CLASSROOM REMINDERS

Please turn off your electronic devices and put them away. Do not leave them on your desks.

Since you’ve chosen to be here, in our class, please focus on the class. Be here now.

Take notes: get your pen and pad out. Bring your textbook every day, along with the

primary source handouts for that week.

CHAPTER 1

The Birth of Civilization in the Middle East

What Is a Civilization?

Why “Western” (Civilization)?

ONE POSSIBLE DEFINITION OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Western Civilization is not one civilization but a series of civilizations that, over the last 5,000 years, have borrowed and built on each other.

The earliest civilizations dates from 3,000 b.c.e. –

or about 5,000 years ago

WHAT FEATURES DO ALL CIVILIZATIONS SHARE?

Social Stratification Writing and Written Records

Large and Complex Political and Social Organizations

Cities Monumental Architecture

KEY QUESTIONS THIS SEMESTER (WRITE THESE DOWN!)

1. What is a Civilization?

2. How does Western Civilization (WC) differ from other civilizations? How is it the same as other civilizations?

3. What do we mean when we say “The West” and use the verb “westernize” or the adjective “Western”? (Western imperialism, Western values, Western decadence…)

4. Is Western Civilization good or bad? Is it both? According to whom?

WARNING: SCIENCE USED HERE NOT CREATIONISM, HOLY BOOKS, OR MYTHOLOGY

Evolution and Charles Darwin The Origin of Species (1859) Humans evolved from earlier species in

their attempt to adapt to an ever-changing environment.

Adaptations that better ‘fit’ an animal to its environment improve the chances of its survival (‘survival of the fittest).

Man (the genus Homo) and apes are closely related. Both are animals and like all animals, run the risk of extinction. (extinction = not adapting to a changing environment).

FRAMING THE HUMAN PAST:

HOW OLD IS THE UNIVERSE?

14.3 Billion Years Old How old is the Milky Way Galaxy?

13.2 Billion Years Our Solar System?

5 Billion Years The Earth?

4.54 Billion Years

According to Science,

How Old is Man? It depends on what you call ‘man.’

According to paleoanthropologists, the Earliest Human-like

Ancestor of Modern Man is 4.3 Million years old.

Hominids – a more human-like variation of the primate family, closer to modern man than to apes.

Hominids appeared 2 million years ago.

In the Universe as a whole, man is a new born babe.

WHAT FEATURES SET EARLY MAN (HOMINIDS) APART FROM OTHER MAMMALS?

OPPOSABLE THUMBS OR, HOW ‘BEING ALL THUMBS’ WAS AN EVOLUTIONARY ADVANCE

BIPEDALISM OR, HOW HUMANS LEARNED TO WALK THE WALK

STEREOSCOPIC VISION: OR, THE BEAUTY OF OVERLAPPING VISION FIELDS

HUMANS AND THE PALEOLITHIC 600,000 TO 10,000 YEARS AGO

For most of human history, overwhelmingly, man has lived as a hunter and gatherer. That is, he has lived in the Paleolithic Age.

It was not a bad way to live, hunting and gathering: features of Paleolithic human society.

Then a revolution occurred….

THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION 10,000 YEARS AGO

The Neolithic (“New Stone”) Revolution, 10,000-c. 4000 B.C.E.

The neolithic is the transition from a nomadic existence as hunter-gatherers to a more settled lifestyle.

Its two great achievements: Invention of agriculture Domestication of

animals

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE KEY CONSEQUENCES OF

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION?

Authority was in the hands of male elders who elected a chief leader

Surpluses became more common, surplus wheat, milk, barley, beer.

More food meant more people, more births. Wars became more violent and the cities grew. Order was difficult to maintain, hence law was created. Where did this surplus and warfare and urbanization first

appear?

CHRONOLOGY MATTERS: PERIODS

The History of Western Civilization can be broken up into three periods:

1. Ancient History = 3,000 b.c.e – 500 c.e. 2. Christian Europe = 500 c.e. – 1500 c.e. 3. Modern Europe = 1500 c.e. – Present

MESOPOTAMIA OR “LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS”

SUMER (3500-2400 B.C.) – THE FIRST CITY-STATE IN MESOPOTAMIA

Sumerians arrived in Mesopotamia by 3500 b.c.e., probably from Asia.

They conquered or absorbed earlier Neolithic inhabitants.

