1. Chapter 2 Ancient Middle East and Egypt
Chapter Focus:
What distinct characteristics did the early civilizations and empires of the Middle East and Egypt develop?

2. Stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea*
2.1 – City-States of Ancient Sumer Focus: What were the characteristics of the world’s first civilization?
Fertile Crescent*
Stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea*

3. 2.1 Ancient Sumer Mesopotamia*– “between the rivers”*
Within the Fertile Crescent
Between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Location of first civilization: Sumer*

4. 2.1 Sumer
Sumerian Civilization
12 separate city-states
Battle to control land & water
War leaders evolve
Hereditary rule

5. 2.1 Sumerian Civilization
Government
Ruler responsible
City walls
Irrigation system
Led army
Employed scribes
Chief servant of gods
Led ceremonies
Society
Social Hierarchy:* system of ranking groups
Ruling family officials, high priests
Lesser priests, scribes, merchants, artisans
Peasant farmers
Slaves

6. 2.1 Sumerian Civilization
Religion
Polytheistic: worship many gods*
Ziggurat: large stepped platform topped by a temple dedicated to the city’s chief god or goddess – rituals and prayers*
After-life*
All live in a grim underworld with no release*

7. 2.1 Sumerian Civilization
Writing (3200 BC)
Cuneiform:*
system of writing using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets*
Earliest known form of writing (myths, prayers, laws, contracts)

8. 2.1 Sumerian Civilization
Legacy
1900 BC – Sumerian civilization replaced by other civilizations & empires
Conquerors adopt ideas
Developed astronomy
Movement of planets & stars
Mathematics
Number system based on 6
60 minute hour
360 degree circle

9. 2. 2 – First Empires in Mesopotamia
2.2 – First Empires in Mesopotamia* Focus: How did various strong rulers unite the lands of the Fertile Crescent into well-organized empires?
Sargon (2300 BC)*
Ruler of Akkad
Conquers Sumer city-states
First empire in history*
Collapses after his death

10. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Hammurabi (1700 BC)*
King of Babylon
Hammurabi’s Code*– first written law code (~300)
Codify* – arrange and set down in writing
“eye for an eye & a life for a life”
Civil Law*– private rights – taxes, marriage, divorce, property*
Criminal Law*– offenses against others – robbery, assault, murder*

11. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Hittites*( BC)
From Asia Minor
Skill
how to make iron*
Sharper, harder, cheaper

12. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Assyrians (1350 BC)
Feared warriors
Ordered Society
Laws for royal household
First libraries
612 BC - defeated

13. Assyrians
Skinning Alive

14. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Babylon* (625 BC) largest city
King Nebuchadnezzar*
Rebuilt canals, temples, walls, & palaces
Hanging Gardens*

15. Babylon

16. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Persia*
539 BC – Conquer Babylon
Cyrus the Great*
Largest empire – Asia Minor to India
Policy of tolerance to those conquered**

17. 2.2 Persia - Mesopotamia Barter Economy
exchange a good or service for another
Money Economy
Good paid for through exchange of token

18. 2.2 Persia - Mesopotamia
Persian Religion*
Zoroaster*(600 BC) – Persian religious thinker
Taught of a “single” wise god – Ahura Mazda
Prince of lies and evil – Ahriman
Final judgment day*

19. 2.2 First Empires in Mesopotamia
Phoenicians*
Occupied cities along eastern Mediterranean coast
Manufacturing and trade
Purple dye
Colony* – territory settled and ruled by people from another land
“carriers of civilization”*
Alphabet – each symbol represents a single basic sound
22 symbols
Greeks add vowels

20. Phoenician Colonies

21. Phoenician Alphabet

22. 2.3 – Kingdom on the Nile Focus: How did the Nile influence the rise of the powerful civilization of Egypt?
Nile*
4,100 miles; longest river in the world
Northward flow
Black Land – fertile land (10 miles wide)
Red Land – desert

23. 2.3 - Egypt Floods Reservoirs (dry season) Irrigation Yearly Flood
Floods in July
Recedes in October
Flood – Plant – Harvest

24. 2.3 - Egypt Geography* Upper Egypt (South)* Lower Egypt (North)*
From first cataracts, waterfall & rapids, to 100 miles from Med. Sea*
Lower Egypt (North)*
Delta* region – triangular marshlands; Nile empties into the Med. Sea*

26. 2.3 – Egypt Old Kingdom Old Kingdom
Dynasty* – ruling family; power passes from one ruler to another
Pharaohs* – Egyptian kings
Human & divine
Absolute Power – own & rule all land
Bureaucracy* – system of govn’t made up of different jobs and authority levels
Vizier* – chief minister who supervises govn’t
Various depts. – taxes, farming, etc.

