated the laws of revolution of the Sun, Moon and the frequency of eclipses and, in general, were significantly ahead of the Egyptians in astronomical observations. However, all the scientific knowledge and research of the scientists of Babylonia was associated with magic and fortune telling; both scientific knowledge and magical formulas and spells were the privilege of sages, astrologers and priests.

Scientific knowledge, for example in the field of mathematics, often outpaced practical needs; religious views met the spiritual needs of society.

According to the teachings of the Babylonian priests, people were created from clay to serve the gods. The Babylonian gods were numerous. The most important of them were: Shamash - the goddess of the Sun, Sin - the god of the Moon, Adad - the god of bad weather, Ishtar - the goddess of love, Nergal - the god of death, Irra - the god of war, Vilgi - the god of fire. The gods were depicted as the patrons of the king, which indicates the formalization of the ideology of the deification of strong royal power. At the same time, the gods were humanized: like people, they strived for success, desired benefits, arranged their affairs, and acted according to circumstances. They were partial to wealth, owned property, and could have families and offspring. They

they had to drink and eat like people; They, like people, had various weaknesses and shortcomings: envy, anger, lack of selfishness. The gods determined the destinies of people. Only the priests could do the will of the gods: they alone could and knew how to call and conjure. spirits, talk with the gods, determine the future by movement

People submitted to the will of priests and kings, believing in the predestination of human destiny, in the subordination of man to higher powers, good and evil. But submission to fate was far from absolute: it was combined with the will of people to win in the fight against man’s fucking environment. Constant consciousness is dangerous: for a person in the world around him, it was combined with the desire to fully enjoy life. Riddles and fears, superstition, mysticism and witchcraft were combined with sober thought, accurate calculation and

The religious beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia are reflected. in their monumental art. Temples were built in cities as offerings to the gods; near the temple of the main local deity there was usually a ziggurat - a high brick tower, surrounded by large terraces and creating the impression of several bas-I, which decreased in volume ledge after ledge. There could be from 4 to 7 such ledges-in-terraces. The ziggurats were painted: the lower ledges are darker than the upper ones; the terraces were usually landscaped. The upper tower of the ziggurat was often topped with a golden dome. In it there was a sanctuary of God, his >, where, as the Sumerians believed, God stayed at night.

Inside the tower there was nothing but a bed and a gilded table. I, this tower was also used for more specific and earthly needs: the priests conducted astronomical observations from there. There are significantly fewer architectural monuments of Babylonian art than, for example, Egyptian art. This is quite true: unlike Egypt, the territory of Mesopotamia was poor in food, and the main building material there was a brick. One brick is a short-lived material, and brick buildings have not survived. Nevertheless, the surviving buildings: art historians should express the point of view that it was the Va-en architects who were the creators of technical architectural forms that formed the basis of the art of construction Ancient Rome, and I eat Medieval Europe. Many scholars believe that the pro-European architecture of the Common Era is to be found in the Great Dane of the Tigris and Euphrates. The main elements of this architecture were domes, arches, vaulted ceilings, and the rhythm of horizontal and vertical sections that determined the architectural position of the temple in Babylonia.

Babylon was a huge and noisy eastern city. It was surrounded by a powerful and thick wall, on which two chariots drawn by four horses could freely pass each other. The city had 24 large avenues, the attraction was the seven-tiered ziggurat of the god Etemenanki, 90 m high - the Tower of Babel - one of the seven wonders of the world. The landscaped terraces of the Tower of Babel, known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, an Assyrian queen who lived in the 9th century. BC, is also one of the seven wonders of the world. There are many legends about Babylon, and scientists still have a lot to do to distinguish fact from fiction in them.

For Babylonian visual arts The typical image was of animals, most often a lion or a bull. Also remarkable are the marble figurines from Tel Asmar, depicting a group of male figures. Each figure is placed in such a way that the viewer always meets her gaze. The characteristic features of these figurines were finer detailing compared to figurines from Egypt, greater realism and vividness of the image, and somewhat less conventionality.

Culture The culture, religion and art of Babylonia are

Assyria was adopted and developed by the Assyrians. In ruins

n the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (7th century BC) in Nineveh, scientists discovered a huge library for that time, which contained many (tens of thousands!) cuneiform texts. It is assumed that this library contained all the most important works of Babylonian literature. King Ashurbanipal, an educated and well-read man, went down in history as a collector of ancient written monuments: according to his words, written down and left for posterity, for him it was great joy analyze beautiful and incomprehensible texts written in the language of the ancient Sumerians.

