NationStates Jolt Archive

I will now be giving away more 2 billion pop nations.
These are:
_Uruk_
_Eridu_
_Lagash


These are based on former mesopotamian city states. To get them, you have to prove that you researched them and learned something about how their govt., economy, religious system, and general society worked.
To give everyone time, I will keep this open for a couple of days.

I have also decided to give the fully developed version of WestMoon away as well.
I will keep the original West Moon small population, but I am giving away the 2 billion pop WestMoon.
To get this one, you have to research the moon, and a way to colonize with today's technology.

I will add more nations to the list later on.

Well Eridu, is a mainly agricultural economy, which is held up by the waters, their patron god of which is Eriki. The city is 196 miles from Baghdad, I'll guess you know where that is, and the site is used a large amount in arceological studies etc. It has a large amount of temples and the earliest settlement is made of mud brick houses. The place has provided information on the early origions of the Sumerian civilization. It isn't really populated now but "It completely showed the sequence of the pre-literate Ubaid civilization".

Thanks to my source
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/middle_east/eridu.html

http://evertrobles.com/ezine2.sumer%20map.gif

Offtopic:
P.S. I find the motto quite interesting, is it a quote from someone?

Offtopic:
P.S. I find the motto quite interesting, is it a quote from someone?
I made it up.
What do you know about their political system?

There was also a nation called _Susa_. But it was dead from inactivity.
The password is Holyland. That's a freebie for whoever can get to it first.

I have also decided to give the fully developed version of WestMoon away as well.
I will keep the original West Moon small population, but I am giving away the 2 billion pop WestMoon.
To get this one, you have to research the moon, and a way to colonize with today's technology.
You mean like the space elevator? When they build that it's gonna be soo sweet...
I have to admit, I haven't done any research on the moon exactly, but I've read some pretty cool fiction about Mars.
I imagine colonization of the moon would be similar to how you would colonize mars, except I'd speculate the moon would be harder to terraform because it doesn't have the size, and thus the gravitational pull of Mars, but building bubbles is a good way to go about the initial colonization. Once the space elevator is built, it will be fairly easy to get equipment to the moon but a small number of people will already have to be living there to even start the moon part of the space elevator.
Let me do a bit of researching
I'll get back to you in a minute

Offtopic:
P.S. I find the motto quite interesting, is it a quote from someone?
I made it up.
What do you know about their political system?

A long line of Kings I believe. Hold on....

Edit: Yes some royal palaces have been excavated, so I'm assuming that is it.

I have also decided to give the fully developed version of WestMoon away as well.
I will keep the original West Moon small population, but I am giving away the 2 billion pop WestMoon.
To get this one, you have to research the moon, and a way to colonize with today's technology.
You mean like the space elevator? When they build that it's gonna be soo sweet...
I have to admit, I haven't done any research on the moon exactly, but I've read some pretty cool fiction about Mars.
I imagine colonization of the moon would be similar to how you would colonize mars, except I'd speculate the moon would be harder to terraform because it doesn't have the size, and thus the gravitational pull of Mars, but building bubbles is a good way to go about the initial colonization. Once the space elevator is built, it will be fairly easy to get equipment to the moon but a small number of people will already have to be living there to even start the moon part of the space elevator.
Let me do a bit of researching
I'll get back to you in a minute


:lol:

There was also a nation called _Susa_. But it was dead from inactivity.
The password is Holyland. That's a freebie for whoever can get to it first.

I took this nation and changed its password. If you dont mind i will keep it. Thank you.

I'm interested in Uruk, if it's still available.

Uruk was the home of Gilgamesh during his reign as king. Today, it is known as Tall al Warka, an Arabic name, and was referred to as Erech in the Old Testament. It was also known as Uru during the Sumerian period. It it located in what is now southern Iraq, roughly midway between Basra and Baghdad, and roughly 12 km from the Euphrates River. (As a side note, the modern name Iraq was derived from the name Uruk.) In Gilgamesh's time, the river flowed near the town. Uruk was one of the major city-states of Sumer -- in fact, many consider it to be the first true city in the world, holding roughly 50,000 people at its peak and spanning over 5.5 square km. It is one of the oldest known cities, and began as two small settlements -- Kullaba and Eanna -- which later merged as each grew in size. King Enmerkar is often credited with the official founding of Uruk, and it is known that he moved the seat of government there from E-ana. It began to decline in importance after 2000 BC, when it suffered greatly under a series of wars and Persian conquerors (who shifted the center of trade inland, strengthening their land routes with Iran and China), thereafter becomming a smaller community of lesser importance.

