ethics of civilization

BECK index
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION
by Sanderson Beck
Volume 1: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA to 1875
Volume 2: INDIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA to 1800
Volume 3: CHINA, KOREA & JAPAN to 1800
Volume 4: GREECE & ROME to 30 BC
Volume 5: ROMAN EMPIRE 30 BC to 610
Volume 6: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 610-1250
Volume 7: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 1250-1453: Rise of Humanism (in progress)
Volume 11: AMERICA to 1744
Volume 20: SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950
Volume 21: EAST ASIA 1800-1949
Chronological Index to 1300
Chronology of Asia & Africa 1300-1875
America Chronology to 1744
Volume 1: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA to 1875
Introduction
Purposes and Motives
Philosophical Premises and Methods
Limitations
Ethics
Metaphysical Foundation
Universal Values
Applying Universal Values
Prehistoric Cultures
Evolution of Life
Human Evolution
Lemuria and Atlantis
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Sumer
Sargon the Akkadian
Sumerian Revival
Sumerian Literature
Epic of Gilgamesh
Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, Mari, Assur, and Babylon
Hammurabi's Babylon
Kassites, Hurrians, and Assyria
Babylonian Literature
Hittites
Egypt
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
Hyksos Shepherd Kings
New Kingdom Empire
Egypt 1085-323 BC
Early Egyptian Literature
Book of the Dead
Later Egyptian Literature
Israel
Genesis
Moses
Conquest of Canaan
David and the Psalms
Solomon and the Wisdom Books
Israel and Judah Divided
Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah
Judah's Fall and Jeremiah
Ezekiel and Babylonian Isaiah
Jews in the Persian Empire
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Assyrian Empire
Babylonian Empire
Zarathushtra
Persian Empire to 500 BC
Persian-Greek Wars
Parthian Empire
Mani and Manichaeism
Sasanian Empire
Muhammad and Islamic Conquest
Muhammad in Mecca
Muhammad in Medina at War 622-628
Muhammad Triumphant 628-632
Qur'an and Hadith
Islamic Wars in the Near East 632-661
Umayyad Caliphate 661-750
Abbasid, Buyid, and Seljuk Empires 750-1095
'Abbasid Caliphate 750-945
Umayyad Spain and Fatimid Africa
Samanids, Ghaznavids, Buyids, and Seljuqs
Mirrors for Princes
Nizam al-Mulk's Rules for Kings
Firdausi's Shah-nameh
Sufis: Rabi'a, Al-Hallaj, and Qushayri
Al-Razi, Al-Farabi, and Miskawayh
Avicenna, Ibn Hazm, and ibn Gabirol
1001 Nights and 'Umar Khayyam's Ruba'iyat
Islamic Culture 1095-1300
Middle East during the Crusades
Al-Ghazali's Mystical Ethics
Ibn Tufayl, Averroes, and Al-Tusi
Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed
Sufism of Gilani, Suhrawardi, and Ibn 'Arabi
Sufi Literature of Sana'i and 'Attar
Rumi's Masnavi and Discourses
Sa'di's Rose Garden and Orchard
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1300-1730
Ottoman Empire to 1451
Ottoman Empire 1451-1520
Ottoman Empire Under Sulayman
Ottoman Empire 1566-1617
Ottoman Empire 1617-1730
Persia in the 14th Century
Timur and the Timurids
Safavid Persian Empire
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1730-1875
Wahhabis and Saudi Arabia
Ottoman Decline 1730-1826
Ottoman Reforms 1826-1875
Persia of Nadir and Zands 1730-1794
Persia Under Qajars 1794-1875
Bábis and Bahá'u'lláh
Africa to 1500
Nubia and Ethiopia to 1500
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
Traditional African Ethics
North Africa to 900
North Africa 900-1300
North Africa 1300-1500
Ibn Khaldun on History
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Egypt Under the Ottomans
Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan
Algeria
Tunisia and Tripoli
Morocco
Western and Central Sudan
West Africa and Slavery
Gold Coast, Asante, and Slavery
Niger Coast and Slavery
East Africa, Portuguese, and Arabs
Southern Africa, Portuguese, and Dutch
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Egypt of Muhammad 'Ali
Ethiopia
North Africa and Europeans
Islam in Western Sudan
Asante, British, and the Gold Coast
East Africa, Arabs, and Europeans
Southern Africans and Zulus
British and Boers in South Africa
Summary and Evaluation
Prehistory
Ancient Near East
Muslim Middle East 610-1875
Africa to 1875
Evaluating the Middle East and Africa to 1875
Bibliography

Volume 2: INDIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA to 1800
Vedas and Upanishads
Harappan Civilization
Rig Veda
Sama Veda
Yajur Veda
Atharva Veda
Brahmanas
Aranyakas
Early Upanishads
Kena, Katha, Isha, and Mundaka
Later Upanishads
Mahavira and Jainism
Parshva
Mahavira
Jainism
Buddha and Buddhism
Siddartha Gautama
Buddha
Doctrine (Dharma)
Dhammapada
Questions of King Milinda
Community (Sangha)
Political and Social Ethics of India
Magadhan Ascendancy
Alexander's Invasion of India
Mauryan Empire, Ashoka and Sri Lanka
Dharma Sutras
Laws of Manu
Artha Shastra
Kama Sutra
Hindu Philosophy
Nyaya and Vaishesika
Mimamsa and Vedanta
Samkhya and Yoga
Bhagavad-Gita
Literature of India
Ramayana
Mahabharata
Jatakas
Panchatantra
India 30 BC to 1300
India 30 BC-320 CE
Gupta Empire and India 320-750
Plays of Bhasa, Kalidasa, and Bhavabhuti
Hindu Kingdoms 750-1000
Tibetan Buddhism
India and Muslim Invaders 1000-1300
Literature of Medieval India
Delhi Sultans and Rajas 1300-1526
Delhi Sultanate 1300-1526
Barani on Politics of the Delhi Sultanate
Independent North India 1401-1526
Independent South India 1329-1526
Kabir and Chaitanya
Nanak and Sikhism
Mughal Empire 1526-1707
Mughal Conquest of India 1526-56
Akbar's Tolerant Empire 1556-1605
Jahangir and Shah Jahan 1605-58
Aurangzeb's Intolerant Empire 1658-1707
Kashmir and Tibet 1526-1707
Southern India 1526-1707
European Trade with Mughal India
Tulsidas and Maharashtra Mystics
Sikhs 1539-1708
Marathas and the English Company 1707-1800
Mughal Decline and Maratha Rise 1707-48
Afghan Invasions, Sikhs, and Marathas 1748-67
French, English, and Clive 1744-67
Marathas and Hastings 1767-84
Marathas and Cornwallis Reforms 1784-1800
Sikhs and North India 1767-1800
Tibet and Nepal 1707-1800
Sri Lanka 1707-1800
Southeast Asia to 1800
Burma and Arakan to 1800
Siam (Thailand) to 1800
Cambodia to 1800
Laos to 1800
Vietnam to 1800
Malaya to 1800

Pacific Islands to 1800
Sumatra, Java, and the Archipelago
Java and Dutch Trade 1613-1800
Philippines to 1800
Australia and New Zealand to 1800
Polynesian Islands to 1800
Summary and Evaluation
Ancient India
India 78-1526
Mughal Empire
British in India
Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands
Bibliography
Volume 3: CHINA, KOREA & JAPAN to 1800
Shang, Zhou and the Classics
Shang Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
Yi Jing (Book of Changes)
Shi Jing (Book of Odes)
Li (Propriety)
Shu Jing (Book of Documents)
Spring and Autumn Era
Sun-zi's Art of War
Period of Warring States
Confucius, Mencius and Xun-zi
Confucius
Teachings of Confucius
Followers of Confucius
Mencius
Xun-zi
Later Confucian Works
Daoism and Mo-zi
Lao-zi
Mo-zi
Teachings of Mo-zi
Moism
Zhuang-zi
Lie-zi
Songs of Chu
Huai-nan-zi
Legalism, Qin Empire and Han Dynasty
Guan-zi
Book of ShangYang
Han Fei-zi
Qin Empire 221-206 BC
Founding the Han Dynasty 206-141 BC
Wu Di's Reign 141-87 BC
Confucian China 87-30 BC
China 7 BC to 1279
Wang Mang's Revolution
Later Han Empire
China Divided and Reunited 220-618
Sui Dynasty 581-617
Tang Dynasty Empire 618-907
Liao, Xi Xia, and Jin Dynasties 907-1234
Song Dynasty Renaissance 960-1279
Neo-Confucian Ethics
Literature of Medieval China
Mongols and Yuan China
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
Khubilai Khan in China
Yuan Dynasty 1294-1368
Chinese Theater in the Yuan Era
Ming Empire 1368-1644
Ming Dynasty Founded by Hongwu
Ming Empire 1398-1464
Ming Empire 1464-1567
Ming Decline 1567-1644
Wang Yangming and Ming Confucians
Ming Era Short Stories
Novels of the Ming Era
Theater in the Ming Era
Qing Empire 1644-1799
Qing Conquest of Ming China 1644-61
Kangxi's Consolidation 1661-1722
Yongzheng's Reforms 1723-35
Qianlong's Expansion 1736-99
Confucian Intellectuals in the Qing Era
Theater in the Qing Era
Wu Jingzi's Novel The Scholars
Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber
Korea to 1800
Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla to 668
Silla and Parhae 668-936
Koryo 936-1392
Yi Begins Choson Dynasty 1392-1567
Korea and Foreign Invasions 1567-1659
Korea and Practical Learning 1659-1800

Japan to 1615
Japan to 794
Japan's Heian Era 794-1192
Murasaki's Tale of Genji
Feudal Japan 1192-1333
Feudal Japan 1333-1465
No Plays of Kannami, Zeami, and Zenchiku
Japan under Warlords 1465-1568
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu 1568-1615
Japan 1615-1800
Tokugawa Japan's Seclusion 1615-1716
Japanese Confucianism and Religion
Saikaku's Stories of Sex and Money
Chikamatsu's Plays
Takeda-Namiki-Miyoshi Plays
Tokugawa Japan 1716-1800
Japanese Culture 1716-1800

Summary and Evaluation
Ancient China to 221 BC
Imperial China 221 BC to 1368
Ming Dynasty
Qing Dynasty to 1875
Korea to 1875
Japan to 1875
Evaluating China, Korea, and Japan
Bibliography
Volume 4: GREECE & ROME to 30 BC
Greek Culture to 500 BC
Crete, Mycenae and Dorians
Iliad
Odyssey
Hesiod and Homeric Hymns
Aristocrats, Tyrants, and Poets
Spartan Military Laws
Athenian Political Laws
Aesop's Fables
Pythagoras and Early Philosophy
Greek Politics and Wars 500-360 BC
Persian Invasions
Athenian Empire 479-431 BC
Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC
Spartan Hegemony 404-371 BC
Theban Hegemony 371-360 BC
Syracusan Tyranny of Dionysius 405-367 BC
Greek Theatre
Aeschylus
The Persians
The Suppliant Maidens
Seven Against Thebes
Prometheus Bound
Agamemnon
Libation Bearers
The Eumenides
Sophocles
Ajax
Antigone
Oedipus the Tyrant
The Women of Trachis
Electra
Philoctetes
Oedipus at Colonus
Euripides
Rhesus
Alcestis
Medea
Hippolytus
Heracleidae
Andromache
Hecuba
The Cyclops
Heracles
The Suppliant Women
The Trojan Women
Electra
Helen
Iphigenia in Tauris
Ion
The Phoenician Women
Orestes
Iphigenia in Aulis
The Bacchae
Aristophanes
The Acharnians
The Knights
The Clouds
The Wasps
Peace
The Birds
Lysistrata
The Thesmophoriazusae
The Frogs
The Ecclesiazusae
Plutus
Socrates, Xenophon, and Plato
Empedocles
Socrates
Xenophon's Socrates
Defense of Socrates
Memoirs of Socrates
Symposium
Oikonomikos
Xenophon
Cyropaedia
Hiero
Ways and Means
Plato's Socrates
Alcibiades
Charmides
Protagoras
Laches
Lysis
Menexenus
Hippias
Euthydemus
Meno
Gorgias
Phaedrus
Symposium
Euthyphro
Defense of Socrates
Crito
Phaedo
Plato's Republic
Plato's Later Work
Seventh Letter
Timaeus
Critias
Theaetetus
Sophist
Politician
Philebus
Laws
Isocrates, Aristotle, and Diogenes
Hippocrates
Isocrates
Aristotle
Aristotle's Rhetoric
Aristotle's Ethics
Aristotle's Politics
Diogenes
Philip, Demosthenes, and Alexander
Dionysius II, Dion, and Timoleon in Sicily
Wars and Macedonian Expansion under Philip
Demosthenes and Aeschines
Alexander's Conquest of the Persian Empire
Hellenistic Era
Battles of Alexander's Successors
Egypt Under the Ptolemies
Alexandrian Poetry
Seleucid Empire
Judea in the Hellenistic Era
Antigonid Macedonia and Greece
Xenocrates, Pyrrho, and Theophrastus
Menander's New Comedy
Epicurus and the Hedonists
Zeno and the Stoics
Roman Expansion to 133 BC
Roman and Etruscan Kings
Republic of Rome 509-343 BC
Rome's Conquest of Italy 343-264 BC
Rome at War with Carthage 264-201 BC
Republican Rome's Imperialism 201-133 BC
Roman Revolution and Civil Wars
Reforms of the Gracchi Brothers
Marius and Sulla
Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, and Cato
Julius Caesar Dictator
Brutus, Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra
Plautus, Terence, and Cicero
Plautus
The Menaechmi
The Asses
The Merchant
The Swaggering Soldier
Stichus
The Pot of Gold
Curculio
Epidicus
The Captives
The Rope
Trinummus
Mostelleria
Pseudolus
The Two Bacchides
Amphitryo
Casina
The Persian
Truculentus
Terence
The Woman of Andros
The Mother-In-Law
The Self-Tormentor
The Eunuch
Phormio
The Brothers
Lucretius
Catullus
Virgil
Cicero
Cicero on Oratory
Cicero's Republic and Laws
Cicero on Ethics
Summary and Evaluation
Greece
Rome
Evaluating Greece and Rome
Bibliography

Volume 5: ROMAN EMPIRE 30 BC to 610
Empire of Augustus and Tiberius
Rome Under Augustus
Virgil's Aeneid
Horace and Propertius
Ovid's Art of Love
Ovid's Metamorphoses
Rome Under Tiberius
Judea under Herod and Caesar
Essene Community by the Dead Sea
Philo of Alexandria
Jesus and His Apostles
John the Baptist
Jesus According to Mark
Jesus According to Matthew
Jesus According to Luke
Jesus According to John
Thomas and the Gnostics
Peter, James, and the Church
Paul and Christianity
Christian Fathers and Martyrs to 180
Roman Decadence 37-96
Caligula 37-41
Claudius 41-54
Nero 54-68
Seneca's Tragedies
Seneca's Stoic Ethics
Judean and Roman Wars 66-70
Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian 70-96
Roman Literature in the First Century
Quintilian's Education of an Orator
Apollonius of Tyana
Rome Under Better Emperors 96-180
Nerva 96-98 and Trajan 98-117
Dio Chrysostom's Discourses
Plutarch's Essays
Epictetus' Stoic Discourses
Hadrian 117-138
Antoninus Pius 138-161
Marcus Aurelius 161-180
Stoic Ethics of Marcus Aurelius
Literature in the Second Century
Lucian's Comic Criticism
Roman Empire In Turmoil 180-285
Commodus 180-192 and Pertinax
Severus Dynasty 193-235
Roman Wars 235-285
Judah and the Mishnah
Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Cyprian
Clement of Alexandria and Origen
Plotinus and Neo-Platonism
Literature in the Third Century

Roman Power and Christian Conflict 285-395
Diocletian's Reforms 284-305
Constantine's Religious Revolution 306-337
Lactantius
Constantine's Sons 337-361
Julian's Pagan Revival 361-363
Valentinian, Valens, Gratian, and Theodosius
Antony, Arius, and Athanasius
Basil and Two Gregorys of Cappadocia
Martin, Ambrose, and Prudentius
John Chrysostom and Jerome
Augustine and the Fall of Rome 395-476
Augustine's Confessions
Augustine and the Catholic Church
Augustine's City of God
Roman Empire Invaded 395-425
Macrobius and Cassian
Roman Empire Reduced 425-476
Orosius and Salvian
Leo, Patrick, and Severin
Talmud
Goths, Franks, and Justinian's Empire 476-610
Zeno, Anastasius, and Theodoric's Ostrogoths
Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy
Frank Kingdom of Clovis and His Sons
Benedict's Monastic Rule
Justinian's Imperial Wars to 540
Justinian's Imperial Wars after 540
Justinian and Roman Law
Roman Empire Disintegration 565-610
Frank Civil Wars and Brunhild 561-613
Saxon Kingdoms in Britain 476-616
Pope Gregory's Reforms 590-604
Summary and Evaluation
Roman Domination 30 BC to 180 CE
Roman Decline and Christianity 180-610
Evaluating the Roman Empire
Bibliography
Volume 6: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 610-1250
Byzantine Empire 610-1095
Heraclius and Byzantine Wars 610-717
Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus
Leo III and Byzantine Iconoclasm 717-843
Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria 843-927
Byzantine Expansion 927-1025
Byzantine Decline 1025-1095
Barlaam and Ioasaph and Digenis Akritas
Franks and Anglo-Saxons 613-899
Isidore and Christian Spain
Lombards and Franks 613-774
Charlemagne 768-814 and Alcuin
Frank Empire Divided 814-899
Anglo-Saxons 616-865
Beowulf and Irish Legends
John Scotus Erigena
Danes in England and Alfred 871-899
Vikings and Feudal Europe 900-1095
Vikings and Scandinavia
England and the Danes 900-1042
Franks and Western Europe 900-1095
Christian Spain 900-1095
Germans and the Ottos 900-1002
Russia to 1097
Italy and the Popes 900-1045
Germans and Eastern Europe 1002-1095
Italy, Normans, and Reform Popes 1045-1095
England and the Norman Conquest 1042-1095
Crusaders, Greeks, and Muslims
Crusade for Jerusalem 1095-1100
Jerusalem Kingdom of the Baldwins 1100-1131
Crusaders, Manuel, and Nur-ad-Din 1131-1174
Saladin and Crusading Kings 1174-1198
Crusades to Constantinople and Egypt 1198-1255
Mongol and Egyptian Invasions 1255-1300
Europe's 12th-Century Development
German Empire 1095-1152
England under Norman Kings 1095-1154
Italian Republics and Norman Sicily 1095-1197
France and Flanders 1095-1200
Spanish Peninsula 1095-1200
Scandinavia 1095-1200
Eastern Europe 1095-1200
Germany's Friedrich I and Heinrich VI 1152-1197
England under Henry II and Richard 1154-1199
Europe's 13th-Century Progress
England's John and Magna Carta 1199-1226
Friedrich II, Italy and German Empire 1197-1250
France and Flanders 1200-1300
Spanish Peninsula 1200-1300
Scandinavia 1200-1250
Eastern Europe 1200-1300
England Under Henry III 1227-1272
Germany and Italian City States 1250-1300
England Under Edward I 1272-1300
Christian Ethics 1095-1250
Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux
Aelred of Rievaulx's Spiritual Friendship
John of Salisbury on Politics
Hildegard of Bingen
Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade
Dominic and His Preaching Brothers
Francis of Assisi and His Lesser Brothers

European Literature 1095-1300
Epics of Roland and the Cid
Geoffrey of Monmouth and The Mabinogion
Romantic Love and Lais by Marie de France
Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes
Nibelungenlied and Wolfram von Eschenbach
Romances of Tristan and Lancelot
Snorri Sturluson and His Sagas
Icelandic Sagas: Laxdaela, Eyrbyggja, and Njal
Romance of the Rose
Theater and Lives of Saints
Summary and Evaluation
Byzantine and Frank Empires
Crusades Era 1095-1300
Evaluating Medieval Europe
Bibliography

Volume 7: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 1250-1453: Rise of Humanism
Crusaders and Byzantine Decline 1250-1453
Crusaders Defeated 1250-1300
Byzantine and Balkan Decline 1250-1350
Byzantine and Balkan Decline 1350-1453
Eastern Europe 1250-1453
Hungary 1250-1382
Hungary 1382-1453
Bohemia 1250-1409
Bohemia’s Hussite Revolution 1409-1453
Chelcicky’s Nonviolence
Poland 1250-1453
Lithuania 1250-1453
Russia under the Mongols 1250-1453
Russian Orthodox Church 1250-1453
Catholic Ethics 1250-1350
Bonaventure’s Ethics
Ethics of Thomas Aquinas
Roger Bacon and Moral Philosophy
Ramon Llull’s Spiritual Writings
Lives of Saints
Franciscans and the Spirituals
Béguines and Marguerite Porete
Dominicans and Eckhart’s Mystical Unity
Duns Scotus and William of Ockham
German Empire 1250-1453
Germany and the Empire 1250-1313
Germany under Ludwig and Karl IV
Germany and the Empire 1378-1410
Sigismund and the Council of Constance
Germany and the Empire 1438-1453
Austria 1250-1453
Swiss Cantons and Confederation 1250-1453
Teutonic Knights, Prussia, and Livonia
Scandinavia 1250-1453
Denmark 1250-1397
Sweden 1250-1397
Norway 1250-1397
Scandinavia’s Kalmar Union 1397-1453
Iceland 1250-1453
Icelandic Sagas: Eyrbyggja and Njal
Castile, Aragon, Granada, and Portugal 1250-1453
Castile’s Alfonso X and the Zohar
Castile 1284-1350
Castile’s Pedro I and Civil War
Castile 1369-1453
Aragon 1250-1336
Aragon’s Pedro IV 1336-87
Aragon 1387-1453
Granada 1250-1453
Portugal 1250-1383
Portugal 1383-1453
Juan Manuel’s Examples and Ruiz’s Good Love
Italian City States 1250-1453
Milan and the Visconti 1250-1453
Venice and Padua 1250-1350
Venice 1350-1453
Genoa and Pisa 1250-1453
Florence 1250-1336
Florence 1336-1453
Siena and Catherine
Rome and the Papal State 1250-1303
Rome and the Papal State 1303-1357
Rome and the Papal State 1357-1453
Sicily and Naples 1250-1453

Volume 11: AMERICA to 1744
Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas
Mayans
Toltecs and Anasazi
Aztecs to 1519
Incas to 1532
Spanish Conquest 1492-1580
Columbus and the Caribbean
Caribbean and Panama 1500-21
Cortes in Mexico 1519-28
Mexico 1528-80
Central America and Caribbean 1521-80
Cabeza, Coronado, Soto, and Menendez
Pizarros and Peru 1532-80
New Granada 1525-80
Southern South America to 1580
Las Casas on the Spanish Conquest
Brazil and Guiana 1500-1744
Portuguese in Brazil 1500-80
Brazil and the Dutch 1580-1654
Brazil and Vieira 1654-1700
Brazil and Slavery 1700-44
Guiana to 1744
Spanish Colonies and the West Indies 1580-1744
Rio de la Plata 1580-1744
Peru and Chile 1580-1744
New Granada 1580-1744
Central America 1580-1744
Mexico 1580-1744
Northern Mexico 1580-1744
Spanish and French West Indies 1580-1744
British and Dutch West Indies 1580-1744
Northern America to 1642
Hiawatha and the Iroquois League
Cartier and Champlain in Canada 1534-1642
Raleigh and Roanoke 1585-90
Jamestown, Smith and Pocahontas 1607-16
Virginia Company and Colony 1616-42
Maryland and Cecil Calvert 1632-42
New Netherland Company 1614-42
Plymouth Pilgrims and Bradford 1620-43
Massachusetts Puritans and Winthrop 1629-43
Pequot War and Connecticut 1634-42
Roger Williams and Rhode Island to 1642
English, French, and Dutch Colonies 1643-1664
French and the Iroquois 1642-63
New England Confederation 1643-64
Rhode Island and Williams 1643-64
New Netherland and Stuyvesant 1642-64
Maryland and the Calverts 1642-64
Virginia and Berkeley 1642-64
New France 1663-1744
Canada of Louis XIV and Frontenac 1663-80
Canada and La Salle 1680-88
Canada, Frontenac, and War 1689-1713
Canada Between Wars 1713-44
Louisiana 1699-1750
New England 1664-1744
New England and Metacom's War 1664-77
New England Disunion 1676-91
Salem Witch Trials
Massachusetts 1692-1744
Cotton Mather and John Wise
Rhode Island 1692-1744
Connecticut 1692-1744
Edwards and the Great Revival
New York to Pennsylvania 1664-1744
New York under James 1664-88
New York 1689-1744
New Jersey 1664-1744
Penn and Pennsylvania 1681-88
Pennsylvania and Penn 1688-1701
Pennsylvania Expansion 1702-44
Maryland, Virginia, Carolinas, and Georgia 1663-1744
Maryland and Calverts 1664-1744
Virginia and Bacon's Rebellion 1664-80
Virginia Expansion 1680-1744
Carolina Proprietary Colonies 1663-88
North Carolina 1689-1744
South Carolina 1689-1719
South Carolina and Slavery 1720-44
Georgia and Oglethorpe 1732-44
Franklin's Practical Ethics
Franklin's Autobiography
Silence Dogood and Franklin's Religion
Franklin's Journalism 1729-47
Poor Richard's Almanac 1733-58
Summary and Evaluation of America to 1744
Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas
Spanish Colonies 1492-1744
Brazil 1500-1744
French, Dutch, and English Colonies to 1664
New France and New England 1664-1744
New York to Georgia 1664-1744
Evaluating American Civilization to 1744
Bibliography
General
Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas
Colonial Latin America to 1744
Northern Colonies to 1744


Volume 20: SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950

British India 1800-1848
British Conquest of the Marathas 1800-18
Sikhs and North India 1800-18
British Expansion 1818-28
Bentinck's Reforms 1828-35
Rammohun Roy and Social Reform
British Invasion of Afghanistan and Sind
Sikhs and the Punjab 1839-48

British India's Wars 1848-1881

Dalhousie's Annexations 1848-56
Mutiny and Revolt 1857-58
Reconstruction of British India 1858-76
Famine and a Second Afghan War 1876-81
Bankim Chandra Chatterji's Novels

India's Renaissance 1881-1905
Reforms in India 1881-99
Curzon's Viceroyalty 1899-1905
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda
Theosophy and Blavatsky 1875-88
Besant and Theosophy 1889-1905
Indian National Congress 1885-1905
India's Freedom Struggle 1905-1918
India's Boycott 1905-07
British Repression 1907-10
India in an Imperial War 1911-18
Besant, Krishnamurti, and Bhagavan Das
Aurobindo's Spiritual Evolution
Tagore's Spiritual Expressions
Gandhi and India 1919-1933
Gandhi's Soul Force and Nonviolence
Gandhi's Nonviolent Campaigns 1919-22
India's Struggle 1922-29
Premchand's Realistic Fiction
Iqbal's Islamic Poetry
India's Civil Disobedience 1930-33

Liberating India and Pakistan 1934-1950

Indian Politics 1934-39
India during World War II
India Divided 1945-47
Indian Independence 1947-48
India and Pakistan 1948-50
Tibet, Nepal, and Ceylon 1800-1950
Tibet 1800-1905
Tibet 1905-33
Tibet 1934-50
Nepal 1800-77
Nepal 1877-1950
Ceylon 1800-75
Ceylon 1875-1931
Ceylon 1931-50
Burma, Malaya and the British 1800-1950
Burma 1800-85
Burma under the British 1886-1929
Burma under the British 1930-41
Burma Invaded 1942-45
Burma Liberated 1945-50
Malaya and the British 1800-96
Malaya and the British 1896-1941
Malaya Invaded and in Conflict 1941-50
Siam, Cambodia, and Laos 1800-1950
Siam's Monarchy 1800-1910
Siam's Monarchy 1910-32
Siam Becomes Thailand 1932-39
Thailand 1940-50
Cambodia 1800-1904
Cambodia 1904-50
Laos 1800-1940
Laos 1940-50
Vietnam and the French 1800-1950
Vietnam's Monarchy 1800-57
French Conquest of Vietnam 1858-85
Vietnamese Resistance and Doumer 1885-1902
Vietnamese Nationalists 1902-08
Vietnam under the French 1909-28
Vietnamese Revolutionaries 1928-39
Vietnam during World War II
Vietnam's August 1945 Revolution
French-Vietnam War 1946-50
Indonesia and the Dutch 1800-1950
Netherlands East Indies 1800-40
Netherlands East Indies 1840-1900
Indonesia under the Dutch 1900-08
Indonesian Nationalism 1908-27
Indonesia under Dutch Repression 1927-41
Japanese Occupation of Indonesia 1942-45
Indonesia Liberated 1945
Indonesian Revolution 1946-50

Australia to 1950
Australia as a British Penal Colony 1788-1823
Australia in Transition 1823-50
Maconochie's Penal Reforms
Australia Gold and Democracy 1851-75
Australia Reforms 1875-87
Australian Unions and Federation 1887-1900
White Australia United 1901-14
Australia in the Great War 1914-19
Australia Between Wars 1920-39
Australia and World War II 1939-50
New Zealand to 1950
Maoris and New Zealand to 1841
New Zealand and Maoris 1841-70
New Zealand Democracy 1870-1914
New Zealand's Reforms 1914-41
New Zealand and World War II 1939-50
Summary and Evaluation
British India 1800-1905
India's Freedom Struggle 1905-41
Tibet, Nepal, and Ceylon
Burma, Malaya, and Siam
Indochina
Indonesia
Australia and New Zealand
Evaluating South Asia 1800-1950
Bibliography
Volume 21: EAST ASIA 1800-1949
Qing Decline 1799-1875
Jiajing Era 1799-1820
Li Ruzhen's Flowers in the Mirror
Daoguang Era 1821-50
Opium Wars
Taiping Revolution and Other Rebellions
Qing Reconstruction 1861-75
Qing Dynasty Fall 1875-1912
China under Cixi 1875-98
Kang's Reforms of 1898
Boxer Uprising of 1900
Late Qing Reforms 1901-10
Sun Yatsen and Revolutionaries
Chinese Revolution 1911-12
Republican China in Turmoil 1912-1926
Yuan Shikai's Presidency 1912-16
China under Warlords 1916-19
May Fourth Movement of 1919
China's Struggle for Power 1920-24
Sun Yatsen and Guomindang 1920-24
May 30th Movement of 1925-26
Lu Xun's Stories
Nationalist-Communist Civil War 1927-1937
Jiang Jieshi's Nationalist Revolution 1927-28
Chinese Communism 1927-31
Nationalist China 1929-34
Chinese Communism 1932-37
Nationalist China 1934-37
Lu Xun's Essays
Mao Dun, Lao She, and Ba Jin
Ding Ling and Shen Congwen
Pearl Buck
China at War 1937-1949

Japanese Invasion of China 1937-38
Fighting the Japanese Occupation 1939-41
China's War with Allies 1942-45
Jiang, CCP, US, and USSR 1945-46
Nationalist-Communist Civil War 1946-49
Mao Zedong's Political Philosophy
Korea 1800-1949
Korea in Isolation 1800-64
Korea in Transition 1864-93
Korea Reforms 1894-1904
Japan's Annexation of Korea 1904-18
March First Movement 1919-20
Colonial Korea under Japan 1921-45
Korea Liberated and Divided 1945-49
Japan's Modernization 1800-1894
Japan Isolated 1800-37
Japan's Transition 1837-67
Meiji Restoration 1868-73
Meiji Conflicts 1873-77
People's Rights Movement 1877-84
Japan's Constitutional Development 1884-94
Fukuzawa Yukichi's Ethics
Imperial Japan 1894-1937
Japan's Growing Military 1894-1903
Japan's Victory over Russia 1904-05
Japan Between Wars 1906-14
Japan in the World War 1914-19
Japanese Progress 1920-30
Japan Takes Manchuria 1931-33
Japan's Militarism 1933-37
Japan's War and Defeat 1937-1949
Japan Invades China 1937-38
Japan's Occupation of China 1939-40
Japanese and American Diplomacy in 1941
Japan's Aggressive War 1941-42
Japan's Losing War 1943-45
Japan's Defeat and Surrender
American Occupation of Japan in 1945
American Occupation of Japan 1946-49
Trials of Japanese War Crimes
Censorship and Kurosawa's Early Films
Philippines to 1949
Philippines under Spain to 1800
Philippines under Spain 1800-80
Rizal and Filipino Reformers 1880-96
Filipino Revolution 1896-98
US Intervention and Filipino Independence 1898
Filipino-American War 1899-1902
Philippines under US Republicans 1902-10
Philippines under Americans 1910-33
Philippines and Quezon 1933-41
Philippines, Japan, and MacArthur 1941-45
Philippines American Independence 1945-49
Pacific Islands to 1949
Micronesia
Melanesia
Fiji and Tonga
Samoa to 1899
Samoa Divided 1899-1949
Tahiti
Hawaiian Islands to 1836
Hawaiian Islands 1836-76
Hawaii and the United States 1876-1900
Hawaii under the United States 1900-49
Summary and Evaluation
Qing Decline 1800-1912
China's Long Revolution 1912-49
Korea 1800-1949
Japan's Modernization 1800-1930
Japan's Imperial Wars 1931-1949
Philippines
Pacific Islands
Evaluating East Asia 1800-1949
Bibliography
projected volume: AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1744-1808
Colonial Latin America 1744-1808
Brazil 1744-1808
Rio de la Plata 1744-1808
Peru and Chile 1744-1808
New Granada 1744-1808
Central America 1744-1808
Mexico 1744-1808
California Missions 1768-1808
Caribbean Islands 1744-1808
Haiti's Slave Revolution
English and French Conflict 1744-1754
New France 1744-54
New England, New York, and New Jersey 1744-54
Pennsylvania and Franklin 1744-54
Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland 1744-54
Carolinas and Georgia 1744-54
English, French, and Indian Wars 1754-1763
English-French War 1754-57
English Defeat of New France 1758-60
New York and New Jersey 1754-63
Pennsylvania and Franklin 1754-63
Maryland and Virginia 1754-63
Carolinas and the Cherokees 1754-63
Georgia and the Creeks 1754-63
New England and British Canada 1760-63
Pontiac's Uprising of 1763
Bolivar and South American Liberation
Bolivar in Venezuela 1808-13
Bolivar in Venezuela 1814-19
Bolivar and Colombia 1819-22
Bolivar in Peru and Bolivia 1823-26
Bolivar and Northern Conflicts 1824-30
Chronological Index
America Chronology to 1744
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION PLAN:
Volume 1: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA to 1875
Volume 2: INDIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA to 1800
Volume 3: CHINA, KOREA & JAPAN to 1800
Volume 4: GREECE & ROME to 30 BC
Volume 5: ROMAN EMPIRE 30 BC to 610
Volume 6: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 610-1250
Volume 7. MEDIEVAL EUROPE 1250-1453: Rise of Humanism (in progress)
Volume 8. RENAISSANCE EUROPE 1453-1588
Volume 9. EUROPEAN CONFLICT 1588-1688
Volume 10. EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT 1688-1763
Volume 11: AMERICA to 1744
Volume 12. AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1744-1808
Volume 13. EUROPE & REVOLUTION 1763-1815
Volume 14. AMERICAN CONFLICT 1808-1865
Volume 15. EUROPEAN PROGRESS 1815-1865
Volume 16. MIDEAST & AFRICA 1500-1950 (in progress)
Volume 17. EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM 1865-1914
Volume 18. AMERICAN PROGRESS 1865-1914
Volume 19. EUROPEAN WARS 1914-1950
Volume 20: SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950
Volume 21: EAST ASIA 1800-1949
Volume 22. AMERICA & WORLD WARS 1914-1950
Volume 23. AMERIC'S COLD WAR 1950-1989
Volume 24. EUROPE'S COLD WAR 1950-1989
Volume 25. EUROPE'S UNIFICATION 1990-2020
Volume 26. SOUTH ASIA 1950-2020
Volume 27. EAST ASIA 1950-2020
Volume 28. AFRICA & MIDEAST 1950-2020
Volume 29. AMERICAN CAPITALISM 1990-2020
Volume 30. GLOBAL CULTURE 2020-2025
BECK index

http://translate.google.cn/translate?hl=zh-CN&sl=en&u=http://www.san.beck.org/EC-index.html&ei=fqu5SZCtMYbAkAX3z_20CA&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DETHICS%2BOF%2BCIVILIZATION%26hl%3Dzh-CN%26sa%3DG%26newwindow%3D1

Buddha and Buddhism
Siddartha Gautama
Buddha
Doctrine (Dharma)
Dhammapada
Questions of King Milinda
Community (Sangha)
This chapter has been published in the book INDIA & Southeast Asia to 1800.
For ordering information, please click here.

