Seminar notes: The first states

James Scott, How agriculture domesticated us

The rise of agriculture

• some 12,000 years ago
• the first states — 3,000 or 4,000 BCE
• there is quite a gap here — we were independent farmers for a long time …

but some 97 percent of human history is not a matter of sedentary farming

• implications for human physiology
• and culture

“The paleolithic resettlement camp”

the importance of alluvial soils

• no self-respecting barbarian would stoop to working with a plow …
• the transition only worked since the fields periodically were flooded
• the only kind of agriculture that can compete with hunting and gathering …

Two spheres

• the farmers vs. the nomads —
• “the membrane permeable only in one direction”
• but people have always been leaving the state — “barbarians by design”
• “shatter zones” — like Yunan — soaking up the people who exited the state
• becoming a barbarian was often a good idea — better fed and led better and longer lives — cf. fleeing from China, Greeks and Romans left for the Huns

History of the state

• history is written by settled people — “dark age” only means that there is nothing to put in the British Museum …

history as a story of monuments — requires historical artifacts

• people who leave biodegradable stuff behind — have less of an ecological footprint — also leave less of a history

until 1680 there were predominantly non-state people — only in river valleys and a few flood plains … the world not fully divided up until the 1930s …

• coincides with the Westphalian international system

non-state spaces outside — only temporary expeditions —

• states did not try to reach outside of their areas
• the sedentary states have a nomadic shadow — they are all paired up

Cf. moving and settled raiders — “roaming” and “stationary” bandits (cf. Mancur Olson)

“roaming bandits”

• loot and plunder without any long-term commitment to the territory or its inhabitants. Their main objective is to extract as much as they can as quickly as they can, without regard for the long-term productivity or well-being of the area.

“stationary bandits”

• Over time, some of these bandits realize that, rather than repeatedly raiding an area, they can extract more wealth in the long run by settling down, providing some semblance of order and protection, and continuously taxing the population. By doing so, they have an incentive to promote some level of economic prosperity and stability in the territory, since it maximizes their long-term extraction. In essence, the “stationary bandit” becomes a self-interested ruler or governing force.

• state officials come around once a year to collect taxes
• but settles since it’s easier to collect — take an interest in their own barbarians

the state and the barbarians

• just two — not that different — ways of getting access to the labor of farmers …

a paradox perhaps

• self-interested, predatory behavior can, under certain conditions, lead to the establishment of order and governance. The desire for continuous extraction of wealth incentivizes the bandit to provide stability and some public goods, paving the way for the emergence of more structured forms of governance

Pastoral people

pastoral life is not self-sustaining — requires the resources of sedentary people

• threats to settled people — “golden age of barbarians” — 1200 BCE, sea raiders are plundering much of the Mediterranean
• always limiting the growth of states — in India — pushing down from the north — no strong states can form
• lucrative form of hunting and gathering

Owen Lattimore

• linked chain of fortified frontiers — Iran, western Roman empire, Danube
• the Sumerians build the first wall — “to keep out the barbarians” — but were also keeping the farmers in

Trade

• the produce base of the state societies was limited — they relied on international trade — this was provided by the nomadic peoples
• trading as an alternative to raiding for the nomadic peoples themselves

Agriculture made the state possible

• and it made our lives worse …
• we were better off as hunters and gatherers

Undermine state propaganda — the idea that the agricultural revolution was an improvement — “made civilization possible” etc.

• life in pre-state societies nothing like Hobbes description — a lot of leisure time — egalitarian and peaceful —
• cf. anarcho-primitivists — there is quite a movement like this …
• “surely we can come up with some other ways to organize our societies”

Effects of the agricultural revolution …

• worse and less varied food
• diseases in a cramped environment — of animals too — diseases of crops — rats, flies, flees
• standing armies — mass killings
• political implications — just look at the pyramids and the ziggurats — the buildings reflect the hierarchical societies

The connection to grain …

• tax collectors needed grains that they could collect at certain times in the year
• more difficult for the farmers if their produce was perishable
• they are all grain states — no potatoes or cassava — crops that ripen at the same time — easy to appropriate surplus valley

