Early SocietiesClass 11 History NCERT Solutions
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Q5Answer in a short essay
Of the new institutions that came into being once city life had begun, which would have depended on the initiative of the king?
Solution
Once city life began in Mesopotamia, several new institutions emerged that depended heavily on the initiative of the king. Kings, who often rose from the ranks of successful war leaders, played a central role in organising and directing the complex activities of the urban community.
One of the most important institutions driven by kings was organised long-distance trade. The epic of Enmerkar of Uruk illustrates how the king initiated trade to procure precious materials like lapis lazuli and metals for beautifying the city's temple. This required organising expeditions, sending messengers, and managing complex exchanges, which fell under the king's authority.
Another key area was the organisation of compulsory labour for large public works. Kings commanded the population to build and maintain temples, construct defensive city walls, and dig irrigation canals. The text estimates that building a single temple required 1,500 men working for five years, a feat of mobilisation that could only be accomplished through royal command.
Furthermore, the king was central to the administration of resources. As temples became hubs for production and redistribution, the king organised the efficient distribution of temple wealth and kept accounts of goods. This also extended to establishing and enforcing laws, as kings were responsible for narrating their deeds and announcing changes to the customary laws of the land, a process that required the use of writing.
Finally, the king was responsible for the military and defence of the city, organising armies to protect the community from raids and to wage war, which was essential for security and prosperity.
Q6Answer in a short essay
What do ancient stories tell us about the civilisation of Mesopotamia?
Solution
Ancient stories from Mesopotamia, such as their epics and myths, provide profound insights into the values, achievements, and worldview of their civilisation.
Firstly, they reveal the immense pride Mesopotamians took in their cities. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a powerful example. After his failed quest for immortality, the hero Gilgamesh returns to his city, Uruk. He finds consolation not in the promise of an afterlife or in his descendants, but in the magnificent, well-built city wall that his people had created. This shows that the collective, man-made achievement of the city was seen as a lasting legacy and a primary source of cultural identity and pride.
Secondly, the stories highlight the centrality of kingship and organised trade. The poem about Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta portrays the king of Uruk as the prime mover behind the organisation of the first trade. It also links the invention of writing directly to the king's need to send a clear message over a long distance. These narratives suggest that Mesopotamians saw kingship, trade, and writing as interconnected pillars of their advanced urban culture.
Finally, the myths reflect on history and human existence. The Mesopotamian flood story, featuring a hero named Ziusudra or Utnapishtim, is strikingly similar to the biblical story of Noah. Such stories were ways of preserving memories about major historical changes and reflecting on the continuity of life in the face of disaster. They show a society that was deeply engaged with its past and sought to understand its place in the world through grand narratives of destruction and survival.
Q1Answer in brief
Why do we say that it was not natural fertility and high levels of food production that were the causes of early urbanisation?
Solution
While natural fertility and high food production were necessary preconditions for urbanisation, they were not the sole causes. The development of cities was a more complex process driven by economic and social factors that went beyond agriculture.
Key reasons include:
- Economic Specialisation: Urban economies comprised not just food production but also trade, manufacturing, and services. This led to a division of labour, where people specialised in crafts like stone carving or tool making, rather than being self-sufficient.
- Need for Social Organisation: Cities required organised trade and storage systems to bring in food from villages and raw materials like metal, stone, and wood from distant lands. This coordination of different activities needed a governing structure.
- Scarcity of Resources: Southern Mesopotamia, despite its fertile land, lacked mineral resources like stones and metals, and had poor quality wood. This scarcity drove the development of long-distance trade to procure these essential materials, which was a central function of early urban centres.
- Efficient Transport: The development of water transport along rivers and canals was crucial for the movement of goods, making the urban economy viable.
Therefore, it was the growth of trade, division of labour, and the need for a social organisation to manage these activities that were the primary drivers of early urbanisation, not just agricultural surplus alone.
Q2Answer in brief
Which of the following were necessary conditions and which the causes, of early urbanisation, and which would you say were the outcome of the growth of cities:
(a)
highly productive agriculture, (b) water transport, (c) the lack of metal and stone, (d) the division of labour, (e) the use of seals, (f) the military power of kings that made labour compulsory?
Solution
Based on the development of Mesopotamian cities, the items can be categorised as follows:
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Necessary Conditions: These are the foundational elements that must be in place for cities to emerge.
- (a) Highly productive agriculture: A surplus of food was essential to support a large population of non-food producers like craftspeople, priests, and administrators living in cities.
- (b) Water transport: As the cheapest mode of transportation, it was vital for moving grain and other bulk goods, making a complex urban economy possible.
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Causes: These are the factors that actively spurred the growth of cities.
- (c) The lack of metal and stone: This scarcity in southern Mesopotamia directly caused the development of organised, long-distance trade to acquire essential resources, which was a key function of urban centres.
- (f) The military power of kings that made labour compulsory: War leaders organised communities for defence and warfare. They commanded compulsory labour for large-scale projects like building temples and city walls, which helped centralise society and foster urban development.
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Outcome of the growth of cities: These are the features that developed as a result of urbanisation.
- (d) The division of labour: The text states this is a "mark of urban life." As populations clustered and economies diversified, people began to specialise in different trades and services, depending on each other.
- (e) The use of seals: The use of cylinder seals to mark ownership and authenticate transactions became widespread with the increase in trade and administrative record-keeping that characterised city life. The seal was a mark of a city dweller's role in public life.
Q3Answer in brief
Why were mobile animal herders not necessarily a threat to town life?
Solution
Mobile animal herders were not necessarily a threat to town life in Mesopotamia because they often had a symbiotic and integrated relationship with settled agricultural communities. While conflicts could occur, there were several forms of beneficial interaction:
- Economic Exchange: Herders needed goods they could not produce, such as grain and metal tools. They exchanged these for their own products like young animals, cheese, leather, and meat, which were valuable to the town dwellers.
- Agricultural Benefits: The manure produced by the herders' penned flocks was a useful fertiliser for farmers, enhancing agricultural productivity.
- Source of Labour: Nomadic groups often served settled communities as harvest labourers or hired soldiers, filling important economic and military roles.
- Integration and Intermixture: Over time, many pastoralists settled down in agricultural villages and towns, becoming prosperous members of the community. Some groups, like the Amorites who ruled Mari, even gained political power. Mesopotamian society was open to these intermixtures, which contributed to the vitality of its civilisation.
Q4Answer in brief
Why would the early temple have been much like a house?
Solution
The early temple in Mesopotamia would have been much like a house because it was conceived as the literal residence of a god. The text explains that "the temple was the house of a god." The people believed that deities like the Moon God of Ur or Inanna, the Goddess of Love and War, resided in these structures.
Therefore, the initial design of a temple was not of a grand, abstract public monument, but of a home fit for a deity. The earliest known temples were small shrines made of unbaked bricks, similar in scale and material to ordinary houses of the time. Just as a human family lived in a house, the god was thought to live in the temple, and people brought offerings of grain, curd, and fish to him or her there, much like bringing food into a home.