Download The Agricultural Revolution 1.1 From hunting to farming to city life

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The Agricultural Revolution 1.1
From hunting to farming to city life
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Objectives:
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To acquire vocabulary related to the study of history
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To examine how cultures changed as humans adapted to environmental shifts
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Dictionary of Terms
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Artifacts: Tools, clothing, works of art, weapons, and toys
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Archaeologist: a scientist who studies artifacts of early civilizations
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Archaeologists study artifacts.
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Anthropologist: a scientist who studies humankind in terms of:
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Their physical characteristics
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Their relation to the environment
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Their culture
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What is “culture”?
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A set of beliefs
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Knowledge
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Patterns of living
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What kind of lifestyle did early man have?
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Life on the Move
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Living off the Land
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The first people were probably hunter-gatherers who hunted for game or gathered seeds, nuts,
fruits, and other plants in order to survive.
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In order to hunt bigger game they had to work together, make tools and communicate.
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Homo sapiens appeared!
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Homo sapiens may have first appeared in Africa and then spread to Europe and Asia.
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All people living today belong to the species Homo sapiens.
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In caves in Europe and Southwest Asia, anthropologists have found the remains of early Homo
sapiens called Neanderthals.
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Vanishing Neanderthals!
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According to some scientists, Neanderthals may have lived about 35,000 to 130,000 years ago,
during the Old Stone Age.
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They wore animal skins as clothing, used fire, and made more efficient tools than others before
them.
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The Great Hereafter?
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When burying their dead, they buried meat and tools with them which meant they may have
believed in some form of life after death.
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Eventually Neanderthals disappeared.
No one knows why . . .
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Cro-Magnon Artwork Survives!
(Cro-Magnons no longer exist.)
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Cro-Magnons were another kind of Homo sapiens who, according to some experts, appeared in
Europe about 35,000 years ago.
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Their spear-throwers made them excellent hunters.
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They left artwork in caves in Spain and southern France. Cro-Magnons ceased to exist as a
distinct type about 10,000 years ago.
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Review what you know--
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What are artifacts?
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Artifacts are: weapons, toys,
tools, and works of art from a civilization.
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What is an archaeologist?
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An archaeologist is someone who studies artifacts to learn about early peoples and their
cultures.
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An archaeologist is someone who studies artifacts to learn about early peoples and their
cultures.
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What is an anthropologist?
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An anthropologist is someone who studies humankind in terms of
-physical characteristics,
-relation to the environment,
-and culture.
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What is “culture”?
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Culture is
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a people’s set of beliefs.
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a people’s knowledge.
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a people’s patterns of living.
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Who were the Neanderthals?
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The Neanderthals
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Lived about 35,000 to 130,000 years ago
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Buried items with their dead
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Used fire and tools
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Lived in Europe and Southwest Asia
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Eventually disappeared, but no one knows why
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Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon: Both are of the species Homo sapiens
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Who were the Cro-Magnon?
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Another kind of Homo sapiens who, according to some experts, appeared in Europe about
35,000 years ago.
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Cro-Magnon
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Their spear-throwers made them excellent hunters.
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Cro-Magnon
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They left artwork in caves in Spain and southern France. Cro-Magnons ceased to exist as a
distinct type about 10,000 years ago.
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Paleolithic Age
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The Agricultural Revolution
Have ya heard, Ug? They’re practicing domestication over in the next valley!
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Stone Ages marked by new levels of tools and artifacts!
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Old Stone Age
-Lasted 2 million years ago to 12,000 years ago
-Also called “Paleolithic Age”
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Middle Stone Age
-Lasted to about 10,000 years ago
-Also called “Mesolithic Age”
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New Stone Age
-Lasted to about 4,000 years ago
-Also called “Neolithic Age”
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Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
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Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon Man
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People were hunter-gatherers.
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Tools were made from chipped stone.
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Scientists believe that Earth has had periods of extremely cold weather (Ice Ages) with each
period lasting from 20,000 to 140,000 years.
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Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
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People used bow and arrow, fishhooks, fish spears, and harpoons made from bones and antlers.
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People tamed dogs to hunt small animals.
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People hollowed out logs to make canoes for fishing in deeper water.
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Neolithic (New Stone Age)
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People shaped tools by grinding and polishing
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Used different kinds of stone and wood
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Began to settle in villages
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Began to develop agriculture
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Practiced domestication—the taming of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs
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Major Breakthrough!
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People figured out that seeds can be planted and grow new plants!
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Invention of plow and use of fertilizer follow groundbreaking event!
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Shift from food gathering to food producing revolutionizes human life!
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The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution has begun!
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Quiz on pp. 4-8
1. List three types of artifacts.
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What is an archaeologist?
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An archaeologist studies artifacts.
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Define “culture.”
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Culture is a people’s
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Knowledge
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Set of beliefs
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Pattern of living
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Why do scientists believe that Neanderthals believed in life after death?
