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Four separate civilizations
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Mesopotamia
Egypt
Harappa (Indus Valley)
Shang China (Huang He)
Mesopotamia was a succession of
societies
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Sumeria (Sumer)
Akkad
First Babylon
Assyria
Second Babylon
 Geography
• Unpredictable rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)
• Delta region extremely fertile
• Flat land open to invasion – no natural barriers
 FIRST CIVILIZATION was Sumeria
 lasted about 1,300 years (3360 – 2400 BCE)
Growth of the state
• Irrigation projects required cooperation on
a grand scale and leadership
• Farmers banded together in settlements to
manage the environment and for protection
• These settlements became compact cities
surrounded by high mud-brick walls
The city-states were often built around
existing religious structures, called
ziggurat. Focal point of these city-states
Ziggurats - stepped towers topped by temples
Ziggurats were the focal
point of the city-state
The Tower of Babel is
believed to have been a
ziggurat
 Religion
• People felt utterly dependent on will of gods due to
harsh life
• As male gods became dominant = strengthening
of patriarchy
• Afterlife – sad and gloomy place (later used as
model for Hell)
 Religion and Politics
• All land belonged to the gods and kings were their
representatives
• Kings and priests afforded special place in society
• Theocracy – rule by gods or priests
• By the end of Sumeria’s influence, kings were
becoming separate from the priest class
 Class System
• Kings / priests
• Commoners: farmers, artisans, merchants
• Slaves
 Sumerian Life
• Marriage was based on a contract
• Males were dominant but females had more freedom than
they do today
• Females exerted influence through sexuality
• Due to property inheritances, women would be put to death
for adultery
 Cuneiform
• Oldest writing
system
• Original purpose was
economic
• Used to record
memoranda, lists of
goods, receipts,
contracts, etc
• One of first uses was
to record beer recipe
Cuneiform- first system of writing
Cuneiform tablet
with envelope
Writing was reserved for the wealthy classes
 Oldest literature was
epic poem The Epic of
Gilgamesh
 Poem relates story of
Gilgamesh, ruler of
Uruk, who seeks out
survivor of great flood in
quest of eternal youth
 Trade links with Egypt and Harappa
 Adopted use of silver as means of exchange
 “Invented” the wheel and pioneered use of carts and
chariots
 Sumerian mathematics based on 12, 60, and 360
(clock and circle)
 Sumerian astronomical charts basis for modern
astronomy
 Invented quadratic expressions
 Conquered Sumeria
= Akkad first empire
 Some centralization
of power
 Sargon I = first
emperor
 Absorbed / took on
Sumerian culture
INVADERS!!
• Period of
chaos
followed for
about three
centuries
 Hammurabi
• Founder of the Old
Babylonian Empire
• Most known for his
code of laws
o based on two 282
laws
o principles: lex talonis
and class
 Political
• Conquered Kassites and
brought all of Mesopotamia
under their control
• Noted for brutality and
ruthlessness
• Largest Mesopotamian
empire in landmass
• Conquered Egypt for short
period
• Assyria brought down by
invading Medes and
Chaldeans
 Political
• Established by
Chaldeans who
made capital at
Babylon
• King
Nebuchadnezzar
• Hanging gardens
• Continued
Sumerian culture
• Conquered by
the Persians
Other Middle Eastern Societies
 Hittites
• Iron
 Israelites
• Two kingdoms
• Judaism
 Phoenicians
• Alphabet
• Trade colonies
(Carthage)
1. What was the world’s first writing system?
2. What was it developed for?
3. Who were literate in Mesopotamia? Why?
4. What was the first piece of literature? What
was it about?
5. What was the basic political unit of
Mesopotamia?
6. What was the focal point of the Mesopotamian
city-state?
7. How did geography affect the development of
Mesopotamian religion?
8. How did geography affect the development of
Mesopotamian civilization?
9. What was the first empire? Who created it?
10. What was the Code of Hammurabi? What was it
based on?
11. Who laid the foundations for our modern
alphabet?
