Transcript Floodplain Civilizations Overview

Four separate civilizations
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Mesopotamia
Egypt
Harappa (Indus Valley)
Shang China (Huang He)
Mesopotamia was a succession of
societies
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Sumeria (Sumer)
Akkad
First Babylon
Assyria
Second Babylon
 Geography
• Unpredictable rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)
• Delta region extremely fertile
• Flat land open to invasion – no natural barriers
• By 4,000 BCE at least four major groups had
migrated into Sumeria: Hamites from North Africa,
Semites from Arabia, Indo-Europeans from
Russia, and Caucasians from Georgia
• Semi-arid climate required extensive irrigation
projects
Growth of the state
• Irrigation projects required cooperation on
a grand scale and leadership
• Farmers banded together in settlements to
manage the environment and for protection
• These settlements became compact cities
surrounded by high mud-brick walls
• These cities were independent from one
another hence they were city-states
The city-states were often built around
existing religious structures – enhancing
the close relationship between
government and religion
The ziggurat became the focal point of
these city-states
Ziggurats - stepped towers topped by temples
Ziggurats were the focal
point of the city-state
The Tower of Babel is
believed to have been a
ziggurat
 Sumeria lasted about 1,300 years (3360 – 2400 BCE)
 There was constant warfare between city-states and
invaders and between city-states themselves
 Each city-state controlled an area about 100 square
miles
 There were about 12 major city-states including Ur,
Eridu, Lagash, and Uruk
 Each city-state was ruled by a priest/leader called a
Patesi who was the highest political, religious, and
military authority
 Religion
• People felt utterly dependent on will of gods due to
harsh life
• Originally, each city-state had its own patron god
but later all gods were collected into a hierarchy
reflecting Sumerian values
• As male gods became dominant = strengthening
of patriarchy
• Afterlife – sad and gloomy place (later used as
model for Hell)
 Religion and Politics
• All land belonged to the gods and kings were their
representatives
• Kings and priests afforded special place in society
• Theocracy – rule by gods or priests
• By the end of Sumeria’s influence, kings were
becoming separate from the priest class
 Class System
• Kings / priests
• Commoners: farmers, artisans, merchants
• Slaves
 Sumerian Life
• Marriage was based on a contract
• Males were dominant but females had more freedom than
they do today
• Females exerted influence through sexuality
• Due to property inheritances, women would be put to death
for adultery
 Cuneiform
• Oldest writing
system
• Original purpose was
economic
• Used to record
memoranda, lists of
goods, receipts,
contracts, etc
• One of first uses was
to record beer recipe
Cuneiform- first system of writing
Cuneiform tablet
with envelope
Writing was reserved for the wealthy classes
 Writing systems beget
literature
 Oldest literature was
epic poem The Epic of
Gilgamesh
 Poem relates story of
Gilgamesh, ruler of
Uruk, who seeks out
survivor of great flood in
quest of eternal youth
 Trade links with Egypt and Harappa
 Adopted use of silver as means of exchange
 “Invented” the wheel and pioneered use of carts and
chariots
 Sumerian mathematics based on 12, 60, and 360
(clock and circle)
 Sumerian astronomical charts basis for modern
astronomy
 Invented quadratic expressions
 Conquered Sumeria
= Akkad first empire
 Some centralization
of power
 Sargon I = first
emperor
 Absorbed / took on
Sumerian culture
 Political
• Akkad was overthrown
by Amorites
• Sumerian language
disappeared – replaced
by Amorite Semitic
language
• Made capital at Babylon
• Old Babylon overthrown
by invading Kassites and
Hittites
• Period of chaos followed
for about three centuries
 Hammurabi
• Founder of the Old
Babylonian Empire
• Most known for his
code of laws
o based on two 282
laws
o principles: lex talonis
and class
 Political
• Conquered Kassites and
brought all of Mesopotamia
under their control
• Noted for brutality and
ruthlessness
• Largest Mesopotamian
empire in landmass
• Conquered Egypt for short
period
• Assyria brought down by
invading Medes and
Chaldeans
 Political
• Established by
Chaldeans who
made capital at
Babylon
• King
Nebuchadnezzar
• Hanging gardens
• Continued
Sumerian culture
• Conquered by
the Persians
Other Middle Eastern Societies
 Hittites
• Iron
 Israelites
• Two kingdoms
• Judaism
 Phoenicians
• Alphabet
• Trade colonies
(Carthage)
1. What was the world’s first writing system?
2. What was it developed for?
3. Who were literate in Mesopotamia? Why?
4. What was the first piece of literature? What
was it about?
