his 101 chapter 1 -ancient near east spring 14
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Early Homo Sapiens sapiens
The species to which all of us belong. Pre-history: the era before the
appearance of written records.
Records of Early Homo Sapiens Sapiens
What records exist? Early humans made their tools out of
stone. The Paleolithic Age refers to the “Stone
Age” The Neo-Paleolithic age refers to the “New
Stone Age.” The Neo-Paleolithic Age emerged during
the 11,000 years before 3,000 B.C.E.
Characteristics of Hunter-Gatherer Groups
Small bands of a few dozen people Moved incessantly in search of food No domesticated animals to carry
possessions Basic tools Few distinctions of wealth or status Few gender-based specializations of work No surplus—most activities devoted to
acquiring food and tools What are these conclusions based upon?
Cave Art
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/00.xml
What conclusions can we draw from cave art?
From Hunter Gatherers to Urbanites
The Neolithic Revolution
Urbanization & Neolithic Revolution (11,00 years ago)
Neolithic Revolution (10,000 B.C.E. – 3,500 B.C.E.) Development of Managed food production
Characteristics of Urbanization Beginnings of semi-permanent and permanent
settlements Trade over short and long distances Individuals began to accumulate wealth Specialization of work Distinctions of Status and Rank
Cause and effect?
Geography: The Fertile Crescent
Area of modern nations of Turkey, Syria, the disputed territories between Israel and Jordan, Iraq and Western Iran, the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt.
Warmer climate enabled wild grains to grow. Plant resources enabled a surplus food supply. Some people shifted away from hunter-gathering to sedentary
settlements.
Geography: The Fertile Crescent
Evidence of early settlements: Catalhoyuk
7,500 to 5,700 B.C.E. 8,000 to 10,000 people lived in the
settlement. Religious artifacts and paintings but no
central religious institution identified. No central management of the
settlement identified Houses built next to each other. Entrance faced to the interior of the
settlement.
Catalhoyuk Geography
What geographic features may have played a role in the development of Catalhoyuk?
Catalhoyuk
What do these images suggest about Catalhoyuk society?
What do these images suggest aboutCatalhoyuk society?
Conclusions: Effects of Managed Agricultural Production and Sedentary Communities
Population increase Dietary changes (more carbohydrates) Diseases Accumulation of wealth Social stratification vs. egalitarian society Women’s work Trade over longer distances What issues might arise as a result of
these changes?
Geography of Egypt & Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Civilizations
Sumer 4300-2900 B.C.E. Akkad 2350-2160 B.C.E. Ur 2100-2000 B.C.E. Old Babylon 1792- 1595 B.C.E.
Sumer
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "SUMERIAN LINTEL. - Sumerian Bronze Lintel Surmounting The Main Doorway Of A Temple, From Al'Ubaid, C2500 B.C.“.
Sumer: 4300-2900 B.C.E.
Mesopotamia Ubiad settlements (5900 B.C.E.) Distinctive features
Irrigation: managed unreliable flooding of rivers and minimal rainfall
Central religious structures Priestly class: religious ceremony &
agriculture
Urbanism in Sumer
Densely populated settlements Central Religion Increased grain and crop production. Increasing wealth & control of the
Priestly class Immigration to Sumer.
Cuneiform Writing
4000 B.C.E. clay tokens (keep track of inventory and facilitate trade?)
By 3300 B.C.E. inscriptions on flat clay tablets with symbols Reeds : wedge shaped symbol Pictographs not letters Several hundred symbols required scribes and schools Scribes were elite sons of priests and rulers
Purposes of Education? If a society values education, what does that say about the
society? If a society limits education, what does that say about the society? If a society devalues education, what does that say about the
society?
Gudea: detail of a diorite statue of Gudea of Lagash, Photograph, fromEncyclopædia Britannica Online, accessed May 21, 2012, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/107069/Sumerian-inscription-detail-of-a-diorite-statue-of-Gudea-of
Science and technology
4300 - 2900 B.C. E. Copper trade routes Copper primarily used for weapons
3000 B.C.E. discovery that copper could be alloyed with arsenic to produce Bronze. Historians categorize the period as the Bronze Age
Invention of the wheel Potter’s wheels as early as 4th millennium B.C.E. Two wheeled chariots and 4 wheeled carts from about 2600
B.C.E. Mathematics
Lunar calendar: based on the cycle of the moon, 12 months Divided time into 60 minute intervals
Sumerian Society & Culture
Each urban center had a patron god Most land belonged to the temple. Temple: controlled production of textiles
and the labor of women and children Ruling Class: Priests and temple officials
Free Dependents & Slaves
About 50% of each Free Dependants
Subsistence farmers Artisans and temple laborers:
free labor to temple but owned no land Slaves
Usually prisoners of war Slaves could buy their freedom but master controlled
price. Slaves were property. Many slaves were women.
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "ZIGGURAT OF UR-NAMMU - In Ur, Sumer; Seen From The Southeast.“
Sumerian Religion
Humanity: wrested from the inhospitable earth and created for one purpose: To serve the gods
Gods: placated by building temples (ziggurats) Afterlife:
No light Food, clothing, and diversions had to be provided to the
dead How might the Sumerian environment have
influenced Sumerian religion?
Development of City-States: Kish, Ur, Lagash
Why did a common religion fail to unite the Sumerians? Each Sumerian settlement recognized all
the Sumerian gods but viewed their own settlement as the property of one god who would be glorified by exalting their city usually through war.
Intense competition often led to open warfare.
Settlements were basically independent city-states.
How did rulers legitimize their authority?What conflicts might arise between priests and rulers?What might these artifacts demonstrate about the Sumerian religion?
