Transcript 1. - SchoolRack

Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global
History with Sources
Second Edition
Chapter 2
First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal
Societies (3500 B.C.E.–500 B.C.E.)
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. Something New: The Emergence of
Civilizations
A. Introducing the First Civilizations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sumer, Egypt, & Nubia, 3500–3000 B.C.E.
Norte Chico, 3000–1800 B.C.E.
Indus Valley and Oxus, 2200 B.C.E–1700 B.C.E.
Xia, Shang, & Zhou, 2200–771 B.C.E.
Olmec, 9000 B.C.E.
I. Something New: The Emergence of
Civilizations
B. The Question of Origins
1. Roots in Agricultural Revolution
2. Growing population density, competition, and subordination
I. Something New: The Emergence of
Civilizations
C. An Urban Revolution
1. Uruk, Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, & Teotihuacán
2. Centers of politics, administration, culture, and economics
3. Impersonal and unequal
II. The Erosion of Equality
A. Hierarchies of Class
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Inequalities of wealth, status, & power
Impact of urbanization
Elite privileges
Wealth producers
Slaves
B. Hierarchies of Gender
1. Sex versus gender
2. Patriarchal ideal versus reality
3. Farm labor, warfare, and property
II. The Erosion of Equality
C. Patriarchy in Practice
1. Law and female sexuality
2. Respectable and non-respectable women
3. Decline of the goddesses
III. The Rise of the State
A. Coercion and Consent
1. The need for organization
2. Monopoly on the legitimate use of violence
3. Religion and political power
B. Writing and Accounting
1. Literacy and social status
2. Tracking wealth and property
III. The Rise of the State
C. The Grandeur of Kings
1. Lifestyles of the rich and famous
2. Death styles of the elite
IV. Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt
A. Environment and Culture
1. Different rivers
2. Pessimistic Mesopotamia & Optimistic Egypt
3. Soil health
B. Cities and States
1. Violent and unstable city-states
2. Security, stability, and political longevity
IV. Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt
C. Interaction and Exchange
1. Long-distance trade
2. Cultural influences
3. Migrations, rivalries, and diplomacy
IV. Some Necessities for Civilization to Develop
A. Agriculture
1. Crops and number of domesticated animals vary
B. Specialized Workers…made possible by agricultural
surplus…more efficient…passed to future generations
C. Social stratification
D. Complex Institutions: State government
1. Leadership, bureaucracy, power
E. Advanced cities…necessary for trade
F. Trade with other regions…upper classes
wanted goods
G. Some type of writing or record keeping
V. Civilization in Mesopotamia
--Land between the rivers
--River flooding was unpredictable
--Geography made civilizations
difficult to defend…was very flat
A. The Sumerians – c. 4,000 B.C.E.
1. Tigris and Euphrates plain
2. Irrigation  food surplus
3. Ruled by City-States…Ex: Ur
a. Were Theocracies…kings and
priests ruled together
b. Social classes:
Kings & Nobility,
Priests & Scribes,
commoners, & slaves
Modern day Iraq
The Fertile Crescent
4. Sumerian Culture and Religion
a. First writing: Cuneiform
--Scribes wrote with a stylus
on clay tablets
--Kept records of business
transactions and taxes
b. Epic of Gilgamesh – Oldest story
--What is an Epic?
c. Numeric system based on 60 – Time,
geometry
d. Religion
--Patron gods for each city
--What role did religion play in the
people’s lives?
Sumerian Scribes
Ziggurats were the focal point of the city-state
Writing was reserved for the wealthy classes
B. Later Mesopotamian Cultures
--Don’t last long…why?
1. The Babylonian Empire -- c. 1800 B.C.E.,
unites Mesopotamia by conquering
the Akkadians
a. Code of Hammurabi -- Legal Code
--282 laws based on an “eye for
an eye” and social class
2. Assyrians…Conquered Babylon
a. Highly organized military
b. Ruthless and hated
c. Largest of the
Mesopotamian empires
3. Hittites -- c. 1600 B.C.E.
a. semi-control of metals including
iron due to ownership of mineral
deposits
b. Allowed them to be very powerful
militarily
4. Other Mediterranean Civilizations
a. Hebrews/Jews…developed first monotheistic religion
--Yahweh (God); Torah – Sacred Jewish writings
b. Minoans…found on the
island of Crete, c. 1600
B.C.E.
