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Mesopotamia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Ancient History,
Classical History and Mythology

     Ancient Mesopotamia
   Euphrates – Tigris
   Assyriology
       Cities / Empires
   Sumer: Uruk – Ur – Eridu
   Kish – Lagash – Nippur
   Akkadian Empire: Akkad
   Babylon – Isin – Susa
   Assyria: Assur – Nineveh
   Dur-Sharrukin – Nimrud
   Babylonia – Chaldea
   Elam – Amorites
   Hurrians – Mitanni
   Kassites – Urartu
          Chronology
   Kings of Sumer
   Kings of Assyria
   Kings of Babylon
           Language
   Cuneiform script
   Sumerian – Akkadian
   Elamite – Hurrian
          Mythology
   Enûma Elish
   Gilgamesh – Marduk

   Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern
   Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. The toponym comes from
   the Greek words μέσος "between" and ποταμός "river", referring to the
   basins of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers and the area in between.
   Comparably, the Arabic term is بين نهرين‎ Bayn Nahrain "between two
   rivers". The geographical area watered by these two rivers is often
   referred to as the "Cradle of Civilization", since it was here that the
   first literate societies developed in the late 4th millennium BC.
   Mesopotamia was coined in the Hellenistic period without any definite
   boundaries, to refer to a broad geographical area and probably used by
   the Seleucids. The area became a short-lived province of the Roman
   Empire at the time of Trajan, with the name Provincia Mesopotamia.
   Scholars have suggested that the Akkadian term biritum/birit narim
   corresponded to a similar geographical concept and coined at the time
   of the Aramaicization of the region. It is however widely accepted that
   early Mesopotamian societies simply referred to the entire alluvium as
   kalam in Sumerian (lit. "land"). More recently terms like "Greater
   Mesopotamia" or "Syro-Mesopotamia" have been adopted to refer to wider
   geographies corresponding to the Near East or Middle East. The later
   euphemisms are Euro-centric terms attributed to the region in the midst
   of various 19th century Western encroachments.

History

   Overview map of ancient Mesopotamia
   Enlarge
   Overview map of ancient Mesopotamia

   Mesopotamian history extends from the emergence of urban socities in
   Southern Iraq in the 4th millennium BC to the arrival of Alexander the
   Great in the 4th century BC (which is seen as the hallmark of the
   Hellenization of the Near East, therefore supposedly marking the "end"
   of Mesopotamia). A cultural continuity and spatial homogeneity for this
   entire historical geography("the Great Tradition") is popularly
   assumed, though the assumption is problematic. Mesopotamia housed some
   of the world's most ancient states with highly developed social
   complexity. The region was as one of the famous four riverine
   civilizations where writing was first invented, along with the Nile
   valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian Subcontinent and Yellow
   River valley in China.

   Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur,
   Nineveh, and Babylon as well as major territorial states such as the
   Akkadian kingdom, Third Dynasty of Ur, and Assyrian empire. Some of the
   important historical Mesopotamian leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur),
   Sargon (who established the Akkadian Kingdom), Hammurabi (who
   established the Old Babylonian state), Tiglath-Pileser I (who
   established the Assyrian Empire), and Tigranes the Great (who
   established the Armenian Empire).

   "Ancient Mesopotamia" includes the period from the late 4th millennium
   BC until the rise of the Achaemenids in the 6th century BC. This long
   period may be divided as follows:
     * Hassuna, Samarra and Halaf "cultures" (Late Neolithic)
     * Ubaid period (ca 5900 BC - 4000 BC)
     * Uruk period (ca 4000 BC - 3100 BC)
     * Jemdet Nasr Period (ca 3100 BC - 2900 BC)
     * Early Dynastic city states (ca 2900-2350 BC)
     * Akkadian Empire (ca 2350 BC - 2193 BC).
     * Third dynasty of Ur ("Sumerian Renaissance" or "Neo-Sumerian
       Period") (ca 2119 BC - 2204 BC)
     * Early Assyrian kingdom 20th to 18th c.
     * First Babylonian Dynasty 18th to 17th c.
     * Kassite dynasty, Middle Assyrian period 16th to 12th c.
     * Dark Age 12th to 10th c.
     * Neo-Assyrian Empire 10th to 7th c.
     * Neo-Babylonian Empire 7th to 6th c.

   Dates are approximate for the second and third millennia BC; compare
   Chronology of the Ancient Near East.

