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Chapter 1: The First Civilizations: The Peoples of Western Asia and Egypt
Study Guide: World History AP
Chapter Summary
With the development of agriculture, civilizations began to arise, mainly along mighty rivers. Two of the
earliest civilizations developed in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in Egypt along the
mighty Nile. Both civilizations built great cities, developed writing, and constructed massive architecture to
display their wealth and power. Each civilization created political, religious and social structures to organize
society and deal with nature and to try and understand the cosmos. We know much about them by the written
records they left behind.
As these civilizations weakened, new ones soon appeared. Throughout Mesopotamia several smaller empires
emerged briefly and left behind important ideas and institutions. Phoenician travelers spread Mesopotamian
trade and knowledge throughout the Mediterranean while developing a written alphabet and the Hebrews
created one of the world’s great religions, which would later heavily influence both Christianity and Islam.
These smaller empires would be overwhelmed by more powerful peoples. The Assyrians developed a potent
military structure that allowed them to be the first peoples to unite the entire Middle East under their rule. The
Assyrians, however, soon succumbed to an even larger and more powerful empire of the Persians. The
Persians with their tolerance for other peoples and religions brought peace and prosperity to the region.
Chapter 1 Outline
The First Humans
Hunter-Gatherers of the Paleolithic Age
The Neolithic Revolution, c. 10,000-4,000
B.C.E.
A Revolution in Agriculture
Consequences of the Neolithic
Revolution
Emergence of Civilization
Civilization in Mesopotamia
City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia
Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
Code of Hammurabi
Culture of Mesopotamia
Importance of Religion
Cultivation of New Arts and
Sciences
Egyptian Civilization: "The Gift of the Nile"
The Importance of Geography
Old and Middle Kingdoms
Old Kingdom
World History AP: Chapter 1
Middle Kingdom
Society and Economy in Ancient Egypt
Culture of Egypt
Pyramids
Art and Writing
Chaos and a New Order: The New
Kingdom
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt: Family and
Marriage
New Centers of Civilization
Impact of the Indo-Europeans
Phoenicians
Hebrews: The "Children of Israel"
United Kingdom
Divided Kingdom
Spiritual Dimensions of Israel
The Rise of New Empires
Assyrian Empire
Assyrian Society and Culture
Persian Empire
Governing the Empire
Persian Religion
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Chapter 1: Terms and Persons to Know
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Hominids
Paleolithic peoples
Neolithic revolution
agricultural revolution
Çatal Hüyük
Neolithic Age: living and labor patterns
List: characteristics of civilization
Mesopotamia
Sumerians
ziggurat
Babylonians
Code of Hammurabi
divination
cuneiform writing
Epic of Gilgamesh
Nile
dynasties
Old Kingdom
Menes
bureaucracy
vizier
Middle Kingdom
social hierarchy of Egypt
hieroglyphs
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New Kingdom
Megalith
Stonehenge
Hittites
Phoenicians
Hebrews
Judaism
Torah
Kings of Israel
Temple
Israel and Judah
monotheism
Yahweh
covenant
prophets
Assyrian Empire
Persians
Cyrus the Great
Darius
satrapies
Great Kings
Zoroastrianism
ethical dualism
Mapwork
Map 1.2. Development of Agriculture
 Why do the first civilizations originate in river valleys?
 Which crops are produced by early agricultural societies? How does this differ from the diet of earlier
Paleolithic peoples?
 What developments in human society does agriculture initiate?
Map 1.3. Ancient Mesopotamia
 Which modern country exists today where once stood Çatal Hüyük? Jericho?
 Which modern countries occupy the region once known as Mesopotamia?
 Identify the two rivers that gave Mesopotamia its name.
 Identify the five independent city-states of Sumer.
 Why has this region traditionally been called "the fertile crescent"? What geographical features border
this region to the north? south? east? southwest?
Map 1.4. Ancient Egypt
 How much of Egypt is arable land? Why?
 How did the cataracts on the Nile affect Egyptian contact with lands to the south?
 What danger does the Mediterranean Sea represent to the Egyptian empire, particularly from the end of
the New Kingdom to the time of Cleopatra?
