Transcript HIS101Lsn3Mesopotami..

Part 1: Mesopotamia
Part 2: Egypt
Theme: Comparing civilizations
Lsn 3
Part 1: Mesopotamia
Lsn 3
Mesopotamia
• Greek for “land
between the rivers”
– Tigris and Euphrates
– Modern-day Iraq
Empires and Dominance
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Sumer 3200-2350 B.C.
Babylonian 2350-1600 B.C.
Sargon of Akkad 2334-2315 B.C.
Hittite 1450-1200 B.C.
Assyrian 1000-612 B.C.
New Babylonian 605-550 B.C.
Characteristics of a Civilization
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Intensive agricultural techniques
Specialization of labor
Cities
A social hierarchy
Organized religion and education
Development of complex forms of economic
exchange
• Development of new technologies
• Advanced development of the arts. (This can
include writing.)
Agriculture
Sumerian sledge
Agriculture
• Tigris and Euphrates
brought large
volumes of water to
an otherwise dry
region
• As early as 6000
B.C., people began
small scale irrigation
• Artificial irrigation
increased food
supplies which in turn
supported a rapidly
increasing population
Fertile Crescent
Irrigation
• Tigris and
Euphrates
irrigation allowed
Mesopotamians
to grow barley,
wheat, and peas
Map of fields and
irrigation canals near
Nippur, Mesopotamia
from cuneiform tablet, ca
1300 B.C.
Agriculture’s Impact
• Abundant harvests supported increased
populations
• Semetic people (those who spoke
Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and
Phoenician) began to migrate to Sumer
Cities
Ur and Babylon
Cities
• Beginning around 4000 B.C., as populations
increased in southern Mesopotamia, the
Sumerians built the world’s first cities
Cities
• Unlike earlier villages, these cities were centers
of political and military authority, and their
jurisdiction extended into the surrounding
regions
– Economic centers where buyers and sellers
congregated
– Cultural centers where priests maintained organized
religion and scribes developed traditions of writing
and formal education
• Mesopotamians had numerous, denselypopulated city-states
Ur
• Built around 2100
B.C.
– Sometimes called
the world’s first city
• Sumerian capital of
Mesopotamia
• Believed to have
been surrounded
by a moat
• Home of Abraham
(Genesis Chapter
11)
Babylon
• Made a lavish
showplace by
Nebuchadnezzar
• More than 2,100
acres
• 1,729 temples
• Massive defensive
walls
• Hanging Gardens
• Fell to Cyrus the
Great in 539 B.C.
Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy
• Kings and nobles originally won their
positions by community election based on
valor and success as warriors
– Soon royal status become hereditary
– Nobles were mostly members of the royal
family
• Closely allied with the ruling elites were
priests and priestesses, many who were
younger relatives of the rulers
– Lived in temple communities
Social Hierarchy
• Free commoners worked mostly as
peasant cultivators in the countryside on
land owned by their families, although
some worked in cities
• Dependent clients usually worked on
agricultural estates owned by others
– Both free commoners and dependent clients
paid taxes to support the ruling classes,
military, and temple communities
Social Hierarchy
• Slaves came from:
– Prisoners of war
– Convicted criminals
– Heavily indebted individuals who sold themselves into
slavery to satisfy their obligations
• Patriarchal society
– Authority over public and private affairs vested in
adult men
– Law recognized men as heads of households and
had disproportionate punishments for men and
women
Specialization
Mesopotamian potter’s
wheel from Uruk
Engraving
Sumerian earrings
Specialization
• Abundant food supplies and cities as
population centers allowed some people to
perform tasks not associated with
agriculture
• People expanded into the areas of pottery,
textile manufacture, woodworking, leather
production, brick making, stonecutting,
and masonry
Religion and Education
Religion and Education
• Polytheism
– The ancient Mesopotamians worshipped hundreds of
gods, each with his/her own name and sphere of
activity.
– Every city had its own patron god or goddess, and there
were also deities connected with various professions
such as scribes and builders.
– Individual people also had their own personal god who
protected them and interceded for them with the great
deities.
