Transcript 5th edition powerpoint chapter 1

1
The First Civilizations:
The People of Western
Asia and Egypt
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The Spread of Homo sapiens
The First Humans
Prehistory- no written record; story of early humanity depends on
archaeological and biological information
-“theories on prehistory and early man constantly change as new
evidence comes to light” Louis Leakey
 Earliest human like creatures (hominids) lived in Africa 3- 4 million
years ago. Australopithecines, (bipedal)c. 2-4 million years ago
 Homo Habilis (handy human), c. 1-4 million years ago
 Homo erectus (upright human) c. 100,000-1.8 million years ago; first
to move out of Africa
 Homo sapiens (Wise Human)- divided into two groups
 Neanderthal, c. 100,000-30,000 B.C.E.- first to bury dead
 Homo sapiens sapiens, c. 200,000 B.C.E. (Map 1.1 of text)
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The Hunter-Gatherers of the
Paleolithic Age
 Paleolithic
Age, c. 2,500,000-10,000 B.C.E. (Old
Stone Age)
 Nomadic people- lived in small bands of twenty to
thirty persons; moved b/c of animal migration
 Division of labor (hunters and gatherers)
 Fire, 500,000 years ago
 Cave paintings (Chauvet cave in southern
France)
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The Development of Agriculture
The Neolithic Agriculture Revolution -New Stone Age
(c. 10,000-4000 B.C.E.)
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Characteristics: growing plants and domesticating animals
Mesolithic Age- Middle Stone Age (c. 10,000 – 7000 B.C.E.) gradual
shift from hunting/gathering to producing food, and taming animals
Independent development
 Middle East, 8000 B.C.E.
 Balkans, 6500 B.C.E.
 France, Central Europe, and Coastal Mediterranean, 4000 B.C.E.
 Western Asia and Nile Valley of Egypt, 6000 B.C.E.
 Northwestern and Central India, 7000-5000 B.C.E.
 Southeast Asia and South China, 5000 B.C.E.
 North China, 6000 B.C.E.
 Mesoamerica, 7000-5000 B.C.E.
Consequences of the Neolithic Revolution
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Neolithic (New Stone Age) farms and villages
 Oldest in the Middle East
 Shift to systematic agriculture
Consequences
 Settled in villages and towns
 Çatal Hüyük, (located in Turkey) 6700-5700 B.C.E.
• Walled city
• 12 cultivated products
• Religious shrines
Discussion Questions
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Did the early humans have gender equality? Why/why
not?
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How did the advent of settled agriculture change human
society?
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What defines a civilization?
The Emergence of Civilization
Early Civilizations Around the
World
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Mesopotamia of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Valleys of the Indus River
Yellow River in northern China
Central Asia
Supe River valley of Peru
Why civilization developed?
 Challenge and response
 Material forces created specialization of labor
 Management of water resources
 Religion provided unity and purpose
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The Ancient Near East
Civilization in Mesopotamia
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City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia
 Sumerian city-states, c. 3000-2350 B.C.E.
• Walls
• Temple atop a ziggurat
• Gods ruled the cities
• Kingship divine in origin
• Economy was agricultural
• Social groups
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Nobles
Commoners
Slaves
Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
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Akkadian Empire, c. 2340-2100 B.C.E.
Semitic people (Table 1.1 of text)
Sargon around 2340 B.C.E. overran the Sumerian cities and
established an empire over most of Mesopotamia
Empire falls about 2100 B.C.E.
Amorites (Old Babylonians)
 Hammurabi in 1792 B.C.E. creates a new empire
 Established a new capital at Babylon
Code of Hammurabi (282 laws)
 Strict justice
 Penalties according to class
 Performance of work
 Marriage and the family
The Culture of Mesopotamia
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Importance of Religion
 Polytheists – had many gods/goddesses
 Human relationships with the gods
Cultivation of Writing and Sciences
 Writing in the form of cuneiform (“wedge shaped”)
• Primarily for record keeping which means retention of knowledge
• Communicate important ideas
• Literature - Epic of Gilgamesh- story of flood
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Achievements in Math
• Based on 60 using combinations of 6 and 10
• Geometry to measure fields and erect buildings
• Calendar of 12 lunar months (extra month time to time)
The Development Of Cuneiform
Writing.