Military cooperation with sedentary states

• slavery and slave raids — reinforcing the state core
• selling martial skills to the armies of the sedentary states — Janissaries, Mamluks etc.
• the barbarians dug their own grave

Nomadic empires

• when they settle down they are all forced to come up with some way of dealing with multiculturalism
• cf. Arabs, Mongols in China, the Ottomans

More on hunters and gatherers

• Ezra Klein, “Why do we work so damn much?“

Göbekli tepe

 

 

staggering age — 9600 BCE

• predating agriculture
• probably hunters and gatherers, but no one really knows who they were

intricate carvings of humans and animals

• T-shaped limestone pillars. Many of these pillars are carved with bas-reliefs of animals, including foxes, lions, snakes, and birds, which might have symbolic or totemic significance.
• complex social organization predates agriculture
• religious and ceremonial center

hunters and gatherers coming together on occasions

• but how could they coordinate the project without a state
• maybe religion helped them do it

some of the animals are not endemic to the region — lions etc

Surprisingly, there’s a lack of evidence for domestic habitation, such as houses, hearths, or trash pits. This absence further supports the idea that the site was primarily used for ritualistic or ceremonial purposes.

deliberate burial of the site — 8,000 BCE

The First States

Kingship, not kinship, as a principle of organization

• this is a break with the past
• political units
• and much larger

Kingship and divinity as a part of united whole

• political theology

Cf. the perpetual problem of legitimacy

• how to make people follow you, obey, pay taxes, etc.
• leges — in accordance with with the law

problem for all states —

• no one wants to pay taxes and die in the state’s wars
• a constant theme of the course — and of human history
• but for the first states in particular — especially if the nomadic condition was quite attractive

Sources of legitimacy

• economic growth, democracy, tradition
• divine support — from god
• later History
• universal human rights — liberalism — reason

This is a problem of political theology — or of secular religion

Religion in archaic societies — Heaven and Earth

• live in a particular place
• defend a particular plot of land – build walls around it to protect it from animals and marauders
• people coming to you will always be strange — something to fear

a strong sense of community —

• you can trust people who you meet everyday — people who you continuously will interact with

The gods of farmers

• associated with the earth and the sky
• ask the god to make the earth fertile — make rain and sun come from the sky
• there is a big problem if this doesn’t happen …
• you are completely dependent on the powers of your god — there is very little you can do yourself — you cannot move around
• this made for powerful gods and fearful people
• you have to do everything you can in order to avoid retribution
• the more powerful your god, the more terrified you will be of the god’s powers

Political theology: creation myths

typically a story of how earth and sky came to be separated from each other — similar myths exist in different parts of the world

Living between the earth and the sky — there is a phenomenological obviousness to this distinction

• we always have the earth below us and the sky above — whatever else there might be, this much is always going to be true
• it is thanks to the separation between earth and sky that we are able to find our bearings
• by orientating ourselves towards the horizon we establish what is up and what is down and what is on the level — in this way we can locate ourselves in space and move around

the importance of the horizon

• without a horizon we would be trapped in a sealed space which did not open up to our movements and which allowed no means of escape

The importance of the sky

• the sky in relation to eternity
• without the sky, the world becomes an underworld — we would be buried under the earth
• the earth is always different — the sky is always the same

gods of the earth, gods of the sky

• political theology as taking place between the earth and the sky

answers the ontological question of what the state is

between the earth and the sky

• not local and not universal

temples as illustrating this

• the world as a city ruled by a king who also was a god
• standing on top of a pyramid

 

Ancient Mesopotamia

Agriculture, states and writing emerged independently of each other in a number of places

• Mesopotamia
• The Nile in Egypt
• Indus valley
• Yellow river in China

Mesopotamia

• People started moving into Mesopotamia some 12,000 years ago — small settlements

this was when farming began

• domestication of animals — wheat, barley, lentils, peas and chickpeas.
• The rise of cities — system of city-states — Uruk, Ur, Eridu, and many others
• stratification of society — division of labor

 

Sumerians

from about 3,500 BCE.