Enki, god of water
Religion and Education
• Kings often portrayed as offspring of gods or
gods themselves
• Priests intervened with the gods to ensure good
fortune for their communities
– In exchange, priests and priestesses lived in temple
communities and received offerings of food, drink,
and clothing from the city inhabitants
– Temples also generated income and work
• Epic of Gilgamesh teaches there is no afterlife
– Death is dark, dank, and inert
Ziggurats
• Ziggurats were huge
stepped structures
with a temple on top
– Built in honor of the
city’s god (other gods
might have smaller
temples)
– Intended to reach
nearer to the heavens
Tower of Babel
Code of Hammurabi
• Hammurabi (King of
Babylonian Empire from 1792
to 1750 B.C.) maintains control
of empire by a code of law
• Claims the gods had chosen
him “to promote the welfare of
the people,… to cause justice
to prevail in the land, to
destroy the wicked and evil,
[so] that the strong might not
oppress the weak, to rise like
the sun over the people, and
to light up the land.”
Code of Hammurabi
• High standards of behavior and stern
punishments for violators
• Death penalty for murder, theft, fraud,
false accusations, sheltering of runaway
slaves, failure to obey royal orders,
adultery, and incest
• Civil laws regulating prices, wages,
commercial dealings, marital relationships,
and the conditions of slavery
Code of Hammurabi
• Relied on lex talionis– the law of retaliation
– Offenders suffered punishments resembling
their violations
• If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye
shall be put out. [ An eye for an eye ]
(196)
• If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be
broken. (197)
• If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth
shall be knocked out. [ A tooth for a tooth ] (200)
Economic Exchange
Economic Exchange
• Trade occurred by ship and
donkey caravan
• Sumerians traded woolen textiles,
leather goods, sesame oil, and
jewelry with India for copper,
ivory, pearls, and semi-precious
stones
• Babylonians imported silver from
Anatolia, cedar wood from
Lebanon, copper from Arabia,
gold from Egypt, tin from Persia,
lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, and
semiprecious stones from India
• Barter was the main form of
commerce until silver became
popular around 1750 B.C.
Cylinder seals were used to
record a contract, record, or
official receipt. By affixing a
seal to a tablet, the user
validated its contents.
New Technologies
Metallurgy
• Metallurgy ranks among the most
important aspects of technology and
specialization
• Metallurgy evolved from copper to bronze
and by 1000 B.C., Mesopotamians were
working with iron as well
• Important implications for agriculture and
weaponry
The Wheel
• First use of wheels
probably occurred
about 3500 B.C.
• Sumerians were
building wheeled
carts by 3000 B.C.
• The wheel increased
the mobility of society
and allowed heavy
loads to be moved
over great distances
Chariot model,
discovered in the Royal
tomb of Ur in Sumer
around 6000 BC
Art and Writing
Dragon of Marduk
Gudea of Lagash
Winged Guardian
Art and Writing
• Cuneiform
• Epic of Gilgamesch
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Cuneiform
• Latin for “wedge-shaped”
– Beginning around 2900 B. C., Sumerians developed a
flexible writing system that combined pictographs and
other symbols
– Scribes used a reed stylus to impress symbols on wet
clay leaving lines and wedge-shaped marks
• Babylonians, Assyrians, and others later
adapted the Sumerians’ script to their own
languages and cuneiform writing continued for
three thousand years
Cuneiform Examples
Epic of Gilgamesh
• Classic example of Mesopotamian literature
• Began in the Sumerian city-states, but the entire
epic represents the work of compilers during the
days of the Babylonian empire
• Originally written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform
script
• Recounts experiences of Gilgamesh and Enkidu
– Gilgamesh was the legendary king of Uruk, ca. 3000
B.C., and Enkidu is a wild-man, raised by animals that
becomes the friend of Gilgamesh after they fight.
Epic of Gilgamesh
• Principle vehicle for
Mesopotamian
reflection on moral
issues
– Friendship
– Relations between
humans and the gods
– The meaning of life
and death
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• One of the “Seven
Wonders of the
World”
• Built by King
Nebuchadnezzar II
around 600 B.C. on
top of stone arches
23 meters above
ground and watered
from the Euphrates
by a complicated
mechanical system.
• Series of terraces
filled with plants.
Part 2: Egypt
Lsn 3
Upper and Lower Egypt
• Ancient Egypt was
divided into two
regions: Upper and
Lower Egypt.
• Lower (northern)
Egypt consisted of the
Nile River's delta
made by the river as it
empties into the
Mediterranean.
• Upper (southern)
Egypt was the long,
narrow strip of ancient
Egypt located south
of the Delta.