It is said that Gilgamesh was responsible for the construction of the massive walls that surrounded the city, as well as the famous temple to Eanna-Ishtar, known as the white temple and considered a fine example of an early form of ziggurat. Uruk played an important role in the political foundation of the area, exercising hegemony in Babylonia long before Sargon (2334-2279BC), credited as the first person in history to form a multi-ethnic empire. It later played a prominent role in the struggle between Babylonia and the Elamite Empire.

Uruk served as the economical, political, and religious center of the region, and many temples have been excavated in its remains. The two main temple precincts were devoted to Anu, the sky god, and Inanna (aka Ishtar), the goddess of love. The temples are believed by many to have also been the seat of government for the region as well. The region was a center of agricultural development, and often had a massive surplus of crops -- so much so that specialized agricultural products could often be grown, quite a luxury for the time. This surplus of food, along with a mass production of pottery items, also allowed Uruk to be a center of trade. It was one of the main Mesopotamian cities in the areas sea trade, with access to the Euphrates giving it trade lines to the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and India.

Uruk was the first site where art was used to illustrate the role of a ruler and his importance to the city, further reinforcing his position as king. Art and architecture were resplendant in this city, often used to convey a strong sense of power and wealth. Many pictographic texts have been recovered from the site (some at least 5000 years old!), but most are in a language that cannot be completely or accurately translated at present -- this is considered some of the earliest forms of written cuneiform communication. The religious and political bureacracy of the city is often credited with the fast development of cuneiform.

Some images of the modern excavations can be seen here:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/URUK/uruk1_1.html
http://www.umma.lsa.umich.edu/OldWorld/Deh_Luran/Deh_Luran.html
http://cdli.ucla.edu/edu/lateuruk_intro.html

(There's also a nice map on the first site that shows the sites of many ancient cities, including those you're giving away :))

Ack! Sorry, stupid forum kept giving me an invalid session error so I tried again :/

I would like Kish if it is still available.

My research:
Kish, a city in the north of Babylonia near modern Tel el-ehemir, is the first postdiluvial city mentioned in the Sumerian King Lists. After the great Flood, 'kingdom lowered again from heaven'. The first kings had Semitic names. It is an age in which 'the four quarters of the world' lived in harmony.

From excavations it appears indeed that Kish has been an important city. It is the center of the first Sumerian dynasty, called Early Dynastic-I. The findings point to a specialization in labor and a high quality of craftsmanship, which must have been the result of a long tradition. Beautiful golden daggers and other artifacts are found in tombs. In Kish archeologist found the first monumental building which must have been a palace, rather than a temple. The king is in power, and not the the high priest.

The importance attached to Kish is also shown in the title 'King of Kish', in Akkadian sar-kis-sati. This title was used by kings even many centuries later to show prestige, as if it meant 'king of the whole world'. The title was even used when another king was actually the king of Kish and also long after Kish had ceased to be the seat of kingship. It is possible that the title was more than just prestige. Kish is situated in the north of the plains of southern Mesopotamia on a critical spot at the Euphrates river. A breakthrough of the river to the lowlands in the direction south west (to modern An Najat, where the Euphrates flows nowadays) would mean that a whole system of irrigation channels would be without water supply. The control of the Euphrates in the neighborhood of Kish thus was of vital importance to the rulers in the south of Mesopotamia. The title 'king of Kish' could have indicated the ruler that exercised this control.

I couldn't find much on the religion of Kish, but I would assume that they were involved in the Sumerian cults of Asherah and Baal, among other various smaller ones.

Duplicate posts removed.

hehe! I hate when that happens too, Aegeae.

I'll throw my hat in for Lagash... Lagash (aka Sirpurla or Telloh) was a rival city of Kish circa 3100BC, located naer the Tigris River (near modern Shatra in Iraq). At that time it was ruled by Enkhegal. Kish conquored Lagash under the reign of Meselim, but it became an independent dynasty after his death under Ur-Nina. His grandson, Eannatum, led Lagash to conquor all of the cities of Babylonia, including their rival Kish, and the Elam, who were known to raid Babylonia at times. This was the peak of Lagash's power. The remains of Lagash, modern-day Telloh, is where an important cuneiform tablet was discovered, noting a series of sweeping reforms by Urukagina, the last Early Dynastic king of Lagash @2400BC, directed against a corrupt and overpowerful palace bureacracy. In 2180, the Guti, a people from the northeast, siezed control of most of Mesopotamia. During this period, Lagash was the only city to remain indepdent, presumably because they paid off the Guti chieftans. The Sumerians regained control a short time later.