• the discovery of bronze — Bronze age — making weapons, tools, wheeled chariots

engineers creating systems of irrigation — required a large labor force

• the ability to control people

trade with others — import objects from far away

• division of labor means people are freed from the land

the invention of writing

cuneiform script

• on clay tablets — many of these records exist to this day
• records of harvests and taxes — long lists of things
• standardization of weights and measures

writing as an instrument of the state

• keeping track of things and people
• who has paid their taxes
• also explains why writing did not emerge in non-state societies

mathematics and astronomy

• they wanted to predict the future
• zodiacs divided in 12
• hours divided in 60 minutes — they had a base 6 mathematical system

 

Sumerian city-states

each had their independent economy

• own kings and class system
• people lived within the city-walls
• only centralized from 2,800 BCE

Religion

every city had their temples, favorite gods, people belonged to a temple

• earth, sky and underworld — gods of heavenly bodies
• the temples owned the land
• priests were also political leaders — the political leaders were priests

Kings

the king was considered a deity — most noblemen were related to the king

• kings of Kish and or Uruk — but at first they only rule over their own territory
• the first ziggurats

Enūma Eliš

Enūma Eliš

download pdf

An ancient Babylonian creation myth written in cuneiform on seven clay tablets.

The Enūma Eliš was traditionally recited during the Babylonian New Year festival to assert and celebrate Marduk’s rule over the cosmos.

Akitu celebrations in Iraq

 

Epic of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh and Endiku

• the cultivated and the barbarian
• looking for eternal life
• similar stories to those of the Bible — the Flood, etc.

 

Epic of Gilgamesh

download pdf

 

The flood

 

Sargon and the Akkadians

first centralized kingdom — the Akkadian — from 2334 BCE

• Sargon as a brilliant military leader
• expanded trade
• built even bigger ziggurats
• created great sculptures

What happened to it?

• The Akkadian Empire, established by Sargon of Akkad around 2334 BCE, is often regarded as the world’s first true empire. Sargon’s reign marked the beginning of the empire, which lasted for nearly two centuries, bringing together the previously city-states of Sumer under a centralized rule.

1. Cultural synthesis: The empire witnessed a blending of Sumerian and Akkadian cultures, both in language and art. This synthesis had a lasting influence on later Mesopotamian cultures.
2. Military expansion: Sargon and his successors undertook numerous military campaigns, expanding the empire’s borders and establishing control over trade routes.

• Decline of the Akkadian Empire:
• While the Akkadians achieved significant feats under rulers like Sargon, Rimush, Manishtushu, and Naram-Sin, their empire faced challenges that eventually led to its decline:

1. Environmental factors: Archaeological and paleoclimatic data suggest that the region experienced severe droughts during the latter part of the Akkadian period. Such climatic shifts could have disrupted agriculture, leading to economic difficulties.
2. Internal strife: With the expansion of the empire, maintaining control over such vast territories and diverse populations posed challenges. Internal rebellions and power struggles weakened the central authority.
3. External pressures: Toward the end of the Akkadian period, the empire faced invasions from groups like the Gutians. The Guti invasion, combined with the aforementioned internal and environmental challenges, overwhelmed the empire.

• By around 2154 BCE, the Akkadian Empire had collapsed, making way for the Gutian dynasty, which ruled for a short period. However, the post-Akkadian period witnessed the resurgence of the Sumerians, especially under the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III). The Ur III dynasty, though short-lived, laid the groundwork for the subsequent emergence of the Old Babylonian Empire, which became another major power in the region.
• In summary, while the Akkadian Empire occupied a relatively short period between the Sumerians and the Babylonians, its influence was profound. Its decline was due to a combination of environmental, internal, and external factors.

Babylonians

In Our Time, “Babylon“

rise from 1,900 BCE —

• divine kingship — heavy taxation — ruled over most city-states
• Hammurabi as a great builder — the constructions symbolized their world

Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hamurabi

download pdf

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest and most comprehensive legal codes. Written by the Babylonian king Hammurabi around 1754 BCE, it’s engraved on a stele and comprises 282 laws.

• the whole text is here.
• more on Wikipedia.

