CHAPTER 2 : Writing and City Life NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 11TH HISTORY | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short Answer Type Question:

Q1. Of the new institutions that came into being once city life had begun, which would have depended on the initiative of the king?

ANSWER:

The new institutions that came into being with the beginning of city life include trade, temple, sea making, sculpture, and the art of writing. All these institutions depend on the initiative of the king.

Q2. What do ancient stories tell us about the civilisation of Mesopotamia?

ANSWER:

Ancient stories of Mesopotamia are valuable sources of information. It is one of the advanced civilization of that time, its society was divided into three classes
(i) Upper classes
(ii)  Middle classes.
(iii)  Lower classes
• People belonging to upper classes live a luxurious life and enjoyed special privileges.
• Agriculture is the main occupation of the people. Their life was normally prosperous.
• Religion was the main part of their life. They worshiped many gods and goddesses.
• Shames was their main god who was the sun. Ziggurat was the name given to the Sumerian temples.

Another description from the bible-
According to bible, the flood was meant to destroy all life on earth. The almighty assigned the task of sustaining the earth, to a man Noah. Noah built a huge boat, and ark and took a pair of each known species of animals and birds on the ark. Thus when every other things were destroyed by the flood, this ark remained safe along with pairs of all species. Thus began a new life on earth.
There is a reference to a strikingly similar story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the principal character instead of Noah , was called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim.

Q3.Why Mesopotamia is considered important by Europeans? Give reasons. (VBQ)
ANSWER:
Europeans considered Mesopotamian important on account of the following reasons:

• In Old Testament, there are references about it, which refer to ‘Shimar’, meaning the Sumer (the land of brick-built cities). It clearly refers to Mesopotamia, because early planned cities existed there.
• European scholars and travelers referred to Mesopotamia as their ancestral land.
• Archaeological discoveries also depict that Europeans had a keen interest in this region.

Q4.“Rivers play crucial role in the emergence of civilization”. Justify this statement in context to Mesopotamia. (HOTS)
ANSWER:
Mesopotamia is situated between the land of two rivers, i.e. Euphrates and Tigris. Both these rivers originated from Armenia mountain in present-day Turkey. They drained a vast mountain region. Although the climate of this area is dry yet agriculture is possible because of irrigation facilities. The favorable agricultural condition encouraged the people to reside in this region. The surplus food production of crops enabled the agriculturist communities to feed those people such as craftsmen, priests, rulers, soldiers, etc. who were not practicing agriculture. The nomadic pastoralist communities provided with other essential needs of daily use to these people. Thus the settlement of all these in this region paved the way for the rise of civilization.

Q5.Give some facts to show geographical diversities that existed in Iraq.
ANSWER:
Geographical diversity existed in Iraq. Some of these arguments that support it are the following:

• North-east region is lush green region. It is also covered with mountain ranges with clear streams.
• There is plentiful rainfall in the region which is sufficient for growing crops.
• In Northern region there is a vast track of upland, called steppe. In this region, animal herders reside who provides better livelihood than agriculture.
• In the east, River Tigris and its tributaries flows which provides routes of communication into the mountain region of Iran.

Q6.Write in brief about the importance of southern and north-east regions of Mesopotamia.
ANSWER:
Mesopotamian southern region is desert, but the rivers Euphrates and Tigris support the city life here. These rivers deposit their silt by flooding in the region and make the soil fertile. When the river Euphrates enters the desert, it gets divided into small channels. These river channels provided irrigation facilities in the past. Crops such as wheat, barley, peas or lentils were grown here, though there did not happen sufficient rainfall. In the north-east region, sheepary goats were grazed on steppe by the Mesopotamia’s. In this region milk, wool and meat was produced in bulk. Fish was also available in plenty. Date-palm provided fruit in summer. Considering these facts we can conclude that these regions were of utmost importance for Mesopotamia’s.

