In the course of a few millennia, the Urban Revolution leads us from the abandoned villages at the end of the Neolithic, characterized by architecture and urbanism in their infancy, and by an almost total absence of institutions, to the establishment of the first cities, kingdoms and empires, in the traces of Lugal-Zage-Si and of Sargon of Akkad.
The first Mesopotamian cities, as archeology has uncovered them, are the results from the adaptation of a society that is growing in complexity, having to integrate economic diversification as well as social hierarchy. This development will happen in stages, from the simple chiefdoms to the state-controlled structures that one finds in the city-states and kingdoms.
The factors that were at the origin of the Neolithic Revolution – economy of production and demographic growth – also preside over the development of chiefdoms and, ultimately, over the apparition of the first Mesopotamian cities. Integrating an increasingly heterogeneous population in an expanding economic system, the chiefdoms will give rise to a differentiated and dynamic social structure that will in turn accentuate social and economic disparities.
The term of “Urban Revolution” by no means exaggerates the size and importance of the transformations that take place, first of all, with the introduction of a new concept, the one of monumental architecture. In the Neolithic, the construction of important buildings intended for other functions than that of dwelling were very exceptional, allowing us to conclude that no political or religious structure had been built on a permanent basis during that period. We will have to wait for the Obeid 3 culture (5,400-5,000) to see the first witnesses of a truly monumental architecture appear [10]. Everything seems to indicate that these buildings combined political and religious functions. The palace built in Uruk at the end of the fourth millennium possessed different elements that are not yet integrated, while the Ziggurat of Anu, known as the White Temple, “corresponds more probably to a big council hall than to a temple.” [Forest, 2002] It is at the end of the Obeid period that the first “real” temples like the one in Eridu appear.
In the same way, while traces of urbanism can already be found in the eighth millennium with the walls of Jericho [11] and of Beidha, with the apparition of cemeteries as in Tell Aswad, or later still with the very special urban arrangement of the site of Çatalhöyük [12], it is only with the first cities that council halls appear, constructed on a high terrace dominating the city, and that cemeteries are relegated outside its walls [13], all this indicative of a will to organize and delimit the space.
Finally, the disappearance of private silos points out that a centrally controlled redistribution of production is now in place.
With the spatial organization of urban populations, a social structure arises that, for the first time, introduces the notion of State. The privatization of property and the formation of castes of specialists combined with exogenous demographic growth lead to new areas of differentiation between the members of society. The greatly ritualized and hierarchized castes of soldiers and of priests help the state-controlled structure expand while legitimizing it. The codes of laws, such as the one of Hammurabi dating from the beginning of the second millennium (fig. 6), confirm this will to rule and to legalize, and are the principal witnesses of these initial state-controlled frameworks.
The honor to have founded the first kingdom must be attributed to Lugal-Zage-Si, last king of Sumer, who unified the south of Mesopotamia. Sargon prolonged his work of expansion and territorial unification, from Akkad to the north to Sumer to the south. Akkad became the capital of an empire that dominated the whole Middle East (2,335-2,154), spreading from Lebanon and the south of Turkey to Iran [14].
Fig. 6: Code of Laws of Hammurabi
(replica) Babylon 1,750-1,700.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose,
California
The conquests started by Sargon were continued by his sons and his grandson, Naram-Sin. Under his reign, Akkad reached its apogee. Possibly motivated by the feeling that his authority and power spread over the whole world as it was known at the time, over all the lands situated between sunrise and sunset [15], Naram-Sin had the idea to divinize his status, abandoning royalty whose rank was then subordinate to that of divinity. A temple was dedicated to him, and the iconography represented him taller than other humans.
The fact that Naram-Sin was at the head of an army 360,000 men strong demonstrates a very efficient integration of food production, economically as well as administratively. Palaces and temples organized economic activity and distributed its production, which came mainly from agriculture, animal farming, and handicraft. These two institutions also redistributed the necessary commodities: grain, oil and wool. Such a centralized organization made sure that all accumulated surpluses remained in the hands of the authority, and profited the two castes supporting the power structure, that of the priests and of the soldiers. This is most visible in three of the main activities of the State: the construction of palaces and of temples, and war expeditions.
Conquests blended these populations as never before. The ethnic and linguistic homogeneity of the lineages and clans, the securitized position of every individual within the community made way for a multi-ethnical social composition that defined itself in geographical terms, using territorial limits to differentiate the in-group from the out-group.
Furthermore, the limited capacity to produce and the egalitarian norms of the tribes prevented the introduction of slavery: except in cases of specific needs – lack of women, for example – defeated people were expelled from their territory and banished to more hostile grounds, or simply exterminated.
The needs generated by an economy in expansion and by territorial extension are going to transform the destiny of vanquished people. Beside annexing territories and levying tributes, the conqueror will select the most valid individuals and integrate them into its economy while forming a new caste, the caste of slaves.
This new social stratum that appears at the time of chiefdoms will play a role of first importance in the economy of the burgeoning society, since it will provide a workforce that is easily recyclable and can quickly be adapted to the economic or demographic conditions at the most minimal cost [16].
Slavery will also have a positive influence on social cohesion, reminding every “free” individual the non-negligible advantages of its social standing, and the fact that it could lose it if its armies were to be defeated.