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Ancient Civilisations
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Mesopotamia, Egypt, India
Chronology
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Indus Valley
China
3500 B.C.E.
3000 B.C.E.
2500 B.C.E.
2000 B.C.E.
3000-2350 B.C.E.
Early Dynastic
(Sumerian)
2350-2230 B.C.E.
Akkadian (Semitic)
Sargon of Akkad
2112-2004 B.C.E.
3rd Dynasty of Ur
(Sumerian)
1900-1600 B.C.E.
Old Babylonian
(Semitic)
Hammurabi
1700-1500 B.C.E.
1500 B.C.E. Hittite invasion
Pre-Dynastic
c.3100 B.C.E.
Menes unifies Egypt
2575-2134 B.C.E.
Old Kingdom
c. 2600 B.C.E.
Beginning of Harappan
Indus Valley
civilisation
2134-2040 B.C.E.
1st Intermediate
Period
2040-1640 B.C.E.
Middle Kingdom
1640-1532 B.C.E.
2nd Intermediate
Period-Hyksos
invasion
1532-1070 B.C.E.
New Kingdom
1900 B.C.E.
End of Indus Valley
civilisation
1800-1500 B.C.E.
Aryan invasion
c.1800-1050 B.C.E.
Shang era & Bronze
Age
EGYPT
Political
Structure
City
states
City
states
All Decisions come
from Ruler
City
states
  size of state need
organisation
 Centralised –v- De-centralised
 Centralised – all decisions made
by ruler from main city.
Citadel of Sargon
 + uniformity, direct control, one
source for decisions
 - decisions must come from
centre, reliance on one source,
state  may take time to get
decision
 Relies on rapid communication &
organisation.
 Ex. Egypt, Mesopotamian citystates, Harappan India
City
states
Political Structure
City
states
City
states
Major Decisions
from centre, Most
decisions local
City
states
City
states
 De-centralised – state divided
into administrative units.
 Local princes/governors make
some decisions w/o approval of
central ruler
 + regional autonomy, practical
for large states
 - local leaders may exercise
authority beyond mandate from
centre, requires absolute loyalty
to central govt. (ex. Zhou China)
Relief from Persepolis
Political Structure
 Leader – originally warriors
 Not hereditary, later hereditary
 Most not Gods, rather ‘chosen’ by
Gods.
 (Egyptian Pharaoh=God Horus)
 Rely on military prowess &
religious class to bolster legitimacy
 Later benevolence & wisdom
Man from Nineveh (possibly Sargon)
Political Structure Laws
 Laws -- size of state  rules to govern
behaviour, rituals, rel’tsh btw grps (classes)
 Basic function – order & protect property
 Stability & Peace  trade   affluence
 Legitimised by religion  often derived from
higher authority
 10 Commandments, Code of Hammurabi, Laws
of Manu
 Not egalitarian  reflect social stratifications
 class & gender
Code of Hammurabi, Code of Nesilim, Laws of
Manu
 Reflect idea of lex talionis (eye for an eye)
 Retribution & Compensatory
Stele of Hammurabi
Economics -- Agriculture
Foragers -- Primitive clan/kinship groups, hunting & gathering
Pastoralist -- nomadic herders
Agriculturalists -- organised farming & domesticated animals
Egypt-Wheat, barley, cattle, fowl
Mesopotamia-Wheat, Barley,
Peas, Lentil, sheep, pigs,
goats
Indus Valley- Wheat, Barley,
Vegetables, cotton, cattle,
buffalo, fowl
China-Millet, Soybeans, wheat,
fowl
Growth of Agriculture
 All developed extensive
irrigation, canal & reservoir
systems to support
expanding agriculture.
 Spread of crops across
regions (diffusiontrade)
Egypt-Treading Wheat & Feeding Goats
Agriculture
 Surplus harvest -



wealth
trade  laws to promote & protect trade
health, life expectancy
population & size of cities
 Often led to expansion and need to defend
from other forces--military
 Resources to repair and expand irrigation
systems, roads, etc.
 taxation for infrastructure
Crete - c.1600 BCE
L. Fisherman Mural
R. Harvester Vase
Trade Routes
Beginning of Silk Road
Overland & Maritime trade in
gems, foodstuffs, metals, textiles
Exchange of goods resulted in
other exchanges
 technology, language, art,
religion, etc.