The oldest known date in the history of India is the death of the one called Buddha in 483 BC, and even that date is somewhat controversial. Buddha means "one who is intuitive, awakened, or enlightened." The famous historical person known as Buddha was also called the Tathagata, which means "the one who has come thus," and Shakyamuni, which means "the sage of the Shakya tribe." He is said to have lived eighty years, and thus was probably born in 563 BC.

Siddartha Gautama
His father Suddhodana of the Gautama clan was elected king of the Shakya tribe by its five hundred families just south of the Himalaya mountains in the realm of influence of the powerful Kosala monarchy. The son was born in the Lumbini garden and named Siddartha, which means "he who has accomplished his aim." Many myths and legends surround the birth of Siddartha, but most of these seem to have been developed centuries later in the Jatakas. A famous seer named Asita predicted that the child would either become a great king or, if he left home, a great teacher. His mother Maya died seven days after giving birth, and her younger sister Mahapajapati, who was also married to Suddhodana, became his foster mother.

By all accounts Siddartha was raised amid the finest luxuries of the time. Later he said that three palaces had been built for him - one for hot weather, one for cold, and one for the rainy season. His clothes were of the finest silk. When he walked on the grounds, someone held a white umbrella over his head. Even the servants were well fed, and music was played only by beautiful women.

Having demonstrated his skill in archery, Siddartha chose Yasodhara to be his wife, and they were married when he was about sixteen years old. For the next thirteen years he continued to live in luxury with his wife and concubines. Then about the time of the birth of his son Rahula, the famous four signs occurred. According to legend, his father had tried to prevent his princely son from experiencing any suffering or sorrow or religious contact so that he would become a king rather than a spiritual teacher.

However, one day while traveling outside the palace gates, Siddartha happened to come across an old man for the first time in his life. He was appalled at the wrinkles and decrepitude. On another occasion he happened to observe a sick person and learned about the loathsome nature of disease. The third sign came when he witnessed a funeral procession and was able to see the lifeless corpse that was being carried. The suddenness of these three experiences set him thinking about the transitoriness of human life. Finally he came upon a religious ascetic, who had renounced the world to seek enlightenment, a common occupation for Kshatriyas like himself as well as for Brahmins.

With the birth of his son he had fulfilled his obligation to continue his family line and decided that he too must renounce his kingdom and seek a way out of the human miseries of old age, sickness, and death. So he took off his silk garments and put on the coarse clothes of an ascetic and went south to Magadha seeking enlightenment.

While begging for his food in Rajagriha, the capital city of Magadha, his princely demeanor was observed by King Bimbisara (Shrenika). The king went to see Siddartha to find out who he was and what he was doing. Siddartha told him that he was purifying himself in order to achieve nirvana, and he promised to teach the king after he attained enlightenment.

Like the sages of the Upanishads, Siddartha practiced yoga and meditation. At Vaishali to learn meditative concentration he studied with Alara Kalama, who was said to have had hundreds of disciples. Siddartha soon learned how to reach the formless world, but still having mental anxieties he decided not to become a disciple of Alara Kalama. Nor did he become a disciple of his second teacher, Uddaka Ramaputra, after he attained the higher state of consciousness beyond thought and non-thought.

Still not satisfied, Siddartha decided to practice the path of extreme austerities, and in this quest he was joined by the sage Kaundinya and four others. He pressed his tongue against his palate to try to restrain his mind until the perspiration poured from his armpits. He restrained his breath and heard the violent sounds of wind in his ears and head. He went into trances, and some thought he was dead. He fasted for long periods of time and then decided to try limiting his food to the juice of beans and peas. As his flesh shrank, the bones almost stuck out of his skin so that he could touch his spine from the front; after sitting on the ground his imprint looked like a camel's footprint.

For six years Siddartha practiced such austerities, but instead of achieving superhuman knowledge and wisdom he only seemed to get weaker and weaker. Finally he thought that there might be a better way to attain enlightenment. He remembered how, while his father was working, he would sit in the shade of an apple tree free of sensual desires. Perhaps in concentrating his mind without evil ideas and sensual desires he should not be afraid of a happy state of mind. However, to gain the strength he felt he needed for this concentration he decided to start eating again. When he gave up practicing the extreme austerities, the five mendicants who were with him became disillusioned and left him, saying that Gautama lives in abundance and has given up striving.

Siddartha reasoned that a life of penance and pain was no better than a life of luxury and pleasure, because if penance on Earth is religion, then the heavenly reward for penance must be irreligion. If merit comes from purity of food, then deer should have the most merit. Those who practice asceticism without calming their passions are like a man trying to kindle fire by rubbing a stick on green wood in water, but those who have no desires or worldly attachments are like a man using a dry stick that ignites.

Regaining his strength from normal eating of the food he begged, Siddartha once again practiced meditation. Now he easily attained the first stage of joy and pleasure, then a joyful trance arising from concentration with serenity and the mind fixed on one point without reasoning and investigation. The third stage produced equanimity to joy and aversion in a mindful, happy state. In the fourth stage pleasure and pain were left behind in a mindful purity. With his mind thus concentrated and cleansed he directed it to the remembrance of former existences from previous births, also perceiving cycles of evolution and dissolution of the universe.

Then he directed his mind to the passing away and rebirth of beings, perceiving how the karma of evil actions, words, and thoughts leads to rebirth in miserable conditions and suffering in hell; but those beings leading good lives are reborn in a happy state in a heavenly world. Finally directing his mind to the means of ultimate release Siddartha realized that there is pain, a cause of pain, the cessation of pain, and a way that leads to that cessation of pain. Thus his mind was emancipated from sensual desires, the desire for existence, and ignorance.

According to legend this whole process occurred in one night after he had decided to sit under a tree until he became enlightened or died. It was also said that he was tested by Mara, the tempter, but Siddartha could not be swayed from his purpose. Thus darkness and ignorance were dispelled by the light as Siddartha Gautama became enlightened and was henceforth known as the Buddha.

Buddha
Having gained this doctrine, the Buddha thought how difficult it would be for humanity to understood because of their attachments and lust. Trying to teach it to them would be vexation for him. However, the god Brahma asked him to teach the doctrine, because some people, who were not too impure, were falling away from not hearing the teachings. Then the Buddha in pity for beings surveyed their conditions and saw some of little impurity whom he could teach. At first he thought of his former teachers Alara Kalama and Uddaka, but in his clairvoyant awareness he realized that both of them had just died in the last few days. Then he decided to teach the five mendicants who had been with him in their striving. Perceiving that they were in the deer park at Benares, he decided to go there.

Along the way he met an Ajivika ascetic named Upaka, who when told of the Buddha's enlightenment, merely said that he hoped that it was so and went his way. When the five mendicants saw Siddartha Gautama, they thought they would not rise in respect but would offer him a seat. However, as the Buddha arrived, they spontaneously greeted him as a friend. They still criticized him for living in abundance, but the Buddha explained that he does not live in abundance. He spoke to them as one enlightened, and they had to agree that he never had spoken to them in that manner before. While he admonished two of them, the other three went off to collect alms; then he spoke with those three while the other two went for alms. In this way all five soon attained insight and the supreme peace.

In this deer park at Benares the Buddha gave his first sermon in which he explained that the two extremes are not to be practiced by the one who is enlightened - what is joined with the passions and luxury which is low, vulgar, common, ignoble, and useless, nor what is joined with self-torture which is painful, ignoble, and useless too. Avoiding these two extremes the enlightened follow the middle path which produces insight and knowledge and leads to peace, wisdom, enlightenment, and nirvana. Buddha then expounded the four noble (aryan) truths of his doctrine.

Now this, monks, is the noble truth of pain:
birth is painful; old age is painful;
sickness is painful; death is painful;
sorrow, lamentation, dejection, and despair are painful.
Contact with unpleasant things is painful;
not getting what one wishes is painful.
In short the five groups of grasping are painful.

Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain:
the craving, which leads to rebirth,
combined with pleasure and lust,
finding pleasure here and there,
namely the craving for passion,
the craving for existence,
and the craving for non-existence.

Now this, monks, is the noble truth
of the cessation of pain:
the cessation without a remainder of craving,
the abandonment, forsaking, release, and non-attachment.

Now this, monks, is the noble truth
of the way that leads to the cessation of pain:
this is the noble eightfold way, namely,
correct understanding, correct intention,
correct speech, correct action, correct livelihood,
correct attention, correct concentration,
and correct meditation.1

The Buddha declared that Kaundinya had understood the doctrine, and he welcomed him as the first monk in the community by saying, "Come, monk, well proclaimed is the doctrine; lead a religious life for making a complete end of pain."2 After further instruction the other four mendicants were also admitted into the community (sangha). Then the Buddha preached to the five that the body, perceptions, feelings, the mind, and even discriminating consciousness are not the self or soul. By turning away from the body, perceptions, feelings, mind, and discriminating consciousness, one becomes free from craving and emancipated. Life then becomes religious and is no longer under finite conditions.

Yasa, the son of a wealthy guildmaster, lived in luxury at Benares, and like Siddhartha he became disgusted with his palace attendants. After hearing the Buddha's doctrine he left home and became the first lay disciple in the new community. The first women to become lay disciples were Yasa's mother and former wife. They were soon followed by four friends of Yasa and then fifty more. The Buddha then suggested that the sixty disciples wander around separately to preach the doctrine so that others may be liberated from the fetters of illusion, while he went to Uruvela in Magadha.

There thirty men of royal blood had entered the forest with their 29 wives and a courtesan for the one who was not married. When the courtesan ran off with their gold, silver, and gems, they all went to search for her and found the Buddha. He asked them if it was more important to seek for that woman or for themselves. When they agreed that their selves were more important, they sat down so that the Buddha could teach them how to seek within themselves.

Shakyamuni was sitting under a banyan tree when a Brahmin named Drona approached him in awe, asking if he was a god. The Tathagata said no. The Brahmin asked if he were a kind of nature spirit (gandharva or yaksha), but again the Buddha denied it. When he asked if he were a human, he denied that too. Finally Drona asked him if he was neither divine nor non-human nor human, then what was he? The reply was that he is Buddha (awake).

Shubha, a Brahmin student, asked the Buddha why humans differed so much in birth, intelligence, health, and so on. Shakyamuni explained that beings are heirs of karma, the consequences of their actions. Evildoers may experience happiness until their deeds ripen, and the good may experience bad things until their good deeds ripen. The pure and the impure create their own destinies; no one can purify another.

Also living in this region were three Brahmin brothers of the Kashyapa family. They were ascetics with matted hair over the age of seventy and were the most respected religious leaders in Magadha with a total of about one thousand disciples. The Buddha spoke with the oldest, Uruvilva Kashyapa, but it was difficult for him to accept that such a young man could be so holy. Finally the Buddha used his mystic powers, and convinced of the Buddha's superiority Uruvilva decided to follow him. The Buddha suggested that they ask his five hundred followers what they wanted to do, and they all decided to join as well, shaving their hair and beards and throwing their ceremonial utensils into the river. The two Kashyapa brothers saw the implements in the river and eventually joined as well with their disciples.

On the way to Rajagriha the Buddha and the thousand disciples saw the volcanic mountain Gayashirsa with its glowing fire. The Buddha preached his sermon on fire - how the sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and actions are burning with the poisons of covetousness, anger, and ignorance. At the capital he preached to King Bimbisara about the triple doctrine of charity, precepts, and good works. The king declared that all five of his wishes had been fulfilled - that he might be king, that a Buddha would come to his kingdom, that he would meet him, be instructed by him, and understand the teachings. After the sermon King Bimbisara donated a bamboo grove near the capital as a site for a monastery.

Also at Rajagriha lived the agnostic Sanjaya, who also had many disciples under two named Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, who were seeking enlightenment and a better teacher. Shariputra observed Assaji (one of the first five mendicants in the community) begging and learned of the Buddha's teachings. He told Maudgalyayana, and they told the two hundred fifty disciples of Sanjaya. Even though Sanjaya tried three times to stop them from going away, they all went to find the Buddha, who greeted them with the revelation that these two would become his greatest disciples. Within two weeks of joining the community both Shariputra and Maudgalyayana had become enlightened.

In meditating Maudgalyayana had trouble with drowsiness and falling asleep. The Buddha suggested several remedies including laying down for a while to sleep before resuming meditation. The uncle of Shariputra was a skeptic like Sanjaya and told the Buddha that he could not accept any conclusive doctrine. Shakyamuni simply asked him if he recognized his own doctrine as conclusive. Caught in self-contradiction, he realized the weakness and limitation of skeptical philosophy. Then the Buddha explained the law of causation in human life.

Having heard that his son had become a Buddha, King Suddhodana sent Udayin to invite Shakyamuni to the capital at Kapilavastu. Udayin was converted to the new religion, and Shakyamuni returned to his home town. His father criticized him for begging for food when he was rich enough to feed thousands of followers. Shakyamuni replied that mendicancy was the correct custom for his line, by which he meant the line of Buddhas. Verbal discussions were not enough to win over people who had known him as a boy; so the Buddha used his mystical powers to convince them.

Siddartha's half-brother Nanda was about to be declared crown prince and married to Sundari, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, but he decided to join the community instead. However, he could not help thinking about Sundari; so the Buddha gave him a vision of hundreds of heavenly maidens, though this was later criticized by others as a wrong motivation for seeking enlightenment. Eventually Nanda repented of this motivation and asked the Buddha to dissolve his promise of these maidens, and Nanda attained enlightenment and became an arhat (a term meaning "worthy" or "honorable" used for disciples who attained the highest level of awareness).

Siddartha's son Rahula was also admitted to the community at the age of ten, but later a rule was made that minors under twenty could not join the community without permission from their parents. Many Shakya nobles also joined the community at this time (according to legend 80,000) including Ananda, Anuruddha, Devadatta, Bhaddiya, and Kimbila. On the way to Buddha they were accompanied by their barber and slave, Upali. They sent him back to Kapilavastu with their jewels, but afraid of the Shakyas' reaction, he put them on a tree and rejoined the five aristocrats. Upali, who was of the lowest caste, was ordained first giving him seniority over the nobles he had served so that their Shakya pride might be moderated. Like Mahavira, the Buddha taught in the ordinary language of the people rather than in the aristocratic Sanskrit.

Complaints that monks wandering around during the rainy season trampled the grass and destroyed living creatures led the Buddha to adopt the custom of staying in retreat during the three months of rain. After one of these retreats, a wealthy householder from Shravasti, who became known as Anathapindada ("Giver of alms to the unprotected"), confessed to the Buddha that he enjoyed his investing and business cares. Shakyamuni suggested that he be a lay disciple and continue his work and use it as a blessing for other people. So Anathapindada invited the Buddha to spend the next rainy season at Shravasti, the chief city in Kosala, where he purchased and built the Jetavana Monastery. Later when Anathapindada was dying of a painful illness, Shariputra went and taught him the mental concentration for the avoidance of pain usually only taught to monks; Anathapindada died in peace.

The Buddha liked the Jetavana Monastery to be quiet, for he once dismissed Yashoja and five hundred monks for talking too loudly after they arrived. However, they went to another place near Vaishali and made great spiritual gains. Later when the Buddha traveled to Vaishali, he noticed that the area was illuminated. He told Ananda to invite Yashoja and the five hundred monks to the hall with the peaked roof. When they arrived, the Buddha was sitting in silent meditation; they too joined him in silent concentration. Every few hours Ananda approached the Buddha to ask him to greet these monks, but Shakyamuni remained silent and in the morning told Ananda that if he understood meditation better, he would not have kept asking him to greet the monks, who were likewise sitting in immovable concentration.

A new monk once confessed to the Buddha for having eaten meat in his almsbowl, but the Buddha forgave those who ate meat that was not prepared for them. Their ethical principle was not to harm any living creature. Yet he criticized those who hunt and kill animals for sport and warned his followers not to accept any food from such blood-stained hands.

After Shakyamuni's father died as a lay disciple, he declared that a lay disciple, whose mind is free from the poisons of lust, attachment, false views, and ignorance, is no different than anyone else who is free. Fearing a famine, the Shakya warrior chiefs agitated for a war with the Kolyas over water rights to the Rohini River. The Kolyas had built a dike to conserve water; when they refused the Shakyas' demand to dismantle it, both sides prepared for war. Just before the battle was to begin, the Buddha spoke to both sides, asking them to compare the value of earth and water to the intrinsic value of people and the human blood they were about to spill. He told a parable about a decrepit demon, who fed on anger and took over a royal throne, becoming stronger as more anger was directed at him until the true king came and calmly offered to serve the throne, which led to the diminishment and disappearance of the anger demon. In this way the war was avoided.

Krisha Gautami was stricken with grief when her only son died. Unable to find a physician who could bring him back to life, someone suggested that she go to the Buddha. He told her to get a handful of mustard seed in the city, but it must be from a house where no one has ever lost a child, spouse, parent, or friend. Eventually she came to realize how common death was and put aside her selfish attachment to her child.

Prajapati, the aunt and foster mother of Shakyamuni, asked to be admitted to the community. With Ananda acting as intermediary, the Buddha established eight conditions for the admittance of nuns into the community. Nuns had to make obeisance to all the monks, even the newest, and nuns were not allowed to criticize a monk even though monks criticized nuns. Although they were not treated equally, at least women were allowed to join the community. The sexism was also apparent when the Buddha told Ananda that the religious life would only last five hundred years instead of a thousand because women had been admitted.

A legend tells how a disciple used magical power to get a sandalwood bowl that had been tied from the top of a bamboo pole as a kind of contest. When the Buddha heard of it, he forbade those in the community to use such magical powers and had the bowl broken up and used as perfume. He suggested that his disciples only gain adherents by the miracle of instruction.

In the ninth year after the enlightenment the Buddha was at Kaushambi, and the monk Malunkyaputra complained that the Buddha never explained whether the world is eternal or temporary, finite or infinite, or whether life and the body are the same or different, or whether arhats are beyond death or not. He even threatened to leave the community if the Buddha would not answer his questions. First the Buddha asked him if he had ever promised to explain these things; he had not.

Then he told the parable of a man who was pierced by a poisoned arrow, and his relatives summoned a doctor. Suppose, he said, the physician had said that he would not remove the arrow nor treat the patient until his questions had been answered, such as who made the bow, what kind it was, all about the arrow, and so on. The man would die, and still the information would not be known. Then the Buddha told Malunkyaputra that a person would come to the end of one's life before those metaphysical questions he had asked could be answered by the Tathagata. Those questions do not tend toward edification nor lead to supreme wisdom. However, the Buddha's teaching regarding suffering, its cause, and the means of ending it is like removing the poisoned arrow.

A conflict arose in the community when a monk who refused to admit he had committed an offense was expelled. Some complained that this violated their principle that only evil deeds committed with conscious intent are morally reprehensible. However, the Buddha declared that the two greatest ways to obtain demerit are not to ask forgiveness after committing a wrong and not to forgive one who has confessed and asked for forgiveness.

A Kalama nobleman from north of Kaushambi admitted that he had doubts because various teachers expressed contradictory views. The Buddha responded that he was wise not to believe everything but to question with reason and by experience. After thorough investigation whether the teachings are good, free from faults, praised by the noble, and when practiced lead to the welfare and happiness of oneself and other beings as well, then they may be accepted and lived.

At Asyapura they found Brahmin priests sacrificing horses, sheep, goats, cows, and other animals on bloody altars decorated with images of gods. The Buddha told his followers not to be deceived but to purify their hearts and cease to kill. They should not refuse to admit they are ascetics, who enjoy robes, bowl, bed, and medicine. In their simplified lives they learn how to calm their bodies and concentrate their minds to awaken the four religious qualities of loving friendship, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. The Buddha also declared that in regard to this ascetic life all the castes are equal.

A monk named Sona in the Sitavana Monastery at Rajagriha was so zealous in walking that his feet left a bloody trail. The Buddha asked him if his lute could be played well if the strings were too tight or too loose. Just so, excessive zeal may make the mind weary and one's thoughts irritable and uncertain. He suggested to Sona that gradual progress led to self-mastery and happiness rather than anxiety.

A young Brahmin named Vakula was so infatuated with the Buddha that he continually kept him in his sight. The Buddha explained that the one who sees the dharma (doctrine) sees the Buddha, but Vakula still always remained in his presence. Finally at the end of the rainy season the Buddha asked him to go away. Realizing that Vakula was climbing Vulture Peak to commit suicide, Shakyamuni went after him and called him back lest he destroy the conditions for winning great fruit.

An ambitious disciple named Purna decided to spread the doctrine to the Shronaparantakas. The Buddha, knowing that they were a dangerous people, asked him what he would do if they insulted and abused him. Purna said he would consider them good and kind for not hitting him and throwing rocks at him. But what if they hit and throw rocks? Then he would be glad they did not use clubs and swords. If they used clubs and swords, he would be glad they did not kill him; even if they kill him, they will have delivered him from his vile body. So equipped with patience and love Purna went to the Shronaparantakas and was about to be killed by a hunting archer for fun, when the hunter was so struck by how willing this person was to die that he stopped and eventually accepted the three refuges of the Buddha, the doctrine, and the community.

Another monastery at Purvarama near Rajagriha was donated by Vishakha, the daughter of a rich man. Once at this monastery the Buddha remained silent on the moon day when the preaching service and confessions by the monks took place. Finally the Buddha said to Ananda that the assembly was not wholly pure. Maudgalyayana, perceiving who the immoral person was, asked him to leave; when he refused to leave three times, he was escorted out of the hall by the arm. The Tathagata thought it strange that he should wait until he was thrown out. Then the Buddha declared that he would no longer attend these sessions, but the monks would recite the regulations themselves.

When Shakyamuni was about 55, his personal attendant at the time, Nagasamala, insisted on taking a different road than the Buddha advised and was beaten by robbers. At the Shravasti Monastery the Buddha announced that he wanted to have a permanent attendant. Shariputra volunteered, but the Buddha said his work was teaching. Maudgalyayana and others were also rejected. Ananda remained silent, but Shakyamuni asked him if he would find it a bother. Ananda said that it would not be bothersome, but he did not consider himself worthy. Then he offered to do it on the following eight conditions: that he not have to accept gifts or alms given to the Buddha nor dwell in his chamber nor accept invitations offered only to him and that he may accompany the Perfect One when the monks are invited, that he may present him to those who come from a distance, that he may have access to him at all times, and that whatever teaching he missed by absence should be repeated to him by the Perfect One's own lips. The Buddha heartily agreed, and Ananda was his personal attendant for the rest of the Buddha's life.

Shakyamuni was able to tame a dangerous robber and admitted him into the community. He also bathed and treated a monk, who was suffering from dysentery and had been neglected by the other monks because he lay in his own excrement. On another occasion he found that a leper understood the doctrine very well as he explained that whatever has a beginning must have an end.

About 491 BC when Shayamuni was 72, a schism arose in the community, because his cousin Devadatta wanted to take over as head of the community; but Buddha refused, saying that he would not even turn it over to Shariputra or Maudgalyayana much less to a vile one to be vomited like spit. Devadatta became resentful and used his magical powers to win the favor of Prince Ajatashatru, the son of King Shrenika Bimbisara. They plotted together to take over the kingdom of Magadha and the Buddhist community. Bimbisara and the Buddha were to be murdered; but since Bimbisara turned over his kingdom to his son, he was merely put in prison. There he soon died, though chronicles stated he was killed by his son.

Hired killers were converted by the Buddha, but Devadatta tried to roll a huge boulder from Vulture Peak down upon him. However, only Shakyamuni's foot was scratched. Yet spilling the blood of a Tathagata with murderous intent created terrible karma for Devadatta. When he had learned of his intent, the Buddha had already declared that Devadatta's words and actions were not to be considered as representing the community in any way. Although he had gained a few followers, these were persuaded to return to the real community after long sermons by Shariputra and Maudgalyayana when Devadatta fell asleep after his own talk. Abandoned and with his psychic powers destroyed by his evil intentions, Devadatta soon became ill and died.

King Ajatashatru, who had also listened to Mahavira, was eventually converted by the Buddha; but his previous evil intentions and actions prevented him from attaining the enlightenment he might have achieved in that life. Ajatashatru married the daughter of the Kosala king Pasenadi, and Pasenadi's son married a maiden of the resentful Shakyas who was secretly of low birth. Her son, Vidudabha, swore revenge against the Shakyas. Pasenadi killed his powerful general and his sons, replacing them with the nephew Digha Karayana. While Pasenadi was listening to the Buddha, Digha hurried off and put Vidudabha on the throne. Pasenadi tried to get help from Ajatasatru but died of exposure on the way to Rajagriha.

Surveying the world, the Buddha became aware of Vidudabha's intention to attack the Shakyas and three times was able to convince him to turn back; but on the fourth time the Shakyas' karma for poisoning the river could not be averted, and they were massacred. Enough Shakyas remained, however, to accept a portion of Shakyamuni's relics after his death. When Shakyamuni was 79, both his chief disciples, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, died. Shariputra died in the home where he was born, but Maudgalyayana was killed by robbers to balance karma from a former life.

At the age of eighty the vitality of the Tathagata's body seemed to diminish, and he declared that he had only three months to live. Ananda missed the opportunity to plead with him to stay until the end of the eon as Buddhas could do, and Ananda was later blamed for that by the community. Finally Shakyamuni took his last meal, ordering a smith named Cunda to give him some mushrooms (literally pig's food or pork) and give the monks other food and then bury the rest of the mushrooms. Sharp sickness arose with a flow of blood and deadly pains, but the Buddha mindfully controlled them and declared that he would die in the third watch of the night. He sent word that Cunda was not to feel remorse but consider this giving of alms of the greatest merit.

Ananda asked the Buddha how he was to act toward women. The Buddha advised him not to see them; but if he saw them, not to speak to them; but if speaking, to exercise mindfulness. Then he said his burial was to be handled by the local Kshatriyas. That evening Ananda brought the local families to say goodby, and then the Buddha answered the questions of an ascetic named Subhadda. Before going through the four stages of higher awareness into nirvana, the last words of the Buddha were, "Decay is inherent in all component things. Work out your salvation with diligence."3

Doctrine (Dharma)
Having taught for forty-five years from his enlightenment to his death, the Buddha left behind a large compendium of teachings that were memorized by various of his disciples. Since writing was a rarity then in India, they were passed on through the community until they were written down several centuries later. These earliest texts are in the common Pali language and usually are dialogs between the Buddha and others. Often the Buddha emphasized that it was more important for disciples to see the dharma (doctrine) than the Buddha, because the dharma would remain and was what they needed to practice to attain enlightenment and even afterward. The third refuge for the Buddhist was in the community (sangha) of monks and nuns.

The Buddha advised his followers not to feel ill will or get angry when others spoke against them, because this might disrupt their self-mastery and prevent them from being able to judge whether the criticism was valid or not. For the same reason they should not be overly glad when the doctrine is praised.

In regard to the moral precepts, the Buddha described himself as having put away the killing of living things, holding himself aloof from the destruction of life. Having laid aside weapons, he is ashamed of roughness and full of mercy, being compassionate and kind to all creatures. He does not take what has not been given, is chaste, and speaks truth being faithful and trustworthy, not breaking his word to the world. He has put away lying and slander and does not raise quarrels. Thus does he live:

as a binder together of those who are divided,
an encourager of those who are friends,
a peacemaker, a lover of peace, impassioned for peace,
a speaker of words that make for peace.4

In describing the fruits of living as a recluse the Buddha emphasized to King Ajatasatru the importance of mindfulness toward the ethical significance of every action and word. Then having mastered the moral precepts, restrained the senses, endowed with mindfulness and self-possession, filled with content, the recluse chooses a lonely and quiet spot to meditate in order to purify the mind of lusts, the wish to injure, ill temper, sloth, worry, irritability, wavering, and doubt.

At the end of this long dialog King Ajatasatru confessed his sin in putting to death his father and asked to be a disciple of the blessed one. The Buddha accepted his confession and noted that in the tradition of the noble ones' discipline whoever sees one's fault as a fault and correctly confesses it shall attain self-restraint in the future.

