At the site of Eridu in early Mesopotamia, we see evidence of increasingly larger temples built over top of earlier temples.  This may suggest that _____________.You Answered  the same space was utilized due to a culture that emphasized conformity Correct Answer  the ritual space was at least as important as the buildings   the culture participated in ancestor worship cults and maintained a space familiar to these ancestors   none of these   temple construction was very costly and repurposed existing materials

The monumental, stepped architectural structure built by Mesopotamian people and known in the cities of Uruk, Ur, Nippur and Eridu is called a Answer Question 4. (one word answer; be careful with your spelling)

The monumental architecture of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians was predated by that of which ancient culture?CarthageÇatal HüyükGöbleki TepeJericho

Urbanisation in Southern Mesopotamia:Temples and KingsFrom 5000 BCE, settlements had begun to develop in southernMesopotamia. The earliest cities emerged from some of these settlements.These were of various kinds: those that gradually developed aroundtemples; those that developed as centres of trade; and imperial cities.It is cities of the first two kinds that will be discussed here.Early settlers (their origins are unknown) began to build and rebuildtemples at selected spots in their villages. The earliest known templewas a small shrine made of unbaked bricks. Temples were the residencesof various gods: of the Moon God of Ur, or of Inanna the Goddess of Loveand War. Constructed in brick, temples became larger over time, withseveral rooms around open courtyards. Some of theearly ones were possibly not unlike the ordinary house– for the temple was the house of a god. But templesalways had their outer walls going in and out at regularintervals, which no ordinary building ever had.The god was the focus of worship: to him or herpeople brought grain, curd and fish (the floors of someearly temples had thick layers of fish bones). The godwas also the theoretical owner of the agricultural fields,the fisheries, and the herds of the local community. Intime, the processing of produce (for example, oilpressing, grain grinding, spinning, and the weaving ofwoollen cloth) was also done in the temple. Organiserof production at a level above the household, employerof merchants and keeper of written records ofdistributions and allotments of grain, plough animals,bread, beer, fish, etc., the temple gradually developedits activities and became the main urban institution.But there was also another factor on the scene.In spite of natural fertility, agriculture was subjectto hazards. The natural outlet channels of the Euphrates would havetoo much water one year and flood the crops, and sometimes theywould change course altogether. As the archaeological record shows,villages were periodically relocated in Mesopotamian history. Therewere man-made problems as well. Those who lived on the upstreamstretches of a channel could divert so much water into their fieldsthat villages downstream were left without water. Or they could neglectto clean out the silt from their stretch of the channel, blocking theflow of water further down. So the early Mesopotamian countrysidesaw repeated conflict over land and water.When there was continuous warfare in a region, those chiefs whohad been successful in war could oblige their followers by distributingthe loot, and could take prisoners from the defeated groups to employas their guards or servants. So they could increase their influence andclout. Such war leaders, however, would be here today and gonetomorrow – until a time came when such leadership came to increasethe well-being of the community with the creation of new institutionsor practices. In time, victorious chiefs began to offer precious booty tothe gods and thus beautify the community’s temples. They would sendmen out to fetch fine stones and metal for the benefit of the god andcommunity and organise the distribution of temple wealth in an efficientway by accounting for things that came in and went out. As the poemabout Enmerkar shows, this gave the king high status and the authorityto command the community.We can imagine a mutually reinforcing cycle of development inwhich leaders encouraged the settlement of villagers close tothemselves, to be able to rapidly get an army together. Besides,people would be safe living in close proximity to one another. AtUruk, one of the earliest temple towns, we find depictions of armedheroes and their victims, and careful archaeological surveys haveshown that around 3000 BCE, when Uruk grew to the enormousextent of 250 hectares – twice as large as Mohenjo-daro would be inlater centuries – dozens of small villages were deserted. There had been a major population shift. Significantly, Uruk also came tohave a defensive wall at a very early date. The site wascontinuously occupied from about 4200 BCE to about 400 CE,and by about 2800 BCE it had expanded to 400 hectares.War captives and local people were put to work for thetemple, or directly for the ruler. This, rather thanagricultural tax, was compulsory. Those who were put towork were paid rations. Hundreds of ration lists havebeen found, which give, against people’s names, thequantities of grain, cloth or oil allotted to them. It hasbeen estimated that one of the temples took 1,500 menworking 10 hours a day, five years to build.With rulers commanding people to fetch stones or metalores, to come and make bricks or lay the bricks for atemple, or else to go to a distant country to fetch suitablematerials, there were also technical advances at Uruk around3000 BCE. Bronze tools came into use for various crafts.Architects learnt to construct brick columns, there being nosuitable wood to bear the weight of the roof of large halls.Hundreds of people were put to work at making and baking claycones that could be pushed into temple walls, painted in differentcolours, creating a colourful mosaic. In sculpture, there were superbachievements, not in easily available clay but in imported stone.And then there was a technological landmark that we can say isappropriate to an urban economy: potter's wheel . In the log run the wheel enables a potter's workshop to 'mass produce' dozens of similar pots at a time.

Why do you think towns grew around temples?

What did Sumerians call their large temples?Group of answer choicesParthenonZigguratKioskPyramids