Who was king? Who was not king? What was a king in ancient Mesopotamia? In this video, we’ll take a quick look at kingship and the duties of a king in ancient Mesopotamia through the ages.
Contents:
00:00 “After Kingship had descended from the heavens…”
02:36 The Development of Kings in Ancient Sumer
04:31 Role and Duties of Kings in Ancient Mesopotamia
14:02 Thank You and Patrons
Related Videos:
Did the People of Ancient Mesopotamia Believe their Kings were Divine?
https://youtu.be/bovMkWsu0Ig
The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC)
https://youtu.be/szFjxmY7jQA
Babylon: The City at the Center of the World – The Concise History of Babylonia (2000-539 BC)
https://youtu.be/O2hbP7PwuYU
Ancient Sumer and the Sumerians (Ancient Mesopotamia in Minutes)
https://youtu.be/hPSUlUrIDng
Sources and Suggested Reading:
A History of Babylon, 2200 BC – AD 75 – Paul-Alain Beaulieu
A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition – Marc Van De Mieroop
Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins – Ed. by Ariane Thomas and Timothy Potts
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization – Paul Kriwaczek
The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation – Mark W. Chavalas
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East: Vol. I – Ed. by Jack M. Sasson
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Didn't Ashurbanipal make the corpses plenty and not just the crops.
Remove the 3 zeros and it makes much more sense. I would think the 3 zeros must represent something else over looked and has been misinterpreted. Again the where the first 4 mythical rulers so the 3 zeros indicated by the cuneiform text must represent ? Ruler also accompanied by 2 deities ie, the sun and the moon. And later removed as kingship was established.
Um… Those Years… Could be a mistranslation, and it's Days…
Also I'd love you to go into the less common royal titles of Mesopotamia, if there are any beyond En, Ensi or Lugal.
I also wrote a comment that seems to have disappeared, but if a shorter version of this one pops back up, please bare with me: basically asking why you keep using selective non Assyrian spelling for a handful of Kings. Why keep using Esarhaddon, when we know it was Assur-Aha-Iddina ? Why keep the actual name obscure and keep using the mangled foreign version ?
Same thing annoys me when people keep using the Greek versions of the names of Persian kings.
Perpetuating historically enshrined inaccuracies doesn't do anything to stop them 😢
"grandkek69"… that doesn't sound like an irony-poisoned racist at all…
I like to think those early civilizations also looked back in time with some mystery and wonder regarding "the ancient ones" that lived before.
The role of 'shaman' and the leadership of a band or tribe has never been intrinsically united. Thus I find it easy to assume that the 'priest-kings' were more 'official leaders' of the oligarchy that increasingly consolidated power and wealth. Some 'priest-kings' may have primarily been 'priests', others may have more been 'kings', with other members of the oligarchy fulfilling roles with varying degrees of officialness.
This is the #1 channel I listen to before going to school and leaving school
Another excellent video!
Cool
The ancient Egyptians get all the attention but the ancient Sumerians were the more interesting and creative: well done cy!
No tyrants or despots.
Only mere shepherds.
I love your narration. This was an awesome video!
Channel for ancient history buffs🎉🎉. I request history of aryans from maykopf, sintasha culture, to battle of 10 kings, mahabharat , mahajanapadas, painted grey ware, polished black ware, red ware pottery in india and recent discovery of sinauli chariot in india in a looonngggg video❤❤
Another Cy video in short order? Very nice and appreciated!
Kingship is generally the area of greatest interest. I am curious, what the religious rites and practices were and how the ziggurats, in whole or in part, were used.
You sound like the dude from Blue Eye Samurai
This story mirrors the story of Joseph. 7 years of escape from a famine. It was Joseph's dream.
hola soy mexicano y me gustan estos videos
Great stuff.
Any plan to continue your work on the Peloponnesian war?
All the evidence you present in this video reinforces my understanding of the role of Kingship throughout history. What people don't realise is that the difference between a KING and a mere despot or tyrant, is the support of the PRIESTHOOD, for the person in control. The whole notion of Kingship revolves around a CONTRACT between the priesthood and a noble; the noble person gains the backing of the most powerful priesthood in a given polity to rule over the commoners (become King). IN RETURN the King legitimises the priesthood as the 'state' priesthood, he becomes a sponsor of it, and most importantly, he DEFENDS the priesthood from physical attack by martial power (the military). This is why the two most central motifs in the contract between the Priesthood and the new King – the CORONATION ceremony – is a) the anointing of the new King by the priesthood, as a symbol of their support, b) the giving of a ceremonial weapon to the new King by the priesthood as a symbol of his obligation to DEFEND THE FAITH (the priesthood). By these means, the population of a given polity is placed under rigid social control, and food production can then be increased exponentially, garnering greater manpower for the polity, and thus greater power, wealth and prosperity for the King and the Priesthood.
This is something in 'The West' we have long since forgotten, but it's legacy still forms the most central element in our modern society.
It's just sad how little historical records we have of Sumer prior to the 26th century BCE. The people who invented writing so it best to use their invention to keep accounting records, not events