The characteristic political organization of the
Tigris – Euphrates civilization was
a. Democracy
b. Large, durable empires
c. Village-level government
d. Regional city-states
e. Hunting bands
 Geography
• Desert
o “Redlands”
o Natural barriers to invasion
• Nile River
o “Blacklands”
o Unlike Mesopotamia, river serene and predictable
o River was everything to Egyptians: life and communication
• Mediterranean and Red seas
• How did geography influence Egypt’s religion?
 Political
• Upper and Lower
Egypt
• Pharaoh – “great
house” or “palace”
• Old Kingdom
• Pyramids
• Middle Kingdom
• New Kingdom
• Tutenkhamen
The pyramids at Giza
Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were not built with slave labor but by the
Egyptian people. How was it done?
The Treaty of Kadesh
Ramses the Great
today
 Egyptian Religion
• Polytheistic
• Two major gods: Amon-re (sun) and Osiris (Nile)
• During Old Kingdom religion was for the state not the
masses
• Story of Osiris symbolized death and resurrection =
immortality (Osiris, Isis, Seth, Horus)
• The concept of the afterlife became fully developed during
the Middle Kingdom
• Amon became god of the living and Osiris god of the dead
• Elaborate preparations were made to preserve remains for
the afterlife
• The dead appeared before Osiris for judgment based on
deeds done on earth – the good had eternal pleasure the
bad were destroyed
• Religion was now ethical
• Religion changed during the New Kingdom –people relied on
magic charms/potions for salvation instead of ethical
behavior
• This was in part responsible for the monotheism that sprung
up under Akhenaton
Egypt differed from Mesopotamian civilization
by stressing
a. Well-organized, durable empires
b. Extensive trade
c. Firm religious beliefs
d. Greater social equality
e. More modest building projects
 Sophisticated
urban centers
 Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
 Dynamic trade
state - trade
with
Mesopotamia
and China
 Monsoons
Cities very sophisticated with advanced sewage systems
Harappan writing
has not yet been
deciphered
Harappans
worshipped cattle and
Shiva
 Decline due to
• Degradation of
the ecosystem
• Migration of
nomadic Aryans
• Political collapse
• Aryans:
Developed Sanscrit
“Noble People”
Indo-Europeans
• The Vedas
• Hinduism
• Level 1: The Brahmins (priests)
• Level 2: The Kshatriyas
(warriors/nobles)
• Level 3: The Vaisyas (traders and
farmers)
• Level 4: The Sudras (common laborers)
Mostly Dravidians
• Outcastes: The Untouchables
 Geography
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Isolated
Huang He (“China’s Sorrow”)
Vulnerable northern borders
Western desert
Himalayas
Pacific Ocean
Arable land – culture of conservation
 Zhou Dynasty
 Mandate of Heaven
 Shang Dynasty
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3,000 states - Fragmented
King - head shaman
Dynasty based on divine rule
Bureaucracy increasingly sophisticated
Technologically advanced
o Use of bronze
o Chariot warfare (imported from West?)
o Lacquer
 Writing
• Oracle Bones
• Ideographic symbols
• Primary purpose was
religious
 Bronze
• Sophisticated
metallurgy skills
• Controlled by
elites
• Used for
religious rituals
and weapons
1. What river gave life to Harappan civilization?
2. How would you characterize Harappan
civilization?
3. How is the Harappan written language unlike
that of the rest of the floodplain civilizations?
4. What happened to the Indus Valley civilization?
5. What was an early form of Chinese writing?
6. What geographic factor most influenced life in
Harappa?
7. What area of China was most conflicted?
8. What form of art was used in Chinese religious
rituals?
9. What is considered the first major Chinese
civilization?
10. On what major river was Chinese civilization
first established?
11. What did the Aryans base the caste system on?
12. What does the word “Aryan” mean?
13. What ancient texts give scholars information
about the Aryans?
14. What is the goal of Hinduism?
15. Most of the Sudra caste is composed of what
people?
Which river valley civilization was most
completely destroyed by invasion?
a. Huang He
b. Indus
c. Nile
d. Tigris-Euphrates
e. Mekong