Transcript Mesopotamia - Loudon High School

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“It’s not the years in your life that count, but
the life in your years.”
- Abraham Lincoln
A flamingo can swallow only if its head is
facing downwards.
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Mesopotamia and Sumer
Main Idea
The first known civilization arose in
Mesopotamia, and its culture and innovations
influenced later civilizations in the region for
thousands of years.
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Geography Promotes Civilization
• Fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers became
site of world’s first civilization
• Fertile Crescent well suited for agriculture
• Farming in Mesopotamia posed challenges:
– If water levels too high, crops washed away
– If water levels too low, crops died
• People developed methods to control water:
– Basins, canals, and dikes
– Organization: assigning jobs, allocating resources
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Question:
What factors influenced the rise of
civilization in Mesopotamia?
Answer(s): fertile land; plentiful food; need to
organize people for jobs
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Sumer
The Cities of Sumer
• Large cities developed by
4000 BC
• Structures made of mud
bricks
• Ziggurat: pyramid-shaped
temple
Religion and Government
• Shaped life in city-states
• Polytheism: worship of
many gods
• Priests had high status and
were the first rulers
• Massive wall encircled each
city
• War chiefs began to rule
as kings
• Each city and its land formed
a city-state, with its own
government
• Dynasty: series of rulers
from one family
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Sumerian Culture
Writing
• Cuneiform: Sumerian writing
• Business accounts and records
• Law, grammar, literature
The Arts
• Arches, ramps, columns
• Sculpture
• Cylinder seals
Math and Sciences
• System based on number 60
• Geometry
• May have been the first to use the
wheel
• Invented the plow
• Basic surgery
Trade and Society
• Traded for wood and
metals
• Social hierarchy
• Distinct male/female roles
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Anu
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Enki
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Enlil
Inanna
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Utu
Gilgamesh
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
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Question:
Why was the Sumerians’ development of
cuneiform a major turning point in history?
Answer(s): After the development of cuneiform,
humankind moved from prehistory into the
historical age.
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Empires in Mesopotamia
• Each conquering invader adapted aspects of Sumerian culture.
• Thus Sumerian civilization continued to influence life in Mesopotamia.
Sargon’s Empire
• Sargon I:
– Around 2330 BC, created first
permanent army
– Conquered Sumer and
northern Mesopotamia
– Established world’s first empire
(Akkadian), which lasted about
100 years
• Sumerian culture spread far
beyond Tigris and Euphrates
valleys
The Babylonian Empire
• Hammurabi became king in 1792
BC
• United all of Mesopotamia
• Able ruler and administrator
• Hammurabi’s Code:
– 282 laws covering everything
from trade to murder
– Written for all to see
– Babylon became
Mesopotamia’s greatest city
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Fertile Crescent Empires
Main Idea
Indo-European invaders introduced new
technologies to the Fertile Crescent while
adapting earlier technologies developed by the
civilizations they encountered there.
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The Hittites
Decline of Babylonian Empire
• Nomadic tribes moved into the region, drawn by wealth
• Included Indo-Europeans
• Steppes: arid grasslands north of the Black Sea
Hittite Military Might
• Hittites: warlike Indo-European tribe
• Built strong empire in Asia Minor (now Turkey)
• Horse-drawn war chariot and new techniques
Hittite Culture
• Blended their culture with cultures around them
• First to make objects out of iron
• Rule reached peak in 1300s BC
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Question:
How were the Hittites able to build an
empire in Asia Minor?
Answer(s): With their military advantages, they
were able to conquer people in surrounding areas.
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The Assyrians and the Chaldeans
After the Hittite empire fell, other peoples fought for dominance in
western Asia. In time, the Assyrians became the supreme power in
the region; later the Chaldeans formed their own empire.
The Assyrians
• (Neo) From Northern
Mesopotamia
War Machine
Assyrian Rule
• Fierce warrior society
• Efficient system
• Local leaders
• Barley, cattle
• War chariots, foot
soldiers, cavalry
• Adopted Sumerian
culture
• Masters of siege
warfare; terror
• Brutal with opposition
• New empire in 900 BC
• Bible called it “the
Land Bathed in
Blood”
• Cultural
achievements, library
– Nineveh – 22,000
cuneiform tablets
• Mesopotamia, Asia
Minor, Egypt
• Nineveh - capital
• System of roads
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Notable Assyrian Kings
• Sargon II – 721-705 • Assurbanipal –
BC
668-627 BC
• Sennacharib – 704- • Had the library of
681 BC
Nineveh built (Epic
of G)
• Both involved in the
conquest of Israel
• Last of the NeoAssyrian kings
• The Ten Lost Tribes
• Gave way to the
Neo-Babylonians
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Sargon II
Sennacharib
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Assurbanipal
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The Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)
As Assyria began to decline, the Chaldeans
swooped in.
• Babylon, capital of their new empire
• Nebuchadnezzar II
– Warrior and builder
– Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Chaldean culture
– Admired ancient Sumerian culture
– Developed calendar; advances in astronomy
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• Biblical references:
• Daniel Ch. 3 – story of the
three Hebrew children
who were thrown into the
fiery furnace for not
worshipping the
Babylonian idol at Dura.
• Daniel Ch. 4
• Had a bout of insanity for
7 years – boanthropy or
porphyria?
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The Phoenicians
In an area of western Asia called Phoenicia, city-states emerged as
trading centers, and Phoenicians built a wealthy trading society.