282 laws and their punishments

• created a system for punishment — not arbitrary, or up to someone’s discretion
• most crimes were punished by death —
• receiving stole goods, breaking into a home, arson, sorcery, doing a government job badly

Assyrians

From the second millennium BCE to the middle of the first

• peak of power around 1000 BCE — controlling today’s Iraq, Syria, Israel, into Egypt, southern Turkey
• building cities, temples and going to war
• Sargon II — better administrative system, provinces with governors, better ways of raising taxes — to pay for armies
• 3. Military and Administration:
  • Military: The Assyrians are often recognized for their military innovations, including siege warfare techniques, a standing army, and a sophisticated supply chain.
  • Administration: The empire had a well-organized administrative system with provinces governed by officials directly accountable to the king. They also had an efficient communication system, including a network of roads and relay stations.

  4. Art and Architecture:

  • Assyrian kings commissioned monumental palaces adorned with intricately carved stone reliefs depicting warfare, hunting, and ritual scenes. These reliefs provide valuable insights into Assyrian royal ideology and daily life.
  • The protective spirits known as “lamassu” – colossal winged bulls or lions with human heads – are iconic symbols of Assyrian art, often placed at gateways to palaces and cities.

  5. Religion:

  • The primary god of the Assyrian pantheon was Ashur, from whom the city and the nation derived its name. Temples dedicated to various deities were prominent in cities, with the ziggurat being a notable architectural feature.

  6. Decline:

  • The Assyrian Empire faced multiple challenges in the 7th century BCE, including internal strife, economic pressures, and external threats. The combined forces of the Babylonians and the Medes sacked Nineveh in 612 BCE, marking the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Neo-Babylonian period

Nebuchadnezzar II — 600 BCE — the captivity of the Jews

• Rise of the Persians — Cyrus II
• Alexander the Great invaded Babylon in the 4th century
• Babylon as the administrative capital of Persia

After the decline and fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Babylonians, under leaders like Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar II, rose to power and established the Neo-Babylonian Empire. This period is marked by the construction of the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The Neo-Babylonian Empire lasted until 539 BCE when the Persians under Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon.

Hittites

c. 1750–1650 BC

1. Geographical Location:

• The core of the Hittite Empire was situated in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Their capital was Hattusa (modern-day Boğazkale).

2. Timeline:

• Early Hittites (c. 1700–1500 BCE): The emergence of the Hittite kingdom with its center in central Anatolia.
• Old Kingdom (c. 1500–1430 BCE): Consolidation and expansion of the Hittite state.
• Middle Kingdom (c. 1430–1380 BCE): A brief period of decline followed by recovery.
• New Kingdom/Empire Period (c. 1380–1180 BCE): The peak of Hittite power, during which they vied for dominance with other major states like Egypt.

3. Politics and Military:

• Treaties: One of the most famous treaties in ancient history is the Treaty of Kadesh between the Hittites and Egyptians (around 1259 BCE). This treaty, between Hittite King Hattusili III and Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, is often cited as one of the earliest examples of international diplomacy.
• Chariot warfare: The Hittites are credited with significant advancements in chariot warfare, which they used effectively in their military campaigns.

4. Society and Culture:

• Language: The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language called Hittite. They adopted and adapted the cuneiform script of Mesopotamia for their writing.
• Religion: The Hittite pantheon was diverse, with a mixture of native Anatolian deities and gods absorbed from surrounding cultures. Important deities included the storm god Tarhunt and the sun goddess Arinna.

5. Art and Architecture:

• Lion’s Gate: One of the most iconic architectural features of Hattusa is the Lion’s Gate, which showcases the Hittite’s monumental art style.
• Reliefs and Sculptures: Hittite art often depicted religious rituals, deities, and myths, as well as scenes of daily life and ceremonial events.

6. Decline:

• The reasons for the sudden decline of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BCE remain a matter of debate among historians. Factors might include invasions (by the Sea Peoples, among others), internal strife, and possible environmental challenges.
• After the fall of the empire, several Neo-Hittite or “Syro-Hittite” city-states emerged in parts of Anatolia and northern Syria, continuing some aspects of Hittite culture until they were eventually absorbed by the rising Neo-Assyrian Empire.

