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Chapter 1
The Ancient Near East:
The First Civilizations
The First Humans
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Hominids
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Australopithecines (3-4 million years ago; simple stone
tools; limited to Africa)
Homo Erectus (1.5 million years ago; larger, more
varied tools; moves into Europe and Asia)
The Emergence of Homo Sapiens (“wise human
being”)
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Neanderthals, (c. 100,000 – 30,000 years ago)
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Homo sapiens sapiens, (c. 200,000 B.C.E. – Present)
 “Wise, wise human being”
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Neander Valley, Germany; other parts of Europe, Middle East
More advanced stone tools; burial of the dead
Replaced Neanderthals
Spread throughout the world
The spread of humans: out of Africa or multiregional?
The Hunter-Gatherers of the Old Stone
Age
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Paleolithic Age, (c. 2.5 million years ago – 10,000
years ago)
Hunting and Gathering
Nomadic Bands (20 – 30 people)
Division of Labor between Men and Women
Discovery of Fire (c. 500,000 B.C.E.)
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Source of light and heat; cooking of food
Cultural Activities
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Cave paintings: Chauvet in France
The Neolithic Revolution
(c. 10,000 – 4000 B.C.E.)
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An Agricultural Revolution
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Shift from hunting and gathering to systematic
growing of food
Neolithic Farming Villages
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Permanent settlements (Çatal Hüyük)
The Neolithic Revolution
(c. 10,000 – 4000 B.C.E.)
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Consequences of the Neolithic Revolution
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Trade
Specialized division of labor
Improved tools
Domestication of animals
Development of writing
Use of metals
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Copper + tin = bronze
The Bronze Age (c. 3000 B.C. – c. 1200 B.C.E.)
The Emergence of Civilization
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Six Characteristics of Civilization
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Urban focus (cities as important centers of
development)
Distinct religious structure (gods; priests)
Political and military structures (bureaucracy;
armies)
Social structure based on economic power
Writing (record keeping)
Artistic and intellectual activity
Civilization in Mesopotamia
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The City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia
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Sumerian cities
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Origins (c. 3000 B.C.E.)
City-States (Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, Lagash)
Temples to the gods / ziggurats
Theocracy (gods rule the cities through priests)
Kingship (divine in origin)
Economy and society
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Primarily agricultural with some trade
Four major social groups: nobles, dependent
commoners, free commoners, and slaves
Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
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The Early Dynastic Age (3000 – 2340 B.C.E.)
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The Akkadian Empire (c. 2340 – c. 2150 B.C.E.)
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Sargon
Naram-Sin (c. 2260-2223 B.C.E.)
Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – 2000 B.C.E.)
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Instability; warfare between city states
The Amorites
Hammurabi’s Empire (1792 – 1750 B.C.E.)
The Code of Hammurabi
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A Collection of 282 Laws Revealing Strict
Justice and Severe Penalties
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The principle of retaliation and its impact
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“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
Responsibility of public officials
Consumer protections
Agriculture and trade
Domestic affairs, marriage, and family
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Women’s rights and limitations
The Culture of Mesopotamia
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The Importance of Religion
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City-states’ links with gods and goddesses
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Polytheistic (belief in many gods)
Human beings subservient to gods
Divination
The Culture of Mesopotamia
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Writing (c. 3000 B.C.E.)
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Cuneiform = “wedge-shaped”
Uses: record keeping, monumental texts,
teaching texts
Literature and the Communication of Ideas
Mathematics and Astronomy
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Number system based on 60
Geometry
Astronomy
Egyptian Civilization:
“The Gift of the Nile”
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The Impact of Geography
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The “miracle” of the Nile: annual, predictable
flooding
The food surplus of the fertile valley
Transportation
Security
Changelessness
The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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Upper and Lower Egypt United (c. 3100 B.C.E.)
The Old Kingdom (c. 2575 – 2125 B.C.E.)
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Prosperity and stability
Pharaohs (divine kings, absolute rulers)
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Ma’at
Bureaucracy and the office of vizier
Nomes (provinces)
The First Intermediate Period (c. 2125 – 2010
B.C.E.)
The Middle Kingdom (c. 2010 – 1630 B.C.E.)
Society and Economy in Ancient Egypt
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Organized Hierarchically
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Pharaoh at the top
Upper class (nobles and priests)
Merchants and artisans
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Trade
Lower classes: serfs
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Majority of population
Bound to land
Tax payers
Military and labor service
The Culture of Egypt
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Spiritual Life and Egyptian Society
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Religion
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Sun cult (Atum; Re)
Osiris, Isis, and Seth
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The Pyramids
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Book of the Dead
Designed as a city of the dead
Physical body and spiritual body (ka)
Mummification
Great Pyramid at Giza (c. 2540 B.C.E.)
Art and Writing
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Functional and integral in ritual
Writing (hieroglyphs: “priest-carvings”)
Disorder and a New Order:
The New Kingdom
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Second Intermediate Period (c. 1630 –
1539 B.C.E.)
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Hyksos invasion
Bronze Age
New Kingdom (c. 1539 – 1069 B.C.E.)
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Militarism and imperialism
Disorder and a New Order:
The New Kingdom
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Akhenaton and Religious Change
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From Amenhotep IV (c. 1353 – 1336 B.C.E.) to
Akhenaton
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Tutankhamen (c. 1332 – 1322 B.C.E.)
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Introducing worship of the Aten (god of the sun
disk)
Restoration of old gods
The End of Empire
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Ramesses II (c. 1279 – 1213 B.C.E.)
Decline (after 1069 B.C.E.)
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
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Marriage
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Husband as master of the house
Wife as in charge of the household and the
education of children
Women
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Labor, property, and inheritance
Hatshepsut, female pharaoh
Arranged marriages
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Divorce allowed
Adultery strictly prohibited
Leisure and Entertainment
The Gulf between Upper and Lower Classes
On the Fringes of Civilization
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Late Neolithic Europe
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The Impact of the Indo-Europeans
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Megaliths
Major Nomadic Movements, c. 2000 B.C.E.
The Hittite Empire (c. 1600 – 1190 B.C.E.)
The Impact of the Indo-Europeans
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Suppiluliumas I (c. 1370 – 1330 B.C.E.)
The Use of Iron
Decline: Internal Strife; the Sea Peoples; the
Gasga
Discussion Questions
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What were some of the key characteristics that separated
homo sapiens sapiens from other early hominids?
What were the advancements created during the
Neolithic Revolution?
Why is Mesopotamia called the Cradle of Civilization?
What does the Code of Hammurabi tell us about equality
in the Mesopotamian society?
What role did the Nile River play in the development of
Egyptian civilization?
Why was Egyptian civilization so interested in death and
dying?
What were the contributions and achievements of the
people on the fringes of civilization?