This chart shows the evolution of writing from pictographic signs around 3100
B.C.E. to cuneiform signs by about 700 B.C.E. Note that the sign for star came
to mean “god” or “sky.” Pictographic signs for head and bowl came eventually
to mean “to eat” in their simplified cuneiform version.
Egyptian Civilization: The Importance of Geography
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Nile River flows
North, ends at
Delta
Flooding
unpredictable
Food surpluses
Natural barriers
create isolation
The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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The Old Kingdom- Age of Pyramids
 King Menes unites Upper and Lower Egypt, 3100 B.C.E.
 Old Kingdom, c. 2686-2125 B.C.E.
• Divine kingship: the pharaoh- was divine; many pyramids constructed
• Pharaoh assisted by the vizier (advisor) and the nomarchs (governors
of nomes or provinces)
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Middle Kingdom, c. 2055-1650 B.C.E.- Golden Age
 Stability
 Pharaoh viewed more as a Shepard to his people; rather than Godking- responsible for public works and provide for public welfare
 Nomarchs rule was now hereditary and nomes were more
organized
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The Pyramid at Gizeh
Egyptian Society
1. Pharaoh and upper class nobles and priests
had large estates
2. Merchants traded along the Nile and with
Crete, Syria, Nubia, and Red Sea
3. Most were peasants and serfs who worked
the lands in theory owned by the pharaoh
The Culture of Egypt
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Spiritual life in Egyptian society
 Provided a sense of security and timelessness
 Polytheistic -with sun gods and land gods particularly
 Egyptian rulers were the “Son of Re”
 Resurrection myth of Osiris and Isis connected to rebirth of the Nile
through flooding and the hope for an afterlife
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The Pyramids
 Tombs for pharaohs
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Art and Writing
a. Art was functional and stylized and was ritualized to preserve the
cosmic order
b. Hieroglyphics, or “sacred writings”
c. Writing on stone and papyrus
Who is this?
Chaos and a New Order: The New Kingdom
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Middle Kingdom ends with invasion of Hyksos; Hyksos (from
western Asia)
 Used horse-drawn chariots
 Egyptians learned to use bronze from the Hyksos- made new
farming tools, and weapons
 Eighteenth dynasty overthrew Hyksos began New Kingdom
(1550-1085)-built many temples
 Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1503-1480 B.C.E.) –first female pharaoh,
built the great temple at Deir el Bahri
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton, c. 1364-1347 B.C.E.), introduced
religious change- the sun disk deity Aten, moved the capital, closed
temples of other gods; was succeeded by Tutankhamen, “King Tut”
Eventually taken over by foreigners- Nubians, Persians, Greeks
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The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in the
Valley of King
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt: Family
and Marriage
 Monogamy
and early marriage the norm
 Women’s property and inheritance remained in
her hands
 Marriages arranged by parents
 Could divorce
New Centers of Civilization
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Megalithic (large stone) structures were built by 4000 B.C.E.
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Ex. Stonehenge in England- construction and purpose of these structures remain
a mystery
The Role of Nomadic Peoples
 The Impact of the Indo-Europeans (used a
language derived from a single
parent tongue) these languages include Greek, Persian, Latin, Sanskrit, Germanic and
Slavic
• From somewhere in the steppe region north of the Black Sea or in
southwestern Asia (modern day Iran or Afghanistan); by 2000 BCE
migrated to Europe, India, and western Asia
• One group moved to Asia Minor (Turkey) united with natives and formed
the Hittite Kingdom (1600-1200)
• First to use iron- made iron weapons, created their own empire, even
threatened the Egyptian Empire
• Were eventually destroyed by other of Indo-Europeans
Discussion Questions
 What
are some specific similarities and
differences between the civilizations of
Mesopotamia and Egypt?
