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Cover Slide
The Earth and
Its Peoples
3rd edition
Chapter 3
New Civilizations in
the Eastern and
Western Hemispheres,
2200-250 B.C.E.
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Akhenaton and Aton
Akhenaton and Aton
The Pharaoh Amenhotep sought to
replace traditional polytheism with the
worship of Aton, a single god who was
represented with the sun disk.
Amenhotep took the name Akhenaton
("It is well with Aton"). This relief
shows the king and his wife Nefertiti
worshipping Aton. (Egyptian Museum,
Cairo)
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Bells of Marquis of Yi
Bells of Marquis of Yi
Music played a central role in court life in ancient China. The tomb of the Marquis of Yi, who
died about 400 B.C.E., contained 124 musical instruments, including drums, flutes, mouth
organs, pan pipes, zithers, a set of 32 chime stones, and this 64-piece bell set. The bells bear
inscriptions that name the two tones each bell could make, depending on where it was struck.
Five men, using poles and mallets, and standing on either side of the set of bells, would have
played the bells by hitting them from outside. ((c) Cultural Relics Data Center of China)
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Celtic hill-fort
Celtic hill-fort
Around 500 B.C.E. Celtic peoples
spread across a substantial portion of
Europe. The early Celts lived in or
near hill-forts--lofty natural locations
made even more defensible by
earthwork fortifications. Hundreds of
Celtic hill-forts, such as this one, have
been found across Europe. They
served as centers of administration,
gathering points for Celtic armies,
manufacturing centers, storage depots
for food and trade goods, and places
of refuge. As shown here, the natural
defense offered by a hill could be
improved by the construction of
ditches and earthwork walls. ((c)
Crown copyright NMR)
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Divination shell
Divination shell
Many peoples of the ancient world
believed that the gods controlled the
forces of nature and shaped destinies.
The Shang ruling class frequently sought
information from shamans. Among the
tools of divination used by a shaman
were oracle bones or shells. After
inscribing questions on the shell, the
diviner would touch it with the heated
point of a stick. The shell would crack,
and the cracks were "read" as a divine
response. (Institute of History and
Philology, Academia Sinica)
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Egyptian Book of
the Dead
Egyptian Book of the Dead
Containing litanies, hymns, and other religious texts, the Book of the Dead was written to guide
the deceased person safely between this world and the afterlife. The texts are intimately aligned
with the cult of Osiris and also contain references to a Day of Judgment. This scene shows a
dead person's appearance before a divine court of judgment. His heart is being weighed in the
balance to determine his fate in the afterlife. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)
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Golden coffin of
Tutankhamen
Golden coffin of Tutankhamen
Tutankhamen, who died at the age of
18, was a minor king who ruled Egypt
from about 1347-1338 B.C.E.
Although most Egyptian tombs have
been plundered over the years,
Tutankhamen's tomb--with all its
treasures--was intact when it was
discovered. Among the treasures was
this solid gold sarcophagus (coffin) of
"King Tut," which weighs 250 pounds.
The cover of the coffin depicts a
handsome youth with delicacy, charm,
and comeliness. (Robert Harding
Picture Library)
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Ivory cup inlaid with turquoise
Ivory cup inlaid with turquoise
The one royal Shang tomb not robbed
before it was excavated was for Lady
Hao, one of the many wives of the king
Wu Ding (ca. 1200 B.C.E.). It
contained sixteen human skeletons of
both males and females sacrificed at
her tomb, and a profusion of valuable
objects, such as 460 bronze objects and
nearly 750 jade objects. This ivory cup
inlaid with turquoise was among the
valuables. ((c) Cultural Relics Data
Center of China)
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Jade piece from Lady Hao's tomb
Jade piece from Lady Hao's tomb
Among the valuables placed in royal
Shang tombs were many jade objects,
such as this figure. Since Neolithic
times, jade has occupied the place of
gold in China and in many other
cultures; it is valued for its beauty,
rarity, and endurance. This figure was
one of 700 jade pieces in the tomb of
Lady Hao. ((c) Cultural Relics Data
Center of China)
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Kassite cylinder seal
Kassite cylinder seal
The Kassites entered Babylonia from the north around 1600 B.C.E. and, with the help of the
Hittites, gained control of the region. They provided the land with 300 years of peace and
prosperity. This cylinder seal of King Burnaburiash shows a supplicant at worship. The dog in
the foreground represents the goddess Giula. The animals above the king and supplicant serve
as symbols of fertility and are linked to the gods. (Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin/Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin/Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz)
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Neolithic pottery
figure
Neolithic pottery figure
Over the course of the fifth to third millennia B.C.E., many distinct regional Neolithic cultures
emerged in China. For instance, in the northwest people made fine pottery vessels decorated in
black pigment with bold designs, including spirals, sawtooth lines, and zoomorphic stick
figures. Some scholars speculate that this image depicts a shaman wearing face paint. Note the
snake depicted climbing the back of its head. ((c) Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities)
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Neolithic pottery
figure
Neolithic pottery figure
Over the course of the fifth to third millennia B.C.E., many distinct regional Neolithic cultures
emerged in China. For instance, in the northwest people made fine pottery vessels decorated in
black pigment with bold designs, including spirals, sawtooth lines, and zoomorphic stick
figures. Some scholars speculate that this image depicts a shaman wearing face paint. Note the
snake depicted climbing the back of its head. ((c) Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities)
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Nubian bringing gifts
Nubian bringing gifts
This wall painting in the tomb chapel of Huy at Thebes (ca. 1600 B.C.E.) shows
Nubians bringing rings and bags of gold to King Tutankhamen. The other section of
this painting depicts the Egyptianized chief Hequanefer, Prince of Miam, and other
Nubian chiefs bowing before the Egyptian king. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the
British Museum)
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Nubian pyramids
Nubian pyramids
The Nubians adopted many aspects of Egyptian culture and customs. The pyramids of Meroitic
rulers in the northern cemetery of Meroe (shown here) are not as magnificent as their Egyptian
predecessors, but they served the same purpose of honoring the dead king. Their core was
constructed of bricks, which were then covered with stone blocks. At the doors of the pyramids
stood monumental gates to the interiors of the tombs. (Michael Yamashita)
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Olmec head
Olmec head
The word Olmec comes from an Aztec
term for the peoples living in southern
Veracruz and western Tabasco, Mexico,
between about 1500 and 300 B.C.E. All
later Mesoamerican cultures derived
from the Olmecs. Measuring 9 feet, 4
inches in height, and over 10 tons in
weight, this colossal basalt head
monument from San Lorenzo is a superb
example of Olmec sculpture intended as
architecture. The facial features have led
some scholars to suggest African
influences, but that hypothesis has not
been proven. (Nathaniel Tarn/Photo
Researchers, Inc.)
