Power of Monuments

Monuments were a huge part of warfare in Ancient Mesopotamia as they were used to start wars as well as to express defeat. Baharani states that monuments were an important factor that caused war, similar to a war for land and money. Wars could be started by the capture of monuments as well as the destruction of them. Also, a city could show that they had conquered another by publically displaying on of the defeated city’s monuments. In a modern view, it seems elementary that wars were started for what seems to be minute issue. However, if one examines the reasoning from an Ancient Mesopotamian view, one can see why this was of such great importance.

In a time such as that, in which structures built were not just for practicality but to show off and preserve the culture in the time period, monuments were a sign of pride. Therefore, when armies destroyed a city’s records, for example, this preservation was then gone forever. This also hindered the defeated city to maybe perform its duties efficiently, without records. In such a way, with the removal of monuments, it was like a mark of shame to the defeated city.

When statues of gods were stolen, a greater consequence occurs. This showed actual defeat and not just the beginning of war. When going to back to Johannes, he states that the statues of gods were believed to have the spirits of them. Therefore, losing the statue of god was blasphemy, and resulted in the people being deported and used for the conquering city. In this way, the monuments of the gods played an important role in warfare and dominance.

Monuments showed culture of a city and provided pride to the citizens. They were of great importance as they could start and end wars.