The Buddha was quite a penetrating psychologist and described the psychological causality that leads to suffering in his theory of pratitya-samutpada (dependent origination). Sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, despair, old age, and death are all caused by birth, which depends on existence, which depends on attachment, which depends on desire, which depends on sensation, which depends on contact, which depends on the six senses, which depend on name and form, which depend on consciousness, which depends on karma, which depends on ignorance. However, by ending ignorance, then karma, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, sensation, desire, attachment, existence, and birth with all the misery that comes after birth can be ended. Sensation and desire also lead to pursuit, decision, gain, passion, tenacity, possession, avarice, and guarding possessions, which can lead to blows and wounds, strife, quarreling, slander, and lies.

This process is further described in a parable about an ancient kingdom where the celestial wheel symbolizing the dharma disappeared. The king ignored the advice of the sages that he should share some of his wealth with the destitute. This led to widespread poverty and theft. At first the king gave some wealth to a thief to solve his problem, but then not wanting to reward stealing he ordered that thieves have their heads cut off. This led to the arming of the poor, increased violence associated with their stealing, and more murders. This also caused more lying, evil speaking, and false opinions. Eventually greed, adultery, perverted lust, and incest became common, followed by lack of respect for parents, religious teachers, and the heads of the clans. Human life became like hunters feel toward their game, and at times people treated each other like wild beasts. Finally deciding to do something good, people started to abstain from taking life, which led to abstaining from taking what is not given, abstaining from lying, and abstaining from adultery. As the virtues were practiced, the health of the society returned. When this happens, a fully awakened one (Buddha) called Maitreya will come. Until then the Buddha recommended that people live as islands unto themselves, taking the dharma as their refuge, letting the mind be filled with love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

In another dialog the Buddha clarified the meaning of the eightfold path by saying that right view is knowledge of the four noble truths of suffering, its cause, cessation, and the way that leads to its cessation. Right aspiration is towards benevolence and kindness. Right speech is to abstain from lying, slander, abuse, and idle talk. Right doing is to abstain from taking life, from taking what is not given, and from carnal indulgence. Right livelihood is only described as putting away wrong livelihood. Right effort is toward preventing bad states from arising, putting away evil that has arisen, toward good states arising, and nurturing good that does arise.

Right mindfulness is being self-possessed and mindful in regard to the body, overcoming craving and dejection in feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Right rapture is being aloof from sensuous appetites and evil ideas, entering into and abiding in the four levels of higher awareness. The first of these has cogitation and deliberation born of solitude and is full of ease and joy. The second suppresses cogitation and deliberation evoking by itself concentration, calming the mind and dwelling on high. In the third stage one is disenchanted with joy, is calmly contemplative and aware. The fourth state leaves behind ease and transcends former happiness and melancholy by entering into the rapture of pure mindfulness and equanimity, feeling neither ease nor ill.

According to the Buddha the four motives that lead to evil deeds are partiality, enmity, stupidity, and fear. The six channels for dissipating wealth are being addicted to liquors, frequenting the streets at unseemly hours, haunting fairs, gambling, bad companions, and idleness.

These ethical teachings and discourses on many other subjects are from the sayings (Nikaya) of the Buddha in the first of the Three Baskets (Tripitaka) that make up the Pali Canon. The second basket contains the discipline (Vinaya) books for the monks and nuns. Later commentaries on the original teachings make up the third basket of "higher doctrines" (Abhidharma). The first book in this last collection has been called A Manual of Psychological Ethics (Dhamma-sangani).

The Dhamma-sangani lists the good states of consciousness as the following: contact, feeling, perception, volition, thought, application, sustained thinking, zest, ease, self-collectedness; the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, insight, ideation, gladness, and life; right views, endeavor, mindfulness, and concentration; the powers of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, insight, conscientiousness, and the fear of blame; the absence of greed, hate, dullness, covetousness, and malice; serenity, lightness, plasticity, facility, fitness, and directness in mind and mental factors; intelligence, quiet, intuition, grasp, and balance.

The list of bad states of consciousness is similar except that the views, intention, endeavor, and concentration are wrong instead of right, and there is unconscientiousness, disregard of blame, lust, dullness, and covetousness instead of their absence. In a further discussion of these ties the perversion of rules and rituals and the disposition to dogmatize are added to covetousness, lust, and ill will. To the cankers (asavas) of sensuality, rebirth, and ignorance is added speculative opinion about useless metaphysical questions such as whether the world is eternal, the soul is infinite, the soul and body are different, or whether one exists after death.

A work on human types (Puggala-pannatti) analyzes individuals in terms of many characteristics such as the six sense organs and their objects (including mind as the sixth sense); eighteen elements of cognition, twenty-two faculties or functions, and such negative traits as being wrathful, vengeful, a hypocrite, a charlatan, jealous, avaricious, shameless, impudent, disobedient, associating with the wicked, having unguarded senses, being immoderate as to food, forgetful, unmindful, infringing moral laws, having wrong views, and internal and external fetters as well as their opposites. However, these texts mostly consist of dry and abstract lists with many repetitions.

Dhammapada
One of the greatest literary works of early Buddhism is the Dhammapada, which was placed among the smaller sayings in the first basket of sutras although it contains 423 stanzas in 26 chapters. Put together from highlights of Buddha's ethical teachings, it was in existence by the time of Emperor Ashoka in the third century BC. It begins with the idea that we are the result of our thoughts, impure or pure.

Those who harbor resentful thoughts toward others, believing they were insulted, hurt, defeated, or cheated, will suffer from hatred, because hate never conquers hatred. Yet hate is conquered by love, which is an eternal law. Those who live for pleasures with uncontrolled senses will be overthrown by temptation. Those who cleanse themselves from impurity, grounded in virtues, possessing self-control and truth are worthy of the yellow robe. Those who imagine truth in untruth and see untruth in truth follow vain desires.

Passion enters an unreflecting mind like rain comes into a badly roofed house. Wrong-doers suffer and grieve in this world and the next, but the virtuous find joy and happiness in both. The second chapter is on awareness and begins:

Awareness is the path of immortality;
thoughtlessness is the path of death.
Those who are aware do not die.
The thoughtless are as if dead already.
The wise having clearly understood this delight in awareness
and find joy in the knowledge of the noble ones.
These wise ones, meditative, persevering,
always using strong effort,
attain nirvana, the supreme peace and happiness.5

It is good to control the mind, but thought is difficult to guard and restrain. Yet a tamed mind brings happiness. A wise person, who shows you your faults, may be followed as though to hidden treasures. The wise, who teach, admonish, and forbid the wrong, will be loved by the good and hated by the bad. The wise mold themselves, as engineers of canals guide water and carpenters shape wood. The path of those who have stilled their passions and are indifferent to pleasure, perceiving release and unconditional freedom, is difficult to understand like that of birds in the sky.

Whoever conquers oneself is greater than the person who conquers in battle a thousand times a thousand people. In regard to punishment this text warns that those who inflict pain on others will not find happiness after death. Self is the master of the self, and a person who is self-controlled finds a master few can find. By oneself wrong is done and suffered, and by oneself one is purified.

In regard to the world the Buddha recommended not following a bad law any more than a wrong idea or thoughtlessness. He advised us not to be attached to the world but to follow the path of virtue, for the world is like a bubble or mirage. Most of the world is blind, but the wise are led out of it by conquering temptation. The teaching of the awakened ones is not to blame nor strike, but to live alone and restrained under the law, moderate in eating, and practicing the highest consciousness.

Joy is the natural state for those who do not hate those who hate them. Craving is the worst disease and disharmony the greatest sorrow. Health and contentment are the greatest wealth, trusting the best relationship, and nirvana the highest joy. Grief comes from pleasure, attachment, greed, lust, and craving. Anger may be overcome by love, wrong by good, avarice by generosity, and a liar by truth. The wise hurt no one and always control their bodies.

There is no fire like lust, no chain like hate;
there is no snare like folly, no torrent like craving.
The faults of others are easy to see;
our own are difficult to see.
A person winnows others' faults like chaff,
but hides one's own faults,
like a cheater hides bad dice.
If a person is concerned about the faults of others
and is always inclined to be offended,
one's own faults grow
and one is far from removing faults.6

Anyone who tries to settle a matter by violence is not just. The wise consider calmly what is right and wrong, proceeding in a way that is nonviolent and fair. For the Buddhist one is not noble because of injuring living beings; rather one is noble, because one does not injure living beings. Whoever realizes that all created things suffer, perish, and are unreal transcends pain. There is no meditation without wisdom and no wisdom without meditation, for in meditating one becomes wise; but in not meditating wisdom is lost. Whoever has wisdom and meditation is close to nirvana.

Lift up your self by yourself;
examine your self by yourself.
Thus self-protected and attentive
you will live joyfully, mendicant.
For self is the master of self;
self is the refuge of self.
Therefore tame yourself,
like a merchant tames a noble horse.
Joyful and faithful in the doctrine of the Buddha,
the mendicant finds peace,
the joy of ending natural existence.7

No one should hurt a holy one, but no holy one should strike back. The sooner the wish to injure disappears, the sooner all suffering will stop. The holy are free of all attachment, anger, and lust. Though having committed no offense, the holy bear reproach, ill treatment, and imprisonment. They are tolerant with the intolerant, peaceful with the violent, and free from greed among the greedy, speaking true words that are useful and not harsh. The holy call nothing their own, letting go of attachment to humans and rising above attachment to the gods. Eventually a holy one knows one's former lives, perceives heaven and hell, and reaches the end of births, having attained perfection.

Questions of King Milinda
Another great literary work of the Theravada ("way of the elders") school of Buddhism is The Questions of King Milinda. Menander was one of the Greek kings who ruled Bactria after the conquests of Alexander, carrying Greek power further into India than any of his predecessors in the last half of the second century BC; his name was Hinduized to Milinda by the unknown Buddhist author, who wrote this work a century or so later.

The philosophical dialog is preceded by a prophecy from the previous lives of the two individuals whereby the Buddha foretold they would have this discussion some five centuries hence. While living as a god in a heavenly world, Mahasena is persuaded to be reborn as Nagasena so that he could help to enlighten this king. King Milinda delights in philosophical discussion and has never met his match until he encounters Nagasena. He asks the sage every difficult question he can think of and is continually amazed at the sagacious replies of Nagasena. In this way the Buddhist doctrine is thoroughly tested and explained.

Even the first question asking his name elicits the response from Nagasena that there is no permanent individuality. King Milinda asks then who it is who lives, receives gifts, devotes himself to meditation, attains enlightenment, etc. Like a chariot it is none of the separate parts though their combination comes under the name "chariot," and he is known as Nagasena. Nagasena wants to know if Milinda will be discussing as a scholar who may be convicted of error or as a king who punishes disagreement, and King Milinda agrees to discuss as a scholar.

The next day the king asks Nagasena what is the goal of his renunciation. The highest aim is the end of sorrow and the complete passing away. Sinful beings are reindividualized after death; sinless ones are not. True wisdom is cutting off one's failings, and this is accomplished by good conduct, faith, perseverance, mindfulness, and meditation. Good conduct is achieved by virtue and wisdom. Faith frees the heart of lust, malice, mental sloth, pride, and doubt. Perseverance renders support, and mindfulness discerns the good qualities from the bad; but meditation is the leader of all the good qualities. The one who will not be born again is more aware and, though suffering physical pain, is free of mental pain.

But if there is no soul or individuality, how does reincarnation occur, and what reincarnates? Nagasena explains the doctrine of karma - how causes have their effects even from one life to the next. One who sets a fire is responsible for the other things that are burned by the spread of the fire. A person who prepares poison and drinks it oneself as well as giving it to others is responsible for one's own pain and shares responsibility for the pain of the others too. According to the Buddha it is karma that causes the many differences among people.

The king asks why the recluses are so concerned about taking care of their bodies if they don't love their bodies. The body is like a wound that must be treated with salve, oil, and a bandage even though one does not love the wound. Although Buddhism is in many ways a pessimistic philosophy, Nagasena nonetheless finds more merit than demerit, because eventually the wrong-doer acknowledges the wrong and feels remorse, eventually correcting and ending demerit. Yet those who do well do not feel remorse but gladness and peace and blissful feelings; thus good increases.

After seven days of abstinence the king continues his discussion with Nagasena, asking him about various dilemmas he found in the Buddhist doctrine. Nagasena solves every problem by giving various illustrations. For example, the Buddha admitted Devadatta to the order even though he knew that he would cause a schism because he perceived that even this contact with the Buddha would keep Devadatta from becoming even worse. Social prejudice is transcended as even a prostitute is able to perform a miracle by the power of truth.

Eleven advantages come to those who feel love toward all beings and put it into practice. Such people sleep in peace, awake in peace, have no sinful dreams, are dear to people and spirits, watched over by gods, not harmed by fire nor poison nor a sword, are easily tranquilized, calm, undismayed by death, and if arhatship is not attained, are reborn in the Brahma world. Though of a loving disposition, Prince Sama was shot by a poisoned arrow, because the virtues are not inherent in the person but are only effective at that moment while in use. The king is convinced that the felt presence of love has the power to ward off all evil mental states. Nagasena agrees heartily:

Yes! The practice of love is productive
of all virtuous conditions of mind
both in good and in evil ones.
To all beings whatsoever,
who are in the bonds of conscious existence,
is this practice of love of great advantage,
and therefore ought it to be sedulously cultivated.8

The king asks Nagasena whether virtue or vice is more powerful. The karma from vice seems to be effectively punished, this balancing in fact causes it to die away rather quickly; while virtue because of its grandeur lasts for a long time. Because virtue is rarely rewarded immediately as vice is often so punished, the results of virtue usually are received more abundantly in the lives to come. Also according to Nagasena vice only affects the doer, while virtue overspreads the whole world of gods and people. By giving the individual no peace the remorse from wrong-doing leads more quickly to the eradication of that evil.

Finally at the end of their discussions King Milinda ordered a building constructed for Nagasena and the monks, turned his kingdom over to his son, abandoned the household life to become homeless, grew in insight, and eventually became an arhat himself.

Community (Sangha)
After the Buddha's death in 483 BC, the first Buddhist Council was led by Mahakassapa during which Ananda recited the discourses on the doctrine and Upali the rules of the discipline. These were then memorized and became the first two baskets of the Pitaka, the Sutta and Vinaya. Buddhism added abstinence from intoxicants to the four cardinal rules of abstaining from violence, stealing, lying, and sexual misconduct.

At Buddhist gatherings the Pratimokshasutra was recited, followed by confessions of monks who felt they had violated any of it. The four offenses that led to expulsion were having sexual intercourse, taking what was not given, taking of a human life or persuading anyone to commit suicide, and falsely boasting of supernatural attainments. The thirteen offenses deserving suspension included sexual misdemeanors, harming living beings by building a hut, falsely accusing another monk of a major offense, persisting in causing divisions in the community, and refusing to move when admonished by other monks. Other minor violations were eating between meals, attending secular entertainment, using unguents and jewelry, using high or luxurious beds, and handling money.

A century after the death of the Buddha the monks of Vaishali relaxed the rules on ten minor points, leading to contributions of money to the monks. These were protested by the elder Yasa, who organized a council to condemn the changed rules. The easterners from Vaishali became known as Mahasanghikas, and the traditional westerners Theravada. According to tradition Theravada soon divided into eleven sects and Mahasanghikas into seven. Thus Buddhism was administered locally, though a monk could reside in any monastery irrespective of sect.

In the third century BC the Emperor Ashoka tried to unite the Buddhists, but he was stricken with remorse when his minister beheaded monks refusing to comply. Advised by the most learned monk of the time, Moggaliputta Tissa, all monks who did not follow the Theravada were dismissed from the community, and refutations of heretical views were published in the Kathavatthu of the Abhidamma basket. The number of sects was reduced, but others later denied that Ashoka ever held such a council. Regardless of whether that council was held, the support of Ashoka for Buddhism greatly expanded its influence so that it was even adopted and promoted by Greek rulers such as Menander.

The deification of the Buddha by the non-Theravadins led to the ideal of the Bodhisattva or future Buddha instead of the mere arhat. Bodhisattvas are enlightened persons, who postpone their own nirvana in order to help save all sentient creatures. This along with the conception of the pure mind (vijnana) eventually led to the "Greater Vehicle" or Mahayana Buddhism.

According to Edward Conze the earliest part of the Prajnaparamita Sutra is from about the first century BC.9 It explains that the Bodhisattva comprehending the truth does not retire into the blessed rest but dwells in wisdom to help others. In this wisdom one finds that all truths are empty. The Bodhisattva, assured of future Buddhahood by previous Buddhas, whether absorbed in trance or not, knows the essential original nature. Seeing everything and everyone as illusion, the Bodhisattva is not attached to anything, while guiding all beings to nirvana. The world is transcended in this practice of wisdom, the highest perfection. Later during the Christian era this form of Buddhism was to spread into China and throughout Asia.

Among the major religions Buddhism is unusual, like Jainism, in that it did not originally believe in God, though it recognized gods and goddesses and heavens and hells. Less stringent and more popular than the ascetic Jainism, it's emphasis on ethical behavior and the quest for enlightenment appealed to both those who renounced the world and laypeople. Though it also offered excellent individual models of ethical behavior and friendly attitudes, except in its religious community it was unable to convert society as a whole to its way of nonviolence any more than Jainism could.

Nevertheless in my opinion both Jainism and Buddhism even more provided outstanding examples of supremely ethical attitudes and actions. They were not afraid to criticize the priestly corruptions of Brahminism nor the violent ambitions of the ruling class (Kshatriyas). Mahavira and the Buddha were great teachers and leaders, and the non-theistic religions they founded nourished and enriched the spiritual tradition of India and encouraged ethical behavior among its people.

Perhaps the greatest contribution they both made was to make nonviolence a noble path in a culture where the word for noble (Aryan) had stood for racism based on color and the violent conquest of India. Their devotion to truthfulness and their ability to live simple lives with few material possessions as well as their chastity kept their lives relatively pure and free of entanglements and exploitation. Though surely not without their individual imperfections and occasional schisms, the good contributed to the world by these teachings and the lives of their best followers must have been substantial.

Notes
1. Samyutta Nikaya 5:420 tr. Sanderson Beck.
2. Thomas, Edward J., The Life of the Buddha, p. 88.
3. Maha Parinibbana Suttanta 6:7 (156).
4. Brahma-Jala Sutta 1:9 (4).
5. Dhammapada 2:1-3 tr. Sanderson Beck.
6. Ibid. 18:17-19.
7. Ibid. 25:20-22.
8. The Questions of King Milinda tr. T. W. Rhys Davids, 4:4:16.
9. The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary tr. Edward Conze, p. x.


Copyright © 1998-2004 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book INDIA & Southeast Asia to 1800.
For ordering information, please click here.

Contents
Vedas and Upanishads
Mahavira and Jainism
Buddha and Buddhism
Political and Social Ethics
Hindu Philosophy
Literature of India
India 30 BC to 1300
Delhi Sultans and Rajas 1300-1526
Mughal Empire 1526-1707
Marathas and the English Company 1707-1800
British India 1800-1848
British India's Wars 1848-1881
India's Renaissance 1881-1905
India's Freedom Struggle 1905-1918
Gandhi and India 1919-1941
Tibet, Nepal, and Ceylon 1800-1941
Southeast Asia to 1875
Pacific Islands to 1875
Summary and Evaluation
Bibliography
Chronological Index

BUDDHA'S FIRST SERMON
DHAMMAPADA (PATH OF TRUTH)

BECK index

Ethics
Metaphysical Foundation
Universal Values
Applying Universal Values
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Ethics is the discipline relating to right and wrong, moral duty and obligation, moral principles and values, and to moral character. To many people ethics and morality are synonymous terms, both meaning customs in their original Greek and Latin respectively. However, the Greek term "ethics" also implies character, whereas "mores" refers to social customs. Morals have probably been discussed as long as there has been language. Although Socrates and Plato discussed moral questions at length, it was Aristotle who first made a serious and systematic study of moral principles, and he called that ethics.

Therefore I would like to make a distinction between the terms and use "ethics" to refer to a universal or philosophical system of moral principles and values, while leaving "morality" to refer to the relative standards or values of any social group or person. Of course much overlapping can occur. An individual's or culture's morality may often have universal standards, but in many cases they may not be universally applied in a philosophical way.

In this work I will be applying universal values and ethical principles in evaluating and learning from the history of human civilization. In the beginning I want to clarify what those values and principles are. However, to explain the origin and source of those principles and values I must begin with the logically prior field of metaphysics, which studies existence and reality.

Metaphysical Foundation
What exists? Who wants to know? Who or what are you? What is real? These basic questions have often been asked by philosophers, and diverse philosophies have developed from the different answers given. I will present my ideas for your consideration and hope that you find them useful.

It seems to me that consciousness or awareness is a good place to begin, because it is only through consciousness that we can be aware of anything at all, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. Even though most people may assume that they are physical bodies, which when alive and awake, are conscious, in my view this is philosophically backwards and ultimately untenable. We are beings who when in physical bodies can use the body's senses to be aware of the body and other bodies and things. If we were not conscious, we would have no awareness of anything, let alone bodies. Yet somehow because we are not able to remember being born, people often assume that consciousness is merely an epiphenomenon of our organism. Thus since our consciousness is not omniscient, we assume that it is less real than the physical world which appears to be more solid and lasting. However, as Plato, Shankara, Descartes, Berkeley, and many other philosophers have pointed out, the spiritual awareness is more real than the body.

How do I know for certain that the spiritual is real? I do not claim to know it absolutely, but in my experience it is the most probable explanation. I do not ask the readers to believe everything I write, but I do ask that you consider these ideas with an open mind and with an attitude that they might be true. No one can prove to another person that God exists or that we live forever as souls, but on the other hand no one can prove the opposite either. Thus I am going to present a coherent philosophy that I have developed based on all my experience and studies as my explanation of the way things are as I understand them.

Although we experience everything through consciousness, the mind can also infer that there are some things that are somehow beyond our own limited awareness, such as other people and objects in the world, for example. It also can be inferred not only that our bodies exist as physical things but that somehow the source of our consciousness is a being or organizing principle that gives our consciousness continuity. This mysterious being, which is difficult to perceive or describe because it is beyond the mind, I call the soul.

In my understanding all souls are one with God or Spirit or whatever you want to call the ultimate and absolute reality which is responsible for the creation of this universe. For either this universe has existed forever, which is difficult for the mind to comprehend without some concept of an eternal being, or it was created by someone or something which transcends it. Now if this Creator or God is eternal and the souls are the same essence as God, then souls are eternal too.

Through consciousness souls are able to experience life in this universe. Yet if souls are divine, why are they not omniscient like God? It seems that the process of life is designed so that souls can gain experience, knowledge, and wisdom and so learn how to become more responsible creators. As the child begins life innocent and ignorant but eventually learns how to function as an intelligent human being, so souls seem to be in a process of education. However, souls, if they are eternal or exist as individual entities for long periods of time, can experience life many times in many different forms and situations over time.

We are currently experiencing life as human beings, but souls may also extend their energy and awareness into other forms of life. However, it is likely that the soul would not limit itself too much; thus it is conjectured by some and indicated by others who claim to be clairvoyant that other species of plants and animals have what is called a group soul. In other words the soul does not fully incarnate into the less evolved species but rather extends energy and consciousness into a group of them. Humans are the most extraordinary species on this planet for many reasons which will be described in the next chapter, but some say that souls might also incarnate themselves in other intelligent species such as dolphins and whales. This may be a way for souls to experience this planet for a short time without getting involved in the karma of humanity.

What is karma? Karma is a Sanskrit term meaning action or the measure of an action in terms of cause and effect. I call this principle responsibility. Essentially it is a way of examining the consequences of any action. In other words we reap what we sow, or in street terms "what goes around comes around." If the soul is eternal, that means the soul has to live with whatever it does forever. So the soul being a majestic and divine being does not want to have a blemish on its record and will find a way to balance or rectify every action eventually. The soul realizing that it is one with everyone will aim to love and be in harmony with all. In social terms this becomes the principle of justice. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Since infinity exists, then every action must eventually return to its source even though it may take a long time to do so.

This concept of the soul thus places responsibility on individuals. This responsibility also implies free will or choice. This metaphysical principle of freedom is essential to any intelligent theory of ethics, for how can we hold people responsible for their actions if they have no freedom to choose? Although cause and effect does exist in the universe and there are many physical laws that can be understood and so applied, this ultimate spiritual principle of the freedom of action transcends and interacts with those physical laws. Consciousness or awareness of alternatives is what enables us to express this freedom of choice in human life. Every action will have consequences according to the laws and principles of life, but the choice of which action to take is present as long as we are aware of alternatives.

Universal Values
In my book LIFE AS A WHOLE: Principles of Education Based on a Spiritual Philosophy of Love I describe twenty-seven divine principles. In my philosophy these principles are more than relative values but are characteristics or attributes of the divine which can be called upon and guide us in our lives, thus having absolute existence in addition to being relative. They are grouped into nine sets of three as follows: goodness, truth, and beauty; reality, awareness, and joy; love, wisdom, and power; life, growth, and fruition; will, freedom, and responsibility; creativity, balance, and harmony; courage, faith, and patience; law, justice, and peace; and wholeness, health, and perfection.

Certainly more concepts and variations of these could be added, but I believe that most of these twenty-seven are universal values that can be useful as ethical principles. Obviously any one of them could be taken to an extreme and misapplied, but if applied correctly and in harmony with the other principles I believe they can be very useful guidelines for our consciousness and behavior. Let us examine them one by one and see how they would apply to ethics.

Goodness is the most generalized concept of value and is usually an essential principle in most ethical systems. Perhaps the concept of goodness can help us to explain where values come from in the first place and how we know that they exist. Skeptics might ask if anyone has ever seen goodness or heard it or perceived it any way by means of our physical senses. Obviously goodness is not a physical object, for any object could be good or bad depending on how it is used. Yet from the perspective of consciousness we can realize the centrality and importance of the idea of the good, as Plato called it. Psychologically we can understand that consciousness is intentional or purposive, that everyone is attempting to do what they consider is good, although others may not always agree with them about what is good. Thus the goal of every action is some good, and in every choice we are deciding on what we think is good.

Even when we seem to be going against some intellectual concept of good and choosing a lower desire or instinct, it can be argued that psychologically at least in our consciousness the lower desire is temporarily chosen, because our consciousness as a whole believes it is preferred at that time. Nevertheless ethics can also be a process of analyzing these different goods in order to help people to become more aware of what is truly good for the individual and others so that in the future greater goods may be chosen. Nonetheless this does not alter the psychological experience that what some may judge as lesser goods are still chosen because they seem good to the individual. No one chooses what they believe to be bad unless somehow their consciousness has been perverted to believe that what is bad is somehow good.

Utilitarian ethics, for example, has used this concept of good as its basic principle by attempting to maximize it by considering what is the greatest good for the greatest number or as the Romans and Thomas Aquinas put it, the summum bonum, or the highest good. If we have to reduce our ethical principles to one phrase, perhaps this concept of the highest good of all is the best that we can do.

This idea of good is I believe very similar to love in that we do what we love, or we love what is good. To me love is the most important of the divine principles, because it is an active way of expressing goodness. Loving others as we love ourselves then makes this universal. I believe that we all want to love and be loved, and this above all can bring us closer to paradise and divine fulfillment.

Truth is certainly an important principle and being honest or telling the truth is generally recognized in ethics as a moral obligation. Truth is what keeps us in contact with reality, another divine principle but more important in metaphysics than as an ethical value. Nevertheless in life reality often sets in and forces us to make existential choices in limited situations. There can be no escaping reality whether we like it or not.

Beauty is obviously an esthetic principle and more related to the arts. However, in the Greek consciousness beauty was often linked with goodness and could imply a moral beauty. Certainly to many the unnecessary violation of beauty would be a moral fault.

I have already discussed the importance of awareness in moral choice. The implication is also that greater awareness is a good so that whatever increases awareness is good. Joy is another term for happiness, which is the main goal of the ethical philosophy called Eudaimonism. Joy is experienced as good, and in Hinduism as ananda is part of the divine experience of sat chit ananda, which includes chit as consciousness or awareness and sat as truth or reality in the sense of being. Joy is an emotional good or pleasant experience. Happiness, bliss, or being blessed is sometimes referred to as the ultimate goal in life, because it can be argued that all other goods are intended as a means to be happy, but only happiness is sought only for itself.

Wisdom implies even more than awareness in that it is a good and useful awareness. Wisdom is considered the virtue of the mind and can be defined as knowing and doing what is truly good. By power I do not mean any kind of power, but as a divine principle or universal value only that power which is used for good. Perhaps virtue might have been a better term. It is expressed by the Chinese concept de. As we shall see over and over again, power can be easily abused. However, power is valuable in its meaning as ability or potential. Yet because of the dangers of power being misused, in this work I am not going to consider it a universal value, but only as a relative value which may be good or bad depending on how it is used. The same is true of other values not included in these divine principles such as wealth, which may or may not be used well although generally it is good.

Some virtues are also not included as universal values, because they may not always be beneficial in every situation. The virtues of courage, faith, and patience are usually good, but in some cases may be abused. Courage may be misapplied to killing in war, and although we may admire the courage we cannot condone the killing which violates the important principle of life. Similarly faith may become misguided, and patience may be an excuse for inaction.

Life is certainly a very basic and universal value, although growth and fruition while generally good may be inappropriate in some circumstances, just as the virtue of chastity may not always be beneficial. I think that reverence for life is extremely important, because it also implies respect for freedom. Similarly health is a universal value we all want to enjoy without interference from others.

Creativity is a divine quality but may not be a universal value in that when it goes awry it can be destructive. Balance and harmony are also esthetic values which like beauty can be applied to social and ethical situations. However, there are times when the disruption of a seeming balance or harmony may be needed, though it could be argued that it would only be for the sake of a greater or truer harmony and balance. So I suppose these values are universal too.

Law, justice, and peace I think are quite important in social and political relations. Not all laws may be good of course, but the principle of law and its value as a means for regulating human interaction is probably necessary in a world where there must be some practical means of preventing and correcting harmful behavior. Justice is the higher principle here and most universal, and peace seems to be its result. Peace can also be found inwardly and is extremely valuable. Obviously peace at any price is not always beneficial. So at times we must return to the principle of justice.

Wholeness derives from the idea of the oneness of all things. It also implies that we need to consider all the factors and relevant considerations before we make our judgments. This is a very important principle in ethics, I believe. Thus wholeness helps us to integrate all of the values and principles together. In evaluating actions from an ethical perspective we need to realize that there are many different aspects and factors involved so that we do not get carried away in narrow-minded or linear thinking. In some circumstances different values may come into conflict, and only from a holistic perspective can we intelligently evaluate those existential choices.

Perfection is the last of the divine principles and implies the end or completion in ultimate perfection. This is really more metaphysical than ethical, because the practicality of ethics in a messy world makes the quest for moral perfection almost hopeless. Nonetheless it is an ideal we strive for, though it would be foolish to try to hold it up as a standard for anyone.

From this discussion of these divine principles I think that we can see that the most important ones for use in ethics as universal values are goodness, truth, love, wisdom, life, freedom, responsibility, justice, and health. Primarily upon these I base this work.

Applying Universal Values
In the writing of history authors often attempt to be neutral and objective. Yet as has often been pointed out, this is nearly impossible if only because of the selections which must be made. Nevertheless many attempt to write factual histories, and in the relative sense this can be done. I define a fact as a past event in space-time. In this sense then nothing is more factual than history.

However, this work is not just the story of civilization (like the Durants wrote), but of the ethics of civilization, a critical history of human consciousness. In other words the attempt is to evaluate the history of human experience from the perspective of ethical principles. Thus as a critique it is necessarily judgmental in its evaluations. However, these judgments are not made to condemn anyone, since most of the people involved are long dead. The purpose of the evaluations is to learn from their experiences so that we can avoid those mistakes and emulate their successes.

Thus this work is subjective in the sense that the universal values above described are being applied to the understanding of human affairs. Nevertheless it is also attempting to be neutral and objective, not in the sense that it is value-free, but in applying those abstract values universally to all equally and fairly. In other words I am attempting to avoid any cultural bias based on a particular sex, race, religion, nationality, or ideology. The actions of each individual and group will be examined as to their consequences considering the values of life, freedom, health, justice, and so on.

From our basic assumptions that freedom of choice exists for individuals and that justice is a universal principle, we can reason that therefore individual equality is to be respected in the sense that every soul is equally divine or human. Though people may have varying abilities and levels of awareness which may affect their responsibilities, it is nonetheless the case that every individual is responsible for his or her actions.

