1

Civilization& the Early River Valley Civilizations

2

Objectives:

List characteristics that raise a culture to the level of a “civilization”

Become familiar with traits unique to each of the early river Valley Civilizations.

3

Civilization Defined Agricultural base surplus trade Cities & Urban life Government & Political system

4

Civilization Defined Social stratification Economic specialization Religion Writing “Higher Culture”

Art / Architecture / Sculpture

5

Civilization and the Means of Production Essential element: concentration of wealth

Agriculture Control over natural resources Development of ancient civilization

not hunter-gatherer economics

6

Origins and Spread of Agriculture

7

The Wealth of the Rivers

Nutrient-rich silt Key: irrigation

Necessity of coordinated efforts Promoted development of local governments City-states

Sumer begins small-scale irrigation 6000 BCE By 5000 BCE, complex irrigation networks

Population reaches 100,000 by 3000 BCE Attracts Semitic migrants, influences culture

8

9

Mesopotamia

“Between the Rivers” Tigris and Euphrates

Contemporary Iran, Iraq Cultural continuum of

“fertile crescent”

10

Sumerian City-States

Cities appear 4000 BCE Dominate region from 3200-2350 BCE

Ur (home of Abraham, see Genesis 11:28), Nineveh (see Jonah)

Ziggurat home of the god Divine mandate to Kings Regulation of Trade Defence from nomadic marauders

11

12

The Ziggurat of Ur

13

Sumer was invaded quite a bit, but conquerors tended to take on Sumerian ways

14

Sumerian Contributions

Arch Built arches using clay bricks that supported

heavy wall openings for doorways and windows. Plow Wheeled vehicles Mathematical ideas Using base 60, divided a circle into 360

degrees, an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds

15

16

Legal System

The Code of Hammurabi (1800 BC) 282 items lex talionis (item 196: “eye for an eye”) Social status & punishment women as property, but, . . . some rights

17

Political Decline of Sumer Semitic peoples from northern Mesopotamia overshadow

Sumer Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315 BCE)

Destroyed Sumerian city-states one by one, created empire based in Akkad

Empire unable to maintain chronic rebellions

Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE) Law Code Improved taxation, legislation Used local governors to maintain control of city-states

Babylonian Empire later destroyed by Hittites from Anatolia, c. 1595 BCE

Sumerian Contributions primitive “arch”

Built arches using clay bricks that supported heavy wall openings for doorways and windows.

Plow Wheeled vehicles Mathematical ideas

Using base 60, divided a circle into 360 degrees, an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds

18

19

Later Mesopotamian Empires

Weakening of central rule an invitation to foreign invaders

Assyrians use new iron weaponry Beginning 1300 BCE, by 8th-7th centuries BCE control

Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, most of Egypt Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (r. 605-562) takes advantage

of internal dissent to create Chaldean (New Babylonian) Empire Famously luxurious capital

20

Mesopotamian Empires1800-600 BCE

21

Technological Development in Mesopotamia Bronze (copper w/ tin), c. 4000 BC

Applications: military, agricultural, construction Iron c. 1800 BC

ore more plentiful than bronze Wheel, boats, c. 3500 BC Shipbuilding increases trade networks

22

Social Classes Ruling classes based

military prowess Religious connection Hereditary – sometimes claimed as offspring of gods

Religious classes Role: intervention with gods to ensure fertility, safety Considerable landholdings, other economic activities

Free commoners Peasant farmers urban artisans & professionals

Slaves Prisoners of war, convicted criminals, debtors

23

Patriarchal Society Men as landowners Patriarchy: “rule of the father”

Right to sell wives, Disobedient children could be drive off, sold or even killed

Double standard of sexual morality Women drowned for adultery relaxed sexual mores for men

Yet some possibilities of social mobility for women Traders, scribes, temple priestesses, court advisers, economic

activity

24

Development of Writing

Sumerian writing systems form 3500 BCE Pictographs Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped”

