Transcript The Wonders of World Civilization I MESOPOTAMIA Birthplace of

Chapter 2
Early Societies in Southwest
Asia and the Indo-European
Migrations
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1
Civilization Defined







Urban
Political/military system
Social stratification
Economic specialization
Religion
Communications
“Higher culture”
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2
Features of a civilization
Cities withOrganized government
Complex religion
Job specialization
Social classes
Arts and architecture
Public works
Writing (people know how to read
and write)
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
3
Mesopotamia

“Between the Rivers”




Tigris and Euphrates
Modern-day Iraq
Cultural continuum of
“fertile crescent”
Sumerians the dominant
people
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
4
The Wealth of the Rivers


Nutrient-rich silt
Key: irrigation





Sumer begins small-scale irrigation 6000 B.C.E.
By 5000 B.C.E., complex irrigation networks


Necessity of coordinated efforts
Promoted development of local governments
City-states
Population reaches 100,000 by 3000 B.C.E.
Attracts Semitic migrants, influences culture
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
5
Sumerian City-States



Cities appear 4000 B.C.E.
Dominate region from 3200 to 2350 B.C.E.
Ziggurat home of the god




Uruk
Irrigation systems
Defense from nomadic marauders
Absolute monarchies
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
6
The Ziggurat of Ur
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
7
Political Decline of Sumer

Semitic peoples from northern Mesopotamia overshadow
Sumer

Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315 B.C.E.)



Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 B.C.E.)



Destroyed Sumerian city-states one by one, created empire based
in Akkad
Empire unable to maintain chronic rebellions
Improved taxation, legislation
Used local governors to maintain control of city-states
Babylonian empire later destroyed by Hittites from
Anatolia, ca. 1595 B.C.E.
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
8
Legal System


Code of Hammurabi
Established high standards of behavior and stern
punishment for violators


Lex talionis – “law of retaliation”
Social status and punishment
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
9
Later Mesopotamian Empires


Weakening of central rule an invitation to foreign
invaders
Assyrians use new iron weaponry


Beginning 1300 B.C.E., by eighth to seventh centuries
B.C.E. control Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, most of
Egypt
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (r. 605-562) takes
advantage of internal dissent to create Chaldean
(New Babylonian) empire

Famously luxurious capital
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
10
Mesopotamian Empires, 1800-600 B.C.E.
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
11
Technological Development in
Mesopotamia

Bronze (copper with tin), ca. 4000 B.C.E.


Iron, ca. 1000 B.C.E.



Military, agricultural applications
Cheaper than bronze
Wheel, boats, ca. 3500 B.C.E.
Shipbuilding increases trade networks
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
12
Social Classes

Ruling classes based often on military prowess


Religious classes



Role: intervention with gods to ensure good fortune for
community
Considerable landholdings, other economic activities
Free commoners



Perceived as offspring of gods
Peasant cultivators
Some urban professionals
Slaves

Prisoners of war, convicted criminals, debtors
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
13
Patriarchal Society



Men as landowners, relationship to status
Patriarchy: “rule of the father”

Right to sell wives, children

Marriage arrangements for children
Double standard of sexual morality



Women drowned for adultery
Relaxed sexual mores for men
Could legally engage with relations with prostitutes and
slaves
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
14
Yet some possibilities of social mobility for
women –
Court advisers, temple priestesses, economic
activity -Scribes, midwives, shop keepers, brewers,
bakers, tavern keepers and textile makers
Women examined to ensure virgins
Man strictly wanted to control women’s sexual
behaviors
By 1500 BCE veils started to be worn
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
15
Development of Writing



Sumerians experiment with pictographs
2900 B.C.E. Sumerians create writing system
Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped”


Preservation of documents on clay
Declines from 400 B.C.E. with spread of Greek
alphabetic script
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
16
Uses for Writing



Trade
Astronomy
Mathematics


Agricultural applications
Calculation of time


12-month year
24-hour day, 60-minute hour
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17
Mesopotamian Literature




Epic of Gilgamesh, compiled after 2000 B.C.E.
Heroic saga
Search for meaning, especially the afterlife
This-worldly emphasis
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
18
The Early Hebrews



According to Hebrew scripture, Abraham
migrated to northern Mesopotamia ca. 1850 B.C.E.
Parallels between early biblical texts, code of
Hammurabi
Scriptures state Hebrews under Moses go to
Palestine, ca. 1300 B.C.E.


On-going conflict with indigenous populations
King David (1000-970 B.C.E.) and Solomon
(970-930 B.C.E.)
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
19
Moses and Monotheism


Hebrews shared polytheistic beliefs of other
Mesopotamian civilizations
Moses introduced monotheism, belief in single
god



Denied existence of competing parallel deities
Personal god: reward and punishment for conformity
with revealed law
The Torah (“doctrine or teaching”)
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
20
Foreign Conquests of Israel

Assyrian conquest, 722 B.C.E.




Conquered the northern kingdom
Deported many inhabitants to other regions
Many exiles assimilated and lost their identity
Babylonian conquest, 586 B.C.E.



Destroyed Jerusalem
Forced many into exile
Israelites maintained their religious identity and many
returned to Judea
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
21
Israel and Phoenicia, 1500-600 B.C.E.
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
22
The Phoenicians


City-states along Mediterranean coast after 3000
B.C.E.
Extensive maritime trade


Dominated Mediterranean trade, 1200-800 B.C.E.
Development of alphabet symbols


Simpler alternative to cuneiform
Spread of literacy
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
23
Indo-European Migrations


Common roots of many languages of Europe,
southwest Asia, India
Implies influence of a single Indo-European
people


Probable original homeland: modern-day Ukraine and
Russia, 4500-2500 B.C.E.
Domestication of horses, use of Sumerian
weaponry allowed them to spread widely
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
24
Indo-European Migrations 3000-1000 B.C.E.
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
25
Implications of Indo-European
Migration


Hittites migrate to central Anatolia, ca. 1900
B.C.E., later dominate Babylonia
Influence on trade



Horses, chariots with spoked wheels
Iron
Migrations to western China, Greece, Italy also
significant
©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
26