Transcript Early Civilizations

Early Civilizations
Chapter 2 and 3
City-states of Ancient Sumer
• Fertile Crescent – region of the middle
east between and around the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
– It has very rich soils and golden wheat fields
• Mesopotamia – “between the rivers”
Ancient Sumer
• World’s first civilization
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
– Poem of a great flood that destroys the world
• Flooding control
– Use of dikes and ditches
• Construction
– Lacked stone and wood
• Use clay to make bricks
• Ur and Uruk
Ancient Sumer cont.
• Rich from Trade
• Invented the wheel?
• Egyptian and Indian goods
Sumerian Civilization
• Multiple city-states and war = hereditary
rule by war leaders
• Gov’t
– Maintains city walls and irrigation system
– Led armies
– Enforced laws
– Employed scribes
– Led religious ceremonies
Sumerian Civilization
• Social Structure
– Hierarchy – system of ranking groups
• Top Class: ruling family, leading officials, high priests
– Small middle class: lesser priests, scribes, merchants, artisans
» Lower class: Peasants
» Slaves from warfare or sale
– Role of Women
•
•
•
•
Goddesses were highly honored
Never had legal rights
Some ruler’s wives had supervisory positions
Read, write, & play music
Sumerian Civilization
• Religion
– Polytheistic ??
• Thought the gods acted like humans
• Responsible for truth, justice, violence, & suffering
– Ziggurat – a large, stepped platform thought
to have been topped by a temple dedicated to
the city’s chief god or goddess
– Sumerian Afterlife: after dying, you live in a
grim underworld with no escape and only dust
to eat
Ziggurats
Sumerian Civilization
• Writing
– Invented by Sumerians
• Cuneiform: wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets
– Began as pictographs and later became complex
symbols
– Used for econ., myths, prayers, laws, and business
contracts
– Scribe school
» Not talking
» Poor writing was not tolerated
» Caned as a punishment
» Could gain high positions
Cuneiform
Sumerian Legacy
• Cuneiform was used by Akkadians,
Babylonians, & Assyrians
• Astronomy, mathematics, number system
based on 6, 60 minutes, 360º
• Babylonians used Sumerian math to form
algebra & geometry, accurate calendars,
and prediction of eclipses
Mesopotamian Empires
• 2300 B.C.  Sargon,
ruler of Akkad
– Invaded & conquered
Sumer
– Builds first known empire
– Appointed local rulers
Mesopotamian Empires
• 1790 B.C.  Hammurabi, king of Babylon
– Conquered ancient Sumer after the death of
Sargon
– Hammurabi’s Code – publication of laws
• 300 laws on stone pillars
• Codify: arrange and set down in writing
• Civil law: private rights and matters
– E.g. business contracts, property inheritance, taxes,
marriage, divorce
• Criminal law: deals with offenses against other
such as robbery, assault, or murder
– “eye for an eye”
Mesopotamian Empires
• Hammurabi’s improvements:
– Better irrigation
– Well-trained army
– Repaired temples
– Encouraged religion by promoting Marduk,
the patron god of Babylon
Mesopotamian Empires
• Hittites – 1400 B.C.
– Introduced ironworking
• Assyrians
– Known for their skill as warriors
– Rich society
– First to develop laws regulating royal families
– Established one of the first libraries
Nebuchadnezzar
•
•
•
•
•
King of Babylon
Reforms the Babylon empire
Rebuilds the city of Babylon
Built a defensive moat and wall
9 gates to enter the city in honor of the
main Gods and Goddesses
• Built the hanging gardens
Persians
• 539 B.C. Conquered Babylon
– Largest empire EVER!!!!!
• Darius
– Set up a bureaucracy
– Divided empire into two satrapy
– Governor for each
– Each paid taxes based on what they had
– Supervision of governors
Darius cont.
