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Western River Civilizations The “Fertile Crescent” Narrow region of good farmland along the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile Rivers of the Middle East “The Crossroads of Civilization” Egypt Cities Government Pharaoh (king) Was worshipped as a god (religious role) Ruled with absolute power (political role) Had a vizier (chief advisor) who ran dayto-day government Religion Polytheistic (multiple deities) Ra, the chief god in the Egyptian religion, was the god of the sun The Book of the Dead Technical text which describes the ritual process of mummification; may be one of the earliest scientific medical manuals in history (although it does contain magic spells!) Egyptians believed that after death, one’s soul was judged – “good” souls went to the Happy Fields of Food – “bad” souls were fed to a giant crocodile Akhenaton 1353 – 1336 BC? Born Amenhotep IV Wife was Nefertiti After his death, he was reviled and many likenesses of him were destroyed throughout Egypt Akhenaton believed in a single god (monotheism) named Aton Jobs & Social Classes The Pyramids The Pyramids were tombs and portals to the afterlife for Egyptian pharaohs The Sphinx Tutankhamun 1333 – 1324 BC Not really important as a pharaoh Importance lies in the discovery in 1922 of his unlooted tomb Died at 19 Murdered? “King Tut” Public Works The Egyptians built a complex system for harnessing the annual flooding of the Nile River to irrigate their farmland They also undertook numerous construction projects of massive scale Writing = Hieroglyphics Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations Mesopotamia = “between the rivers” Mesopotamian city-states Each city was an independent country Each had its own king City-states sometimes cooperated, sometimes fought each other Had common culture and religious beliefs Hammurabi, King of Babylon 1795 – 1750 BC (?) Also built an empire that controlled all of Mesopotamia Ruled by force of law – required that all 300 laws be posted for all citizens to see and know Brought justice The Code of Hammurabi = the world’s first standardized set of written laws Criminal law vs. Civil law Criminal Law Deals with offenses against others, such as robbery, assault, and murder Usually lead to physical punishments Civil Law Deals with private rights and matters, such as contracts, inheritance, taxes, marriage, and divorce Usually lead to financial punishments Ishtar & Ba’al Zoroaster 600 BC? Persian prophet “Illuminated” by the one god Ahura Mazda Wrote the holy texts Zend-Avesta & The Gathas Zoroastrianism One good god – Ahura Mazda One evil “tempter of men” – Ahriman After Ahura Mazda destroys Ahriman, there will be a Judgment Day where all souls will be weighed on the good and bad committed in their lives Would later be a strong influence on the development of Christianity Jobs & Social Classes Kings and priests were at the top of the social ladder, followed by people of means and property At the bottom of the social scale were farmers and slaves Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon 630 – 562 BC Babylonian king of the Bible Depicted as cruel Conquered the Israelites and took them into slavery in Babylon The Hanging Gardens of Babylon The Epic of Gilgamesh Epic poem Tells of the Sumerian hero-king Gilgamesh and his friendship with the savage man Enkidu After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh seeks immortality Also tells a story of a great flood, similar to the Bible’s Noah story Ziggurat = a pyramid temple Cuneiform = Sumerian writing system