chapter one: the beginnings of civilization

Chapter One: The Beginnings of

Civilization

Defining “Civilized”• Urban life: permanent

constructions • System of regulatory government• Class distinction (wealth and

occupation)• Tools/skills --> production/trade• Written communication• Shared system of religious belief

** Not a value judgment! **

Origins of Western Civilization

• Paleolithic World View (Old Stone Age)• Art• Religion

• Neolithic Civilizations (Late Stone Age)• Domestication of animals• Cultivation of vegetation• Community• War / Weaponry

The Bronze Age (3000-1000 B.C.E.)

• Mesopotamia• Sumerian (3500-2350 B.C.E.)• Semitic (2350-612 B.C.E.)

• Egypt• Aegean Cultures

Sumerian Culture• Agricultural/Urban settlements• “Fertile Crescent”

• Writing/record-keeping: Cuneiform• Shared system of religious belief• Civil ruler / Religious rulers

Epic of Gilgamesh• Gilgamesh ruled at Uruk c. 2700

B.C.E.• Composed in Sumerian (2000

B.C.E.) on cuneiform tablets• Introspective work• Asserts universal questions about

human existence

Semitic Culture• Akkadian Period• King Sargon and descendants (2350-

2150 B.C.E.)• Focus on HUMAN achievement• Heroic Code

• Babylonian Legacy• King Hammurabi

• Assyrians• Culmination of Mesopotamian culture

Fall of Mesopotamia• Medes• Nomadic warriors• Conquered Nineveh in 612 B.C.E.• Conquered and absorbed by Persians

• Persians• Nomadic warriors• Conquered by Alexander the Great

(330 B.C.E.)

Poll: What is another name for a Paleolithic s...

Poll: What are the two most important factors ...

Poll: Are Homo sapiens sapiens the only specie...

Poll: Were cave paintings were used in religio...

Poll: Which country has the best examples of c...

Poll: Gilgamesh ruled which Sumerian city?

Poll: Which goddess did Gilgamesh rebuff?

Poll: What did Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill?

Poll: What did the hero Utnapishtim survive?

Poll: What Biblical story does Utnapishtim's t...

Poll: Any questions?