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Chapter II:
Western Asia and Egypt
Geography and Origins: Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia= land between rivers/ located
at the east end of the Fertile Crescent (an arc
of land from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Persian Gulf
• Tigris and Euphrates= UNPREDICTABLE
FLOODING= insecurity/ lack of consistency
• Flooding=silt=fertile soil
Geography and Origins: Mesopotamia
Geography and Origins: Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia covered three general areas:
Assyria, Akkad and Sumer
• Built with mud bricks
• Social Classes:
• Nobles (royal family, royal officials, priests and
their families)
• Commoners (worked for large estates as farmers,
merchants, fishers and craftspeople/90%)
• Slaves( worked on large building projects, wove
cloth, and worked the farms of nobles)
Geography and Origins: Mesopotamia
Geography and Origins: Egypt
• Nile= longest river in the world (4,000 miles)
• Northern part is called Lower Egypt and the
southern part is called Upper Egypt.
• The annual [PREDICTABLE=feeling of security]
flooding of the Nile left a deposit of mud that
created rich soil on both sides of the
river(Black land)
Geography and Origins: Egypt
• The fertile land was used to grow crops and
create surpluses of food that made Egypt
prosperous
• The Nile was the fastest way to travel:
transportation and communication
• 3100BC= Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
• With deserts, seas and cataracts surrounding it,
Egypt had far greater natural defenses than did
Mesopotamia that only had flat plains
Geography and Origins: Egypt
The Egyptian Nile,” wrote one Arab traveler,
“surpasses all the rivers of the world in sweetness
of taste, in length of course and usefulness. No
other river in the world can show such a
continuous series of towns and villages along its
banks.” In their “Hymn to the Nile,” Egyptians
wrote of their reliance on the river: “The bringer
of food, rich in provisions, creator of all good, lord
of majesty, sweet of fragrance . . . . [The Nile]
makes the granaries wide, and gives things to the
poor. He who makes every beloved tree to grow.”
“
From James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern
Texts, 1969.
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Mesopotamia
• Sumerians  Akkadians (under Sargon I—first
empire)  Babylonians (Hammurabi), Assyrians,
Neo-Babylonians….
• City-state= basic unit of Sumerian civilization
• Writing (cuneiform- “wedge-shaped writing”)
allowed a society to keep records and pass
knowledge from generation to generation/ also,
communicate (The Epic of Gilgamesh: teaches the
lesson that only gods are immortal.)
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Mesopotamia
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Mesopotamia
• Wagon wheel= help transport people and goods
from place to place
• The use of arch in construction
• Sumerian achievements in math and astronomy
• Number system based on 60
• Geometry was used to measure field and erect
buildings
• Charted heavenly constellations
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Egypt
• Organized into three kingdoms: Old, Middle
and New
• All of the pyramids were built in the Old
Kingdom
• Pharaohs=”great house”
• Bureaucracy (vizier- held the most important
position next to the pharaoh…in charge of 42
governors which controlled the 42
provinces…BUREAUCRACY)
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Egypt
• http://sev9qw3.edu.glogster.com/egyptinventions/
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Egypt
• Society:
• Pharaoh was at the top and was surround by a
ruling class of nobles and priests
• Next class: merchants and artisans
• Then peasants, then slaves
• Hieroglyphics/ experts in the human anatomy
Accomplishments/Contributions:
Egypt
Religion: Mesopotamia
• Polytheistic= believed in many gods
• Ziggurat=large stepped structure which holds
a temple
• Believed that the world was controlled by
destructive supernatural forces and deities
due to the unpredictable floods , harsh
physical environment and famines
Religion: Mesopotamia
Religion: Egypt
• Polytheistic= believed in many gods
• Ra= sun god
• Had the land gods and the sun gods
Both Mesopotamia and Egypt were…
• Polytheistic
• Patriarchal= dominated by men
• Theocracies= government by divine authority
Hammurabi’s Code
• 282 Laws
• Calls for harsh punishments against crimes
(“eye for an eye…tooth for a tooth”)
• The American criminal justice system
maintains that all citizens are equal under the
law. Hammurabi’s Code called for different
enforcements of the law for different classes
of society.
Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi’s Code
• The free man that belonged to the upper class
was given much more protection than the
commoner.
• Mostly covered marriage and family
• Expressed the patriarchal nature of
Mesopotamian society
• http://www.phillipmartin.info/hammurabi/ho
mepage.htm
Mummification
• 70 day process
• Body was dried and preserved along with
material possessions to go to the afterlife
• Heart had the ka (soul)…not the brain
Mummification
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/mummy.ht
ml