Transcript Egypt

Egypt and Incas
Lsn 3
Part 1: Egypt
ID & SIGs
• Amon-Re, hieroglyphs, Lower Egypt,
Memphis, mummification, Nile River,
pharaoh, pyramids, Queen Hatshepsut,
Thebes, Upper Egypt
Centralized Aspects of Egyptian
Civilization
• Nile River
– Agriculture
– Trade
• Cities
• Social Hierarchy
• Religion
Agriculture
The Nile
River Basin:
A Ribbon of
Green
Agriculture
• Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the
Nile”
• Egyptians took advantage of the Nile’s
annual floods to become an especially
productive agricultural region
– After the floods receded in late summer,
cultivators could go into the floodplains in late
summer and sow their seeds without
extensive preparation of the soil
Agriculture
• Expanded agriculture led to expanded
populations and demand for increased
production
• Cultivators moved beyond the Nile’s
immediate floodplains building dikes to
protect their fields from floods and
catchment basins to store water for
irrigation
Shaduf
• To lift water from the canal
Egyptians used a shaduf, a
large pole balanced on a
crossbeam with a rope and
bucket on one end and a
heavy counter weight at the
other.
• When the rope was pulled, the
bucket would be lowered into
the canal.
• The counterweight would raise
the bucket.
• The farmer would then carry
the bucket to the field and
water it.
Economic Exchange
• The Nile provided excellent
transportation which facilitated
trade.
• Nile flows north so boats could
ride the currents from Upper to
Lower Egypt.
• Prevailing winds blow almost
year-round from the north so
by using sails, boats could
then make their way back
upriver.
Economic Exchange
• Egypt needed to trade because,
beside the Nile, it had few
natural resources
– For example, Egypt had very few
trees so all its wood came from
abroad, especially cedar from
Lebanon
• Much trade between Egypt and
Nubia
– Importance of trade was reflected
in the names of southern Egyptian
cities
• Aswan comes from the ancient
Egyptian word swene which
means “trade”
• Elephantine owed its name to the
elephant ivory trade
Cities
Upper and Lower Egypt
• Ancient Egypt was
divided into two
regions: Upper and
Lower Egypt.
• Lower (northern)
Egypt consisted of the
Nile River’s delta
made by the river as it
empties into the
Mediterranean.
• Upper (southern)
Egypt was the long,
narrow strip of ancient
Egypt located south
of the Delta.
Cities
• Relatively few cities and high
administrative centralization
• Memphis
– Founded by Menes around
3100 BC as capital of a
united Upper and Lower
Egypt
– Located at the head of the
Nile River Delta
• Thebes
– Administrative center of
Upper Egypt
– Seat of worship for Amon
Religion and Education
Religion and Education
• Two main gods were
Amon (Thebian deity
associated with the
sun, creation, fertility,
and reproductive
forces) and Re (the
sun god worshipped
at Heliopolis)
– Eventually the two
were combined in the
cult of Amon-Re
Brief Period of Monotheism
• For a brief period
Akhentan
challenged the
Amon-Re cult by
proclaiming Aten
as the one and
only true god
– Once Akhenaten
died, traditional
priests restored
the Amon-Re cult
The sun disc Aten shining on the
names of the royal family
Mummification
• In order to prepare
a person for the
long and
hazardous journey
before they could
enjoy the pleasures
of the afterlife, the
body of a dead
person was
preserved by a
process called
mummification.
The Judgment
• The Egyptians viewed the heart as the seat of
intellect and emotion.
• Before entering the pleasures of eternity, the
dead person had to pass a test in which
Anubis, the god of the dead, weighed the
person’s heart against Ma’at, the goddess of
justice and truth, who was represented by a
feather.
The Judgment
• If the deceased’s good deeds outweighed
the bad, then his heart would be as light
as the feather (heavy hearts bore the
burden of guilt and evil), and Osiris would
welcome the newcomer to the next world.
• If the deceased fell short in his judgment,
his body would be eaten by a monster that
was part crocodile, part lion, and part
hippopotamus.
Osiris
• Patron of the underworld, the dead, and
past pharaohs
• Cult of Osiris demanded observance of
high moral standards
– As lord of the underworld, Osiris had the
power to determine who deserved the
blessing of immortality and who did not
Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy
• Pharaoh
– Egyptian kings of a centralized state
– Claimed to be gods living on earth in human form
• Bureaucrats
– Because the pharaoh was an absolute ruler there was little room
for a noble class as in Mesopotamia
– Instead professional military forces and an elaborate
bureaucracy of administrators and tax collectors served the
central government
• Patriarchal
– Vested authority over public and private affairs in men
– However, more opportunities for women than in Mesopotamia as
evidenced by Queen Hatshepsut reigning as pharaoh
• Peasants and slaves
– Supplied the hard labor that made complex agricultural society
possible
– Among the slaves were the Hebrews
Pharaohs
Tutankhamun (King Tut)
1334 and 1325 BC
Ramesses II
1279-1213 BC
Pyramids
• Pyramids
– Symbols of the
pharaoh’s authority and
divine stature; royal
tombs
– Pyramid of Khufu
involved the precise
cutting and fitting of
2,300,000 limestone
blocks with an average
weight of 2.5 tons
– Estimated construction
of the Khufu pyramid
required 84,000
laborers working 80
days per year for 20
years
The Sphinx and Great
Pyramid of Khufu at
Giza.