Warfare was constant: Surpluses were constant. Emergence of military chieftains– by 2500 B.C.“kings”

They built a Complex Society divided into several social groups, such as priests and warriors.

THE SUMERIAN SOCIAL HIERARCHY, OR THE SOCIAL PECKING ORDER

Four Social Groups Existed in Ancient Society:

WOMEN AND MEN IN SUMER: PATRIARCHY

Sumerian society, as with all the societies we will study in this class, was patriarchal. Patriarchy = Government by men.

Some Sumerian women occupied powerful places in Sumerian society, but only a few.

Upper class women were scribes, priestesses, queens, and traders.

SUMERIAN TECHNOLOGY:

The Wheel

Metal tools And metallurgy

The plow

WRITING AS AN EXTENSION OF MEMORY. WRITING AS POWER

Writing dates from 3100 B.C. in Sumer

Develops with increased prosperity (accounting records). How to keep track of commercial transactions – sales and contracts?

Sumerian cuneiform (‘wedge shaped’)

Writing practiced only by professional scribes

Illiteracy in ancient societies.

WHAT WRITING CREATED: THE SUMERIAN LAW CODE

As Sumerian society grew, it grew chaotic. Further growth required order and rule.

One of the fruits of writing was the Law.

The law code was a Statement of customary rules and practices

Hammurabi’s Law Code (1772 b.c.e.), forerunner of the Constitution

MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE = POWER

Then

Now

Sumerian Ziggurat American

Skyscraper

EGYPT

At the same time that Sumer and the

Mesopotamian City States were growing and spreading (about 3000 b.c.e.), a people and a country to the South

were flourishing.

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS: EGYPT

For two thousand years in Egypt, continuity and stability reigned -- from 3100 to 1200 b.c.

This civilization arose around the Nile and its annual flooding. It too, like Sumer, was a River-Valley civilizations.

Two distinct geographical sections exist in Egypt – upper Egypt (the Valley) and Lower Egypt (the Delta)

At about 3100 B.C., the two sections were unified under a single king or pharoah. Ancient Egypt, the empire, was born.

GOVERNMENT BY A GOD-KING (3100-30 B.C.)

The Egyptian king or monarch was called Pharaoh – a divine king.

All Pharaohs were sons of the sun-god Re, king of all the other gods and goddesses.

Pharaohs were appointed by the gods to conduct the rituals and sacrifices that won the favor of the gods. If the gods were worshipped, food grew and life went on.

All pharaohs were supposed to possess Ma’at – a divine aura or magnetism that brought stability and harmony.

EGYPTIAN SOCIAL PYRAMID

EGYPT WAS THE MOST ENDURING OF THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS – 3100 TO 1200 BCE

Ancient Egypt lasted almost 2000 years before being conquered.

Old Kingdom (2700-2181) – begins

about 2700 B.C.

Middle Kingdom (2060-1785) – begins about 2060 B.C.

New Kingdom (1570-1085) –reestablished about 1570 B.C.

RELIGION: THE BASIS OF PHARAOH’S AUTHORITY

Polytheism was the norm in ancient times. Egypt had over 300 gods.

Egyptian gods were originally conceived in the form of animals and later often bore animal heads or bodies

The gods arose from families that mirrored earthly families Ra – first pharoah Geb (the earth) and Nut (the

sky) = Egyptian first couple. The son of Geb and Nut was

Osiris. Osiris married his sister, Isis.

See the Primary Source on the First Creation.

Osiris

Geb (below) and Nut (above)

For Egyptians, an afterlife existed. The soul of the deceased stands

before Osiris, ruler of the underworld The heart (character) of the dead

person was weighed to measure the soul’s truthfulness

If the soul passed judgment, it was admitted to everlasting life in a garden of paradise; otherwise, it was cast into the crocodile jaws of a monster

Other Aspects of Egyptian Religion:

The Final Reckoning or Judgment

EGYPTIAN WRITING: HIEROGLYPHICS

Pictogram – ideogram – phonogram

EGYPTIANS WERE VERY ADVANCED WHEN IT CAME TO TECHNOLOGY…AS THIS TOMB PAINTING SHOWS.

SOME KEY POINTS TO CHAPTER 1

Western Civilization is not one civilization, but a series of civilizations. The first and most important of these civilizations arose by 3,000 b.c. in two places – Sumer and Egypt, in the Middle East and Africa.

