Guest: Lily First, we finally meet Gilgamesh! Cherished in Unug, heroic bearer of a scepter of wide-ranging power, noble glory of the gods, angry bull standing ready for a fight, etc. We read one of two Sumerian poems dealing with Gilgamesh's conquest of the remote Mountains of Cedar-felling and his fight against the mighty Ḫuwawa, the demigod who rules the mountains at the edge of the world! Then: an introduction to the Early Dynastic period (2900-late 2300s BCE) in Sumer. We take a first look at the geography of the 3rd-millennium Mesopotamian alluvium; the nature of temples, palaces, and city-states; the emergence of silver as money; the broader world surrounding Sumer; and language and identity in Mesopotamia. Then, a look at the Sumerian King List, a writing exercise (and an ideological tapestry of various folklore traditions) which often gets mistaken for an objective historical document. What can it tell us about the Early Dynastic period? Then, a look at our evidence for a historical King Gilgamesh of archaic Unug (2900-2600 BCE?). What does a king have to do in the 28th century BCE to be worshipped as a god by the 26th century? Then, we read the rest of this version of the Ḫuwawa story. The half-divine Gilgamesh reifies his power over both humans & the natural world by breaking an oath between gentlemen, on the one hand, and domesticating a demigod and exploiting his homeland for raw resources, on the other. Warrior, you lied! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: James First: To punish Gilgamesh, Inanna sends the massive Bull of Heaven to ravage Unug. But, as it destroys farmland and drinks the rivers dry, Gilgamesh sits idle, drinking beer and listening to music! Then, we visit Ur during the Archaic period (2900-2600 BCE) and finally take a look at the first certainly Sumerian writing. Administrative texts record a complex economy centered on the temple of the moon god Nanna, school tablets give us a look at scribal education, and the first lists of deities give us a faint glimpse of early Sumerian religion (although most of the gods listed are obscure). Also: was Ur part of a league of Sumerian cities? Scattered evidence from the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE points to a confederation of city-states in southern Sumer (Ur, Unug, Nippur, Larsa, etc), who may have allied with each other to counterbalance the power of Kish (a large kingdom in the northern alluvium and our destination next episode!). Finally, Gilgamesh faces off against the Bull of Heaven! We discuss the logistics of animal sacrifice and what may be a Sumerian euphemism describing Gilgamesh slapping Inanna with a wet bull pizzle. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guests: Kelten, James First, Gilgamesh ignores the branch of the government standing between him and a unilateral declaration of war on King Aga of Kish, the mightiest kingdom in the Mesopotamian alluvium at the time. Infrastructure is boring, kings are always right, and war is always glorious! Then, we look at the city of Kish during the Archaic period (2900-2600 BCE), which was apparently the seat of a powerful kingdom controlling much more territory than any other Sumerian city-state at the time. Then, we look at the oldest historical document from Mesopotamia, and our only historical document from this period of Kish's history. The "Prisoner plaque" totals 36,000 prisoners of war taken from at least 25 towns and villages during a series of military campaigns. Zababa is the god of manhood! Then, a look at the institution of the kingship of Kish (which, as you may know, long outlasted the kingdom of Kish as such). After revisiting the Sumerian King List, we meet two of our best candidates for the first kings to appear in both the Sumerian legendary tradition and the historical record: Enmebaragesi and his son Aga (or Akka), both of whom appear in this episode's Gilgamesh story. Speaking of which, because this is a Sumerian epic poem, it turns out that kings are always right and war is always glorious (for our heroes)! Gilgamesh captures his rival Aga, son of Enmebaragesi, and refers to a lost historical tradition of past interaction between Unug and Kish in deciding how to treat his prisoner. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Annika First, a classic sitcom setup: Ningishzida plans to sail a boat to hell with his friend (an ill-intentioned demon), but his sister Ama-shilama wants to tag along! Then, we visit the construction site of Mari, a city built from scratch in the middle of nowhere around 2900 BCE, along with 150 km (90 mi) of canals to connect it to both the Euphrates and the Khabur river. You can do the math: the perfectly circular outer walls, with a diameter of 1.9 km, enclose an area of about 280 hectares! (The inner walls enclose about 130 ha.) Who built it? Who built Thebes of the seven gates? So many questions! Then, we head west to the lower Diyala river, to see the temples in Tutub and the statuary in Eshnunna. What can famous art tell us about the chronology of the late early Early Dynastic period? Also, skipping forward in time: you're never going to guess where this textile worker who died young under unclear circumstances got her pendant from. Finally: the text is broken, but Ningishzida receives a blessing, possibly from Ereshkigal, the underworld goddess who fell in love with Nergal back in episode 6. