Transcript The Ancient Near East

The Ancient Near East
Another big chunk of history
in a short amount of time!
Mesopotamia
The land between the rivers- provided irrigation for
surplus food supplies and Sumerians and Babylonians
built cities along these two rivers.
These cities became independent political states that
shared a common civilization.
By 3000 BC the communities of Mesopotamia were
consolidated under one rule
This government was dominated by Sumer
Big cities like Ur, Akkad, and Lagash retained relative
independence
Remained in the hands of local kings or priests
Some were actually elected by popular assemblies
Nomadic Semites began to immigrate to the area and
number became large enough that their language was
imposed on the area
Invention of Writing in Sumer
Writing appears to have begun at Sumer. The
Sumerian pictographic form evolved by the fourth
millennium into cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing.
The signs in the cuneiform system later became
ideograms and evolved into an intricate system of
communication. The writing system was so
complicated that only professional scribes mastered it.
Scribal schools flourished throughout Sumer. Although
practical, scribal schools were also centers of culture
and learning. These schools set the standard for all of
Mesopotamia.
Studied math, astronomy, medicine and metallurgy
(made alloys like bronze out of tin and copper)
Around 3000 BC they invented the wheel
Developed a number system and an accurate calendar
Thought and Religion
Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic
The gods were much like human beings,
only with supernatural powers.
In Mesopotamian religion, we find attempts
to explain the origins of mankind.
There are numerous myths woven into the
Mesopotamian religious tapestry.
Sumerian epic of creation, The Epic of
Gilgamesh.
– Its hero, Gilgamesh, is a wandering king who seeks
immortality.
Sumerian Society
The arid and harsh environment fostered a religion
based on placating a pantheon of harsh gods and
goddesses.
The temple, or ziggurat, was the center of
Sumerian life and religion.
The temple priests oversaw the agricultural work
and the distribution of the agricultural yield.
The lugal (king) exercised political power over the
landowning populace.
Sumerian society was organized into four classes
of people:
nobles, free clients of the nobility, commoners, and
slaves.
Commerce
Sumerians were less self sufficient that the
Egyptians and were in a tremendous
location or trade
They exported fine jewelry, clothes, tools
and slaves
They imported metals
They used a barter system
Some historians believe that they traded as
far as South America
The majority of the population was agrarian
peasantry but a feudal society existed
The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture
The third millennium witnessed the growth and spread
of Sumerian culture, by the Sumerians themselves
and by the Semitic peoples who conquered them.
The Triumph of Babylon
One of the Semitic groups to conquer
Mesopotamia was the Babylonians.
Babylon’s best-known king, Hammurabi (ca.
1792–1750 b.c.), forged a vibrant SumeroBabylonian culture through conquest and
assimilation.
Life under Hammurabi- one of the world’s
earliest comprehensive law codes, which today
provides much useful information on daily life in
ancient Mesopotamia
Egypt
The Early Kingdom
Begins with the First Dynasty founded by
Menes around 3000 BC
The kingdom reached a climax during the fourth
dynasty and the pharaoh Cheops or Khufu in
2650 BC
By the 6th dynasty, the reign of Pepi II (2300
BC) the kingdom was disintegrating
Society was mainly agrarian and did not rely
heavily on trade
Eventually they had to import lumber from Syria
using the barter system
Government Structure
Pharaoh was a deity
He was originally associated with the
falcon-headed god Horus and later the god
Ra
Had ultimate control over all the districts or
nomes in his kingdom
Started off egalitarian agrarian society but
a nobility emerged
Women seem to have shared equality with
men
Monogamy was the general rule
Egyptian Learning
Dense population, especially in
Memphis the capital
Artisanship and scholarship were both
encouraged
Students learned writing, reading,
algebra, geometry, and astronomy
Writing system used hieroglyphs on
papyrus
Eventually a phonetic system
developed
Religion
Egyptians had a sophisticated spirituality
Tombs, mummification, the book of the
dead
Priests became aristocrats with political
power
Supreme Deities were Horus, Ra and
Amen- idenified with the sun
Osiris was god of the Nile and the judge of
the dead
Isis was the wife and sister of Osiris and
was the godess of motherhood and fertility
The Middle Kingdom
After the death of Pepi II, central government
broke down
Nobility gained tremendous authority and began to
bicker among themselves
Plague and Famine forced the re-establishment of
a strong central government
The 12th dynasty under Amenemhet III established
an absolutist rule moving the capital to Thebes
Seen as a mature stage of development: art was
less important and attention shifted to science
Math, construction, and mining flourished
Amenemhet’s successors were incompetent and
the kingdom was overrun by the Hyksos
The New Kingdom
After 200 years Ahmose I overthrew the
Hyksos
Restructured the army with indigenous
soldiers
He was succeeded both excellent leaders who
strengthened the kingdom: Thutmose III,
Amenhotep III, Ikhnaton, and Ramses II
By 1150 BC, under Ramses III, Egypt became
dependent on mercenary troops again
They begin to decline and the kingdom falls in
1085 BC
A Shattered Egypt and a Rising
Phoenicia
Invaders from Africa and the Near East
shattered the power of Egypt and the Hittites.
