River Civilizations: Southwest Asia Mesopotamia Indus Huang he Nile River Civilizations: Southwest Asia
The Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia “land between the rivers” Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Irrigation and drainage ditches leads to: growing crops on regular basis Civilization develops
First Civilization The Sumerians 3500 BC
1. Cities City-State: basic unit of the Sumerian civilization Examples: Ur, Uruk, and Kish
Sumer
Citizens of Ur pay their taxes Ur: World’s first city
Sumerian City-States
2. Government Theocracy – ruled by divine authority Kings got their power directly from the gods Priest & priestesses supervised the temples and had a great deal of power
3. Religion Temples were dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city Built on a massive stepped tower called a ziggurat Polytheistic – belief in many gods
The Ziggurat
Ziggurat today
4. Social Structure Nobles – royal & priestly officials Commoners – farmers, merchants, craftspeople Slaves – belonged to palace officials
5. Writing Cuneiform – “wedged shaped” system of writing Scribes held the most important positions in society
6. Art & Technology Wagon wheel Potter’s wheel Sundial Astronomy Number system based on 60 Geometry Arch
First Empires Large political state or unit, usually under a single leader, that controls many people or territories Easy to create & difficult to maintain
Akkadians Sargon – leader conquered Sumerians 2340 B.C.
Second Empire Babylon 1792 BC
Babylon Established a legal code based on strict justice Hammurabi – leader Established a legal code based on strict justice
Code of Hammurabi Based on the principle of retribution – “An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” Patriarchal society – dominated by men Page 41 & 44 in your textbook
The Phoenicians 1100 BC
Phoenicians Best known for their alphabet Simplified writing by using 22 different signs to represent the sounds of speech Passed on to the Greeks and eventually to us
The Children of Israel (Judaism)
Moses leads Jews back to Palestine http://www.christiancinema.com/films/ten.commandments.jpg
Movement of the Jews 7000 B.C. move from Ur to Palestine Drought around 1650 B.C. moved them from Palestine to Egypt Jews were enslaved in Egypt “ten lost tribes” 722 B.C.
Monotheistic Believed in only one God All other religions at this time were polytheistic Covenant, Commandments, Prophet
Torah “Bible” or holy book of the Jews
The Temple in Jerusalem
Assyria
From Northern Mesopotamia warlike and cruel
671 BC--crushed Mesopotamia and Egypt
612 BC--destroyed by combined enemies
Persia
550 BC Cyrus the Great conquers Fertile Crescent and Asia Minor
Wise and tolerant conqueror Respected local religions Prevented destruction Sent Jews back to Palestine Died in combat
Died in Battle Tomb of Cyrus the Great
Cambyses becomes king--back to brutality
Darius the Great (probably killed Cambyses) Extended the empire continued policies of Cyrus
Created efficient government Divided into 20 Provinces
Capital: Persepolis
United his empire through standard roads, coins, weights and measures
The Great Royal Road
Empire lasted 1,000 years
Zoroastrianism Religion of the Persians Founder was Zoroaster 600 B.C. Teachings written in the Zend Avesta Monotheistic
One God: Ahuramazda
Spiritual armies of light and dark Day of judgement Free will
The Fall of Persia Weak Kings after Darius Too many sons fighting for power (one had 115) Alexander the Great
Assyrian Empire 700 B.C. – 612 B.C. Committed atrocities on their captives Fell to the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar