The Ancient Middle East

1. The Ancient Middle East • The first three thousand years of Western history began in two great river-valleys • Mesopotamia in southwest Asia • Egypt in upper Africa • Agriculture and the first cities were born in these regions • These two regions founded scientific and mathematical knowledge, architectural advancements, legal systems, forms of government, and religious systems • These cultures were also responsible for the world’s first writing systems

2. Mesopotamian Literature • Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers” • Today this region is most of Iraq and parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria • This area is also known as the Fertile Crescent • It is so named because of the agriculturally rich land • This rich soil is watered by two major rivers • Tigris • Euphrates

3. Sumerians • The Sumerians were the first people to inhabit Mesopotamia • These people were nomadic and settled in Sumner between 5000 and 4000 BC • The Sumerians dug canals to irrigate the crops • They used mud to build their houses because there was no stone or timber in the area • They also used the mud for pottery and clay tablets

4. On the tablets, the Sumerians recorded their laws, financial transactions, and literature • The Sumerians lived in city-states- a large town or city and all its surrounding land • These city-states were laid out around great pyramid-like temples called ziggurats • Ziggurats were six or seven stories high, layered like a wedding cake, and each level was brightly painted a different color • A Priest-King lived in each Ziggurat

5. Sumerian Ziggurat

6. Priest-Kings • The Priest-King was believed to be the earthly representation of a local god • Some city-states had populations in the tens of thousands • Most city-states were in sight of each other, however, each one preferred to remain separated • For this reason, the Sumerians never formed a centralized government

7. Egyptian drawing of Priest-King

8. Artistic and Scientific Achievements • The Sumerians were known for their beautiful metalwork and sculpture • They developed a mathematical system with a number base of 60 • They also devised a very precise twelve-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon • Their most important invention was the world’s oldest system of writing: Cuneiform • Cuneiform is a type of wedge writing using a stylus, or pointed stick on wet clay tablets

9. Fall of Sumeria • Sometime before 2000 BC, the Sumerians were conquered by a Semitic people who built a capital city on the banks of the Euphrates River • The city was called Babylon which means “gate of the gods” • The people of Babylon became known as Babylonians • Under the Babylonians, the Sumerians lost all identity • The Babylonians took everything that the Sumerians had done , adopted it, translated it into their language (Akkadian), and took credit for all of it

10. Hammurabi • Around 1792 BC, under the reign of Hammurabi, Babylon became the religious and cultural center of western Asia • The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of 282 laws that controlled every aspect of Babylonian life, from building codes to marriage and divorce • The code was based on a concept of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” and breaking any of the laws could result in death

11. Hammurabi Bust

12. The Library of Nineveh • In 900 BC, the Assyrians, a fiercely warlike people, came into Mesopotamia • They built their capital city on the banks of the Tigris and called it Nineveh • They created a magnificent library containing the clay tablets of Sumerian and Babylonian literature • Over time, the library of Nineveh fell into decay and became buried under the earth • In the 19th century, archeologists began to dig up the remains of the library

13. Library of Nineveh

14. Excavated Ruins of the Library

15. The Rebirth of Babylon • In 612 BC, the Assyrians were overthrown and Babylon rose again • Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler who rebuilt Babylon • The city became famous for its Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World • Babylon was also known for a great ziggurat that historians have identified as the biblical Tower of Babel • “Babel” was the Hebrew name for Babylon

16. Tower of Babel

17. The Fall of Babylon • Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BC • It remained a center of trade and culture for several centuries, until a new port was established on the Euphrates • After that, Babylon fell into ruins

18. Egyptian Literature • Ancient Egypt existed for almost three thousand years • Egypt is also named “the gift of the Nile” • The Nile River served the same purpose in Egypt that the Tigris and Euphrates served in Mesopotamia • The Nile provided the water source necessary for fertilizing crops in the middle of the Sahara Desert • It also made Egypt a thriving trade community

19. Papyrus and Paper • The Nile also provided Papyrus • Papyrus is a reed that grows along the banks of the Nile River • The Egyptians developed an early form of paper from these reeds • The etymology of the word paper comes from papyrus • Using papyrus, Egyptians kept written records and shared ideas and literature

20. Twenty-Seven Centuries • Egyptian civilization survived for more than twenty-seven centuries under thirty-one dynasties • Dynasties are successive ruling families • The greatest years of the Egyptian civilization are divided into three eras • The Old Kingdom ( 2700-2200BC) – pyramids are constructed; autobiographies and prayers • The Middle Kingdom (2000-1800BC)- Egypt expanded political power and economy; hymns and songs • The New Kingdom (1600-1100 BC)- peak of political power; period known for lyric love poems

21. Social Structure

22. Role of the Pharaoh • The Pharaoh was not only a political leader but also a spiritual leader • He was seen as a god • It was the pharaoh’s destiny to live with the gods after death • The pyramids were built to ease the pharaoh’s journey to the afterlife • They contained the pharaoh’s body and his earthly possessions

23. Literature and the Cult of the Dead • Hieroglyphs- one of the earliest systems of writing created by the Egyptians • A fascination with death pervaded Egyptian culture • The Cult of the Dead were a group of Egyptians who protected the Book of the Dead • The Book of the Dead , considered religious literature, was a “travelers guide” to the afterlife, containing everything that the deceased needed to have or know after death