Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) Map orientation: Orientation to the location of the first civilizations A primary similarity between early civilizations was rivers why was that? We will study early civilizations in: - Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) - India (Indus River), and - China (Yellow River)
The Middle East
Ancient Mesopotamia - Timeline
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) Remember the themes: These attributes or characteristics help us describe early Civilizations. These will be the themes of our course. - Organized Governments - Complex Religions - Job Specialization - Social Classes - Arts and Architecture - Public Works - Writing - Nomads vs. City Dwellers
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) What is a city-state? One of the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia was called Sumer - Sumer was located in the Fertile Crescent a strategic location - Sumer was more than one city - Built the first cities monumental architecture, the ziggurats
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) Besides being some of the first cities with large buildings, what do we know about Sumer: - Organized Government - Social Hierarchy - Organized Religion - Writing system called cuneiform Writing and numbers were important for trade.
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) Even though they were later conquered, the Sumerians left great achievements for others to build on: - Their most important legacy was probably cuneiform writing - They developed early numbers/mathematics and astronomy - THE WHEEL!! - The sail, irrigation and metalworking - While art existed previously, cities allowed art to flourish
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohxpx_xz6y&list=pl4vw5mjrz 7aNzs72iBKhwOeYxouBamyC1&index=3 Crash course video series Mesopotamia Write down two items in your notebook from the video: One on why being near rivers was important One on how religion worked in the social order
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C. (pgs. 26 55) While Sumer was a collection of cities, it did not truly function as an empire what do you think is the difference between a City-state and an Empire? The first Empire Akkad was the result of conquering Sumer and bringing all the cities together. There are usually reasons that Empires rise and fall: - Akkad may have been attacked due to drought in neighboring lands - Archeologists believe they built a 100 mile long wall to protect themselves.
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Fertile Crescent was a good place to live and was attacked and conquered many times Babylonians Hittites Assyrians Persians Each built on what the earlier empires had done
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Babylonians their most famous leader was Hammurabi Achievements: The first Law code Irrigation Systems Trained Army Organized religion with one primary god
Opening Bell Discussion Do you think nomadic tribes had laws, even though they may not have been written down? Do laws have to written to be considered laws?
Hammurabi and the Law Hammurabi s Law Code: - The oldest complete law code found - Dates back 4000 years - Tells us a lot about how the Babylonians lived
Hammurabi and the Law To understand what the laws were about we have to evaluate the evidence We can read the laws These would be considered primary sources While they tell us some things they are only one source
Hammurabi and the Law Hammurabi s code - Oldest Law Code - Lists 282 laws - Includes all kinds of laws - Needed to have a uniform system of laws for the empire - Strengthened the hierarchy - Established punishment This is one example of the code which is now in a museum
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Hittites: The Hittites conquered the Mesopotamia after the Babylonians They were known as fierce fighters with new weapons. - Their Iron weapons were better and cheaper, so helped create a strong army - In time their invention was used by others
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Assyrians: - Originally Nomads - They acquired iron weapon technology - They were very warlike and expanded their empire by conquering neighboring cities (all the way to Egypt) - They treated the conquered people very harshly and took whatever wealth they could find - Their empire lasted nearly 500 years
The Assyrian Empire
Assyrian Contributions Though well known for their ability to fight the Assyrians were sophisticated and added knowledge through their empire building: - Well planned cities and large buildings - A library (cuneiform) - Glassmaking - The first lock and key
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Babylonians return: - The Assyrians were finally defeated by all the neighboring people joining together - A new Babylonian king emerged Nebuchadnezzar - Builds the hanging gardens
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians rebuild their empire: - They build great cities with huge defensive walls - Temples to their gods - They advance science, particularly astronomy
Listening with a Purpose https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+video+of+the+seven +ancient+wonders+of+the+world&&view=detail&mid=5f726b20aace AA950BC35F726B20AACEAA950BC3&FORM=VRDGAR The seven wonders of the ancient world
Ancient Treasure of Nimrud https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+ancient+treasure+of +nimrud&view=detail&mid=e52c0e8072e98769a48ce52c0e8072e987 69A48C&FORM=VIRE Video
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Persians: - The Persians build an even bigger empire, stretching to India - They allowed conquered people to maintain their religion, and actually took ideas from those they defeated (practiced tolerance) - King Darius is the first great Persian king - He establishes an efficient government to run his large empire - He builds road for trade and communication (including mail)
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) The Persian Economy: - The Persians use standard weights and measure to improve trade - They encourage the use of coins as money, and Darius mints his own coins Persian Religion: - They adopt a single god (monotheism) - Much of their religion resembles later religious beliefs (a devil god, a sacred book, judgement day)
Ancient Middle East & Egypt (3200 B.C. 500 B.C.) (pgs. 26 55) And Finally, the Phoenicians: - The Phoenicians were not empire builders - They were sailors and traders They made products to trade such as dye and glass - They did establish many new colonies and cities outside of the Middle East - They are also credited with using papyrus paper and inventing what became our alphabet