Language and writing

   The earliest written language in Mesopotamia was Sumerian, a language
   isolate. Scholars agree that other languages were also spoken in early
   Mesopotamia along with Sumerian. Later a Semitic language, Akkadian,
   came to be the dominant language, although Sumerian was retained for
   administrative, religious, literary, and scientific purposes. Different
   varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of the Neo-Babalonian
   period. Then Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia,
   became the official language of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Akkadian
   fell into disuse, but both it and Sumerian were still used in temples
   for some centuries.

   Mesopotamians invented cuneiform. Cuneiform was the first form of
   writing. It was a collection of symbols and wiggly lines. Most people
   couldn't read or write so they had to hire scribes.

Science and technology

   Mesopotamian people developed many technologies, among them
   metalworking, glassmaking, textile weaving, food control, and water
   storage and irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze age
   people in the world. Early on they used copper, bronze and gold, and
   later they used iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms
   of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were
   used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords,
   daggers, spears, and maces.

Mathematics

   The Mesopotamians used a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system. This is
   the source of the current 60-minute hour and 24-hour day, as well as
   the 360 degree circle. The Sumerian calendar also measured weeks of
   seven days each. This mathematical knowledge was used in mapmaking.

Astronomy

   The Babylonian astronomers were very interested in studying the stars
   and sky, and most could already predict eclipses and solstices. People
   thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these
   related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12
   month calender based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year
   into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astrology probably
   date from this time.

Religion

   Mesopotamian religion is the oldest religion recorded. Mesopotamians
   believed that the world was a flat disc, surrounded by a huge, holed
   space, and above that, heaven. They also believed that water was
   everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born
   from this enormous sea. Mesopotamian religion was highly polytheistic,
   that is people believed in many gods.

   Although the beliefs described above were held in common among
   Mesopotamians, there were also regional variations. The Sumerian word
   for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess Ki.
   Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most
   powerful god. He was the chief god of the Pantheon, as the Greeks had
   Zeus and the Romans had Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed philosophical
   questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How did we get here?.
   They attributed answers to these questions to explanations provided by
   their gods.

   If someone was sick they prayed to the gods so that person would
   recover. As mentioned above, the Mesopotamian doctors were not
   medically advanced, so instead people asked help from the gods.

Primary gods and goddesses

     * An was the Sumerian god of the sky. He was married to Ki, but in
       some other Mesopotamian religions he has a wife called Uraš.
     * Marduk was the principal god of Babylon. The people glorified him,
       so he would allow Babylon to rise into a great empire from a small
       state.
     * Gula,* Utu (also called Šamaš or Sahamash) was the sun god.
     * Ishtar was the goddess of love and of sex.
     * Enlil was the most powerful god in Mesopotamian religion. His wife
       was Ninlil, and his children were Inanna, Iškur, Nanna-Suen,
       Nergal, Ninurta, Pabilsag, Nushu, Utu, Uraš Zababa and Ennugi.
     * Nabu was the Mesopotamian god of writing. He was very wise, and was
       praised for his writing ability. In some places he was believed to
       be in control of heaven and earth.
     * Iškur (or Adad) was the god of storms.
     * Ninurta was the Sumerian god of war. He was also the god of heroes.
     * Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and war, was also the wife of
       Ninurta.
     * Pazuzu, also known as Zu, was an evil god, who stole the tablets of
       Enlil’s destiny, and is killed because of this. He also brought
       diseases which had no known cure.

Burials

   Archeologists found hundreds of graves in some parts of Mesopotamia.
   These graves tell us many things about Mesopotamian burial habits. In
   the city of Ur, most people were buried in family graves under their
   houses. Children were put in big jars and were taken to the family
   chapel. Other people were just buried into common city graveyards. A
   few people were wrapped in mats and carpets. In most graves some
   belongings of the people were with them, and there were 17 graves with
   very precious objects in them so it is assumed that these were royal
   graves.

Culture

Music and songs

   Some were written for the gods but many were written to describe
   important events. Although music and songs amused kings and rulers,
   they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked to sing and dance
   in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to children who
   passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through
   many generations until someone wrote them down. These songs provided a
   means of passing on through the centuries highly important information
   about historical events that were eventually passed on to us.

   The Oud (Arabic:العود) is a small, stringed musical instrument. The
   oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the Uruk period in
   Southern Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal
   currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique
   Collon. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon
   a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times
   throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient Egypt from the
   18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck varieties.

   The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is
   derived from the Arabic word العود al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably
   the name of the tree from which the oud was made. (The Arabic name,
   with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)

Games

   Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature
   frequently in art, and polo was probably popular, although with men
   sitting on the shoulders of other men rather than on horses. . They
   also had the first board game simalar to one we have now.

