Transcript The First civilizations - Jessamine County Schools

WESTERN CIVILIZATION I
Prof. David Swartz
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
“In the past men were handsome and great (now they are
children and dwarfs), but this is merely the one of the many
facts that demonstrate the disaster of an aging world. The
young no longer want to study anything, learning is in decline,
the whole world walks on its head, blind men lead others
equally blind and cause them to plunge into the abyss, birds
leave the nest before they can fly, the jackass plays the lyre,
oxen dance. Mary no longer loves the contemplative life and
Martha no longer loves the active life, Leah is sterile, Rachel
has a carnal eye, Cato visits brothels, Lucretius becomes a
woman. Everything is on the wrong path. In those days, thank
God, I acquired from my master the desire to learn and a
sense of the straight way, which remains even when the path is
tortuous.”
pre = before
pregame
prevent
predict
post = after
postpone
postscript
postdate
ÖTZI THE ICEMAN AND THE
FIRST CIVILIZATIONS
Week One
Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi’s demise


Frozen corpse of a Stone
Age man discovered in the
Alps
Died from a arrow shot
while fleeing
“A Life in Ice”
Mono = one
monacle
monopoly
monochromatic
poly = many
polygon
polychromatic
polysyllabic
uni = one
unicellular
unicorn
unicycle
I. The Emergence of Culture


Ötzi: a transitional figure representing the
trajectory from Stone Age culture to civilizations
Stone-Age Culture
 Not
just about survival
 Ways of living built up by a group and passed on from
generation to generation
 Abstract, symbolic thought
Tassili-n-Ajjer
I. The Emergence of Culture
I. The Emergence of Culture
I. The Emergence of Culture
A. Sedentary Life



Fixed dwelling
places
Domestication of
plants and animals
Population growth
I. The Emergence of Culture
B. Religion



Ritual
Formal religious cults
replace bonds of kinship
Worship of fertility
goddesses
I. The Emergence of Culture
Aztec goddess
Bali goddess
II. The Emergence of Civilization


Civilization: a form
of culture in which
many people live in
urban centers, have
mastered the art of
smelting metals, and
have developed a
method of writing
Mesopotamia
A “fertile crescent” between the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
II. The Emergence of Civilization
A. Ramparts of Uruk
 Forced
into
cooperation
 Population
quadruples to
40,000
 Rigid social structures
of urban life
II. The Emergence of Civilization
B. Tools
1. New tools: especially
the harder alloy of
bronze
2. Pictograms: innovation
of writing the greatest
of all
3. Cuneiform: conceptual;
multiple meanings;
served to stratify
society
II. The Emergence of Civilization
C. Gods and mortals
1. Divinities

Numerous
impersonal gods,
each with a
responsibility
2. Temples and rituals


Sacrifice
Mortality
Ziggurat of Uruk made of mud bricks
co/com = with/together
committee
combine
cohesive
contra/counter = against
contraception
counterfeit
contrast
sub = under/below
submarine
subway
subdivision
II. The Emergence of Civilization
D. Mesopotamian
Expansion
1. Akkadian Empire: King
Sargon, tolerance, and
decline
2. Babylonian Empire:
Hammurabi, codification
of law, and mathematics
IV. Gift of the Nile
A. Ideal conditions for
an empire


Geography: fertile soil
and security from
invasion
Religion: God-Kings,
pyramids and the
afterlife
IV. Gift of the Nile
B. The Egyptian Empire



Cosmopolitanism: the
Hyksos, Semites, military
conquest, and economic
exchange
Akhenaten: monotheism
and plain style
Tutankhamen:
retrenchment and the
Battle of Kadesh
King Tut in 2007
Steve Martin, “King Tut” (1979)
V. The Semites
A. The Hebrew Alternative

Mesopotamian origins


Journeys to Palestine


Familiar stories, yet Abraham
rejects polytheism; makes a
covenant with Yahweh
From Ur to Haron to Hebron
(Genesis 11-12)
Egypt and Exodus
Hebrews reenter the promised
land
 Receive a new ethic and legal
code (Ten Commandments)

V. The Semites
B. Kings like all the nations



Judges: A loose confederation
of tribes that unified armies in
times of danger
Davidic kingship: monarchy
Prophets: Calling the people
back to Yahweh
“City of David”
V. The Semites
C. Exile
 Assyrians:
Hebrew
division; Tiglath-pileser III
(722)
 New Babylonians:
Nebuchadnezzar II
V. The Semites
D. Second Temple
Judaism
A
new Judaism:
text>temple;
intention>ritual
 Rebuilding the temple:
Ezra and Nehemiah
 Strands of Judaism:
Pharisees, Sadducees,
Essenes
Epilogue
• James Davison Hunter, To
Change the World