Download The Peoples of Western Asia and Egypt

Chapter 1 – The First
Civilizations: The Peoples of
Western Asia and Egypt
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Spread of Homo sapiens
How do we know what we know?
• New evidences always forthcoming
• Much of what we know is based on
conjecture
1st Humans - Australopithecines
• Hominids – lived 3 to 4 million years ago
– Eastern and Southern Africa
– Bipedal (walk upright)
• Allowed them to move/travel
– 1st to make stone tools
• Homo habilis discovered by the Leakeys
– Larger brain and walked upright
– Able to search for food better
– Lived 1 to 4 million years ago
1st Humans - Australopithecines
• Homo erectus
– 100,000 to 1 million years ego
– used more tools
– Left Africa and moved into Europe and Asia
Homo sapiens
• Means wise human
– Two types:
• Neanderthal 100,000-30,000 B.C.E.
–
–
–
–
Found in Europe and Middle East
Buried dead – 1st to do so
Question of afterlife?
Made clothes and killed for food
• Homo sapiens sapiens 200,000 B.C.E.
– Anatomically modern humans
– Africa
Why move?
• Theory 1 states that people outgrew their
hunting grounds
• Theory 2 states that humans developed in
other places outside of Africa
– Most believe that life began in Africa and then
migrated out of it
Hunter-Gathers of Paleolithic Age
• Paleolithic 2,500,000 to 10,000 BCE
– Means old stone
– Humans began to build tools
• Became more sophisticated (spears, bow/arrows, harpoons,
and fishhooks)
– Nomadic - People gathered nuts, berries, fruits, and
grains and hunted animals
• Because of this, it is speculated that people lived in groups of
20 to 30
– Division of labor
• Some argue that this means there was equality between men
and women
– Shelter – caves, animal hides with poles
– Fire – allowed to stay warm and cook fire
Hunter-Gathers of Paleolithic Age
•
Two most important technological
innovations
1. Fire
2. Tools
•
Why?
– Human ability to change environment
– Ability to change physically to survive
The Neolithic Revolution
• Neolithic Revolution means new stone age
• 10,000 BCE
• Revolution = agriculture
– Planted grains and tamed animals
– Gave up nomadic lifestyle and settled down
• Mesolithic Age (middle stone age)
– 10,000 to 7000 BCE
– Really the transitional period for agriculture
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Spreading of Agriculture
Areas of Agriculture
• Middle East – barley, oats, pigs, cattle,
goats
• Europe – Middle East farming spread into
Europe
• Egypt – barley and oats
• Central Africa – root crops (yams ) and
tree crops (bananas)
• China – rice
• Mesoamerica – beans, squash, maize
(corn)
Neolithic Farming Villages
• Oldest in Middle East
• Catal Hüyük (in modern
Turkey)
– Walled city
– Mud brick homes – no streets
because close together
– Cultivated 12 products (fruits,
nuts, three kinds of wheat)
– Domesticated animals
– Hunted but did not rely on it
for survival
– Food surpluses allowed for
occupations to develop
• Caused trade to develop
– Religious - earth mothers
Consequences of Neolithic
Revolution
• Built homes for protection and storage
– Development of armies
• Division of labor
– Artisans, farmers
– Women and men
• Men in fields away from home
• Women at home raising family and caring for them
• Importance of working outside the home became dominate (so men
became dominate)
•
•
•
•
Trade
Cloth developed due to planting
Invention of writing – records
Metal working – tools, weapons
– Bronze Age 3000 to 1200 BCE (came from western Asia
mixing copper and tin together)
Emergence of Civilization
• Civilization – complex culture in large numbers
of people that share common elements
• Basic characteristics
– Urban focus – political, economic, social, and
religious centers
– New political and military structures – organized
– Social structure based on economic power – class
structure
– Complexity – trade
– Religious structure – gods essential to city’s success
– Writing – record keeping
– Artistic and Intellectual Activity – architecture
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Early Civilizations
Earliest Civilization – Two Views
• Earliest developed in
Mesopotamia and Egypt
– Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
• India - Indus River traded
with Mesopotamia areas
• China – Yellow River
• Believed that these 4
river systems were the
only ones to create
civilization
Earliest Civilization – Two Views
• Contrasting View to
Major 4
• Central Asia – had
civilization with tools,
writing, agriculture
• Peru – Supe River
Valley Caral
Why did Civilization Develop?
• Challenges faced by humans forced them
to work together
• Material wants and goods caused people
to gather together
• Nonmaterial goods caused unity (religion)
• Who knows?