5. What was the basic political unit of
Mesopotamia?
6. What was the focal point of the Mesopotamian
city-state?
7. How did geography affect the development of
Mesopotamian religion?
8. How did geography affect the development of
Mesopotamian civilization?
9. What was the first empire? Who created it?
10. What was the Code of Hammurabi? What was it
based on?
11. Who laid the foundations for our modern
alphabet?
The characteristic political organization of the
Tigris – Euphrates civilization was
a. Democracy
b. Large, durable empires
c. Village-level government
d. Regional city-states
e. Hunting bands
 Geography
• Desert
o “Redlands”
o Natural barriers to invasion
• Nile River
o “Blacklands”
o Unlike Mesopotamia, river serene and predictable
o River was everything to Egyptians: life and communication
• Mediterranean and Red seas
• How did geography influence Egypt’s religion?
 Political
• Egypt separated into
two distinct regions:
Upper and Lower
Egypt
• These regions
unified by King
Menes during the
Archaic Period
• Pharaoh – “great
house” or “palace”
 Founded by King Zoser
 Power virtually unlimited
 Pharaoh was considered
child of the sun god
 Married sister to keep blood
lines pure
 Pharaoh’s chief subordinates
were the priests – pharaoh
was the chief priest
 Egypt eventually divided into 42 provinces
administered by a governor
 Governors reported to the Pharaoh or his chief
bureaucratic official, the Vizier
 The Old Kingdom was a period of great peace
 Pharaoh had no standing army – each local area had
its own militia
 There was little to no slavery
 Most of the large pyramids were constructed during
the Old Kingdom
The pyramids at Giza
Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were not built with slave labor but by the
Egyptian people. How was it done?
 The Old Kingdom fell about
2200 BCE
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Financial problems due to
construction of the pyramids
Crop failures
Provincial nobles usurped
power from central government
– warred against each other
Civil war allowed development
of brigands and invasion by
desert nomads
Period of chaos called the First
Intermediate Period – ended
with rise of Middle Kingdom
around 2050 BCE
 Ruled through an alliance
composed of middle class –
nobility kept in check
 Period of expansion – Nubia
conquered
 Construction of public works
versus pyramids
 Religion democratized –
hope of salvation of common
people
 Middle Kingdom
considered golden age
of Egypt
 Middle Kingdom
possibly fell to revolt by
nobles
 Period of chaos
followed
 Weakened Egypt
conquered by Hyksos
 Hyksos gained power
through superior
weapons: chariots and
bronze weapons
 Egyptians learned from
Hyksos – united as one
people to oust them
 Ahmose became
powerful as power of
nobility severely
curtailed
 Egypt became imperialistic –
appetite whetted for war and
conquest
 The large army gathered to
destroy the Hyksos used by
pharaoh to expand territory
 Egypt conquered into Libya
and Syria
 Prisoners of war = large
slave population
 Hatshepsut
• First of four female rulers
of Egypt
• Became pharaoh as
regent for son
• Succeeded by son
Thutmose III
• Son destroyed most
records of Hatshepsut
 Amenhotep IV
(Akhenaton)
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Established monotheism
Aton- the sun god
Queen Nefertiti
Short reign (~15 years)
 Polytheism restored by boypharaoh Tutankhamen
 Ramses II (The Great)
 The Treaty of Kadesh Egypt & Hittites
 Conquered by nomadic Sea
People
 Last real independent
kingdom
• Libyans, Nubians (Kush),
Assyrians, Persians,
Greeks, Romans, Muslims,
Europeans
Forensic experts have re-created the
real Tutankhamen
The Treaty of Kadesh
Ramses the Great
today
 Egyptian Religion
• Polytheistic
• Two major gods: Amon-re (sun) and Osiris (Nile)
• During Old Kingdom religion was for the state not the
masses
• Story of Osiris symbolized death and resurrection =
immortality (Osiris, Isis, Seth, Horus)
• The concept of the afterlife became fully developed during
the Middle Kingdom
• Amon became god of the living and Osiris god of the dead
• Elaborate preparations were made to preserve remains for
the afterlife
• The dead appeared before Osiris for judgment based on
deeds done on earth – the good had eternal pleasure the
bad were destroyed
• Religion was now ethical
• Religion changed during the New Kingdom –people relied on
magic charms/potions for salvation instead of ethical
behavior
• This was in part responsible for the monotheism that sprung
up under Akhenaton
1. How did geography affect the Egyptian
civilization?
