Download Early Societies in Southwest Asia

Early Societies in Southwest Asia
Chapter 2
The Quest for Order
• Population increase required political and social
organization
• Mesopotamia: between Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
• Very dry with unpredictable flooding -> irrigation
Sumer
• C. 4000 BCE: first cities (pol and mil authority,
regional control, cult. and econ. centers)
• Some became city-states, ruled by assemblies,
then absolute monarchs
• citizens participated in public works projects:
walls, ziggurats, irrigation systems, military
The Course of Empire
• War between city-states -> regional empires
• Sargon of Akkad: conquered Sumerian citystates, forming empire
– Declined due to rebellion and invasion
The Course of Empire (cont.)
• Hammurabi: ruled Babylonian Empire with
bureaucratic rule and taxes, laws (“an eye for
an eye”)
– Declined due to Hittite invasion
The Later Mesopotamian Empires
• Assyrians: powerful military (infantry and cavalry
with chariots, plus iron weapons)
– Used Babylonian gov. techniques and laws
– Decline due to rebellion and invasion
The Later Mesopotamian Empires
(cont.)
• New Babylonian Empire: aka Chaldeans
– Nebuchadnezzar, lavish capital, hanging gardens
– Decline due to invasion
Economic Specialization and Trade
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Bronze metallurgy: copper and tin, weapons, tools
Iron metallurgy: cheaper
The wheel: carts, wagons to move grain, bricks, ore
Shipbuilding: trade as far as India
Trade Networks: trading colonies
Social Structure
• Social classes, due to wealth
– Ruling elites, plus priests and priestesses (temples
owned land and workshops)
– Free commoners – peasants and city workers, owned
land
– Dependent clients – laborers, no property
– Slaves – POWs, convicts, debtors; worked as laborers
or servants
Gender Roles
• Patriarchal: adult males ruled households, in public
• Early, some women had power (in court, temples)
• Later, male control of women increased (virginity,
veiling)
Written Cultural Traditions
• Earliest: c. 3500 BCE for econ purposes
(pictographs)
• C. 2900 BCE – symbols = cuneiform
• Adopted by others
• Schools, astronomy, mathematics, literature
Hebrews
• Pastoral nomads – some settled in Mesopotamia
(e.g., Abraham of Ur) and later Palestine
• Some migrated to Egypt, led back by Moses
• Formed 12 tribes of Israel, then unified as
monarchy (David, Solomon) with capital at
Jerusalem
Hebrews (cont.)
• Early, polytheistic (Mesopotamian gods)
• Later, monotheistic – Yahweh (10
Commandments, Torah)
• Palestine divided into Kingdom of Israel and
Kingdom of Judah (conquered by various empires)
• Maintained strong sense of identity
The Phoenicians
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= Canaanites
Early: indep. city-states
More interested in commerce than expansion
Overland and maritime trade
Set up trade colonies; traded along Atlantic coast
Created alphabet from cuneiform
Indo-European Migrations
• Language family found throughout Eurasia
• 4500-2500 BCE: W. Asia steppes –
pastoral/agriculturalists
• Domesticated horses, with carts, chariots
• Allowed military and transportation advantage,
and means of expansion
• Population increase ->
gradual migrations
Indo-European Migrations
• West: Hittites – Anatolia, kingdom, trade with
Mesop.
– 2 important innovations: war chariots and refined iron
metallurgy
• East: central Asia (burials in China)
• West: Greece, central and western Europe
– Pastoral/agriculturalists, no cities or states
• Social structure: military ruling elite, priests,
commoners
• South: Iran and India; same, but did form states