HIS 101

Western CivilizationChapter 1

Homo Sapien

Progression

Neanderthals

Neanderthal Face

Modern Human

Cave Painting at Lascaux, France

Paleolithic

Neolithic

Mesopotamia

Egypt

Cuneiform

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh Tablet

Sargon I

Hammurabi

Babylon

Ishtar Gate, Babylon

Hammurabi’s Kingdom

Code of Hammurabi

Ziggurat at Ur

Ziggurat at Ur

Early Sumerian Statue

Sumerian Stele

Stele

Egypt

Farming Along Nile

Menes

• Old Kingdom (3100 – 2200 BC)

• Middle Kingdom (2050 – 1750 BC)

• New Kingdom ( 1560 – 1087 BC)

• Dynasty: group of rulers from a single family

who succeeded one another as pharaoh

Menkure, Kephren, & Khufu

• Key to the success of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom was– Absolute power of pharaoh– Pharaoh owned Egypt and its people– Every person was pharaoh’s servant– Pharaohs were active statesmen– Pharaohs had a highly developed administrative

system

• At the end of the Old Kingdom there were ineffectual leaders and things fell apart.

• This was followed by years of chaos• About 2050 BC the Middle Kingdom began

and restored the institutions of the Old Kingdom

• The divine power of pharaohs• A centralized bureaucracy• A provincial administration• A revived economy• Reclaimed land from the desert• Expanded trade• Maintained order

• One change : less emphasis on the divine power of the pharaoh and more on the quality of government

• Concept of ma’at was important– principle of right order, justice, and harmony– This added a humane quality to Middle Kingdom

Hyksos

Old and Middle Kingdoms

• Economic system depended on carefully controlled agriculture

• Relied on peasants to keep irrigation system working, to plant and harvest, and to build pyramids, public buildings, temples, and dwellings

• Artisans and merchants added to Egypt’s wealth

Cultural Life

• Rooted in religion• Deities thought to be benevolent to humans• Deities explained through mythology• Egyptians thought they had won the gods

favor because of their abundant harvests, peace, and security

• Ka : spiritual double that lived after death in close association with the spirits

Hieroglyphics

Hieroglyphics

Khufu

Rigid Statue

Relief

Science and Technology

• Recorded movements of the stars• Had accurate time system: had 12 – 30 day

months with 5 days added at end of year• Had system of numbers: arithmetic, volumes,

and areas• Had information on metals and plant life• Developed surgical techniques and drugs• Understood anatomy from mummification

Ahmose I

Thutmose I

Thutmose II

Hatshepsut

Thutmose III

Reasons for Akhenaten’s New Religion

• He wanted to reduce the power of the Priests

• He wanted to move his people forward

• He wanted Egyptians to worship a god that stressed moral goodness instead of the giving of material goods

Tutankhamen

• Tutankhamen:

– moved the capital back to Thebes

– restored the ancient traditional religious practices

Tutankhamen

After Tutankhamen:

• a new military dynasty seized the throne

• Hittites took advantage of Egyptian weaknesses and attacked the state, encouraging those in the Empire to rebel– settlement with Hittites came in the 19th Dynasty

with Seti I and Ramses II– Ramses II signed a peace treaty with Hittites

Seti I

Ramses II

Hittite Warrior and Chariot

Syria - Palestine

Ebla

Ebla

• Between 2500 and 2300 B.C.:– Ebla ruled a large area of Syria including 250,000

people– 30,000 actually lived in Ebla– Ebla traded with other areas and negotiated

commercial treaties– It arranged marriages– It conquered the Mari people– Ruled by oligarchy and an elected king– Fell in 2000 B.C. to Amorites

Ugarit

Ugarit

• Cosmopolitan• Trading center• Spoke a Semitic language but other languages

were spoken in marketplace• Helped to spread the alphabet developed in

1300s B.C. (might not have been the first)– Each sign stood for a sound– 30 signs in alphabet– Adapted by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, &

Westerners

Hittites

Hittites

Hittites 1650 – 1180 B.C.

• Arrived in Anatolia (Turkey) a bit before 1800 B.C.

• Spoke an Indo-European language that spread throughout Europe in various forms

• Great warriors and administrators• Used chariots• Made weapons from iron and bronze• Their empire divided into Old, Middle, & New

Kingdoms

• New Kingdom took areas in Syria and Mesopotamia

• After 1180 – 700 B.C., Hittites broke into small states

• Recorded their own history• Known for their battles and for making peace– Maintained peace from 1450 – 1300 B.C. with

their first international system– Then there was rough equality between Hittites &

Egyptians; war was avoided after Qadesh, 1274 BC

• Peace was temporary– Between 1200 and 1150 B.C. , the International

System collapsed with the Invasion of the Sea Peoples