Akkadian Empire
Empire, Big Men, Legitimacy and War
Akkad
Akkadian Empire 2350-2160 B.C.E.
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "Sargon Of Akkad (2334 BC - 2279 BC),
Sargon I
Akkadian Empire (2350-2160 B.C.E.)
Akkad (city-state) Maintained own language
Sargon: first “Lugal” (big man) to attempt to impose centralized rule over the region Installed Akkadian-speaking governors to rule
over conquered cities Made former city-states pay taxes to him Controlled trade routes Merged Sumerian and Akkadian gods and
appointed a single High Priest (usually daughters)
How does this artifact reflect ideas of legitimacy and the power of leaders?
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "SANDSTONE STELE. - Sandstone Stele Of The Victory Of Naramsu'in, King Of Akkad.C 2389-2353 B.C.“.
War, Bureaucracy, Commerce, Art & Literature
UR
Dynasty of UR (2100-2000 B.C.E.)
1st King of UR was Ur-Nammu Similar ruling style to Sargon
Incessant warfare between small kingdoms to establish dominance Centralization of government Commercial expansion Patronizing art and literature to exalt the ruler’s personal gods
Hammurabi, Diplomacy and Law and Propaganda
Babylon
Empire of Old Babylon (1792 B.C.E. – 1595 B.C.E.)
1792 B.C.E. Babylon: weak Kingdom Hammurabi saw potential for military & commercial
dominance used negotiation and political strategy rather than brute
military strength to forge alliances created antagonisms between rival cities while acting as
neutral mediator Initiated military conquests after rival kingdoms depleted
resources and exhausted their peoples because of incessant warfare
Written law code What is the purpose of a written law code?
Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.)
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "Head Of Hammurabi, From Susa, Diorite”
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, "CODE OF HAMMURABI. - Detail Of Top Of Black Basalt Stele, C1792-1750. B.C.”
Hammurabi’s Legacy
Old Babylonian Empire lasted 2 centuries Effectiveness of writing as political tool
Treaties & diplomatic agreements Communication between heads of state Propaganda and law
Used religion unify peoples of his empire under a supreme god who
gave the ruler the right to rule. Used law
create impression that leader was protector of the people.
Purposes of written law code?
Geography of Egypt & Mesopotamia
Developed contemporaneously with Sumer
Geography and culture were very different
Egypt
Narmer Pallete
http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html ; http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html
What is the importance of geography to Development of Early Civilizations?
Geography Land renewed every
year by annual flooding of the Nile
Nile Valley was richest agricultural region in ancient Near East
Surrounding desert protected Egypt from invading armies
Geography Periodic flooding Few natural
resources Incessant warfare
between city-states
Egypt Sumer
History of Ancient Egypt: 3 Dynastic Periods interrupted by Archaic Periods
Pre-dynastic Egypt (C. 10,000-3100 B.C.E.) 4750 B.C.E. 1st known settlements southeast of
the Nile Delta 3500 B.C.E. extensive commercial contacts
with Sinai Peninsula, Sumer and Sudan Copper trade
Nile River: increased interaction between settlements & urban centers
3100 B.C.E Confederation of cities in upper and lower Egypt
Hieroglyphic Writing (C. 3200 B.C.E.)
Papyrus Lighter, easier to write on and more transportable. Sewn into scrolls: large amount of information in a
small space Valuable export for Egypt
Much information about Pharaohs…little about common people
By 2686 Pharaoh was considered divine and the embodiment of Egypt itself
The Old Kingdom (C. 2686-2160 B.C.E.)
Pharaoh owed taxes and labor Local governors (related by birth or marriage to
Pharaoh) administered cities in Pharaoh’s name. Scribes: literate bureaucrats. Free Laborers did most of the work and lived
poorly. Slaves had specific rights including the right to
own, sell and inherit personal property.
Women in the Old Kingdom
Officially prohibited from attending scribal schools, some elite women were literate
Women allowed to appear in court as their own person and could sue for divorce, defend herself and testify as a witness.
Women: 1 husband Men > 1 wife
Religion
Egyptians superior to other peoples the gods had protected their land they were ruled by a god (Paraoh).
Osiris, Isis, Seth, Horus Followed geography of the Nile
cycle of renewal, rhythmic, inevitable.
Pyramids
Step pyramid (right) Khafre’s pyramid (below)
Inside the Great Pyramid
Egypt Sumer
Continuity: Egypt maintained distinct and independent identity from 5000 B.C.E. – 30 B.C.E.
Egyptians considered their land to be the center of the cosmos
Pharaohs were considered living gods who headed a powerful centralized bureaucratic state
Diffusion: successive wars between city states and kingdoms = cultural diffusion and short-lived empires
Sumerians and Akkadians Competition between gods ensured incessant warfare
Competing deities gave Lugal-Kings divine right to rule. Less centralized government
Cultural Differences between Egypt and Sumer
First Intermediate Period (2160 B.C.E.- 2055 B.C.E.)
Egypt no longer united by 2160 Increasing power of local governors Climatic changes interrupted flooding cycle of
the Nile. Diminished Egyptian control of precious
metals like Copper and Gold. Diffusion of wealth and culture 2055 B.C.E. Mentuhotep II of Thebes
conquered the Northern Kingdom
Middle Kingdom (2055- C.1650 B.C.E.)
Mentuhotep II overthrown by his vizier (chief counselor) Amenemhet.
Amenemhet’s descendants ruled for 200 years as the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. Built extensive fortifications and extended trade
Dominated Nubia Expedition to Punt (Somalia) Palestine & Syria also under Egyptian influence
Egypt was not an imperial power but did take an active interest in events beyond their border.
Mentuhotep II
Amenemhet I
Questions?
If you were preparing an exam for Chapter 1 what big picture questions would you ask students?
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