Rulers married off daughters to
other kings to seal treaties
Religion -- Common
attributes
Naramsin w/Bull
Helmet sacrifices
vanquished foe to twin
sun gods (night & day)
 Polytheistic
 Hierarchy of Gods
 associated w/natural forces
 rain, floods, drought, day/night,
etc. -- flood stories
 Legitimise laws & social hierarchy
 rulers=Gods (Egypt)
 rulers favoured by Gods
(Mesopotamia, Greeks, Romans, etc.)
 class distinctionpriest class
 caste (India)
 Work w/or become part of ruling
hierarchy
Stele of Naramsin
Akkad, c. 2200 BCE
The Stele of
Hammurabi
c. 1792-50 BCE
Shamash
Hammurabi
receives laws
from the God
Shamash
Prologue & List
of Laws
The Palette of Narmer -
Commemorating the Unification of
Upper & Lower Egypt by Narmer (Menes)
Narmer (Menes)
w/crown of Upper
Egypt sacrifices foe.
Bare feet indicate
religious act.
Egypt
c. 3200 BCE
Serekh w/glyphs
for Narmer
Horus oversees conquest.
Holds rope tied to head
of foe.
Narmer w/crown of Lower
Egypt leads procession.
Horus flies before him.
Vanquished foes.
Religion - Nature of Faith
 Belief in afterlife
 varied & determines nature
of faith
 optimistic -v- pessimistic
 Optimistic (ex. Egyptian)
 may reflect resignation to
forces of nature
 Gods not active in daily life
 Afterlife another phase of
life
better place & w/Gods
Hunefar in
afterlife w/Gods
Judgment before Osiris
Hunefar
Anubis Guardian
of the
afterlife
ba Hunefar’s
life-force
MaatAmmit-Eater force of Thoth
of the Dead good.
records
weighing
of soul
Horus
presents
Hunefar
to Osiris
Osiris
sons of
Horus
Isis
Religion-Nature of Faith (cont.)
 Pessimistic
 May reflect desire to fight forces of
nature -- life seen as struggle
against uncontrollable forces
 Gods active & interfere in daily life.
(Greeks, Mesopotamia)
 People pawns to Gods
 Afterlife fearful-- seek to avoid death
(ex. Gilgamesh)
 Gods source of good & evil
Votive statue of Gudea;/
Religion & Sacrifice
 Sacrifice to Gods common
 positive-sacrifices of thanks
 harvests, births, victories
 negative-placate wrathful Gods
 droughts, plagues, famines, floods, etc.
 Human sacrifice rare, but not uncommon
 seen most often in pessimistic religions
 also in vanquishing foe (Palette of Narmer;
Stele of Naramsin)
Illustration of Warka vase, showing
nude priests offering sacrifices to
Inanna. Uruk, c.3000 BCE
Akhenaton & Monotheism in Egypt
 Power & influence of priests rivaled &
challenged Akhenaton’s reign
 Akhenaton declared a single god,
Aten
 short-lived, but significant shift to
monotheism.
 Known as the Amarna period,
Akhenaton reasserted the power of
the pharaoh over religion
 radical change in Egyptian art
 figures less formal and rigid, moving
 more naturalistic style.
 After Akhenaton’s death,
Tutankhamun restored polytheism
Akhenaton, Nefretari & children
 priests regained power
 Akhenaton & Amarna period was
erased from Egyptian history
Religion and social hierarchy
 status of religious
class
 Rituals & ceremonies
 role as oracles
 needed political class
 % taxes for religious
functions
 food, temples,
resources
 Priests formed own
social class
 power = challenge
political ldrs
 ex. Egypt
Cylinder seal-Vessels w/two rivers flowing before
sacrificial animals. Sumer, c.2000 BCE
Social Stratification
King &
nobles
As cities expanded job
specialisation
 peasant, priest, artisan,
 soldier, scribe, slave
Foot
Soldiers
Officers
 Static vs. Dynamic
movement btw classes?
