Chapter One: The Beginnings of Civilization
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Transcript of Chapter One: The Beginnings of Civilization
Chapter One: The Beginnings of
Civilization
Defining “Civilized”• Urban life: permanent
constructions • System of regulatory government• Class distinction (wealth and
occupation)• Tools/skills --> production/trade• Written communication• Shared system of religious belief
** Not a value judgment! **
Origins of Western Civilization
• Paleolithic World View (Old Stone Age)• Art• Religion
• Neolithic Civilizations (Late Stone Age)• Domestication of animals• Cultivation of vegetation• Community• War / Weaponry
The Bronze Age (3000-1000 B.C.E.)
• Mesopotamia• Sumerian (3500-2350 B.C.E.)• Semitic (2350-612 B.C.E.)
• Egypt• Aegean Cultures
Sumerian Culture• Agricultural/Urban settlements• “Fertile Crescent”
• Writing/record-keeping: Cuneiform• Shared system of religious belief• Civil ruler / Religious rulers
Epic of Gilgamesh• Gilgamesh ruled at Uruk c. 2700
B.C.E.• Composed in Sumerian (2000
B.C.E.) on cuneiform tablets• Introspective work• Asserts universal questions about
human existence
Semitic Culture• Akkadian Period• King Sargon and descendants (2350-
2150 B.C.E.)• Focus on HUMAN achievement• Heroic Code
• Babylonian Legacy• King Hammurabi
• Assyrians• Culmination of Mesopotamian culture
Fall of Mesopotamia• Medes• Nomadic warriors• Conquered Nineveh in 612 B.C.E.• Conquered and absorbed by Persians
• Persians• Nomadic warriors• Conquered by Alexander the Great
(330 B.C.E.)
Poll: What is another name for a Paleolithic s...
Poll: What are the two most important factors ...
Poll: Are Homo sapiens sapiens the only specie...
Poll: Were cave paintings were used in religio...
Poll: Which country has the best examples of c...
Poll: Gilgamesh ruled which Sumerian city?
Poll: Which goddess did Gilgamesh rebuff?
Poll: What did Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill?
Poll: What did the hero Utnapishtim survive?
Poll: What Biblical story does Utnapishtim's t...
Poll: Any questions?