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Neanderthals buried their dead with food and tools.
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What did Cro-Magnon man leave in the caves of France?
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paintings
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What kind of lifestyle did early man have?
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Early humans were nomadic ---hunter-gatherers.
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What changed this lifestyle?
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The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution --- people learned to grow plants from seed.
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“Civilization is always older than we think, and under whatever sod we tread are the bones of
men and women who also worked and loved, wrote songs and made beautiful things, but whose
names and very being have been lost in the careless flow of time.”
Will Durant
The Life of Greece, p. 27.
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The Foundations of Civilization
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Objectives:
1. What were the main characteristics of civilization?
2. How did environment affect the development of civilizations?
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Why didn’t all people develop early civilizations?
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Not all people lived in areas with good climates and rich farmland.
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Farming led to development of civilizations along rivers
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The Big Four River valleys:
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Nile (Egypt)
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Tigris-Euphrates (Iraq)
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Indus River Valley (India)
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Huang (China)
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What is a “civilization”?
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A civilization is a complex culture that has at least three characteristics.
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List three characteristics of a civilization:
1. Surplus food
2. Towns and cities with some form of government
3. Division of labor
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How did flooding, a dry season, and a hot climate lead to the rise of civilizations?
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Climate and Flooding
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Farmers built canals to irrigate fields during dry seasons.
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Farmers built dikes to hold back water during flooding.
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Both projects required people to work together. This led to the formation of governments.
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Again, this is why governments developed--
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Food surplus led to increased population.
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Increased population led to growth of towns and cities.
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Irrigation and building projects required people to organize and lead.
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Governments developed as people organized themselves to work as communities.
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What happens when there are more people and more food?
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The population increases as the supply of food increases.
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What do large numbers of people become?
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A labor force
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Why did early people learn to cooperate?
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People cooperated in order to build bigger projects.
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What did cooperation lead to?
Leadership
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Why did a division of labor develop?
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A surplus of food meant that some people could devote their time to making pottery or blankets
or some other kind of work and trade for the food they needed. They did not have to go to the
fields to grow their own food.
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Division of Labor, a characteristic of civilization
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Artisans: potters, weavers, carpenters, toolmakers, jewelry makers, stone masons
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Traders and merchants
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Government officials (beginning of upper class)
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List two more characteristics of civilization:
Calendars
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Cultural Diffusion
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As traders carried goods from city to city, ideas also spread along the trade routes from place to
place. This was cultural diffusion.
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To review:
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Permanent settlements:
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People who lived in farming areas were more likely to form permanent settlements.
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In permanent settlements, people could specialize in jobs.
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People in permanent settlements usually advanced more rapidly.
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Next---
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Using metals
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All four river valley civilizations worked with metals. What were these metals and how were
they different?
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Copper ruled!
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During the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) copper was used to make tools and weapons.
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Copper is a soft metal.
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Copper was used around 4000 B.C.
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The Bronze Age
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Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin.
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Bronze is more durable than copper.
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Bronze was used around 3000 B.C.
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The development of bronze tools marked the end of the Stone Age.
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The Iron Age
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Iron making was a complicated process.
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Iron ore had to be heated to a very high temperature to separate the iron.
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People learned to work with iron around 1200 B.C.
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Iron is more durable than bronze.
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Why did women have higher status during the New Stone Age?
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Women were the farmers and food producers during this period.
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Why did women lose their status to men?
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The invention of the plow shifted the importance to men because farming with a plow required
more muscle and strength.
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What were early religions often based on?
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Nature
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Review
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1. What are the three characteristics of civilization?
-surplus of food
-increase in size of towns and cities
leading to governments
-division of labor
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What were the 4 river valley civilizations?
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Nile River valley—Egypt
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Tigris-Euphrates River valley-Iraq
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Indus River valley—India
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Huang River valley--China
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What were the three metals used by these civilizations and when were they used?
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Copper—c. 6000 B.C. Neolithic
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Bronze—c. 3000 B.C.
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Iron—c. 1200 B.C.
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What is “cultural diffusion”?
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Cultural diffusion is the spread of ideas from one community to another. Traders often carried
these ideas as they traveled from one area to another.
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What is “division of labor”?
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When a surplus of food could be established, some people did not have to go to the fields to
grow their own food. Instead they could concentrate on becoming potters, weavers,
carpenters, etc. They became artisans who could trade the goods they made for the food they
needed. This was “division of labor.”
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Eras listed chronologically:
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Stone Age: use of copper to make tools and weapons and development of agriculture
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Bronze Age: discovered way to mix tin and copper to make more durable tools and weapons
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Iron Age: discovered how to work with iron to make weapons and tools
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Common characteristics of four main early civilizations:
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All four were located on rivers which flooded periodically.
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All four had warm climates and dry seasons which required irrigation for crops.
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All four developed religious beliefs and family roles.
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All four used metals.
