Download PPT for Chapter 1 - Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Hebrews

CLASSROOM REMINDERS
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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
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Evolution and Charles Darwin
The Origin of Species (1859)
Humans evolved from earlier species in
their attempt to adapt to an everchanging 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
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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
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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?
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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.
2.
3.
Ancient History = 3,000 b.c.e – 500 c.e.
Christian Europe = 500 c.e. – 1500 c.e.
Modern Europe = 1500 c.e. – Present
MESOPOTAMIA OR “LAND BETWEEN THE
RIVERS”
SUMER (3500-2400 B.C.) –
THE FIRST CITY-STATE IN MESOPOTAMIA
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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
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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 plow
The Wheel
Metal tools
And metallurgy
WRITING AS AN EXTENSION OF MEMORY.
WRITING AS POWER
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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
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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
Now
Sumerian
Ziggurat
American
Skyscraper
Then
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
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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 RiverValley 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.)
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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.
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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
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Geb (below) and
Nut (above)
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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
Other Aspects of Egyptian Religion:
The Final Reckoning or Judgment
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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
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
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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
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They study evidence of the past in order to
understand it.
 Being
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the Detective
They then represent the past to reflect their
understanding of it.
 Books
 Documentaries
 Museum
 films
exhibits
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.
2.
3.
They analyze the evidence of the past
They try to understand the past
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.
Judaism
ANCIENT
ISRAEL
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.
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THE BIG PICTURE
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Ancient Israel is the birthplace of
the 3 great monotheistic religions
of the world: Judaism, Christianity
and Islam
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Great patriarchs of Judaism:
Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua
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Hebrews, Israelites, Jews,
Semites: have all undergone
persecution throughout history;
from Babylonian Captivity,
Exodus, Diaspora, Spanish
Inquisition, Holocaust
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
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Ancient Israel is the birthplace of
the 3 great monotheistic religions
of the world: Judaism,
Christianity and Islam
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Ancient Israel dates back
approximately 4000 years to the
books of the Old Testament
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Great patriarchs of Judaism:
Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua
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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
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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
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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!”
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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
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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
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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.
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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.)
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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:
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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
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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
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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
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!”
During the Babylonian Exile, the Jewish people
had to rethink their belief system. This
rethinking led to the emergence of rabbinical
Judaism.
THE ISRAELITES BY
537 B.C.E. (2547 YEARS AGO)
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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”
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The Temple Mount, Jerusalem Today
The “Wailing” Wall
IMPACT OF ANCIENT ISRAEL
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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
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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
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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
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By 1200 b.c.e. Mesopotamia suffered massive
turmoil. Why?
Invasions.
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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
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INVASIONS….(1200-900 B.C.E)
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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
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Merchant vessels and oar-powered warships with bronze-tipped
rams
Phoenician merchants traveled Mediterranean Sea and into the
Atlantic
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Alphabet
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Created colonies in Africa and Spain – Carthage in North Africa
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
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THE
ASSYRIAN
AND NEOBABYLONIA
N EMPIRES
THE RISE OF ASSYRIA
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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
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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.)
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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