The Story About Sumerian - History Paper Example

The sound of dried leaves crinkles beneath Anbars body as he slowly awakens from a short nights rest. The sun is peeking through the ceiling of his sunbaked mud hut reminding him of the repairs he needs to make. A short distance away, the continuous soft flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers can be heard as they come together; a gentle reminder to the Sumerian farmer, Anbar, that the crops are in need of watering today and the soils need to be turned.

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Anbar lays lazily enjoying a few more minutes of rest as he turns to his beautiful wife Enanatuma whose skin is soft as the Kings finest silk. Anbar gently reveals her face with a gentle motion of his leather-like dry hands to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. In his thoughts, he wishes he could use Enanatumas help in the fields today. However, he knows that for now, it is best if she gets enough rest, as the fertility goddess Ishtar has blessed them, and soon to be expecting their first child. Soon enough Anbar will have her and their future child to help harvest wheat and barley and tend to the sheep; he fantasizes.

Anbar exits the hut and sees many wooden boats engaged in trading; textiles and grains for cedar wood and copper from the eastern Mediterranean, gold from Egypt, and gems from what is now Iran. Near the trading points, wedge-shaped clay carved with shapes and symbols lay atop a small wagon. Scribes are nearby exercising cuneiform writing to document trade agreements. Stopping for a moment to look at the clay tablets, Anbar wishes that someday he would be able to read and write the shapes that few Sumerian men and woman like him understand.

Making way past the trading and moving down along the Tigris River, Anbar approaches his small farm. It wasn't much, but it was his little farm that produced a small amount of wheat and barley. A couple of tied up sheep can be seen seeking shade by the cart and Donkey. In the distance, a large Ziggurat stands tall in the hot blue sky. Staring off into the distance, Anbar dreams to see King Gilgamesh one day during his visit to the shrine to participate in a religious ritual. King Gilgamesh and his Ziggurat were a symbol of Sumerian Rule which Anbar was proud to honor and serve.

A long day has passed, Anbar's hands are covered in dry dirt, sweat soaks his cotton clothing, his cart full of wheat ready to wheel home and hands blistered from his copper tools. Night slowly approaches as the sun falls behind the horizon. Tired, overworked, undernourished Anbar looks out to his small farm smiling with satisfaction that he was able to support his family yet another day.

The Wooden wheels of the cart bounce through the rough landscape behind the tow of the family donkey. Anbar cant help but notice the wheat appearing to be less and less each with the harvest. He experiences an uncomfortable feeling of fear that someday he will not be able to produce enough to support his family.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of doing the best he can after a long day's work and coming home to his family. A sudden rush of excitement flows like the rich silt of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers throughout Anbars body as he sees his hut on the horizon. As gets closer, the excitement lessens while chills run throughout his body as hears screams, and cries. Anbar could see his fellow Sumerians running to his hut to help his wife. Anbar quickly dismounts his cart and donkey, leaving everything behind as he rushes to his wifes rescue.

Through the entrance of the hut Anbar storms in overwhelmed with emotions, not knowing what to expect and fearing for his wife's well-being. A sudden rush of happiness runs through him as he realizes that his wife has given birth, to a beautiful baby boy. Something did not feel right he thought to himself as he picked his newborn baby, from the hands of a nearby neighbor that came to the aid of his wife. Anbar turns to his wife and then realizes that her soft skin appears pale and emotionless. Enanatuma had passed while giving birth to their beautiful Akki.

20 years has passed since the death of Enanatuma. The underworld welcomed yet another, Anbar. Akki survived and grew up by his fathers side. Together they carried on the family legacy of being one of Uruks finest farm-ers. Akki was well known throughout Mesopotamia. He even personally delivered the best wheat and barley to King Gilgamesh to be made into beer. After Anbars passing, Akki wanted to seek a new adventure.

Akki headed north to Kish. Through his connections that he had made trading wheat and barley to the merchants along the river and his wide reputation amongst the Mesopotamia region, Akki was able to become of service to Ur-Zababa, the King of the Sumerian city of Kish. Ur-Zababa wasn't interested in another farmer. The King wanted Akki to take care of the Kings gardens personally.

After a long days work, Akki decided to take an evening walk along the banks of the Euphrates River. The sound of the soft flowing water was relaxing to Akki. He reminisced about the times he spent along the rivers with his father gathering water and playing until a strange object caught his eye. A basket was adrift flowing along the edges of the river. Not just any basket, this basket was finely woven, one often found in temples. Akko ran down the banks chasing the basket, wading through the silty water, he recovered the basket. Glancing inside as he made his way back to the shore, his heart stopped. There was a baby sound asleep in the basket.

Akki instantly felt love and compassion for the newborn baby and took him in as his own. Years went by, and the child grew such that he helped Akki. Later, the boy became friends with King Ur-Zababa by which he rose in stature at court to become the king's cup bearer. Cupbearers were known to be second to the king.

In his capacity as cupbearer, he had the king's trust, but this was put to the test when a neighboring king, Lugalzagesi departed to wage war and conquer the region over fertile territory and water. Lugalzagesi marched through city-states one by one, uniting them under his reign. After conquering Uruk, Lugalzagesi marched forth to Kish. Ur-Zababa learned of the incoming armies and was growing suspicious of his cupbearer. Ur-Zababa decided to send the cupbearer with a message to Lugalzesi offering peace and requesting Lugalzesi to kill his cupbearer.

Lugalzesi refused to comply with Ur-Zababas request, instead invited him to join Lugalzesis armies. Accepting the offer, they marched together to Kish; quickly taking the city under their control, and causing Ur-Zababa to flee. Over time, the cupbearer and Lugalzagesi had a falling out such that they became enemies. Lugalzagesi marched his armies to Uruk to meet the cupbearer for battle, in which Lugalzagesi was defeated.

Born as an illegitimate son of a priestess of the goddess Innana, His mother hid the pregnancy and could not keep her child. She sent her son adrift in a basket on the Euphrates River where a man named Akki later found him. The cupbearer rose to conquer all of Mesopotamia and created the first multi-national empire in history and came to be known as Sargon of Akkad, or Sar-gon the Great.