Family life

   Infant mortality was between 75 to 95 percent. As for schooling, only
   royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals such as scribes,
   physicians, temple administrators, and so on, went to school. Most boys
   were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a
   trade. Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping
   and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Unusual for that
   time in history, women had rights. They could own property and, if they
   had good reason, get a divorce.

Agriculture

   Food supply in Mesopotamia was quite rich due to the location of the
   two rivers from which its name is derived, Tigris and Euphrates.
   Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for crops,
   portions of land further from the water were dry and largely
   uninhabitable. This is why the development of irrigation was very
   important for settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian innovations
   include the control of water by dams and the use of aqueducts. Early
   settlers of fertile land in Mesopotamia used wooden plows to soften the
   soil before planting crops such as barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and
   apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people to make
   beer and wine. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on
   farmers; crops were often ruined so backup sources of food such as cows
   and lambs were also kept. As a result of the skill involved in farming
   in the Mesopotamian, farmers did not depend on slaves to complete farm
   work for them, with some exceptions. There were too many risks involved
   to make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of the slave).

Government

Kings

   The Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens were descended from
   the city gods, but, unlike the ancient Egyptians, they never believed
   their kings were actually gods. Most kings named themselves “king of
   the universe” or “great king”. Another common name was “ shepherd”, as
   kings had to look after their people.

   Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king in Babylonia. He was thought
   to be the son of the god Nabu. He married the daughter of Cyaxeres, so
   the Median and the Babylonian dynasties had a familial connection.
   Nebuchadnezzar’s name means: Nabo, protect the crown! Belshedezzar was
   the last king of Babylonia. He was the son of Nabonidus whose wife was
   Nictoris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar.

   The first king of the first dynasty of Ur (around 2560) was Mesanepada.
   He made Ur Sumer’s main city.

   First Dynasty of Ur c. 2563–2387 B.C.
     * 2563–2524: Mesannepadda
     * 2523–2484: A'annepadda
     * 2483–2448: Meskiagnunna
     * 2447–2423: Elulu
     * 2422–2387: Balulu

   Dynasty of Lagash c. 2494–2342 B.C.
     * 2494–2465: Ur-Nanshe
     * 2464–2455: Akurgal
     * 2454–2425: Ennatum
     * 2424–2405: Enannatum I
     * 2402–2375: Entemena
     * 2374–2365: Enannatum II
     * 2364–2359: Enentarzi
     * 2358–2352: Lugal-anda
     * 2351–2342: Uru-inim-gina

   Dynasty of Uruk c. 2340-2316 B.C.
     * 2340–2316: Lugal-zaggesi

   Dynasty of Akkad c. 2334-2154 B.C.
     * 2334–2279: Sargon
     * 2278–2270: Rimush

Power

   When Assyria grew into an empire, it was divided into smaller parts,
   called provinces. Each of these were named after their main cities,
   like Nineveh, Samaria, Damascus and Arpad. They all had their own
   governor who had to make sure everyone paid their taxes; he had to call
   up soldiers to war, and supply workers when a temple was built. He was
   also responsible for the laws being enforced. In this way it was easier
   to keep control of an empire like Assyria. Although Babylon was quite a
   small state in the Sumerian, it grew tremendously throughout the time
   of Hammurabi's rule. He was known as “the law maker”, and soon Babylon
   became one of the main cities in Mesopotamia. It was later called
   Babylonia, which meant "the gateway of the gods." It also became one of
   history's greatest centers of learning.

Warfare

   As city-states began to grow, their spheres of influence overlapped,
   creating arguments between other city-states, especially over land and
   canals. These arguments were recorded in tablets several hundreds of
   years before any major war - the first recording of a war occurred
   around 3200BC but was not common until about 2500BC. At this point
   warfare was incorporated into the Mesopotamian political system, where
   a neutral city may act as an arbitrator for the two rival cities. This
   helped to form unions between cities, leading to regional states. When
   empires were created, they went to war more with foreign countries.
   King Sargon, for example conquered all the cities of Sumer, some cities
   in Mari, and then went to war with northern Syria. Many Babylonian
   palace walls were decorated with the pictures of the successful fights
   and the enemy, whether desperately escaping, or hiding amongst reeds. A
   king in Sumer, Gilgamesh, was thought two-thirds god and only one third
   human. There were legendary stories and poems about him, which were
   passed on for many generations, because he had many adventures that
   were believed very important, and won many wars and battles.