Preservation of documents on clay Declines from 400 BCE with spread of Greek

alphabetic script

25

Uses for Writing

Trade Astronomy Mathematics

Agricultural applications Calculation of time

12-month year 24-hour day, 60-minute hour

26

Mesopotamian Literature

Epic of Gilgamesh, compiled after 2000 BCE Heroic saga Search for meaning, esp. afterlife This-worldly emphasis

Kemet - Ancient Egypt Gift of the Nile King Menes Pyramids Mummies Hieroglyphics

27

28

The Early Hebrews

Patriarchs and Matriarchs from Babylon, c. 1850 BCE

Parallels between early biblical texts, Code of Hammurabi

Early settlement of Canaan (Israel), c. 1300 BCE Biblical text: slavery in Egypt, divine redemption

On-going conflict with indigenous populations under King David (1000-970 BCE) and Solomon (970-930 BCE)

29

Moses and Monotheism

Hebrews shared polytheistic beliefs of other Mesopotamian civilizations

Moses introduces monotheism, belief in single god Denies existence of competing parallel deities Personal god: reward and punishment for conformity

with revealed law The Torah (“the teaching”)

30

Foreign conquests of Israel

Civil war Northern tribes: Israel Southern: Judah

Assyrian conquest, 722 BCE Exiles Israel: ten lost tribes

Babylonian conquest, 586 BCE Additional exile of many residents of Judah Returned later than century

31

Israel and Phoenicia, 1500-600 BCE

32

33

The Phoenicians

City-states along Mediterranean coast after 3000 BC Extensive maritime trade

Dominated Mediterranean trade, 1200-800 BC

Development of alphabet symbols Simpler alternative to cuneiform

Easier to learn and use - spread of literacy

34

Indus Valley Civilization (IVC)

35

(3300–1300 BC) At its peak, IVC may

have had a pop. of over 5 million

Bronze Age civilization noted for its well planned

cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, & multistoried houses.

Computer generated picture of what Mohenjo Daro may have looked like.

36

37

well-planned, precisely measured cities

38

k

IVC writing system remains undeciphered

39

40

41

42

Indo-European Migrations Common roots of many languages of Europe,

southwest Asia, India Implies influence of a single Indo-European

people Probable original homeland: contemporary Ukraine and

Russia, 4500-2500 BCE Domestication of horses, use of Sumerian

weaponry allowed them to spread widely

43

The Indo-European Migrations

44

Implications of Indo-European Migration Hittites migrate to central Anatolia, c. 1900 BC, later

dominate Babylonia Influence on trade

Iron Horses, chariots with spoked wheels, Migrations to western China, Greece, Italy also significant

Influence on language and culture Aryo, “noble, lord”

Aryan, Iranian, Irish Caste system in India

45

46

Early Chinese Civilization Began along the Huang He & Yangtze Rivers

Dynasties Xia Dynasty – 2200 -1800 BC

17 emperors

Shang Dynasty – 1800 -1046 BC 30 emperors

Zhou Dynasty - 1046-256 BC 39 emperors

47

China’s Huang River ValleyThe Huang He is often called by the Chinese “the River of Sorrows”,

48

because of its frequent & disastrous flooding

Why would people choose to settle & build a civilization there despite the danger?

Huang He is also the Yellow River Loess is more!

Loess (les) is a rich, loamy fine soil

useful for farming, but blows away easily

49

It is called the Yellow River because it is one of the muddiest rivers in the world! At its mouth, it flows out into the ______ Sea.

Shang

the birthplace / cradle of Chinese civilization.50

The Invention of Writing

oracle bone inscriptions are the oldest known form of Chinese writing.

Chinese writing has undergone relatively few changes since 1st developed 3,500 yrs ago.

51

oracle bone

52

Oracle bones

53

54

Shang Religion worshipped “Shang Di,” the supreme god who

ruled over lesser gods of the sun, moon, wind, rain, & other natural forces & places.

also believed that although their ancestors lived in heaven after their deaths, ancestors were still actively involved in affairs of family & descendants.

Shang Kings communicated with their ancestors using oracle bones & made frequent sacrifices to them

55

Levees attempt to keep the Huang River under control.

56