“Q7.The use of seals played significant role in the development of trade in urbanization in Mesopotamia.” Discuss.
ANSWER:
A number of seals have been excavated from Mesopotamia. These were made of stone and were cylindrical in shape. These seals were fitted with a stick and then rolled over wet clay so that a continuous picture got engraved over it. This work was done by skilled craftsmen. The name of the owner, his God, his official, ranks, etc. were also engraved on it. Seals were used by merchants to send their goods from one place to another. Goods were first packed and a seal was put at the head of the pack to ensure its authenticity. In case seals were found tampered with, it meant the back had been pilfered on the way otherwise it was safe and secure. Undoubtedly, we can say that the use of seals played a significant role in the growth of urbanization.

Q8.“The Euphrates river of ancient Mesopotamia was world-renowned trade route”. How will you justify it? (HOTS)
ANSWER:
Earlier the task of transportation of goods, food grains and other essential commodities were carried by the beasts of burden or bullock-carts. It was a time-consuming activity and a lengthy process. The river Euphrates helped the people to get rid of this task. It flows almost through the entire region of Mesopotamia. It provided people one of the cheapest means of transport, which made possible to transport bulk goods with any difficulty. The boats guided by the direction of winds were available free of cost. Several stream emerging of it provided an excellent source of water transportation. Most of the trade began to carry out on this route. Hence, we can say that the river of Euphrates was a well-renowned trade-route.

Q9.Explain with the help of an example, how did compulsory labor make possible the construction of temples, palaces, buildings, etc.
ANSWER:
Mesopotamian king enjoyed the supreme status in the society and also enjoyed extensive power. The king made labor compulsory to all inhabiting in his empire for rendering their services to town’s deities and to construct temples. For example, the construction of temple in Uruk city was done by 1500 people working 10 hours a day. This work continued for five years. No person could seek immunity from compulsory labor. The people who were engaged in compulsory labor were paid grains in lieu of their services.

Q10.How pictographic script came into prominence?
ANSWER:
The trace of written language has come up from Sumer in Mesopotamia. They are dated back to 3200 BCE. It is believed that the written language was evoked by temple priests, who were assigned to look after temples independently by the king. They had to keep the records of the expenditure and income of the temples. So they began to paint the items donated to the temples on clay tablet. In this, they began to keep these records. The temple of Uruk has revealed a list of 5000 such tablets. They engraved the pictures like signs and numbers of oxen, fish, etc. Now, it became easier to remember the things. In this way, the pictographic script came into prominence.

Q11.What do you know about the ancient town Ur of Mesopotamia?
ANSWER:

• This city was founded by Mesapnanda about 2670 BCE. It was a well-known commercial centre and a port was destroyed by Elemites around 2200 BCE.
• Ur was re-established under Ur-Nammu in 2100 BCE.
• It was first excavated by British excavator J.E. Taylor in 1854-55.
• This city was designed without planning as the excavation depicted.
• Excavation was carried out on a large scale during 1920’s and 1930’s, under the supervision of Sir Leonard Woollsey.

Q12.Which factors suggest that Ur was an unplanned city?
ANSWER:
Ur was an unplanned city because excavation here reveals that people used to throw domestic garbage in the street. As a result of this, the level of the streets began to increase. Holders had to raise the level of their house for proper arrangement of light inside their rooms. It was made possible through doors, rather than windows. Several superstitious beliefs were also prevalent among Ur people regarding their houses under consideration. For example, they raised threshold of a house that brought prosperity. They believed that the first door that did not open towards another house was good and praiseworthy. In case, the door opened outward, it is believed that their strained relations between the husband and the wife residing in it.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Q1.What do you know about Uruk?
ANSWER:
Situated on the bank of the river Euphrates, about 2500 kilometers south-east of modern capital city of Baghdad, Uruk is an ancient Mesopotamian city. It came into existence around 3000 BCE, and was reckoned to be the most extensive town in the contemporary world. Uruk spread over an area of 250 hectares. It was twice in size when compared to Indus valley civilization. The city expanded around 2800 BCE. This area increased to about 400 hectares. Nearly 50,000 to 80,000 people resided here at that time.