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Women’s Roles
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Women often enjoyed a higher status early in history because of their role as the food
producers for the family. Women were probably the first farmers.
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When the plow was invented, men took over the role as the main food producers and women’s
roles diminished.
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Early beliefs
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People often worshipped gods and goddesses associated with nature: the sun, rain, etc.
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“History” began as people began to keep written records.
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Trade led to ___________?
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Trade led to cultural diffusion.
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Objectives
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To understand the changing role of government over time
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To describe the dominant characteristics of major civilizations (Egyptian)
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To explain how geography affected the development of Egypt
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To Understand Ancient Egypt You Have to
Know the Nile!
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The Nile is the longest river in the world—4,160 miles long.
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The Nile flows from south to north, emptying into the Mediterranean.
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Huh?
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When travelling north on the Nile, a boat is going downstream.
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When travelling south on the Nile, a boat is going upstream.
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What’s a “cataract” and why does it matter?
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Cataracts are rapids, and the Nile River had a series of six cataracts that make navigation by
larger vessels impossible!
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Okay, so there are cataracts.
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So what?
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The fact that there are cataracts meant that the Ancient Egyptian civilization stretched along a
750-mile strip of the Nile . . . The distance before they hit the first cataract.
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The Deserts
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The Nile is bordered on both sides by deserts that helped protect the civilization from easy
invasion.
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Land Bridge to Asia!
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The Isthmus of Suez is a narrow strip of land about 72 miles wide connecting the continent of
Africa to the continent of Asia.
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Trade could be carried on between the Egyptians and parts of Asia, but the land bridge made
the movement of large invading armies more difficult.
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The Rosetta Stone
Much of what is known about Ancient Egypt is due to the successful translation of the hieroglyphics
used by the early Egyptians. The translation began when scholars were able to crack the code with the
use of the Rosetta Stone—a slab of stone found by a young French officer in 1798 A.D.
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The Rosetta Stone
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Dynasties of Egypt
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A History of the “Great Houses” of Egypt
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Six Important Pharaohs
(“Pharaoh” means “Great House”)
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Menes
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Menes: c. 3200 B.C. united Upper and Lower Egypt
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He combined the red crown of Upper Egypt with the white crown of Lower Egypt.
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Khufu (Cheops):
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Built the Great Pyramid
Hatshepsut
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Female pharaoh who led Egypt to a period of prosperity and stability
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Wore the fake beard and dressed as a pharaoh
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Paid more attention to the common people than many pharaohs—built hospitals
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Built a temple at Thebes
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Ruled for 22 years
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Thutmose III
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Stepson of Hatshepsut
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Also led Egypt at a time of stability and prosperity
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Eliminated Hatshepsut’s name from monuments, etc.
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Akhenaten: The Heretic Pharaoh
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Original name was Amenhotep IV
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Built a new capital city in the middle of the desert
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Had a vision in which he saw there was only one god: Aten
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Tried to change Egypt from polytheistic to monotheistic
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Who was Nefertiti?
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Wife of Akhenaten and reputedly very beautiful
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Had six daughters
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Went with Akhenaten to Tel-Amarna, but some sources say she left him before he died.
Uncertain as to why--
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Who was Tutankhamen?
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Son of Akhenaten and his secondary wife
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Successor to Akhenaten and became pharaoh when he was nine
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Probably manipulated by priests until he married and became 18
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Died suddenly
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Are treasures his or Akhenaten’s?
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Ramses II
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Powerful pharaoh during the New Kingdom
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Last of the strong pharaohs
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Built many monuments to himself
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Egyptian pharaohs were:
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God-kings
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All-powerful
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Made the laws, dispensed justice
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Helped by an extensive and efficient bureaucracy
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Egypt had two classes of society:
Upper class
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Pharaoh
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Pharaoh’s family
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Priests
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Scribes
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Government officials
Lower class:
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Peasants
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Farmers
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Periods of Egyptian History
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Old Kingdom—Pyramids and Great Sphinx
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First Intermediate Period—Civil War
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Middle Kingdom—New age of prosperity
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Second Intermediate Period—Hyksos ruled
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New Kingdom—Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, Ramses II
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Decline of the Old and Middle Kingdoms
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Old Kingdom declined when nobles gained power and fought for control of Egypt. A civil war
lasting a hundred years resulted.
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The Middle Kingdom declined as the nobles and priests again gained power.
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End of the Egyptian Empire
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Invasion of the Sea Peoples weakened the empire.
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Eventually the Egyptians were taken down by invasions of the Assyrians, Nubians, and Persians.
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By the 300s B.C. rule in Egypt by Egyptians had ended.
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What type of government did the Egyptians have?
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Absolute authority was in the hands of the god-king, the pharaoh.
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A bureaucracy organized and ran the government of the people.
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People existed to serve the god-king.
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Religion and government were mixed together.
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Was the government of the Egyptians good or bad?