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Royal Anyang tomb
Royal Anyang tomb
This was one of the eleven large tombs excavated at the royal burial ground at Anyang, from
which the Shang kings ruled for more than two centuries. This grave, about 60 feet deep and
300 feet long, would have taken thousands of laborers many months to complete. But even
more wealth was expended to fill it with bronze, stone, pottery, jade, and textile goods. Human
victims were also placed in it. (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica)
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Statue of Hatshepsut
Statue of Hatshepsut
This statue of the pharaoh Hatshepsut
is one of the few to depict her as a
woman. She is usually shown as a man,
complete with beard, which symbolizes
royal power. Centuries later the
proportions and carving techniques of
Egyptian stone sculpture would
influence the Greeks. (Brian
Brake/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
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Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel
Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel
Strategically placed at a bend in the Nile River to face the southern frontier, this monument was
an advertisement of Egyptian power. A temple was carved into the cliff behind the gigantic
statues of the pharaoh. Within the temple, a corridor decorated with reliefs of military victories
leads to an inner shrine containing images of the divine ruler seated alongside three of the
major gods. In a modern marvel of engineering, the monument was moved to higher ground in
the 1960s to protect it from rising waters when a dam was constructed upriver. (Susan
Lapides/Woodfin Camp & Associates)
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Terracotta warriors
Terracotta warriors
In 221 B.C.E. the state of Qin unified
China for the first time in many
centuries. The king of Qin called
himself the First Emperor of this
dynasty. Assassins tried to kill him
three times, and he spent lavishly on a
tomb designed to protect him in the
afterlife. Archaeologists have
unearthed thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers--a lifelike guard--buried
in pits about half a mile from the First
Emperor's tomb. The soldiers were
originally painted in bright colors, and
they held real bronze weapons.
(Robert Harding Picture Library)
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Women beating chimes
Women beating chimes
This drawing of women beating chimes, a scene from a bronze vessel of the Zhou
era, illustrates the important role of music in festivals, religious rituals, and court
ceremonials. During the politically fragmented later (Eastern) Zhou era, many small
states marked their independence by having their own musical scales and distinctive
arrangements of orchestral instruments. (Courtesy, Sichuan Museum)
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Map: Ancient Nubia
Ancient Nubia
The land route alongside the Nile River as it flows through Nubia has long served as a corridor connecting sub-Saharan
Africa with North Africa. The centuries of Egyptian occupation, as well as time spent in Egypt by Nubian hostages,
mercenaries, and merchants, led to a marked Egyptian cultural influence in Nubia. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin
Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: Balance of Power in the Near East
Balance of Power in the Near East
This map shows the regions controlled by the Hittites and Egyptians at the height of their power. The striped area represents
the part of Mesopotamia conquered by the Hittites during their expansion eastward. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin
Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: The Celtic Peoples
The Celtic Peoples
Celtic civilization originated in Central Europe in the early part of the first millennium B.C.E. Around 500 B.C.E. Celtic
peoples began to migrate, making Celtic civilization the dominant cultural style in Europe and north of the Alps. The Celts'
interactions with the peoples of the Mediterranean, including Greeks and Romans, encompassed both warfare and trade.
(Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: China in the Shang and Zhou Periods, 1750-221
B.C.E.
China in the Shang and Zhou Periods, 1750-221 B.C.E.
The Shang dynasty arose in the second millennium B.C.E. in the floodplain of the Yellow River. While Southern China
benefits from the monsoon rains, northern China depends on irrigation. As population increased, the Han Chinese migrated
from their eastern homeland to other parts of China, carrying their technologies and cultural practices. Other ethnic groups
predominated in more outlying regions, and the nomadic peoples of the northwest constantly challenged Chinese authority.
(Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations
Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations
The earliest complex civilizations in Europe arose in the Aegean Sea. The Minoan civilization on the island of Crete evolved
in the later third millennium B.C.E. and had a major cultural influence on the Mycenaean Greeks. Palaces decorated with
fresco paintings, a centrally controlled economy, and the use of a system of writing for record keeping are some of the most
conspicuous features of these societies. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: Olmec and Chavín Civilizations
Olmec and Chavín Civilizations
The regions of Mesoamerica (most of modern Mexico and Central America) and the Andean highlands of South America
have hosted impressive civilizations since early times. The civilizations of the Olmec and Chavin were the originating
civilizations of these two regions, providing the foundations of architecture, city planning, and religion. (Copyright (c)
Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: Small Kingdoms of the Near East
Small Kingdoms of the Near East
This map illustrates the political fragmentation of the Near East after the great wave of invasions that occurred during the
thirteenth century B.C.E. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.