 What is so unique about the Code of Hammurabi?
 What was life like in the Old Kingdom, Middle
Kingdom, and New Kingdom for the average
Egyptian?
Table 1-2, p. 25
Table 1-1, p. 12
The Phoenicians & Children of Israel
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The Phoenicians- lived in Palestine (along the Mediterranean coast)
 Traders and colonizers
 Produced glass, wine, lumber, the purple dye, and had the first Alphabet- which was
later adopted by the Greeks
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The Hebrews: the “Children of Israel”
 Were Semitic-speaking people
 Religiously important
 Emerge as distinctive people c. 1200 – 1000 B.C.E.
 United Kingdom
• Saul (c. 1020 – 1000 B.C.E.)-first King
• David (c. 1000 – 970 B.C.E.)-second King; defeated Philistines, captured Jerusalem
and made it his capital
• Solomon (c. 970-930 B.C.E.)-) third king; built Temple which housed the Ark of the
Covenant
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Ancient
Palestine and
the Jewish
Kingdoms
The Divided Kingdom
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After Solomon’s death- tensions grew and Israel was divided into the
kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria and Judah with its capital
at Jerusalem
Assyrians destroyed Samaria in 722 B.C.E. and overran the kingdom
of Israel
 Ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel were dispersed and
disappeared
 Two tribes of Judah survived only to face new enemies
Chaldeans defeated the Assyrians and destroyed Jerusalem in 586
B.C.E.
 Many upper class people of Judah deported to Babylon
 Persians destroyed the Chaldean kingdom
 People of Judah allowed to return to Jerusalem
The Spiritual Dimensions of
Israel
 Monotheistic-
God
 Yahweh: Omnipotent, just, and good
 Expected goodness from His people or they
would be punished
 Was not removed from the life He created
 Three aspects of Jewish religion: Covenant,
law, the prophets
 Influenced both Christianity and Islam
The Rise of New Empires
 The
Assyrian Empire
 Use of iron weapons, created an empire by 700
B.C.E.
 Ruled by kings with absolute power
 Well organized army -- infantrymen and war
chariots
 Use of terror
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The Assyrian and Persian
Empires
Persian Empire
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The Chaldeans, under the king Nebuchadnezzar II made Babylon the center of their
empire, after the fall of the Assyrian Empire.
Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 B.C.E.
 Persians were Indo-European people who lived in southwestern Iran
 Cyrus The Great (Achaemenid Dynasty) (559-530 B.C.E.)
• Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to western India in the east
• Demonstrated considerable wisdom and compassion; made Babylonia a
Persian province under a Persian satrap, or governor
• Allowed Jews to go back to Jerusalem and to rebuild their Temple
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Cambyses (530-522 B.C.E.) son of Cyrus, successfully invaded Egypt
Darius (521-486 B.C.E.) added a Persian province in western India, took over
Macedonia.
• Persia had created the largest Empire in the world.
• Empire was connected by well maintained roads, especially the Royal Road
Civil Administration and the Military of
the Mighty Persian Empire
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Divided into 20 provinces
Satraps collected tribute, responsible for justice and
security
Royal Road- one of many well maintained roads that
connected the Empire
All subjects were the king’s servants
Professional army of international contingents
Cavalry and infantry (ten thousand members each)
Persian Religion
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Zoroaster (born 660 BCE), was revered as a prophet of the “true
religion” Zoroastrianism
Monotheistic
• Ahurmazda- “Wise Lord” the creator and only god; Opposed by an evil
spirit: Ahriman
• All humans were given free will and the power to choose between right
and wrong
• Each soul faced final evaluation to determine paradise or an abyss in
afterlife
Discussion Questions
 What
two monotheistic religions existed in the
ancient world? How were they similar and
different?
 Why were city-states at the center of the early
stages of civilization?
 Compare and contrast the Assyrian and Persian
approaches to governing an empire. Give specific
examples.