CIVILIZATION
• CHARACTERISTICS
LARGE URBAN SETTLEMENTS (CITIES)
VARIED AND COMPLEX SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• AS MANY PEOPLE INVOLVED IN
NONAGRICUTURAL AS IN AGRICULTURAL
OCCUPATIONS
HIGHLY ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT
COMPLEX RELIGIOUS BELIEF SYSTEM
WRITING SYSTEM
PIONEER CIVILIZATIONS
• MESOPOTAMIA
“LAND BETWEEN TWO
RIVERS”
TIGRIS RIVER
EUPHRATES RIVER
• EGYPT
THE GIFT OF NILE
• INDIA
INDUS VALLEY
• CHINA
HWANG HO
• MESOAMERICA
– CENTRAL AMERICA
– PERU
SUMER • POPULATION BEGAN TO
GROW AROUND 3500 BCE
– NEW VILLAGES APPEARED
– ESTABLISHED VILLAGES GREW
IN SIZE AND ABSORBED
NEIGHBORING TERRITORY
– PROCESS LED TO THE
CREATION OF 12 CITY-STATES IN
REGION
• CITY STATE: URBAN CENTER
AND SURROUNDING
COUNTRYSIDE
• EACH HAD OWN RULER, OWN
LAWS, OWN ARMY
• DID NOT GET ALONG WELL
WITH EACH OTHER—FOUGHT
CONSTANTLY
SUMER
- Each city-state had a marketplace, temples,
and houses.
- Walls around each city-state protected the
citizens from outside invaders.
SUMER
Society
- Society was made of different classes.
- Nobles were the wealthiest class, they
owned all of the land.
- Some nobles were relatives of the king
and priests.
SUMER
- Most people were commoners.
- Commoners were merchants, scribes, farmers,
skilled workers.
- Commoners could become wealthy by buying land.
SUMER
- Clients were the 3rd class of people in Sumer.
- Clients were people who worked for nobles or
priests.
- They were sometimes given land to work on, but
not own.
SUMER
- Slaves were the 4th and lowest class in Sumer.
- Most slaves were prisoners of war, some were
slaves due to punishment.
- Slaves could buy freedom if they could earn or
borrow money.
SUMERIAN CITY-STATE (UR)
Irrigation – bringing water from the river (Tigris
& Euphrates) and water their crops.
- Built canals and water raising devices to
water fields.
- Built dikes to stop floods and hold water
in lakes.
SARGON THE GREAT OF
• AKKAD
AKKAD
NORTH OF SUMER (CENTRAL
MESOPOTAMIA)
INHABITANTS ORIGINALLY FROM
ARABIA
• MIGRATED TO REGION AROUND
5000 BCE
• LIVED NEOLITHIC LIFESTYLE FOR
MOST PART
• DIVIDED INTO HOSTILE TRIBES
• SARGON THE GREAT (2300
BCE)
UNITED AKKAD UNDER HIS
RULE
SARGON’S EMPIRE
INVADED AND CONQUERED
SUMER
THEN INVADED AND
CONQUERED MEDITERRANEAN
MIDDLE EAST
CREATED WORLD’S FIRST
EMPIRE
UNINTENTIONAL CULTURAL
MISSIONARY
CARRIED SUMERIAN
CULTURE TO NEW LANDS IN
THE MIDDLE EAST
POLITICAL INSTABILITY
• SARGON’S EMPIRE COLLAPSED
AROUND 2130 BC
• SUMERIAN CITY-STATE OF UR BRIEFLY
RISES TO DOMINANCE
• UR DESTROYED BY AMORITES IN 2000
BC AND REGION IS PLUNGED INTO
ANARCHY
AMORITES WERE NOMADIC PEOPLE FROM
ARABIA
1800 BCE—CITY-STATE OF BABYLON (NOW
CONTROLLED BY AMORITES) CREATES “OLD
BABYLONIAN EMPIRE”
UNDER KING HAMMURABI
ENCOMPASSED MOST OF MESOPOTAMIA AND
MEDITERRANEAN MIDDLE EAST
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION I
• CENTER OF MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
• POLYTHEISTIC
– BELIEVED IN NUMEROUS GODS AND GODDESSES, EACH
WITH A SPECIAL FUNCTION
• GODS WERE CRUEL, VINDICTIVE, AND PETTY
– WENT THROUGH GREAT LENGTHS TO KEEP THEM
APPEASED
• NEVER MADE A MINOR OR MAJOR DECISION WITHOUT
CONSULTING GODS FIRST
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION II
BUILT HUGE TEMPLE
IN CENTER OF CITY-
STATE TO PATRON
GOD
• ZIGGURAT
• PATRON GOD OWNED
ALL LAND IN CITY-
STATE…ZIGGURAT
PRIESTS
ADMINISTERED IT FOR
HIM-BECAME VERY
WEALTHY AND
POWERFUL AS A
RESULT
BABYLON
Babylonians – ruled Mesopotamia
from 1900 to 1700 B.C.E.
Hammurabi – the greatest Babylonian
King.
