Transcript Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations

Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations
8000 BCE
to 600 CE
Terms of Times
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B.C. : Before Christ
B.C.E. : Before Common Era (non-Christian)
A.D. : Anno Domini (After the year of our Lord)
C.E. : Common Era
Paleolithic Age
The “Old Stone Age”
- ICE AGE!
- Crude stone tools and weapons
- Nomads
“Cave Man”
We move to about 8,000 BC
when village life began in the
New Stone Age. . . Also known as
the
Neolithic Revolution.
NEW STONE AGE
A TOTALLY new way of living:
From
Hunter-Gatherers
to Agriculture
INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE
• Mesopotamians first to engage in agriculture
– Around 8000 BC
– Cereal crops
• Wheat
• Barley
– Herd animals
• Sheep
• Goats
• Woman probably first farmer
– Grain-collecting then noticed that stored wild grain
could be grown on purpose
Agriculture changed
how people lived
• Agriculture (Farming)
• Growth of Cities
• Division of Labor
(Specialization)
• Trade
• Writing and Mathematics
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-actualization
(self-knowledge,
fulfillment of
personal potential)
Esteem
(autonomy, achievement, recognition)
Social
(belonging, affection)
Safety
(security, protection from harm)
Physiological
(Hunger, thirst, shelter)
What does it mean to be civilized?
• Characteristics of a Civilization:
»Advanced Cities
»Complex institutions
• Government, Religion, Economy
»Specialized Occupations
»Record Keeping / Writing
»Advanced Technology
Cities
• Rivers provided:
– water supply
– transportation
– food supply from animals
Euphrates River
• Rivers provided challenges:
– flooding
– irrigation
• Required organized, mass labor (corvee)
– Construction and repair of canals and irrigation ditches
Institutions: Government
• Central authority needed to control:
– Labor
– Storage of grain
– Dispersion of foodstuffs among population
• Early governments first led by priests
• Later controlled by warrior chiefs
or kings
Institutions: Government
• Governments became more complex as new
responsibilities arose such as:
– tax collecting
– law making
– handling public works projects
– organizing systems of defense
Complex Religions
• Generally polytheistic
– Many gods represented natural forces
– Others controlled human activities
– Priests and worshippers tried to gain gods’ favor
through complex rituals and sacrifice
• Directed by unquestionable ruling class of
priests
• King regarded as a god or as a god’s agent
Complex Religions
• Temples often built to honor specific gods and
goddesses
Egyptian temple
Mayan temple
Mesopotamian ziggurat
OCCUPATIONS
• Needs of agriculture
and stability
– Clay pottery
– Woven baskets
– Woolen and linen clothing
– Sophisticated tools and
weapons
– Plow
Job Specialization or Occupations
• Artisans specialized in various jobs, such as:
– Bricklayers
– Blacksmiths
• Production of luxuries (Things You Don’t Really
Need)
• Metal technology
Writing
• Probably first used by priests
• Earliest writing used pictograms
Chinese calligraphy
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Mesopotamian cuneiform
Writing
• Symbols later added to represent words and
then sounds
• Scribes were specially trained to read, write, and
record information
– Religion
– Trade
– Government
• Learning became
cumulative
Social Classes
• People ranked according to their profession
Egyptian
social
structure
Chief
Priests
Nobles
Wealthy merchants
Artisans
Peasants/farmers
Slaves
Social Classes
• Priestly class is part of the beginning of social
differentiation
• Class structure based on specialization of labor
• Generated class differences
– Priests (“We talk to god, you don’t.)
– Aristocrats/warriors (“We have weapons, you don’t.”)
– Common people (“I guess we work...?”)
– Slaves (“Uh, oh!!!”)
BRONZE AGE
• Around 3000 BC in Sumer
• Use bronze (not stone or copper)
• Gives people advantages in warfare
Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent
• Sumer – The
Earliest of the River
Valley Civilizations
• Sumerian
Civilization grew up
along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in
what is now Kuwait.
Sumer: City of Ur
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On the banks of the Euphrates River
Religious: Polytheistic
Agricultural Economy
Irrigation System
Bartered for goods
Sumerians invented:
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Brick technology
Wheel
Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees
Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in
a minute
12 month lunar calendar
arch
ramp
Ziggurat (pyramid shape)
Ziggurat – “Mountain of God”
Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.
Sumerian Writing: Cuneiform
Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed
stylus into a clay tablet.