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

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

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

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

Sumerian Ziggurat

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

Egyptian drawing of Priest-King

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

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

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

Hammurabi Bust

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

Library of Nineveh

Excavated Ruins of the Library

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

Tower of Babel

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

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

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

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

Social Structure Upper Class Pharaoh Priests and Scribes, Merchants, Professionals Upper Class Workers, Peasants, Slaves

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

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