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Ancient Civilizations
Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
• Most ancient civilizations developed along
rivers or in river valleys
• Theses early civilizations made many
important contributions to the world
Ancient Egyptians
• What do you think of when you hear
Egypt?
Ancient Egyptians
• The ancient Egyptians
built their civilization
along the Nile River
• The river flows from
South to North
• The river starts in the
mountains of central
Africa and empties
into the Mediterranean
Sea
• A large delta exists at
the mouth of the river
Ancient Egyptians
• Gifts of the Nile
• The Nile River valley is lush and green—a
sharp contrast to the desert around the Nile
• The river banks are covered with rich, fertile
soil
• The Nile floods predictably, leaving behind
rich silt on the river banks
• The river is also home to water fowl, fish, and
useful plants (papyrus)
Ancient Egyptians
• Menes (Narmer) united Upper and Lower
Egypt, creating Egypt’s first dynasty
around 3000 BC
• From this beginning, 30 dynasties will
ruled Egypt over the next 2700 years
• This 2700 year period has been divided into
3 sub-categories
• Old Kingdom
• Middle Kingdom
• New Kingdom
Ancient Egyptians
• Egyptian kings were
the political leader and
religious leader—
making Egypt a
theocracy
• Kings also used a
bureaucracy to help
handle other tasks
• Tax collection
• Trade
• Construction projects
Ancient Egyptians
• Old Kingdom
• Lasted from 2700-2200 BC
• Pyramids built during the Old Kingdom
• Burial tombs for kings
• Started as simple rectangular burial tombs
called mastabas
• Later kings wanted their tombs to be even
more elaborate—built a mastaba on top of
another mastaba—creating step pyramids
Ancient Egyptians
Ancient Egyptians
• Eventually, the architects wanted to create
smoother pyramids
• The first attempts were not perfect
Ancient Egyptians
• They did get it right in the end—the
Pyramids of Giza
Ancient Egyptians
• Old Kingdom Egyptians started the
tradition of mummification
• At first, only reserved for royalty and the
wealthy
• The process lasted 40 days
• Involved removing organs to help remove
water from the body
• Spices and salts were used to dry the body
• The preserved body was wrapped in linen and
placed in a sarcophagus (stone coffin)
• The body was placed in its tomb with the
deceased worldly possessions.
Ancient Egyptians
Ancient Egyptians
• Middle Kingdom
• 2200 BC—Egyptian kings began losing
power—the kingdom started to crumble
• 2050 BC—a new dynasty took power—
ushering in the Middle Kingdom
• The middle kingdom ran from 2050 until
1800 BC
Ancient Egyptians
• The new kings made many improvements:
• Expanded the kingdom into parts of Syria
• Cleared more land for agriculture
• Constructed more irrigation systems
Ancient Egyptians
• But the dynasty will only be short lived
• Noble wanted power—causing a civil war
• The civil war allowed an outside group to
take over Egypt—the Hyksos
• The Hyksos were able to conquer the
Egyptians because they had better weapons—
made of bronze
• Hyksos ruled Egypt for 110 years
Ancient Egyptians
• New Kingdom
• 1600 BC—Ahmose (an Egyptian Prince)
led a revolt against the Hyksos, driving
them out of Egypt
• The Egyptians used the Hyksos’ bronze
weapons and fighting style to drive the Hyksos
out of Egypt
• Ahmose established a new dynasty—
ushering in the New Kingdom
• All kings after Ahmose were called
pharaoh
Ancient Egyptians
• 1480 BC—Egypt had its first female
pharaoh—Hatshepsut
• 1370 BC—pharaoh Amenhotep IV and his
wife Nefertit attempted to change the
religion Egypt into a monotheistic design—
worshipping only 1 god
• Their attempts nearly destroyed Egypt
• 1200 BC—the great Ramses II became
pharaoh and ruled for 67 years
• By 945 BC—Egypt was weak and fell to
the Lybians and Kush
Ancient Egyptians
• Egyptian Culture
• The Egyptians were polytheists—
worshipped lots of gods
• Gods were part animal and part human
• Believed in an afterlife
Ancient Egyptians
Ancient Egyptians
• Egyptians developed a writing system
called hieroglyphics—picture writing
Ancient Egyptians
• The discovery of the Rosetta Stone allowed
historians to decode the hieroglyphics
The Fertile Crescent
• While the Egyptians were building their
civilization, people were creating
civilizations in the Fertile Crescent
– The area stretched from the Mediterranean
Sea to the Persian Gulf
– Included the modern nations of Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• Most people settled in one particular area
of the Fertile Crescent—Mesopotamia
– Mesopotamia literally means “land between 2
rivers”
– Located between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• The Two Rivers
• Both rivers start in Eastern Turkey and
run, nearly parallel, to the Persian Gulf
• The rivers flood, but unpredictably—very
dangerous for the people living in the area
– Early Mesopotamian villages worked together
to tame the rivers
• Built dams and canals
The Fertile Crescent
• #1. Sumerians
• 3500 BC—Sumerians migrated into
Mesopotamia and created a civilization
called Sumer
• Sumer is known as the birthplace of the 1st
cities
• The Sumerians created city-states—a city
and all of the surrounding land with its
own, independent government
Sumer
The Fertile Crescent
• Each Sumerian city-state was politically
independent of the others
• Yet, each city-state shared common
cultural attributes
– Language
– Religion
– Ziggurats—stone temples
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• Sumerians also created a writing system—
cuneiform
– Started as pictograms, but evolved a type of
script
– Marks were made on wet clay with a sharp,
wedge-tipped reed
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• Only scribes could read and write the
cuneiform
• They learned their craft in eddubas-schools
The Fertile Crescent
• Sumerian Culture
• Sumerians were polytheists
• Sumerian were inventors—they invented:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Wagon wheel
Arch
Potter’s wheel
Sundial
12 month calendar
Bronze
Metal plow
The Fertile Crescent
• #2. Akkadians
• The Akkadians took over the Sumerian
city-states in the 2000s BC
• The Akkadians were led by a powerful
king—Sargon I
The Fertile Crescent
• Sargon expanded the kingdom of Akkad
– He united all of Mesopotamia under his rule
• He also expanded trade in his empire
• After his death, the kingdom was unable to
sustain itself & gradually fell apart
The Fertile Crescent
• #3. Babylonians
• The Babylonian civilization was
established by the Amorites
• The most powerful Babylonian king was
Hammurabi
The Fertile Crescent
• Hammurabi made many accomplishments:
– United all of Mesopotamia under his rule
– Turned Babylon into an international center of
trade
– He is most famous for his set of written laws—
Hammurabi’s Code
• 282 sections covering all aspects of life
• Very strict—”an eye for an eye”
Trading Civilizations
 The
Egyptians and Mesopotamian peoples
had great influence over other civilizations
of the Middle Eastern region
 Trading civilizations developed and traded
with the Egyptians and Mesopotamian
civilizations



