Abstract This paper studies the nature of the early state systems of Sumeria, Persia, and Assyria, the first region to experience the development of organized states based on urban civilization. The paper examines their internal structures and relationships with the societies around them, the ways in which they laid the foundations for each other, and the external factors that influenced their development.
From the Paper "Perhaps most important as a determining and unifying theme in the evolution of state systems in Mesopotamia is the geography of the region. It is significant that it was in the area of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, forming wide fertile valleys enclosed by mountains, that the first urban civilization developed; and the topography, resources and economic potential of the Mesopotamian landscape was crucial in influencing the character of the societies that flourished there."
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to briefly introduce, discuss and analyze the prophet Isaiah as he appears in the Old Testament of the Bible.
From the Paper "Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus in Israel, during the reign of four different kings, and during a time of great unrest in the country. God sends him to help mend the Israelites ways, because they are facing a war with Assyria, and they have stopped worshipping God, they have become self-centered and preoccupied with their own lives, and they are sinners"
Abstract This paper summarizes both the "Bhagavad-Gita" and the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and explains the message and purpose of each story. The paper explains that, even though both stories talk about authority and strength, the "Bhagavad-Gita" talks about the strength of the soul, while "Gilgamesh" talks about exterior strength.
From the Paper "The eastern and western scholars have described Bhagavad-gita to be the greatest spiritual books in the world. In the book Lord Krishna describes the science of self-realization and an exact through which human beings can establish their eternal relationship with God. "It is approachable from the sanctified realms of religions and is glorified as the essence of all spiritual teachings". ( Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/ ). "The core purpose of Bhagavad-Gita, is to illuminate for all of humanity, the realization of the true nature of divinity; as the highest spiritual conception and the greatest material
conception is to attain the love of God". This book extracts the main characters of Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna, enlightened in the first chapter, is the war scene in the sacred land of Kuruksetra and the setting up of a battle."
Tags: dejection fear epephany transformation eternal soul madhu ashurbanipal, king Assyria
Abstract This paper explains that urbanization, the arrangement of the design of the private and public buildings of a city and that of the intra-city arteries of communication and fortifications, reflects the needs and aspirations of the community within the existing frame of the ecological and technological areas of the period. The author points out that during the last phase of the Assyrian empire, beginning with the reign of Ashur-Dan II (934-912 BC) and lasting until almost 600 BC, when the Assyrian empire dominated most of Mesopotamia and parts of Palestine, Egypt, Media and Anatolia, the Assyrian kings radically transformed the cultural, political and geographical landscape of Upper Mesopotamia by the implementation of the processes of urbanization. The paper stresses that the Chaldean tribal groups, a loosely connected with prominent chieftains opposing urbanization, shifted allegiance according to the distribution of military strength, refused to pay taxes or to render services to the government, waylaid caravans and to attack and plunder settlements and small cities.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Program of Urbanization
Administrative Restructuring
Capitals
Economic Foundation
Southern Societies
Uruk and Ur
Anti-Urban Bias
Citizenship
Conclusion
From the Paper "In these Mesopotamian cities, there grew a concept of citizenship that was the result of the driving force of the urbanization process. The old and important cities enjoyed certain privileges and exemptions with respect to the king and his power. They had a legal status that differentiated in essential points from that of any other community, In Babylonia, these cities were Nippur, Babylon, and Sippar, in Assria, the old capital Asur, and later, Harran in Upper Mesopotamia. In principle, the inhabitants of these free cities claimed freedom from work, freedom from military service, as well as a tax exemption. These privileges were neither new nor exception, Certain persons with restructed libery, in the Sumerian empire of Ur were said to be exempted from carrying earth, and inhabitants of Nippur were exempted from military service and paying tribute in silver and gold. This shows that the resistance against the claims of a central authority for services of its subjects is characteristics not only of a non urbanized group, but also one of the aspirations of city-dwellers."
Abstract This paper reviews the role of the body in ancient art. According to this paper, the way in which the human body is depicted in ancient artwork can actually tell us much about the social and historical context in which that artistic representation was created.
From the Paper "The site where art collides with artifact is one in the study of ancient societies that can reveal much about how specific societies constructed meaning in the world. Artistic representations and images are some of the best windows into the operation of any society - they can express the ways in which cultural values are expressed. This can be particularly important for the art historian, who uses an understanding of the way art portrays meaning to unearth new knowledge and understanding of the way that ancient societies functioned and what they valued."