Characteristics of a Civilization
•
•
•
•
•
•
Intensive agricultural techniques
Specialization of labor
Cities
A social hierarchy
Organized religion and education
Development of complex forms of economic
exchange
• Development of new technologies
• Advanced development of the arts. (This can
include writing.)
Agriculture
The Nile
River Basin:
A Ribbon of
Green
Agriculture
• Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the
Nile”
• Egyptians took advantage of the Nile’s
annual floods to become an especially
productive agricultural region
– After the floods receded in late summer,
cultivators could go into the floodplains in late
summer and sow their seeds without
extensive preparation of the soil
Agriculture
• Expanded agriculture led to expanded
populations and demand for increased
production
• Cultivators moved beyond the Nile’s
immediate floodplains building dikes to
protect their fields from floods and
catchment basins to store water for
irrigation
Shaduf
• To lift water from the canal
Egyptians used a shaduf, a
large pole balanced on a
crossbeam with a rope and
bucket on one end and a
heavy counter weight at the
other.
• When the rope was pulled, the
bucket would be lowered into
the canal.
• The counterweight would raise
the bucket.
• The farmer would then carry
the bucket to the field and
water it.
Specialization
Brewing and Breadmaking
Sailing
Ploughing and Sowing
Harvesting Papyrus and Herding
Specialization
• Nile societies were
much slower than
their Mesopotamian
counterparts to adopt
metal tools and
weapons
• Did develop pottery,
textile manufacture,
woodworking, leather
production,
stonecutting, and
masonry occupations
Egyptian pottery
makers
Specialization
• Building a pyramid would require
– Laborers
– Architects
– Engineers
– Craftsmen
– Artists
Cities
Cities
• Relatively few cities and high
administrative centralization
• Memphis
– Founded by Menes around
3100 BC as capital of a
united Upper and Lower
Egypt
– Located at the head of the
Nile River Delta
• Thebes
– Administrative center of
Upper Egypt
– Seat of worship for Amon
Religion and Education
Religion and Education
• Two main gods were
Amon (Thebian deity
associated with the
sun, creation, fertility,
and reproductive
forces) and Re (the
sun god worshipped
at Heliopolis)
– Eventually the two
were combined in the
cult of Amon-Re
Brief Period of Monotheism
• For a brief period
Akhentan
challenged the
Amon-Re cult by
proclaiming Aten
as the one and
only true god
– Once Akhenaten
died, traditional
priests restored
the Amon-Re cult
The sun disc Aten shining on the
names of the royal family
Mummification
• In order to prepare
a person for the
long and
hazardous journey
before they could
enjoy the pleasures
of the afterlife, the
body of a dead
person was
preserved by a
process called
mummification.
The Judgment
• The Egyptians viewed the heart as the seat of
intellect and emotion.
• Before entering the pleasures of eternity, the
dead person had to pass a test in which
Anubis, the god of the dead, weighed the
person's heart against Ma'at, the goddess of
justice and truth, who was represented by a
feather.
The Judgment
• If the deceased’s good deeds outweighed
the bad, the his heart will be as light as the
feather (heavy hearts bore the burden of
guilt and evil), and Osiris would welcome
the newcomer to the next world.
• If the deceased fell short in his judgment,
his body would be eaten by a monster that
was part crocodile, part lion, and part
hippopotamus.
Osiris
• Patron of the underworld, the dead, and
past pharaohs
• Cult of Osiris demanded observance of
high moral standards
– As lord of the underworld, Osiris had the
power to determine who deserved the
blessing of immortality and who did not
Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy
• Pharaoh
– Egyptian kings of a centralized state
– Claimed to be gods living on earth in human form
• Bureaucrats
– Because the pharaoh was an absolute ruler there was little room
for a noble class as in Mesopotamia
– Instead professional military forces and an elaborate
bureaucracy of administrators and tax collectors served the
central government
• Patriarchial
– Vested authority over public and private affairs in men
– However, more opportunities for women than in Mesopotamia as
evidenced by Queen Hatshepsut reigning as pharaoh
• Peasants and slaves
– Supplied the hard labor that made complex agricultural society
possible
– Among the slaves were the Hebrews
Pharaohs
Tutankhamun (King Tut)
1334 and 1325 BC
Ramesses II
1279-1213 BC
Bureaucrats
• Below the pharaoh, the most powerful officer in the hierarchy was
the vizier, the executive head of the bureaucracy
– The vizier was a prince or a person of exceptional ability. His title
is translated as "superintendent of all works of the king".