27. 2.3 - Egypt Old Kingdom Great Pyramids** Necropolis* – cemeteries
Tombs where deceased live for eternity
Collapse
Power struggles
Crop failures
Cost of building pyramids
Disunite

28. 2.3 - Egypt Middle Kingdom Turbulent period
Nile doesn’t flood regularly
Corruption & rebellion
1700 BC
Hyksos* take over (100 year rule)
Introduce horse-drawn war chariot**
Adopted Egyptian culture

29. 2.3 – Egypt New Kingdom Hatshepsut (1472-1458 BC) Thutmose III
Empire reaches as far as Syria & the Euphrates River
Hatshepsut ( BC)
first female ruler; encouraged trade
Thutmose III
Hatshepsut’s stepson; took over after becoming an adult
Warlike
Stretched borders to greatest extent*

30. 2.3 – Egypt New Kingdom Ramses II* (1279-1213 BC)
Battles – Hittites vs. Egyptians
First recorded peace treaty*
99 years old – 150 children

31. 2.3 - Egypt Decline After 1100 BC
332 BC – last Egyptian dynasty ended; Greeks control
30 BC – Roman armies displace Greeks

32. 2.4- Egypt Focus: How did religion and learning play important roles in ancient Egyptian civilization?
Religion
most important gods are associated with the sun and the Nile
Amon-Re* – lord of the Gods; gave pharaohs right to rule & judged their actions*

33. 2.4 - Egypt Osiris* God of the dead; judges the soul*
God of the Nile; controls the flood*
Isis
Daily lives of women

34. 2.4 - Egypt Afterlife Book of the Dead* Osiris judges soul
Eater of the Dead
Happy Field of Food
Book of the Dead*
Spells, charms, and formulas to survive the underworld journey*

35. 2.4 - Egypt Mummification*
Preservation of body by embalming and wrapping in cloth (use body in afterlife)*

36. 2.4 – Egypt Social Hierarchy
Pharaoh & Royal Family
Govn’t officials & High Priests
Merchants, Scribes, & Artisans
Peasants & Slaves

37. 2.4 - Egypt Social Class Peasants
Off-season: build palaces, temples, & tombs
Women
Inherit property, buy & sell goods, divorce
Excluded from govn’t jobs & becoming scribes

38. 2.4 – Egypt Writing Hieroglyphics*
Using pictures of symbols to represent objects, concepts, or sounds*
Record important economic, royal, & official historical information

39. 2.4 – Egypt Writing Hieratic & Demotic
Simple, cursive, script for everyday use
Papyrus
Plant that grows along the banks of the Nile*
Paperlike writing material

40. Demotic

41. 2.4 – Egypt Writing Rosetta Stone*
Passage carved on flat, black stone in hieroglyphics, demotic script, and Greek*
Decipher meanings of many hieroglyphics*

42. 2.4 – Egypt Science & Mathematics
Medicine
Human body – mummification
Surgical operations
Astronomy
Calendar: 12 months of 30 days
Mathematics
Geometry
Survey land
Construction of pyramids & temples

43. Judaism is a monotheistic religion, what does this mean?
2.5 – Roots of Judaism Focus: How did the worship of only one god shape Judaism?
What group of people is crediting with creating the religion of Judaism?
Israelites/Hebrews
Judaism is a monotheistic religion, what does this mean?
One god – made Judaism different

44. The Israelites regard Abraham as what? Why?
2.5 - Judaism
There was a Jewish belief that history and faith were connected, this lead to the creation of what book? Describe this book:
Torah – First five books of the Hebrew Bible
The Israelites regard Abraham as what? Why?
The Father of Judaism…he made a pact with God

45. Who united the twelve tribes of Israel?
2.5 - Judaism
Define covenant:
A binding agreement
In Egypt the Israelites were in which social class? Who led the Israelites out of Egypt?
They were slaves, held in bondage – freed by Moses
Who united the twelve tribes of Israel?
David

46. What city was established as the Jewish capital?
2.5 - Judaism
What city was established as the Jewish capital?
Jerusalem
Define patriarchal:
Men held the highest authority/ and made decisions…also means relating to the father

47. 2.5 - Judaism
10. In the Jewish faith, the Sabbath is held in high regard. Define Sabbath:
The Sabbath is a day of rest and worship
11. What was the Diaspora? Why was this event important?
The migration of Jewish people (Hebrews) throughout the world, in order to escape Babylonian captivity