Week 2: Monday, January 23
For today's class, we will finish our discussion of Clausewitz along with Murray and McKnox's, "Thinking about Revolutions in Warfare," so don't forget about those things just yet. Afterwards, we will take a look at the origins of warfare. Although I have not assigned any food for thought questions for today (yes, enjoy this rare moment), I do expect you to do the reading.
Below, I have included images from some of the earliest depictions of Near Eastern Warfare.
The Standard of Ur (ca. 2600 BC)
Your text discusses the "Standard of Ur" and provides a small, grainy, black-and-white picture of it, but I thought that a nice, large, striking color image would allow you to catch many interesting details. For obvious reasons, the first image is referred to as the "peace side" while the second is considered the "war side." What do these images tell us about ancient Ur? For more information and images assoicated with the Standard of Ur, check out the following site at the British Museum.
Stele of Vultures (ca. 2500)
This relief appeared on a stele (or column) erected by the Sumerian city of Lagash to commemorate its victory over Umma in the region of Guendena in 2525 BC. The first image shows the entire fragment while the second shows a detail.
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.