•
•
•
•
•
Written laws
Built roads
Set up standards of weights and measures
Encouraged the use of coins
Barter economy : exchange one set of
goods or services for another
• Money economy: goods and services are
paid for through the exchange of a token
Zoroaster
• Persian intellectual
• Taught that a single god named Ahura
Mazda was in control of the world
• Also taught that Ahriman, the prince of lies
and evil was fighting for Ahura Mazda’s
power
• Stressed a final judgement day
Phoenicians
• Sailors and traders in the Mediterranean
– Made glass, “Tyrian purple”
– Set up colonies
– Colony: a territory settled & ruled by people
from another land
– “carriers of civilization”
• Alphabet – symbols representative of certain
sounds
• 22 Consonants
• Greeks add vowels
Egyptian Empire about 1450 B.C
Geography of the Ancient Nile
Valley
“Egypt is wholly the gift of the Nile.” – Herodotus
People settled and established farming villages along the Nile.
Egyptians depended on annual floods to soak the land and
deposit a layer of silt, or rich soil.
Egyptians had to cooperate to control the Nile, building dikes,
reservoirs, and irrigation ditches.
Rulers used the Nile to link and unite Upper and Lower Egypt.
The Nile served as a trade route connecting Egypt to Africa, the Middle
East, and the Mediterranean world.
Three Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt
OLD
KINGDOM
Pharaohs
organized a
strong central
state, were
absolute rulers,
and were
considered
gods.
Egyptians built
pyramids at Giza.
MIDDLE
KINGDOM
Large drainage
project created
arable farmland.
Traders had
contacts with
Middle East and
Crete.
NEW
KINGDOM
Powerful pharaohs
created a large empire
that reached the
Euphrates River.
Hatshepsut- Queen of
the New Kingdom who
declared herself
pharoah
Ramses II-Pharaoh who
spread Egyptian rule
northward to Syria,
conquered Nubia, and
wanted to be
remembered above all
others.
3 periods of Egypt
• Egypt is divided into 3 periods:
– The Old, Middle, New Kingdoms
• During this time power was passed down
through different dynasties or ruling
families.
Pyramids
Ramses II
Hatshepsut
Egypt and Nubia
For centuries, Egypt traded or fought with Nubia.
During the New Kingdom, Egypt conquered Nubia.
• Nubians served in Egyptian armies and
influenced Egyptian culture.
• Egyptian art from this period shows Nubian
soldiers, musicians, or prisoners.
When Egypt declined, Nubia conquered Egypt.
• Nubians did not see themselves as conquerors.
They respected Egyptian traditions.
Egyptian Religious Beliefs
• Belief that many gods and goddesses ruled the world
and the afterlife. They were polytheistic.
Amon-Re was the sun god.
Osiris was the god of the underworld and of the
Nile.
The pharaoh was believed to be a god as well as
a monarch.
• Belief in eternal life after death.
Relied on the Book of the Dead to help them
through the afterworld.
Practiced mummification, the preservation of the
body for use in the next life.
Mummification
Mummification
Egyptian afterlife
• Heart gets weighed against the feather
of truth. If heart is lighter than the
feather go to Happy field of food.
• If heart weighs more than the feather.
Get heart eaten by the crocodile eater
of the dead
Tutankhamen
• Only tomb that we have found intact
was the tomb of King Tutankhamen.
• It was found in 1922.
• This reveals to us how great the riches of
these tombs must have been.
King Tut
King Tut
Ancient Egypt: A Center of Learning &
Culture
Advances in Learning
Advances in the Arts
Developed a form of picture writing
called hieroglyphics.
They were written on papyrus-plant
used to make a paper like material.
Know Hieroglyphics through the
Rosetta Stone.
Statues, paintings, and writings tell
us about ancient Egyptian values
and attitudes.
Doctors diagnosed and cured
illnesses, performed surgery, and
developed medicines still used
today.
Developed 12-month calendar on
which modern calendar is based.
Developed practical geometry.
Skilled in design and engineering.
Developed painting style that
remained unchanged for thousands
of years.
Wrote hymns and prayers to the
gods, proverbs, love poems, stories
of victory in battle, and folk tales.
Built pyramids and other great
buildings, such as temple of
Ramses II.
Rosetta Stone
Hieroglyphics
Class System in Ancient Egypt
PHARAOH
Earthly leader; considered a god
HIGH PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES
Served gods and goddesses
NOBLES
Fought pharaoh’s wars
MERCHANTS, SCRIBES, AND ARTISANS
Made furniture, jewelry, and fabrics for pharaohs and nobles,
and provided for other needs
PEASANT FARMERS AND SLAVES
Worked in the fields and served the pharaoh