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Lily First: the world's oldest known wisdom literature, in the form of a series of proverbs delivered from the eponymous Shuruppak (king of Shuruppak) to his son Zi-ud-sura (alias Utnapishtim, the Noah figure from the Sumerian flood myth). Only insults and stupid speaking receive the attention of the Land! Then we visit the city of Shuruppak, in central Sumer. After a quick look at its early administration during the Jemdet Nasr and "Archaic" periods, we introduce the Fara period (roughly 2600-2450 BCE), a phase in the development of cuneiform writing that more or less corresponds to the Early Dynastic IIIA period. Most importantly, we have literature now!  Then, we look at Shuruppak's place in the world, including the copious evidence for intensive trade with the broader region. What was its relation to the "city league"? Was it part of the kingdom of Kish? Who destroyed Shuruppak, and why? Then: more proverbs from Shuruppak of Shuruppak. You should not beat a farmer's son; he has constructed your embankments and ditches! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

I interviewed Karrar Sabah Al Ramahi, PhD student at Baghdad University, about his research on the city of Eridu! Furqan Salam helped with the translation. We talk about its earliest settlement during the Ubaid period, its prominence as a temple town, the building projects of the kings of Ur, and the reason for its primacy in the Sumerian King List. Thanks to Karrar & Furqan for the interview! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

(Sorry I disappeared for three months! I burned myself out working on rewriting old episodes and had to focus on other stuff for a couple months. I'm back in the saddle now, with episodes written up to the end of the Sargonic / Old Akkadian period! Also, I switched my scripts from bullet-point outlines to full paragraphs written out, in hopes that it will take less time to edit audio. Let me know if you think it sounds too robotic.) First, a hymn to the Semitic sun god Shamash, possibly the earliest known work of literature written in the Akkadian language, produced by the culture centered on the kingdom of Kish during the 2500s BCE. The TI.URU.DA is the SHU.AG of prince Ea, the god of rejoicing! Then, we return to Kish now that we have more documentary evidence to make sense of its kingdom. During the Fara period (2600-2450 BCE, named after the site of Shuruppak), texts from the so-called "Kish tradition" appear to reflect Kish's hegemony over much of central Mesopotamia. We take a look at the List of Geographic Names, which may be a list of the settlements in this kingdom. Then, we look at the geological differences between Kish (and the delta plain in the northern alluvium) and the Sumerian cities (situated in the floodplain in the southern alluvium), and the resulting differences in settlement hierarchy and political organization. Then, we look at the city of Kish itself: its two major temple complexes (the Hursang-kalama of Ishtar and the E-kishib-ba of Zababa), its cemeteries (including the cart burials, with parallels at Ur and Susa), and its palace complex, which was sacked late in the Early Dynastic IIIB period. Then, we examine our scanty evidence of Kish's political history during this period: two kings of Kish known from their own inscriptions, various Sumerian kings who called themselves Kings of Kish, the elusive queen Ku-Baba (alias Kug-Bau), and a few foreign kings who may have actually ruled Kish before Sargon. Finally, we finish up with the Kesh temple hymn. Earlier versions of this text refer to a ritual performed in Kesh (with an E) by the king of Kish; later versions (produced after Kish's heyday) remove this explicit reference. Will anyone else bring forth something as great as Kesh (with an E)?  Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guests: Lily, Annika First: a literary debate between two women (much of its meaning hidden beneath several layers of abstraction). It tells us a lot about public expectations of Sumerian housewives, but one could argue that it tells us more about their private anxieties (as envisioned by their husbands): sex, property, and enslaved women. Then, we visit Abu Salabikh, the first major city downriver from Kish, in the north-central alluvium. We're primarily here for its Fara tablets (from the 26th century BCE), which are primarily scribal rather than administrative, for what may turn out to be interesting reasons.  After wondering why they moved the entire city shortly after 2900 BCE, we take a look at these tablets and their contents: gods, languages, advancements in the cuneiform writing system, and so on. Then, we look at the texts from Abu Salabikh that belong to the "Kish tradition" we talked about last time, many of which were apparently written in the local East Semitic language (which some scholars call Akkadian). Then, a brief detour through various types of bird skeletons found at Abu Salabikh: ducks, geese, doves, crows, and a complete goshawk buried in a child's grave. Then, we tackle the question of which city this might have been. Was it Gishgi (which I mentioned offhand in a different section)? Or Kesh (with an E)? Personally, I think it's most likely to have been Eresh, home of Nisaba, the patron goddess of scribes and writing. (Is that an interesting reason?) Finally: a story I've been talking about forever and finally including here, because this tablet from Abu Salabikh marks the earliest known narrative about the kings of Unug, a tradition most famous for the later epic of Gilgamesh. