Everyone is gifted….but some people never open the package.

Neanderthal Man: 250,000-30,000 years

• Cooperated through language

• Advanced stone tools• Used fire for cooking

and protection• Wore clothing• Buried dead• Lived in caves [cave art ? 2012]

CroMagnon / modern Man: 35,000- present time

• Sewing needles, buttons

• Snug boots; hooded parkas, pants w/ leggings

• Fish hooks & harpoons

• Bows and arrows

• Flint tools and weapons

• Lamps / animal fat

• Why are the discoveries of Jarmo, Jericho and Catal Huyuk of interest to historians?

Ancient Jericho

What makes “a way of life” a civilization?

• Writing system• Organized economy• Specialization of labor• Social classes• Legal code • Advanced art • Central government• Several cities with monumental architecture • ***Religion – the central force in primary civilizations

Marshland and swamps…

Mesopotamia: the rise of civilization

The Assyrian capital at Nineveh

Ashurbanipal King of Assyria (669-631 BCE)

Cuneiform tablet – symbol writing on clay tablets with a reed stylus

Sir Henry Rawlinson

The Behistun Rock

Cuneiform tablets

• How did Mesopotamia get its name

How was Mesopotamia transformed around 3000 BC?

• Each city was the property of a specific deity.

• Temple priests interpreted the will of the gods and acted as stewards of a city's deity.

• The ruler of the city – a priest-king often was visited and instructed by the community's god.

Religion was the central force:

• Explained the workings of nature• Eased the fear of death• Justified rules and morality• United people in a common view• Bolstered the authority of rulers• Promoted creativity in art, literature and

science

How did Mesopotamians define the purpose of man’s existence?

Why did a mood of uncertainty and anxiety pervade the Mesopotamian psyche?

• Frequent floods and droughts• Windstorms• Invasions• The gods were unpredictable

The Standard of Ur

• King Gudea of Lagash C. 2150 bc

• The inscription describes a temple dedicated to the goddess Geshtin-anna

• How did King Sargon earn a place in our history books?

Third Dynasty of Ur…Ur-Nammu, 2113-2096 BC

The ancient Sumerians were very smart people:

• Cuneiform• Law codes• Literature• Schools• Numbering system• Kiln-dried bricks & pottery• Lunar calendar• Potter’s wheel• The wheel

• The wheelbarrow• Sailboats• Bronze tools and weapons• The plow• Frying pans• Razors• Cosmetic sets• Shepherd’s pipes• harps

Why were King Hammurabi’s law codes obeyed?