--Trade with Egypt,
Mesopotamia
The Eastern Mediterranean, c. 1100 B.C.E.
c. Phoenicians -- c. 2000 B.C.E., Lebanese coast
--Not unified, several city-states
--They were maritime traders
--Alphabet, spread to other civilizations
--Trade colonization: Atlantic, Iberia, Britain
--Carthage is most famous colony…it
later becomes an independent
power after the fall of Phoenicia
--Phoenicia is conquered by the Assyrians
Phoenicians
trading with
Egyptians
VI. Ancient Egypt…“The Gift of the Nile”
A. Growth of Egypt
1. Farming by 5000 B.C.E.
a. Nile floods were very regular as
opposed to the floods of
Mesopotamia
2. Geography – natural barriers
a. Sahara, Mediterranean & Red seas
3. Civilization emerges by 3200 B.C.E.
a. No city-states…Egypt was unified quickly.
4. Government
a. Pharaoh, intermediary between gods and men
--Were considered gods
b. Bureaucracy…Very structured…included the
upper classes and the priests.
B. Three Main Periods of Egyptian History
1. Old Kingdom (3,100 – 2,200 B.C.E.)
a. Upper & Lower Egypt Unified
b. Most large building projects
happened during this time
c. Invasions and internal strife caused problems
d. Some trade; little slavery
c. End of Old Kingdom
--A period of instability followed
--Noble families battled for the crown
The pyramids at Giza
Who built the Pyramids?
2. Middle Kingdom
a. Pharaoh more accessible than old kingdom
--Derived support from middle class
b. Extensive trade links with Mesopotamia, Mediterranean,
and Africa
c. Fell to Hyksos – bronze and chariots
3. New Kingdom – c. 1570 B.C.E.
a. Greater international contact
--Good or bad?
b. Strong military allowed growth
c. Slave population grew
d. Famous pharaohs:
-- Hatshepsut (female),
Akhenaton, Tutankhamen,
Ramses II (The Great)
Forensic experts have created the
real Tutankhamen
C. Egyptian Ideas and Art
1. Hieroglyphic alphabet
a. Pictograms
b. Papyrus
c. Monopolized by priesthood
2. Medicine
3. Religion
a. Isis, Osiris, Horus
b. Cycle of life
VII. Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared
A. Differences
1. Political form – Which is better…why?
a. Mesopotamian city-states
b. Egyptian centralized government
2. Epic tradition
a. Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia…None in Egypt
3. Building
a. Monumental, use of stone in Egypt
b. Use of brick, not so immense in Mesopotamia
4. Trade, outside contact
a. Greater in Mesopotamia than in Egypt…why?
5. Greater technological advances in Mesopotamia…why?
6. Women had higher status in Egypt…even some queens.
B. Similarities
1. Stratified society
--Priests or Nobles
--Freemen (Spec. Skills)
--Peasants
--Slaves
2. Astronomy and
mathematics important
C. Women
1. Patriarchal societies
a. Males dominate political life
b. Female roles less important…especially as agriculture
grows
VIII. Other African Civilizations
A. Kingdom of Kush
1. Southern Nile, Egyptian border
2. Independent existence
by 1000 B.C.E.
3. Acted as intermediary between
Egypt and Africa in trade
a. Possessed natural resources
such as gold
b. Slave trade
4. Conquered Egypt by 730 B.C.E.
a. By this time Egypt was in a
serious decline
5. Defeated by Axum (Ethiopia)
around 300 C.E.
V. Reflections: “Civilization”: What’s in a
Word?
A. Debate on terminology
B. Ambiguous views of civilization
C. Are civilizations solid?