Also social groups are responsible for their actions, and each individual has a share in the responsibility of a group. This is sometimes referred to as group or collective karma and may be applied to families, cities, nations, religions, societies, and political factions or parties. Evaluating the consequences of these collective actions is very important, because they affect so many people. We as individuals today also are responsible not only for our personal actions but also for our share in the collective actions which we support. In order to create a world of peace and justice with universal health and happiness, we, both individually and collectively, need to learn how to be responsible for all these actions.


Copyright © 1998 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Contents HISTORY OF ETHICS
Ethics
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Chronological Index

Prehistoric Cultures
Evolution of Life
Human Evolution
Lemuria and Atlantis
Europe
Africa
America
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

This chapter is intended as prolog and background to the study of civilization as it is known to us through historical records. Since the evidence of human experience prior to recorded history is rather limited, what we can learn from this long period of evolution and development is mostly speculative and uncertain.

The issues are further complicated by the split I perceive between the archaeological work of skeptical scientists and the psychic intuitions of clairvoyants. The two groups discuss human prehistory from such different philosophical premises and perspectives that they hardly seem to be aware of each others' theories and consequently rarely communicate with each other. The scientists search for all the physical evidence they can find and attempt to devise theories from the geological and biological records and the few human artifacts that are discovered. The clairvoyants search within the spiritual realms for the soul records and then try to describe the consciousness they have perceived inwardly. The most apparent links between these vastly different worldviews seem to be the myths and legends passed down to ancient peoples, which can be found in some historical writings and art and which point to some of the more "far-out" ideas of the psychics. Scholars discount most of these as imaginative flights of fancy. But what is the imagination? and where does it come from?

The spiritual side points to the mystery of creation and the miracle of consciousness as evidence that we are spiritual beings who transcend physical bodies. Traditional science can theorize about the creation and evolution of the universe but cannot really explain why the universe was created, by whom or what, nor for what purpose; nor does it know how or why consciousness was created or even what it actually is. That which occurs in spiritual consciousness without making its imprint in the physical realm obviously will not leave any evidence for those who only consider the material facts.

Yet that which is perceived or imagined through psychic means is difficult to verify, and psychic distortion occurs rather easily. Where psychics disagree, the results must be treated as speculation that may be true or false; but where there is broad agreement from many clairvoyants with good records in other areas of psychic perception, and particularly when ancient myths or modern scientific theory can corroborate their testimony, then I believe we ought to take their ideas seriously.

What I will do in this chapter is to present both viewpoints briefly in an attempt to develop a synthesis, which I believe could be true from both perspectives. The readers are warned that this chapter is the most speculative and uncertain in this work, and I hope that possible biases will not prevent anyone from going on to appreciate the rest of the work, which is quite different from this chapter. However, these fundamental questions of our origins may give us a helpful background to the natural laws and principles which later become a context for human ethics and civilization.

Evolution of Life
From the spiritual perspective the universe is usually considered to have been created by God with Spirit pervading the entire universe while at the same time transcending the physical in other realms of reality often referred to as heaven. The explanation of evolution does not contradict the spiritual perspective unless one takes literally certain ancient myths that became scripture for some religions.

Currently the most popular theory is that this physical universe originated in a tremendous explosion called the "big bang," which created in an instant all of the energy-matter which remains constant in this universe. This beginning, which from the spiritual view could have been preceded by other events, universes, etc., probably occurred according to evidence in 2003 about 13.7 billion years ago, although there is a recent theory that it could have been much less than that.

How the galaxies, stars, and planets were formed is not precisely known, although gravity is what holds them together. The atomic structures of the chemical elements were formed in the intense heat and interactions within the early galaxies. Some say that there was a split between matter and anti-matter into equal and opposite portions. The physical universe is still expanding, and it is not known whether it will continue to expand indefinitely or whether the pull of gravity will cause it to begin contracting and eventually to collapse back into itself. "Black holes" are very intense gravitational fields which trap all energy-matter nearby, even light. Recent evidence indicates that there may be a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Spiritual theories suggest that these black holes may be "doors" to other parts of the universe or even to other universes.

The first law of thermodynamics is that the energy-matter in this physical universe remains constant. The second law of thermodynamics briefly stated is that entropy always increases. To explain it more fully: in the process of using matter and energy in space and time, some energy is always being lost as heat. For example, when organisms take in nourishment they are able to use it in keeping their bodies orderly and functioning, but the total amount of order in the universe actually decreases as some of that energy always escapes as the less orderly energy of heat.

Our sun is about seven billion years old, and this Earth was formed approximately 4.7 billion years ago. The center of the Earth is packed into a solid inner core, which is surrounded by a liquid outer core; this is enclosed in a thick mantle, which is covered by the crust. The coming together of the particles by the force of gravity caused heat and melting; this heat was supplemented by the radioactive decay of uranium. The heavier molten materials gravitated to the center, while the waters and air of the hydrosphere and atmosphere may have condensed from volcanic emission of gases.

The rocky crust formed into continental land masses, while water filled in the oceans over their constantly churning floors. Although continental ages go back almost four billion years, their shapes have changed many times. As the Earth cooled, heat was released vertically through volcanoes. The great continents and oceans consolidated themselves about three billion years ago. The one continent of Earth called Pangaea probably began breaking up about two hundred million years ago to separate gradually into our modern continents. The sea, as a reservoir of heat and cold, acts as a global thermostat to moderate temperatures on the Earth's surface. The spirit of the Earth was named Gaia by the Greeks, and as a whole it possesses many of the characteristics of a living organism.

The original atmosphere was most likely lacking free oxygen, probably consisting of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia, and methane. Complex molecules and primitive organisms would have difficulty forming with free oxygen there to "burn them up" by oxidizing them. Yet the electromagnetism of atomic structures enabled many energy exchanges and combinations to develop. Without an ozone shield in the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation from the sun would disrupt the genetic mechanism of anything that might be exposed on land. Yet the radiation could release hydrogen from water that could be used as energy for an organic process in a molecule that might thus come to resemble bacteria by a photosynthesis that did not produce free oxygen. Radio astronomers have discovered evidence of several organic molecules in outer space.

The structural pattern of the mineral kingdom had been established when about four billion years ago a process began that would enable physical entities to take in energy, grow, replicate themselves, and even evolve the genetic pattern of replication. Because of their ability to give and take electrons, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon became the building blocks, along with elements such as phosphorus, calcium, and sulfur for energy exchange. Stimulated by solar radiation and somewhat protected under water, these elements formed into amino acids which combined together with peptide bonds eventually to become proteins. Self-replication requires an information system, and in this case a molecular code used deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) to communicate the basic chemical design of the various protein-building amino acids. These cellular messengers use four basic molecules as "letters" linked in chains of three-letter "words" as a complex grammar of instructions for physical bodies to build and organize themselves intelligently.

To grow, the first organisms needed energy or food. At first the energy of solar radiation was used in a photosynthesis that did not produce free oxygen. Early cells, such as bacteria and blue-green algae, reproduced themselves simply by dividing in two. Yet the high-energy ultraviolet radiation of the time could cause numerous mutations, some of which proved to be improvements in cell structure. As bacteria-algae developed photosynthesis that does release free oxygen, then oxygen and ozone shielding began to build up in the atmosphere, lessening mutations from radiation.

At this stage sexual reproduction involving the pairing of chromosomes and the division of reproductive cells through meiosis enhanced variability and the evolutionary process of natural selection. This development of eucaryotic cells was probably reached between one and two billion years ago and is considered the beginning of organic evolution. Complex molecules had been organized into units bounded by a protective membrane through which they could take in energy and nourishment and release waste. Procaryotic bacteria and blue-green algae never evolved cellular nuclei nor sexual reproduction and are much the same today.

Through photosynthesis, oxygen eventually built up to its current concentration of about 21 percent of the atmosphere, which is a homeostatic balance between optimum metabolism and fire risk. Some bacteria began to use this oxygen for energy and evolved to become animals.

Single-cell organisms which reproduce by division are potentially immortal and static except for mutations. By developing germ cells of two types that could recombine, sexual reproduction created variability and interaction. Large germ cells (eggs) containing food materials could unite with small germ cells (sperms) consisting of a nucleus that could move well. However, uni-cellular organisms could only grow so big, because volume increases faster than surface area, thus limiting the food they could absorb.

About seven hundred million years ago, these cells began to clump together in groups or communities in order to produce larger and more complex systems as sponges. This evolutionary step of group cooperation enabled cells to specialize and contribute to the whole organism by serving as protecting casing, digesting of food, and eventually sensing and conveying of messages. Now that germ cells could reproduce a similar but not identical organism, that meant that the old organism would eventually be eaten or decomposed by bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and therefore die, having been replaced by its new but slightly different offspring.

Roughly five hundred million years ago vegetation began to colonize the land, first as mosses and liverworts and then developing into vascular plants. Since vegetation needs only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, plants are not required to move from place to place searching for food. Thus they drew nourishment in water or rooted in the ground wherever sunshine was present. Animals evolved the ability to move with a mouth in front and waste disposal in back. Successful mutations and variable reproduction evolved organs of sensing to assist the organisms in finding food. These sense organs and their communication system naturally centered in the brain at the head of the organism. Hard bone cells were found to give protection to the main line of the nervous system and strength to the organism's structure. Thus vertebrates and fish evolved. With more genetic experimentation mutated flippers and fins were used to push on the ground in shallow water, and eventually legs and amphibians evolved who crawled onto the land about four hundred million years ago.

Amphibians depended on water to nurture the growth of their embryos. After about one hundred million years or so, the shelled egg was evolved by the first reptiles, enabling them to stay on the land permanently. Reptiles primarily ate insects, which were living off the abundant vegetation. Eventually some reptiles became herbivorous, eating tropical plants in aquatic environments. Reptiles were very successful and grew in size. As much of the land dried out, reptiles took prominence over the amphibians. For well over one hundred million years dinosaurs dominated the Earth. Although some of them may have been warm-blooded, it seems that climatic change and temperature extremes may have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs about sixty million years ago, while crocodiles survived in tropical rivers and the smaller snakes, turtles, and lizards managed to survive by burrowing or crawling into holes. Even the large squid-like Ammonites that lived in the sea died out at this time. Apparently large size, even with ferocity, was a liability in adapting to the winter cold and summer heat. Many scientists now believe that the weather changes caused by the impact of a meteor brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Birds and mammals evolved ways to stabilize their internal temperature. Birds used feathers to keep warm and wings to escape predators and search for food. Mammals evolved fur to keep warm, milk glands to feed their young, and large brains for skillful adaptability. Warm-blooded species have physiological mechanisms to circulate heat and cool off in hot conditions, enabling them to survive cold nights and warm days.

With the decline of the dinosaurs, the primitive mammals began to flourish and evolve more complex forms to fill the ecological niches now available. The remarkable evolution of flowers, fruit, nuts, and grasses at this time improved the food supply for animals. This stimulated early primates to evolve grasping hands, generalized teeth, stereoscopic color vision, and a still larger brain for the climbing of trees and other skills.

The spiritual view is that all of this creation and evolution occurs within the consciousness of God according to the divine plan. Spirit pervades all of the creation by extending itself invisibly into stars, planets, and living organisms. Evolution is the process by which Spirit creates opportunities for learning and spiritual growth that are gradual to various levels of consciousness.

What can we learn from this evolutionary process? Obviously life is not static but moves, and it moves in a direction of improvement toward greater awareness and capabilities. In these continual changes we need not become too attached to a particular form, because it is likely that we will outgrow it or use something better in the future. Adaptability to the environment is the key to survival and success in this world.

The Earth has a long history, and our little epoch of recorded history is just a brief moment in the life-span of the Earth. Yet the Earth is our home; and not having learned how to live anywhere else permanently, we need to preserve the health and ecological balances of the living Earth, Gaia. We are just one creature living on the Earth's body, and we ought to respect the others, especially whales, dolphins, and other mammals whose experiences are of great spiritual value to the conscious entities that inhabit those forms. How can we ever measure the gratitude we owe to this wonderful and beautiful place where we have been growing toward conscious Godhood? Where would we be if it hadn't been for all of our ancestors and the Earth itself?

Human Evolution
Before continuing the story of evolution with the primates, let us consider their consciousness so far so that we can understand some of the basic instincts and motivations that all humans still share even though they may have been modified greatly since then. Certainly we can see that all life-forms that have survived to pass on their characteristics to their descendants have very strong survival and reproductive instincts.

For primates surviving means being able to function as a living organism by breathing air for energy, regulating the body's temperature by drinking water, finding and eating and digesting food for physical energy, and being able to escape danger and early death from predators. While the internal physiological mechanisms seem to be mostly automatic and unconscious, the abilities to find nourishment and avoid danger are more conscious activities, because they involve interaction with the outer environment by means of sensory perceptions and skilled actions.

The early primates which later evolved into monkeys, apes, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans began small like rodents. When the Earth was mostly covered with forests, they were able to live in trees by using their grasping limbs and digits and stereoscopic color vision. Their brains were large enough to give them dexterity in climbing, seeing food, grasping it, and avoiding dangers. Their diet of leaves, flowers, fruit, insects, birds' eggs, and possibly nesting birds did not require the specialized teeth found in most mammals. Possibly the mammals' taste for dinosaur eggs may have contributed to the extinction of the large reptiles.

In the trees vision became a more important sense than smell, which is so well developed in other mammals. The process of adapting to climbing trees and jumping from branch to branch must have resulted in many casualties and deaths for those primates which fell to the ground. This survival of the fittest evolved more brain capacity for vision and muscle coordination. In this environment that was less predictable than solid ground, those that learned how to be careful and skillful survived. The ability to grasp the branches with the feet and what came to be hands was naturally selected.

Upright posture also became preferable, and the skeletons began to change so that the backbone was more vertical and the neck redirected in order to balance the skull above it instead of projecting the head forward as with four-legged animals. The arms were able to swing more freely, as those primates who could swing from branch to branch had an advantage. The thumb began to oppose the other fingers for good gripping, and the skins of the finger pads became very sensitive. The nose became smaller and the eyes larger and more sensitive to light. With two eyes facing forward taking in an overlapping field of vision, primates developed sharp depth perception.

The brain became larger even faster than the size of the primates themselves increased. This implies that they were probably much like contemporary chimpanzees and apes which are primarily social and communicate with each other. Sounds could be made to warn others of dangers or to express jealousy or displeasure. The need to reproduce certainly made the sexual instinct quite strong. Also since the offspring must survive to reproduce themselves, the maternal instinct to care for the next generation was also selected. As the brain began to grow more after birth since the size of the birth canal was limited, the period of helpless infancy and early learning through play was extended.

The genes of humans and chimpanzees, our closest biological relative, are 98% the same; it is estimated that our evolution only began to diverge about eight million years ago. Our ape-like common ancestor, called Ramapithecus, lived in Africa and parts of Europe and Asia between 15 and 8 million years ago. As they began to use their hands more for defense, the need for large canine teeth diminished. During this time the amount of forest declined, creating open savannas. In this environment the ability to stand up and look around was quite useful for finding food and perceiving predators. Walking on two legs, these primates could carry food or their young in their arms.

The ability to grasp objects in their hands enabled Ramapithecines the opportunity to extend their bodies by picking up a branch or rock and brandishing it to scare off a predator. Eventually objects were used as tools to assist them in digging for roots or catching insects or for fighting off predators. Naturally the improved vision and mental adaptability learned in the trees was helpful on the savanna as well. During a period of about ten million years when declining rainfall and increasing deserts separated the forests of Africa from those of India and east Asia, the shrinking living space for the Ramapithecines must have caused the estimated twenty million hominids to become more social in the three hundred thousand or so separate bands.

By four million years ago what is now called Australopithecus, meaning southern ape, was walking fully erect such that the feet were no longer able to cling to branches or the fur of the mother. Such infants required even more care and attention. Australopithecus stood about four feet tall, and the brain was still fairly small compared to Homo sapiens, gradually increasing from 400 cubic centimeters to 700 for the tool-using Homo habilis by one million years ago.

Apparently between about 2.6 and 2.3 million years ago there was a cold and dry period which stimulated greater adaptability. The earliest tools have been found from this time and probably consisted primarily of sticks and stones, which were flaked to make choppers, scrapers, gougers, and hammers. Anthropologists theorize that on the savanna the social organization of the family developed and perhaps also hierarchies of dominance with the males, females, and young sequenced in that order according to individual strengths.

Australopithecines began to eat the meat of dead animals that they were able to find or steal away from other predators. Eventually they began to hunt live animals for themselves, probably acting in bands of mostly males. At this time the males were about twice the size of the females; and as the hips became wider in the females for a wider birth canal, the males could also run faster. At first the hunters only attacked small game such as birds, lizards, rats, hares, tortoises, and young antelopes.

This change to meat-eating is a major shift in human evolution. For more than a hundred million years primates had been vegetarians and insect-eaters. They did not have the specialized teeth of carnivores for ripping and tearing flesh. Their long digestive tract was designed for plant food; whereas carnivores have short digestive tracts which eliminate the meat residue out of the system more quickly. Humans still have difficulty digesting excessive amounts of animal fats. However, Australopithecus was able to survive by eating red meat, although this certainly put them in enmity against many other animals. Tools were probably developed to enable them to tear through the tough hide of young antelopes and to smash open the bones to get at the marrow. Hunters had to be able to scare off scavengers such as hyenas, jackals, and vultures, and probably carried their meat into trees or rock shelters.

Gradual evolution from Australopithecus resulted in a Homo erectus, who was about five feet tall 1.6 million years ago, and by a million years ago the brain had grown to an average of nearly 1,000 cubic centimeters. Females were closer in size to the males. These early Homos spread north out of Africa and Southeast Asia into Europe and China about 900,000 years ago. Tool kits began to contain hand axes.

With the wide variation in brain size the experience of hunting and traveling over large areas selected rather rapidly for larger brains with more skill and memory capacity. Successful hunting requires patience, sensitivity of perception, communication, and group cooperation. Homo erectus was the first primate to share food regularly with other adults. Hunting surely alienated Homos from other large animals, as the act of brutal killing selected individuals with this aggressive instinct. Yet the complex planning and teamwork involved in hunting also stimulated and selected intelligence if not compassion for other animals.

As the brains became larger, the infants developed more slowly, requiring up to five years of parental care. Primate evolution had also moved away from litters of offspring and toward single births so that now it is rare for a woman to have more than one child at a time. This allowed for greater prenatal growth and more special care from the mother after birth. As the infants required more care from the mother, the mothers needed more protection and help from a reliable male. As the males went off bonding together as hunting parties, the females were able to gather plants locally and prepare food, bonding with their children and each other at home.

Homo erectus is the only mammal in which the estrus period of procreation has completely disappeared, so that the female is not preoccupied by periods of intensive male sexual attention, which would be disastrous for the infants, but instead is attractive to the male at any time. Also the erect posture allows humans to copulate face to face. Thus the sexual act becomes less mechanical, quick and instinctive, and more likely to be an emotional experience. As the brain and intelligence increased, thought, feelings, and choice became more available to early humans. In other words, voluntary control of these instincts developed so that the individual could choose the partner and the time and place for sexual intercourse. As personal preference became more meaningful, male-female relationships could become more enduring. Also as sexual activity could be chosen for its pleasurable qualities, homosexuality became possible.

The ability to plan and think and restrain oneself while hunting prey affected other activities as well. Inhibitions and prohibitions regarding sex developed for social reasons, as dominant males expressed jealousy and prevented promiscuous relationships. Concern that the young become socially mature as well as sexually mature before producing children may have led to incest taboos and delayed mating until the male was ready to provide for a family. As different groups hunted in competition with each other, ways to avoid violent and deadly conflicts between groups may have developed such as mating with members of other groups to develop emotional ties.

The first use of fire seems to coincide with the movement of early humans north into Europe and China. Fire could be obtained first from lightning strikes or burning oil from the ground and could be carefully kept burning. Eventually means were developed to light fires. Fire gave humans more independence and made them considerably more threatening to other animals. With fire they could scare large predators out of caves and take them over for homes. Fire gave them light as well as warmth so that they could socialize and communicate more at night. Fire also assisted tool-making by sharpening spear points and so on. Cooking improved the taste and eased the digestion of many foods, especially starches. Softer foods put less strain on the jaw muscles which gradually decreased along with the molar teeth. These changes accompanied a thinning of the skull bones, allowing for the selection of still larger brains. By 300,000 years ago Homo sapiens was hunting game as big as elephants and beginning to emerge with an average brain size of about 1,100 cubic centimeters, and by about 100,000 years ago the current average of 1,450 was reached.

Certainly the use of fire made humans more domestic as they patiently prepared or waited for the cooked meals in their warm homes. As hunters developed signals into better communication and returned to the family hearth, the urge to share their experiences with their families must have stimulated the development of language and storytelling. The women surely also invented terms or verbal expressions to indicate objects and activities. With small teeth and an agile tongue many different sounds could be made and distinguished by their excellent hearing. As memory increased, older members of the families were valued for what they could tell of the past and earlier traditions. Knowledge and skills could be passed on from one generation to another. Fire is also a powerful symbol and could have been used in various rituals at night to enhance social cohesion and pass on traditions of hunting and other important activities.

What have been called Neanderthals lived between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago. Although only about an average of five feet tall, their brains were a little larger than modern humans. Found mostly in Europe, they lived well into the last ice age, which began about 60,000 years ago and lasted until about 11,000 years ago. The need for vitamin D in the northern climates probably selected for whiter skin which could absorb it better from sunlight to prevent rickets of which many died.

Neanderthals are the first creatures known to have buried their dead. Evidence indicates that 60,000 years ago a man was buried on a bed of flowers accompanied by a wreath of flowers. Other graves were surrounded by a circle of stones or goat skulls. Remains of an amputee and an arthritic man have been found, indicating that they cared for their disabled. Other evidence reveals that individuals may have been killed by weapons or had their brains eaten. Their tools became lighter and more artistic, but they continued to hunt large game such as mammoths.

About 35,000 years ago a transition occurred to the anatomically modern human called Cro-Magnon. They began to follow the herds of reindeer, bison, mammoths, and horses they ate, and tools became even more sophisticated using bone, antler, or a wooden tool to press off small flakes from a flint core. The stone burin tool was used to carve bone and antler into harpoons and fishhooks as humans began to eat seafood. The atlatl, or spearthrower, was invented and more than doubled the distance a short spear could be thrown. Even more effective was the bow and arrow invented about 20,000 years ago. By then fish traps were used to catch salmon in western Europe.

Social organization advanced as bands joined together to form tribes. Long houses were built for a community of several families. Incest taboos and kinship rules no doubt were quite complex. Cooperative hunting on a larger scale may have occasionally led to warfare between such tribes. Bone needles found as far back as 20,000 years ago indicate that clothing from animal skins was increasingly used. The massive ice at this time must have lowered sea levels by 250 to 500 feet, exposing vastly larger areas of continental shelf. The human population of perhaps ten million spread throughout the world, including to America and Australia.

Tools and weapons were decorated with engravings of animal figures. Pigments were used for cosmetics, and decorative jewelry such as pendants were worn. Female figurines were designed out of bone and ivory; and eventually these figures emphasizing female characteristics were shaped out of clay. Inside caves paintings of animals were made; some deep inside the caves were very skilled and were probably used for mysterious hunting rituals. In order to do such painting, oil lamps must have been invented. This art reached its height when the herds began to decline, but the painting was discontinued about 12,000 years ago.

As the last ice age receded and the climate warmed up, the old hunting life-style seemed to change. As human population increased while the available animals for hunting decreased, new sources of food had to be found. Experiments with the cultivation of plants were to lead to a new way of life and a new form of human culture.

Although we do not have specific events to evaluate, by now morality had become an important human concern. We can hardly judge the early primates for causing the extinction of dinosaurs by eating their eggs, for they were merely following the instinct to survive with little or no awareness of the consequences of their actions. Yet some time between then and the beginning of religion as indicated in burial customs and art, enough consciousness had developed to make individuals responsible for their actions.

When is the origin of ethics? Is it when hominids were intelligent enough to use tools and could consciously kill another of their own kind? Is it when they could control their sexual urges enough to make a choice as to their partner? Is it when they felt responsible for the raising of their offspring? Is it when they depended on the cooperation of others in their band?

From the spiritual perspective the soul is responsible. When the soul enters into an animal body that is evolved enough to offer it a valuable experience, the consciousness of right and wrong inevitably results from the awareness of choices. When we are consciously able to choose, we are attempting to choose the good and avoid the bad. As the brains of the early humans became large enough to give them this awareness, then ethics had begun; and I believe that this may have coincided with the beginning of souls' embodying themselves in the human form.

What then was the ethics of the hunting and gathering cultures? Certainly the violence of killing animals to eat their meat not only increased aggressive tendencies by natural selection but also became a socially acceptable way of behaving. For more than a million years humans were brutally killing other mammals for the sake of survival. However, there is only a little evidence that they were killing each other. Murder, war, and cannibalism, though they did occur, did not seem to be common then. As with most other mammals and so-called "primitive peoples," conflicts over territory or sexual possession could usually be resolved by threats and often ritualistic confrontations that determined without violence who would prevail.

Although these incidents probably did result in some hierarchical social structures, studies of hunting and gathering cultures tend to show that members of the same band cooperate by sharing their resources and looking out for each other. Before the development of private property people seemed to function more as a unified group. Wealth was not hoarded by some while others were left to starve or forced into slavery, because there was no wealth to hoard. Systems of kinship governed sexual relations with taboos and various patterns of exogamy and endogamy. Figurines of women emphasizing sexual characteristics were probably fertility symbols and indicate worship of the feminine. Before men organized force for wars, women were probably closer to being equal partners than developed in later patriarchy. Family became important and eventually extended to more distant relations in the clan. Ironically the aggressive instinct of hunting was not turned against other humans much until agriculture made hunting unnecessary but produced wealth and social hierarchies, both of which eventually led to organized warfare.

Lemuria and Atlantis
Myths and legends from many different cultures refer to very ancient continents and their cultures that may have existed long before recorded history. The most prevalent of these are about Atlantis, which is said to have been in the Atlantic Ocean more than 10,000 years ago. However, long before that, esoteric tradition tells of a large continent in the Pacific Ocean area called Lemuria.

In oral traditions much can be indicated from names. Lemurs, like humans, are primates, and they live in trees. Since Lemuria is considered the most ancient place where early humans lived, it might correlate with the Ramapithecines who were living in trees in a warm climate with abundant fruit and nuts, a veritable paradise without much knowledge of "good and evil" or self-consciousness. Some have placed the "garden of Eden" in Lemuria. Perhaps the "fall of man" symbolically refers to the change in climate that started about 2.6 million years ago in the time of Australopithecus and led to meat-eating, hunting, and killing.

Although many clairvoyants and esotericists have described previous lifetimes for individuals in Lemuria or Atlantis, probably the psychic with the best overall record is Edgar Cayce (1877-1945). As I do not intend to try to prove anything in this discussion, I shall limit the psychic evidence primarily to Cayce's readings so that at least the esoteric view can be considered. The Cayce readings refer to human evolution as the "gradual growth upward to the mind of the Maker.... All souls were created in the beginning, and are finding their way back to whence they came."1

The Cayce readings state that humans appeared on the Earth ten and a half million years ago and refer to "projections from the animal kingdom.... These took on many sizes as to stature ... from midgets to giants, for there were giants in the earth in those days---men as tall as ten to twelve feet, and well-proportioned throughout."2

According to Cayce early Lemurian development began about a million years ago; it was inundated by water and its peoples scattered a half a million years ago; then it was inhabited, and its civilization advanced between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago; a second Lemurian catastrophe occurred 250,000 years ago, possibly by fire.

Numerous Cayce readings refer to Atlantis, which is said to have emerged about 200,000 years ago, which would correlate with the beginning of a major ice age. As the levels of the ocean declined, much of the shallow continental shelf in the Atlantic could have emerged. The Cayce readings also refer to major events occurring about 50,700 BC. First there was a world conference of experts to decide what to do about a problem with large animals. Apparently the methods chosen to deal with it using fire and perhaps natural gas from underground led to the first major catastrophe for Atlantis, perhaps the final destruction of Lemuria, and the onset of another ice age.

Cayce readings declare that the second period of cataclysms for Atlantis was about 28,000 BC and caused the already broken-up continent to sink with the exception of a few islands. This catastrophe is said to be the origin of the Biblical flood and the deluge myths of other cultures. This seems to correlate with a major interstadial melting of ice in the middle of the last ice age.

However, the final destruction of Atlantis is dated by Cayce as 10,600 BC and correlates with the end of the last ice age, which also could have been the source of many deluge legends. Cayce described influences on the people in the Pyrenees and the sending out of colonies by those who foresaw the destruction to Egypt and Yucatan where they built pyramids. The Incas are said to have been influenced by Lemuria. Interestingly enough a map of the most advanced sites involving Cro-Magnon shows a concentration on the Atlantic coasts of western Europe and along the rivers that empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Later during the Neolithic period the megalithic tombs and temples such as at Stonehenge were likewise concentrated on the western coasts of Europe, England, and Ireland.

The Cayce readings tell many stories about Atlantean and Egyptian culture and the spiritual conflict between those who followed the Law of One versus the "sons of Belial," who were more selfish and exploited animalistic people. Most difficult to reconcile are the descriptions of the advanced technologies of Atlantis that include virtually all our modern inventions including airplanes, submarines, radio, television, atomic power, lasers, and even solar energies that we have not yet developed. Given the large gap between this and the level of technology so far uncovered by archaeologists for that period, it is difficult to believe these at this time, though perhaps eventually evidence will be found.

The oldest texts referring directly to Atlantis are by Plato (428-348 BC) in the Timaeus and Critias. In those dialogs Critias gives an account he heard when he was only ten from his ninety-year-old grandfather, who heard it from his father, who got it from Solon, who heard it from priests in Egypt. Critias admits his account is unusual but declares more than once that it is not a myth but true. Solon (638-539 BC) was so impressed with this story that he was going to write an epic poem about it but was unable to complete it. The Egyptians chide Solon and the Greeks for being so young culturally with little memory of the ancient times, "for you remember but one deluge, though many had occurred previously."3

The Egyptians claim that their civilization is 8,000 years old and that the Atlanteans were 9,000 years before the Egyptian record. The continent of Atlantis was beyond the pillars of Heracles (Straits of Gibraltar) and was larger than Libya (Africa) and Asia together, dwarfing in size the Mediterranean area. The kings of Atlantis ruled over many islands and Europe as far as Tuscany and over Libya as far as Egypt.

Solon, who was a great lawmaker in Athens, tells a story in which ancient Athenians are battling against Atlanteans, who have become oppressive. However, portentous earthquakes and floods swallowed them all up in one day, and the mud the island created as it settled blocked up their passageway to the ocean. Solon associates Poseidon, the god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes, with Atlantis and says that his son Atlas was the first king and ruled along with ten of his brothers and their descendants. His account also credits Atlantis with being wealthy and as technologically sophisticated as their own culture in using metals, chariots, and sailing ships.

However, their destruction is brought about by the loss of their divine qualities and virtue as they succumbed to greed and ambition. Zeus, the god of the gods, is about to give a speech calling for the punishment of the Atlanteans when the dialog by Plato is abruptly cut off unfinished. Like Cayce, Plato gives us an account of an advanced culture that is destroyed because of its spiritual and moral failures.

The other main classical source on Atlantis is the general history written by Diodorus Siculus in the first century BC. This Hellenistic historian described the Atlanteans as living in the regions on the edge of the ocean. Their reputation excelled their neighbors in reverence towards the gods and in humanity toward strangers. The Atlanteans claimed that the gods were born among them, and Homer is quoted (Iliad 14: 201) where he said he went to the ends of the earth to Okeanos, the origin of the gods.

Diodorus then described the myths of their first king Uranus, Gae, Basileia, Rhea, Hyperion, Helios, Selene, Cybele, Marsyas, Dionysus, Apollo, Kronos, and Atlas, whose seven daughters are associated with the stars of the Pleiades. The Olympian Zeus, whom he differentiates from the Zeus who was king of Crete and brother of Uranus, overthrew his father Kronos and the Titans. Gaining supreme power Zeus traveled all over the inhabited world doing good for the masses of people while punishing the evil. After he passed on, his name was associated with the word "living," and he was enthroned in the heavens as god of the whole universe.

This account by Diodorus, though to be treated with skepticism, nonetheless does explain why the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology may have had such human characteristics in their romances, jealousies, and fighting with each other.

Europe
North of the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean, Europe remained preliterate all the way to 30 BC and until they were Romanized and Christianized. Archaeological studies have revealed many physical facts about the cultures the Greeks called barbarian because they spoke a different language. Yet during all these centuries the peoples of northern and central Europe and east into the steppes failed to develop large cities or societies complex enough to require written records or laws.

