Artifacts of Ancient Mesopotamia: Iraq Museum

This morning, Austin and I watched the first lecture of a series called, "Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia."

Austin wasn't that keen to sit down for the 30-minute lecture, but since I stayed with him, and showed an interest, he stuck it out. The subject matter was quite interesting, though the lecturer isn't particularly engaging. Fortunately, some images were displayed during the lecture.

It was a good introduction to the subject, I feel. She outlined the impact of looting on the Iraq Museum during the time of the fall of Saddam Hussein. More than 14,000 objects were looted, and more than half of these were still unaccounted for in 2006. This dealt a considerable blow to historians and archaeologists. Many objects were destroyed forever during the war.

Austin was able to explain some of what he's learned in the history lessons at Academie Duello, related to the geography of ancient Mesopotamia, features of rulers, and societal structure. I drew a comparison between the characteristic band around the forehead of a ruler's likeness, to the bands on Lego Commander clones. Austin agreed, but pointed out the difference that the bands on the clones run vertical instead of horizontal.

The lecturer raised a question about an archaeological discovery of evidence of a flock of several hundred sheep - did these sheep belong to a communal group, a king, or someone of great wealth and stature?

An ancient vase (the Uruk Vase) was analysed by its parts, showing the base depicting water of the river, grains, then a procession of domesticated animals, and above that, a procession of happy individuals delivering "taxes" to their king.