Laws

   King Hammurabi, as mentioned above, was famous for his set of laws, The
   Code of Hammurabi (created ca. 1780 BC), which is one of the earliest
   sets of laws found and one of the best preserved examples of this type
   of document from ancient Mesopotamia. For more information, see
   Hammurabi and Code of Hammurabi. There was 282 brutal laws in
   Hammurabi's code. They were so brutal so the people would follow the
   law.

Architecture

   The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based available
   archaeological evidence, pictorial representation of buildings and
   texts on building practices. Scholarly literature usually concentrates
   on temples, palaces, city walls and gates and other monumental
   buildings, but occasionally one finds works on residential architecture
   as well. Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the study of
   urban form in early Mesopotamian cities. Most notably known
   architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes
   at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early
   Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and
   Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur (Sanctuary of
   Enlil) and Ur (Sanctuary of Nanna), Middle Bronze Age remains at
   Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late
   Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy (Hattusha), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron
   age palaces and temples at Assyrian ( Kalhu/Nimrud, Khorsabad,
   Nineveh), Babylonian ( Babylon), Urartian ( Tushpa/Van Kalesi,
   Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam) and Neo-Hittite sites (
   Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe). Houses are mostly known from Old
   Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the textual sources on
   building construction and associated rituals, Gudea's cylinders from
   the late 3rd millennium are notable, as well as the Assyrian and
   Babylonian royal inscriptions from the Iron Age.

Houses

   The materials used to build a Mesopotamian house were the same as those
   used today: mud brick, mud plaster and wooden doors, which were all
   naturally available round the city, although wood could not be
   naturally made very well during the particular time period described.
   Most houses had a square centre room with other rooms attached to it,
   but a great variation in the size and materials used to build the
   houses suggest they were built by the inhabitants themselves . The
   smallest rooms may not have coincided with the poorest people; in fact
   it could be that the poorest people built houses out of perishable
   materials such as reeds on the outside of the city, but there is very
   little direct evidence for this.

The Palace

   The palaces of the early Mesopotamian elites were large scale
   complexes, and were often lavishly decorated. Earliest examples are
   known from the Diyala River valley sites such as Khafajah and Tell
   Asmar. These third millennium BC palaces functioned as a large scale
   socio-economic institutions, therefore, along with residential and
   private function, they housed craftsmen workshops, food storehouses,
   ceremonial courtyards, and often associated with shrines. For instance,
   the so-called "giparu" (or Gig-Par-Ku in Sumerian) at Ur where the Moon
   god Nanna's priestesses resided was a major complex with multiple
   courtyards, a number of sanctuaries, burial chambers for dead
   priestesses, a ceremonial banquet hall, etc. A similarly complex
   example of a Mesopotamian palace was excavated at Mari in Syria, dating
   from the Old Babylonian period.

   Assyrian palaces of the Iron Age, especially at Kalhu/ Nimrud, Dur
   Sharrukin/ Khorsabad and Ninuwa/ Nineveh, have become famous due to the
   pictorial and textual narrative programs on their walls, all carved on
   stone slabs known as orthostats. These pictorial programs either
   incorporated cultic scenes or the narrative accounts of the kings'
   military and civic accomplishments. Gates and important passageways
   were flanked with massive stone sculpture of apotropaic mythological
   figures. The architectural arrangement of these Iron age palaces were
   also organized around large and small courtyards. Usually the king's
   throneroom opened to a massive ceremonial courtyard where important
   state councils met, state ceremonies performed.

   Massive amounts of ivory furniture pieces were found in many Assyrian
   palaces pointing out an intense trade relationship with North Syrian
   Neo-Hittite states at the time. There is also good evidence that bronze
   repousse bands decorated the wooden gates.

Ziggurats

   Ziggurats (Akkadian ziqquratu from the verb zaqāru) were massive
   stepped cult platforms found in certain Mesopotamian sanctuaries. The
   idea seems to have originated in early Mesopotamian temples which were
   built successively, one building over another on the same site over
   centuries, creating a massive mound that raised the new temples over
   the rest of the city. A good example of such structure was the temple
   dedicated to Ea at Eridu (Tell Abu Shahrain) excavated by Fuad Safar
   and Seton Lloyd in 1940s, or the "White" Temple dedicated to Anu at
   Uruk in the Late Uruk period. Ur-Nammu's ziggurat, built at the height
   the Third Dynasty of Ur, at the site of Ur (Tell al Mugayyar) in the
   sanctuary of the Moon God Nanna, is also believed to be encasing
   earlier temples of the Early Dynastic Period. Ur-Nammu's ziggurat is
   considered one of the earliest of all planned ziggurats. After that
   time Kassites and Elamites of the Late Bronze Age, and Assyrians and
   Babylonians of the Iron age continued to build artificially erected
   ziggurats. Examples of such structures were found in Dur Kurigalzu
   (Aqar Quf), Dur-Untash (Tschoga Zanbil), Kalhu (Nimrud), Dur-Sharrukin
   (Khorsabad) and Babylon among others.

