Download Literature of the Ancient World

Literature of the
Ancient World
3000 B.C. – A.D. 500
What Ancient Texts Teach Us,
Today

In the selections we are going to read, you will
be introduced to literature from the ancient
Middle East and ancient India.
– As we begin to study the literature from the oldest
known civilizations—Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hebrew, and
India—spiritual beliefs and religious ideals of these
ancient cultures will be revealed.

These works are among the world’s oldest, most
beloved, and most influential—many of them
continue to shape modern cultures.
– Selections from the Hebrew Bible will also be looked at,
as this text is one of the foundations of Western
literature.
Part 1:
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and
Hebrew
Why Does Reading “This Stuff”
Matter?

The ancient Middle East is often called the
“cradle of civilization.”
– In prehistoric times, people gathered in the
fertile river valleys of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and
Canaan—the “Fertile Crescent”—to farm.

From their interactions arose the basic
elements of civilization: law, commerce,
arts, religion, education, and literature.
– On this foundation were built many later
cultures—including our own.
What Time Period Are We In?
Where Are We?

Time Period:
– 2500 B.C. – A.D. 300

Geographical Location:
– Ancient Middle East (“cradle of civilization”)
– Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan (“The Fertile Crescent”)
Mesopotamia
(c. 3500 B.C.-539 B.C.):
Where Was Mesopotamia?


Between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in presentday Iraq is a fertile valley
known in ancient times as
Mesopotamia (“the land
between rivers”).
Here, the first cities arose,
each existing independently
as a city-state.
– Each city-state had its own
ruler, its own army, and its
own patron deity.
Who Were Its People?


Mesopotamia was
dominated by a series of
empires created by
successive invaders. As a
rule, however, the
conquerors preserved the
culture of the peoples they
defeated.
The Groups:
–
–
–
–
–
Sumerians
Akkadians
Babylonians
Assyrians
Neo-Babylonians
Sumerians
(c. 3500-2350 B.C.):

Recorded history began
with the Sumerians.
– The Sumerians invented
writing around 3000 B.C.

The Sumerians settled
southern Mesopotamia,
which became known as
Sumer.
– The Sumerians were
believed to have migrated
from central-Asia

By 3000 B.C. their villages
had grown into city-states,
such as Ur and Uruk.
– Each city-state had a
different ruler and
worshipped a different god
or goddess.
Akkadians
(c. 2350-2000 B.C.)

A group of Semites (people
who spoke a language
related to Hebrew and
Arabic) invaded Sumer
from the north.
– Led by Sargon of Akkad,
the Akkadians conquered
the city-states of Sumer
and unified them and the
adjoining regions into the
world’s first empire.

The Akkadians adopted
much of Sumerian culture,
including its religion and
literature.
Babylonians
(c. 2000-1570 B.C.)

The Babylonians—a Semitic people who
spoke Akkadian—conquered
Mesopotamia in about 2000 B.C.
– This established an empire with its
capital of Babylon on the Euphrates
River.
– Like the Akkadians, the Babylonians also
adopted the culture of the Sumerians.

Under King Hammurabi, the Babylonian
empire reached its peak from 1792 to
1750 B.C.
– King Hammurabi established the first set
of laws (the “Code of Hammurabi”).

In 1570 B.C., the Babylonian empire
fell to Kassite invaders, who ruled for
more than 400 years.
Assyrians
(c. 850-612 B.C.)

Following the Kassite rule,
various people vied for control
of the region for the next 300
years.
– Around 850 B.C. one of these
groups, the Assyrians—a
warlike people from northern
Mesopotamia, began to
consolidate the empire.

The Assyrians extended their
rule from Mesopotamia to
Egypt and present-day Turkey.
– Known for their ruthlessness in
battle, the Assyrians destroyed
the kingdom of Israel and
dispersed its inhabitants.

The Assyrian capital of Nineveh
became an important learning
center.
– King Ashurbanipal established
an early library, preserving
many Sumerian and Babylonian
Neo-Babylonians
(c. 612-539 B.C.)

In 612 B.C. Chaldean
invaders conquered
the Assyrians,
destroying Nineveh,
and founding the
second Babylonian
empire.
– The empire, which
conquered and enslaved
the remaining Jews of
Palestine, endured until
it was conquered by the
Persians in 539 B.C.