Trading Society
• Western end of Fertile Crescent
• Farming difficult
• Trade and sea for livelihood
• Expert sailors
• Founded colonies on routes
• Trade brought great wealth
• Invented glassblowing
• Exports: ivory, silver, slaves
Alphabet
• Greatest achievement
• Invented by traders to record
activities
• Adopted by many, including the
Greeks
• Ancestor of the English language
alphabet
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The Hebrews and Judaism
Main Idea
The ancient Hebrews and their religion, Judaism, have
been a major influence on Western civilization.
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The Early Hebrews
The Hebrews were the ancestors of the Jews, and most of what we
know, including the laws and requirements of their religion, Judaism,
comes from their later writings.
Hebrew Fathers
Moses and Exodus
Promised Land
• The Torah
• Slaves in Egypt
• Israelites in desert
• Abraham, father of
the Hebrews
• Moses
• Canaan
• Pharaoh, plagues
• God’s covenant
• Exodus
• Land of “milk and
honey”
• 12 Tribes of Israel
• Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob were
patriarchs
• Israelites in Egypt
– Israelites out of
Egypt
• Israelites battled for
land
– Passover
• Canaan = Israel
• The Ten
Commandments
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The Kingdom of Israel
The Period of the Judges
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Scattered communities
No central government
Judges enforce laws
Prophets keep Israelites focused on faith
Saul, David, Solomon
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Israelites united against Philistines
Saul, first Israelite king
Never won full support
David, second king
Strong king, gifted poet
Solomon, David’s son
Israel reached height of wealth
Division and Conquest
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Conflict after Solomon’s death
Two kingdoms, Israel and Judah
722 BC, Israel fell to Assyrians
586 BC, Judah fell to Chaldeans
Chaldeans enslaved Jews
Diaspora = scattering of Jews
Persians conquered Chaldeans
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David
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Solomon
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The Teachings of Judaism
Religion the foundation of Hebrew and Jewish societies
• Belief in One God
– Monotheism
• Justice and Righteousness
– Kindness, fairness, code of ethics
• Obedience to the Law
– Ten Commandments, Mosaic Law
• Jewish Sacred Texts
– Torah, Talmud, Tanakh
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• Semite – descendent of Shem, son of Noah
• Rabbi – teacher
• Synagogue
• Mitzvot – observance of the 613 commandments
• Messiah – from the family of David
• Covenant – between God and Abraham
• Kosher
• Jewish calendar – lunisolar, for holiday purposes
• Revolt of the Maccabees – Seleucid Empire, statue of Zeus
• Hanukkah (Chanukah) – 165 BC, 8 days, Festival of Ligths, menorah,
shamash light, dreidel
• Rosh Hashanah – Jewish New Year – 10 Days of Repentance
• Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement, prayer and fasting
• Passover – 7 days, spring, celebrates Exodus, matza
• 3 branches – Orthodox, Conservative, Reform
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The Persian Empire
Main Idea
The Persians formed one of the largest and best
governed empires in the ancient world and made
great cultural achievements.
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Persian Beginnings
Persia under the Medes
• Both the Medes and Persians were Indo-European tribes
• Both are pre-Islamic Iranians
• Medes helped Babylonians overthrow Assyria and had
conquered the Persians
• Persians allowed to keep their own leaders as long as
they did not rebel
• 559 BC – Persian King Cyrus leads a rebellion against
the Medes
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Cyrus the Great
• Defeated Medes in 559 BC
• Founded and expanded the
Achaemenid Persian Empire,
largest in the ancient world
• Freed Jews in Babylon –
allowed them to rebuild their
temple in Jerusalem
• Respected by those he
conquered
• 539 BC – Defeats and ends the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
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Darius I
• Crushed rebellion after death of Cyrus’s son, rose to power in
522 BC
• Created standing army, built roads, strengthened army, empire
• Strong follower of Zoroastrianism
• Created satraps to help govern the 20 newly provinces of the
empire
• 499 BC – Miletus rebellion leads to Persian Wars
• 490 BC – failed invasion of Greece at Marathon
• High point of Persian culture
• Famous in the Bible as the king who threw Daniel into the den
of lions for praying to God
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Persia in Decline
• Xerxes, son of Darius, took the throne in 485 BC and
failed to conquer Greece during the Persian Wars
• Famous battles – Thermopylae and Salamis
• Last strong ruler of Persia - praised for being just
• May be King Ahaseurus in the Bible, destroyer of
Babylon’s golden idol
• Succeeded by son, Artaxerxes I – one of which is thought
to be the husband of Ester
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Zoroastrianism
During the reigns of Cyrus and Darius, a new religion called
Zoroastrianism took hold, based on the teachings of Zoroaster.
Teachings
Spread
• Ahura Mazda, source of good
• Much of Persian Empire
• Ahriman, evil spirit
• Darius worshipped Ahura
Mazda
• Dualism = good and evil
• Free will
• The Avesta, holy text
• A savior will bring triumph
• New spiritual bodies, one
language, evil destroyed
• Other religions discouraged
• The Greeks converted the
Persians but never
completely disappeared –
often persecuted
• Still exists in India and Iran
• Parsees (Parsis)
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Persian Achievements
Blended Culture
• Cyrus and Darius encouraged cultural unity
• Shared culture led to peace
• People worked together to improve empire
Communication
• Network of high quality roads
• Royal Road = world’s first long highway
• Horseback messengers in shifts
Art and Architecture
• Animals a common subject
• Persepolis, monument to Persia’s glory
• Greatest example of Persian architecture
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