   It has been suggested that ziggurats were built to resemble mountains,
   but there is little textual or archaeological evidence to support that
   hypothesis.

   Ur-Nammu's ziggurat at Ur was designed as a three-stage construction,
   today only two of these survive. This entire mudbrick core structure
   was originally given a facing of baked brick envelope set in bitumen,
   circa 2.5 m on the first lowest stage, and 1.15 m on the second. Each
   of these baked bricks were stamped with the name of the king. The
   sloping walls of the stages were buttressed. The access to the top was
   by means of a triple monumental staircase, which all converges at a
   portal that opened on a landing between the first and second stages.
   The height of the first stage was about 11 m while the second stage
   rose some 5.7 m. Usually a third stage is reconstructed by the
   excavator of the ziqqurat ( Leonard Woolley), and crowned by a temple.
   At the Tschoga Zanbil ziggurat archaeologists have found massive reed
   ropes that ran across the core of the ziggurat structure and tied
   together the mudbrick mass.

Economy

   There was a large difference in money and wealth between rich and
   ordinary people. Ordinary people were highly dependent on their crops,
   because they had very little money. Rich people had many slaves and
   usually lots of money.

   1 talent =
     * 60 mina
     * 3,600 shekel
     * 30 kg of silver

   1 mina =
     * 60 shekel
     * 500 grams of silver

   1 shekel =
     * 8.333 grams of silver
     * 2 divisions
     * 8 slices
     * 12 grains
     * 24 carats
     * 24 chickpeas
     * 180 barleycorns

   Silver coins were not pure silver. About 87% of a coin was silver.

   A lot of the coins were also copper

More recent history

   A Mesopotamian pendant
   Enlarge
   A Mesopotamian pendant
     * The region then came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid
       Empire, apparently as two satrapies, Babylonia in the south and
       Athura (from Assyria) in the north. During this time, 500-330 BC,
       Persia, an Indo-European language-speaking nation, became the
       pre-eminent power of the world.
     * After the conquest of all Persia by the Hellenizing Macedonian king
       Alexander the Great, the satrapies were part of the major diadochy,
       the Seleucid Empire, until just before its elimination by Greater
       Armenia in 42 BC.
     * Most of Mesopotamia then became part of the Parthian Empire of
       Persia, which lasted until 224 AD. Ctesiphon was made the capital
       of the Parthian Empire. However, part in the northwest became
       Roman. Under the Tetrarchy this part was divided into two
       provinces: Osrhoene (around Edessa, roughly the modern-day border
       between Turkey and Syria) and Mesopotamia (a bit more northeast).
     * During the time of the Persian Empire of Sassanids, the much larger
       share of Mesopotamia was called Del-e Iranshahr meaning "Iran's
       Heart" and the metropol Ctesiphon (facing ancient Seleukia across
       the Tigris), the capital of Persia, was situated in Mesopotamia.
     * In the early 7th century AD, the caliphs of the Arab Empire came to
       power in Damascus and annexed all of the Sassanid Empire.
       Consequently Mesopotamia was reunited under the Arabs, but governed
       as two provinces: northern, with Mosul (also known as Nineveh) as
       its capital, and southern, with Baghdad as its capital. Later
       Baghdad also became the caliphal capital. Baghdad was the seat of
       the Arab Empire until 1258.
     * From 1508-1534 AD, the Persian Safavids took control of
       Mesopotamia.
     * In 1535 AD, Ottoman Turks took over Baghdad. During the reign of
       the Ottoman Empire, Mesopotamia was ruled as three separate
       vilayats, or territories: Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra, which included
       the territory that is now present-day Kuwait.
     * At the end of World War I Mesopotamia was briefly occupied by the
       British, who set up the government of what is now present day Syria
       and Iraq under one Hashemite ruler.
     * In 1920 the nation-state of Iraq was formed by the United Kingdom
       following the disillusion of the Ottoman Empire, with its
       present-day borders and including the territory that is now known
       as Kuwait. Kuwait, a British protectorate, which had originally
       been a part of the Basra province under Ottoman rule, was granted
       independence from Britain in 1961.
     * In the early 1990s coalition forces launched an attack on Iraq
       known as Operation Desert Storm, in response to President Saddam
       Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

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