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Ways it was good?
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Ways it was bad?
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End Notes
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No crown of a pharaoh has ever been found.
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The cobra and vulture on the pharaoh’s crown represent goddesses who represented Upper and
Lower Egypt.
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The crown of Lower Egypt was red.
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The crown of Upper Egypt was white.
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The temple at Abu Simbel was threatened by a flood during the 1960s. It was taken down and
moved to higher ground.
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Egyptian Life and Culture—2.2
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Main Idea: Egyptian culture was marked by long periods of stability built around their religion
and geography.
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Stability of Egyptian Civilization
due to
environmental influence
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Life was based on the dependability of the annual Nile floods.
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Geographic isolation (deserts) protected Egypt from frequent invasions.
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Art
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Sculpture
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Paintings of everyday life
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Egyptians invented a calendar.
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Early calendar was based on movement of the moon.
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Realized the calendar wasn’t good enough.
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A Rising Star--
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The Egyptians created a calendar based on the rising of a bright star (Sirius) that appeared
above the horizon just before the Nile flooded.
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Party Days and Party Nights
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The Egyptian calendar had 365 days: 12 months of 30 days each.
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The extra five days were used for feasting.
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To keep track of the years, Egyptians counted the years of the current pharaoh’s reign.
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Egyptians by the numbers--
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Developed a system of mathematics based on 10
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Used fractions and whole numbers
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Used geometry—Why?
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Egyptian Medicine and Magic
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Egyptians knew a lot about the human body.
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They could treat illnesses and preserve bodies after death.
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Egyptians also used “magic spells” to treat illnesses, but these often involved herbs and
medicines.
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Education—Not for Everyone
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Focused mainly on an elite group: scribes
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Scribes learned to read and write so they could work for the government.
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Education involved religious instruction.
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Schools were usually attached to temples.
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Egyptian Religion
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Polytheistic—believed in many gods
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Religion played an important role in Egyptian life.
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In the early days, many villages had their own local god (s).
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The gods often had an animal symbol that people considered sacred.
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Amon-Re
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Amun Re was eventually the most important Egyptian god.
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He was identified as the creator.
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He became symbolized by the sun.
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Osiris—God of the Dead
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Osiris judged people after death.
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Osiris was associated with the Nile River.
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Just as the Nile periodically flooded and receded, Osiris died and was reborn.
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Isis—Wife of Osiris
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Isis was goddess of the royal throne.
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According to ancient Egyptian belief, Set killed Osiris and chopped his body up into little pieces
and scattered them about.
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Isis retrieved the pieces and placed them back together. Then she turned into a bird and with
the flapping of her wings, gave breath to Osiris again.
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Life after Death—Hmmm . . .
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At first Egyptians believed only pharaohs had life after death.
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Later they decided it was such a good idea that everybody should get life after death—even
animals.
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They mummified people and animals, especially cats, lots of cats.
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How did you get life after death? Well . . .
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Judgment Day
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First, the body had to be preserved (mummification)
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Then the person’s heart would be weighed by Osiris to see if he/she was guilty of murder or
lying, or being too proud.
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If the heart weighed as light as a feather, the person could live.
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But what if the person’s heart wasn’t that good?
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The Eater of the Dead
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The person’s heart was thrown to a monster called the Eater of the Dead.
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That was the end of the person for all eternity.
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Mummification: the preservation of the body to make life after death possible (provided you
didn’t get your heart eaten.)
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Organ Removal Done Safely While You Wait . . .
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Organs were removed from the body, wrapped separately, and placed in canopic jars
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A Tomb Raider’s Paradise!
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The tomb was stocked with everything a person might need in the afterlife: food, tools, clothes,
games
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Ushabtis
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Ushabtis were small figures of people who were believed to come to life in the afterlife and
serve their master.
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The Book of the Dead
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Egyptian guide to the afterlife (Ever wonder who wrote it?)
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Not everybody got to be the pharaoh--
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Most Egyptians could never hope for wealth or power.
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Social classes were rigidly divided: lower and upper.
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People could improve their status, but could not usually break into the upper class.
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Egyptian Women Equaled Their Men—in some ways
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Women had equality in business and social affairs.
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Egyptian woman could own property.
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A woman could leave her property to her daughter.
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In many ways, Egyptian women had more freedom and power than women in many other
cultures (even today.)
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Down on the Farm— Egyptian-style
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Egypt was divided into huge estates.
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Peasants did most of the farming, using crude hoes or wooden plows.
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They raised wheat and barley.
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Flax was grown and spun into linen.
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Farmers grew cotton.
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All that work . . . For what?
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Peasants could keep only part of their crops. The rest went to the pharaoh who owned all of the
land.
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Egypt is the Nile.
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Making the sale—Egyptian trade
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Trade was tightly controlled by the government.
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The Egyptian government traded the excess food they produced to other countries.