2. Who united Upper and lower Egypt?
3. What are the three major phases of ancient
Egyptian political history?
4. In what period were the great pyramids
constructed?
5. What ended the Middle Kingdom?
6. Who was Egypt’s first female ruler?
7. In what period were the Egyptians most warlike?
8. In what period were the pharaohs most politically
aligned with the middle class?
9. What did Akhenaton introduce to Egypt?
10. What ended the New Kingdom?
11. During what period do you think Moses and the
Jews were in Egypt?
Egypt differed from Mesopotamian civilization
by stressing
a. Well-organized, durable empires
b. Extensive trade
c. Firm religious beliefs
d. Greater social equality
e. More modest building projects
 Sophisticated
urban centers
 Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
 Dynamic trade
state - trade
with
Mesopotamia
and China
 Monsoons
Cities very sophisticated with advanced sewage systems
Harappan writing
has not yet been
deciphered
Harappans
worshipped cattle and
Shiva
 Decline due to
• Degradation of
the ecosystem
• Migration of
nomadic Aryans
• Political collapse
• Aryans:
“Noble People”
Indo-Europeans
• The Vedas
• Hinduism
• Level 1: The Brahmins (priests)
• Level 2: The Kshatriyas
(warriors/nobles)
• Level 3: The Vaisyas (traders and
farmers)
• Level 4: The Sudras (common laborers)
Mostly Dravidians
• Outcastes: The Untouchables
 Geography
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Isolated
Huang He (“China’s Sorrow”)
Vulnerable northern borders
Western desert
Himalayas
Vietnam
Pacific Ocean
Arable land – culture of conservation
 Yangshao
• Slash-and-burn agriculture
• Domestication of animals
• Silk production
 Longshan People
• Permanent settlements with walls
• Occupational specialization
 Xia Dynasty – mythical?
 Shang Dynasty
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3,000 states - Fragmented
King - head shaman
Dynasty based on divine rule
Bureaucracy increasingly sophisticated
Technologically advanced
o Use of bronze
o Chariot warfare (imported from West?)
o Lacquer
 Writing
• Oracle Bones
• Ideographic symbols
• Primary purpose was
religious
 Bronze
• Sophisticated
metallurgy skills
• Controlled by
elites
• Used for
religious rituals
and weapons
1. What river gave life to Harappan civilization?
2. How would you characterize Harappan
civilization?
3. How is the Harappan written language unlike
that of the rest of the floodplain civilizations?
4. What happened to the Indus Valley civilization?
5. What was an early form of Chinese writing?
6. What geographic factor most influenced life in
Harappa?
7. What area of China was most conflicted?
8. What form of art was used in Chinese religious
rituals?
9. What is considered the first major Chinese
civilization?
10. On what major river was Chinese civilization
first established?
11. What did the Aryans base the caste system on?
12. What does the word “Aryan” mean?
13. What ancient texts give scholars information
about the Aryans?
14. What is the goal of Hinduism?
15. Most of the Sudra caste is composed of what
people?
Which river valley civilization was most
completely destroyed by invasion?
a. Huang He
b. Indus
c. Nile
d. Tigris-Euphrates
e. Mekong