More than 2 thousand years separated King Ashurbanipal from ancient culture Mesopotamia, but, understanding the value of old clay tablets, he collected and preserved them. Education, however, was not inherent in all the rulers of Assyria. A more common and constant feature of the Assyrian rulers was the desire for power, domination over neighboring peoples, the desire to assert and demonstrate their power.

Assyrian art of the 1st millennium BC. filled with the pathos of strength, it glorified the power and victories of the conquerors. Characteristic images of grandiose and arrogant winged bulls, with arrogant human faces and sparkling eyes. Each bull had five hooves. These are, for example, images from

| palace of Sargon II (VII century BC). But other famous reliefs from Assyrian palaces are always a glorification of the king - powerful, formidable and merciless. Such were the Assisi rulers in life. This was also the Assyrian reality. It is no coincidence that a feature of Assyrian art is depictions of royal cruelty that are unprecedented in world art: for example, there are scenes of impalement, tearing out the tongues of captives, and ripping off skin in the presence of the king. All this was the facts of everyday life of the Assyrian state, and these scenes were conveyed without a feeling of pity. The cruelty of the morals of Assyrian society was apparently combined with its low religiosity. In the cities of Assyria, it was not religious buildings that predominated, but palaces and secular buildings, just as in the reliefs and paintings of Assyrian palaces - not religious, but secular subjects. Characteristic were numerous and magnificent images of animals, mainly lions, camels, and horses.

The art of engineering received great development in Assyria; the first water supply canal and aqueduct 90 yards long and IS yards wide were built.

The culture of Iran replaced Babylon and Assyria in the 6th century. BC. Iranian Empire. The art of Iran, researchers believe, is even more secular and courtly, [the art of its predecessors, more calm: it honors the cruelty that was so characteristic of the art of the Iranians. But the continuity of cultures remains. The most important element of fine art here remains the image - this is, first of all, winged bulls, as well as lions and en. Reliefs with images of ceremonial processions of warriors, tributaries, and lions were widespread.

IV century BC. Iran, like Egypt, was conquered by Alexander Ma-

i and included in the sphere of influence of Hellenistic culture. III century The Sassanids become the ruling dynasty in Iran. They tried to prove that they descended from the gods, and for this purpose, on their orders, colossal reliefs were created, depicting scenes from their victorious wars of conquest. But the wars were not successful for Iran. Many monuments of the cult of Sasanian Iran perished in the fire of these wars, many perished. All that remains of high Sasanian art are palaces and temples, several dozen gold and silver vessels, remains of silk fabrics and carpets. The medieval eras brought to us a story about one such luxurious carpet that covered the entire floor in the huge main hall of the I-Kesra palace in Ctesiphon. By order of one of the Arab military commanders,

When the soldiers captured the palace, the carpet was cut into pieces and divided among the soldiers as spoils of war, and each piece was sold for 20 thousand dirhems1. The walls of the palaces were decorated with frescoes with portraits of nobles, court beauties, musicians, and gods.

The state religion in Sasanian Iran was Zoroastrianism (named after the founder of this religion, the Bactrian thinker Zarathushtra (Zoroaster, 599/598-522/521 BC). This doctrine explained the world as an arena of struggle between two opposite principles - good, fair and false , evil. The main deity personifying good was Ahuramazde, the bearer of the evil principle was Anghra Mainyu. According to Zoroastrianism, a person makes ethical decisions, being between these two forces. An important part of Zoroastrianism was the cult of fire (the teachings of the thinker are set out in 17 parts of the Avesta). , a collection of Zoroastrian canonical texts.

How not to perish if the two rivers on which your life depends are stormy and unpredictable, and of all earthly riches there is only clay in abundance? The peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia did not perish; moreover, they managed to create one of the most developed civilizations of its time.

Background

Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) is another name for Mesopotamia (from the ancient Greek Mesopotamia - “mesopotamia”). This is how ancient geographers called the territory located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the 3rd millennium BC. Sumerian city-states, such as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, etc., were formed on this territory. The emergence of an agricultural civilization became possible thanks to the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates, after which fertile silt settled along the banks.

Events

III millennium BC- the emergence of the first city-states in Mesopotamia (5 thousand years ago). The largest cities are Ur and Uruk. Their houses were built from clay.