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Trade developed with western Asia and deep into Africa.
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You need it? We deliver!
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A merchant class developed along with the caravans necessary to deliver the food.
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Life on the sea
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Egyptians were among the first peoples to trade by sea.
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They traded in the Mediterranean, along the Red Sea, and along the African coast.
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Review Quiz: What do you know?
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Who were the scribes?
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Scribes were the educated class in Egypt. They worked for the government, but were educated
by the temples.
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What was mummification?
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Mummification was a process used to preserve a dead body for the afterlife.
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What were caravans?
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Caravans were groups of people (merchants and traders) traveling together for safety over long
distances.
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What were the types of Egyptian
architecture?
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Types of Egyptian architecture included pyramids, the sphinxes, and the hypostyle.
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What types of art did the Egyptians excel at?
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Art: wall paintings and sculpture
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What did the Egyptians know about mathematics?
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Egyptian Mathematics
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Base ten
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Fractions
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Whole numbers
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geometry
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What medical practices did the Egyptians follow?
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Egyptians practiced both medicine and magic on their patients.
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What did later Egyptians base their calendars on?
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Later Egyptians based their calendars on the rising of Sirius, a star that rose every year just
before the Nile flooded.
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What does Egyptian belief in an afterlife tell you about the importance they placed on good
character?
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Egyptians based their belief in an afterlife on an individual having good character.
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How did Egyptian success at farming lead to contact with other cultures and peoples?
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The Egyptians traded their excess food with other peoples.
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Were peasants allowed to keep all of their crops?
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Were Egyptian women allowed to own property?
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Sumer
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Objectives
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To explain how geography affected the development of the Sumerian civilization
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To describe the human and physical characteristics that made the area unique
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To compare and contrast the major beliefs and ideas of different cultures
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Where was Sumer?
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Sumer was in a region known as Mesopotamia in the Middle East.
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How is civilization defined?
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Surplus of food
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Division of labor
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Some form of government
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A system of writing
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Development of a calendar
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Sumer fits the definition of a civilization. How?
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Sumer had a city-state form of government.
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Sumer developed a system of writing called cuneiform.
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Sumer was located in the rich valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Sumerians were
able to produce surplus food.
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Sumerians had division of labor: priests, merchants, farmers, etc.
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Sumerian Writing
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One of the earliest forms of writing
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Used pictographs when they started writing
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“Pictographs” are a form of picture writing
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Writing evolved into wedge-shaped marks made with a stylus
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Wrote on clay tablets because of its availability
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Cuneiform used about 600 symbols and signs
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Architecture
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Used the arch
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Built domes
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Built ziggurats up to 150 feet high of baked mud brick
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The ziggurat served as a shrine to a god
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Ziggurat
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Sumerian Science
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Determined there were 360 degrees in a circle
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Used a number system based on 60
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Had a lunar calendar, but added a month every few years
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May have been the first to have used the wheel
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Sumerian Society
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Developed a form of community called a “city-state”
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City-state included the town and the surrounding land controlled by it
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Major city-states were Ur, Erech, and Kish
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Priests were important
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Ultimate Landlord
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People believed much of the land belonged to a god (s)
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Theocracy
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Sumer was a “theocracy.” It was governed by officials who were regarded as divinely inspired.
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Early Literature of Sumer
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The Epic of Gilgamesh was the story of a Sumerian king.
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It is one of the oldest works of literature known.
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Excerpt from The Epic of Gilgamesh
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Geography’s influence
•
Egypt developed a stable civilization that lasted for thousands of years.
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Sumer, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, would be followed by many empires
that would rise and fall because the valley was exposed to invasion.
•
The violence of the rivers’ flooding also influenced the religion of those of the Fertile Crescent—
emphasis on death and the brevity of life—not a strong sense of the afterlife. Gods who were
more whimsical and cruel.
•
Review
•
What name was given to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
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Mesopotamia
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What is a “theocracy”?
•
A theocracy is a government in which leaders claim to be given directions by a god or divinely
inspired by the gods.
•
What type of leadership did Sumer have?
•
Priest-kings
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How was Sumer organized?
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Sumer was organized into “city-states.”
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What was a city-state?
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A city-state included the town and the area surrounding it.
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What was a ziggurat?
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A ziggurat was a shrine to a god.
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What form of writing did the Sumerians create?
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The Sumerians created a wedge-shaped form of writing called “cuneiform.”
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What were some advancements of the Sumerians?
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Discovered 360º in a circle
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Base 60 system
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May have been the first to use the wheel
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Built domes
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Built arches
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Empires of the Fertile Crescent—2.4
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Main Idea: A series of invaders from both within and outside of Mesopotamia controlled the
Fertile Crescent.
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The Akkadians
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C. 2330 B.C. —The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians.
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Akkadians spoke a Semitic language related to modern Hebrew and Arabic.
