City-States of Ancient Sumer2.1

Chapter 2

Was a region of the Middle East named for its rich soils and golden wheat fields

Lying within the Fertile Crescent is Mesopotamia

“Between the rivers”

The Fertile Crescent

Lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Modern day Turkey through Iraq

First civilization was Sumer, located in southeastern Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Had to control flooding

Could completely wash away the topsoil and the mud-brick villages

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes a great flood that destroys the world

Archaeologists confirm that catastrophic floods occurred regularly

Struggles

Lacked timber and stone, so learned to build with clay and water

Used clay to make bricks and dried in the sun

Made the first wheeled vehicles

Sumerian Resources

Each city-state had a social hierarchy system of ranking groups

Highest level made up of ruling family, leading officials and priests

Middle class were scribes, merchants, and artisans

Lowest, and majority of people were peasant farmers

Civilization Takes Shape

Goddesses were highly honored in religious practice

Women held higher status in Sumer compared to other civilizations

Never had legal rights equal to men

Rulers’ wives had supervisory powers and some wrote songs about their husbands (Why would that be significant?)

Sumerian Women

Sumerian Religion

Polytheistic

Thought the gods behaved like ordinary people, ate, drank, married, had families, etc

Felt highest duty was to keep them happy which ensured the safety of the city-state

Religion

Ziggurats

Large, stepped platform thought to have been topped by a temple dedicated to the city’s chief god or goddess

Believed in afterlife

“The place where they live on dust, their food is mud, and they see no light, living in blackness, on the door and door-bolt, deeply settled dust”

Ziggurats

Cuneiform

Sumerians Invent Writing

Scribes wrote by making wedge- shaped marks on clay tablets

Used to record economic exchanges, myths, prayers, laws, and business contracts

Had to go through many years of school to acquire these skills

Caned for making any mistakes

Cuneiform

Cuneiform was adapted into different cultures

Established a number system based on dividing the hour into 60 minutes and the circle into 360 degrees

Studies the skies and recorded the movements of the planets and stars

Lasting Legacy of Sumer

Chapter 2: Section 2

Invaders, Traders, and Empire Builders

Sargon of Akkad

2300 BC

Invaded and Conquered Sumer

First Empires

Didn’t stop after conquering Sumer, expanded his territory and created the first empire known in history

Appointed local rulers, each of whom served as king of the land he oversaw

Did not last long; After Sargon’s death other invaders took over

Sargon

Hammurabi

King of Babylon

Took control of Mesopotamia in 1790 BC

Best known for his publication of a set of laws: Hammurabi’s Code

Hammurabi

Wanted to ensure that everyone knew the law

Had Artisans carve nearly 300 laws on a stone pillar for all to see

First attempt by a ruler to codify, or arrange and set down in writing

Hammurabi’s Code

Dealt with private rights and matters

Examples include contracts, inheritances, taxes, marriage, and divorce

Designed to protect the powerless….Slaves and Women

Civil Law

For Women: If a woman is blameless for the problems between herself and her husband, she could leave the marriage

If she were at fault however, the law instructed that she be thrown into the river

Examples of Civil Law

Deals with offenses against others, such as robbery, assault, or murder

Limited personal vengeance and encouraged order

May seem cruel based on today’s standards

Eye for an eye, If a house falls due to poor construction and kills the owner, the house’s builder could be put to death

Criminal Law

Hittites

Conquered Mesopotamia in 1400 BC

Brought with them a major advancement, the knowledge of how to extract iron from ore

Their tools and weapons were harder and sharper

Wanted to keep this process a secret, but their secret got out as their empire collapsed

Hittites

Assyrians

Most feared Warriors

Always involved in warfare

Encouraged a well planned society; Used riches from trade and war to pay for palaces

Assyrians

King Assurbanipal

Founded the first library in Nineveh

King Assurbanipal

Nebuchadnezzar

Defeated the Assyrians after Assurbanipal’s death

Oversaw the rebuilding of canals, temples, walls, and palaces of Babylon

Built a defensive moat and an 85 feet thick wall

Nebuchadnezzar Revives Babylon

Had 9 gates dedicated to important gods

Most famous was Ishtar Gate, made of bricks glazed bright blue

Covered in lions to represent Ishtar, dragons representing Marduk, and bulls representing Hadad

Nebuchadnezzar's Wall

Hanging Gardens

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Remains have not been found

Planted trees and plants on steps of a ziggurat

According to legend, he did it to please his wife who was homesick for the hills where she grew up

Hanging Gardens

Would defeat and conquer Babylon in 539 BCLeader was Cyrus the Great

The Persians

Built the largest empire ever seen

Pursued policies of tolerance towards the people they conquered

Respected the customs of different people

Persian Empire

Unified the Empire

Darius I

Set up a bureaucracy, or a system of government

Became a model for later rulers

Divided empire into provinces, called satrapy.

Headed by a governor called a satrap

Accomplishments of Darius I

Adopted laws from the people he conquered

Drew up a single code of laws, like Hammurabi

Had hundreds of miles of roads built or repaired

More Accomplishments

Set up a common set of weights and measures

Encouraged the use of coins

This transitioned a barter economy (one in which you trade for goods) into a money economy (where you use coins)

Economy

ZoroasterTaught of ONE God

Ahura MazdaConstant battle with Ahriman

Prince of lies and evilHad to choose

Religion

The Phoenicians

Known for being sailors and traders

Made glass from sand

A purple dye from sea snails

Set up colonies

Phoenicians

They spread civilization around the Mediterranean

Most significant contribution was their alphabet

Had a system of 22 symbols that stood for consonant sounds

Greeks would later add vowels, and that became OUR alphabet

“Carriers of Civilization”

Chapter 2, Section 3

Kingdom on the Nile

“Egypt is wholly the gift of the Nile”

Without the Nile River, Egypt would just be a desert

Geography of Egypt

The annual (yearly) flooding was a GOOD thing

It soaked the land with water and deposited silt

Still work to be done, had to build reservoirs and ditches to control the flooding

Annual Flooding

Upper Egypt located in the south

Lower Egypt located in the north

2 Regions of Egypt

Menes, the King of Upper Egypt, united the two regions in 3100 B.C.