Aramaeans
Phoenicians
Lydians
Trading Civilizations





1.) Aramaeans
1200 BC—settled in central Syria
Created capital at Damascus
Spoke a Aramaic
Politically and militarily weak


Constant feuding between the ruling classes
Very active in the land trade in the Middle East


Controlled the land trade between Egypt and
Mesopotamia
Became very rich because of trade
Trading Civilizations

2.) Phoenicians
 3000 BC—the Phoenicians settled in Canaan
(Lebanon, Israel, Jordan)
 Sea Traders—traded goods to get food that they
could not grow



Built ships out of cedar wood that grew in Canaan
Built many port cities along the Mediterranean coast
Expert seamen and navigators
Trading Civilizations
 The
Phoenicians’ major contribution was
an alphabet




Developed around 1100 BC
Developed to keep up with trade transactions
Contained 22 characters—all consonants, no
vowels
The alphabet was easy to learn, allowing
more people to be able to read and write—no
need for scribes
Trading Civilizations
 The
Phoenician alphabet became the
basis for the Greek alphabet and all
western alphabets
Trading Civilizations
 3.)
Lydians
 Settle on the peninsula of Asia Minor—
modern day Turkey
 They were rich because of the rich gold
deposits around their homes
 Lydians introduced the money system to
the world—they were the 1st to produce
coins
Hebrews
The Hebrews introduced monotheism—
the belief in one God—to the world
 The Bible is the main source for
information on the Hebrews
 Abraham—father of the Hebrews


1900 BC—Abraham led his family from
Sumer into Canaan, along side the
Phoenicians and Philistines
Hebrews
The Hebrews had to deal with harsh
conditions in Canaan—a desert region
 Most Hebrews herded animals—sheep
and goats
 Abraham’s grandson—Jacob—had 12
sons

Each of Jacob’s sons headed a different
Hebrew tribe
 These tribes became known as the 12 Tribes
of Israel

Hebrews
A drought in Canaan caused the different
Hebrew tribes to look in different areas for
suitable places to farm
 The Hebrews were invited into Egypt to
share Egypt’s surplus of food

The Hebrews and Egyptians lived peacefully
at first
 Egyptians, eventually turned the Hebrews into
slaves

