First civilizations Second edition First civilizations Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt Second edition Robert Chadwick Published by Equinox Publishing Ltd. UK: Unit 6, The Village, 101 Amies St., London SW11 2JW USA: DBBC, 28 Main Street, Oakville, CT 06779 www.equinoxpub.com First edition published by Les Éditions Champ Fleury, Montréal, in 1996. This second edition fi rst published 2005. Reprinted 2008. © Robert Chadwick 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 904768 77 6 (hardback) 1 904768 78 4 (paperback) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chadwick, Robert, 1941- First civilizations : ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt / Robert Chadwick.— 2nd ed. p. cm. Previous ed.: Montreal : Les Editions Champ Fleury, 1996. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-904768-77-6 (hb) — ISBN 1-904768-78-4 (pb) 1. Iraq—Civilization—To 634. 2. Egypt—Civilization—332 B.C.-638 A.D. I. Title. DS69.5.C43 2004 935—dc22 2004014297 Typeset by Kate Williams, Swansea. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd., Chippenham. To Karina Contents Preface viii Acknowledgements ix List of illustrations x Part I: Introduction 1 History and a rchaeology as tools for u nderstanding the past 2 2 Agriculture and the origins of civilization 20 Part II: Mesopotamia 3 The Early Dynastic period and the f ormation of the fi rst city-states 38 4 The Akkadians and the Ur III Dynasty 50 5 Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC: the Babylonians and the Kassites (2000–1600 BC) 60 6 The Assyrians 74 7 The Last Babylonian D ynasty 90 Part III: Religion, science, and medicine 8 Mythology and religion in Mesopotamia: the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu 100 9 Science and technology: a stronomy and medicine in Mesopotamia and Egypt 108 Part IV: Egypt 10 Egypt: the Black Land 128 11 The Old Kingdom or the Pyramid Age (2575–2134 BC) 138 12 Funerary practices, rituals, and mummifi cation 156 13 The Hyksos period and the New Kingdom 168 14 Akhenaten and the Amarna period 180 15 The 19th Dynasty and the Ramesside kings 194 16 Egypt in the late second and fi rst millenniums BC 204 Part V: Mesopotamia and Egypt under Persian rule 17 The Persians 218 Epilogue: The twilight of the fi rst civilizations 228 Notes 232 Bibliography 250 Index 262 Preface This is an expanded and revised edition of First Civi- all bibliographical sources i ncluded are in English. lizations: Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, Instead of emphasizing specialized journals and mon- which originally appeared in 1996 (Les Éditions ographs, many of which are beyond the knowledge of Champ Fleury, Montréal, Canada). First Civilizations introductory students, First Civilizations takes advan- Robert Chadwick is a one-volume, introductory overview of two of the tage of a number of recently published e ncyclopedias Bishop’s University and Université world’s oldest civilizations: ancient Mesopotamia and and dictionaries specializing in Near Eastern civili- de Sherbrooke, Estrie, Québec, Canada ancient Egypt. It grew out of three decades of teach- zations, including Civilizations of the Ancient Near October 2004 ing the history and culture of the ancient Near East East, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, The Oxford History at college and university level using a variety of books of Ancient Egypt, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeol- and articles that were, in many instances, unsuited to ogy in the Near East and The Oxford Encyclopedia of the needs and scholarly capabilities of undergradu- Ancient Egypt, among others, as its principal sources ates. First Civilizations was conceived primarily for of information. These publications were favoured students who have little or no knowledge of ancient over specialist journals and monographs for several history or archaeology, and will take only one general reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, they interest course about the ancient Near East as part of are widely available even in most small- and medium- their broader educational experience. Even though sized educational institutions. Secondly, the articles most people who use this text will pursue studies in in these compendia are short, up to date, and written other areas it is hoped that a few will be stimulated to by recognized experts in the fi eld in a style and on a continue their studies in the fi eld of Near Eastern or level that is comprehensible to e ntry-level students. pre-classical antiquities. Thirdly, they contain excellent bibliographies for Although First Civilizations contains much histor- those who wish to expand their research. It should ical information, it is not, strictly speaking, a history be noted that most of the very old titles that appear book; it also offers glimpses of religion, mythology, art, in the bibliography have been i ncluded mainly as architecture, technology and an overview of h istorical sources for illustrations and not necessarily for their and archaeological methodology. To assist students in sometimes outdated content. the preparation of class reports and research papers, Finally, a word to teaching professionals using this endnotes and complete bibliographies are included book: I know full well that there is so much more that at the end of the book. Although there are a number could have been included in a one-volume treatment of highly valuable sources in French, German, Ital- such as this, but the most diffi cult task I encountered ian, and other European languages, this book was in writing this book was not deciding what to i nclude, designed for English language readers, and almost but what to leave out. I would like to thank everyone who helped and entire manuscript. Finally, to my wife Karina who read Acknowledgements encouraged me in preparing the updated and the manuscript numerous times and yet persevered expanded edition of First Civilizations: Ancient with charm, patience and understanding through the Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, in particular, Dr longer than expected gestation period of this book. John Baines of Oxford University, who read the entire My heartfelt thanks to all. Any errors herein are, of manuscript and made many valuable comments and course, my own and not those of my friends and col- corrections. During various stages of development leagues mentioned above. of the 1996 edition and the 2005 edition the fol- In addition I would like to thank Drs Horst Klen- lowing people read various parts of the manuscript gel of the Vorderasiatisches Museen, Berlin, Bea- and made many valuable suggestions and correc- trice André-Salvini of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, tions: Professors Michel Fortin, of Université Laval W.V. Davies, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities, British and Joe Seger of the Cobb Institute of Archaeol- Museum, London, Dr Elisabetta Valtz of Museo Delle ogy, Mississippi State University; as well as Professors Antichità Egizie and Dr Mohamed Saleh, Egyptian Grant Frame, Douglas Frayne and Ronald J. Lepro- Museum, Cairo, for allowing me to make or use draw- hon of the D epartment of Near and Middle Eastern ings of objects in their respective institutions. Studies at the University of Toronto; Donald Redford My thanks to the following people who provided (now at Pennsylvania State University); Professors photographs used in this book. Professor John Hol- Robyn Gillam, York University, Toronto; Eugene laday Jr. of the University of Toronto as well as Nicola Cruz-Uribe, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff; Woods of Royal Ontario Museum and Barbara Law- Professors Marcel Leibovici, Philip Smith and Jean son of the Redpath Museum of McGill University Revez of Université de Montréal; Professor Paul- for the use of photographs of objects in their col- Alain Beaulieu, Yale University; as well as Edwin C. lections. Special thanks to Professor Michel Fortin Brock and Lyla Pinch-Brock of Cairo. of Université Laval for allowing me to use a number I would also like to thank Deborah Cunningham of excavation photographs and drawings from his for her numerous drawings and maps, which appear excavations at Tell ‘Atij and Tell ‘Acharneh, Syria throughout the text, along with John Mahoney of that appear in Chapter 1. Other photographs were Tomifobia, Québec, who edited the 1996 manuscript, kindly provided by my wife Karina Gerlach, and by Tim Doherty of visimage.ca, who designed the front Professors Michael Weigl of the Catholic University of cover and helped facilitate many improvements in America, Washington D.C., Professor Grant Frame of the 2005 edition and Kim Prangley of the Haskell the University of Toronto and Mr Wallace Eldredge Free Library, Stanstead, Québec, who proofread the of Nesconset, New York.