 Identify the capital cities of: the Old Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and Akhenaten.
Map 1.5. Palestine in the First Millenium B.C.E.
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How far away from ancient Palestine were the regions of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt?
Which of the cities in this region was the site of Solomon's temple?
World History AP: Chapter 1
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What affect did the Assyrian empire have on the kingdom of Israel? Why was Israel, more than Judah,
more vulnerable to the Assyrian military machine?
How did geography play a crucial role in causing the Phoenicians to become known as important traders
and transmitters of language?
Map 1.6. Assyrian and Persian Empires
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In what ways did the Royal Road serve the purposes of the Great Kings of Persia?
Identify the capital cities of the following: the Assyrian empire, Nebuchadnezzar II, the Achaemenid
dynasty, the Persian empire. Considering the last city, however, where did Darius prefer to live?
How did the Persian empire change between 557 and 539 B.C.E.?
Did the Persian empire ever gain control of India (to the east) or Greece (to the west)?
Primary Sourcework
Mesopotamian Primary Sources:
Code of Hammurabi
1. Why did Hammurabi's law code emphasize the principle of retribution?
2. What evidence do you see here for differential treatment according to social status?
3. What seems to be the role of females? What purpose did marriage serve? How do your answers differ
from the answers you might give if you were studying current U.S. laws?
The Great Flood (from the Epic of Gilgamesh)
1. The Old Testament story of Noah is narrated in the third person; in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim
appears to the hero Gilgamesh and tells his own story. Does the account affect you differently as a
result?
2. Why do the gods decide to destroy humankind, according to the Mesopotamian version? How does this
reflect Mesopotamian polytheism and Hebrew ethical monotheism?
Egyptian Primary Sources:
Hymn to the Nile and Hymn to the Pharaoh
1. Why is the life-giving river Nile personified in this hymn? What, according to this hymn, would Egypt
lack if the Nile were to disappear?
2. Why was the pharaoh said to "unite the Two Lands?"
3. What would Egypt lack if the pharaoh were to disappear? How does this relate to Egyptian belief in the
pharaoh's role in the maintenance of ma'at?
4. Chronologically speaking, to which Egyptian Kingdom would Seostris III have belonged? Which two
dynasties flourished then?
Akhenaten's Hymn to Aton
1. Why is Amenhotep IV more commonly known as Akhenaten?
2. After his death, some of Akhenaten's successors referred to him as "the criminal" or "the rebel king."
Why did this happen? How does this hymn document his "rebellion"?
3. What relation to the god Aten is the pharaoh claiming here?
Hebrew Primary Sources:
Exodus 19: 1-8
1. Where is the desert of Sinai on the possible exodus route? (See map 1.5.)
2. What relationship does the covenant establish between God and the Israelites?
3. What are the Ten Commandments?
4. Do you see any similarities between these commandments and the law code of Hammurabi?
World History AP: Chapter 1
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Hebrew Prophets: Micah, Isaiah, and Amos
1. According to Isaiah, why did God punish the Hebrew people? How does this differ from the reason
Amos gives?
2. What punishments did the Hebrews suffer?
3. Why is the Assyrian called "the rod of my anger?" What historical event is being alluded to here?
Assyrian Primary Sources:
Assyrian Military Machine: King Sennacherib Describes a Battle with the Elamites and His Siege of
Jerusalem, and King Ashurbanipal Describes His Treatment of Conquered Babylon
1. Why did Assyrian kings promulgate writings of this kind?
2. Why do Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal prefer to say "I" rather than "We" (thus including his generals
and soldiers) in these documents?
3. What has happened to the Chaldeans who opposed Sennacherib? What about the Israelites who
opposed him? According to these documents, what military tactics have been employed in these
campaigns?
Internet Exploration
To see the caves of Lascaux and learn about prehistorical culture, visit
http://www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/
To learn more about ancient Egypt, visit
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html
To see buildings of Mesopotomia and learn more about its cultures, visit
http://members.tripod.com/jaydambrosio/mesopotamia.html
World History AP: Chapter 1