Download Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations

Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Early Humans
 Mesopotamian Civilization
 The First Empires
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Early Humans
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DID YOU KNOW? Scientists believe early
humans made tools from other materials besides
stone. They probably used wooden sticks to dig
holes and used bark from trees to make
containers. Unlike stone, these organic
materials decay, so remnants from the early
humans are unavailable.
Early Humans
History is the story of humans in the past, and
historians are the people who study and write
about humans of the past.
 Archaeologists hunt for evidence buried in the
ground. Anthropologists study how humans
developed and related to each other.
 The early period of human history is called the
Stone Age. The earliest part of the Stone Age is
called the Paleolithic period.
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Early Humans- Paleolithic People
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Paleolithic people were nomads- traveling
from place to place to hunt and search for
food.
– Women cared for children, gathered berries,
nuts, and grains.
– Men hunted using clubs, spears, traps, bows
and arrows.
– Adapted to their environment. For example:
Those in warm climates wore little clothing.
Early Humans- Paleolithic People
cont.
Paleolithic people discovered fire
 Fire kept them warm, lit the darkness,
scared off wild animals, and allowed them
to cook meat which lasted longer.
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Early Humans- Ice Ages
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Ice Ages refer to long periods of extreme
cold. During the Ice Ages, thick sheets of
ice covered parts of Europe, Asia, and
North America. (Beringia)
Early Humans- Paleolithic People
Developed spoken language and
expressed themselves through art, which
may have had religious meaning.
 Created tools such as spears and hand
axes using stone called flint
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Neolithic Times
People began to domesticate, or tame
animals, during the Neolithic Age.
Domesticated animals carried goods and
provided meat, milk, and wool.
 People in different parts of the world
began growing crops about the same
time. This is referred to as the ‘farming
revolution’.
 SEE MAP ON PAGE 13
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Neolithic Times
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Because farmers needed to stay
close to their fields, they built
permanent homes in villages.
Two of the oldest known
villages are Jericho (present day
Israel and Jordan) and Catal
Huyuk (present day Turkey).
Neolithic Times
Permanent villages provided people with security
and steady food. The surplus food led to a
larger population.
 Not all people in a village were farmers. Others
made pottery, mats, and cloth. They traded
these goods for things they didn’t have.
 People continued to create new technology.
They created better farming tools and began
working with metal, copper, bronze, and tin.

OTZI THE ICEMAN
Section 1 Discussion Question

Why was farming important to the
Neolithic people?
– Farming allowed people to settle in one place,
and it provided a steady food supply.
Ch. 1 Section 2- Mesopotamian
Civilization (pg. 16-23)

Civilizations are complex societies with cities,
governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a
writing system.
 Rivers were important because they made for
good farming conditions as well as made it easy
for people to travel and trade.
 Governments were formed because someone
had to make plans and decisions for the
common good.
Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamia is a flat plain
bounded by the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers.
 Meso is Greek for ‘middle’.
 Mesopotamia is also referred to
as the cradle of civilization,
fertile crescent, land between
the rivers.
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Mesopotamian Civilization
Floods were frequent and unpredictable.
Farmers learned to control the rivers with dams
and channels. They also used the river to
irrigate, or water their crops.
 Many cities formed in a southern region of
Mesopotamia known as Sumer.
 Sumerian city-states had their own
governments. They often fought each other. To
protect themselves, city-states build walls
around themselves.

Sumerians
Believed in many gods. Each city-state had a
ziggurat, or a grand temple, to honor the gods.
 Most were farmers but some were artisans, or
skilled workers. Others were merchants and
traders.
 Sumerian city-states had three classes.
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– Upper Class (kings, priests, gov. officials)
– Middle Class (artisans, merchants, fishers, farmers)
– Lower Class (slaves)
A Skilled People
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Mesopotamia has been called the cradle
of civilization because of the influence of
Sumerian ideas on other areas
Sumerians developed a writing system
called cuneiform. Only a few people,
called scribes, learned to write.
Sumerians also produced the oldest
known story, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Invented new technologies: wagon wheel,
sailboat, and the plow.
Developed many mathematical ideas:
geometry, number system based on 60,
and a 12-month calendar.
Sargon and Hammurabi
Sargon set up the worlds 1st Empire by
conquering all of Mesopotamia. He was the King
of the Akkadians. An Empire is a group of many
different lands under one ruler.
 After Sargon, another group of people bacame
powerful. They built the city of Babylon on the
Euphrates River.
 The Babylonian king, Hammurabi, conquered
lands north and south of Babylon to create the
Babylonian Empire.
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Hammurabi's Law Code
The Code of Hammurabi was a collection
of laws covering crimes, farming, business
activities, and marriage and family. Many
punishments in the code were cruel, but
the code was an important step in the
development of a justice system.
 Read ‘You Decide’ on pages 24,25.

Singapore
In Singapore, police can randomly select
people to test for drugs in their system. If
found guilty, the death penalty will be
enacted.
 It is also illegal to chew gum or smoke in
public. Severe punishment will be given
for these acts.
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Iran
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Fines, public floggings, and long prison
terms are common. Former Muslims who
have converted to other religions, as well
as persons who encourage Muslims to
convert, are subject to arrest and possible
execution. Drinking, possession of
alcoholic beverages and drugs, un-Islamic
dress, as well as public displays of
affection with a member of the opposite
sex are considered to be crimes.
Ch. 1 Section 3- The First Empires
The Assyrian empire arose about 1,000 years
after the rule of Hammurabi.
 The Assyrian army was the first large army to
use iron weapons. Thus, their weapons were
stronger than those of copper and tin. They
fought on horseback and used spears, daggers,
bows and arrows, and chariots.
 Assyrian Capital was Nineveh. (Jonah and the
whale)

Assyrians
Empire was divided into provinces, which
are political districts.
 One of the first libraries was in Nineveh
and held 25,000 tablets of stories and
songs.
 People began to rebel because of Assyria’s
cruel treatment. The Chaldeans rebelled
and took control on Nineveh in 612 B.C.

The Chaldeans
Nebuchadnezzar was the king.
 Descendents of Babylonians.
 Rebuilt Babylon, which became center of the
Chaldeans’ Empire.
 Nebuchadnezzar ordered the Hanging Gardens
to be built for his wife, who missed her green,
mountainous homeland. The Hanging Gardens
were on of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World. (See page 29)
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The Chaldeans
Were merchants, artisans, and traders. Babylon
was on a major trade route and profited from
trade. Merchants would trade their items to
passing caravans, groups of traveling merchants.
 They studied the sky to understand the gods.
Their astronomers mapped the stars, planets,
and phases of the moon.
 Eventually they lost control of their Empire to
the Persians.
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Discussion Question

What made Babylon the world’s richest
city?
– Being on a major trade route meant
merchants and artisans benefited from trade.
They city also had beautiful structures, such
as the Hanging Gardens and the Ishtar Gate.
Ishtar Gate
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon dedicated the great Ishtar Gate
to the goddess Ishtar. It was the main entrance into Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar II performed elaborate building projects in Babylon
around 604-562 BC. His goal was to beautify his capital.