Transcript The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations

Chapter 1
The Ancient Near
East: The First
Civilizations
The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
Built as royal tombs, the pyramids at Giza are among the wonders of the ancient world.
© Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis.
MESOPOTAMIAN AND EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATIONS
The first civilizations emerged in river valleys: Mesopotamia in the valleys of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers, Egypt in the Nile Valley.
SUMERIAN ZIGGURAT
This ziggurat of the moon god, Nanna, which included an impressive temple,
dominated the Sumerian city of Ur.
© Charles and Joselle Lenars/Corbis.
AKHENATON
A bas-relief found in Tell el-Amarna
shows Akhenaton and his family
sacrificing to Aton, the sun god.
Erich Lessing/Art Resource.
PHARAOH MYCERINUS AND HIS
QUEEN, C. 2525 B.C.
Swelling chests and hips idealize the
royal couple’s humanity, but the cubic
feeling of the sculpture and rigid
confidence of the pose proclaim their
unques tioned divinity.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/ Harvard University—Museum of Fine Arts Exhi bi tion, 11.1738.
Hatchepsut
Hatchepsut, daughter of Thutmose I (1493–
1482 B.C.), was an exceptional figure in Egyp
tian history—a female pharaoh. As the wife of
her half brother, Thutmose II, she did not
produce a male heir. When Thutmose II died
after a threeyear reign, his infant son by a
secondary wife inherited the throne. But
because of his tender years, Hatchepsut
served as regent. By the seventh year of the
regency, Hatchepsut had assumed the royal
title of king of Egypt. Although females were
not officially barred from becoming pharaohs,
it was an unchallenged tradition that this
revered position was reserved for men. To
legitimize her rule, Hatchepsut had a
sequence of pictures carved on the porch of
her mortuary temple that told the story of her
divine birth. She was conceived when the god
Amon-Re, disguised as Thutmose I, visited
her mother’s boudoir. Amon indicated that he
intended to father a female, who one day
would
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
KINGDOMS AND PEOPLES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
In addition to the Sumerians and Egyptians, founders of the first civilizations, other
peoples contributed to the development of civilization in the Near East. The Hebrews
conceived the idea of the one God, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, and the
Hittites developed a substantial iron industry.
THE ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN EMPIRES
In the last part of the sixth century b.c., the Persians established the greatest empire
of the ancient Near East, conquering all the lands between the Nile in Egypt and the
Indus River in India.
PERSEPOLIS, IRAN, C. 500 B.C.
The Persian ruler Darius (522–486 b.c.) constructed a thirty-acre earthen terrace
almost fifty feet above the plain and built there a complex of palaces, reception halls,
a treasury, and barracks for his royal guards. Persepolis became the ceremonial
center of the vast Persian empire until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great’s
soldiers.
© George Holton/Photo Researchers.