7. Legacy:

• The Hittites left behind a wealth of texts that have provided scholars with valuable insights into their laws, treaties, myths, and daily life. Their legal code is particularly notable for its focus on restitution rather than retribution.
• Their influence persisted in the art, culture, and politics of the ancient Near East, particularly through the Syro-Hittite states.

In summary, the Hittites were a formidable civilization in the ancient Near East, known for their military advancements, rich culture, and significant contributions to the art of statecraft and diplomacy.

 

more on Hattusa

• 10,000 – 15,000 population
• 30,000 cuneiform tablets

people in Anatolia and Syria

• very good at iron smelting — produced great weapons
• traded over large areas
• constant warfare

In Our Time, “Hittites“

 

A Hittite empire

• 1906 to find a Hittite city — Boğazköy
• royal archive cuneiform tablets
• written in Akkadian
• from Western Turkey to Syria

one of the superpowers at the time

• found royal castle
• public buildings
• temples
• administrative hubs

the kings became a god when they died

• they had 1,000 gods
• mountains and rivers could be gods

Hattusa

• elite enclave up on the mountain
• the city as an outside castle

rituals and festivals

• all about the state

1200 BCE it all vanished

amalgam of different languages and religions

massive grain storage facilities

• could feed 30,000 for a year

Peoples of Anatolia

There is an amazing Wikipedia page.

 

Karl Jaspers, “The Axial period”

Jaspers-1953-The-origin-and-goal-of-history

writing in 1949 — establish world history on a new basis — cf. the founding of Unesco

• the war had been caused by a misunderstanding of history
• a Christian account of world history can be valid only for Christians

looking for an “axis” of world history

• a time when things started — an axis around which things turn —
• the time that gave birth to everything that we subsequently became

“it is to be found in the period around 500 BC, in the spiritual process that occurred between 800 and 200 BCE”

• philosophical revolution in China, India, Iran, Palestine, Greece

What exactly happened?

• “man becomes conscious of Being as a whole, of himself and his limitations. He experiences the terror of the world and his own powerlessness. He asks radical questions. Face to face with the void he strives for liberation and redemption.”
• “Consciousness become once more conscious of itself, thinking became its own object. Spiritual conflicts arose, accompanied by attempts to convince others through the communication of thoughts, reasons and experiences.”

Philosophical opposites which nevertheless related to each other.

• Subject things to examination which previously were taken for granted. Everything was questioned and had to give a reason for its existence.

Theory

• theory as theomai — “to show, to make visible” — theater, theatrum, theory
• it was the end of the age of myth — not narrative, but theory – model of relations between causal variables
• “Man proved capable of contrasting himself inwardly with the entire universe. He discovered within himself the origin from which to raise himself above his own self and the world.”

Sociological explanation

• the fact of small-state systems
• competition
• wandering scholars …

Empires eventually take over

• the Mauryans, Han, Alexander the Great and then the Romans
• but the discoveries continued to influence life

You had to be a part of the Axial age

• this defined the groups that would survive historically
• this made it possible for the various great civilizations to communicate with each other

Yet the whole thing is admittedly difficult to explain

• biological evolution of mankind — hardly likely …
• common influences — wandering tribes coming from Central Asia, etc — but there were plenty of wandering tribes who contributed nothing like this …
• “No one can adequately comprehend what occurred here and became the axis of world history”

The prophets

• Solomon, David, etc as kings along the Assyrian pattern
• their god is a god of the temple — the local god of the city of Jerusalem
• this too is a political theology

 

 

The prophets

• introduce an entirely different perspective — a revealed religion — direct access to the word of god
• the tablets on Mount Sinai
• the contract is a contract which resembles that of a subject people
• but the loyalty is to the book — the word — you can take it with you, travel anywhere …

this would never have been possible in the old architectural conception of the state and religion

How does Islam fit here?

• Islam never had a mythological period
• No states that were a temple
• Started with Prophets directly

A conversation with Robert Bellah