Hebrews
Hebrew slaves had a difficult life
 They prayed for a deliverer
 1200s BC—Moses was able to lead the
Hebrews out of Egypt—The Exodus

Moses led the Hebrews into the Sinai Desert
 The 10 Commandments were created
 Joshua—Moses’ successor—led the Hebrews
back into Canaan

Hebrews

Life back in Canaan was very difficult
The 12 Tribes had to fight with the Philistines
and Canaanites for land
 The Hebrews fought for 200 years with little
success—the tribes could not unite against
their enemies

Hebrews



The Hebrews will
unite under King
Saul (1020-1012 BC)
Saul was unable to
defeat the Philistines
He lost popularity with
the people
Hebrews

The Hebrews turned
their hopes on a hero
of the wars—David
(1012-973 BC)


David had shown his
bravery by slaying
Goliath
David created his
capital at Jerusalem

He built a large temple
in his capital
Hebrews
David’s son—Solomon (973-922 BC)—
ascended the Hebrew throne in 973
 He built lots of cities
 He heavily taxed the people
 He was hated by the people
 After his death in 922 BC, the Hebrews
split into 2 separate kingdoms

Israel—North
 Judah—South

Judah and Israel
Hebrews

Each kingdom was politically
independent—but independence was
short lived
722 BC—a group called the Assyrians took
Israel
 586 BC—the Chaldeans captured Judah

 The
Hebrews were forced out of their homeland
 The Hebrew temple at Jerusalem was destroyed
 During this time of foreign occupation, the
Hebrews became known as the Jews
Hebrews
539 BC—the Hebrews were allowed back
into their homeland by the Persians
 400’s BC—Ezra gathered Jewish holy
writings into a holy book called the Torah


The Torah was composed of 5 books
 Genesis
 Exodus
 Leviticus
 Numbers
 Deuteronomy
Hebrews
The Hebrews blazed the path for future
monotheistic religions
 Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all are
based on the Hebrew ideas of
monotheism

Powerful Kingdoms
►3
very powerful kingdoms will emerge in
Asia and conquer most of the Fertile
Crescent Region
 Assyrians
 Chaldeans
 Persians
Assyrians
► Assyrians
lived in the hills of Mesopotamia
► At first, they were weak and constantly attacked
by their neighbors
► By 900 BC—the Assyrians had defend themselves
and attack others
► They developed a very powerful and organized
military system




Foot soldiers
Charioteers
cavalry
Used iron weapons
Assyrians
► The
Assyrians were very cruel to those they
conquered




Burned entire cities to the ground
Tortured prisoners
Relocated entire cities and kingdoms
Heavily taxed the people
Assyrians
► 650
BC—the Assyrians
had a very large
empire
► Stretched from the
Persian Gulf to Egypt
and parts of Turkey
► Built roads to increase
communication
Assyrians
► 612
BC—the people of the empire rebelled
against their Assyrian captors
► The civil war allowed an outside group—
Chaldeans—to conquer the Assyrians
Chaldeans
► Chaldeans
had very powerful kings
► King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC)
 He expanded the empire into Canaan
 He made Babylon into the largest city of the
ancient world
Chaldeans
► Babylon
housed 2 of
the world’s great
wonders
 Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
 Wall of Babylon
Chaldeans
► No
king after Nebuchadnezzar would have
his power
► The empire slowly fell apart because of
weak kings
► 539 BC—Persians conquered Babylon and
the Chaldean Empire
Persians
► Persians
settled in modern day Iran
► Persian had many powerful kings
 Cyrus
 540s BC—Cyrus conquered much of the known
world
►Mesopotamia
►Syria
►Canaan
►Phoenicia
►Lydia
►Greek
city-states in Turkey
Persians
► Cambyses
► Cyrus’
son
► He increased the Persian’s holdings by
capturing Egypt
► The empire stretch for over 3000 miles—
from the Nile River to the Indus River
► 50 million people in the empire
Persians
► Darius
I (522-486)
► Divided the large empire into provinces with
individual governors for each province
► Very tolerant
► Had the Royal Road constructed
 1500 miles long
 A rest stop was placed on the road every 14
miles
Persians
Persians
► Xerxes
► Darius’
son
► 480 BC—he attempted to take over the
Greeks
► His failure caused the empire to lose power
and begin to crumble
Persians
► Persian
Culture
► Polytheists—worshipped many gods
► Zoroaster tried to change Persian religion
 Said the world was controlled by 2 gods
 1.) Ahura Mazda—the good
 2.) Ahriman—the evil