Western Civilization to c CIV Professor Ed Lamoureux Day 3 January 25, 2016

For the most part, its where WE came from & what happened there makes US what we are BUT: Who are WE and US?

We are ALL African Americans (or at least, African Whatevers)

And we, those in Western civilizations, are the most so, because the Mediterranean regions where our Western ancestor groups started were MOST strongly related to Africa of all

For the most part, its where WE came from & what happened there makes US what we are BUT: Who are WE and US?

It’s increasingly the case that these features apply to folks who were once in the majority in the USA, but not for much longer as people from so-called “non-Western “ cultures join us

Western Civilization

Perhaps preferences for the best aspects of Western Civilization will endure. Perhaps not At their best, however, they provide us with ideals to seek and low points to avoid.

“The West” and the “other” parts that lead to it

The Mesopotamian Parts (sort of) and the parts the lead to

Pre-Mesopotamia (pre-3500BC) Major contributions to Civilization Speech Farming, esp. irrigation Boats Bricks Popular arts (weaving, dyeing, tanning, pottery) Lighting with oil lamps Tool use, stone then metal Writing (and all it brings) Construction methods Metal works Trade outside cohort

From Timetables of History, Bernard Grun, Simon & Schuster, 1979, p. 2-3.

Pre-Mesopotamia Major contributions to WESTERN Civilization ? By 4000 BC, parts of Mesopotamia had the wheel. The wheel (and carts) didn’t get to Egypt right away, but eventually, get to the West. Later to China. The other innovations... Were... But other civilizations, esp. the Chinese also had many of them near the times of appearance in the West. AND, the south (Africa) took a lot from their close connections (Egypt) but ended up with different cultural outcomes.

Mesopotamia Major contributions to Civilization Oral epic literature (some that would eventually be written down) Code of Hammurabi & Law More and improved modes of writing (moving toward letters as we know them) Religious variety, with specificity, headed toward personification Headed toward Math Objects as adornments Wood and clay architecture Walled cities Ziggurats (“pre-pyramids” w/specific shapes, designs, executions, and towers)

Reverse side of a pictographic tablet from Jamdat Nasr, near Kish, Iraq, ca B.C.E., listing accounts involving animals and various commodities including bread and beer.

Sumerian writing from pictographic script to cuneiform script To phonetic system.

Mesopotamia Major contributions to WESTERN Civilization ? Code of Hammurabi & Law More and improved modes of writing (moving toward letters as we know them) Religious variety, with specificity, headed toward personification “Urbanization” (city systems), some with fortifications tied to the politics

Egypt

Egypt: 3,000 years Approximate dates, fully rounded

Egypt: 3,000 years Old Kingdom: BC First Intermediate: BC Middle Kingdom: BC Second Intermediate: BC New Kingdom: BC Third Intermediate: BC Late Kingdom: BC Dates with more precision

Old Kingdom: BC 3 rd – 6 th Dynasties The Great Pyramids were constructed in the 4 th Dynasty within the Old Kingdom, ( BC)

Great pyramids of Gizeh: from left to right, Menkure, ca b.c.e., Khufu (Khefren), ca b.c.e., Khafre, ca b.c.e. Top height approx. 480 ft The Great Sphinx. Ca BCE. 65 ft high x 240 ft long.

First Intermediate: BC War, famine, and fragmentation among the people. Conquest by Thebes: Montjuhotep I succeeded in subduing the entire country.

Middle Kingdom: BC 11 th -14 th Dynasties El Lahun, Pyramid of Senusret II

Second Intermediate: BC The original folks take (back over) from the foreigner Thebes but are also co-opted by the Hyksos

New Kingdom: BC 18 th -20 th Dynasties Statue of Hatshepsut as Pharoah, 18th Dynasty, c B.C.E. Granite, 7' 11" high. Roughly the time of Moses and the exodus.. Maybe around 1446 BC : The reign of Ramses II brings Egypt to the height of its power

Third Intermediate: BC Civil wars and decline in the Imperial kingdom (abroad) Threats and Conquests by Assyrians Neo-Babylonians Persians

Late Kingdom: BC 25 th Dynasty through Roman Rule Eventually, all roads lead to Rome