After this the city was ruled by Gudea, a ruler that strived for peace and piety. By all accounts, he was a good and strong leader, and the city flourished under his rule, as well as under his son, Ur-Ningirsu. He inaugurated a renaissance of Sumer, marked by literary blossoming and by and art of the court which exalted an ideal of serene piety and humanism. Gudea never assumed a royal title, such as king or prince. Much of Gudea's efforts focused on rebuilding and restoring the city's many Sumerian temples. Lagash was a poly-theistic city, with many temples built to many different gods and goddesses, each with a different purpose or role in society. Gudea's personal god was Ningizzida, who represented natural vitality. After his death, his son, Ur-Ningirsu, incorporated many influences from the surrounding areas of Mesopotamia into Lagash culture. He was known as a scribe and a scholar. Metalworking became popular, and Egyptian influences could be seen in sculptures. Lagash developed a calendar of twelve lunar months, a system of weights and measures used in trade, a banking and accounting system, and was a center of art, literature, and military and political power. The rising power of the neighboring Babylonians led to centuries of power struggles, ending when the Assyrians conquored many of Lagash's neigbors in 1400-1000BC. Now a weak city, it collapsed.

A modern remain of Laegash can be found in the origins of the double-headed eagle symbol used in Freemasonry. It was originally a royal crest used in Lagash, it then passed from the Sumerians to Akkad, then to the Hittites, then to the sultans of Seljukian, and from there the knights of the Crusades introduced it to emperors of the east and west, including the Hapsburgs and Romanoffs. Roman Consul Marius adopted the eagle in 102BC as a symbol of Imperial Rome, and as Rome grew the double eagle came to be used -- one head facing east, one facing west. The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire continued its usage, as did the reich of Germany. Excavations of Lagash show the city emblem of the city was a lion headed eagle sinking its claws into the bodies of two lions standing back to back.

bump mmm bump

Any word yet on who gets the countries?

Updated cause Kelanthia gets _kish.

Well Eridu, is a mainly agricultural economy, which is held up by the waters, their patron god of which is Eriki. The city is 196 miles from Baghdad, I'll guess you know where that is, and the site is used a large amount in arceological studies etc. It has a large amount of temples and the earliest settlement is made of mud brick houses. The place has provided information on the early origions of the Sumerian civilization. It isn't really populated now but "It completely showed the sequence of the pre-literate Ubaid civilization".

Thanks to my source
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/middle_east/eridu.html

http://evertrobles.com/ezine2.sumer%20map.gif
Enerica gets _Eridu_

I have also decided to give the fully developed version of WestMoon away as well.
I will keep the original West Moon small population, but I am giving away the 2 billion pop WestMoon.
To get this one, you have to research the moon, and a way to colonize with today's technology.
You mean like the space elevator? When they build that it's gonna be soo sweet...
I have to admit, I haven't done any research on the moon exactly, but I've read some pretty cool fiction about Mars.
I imagine colonization of the moon would be similar to how you would colonize mars, except I'd speculate the moon would be harder to terraform because it doesn't have the size, and thus the gravitational pull of Mars, but building bubbles is a good way to go about the initial colonization. Once the space elevator is built, it will be fairly easy to get equipment to the moon but a small number of people will already have to be living there to even start the moon part of the space elevator.
Let me do a bit of researching
I'll get back to you in a minute
visit Nasa's site.

I'm interested in Uruk, if it's still available.

Uruk was the home of Gilgamesh during his reign as king. Today, it is known as Tall al Warka, an Arabic name, and was referred to as Erech in the Old Testament. It was also known as Uru during the Sumerian period. It it located in what is now southern Iraq, roughly midway between Basra and Baghdad, and roughly 12 km from the Euphrates River. (As a side note, the modern name Iraq was derived from the name Uruk.) In Gilgamesh's time, the river flowed near the town. Uruk was one of the major city-states of Sumer -- in fact, many consider it to be the first true city in the world, holding roughly 50,000 people at its peak and spanning over 5.5 square km. It is one of the oldest known cities, and began as two small settlements -- Kullaba and Eanna -- which later merged as each grew in size. King Enmerkar is often credited with the official founding of Uruk, and it is known that he moved the seat of government there from E-ana. It began to decline in importance after 2000 BC, when it suffered greatly under a series of wars and Persian conquerors (who shifted the center of trade inland, strengthening their land routes with Iran and China), thereafter becomming a smaller community of lesser importance.

It is said that Gilgamesh was responsible for the construction of the massive walls that surrounded the city, as well as the famous temple to Eanna-Ishtar, known as the white temple and considered a fine example of an early form of ziggurat. Uruk played an important role in the political foundation of the area, exercising hegemony in Babylonia long before Sargon (2334-2279BC), credited as the first person in history to form a multi-ethnic empire. It later played a prominent role in the struggle between Babylonia and the Elamite Empire.

