which is the mark of urban life of Mesopotamia?
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Answer:
Once upon a time, in the land known as Sumer, the people built a temple to their god who had conquered the forces of chaos and brought order to the world. They built this temple at a place called Eridu, which was “one of the most southerly sites, at the very edge of the alluvial river plain and close to the marshes: the transitional zone between sea and land, with its shifting watercourses, islands and deep reed thickets”Mythological Origins
This marshy area, hemmed about by hard land and sand dunes, represented to the people the life-giving force of the god and provided a physical manifestation of the order their god had created from chaos; the sweet waters of life were celebrated at Eridu as they were associated with what the Sumerians called the abzu, the primordial source of all existence, the realm in which the gods lived and from which they emerged.
The god Enki came forth from the abzu and dwelt at Eridu, and The Sumerian King-list states, “After kingship had descended from heaven, kingship was in Eridu.” This cultural centre became the first city to the Sumerians. The historian Gwendolyn Leick writes:
Thus the Mesopotamian Eden is not a garden but a city, formed from a piece of dry land surrounded by the waters. The first building is a temple…This is how Mesopotamian tradition presented the evolution and function of cities, and Eridu provides the mythical paradigm. Contrary to the biblical Eden, from which man was banished forever after the Fall, Eridu remained a real place, imbued with sacredness but always accessible (2).
Eridu was not only the first city in the world to the Sumerians, but the beginning of civilization. Every other city ever raised, they believed, had its origin in the sand and waters which surrounded Eridu.
Modern Theories
Modern scholars disagree on why the first cities in the world rose in the region of Mesopotamia instead of elsewhere. Theories range from the ancient alien hypothesis to social or natural upheavals that forced people to band together in urban centers, to environmental concerns and even to forced migration of rural communities to cities. None of these theories are universally accepted while the ancient alien hypothesis is rejected by every reputable scholar. What is agreed upon, however, is that the moment the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia decided to engage in the process of urbanization, they changed the way humans would live forever. The historian Kriwaczek writes:
This was a revolutionary moment in human history. The [Sumerians] were consciously aiming at nothing less than changing the world. They were the very first to adopt the principle that has driven progress and advancement throughout history, and still motivates most of us in the modern times: the conviction that it is humanity’s right, its mission and its destiny, to transform and improve on nature and become her master (20).
THE SITE OF ERIDU PROVIDES LITTLE TO SUGGEST IT WAS EVER ANY MORE THAN A SACRED CENTRE, PERHAPS EVEN DEFINED AS A LARGE VILLAGE OR TOWN BY MODERN-DAY STANDARDS OF SCHOLARSHIP.
This principle Kriwaczek refers to is perhaps no more than the natural inclination of human beings to gather together for safety from the elements, or it could have its roots in religion and communal religious practices which, among the benefits they offer, provide an assurance that there is order and meaning behind the seemingly random events of life. The historian Lewis Mumford claims that “the habit of resorting to caves for the collective performance of magical ceremonies seems to date back to an earlier period, and whole communities, living in caves and hollowed-out walls of rock, have survived in widely scattered areas down to the present. The outline of the city as both an outward form and an inward pattern of life might be found in such ancient assemblages” (1). Whatever it was that first gave rise to the development of the cities in Mesopotamia, the world would never be the same. Kriwaczek writes:
Answer:
what us the mark of urban life