Download Chapter Two Western Asia and Egypt 3500

Chapter Two
Western Asia and Egypt
3500-500 BC
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Civilization Begins in Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia = “the land
between the rivers”
• Tigris-Euphrates River
Valley
• Little rain, but rivers
provided silt and
irrigation capability
• Three general empires
– Sumer
– Akkad
– Babylon
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Polytheism Grows in Mesopotamia
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• Polytheism = “many
gods”
• Harsh climate, famine
led people to call on
help from gods in
nature
• Ziggurats (temples) built
to honor the god of a
city
The Sumerians
• Walled cities like Ur featured
buildings of clay bricks
• Theocracy develops—
government by divine rulers
• Farming was supported by trade
and industry
• Copper, gold, and silver all in use
for jewelry and tools
• Traded as far away as India and
the Mediterranean Sea
• Invented the wheel for work
purposes
• Three groups of people
– Nobles
– Commoners
– Slaves
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Sumerian Creativity
• Developed cuneiform writing
– Pointed stylus marked on clay
tablets
– Dried tablets became
permanent records
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• Scribes became powerful
people as the record-keepers
• Wagon wheel transported
goods
• Potter’s wheel helped make
containers
• First to develop bronze
• Number system based on 60
• Geometry and astronomy
began here
Empires Develop in Mesopotamia
• Sumerian city-states fought
and conquered each other
• First great empire called
Akkad, led by Sargon (2340
BC)
• Babylon develops by 1792
BC
• Hammurabi rules in 1750’s
BC
• First written law codes
developed under
Hammurabi’s rule
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Egyptian Civilization Develops
Along the Nile River
• Northern river delta
called “Lower Egypt”
• Upstream area farther
south called “Upper
Egypt”
• Protected by the desert
and the Red Sea, people
faced less warfare than
Mesopotamians
• Nile flooding brought
water and silt to the
desert
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Egyptian Religion
• Polytheistic gods,
associated with natural
forces
• Sun god (Amon-Re) was
source of life (Pictured)
• Pharaoh’s (rulers) claimed
to be descended from
Amon-Re
• River and land gods Osiris
and Isis also very
important
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Three Egyptian Kingdoms
• Old Kingdom (27002200 BC)
• Middle Kingdom (20551650 BC)
• New Kingdom (15501070 BC)
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Old Kingdom
• Pharaoh ruled with the
help of his vizier
• Claimed divine power
• Pyramids built in this
period as tombs for the
pharaohs
• Egyptians believed they
had two bodies
– Physical one
– Spiritual one called “ka”
(Symbol pictured)
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Pyramids Built at Giza
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• “The Great Pyramid”
built for Khufu around
2540 BC
• How it was built is still a
mystery
• Great Sphinx is statue
guarding the pyramids
• Symbol of royal power
in Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
• Developed after 150 years
of instability
• Conquered Nubia to the
south
• Armies sent into Palestine
and Syria
• Traded along east coast of
Mediterranean and down
the Red Sea to Ethiopia
• Pharaohs concentrated on
helping people by building
canals and draining
swampland to farm more
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New Kingdom
•
•
•
•
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Hyksos conquered Middle Kingdom
and ruled for 100 years
Horse drawn chariots and bronze
weapons were too tough to match
Driven out by pharaohs by 1550 BC
Egypt becomes most powerful
empire in SW Asia
Akhenaten failed to change major
god to Aten and destroy worship of
the others
Ramses II reasserts Egypt’s power in
1200s BC (Pictured)
“Sea Peoples” push Egyptians out of
the Middle East, and Kingdom
collapses soon thereafter
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Life in Ancient Egypt
• Layered society for
thousands of years
– Pharaoh
– Nobles and Priests
– Merchants, artisans,
scribes, and tax collectors
– Peasant farmers
• Positive attitude about
life
• Men ruled families, but
women and children were
not poorly treated
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Egyptian Accomplishments
• Invented hieroglyphic
writing system
• Wrote on papyrus reeds
made into paper
• Great architectural
advances like the
pyramids
• 365 day calendar
• Embalming and other
medical expertise
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Other Groups of Peoples
in the SW Asian Region
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•
•
•
•
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Still numerous nomadic people on
the fringes of the civilized areas
during this time period
Hittites were first Indo-Europeans to
use iron (1600-1200 BC)
Phoenicians were great sea traders
on Mediterranean and invented the
alphabet
Israelites ruled present day IsraelPalestine from about 1200 BC to 586
BC
Northern tribes overrun by Assyrians
in 722 BC
Southern tribes overrun by
Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians) in 586
BC and removed from the land in the
Diaspora
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Judaism—First Monotheistic Faith
• Believed in one God
• Believed they had a
covenant (contract) based
on their belief in Him
• Torah provided the basic
rules of the Jewish faith
• Age of prophecy
developed as Assyrians
and Chaldeans challenged
the Jewish empire
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New Empires Near
the End of This Time Period
• Assyrians ruled from the southern
part of Turkey around 700 BC to
612 BC
• Most famous ruler Ashurbanipal
• Built world’s first library at
Nineveh
• Great warriors with large armies
equipped with iron weapons
• Used terror to promote their rule
• Defeated by Chaldeans in 612 BC
• Their most famous ruler was
Nebuchadnezzar in city of
Babylon
• Fell to the Persians in 539 BC
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Persians Move Westward to Conquer
Middle East
• Cyrus the Great captures
Babylon in 539 (pictured)
• His son Cambyses
conquered Egypt
• Darius I conquered Thrace
and fought the Greeks
between 521 and 486 BC
• Created satrapies and
established the Royal Road
and the Immortals
• Eventually conquered by
Alexander the Great of
Greece
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Zoroastrianism
• Persian religion
• Ahuramazda was the god
• Evil spirit Ahriman
opposed him (pictured)
• Humans had free will to
support one or the other
• Supporters of
Ahuramazda believed
they would go to heaven
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