This alone of course does not mean that they were not civilized or culturally sophisticated, because they did have oral traditions and technologies equivalent to the literate societies; but it does mean that we know very little about their actual histories and biographies. The same problem confronts us in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas. Thus rather than speculate too much about their ethics, I will include only a brief survey of these conditions.

Agriculture spread from the Near East to the northwest and mingled with the already skilled hunting and pastoral cultures. The first use of copper may have been stimulated from the Aegean and Iberia, but by the end of the third millennium BC Central Europe and Britain were producing bronze and exporting the needed tin to the Mycenaeans. Mediterranean colonies on the Iberian peninsula worked copper and traded but were destroyed suddenly about 2000 BC. At this time the makers of bell-beakers were in the Holland and Germany areas. In the next two centuries grave-finds indicate that the warriors had shifted their weapons from bows and arrows to the dagger and ax, as they did in Syria at this time. Archaeologist Jacquetta Hawkes found an absence of warlike weapons in the earlier Neolithic graves but by the late Neolithic and early bronze age battle-axes, daggers, and other weapons seemed to be in every male grave from the Caspian Sea to Britain.4

Their religion seems to have related to the worship of nature. Carved figurines of women may have been fertility symbols or a mother goddess or both. Outdoor circles were built of great stones as at Stonehenge about 1500 BC. Shaft graves of warriors appeared in the Eurasiatic Steppe as well as in Mycenae with whom they traded as far as from Britain. These warrior cultures of the bronze age which developed heavy slashing swords in the 15th century BC spread and perhaps enabled the Dorians eventually to overcome the Mycenaeans.

Thucydides explained how before Minos cleared the seas of pirates with his navy, piracy and plunder were considered not only common but even noble.

For in early times the Hellenes and the barbarians of the coast and islands, as communication by sea became more common, were tempted to turn pirates, under the conduct of their most powerful men; the motives being to serve their own cupidity and to support the needy. They would fall upon a town unprotected by walls, and consisting of a mere collection of villages, and would plunder it; indeed, this came to be the main source of their livelihood, no disgrace being yet attached to such an achievement, but even some glory.... The same rapine prevailed also by land.5

Burials were replaced by cremation in urns, giving archaeologists the description "urnfield cultures." The so-called "heroic" warrior cultures had glamorized warfare and plunder by heavily armed men, who could use the valuable bronze weapons to dominate the less fortunate. In central Europe and Scandinavia from the thirteenth century BC, two-wheeled chariots replaced four-wheeled wagons with spoked wheels giving even greater speed and agility. These tribes ruled by chieftains may have had internal cohesion, but the frequent cattle raiding and violent conflicts between enemy tribes may explain why more just forms of government and social interaction failed to develop. In the thirteenth century BC sea raiders descended upon the Mediterraneans, while the Hittites were also overthrown by their western neighbors.

The process of annealing bronze to produce sheet metal came to central Europe and northern Italy, enabling them to produce vessels, helmets, corselets, and shields. Wine was imported by these tribes, and they were criticized by the Greeks for drinking it unmixed with water. Alcohol seemed to play a major role in these warrior cultures, as mead and beer from barley and wheat were also popular.

When iron became more available, weapons became cheaper for more common warriors. In the eighth century BC the Cimmerians were driven out of the Caucasus mountains by the Scythians moving into Urartian and Phrygian territory. Horse bits and harness attachments spread throughout Europe and were adopted by the Assyrians. Trousers were worn by horsemen. Herodotus described the values of the Thracians, who used tattoos to mark those of noble birth and neither plowed nor sowed.

To be idle is accounted the most honorable thing,
and to be a tiller of the ground the most dishonorable.
To live by war and plunder is of all things the most glorious.6

The use of wood was increased by advances in carpentry and the use of iron nails. Timber-framed ramparts made forts with high walls, iron tires were nailed on to the wheels of chariots by the Celts. By the fifth century BC the Celts were flourishing in western Europe. Their society was tribal, rural, and hierarchical with a class of poets and priests that included the Druids. The wealth of the chieftains was measured in cattle and metal. They cleared forests and established extensive farmland. Although not literate, they were known for their eloquence. In the second century BC they produced coins, marking the beginning of a money economy. In the first century BC they were just beginning to scratch Greek or Etruscan letters on pottery.

Africa
Africa was the birthplace of the human species, and the Nile River nurtured the long and ancient history of Egypt. However, most of the continent, as with most of Asia, Europe, and the Americas, did not develop urban civilization until the last two thousand years. Before it began to dry up about four thousand years ago, the Sahara was occupied by hunters, who left marvelous rock paintings at Tassili and domesticated sheep and wild cattle. About 1500 BC horses were introduced in the Sahara from Egypt; about a thousand years later the camel was imported from Arabia, and soon after that the desert was too dry for horses and was increasingly abandoned by people as well.

However, a civilization did develop in Nubia, which was often attacked and exploited by the Egyptians. In the eighth century BC the Kushite civilization was led by princes who made Napata their capital. King Piankhi reversed the trend by attacking Memphis and seizing Thebes and most of Upper Egypt. In 716 BC his brother Shabaka even brought the Nile delta within the Kushite kingdom. His successor, Taharqa (r. 690-664) ruled Egypt peacefully but was driven out of Memphis by the imperialist Assyrians led by Esarhaddon in 671 BC; although Kushite Tanutamen invaded Egypt in 664, ten years later the Kushites were back in Napata.

The Kushites were defeated by an invasion of Egyptians and Greek mercenaries in 593 BC. As the Sahara got drier, the grazing land around Napata deteriorated, and Meroe became the new center of the Kushites led by King Aspelta from 593 to 568 BC. Meroe was farther away from possible Egyptian attacks and had developed the use of iron, which was more plentiful there. Iron weapons had given the Assyrians a military advantage, but now this was no longer the case. The Kushites, like the Egyptians, also built pyramids.

During the reign of King Nastasen from 328 to 308 BC the Meroites began to use their own hieroglyphs, which were soon followed by a Meroitic alphabet and script. The religion, which was derived from the Egyptians, changed also in the reign of Ergamenes in the last quarter of the third century BC from the worship of the Egyptian ram to a lion god depicted with three faces and four arms. Elephants were domesticated and used for royal prestige and in war. The Kushites traded extensively with the Egyptians but also through Red Sea ports with Arabia, East Africa, India, and perhaps even China. The multi-faces and arms of their lion god seem to reflect the influence of India's Shiva cults.

Although the Greeks used their term meaning "dark-skinned" to refer to the Kushites as Ethiopians, they were not what became Ethiopia. The civilization which did develop in Ethiopia was at Axum where many Semitic people from Yemen congregated by the third century BC ruled by kings claiming to be descendants of the son of Solomon and Sheba, who was supposed to have brought the Ark of the Law from Jerusalem to Axum. Although they sometimes called themselves Israelites, their religion was actually more Arabian in origin. Nubians controlled Thebes from 203 to 187 BC.

America
The evidence of stone spear points indicate that people were hunting mammoths in North America 12,000 years ago. About 9,000 years ago the glaciers were melting, and the climate began to warm up and become drier. By 3000 BC maize (corn) was being grown in the Mexico area. This American corn along with beans and squash became the staple foods. Chili peppers and avocados were also domesticated.

The first culture to approach civilization was the Olmecs about 1500 BC. These people lived on the southern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, where they practiced slash-and-burn farming. They supplemented their diet with deer, wild pigs, and fish. They built with adobe bricks, creating mounds and platforms for the dwellings of the elite, who ruled. The Olmecs provided for most of their own needs but traded for obsidian to make cutting blades. They carved jade and stones and are perhaps best known for the colossal heads between five and ten feet tall. These heads, which seemed to be fitted with helmets, remind us today of football helmets, and they may have been for a ball game that they played. Respect for the jaguars of the jungle somehow developed into a powerful religious symbol, and the Olmecs may have been called the people of the jaguar. The terraced platforms eventually became large pyramids.

During the final centuries BC the Olmec culture gradually influenced and became absorbed by other people living nearby. The Izapa lived in the Pacific plain where the prized cacao grew. Izapan art depicts jaguars captured and used in human rituals, bird gods flying, gods in canoes on waves with fish beneath, gods descending headfirst, seated humans tending incense, and a warrior decapitating an enemy.

Pyramids were built in the Chiapas area in the sixth century BC. Pottery found there indicates a diversity of trading partners. A link between the Olmecs and the Maya seems to be the Zoque people, who lived there and spoke a Mixe-Zoquean language that has a common origin with Mayan. As population increased and spread, agricultural land became more valuable. Eventually elite groups of people formed to protect and manage the best land. These are indicated by larger temples and funerary constructions. In the south Kaminaljuyu controlled the highland products such as obsidian and jade. Nakbe became a trading center by controlling the ports of the river routes at the base of the Yucatan peninsula in the lowlands. Colha provided quartz chert and Komchen salt. Gradually the Mayans absorbed or replaced the Mixe-Zoqueans and established their authoritarian political institutions with hereditary rulers, who began to commemorate themselves with dates and hieroglyphic texts in the first century BC.

Another ancient culture developed between the Andes mountains and the Pacific coast in what is now Ecuador, Peru, and northern Chile. By 3000 BC settlers had established villages cultivating squash, gourds, kidney and lima beans, and cotton. Coincidental with similar activity in Egypt, pyramids were built between 2800 and 2600 BC by progressively filling in the lower rooms of the mounds. These pyramids indicate that there must have been a power hierarchy probably associated with religion that could get workers to construct increasingly large public buildings. Irrigation must have been mastered to support communities in such arid country. About 2000 BC U-shaped buildings were built on top of the mounds at La Galgada; in the second millennium BC pottery became very refined, and intensive farming with corn (maize) developed with an improved variety used in the ninth century BC. Religion became even more important. Burials were deep in the ground with accompanying objects of art, and temples became larger.

Like the Olmecs, the Chavin people apparently worshipped a feline symbol representing a jaguar or puma. Evidence of bows and arrows have been found, but the primary weapons were the spear and spear-thrower. To these people religion seems to have been much more important than war or widespread trade. Coca plants were grown, and an oracle was established at Pachacamac and other sites. Trade and communication seems to have been good along the central Peruvian coast. The Chavin culture spread from the northern highlands south and, after a devastating tidal wave inundated the coastal area about 500 BC, into that region following its climatic deterioration. However, after about two centuries of intensive influence in most areas the Chavin culture began to fade away. Unfortunately because there is no writing describing this religious movement, we know very little about it.

Although in the preliterate civilizations we find evidence of religion and warfare along with the development of agriculture and metal technology, it is difficult to evaluate precisely without knowing the actual beliefs, actions, and consequences of individuals and institutions. The general pattern of the development of property, both private and public, from the surplus value created by agriculture, crafts, and trade seems to have led in most cultures to hierarchical social structures dominated by aggressive and successful males. This exploitation whether by the force of arms or the persuasion of religion created social and economic inequalities that were not so pronounced in the more "primitive" tribal cultures, which tend to share more and take care of each other. How law, religion, philosophy, theater, literature, and other social institutions attempted to remedy these inequalities and injustices will be the main challenge of the literate civilizations we shall examine.

Notes
1. Robinson, Lytle, Edgar Cayce's Story of the Origin and Destiny of Man, p. 43: Case # 8337-D-276.
2. Ibid., p. 43-44: Case # 364-11.
3. Plato, Timaeus, 23b tr. R. G. Bury.
4. Hawkes, Jacquetta, Prehistory, p. 265.
5. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War tr. R. Crawley, 1:5.
6. Herodotus, The History tr. G. Rawlinson, 5:6.


Copyright © 2002-2004 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Contents HISTORY OF ETHICS
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Israel
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Chronological Index
BECK index

BECK index
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Sumer
Sargon the Akkadian
Sumerian Revival
Sumerian Literature
Epic of Gilgamesh
Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, Mari, Assur, and Babylon
Hammurabi's Babylon
Kassites, Hurrians, and Assyria
Babylonian Literature
Hittites
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Although cereals were being harvested with flint-bladed sickles and ground by limestone in the Nile valley more than 15,000 years ago, plants and animals were not domesticated for food until about 10,000 years ago in the fertile crescent of southwestern Asia and soon after that in Mesoamerica, Peru, and China. While the ice was melting and the climate was warming up, the reindeer and horses retreated to the north, and the mammoths disappeared. Forests spread, and those animals were replaced by red deer, wild pigs, and cattle. Dogs had already been domesticated for a few thousand years. Sedentary communities settled down in southwest Asia about a thousand years before wheat and barley were domesticated, supported by herds of wild sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, which were all domesticated by 6000 BC.

Women were probably responsible for learning how to cultivate plants, as they seemed to have done most of the plant gathering. Women also probably invented potting, spinning, and weaving. Men used to hunting probably took care of the herds and, after the plow was invented, castrated bulls to use oxen to pull plows and carts, though a Sumerian poem refers to a woman in the fields with the plow. Dug-out canoes were used for fishing and as transportation for trading such items as obsidian, shells, salt, food, and clothing. As more farmland was needed, the invention of the ax enabled people to cut down trees and use wood for building houses. At first houses were round like the communal caves and huts, but soon rectangles were used so that additional rooms could be added. In such villages the family replaced the band as the basic social group.

The oldest city discovered so far is Jericho, which had two thousand people between 8350 and 7350 BC. A large stone wall surrounded the settlement. In the Zagros mountains people living at Ali Kosh hunted gazelles, wild asses, and pigs, fished in the Mehmeh River, and caught wild fowl about 7500 BC. Soon they were growing two-rowed barley and emmer wheat. Between 6250 and 5400 BC Catal Huyuk in the Taurus mountains of Anatolia had a population of about 5,000. Numerous bull skulls and horns found in the houses indicate that people probably engaged in rituals as families. Corpses were put out somewhere to be picked clean by vultures before their bones were buried under the floor in their houses. The simplicity of most grave objects indicates that this probably was a fairly egalitarian society. Before the use of metal there seems to have been little warfare and much greater equality between men and women. Pottery vessels, which have been found in Japan as old as 12,000 BC, became widespread in the Near East by 6500 BC.

The earliest civilization with writing developed in the lands around and between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which flow southeast into the Persian Gulf. Large-scale irrigation began along the Euphrates River as early as 6000 BC, while those living around the Nile and the Indus were only using dikes and ditches to protect their homes and crops from floodwaters. About 5400 BC the first city established in Mesopotamia was Eridu, which a Sumerian creation story credits with being the first city to emerge from the primeval sea. The oldest known temple was constructed there, and what is called the Ubaid culture developed from 5300 to 3600 BC. Soon the stone age was transcended, as people learned how to melt and shape copper, gold, and silver.

Sumer
The city of Uruk had 10,000 people in 3800 BC, and with pottery manufacturing increasing eight hundred years later 50,000 people were protected by defensive walls. Most settlements by this time were fortified, and documents written about 2600 BC describe major conflicts between the city-states of Ur, Uruk, Umma, and others. With cities came civilization and its organized violence - war.

In addition to pottery, other specializations included stonecutters, bricklayers, metalsmiths, farmers, fishers, shepherds, weavers, leather-workers, and sailors. The wheel was invented for carts, chariots, and pottery-making. Iron was smelted about 2500 BC. Seals had been used to stamp a carved insignia on clay before cylindrical seals became widespread for labeling commodities and legal documents. Pictographic writing was first used by the Sumerians about 3400, and by 3000 BC this had evolved into cuneiform words and syllables.

The Sumerian language was not deciphered until the nineteenth century of our era when it was found to be different from both the Indo-European and Semitic language groups. Fifteen hundred cuneiform symbols were reduced in the next thousand years to about seven hundred, but it did not become alphabetic until about 1300 BC. By 2500 BC libraries were established at Shuruppak and Eresh, and schools had been established to train scribes for the temple and state bureaucracies as well as to legally document contracts and business transactions. Schools were regularly attended by the sons of the aristocracy and successful; discipline was by caning.

Religion was the central organizing principle of the city states, each city belonging to a different deity, who was worshipped in a large temple. Families also had their own special gods or goddesses, and people prayed by clasping their hands in front of their chests. The temple was built on top of the ruins of the previous temple until in Uruk the temple of Anu, the god of heaven, rose fifty feet above the plain. Eventually these temples became man-made mountains, like the ziqqurats of Ur, Uruk, Eridu, and Nippur. About a third of the land was owned by the temple, which employed many people; some of their land was loaned out at interest or leased for a seventh or eighth of the harvest.

A ruler was called a lord (en) and was often deified. Each city had a governor (ensi) or a king (lugal meaning literally "great man") who lived in a great house (egal), and they often had religious duties as well, particularly to build and maintain temples. The wife of the king was called a lady or queen (nin), and she might take on important projects such as managing the affairs of a temple goddess.

The aggrandizement of the king was at times taken to an extreme, as indicated by the royal cemetery of Ur from the 26th century BC in which archaeologists found not only extraordinary wealth and precious objects but also the corpses of as many as 74 attendants. As we shall see in the tale of Gilgamesh and other literature, the Sumerians believed in an underworld for the spirits of the dead; and some kings as gods felt they wanted their servants there also. Obviously this was a major violation of life, and this practice seemed to die out after the Early Dynastic period.

Below the king or governor society had three distinct classes: aristocratic nobles, who were administrators, priests, and officers in the army rewarded with large estates; a middle class of business people, school teachers, artisans, and farmers; and the lowest being slaves, who had been captured in war or were dispossessed farmers or those sold by their families. Slavery was not stigmatized by race but was considered a misfortune out of which one could free oneself through service, usually in three years.

Some of the young women were married to the god in the temple and were not celibate; some were prostitutes, and their children were often legally adopted. Laws made clear distinctions between the three classes. Though women had some rights, they were not equal to men. Thus from the beginning of civilization the sexism of patriarchal rule in the state and families is seen in the oppression by male dominance. The Sumerians were quite bureaucratic, documenting major transactions and legal agreements of all kinds, being the first to develop a system of laws, which influenced the law codes of Eshnunna and Hammurabi.

How then did these social hierarchies develop? Given the limited knowledge available, our explanations are speculative and uncertain. As the pastoral peoples traded with the farmers and villagers, more complex social organizations could function more productively. The manufacturing of pottery and other products led to specialization and trading by barter, as the Sumerians had no money system except for the weighing of precious metals. As irrigation systems became more complex, planners and managers of labor were needed. Protection of surplus goods and valuable construction was required to guard against raiding parties. Those with the ability to organize and manage more complex activities tended to give themselves privileges for their success, and eventually social inequalities grew, as those who failed lost their privileges. Religion also became a part of this system of inequality, as religious leaders placed themselves above others in their service of the deities.

Laws apparently were devised to prevent abuses and as a way to settle disputes. Cities took the step from police protection under law to the organization of retaliatory attacks by an army. The skills of hunters selected over a long period of evolution seem to have given men (more than women) a tendency to gang up and work together in violent attacks. However, when the objects of these attacks became other men and the valuables found in another city, this tendency became self-destructive for the species. The survival instincts kept it within bounds so that it has not been practiced to extinction (so far), but individual leaders, who could gain social rewards for initiating such adventures, appeared with increasing regularity. Apparently those individuals with better methods of resolving conflicts were not able to persuade enough people all the time to avoid such brutality. Yet the history of Sumer shows that war was counter-productive for most people and eventually led to the decline and fall of their culture.

After the fall of the last Sumerian dynasty about 2000 BC, some Sumerian scribes wrote chronicles of their long past. Although these have been lost, lists of their kings and some accounts edited into later Babylonian chronicles have been found. These claimed that their kings go back more than 240,000 years before the flood and come forward about 30,000 years after the flood. Such figures would take us back before Atlantis to Lemuria, which seems unlikely, though as one of the few agglutinative languages Sumerian does resemble Polynesian. More than five thousand years ago their advanced architecture using vaults, arches, and domes indicated a long development.

The first dynasty after the deluge was in the Akkadian region northwest of Sumer in the city of Kish, ten miles east of what became Babylon. According to Georges Roux, twelve of the kings' names were Semitic rather than Sumerian.1 Thus from its historical beginnings the Sumerian civilization was mixed with Semitic influences. The first legendary ruler Etana was said to have ascended to heaven on the back of an eagle. The oldest historical king, Mebaragesi, ruled Kish about 2700 BC and apparently overcame the Sumerians' eastern neighbor at Elam, for he is said to have carried away their weapons as spoil.

The second dynasty at Uruk in Sumer itself must have overlapped with the first, because it was the legendary fifth king of that dynasty, Gilgamesh, who was attacked by the last Kish king Agga. An ancient account told the following story: Agga, having besieged Uruk, sent envoys to Gilgamesh with an ultimatum. Gilgamesh went to his city's elders, suggesting that they not submit but fight with weapons. However, the elders came to the opposite conclusion. So Gilgamesh took his proposal to the "men of the city," and they agreed with him. Gilgamesh was elated and said to his servant Enkidu, "Now, then, let the (peaceful) tool be put aside for the violence of battle."2 Gilgamesh then asked for a volunteer to go to Agga. Birhurturre, the head man, went and withstood torture; but when the awesome Gilgamesh ascended the wall and was seen by the foes, the foreigners felt overwhelmed and abandoned the siege.

The Uruk dynasty was well known in Sumerian tradition, as Gilgamesh was preceded by Meskiaggasher, son of the sun-god Utu, Enmerkar also son of Utu who built Uruk, the shepherd Lugalbanda, who was also considered divine, and the fisherman Dumuzi, the legendary vegetation god who married the love goddess Inanna. Tales of Gilgamesh became very popular.

Mesalim, who called himself King of Kish, erected a temple to Ningirsu in Lagash, for which he arbitrated a territorial dispute with Umma and set up a stela marking the border. However, he was overthrown, as was the last king of Uruk, by the founder of the Ur dynasty, Mesannepadda, whose name meant the hero chosen by An. He and his successor rebuilt the Tummal temple at Nippur which had fallen into ruin. The peace between Lagash and Umma was maintained for about a century as Lagash king Ur-Nanshe built temples, dug canals, and imported wood from Dilmun. Meanwhile Mesannepadda sent gifts to the distant Mari. The rulers of Ur became extraordinarily wealthy as indicated by their royal tombs in the mid-27th century. A royal standard shows four-wheeled chariots pulled by asses and rows of prisoners presented to the king.

Eventually Kish was occupied by mountain people from Khamazi, while the Elamites encroached on Sumer. In Lagash Ur-Nanshe's grandson, Eannatum, who also built temples and dug canals, became a warrior, fighting back against the Elamites, conquering Ur and Uruk, and taking the kingship of Kish. Closer to home was the local conflict with Umma. Claiming his god commanded it, the governor of Umma raided the disputed field of Gu-edin, removed the marker set up by Mesalim, and invaded the territory of Lagash. However, Eannatum won the battle with the help of his god Enlil and captured in a great net his enemies, who begged for life. A peace treaty was agreed upon with Enakalli, the next governor of Umma, and Mesalim's stela was restored to its former place. Umma was required to pay heavy taxes in barley, and Eannatum's victory was commemorated by a stela depicting vultures tearing up the corpses of the defeated. Eannatum boasted of killing 3,600 men of Umma and had to bury twenty heaps of his own men.

Later Eannatum had to fight a coalition of forces from Kish and Mari led by the King of Akshak; though he claimed victory, his little empire was declining. Umma once again seized the disputed canal, destroyed the stela of the vultures, and defeated Eannatum. However, his nephew, Entemena, regained the canal from Umma even though they were backed by foreign kings (probably from Mari), and he assigned his own governor to control the irrigation Lagash needed. Entemena also constructed new canals, attained a "brotherhood pact" with Lugal-kinishe-dudu, who had united Uruk and Ur, and for a reign of peace and prosperity was deified by a grateful people with statues for nearly a thousand years. A second Eannatum was succeeded by a highpriest of the warrior god Ningirsu, and for a time peace prevailed as the people of Umma were allowed to live in Lagash with religious and civil liberties.

However, conditions deteriorated as they were ruled by the distant kings of Kish who appointed the local governors, and the priesthood became corrupted and greedy for land and taxes. Finally a strong leader arose named Urukagina, who threw off the allegiance to Kish, proclaimed himself king of Lagash, and instituted sweeping reforms directed against the extortion of the priesthood. A priest was no longer allowed to "come into the garden of a poor mother and take wood" nor to take fruit as tax.3 Burial fees were greatly reduced. Temple officials were forbidden to take the god's revenues or to use temple lands and cattle as their own. Owners could refuse to sell their houses unless they got the price they asked. Widows and orphans were protected, and artisans did not have to beg for their food. At the same time as Urukagina was reforming the temple, he was rebuilding it and other shrines in Lagash.

Unfortunately after only eight years of this rule by the world's first known reformer, the army of Umma led by its governor, Lugalzagesi, attacked Lagash possibly unresisted by Urukagina, burned the shrines, and carried off the divine image of Ningirsu. Assuming the existence of moral justice, the chronicler lamented, "The men of Umma, by the despoiling of Lagash, have committed a sin against the god Ningirsu.... As for Lugalzagesi, ensi of Umma, may his goddess Nidaba make him bear his mortal sin upon his head!"4 Lugalzagesi went on to conquer and become king of Uruk and claim all of Sumer under the god Enlil from the lower sea (Persian Gulf) including the Tigris and Euphrates all the way to the upper sea (Mediterranean). However, to do this he had to ally himself with the cup-bearer of Kish, where Lugalzagesi had begun life himself as a vassal. His reign of 24 years was to mark the end of that Sumerian empire in about 2390 BC, for the name of that Akkadian cup-bearer was Sargon. 5

Sargon the Akkadian
According to legend Sargon did not know his father and claimed his mother was a "changeling," though some have assumed she was probably a temple prostitute. A Neo-Assyrian (7th century BC) text recounted how his mother bore him in secret, put her baby in a basket of rushes sealed with bitumen, and cast it upon the Euphrates River. The river carried him to Akki, a drawer of water, who reared Sargon as a son and appointed him as his gardener. As a gardener Sargon claimed he received the love of the goddess Ishtar. More ancient inscriptions described him as the cup-bearer of Ur-Zababa, the King of Kish, whom either he or Lugalzagesi overthrew.

Sargon marched against Uruk to attack Lugalzagesi, who, though he had fifty governors under his command, was defeated, captured, and brought to Kish, where he was yoked by the neck to Enlil's gate. Having consolidated his power in the north, Sargon went down river to attack and tear down the walls of Ur, Lagash, and Umma, not stopping until his warriors had "washed their weapons" in the lower sea (Persian Gulf). He built a new capital called Agade on the Euphrates with temples dedicated to Ishtar and the warrior god Zababa of the Kish. Semitic speakers were given authority over the Sumerians as he appointed Akkadian governors in all the major cities. The Akkadian language became as official as Sumerian; but following Sumerian religious traditions, he appointed his daughter priestess of Nanna, the moon god of Ur, and called himself the anointed priest of Anu and the great governor of Enlil.

Ambitious to expand his new empire and gain material resources, Sargon crossed the Tigris River and attacked four rulers in Iran, eventually defeating them and making the kings of Elam, Barshashe, and others his vassals. He then went northwest, where he prostrated himself before the grain-god Dagan, who "gave" him the upper region of Mari, Iarmuti, and Ebla to the cedar forest (Lebanon) and the silver (Taurus) mountains, thus gaining ample timber and precious metals. This must have been a major war, because at that time Ebla was ruling over all of Syria and Palestine. Some even believe that Sargon crossed the western sea and landed on Cyprus and Crete. Sargon ruled over this vast empire until his death, but even at the end he was still fighting battles against a major revolt, destroying a vast army.

He was succeeded by his son, Rimush, who put down the revolts in Sumer, Iran, and Elam; but his battles involving tens of thousands of troops may have angered his administrators, because after only nine years, they "killed him with their tablets," showing that in those days even the written word could be a lethal weapon. His brother Manishtusu continued these wars and boasted how he had secured silver mines and diorite for statues from southern Elam.

His son, Naram-Sin, also chose war for the northwestern copper and tin needed for bronze as well as the southern silver. He not only aggrandized his title from King of Agade to King of the Four Regions and King of the Universe, but he also added the star meaning god before his name. Naram-Sin ruled until 2274 BC and fought numerous wars even against the local Kish and Uruk and as far away as Ebla, Lebanon, the Zagros mountains, and in a major war with the Lullubi east of the Tigris. Later the first philosopher of history criticized Naram-Sin for morally bringing about the destruction of Agade by the Guti, because he had devastated the temple at Nippur.

Puzur-Inshushinak, the governor of Elam, fought the southern tribes of Zagros on behalf of Naram-Sin; but after the latter died, Puzur-Inshushinak declared himself King of the Universe; and the new king of Agade, Shar-kali-sharri, busy with Sumerian revolts and other far-flung wars, could not object. A palace revolution also ended his reign in 2249 BC, and in the next three years the list of kings had four names, asking, "Who was king? Who was not king?"6 Like the Elamites, the Lullubi became independent, and eventually the Guti invaded from the north and put an end to the Akkadian empire.

For the enrichment of a few these wars were fought for bronze, silver, wood, and stone and the cheap labor of slaves captured in battle. Trade had been expanded, perhaps as far as the Indus valley, but at what a cost! Small city-states were overcome by centralized kingdoms, and Akkadian emphasis on private property resulted in large estates for royalty and military nobles and a lessening of the power and domains of the temples in Sumer.

Sumerian Revival
The Guti ruled over Mesopotamia for nearly a century; but the trade routes were open, and local governors seemed to be autonomous. One of these in a city near the capital called Girsu was Gudea, governor of Lagash from 2197 to 2178 BC. Lugalzagesi of Umma had burned down Girsu, but Gudea rebuilt it with fifteen or more temples, inspired by a dream he had in which a man as tall as the sky and as heavy as the earth told him to build a temple. A woman also appeared holding a stylus of flaming metal and a tablet with the good writing of heaven. To understand this, Gudea consulted his "mother," the goddess Gatumdug, and he went by boat to the temple of the goddess Nanshe, who interprets dreams. Nanshe explained that the man was the god Ningirsu and the woman the goddess of science, Nisaba. The wisdom of Ningirsu, the son of Enlil, would reveal to him the plan of his temple.

Gudea obeyed and tried to unite the people of Girsu "as sons of the same mother" by purifying the city with encircling fires, putting clay in a pure place; making bricks, he purified the foundations of the temple and anointed the platform with perfume. The city was also purified morally: complaints, accusations, and punishments were to cease; mothers were not to scold their children nor should children raise their voices against their parents; slaves were not to be struck. Then workers from Elam and Susa collected timber from their mountains and brought it to Girsu. Cedars were cut with great axes and like giant snakes were floated down the river. Stone was brought in large blocks, copper from Kimash, silver from distant mines, and red stone from Meluhha (possibly Ethiopia or the Indus). Construction took a year, and then the god could enter the temple. Statues of Gudea portray a calm and pious ruler, but in attaining all these building materials there was at least one war with the Elamites of Anshan.

About 2176 BC the governor of Uruk, Utu-hegal, revolted against the Guti "serpent of the hills" and with the help of other cities defeated the foreigners. However, Uruk was not able to hold the power, as seven years later Ur-Nammu, the governor of Ur, proclaimed himself king of Ur, Sumer, and Akkad. This Third Dynasty of Ur lasted just over a century until 2060 BC and is considered the final glory of Sumerian civilization.

Ur-Nammu is credited with freeing the land of thieves, robbers, and rebels, and using "principles of equity and truth" he promulgated the oldest known code of laws. According to the ancient text Ur-Nammu established "equity in the land and banished malediction, violence, and strife."7 Not as harsh as later laws of Hammurabi and Moses, crimes involving physical injuries were not always punished by death or mutilation but often by paying compensation in silver instead. However, the double standard of sexism was already established:

4. If the wife of a man followed after another man
and he slept with her, they shall slay that woman,
but that male shall be set free.
5. If a man proceeded by force,
and deflowered the virgin slavewoman of another man,
that man must pay five shekels of silver.8

If a defending witness refuses to testify by oath, the lawsuit must be paid; and the fine for perjury was fifteen shekels of silver, a shekel being a half ounce.