Sumer’s civilization was a model for most of those that followed in Mesopotamia, such as the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Persians empires.

What all had in common: polytheism, monarchy, writing, complex social and economic systems, a vast surplus of grain and goods. Each was overtaken by cultures that absorbed and improved on the earlier civilizations.

READING PRIMARY SOURCES: A STARTER KIT

WHAT HISTORIANS DO

They study evidence of the past in order to understand it. Being the Detective

They then represent the past to reflect their understanding of it. Books Documentaries Museum exhibits films

Almost all of the past has been destroyed.

What remains of it is precious.

What do these precious remains of the past

mean?

WHAT IS EVIDENCE?

It comes in many shapes and sizes.

A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

In this class, I want you to be a historian in training.

What do historians do? 1. They analyze the evidence of the past 2. They try to understand the past 3. They attempt to convey or pass on

their understanding of the past to others.

Approach each historical source or document in our class with an open mind, as if you are the first historian to find and to interpret it. Be the detective. Extract as much info about the

past from your sources.

ANCIENT ISRAEL

Judaism

CONNECTIONS: THREE GREAT LEGACIES OF THE MIDDLE

EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS

Monotheism under the Israelites The spread of civilization from the Middle

East and Africa to the Mediterranean. Civilization = writing, cities, metallurgy,

complex social and political organization, monarchy, monumental architecture, etc.

THE BIG PICTURE

► Ancient Israel is the birthplace of the 3 great monotheistic religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

► Great patriarchs of Judaism: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua

► Hebrews, Israelites, Jews,

Semites: have all undergone persecution throughout history; from Babylonian Captivity, Exodus, Diaspora, Spanish Inquisition, Holocaust

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

► Ancient Israel is the birthplace of the 3 great monotheistic religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

► Ancient Israel dates back approximately 4000 years to the books of the Old Testament

► Great patriarchs of Judaism: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua

► Hebrews, Israelites, Jews, Semites: have all undergone persecution throughout history; from Babylonian Captivity, Exodus, Diaspora, Spanish Inquisition, Holocaust

WHAT IS IN A NAME?

►Hebrew means “From across”- name given to Abraham and his followers

► Israelites: Abraham’s grandson Jacob renamed Israel which means “he who has wrestled with God”. His descendants were called “Israelites”

► Jews: named after Jacob’s son Judah, ancient father of tribe of King David’s dynasty

CHRONOLOGY – ONE TOOL OF THE HISTORIAN AN ISRAELITE TIMELINE

► 1800 b.c.e. - Abraham traveled to Canaan (that is, Palestine) ► 1200 b.c.e. - Moses appeared among Hebrews in Egypt -- the

Exodus ► The appearance of the Ten Commandments to Moses; Hebrews

wander desert for 40 years ► 1020 b.c.e. - Saul named first king of Israel, soon to be followed

by David and Solomon. (1020-865 b.c.e.) ► 722 b.c.e. -- Israel defeated by the Assyrians ► 587 b.c.e. -Judah falls to Chaldeans; Destruction of the first

Temple. This leads to the Diaspora ► 515 b.c.e - the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem

ABRAHAM AND YAHWEH

►Nomadic tribes wandered into Palestine from east in approximately 1900 BCE

►Mesopotamian society dominated by polytheism, by many of gods.

►One of these local gods was called Yahweh. Yahweh commands Abraham “to go and raise a great nation” – and to worship only Yahweh.

Abraham’s Journeys

YAHWEH: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

One of many gods in Mesopotamia A ‘jealous god’ The slow evolution towards monotheism: 1800-515 b.c.e. Characteristics:

Universal and exclusive A negotiator An ethical god All-knowing, everpresent, unknowable Is ‘jealous’

MOSES & EXODUS: “LET MY PEOPLE GO!” ► Moses received revelations from God:

burning bush, rod / staff, 10 plagues, parting of the Red Sea

► End of 13th century BCE- Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt during Rames II reign called the EXODUS

► Moses led the 12 Tribes of Israel to Mount Sinai where Yahweh gave him the 10 Commandments, uniting the Hebrews under one God

► Moses and Hebrews searched for the “Promised Land” or the land of milk and honey, however they wandered in the desert for 40 years

KINGS OF ISRAEL

► 1020 BCE: first king of Israelites was Saul, then David, then Solomon

► King Solomon built the Temple of Jerusalem to house the Arc of the Covenant (sacred box to hold the Torah)

► Solomon’s Temple was destroyed during Babylonian invasion

► Only remaining part of Solomon’s Temple is the Western Wall

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES AND KING SAUL

► 12th and 13th centuries B. C. E. : Hebrews were led by tribal leaders, called the Judges. This group defended

several groups against invasion, thus serving as a force for political unity.

