Heres the One of the Oldest Peace Treaties from the Ancient World

Here's the One of the Oldest Peace Treaties from the Ancient World columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/faculty/Bahrani.htmlLets head back to the Early Dynastic Period in ancient Mesopotamia: more specifically, the southern part, a.k.a. Sumer. Around 2500 B.C., the predominant polities, resulting from consolidation of power in small areas, were city-states; they began compete for domination of local resources and influence. Two in particular, Umma and Lagash, battled particularly hard, resulting in the Stele of the Vultures, one of the oldest historiographical monuments. Pretty epic.   There are seven remaining fragments of the Stele of Vultures, now in the Louvre. Found on what was once the town of Girsu, part of Lagashs sphere of influence, it was erected by one Eannatum, ruler of Lagash, around 2460 B.C. The stele depicts Eannatums version of his conflict with the neighboring city-state of Umma over a tract of land bordering both territories. The inscription on the stele is quite long, longer than most votive plaques, indicating that this is a new type of monument. One of the first monuments we know to be intended for public view, its also one the first example historians have of ancient rules of war. The stele has two sides: one historical and one mythological. The first features several different registers, most of which depict the military campaign waged by Lagash against Umma. A chronological narrative is divided into an easily readable tripartite story. One register depicts Eannatum, clad in a fleecy garment worn by kings (here, we see the development of the image of the warrior-king), and marches with tons of fierce soldiers with pikes. Lagash tramples its enemies into the ground. The second register shows a victory parade, soldiers marching behind their king, the next register brings to life funerary proceedings, in which the men of Lagash bury their massacred enemies. On the reverse of the stele, we get the mythological story of how the divine forces intervened on behalf of Lagash. Its in direct contrast to the historiographic narrative featured on the previous side of the stele. According to Eannatum, he was the son of his citys patron god, Ningirsu. Its on behalf of Ningursu that Eannatum claims he went to war; after all, the city of Lagash and its boundaries belonged to the god himself, and it was sacrilege to transgress upon his land. Vultures swarm around the bodies, giving the stele its name. Depicted most prominently on this side is Ningursu, holding the enemy soldiers of Umma in a giant net, the ​shushgal  net.  In one hand he holds the net; in the other is a mace, with which he smacks nude soldiers  in  the net. On top of the net sits a symbol of Ningursu, the mythical  imdugud  bird. Made up of an eagle body and a lion head, the hybrid creature personified the power of rainstorms. As Ningursu, shown as bigger than any human, single-handedly dominates these soldiers, we see the god as a wielder of power on his own; the king served the god of his city (and his putative father), not the other way around. So this imagery is great, but what about the actual treaty between the kings of Lagash and Umma? Placed on the boundary between the two cities, this monument involved oaths to half a dozen really important Sumerian deities, who were always invoked in treaties as witnesses. The men of Umma were supposed to swear by Enlil, another important god, that theyd respect the boundary and the stele. In exchange for Umma giving up its claim to Lagashs land, though, Eannatum promised to rent another tract of territory to Umma. Later, though, it was revealed that Umma never paid rent, so the cities went to war again. Eannatums successor, Enmetena, had to push his enemies back again. In addition to creating a new treaty, Eannatum showed himself a restorer of old monuments, reaffirming himself as a builder-king in the vein of his predecessors, as he rebuilt a stele put up there by King Mesalim of Kish years earlier.   Sources include Zainab Bahranis classes at Columbia University.

Conjugating Détruire Will Not Destroy Your French

Conjugating Dà ©truire Will Not Destroy Your French When you wish to speak about something being destroyed in French, use the verb  dà ©truire. Literally meaning to destroy, this verb must be conjugated to take on the past tense as well as the present destroying or the future will destroy. This is one of the challenging French verb conjugations, so a quick lesson is necessary. Conjugating the French Verb  Dà ©truire Dà ©truire  is an  irregular verb, meaning it does not follow one of the more common verb conjugation patterns. However, all  French verbs ending in  -uire  are conjugated in the same manner. You can apply the same endings you learn here to similar words like  conduire  (to drive) or construire  (to build). To conjugate the verb, simply pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense of your sentence. For instance, I destroy is je dà ©truis and we will destroy is nous dà ©truirons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je dtruis dtruirai dtruisais tu dtruis dtruiras dtruisais il dtruit dtruira dtruisait nous dtruisons dtruirons dtruisions vous dtruisez dtruirez dtruisiez ils dtruisent dtruiront dtruisiez The Present Participle of  Dà ©truire The  present participle  of dà ©truire  is  dà ©truisant.  It may be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun as well s a verb. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © The past tense can be expressed with the imperfect or the  passà © composà ©. To form the latter, begin by conjugating the  auxiliary verb  avoir, then add the  past participle  dà ©truit. For instance, I destroyed is jai dà ©truit and we destroyed is nous avons dà ©truit. More Simple  Dà ©truire  Conjugations to Learn Among the simplest and most common conjugations of  dà ©truire  are the verb moods that express a degree of uncertainty to the action of destroying. The subjunctive is a perfect example. When that action is dependent on something else happening, the conditional verb mood can be used instead. You will encounter the passà © simple most often in literature and other formal French writing. The ability to at least recognize it  as well as the imperfect subjunctive will aid in your reading comprehension. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je dtruise dtruirais dtruisis dtruisisse tu dtruises dtruirais dtruisis dtruisisses il dtruise dtruirait dtruisit dtruist nous dtruisions dtruirions dtruismes dtruisissions vous dtruisiez dtruiriez dtruistes dtruisissiez ils dtruisent dtruiraient dtruisirent dtruisissent Short and often assertive commands and requests require the imperative form. When using this, the subject pronoun can be dropped, leaving you with dà ©truis rather than tu dà ©truis. Imperative (tu) dtruis (nous) dtruisons (vous) dtruisez