"Each city to have its own guardian God/Goddess"
Considering the records describing the period when the legendary Theseus, who is thought to be the unifying king of the Athenian state, lived, it is rumored that Athens started to progress towards becoming a single state in 900-800 BC. Plutarch is the most prominent among the writers who reasoned based on the information he had in his book "Parallel Lives, Theseus and Romulus" on the time of the king.
'Athena', the patron goddess of the state of Athens, is the daughter of Zeus, the King of the Gods, and the city takes its name from this goddess. The goddess also has the mission of the goddess of 'War and Wisdom'.
If we only start from 3300 BC, when the tablets are dated, we see that the city of Uruk, which is the combination of two cities whose patron god is An and Goddess of Love, was founded 2400 years before Athens.
The god Mars's son Romulus, born of a virgin, and his twin Remus founded Rome, the capital of the Empire since it is dated to 753 BC, 'Jupiter Stoar', which is the god of this city, 'Jupiter, who brings people together,' has been a protector. About 2547 years after the Sumerian sky god An, Jupiter became a god who was praised and worshiped in another part of the same world with his mission of 'gathering people together'.
Sumerian writer and teacher Ludingirra, who lived 4000 years ago, gives us the structure of the Sumerian State and the living standards of its people, with the discovery of his tablets written in about 2000 BC.
"The first example of today's monarchy and independent judiciary is in Sumer! '''
Ludingirra mentions the royal family living in their capital, Isin. He is a man who lives and teaches in the city of Nippur. In one of his tablets, he talks about his uncle, who was a judge, and how the cases were handled.
- The city of Nippur, which has an independent judiciary where the king does not interfere, acts as a high court and consists of judges who decide the cases that the king has difficulty in solving.
The 'Senate', which appears before us as a rank like the 'chambers', which became symbolic in modern monarchies and became an advisory council, started with Sumer in ancient times.
- The basis of the litigation system, which will become widespread in Athens, Rome and in modern Europe and America with their influence, is also in Sumer.
In his tablet on the cases, Ludingirra talks about people selected from unrelated professional groups, consisting of 11 men, who listen to the case and vote among them and play a role in the judge's decision.
These 11 people could be farmers, notaries, teachers, butchers... as in today's United States system, they may be from many professions that you can think of. It is voted unanimously rather than by majority, so if even one person objects, the decision is reviewed again.
"The foundation of home and housing culture"
Describing the house he lived in on one of the tablets, the author also tells us about the general preferences of the society.
- Houses are one or two storeys.
- They usually have their own gardens.
- Trees and flowers are grown in the gardens. (usually date fruit)
- Water for garden and human care comes from rivers via canals through clay platforms
With the same system, various villas in the Roman Empire are designed to have access to the aqueducts carried to the residences by canals built with the permission of the empire.
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Historical Archeology
Short StoryIn this series, I share with you, my dear readers and writers, how I do history readings. Since the main purpose is to revive history without deviating from the chronology, I reveal how I approached when comparing the sources I used. I hope I can ma...