Around the 3rd millennium BC.- the emergence of cuneiform (more about cuneiform). Cuneiform writing arose in Mesopotamia initially as an ideographic-rebus and later as a verbal-syllabic writing. They wrote on clay tablets using a pointed stick.

Gods of Sumerian-Akkadian mythology:

• Shamash - god of the Sun,
• Ea - god of Water,
• Sin - god of the moon
• Ishtar is the goddess of love and fertility.

Ziggurat is a temple in the form of a pyramid.

Myths and stories:

• The myth of the flood (about how Utnapishtim built a ship and was able to escape during the global flood).
• The Tale of Gilgamesh.

Participants

To the northeast of Egypt, between two large rivers - the Euphrates and the Tigris - is Mesopotamia, or Mesopotamia, also known as Mesopotamia (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Ancient Mesopotamia

The soils in Southern Mesopotamia are surprisingly fertile. Just like the Nile in Egypt, the rivers gave life and prosperity to this warm country. But the river floods were violent: sometimes streams of water fell on villages and pastures, demolishing dwellings and cattle pens. It was necessary to build embankments along the banks so that the flood would not wash away the crops in the fields. Canals were dug to irrigate fields and gardens.

The state arose here at approximately the same time as in the Nile Valley - more than 5,000 years ago.

Many settlements of farmers, growing, turned into the centers of small city-states, the population of which was no more than 30-40 thousand people. The largest were Ur and Uruk, located in the south of Mesopotamia. Scientists have found ancient burials, the objects found in them indicate the high development of the craft.

In the Southern Mesopotamia there were no mountains or forests; the only building material was clay. The houses were built from clay bricks, dried due to lack of fuel in the sun. To protect buildings from destruction, the walls were made very thick, for example, the city wall was so wide that a cart could drive along it.

In the center of the city rose ziggurat- a high stepped tower, at the top of which there was a temple of the patron god of the city (Fig. 2). In one city it was, for example, the sun god Shamash, in another - the moon god Sin. Everyone revered the water god Ea; people turned to the fertility goddess Ishtar with requests for rich grain harvests and the birth of children. Only priests were allowed to climb to the top of the tower - to the sanctuary. The priests monitored the movements of the heavenly gods - the Sun and the Moon. They compiled a calendar and predicted people's destinies using the stars. The learned priests also studied mathematics. They considered the number 60 sacred. Under the influence of the inhabitants of Ancient Mesopotamia, we divide the hour into 60 minutes, and the circle into 360 degrees.

Rice. 2. Ziggurat at Ur ()

During excavations of ancient cities in Mesopotamia, archaeologists found clay tablets covered with wedge-shaped icons. Badges were pressed onto damp clay with a pointed stick. To impart hardness, the tablets were fired in a kiln. Cuneiform icons are a special script of Mesopotamia - cuneiform. The icons represented words, syllables, and combinations of letters. Scientists have counted several hundred characters used in cuneiform writing (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Cuneiform ()

Learning to read and write in Ancient Mesopotamia was no less difficult than in Egypt. Schools, or "Houses of Tablets", appeared in the 3rd millennium BC. e., only children from wealthy families could attend, since education was paid. For many years it was necessary to attend a scribe school in order to master the complex writing system.

Bibliography

1. Vigasin A. A., Goder G. I., Sventsitskaya I. S. History Ancient world. 5th grade. - M.: Education, 2006.
2. Nemirovsky A.I. A book for reading on the history of the Ancient World. - M.: Education, 1991.

Additional precommended links to Internet resources

1. Project STOP SYSTEM ().
2. Culturologist.ru ().

Homework

1. Where is Ancient Mesopotamia located?
2. What's common in natural conditions Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt?
3. Describe the cities of Ancient Mesopotamia.
4. Why does cuneiform have tens of times more characters than the modern alphabet?

It developed in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and existed since the 4th millennium BC. until the middle of the 6th century. BC. Unlike the Egyptian culture, Mesopotamia was not homogeneous; it was formed in the process of repeated interpenetration of several ethnic groups and peoples and therefore was multilayer.

The main inhabitants of Mesopotamia were Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Chaldeans in the south: Assyrians, Hurrians and Arameans in the north. The cultures of Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria reached their greatest development and importance.