Long wars weakened Egypt, causing political
and economic chaos.
Nubians extended power northward.
Kingdom of Kush grew up in the area of modern
Sudan.
Egyptian ideas and beliefs made their way, through
Palestine and Syria, to Europe.
Cluster of smaller kingdoms evolved: Phoenicians,
Syrians, Hebrews.
The Phoenicians were traders, experts in
metalworking, textile manufacturers, and inventors of
the phonetic alphabet from which our own is derived.
Israel
In terms of Religion, The Hebrews have had the
biggest influence on western civilization
From a nomadic tribe called the Hapiru from the
line of Abraham who migrated into Egypt
The mass migrated out of Egypt and settled in
Palestine in the 13th BC
Saul, David, and Solomon
Solomon created a unified nation and built a temple
When he died the kingdom was split in two: north (Israel)
and south (Judah)
Israel began to build sanctuaries to other gods
Israel was eventually wiped out by the Assyrians
Judah was crushed by the Babylonians
The Children of Israel
South of Phoenicia arose the small kingdom of the ancient Jews.
Origin is uncertain.
came to Palestine through the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.
stability was established by the kings Saul, David, and Solomon.
Saul warred against the Philistines and established a monarchy over the
twelve tribes.
David carried on Saul’s work.
– Captured and fortified the city of Jerusalem.
– Made Jerusalem the political and religious center.
Solomon organized the collective tribes into twelve territorial districts.
– Temple at Jerusalem was part of his overall building program.
– Dedicated temple and made it the home of the Ark of the
Covenant.
– Hebrews broke into two political halves on Solomon’s death.
» Northern kingdom (Israel) destroyed by Assyrians (8th century
b.c.).
» Southern kingdom defeated by Babylonians in 587 b.c.
» Cyrus the Great of Persia permitted exiles to return to
Jerusalem.
Jewish Religion
Old Testament was the key sacred writing.
The Covenant was a kind of contract
between Yahweh and the Hebrews.
Yahweh was the Jews’ only god
(monotheism).
Ten Commandments
The Torah, or Mosaic Law, was very harsh.
Later custom and law were more
humanitarian
The Empire of the Persian Kings
Persians (or Iranians) were Indo-European nomads, like the
Aryans who conquered India in the second millennium b.c.
They arrived in present-day Iran around 1000 b.c.
The Persian ruler Cyrus the Great (r. 559530 b.c.) created
the largest empire yet to exist in the Near East.
Cyrus had an enlightened view of empire, practiced religious
tolerance, and allowed the subject peoples of his empire
great autonomy.
Emperor Darius (r. 521486 b.c.) adopted the Zoroastrian
religion.
Zoroaster preached a new concept of divinity and human life.
He described the cosmos as a battle between opposing
forces of good and evil, represented by the gods
Ahuramazda and Ahriman.
taught that individuals must decide whether to choose
Ahuramazda or Ahriman.
Zoroaster preached a Last Judgment.
Zoroastrian thought influenced Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam.