HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION

Contents

What is civilization? Mesopotamia; cradle of civilization Ancient Rome civilization Civilization across Indus river Most terrifying civilizations of the

world

What is civilization? The word "civilization"

comes from the Latin word. To be "civilized" essentially meant being a townsman, governed by the constitution and legal statutes of that community

Definition of civilization

Civilization is defined as: highly organized society marked by advanced knowledge of trade, government, arts, science and often time written language

Features of Civilization

1.) cities 2.) well-organized central governments 3.) complex religion 4.) job specialization 5.) social classes 6.) arts and architecture 7.) public works 8.) writing

Mesopotamia:

“The Cradle of Civilization”

Earliest Civilization

Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “between the rivers”,

specifically, the area between the Tigris River and Euphrates River (present day Iraq)

Lasted for approximately 3000 years

Geographic Conditions

Little rainfall

Hot and dry climate

Arid soil containing little minerals

No stone or timber resources

History of Mesopotamia

Over the centuries, many different people lived in this area creating a collection of independent states

Sumer- southern part (3500-2000 BCE)

Akkad- northern part (2340 – 2180 BCE)

Babylonia- these two regions were unified (1830-1500 BCE and 650-500 BCE)

Religion

Position of King was enhanced and supported by religion

Belief that gods lived on the distant mountaintops

Each god had control of certain things and each city was ruled by a different god

Kings and priests acted as interpreters as they told the people what the god wanted them to do (ie. by examining the liver or lungs of a slain sheep)

gods were worshipped at huge temples called ziggurats

Polytheistic religion consisting of over 3600 gods and demigods

Prominent Mesopotamian gods

Enlil (supreme god & god of air)

Ishtar (goddess of fertility & life)

An (god of heaven)

Enki (god of water & underworld)

Shamash (god of sun and giver of law)

Ziggurats Large temples

dedicated to the god of the city

Temple on top served as the god’s home and was beautifully decorated

Inside was a room for offerings of food and goods

Famous ziggurat was Tower of Babel (over 100m above ground and 91m base)

Ziggurat of Ur -2000BCE

Ziggurats

States included in Mesopotamian civilization

Sumerians social, economic and intellectual basis Irrigated fields and produced 3 main crops (barley, dates and sesame seeds) built canals, dikes, dams and drainage systems develop cuneiform writing invented the wheel Abundance of food led to steady increase of population

(farm, towns, cities) first city of the world Developed a trade system with bartering: mainly barley

but also wool and cloth for stone, metals, timber, copper, pearls and ivory

Individuals could only rent land from priests (who controlled land on behalf of gods); most of profits of trade went to temple

However, the Sumerians were not successful in uniting lower Mesopotamia

Akkadians Leader: Sargon the Great Sargon unified lower Mesopotamia (after conquering

Sumerians in 2331 BCE) Established capital at Akkad Spread Mesopotamian culture However, short-lived dynasty as Akkadians were

conquered by the invading barbarians by 2200 BCE

Babylonians KING HAMMURABI’S BABLYON

(6th Amorite king) who conquered Akkad and Assyria (north and south)

He build new walls to protect the city and new canals and dikes to improve crops

Economy based on agriculture and wool / cloth

individuals could own land around cities

Hammurabi’s Legacy: law code

• Babylonians reunited Mesopotamia in 1830 BCE

• central location dominated trade and secured control

• YET AGAIN, Mesopotamia was not unified for long…

Development

Of

WRITING

Development of Writing

Pictograms: picture to show meaning Ideograms: signs to represent words /

ideas Phonetics: signs to represent sounds

*Phonetics are the basis of most writing systems

Interesting Facts! Mesopotamia, specifically Babylon

used a mathematical system based on sixty as all their numbers were expressed as parts of or multiples of sixty

Some parts of the ‘base-sixty’ system still remain today: 360 degrees in a circle, 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in 1 hour

Women in Mesopotamia

Rules for Women During the earliest period, the Sumerian women

enjoyed the greatest social and sexual freedom, although their strongest and most respected positions were within the temple, as priestesses, caretakers.. Such sexual freedom did not extend throughout the society. Adultery was punishable by death and a woman's social "value" was based on the number of her children.

Legacies of MesopotamiaRevolutionary innovations emerged in

Mesopotamia such as: codified laws ziggurats Irrigation Metal working, tools Trade transportation wheel Writing mathematics prosperous living based on large scale

agriculture

HISTORY OF THEANCIENT ROME

The ancient Roman civilization developed:

A written language A system of government Advances in arts and sciences A common culture

Physical Characteristics

Ancient Rome was….