– As the supreme judge of the state, the vizier ruled on all petitions
and grievances brought to the court. All royal commands passed
through his hands before being transmitted to the scribes in his
office.
• The scribes in turn dispatched orders to the heads of distant towns
and villages, and dictated the rules and regulations related to the
collection of taxes.
• The king was surrounded by the court, friends and favored people
who attained higher administrative positions.
– The tendency was to fill these positions on the basis of heredity.
One of the most ardent wishes of these administrators was to
climb the bureaucratic ladder through promotions and to hand
their offices to their children
Economic Exchange
In this scene from the grave of Ipui at Thebes, sailors are
seen leaving the boat carrying sacks containing grain. A
woman is selling bread and possibly beer (top left), beside
her a sailor is exchanging grain for fish. On the right a buyer
checks out a cake or a loaf of bread while beside him
another is acquiring some vegetables.
Economic Exchange
• The Nile provided excellent transportation
which facilitated trade.
• Nile flows north so boats could ride the
currents from Upper to Lower Egypt.
• Prevailing winds blow almost year-round
from the north so by using sails, boats
could then make their way back upriver.
Economic Exchange
• Egypt needed to trade because,
beside the Nile, it had few
natural resources
– For example, Egypt has very few
trees so all its wood came from
abroad, especially cedar from
Lebanon
• Much trade between Egypt and
Nubia
– Importance of trade is reflected in
the names of southern Egyptian
cities
• Aswan comes from the ancient
Egyptian word swene which
means “trade”
• Elephantine owed its name to the
elephant ivory trade
New Technologies
Ramps and stonecutting required to
build pyramids
New Technologies
• Papyrus
– The raw material came from the
plant Cyperus papyrus which grew
along the banks of the Nile
– Used not only in the production of
paper but also used in the
manufacture of boats, rope and
baskets
• Shipbuilding
–
–
–
–
Wooden boats
Multiple-oars
Sails
Rope trusses to strengthen hulls
Art and Writing
Art and Writing
• Pyramids
– Symbols of the
pharaoh’s authority and
divine stature; royal
tombs
– Pyramid at Khufu
involved the precise
cutting and fitting of
2,300,000 limestone
blocks with an average
weight of 2.5 tons
– Estimated construction
of the pyramid at Khufu
required 84,000
laborers working 80
days per year for 20
years
The Sphinx and Great
Pyramid of Khufu at
Giza.
Art and Writing
• Hieroglyphs
– Pictures that were used to
write the ancient Egyptian
language
– Originally used to keep
records of the king's
possessions. Scribes could
easily make these records by
drawing a picture of a cow or
a boat followed by a number.
• As the language became more
complex, more pictures were
needed. Eventually the language
consisted of more then 750
individual signs.
Mesopotamia and Egypt
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Agriculture
+“Land between the rivers”
(Tigris and Euphrates forms
Fertile Crescent
+Artificial irrigation
+”Gift of the Nile”
+Artificial irrigation
Specialization
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking,
leather, brick making,
stonecutting, masonry
+Pottery, textiles, woodworking,
leather production, stonecutting,
masonry
Cities
-Numerous, densely populated
city-states (Ur and Babylon)
-Fewer cities with high
centralization (Memphis and
Thebes)
Social Hierarchy
-Noble class
-Patriarchal
+Slaves
-Absolute authority of the
pharaoh made a noble class
unnecessary (had bureaucrats
instead)
-Patriarchal, but the presence of
Queen Hatsheput may indicate
greater opportunities for women
+Slaves
Mesopotamia and Egypt
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Religion and Education
-Polytheism
-No afterlife
-Polytheism, but brief period of
monotheism under Akhentan
-Afterlife and judgment
(mummification)
New Technologies
-Superior in metallurgy
-Papyrus, shipbuilding,
pyramids
Economic exchange
-Trade by land and water
-Trade principally by water along
the Nile
-Trade more important because
Egypt lacked natural resources
beside the Nile
Art and Writing
-Cuneiform
-Hieroglyphs (more pictorial
than cuneiform)
Next Lesson
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and Zhou) and
Resurgent
(Tang and
Song) China