Ur-Nammu promoted extensive building in canals and temples, erecting large ziqqurats in Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Nippur, and other cities, but he died abandoned on the battlefield in an unknown war and was succeeded by his son, Shulgi, who ruled for 47 years. The first half of his reign was spent completing the temples and ziqqurats, reinstating the gods in their shrines with newly appointed highpriests, supporting the schools, and reforming the calendar and the standards for measuring grain. Then Shulgi began a series of military campaigns in the plains and mountains north of Diyala. He pacified other regions by marrying his daughters to governors in Barshashe, Anshan, and Susa. He built temples for the gods of Elam, called himself King of the Four Quarters, and was worshipped as a god.

In a self-praising poem Shulgi described himself as the trustworthy god of all the lands, claimed to be endowed with wisdom by Enki and accomplished in it, loving justice and hating evil words. He boasted of straightening the highways, making travel safe by building big houses, planting gardens along them, and establishing resting places. He took charge of the music in the temple and brought bread-offerings, claiming as his spouse the maid Inanna, queen and vulva of heaven and earth. Claiming he destroyed all the foreign lands, he believed he had made the people secure.

From 2150 to 2094 BC Shulgi and his son, Amar-Sin, ruled over an empire more unified than the Akkadian empire of Sargon. The city-states became administrative districts governed by officials observed by royal inspectors and replaced by royal commands. Military affairs were controlled by the monarch and the generals he appointed. Fortresses guarded the main roads, and royal couriers were given rations of food at each stop.

From thousands of administrative tablets scholars have learned that the state had now overwhelmed the importance of the temple and private property. The government owned and operated large factories, workshops, and trading posts, and oversaw thousands of laborers in agriculture, industry, public works, civil service, and police. Workers were either freemen who paid taxes in corvées and military service, lesser paid serfs under the king's protection, or slaves. Officials received free meat, beer, and clothes and could own houses, fields, asses, and slaves. Governors and generals, who were paid by taxes, could be quite wealthy. In a middle class between these two extremes were some merchants and small land owners, who farmed by borrowing at one-fifth to one-third interest rates.

Amar-Sin was succeeded by his brother, Shu-Sin, who ruled for eight years, coming into conflict with an uncivilized people in the northwest called the Martu or Amorites, who were contemptuously described as not knowing about grain or agriculture or houses or burials but were mountain boors eating raw meat.

When Shu-Sin was succeeded by his son, Ibbi-Sin, the empire soon disintegrated. Eshnunna and Susa in the southeast became independent, and then the Amorites attacked from the north. One of the king's generals, Ishbi-Irra in Mari, wrote to him that he could not deliver the grain Ibbi-Sin wanted from Nippur and Isin, because the Amorites had cut off the roads. Ibbi-Sin was depressed by the bad omens and believed that Enlil hated him. Ishbi-Irra asked his sovereign for permission to defend the two cities, and he defeated the Amorites. Believing he was favored by Enlil, in 2073 BC Ishbi-Irra proclaimed himself king of Isin, and his dynasty there lasted until 1850 BC.

An Amorite had already been crowned in Larsa near Ur. When the Elamites invaded Sumer, Ibbi-Sin, facing a famine and enemies on two fronts, tried to ally himself with the Amorites against Ibbi-Irra and the Elamites. However, this too failed, and in 2060 BC the glorious city of Ur, starving under siege, was attacked and burned down, a catastrophe the scribes attributed to the wrath of Enlil. Ibbi-Sin was captured and died in the foreign land of Anshan he had once himself devastated. A Sumerian writer lamented how the walls of Ur were breached as the people groaned; where people had before promenaded and feasted, now dead bodies were lying scattered and in heaps.

Ur - its weak and its strong perished through hunger;
Mothers and fathers who did not leave their houses
were overcome by fire;
The young lying on their mothers' laps,
like fish were carried off by the waters;
In the city, the wife was abandoned, the son was abandoned,
the possessions were scattered about.
O Nanna, Ur has been destroyed,
its people have been dispersed!9

Eventually Ishbi-Irra drove the Elamites out of the garrison they established at Ur, and his successor Shu-ilishu recovered the statue of Ur's moon god Nanna that the Elamites had carried off. Though it's positive aspects were to influence its successors, Sumerian civilization had failed to contain the contagion of war, and it would never rise again.

Sumerian Literature
In Sumerian cosmology life seemed to begin in a primeval sea (goddess Nammu). The god of heaven An joined with the earth goddess Ki to produce the air god Enlil. The universe was thus known as an-ki. Enlil impregnated Ninlil, who gave birth to Nanna the moon, who begot the sun-god Utu. Humans were created out of clay in order to free the gods from working for their sustenance. This was before the gods knew of the grain-god and cattle-god.

Like mankind, when first created,
They knew not the eating of bread,
Knew not the dressing of garments,
Ate plants with their mouths like sheep,
Drank water from the ditch.10

A myth tells how the god Enlil favors the farmer Enten over his complaining brother Emesh, because Enten has gained the knowledge of cultivating the soil and domesticating animals. In a poem explaining where cattle and grain come from, Enki, the god of water and wisdom, persuades Enlil to set up a sheepfold for the cattle god Lahar and give a plow and yoke to the grain god Ashnan. Another story honors the invention of the pickax.

A paradise is portrayed in Dilmun as a place clean and bright where Enki lays with his wife, the lion does not kill nor does the wolf snatch the lamb, where sickness and old age do not exist, and where flows the water of the heart, which Ninhursag receives from Enki giving birth to Ninsar, who gives birth to Ninkur, who gives birth to Uttu, the goddess of plants, each having been impregnated by Enki. When Enki impregnates Uttu, she produces eight plants which Enki eats. Finally Ninhursag curses Enki, saying that she will not look upon him with the eye of life until he is dead; she then disappears. The gods don't know what to do, but the fox offers to bring back Ninhursag for a reward. Enlil promises the reward to the fox. Enki by now is hurting in eight parts of his body. Ninhursag comes back and gives birth to a god to cure each of these body parts, the Sumerian poet using puns based on the body parts for each of these healing deities. This poem shows us perhaps how important fertility and agriculture was for the Sumerians. Also their healing methods tended to be herbal and naturopathic, and they believed in magic and psychological causes of diseases and consequently magical and psychological cures.

A poem described Enki bringing the blessings of animal husbandry, agriculture, and irrigation to Ur, and another praised the blessings from Enki in the ancient city of Eridu. Enlil's city of Nippur was also a spiritual center, and his temple there, Ekur, was a place of pilgrimage to receive Enlil's blessing. One myth described Nanna's journey there with gifts on behalf of his city of Ur.

Another poem told how the queen of heaven, Inanna, went to Eridu to gain the divine decrees essential for civilization from her father Enki so that she can take them to her beloved city of Uruk. Enki instructs Isimud to greet her with barley cakes and butter, cold water, and date wine. Being relaxed Enki then presents Inanna with more than one hundred divine decrees (me) including lordship, the crown and throne of kingship, shrines and priestly offices, truth, descent to and ascent from the underworld, sexual intercourse and prostitution, legal and illegal speech, art, music, power, enmity, straightforwardness, destruction of cities, rebellion, sorrow, rejoicing, falsehood, goodness and justice, carpentry, metal work, writing, leatherwork, masonry, basket-weaving, wisdom and understanding, purification, fear, fire, weariness, strife, peace, victory shouting, counsel, judgment and decision, and exuberance.

Inanna happily loads the gifts on her boat of heaven and starts off for Uruk. When he sobers up, Enki realizes that the decrees are gone; so he instructs Isimud to send sea monsters after her to seize the boat of heaven but allow Inanna to proceed on foot. Inanna complains that Enki has spoken falsehoods to her and instructs her messenger Ninshubar to save the boat of heaven which he does at seven stopping places along the way to Uruk, where they jubilantly unload the decrees. The text of Enki's final speech to Inanna is damaged, but it is clear that the poem is to explain the local pride of Uruk in their civilization.

Kur is a mysterious figure in Sumerian myths who seems to have been a primeval force in the underworld who abducted the goddess Ereshkigal. In one story Enki takes a boat to get her back and fights with Kur. The hero of a second story is the warrior god Ninurta, son of Enlil, whose personified weapon Sharur convinces him to attack Kur. At first Ninurta flees like a bird; but Sharur encourages him to attack again, and they destroy Kur. However, this affects the primeval waters and causes a famine. By piling up stones over the dead Kur, Ninurta is able to redirect the waters and irrigate the fields. Hearing of his heroic success, his mother, Ninmah, can't sleep and visits Ninurta, who gratefully suggests that she be queen of the mountain Hursag which is perhaps how she got called Ninhursag. Hursag is then blessed with herbs, wine, honey, trees, gold, silver, bronze, cattle, sheep, and so on.

A third myth shows how Inanna was not only the goddess of love but of battle as well. In spite of a warning from An she attacks Kur, which in this poem is the mountain Ebih northeast of Sumer and thus probably an enemy land. With numerous weapons Inanna destroys Kur, boasting of her triumph.

A long poem describes Inanna's descent into the underworld. Afraid of being killed by her elder sister Ereshkigal, she instructs Ninshubar to notify the assembly of gods if she is not back in three days. He is to go to Enlil at Nippur, that failing, then to Nanna at Ur; if that fails too, Ninshubar is to go to Eridu, where Enki, knowing the food and water of life, will restore her. Inanna, having fastened the seven divine decrees to her body, is stopped by Neti, the gatekeeper of the underworld. As an excuse to get in, the queen of heaven says that her sister Ereshkigal's husband has been killed. Ereshkigal tells Neti to open the seven gates; but as each gate is opened, one of the divine decrees is stripped off of Inanna's body until finally she is naked. Then the seven judges pronounce judgment and fasten upon her the eyes of death and hang her up.

After three days Ninshubar cries for her in the house of the gods. He enters Ekur, the temple of Enlil, to plead for Inanna, but Enlil does not stand by him on this matter. So he goes to the temple of Nanna in Ur, but he does not support him either. In Eridu before Enki he weeps, and her father Enki provides the water and food of life to sprinkle on the corpse; Inanna arises and ascends from the underworld. The end of the Sumerian version is lost, but in the Akkadian story Ereshkigal instructs the gatekeeper to return to Ishtar (Akkadian name for Inanna) the clothes she lost at each of the seven gates beginning with her breechcloth and ending with her crown; then the underworld goddess allows Tammuz, the lover of Ishtar's youth, to be washed, anointed, clothed, and given a flute.

A hymn praising Inanna is attributed to Encheduanna, the daughter of Sargon, whom he appointed high-priestess of Nanna, the god of Ur. She calls her "radiant light" and "queen of all the me," the divine decrees of civilization. She could be terrible by destroying vegetation, bringing floods from the mountain, fire over the land, destroying foreign lands, attacking like a storm, burning down gates, causing rivers to run with blood so that people had nothing to drink, driving off adult males as captives, and in cities which were not hers she kept her distance so that its women did not speak of love with their husbands nor whisper to them nor reveal the holiness of their hearts to them. Calling Inanna a "rampant wild cow," daughter of the moon, she goes on though to praise her thus:

Queen, greater than An, who has paid you homage!
You who in accordance with the life-giving me,
great queen of queens,
have become greater than your mother
who gave birth to you,
as you came forth from the holy womb,
knowing, wise, queen of all the lands,
who multiplies living creatures and peoples -
I have uttered your holy song.
Life-giving goddess, fit for the me,
whose acclamation is exalted,
merciful, life-giving woman, radiant of heart,
I have uttered it before in accordance with the me.11

This ancient feminist then declares that "the kingship of heaven has been seized by the woman."12 Encheduanna greets her in peace even though she is known by her destruction of rebel lands, her massacring of people, and her devouring of the dead like a dog as well as for her heaven-like height and earth-like breadth.

Another story depicting the conflict between farmers and shepherds has Inanna preferring to marry a farmer, but the shepherd complains so much that eventually the farmer offers him gifts including Inanna herself. Even goddesses could be treated as pawns in this mostly male-dominated society.

In exalting and praising their gods, poets could also lament their sufferings, believing that a man without a god would not obtain food. One poet complained that he has to serve a deceitful man, has a herdsman who seeks out evil forces against him, who is not his enemy, and has a companion, who says no word of truth to him, while his friend gives the lie to his honest words. He bemoaned the bitterness of his path, and in his tears, lament, anguish, and depression realized that a malignant sickness-demon was in his body. He believed that the sages were right when they said that never was a sinless child born. Now he has seen his sins and admitted them before his god, and with this prayerful confession the encompassing sickness-demon has taken flight and dissipated. His suffering turned to joy, and he exalted his tutelary god.

A piece called "The Curse of Agade" comes to us from the end of the Sumerian period. The poet gave his religious interpretation of the history of Agade. After Enlil frowned on Kish and Uruk, he gave Sargon lordship and kingship over the new city of Agade he founded, establishing a shrine there to Inanna. Overseeing the building of houses, storing up dependable food and water, and creating beautiful festivals, Inanna did not allow herself to sleep. Agade was filled with gold, silver, copper, lead, and lapis lazuli. Old women counseled; old men spoke eloquently; young men had strong weapons; children had joyous hearts and played; music was heard; boats were busy at the docks; and the people were happy.

Their shepherd king, Naram-Sin, was like the sun on his throne. Inanna opened the gates, and the Sumerians brought in their goods; the Martu brought grain, cattle, and sheep; wares came from Meluhha, Elam, and so on. Then Inanna left the shrine of Agade and went into battle against the city. The sun-god Utu carried away eloquence, Enki wisdom, An awe, and its battles were a bitter fate. Naram-Sin was prostrate, but he had a vision of which he said nothing to anyone. For seven years he remained firm.

Then Naram-Sin sought an oracle from the Ekur temple in Nippur, but there was none. So he defied Enlil, mobilized his troops, and destroyed Ekur, turning it to dust like a mountain mined for silver. Axes of destruction leveled it to its foundation. He broke down its gate of peace with a pickax. He carried away its gold, silver, and copper. As he took away the city's possessions, its counsel departed. As the boats departed, the good sense of Agade became folly.

Seeing his beloved temple Ekur in Nippur attacked, Enlil became destructive. The Gutians, who were like dogs, he brought down from the mountains like locusts covering the earth. Brigands were on the roads. Cities were struck down; the fields produced no grain, the streams no fish, the gardens no honey or wine. There was no rain. Those sleeping on the roof died there; those in the house were not buried; the people drooped helplessly from hunger.

The old men and women cried out to Enlil, but he went into his holy shrine and laid down. Then the great gods, Sin, Enki, Inanna, Ninurta, Ishkur, and Utu prayed to him that the city which destroyed his temple should become like Nippur, and so they cursed Agade. The next day the curses came to pass, and Agade was completely destroyed.

This poem expresses an early theology or philosophy of history, showing the divine retribution for violent acts against a sacred city. Apparently the city of Agade, which was founded by the conqueror of Sumeria, Sargon, was destroyed by the Gutians, and so far modern archaeologists still have not been able to find any remnant of Agade.

Epic of Gilgamesh
Several Sumerian tales of the legendary Gilgamesh were combined together into an epic poem more than four thousand years ago. A Semitic Akkadian version was found in the archives of the Hittite capital at Boghazkoy in Anatolia. It was also translated into Hittite and Hurrian, and several Akkadian texts were found in Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh from the seventh century BC. With the exception of the more historical account already discussed, the twelve tablets of the Gilgamesh cycle will be treated synthesized as they have been by modern translators into the earliest masterpiece of literature.

Gilgamesh is introduced as one knowing all things and countries including mysteries and secrets who went on a long journey and had his story engraved on stone. He was endowed with beauty by the sun god Shamash and with strength and courage by the storm god Adad, making him two-thirds god and one-third man. The seven sages laid the foundations, and he built the walls and temples of Uruk for Eanna, the heavenly Anu, and the love goddess Ishtar.

Gilgamesh ruled Uruk so powerfully that his arrogance was resented, for he enjoyed any virgin or wife that he wanted. The gods heard the people's complaints and decide to create his equal to challenge him. So the goddess of creation produces Enkidu, who lives with wild animals. One day a trapper encounters the one who has filled in his pits and torn out his traps. The trapper's father suggests that he get Gilgamesh to give his son a woman to tame Enkidu, and he does. When she sees Enkidu in the hills, she strips herself naked and teaches him her woman's art. Enkidu lays with her for a week.

When Enkidu goes back to the animals, he is weaker; and they run away from him. The woman says that he is wise and has become like a god. Why should he live with animals? She offers to take him to the temples of Anu and Ishtar in Uruk, where he could challenge Gilgamesh. Meanwhile a dream came to Gilgamesh of a star falling from heaven leaving a meteor so heavy he could not lift it, and his mother Ninsun explains that this was a strong friend he would meet. In another dream Gilgamesh found in Uruk an ax he loved like a woman, and Ninsun interprets that this brave man would rescue him.

When Enkidu arrives in Uruk, Gilgamesh is about to exercise his privilege of being the first to sleep with a bride. But Enkidu blocks his way, and they fight like two bulls locked together. Gilgamesh throws Enkidu down, and then in mutual respect for each other's strength they become friends. They decide to confront the monster Humbaba, who guards the cedars in the sacred forest. Gilgamesh prays to the sun god Shamash for protection and receives an amulet from his mother. After the counselors of Uruk ask Enkidu to bring their king back safely, they set out on the long journey.

Entering the forest gate, Gilgamesh dreams that a mountain fell on him, but he was saved by a beautiful light. Then Enkidu has an ominous dream of a rainstorm. When Gilgamesh chops down a cedar with the ax, Humbaba hears the sound. Knowing the monster, Enkidu is afraid; but Gilgamesh encourages him. Calling on Shamash, Gilgamesh fells seven cedars, and each time Humbaba roars louder. When the two heroes reach Humbaba, he pleads with Gilgamesh for mercy, offering to serve him. Gilgamesh is moved, but Enkidu convinces him to kill the monster; so they cut off his head.

Gilgamesh cleans himself up and is asked by the divine Ishtar to be her husband, but he scorns her for having been faithless to so many lovers. Enraged Ishtar retreats to heaven and asks her father Anu to create a bull of heaven to torment the earth with a famine. The bull charges Enkidu, and he seizes it by the horns so that Gilgamesh can kill it with his sword. Ishtar curses them, but Enkidu defiantly tears out the bull's right thigh and throws it in her face. Enkidu then dreams that the gods have decided that one of them must die for having killed Humbaba and the bull of heaven. Soon Enkidu gets sick and dies. Gilgamesh mourns for him for seven days until a worm appears in his nose.

In despair at the death of his friend and realizing now that he must die too, Gilgamesh decides to find Utnapishtim, who has lived in Dilmun since before the flood. Coming to a gate guarded by scorpion men, Gilgamesh is allowed to pass where no human has ever gone. Passing through darkness, he enters a garden with bushes like gems. The sun-god tells him that he will never find eternal life. Gilgamesh comes to a woman of wine, who asks him why he is searching for the wind. He explains that he is afraid of death, and she suggests that he eat, drink, dance, and enjoy life. He only asks the way to Utnapishtim, and she tells him that he must take the ferry of Urshanabi across the ocean. Making Gilgamesh cut six score poles so that his hands won't touch the deadly water, Urshanabi agrees to take him.

Finally arriving, Gilgamesh asks his question of Utnapishtim, but he declares there is no permanence. When Gilgamesh wonders how he has lived so long, Utnapishtim reveals a secret of the gods, the story of the deluge. Perturbed by the clamor of humans, the gods decided to let loose a flood on them, but Ea warned Utnapishtim to build a large boat and load it with supplies and animals. After the boat was ready, the storm came. The boat weathered the deluge and rested on a mountain. Sending out a dove, it came back, as did a swallow, but then a crow was released and did not return.

Enlil was angry that a human had survived, but Ea suggested that he should punish sin and transgressions, but not with a flood. Utnapishtim, though a mortal, was allowed to live in the distance. Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for a week, but instead he falls asleep for that long, which is proved to him by the decaying seven loaves of bread baked each day by Utnapishtim's wife. Utnapishtim does offer Gilgamesh an herb, which eaten, will bring youth back. Gilgamesh dives underwater to get it, but on his way back to Uruk a serpent steals it from him, eats it, and sheds its skin. Gilgamesh returns to Uruk and must realize that he too is not exempt from death.

One can imagine the influence of such an archetypal story. Gilgamesh represents the achievements of mankind, who now wonders about death. His arrogance is criticized, and the primordial custom of the dominant male being allowed sexual license seems to be a throwback from our pre-ethical evolution as primates. Dreams are perceived to be symbolic guides and often prophetic. A woman, his mother, seems to be most skilled at interpreting them. Another strong male is needed to challenge a strong male, but female charms are able to tame him. The shift from living in the wild is accomplished by sexual lovemaking, which leads Enkidu to civilization after he is no longer one with the animals.

The invention of the ax enabled humans to use timber for building, but once again a oneness with the spirit of the forest is lost in the process. The love goddess is not treated very sympathetically in this story, perhaps because she has become a goddess of battles in the human strife that now abounds. Enkidu's throwing of a bull's thigh into her face may be an implied criticism of the ancient rites of animal sacrifice. Of course the keeping of animals was a hedge against famine, because they could be slain and eaten in an emergency.

Enkidu is the one to die, perhaps because he was the one who insisted on killing Humbaba and the bull of heaven. The worm coming out of his corpse is a graphic symbol of the grim reality of physical death. Gilgamesh going through a scorpion-guarded gate and passing through darkness before emerging into a paradise symbolizes the spiritual side of death, as he comes out in a kind of astral world where even the plants glow. To really find out the secrets, Gilgamesh must be willing to transcend hedonistic temptations.

His passage across the ocean to learn Utnapishtim's story of the flood is suggestive of Atlantis, since it was separated by an ocean from the land mass of Europe, Asia, and Africa. His account is quite similar to the Hebrew story of Noah. Unable to find immortality, a magical herb is offered as a consolation; but the serpent which seems able to rejuvenate itself by shedding its skin steals this away from humanity. Sleep and Gilgamesh's inability to stay awake is an analog of death, suggesting that life, like waking consciousness, needs a time of rest and renewal in death and rebirth.

Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, Mari, Assur, and Babylon
As Sumerian literature was being collected and appreciated, little kingdoms like Isin and Larsa competed in the south, while Assur rivaled Eshnunna in the north. The Semitic-speaking rulers from the west freed people from their obligations to the city-states and their temples by relieving them of those taxes and forced labor. Encouraging private property, a society of large farms and enterprising merchants reduced the temples to competing landowners and taxpayers to the state. Sumerian religion declined along with the power of Enlil's city of Nippur. After a dynasty emerged in Babylon in 1950 BC under the Amorite Samu'abum, the new god Marduk replaced Enlil in the creation story.

Iddin-Dagan, named after the wheat-god Dagan of Mari where his grandfather Ishbi-Irra had begun his conquests, occupied Sippar and ruled over the entire southern Euphrates region. This Semite ruler used the Sumerian language in official inscriptions and gathered Sumerian literature into a library at Nippur.

Lipit-Ishtar, whose moderate law code regulated inheritance, real estate business, hiring contracts, and privately owned slaves, described himself as "the humble shepherd of Nippur, the stalwart farmer of Ur." Here is an example of one of his laws showing how responsibility was based on awareness:

If a man without authorization bound (another) man
to a matter to which he (the latter) had no knowledge,
that man is not affirmed;
he (the first man) shall bear the penalty
in regard to the matter to which he has bound him.13

Lipit-Ishtar ruled Isin from 1990 BC until 1980 when Isin was attacked by the king of Larsa, Gungunum, who also conquered Ur, Lagash, Susa, and perhaps Uruk. He was followed by usurpers so afraid of divine wrath that Irra-imitti crowned his gardener but died himself from swallowing boiling broth. The gardener Enlil-bani went on to rule over a greatly reduced kingdom of Isin for 24 years until 1893 BC. Three years later the king of Larsa was killed in a war with Babylon and was replaced by an Elamite official, Kudur-Mabuk, who gave his two sons Semitic names. One of these, Rim-Sin, defeated a Babylonian coalition and finally took over Larsa's old rival city of Isin in 1850 BC.

In the north Eshnunna was under the god Tishpak, probably a form of the Hurrian god Teshup. This city had become independent back in 2083 at the beginning of the Sumerian decline under Ibbi-Sin. Two centuries before Hammurabi, the law codes of Eshnunna were formulated by its king Bilalama. These laws fixed the prices of barley, sesame oil, and wool, and for hiring a wagon or a boat. If a boatman was negligent, he must pay for what he caused to be sunk. A man must get permission of a woman's parents to marry, and the sentence for raping her without it was death, as it was for a wife who committed adultery. Depriving another man's slave-girl of her virginity was punished by a fine. Business transactions must be established legally, or the person was considered a thief. Injuring another person's body parts were compensated for by fines in silver instead of by retaliatory maiming. Compared to later laws, capital punishment seems to have been rare, and all capital cases were brought before the king. People were responsible for vicious dogs and oxen known to be dangerous; but even if an ox gored a man or a dog caused his death, the penalty was still only a fine. However, if the authorities made the builder aware that a wall was threatening to fall and he did not strengthen it but it fell and killed someone, then it was a capital case under the king's jurisdiction. Once again increased awareness brought added responsibility.

In the nineteenth century BC Eshnunna was expanded by Ipiq-Adad II as far north as Assur on the Tigris, but soon Assur joined with Nineveh to form an Assyrian kingdom, which along with Mari, Babylon, and Larsa, surrounded Eshnunna. The kingdom of Mari was extended as far west as the Mediterranean Sea. The son of a ruler near Mari named Shamsi-Adad began as an outlaw and was exiled in Babylon; but when his brother succeeded, he gathered a force to take Ekallatum from Eshnunna and attacked Assur, replaced his brother, and led his army to the west as far as Lebanon.

When the ruler of Mari was murdered, Shamsi-Adad installed his son Iasmah-Adad there and another son Ishme-Dagan as viceroy of Ekallutum. The latter was a bold warrior like his father, proud of his military victories, who tried to get his docile brother Iasmah-Adad to obey him instead of their father. Shamsi-Adad criticized his son Iasmah-Adad for being a child, laying around with women, and exhorted him to be a man with his army and make a name for himself like his brother.

However, while the father was kept busy campaigning in the north and the bold Ishme-Dagan was fighting tribes and petty rulers in the Zagros mountains, Iasmah-Adad gave away land and plows during famine, gave boats to sheepherders to cross the Euphrates, and kept on such good terms with neighbors through trade that the king of Carchemish sent his "brother" food, wine, ornaments, fine clothing, gave him control of his copper mines, and offered him whatever he wanted. Iasmah-Adad married the daughter of Qatanum's ruler, who allowed him pasture. With his sons' help Shamsi-Adad ruled the first Assyrian empire from 1869 to 1837 BC, overlapping with the reign of Babylon's Hammurabi. Iasmah returned a caravan delayed in Mari to Babylon, and someone warned him about Hammurabi; but another advised him not to worry.

Hammurabi's Babylon
As indicated by Rim-Sin's rule from Larsa in the south and the extensive territory controlled by Shamsi-Adad and his sons in the north, quite limited in size and power was the Babylon Hammurabi inherited from his father in 1848 BC.5 After being king for five years Hammurabi began to attack his neighbors, capturing Isin, moving down the Euphrates to Uruk, and expanding in other directions. When Shamsi-Adad died in 1837 he left his kingdom to his warrior son, Ishme-Dagan, who promised to protect his weaker brother, Iasmah-Adad; but the latter was almost immediately overthrown by a nationalist Mari dynasty led by Zimri-Lim, who ruled more firmly than Iasmah-Adad but continued his policies. Zimri-Lim and Hammurabi became closely allied, assisting each other with information and even soldiers.

In 1820 BC Babylon was attacked by Elamites, Guti, Assyrians, and Eshnunna, but Hammurabi was victorious "through the great power of the gods," and "encouraged by an oracle" the next year, he invaded and defeated Rim-Sin in Larsa. The year after that a new coalition of the same old enemies formed and was again defeated by Hammurabi's forces. Apparently caught up in a warlike mode, the very next year Hammurabi attacked his ally Zimri-Lim and took control of Mari and parts of Assyria, making them his vassals. However, they must have revolted two years later, because Hammurabi returned then and destroyed the city of Mari; a few years later he overcame the Assyrian armies and defeated all his enemies in that country. In less than ten years Babylon had conquered almost all of Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi ruled through provincial governors but also allowed cities to make local decisions and collect taxes by councils of elders. Although Marduk was made the chief god, diverse religious traditions were tolerated, and many temples were rebuilt, even at Nippur. Hammurabi is best known for the code of laws he promulgated near the beginning of his reign and had carved in stone in temples shortly before he died. The noble purposes of these laws were

to cause justice to prevail in the country,
to destroy the wicked and the evil,
that the strong may not oppress the weak.14

The actual precedents of real cases, which made up the code, will show us more clearly what his concept of justice was. The code referred to three classes of people: awelu who were free, mushkenum or commoners who were dependent on the state, and wardu who were slaves. Crimes against awelu were more severely punished, but an awelu also was expected to be more responsible. The first law is that if an awelu accused an awelu of murder but did not prove it, the accuser was to be put to death. Similarly with a charge of sorcery, but in this case the proof was determined by throwing the accused into the river. If he survived this, the accuser was put to death; and the accused took over his estate.

Those who steal property from the temple or the state were put to death as were those who received such property from the thief. In some cases the thief could pay thirtyfold restitution to the temple or state or tenfold to an individual; but if he did not have it, he was put to death. The penalty for having property without a witnessed contract or for cheating or lying about it was death.

Death was also the penalty for harboring a slave or helping one to escape. A soldier could be executed for hiring a substitute. A priestess could be burned for entering a wineshop. If an awelu could not pay an obligation and had to sell the services of his wife, daughter, son, or himself, three years were required before their freedom was reestablished. Adulterers were bound and thrown into the water; but if the husband spared the woman, the king might spare his subject. If an awelu committed incest with his widowed mother, both were burned. If an adopted son denied his foster father or foster mother, his tongue was cut out. If a son struck his father, his hand was cut off.

If an awelu destroyed the eye of a noble, his eye was to be destroyed; or if he broke an awelu's bone, his bone was broken. Yet if it was the eye or bone of a commoner, the fine was one mina of silver, which equaled sixty shekels. If it was a slave's, he must pay half his value. The same pattern holds for a tooth, except the fine was only one-third of a mina.

If an awelu struck a superior awelu, he was given sixty lashes in the assembly; but if they were of the same rank, he paid one mina. However, if a commoner struck a commoner, he paid only ten shekels. If a slave struck a noble, his ear was cut off. However, if an awelu injured another awelu in a brawl, he could swear it was not deliberate and pay only for the physician; even if the man died, he only had to pay a half mina or a third for a commoner. If an awelu struck an awelu's daughter and caused a miscarriage, he paid ten shekels for her fetus; but if she died, his daughter was put to death. Yet if she was a commoner's daughter, the fine for miscarriage was five shekels and for her death only one-half mina and even less for a slave.

If a physician while performing surgery caused an awelu's death or loss of his eye, his hand was cut off. If a builder constructed a house that collapsed and killed the owner, that builder was put to death. If it caused the owner's son to die, the builder's son was put to death.

Such crude retaliations appear absurd to us today, and it is obviously unjust to punish the children for the crimes of their parents. This law code is more severe than previous Sumerian ones. Originally the laws were to settle quarrels and private conflicts by means of arbitration; now the king's decisions had become law for everyone, instituting a system to resolve private conflicts by generally recognized and published standards. Yet the laws reflected the social and economic inequalities as well as the penchant for using retaliatory violence as a reaction to problems.

With the exception of Marduk the Babylonians continued to worship the Sumerian gods, though with their Semitic names. Temples were still important and contained the usual lodgings, libraries, schools, offices, workshops, stores, cellars, and stables. Religious ceremonies were performed every day with musical instruments, hymns, prayers, and sacrifices. Priests had sons, who were taught in the schools. Clergy included chanters, exorcists, and dream interpreters. Priestesses could marry but were not allowed to bear children in the temple, where sacred prostitution continued.

Houses were still built in the Sumerian manner with enclosed courtyards and a family chapel for the statuettes of the household gods and a place for burials. Kings such as Zimri-Lim in Mari built large palaces surrounded by enormous walls. Interior walls were thick and tall and had no windows, but light came in through doors and openings in the ceiling. Numerous letters have been found by which kings communicated with their officials. Hammurabi intervened in Larsa to make legal judgments, appoint officials, summon them to his court, and order the digging of canals. Iasmah-Adad and Zimri-Lim after him both conducted a census among the nomads.