The emergence of the Sumerian ethnic group still remains a mystery. It is only known that in the 4th millennium BC. The southern part of Mesopotamia is inhabited by the Sumerians and lays the foundations for the entire subsequent civilization of this region. Like the Egyptian, this civilization was river. By the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. In the south of Mesopotamia, several city-states appear, the main ones being Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Jlapca, etc. They alternately play a leading role in the unification of the country.

The history of Sumer has seen several ups and downs. The XXIV-XXIII centuries deserve special mention. BC when the rise occurs Semitic city of Akkad, located north of Sumer. Under King Sargon the Ancient, Akkad managed to subjugate all of Sumer to its power. The Akkadian language replaces Sumerian and becomes the main language throughout Mesopotamia. Semitic art also has a great influence on the entire region. In general, the significance of the Akkadian period in the history of Sumer turned out to be so significant that some authors call the entire culture of this period Sumerian-Akkadian.

Sumerian culture

The basis of Sumer's economy was agriculture with a developed irrigation system. Hence it is clear why one of the main monuments of Sumerian literature was the “Agricultural Almanac”, containing instructions on farming - how to maintain soil fertility and avoid salinization. It was also important cattle breeding. metallurgy. Already at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. The Sumerians began making bronze tools, and at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. entered the Iron Age. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. A potter's wheel is used in the production of tableware. Other crafts are successfully developing - weaving, stone-cutting, and blacksmithing. Widespread trade and exchange took place both between the Sumerian cities and with other countries - Egypt, Iran. India, states of Asia Minor.

Special emphasis should be placed on the importance Sumerian writing. The cuneiform script invented by the Sumerians turned out to be the most successful and effective. Improved in the 2nd millennium BC. by the Phoenicians, it formed the basis of almost all modern alphabets.

System religious-mythological ideas and cults Sumer partly has something in common with Egypt. In particular, it also contains the myth of a dying and resurrecting god, which is the god Dumuzi. As in Egypt, the ruler of the city-state was declared a descendant of a god and perceived as an earthly god. At the same time, there were noticeable differences between the Sumerian and Egyptian systems. Thus, among the Sumerians, the funeral cult and belief in the afterlife did not acquire much importance. Equally, the Sumerian priests did not become a special stratum that played a huge role in public life. In general, the Sumerian system of religious beliefs seems less complex.

As a rule, each city-state had its own patron god. At the same time, there were gods who were revered throughout Mesopotamia. Behind them stood those forces of nature, the importance of which for agriculture was especially great - sky, earth and water. These were the sky god An, the earth god Enlil and the water god Enki. Some gods were associated with individual stars or constellations. It is noteworthy that in Sumerian writing the star pictogram meant the concept of “god”. The mother goddess, the patroness of agriculture, fertility and childbirth, was of great importance in the Sumerian religion. There were several such goddesses, one of them was the goddess Inanna. patroness of the city of Uruk. Some Sumerian myths - about the creation of the world, the global flood - had a strong influence on the mythology of other peoples, including Christians.

In Sumer the leading art was architecture. Unlike the Egyptians, the Sumerians did not know stone construction and all structures were created from raw brick. Due to the swampy terrain, buildings were erected on artificial platforms - embankments. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. The Sumerians were the first to widely use arches and vaults in construction.

The first architectural monuments were two temples, White and Red, discovered in Uruk (late 4th millennium BC) and dedicated to the main deities of the city - the god Anu and the goddess Inanna. Both temples are rectangular in plan, with projections and niches, and decorated with relief images in the “Egyptian style.” Another significant monument is the small temple of the fertility goddess Ninhursag in Ur (XXVI century BC). It was built using the same architectural forms, but decorated not only with relief, but also with circular sculpture. In the niches of the walls there were copper figurines of walking bulls, and on the friezes there were high reliefs of lying bulls. At the entrance to the temple there are two wooden lion statues. All this made the temple festive and elegant.

In Sumer, a unique type of religious building developed - the ziggurag, which was a stepped tower, rectangular in plan. On the upper platform of the ziggurat there was usually a small temple - “the dwelling of God.” For thousands of years, the ziggurat played approximately the same role as egyptian pyramid, but unlike the latter it was not an afterlife temple. The most famous was the ziggurat (“temple-mountain”) in Ur (XXII-XXI centuries BC), which was part of a complex of two large temples and a palace and had three platforms: black, red and white. Only the lower, black platform has survived, but even in this form the ziggurat makes a grandiose impression.

