First Civilizations: Africa and Asia

3200BCE – 500BCE

Babylonian Lion

City-States of Ancient SumerI. Geography of the Fertile

Crescent- Mesopotamia – “between

the rivers” area with terrible floods

- The Epic of Gilgamesh – narrative poem where a great flood destroyed (4,900 yrs ago flood evidence)

- 3200BCE – Sumerian Cities emerge (south) – clay bricks were building blocks for the cities.

- Sea and river traders and land traders (invented wheeled vehicles!).

II. Sumerian Civilization- The ruler was in charge of

maintaining city-walls and irrigation systems, leading armies, leading religious ceremonies, serving gods, and enforcing laws.

- Scribes collected taxes and kept records.

- Hierarchy – system of social ranks (ruling family, officials, priests – merchants, artisans – peasant farmers, slaves).

- Women shifted from honored and independent to dependent on men, but kept some rights such as trading and property ownership.

- Gods were polytheistic that acted like humans (ate, married, had families).

- To keep gods happy, each city built a ziggurat (pyramid temple) for ceremonies and sacrifices.

- Afterlife was seen as a pessimistic place (dust, mud, blackness).

III. Advances in Learning- Writing – Cuneiform –

wedge shaped marks on clay tablets used for goods records and became more complex for poems, treaties, contracts, etc.

- Scribes/scholars developed basic algebra and geometry, hour system, 360 degrees system, and calendars.

- Passed on culture and developments to Greece and Rome!

Invaders, Traders, and Empire Builders

I. Ruling a Large Empire- 2300 BCE – Sargon of Akkad

(middle) invaded Sumer – first empire!

- The empire died with Sargon but he started a movement to unite all of Mesopotamia under one ruler.

- 1790 BCE – Hammurabi of Babylon united much of Meso. – created the Code of Hammurabi (300 laws on a stone pillar) – first to codify laws (set down in writing).

- Criminal law – eye for an eye, life for a life!

- Civil law (private rights) – protect the powerless (women and children)

- Hammurabi also improved irrigation, trained an army, encouraged God (Marduk) over all other gods.

II. Warfare and the Spread of Ideas

- Conquerors uprooted the defeated and helped to spread ideas!

- 1400 BCE – Hittites moved into Mesopotamia and learned to extract iron from ore to make cheaper, stronger, and more weapons than others – tried to hide their discovery

- 1200BCE – secret is revealed and brings about the Iron Age!

- 1100 BCE – Assyrians became fiercest warriors with a well-organized society.

- Women were confined and heavily clothed, extensive laws of lifestyles, and huge palaces were built.

- King Assurbanipal – first library with a collection of stone cuneiform tablets.

- 612 BCE – Nebuchadnezzar revived Babylonian empire – built the Hanging Gardens to please his homesick wife.

Hanging Garden of Babylon

III. Persian Empire- 539 BCE – Cyrus the Great

conquered Asia Minor to India and promoted tolerance (respect all customs and traditions in the empire).

- 522-486 BCE – Darius set up satraps (governor of a province).

- Moved from a barter to money economy (use of coins or bills for payment).

IV. Phoenician Sea Traders- Became known for manufacturing

and trade – glass, purple (tyrian) dye.

- To promote trades, they set up colonies (territory settled and ruled by people from another place).

- known as Carriers of Civilization! – came up with the first alphabet (22 consonant sounds/symbols).

Ancient Kingdoms of the NileI. Geography of the Nile River- “Gift of the Nile” – without the

Nile, Egypt would be swallowed up by desert

- Nile flows from south to north- Yearly Floods

- Rain in the spring at the source of the Nile in Central Africa caused a yearly flood of the Nile.

- The yearly flood covered the land with silt (nutrient rich soil)

- Upper Egypt – located in the South, stretched from the first cataract (waterfall) to within 100 miles of the Mediterranean

- Lower Egypt covers the delta region

- Delta – a triangular region of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the river

- Menes, king of Upper Egypt, united Upper and Lower Egypt

II. Old Kingdom (2700 BCE – 2200 BCE)

- Pharaohs – Egyptian rulers often thought to be a god

- Pharaohs in the Old Kingdom organized a strong central government

- Pharaoh’s job to instill justice and order

- Vizier – chief minister who advised the Pharaoh about official matters

A. Pyramids- Built at Giza during Old Kingdom- Great Pyramid was tallest structure

in world until Eiffel Tower was built around 4000 years later

- Pyramids symbolized the wealth of Ancient Egypt because of the cost, resources, and organization it took to construct

- Farmers often worked on the Pyramids when not planting/harvesting

III. Middle Kingdom (2050 BCE – 1800 BCE)

- Power struggle, crop failure, and cost of pyramids led to fall of Old Kingdom

- Characterized by inconsistent floods from the Nile and turbulent politics

IV. New Kingdom (1550 BCE – 1100 BCE)

- At height of New Kingdom, empire stretched to the Euphrates River

- Hatshepsut was a woman who ruled as Pharaoh from 1583 BCE – 1482 BCE

- Ramses II was the most powerful ruler of the New Kingdom and during his reign Egypt enjoyed great wealth and prosperity as well as military conquests.

- After Ramses II died, Egypt went into decline and fell to invaders from Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

V. Egypt and Nubia

- Nubia (also known as Kush) bordered Egypt to the south and the two empires were trading partners and also fought each other occasionally.

- During a 100 year period, Nubia even conquered Egypt.

Egyptian CivilizationI. Egyptian Religion- Amon-Re – The chief god of

the sun.- Pharaoh was closely linked

to the sun god and was the only one who could conduct ceremonies to Amon-Re

- Osiris – Murdered by brother Set

- Isis – Wife of Osiris- Set – God who murdered his

brother, Osiris- Horus – Falcon headed god- Anubis - Jackal headed god- Ankh – a cross like symbol

that symbolized good health

II. Belief in Afterlife- After death, the soul would be

tested by Osiris. Osiris would weigh the heart (thought to be the soul in Ancient Egypt) would be weighed against a feather (which was the symbol of truth and justice). If the scale balanced, the soul would pass on to the afterlife, if there was imbalance, the soul would face annihilation

- Mummification – the preservation of the dead

- People were often buried with objects they would need for the afterlife

- Mummification was very expensive and typically reserved for Pharaohs or those who could afford the process.

III. Egyptian Society- Most Egyptians were

farmers, who in the off-season would serve the Pharaoh as builders or warriors.

- Egypt grew in trade, artisanship, and warfare with other cities – both brought new ideas, money, and riches (jewelry, furniture, and fabrics).

- Women – could inherit property, enter business deals, buy and sell goods, obtain a divorce, work outside the home (textiles, priests), etc.

IV. Egyptian Learning- Hieroglyphics – picture writing

on stone that became more complex (from pictograms to ideograms - symbolized actions or ideas).

- Then they moved to demotic (simpler, everyday writing style) on papyrus (Nile based plant).

- Rosetta Stone – Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphic on one black stone that helped decipher the languages.

- Decoded in the early 1800’s by Jean Champollion – helps us read all Egyptian artifacts now.

- Skilled in medicine through mummification (knew how the body worked)

- Also, developed a calendar (similar to ours) and mathematics (pyramids).

V. Arts and Literature- Paintings –bodies

forward and eyes looking sideways with pharaohs larger.

- Architecture – Pyramids, Great Sphinx, Karnack (Romans).

- Literature – hymns, prayers, proverbs to Gods, poems, folk tales (The Tale of Sinuhe).