Founded Egypt’s first capital, Memphis

Used the Nile as a highway to transport goods, officials, and armies between the north and south

United

Old Kingdom

2575 B.C. – 2130 B.C.

Egyptian Kings, later called pharaohs, organized a strong, centralized state

Pharaohs had absolute power

Egyptians believed that each pharaohs was a god

Old Kingdom

System of government that includes departments and levels of authority

Each pharaoh depended on their vizier chief minister who supervised the government

Bureaucracies Develop

Tax collection

Farming

Irrigation systems

Scribes followed them around to carry out their instructions

Vizier Responsibilities

VizierWrote a book

Instructions of the Vizier Ptah-hotepEmphasized being humble & honestObedient to superiorsFair

Ptah-hotep

Pyramids are built

Tombs considered to be a home where they would live for eternity

Preserved bodiesBuried with items they may needPharaoh began their tombs as soon as they

came to power

Great Accomplishment

Great Pyramids of Giza

Very turbulent period1938 B.C. – 1630 B.C.

The Nile did not flood as regularly as before

Lots of corruption and rebellion

The Middle Kingdom

The Hyksos invaded the Nile delta region

Little conflict between the Hyksos and the Egyptian people

Invasion

Egyptians were impressed by the horse-drawn war chariots of the Hyksos

Hyksos were impressed by Egyptian civilization

They adopted Egyptian customs, beliefs, and names

Learned from Each Other

1539 B.C. 1075 B.C.

Age of conquest

Powerful pharaohs created large empires

The New Kingdom

Hatshepsut

Egypt’s first female ruler

Had all the rights and powers of a pharaoh

Her stepson, Thutmose II took over after her death and stretched Egypt’s borders to their greatest extent ever

Hatshepsut

Ramses II

Pharaoh of the New Kingdom

Ruled for 66 years

Best known for his boastful attitude

Bragged about his achievements on monuments and temples

Ramses II

Ramses II was in constant battle with the Hittites

Would eventually sign a peace treaty with one another

First Peace Treaty

Section 2.4Identify the role of Amon-Re in the daily

lives of EgyptiansInfer what the structure of Egypt’s class

system informs us about the importance of religion in Egyptian society

Discuss how Egyptian writing has helped historians understand the details of Egyptian medical practices

Egyptian Civilization

Religious beliefs about gods, values, and life after death affected the daily lives of Egyptians.

Much of what we know about Egyptian religion comes from inscriptions on monuments and paintings on the walls in tombs.

Egyptian Civilization

Main Egyptian god

The sun godOriginally call

“Ra”, morphed into “Amon-Re” by the Middle Kingdom.

Pharaohs received right to rule from him.

Chief Gods & Goddesses

Most Egyptians related more to other gods & goddesses.Osiris and IsisStory touched human emotions of love and

jealousy

Other Important Gods & Goddesses

Religious rebel who in 1380 b.c. devoted his life to the worship of another god, Aton

Akhenaton means “he who serves Aton”

Akhenaton- tries to reshape religion

He, along with his wife, Queen Nefertiti, attempted to make Aton the chief god of Egypt

Why did he do this?

Either to introduce a single god religion, or to make Aton the most important

Not very successful, Egyptians were fearful of abandoning Amon-Re

Religious Reaction

Egyptians believed each soul must pass a test in order to enter the afterlife

OsirisPlays big role

Egyptian Afterlife

Dead soul would be ferried across a lake of fire to the hall of Osiris

Osiris would then weigh the soul / heart against the “feather of truth”

Sinner are sent to the “eater of the dead”, a crocodile-like creature

Worthy souls enter the “Happy Field of Food”

Osiris

Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead contained spells, charms, and other useful hints for the dead to use in the afterlife

It was written on scrolls and placed in the tomb with the body

What did it do?

Mummification

The preservation of the dead

Brain was removed through the nostrils

Incisions were made on the body to remove organs

Body would then be filled with spices then wrapped in linen

Mummification

Would take months to complete

Was a privilege at first, only for rulers and nobles

Eventually ordinary citizens were allowed as well

Long Process

King Tut’s Tomb

Howard Carter discovered it in 1922

Had remained untouched for more than 3,000 years

Contained chariots, weapons, jewelry, toys, games, and food

And he was just a minor king….

King Tut’s Tomb

Held higher status compared to other civilizations

Ramses II, “The foot of an Egyptian woman may walk where it pleases her and no one may deny her”

Could inherit property, enter into business deals, go to court, and obtain divorces

Few knew how to read or write; Could not hold government jobs

Women of Egypt

Written Records

Picture writing

Carved into stone and on temples

Ideograms pictures that symbolized an idea or action

Hieroglyphics

A paper-like writing material

Came from papyrus a plant that grew along the Nile

Much easier than chiseling into stone

Papyrus

The Rosetta Stone

Unlocked the secrets of Hieroglyphics

Discovered by Jean Champollion in early 1800s

Flat black stone with the same message carved in 3 different forms of writing

Hieroglyphics, Demotic (used in Egypt for documents for 1000 years), and Greek

Rosetta Stone

Learned about human body through mummification

Could diagnose illness and symptoms

Developed a calender that had 12 months and 30 days each with 5 days added at end of year

Advances in Science

Statues, paintings in tombs, carvings on temples

Some human figures have animal heads

Oldest literature are hymns and prayers

Arts and Literature