Transcript File - World History

Unit 1 Part 2
Early Civilizations (Middle East and Indus River
Valley)
Mesopotamia
 Refers to the ancient civilizations that thrived around the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Fertile Crescent).
 Today this land is largely Iraq.
 The first Mesopotamian civilization was called Sumer or
Sumerians.
Sumerians
 Sumerians created many of civilizations “firsts” including
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writing, 12 month calendar (based on moon), wagon wheel,
arch, sundial, bronze
Development of city-states that controlled the surrounding
areas politically and economically (basic political unit of
Sumer)
Rule by theocracy (government by divine authority)
Most important building in each city was a ziggurat (temple)
Polytheistic – humans obey and serve the gods and goddesses
Sumerians
 Economy based on agriculture, but trade and industry were
important
 Divided into three classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves
 90 percent of the people were farmers
 Sumerians were eventually “replaced” by Semitic people.
(Semitic today = Jews, Arabs)
 Examples: Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians
Sumerians and Writing
• Created first writing system, today called
Cuneiform. Began with basic pictures called
pictograms for record keeping, teaching, and law
 It developed in stages
 Pictograms –Pictures/symbols to represent real things.
 Ideograms- symbols that stood for something abstract.
(Ideas) Example: Mother holding baby = love
 Phonograms – Symbols stood for sounds
 New class of scribes were introduced (upper-class)
The Epic of Gilgamesh
 Most important piece of Mesopotamian literature
 Teaches only gods are immortal
 Gilgamesh part human, part god
 Searches for the secret of immortality after the death of his
friend Enkidu (he fails)
The Code of Hammurabi
 One of the world’s most important early systems of law
 Harsh punishment for criminals (eye for and eye)
 Punishments varied by social status
 Punished public officials that were corrupt of failed in their
duties
 Consumer protection
 Marriage and family laws
 Patriarchal in nature (women had less rights than men)
 Enforced obedience of children to parents
Ancient Egypt
 River civilization as well (the Nile)
 Divided in to Lower (North) and Upper (South) Egypt
 Protected geographically on all sides (desert, Red and
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Mediterranean Seas, and rapids of the Nile)
Polytheistic
Ruled by pharaohs
Developed writing known as hieroglyphics
Pyramids, temples and other monuments show the
architectural and artistic achievement of Egyptians
Ancient Egypt
 Old Kingdom – 2700 to 2200 BCE
 Middle Kingdom – 2050 to 1652 BCE
 New Kingdom – 1567 to1085 BCE
 Notable pharaohs
 Ramses the Great
 Hatshepsut - first female pharaoh
 Akhenaton - tried monotheism
 Tutankhamen - boy-pharaoh
 Ramses the II - collapse of Egypt
 Cleopatra VII – tried to reassert Egypt’s independence
Indus River Valley Civilizations
 Located on Indus River in what would be today Pakistan and
India.
 Dates back to 2500BC
 Often called “Harrapan” civilization…named after city of
Harrapa. The other major city that was found was called
Mohenjo-Daro.
 Both cities were fine examples of Urban Planning.
 Streets and buildings were built on an elaborate grid system.
 Cities also had plumbing and water supply. Even flushing toilet.
 Baked –Bricks were used to build houses several stories high
Children of Israel
 Archeological evidence indicates they emerged as a distinct
group between 1200 and 1000BCE
 Main contribution to history is their religion, Judaism. It
influenced both Christianity and Islam.
 Israelites were Semitic people living in Palestine
 Capital city was Jerusalem
 Established the kingdom of Israel
King Solomon
 First great King of Israel, ruled from 970-930 BCE
 Known for his wisdom
 Built the temple in Jerusalem
 Israelites viewed the temple as the symbolic center of Israel
and Judaism.
Israeli Kingdom
 Kingdom divided into two parts, the Kingdom of Israel and
the Kingdom of Judah
 Kingdom of Israel – Ten tribes
 In 772 BCE Assyrians conquered and scattered the ten tribes
 “Ten lost tribes” lost their Hebrew identity
 Chaldeans conquered Assyria and the Kingdom of Judah
 Destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE
 Upper class captives sent to Babylonia
Israeli Kingdom
 After Persia conquers the Chaldeans the people of Judah
could return
 Temple was rebuilt
 People of Judah survive conquest of Alexander the Great
 Become know as Jews thus giving the name to the religion,
Judaism
Jewish Beliefs
 Monotheistic – one God named Yahweh
 Yahweh created and ruled the world
 God was not in nature
 Sdfasdfasdfasdfasdf
 All people were Yahweh’s servants. Not certain tribes or
nations
 Three important aspects of the religion
 Covenant
 Law
 Prophets
Covenant and Prophets
 Covenant is an agreement between God and his people
 Can be fulfilled by obeying the law of God stated in the Ten
Commandments
 Prophets (religious teachers) were sent by God
 Believed that unjust actions would bring God’s punishment
 Prophets like Isaiah expressed concern for humanity
 Hopes that all people will follow the law of the God of Israel in
peace time
 Show compassion for people
 Care about social justice an the condition of the poor and
unfortunate
Difference from Previous Religions
 Monotheistic
 Ideas were written down for everyone, not just priests and
rulers
 Everyone could have religious knowledge and know God’s
will
 Would not accept gods or goddesses of neighboring cultures