Sculpture in Sumer received less development than architecture. As a rule, it had a cult, “dedicatory” character: the believer placed a figurine made to his order, usually small in size, in the temple, which seemed to pray for his fate. The person was depicted conventionally, schematically and abstractly. without observing proportions and without a portrait resemblance to the model, often in a praying pose. An example is a female figurine (26 cm) from Lagash, which has mainly common ethnic features.

During the Akkadian period, sculpture changed significantly: it became more realistic and acquired individual features. The most famous masterpiece of this period is the copper portrait head of Sargon the Ancient (XXIII century BC), which perfectly conveys the unique character traits of the king: courage, will, severity. This work, rare in its expressiveness, is almost no different from modern ones.

Sumerianism reached a high level literature. Besides the Agricultural Almanac mentioned above, the most significant literary monument was the Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic poem tells the story of a man who has seen everything, experienced everything, known everything, and who was close to unraveling the secret of immortality.

By the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Sumer gradually declines and is eventually conquered by Babylonia.

Babylonia

Its history falls into two periods: the Ancient, covering the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, and the New, falling in the middle of the 1st millennium BC.

Ancient Babylonia reached its highest rise under the king Hammurabi(1792-1750 BC). Two significant monuments remain from his time. The first one is Hammurabi's laws - became the most outstanding monument of ancient Eastern legal thought. The 282 articles of the code of law cover almost all aspects of the life of Babylonian society and constitute civil, criminal and administrative law. The second monument is a basalt pillar (2 m), which depicts King Hammurabi himself, sitting in front of the god of the sun and justice Shamash, and also depicts part of the text of the famous codex.

New Babylonia reached its highest peak under the king Nebuchadnezzar(605-562 BC). During his reign the famous "Hanging Gardens of Babylon", became one of the seven wonders of the world. They can be called a grandiose monument of love, since they were presented by the king to his beloved wife to ease her longing for the mountains and gardens of her homeland.

No less famous monument is also Tower of Babel. It was the highest ziggurat in Mesopotamia (90 m), consisting of several towers stacked on top of each other, on the top of which was the sanctuary of Marduk, the main god of the Babylonians. Herodotus, who saw the tower, was shocked by its grandeur. She is mentioned in the Bible. When the Persians conquered Babylonia (6th century BC), they destroyed Babylon and all the monuments located in it.

The achievements of Babylonia deserve special mention. gastronomy And mathematics. Babylonian astrologers calculated with amazing accuracy the time of the Moon's revolution around the Earth, compiled a solar calendar and a map of the starry sky. Names of five planets and twelve constellations solar system are of Babylonian origin. Astrologers gave people astrology and horoscopes. Even more impressive were the successes of mathematicians. They laid the foundations of arithmetic and geometry, developed a “positional system”, where the numerical value of a sign depends on its “position”, were able to square and extract Square root, created geometric formulas for measuring land plots.

Assyria

The third powerful power of Mesopotamia - Assyria - arose in the 3rd millennium BC, but reached its greatest prosperity in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Assyria was poor in resources, but achieved exaltation thanks to its geographical location. She found herself at the crossroads of caravan routes, and trade made her rich and great. The capitals of Assyria were successively Ashur, Kalah and Nineveh. By the 13th century. BC. it became the most powerful empire in the entire Middle East.

In the artistic culture of Assyria - as in the entire Mesopotamia - the leading art was architecture. The most significant architectural monuments were the palace complex of King Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin and the palace of Ashur-banapal in Nineveh.

The Assyrian reliefs, decorating palace premises, the subjects of which were scenes from royal life: religious ceremonies, hunting, military events.

One of the best examples of Assyrian reliefs is considered to be the “Great Lion Hunt” from the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, where the scene depicting wounded, dying and killed lions is filled with deep drama, sharp dynamics and vivid expression.

In the 7th century BC. the last ruler of Assyria, Ashur-banapap, created a magnificent library, containing more than 25 thousand clay cuneiform tablets. The library became the largest in the entire Middle East. It contained documents that, to one degree or another, related to the entire Mesopotamia. Among them was the above-mentioned Epic of Gilgamesh.

Mesopotamia, like Egypt, became a real cradle of human culture and civilization. Sumerian cuneiform and Babylonian astronomy and mathematics - this is already enough to talk about the exceptional significance of the culture of Mesopotamia.