Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Cradles of Civilization • • • • Ancient Sumerians Ancient Egyptians Ancient Indus Ancient Chinese 3500B.C.-1792B.C. 3000B.C.-1000B.C. 2500B.C.-1500B.C. 2500B.C.-1000B.C. Cultural Diffusion Crossroads of the World Center of the World The Fertile Crescent MESOPOTAMIA The Fertile Crescent is of great worldhistorical significance. It gave birth to and sustained many great civilizations. The Fertile Crescent is the place where agriculture and civilization first arose, the birthplace of our alphabet, the place where great religions first uplifted the souls of mankind, the home of philosophers, saints, poets, explorers and conquerors. Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East Sumerians (3500 B.C.-1792 B.C.) Akkadians (2300 B.C.-2000 B.C.) Babylonians (1792 B.C.-1650 B.C.) Hittites (1650 B.C.-1200 B.C.) Hebrews (1200B.C.-586 B.C.) Phoenicians (1000 B.C.-700 B.C.) Assyrians (750 B.C.-605 B.C.) Chaldeans 605 B.C.-550 B.C.) Persians (525 B.C.-331 B.C.) The Sumerian Civilization People/ Brief History Settled near the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers around 3500 B.C. Established city states of Kish and Ur Constructed Ziggurats (step pyramids for temples) Worshipped polytheistic gods Contributions to Civilizations Written Language of Cuneiform Created the wagon wheel Built man’s first arches Created and used sun dials to calculate time First civilizations to control fire to blend metals to make bronze Hammurabi’s Written Law Codes Ziggurat A large solid mud-brick stepped tower. Stairways lead to the top where there was a small temple. I. The Twin Rivers A. Settlement began around 5000 B.C. B. Euphrates and Tigris Rivers 1. No regular supply of water 2. Unpredictable and destructive floods 3. Dams, canals, ditches built to help damage done by floods II. The Sumerian Civilization A. First arrived around 3500 B.C. B. Built first city-states 1. Independently governed 2. Military leader 3. King and priest II. The Sumerian Civilization (con’t) C. Sumerian law 1. Well regulated family 2. Women under authority of men D. System of writing: Cuneiform 1. Wedge shaped clay II. The Sumerian Civilization (con’t) E. Polytheistic religion 1. gods were selfish, little regard for human beings 2. Worshipped at a Ziggurat, step pyramid 3. No afterlife Ziggurat, form of temple common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians. The earliest examples date from the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the latest from the 6th cent. BC. The ziggurat was a pyramidal structure, built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, with a shrine at the summit. The core of the ziggurat was of sun-baked bricks, and the facings were of fired bricks, often glazed in different colors, which are thought to have had cosmological significance. Access to the summit shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side or by a continuous spiral ramp from base to summit. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. Notable examples are the ruins at Ur and Khorsabad in Mesopotamia. Similar structures were built by the Mayan people of Central America. II. The Sumerian Civilization (con’t) F. Technological inventions 1. Wagon wheel 2. The arch 3. The sundial 4. Metallurgy to make Bronze III.First Mesopotamia Empires A. Akkadians 1. United city-states of Mesopotamia under one empire through military conquests 2. Utilized cultural diffusion with the Sumerians III.First Mesopotamia Empires (con’t) B. Babylonians 1. Semetic people defeated Sumerian centers and founded a dynasty in Babylon 2. Ruler was Hammurabi a. Entire region under his control b. Written law codes Hammurabi’s Law Codes Specific punishment for each violation