Uruk served as the economical, political, and religious center of the region, and many temples have been excavated in its remains. The two main temple precincts were devoted to Anu, the sky god, and Inanna (aka Ishtar), the goddess of love. The temples are believed by many to have also been the seat of government for the region as well. The region was a center of agricultural development, and often had a massive surplus of crops -- so much so that specialized agricultural products could often be grown, quite a luxury for the time. This surplus of food, along with a mass production of pottery items, also allowed Uruk to be a center of trade. It was one of the main Mesopotamian cities in the areas sea trade, with access to the Euphrates giving it trade lines to the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and India.

Uruk was the first site where art was used to illustrate the role of a ruler and his importance to the city, further reinforcing his position as king. Art and architecture were resplendant in this city, often used to convey a strong sense of power and wealth. Many pictographic texts have been recovered from the site (some at least 5000 years old!), but most are in a language that cannot be completely or accurately translated at present -- this is considered some of the earliest forms of written cuneiform communication. The religious and political bureacracy of the city is often credited with the fast development of cuneiform.

Some images of the modern excavations can be seen here:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/URUK/uruk1_1.html
http://www.umma.lsa.umich.edu/OldWorld/Deh_Luran/Deh_Luran.html
http://cdli.ucla.edu/edu/lateuruk_intro.html

(There's also a nice map on the first site that shows the sites of many ancient cities, including those you're giving away :))
And you get _uruk_

hehe! I hate when that happens too, Aegeae.

I'll throw my hat in for Lagash... Lagash (aka Sirpurla or Telloh) was a rival city of Kish circa 3100BC, located naer the Tigris River (near modern Shatra in Iraq). At that time it was ruled by Enkhegal. Kish conquored Lagash under the reign of Meselim, but it became an independent dynasty after his death under Ur-Nina. His grandson, Eannatum, led Lagash to conquor all of the cities of Babylonia, including their rival Kish, and the Elam, who were known to raid Babylonia at times. This was the peak of Lagash's power. The remains of Lagash, modern-day Telloh, is where an important cuneiform tablet was discovered, noting a series of sweeping reforms by Urukagina, the last Early Dynastic king of Lagash @2400BC, directed against a corrupt and overpowerful palace bureacracy. In 2180, the Guti, a people from the northeast, siezed control of most of Mesopotamia. During this period, Lagash was the only city to remain indepdent, presumably because they paid off the Guti chieftans. The Sumerians regained control a short time later.

After this the city was ruled by Gudea, a ruler that strived for peace and piety. By all accounts, he was a good and strong leader, and the city flourished under his rule, as well as under his son, Ur-Ningirsu. He inaugurated a renaissance of Sumer, marked by literary blossoming and by and art of the court which exalted an ideal of serene piety and humanism. Gudea never assumed a royal title, such as king or prince. Much of Gudea's efforts focused on rebuilding and restoring the city's many Sumerian temples. Lagash was a poly-theistic city, with many temples built to many different gods and goddesses, each with a different purpose or role in society. Gudea's personal god was Ningizzida, who represented natural vitality. After his death, his son, Ur-Ningirsu, incorporated many influences from the surrounding areas of Mesopotamia into Lagash culture. He was known as a scribe and a scholar. Metalworking became popular, and Egyptian influences could be seen in sculptures. Lagash developed a calendar of twelve lunar months, a system of weights and measures used in trade, a banking and accounting system, and was a center of art, literature, and military and political power. The rising power of the neighboring Babylonians led to centuries of power struggles, ending when the Assyrians conquored many of Lagash's neigbors in 1400-1000BC. Now a weak city, it collapsed.

A modern remain of Laegash can be found in the origins of the double-headed eagle symbol used in Freemasonry. It was originally a royal crest used in Lagash, it then passed from the Sumerians to Akkad, then to the Hittites, then to the sultans of Seljukian, and from there the knights of the Crusades introduced it to emperors of the east and west, including the Hapsburgs and Romanoffs. Roman Consul Marius adopted the eagle in 102BC as a symbol of Imperial Rome, and as Rome grew the double eagle came to be used -- one head facing east, one facing west. The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire continued its usage, as did the reich of Germany. Excavations of Lagash show the city emblem of the city was a lion headed eagle sinking its claws into the bodies of two lions standing back to back.
You're getting Lagash.

K, I just tgd you all the passwords. TG me when you get your nations.

-The City-State had theearliest known written appearance of the word "liberty" (ama-gi), written on a clay tablet around2 ,300 B.C.
-Closely associated with first cuniform writing.
-Used a unique cuniform style to detail land placement and ownership.
-Inspiration for Torrens System.
-Amoung the earliest copies of the Epic of Creation.
-Ningursu's temple in Lagash, restored and rebuilt by Gudea.
-Preist-kings ruled the city-state.
-Creation orientated people.