► Great progress toward national unity was

accomplished by the first king of Israel, Saul (c. 1020 B. C. E.), who banded the people together against

their common enemy, the Philistines.

PERIOD OF THE HEBREW KINGS 1020-922 BCE

• Israelites united against Philistines •Saul, first Israelite king •Never won full support •David, second king •Strong king, gifted poet •Solomon, David’s son • Israel reached height of wealth

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KING DAVID (1000 TO 960 B. C. E.)

► As a young man, David established himself as a hero; the book of

Samuel tells of David the shepherd boy killing the Philistine giant Goliath with a slingshot.

► Hebrew Scripture attributes most of the poetry in the book of Psalms to David, who sang and played the lute.

► As King of Israel he had many achievements: A united kingdom of clans Many military victories He established Jerusalem as Israel’s national capital Created the first successful Jewish kingdom Founded a dynasty (succeeded by his son, Solomon)

KING SOLOMON

►Reign from 960-922 B. C. E. ►Reign called “The Golden Age of Israel” ►King Solomon is known for his grace and

wisdom ►Reign was a time of peace and prosperity:

Israelites fortified their cities Temple of Jerusalem was built

Inside Solomon’s Temple

The Ark of the

Covenant

DIVISION AND CONFLICT: 722-100 B.C.E.

•Conflict after Solomon’s death •Two kingdoms, Israel and Judah •722 BC, Israel fell to Assyrians •586 BC, Judah fell to Chaldeans •Chaldeans enslaved Jews •Diaspora = scattering of Jews •Persians conquered Chaldeans

CYRUS THE PERSIAN

►Captured Babylon in 539 B. C. E., allowed the Hebrews in captivity to return to Jerusalem in 538 B. C. E.

► The region was ruled by outsiders such as Persians, Greeks, and Ptolemies.

LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL ► After the death of Solomon,

Kingdom of Israel split into two (north= Israel; south= Judah)

► Israel was conquered by Assyrians in 722 BCE and the scattered people were known as the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’

► Judah was eventually destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and inhabitants were held in captivity (called the Exile or Babylonian Captivity)

► Emergence of synagogues and rabbis during Exile

► Released by Persians in 538 BCE and returned to Jerusalem to rebuild temple

Israelites in Captivity

THE DIASPORA CHANGES THE ISRAELITES PERMANENTLY

Israelites flee to Egypt, Babylon, Asia Minor, etc. They are a people without a country or capital or even the

Hebrew language. They are bound by their Religion

Covenant Rituals Spiritual guides or prophets The Torah is compiled (see next slide)

The Torah

The first 5 books of the Hebrew

Bible.

The most sacred text in the Jewish

religious tradition.

THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

During the Babylonian Exile, the Jewish people had to rethink their belief system. This

rethinking led to the emergence of rabbinical Judaism.

For the Jewish people, the Babylonian Captivity brought much sorrow and some hard feelings.

Psalm 137: “ By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If

I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my

highest joy. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!" O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your babies and dash them against the

rock!”

THE ISRAELITES BY 537 B.C.E. (2547 YEARS AGO)

After 537 b.c.e. and the diaspora, Rabbinical Judaism took off and redefined Judaism.

Priestly status inherited and priests formed a powerful aristocracy

Jews became more devout in following the laws of righteousness and ritual purity in the Torah

Judaism became more of a religious than national group Impact of exile

“Chosen People” Messiah, “Anointed One”

The Temple Mount, Jerusalem Today

The “Wailing” Wall

IMPACT OF ANCIENT ISRAEL

► Covenant = formal agreement between Hebrews and God (Yahweh); Hebrews worshipped God and only God, and in return, they would be God’s Chosen People and given Canaan as the Promised Land

► Spiritual ideas profoundly influenced Western culture, morality, ethics and conduct

► Three of the world’s most dominant religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam all derive their roots from the spiritual beliefs of the Ancient Israelites

SPIRITUAL LEGACY OF THE HEBREWS

Religion the foundation of Hebrew and Jewish societies ►Belief in One God

Monotheism ►Justice and Righteousness

Kindness, fairness, code of ethics ►Obedience to the Law

Ten Commandments, Mosaic Law ►Jewish Sacred Texts

Torah, Talmud

SOME KEY POINTS TO CHAPTER 1

Western Civilization is not one civilization, but a series of civilizations. The first and most important of these civilizations arose by 3,000 b.c. in two places – Sumer and Egypt.

