Download North Africa and Southwest Asia

North Africa and
Southwest Asia
Early Cultures
I. Mesopotamia – “between two rivers”
A. History
1. first civilization
2. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers –
fertile crescent of land
3. today: Syria and Iraq
4. 1st permanent human settlement
5. Bronze Age
B. Farming
1. rich farmland
2. 4500 B.C. – first settlement
3. created an irrigation system
4. created a 12 month calendar
5. crops grown for the first time:
grain barley and wheat
C. Government
1. city-state – each city was considered
a small state, or nation – at this time
it was made up of the city and
farmland around it.
2. theocracy
a. ruled by an individual who was
both the religious leader and the
king
b. priest-kings – absolute power
D. Sumer
1. earliest city-states
2. Sumerians created a form of
writing – cuneiform
a. written with wooden
triangular-shaped sticks
b. permanent when the clay
tablets harden in the sun.
E.
Akkad and Babylon
1. 2300 BC Akkad conquered Sumer
2. Akkad first empire – group of state under one
ruler.
3. Babylon – Akkadian Empire lost control to
Babylon in 1800 B.C.
4. Hammurabi
a. Babylon’s greatest king
b. Hammurabi’s Code – set of laws
5. Babylonians contributed to the field of
mathematics
a. number system based on 60
b. 60 second minute and 360 degree circle
c. clock controlled by water drops
F. The Phoenicians
1. important traders – located in today’s
Lebanon
2. 1200 B.C. – sailed around the tip of
Southern Africa and used the sun and stars
to navigate.
3. developed an alphabet that gave rise to the
Hebrews, Greek, and Latin alphabets
II. Ancient Egypt
A. History
1. Nile river valley (longest river in
the world)
2. Delta – rich fertile land – settled
about 5,000 B.C.
B. Pharaohs and Gods
1. Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt –
united in 3,100 B.C.
2. Pharaoh – “great house” – both
king and god
3. Polytheistic – “many gods”
4. Government - theocracy
C. Egyptian Writing
1. hieroglyphics – form of picture writing
with about 800 signs
2. papyrus – used to make a form of paper
3. scribes – royal officers who recorded govt.
businesses
4. Rosetta Stone – stone tablet that cracked
the code for hieroglyphics
D. Trade and Conquest
1. Empire - expanded as far as
Mesopotamia in the north and Sudan
in the south.
2. Trade routes – as far south as
Somalia and north of the
Mediterranean.
Religions of the Middle East
Monotheism – belief in one supreme god
I. Judaism
A. Oldest of the three world religions
B. Israelites
C. Jews – followers
D. Torah – holy book – 5 books of
Moses along with the books of laws
and teachings
E.  Jewish Belief
1.  Jews are descended from Abraham
and Sara
2.  worshipped one God – Yahweh
3.  believe they are God’s chosen
people
4.  God’s laws – ten commandments,
revealed by prophet Moses
5.  God will deliver a messiah, or
savior, to the Jewish people.
F. Israel – important, prosperous state
1. 1st three kings: Saul, David, and
Solomon
2. David made Jerusalem the capital
in 1,000 BC
3. After Solomon’s death the
kingdom split in two
G. Diaspora – scattering of the Jews
outside of the Holy Land
H.  Holy days:
1.  Rosh Hashanah – New Year’s Day on the
Jewish Calendar
2. Yom Kippur – holiest day in Judaism
a.  AKA Day of Atonement
b.  24-hour period of prayer and
fasting.
II. Christianity
A. 
Christians – followers of Jesus Christ
B. 
Christian beliefs:
1. Jesus is the Son of God
2. Jesus is the messiah (for all people) that
the Jews were awaiting
3. Jesus was killed, he rose from the dead,
proving the existence of an afterlife with
God.
C.  Christian calendar – B.C. ( years before Christ) and A.D.
(years after Christ’s birth)
D.  Bible – holy book
1. Old Testament
a. books of Moses and other Jewish writers
b. history and traditions of Judaism that led up to the birth of Jesus.
2. New Testament
a. 
deals with the birth, the life, and the teachings of Jesus
b. 
disciples – followers of Jesus
E. Spread of Christianity
1. across Roman empire – Rome/
Constantinople becomes the
center of Christianity
2. through the work of individuals
and missions
F. Holy Days
1. Christmas – birth of Jesus
2. Palm Sunday – Jesus enters Jerusalem in
triumph
3. Good Friday – day of Jesus’ crucifixion, or
death
4. Easter Sunday – day that Jesus rose from
the dead – most important day
III. Islam
A. World’s second-largest religion
B.  Islam – “surrender” to the will of
God or Allah.
C.  Muslims – followers
D.  Quran – holy book
E. Beliefs:
1. Muhammad – last and greatest prophet of Allah/God
2. Muhammad ascended to heaven from Jerusalem in A.D. 632
3. Five pillars of faith – 5 obligations
a. 1st - There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his messenger
b. 2nd - Muslims must pray 5 times a day, facing the holy city of
Makkah.
c. 3rd – give to charity
d. 4th – to fast during the lunar holy month of Ramadan.
e. 5th – pilgrimage, hajj to Makkah to pray
F. Holy cities
1. Makkah (Mecca)
2. Madinah
3. Jerusalem
G. Calendar – begins in A.D. 622, the year
of the Hijrah
H. Ramadan – the month in which God
began to reveal the Quran to
Muhammad.