Hammurabi died about 1806 BC and was succeeded by his son, Samsu-iluna, who ruled until about 1768, but he had to handle numerous revolts. In the south Larsa rebelled for two years, and then Iluma-ilu claimed the independence of Sumer south of Nippur, fighting a bloody war against Babylon in which several cities including Ur were burned down. The northern Assyrians regained their independence under Adasi. Samsu-iluna was also attacked by Kassites, Amorites, Sutaeans, and Elamites. Although he fought them off, his empire was reduced to Akkad. The next four rulers of Babylon held on to this area as Kassites were moving in and settling.

Ammisaduqa, who ruled Babylon for twenty years from 1702 BC, left us an edict indicating he tried to reform economic conditions by decreeing justice for the land, ordering the cancellation of most debts and back taxes. Officials who had collected by constraint had to give refunds or die, as could creditors who sued for payment of a loan on a house, though merchants still had to keep commercial agreements. Governors who gave barley, silver, or wool for forced labor were to die, and the workers could keep what they had been given. Those who were in service because of debts they could not pay were released to freedom by the king's edict. It is not known how these orders were carried out, but as with Urukagina the intent to correct past injustices is clear.

Kassites, Hurrians, and Assyria
Babylon was invaded and captured by the Hittite king Mursilis in about 1650 BC, but he soon left Babylon and returned to Hattusas. The Kassite ruler, Agum II, filled this power void establishing the Kassite dynasty in Mesopotamia that was to last until about 1157 BC. Agum II continued Babylonian traditions, and 24 years after the Hittites had carried it off he brought back and restored the statue of Marduk in his temple. The Kassites had been settling in the Babylonian area from the time of Hammurabi. Since little conflict is recorded during most of the Kassite period, it is likely that they were relatively peaceful as they adopted Babylonian traditions. The Kassites may also have absorbed some Aryan influence earlier, since some of their gods' names resemble Vedic deities such as Surya and Marut.

In the early fifteenth century BC King Ulamburiash defeated Ea-gamil, king of the Sealand (Persian Gulf), recovering Sumer for Babylon. Kassite king Burnaburiash I made a peace with Assyria in 1490 BC which separated the two kingdoms around Samarra, and it was re-affirmed 75 years later. The Kassites restored the ancient temples of Nippur, Larsa, Ur, and Uruk, while their scholars were preserving the literature in Akkadian, the standard language of the Near East for a millennium.

For several centuries Hurrians had been moving south into northern Syria. Like the Kassites, they made extensive use of horses with faster chariots and wagons, affecting warfare and commercial transportation. In the sixteenth century BC the Hurrians established themselves from Alalakh through the kingdom of Mitanni north of the Euphrates River across the Tigris to Arraphka. Shortly after 1500 BC Idrimi, the son of an Aleppo king, wandered among the Sutu Bedouins and the Habiru in Canaan. Eventually he became king of Alalakh and reigned for thirty years of prosperity, showing particular concern for the nomadic Sutu in his realm, though Idrimi himself was probably a vassal to the Mitannian king Parattarna.

For more than a century after this, Assyrian kings were also vassals of Mitanni. When Egyptian king Thutmose III crossed the Euphrates and defeated the Mitannians, their large empire was reduced somewhat; but the two powers became friendly, as several Mitannian princesses married Egyptian pharaohs. Amenhotep III and Akhenaten married Kassite princesses as well, sending gold and gifts to Babylon. About 1370 BC the Hittite Suppiluliumas plundered the Mitanni capital of Wassukkanni and conquered the western region of Aleppo and Kadesh, which had been at the northern edge of the Egyptian empire.

Mitanni was suffering a civil war between Tushratta and his brothers. Artatama and his son Shutarna II gave gifts and concessions to the Assyrians for their help. About 1360 BC Tushratta was murdered by a conspiracy that included his son Kurtiwaza, as the "trial before Teshub" (supreme God of the Hurrians) between Tushratta and Artatama as rightful Hurrian ruler had been decided. Kurtizawa fled to Babylon, where Burnaburiash II refused him asylum, and he ended up at the Hittite court. Ashur-uballit I declared himself Great King of Assyria, called Akhenaten his brother, and gave his daughter to Burnaburiash; but the grandson of this match was murdered in Babylon, causing a civil war and Ashur-uballit's intervention, resulting in Kurigalzu II becoming king of Babylon; he later attacked Elam. The strain of the cooperation between Assyria and Babylon in fighting off Sutu and Aramaean tribes was eventually resented in Babylon and led to continued rivalry and frequent battles between the two kingdoms.

Suppiluliumas returned to north Syria, making his sons kings in Aleppo and Carchemish to consolidate Hittite hold on the area. The Assyrians turned against the Hurrians, advanced to the Euphrates, and eventually wiped out the Mitannian kingdom. The greatest defeat was administered by the Assyrian Shalmaneser I (r. 1274-1245 BC), who claimed he destroyed 180 of their cities and blinded 14,400 captives. The Kassites tried to make new boundary agreements with the encroaching Assyrians, but in the second half of the thirteenth century BC Kashtiliash IV was caught between Elam and the Assyrian Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 1244-1208 BC). An epic glorified the Assyrian conquest of Babylon and blamed the war on Kashtiliash for breaking an agreement, but on an inscription found in Assur Tukulti-Ninurta frankly declared, "I forced Kashtiliash, King of Kar-Duniash, to give battle."15 (Kar-Duniash is the Kassite term for Babylon.)

After seven years of Assyrian domination, the nobles of Akkad and Kar-Duniash revolted and put the rightful Kassite heir on the throne. Tukulti-Ninurta, who was thought to have brought evil on Babylon, was punished when his son and the Assyrian nobles revolted and killed him in the palace. Finally about 1160 BC Elam invaded and after three years of struggle took Babylon, carrying off the statue of Marduk as the Hittites had a half millennium before.

Babylonian Literature
A creation story known by its first words as Enuma Elish, meaning "when above" was recited on the fourth day of Babylon's New Year's Festival held annually at the beginning of spring. Its seven tablets are almost complete and reveal a Babylonian cosmogony still influenced by the Sumerians but clearly new in its assertion of the new god Marduk.

This epic began on high when nothing existed but Apsu, Tiamat, and their son Mummu. These parents brought forth Lahmu and his sister Lahamu and then Anshar and his sister Kishar. The latter pair surpassed the previous in stature and gave birth to Anu the sky-god, who engendered Nudimmud, also known as Enki or Ea, a god of wisdom. The younger gods were noisy and rambunctious, disturbing the rest of their grandparents, Apsu and Tiamat. Unable to sleep Apsu wanted to destroy them, but Tiamat cried out in anguish, though Mummu agreed with Apsu.

Ea understood everything, and using magic he caused Apsu to sleep so that he could remove his crown and splendor. Then Ea killed the subdued Apsu, locked up Mummu, and established his abode on Apsu with his wife Damkina. She gave birth to Marduk, who Ea made equal to the gods. Clothed with the rays of ten gods, Marduk was powerful and majestic.

Anu created four winds, which caused waves and disturbed Tiamat, upset at hearing that Apsu was slain. Tiamat was restless and put Kingu in charge of an army of gods to avenge Apsu. When Ea heard of it, he went to his grandfather Anshar, who told him to go to battle. In the destroyed portion of the text apparently Ea failed. So Anshar turned to his son Anu, advising him to speak to Tiamat; but perceiving her plans, he had to turn back. Then Anshar, the father of the gods, told the assembly that the valiant Marduk would be the avenger of his father, Ea, who called Marduk into his private room and told him the plan of his heart.

Marduk assured Anshar that he would trample on the neck of Tiamat and asked him to convene the assembly of gods to proclaim his new supremacy. Anshar sent Kaka to Lahmu and Lahamu to bring the gods to him for a banquet. Having enjoyed the food and swelled with wine, they declared that Marduk's destiny was unequaled and his commands not to be changed, giving him kingship over the whole universe. They told him to preserve the life of those who trust in him but not those who espouse evil. Marduk demonstrated his new power by destroying a garment and restoring it in front of them by the power of his word. Rejoicing, they did homage to Marduk as their king, saying, "Go and cut off the life of Tiamat."15

Taking the weapons they gave him, Marduk harnessed his terrible storm chariot and went to challenge Tiamat to single combat. He enmeshed her in his net; when she opened her mouth, he drove in the evil wind, which distended her belly. Then he shot an arrow, which split her heart. When her life was destroyed, he stood on her carcass. Marduk imprisoned her followers and broke their weapons. Then binding Kingu and taking from him the tablet of destinies, Marduk put his seal on it and fastened it on his breast. He split Tiamat into two parts, half in place as the earth and half for a roof as the sky. He crossed the heavens, and as the counterpart of Apsu he established Esharra, where Anu, Enlil, and Ea could live.

Marduk created stations for the great gods, setting up the stars in the signs of the zodiac, dividing the year into twelve months with three constellations in each. He caused the moon to shine as the ornament of the night. He set up humans so that they could serve the gods. Marduk assembled the gods, and they decided to punish Kingu for having caused the revolt. With his blood they created humanity, imposing services to set the gods free. For a sanctuary they made Babylon. Then they all enjoyed a banquet with music and praised the fifty names of the divine Marduk.

This war of the gods is a terrible projection of human strife. The younger generation of gods is favored to justify Babylon's having overthrown those who came before. Once again woman is trampled under the foot of male dominance, Tiamat in this case symbolizing the primordial chaos, which has been overcome by divine power. This violent poem was surely used to foster Babylonian patriotism and the worship of their god Marduk.

The origin of astrology is indicated by the twelve signs of the zodiac plus the additional thirty-six constellations, which represent the ten-degree decanates, making a total of forty-eight constellations, which have been passed on to this day as the basis of astrology. The Sumerians had been observing omens for centuries and comparing human experience to their astronomical observations from their ziqqurats. Adding the sun and moon to the five planets they observed, the number seven became significant, and they were used for the days of the week.

The planet Venus was represented by Ishtar, whose positive attributes are praised in a hymn from about 1600 BC which contains the following lines:

Ishtar is clothed with pleasure and love.
She is laden with vitality, charm, and voluptuousness.
In lips she is sweet; life is in her mouth.
At her appearance rejoicing becomes full.
She is glorious; veils are thrown over her head.
Her figure is beautiful; her eyes are brilliant.
The goddess - with her there is counsel.
The fate of everything she holds in her hand.
At her glance there is created joy,
power, magnificence, the protecting deity and guardian spirit.
She dwells in, she pays heed to compassion and friendliness.
Besides, agreeableness she truly possesses.
Be it slave, unattached girl, or mother, she preserves her.
One calls on her; among women one names her name.17

The story of Adapa tells how Ea creates a sage, to whom he gives the divine plan but not eternal life. Adapa is not only the best priest in Eridu but their baker and fisherman as well. Once during a new moon Adapa's boat is blown by the south wind, which sends him overboard. Adapa vows to break the wing of the south wind, and for seven days the wind does not blow.

The lord Anu hears about this and orders Adapa to be brought before him. Ea, knowing the ways of heaven, predicts how he will be met by Tammuz and Gizzida, whom he can win over by noting that two gods have disappeared from the land, pleasing them so that they will cause Anu to favor him; but when Adapa is offered the bread and water of death, Ea advises him not to eat nor drink, though he is to wear the garment and anoint himself with the oil they offer him.

When Adapa arrives in heaven and is greeted by Tammuz and Gizzida, he flatters them by noting that two gods seem to be missing on earth. The king Anu asks Adapa why he breaks the south wind's wing and is told by him how the wind had submerged him while he was fishing so that in anger he cursed it. Speaking up, Tammuz and Gizzida put in a good word for him. Anu wonders why Ea has shared the plan of heaven and earth with Adapa, but he orders that the bread and water of life be brought to him along with a garment and oil. However, Adapa does not eat nor drink but puts on the garment and anoints himself with the oil, explaining to Anu when asked why that Ea has so commanded him. Then Anu orders him to be taken away and returned to his earth, laughing at Ea for making his commands exceed those of Anu.

The fragmentary ending indicates that in this way Adapa brought humanity ill and disease upon their bodies, though the goddess of healing would allay them. This ironic story laments how an opportunity to gain eternal life was missed by following the advice of a god, who was not the god who had eternal life to give.

An ancient Akkadian text gives some counsels of wisdom which include religious exhortations to worship your god every day, give offerings, pray, and supplicate so that you will be in harmony with your god. Let us conclude this section then with a few of its wise remarks.

Let your mouth be restrained and your speech guarded;
That is a man's pride - let what you say be very precious.
Let insolence and blasphemy be an abomination for you;
a talebearer is looked down upon....
Do not return evil to your adversary;
requite with kindness the one who does evil to you;
maintain justice for your enemy;
be friendly to your enemy....
Give food to eat, beer to drink;
grant what is requested; provide for and treat with honor.
At this one's god takes pleasure.
It is pleasing to Shamash, who will repay him with favor.
Do good things; be kind all your days.18

Hittites
Though people had been living in Anatolia for several millennia, little is known of its history until Assyrian traders settled on the central plateau about 1900 BC. Aryan influence can be seen in the name of the ruling city Purushhattum, which is very close to the Sanskrit word meaning "highest person." In an ancient document Anittas described how a king of Kussara took the city of Nesa at night by force but did not harm anyone. He followed his father in putting down revolts and reclaimed a statue of the god Siu that had been taken from Nesa to Zalpuwa. Anittas took Hattusas by force, fortified Nesa, and campaigned against Salatiwara. Purushanda sent him gifts, and he made one of their men his advisor.

About 1700 BC King Hattusilis I moved the capital from Kussara to Hattusas and fought several wars to expand his kingdom and gain much silver. He first took control of the north to the Black Sea and then raided Alalakh in north Syria and Arzawa in the west; but then Hurrians attacked from the east, and only his capital at Hattusas remained loyal. Praying to a sun goddess, Hattusilis went out to battle again in north Syria, destroying Ulma, Zaruna, and Hassuwa, which was aided by troops from Aleppo. After three battles he took Hahhum and claimed that he freed their slaves and gave them to his sun goddess Arinna along with silver in carts pulled back to Hattusas by the captured kings of Hassuwa and Hahhum. Discovering a plot by the heir apparent, his nephew and the latter's mother (his sister) whom he called a snake, Hattusilis did not kill them but designated his grandson Mursilis as successor, counseling him to consult the assembly (panku).

Mursilis continued the war policies, destroying Aleppo, capturing Babylon about 1650 BC, and fighting the Hurrians; but Mursilis left Babylon and was assassinated by his brother-in-law Hantilis. Zidantas, who had plotted with Hantilis, later murdered Hantilis' sons and grandsons; but when Zidantas became king, his own son Ammuna murdered him. Amidst this violence the land became hostile, and the soldiers were often defeated. When Ammuna "became a god" (died), Zuru, the commander of the body-guard, murdered the Tittiya family and had Hantilis and his remaining sons murdered.

Huzziyas then became king, and Telepinus, the author of this murderous history, married his sister, staved off murder attempts without killing in return, and became king. Although the assembly sentenced Huzziyas and his brothers to death, Telepinus asked, "Why should they die?" Instead he took their weapons and put them to the yoke as peasants. Telepinus told the assembly no one should do evil to a royal son, and they established rules for succession and trials for murder. A royal son could be executed if guilty of murder, but no harm was to be done to his family; henceforth evils were to be dealt with by the assembly. Telepinus began his reign by destroying Hassuwa and then battled hostile lands, reconquering lost territory, establishing secure frontiers, and making a treaty with the Hurrians in Kizzuwadna (Cilicia).

During the fifteenth century BC the Hittite law code was developed while the Mitannian kingdom spread into north Syria. About the time Egypt's Thutmose III invaded Mitanni, the Hittites regained control of Kizzuwadna and began sending tribute to Egypt, including people from Kurushtama. When Mitanni and Egypt became allied by the marriage of a Mitannian princess to Thutmose IV, the Hittites were attacked from Gaska in the northeast, Arzawa in the west, and they lost control of Kizzuwadna in the south. While his father Tudhaliya III was still king, Suppiluliumas regained some of the eastern lands and eventually the lost capital at Hattusas, which he fortified about the time he became king in 1380 BC.

In a letter to Amenhotep III the Mitannian king Tushratta claimed he crushed an invading Hittite army. However, Suppiluliumas used diplomacy in getting the king of Kizzuwadna back under Hittite influence, made an agreement with Tushratta's Hurrian rival Artatama, and congratulated Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) on his accession to the throne of Egypt. Then Suppiluliumas invaded Mitannian areas of north Syria, establishing his son in Kumanni and making Aleppo a vassal. This stimulated Amorite revolts against Egyptian hegemony by Abdi-ashirta and after his death by his son Aziru, who was called to Egypt; but after returning, Aziru made a treaty with Ugarit and joined the Hittite camp.

Provoked by Mitannian attacks, Suppiluliumas also made a treaty with Ugarit and invaded the Mitannian capital at Wassukkanni; Tushratta fled and was murdered by a plot involving his son Kurtiwaza. Suppiluliumas then ravaged north Syria as far as Apina (Damascus), which was under Egyptian influence then. Suppiluliumas established feudal states, taking some reigning families to his Hittite land, returning them to Syria later. After a siege the city of Carchemish was taken, and his son was installed there as King Shar-Kushuk; Telepinus, another son, was made king of Aleppo. When Tutankhamen died in Egypt, his widow wrote to Suppiluliumas asking to marry one of his sons; but after some questioning and delay, the son that was sent was murdered.

Shar-Kushuk marched with the Mitannian prince Kurtiwaza, and overcoming Mitannian and Assyrian resistance, they established the latter as a vassal king in Wassukkanni. Much of the reign of Suppiluliumas was spent in fighting in the north and west as well. Hittite soldiers returning from an attack on Egypt brought a plague, which killed Suppiluliumas and probably his son Arnuwandas II, who ruled for only one year. Mursilis II became occupied in responding to revolts in Arzawa described in the "Ten Year Annals of Mursilis II." In the north Mursilis II recorded campaigns in ten of his 26 years as king, and the capital was moved south to Tarhuntassa. When Shar-Kushuk died of illness, Carchemish was captured; but eventually his son was made king there.

Muwatallis became king of the Hittites about 1320 BC and made his son Hattusilis commander of the armies and governor of the Upper Land. About 1300 BC a major military confrontation occurred at Kadesh between the empire of Egypt led by Ramses II and the Hittites. Both sides claimed victory, but the result was a stand-off, which was ratified in a treaty sixteen years later between Ramses II and Hattusilis III, who had replaced Urhi-Teshub after seven years of internal strife. Hattusilis III mocked Assyrian king Adad-Nirari I for calling himself Great King and his brother.

Tudhaliyas IV came to the Hittite throne about 1265 BC and claimed that he was king of the world, but he occupied himself mostly with reforming religious festivals. Probably fearful of Assyria, in a treaty with Amurru he prohibited them from trading with Assur. In this treaty Egypt, Assur, Kar-Duniash, and Ahhiyawa are named, though the last name has been erased. This latter power from the west may be related to Troy, Cyprus, or Achaeans. Struggles with the Ahhiyawa continued in the reign of Arnuwandas, while Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria deported Hittites across the Euphrates to Assyria. Hittite power declined, and about 1200 BC the mysterious Sea Peoples invaded and destroyed the Hittite empire.

Primarily an agricultural and pastoral people in spite of all their military adventures, the Hittites developed detailed laws that described hypothetical cases probably based on precedents from the courts of the king's officers. Involved cases were referred to the king, who headed the administration of justice as well as the military and religion. Violation of an officer's decision could mean death; if it was a royal decree, punishment could affect the whole household. Rape, adultery by the wife, and sodomy with animals were also capital crimes. Only slaves were mutilated. For other offenses including assault, witchcraft, and even homicide, traditional retribution was replaced by fines and reparation to the victims, though a slave could be executed for sorcery. In regard to murder the Edict of Telepinus stated that the "lord of blood" might command death; but he could also demand restitution; the king had nothing to do with it. Restitution in such cases usually involved giving people as slaves.

In marriage and family the usual patriarchy was the rule, but the woman could have some independent power as indicated by the Hittite custom that the queen retained her position after her husband's death while her son usually became king, and in some diplomatic letters she is addressed independently of the king. Laws were strict against incest with a mother or daughter and even among in-laws except after a death, but a brother could marry a sister. Land tenure was based on the feudal system.

In religion as the Babylonians had accepted most of the Sumerian deities, the Hittites garnered both of these mostly by way of the Hurrians, who gave them the weather-god Teshub to add to their own sun goddess Arinna, who could also be a supreme God. Mursilis II thanked the sun goddess for helping him to destroy his enemies, and Hattusilis III justified his taking of the throne from Urhi-Teshub to the omniscient Ishtar, explaining that he was provoked and how Ishtar told his wife in a dream that he would be king. Long festivals were celebrated every spring and autumn, and it was important for the king to be present. As usual in ancient cultures divination and magic were common.

A favorite Hittite story told how the god Telepinu got angry because of the evil in the world and stalked off with his sandals on the wrong feet, causing the earth to dry up, plant life to wither, animals to become barren, and humans to die of hunger. Seeing the desolation, the sun god called together the gods to search for Telepinu but in vain. The queen of heaven suggested they send a bee to find Telepinu. The other gods laughed, but the bee, nearly exhausted, finally found Telepinu asleep. When the bee stung him and woke him up, Telepinu was even more angry and began to destroy everything he saw. The bee returned and asked for an eagle to carry Telepinu back while the queen arranged for a magic spell to drive out Telepinu's evil spirit. Kamrusepa, the goddess of magic, soothed Telepinu's mind with cream, sweetened his disposition with honey, cleansed his body with oil, and eased his soul with ointment to put him in harmony with people, gods, and the world. Telepinu's anger left him, and the earth came to life again. People cleaned their homes and prepared for the new year, as they hung the fleece of a lamb on a pole in the court of the temple. This archetypal story of the annual renewal of spring also shows how loving care can heal the spell of anger.

Another story has Anu overthrowing the king of heaven Alalu after serving him for nine years. After Anu was king for nine years Kumarbi fought with him and bit his genitals, swallowing some seed. Kumarbi boasted that he had destroyed the manhood of Anu, but the latter predicted that Kumarbi would give birth to three monsters. The god Ea helped deliver one from his side and a second from his loins, who as god of the wind helped Anu to defeat Kumarbi in battle. Kumarbi turned to the Lord of the Sea for help, and a child of black stone was born and placed on Kumarbi's knee. Then the goddesses took the child and placed it on the right shoulder of the giant Upelluri in the depth of the sea; but the child, Ullikummi, grew quickly to the water's surface and then to the floor of heaven.

Ishtar tried to seduce him, but he was deaf and blind. The storm god ordered the seventy gods to battle him, but they failed also. Then Tasmisu went to consult with Ea, who took them to Enlil, who had previously held him on his lap and could not oppose him. So Ea went to Upelluri, who did not know anything about the problem nor about the earth being separated from heaven by a magic knife. With this clue Ea returned to the old gods, who had been present at the creation of the world to recite the ancient mystic verses. This time with the magic knife Ea was able to cut off the giant's feet and cut up his body. Thus Kumarbi never did rule over the gods. This story affirmed the ancient gods and allowed the king to rule for more than nine years.

Another story of cosmic combat has a dragon named Illuyankas defeating the storm god. In revenge he invites the dragon to a banquet prepared by Inaras, who goes to the city to get help from Hupasiyas. He tells her that if she has sexual intercourse with him, he will have the strength needed. She agrees, and after the banquet Hupasiyas ties up the dragon with a rope when he is too large to get into the opening of his cave; then the storm god is able to kill him. Inaras realizes that if Hupasiyas goes home to his wife, she and her children will gain the supernatural power, which could not be allowed. So she builds a house on a lonely cliff and takes Hupasiyas there, forbidding him to look out the window lest he see his wife and children. However, after twenty days he looks out and sees them. He begs to be allowed to go home, and her only solution is to kill him by burning the house down. This story describes the power sexual union was believed to have as well as a reluctance to share divine power with lowly humans.

In a later version the dragon plucks the heart and eyes out of the storm god, and he goes to earth to marry a humble woman, who bears him a son. When the son falls in love with the daughter of the dragon, he tells his son to ask her father for the heart and eyes of the storm god as the marriage gift. Thus the storm gets his heart and eyes back and is fighting more successfully with the dragon when his son sees what has happened. Realizing that he has betrayed his father-in-law and host, he calls to the storm god that he is with the dragon. So the storm god kills both Illuyankas and his own son. This story reflects the custom of respecting one's host even to the point of self-sacrifice.

Notes
1. Roux, Georges, Ancient Iraq, p. 115.
2. Kramer, S. N., The Sumerians, p. 188.
3. Woolley, C. Leonard, The Sumerians, p. 69.
4. Roux, Georges, Ancient Iraq, p. 138.
5. These dates, which are 56 years older than the middle chronology, are the long chronology based on a recent analysis of ancient Babylonian astronomical observations in the Venus tablets. See Cambridge Ancient History Vol. 3 Part 2, p. 280.
6. Ibid., p. 152.
7. The Ancient Near East, Volume 2, ed. James B. Pritchard, p. 31-32.
8. Ibid., p. 32.
9. Roux, Georges, Ancient Iraq, p. 168.
10. Kramer, S. N., Sumerian Mythology, p. 72-73.
11. The Ancient Near East, Volume 2, p. 128-129.
12. Ibid. p. 129.
13. Kramer, S. N., The Sumerians, p. 338.
14. "Code of Hammurabi" Prologue, I, 32-39 quoted in Roux, p. 190.
15. Roux, Georges, Ancient Iraq, p. 243.
16. Heidel, Alexander, The Babylonian Genesis, p. 37.
17. The Ancient Near East, ed. James B. Pritchard, p. 232.
18. The Ancient Near East, Volume 2, p. 145-146.


Copyright © 1998-2004 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Contents HISTORY OF ETHICS
Introduction
Ethics
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Israel
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Muhammad and Islamic Conquest
Abbasid, Buyid, and Seljuk Empires 750-1095
Islamic Culture 1095-1300
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1300-1730
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1730-1875
Africa to 1500
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Summary and Evaluation
Bibliography
Chronological Index
BECK index

BECK index
Egypt
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
Hyksos Shepherd Kings
New Kingdom Empire
Egypt 1085-323 BC
Early Egyptian Literature
Book of the Dead
Later Egyptian Literature
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Long ago the land of Egypt was under the ocean. Then for a time it was a tropical forest, but with the gradual desiccation of Africa this changed to savanna and then to prairie and finally to a desert. During this long process the people living there naturally moved closer to the Nile River until they were congregated within a few miles of its banks or within its Delta, which had spread out before entering the Mediterranean Sea. In contrast to the surrounding desert, this land was quite fertile, supplying them with wild barley, fish, ducks, geese, turtles, crocodiles, hippopotami, and other game animals and plant food.

Their first homes followed the traditional pattern as oval huts made from mud. During the sixth millennium BC they learned how to domesticate wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and cattle. Flax was grown, spun into thread, and woven into linen for clothing. Genetically the ancient Egyptians were a mixture of African, Asian, and Mediterranean peoples. The Egyptian language is of Semitic origin. Houses eventually became rectangular with better shaped mud bricks. Donkeys were used, and pigs were kept on the Delta. Egyptians are credited with breeding hornless cattle, the greyhound, and were the first to domesticate cats. Boats were used for trading, which enabled them to secure copper and other metals. Their use of flint for blades became very refined. Tools began to include harpoons, hoes, spindles, looms, and drills for hollowing out stone vases. They were religious and supplied food and other items to their dead in their graves.

Many ideas may have been communicated to them through trade routes from Mesopotamia. Evidence definitely indicates that Sumerian seals were adopted by Egyptians. Egyptian art shows a quick development of monumental architecture using bricks in recessed walls of decorative paneling with Sumerian artistic motifs, displaying a hero between two beasts, fabulous animals with intertwined necks, and Mesopotamian boats. Perhaps the most important idea the Egyptians got from the Sumerians was writing. Egyptian hieroglyphics, while a different language, are based on the same principles as Sumerian pictographs, ideograms, and phonograms, both using the rebus principle depicting a syllable to convey additional meaning.

As boats traveled up and down the Nile and populations producing abundant food with irrigation systems increased, the inevitable social complexities developed. In Egypt this was into two states, the lower Delta in the north heralded by a red crown and upper Egypt in the south symbolized by a lily plant and a white crown. The traditional dynasties designated by the Egyptian historian Manetho about 300 BC began about 3100 BC with the first king, whom Manetho called Menes. He apparently conquered the south and united Egypt in the central capital of Saqqarah, later named Memphis. Archaeologists have identified Menes with Narmer, who is depicted on a palette triumphing over smaller cowering figures. Narmer holds a mace up and wears the white southern crown. The god Horus is prominently displayed as a falcon above even Narmer.

Menes, who was from Abydos, established Saqqarah in a central location by building a large dam above the site. He also attacked the Nubians in the south and conducted military operations in the east. Diodorus Siculus wrote that Menes taught the people to worship the gods and offer sacrifices, and he supplied them with such luxuries as tables, couches, and costly bedding. Menes was succeeded by Aha, who also fought the Nubians, and the third king, Djer, may have ventured as far to the east as Sinai and to the second cataract in the south. The fifth and last king of the first dynasty, Den, was also active militarily while he regulated the administration of Egypt; he was the first to wear the double crown symbolizing the union of north and south.

Conflicts were apparently solved by the first king of the second dynasty whose name Hetepsekhemui means "the two powers are at peace." This dynasty began about 2890 BC. The fourth king, Peribsen, identified himself with the god Seth instead of Horus. In the past Horus had been associated with the Delta, while the Seth cult had been near Nakada of upper Egypt. Peribsen seems to have introduced the Seth cult into the northeastern Delta, and his seals label an animal resembling Seth, Ash, which is the Libyan name for that deity. The enmity between the rival deities Horus and Seth seems to reflect a religious war, for the next king was the warrior Khasekhem, who was loyal to Horus; his stela gives the number of slain Libyans in his conquest of the north as 47,209. After this war he may have changed his name to (or was succeeded by) Khasekhemui Nebuihotpimef, which means "the two powers are arisen, the two lords are at peace in him."1

Meanwhile the Egyptians invented paper from papyrus and were advancing in astronomy, geometry, accounting, surgery, and architecture. During the First Dynasty a king had the floor of his burial pit lined with slabs of cut granite. A king of the Second Dynasty had a complete chamber of his brick tomb constructed from carefully fitted limestone, and according to royal records a temple was built in stone. The mortuary architecture of Egypt was about to astound the world.

Old Kingdom
In the 27th century BC the most prominent king of the Third Dynasty, Djoser, ordered for his tomb the first pyramid built of stone. The architectural genius behind this development, Imhotep, was renowned for his knowledge of healing and had counseled Djoser when the land was suffering from a seven-year famine. They used local limestone and seemed to be building a large structure with stepped-back recesses, when they changed their minds and continued the stepped recesses all the way to the top. Unlike the later massive blocks, the limestone was cut into smaller brick-size pieces. Djoser's successor, Sekhemkhet, started on a pyramid, but it was of lesser quality and was not completed. The last king of the Third Dynasty, Huni, also attempted a pyramid and failed.

However, the great pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty indicate that these kings had gained an unprecedented power and authority over the people, who apparently worshiped the king as a god. Yet they demonstrate not only great loyalty to their king but also the advancing skill of their architects, engineers, artisans, and builders. About 2613 BC the new king Snefru inaugurated the Fourth Dynasty and oversaw the building of two large pyramids, safely constructed with lower angles of incline. Inscriptions claim that he brought back 7,000 captives and 200,000 cattle from Libya, copper from the Sinai, where he defeated the native tribes, and forty vessels of cedar-wood from Byblos in Lebanon. Relying on relatives and devoted officials, who worked in his palace, Snefru's administration was highly centralized.

His successor, Khufu, was less liked but autocratically commanded obedience by promising fine tombs for royal family and high officials in a cemetery next to his pyramid at Giza. His administration built the largest pyramid with 2,300,000 blocks averaging two and a half tons each. At 480 feet it is not the highest building ever, but it is the most massive structure ever built. Herodotus, the Greek historian from the 5th century BC, calculated that it must have taken a hundred thousand workers, and he castigated these kings as cruel tyrants. Archaeologists have argued that not that many men could have worked effectively at the same time and that at certain times of the year agricultural workers would have been otherwise unemployed. Nevertheless the crowded mud-brick and thatched barracks of the workers compared to the large and commodious houses of the rich indicate the economic and social injustice of the time. Khufu was followed by the nine-year rule of Redjedef, who may have been a usurper. Then Khafre built another pyramid almost as large and had the famous sphinx carved out of the rock. It is not surprising that both Khufu and Khafre were remembered in tradition as having been hard and difficult.