Mesopotamia
• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers overflowed
and provided silt for land
– Caused land to be rich
• People manipulated the rivers
• Sumerians – cities were Eridu, Ur, Uruk,
Umma, and Lagash
Sumerians
• City-states
• Cities had walls and
mud bricks
• Ziggurat – religious
center of city-state
– Gods owned city and
provided all wealth to it
– Priests had great power
maybe even ruled
• Theocracy
Sumerians
• Divine right to rule – kings were agents of
the gods
• Economy was agricultural
– Did produce things like woolen textiles,
pottery, metalwork
– Imported tin, copper, and timber
– Wheel invented which ease transportation
3000 BCE
Social Structure of Sumerian CityStates
Nobles – royal and priestly figures
Commoners – nobles’ clients and free citizens
(farmers, merchants, fishers, craftspeople)
Slaves – mainly females to weave cloth and grind grain;
rich landowners used for farming and domestic work
Akkadian Empire
• Semitic people
• Sargon, 2340 BCE,
leader conquered
Sumerian city-states
• Controlled most of
Mesopotamia until
1792 BCE when the
Amorites controlled
the area
Culture of Mesopotamia
• Harsh climate and
constant death = religious
zealousness
– Polytheism
– Divination allowed humans
to figure out what the gods
wanted
– Epic of Gilgamesh
• Cuneiform writing
– Scribal education – males,
from wealthier families
– Number system – geometry,
astronomy
Egypt - Geography
• Nile River
– Longest in world
– Annual flooding causing area
to be fertile and predictable
– Lower Egypt – where the river
deposits into the
Mediterranean Sea
– Upper Egypt – upstream to the
south
– Small rural areas all around
the Nile
– Allowed communication and
travel
Egypt - Geography
• Natural barriers to
invasions
– Deserts to the east
and west
– Cataracts (rapids on
southern part of Nile)
– Mediterranean Sea to
the north
– Trade did develop
Old Kingdom 2686 to 2125 BCE
White – upper
Red – lower
Together =
Double Crown of
Egypt
• Menes first king of a
royal dynasty united
Upper and Lower
Egypt
• Built largest pyramid
• Capital was Memphis
• Pharaoh was ruling
figure
Pharaoh
• Absolute power but limited
because of religion
– Ma’at – truth and justice
• Families originally helped
but a bureaucracy
developed
– Vizier in charge of
bureaucracy
• Egypt divided into
nomes/provides
– Nomarch head of nome and
reported to Vizier and
Pharaoh
Middle Kingdom 2055 to 1650 BCE
• Viewed as the Golden Age
• Nomes were reorganized and rules stated
• Pharaoh was viewed as a shepherd of the
people and not an inaccessible god
– Public works
– Public welfare
Hierarchy of the Old and Middle
Kingdoms
Pharaoh – living god
Ruling Class – Priests and Nobles
Merchants and Artisans
Peasants/Serfs – farmed and paid taxes
through their crops to the Pharaoh
Culture of Egypt
• Spiritual life
– Polytheistic
– Pharaoh was the son of
sun god, Ra/Re
– Osiris and Isis –
resurrection
– Mummification of dead
– People had two bodies –
one physical and spiritual
called ka
– By supplying the
mummified body with
material goods, the ka
could come alive again
Culture of
Egypt
• Pyramids
– 1st done in Old
Kingdom
– Only for
pharaohs
– King Khufu built
the Great
Pyramid at Giza
Culture of Egypt
• Hieroglyphics – form
of writing for
Egyptians
• Paper was papyrus
• Statues and writing
had purpose for
afterlife
From the Book of the Dead
Anubis wears the Jackal head
Green man is Osiris
New Kingdom
• Middle Kingdom ended with the invasion
of the Hyksos (from western Asia)
– Used horse drawn chariots with wheels
– Hyksos ruled for 100 years
– Egyptians took bronze to make weapons and
tools and war chariots
New Kingdom 1550 to 1085 BCE
Temple at Deir el Bahri near Thebes
• Used Hyksos technology
to build a stronger and
more massive Egypt
• Queen Hatshepsut – 1st
female ruler
– Expanded economy
– Dressed as male
pharaoh
– Thutmosis III
destroyed her images
after her death
–
Akhenaton/Akhenaten
• Really Amehotep IV
introduced the religion of
Aten, worship of the sun
disk
– Attempt to decrease the power
of the priests of Amon-Ra at
Thebes
– New capital Akhetaten
– Religious changed failed
– Akhenaton lost Syria and
Palestine while trying to
convert Egypt to the new
religion
– Akhenaton died and his
religious changes were
undone by his successor,
Tutankhamen
Decline of Egypt
• Ramses II regained
Palestine
– Very powerful warrior
king
– Lived until his 80s
– Lots of construction
projects
– Battle of Kadesh – lost
– Created peace treaties
– Had at least 100
children
Abu Simbel
KV 5 Burial of 28 Sons
Family and Marriage in Egypt
• Pharaoh could have harem
– Great Wife highest status