HAMMURABI’S CODE
• ONE OF EARLIEST WRITTEN LAW CODES
• TELLS MUCH ABOUT MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY
WOMEN WERE LEGALLY SUBSERVIENT TO MEN
ALL FAMILY MEMBERS WERE COMPLETELY UNDER
THE POWER OF THE MALE HOUSEHOLD HEAD
BASED ON LEGAL PRINCIPLE OF “EYE
FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH”
RESULTED IN BRUTAL PUNISHMENTS
DEGREE OF INEQUALITY BUILT INTO THE
CODE
PUNISHMENT VARIED ACCORDING TO THE
SOCIAL STATUS OF BOTH THE PERPETRATOR
AND VICTIM
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S
BABYLON
CUNIEFORM WRITING
• MEANS “WEDGE-SHAPED”
• SYMBOL WRITING ON CLAY
TABLETS
• UNDERWENT EVOLUTION OVER
TIME FROM PICTOGRAMS TO MORE
ABSTRACT CHARACTERS
• SYMBOLS STOOD FOR CONCRETE
OBJECTS AND ABSTRACT
CONCEPTS
• NEARLY 2000 DIFFERENT
CHARACTERS IN ALPHABET
• TOOK YEARS OF SPECIALIZED
TRAINING TO MASTER
RESULT THAT FEW COULD
READ OR WRITE
OTHER SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS
• BRICK ARCHITECTURE
• BRONZE TOOLS AND WEAPONS
• ENGAGED IN TRADE
– BETWEEN CITY-STATES
– WITH AFRICA AND ASIA
• INVENTED FIRST MONEY
• ESTABLISHED SCHOOLS FOR TRAINING
PRIESTS AND SCRIBES
• CREATED AN ELABORATE LITERATURE
– EPIC POEM (GILGAMESH)
– WISDOM LITERATURE
• INVENTED MEDICINAL DRUGS
• HAD ACCURATE LUNAR CALENDAR
ANCIENT EGYPT
• Nile River
– Provided abundant
and reliable source
of water
– Flooded every year
and fertilized its
valley with silt
– Made possible a rich
and diverse
agriculture
OLD KINGDOM
• Zoser, self-styled “king”
from Upper Egypt
unites all villages along
Nile River under his rule
in 2900 BC
• 2900-2100 BC
• Destroyed in 2100 for
two reasons
– Civil war
– Economic burden of
building and
maintaining
pyramids
MIDDLE KINGDOM
• Anarchy, 2100-2000 BC
• Strong rulers emerge again around
2000 BC
– Reassert united rule
– Restored order
• 2000-1800 BC
– Cultural life revives
– Economic prosperity revives
– Trade links established with
Palestine, Syria, and Crete
• Invasion of Hyksos in 1800 BC
results in their takeover of Lower
Egypt
MIDDLE KINGDOM
- A rise in the middle class
(there were neither nobles nor
peasants)
Types of jobs in the middle class
- scribes
- traders
- government workers
- land owners
NEW KINGDOM
• Ahmose I, “warrior
pharaoh” from Upper
Egypt drives Hyksos
out of Lower Egypt in
1600 BC
• Egypt reunited again
under a native ruler
• 1600-1100 BC
EGYPTIAN RELIGION I
• Gods took various forms
– Animals (cats and crocodiles)
– Forces of nature (Nile)
– Half human/half animal creatures
• Pharaoh considered a god
– Human incarnation of Horus, Amon-
Re, and Osiris
– All-powerful/ word was law
– Laws and commands expected to
preserve ma’at (justice and harmony)
– Viewed as shepherd of his people
EGYPTIAN RELIGION II
• Strong belief in afterlife, as witnessed by
– Construction of pyramids
– Mummification of dead
– Tomb art
• Priests recited prayers to ensure continued
existence of dead person’s soul (ka) in the
afterlife
– Copied them on walls of tombs in
hieroglyphics
• Originally believed that only pharaoh and his
family could attain immortality
– Access to afterlife became more
“democratic” as time went on
• Afterlife contained same pleasures that
people enjoyed on earth but without the pain
The Egyptians created the calendar so
that they knew when the river was going
to flood.
Inundation – The Annual flooding, this
was from May to September.
- During this time the people worked on
building projects.
Emergence – Water returns to the river ,
this was from September to February.
During this time people traped water in
ponds and planted seeds in mud.
Drought – February to May, during this
time the river is normal.
- People harvest their crops.
A Surplus of Food
- Surplus of wheat, barley, and dates used
for trade.
- Mediterranean coast-traded for cedar and
pine timber.
*used for boats and furniture
- African coast- traded for ivory, ebony, pet
monkeys.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
• Amazing engineering skills in
building pyramids
• Effective system of
mathematics
• Accurate 365-day solar
calendar
• Doctors could correctly
diagnose a large number of
illnesses, understood that
unclean conditions caused
infection, and had some
knowledge of anatomy
RESULTS OF EMPIRE
• Greatly enriched Egypt
• Led to the creation of a
professional army
• Increase the power of
priests
– Temples received a
percentage of the
spoils of conquest
• Accelerated Egyptian
cultural and commercial
contacts with other
regions in the Middle
East and Africa
