February 3, 2003
CRADLES ARE FOR BABIES:
The cradle of civilization: As the nation comes ever closer to war with Iraq, Americans should take a closer look at our prospective foe ... (Kit Miniclier, January 26, 2003, Denver Post)While President Bush describes Iraq as the "axis of evil" and the lair of a defiant Saddam Hussein, young American military cadets are learning that it is also the cradle of Western civilization. [...]"It is an ironic twist of fate to stand on the remains of a city in southern Iraq where the civilized world began and realize it could all end right there as well," cautions historian Bradley Parker. [...]
Among the firsts:
Cultivation of grains (8000 B.C.)
Writing (cuneiform) (3200 B.C.)
Wheeled vehicles (3200-3100 B.C.)
Mathematics
Astronomy
Calendars
Dividing the day into 24 hours
Religion
Irrigation techniques, canals, dams
Domestication of livestock
Plows
Metal working
Beer
Architecture
City building
Urban plumbing
Legal system (The Code of Hammarubi)
Preservation of literature ("The Epic of Gilgamesh")
Medical writings (2100 B.C.)
Cobblestone streets
Laws regarding liability of surgeons (1700 B.C.)
Measuring and surveying instruments
Bleaching and dying of fabrics
Pottery
This is probably a well enough intentioned essay but Mr. Parker's statement that this could be the end of the civilized world is not serious and what's the first thing you notice about that list? (Besides beer...) Posted by Orrin Judd at February 3, 2003 7:02 PM
Gosh, could it be that a certain cradle of civilization has been resting on its laurels for about, oh, 3000 years. And no I don't count the Caliphate because the Arab Empire borrowed Greek and Roman ideas for the most part.
Posted by: Dreadnought at February 3, 2003 8:22 PMTort reform, baby -- if it's good enough for Gilgamesh it's good enough for New Jersey and West Virginny!
Posted by: Charlie Murtaugh at February 3, 2003 9:03 PMCharles:
Maybe they were still ahead of us...
3,500 years without progress!
Posted by: TJ Jackson at February 3, 2003 9:51 PMThe Code of Hammurabi is greatly overrated. Its second paragraph is, "If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death." This may be superior to our current tort system, but not by much.
Posted by: pj at February 3, 2003 10:06 PMIraq seems to rest its claim as the inventor of religion on the fact that God told Abraham to get out of it. Seems a rather weak claim.
Posted by: pj at February 3, 2003 10:14 PMpj:
That's tort reform we could use. Throw all the plaintiffs lawyers in the Yarlung Tsangpo:
http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/507
Well, I am not noting what Orrin noted right after beer.
What was it?
The late Samuel Noah Kramer wrote a book about the
things the Sumerians invented. A comparison of the
first and second editions is fascinating, because he
removed (without acknowledging that he had done it)
quite a few claims.
If I had been making the list, I'd have put soap pretty
close to the top of it.
Yesterday, in a feature on how difficult urban warfare
would be in Iraq, the NPR correspondent said that in
real cities (as opposed to our Army's training city in
Kuwait), soldiers would be faced with threats coming
from sewers. Luckily, I wasn't driving, but I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair.
Charlie, were you thinking of pork reform?
Posted by: Genecis at February 4, 2003 1:59 PM