Menkaure, who succeeded Khafre, is credited by Herodotus with liberating the people from the excessive labor of the great pyramid builders. He opened the temples, returned to sacrifices, and was so conscientious in administering justice that he gave someone who complained to have been wronged by the king whatever he claimed as recompense. However, he was heart-broken at the death of his only daughter, with whom he may have been in love, and he lavished attention on her mausoleum. His own pyramid was not nearly as large as those of his predecessors and was left unfinished at his death. Deeply religious, Menkaure was disturbed by a prophecy that he should end his life because his five-year term was expired. Pleading that he should be allowed to live longer because he had treated the people better, the priests answered that he had gone against what was supposed to be a 150-year period in which Egypt was to be punished by her kings. Menkaure tried to go on but was only able to extend his term to twelve years. A beautiful slate statue of him standing next to his equally tall queen, who has her arm around him, shows the respect he had for his wife.

After Menkaure the Fourth Dynasty began to disintegrate. Shepseskaf hastily finished and furnished Menkaure's pyramid but only had a rectangular sarcophagus built for himself at Saqqarah. The bridge to the new dynasty seems to have been Queen Khentkaues, whose title means either "king and mother of Upper and Lower Egypt" or "mother of two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt." She was the wife of the first king of the Fifth Dynasty, Userkaf, who adopted the title Son of Re and supported the sun god cult of Heliopolis. Userkaf's mother was the daughter of Redjedef, and a prophecy had said that Redjedef's son would become high-priest of the sun-god Re at On (Heliopolis). Userkaf and his two sons by Khentkaues all called themselves sons of Re and did make the Re cult dominant in Egypt, building outdoor sun temples with a large obelisk for the worship of Re; their pyramids were of moderate size and fine artistry.

Inscriptions on the funerary monuments of Fifth and Sixth Dynasty kings indicate that they still were engaging in expeditions for natural resources to Libya, Syria, Sinai, Nubia, and to Punt, which may have been in Somalia. The Sed festival was celebrated to renew the king's reign after a number of years, usually thirty, in order to get around the old tradition that the king must die so as not to be weakened by old age. Provincial administrators were gaining power and more independence, as the king and his family found theirs decreasing. Papyri from this period reveal detailed administrative records of the temples.

The earliest pyramid texts were inscribed in the pyramid of Unas, the last king of the Fifth Dynasty. They begin with the heavenly goddess Nut reciting words of comfort to the king, such as, "I enfold your beauty within this soul of mine for all life, permanence, dominion and health for the King - may he live forever!"2 Prayers and magical incantations identify the king with Osiris and assure him that he will be well provided with food and everything he needs for his journey to heaven. Osiris is helped up the ladder to heaven by his son Horus and the sun-god Re to awake in the eternal life of Spirit.

Decentralization continued during the Sixth Dynasty which began about 2345 BC with the reign of Teti, whose viziers (prime ministers) Kagemni and Mereruka seemed to have gained unprecedented power judging by their elaborate tombs. Inscribed in a tomb at Abydos is an autobiographical account of Uni, who rose from humble birth to be a minor official under Teti and then a friend of Pepi I, who appointed him judge over cases involving conspiracy in the royal harem. Next Uni was put in command of "an army of many tens of thousands" drawn from all over Egypt and Nubia to oversee towns and villages and foreign lands and prevent quarreling and stealing. Uni boasted of returning in peace after raiding the land of the Sand-dwellers. Five times Uni was sent off for this task; then he went to the Nose of the Gazelle (possibly Mount Carmel) and killed the insurrectionists there. Although Pepi I may have reigned for fifty years, Uni then claimed that he became governor of Upper Egypt in the succeeding reign of Merenre, overseeing the building of five navigable channels in the first cataract to facilitate trade with Nubia and get granite for the royal pyramid. In his first year Merenre even went to the first cataract himself to meet with the Nubian chieftains of the Medjay, Irtje, and Wawat.

Merenre was succeeded by Pepi II as a boy, and he ruled Egypt for more than ninety years. Obviously the tradition of killing aged kings had been overcome. Pepi II's pyramid was about a hundred feet high and similar to the four previous ones, but his long reign was followed by several short reigns with perhaps a woman being the last monarch of the Sixth Dynasty. Royal power waned as the provincial authorities became stronger. The Osiris religion seemed to be replacing the state religion of Re. Ethical awareness of the Sixth Dynasty period is indicated by the following inscription on a tomb:

I have come from my town;
I have descended from my nome;
I have done justice for its lord;
I have satisfied him with what he loves.
I spoke truly; I did right;
I spoke fairly; I repeated fairly;
I seized the right moment,
so as to stand well with people.
I judged between two so as to content them;
I rescued the weak from one stronger than he
as much as was in my power.
I gave bread to the hungry, clothes ...;
I brought the boatless to land.
I buried him who had no son;
I made a boat for him who lacked one.
I respected my father; I pleased my mother;
I raised their children.
So says he whose nickname is Sheshi.3

The Seventh through the Tenth Dynasties are called the First Intermediate Period. So chaotic was this time that Manetho's excerptor Julius Africanus related there were seventy kings in seventy days in the Seventh Dynasty and sixty-five kings in the rest of this period, which lasted only about a century. Although the kings of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties continued to claim that they were ruling over all of Egypt, in fact their sway was probably feeble beyond their capital at Memphis. For a while a family in Koptos of Upper Egypt claimed the throne. Civil strife is indicated by funerary boats that were depicted with large ox-hide shields over their cabin roofs. A ruler in Asyut had two companies of model warriors put in his grave.

The prophet Nefer-rohu described this civil war in a prophecy of how Amenemhet I, the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty and the Middle Kingdom, will unify Egypt once again. This literary piece is set back in the court of Snefru of the Fourth Dynasty, who willingly listens to the prophecy of Nefer-rohu which describes how Egypt will suffer before Amenemhet I. The Asiatics will move in with strong arms, disturb the harvest, and take away cattle at plowing. The land completely perishes; not even so much dirt as is found under a black fingernail will survive. The sun will be covered and not shine. The rivers run dry, and winds will oppose each other. A foreign bird will be born in the northern marshes, and people will let it approach because of their need. Fish-ponds will be damaged, and the land will be prostrate because of that; the Asiatic enemies, who arose in the east, have come down into Egypt. No protector will listen, while the wild beasts drink at the rivers of Egypt.

The land is in disorder and upside-down. Men will take up the weapons of war in confusion. Nefer-rohu prophesies the making of arrows of metal which began in the Eleventh Dynasty. People will beg for the bread of blood and will laugh sick laughter. Death will become so common that people no longer weep nor fast in mourning. People turn their backs while one man kills another. Sons and brothers are enemies, and a man kills his own father. Everyone is saying, "Love me!" but everything good has disappeared. People's property is taken from them and given to outsiders. Citizens are treated as hateful in order to silence people. If someone answers a statement, an arm goes out with a stick; and men say, "Kill him!"

As the land becomes poorer, its administrators increase, and taxes are heavy. Re rarely shines on people. Situations are reversed: the weak now have arms; men salute the one who before saluted. The undermost are now on top. People live in the city of the dead. The poor man is wealthy; paupers eat the sacred bread. The Heliopolitan nome, birthplace of all the gods, will no longer exist. Then a king from the south will come, Ameni the triumphant, who will wear the white and red crowns of upper and lower Egypt. The evil and rebellious will subdue their speech out of fear of him; the Asiatics will fall to his sword, the Libyans to his flame. The Asiatics will no longer be allowed to come into Egypt. Justice will come, as wrongdoing is cast out.

Amidst this chaos a powerful family arose in the Faiyum at Heracleopolis to rule the central portion of Egypt as the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties for about a century which stimulated classical Egyptian literature. Manetho mentioned only the first king Achthoes, whom he described as behaving more cruelly than his predecessors and doing evil to the Egyptian people until he went mad and was killed by a crocodile. King Neferkare had to capitulate after a battle with the Thebans, and the Ninth Dynasty came to an end shortly after the Theban revolution of 2133 BC that established their independence under Mentuhotep I, founder of the Eleventh Dynasty.

Meanwhile the second king of the Tenth Dynasty, Wahkare Achthoes III, managed to coexist with the Asiatics on the eastern Delta. Since Thebes was advancing in the south, with his ally Asyut he attacked them at This, capturing them "like a cloudburst;" but he regretted allowing his troops to plunder the sacred tombs. Later the Theban King Inyotef II came back and drove the Heracleopolitans out of the Thinite Nome. After this, peace lasted for several decades as Wahkare reigned nearly half a century.

From this transitional period comes the instructions for Merikare as though written by his father, the king, warning him that a quarrelsome man causes unrest and factions among the young; he suggested that such be suppressed as an enemy. A good disposition is a blessing. He recommended his son be a craftsman of speech, for the tongue is more powerful than fighting, suggesting he read and copy knowledge. Do not be evil; being kind is good. Work for the future. He should reward his counselors, for the wealthy are not partial, while the poor are easily bribed. If he speaks the truth in his house and is upright, those outside will be inspired by fear. Do right; calm the sad; oppress no widow; do not take away the possessions of someone's father. Be careful not to punish wrongly, and do not punish by death but with beatings and imprisonment. Do not kill one whom he knew well in school, for the soul may come back to haunt him.

In the text he warned his son Merikare that his actions will be judged after death. Life is short compared to eternity; those who reach the next existence without wrongdoing will be like a god. Raise the young troops well and reward them based on their merits, not on their birth. He suggested the prince be lenient and stand well with the Southern Land; accept whatever grain they can give. The king claimed he pacified the Delta so that their tribute of products was assured. He explained that it was the civil war that allowed the Asiatics to come into Egypt. He lamented the hacking up of graves; for after he learned of it, he felt its recompense. More acceptable is the virtue of a just heart than the ox of the wicked. Thus he admonished his son to give his love to the whole world and have the remembrance of good character. From this time of suffering some wisdom was emerging, which shall be examined further below.

The uneasy truce between Heracleopolis and Thebes may have prevented cooperation on irrigation, because this time is known for its shortages and famines. With the death of King Merikare about 2040 BC the Theban king Mentuhotep II invaded successfully and was credited as being the second unifier of the north and south in Egyptian history and the inaugurator of the Middle Kingdom.

Middle Kingdom
Mentuhotep II undertook extensive building of mortuary temples in Upper Egypt and sent off expeditions to Nubia, Libya, Syria, and Sinai for materials and men. He boasted of dominating the "nine peoples of the bow," Egypt's traditional enemies, by "clubbing the eastern lands, striking down the hill-countries, trampling the deserts, enslaving the Nubians,... Medjay and Wawat, the Libyans,"4 etc. Mentuhotep II is depicted striking down an aristocratic Egyptian along with a Nubian, an Asiatic, and a Libyan, who represent the foreign auxiliaries of the Heracleopolitan armies. In establishing order throughout Egypt the process of recentralizaton had begun, and Thebans now dominated the administration.

Succeeding his father in 2009 BC Mentuhotep III organized an expedition of three thousand men to travel east from Koptos to re-establish trade with Punt via the Red Sea. After twelve years he was succeeded by the brief reign of Mentuhotep IV. His vizier led another expedition of some ten thousand men to the Red Sea and miraculously found the stone for the sarcophagus where a gazelle had dropped her young. Eight days later a rainstorm revealed an excellent well. This vizier, who claimed to have been overseeing everything in the land, established himself as the next king, Amenemhet I, founder of the Twelfth Dynasty.

The establishment of Amenemhet I was justified as fulfilling the prophecy of a king arising in the south who would end the chaos with a great new era. As his name indicates, he promoted the worship of the god Amen, which means "hidden." This invisible god eventually attained widespread dominion in Egypt and is probably the origin of the word still used for ending prayers. Amenemhet moved the capital closer to the north near Memphis, where he and his successor, Sesostris I, built their pyramids. The chiefs of the local nomes were restored to their powers and privileges, their districts being clearly defined along with their share of Nile water. Nomes were required to provide militia and workers when needed. One such military adventure was to re-establish control of the upper Nile and lower Nubia. Asiatic nomads were also driven out of the eastern Delta, and fortified posts were built to keep them out.

After ruling twenty years about 1972 BC Amenemhet I made his son Sesostris co-regent, and for ten years they ruled together, a policy making a stable succession much more likely. They pushed back the northern border to the second cataract and built a fort there. Sesostris also fought the Libyans. While this son was in Libya, Amenemhet was probably assassinated at night by conspiring eunuchs. A mysterious document, claiming to be his instructions to his son after he died, describes the attack. He warned his son to be on his guard against subordinates; trust neither brother nor friend. He gave to the poor and nourished the orphan, but one who ate his food disdained him. A conspiracy in the palace attacked him while he was in bed, and alone he could not fight them off. He wondered if they had not heard that he was already resigning power to his son Sesostris. He then recounted his reign and how he fought to extend the borders, supplied everyone with food and drink, overcame Nubians and Bedouins, and adorned a house with precious metals.

Sesostris I wasted no time in returning to strengthen his rule, and he extended his territory even farther south in Nubia, where gold was being mined for Egypt. Sesostris continued to mine and build, including towering granite obelisks at the Re-Atum temple at Heliopolis used during his Sed festival. At Karnak the god Amen-Re was honored with large structures. Sesostris himself was regarded as a god, and once again the power of the kings increased. He ruled for thirty-five years after his father's death and brought in his own son, Amenemhet II, as co-regent for his last two years. Amenemhet II and Sesostris II increased Egyptian prosperity by reclaiming land for agriculture in the Faiyum depression with surplus Nile water. More Asiatics immigrated into Egypt to work as servants, and trade was established as far away as Crete and Babylon.

About 1878 BC Sesostris III became king and somehow managed to centralize power administered over the regions of Lower, Middle, and Upper Egypt by three officers, who were under the vizier just like the departments of justice, agriculture, labor, and the treasury. The decreased power of the nobles allowed a larger middle class of craftsmen, traders, and farmers to develop. Concerned about the Nubians, he had a channel excavated through the first cataract to sail his warships through to attack the "wretched Kush." Eight years later he returned to devastate the Iuntiu of Nubia by wiping out their settlements, carrying off the women, fouling the wells, and burning the grain fields. A chain of eight brick forts was built, and the entrance of Nehesyu (Negroes) was limited to trading and official business.

During his 45-year reign Amenemhet III continued to develop the irrigation systems of Lake Moeris at Faiyum and the mining, which sometimes required smiting the Bedouins of the Sinai and southern Palestine. This long period of prosperity attracted more immigrants. Amenemhet IV ruled only nine years and was followed by his sister Sebeknefru, whose reign was less than four years. Like the woman who had ruled before her, she was the last of a dynasty. The demise of the Middle Kingdom was about 1786 BC, followed by a series of kings, who reigned for less than three years each, while most of the power was in the hands of the vizier.

The decline of the Middle Kingdom was foreshadowed in the execration texts. These were magical spells inscribed on pottery that was then smashed, expressing curses on all enemies, real and potential. These included foreign rulers of Jerusalem and Byblos as well as other Asiatics, members of Egyptian royal families, and anyone who might rebel or fight or talk of rebelling or fighting. While strong viziers like Ankhu ruled during the series of short reigns of the Thirteenth Dynasty, the bureaucracy that had replaced local rule seemed to disintegrate. In the western Delta a new line of petty rulers sprung up in Xois identified as the Fourteenth Dynasty of Manetho. Increasing numbers of Asiatics were hired as servants.

Hyksos Shepherd Kings
In the eastern Delta, which is the primary grazing land in Egypt, the number of Asiatic Bedouins and shepherds had been steadily increasing. By 1720 BC this pastoral people had taken control of Avaris and established it as the capital for what became the Fifteenth Dynasty of the Hyksos, the shepherd kings. Hyksos power spread gradually, and in 1674 BC they took over Memphis and ruled most of northern and central Egypt for about a century. Thebes and Nubia in the south had their own kings, and they all seemed to coexist.

Nevertheless in most of Egypt a major revolution had occurred which may have been helped by the more advanced instruments of war the Hyksos brought, such as horses and chariots, body armor, improved swords and daggers, and a much more powerful composite bow. Eventually these new weapons were assimilated by the Egyptians and turned back against their conquerors. Although the Hyksos takeover does not seem to have been a sudden invasion, it was a social revolution by often despised foreigners.

This turmoil is described in "The Admonitions of a Prophet" by Ipuwer, which was once thought to be from the first intermediate period after the Old Kingdom. However, recent scholarship indicates that this more likely described this second intermediate period.5 This priest lamented the chaos that had come upon Egypt. Workers refuse to carry their loads; bird catchers are ready for battle; farmers carry shields; a man considers his son an enemy. The virtuous mourn, because strangers have become Egyptians everywhere.

Wrongdoing and plunder are everywhere. Poor men have become suddenly rich. The heart is violent, and plague stalks the land. Women are barren, and children are left to die because of lack of food. Embalming has ceased, as the dead are thrown in the river. Every town has decided to drive out the powerful. Like a potter's wheel, revolution is turning all things. Rivers are bloody and people thirsty. The southern land of Upper Egypt has become separated, and no longer does tax come in from there. Foreigners have spread throughout the land; homes are destroyed, and the lady is now hungry and in rags like a handmaid. The wood, gold, and other material that was imported for handicrafts are no more. The Delta and its crafts have been taken over by strangers. Everything is going to ruin; laughter has been replaced by grief.

Magistrates are hungry and in need; judicial writings and lists from public offices are taken away. Serfs are now masters of serfs. The secrets of embalming and magic spells have been given out. The king has been taken away and kingship in the land despoiled; officers are driven out. The land is full of confederates robbing goods. Travelers are ambushed on the road. No fruit or herbs are left even for the birds, and people eat the swine food. Cattle and geese are being slaughtered by butchers, who never did so. Those who were poor are now wealthy and vice versa. The Delta weeps; the king's storehouse is for everyone; and the palace does not get what it is due. At one point this prophet asked that the enemies of the noble residence be destroyed, but none are found to stand and protect Egypt. Near the end he hoped that perhaps the Negroes and the southerners will do so, but all the foreign countries are afraid of the Bedouins.

Obviously this piece is the view of a priest in the establishment that has been thrown out of power, and we have no surviving literature representing the Hyksos point of view. Therefore it is difficult to judge this revolution from such a one-sided perspective. Generally the Hyksos seem to have assimilated themselves as Egyptians, but they were later driven out and chastised by Egyptian propaganda.

Although a revolution occurred, the Hyksos kings were tolerant of Egyptian customs and religion even as they were taking them over. They adopted the Egyptian Seth as their god in Avaris and found in him many characteristics similar to their god Baal. The Hyksos traded widely, and the name of their King Khayan has been found in Knossos, Palestine, and Baghdad. Eventually a quarrel occurred between the Hyksos king Apopi and the Seventeenth-Dynasty Theban king Seqenenre, whose mummy indicates a violent death.

The last king of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Kamose, wanted to attack the Hyksos, but his courtiers argued for the status quo which allowed them to farm unmolested and graze their cattle in the Delta. In a stela Kamose promised to destroy the towns that gave themselves over to serving the Asiatics, and he began by attacking with Medjay troops the southern Hyksos garrison at Nefrusy. Having intercepted a message from the Hyksos to the Kush asking for an alliance, Kamose took over the oases controlling the desert route to the south.

New Kingdom Empire
The expulsion of the Hyksos, however, was accomplished by Kamose's younger brother Ahmose, who for this is honored as the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom. The forces of Ahmose were able to sack Avaris. Soldiers, who proved they had killed enemies by bringing back their hands, were rewarded with gold, land, and captives as personal slaves, fostering a military aristocracy. After driving the Hyksos off of Egyptian land, the Asiatics were besieged at Sharuhen in southern Palestine for three years, and then additional campaigns were made by Ahmose in Nubia to replace the Kush as the power receiving tribute.

After conquering the Kush, Ahmose had to return twice to put down insurrections. The women in the family of Ahmose had considerable influence, including his grandmother, mother, and his sister Nefertiry, whom he married. The latter two were given the religious office of "God's wife of Amen," beginning the worshiping of queens as divine as well as kings. Much of the wealth from foreign conquests went into the temples of Amen-Re. This policy was continued by Amenhotep I, who became king of Egypt in 1546 BC. Tjuroy, the commandant at Buhen, was made viceroy of Nubia, an office which became a training position for crown princes. Amenhotep abandoned the building of pyramids and was the first to separate the temples from the tombs, and he established the burial site for New Empire rulers in the valley of the kings in western Thebes.

A general, Thutmose I, succeeded to the throne by marrying the royal heiress and God's wife Ahmose. He claimed to have expanded the empire as far as the Euphrates River in campaigning against the Mitanni. After defeating the Nubians he had their chief's body hung head down from the prow of his barge for several months while a cataract channel was repaired on his return to Thebes.

Thutmose II married his half-sister Hatshepsut and began his rule by putting down a rebellion in Nubia, where he had all the males he could find slain; but he only ruled for about eight years before dying of illness in 1504 BC. His son by another woman, Thutmose III, began by serving in the temple of Amen-Re at Karnak and had to share power for 22 years with his stepmother and aunt, Hatshepsut, who though a woman was declared "king" by the oracle of Amen. She oversaw an expedition to Punt which returned with myrrh trees, ebony, ivory, gold, baboons, and leopard-skins. When Hatshepsut died, Thutmose III immediately began "to overthrow that vile enemy and to extend the boundaries of Egypt in accordance with the command of his father Amen-Re"6 by marching out and seizing Gaza.

Thutmose III then personally led his army through the narrow pass of the Carmel mountains to confront the armies of 330 princes gathered at Megiddo. Not expecting him by this dangerous approach, his enemies were surprised by the Egyptians, retreated into a fortress while the Egyptian armies plundered their goods, and finally surrendered after a siege of seven months. Instead of punishing them further, Thutmose made them swear for life they would not rebel against him; then he let them return to their domains by donkey as he took their horses, 1,929 cows, 2,000 goats, 20,500 sheep, and 1,784 slaves. Resident commissioners were set up to collect taxes with administrative headquarters at Gaza. Asiatic princes were taken as hostages to Egypt, where they could be educated in Egyptian culture and return to rule when their fathers died.

In the next seventeen years Thutmose III toured his Asiatic empire in fourteen annual campaigns timed after the Egyptian winter harvest and to take advantage of the summer harvests in Asia; gifts were sent to him from the kings of the Hittites, Assyria, and Babylon. Using ships in his fifth campaign, Thutmose III took control of the Phoenician coastal cities and ordered them to be prepared to supply his troops in his annual campaigns. The next year he overthrew the city of Kadesh in Syria, cut down its groves, and harvested its grain. Following the pharaohs' tradition of hunting, Thutmose bragged about killing 120 elephants in Syria. In his eighth campaign Thutmose crossed the Euphrates River, defeated the Mitanni, and burned their towns. Inscriptions proclaimed that 248 towns had submitted to him. Egypt became opulent not only from the substantial tribute of goods but also from the importation of slave labor, which increased under later pharaohs.

The last few years of Thutmose III's reign were relatively peaceful; but even though he made his son coregent for the last two years of his life, news of his death stimulated northern Palestine and Syria to revolt so that they would not have to pay the annual tribute to Egypt. Amenhotep II led the campaign to confirm Egypt's imperial power and had seven princes' bodies sent back to Egypt and the Sudan as a warning to others. In a later campaign the number of prisoners enslaved was numbered at 89,600. In a procession over five hundred north-Syrian lords were displayed along with nearly a ton of gold and fifty times as much copper. For a time gold was so plentiful that silver was more expensive until Egypt began to import large amounts of silver from the Aegean. Amenhotep II, renowned for his skill and strength in shooting bronze-tipped arrows through copper plates from a moving chariot and for having killed more than a hundred lions, reigned 1450-1425 BC and was succeeded by Thutmose IV, who married a Mitannian princess.

By the fifteenth century BC Egypt had become an empire with a powerful military state. The feudal system had been taken over by the royal administration under viziers for Lower and Upper Egypt, who with the "King's son of Kush" and the highpriest of Amen-Re at Karnak were the most powerful officials under the king, sometimes called pharaoh after the name of the palace. These men administered the law or oversaw provincial authorities, who made local decisions. The power of the pharaoh included being commander-in-chief of a large military establishment and overseeing a wealthy and influential religious system not merely as the highest priest but as a god. The army was no longer a hastily gathered militia that rushed out to defend or raid; it was a professional force in two grand divisions in Upper Egypt and the Delta with well regulated commands using tactics.

Everything in the kingdom served the pharaoh and his court. According to the story of Joseph in Genesis, tax comprised one-fifth of all products and was collected as cattle, grain, wine, oil, honey, textiles, and so on as well as in gold and silver. The temples became tremendously wealthy and employed many professional priests and priestesses. The free middle class that was not involved in the temple were obligated to serve in the military. The other two classes were the artisans and the agricultural serfs. Women had the right to own property, to buy and sell, and to testify in court.

Justice depended on the character and wisdom of the viziers, as there is no record of any written laws, though they did have the concepts of law and justice. The pharaoh advised his viziers to be impartial and not be angry unjustly. Opportunities for bribes and corruption in this system of rule by men must have been common. Religion also became corrupted as believers were sold scarabs and copies of the Book of the Dead that guaranteed the sins of their hearts would not speak when they were judged after death.

The three divine qualities of the pharaoh were supposed to be authority, perception, and justice, but of course one wonders. What kind of justice is this which puts one man on the top of a great pyramid of people, whose entire lives are used to serve his desires? This monolithic organization of society that garnered and protected wealth by foreign wars and exploitation, not only of Egyptians but of other peoples as well, did not seem to promote a very equal distribution of its benefits. Religion and the fear of judgment after death were also used to bolster the patriarchal system. Yet even when the king was overthrown by a foreign people in the Hyksos period, they had nothing better to put in its place; so they were overthrown themselves. Egypt developed into a great civilization, but from what we know it does not seem to have been a very just or compassionate one. Yet with authoritarianism for centuries it was a stable society that usually provided for the needs of the people, promoted some into a literary culture through education, and allowed people to worship God, look forward to a life after death, and learn from their experiences in this one.

Amenhotep III became pharaoh in 1417 BC at the age of 12. His mother was a commoner, and he married a commoner, the daughter of a chariot commander. He also married and took several foreign princesses into his harem. In his fifth year Kushite rebels were put down, but generally the peaceful empire enabled Amenhotep III to devote his energies to building a huge palace complex at Thebes. Following tradition, he celebrated jubilee festivals in the 30th, 34th, and 37th years of his reign.

Amenhotep IV began breaking tradition by celebrating a jubilee in his third year instead of waiting until his 30th. It soon became clear that this new pharaoh worshiped the sun god as represented by the solar disk Aten. In his fifth year he changed his name to Akhenaten and built a new capital half-way between Thebes and Memphis at (modern-day) El-Amarna called Akhetaten; at the same time work on other temples seems to have been stopped. Although a sun-shade was built for Queen Nefertity, there was no roof so that the divine rays of the sun could be felt directly. An Assyrian king wrote to Akhenaten complaining that his messengers had been kept standing in the sun and could die from the heat. In his "Great Hymn to Aten" Akhenaten claimed to be the only one to know this God. Considering himself an equally divine son of Aten, Akhenaten was to be king on Earth just as his father is king in Heaven. Thus continuing the Egyptian tradition of absolutism, his religious revolution came from the top down, as the pharaoh had the power to make it effective throughout Egypt, at least for a time. Eventually, perhaps near the end of his reign, hieroglyphs of other names for God such as Amen were chiseled out.

Despite his efforts to establish a more universal monotheistic religion, Akhenaten suffered misfortune. His queen Nefertity had six daughters but no sons. A plague was spreading through the empire. In spite of his mystical inclinations, his ethic was only slightly different from other Egyptian kings. Imperialistic policies continued but rather ineptly. Egyptian cities were founded in Nubia, where troublesome Habiru from Damascus could be exiled, and Akhenaten was the first to use Nubians extensively as garrison troops in Asia. He authorized the viceroy of Kush to quell trouble in Akita, where some of the captives were impaled on stakes.

In Asia Akhenaten did not bother to maintain his father's alliance with the Mitannians. His treaty with the Hittites, which he made despite a warning from the king of Cyprus, allowed Hittite king Suppiluliumas to take over Mitanni and move south into Syria and Lebanon. Akhenaten did not send military aid to help rebels who were fighting the Hittites. When the Amorite chief, Aziru, who was called an Habiru by his detractors, advanced on Phoenician cities as far as Ugarit, captured Niy, occupied Tunip despite their pleas for Egyptian help, overthrew the Egyptian governor of Sumur, and killed the Egyptian commissioner Rib-Addi of Byblos, Akhenaten did little more than complain that Aziru did not rebuild the city of Sumur, writing, "You know that the king does not wish to be hard with the land of Canaan."7 Aziru was taken to Akhenaten's court for several years, but he returned to become a vassal of the great Sun King of Khatti, the Hittite capital. In southern Palestine, Aramaean Semites known as Khabiri revolted, and the Egyptian-trained prince in Jerusalem, Abdikhiba, was unable to stop them. Though not a pacifist, Akhenaten did relax the grip of Egypt's military empire in Asia.

After ruling for seventeen years Akhenaten died, and his power passed through the hands of his incestuous family that included Smenkhkare, his son (by a minor wife) and son-in-law, and Tutankhaten, his nephew and son-in-law. (Akhenaten had married his sister and some of his daughters.) The young pharaoh changed his name to Tutankhamen and restored the traditional religion of Amen. In an edict Tutankhamen complained that the temples had fallen into ruin while the land had been struck with catastrophe, because the gods had turned their backs. Even when the army had been dispatched to the Levant, it had no success. The gods no longer answered prayers, and the people's hearts had been weakened. Tutankhamen was guided by the elderly counselor Ay and the general Horemheb, who succeeded him when he died at about the age of nineteen.

Ay died after four years in 1348 BC, and the military leader Horemheb reigned until 1320 BC, making the army so dominant that even priests were chosen from its ranks. However, Horemheb tried to reform a corrupt system. An edict proclaimed harsh punishments for extortion by tax collectors, connivance of royal inspectors, and crimes by soldiers. He sought judges of good character and put the regulations before them and the laws in their journals, warning them against taking bribes. As the traditional religious practices returned, the sun disk (Aten) was reduced to being the body of Re the sun god under the higher power of Amen. Eventually Aten's temples were closed, and the entire city of Akhetaten was torn down. The reign of Akhenaten and the name of his God were obliterated from Egyptian records, and he was referred to as a heretic and even a criminal. Horemheb's tomb indicates that the god Osiris was once again resurrected.

Horemheb chose his general and vizier with a military background similar to his own to succeed him, but the elderly Ramses I died after two years. His son, Seti I, fought to secure the empire in Palestine and held off Libyan threats to the Delta. Seti continued the policy of harsh punishments for crimes and even added the curse that Osiris would pursue violators. He trained his son to be a warrior king, and Ramses II reigned for 66 years (1304-1237 BC).

In the fifth year of his reign Ramses II marched north to confront the Hittites at Kadesh, where at the head of one of the four divisions of his army he walked into a trap. Fighting his way out, Ramses commemorated the battle as a victory both in a report and an epic poem in numerous inscriptions in which he bragged about slaughtering them unceasingly. Hittite king Muwatallis offered a peace, and Ramses' advisors said that reconciliation was no fault if he makes it himself. The Egyptians withdrew, leaving the Hittites still influential in the region. Three years later Ramses was fighting Hittite outposts further south in western Galilee. In the 21st year of Ramses II, Muwatallis died, and his brother Hattusilis III proposed a peace treaty that Ramses accepted. They agreed not to trespass against each other's empires and to fight together against anyone else violating either one. They also agreed to return fugitives to each other's kingdoms on the condition that they not be punished. Then they each called upon their "thousand gods" to witness the treaty.

Thirteen years later greater bonds were forged between the Egyptians and Hittites when Ramses II married the daughter of Hattusilis, and she was soon advanced to the top status of the King's Great Wife. The peace seems to have lasted a long time, as the successor of Ramses II, Merneptah, sent grain to starving Hittites fifty years after the treaty. The Egyptians also tried to extend law to Nubia, where a court of justice was established with the viceroy as chief judge. The priesthood of Amen was growing in power, as the High Priest of Amen under Merneptah was able to install his son as his successor, and the gold of Nubia was now under their control, though administered by the viceroy of Kush. In a brutal Libyan war Merneptah was also fighting off the invading sea peoples; the Egyptians killed 6,000 and captured 9,000.