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Stacy First, a story about Enlil, the Sumerian god of kingship, and his future wife Ninlil; he sees her bathing in a canal in their hometown of Nippur, and the narrative isn't especially concerned how consensual the resulting sexual encounter is.  Then, we visit Nippur, a temple center which one scholar called the "Mesopotamian Vatican", starting with a cylinder seal from a very early level of the later Inanna Temple complex. Then, we look at the first certain temple from that complex, including what may be a shrine to the mother/crafting goddess Nin-SAR. Then, we visit level VIIB of the same temple, dating to around the same time as the Fara texts from Shuruppak and Abu Salabikh, and look at the various inscribed objects dedicated to Inanna (and Nin-SAR). Then, we look at a few less-documented aspects of this period of Nippur's history: Enlil's E-kur temple complex (archaeologically invisible before the late 2200s), its municipal government (we know the names of a few ensis, but not much more), and a handful of burials (nothing fancy, compared to what's coming next episode). Finally, we finish with a short incantation from around this time. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kelsey First, Inanna sets her mind to capturing the House of Heaven (that is, the E-anna) from her father, the sky-god An, after including it on her wedding registry proved too subtle of a request. Then, we visit Susiana, the alluvial plain just east of the Ubaid homeland, just in time to see the foundation of Susa (modern Shush— it's had the same name for five millennia) and its first heyday (ca 4200-4000 BCE). They built a monumental platform eighty meters square and ten meters tall, probably the largest artificial structure in the world at the time.  Then, we talk about Susa's social organization, and one possibility for an intermediate stage between egalitarian Neolithic villages and theocratic Bronze Age monarchies.  Then, they burn their towering achievement twice, obliterating any evidence of a temple that may have stood on top. Was it intentional? Is it relevant that Chogha Mish, the center Susa was built to replace, was also destroyed by a fire? Finally, the thrilling conclusion of Inanna's quest to capture the E-anna from An. Bad day to be a scorpion! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Annika First, Antigone gets caught burying her brother, a foolish judge arraigns her folly, and we wonder whether the good might actually desire a like portion with the evil. Then, we visit Tell Brak in northeastern Syria (most famous for its "eye idols"), as it becomes southwest Asia's first city and the world's largest settlement (130 hectares, maybe as many as 24,000 people) in the early 4th millennium BCE. What did climate have to do with its sudden rise and gradual decline?  More relevantly, what did climate and the city's gradual decline have to do with the dozens of disarticulated corpses and skulls defleshed with tools made from human bone in several mass graves around town? Then: Gilgamesh grieves for Enkidu, and we talk about one very specific lion-based metaphor common to both the Iliad and the Epic of Gilgamesh (although, in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that these elements are spread out across two different scenes in the Iliad). Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guests: Kirra, Jojo First, Ensuhkeshdanna, the haughty lord of faraway Aratta, demands the submission of our hero Enmerkar, the wise king of noble Unug. When Enmerkar refuses to so debase himself, the lord of Aratta plots a campaign of economic sabotage by means of dark sorcery. Then, an introduction to the Uruk expansion (or the Uruk phenomenon), a process of intensive trade, migration, and cultural interaction spanning most of the Near East for most of the 4th millennium BCE. This episode focuses on the Middle Uruk period (3800-3400 BCE). Then, we return to Susiana, in southwestern Iran, to pick up right after the end of the Susa 1 period (in episode 16). A population explosion accompanies the introduction of Uruk-style material culture (that is, similar to the culture of southern Mesopotamia). We tour the small rural village of Shafarabad and the revitalized city of Susa. What can we know about Susiana's relationship to the Mesopotamian alluvium during this period? Then, we return to Tell Brak in northeastern Syria as it, too, is incorporated into the Middle Uruk economy. The climate is drying and the city is shrinking, but they do manage to build a pretty cool temple! Then, a handful of other sites incorporated into the Uruk world: Tell Hamoukar (near Brak), Tepe Gawra (from episode 15), and Nineveh (more famous as the capital of the Neo-Assyrian empire). Then, we visit Hacınebi in southeastern Anatolia, one of several pre-existing large towns with their own history of administrative record-keeping subsumed within the Uruk trade network. Finally: wizard fights are the continuation of diplomacy by other means! