Ancient Middle East & Egypt 3200 B.C.-500B.C. Chapter 2

Ancient Sumer & Middle East Key Words Fertile Crescent hierarchy cuneiform Mesopotamia ziggurat Sumer Essential Questions: What were the characteristics of the worlds first civilization?

Fertile Crescent Narrow region of good farm land along Tigris, Euphrates, & Nile Rivers of the Middle East Mesopotamia: “Land between two rivers” Sumer: world’s first civilization

Water, Water, everywhere Tigris & Euphrates rivers flooded  major damage to homes & crops Epic of Gilgamesh: Mesopotamian poem that told of a world-wide flood Had few natural resources Used bricks to build first cities Maybe invented the wheel Tigris & Euphrates rivers floodedmajor damage to homes & crops Epic of Gilgamesh: Mesopotamian poem that told of a world-wide flood Villagers & farmers had to work together to control water for farming irrigation Had few natural resources Used bricks to build first cities Thought to have invented the wheel

Sumerian Civilization Sumer= 12 separate city-states who battled for control Complex Gov’t: Leaders responsible for maintaining walls & irrigation, leading armies, enforcing laws, & lead religious ceremonies Society Structure: Hierarchy: system of ranking groups of people Sumer= 12 separate city-states who battled for control Complex Gov’t: Leaders responsible for maintaining walls & irrigation, leading armies, enforcing laws, & lead religious ceremonies {Will this system work? Why or Why not?} Society Structure: Hierarchy: system of ranking groups of people High=rulers Middle= priests/merchants Low=farmers/peasants Women: highly honored in religion, no legal rights, or education

Religion & Writing Polytheistic: worshipped many gods Ziggurat: large, stepped platform temple to house chief god of city & performed ceremonies in & around it Cuneiform: Sumerian writing form, Pictures + symbols Records of money exchanges, myths & religion, and laws

Lasting Legacy Sumerians developed early number system Based on number 6, set up 60 minute hours & 360° circles Developed basic algebra & geometry Studied constellations, created accurate calendars, and predicted eclipses

Organize it! Ancient Sumer

Summary How did the geography of Sumer help it develop? What were major contributions made by Sumerians? What were characteristics of the world’s first civilization? Geography (Mesopotamia, Fertile Crescent) Social Hierarchy (low, middle, high) Cities from mud bricks Polytheistic religions & ziggurats Cuneiform, Algebra, Geometry, Time Conquered by others Main Idea?

INVADERS, TRADERS, & EMPIRES Chapter 2 Section 2

INVADERS, TRADERS, & EMPIRES KEY TERMS HAMMURABI CIVIL LAW CRIMINAL LAW NEBUCHADNEZZAR BARTER ECONOMY MONEY ECONOMY ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How did various strong rulers unite the lands of the Fertile Crescent?

First Empires in Mesopotamia Hammurabi= Ruler of Babylon Created written code of laws to govern people (Hammurabi’s Code) Civil Law: private rights (property, marriages, taxes) Criminal Law: offenses against others (robbery, murder, assault) “Eye for an Eye” code of punishment

Conquests= New Empires Assyrians: Most feared in Mesopotamia Looted, then destroyed everything in their path Built city of Nineveh & first library Nebuchadnezzar: took over and strengthened Babylonian Empire Rebuilt crumbling cities & made a moat & brick walls around city Built beautiful “hanging gardens” for wife

Persian Empire Persian Empire expanded from Asia Minor to India Included Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, & Pakistan King Darius I: built roads across empire & encouraged people to move to a money-based trade Barter Economy: typical for the day, exchange of one set of goods/services for another Money Economy: Exchanging goods/services for money and coins

Phoenicians (Fo-nee-shans) Phoenicians became powerful on the sea and took over coastal cities Best known for trade Set up colonies to trade better with Africa, Italy, & Spain Established a written alphabet More advanced than cuneiform Base for Greek alphabet English alphabet

Summary How did strong rulers unite people of Fertile Crescent? Established laws & government Spread knowledge of tools/iron (Assyrians) Spread knowledge through library & alphabet Great architecture (Babylon) Money economy & better trade

Kingdom on the Nile Chapter 2

Kingdom on the nile Key Words Bureaucracy Vizier Hatshepsut Amon-Re Mummification Hieroglyphics Rosetta Stone Essential Questions: “How did the Nile Rover influence the rise of the powerful civilization of Egypt?” How did religion and learning play important roles in ancient Egyptian civilization?

Geography Shapes Egypt W/O Nile River, Egypt= desert Nile= world’s longest river Annual flood= farming benefits Able to store water for later use Egypt= 2 Regions (Upper & Lower)

Old Kingdom Ancient Egypt history: divided into 3 kingdoms (Old Middle, New) Dynasty: ruling family, power and land passed from one to another Pharaohs: kings(absolute power) Bureaucracy: system of gov’t, includes different job functions & levels of authority Vizier: supervised business side of gov’t (taxes, irrigation, farming, etc.) Built during Old Kingdom

Middle Kingdom Power struggles, crop failures, & economic failure fall of Old Kingdom Corruption & Rebellion & unpredictable flooding of Nile= turbulent Middle Kingdom

Behind Every great man is a… After 100 years of Hyksos rule= New Kingdom & leaders Hatshepsut: first female pharaoh Thutmose III: Stepson, great military leader, expanded Egypt’s borders 332 BC Greeks took control then Romans

Religion Shapes life in Egypt Egyptians made lasting contributions to civilization in many areas: science, religion, language, writings, art, literature, etc. Old Kingdom= “Sun god”, Re Middle Kingdom= Supreme god, Amon-Re Egyptians viewed gods & kings/pharaohs equally

Isis & Osiris Isis= goddess of afterlife Osiris= ruler of the dead Osiris ruled Egypt until brother killed him & cut up body all over Egypt Isis saved him, reassembled pieces, brought back to life Osiris became god of the dead & of the Nile

Mummification Mummification: preserves body by embalming & wrapping in cloth Soul would be able to return to this body in afterlife Buried in pyramid with all of belongings (to take with you) Usually just for pharaohs & leaders Preserved body so well, recognized thousands of years later

Learning in Egypt Wrote language in hieroglyphics Written language using symbols and pictures Deciphered by Rosetta Stone Contained 3 languages used to decipher hieroglyphics Invented material to write on=papyrus (paper) Applied science and math to astronomy & constellations, construction of pyramids, and calendar

Summary http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/explore-ancient-egypt.html http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/ What are the three main periods of Egyptian history? Why was Hatshepsut important? How did Egypt benefit from the Nile River? Main Idea: The history of Egypt can be divided into three kingdoms, Old, Middle, and New. The success of Egypt depended on the Nile River.