Next to the Mediterranean Sea It covered parts of Europe, Asia and

Africa A peninsula Rocky and mountainous Built on hills Next to the Tiber River

Representative Democracy

Citizens (wealthy men) voted for representatives to make laws for them.

Laws applied to everyone.

We use a representative democracy in America today!

Adaptations to the Environment

Ancient Romans adapted to their mountainous land by

1. Growing olives and grapes2. Having small farms on terraced hillsides3. Trading on the Mediterranean Sea

Jobs of the Romans

Farmers

Road builders

Traders

Architecture

Romans used

arches

in buildings, bridges and aqueducts.

Aqueducts were designed to pump water in to the city. The water was used for humans and for irrigation.

Road Building

The Romans created a network of paved highways. This joined the

empire together and allowed soldiers to move swiftly from one

area to another.

Roman ArtRoman artists created:

PotteryJewelryTools

Mosaics were a special art form that used small pieces of tile, glass or stone.

Religion

The Romans began by worshipping different gods and goddesses (like

the Greeks), but eventually become Christians.

Ancient Romans also….

Changed our calendar to 365 days and named the months

Gave us 1/3 of our English language

Used Roman numerals that we still see today on clocks, watches, and in books

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

The People of Ancient Rome

Men were citizens Women were caretakers Boys were educated Girls learned handicrafts

Civilization across Indus river

The Harappan Civilization

3300 BCE - 2400 BCE

Indus Civilization Map

Geographical conditions

Flat plain formed by two rivers – the Indus and the Ganges

Natural barriers of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush mountains offered protection (Except Khyber and Bolan Pass)

Seasonal winds called monsoons

Unpredictable floods, Wet and Dry Seasons

Mohenjo-Daro Map

True or False: Mohenjo-Daro had a sophisticated water and sewage system.

Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro

Wide View, Mohenjo-Daro

The Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro

Bath Area, Mohenjo-Daro

Well, Mohenjo-Daro

A Main Street, Mohenjo-Daro

Granery, Mohenjo-Daro

pottery, Mohenjo-Daro

A Male Head, Mohenjo-Daro

Dravidian

A Priest-King, Mohenjo-Daro

Necklace, Mohenjo-Daro

Public Well, Harappa

Drain, Harappa

Female Figures, Harappa

Burial Pottery, Harappa

Male Skeleton, Harappa

Female Skeleton with Child, Harappa

Harappan Writing

Undecipherable to date.

Sanskrit writing

The Caste System

The mouth?

The arms?

The legs?

The feet?

WHO IS…

What is a JATI?

BrahminsBrahmins

KshatriyasKshatriyas

VaishyasVaishyas

ShudrasShudras

MOST TERRIFYING CIVILIZATIONS IN

THE HUMAN HISTORY

The Celts

They fought battles and came back by collecting hundred of heads. They bring them home and decorate there houses with them.

The reason for all of these head-chopping was that the Celts believed that the head held the soul, and so if you cut a dead guy's head off before all of that juicy soul leaked out of it.

The Celts would sometimes paint themselves blue and fight completely naked.

The Aztecs

The Aztecs believed that for every 52 years that passed, the world would end unless the gods were strong enough. And they believe the best way to toughen up a god is with a constant human sacrifice .

Most of the sacrificing went towards keeping their Sun god happy, and it took place on top of giant pyramid, so at least the view was probably pretty good. Then they hold a man and take out his heart (which was likely still beating). Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, they'd throw him down the staircase.

The Spartans

They were very cruel, they don’t hesitate to kill a person.

First they would bathe the newborn baby in wine, to see if it was strong enough to survive and after that they toss all imperfect babies off the cliff, letting them splatter on the rocks below.

Every single Spartan male was

a soldier. Every other job was

done by slaves. A man didn't even get a headstone when he died, he didn't deserve it.

The only Spartans who got

marked headstones were

the ones who died in battle, during victory. And if you lost

your shield during battle, you

got the death penalty

There was an occasion every year upon which the young Spartan men were encouraged to sneak around and murder as many slaves as they could, without having to feel bad about it.

The Mongols

It is estimated that the Mongols--under Genghis Khan and others-- killed 40 million peopleWith swords.

See this stadium? That's 100,000 people there. Now imagine 400 of those stadiums, each full of people.

During an invasion of India, a Mongolian general built a pyramid in front of the walls of Delhi out of human heads.