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Sargon the Akkadian
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Most powerful king of the Akkadians
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Ruled from c. 2334 B.C. to 2279 B.C.
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Established an empire that reached as far west as the Mediterranean Sea
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Fall of the Akkadian Empire
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Lasted about 150 years
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Sumerian city-states prospered again after the Akkadian Empire failed, but before long a new
invader swept through the Fertile Crescent.
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Enter the Babylonians!
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The Babylonians
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c. 1792 B.C.
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Hammurabi conquered most of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley
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Hammurabi
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Outstanding military leader
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Political leader and lawmaker
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Responsible for the Code of Hammurabi
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Code of Hammurabi
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282 laws
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Laws dealt with all aspects of life including commerce and industry. The laws regulated wages,
working hours, working conditions, and property rights besides punishing criminals.
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An eye for an eye--
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Punishment under the Code of Hammurabi was harsh, but varied with status.
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The wealthy could “buy their way out” by paying a fine where the poor man would lose his eye
in the “eye for an eye” form of justice dealt out by the code.
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Tough justice--
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If a man falsely accused another of having committed a crime punishable by death, the accuser
would be put to death.
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A judge who handed down a wrong decision in a case had to pay up to 12 times the fine that he
had set in the case. He was removed from the judge’s bench and never allowed to sit in
judgment again.
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The death penalty was used often.
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Babylonians and theft
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If anyone broke into a house to steal, the person would be taken before the house and put to
death. Then he would be buried there.
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Babylonians also had compensation for victims if the thief was not caught. The victim could be
reimbursed by the community.
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People caught looting during a fire would be thrown into the fire.
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Babylonian culture
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Most were farmers.
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They wove wool and cotton cloth.
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Active traders and merchants
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Traded with Egypt and India
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Babylonian Women Could
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Have some legal and economic rights, including property rights
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Women could be merchants, traders, and scribes.
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However, women could not divorce their husbands while the husband could divorce his wife.
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If a husband was cruel and abusive, a woman could leave him and take her property with her.
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Babylonian religion
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Adopted many Sumerian beliefs
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Made sacrifices to their gods for good harvests or success in business
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Believed in a shadowy afterlife
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Most of their religious practices were directed toward success in this life.
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Believed their priests could foretell the future (priests were very powerful and wealthy)
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Enter the Merciful Hittites?
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War-like, looted the city of Babylon
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Entered the Tigris-Euphrates Valley from Asia Minor some time in the 1600s B.C.
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Among the first people to smelt iron
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Most important achievement may have been their laws and government—only major crimes
received the death penalty.
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Most crimes were punishable by fines, rather than causing retaliation.
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The Hittites
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Kept their own cultural values rather than adopting those of the people they conquered
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Poor Babylon!
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Looted by the Hittites when they invaded the Tigris-Euphrates Valley
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Hittite Kings had it all--
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Hittite kings also acted as chief-priests
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Allowed a lot of religious freedom
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But where are they today?
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Hittites were too far from their homeland to hold on to their conquered territory.
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Withdrew to the western part of the Fertile Crescent where they lived until c. 1200 B.C.
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And then came . . .
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The Mysterious Sea Peoples!
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Who were the Sea Peoples?
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No one is sure . . .
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The “Sea Peoples” invaded areas and wrecked havoc in the area for some time.
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Some believe they were escaped slaves who banded together to pillage and plunder along the
coasts.
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(I would like for one of you to make a feature- length movie about the Sea Peoples.)
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But then, along came --
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The Bad News Assyrians!
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Fierce warriors feared by every area they invaded.
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Bad reps—they used terror to control their enemies.
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Enslaved the people they conquered and killed captured enemy soldiers.
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Sometimes they deported entire populations.
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Who were these people?
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Semitic-speaking people
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Came from northern Mesopotamia
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Settled the city of Ashur on the upper Tigris River in the early 2000 B.C.
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Adopted many elements of Sumerian culture
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Dominated by others for centuries—until the worm turned!
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Assyrians rise and fall and rise and-
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Established an empire in the 1300s B.C.
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Soon overrun by nomadic migrations
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Gradually recovered and began to take over area of southwest Asia
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Between 900 and 600 B.C. expanded their control over the Fertile Crescent and even into Egypt
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Included all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the Nile Valley
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Assyrians were among the first-–
To govern a large empire.
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Alas, Babylon!
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Looted by the Assyrians and destroyed completely c. 700 B.C.
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Assyrian Kings
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Had absolute, total power
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Responsible only to the god Ashur
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Priests and government officials took orders from the king
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Governors ruled conquered lands and reported to the king.
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Ninevah
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Assyrian capital city
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Constructed a huge double wall around the city 70 feet high and 7.5 miles around
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Had 15 decorated gates
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Sometimes 148 feet wide
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Had a great library filled with clay tablets filled with literature and work from all over the empire
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Works included the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Epic of Gilgamesh
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Story of a Sumerian king
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One of the oldest works of literature known
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Assyrian War Tactics
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Used chariots in battle
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First to use cavalry
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Why isn’t there an Assyrian Empire today?
