Cities and Civilizations

World History A

Seminar #1Warm Up: What are some main features of civilization?

Questions to answer by the end of the lesson

1. How do Mesopotamia and the Nile River Valley Civilization display the elements of civilization?

2. What are the major technological accomplishments and developments of the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations?

3. Describe the systems of government/law codes for ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

4. Explain the religious beliefs/traditions/stories (Epic of Gilgamesh) of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Cities and Civilizations Seminar

We begin at about 8,000 BCwhen village life began in the New Stone Age. . . Also known as the Neolithic Revolution.

NEW STONE AGE

What is the REVOLUTION? A TOTALLY new way of living:

From Hunter-Gatherers

to Agriculture

Click on words and pictures for web links.

The invention of Agriculture changed the way people lived.

Agriculture (Farming)

Growth of Cities

Division of Labor (Specialization)

Trade

Writing and Mathematics

GEOGRAPHY influenced the development of river valley

civilizations.

.

Early River Valley Civilizations

•Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable•No natural barriers•Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings

Geography

Sumer

Egypt

Indus Valley

China

•Flooding of the Nile predictable•Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages, access to Mediterranean trade

•Deserts were natural barriers

• Indus flooding unpredictable•Monsoon winds•Mountains, deserts were natural barriers

•Huang He flooding unpredictable but fertile soil•Mountains, deserts natural barriers•Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations

Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent

Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations

Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq.

The “Fertile Crescent.”

“Fertile Crescent” description

well-watered in 3000 BCE, arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert.

flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the east by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Perhaps the earliest site of diversified civilization.

Today includes all or parts of Israel, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.

Greeks called the northern part of the Fertile Crescent “Mesopotamia” “Between Two Rivers”

(Tigris River and Euphrates River)

The southern part of Mesopotamia was called Babylonia, originally Sumer.

Which country is Mesopotamia today?

Sumer - Sumeriansca. 3500 to 3000 BCE.

(ca. = circa)

Sumer gave us the city-state.

Define: city-state

Political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands. Each city state has its own government, even when it shares a culture with neighboring city states.

Sumerian Writing: cuneiform

Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

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Wealth of the Rivers

Nutrient-rich silt Key: irrigation

–Necessity of coordinated efforts–City-states

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

–Population reaches 100,000 by 3000 BCE

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Sumer: The first

Cities dominate area (city-states)3200-2350 BCE agriculture, trade regulation, defense Writing, cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) on clay

tablets Wheel 12 month calendar, geometry Polytheistic, kings w/ divine mandate Ziggurats –home of the god Ur (Abraham’s home town), Erech, Kish 3000 BCE Uruk – home of Gilgamesh

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The Ziggurat of Ur

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Political Decline of Sumer

Semitic peoples from northern Mesopotamia conquer Sumer–Sargon of Akkad (Akkadians)(2370-

2315 BCE) – controlled trade, had prof. army, chronic rebellion

–Hammurabi of Babylon (Babylonians) (1792-1750 BCE)

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Babylonian Legal System

Code of Hammurabi (18th c. BCE) – lex talionis (item 196: “eye for an eye”)– Social status related to punishment– women as property

Babylonian Empire destroyed by Hittites c. 1595 BCE

Next: Assyrians - 1300 BCE - iron weaponry (GGS!)w/in 500 yrs. control Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine,

most of Egypt

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Summary: Sumer to Babylon to Nineveh to Babylon

Mesopotamian wealth invites invaders! Assyrians 1300 BCE-Nineveh, cruelNebuchadnezzar (605-562) creates

Chaldean (New Babylonian) Empire w/luxurious capitol – hanging gardens

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Technology Development in Mesopotamia

Bronze (copper plus tin) c. 4000 BCE–Military, agricultural uses

Wheel, boats, c. 3500 BCEShipbuilding increases trade Iron c. 1000 BCE

–Cheaper, stronger than bronze

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Social Classes (top down) Ruling classes based often on military prowess

– Became hereditary– offspring of gods?

Religious classes– Role: intervene with gods– landholding, other economic activities

Free commoners– Peasant cultivators – own land

“Dependent Clients” - laborers Slaves

– Prisoners of war, convicted criminals, debtors – can gain freedom

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Patriarchal Society

Patriarchy: “rule of the father” - men own property– Right to sell wives, children

Double standard of sexual morality– Women drowned for adultery– Relaxed sexual mores for men

some possibilities of social mobility for women– Court advisers, temple priestesses, economic

activity Introduction of the veil c. 1500 BCE in Mesopotamia

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Mesopotamian Literature

Epic of Gilgamesh, compiled after 2000 BCE Heroic saga Search for meaning, esp. afterlife Moral: emphasis on this world, not next

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Indo-European Migrations (Aryans – “lords” – root of “Iran”, “Eire”)

Common roots of many languages of Europe, southwest Asia, India

Languages suggest a single Indo-European people– Probable homeland: contemporary Ukraine and Russia,

4500-2500 BCE Domestication of horses (huge!) and use of Sumerian

weaponry allowed them to spread widely Hittites attach horses to carts! – Assyrians (Semitic)

adopt technique – big advantage in war

Sumerians invented:

Wheel ziggurat

Ziggurat – Holy Mountain

Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.

Babylon – Code of Hammurabi

Ruler Hammurabi wrote one of the first known written law codes – 1792 BCE

defined crimes and their punishments in writing, allowed for consistency

Source of “an eye for an eye,” but punishment actually depended on social class.

A peasant’s eye worth less than a noble eye

“If a man stole the property of church or state, that man shall be put to death;

also the one who received the stolen goods from his hand shall be put to

death.” The laws governed such

things as lying, stealing, assault, debt, business partnerships, marriage, and divorce. In seeking protection for all members of Babylonian society.

Code of Hammurabi Questions!

1. What are the principles behind these laws?

2. What is the role of social class in the laws?

3. How do the principles of the Code of H compare to laws in the U.S.?

Primary source time!

Epic of Gilgamesh

1. What is Gilgamesh seeking? 2. Is he successful? 3. What appear to b e the religious

beliefs of Sumerians according to the Epic?

4. Do they believe in an afterlife? Evidence?

EGYPT“The Gift of the Nile”

(Herodotus)Look at the map and answer the following question:What did Herodotus mean when he said that Egypt is the “gift of the Nile?”

Nile River

Sahara Desert

Because of the geography of the area, without the Nile River, there would be no Egypt.

Egyptians invented:

Hieroglyphics Pyramids Geometry Advances in medicine and surgery

Hieroglyphics

Early Egyptian writing found on tombs was indecipherable.

Hieroglyphics

Sacred Carving

No one could read these sacred carvings until Napoleon invaded Egypt in 17902 and his archaeologists found the Rosetta Stone – Greek on one side, hieroglyphic version on other..

the Rosetta Stone – today in the British Museum – why?

Papyrus is one of the earliest writing surfaces -created from reeds growing along the Nile River.

Papyrus

Writing and Education Egypt writing by 3200 BCE, poss from

Mesop influence - but also on papyrus pictographs, but rep sounds -

counterintuitive Education for the few - scribes

prestigious Females - a few scribes, a few more

educated Nubians - Meroitic script, NOT

deciphered yet.

Egyptian Stats Pharaoh: Rules

All: monarchy Dynasty Monotheistic Looooooong

civilization broken up into Upper, Middle, Lower Kingdom

Class structure

Two significant Nile Valley civilizations

1. Egypt– “lower” Nile Valley - confusing because Nile flows

North (looks uphill on map) to Mediterranean– Winds and currents make boat travel easy. Just

put up a sail to go upstream.

