Download First Civilizations: Africa and Asia

First Civilizations: Africa and Asia
3200BCE – 500BCE
Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile
I. Geography of the Nile River
- “Gift of the Nile” – __________________________________________________________
- Nile flows from south to north- Yearly Floods
- Rain in the spring at the source of the Nile in Central Africa caused a yearly flood of the Nile.
- The yearly flood covered the land with silt (_______________________)
- Upper Egypt – _________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
- Lower Egypt covers the delta region
- Delta – ______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
- Menes, king of Upper Egypt, united Upper and Lower Egypt
II. Old Kingdom (2700 BCE – 2200 BCE)
- Pharaohs – ________________________________________________
- Pharaohs in the Old Kingdom organized a strong central government
- Pharaoh’s job to instill justice and order
- Vizier – _____________________________________________________
A. Pyramids
- Built at Giza during Old Kingdom
- Great Pyramid was ____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
- Pyramids symbolized the wealth of Ancient Egypt because of the cost, resources, and organization it took
to construct
- Farmers __________________________________________________________________________
III. Middle Kingdom (2050 BCE – 1800 BCE)
- _________________________________________ led to fall of Old Kingdom
- Characterized by _________________________________________________________________
IV. New Kingdom (1550 BCE – 1100 BCE)
- At height of New Kingdom, empire stretched to the Euphrates River
- Hatshepsut ______________________________________________________________________
- Ramses II ________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
- After Ramses II died, Egypt went into decline and fell to invaders from Assyria, Persia, Greece, and
Rome.
V. Egypt and Nubia
- Nubia (also known as Kush) __________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
- During a 100 year period, Nubia even conquered Egypt.
Egyptian Civilization
I. Egyptian Religion
- Amon-Re – _______________________________________
- Pharaoh was closely linked to the sun god and was the only one who could conduct ceremonies to AmonRe
- Osiris – ___________________________________________
- Isis – _____________________________________________
- Set – God who murdered his brother, Osiris
- Horus – Falcon headed god
- Anubis - Jackal headed god
- Ankh – a cross like symbol that symbolized good health
II. Belief in Afterlife
- After death, the soul would be tested by Osiris. Osiris would weigh the heart (thought to be the soul in
Ancient Egypt) would be weighed against a feather (which was the symbol of truth and justice). If the
scale balanced, ______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
- Book of the Dead – a ________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
- Mummification – _____________________________________________________________
- People were often buried with objects they would need for the afterlife
- Mummification was very expensive and typically reserved for Pharaohs or those who could afford the
process.
III. Egyptian Society
- Most Egyptians were farmers, who in the off-season would serve the Pharaoh as builders or warriors.
- __________________________________________________ – both brought new ideas, money, and
riches (jewelry, furniture, and fabrics).
- Women – __________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
IV. Egyptian Learning
- Hieroglyphics – _______________________________________ pictograms to ideograms symbolized actions or ideas).
- Then they moved to demotic (___________________________) on papyrus
(____________________________).
- Rosetta Stone – ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________.
- Decoded in the early 1800’s by Jean Champollion – helps us read all Egyptian artifacts now.
- Skilled in ____________ through mummification (knew how the body worked)
- Also, developed a ____________ (similar to ours) and mathematics (pyramids).
V. Arts and Literature
-___________ –bodies forward and eyes looking sideways with pharaohs larger.
- Architecture – _____________________________________
- Literature – hymns, prayers, proverbs to Gods, poems, folk tales (____________________________).
City-States of Ancient Sumer
I. Geography of the Fertile Crescent
- Mesopotamia – ________________________________________________
- The Epic of Gilgamesh – ______________________________________ (4,900 yrs ago flood evidence)
- 3200BCE – ______________________ (south) – clay bricks were building blocks for the cities.
- Sea and river traders and land traders (invented wheeled vehicles!).
II. Sumerian Civilization
- The ruler was in charge of _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
- Scribes collected taxes and kept records.
- Hierarchy – _________________________ (ruling family, officials, priests – merchants, artisans –
peasant farmers, slaves).
- Women shifted from honored and independent to dependent on men, but kept some rights such as
trading and property ownership.
- Gods were polytheistic that acted like humans (________________________).
- To keep gods happy, each city built a ziggurat (___________________) for ceremonies and sacrifices.
- Afterlife was seen as a _______________________ (dust, mud, blackness).
III. Advances in Learning
- Writing – Cuneiform – ______________________________________
___________________________________________________
- Scribes/scholars developed basic algebra and geometry, hour system, 360 degrees system, and
calendars.
- Passed on culture and developments to _______________________.
Invaders, Traders, and Empire Builders
I. Ruling a Large Empire
- 2300 BCE – Sargon of _____ (middle) invaded Sumer – _______________________________
- The empire died with Sargon but he started a movement to unite all of Mesopotamia under one ruler.
- 1790 BCE – Hammurabi of Babylon united much of Meso. – ______________________________
________ (300 laws on a stone pillar) – first to codify laws (set down in writing).
- Criminal law – ________________________________________!
- Civil law (private rights) – protect the powerless (women and children)
- Hammurabi also improved _______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
II. Warfare and the Spread of Ideas
- Conquerors uprooted the defeated and helped to spread ideas!
- 1400 BCE – Hittites moved into Mesopotamia and learned to extract iron from ore to make
__________________________________________– tried to hide their discovery.
- 1200BCE – _________________________________ Iron Age!
- 1100 BCE – Assyrians ____________________________________________________________________
- Women were confined and heavily clothed, extensive laws of lifestyles, and huge palaces were built.
- King Assurbanipal – first library with a collection of stone cuneiform tablets.
- 612 BCE – Nebuchadnezzar revived Babylonian empire – ________________
___________________________________________
III. Persian Empire
- 539 BCE – __________________________________________________ tolerance (respect all customs
and traditions in the empire).
- 522-486 BCE – Darius set up satraps (____________________________).
- Moved from a barter to money economy (_______________________).
IV. Phoenician Sea Traders
- Became known for manufacturing and trade – glass, purple (tyrian) dye.
- To promote trades, they set up colonies (_________________________________________________
__________________________________).
- known as Carriers of Civilization! – came up with the first alphabet (_________________________
______________________________________________).