Download Cities Food becomes more abundant, people live closer to

Neolithic Era
• Literally means “New Stone Age”
• Began roughly 9500 BC
• Began in the Middle East
– Mesopotamia
• Fertile Crescent
• Agriculture and
Domesticated animals
Neolithic Era
THINK PAIR SHARE
• Why do you think anthropologists believe
this to be the most important development
in human history??
Neolithic Era
• What a Neolithic village may have looked like.
Neolithic Revolution
• Revolutionary shift in Human Subsistence!
– No more hunting and gathering!
• Food became more abundant
• Populations began increasing
• Cities began to form
– More grains + more milk + more
Wool + more meat = More people
Able to survive!
Neolithic Era
• Small clusters of people became Villages
• Villages became cities.
– This is a vital step in the development of
civilization
• Earliest cities were:
– Jericho, Catal Huyuk, Uruk, Eridu, Ur
– Civilizations began forming throughout the
world
– Cultural Hearths
Civilizations
• What is a cultural hearth?
– Culture = the way of life a group of
people follow
– Hearth = a vital and creative center
Civilizations
• Complex Culture
• 6 Characteristics of
a Civilization
– Cities
– Governments
– Religion
– Social structures
– Writing
– Art
Civilizations
• Cities
– Food becomes more abundant, people live closer to each
other
• Government
– Regulate and organize human activity
• Religion
– Explain forces of nature and roles in the world
• Social Structure
– Based on economic power
• Writing
– Keep accurate records, creative expression
• Art
– Architects, painters and sculptors,
Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamian Civilization
– Three general areas
• Assyria, Akkad, Sumer (pg. 15)
– Sumerians
• Creators of Mesopotamian civilization
Mesopotamia
• Civilization in the
Fertile Crescent
– Between Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
• City States
– A state with political
control over the
surrounding
countryside
– Eridu, Ur, Uruk
Mesopotamia
• Sumerians used mud bricks to build
– They invented the Arch and the Dome
• Temple
– Most important building in the city
– Massive stepped tower
• Ziggurat
• Priests and Priestesses
Temple on a
Ziggurat
Mesopotamia
• Economy
– Principally agriculture
– Industry
• Metalwork, textiles, etc.
– Trade
• Invention of wheel in 3000 B.C. helped
Civilization into Empires
• Sumerians!
– First Empire
• “A Large political unit or state, usually under a single leader,
that controls many peoples or territories.” (pg.48)
– Created the wheel
– Created units of time
– Cuneiform
• First writing
– Polytheistic
• Worshipped many gods
Mesopotamia
• Three Classes
– Nobles
• Royalty, Priests
– Commoners
• Farmers, Merchants, Fishermen, Craftspeople
• 90% of Sumerians were farmers
– Slaves
• Worked on Buildings
Civilizations into Empires
• Akkadians (2300BC – 2150BC)
– Sargon conquered Sumerians
– Used a strong military
• Empire included all of Mesopotamia
– Naram-Sin
• King of 4 corners of universe
– Empire fell by 2150BC
• This returned region to city states
Civilizations into Empires
– Babylonian Empire
• 1792BC
– Hammurabi
» Leader in Babylon, a city state south of Akkad
» Strong military
» Axes and Daggers and Spears, oh my!!
• Hammurabi’s Code (1st codified law)
– System of strict justice
» Eye of an eye, tooth for a tooth
» Accountability (officials, judges, builders, etc.)
» Marriage laws (page 50)
Civilizations into Empires
• Phoenicians (Purple People)
– Created an alphabet
• Used by the Greeks, then the Romans, now us!
– Great ship builders
• Empire based on trade $$$
Civilizations into Empires
• Israelites
– Lived South of the Phoenicians
– Minor factor in politics, but had a huge
influence on religion
• Judaism—Monotheistic
• Migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan
– Under King David, ruled Israel
• Capital Jerusalem
Civilizations into Empires
• David’s son, Solomon
– Israel reached its height of power
• Massive armies, good economy
• Built temple in Jerusalem
» Viewed as symbolic center of religion
Civilizations into Empires
• Under King Judah
– In 720 BC, Assyrians conquered Israel
• The Israelites scattered (10 lost tribes)
– In 586, the Chaldeans destroyed
Jerusalem
• Remaining Israelites sent to Babylon
– Babylon conquered by Persians
• Ended Babylonian captivity
Civilizations into Empires
• Assyrians (700 B.C.)
– Northern Tigris River
– Very Powerful –Use of
Iron weaponry
– Lasted less than 100 years
• Conquered by Chaldeans
in 612 B.C.
– Internal conflicts led to
downfall
Civilizations into Empires
• Assyrians
– Really good at conquering, not so good at
ruling
• Army consisted of hundreds of thousands of
soldiers
– Cavalry was strength of army
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Used terror tactics
Used Guerilla warfare
Able to lay siege to castles as well
Laid wasted to fields, trees, water supplies, etc.