2. Nubian kingdom of Kush

– Upper Nile Valley - not as fertile, so requires irrigation - river harder to travel

– Less prosperous than Egypt, prob due to geog

Peoples and crops mixed in Nile R. Valley by 5000 BCE

Migrants from Red Sea coast joined Sudanese, brought Coptic language

Sudanic crops of gourds, watermelons mixed w/ Mesop. wheat and barley

Sudanic herders brought domesticated donkeys and cattle

Technology transfer

bronze brought by Hyksos and iron by Assyrians, iron also from Sudan - lots of iron avail - large-scale production in Nubia and W. Afr by 500 BCE

Wheeled vehicles from Mesop

Nile Valley trade

Egypt profited most - imported raw materials and exported finished goods - watch this pattern w/ imperialistic societies

Egypt to Nubia

linen textiles (from flax), pottery, wine, honey, decorative ornaments and furniture

Nubia to Egypt

gold, ivory, jewels, exotic items such as leopard skins and ostrich feathers, slaves (including “specimen” pygmies/forest people)

Trade network expands

Egypt trades w/ Mesopotamia then throughout E. Mediterranean by 3000 BCE.– No trees, so cedar from Lebanon (Phoenicians)– gold, linen, lentils to Phoenicians

Trade w/ “Punt” (prob today’s Ethiopia) seen on Queen Hatsheput’s tomb - - live myrrh trees, monkeys, cattle in exch for jewels, metal tools and weapons

Questions to answer by the end of the lesson

1. How do Mesopotamia and the Nile River Valley Civilization display the elements of civilization?

2. What are the major technological accomplishments and developments of the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations?

3. Describe the systems of government/law codes for ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

4. Explain the religious beliefs/traditions/stories (Epic of Gilgamesh) of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Indus R. Valley Civs.

Questions you should be able to answer about the Indus Valley

Civilization: 1. What do Mohenjo Daro and Harappa show us

about Indian city states? 2. Explain the 5 social groups that emerged in

Indian society after the Indo-Aryan invasion. Also discuss to status of women and opportunities for education.

3. BRIEFLY explain the main Hindu beliefs 4. BRIEFLY explain the main Buddhist beliefs. 5. Give some examples of technological advances

in ancient India.

Aryan invasion?

From Caucasus Mtns. Black/Caspian Sea Nomads who settled in Indus R. Valley

Old writings and social order

Vedas – “Vedic Age” Upanishads later basis for Hinduism

Caste System

- Caste system kept darker-skinned Dravidians subordinate Castes: warriors, priests, peasants later re-ordered: Brahmins (priests), warriors, landowners-

merchants, peasants, untouchables

Indus Valley: 2500-1500 BCE

Kyber Pass connection to outside Harrappa, Mohenjo-Daro 100,000+

each, but LOTS of other communities

City Planning

Master-planned, water system, strong central gov’t, polytheistic, written language

Science and technologyMathematics: Indians understood

negative numbers, zero, and the concept of infinity,

Probably invented Arabic numbersAstronomers identified 7 planets

w/o telescopeMedicine: imp of spinal cord, bone

setting, plastic surgery, inoculation, cleanliness in hospitals in AD 400s

Artifacts and demise…

Pottery, cotton, cloth Cities abandoned, reason unknown Aryans arrive 1500 BCE

Religions practiced:

Hindu and Buddhist

Hindu: Developed from Vedas- God and humans, mind and matter

are one - -reincarnation

Budhism

Buddhist: state of soul depends on life 4 noble truths, 8fold path Goal: Nirvana: perfect peace,

releases soul from cycle of reincarnation

Education and Literature

Education for higher castes Math and Astronomy Literature: “Five Books”,

Mahabharata and Ramayana

Women

Women: Subordinate to men Polygamy

Government

City states ruled by princes (rajas) who controlled the military, laws and judged laws. City states fought at times but had relative peace for 100s of years!

Do Now:

1. What do Mohenjo Daro and Harappa show us about Indian city states?

2. Explain the 5 social groups that emerged in Indian society after the Indo-Aryan invasion. Also discuss to status of women and opportunities for education.

3. BRIEFLY explain the main Hindu beliefs 4. BRIEFLY explain the main Buddhist beliefs. 5. Give some examples of technological advances

in ancient India.

Reading HW DUE LATER!

Due Aug 31 OR Sept 1 Read pp 92-97 in your textbook Compare and Contrast all of the River Valley

Civilizations you learned about (Egypt and Nubia, Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley, Yellow River Valley) in terms of government, economics, religion and culture, social classes, technological advances. Be sure to note changes over time.

Hint: Organize your answer based on categories NOT civilizations to ensure you are really comparing civilizations and not just listing ideas.