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Civil war broke out in 635 B.C.
(“United we stand, divided we fall.”)
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In 612 B.C. a group of enemies led by the Chaldeans and the Medes captured and destroyed
Ninevah.
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The Chaldeans
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Took control of most of the Assyrian territory
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Under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar, conquered most of the Fertile Crescent
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Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean
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Ruled from his capital city at Babylon—Yes, he rebuilt it.
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Ruled from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C. (Have you noticed we’re counting backwards?)
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Babylon—bigger and better than ever!
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Trade flourished. Babylon became a large, wealthy city again.
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Canals and beautiful buildings were built within the city.
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King built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
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The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
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Built by Nebuchadnezzar for his bride, a young woman from the mountains who missed her
home.
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Greeks considered the Hanging Gardens one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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The Chaldeans and astronomy
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Skilled astronomers
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Could predict lunar and solar eclipses
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Kept track of the movement of the planets
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The Chaldeans and Math
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Made advances in mathematics
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Could calculate the length of a year with a very high degree of accuracy
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What happened to the Chaldeans?
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They put all their apples in one cart—
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What can we learn from the Chaldeans?
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It’s dangerous to trust the security of your country to one man. Even if he’s a good
administrator, what will happen to the country
when he dies?
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The Persians
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Conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.
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Spoke an Indo-European language
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Who were the Medes?
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Migrated into what is now Iran about the same times as the Persians
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At first ruled over the Persians until Cyrus came along
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Cyrus the Great
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Rebelled against the Medes
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Captured Babylon
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Took over the rest of the Fertile Crescent and Asia Minor
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Also receiving honorable mention--
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Darius I
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Xerxes I
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Both expanded the Persian empire to the Indus River and into parts of southeastern Europe
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Both invaded Greece in the 400s, but failed to conquer it. (Involves stories of heroism and
betrayal still to come--)
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Persian Government
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Persian rulers were all-powerful, but showed a concern for justice.
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Collected taxes and administered the law fairly.
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Persians treated conquered peoples better than others had—allowed them to keep their own
religions and laws.
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And then there was the Persian Secret Service--
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Secret Agents
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Known as the “the Eyes and Ears of the King”
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Kept the king informed of the activities going on within the empire
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Regional governors and military rulers were held in check under this system—They could be
ratted out if they got out of hand.
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Persians and the Royal Road
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Built roads to connect the cities
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The Royal Road stretched for 1,250 miles.
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Connected Sardis with Susa
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Built mainly for army and postal riders
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Historians think the Romans later borrowed the idea from the Persians.
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Road system helped bring the empire together.
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Allowed different cultures to exchange customs, goods, and ideas.—Think of the interstate
system in our country.
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Persian Religion
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Perhaps their greatest cultural contribution
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At first, they worshipped many different gods.
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Then, something happened c. 600 B.C.--
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Zoroaster changed their religious outlook!
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Taught that on Earth people received training for a future life
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Claimed that in the world the forces of good and evil battle one another
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People must choose between good and evil.
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Those who choose good will be rewarded with eternal blessings.
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Those who choose evil will be punished.
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In the future the forces of good will triumph, and then the Earth will disappear.
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Zoroastrianism
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The central beliefs of this religion, the universal struggle between good and evil, have had a
great impact on history.
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Judaism and Christianity may be among the great religions influenced by Zoroastrianism.
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The Persians had a good thing going until--
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The leaders who followed Darius and Xerxes lacked their leadership ability.
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The empire began to lose its strength.
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In 331 B.C. the Persian army faced a great defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great.
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After 200 years, the Persian empire was conquered.
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What caused its fall?
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Phoenicians
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And
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Lydians
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Objectives
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To describe the evolution of diverse economic theories and practices
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To explain the factors that account for patterns in trade and human migration
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Phoenicia
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Loose union of city-states, each governed by a different king
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Phoenicia had little fertile land.
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Lebanon mountains made migration to the east difficult.
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Phoenicians turned to the sea for a living.
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Ports of Tyre and Sidon
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Phoenician Trade
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Became the greatest traders in the ancient world
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Sailed around the Mediterranean and perhaps as far as Britain.
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Sailed around the western coast of Africa
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Carthage, a Phoenician city, became a major trade center
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Phoenician Exports
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Lumber from the forests of Lebanon
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Gold and silver items (used methods learned from the Egyptians and used imported materials)
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Invented the art of glassblowing
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Made purple dye from a shellfish called murex
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Also exported dried fish, linen, olive oil, and wine
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Phoenician Colonies
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Sicily
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Sardinia
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Malta
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Black Murex Seashell
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Phoenician Culture
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Government and customs resembled those of the Egyptians and Babylonians
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Spread Egyptian and Babylonian culture throughout the Mediterranean through trade
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Polytheistic
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Sometimes sacrificed their own children in times of threatened disaster
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Phoenician Alphabet
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Developed the alphabet that became the model for later Western alphabets
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Used writing in their businesses to draw up contract and record bills
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Trading partners saw these and realized they were a good idea
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Cultural diffusion through commerce
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Greeks added signs for vowel sounds
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Etruscans and later, Romans used it, too
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Romans
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developed the alphabet we use now.