• Original people were expected to marry
young and maintain the home
• Women could inherit and maintain
property
Europe
• Along Balkan area settlements were
established
• Megalithic structures were built
Indo-Europeans
• Indo-European refers to language
– Greek, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, Germanic and
Slavic
– Probably started in the Black Sea or in
southwestern Asia (Iraq or Afghanistan)
– Moved out into Europe (Greece and Italy)
• Hittites 1st of Indo-Europeans to make iron
weapons
– Destroyed by invading tribes
Phoenicians
• Lived in Palestine
• Fall of the Hittite and
Egyptian empires let the
Phoenicians expand their
trade along Mediterranean
• Produced purple dye,
glass, wine, and cedar
• Settled in southern Spain,
Sicily, Sardinia, and
Carthage
• Phoenician Alphabet
passed to Greeks
Israel
• Hebrews believed in
monotheism
• Nomadic people who
descended from Abraham
– Migrated from Mesopotamia to
Palestine (children of Israel)
– Drought caused them to leave
and go to Egypt where they
were enslaved by the Pharaoh
– Exodus first ½ 13th Century
BCE
– Reentered Palestine and had
conflicts with the Philistines
(people settled in Palestine
coastal area)
• Some scholars do not
believe the accounts in the
Hebrew Bible
Kingdom of Israel
• Saul 1st king battled the Philistines and
later died
– Chaos
• David reunited Israelites and defeated the
Philistines to control all of Israel
– Made Jerusalem the capital
– New system based on farming and urban life
David’s Successor
• Solomon expanded
political, military
establishments, and
trade
– Built the Temple in
Jerusalem housing the
Ark of the Covenant
– Solomon became
unpopular
Divided Israel
•
•
•
•
Two kingdoms established
Northern tribes – Samaria Kingdom
Southern tribes – Judah Kingdom
Assyrians destroyed Samaria and sent Hebrews
to other parts
– 10 Lost Tribes of Israel
• Judah also had to pay tribute to Assyria
• Assyria was conquered by Chaldeans and they
destroyed Jerusalem
– Deported more Hebrews to Babylon
– Persia conquered Chaldeans and allowed Hebrews to
return to Jerusalem to rebuild temple
– Alexander the Great will conquer this area
Hebrew Religion
• Yahweh – Hebrew God
– All powerful,
omnipresent
• Three big concepts –
covenant, law, and
prophets
– Covenant – Exodus
– Law – Ten
Commandments
– Prophets – religious
teachers
– Because of these three
things, they could not
accept pagan gods
Assyrian Empire
• Assyrians were Semitic speaking
– Land covered Mesopotamia, Iranian Plateau, Asia
Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
• Too large led to decline
• Used iron weapons
• Leaders were absolute
– Ashurbanipal greatest rule
• Communication system efficient – posts with
animals
• Ninevah, capital, fell to Chaldeans in 612 BCE
Assyrian Empire
• Conquests and maintenance of
the empire
– Military leaders and fighters
• Well organized and discipline
• Standing army
• Use of guerilla and terror
tactics
• Ethnic differences did not matter
because it was a polyglot
society
• Religion was a unifier
• Economy
– Mostly farms – no irrigation
needed due to rain
– Trade
• Culture – hybrid of Sumerian
and Babylonian
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Assyrian and Persian Empires
Persian Empire
• Cyrus the Great
– Controlled Medes (became
satrapy/province)
– Defeated Lydian Kingdom
– Greek city-states on Ionian coast
– Eastern part of the Iranian Plateau,
Sogdia, and India
– Captured Babylon and won the
hearts of the people through vanity
• Allowed Jews to leave and rebuild
Temple
– Used locals to help with running
governments
– Showed mercy to conquered
Persian Empire
• Cambyses invaded Egypt
• Darius added western India
– Ionian area revolted
• Darius reestablished control despite
the Greeks receiving help from
Athens
• Invaded mainland Greece
– Battle of Marathon 490 BCE –
Persians lost
– Largest empire at this point in
history
• Empire divided into 20 satrapies
– Paid tribute
– Satraps (governors) were like minikings
– Royal Road - connected empire
• Kings hoarded wealth and overtaxed
the people
– Major reasons for the decline of the
empire
Persian Empire
• Military
– Standing army of
different ethnicities
– Immortals – elite force
• Religion
– Zoroastrian –
monotheistic
– Ahuramazda was the
creator, gave free will
– Ahriman was the evil
spirit
– Judgment at end of
world
Discussion Questions
• Why is the term “Neolithic or new stone
age” misleading?
• How did the advent of settled agriculture
change human society?
• Why were city-states at the center of the
early stages of civilization?
• Compare and contrast the Assyrian and
Persian approaches to governing an
empire.