Sumer’s civilization was a model for most of those that followed in Mesopotamia, such as the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Persians

What all had in common: polytheism, monarchy, writing, complex social and economic systems, a vast surplus of grain and goods.

SOME KEY POINTS TO CHAPTER 1

All these civilizations were based in river valleys. In time, the Egyptian and Mesopotamian kingdoms

were united, violently, into Universal Empires. See Assyria, but especially Persia.

The Hebrews, though a small group of people who were scattered throughout the Middle East, develop an ethical, monotheistic god.

IN TIME, KINGDOMS WERE JOINED TO KINGDOMS. THIS LED TO ‘SUPER-KINGDOMS’ OR EMPIRES

The First Universal Empires

THE FIRST UNIVERSAL EMPIRES: ASSYRIA AND PERSIA

By 1200 b.c.e. Mesopotamia suffered massive turmoil. Why?

Invasions. 1200 B.C.– the Hittite kingdom in Asia Minor is

invaded by newcomers Invaders proceed on to Syria, Palestine and Egypt

Disrupted trade and commerce Shortage of tin led metalworkers to use iron as they

developed new methods of smelting. Led to the Iron Age Used archers and spearmen riding horses

INVASIONS….(1200-900 B.C.E)

In Mesopotamia, Sematic nomads (Aramaeans from Syria and Chaldeans from Arabia) invaded as well.

By 900 b.c.e. Aramaeans conquered the north and the Chaldeans conquered the south

The Aramaeans adopted the ways of the Mesopotamians and created a number of prosperous city-states that dominated land trade throughout the Middle East

BUT CIVILIZATION GREW… ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST, PHOENICIANS ESTABLISHED

SEABORNE TRADE

Merchant vessels and oar-powered warships with bronze-tipped rams

Phoenician merchants traveled Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Created colonies in Africa and Spain – Carthage in North Africa

Alphabet 30 signs developed in the Middle East as an improvement to Egyptian

hierglyphics After 1200 B.C. Aramaeans brought the alphabet to

Mesopotamia The Phoenicians passed on alphabetic writing to less advanced

western people

FINALLY, ONE POWER ROSE UP: ASSYRIA (900-600 B.C.)

Assyrians were a Semitic people arriving from Arabia to the middle and upper Tigris River about 3000 B.C.

Settled along trade and invasion routes Began as farmers, herders, and traders but

became tough soldiers defending their land

THE ASSYRIAN AND NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRES

THE RISE OF ASSYRIA

Assyrians created a ‘universal’ empire beginning 900 B.C. with the defeat of the Aramaeans and by the seventh century B.C. reached Palestine and most of Egypt

Ninevah was their capital. Assyria ruled by instilling fear in

its enemies. The blood ran freely. Hence, Assyria was eventual

destroyed by the Chaldeans and Medes by the end of the seventh century B.C.

Few wept…but WC was passed on through the Assyrians.

THE ASSYRIAN STATE

First truly military state All adult males were subject to military service War was glorified Mixed Force: chariots, light and heavy infantry,

cavalry, battering rams, and movable siege towers

Assyrian state was too small to control their large territory and compensated with terror to enforce its rule

Conquered lands organized into provinces with Assyrian nobles appointed as governors

THOUGH ASSYRIA HAD CONSOLIDATED MANY KINGDOMS, IT IN TURN WAS “CONSOLIDATED” BY…

Persia

PERSIA (550-330 B.C.)

After the Chaldeans liberated Babylonia, there was a rebirth of industry and arts

King Nebuchadrezzar was the Chaldean king. Media and Persia formed the western part of a vast

plateau in Asia Minor. This area was rich in metals and agriculture – i.e.

weapons and food. Medes helped the Chaldeans crush the Assyrians

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE