Humanities 101

Humanities 101 Midterm Review
Weeks 1 and 2
Mesopotamia: Sumerians, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian
Euphrates River
Tigris River
Fertile Crescent
Uruk
Cuneiform: wedge or nail shape marks pressed into wet clay –used for over 3000 years
Sumerians 3500-2350
Located in lower Mesopotamia
Between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers
Part of the Fertile Crescent
Invented writing and beer (Kassi)
Purpose? Records of goods and services
2700 BCE: rough date assigned the historical Gilgsmesh, King of Uruk
Images:
The Euphronios Krater 18 inches high 22 inches wide. Made 515 BCE
The Ziggurats at Uruk and Ur: sunbaked, mud-brick stuck together with asphalt, 100 meters high, temple on top
Created so humans could reach the heavens

The Bull-Headed Lyre

Cylinder Seals c 2400 BC
Cuneiform Tablets Map: Find Tigris and Euphrates; Mesopotamia, Uruk, the Fertile Crescent
Week 2: Terms and Characters
Hebrew Bible: The Old Testament (Christian name)
The Law
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
The Prophets
The Writings

Pentateuch/Torah: Teachings – first five books of the Hebrew bible (old testament)
Decalogue/Ten Commandments: RULES
Violation of these laws in an offense to God
No punishment is specified therefore all punishments are possible
Lex Talionis: compensation of kind (eye for an eye)
Genesis: The beginning
Exodus: The road out
Theogony
Aetiology: set of causes – on the seventh day god rested = sabbath
Covenant: An agreement made
Abraham – covenant w/ him and his children – exclusive sign: circumcision
Noah – covenant w/ him and every living thing – inclusive sign: rainbow
Abraham – Made a covenant with God
[Hagar] and Sarah
Ishmael
Isaac
Isaac
Rebekah
Jacob
Esau
Ishmael
Jacob
Four women (incl. Leah, Rachel)
Twelve sons
Joseph
Esau
Moses
Aaron
Ideas to think about in reviewing Genesis/Exodus
Continuity of the narrative
Dominance of younger son
The ideal of lineage (patrilineal) from Adam to Joseph