Specialization
• Building a pyramid would require
– Laborers
– Architects
– Engineers
– Craftsmen
– Artists
Bureaucrats
• Below the pharaoh, the most powerful officer in
the hierarchy was the vizier, the executive head
of the bureaucracy
– All royal commands passed through the vizier
before being transmitted to the scribes in his
office.
• The scribes dispatched orders to the heads of
towns and villages, including rules related to the
collection of taxes.
Part 2: Incas
ID & SIG:
• Cuzco, Inca roads, forced labor, public
relief, Inca religion, terrace farming
Centralized Aspects of Incan
Civilization
•
•
•
•
Cuzco
Roads
Social Hierarchy
Religion
Inca
Inca
• By the 13th Century, the Inca had established
domination over the regional states in Andean
South America
• In 1438, Pachacuti launched a series of military
campaigns that greatly expanded Inca authority
• By the late 15th Century, the Inca empire
covered more than 2,500 miles, embracing
almost all of modern Peru, most of Ecuador,
much of Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Argentina
Cities
Cities: Cuzco
• Inca capital at Cuzco served as the
administrative, religious, and ceremonial
center of the empire
• May have supported 300,000 residents at
the height of the Inca empire in the late
15th Century
• Tremendous system of roads emanated
from Cuzco
New Technologies
Major Roads of
the Inca Empire
New Technologies: Roads
• Built an all-weather highway system of over 16,000 miles
– Ran “through deep valleys and over mountains,
through piles of snow, quagmires, living rock, along
turbulent rivers; in some places it ran smooth and
paved, carefully laid out; in others over sierras, cut
through the rock, with walls skirting the rivers, and
steps and rests through the snow; everywhere it was
clean swept and kept free of rubbish, with lodgings,
storehouses, temples to the sun, and posts along the
way.” (Ciezo de Leon)
• Allowed the Inca government to maintain centralized
control, including by means of the military
New Technologies: Roads
• Allowed the Inca government to
maintain centralized control by
moving military forces around
the empire quickly, transporting
food supplies where needed,
and tying the widespread
territories together
• Rest stations were built a day’s
walk apart
• Runners were positioned at
convenient intervals to deliver
government messages
Economic Exchange
Inca gold
Economic Exchange
• Inca society did not produce large classes
of merchants or skilled artisans
• Locally they bartered among themselves
for surplus agricultural production and
handcrafted goods
• Long distance trade was supervised by the
central government using the excellent
Inca roads
Economic Exchange
• Gold, the Inca’s most
valuable commodity,
proved to be their
undoing when Spanish
conquistadors destroyed
much of the empire in the
early 1500s in search of
gold
• The Spanish melted
down almost all the gold
so few works of art
remain
Arrival of Francisco Pizarro in
South America
Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy
• In order to rule the massive territory and
populations they had conquered, the Incas
completely restructured much of Andean
society
– Relocated populations
– Reordered the economy
– Constructed an extensive transportation
network
– Inculcated a state religion
Social Hierarchy
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Rulers
Aristocrats
Priests
Bureaucrats
Peasant cultivators of common birth
– Much fewer skilled craftsmen than other
people of Mexica and the eastern hemisphere
Social Hierarchy
• Chief ruler was a god-king who
theoretically owned everything and was an
absolute and infallible ruler
• Dead rulers retained their prestige even
after death
– Remains were mummified and state
deliberations often took place in their
presence in order to benefit from their counsel
– Were seen as intermediaries with the gods
Social Hierarchy
• Aristocrats lived privileged lives including
fine foods, embroidered clothes, and
large ears spools
– Spanish called them “big ears”
Inca ear spools
Social Hierarchy
• Priests often came from royal and aristocratic
families
– They lived celibate and ascetic lives
– Influenced Inca society by education and religious
rituals
• Large class of bureaucrats to support
centralized government
– Bureaucrats administered over sections of the
population based on numerical rather than
geographic distribution
– Bureaucrats often were drawn from the loyal ranks of
conquered people
Social Hierarchy
• Peasants worked lands allocated to them and
delivered substantial portions of their production
to the bureaucrats
– Surplus supported the ruling, aristocratic, and priestly
classes as well as providing public relief in times of
famine or to widows
• Also owed compulsory labor services to the Inca
state
– Men provided heavy labor
– Women provided tribute in the forms of textiles,
pottery, and jewelry
Religion and Education
Inti Raymi, the feast of the sun
Religion and Education
• Main god was Inti, god of the sun
– In the capital of Cuzco, some 4,000 priests, attendants, and
virgin devotees served Inti
• Sacrificed agricultural produce or animals rather than
humans
• Inca religion taught that sin was a violation of the
established or natural order
– Believed sin could bring divine disaster for individuals and
communities
– Had rituals for confession and penance
• Believed in life after death where an individual received
rewards or punishments based on the quality of his
earthly life
Next Lesson
• Byzantium