c2340 KING URUKAGINA of the city state of Lagash, Sumer, introduces new
humanitarian laws. (96) He took various measures, in accordance with
the ‘righteous laws of Ningirsu’, and designed to put a stop to the oppression
of the poor. (173)
In this year, there is
estimated to be a total eclipse over Nekhen in Egypt, the conjectured date for
the beginning of Dynasty VI. (240.
241)
Eclipse photo [from ‘Skywalk’]
SARGON THE GREAT around this time conquers the city Ur of Sumer, Akkad of
Babylon, and Elam of Susa. By this act he unites Mesopotamia as a single nation
and establishes a capital at Agade (Akkad/Ashur) from where he reigns for 50
years. Born in 2370, Sargon is the son of Semites, a people drifting eastwards
into the Mesopotamian valley from the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula to settle in Sumer and Akkad. Sargon rose from humble conditions to become cup-bearer
to the King of Kish, Sumer, before himself becoming king. (96. 97).
Sargon ruled over a non-Semitic
race called the Accadia (Accadians/Akkadians) meaning ‘of the highlands or
mountains’, or perhaps Drusai. The Accadia knowledge was held in high esteem
and was translated into the Semitic language. (45)
AKKAD or ASHUR (Nth
Iraq/Mesopotamia) is the city centre of the ancient Assyrian Empire, located on
the River Tigris. The city will reach its peak in the 9-7th
centuries BCE before being eventually absorbed into the future Persian Empire.
SARGON is credited with
initiating the writing of 72 books called the ‘Illumination of Bel’, an
astronomical work compiled by the priests of Bel (Marduke) and which will be
translated into Greek by the priest Berossos around the year 260 BCE. (11) Other authors place Sargon at 3800 BCE and say that he drew from
his library 70 tablets to comprise the standard astrological work of the
Babylonians and Assyrians, who started the year at the winter solstice. (45) For the Northern Hemisphere, this would place emphasis on the
constellation of Capricorn, which in Egyptian terms is related to the Crocodile god Sobek, whilst for the Babylonians it is related to Oannes, the fish god.
Sargon of Akkad c2340 BCE
[Time-Life Books]
The Sumerian system of
calculation is based on the number 60 and known as the sexagesimal system,
which may have been the forerunner of the Arabic decimal system. Surviving
traces of the sexagesimal system will be found in the future division of time
into the 60-minute hour and the 360-degree circle (6x60). (96)
The
Babylonian year of this time is soli-lunar comprising 12 lunar months of 354
days plus the solar year of 365 days. The discrepancy of 11 days was solved by
adding a 13th lunar month when required. Therefore, in an 11-year
cycle, 7 years have 12 months, and 4 have 13 months. By the 2nd
century BCE the calendar of the Mesopotamian area will have shifted and the
beginning of the year celebrated in spring rather than autumn. (45)
ENHEDUANNA daughter of Sargon, is made chief priestess of Sumeria
by her father, but in spite of this appointment, women’s status starts to
decline. As high priestess of the moon god Nanna, Enheduanna composed a poem to
him. Akkadian Ishtar will eventually replace the Sumerian Inanna goddess of the
3 worlds, and of love and war. (9)
Mother Goddess Inanna
NARAM-SIN is the grandson of Sargon and called himself
‘King of the Four Quarters’ (of the universe). Chief of the Akkadian gods are
Shamash and Ishtar/Inanna. (97)
2300
BCE A new ‘Age of Aries’ begins
with the Equinox or Vernal Point entering the constellation of Aries. This is
known as the ‘Age of Initiates’. These
initiates will lead the masses in their spiritual quest. In Egypt, the new
‘World Age’ adopts the ‘Cult of the Ram’, symbolized in their god Amun. To the
Hebrews, this age will be marked by their celebration of the ‘Passover Lamb’. (109)
The story of Jason and
the Argonauts on their journey to find the ‘Golden Fleece’ of the ram, would
seem to be a memory of the beginning of this ‘Age of Aries’. (71)
Ram head sphinxes. Entrance to Karnack
complex Egypt.
This is also the beginning
of the ‘First Intermediate Period’ in ancient Egypt (c2300-2040 BCE) and covers
Dynasties VII to XI. The political centre is at Heryshef [Greek Heracleopolis].
This is known as an obscure period of social and political strife; probably
associated with the chaos that accompanies readjustment in social, political
and cultural upheaval as a new influx of knowledge, and evolutionary influences,
play out.
The
great prophet Abraham is believed to have travelled to Egypt in this ‘FirstIntermediate Period’, sometime during Dynasties VII-X; and to have left Egypt
before 2081 BCE (84) just before the new millennium.
