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Cities and Civilizations. Mesopotamia and Egypt . Cities and Civilizations Seminar. We begin at about 8,000 BC when 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 .
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Cities and Civilizations Mesopotamia and Egypt
Cities and Civilizations Seminar We begin at about 8,000 BC when 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 Environment • Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable • No natural barriers • Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings Sumer • Flooding of the Nile predictable • Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages • Deserts were natural barriers Egypt Indus Valley • Indus flooding unpredictable • Monsoon winds • Mountains, deserts were natural barriers • Huang He flooding unpredictable • Mountains, deserts natural barriers • Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations China
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 Kuwait.
Define “Fertile Crescent” A well-watered and fertile area, the fertile crescentarcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the east by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and includes all or parts of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. From antiquity this region was the site of sophisticated settlements.
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? (Iraq)
Sumer - Sumerians (Kuwait)ca. 3500 to 3000 BC.(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.
Sumerians invented: • Brick technology • Wheel • Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees • Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute • 12 month lunar calendar • arch • ramp • ziggurat
Babylon Gave us the first know written law code and was the first civilization where the citizens live by the “Rule of Law” Define “rule of law” Government by law. The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure.
Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC Hammurabi’s Code was this law code. Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire for 42 years. At the end of his long reign, Hammurabi’s legal decisions were collected and inscribed on a stone tablet in a Babylonian temple. The 282 laws of the Code of Hammurabi represent one of the earliest known legal systems.
“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 todeath.” The laws governed such things as lying, stealing, assault, debt, business partnerships, marriage, and divorce. In seeking protection for all members of Babylonian society, Hammurabi relied on the philosophy of equal retaliation, otherwise known as “an eye for an eye.”
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.
The Annual Flooding of the Nile 4,160 Miles Long
“Gifts of the Nile” Predictable flooding (Summer Time) Mild flooding therefore able to use river for irrigation Prevailing winds made trade possible both north and south on the river Rich deposits of clay, granite, sandstone & limestone used for building Silt deposits rich for farming papyrus used for mats, rope, sandals, baskets, paper
Menes: Unifier of Upper & Lower Egypt ca. 3050 B. C. E. ?
3 Kingdoms of Egypt Old Kingdom • Great time for Pyramid Building; Sphinx • Society divided into only upper and lower • Civil Wars destroy 2650-2134 B.C.
3 Kingdoms Cont’d Middle Kingdom • Called the “Golden Age” b/c of Prosperity • Hyksos take over Egypt for a while • Officially part of the Bronze Age now 2040- 1640 B.C.
3 Kingdoms Cont’d New Kingdom • Pushed Hyksos out • New Slave Labor • Immense Wealth and Prosperity • Akhenaten tries to push Monotheism- (Aton- The Sun God) 1550-1070 B.C.
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 and his archaeologists found the Rosetta Stone.
Hieroglyphics “Alphabet” 24 “letters” + 700 phonetic symbols
Papyrus is one of the first examples of paper. It is created from reeds growing along the Nile River. Papyrus
Egyptian Gods & Goddesses: Osiris Isis Horus
Preparations for the Underworld ANUBIS weighs the dead person’s heart against a feather. Priests protected your KA, or soul-spirit
The Final Judgement Anubis Horus Osiris
Egyptian Mummies Ramses II1279-1212 B. C. E. Seti I1291-1278 B. C. E. Queen Tiye, wife of Amenhotep II1210-1200 B. C. E.
Ankhenaton: First Monotheist 1352-1336 B. C. E.
Indus River Valley (page 53)2500 BC – 1500 BC Around 2600 B.C. the various regional cultures were united in what is called the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also commonly referred to as the Harappan culture after the town of Harappa (where it was first discovered.)
Excavations at the ancient Harappan and Mohenjo Daro mounds revealed well planned cities and towns built on massive mud brick platforms that protected the inhabitants against seasonal floods. In the larger cities the houses were built of baked brick while at smaller towns most houses were built of sun-dried mud brick. Each city is laid out in a grid pattern and shows signs of stunningly modern plumbing systems. Much writing has been found at these sites, but it has not yet been translated.
Shang China1600 BC – 1122 BC Lack of contact with foreigners helped give the Chinese a strong sense of identity and superiority. They regarded their land as the only civilized land and called it Zhongguo or the Middle Kingdom. This Chinese isolation contributed to the Chinese belief that China was at the center of the earth and the sole source of civilization.