Sumerian king Ermerkar was the founder of this town. He also constructed here the temple of a well-known goddess Inanna. Another famous ruler of this town was Gilgamesh. He declared Uruk as the capital city of his empire. To safeguard ground from any invasion he constructed a massive town around it. Here in Uruk the war prisoner had to do compulsory labour either for the ruler or for construction of temple. They were paid in grains in return. The common people were engaged in the extraction of stones, making mud-bricks, etc. as per the order of their ruler.

Uruk had also made unprecedented progress in the field of technology. The invention of potter’s wheel led to a revolutionary change in the field of technology and also helped in utensil making on a large scale.

Q2.Describe the main features of the city of Babylon.
ANSWER:
The city of Babylon had played an outstanding role in the ancient history of Mesopotamia. It was Akkad ruler, Sargon, who ruled from 2370 to 2315 BCE. Being situated on the north-west bank of river Tigris it made tremendous progress under Humurabiera. Babylon witnessed the emergence of glorious era of its history under Keldian ruler Nabopolassor. At that time, it covered an area of more than 850 hectares. Some magnificent features of Babylon were as follows:

• A triple wall was constructed all-around the city to safeguard it from any foreign threat.
• A massivq Ziggurat was the main center of attraction in Babylon.
• It was also a famous commercial center.
• The city had also made tremendous progress in the field of language, literature, science, medicine, etc.

Q3.Describe the nature of early urban society under Mesopotamia.
Or
“There was a great disparity among the different sections of the Mesopotamian society”. Explain.
ANSWER:
The early urban society was divided into three classes. The first class or group of the people coming from elites and consisted of the king (Monarch), the priest, the officials, rich merchants and businessmen, high military officials, etc. They led a luxurious life and lived in magnificent buildings and palaces. They wore expensive clothes and used to eat sumptuous foods. The people of this class were served by several men and women slaves. The people belonging to second class consisted of the people such as small scale merchants, artisans, state officials, intellectuals, etc. Like upper or 1st class they also led a life of luxury. The third estate or class people constituted the lowest strata of the society. Their life was very miserable. The dead bodies of the upper class people were buried along with precious items such as gold vessels, oyster shell, lapis lazuli, etc. On the other hand, the dead bodies of common people were buried along with ordinary pots, etc. It clearly indicates that there was great disparity among the different sections of society.

Q4.Illustrate the construction of temple and gradual increasing of activities of temples in Mesopotamia.
ANSWER:
Mesopotamian temples have played a significant role in the history of Mesopotamia. They constructed temples and dedicated them to their different gods and goddesses. Their temples were dedicated to Nanna, Anu, Enki and Inanna. Besides these four deities, each town had its own deity who was considered to be the protector of the respective town.

Temples of early Mesopotamia were comparatively smaller in size. They were also made of unbaked bricks. With the passage of time, the temple began to take new shape. Their importance as well as size began to increase. They used to build their temples on the hill tops because they believed that God (deities) dwell on the hill-top. These temples were made of baked bricks.

One of the peculiar features of these temples was that their outer walls had inward and outward bend at regular intervals. The temple had a courtyard and there were several rooms around it. The image of the deity was placed in the main room. Some rooms served as dwelling places for priests and other rooms were meant to stay for the pilgrims.

Increasing Activities of the Temples:

• Temples served as center of imparting education, where the priests used to serve as teachers.
• Land attached to temples was also used for industrial purposes.
• Temples were also engaged in sales and purchases of goods and also used to provide advance loans to the traders and charge interest thereon.
• The people offered grains, curd, dates, etc. to serve their deities. They also sacrificed ox, sheep, goat, etc. to offer their blessings.
• Temples also served as the centers for entertainment and provided a common platform for the people to meet each other and get a new boost.