Nobles &
Priestss
Generally patriarchal, maledominated societies.
Herders
Peasants
The Standard of Ur - Mesopotamia
Each row = occupations and levels of society
Social Stratification
 Dynamic social order - allows for
movement btw classes - social mobility
(soldier to king)
 Most civilisations allowed for some mobility
(ex. Joseph-slave to noble)
 Static social order - born & die in same
class - no mobility
 (ex. Indian caste system)
 Class determined by military prowess,
religious leadership, economic status,
gender
 peasants & slaves at bottom
 Slave status varies (dynamic -v- static)
 women often represent separate class
Indian Caste system -- static
Intellectual life
 Most cultures had myths, tales –
transmitted orally
 ex. Epic of Gilgamesh
 Expressed morals/ethics
 Often in fable form
 Reinforced religious idea
 Legitimised political system
 System of writing
 Pictographs/ideographs
 Egypt, Mesopotamia, China
 Sound-based script
 Phœnician
 Accounting/book-keeping
 Lives of rulers-history
 Later-literature & poetry
Intellectual -- Technology
‘necessity is the Mother of invention”
 innovation occurs through need, fortune,
interaction
 need to control flooding  irrigation,
dams, reservoirs
  agriculture  ex. Plow, Sickle, Scythe
  trade  transportation
 Ships (Phœnicians)
 storage
 i.e..pottery, baskets, etc.
 Roads Trade, Communication,
transport military
 systems of exchange
 barter, later currency
Phœnician bireme
Intellectual -- Technology
‘necessity is the Mother of invention”
  conflictweapons, strategy
 bronze & iron tipped weapons
 chariots w/spoked wheel
 Hittites in Mesopotamia
 Aryan in India
 siege towers
 citadels w/towers & crenellations
Assurnasirpal II, palace relief from Nimrud . Siege tower
w/battering ram against crenellated towers. (c.883-59 BCE)
(British Museum)
Assurnasirpal II & Lion hunt. Note spoked chariot wheels
Intellectual -- Interaction & Diffusion
 Diffusion of technology & ideas
via interaction common t/o
ancient world
 writing systems, irrigation
technology, weaponry,
transportation, architecture, art,
etc.
 frequency & rate of contact
transfer of ideas & technology
 this interaction & diffusion of
ideas  advances civilisation
 Interaction not always positive
 competition for trade routes
 protection of trade routes
 desire to expand control of large
areas
Woman Spinning , from Susa (Iran). c. 8th - 7th century BCE.
Musée du Louvre
Ur - Votive statues
c.1800 BCE
Art
 Art -- painting, sculpture,
architecture
 most art was religious or
secular
 Religious art






reinforced main religious ideas
good -v- evil
afterlife
votive statues (Mesopotamia)
images of Gods (Egypt)
fertility figures (Harappan)
Susa Worshiper
c. 1100 BCE
Harappan Priest-King
c. 2200 BCE
Egypt - Nefretari making offering to Isis
c.1800 BCE
Architecture
Reconstruction of Babylon
18th century BCE
Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut
 Generally served to illustrate
power & grandeur of secular &
religious life.
 some structures served both
purposes (ex. Ziggurats)
 required extensive resources
 material & people
 goods shipped from t/o region
 ex. timber from Lebanon & Syria
 voluntary & slave labour
Ziggurat -- Samara, Iraq
Architecture
 Cities wealth of state
 degree of centralisation (ex.
Harappan states)
 extensive engineering
 running water, drainage, sewage
 granaries
 Religious centres, government
buildings, marketplaces, housing
Reconstructions -- Harappan citadel w/ religious &
political buildings w/in city walls.
 All Harappan cities were designed along the same
plan, indicating a highly centralised culture
 most peasants lived outside city
walls
 some cities were divided by class
 ex. Harappan cities
 Cities acted as fortresses to
protect population during war
Drawing of residences w/drainage system visible.
 Homes had running water and toilets w/separate
sewage system.