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kelten First: Our hero Enmerkar, grandson of the sun-god Utu, demands tribute (in the form of labor and precious minerals) from the anonymous lord of faraway Aratta, with the blessing of his lover (and Utu's sister), the goddess Inanna. Then, we look at the Late Uruk period in Iran, starting with Susa and its role in the invention of writing (and possibly in the colonization of the Iranian highlands). Chogha Mish was a centrally planned city (like Habuba Kabira, next episode), and Godin Tepe and Tepe Sialk were home to Uruk outposts. Was this colonization? Or something else entirely? Then, after a quick history of Egypt up to the mid-3000s BCE, we look at Mesopotamian and Iranian influences on Egypt's Naqada period, when it acquired many of the characteristic features of later pharaonic society. Finally, we meet the eponymous lord in his highland fastness of Aratta, who bets the entire proverbial farm on his contest with Enmerkar. As the proverb goes: he who acknowledges a contest can be the outright winner, like the bull which acknowledges the bull at its side! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kelten First: the lord of Aratta devises a series of challenges to demonstrate his superiority over our hero Enmerkar, the august king of Unug, who casually invents written language two-thirds of the way through the story. Can he outsmart his nemesis in the mountains? Or, at the very least, ignore his specifications and send him something else entirely? Then, we continue our survey of the Uruk expansion: the Persian Gulf, the Habuba Kabira metropolitan area, and Hassek Höyük. Then, we finish with Arslantepe, a native Anatolian site in close contact with the Uruk exchange network. What can this site tell us about endogenous social complexity outside the influence of southern Mesopotamian city-states? Then: the Uruk colonial network collapses! Was it climate change? Environmental degradation? The declining rate of profit? Foreign invasion? Internal political instability? All of the above? Let's find out! Finally, we finish up the story of Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta. Inanna blesses the two kingdoms and, as you should've guessed by now, the gods invent new types of manual labor for humans to perform for them. Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Sheila First, strong Copper casts his legitimate insults, insults of a miserable dog, against Silver. In my delusional hubris, I've arbitrarily pieced this particular debate text together from disparate fragments and granted it unnatural life beyond death via galvanic abominations beyond the comprehension of its original creator. As usual, I'm using the ETCSL translation. Then, we track the development of copper metallurgy in the Near East, stretching from the early Neolithic to the Uruk and beyond. Sheila, actual chemistry expert, helps us understand the reactions occurring inside these Chalcolithic crucibles. Then, a look at specific metals: copper, silver, gold, lead, and iron— all available to smiths at the very beginning of the so-called Bronze Age. Speaking of which, why do we call it that anyway? Now that this podcast about the Bronze Age has finally reached the beginning of the story, it's worth explaining what exactly the familiar Stone Age / Bronze Age / Iron Age trichotomy means for our understanding of world history.  Then, we learn about arsenical bronze, the first intentional copper alloy to spread across the Near East. This, predictably, segues into an examination of the various health effects of these various metals on the people working with them. I learned something new about some familiar gods, and now you will too! Finally, the conclusion (such as it is) to Copper's debate with Silver. Silver puts up a valiant defense, given that the constraints of the genre preordained his failure. Father Enlil be praised! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guests: Liyan, Bella, Kirra First, another debate poem! Hoe, child of the poor, bereft even of a loincloth, starts a quarrel with the Plow. A surprising amount of Sumerian literature boils down to the logistical complexity of various tasks facing early state institutions, not least among them the upkeep of various agricultural tools. Then: we've made it to the Uruk period! We'll start with a look at the climate of the alluvium during the 4th millennium BCE, focusing on the dense web of rivers and canals crisscrossing the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain. Rivers offered the settlements on their banks effortless travel (on reed boats), endless reeds (for building, burning, and making boats), and the best imaginable conditions for large-scale field irrigation (at least in the short term). What happens when they start to dry up? Then, a tour of the fields in the shadow of the new temples dominating Uruk life. What was the relationship between these new state organs and the millennia-old agricultural villages on their peripheries? How did their irrigation networks adapt to allow new, more efficient, less pleasant methods of year-round cultivation? Then, we look at the process of state formation during the Middle & Late Uruk period (ca 3800-3100 BCE), starting with a few definitions of the state. We review the process through which particular households (and other household-like social institutions) consolidated social, economic, political, and religious authority among their neighbors and trade partners. Then, we talk about how regular exchange between households might have developed over time into a permanent tribute obligation to these particular households, and the relationship between more intensive trade and social complexity. Finally, Enlil (god of kingship, king of the gods) intervenes in the debate between Hoe and Plow. Praise be to Nisaba! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kirra First, we sing the praises of Inanna, patron goddess of the city of Unug, whose home temple complex was the epicenter of the Uruk-period world system. Which god compares with her? Then continuing our tour of the Late Uruk period (3400-3100 BCE), we examine the city-state from the top down, from the so-called "priest-king" (alias EN, alias NAMESHDA?), to the bureaucrats who ran temple complexes like the E-anna, to the artisans in these temples' employ (increasingly subject to the forces of commoditization), to the slaves and manual laborers who actually built the cities and grew their food. Finally, we read some of the milder hymns celebrating the marriage of Inanna and her boytoy Dumuzi. He is well-watered lettuce! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kelten, Kirra First, a familiar story that just happens to involve monumental construction projects, clay bricks, and universal language. Behold! Then, we visit the city of Unug (Uruk, Erech, Warka, etc), for which the period is named, and take a tour through the construction and demolition of increasingly monumental edifices in the office complex where written language and architectural columns were invented. What did it take to build all this? Then, a quick treatment of Uruk pottery production. Wheeled vehicles are much younger (and wine bottles are much older) than you think they are! Then, at long last, the bureaucrats in the E-anna temple complex finally get around to inventing writing! We take a stroll through the long prehistory of administrative record-keeping, the means by which young scribes learned to write, and the fundamental shift in world history precipitated by the adoption of cuneiform. Finally, we close with a hymn to Nisaba, goddess of writing (and cereal agriculture, of course)— good woman, chief scribe of An, record-keeper of Enlil, wise sage of the gods! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guests: Jojo, Sami First, at the dawn of cosmic time, Sheep and Grain descend from the abode of the gods, get drunk, and start a fight. Then, after a quick historical introduction, we take a thorough look at the Uruk-period wool industry, from gathering sheep in one place for shearing to spinning thread to weaving (on various types of loom) to dyeing, fulling, sewing, and so on. Then, we look at some other fibers: flax, being older and more firmly entrenched than wool, remained a valuable fabric well into historical times; nettles, on the other hand, had a slightly shorter tenure as a botanical source of textile fibers. Then, Sheep and Grain take their dispute to the gods, who declare the obvious winner. Praise be to father Enki! Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited

Guest: Kelten, Bella First, the fragile peace has collapsed, and the virtuous king Enmerkar leads the army of fair Unug in an invasion of the faraway mountain kingdom of Aratta. However, en route to otherwise certain victory, the king's mightiest warrior, Lugalbanda, falls sick! His fellow soldiers, unable to help him and fearing the worst, lay him in a cave in the mountain wilderness as if it were his tomb. Then: feasting during the Late Uruk period (3400-3100 BCE), starting with a look at livestock as movable property of these nascent states: history's first farm subsidy (on wool, paid in dairy fat), the particular position of pigs in both the real economy and the iconographic landscape of Uruk cylinder seals, and the long-term effects of large-scale cattle herding on the environment as a whole. Then, a look at domestic commensality (that is, eating food together at home). What kinds of ingredients did people have access to? How did they prepare their meals?  Then, a look at the massive temple institutions that found themselves at the center of these sprawling new city-states. How did they organize feasts, and who was invited? What did their official propaganda have to say about them? Who prepared them? Most importantly, how did they parlay their massive grain stores into a permanent class hierarchy undergirded by grinding exploitation at the bottom? Let's find out! Then, instrumental music: how much of the modern guitar can we credit Uruk society with inventing? The day after recording this, I learned that the European lute isn't just incidentally related to the Arab oud— the word "lute" is literally derived from Arabic "al-'ud"! Then, Lugalbanda prays to a series of gods, to forestall the funeral feast his friends have already arranged for him. Will he ever leave the mountain cave? Questions? Feedback? Email us at drumbeatforeverafter@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @drumbeatforever Works cited