Q5.What do you know about Gilgamesh? Explain in detail.
ANSWER:
The Gilgamesh epic occupies a special place not only in Sumerian literature, but also in world history. It was written by Uruk ruler Gilgamesh, who ruled there about 2700 BCE. It was written on 12 tablets. This epic is about the achievements of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a famous ruler of Uruk. He was a great ruler and laid the foundation of a vast empire. To secure the Uruk against any threat of the foreign ruler he constructed a well around it with a view to end his tyrannical rule. People prayed to deity, Anu. As a result of this, God Anu ordered the goddess Arur to create such a God who could surpass Gilgamesh. The goddess created Enkidu who fought with Gilgamesh. He was impressed by his bravery and became a fast friend.

“They both performed several commendable works and decided to kill a demon of Elam known as Humbaba. After a terrible war, Gilgamesh finally killed Humbaba. Impressed by the bravery of Gilgamesh, Ishtar fell in love with her.

Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu fell in love with a beautiful dancing girl. This enraged the deities. So they decided to end the life of Enkidu. Soon after he fell ill and died. The death of Enkidu deeply hurt Gilgamesh. He began to think one day that he will also die. Thus he began his search to attain immortality, but no one could ever become immortal. At the time of creation of a human being God gave him (the man) death and kept life with them. Despite this he did his best to become immortal.

Finally, he thought about Utnapishtim. Being impressed by his efforts Utnapishtim revealed the secret of immortality through the pant lying at the button of an ocean (sea). Gilgamesh accepted this challenge and jumped into the sea to bring the said plant. On his return he was very tired and fell asleep. Meanwhile a snake came here and took away that plant. When he woke up he saw the desired plant was missing. Finally, he understood the fact that the man can never become immortal. He came back to his native city. After many years he became emotional on seeing his city. He realised the fact that hi. sons will continue to enjoy the vast empire built by him after his death.

Q6.State the points of similarities and differences between Indus valley and Mesopotamia a n civilization.
ANSWER:
Similarities:

• Both are river valley civilizations. Indus valley civilization flourished along the bank of river Indus, while Mesopotamian civilization flourished along the banks of Tigris and Euphrates.
• Both are known for their excellent town planning.
• Baked bricks were used for construction.

Differences	Mesopotamian Civilization	Indus valley Civilization
Regarding town planning	• Lack of town planning	• Excellent town planning
	• Streets were narrow	• Streets were wider and straight.
	• No uniformity was followed while constructing houses.	• Uniformity was followed in the construction of houses. City was divided into a number of blocks.
Regarding drainage system	Drainage system was not efficient. Drains were not covered and water flowed from it through clay pipes.	Drainage systemwas very efficient. It was far excellent when compared toother contemporary civilizations.

Q7.What do you know about the palace at Mari of King Zimrilim?
ANSWER:
The Great Palace of Mari was the residence of royal family. This palace was the hub of administration and a centre of production of beautiful ornaments. It was a famous palace of his time. Many minor kings from north Syria came to see it, carrying with him a letter of introduction from royal friends of the king of Mari. The king met all of them and shared food with them. The palace had only an entrance from the north and had a large courtyard such as 131 were beautifully paved. The king also met foreign delegates in 132 rooms, which were decorated with wall paintings and illustrations. This sprawling structure was spread over an area of 2.4 hectares having 260 rooms.

Q8.Why were there often clashes between the animal herders and farmers of Mari?
ANSWER:
There were a number of factors responsible for their conflicts. Some of them are given below:

• The shepherds of Mari used to take their herds through the standing crops on their way when going out in search of water. It caused immense damage to the crops of the farmer.
• The shepherds (animal herders) used to invade the inhabitants of the villages by farming communities and indulged into lost and plunder.
• Sometimes the farmers used to their (animal herder’s) way, which hampered their access to sources of water. It also led to clashes between them.
• Some groups of the herders used to serve as agricultural laborers or helpers in assisting in harvest. With the passage of time their income increased and they became prosperous. Then they began to live a settled life, which was not acceptable to farmers. It also led to the emergence of struggle or clashes between them.