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The Lydians
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They were first people to use coined money.
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They first used small kidney-bean shaped coins made out of a mixture of silver and gold.
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Before the invention of coins around 600 B.C. traders had to rely on barter.
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What is barter?
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Barter is the exchange of one good or service for another.
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Barter limits trade since each individual has to want what the other has.
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What are “commodities”?
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Commodities are goods that have value.
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A world without money?
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Before the Lydians, yes!
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The Lydian traders established a money economy. They could set prices for goods and services.
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Through trade the Lydians passed on the concept of a money economy to the Greeks and the
Persians.
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Big Ideas to Remember
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Commerce and trade can lead to cultural diffusion—the exchange of ideas.
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Barter limited commerce.
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The invention of money led to the money economy in which people could set a price for goods
and services.
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Phoenicians invented the alphabet that evolved into the one we use today.
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Lydians invented coined money.
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Review
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Who invented coined money?
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Who made money from purple dye?
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Who made money from the cedars of Lebanon?
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Who built Carthage?
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What is barter?
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What is a money economy?
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What are “commodities”?
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The Origins of Judaism
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Objectives
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To examine the influence of religion on government
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To explain how and why places change
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The Land of Canaan
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Canaan was a small strip of land south of Phoenicia.
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Occupied at different times by: Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Syrians, and other
groups.
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Hebrews, the ancestors of modern Jews, also occupied the land.
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Abraham
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According to the Bible, the founder of the Hebrew people was Abraham.
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Abraham once lived in Sumer. Remember Sumer? Remember Ur?
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Abraham had a beautiful wife named Sarah.
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Isaac
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Isaac was Sarah’s son.
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Tension between Isaac and Ishmael (Hagar’s son) grew
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Sarah had them exiled from the camp.
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Isaac inherited Abraham’s wealth.
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Isaac married Rebekah and had two sons: Jacob and Esau.
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Jacob
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Jacob was the grandson of Abraham
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Jacob was also called “Israel”
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Modern Jews trace their heritage through Jacob
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Jacob’s twelve sons each established a tribe: The Twelve Tribes of Israel
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The Exodus
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The Hebrews left Canaan and went west to Egypt probably because of a drought or famine.
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At first they lived peacefully with the Egyptians, but they were eventually enslaved.
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They lived 400 years in slavery until . . .
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Moses
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Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and into the deserts of the Sinai Peninsula where
they wandered in the wilderness.
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The Hebrews’ escape from slavery in Egypt is called “The Exodus.”
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The Ten Commandments
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Given to Moses on Mt. Sinai
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Moral laws that the Hebrew god Yahweh had revealed to Moses
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The first four commandments establish the Hebrews’ relationship with Yahweh.
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The rest of the commandments deal with their relationship to family and neighbor.
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The Hebrews established a covenant with Yahweh to keep the commandments.
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The Promised Land
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Moses announced to the Hebrews that Canaan was a land promised to his ancestors and that
Yahweh had sent him to found a holy nation.
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The Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for many years before entering the promised land.
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The Founding of Israel
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The Hebrews who had come from Egypt joined those who had lived on the borders of Canaan
and remained a loose confederation for many years.
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Leaders known as Judges ruled the various tribes.
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Judges enforced God’s law and settled disputes among the tribes.
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The Prophets
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From time to time holy men, or prophets, would appear to warn people that they were incurring
God’s anger by straying from the covenant they had made with Him to keep His
commandments.
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Hebrews fight for Canaan
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The Hebrews fought the Canaanites in the north and the Philistines in the south.
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After 200 years of fighting, the Hebrews defeated the Canaanites, but they only succeeded in
pushing the Philistines toward the coast.
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During the years of fighting the twelve tribes united under one king and became the united
kingdom of Israel.
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Kings of Israel
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Saul was the first king, but he and his sons were all killed.
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David became the first Israelite king to establish a dynasty.
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David made Jerusalem the capital and religious center of Israel.
•
Beginning with David, the kings made a covenant with their people as well as with God.
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Solomon the Wise
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Solomon was king of Israel after David.
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During Solomon’s reign, Israel reached the height of its wealth and power.
•
Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem that became both the center of religious life and a symbol
of the Israelite state.
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After Solomon’s death the tribes began to fight among one another.
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Israel Divides
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The ten tribes in the north split off and became “Israel.”
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The two southern tribes became “Judah.”
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Neither kingdom was strong enough to withstand outside invasion.