2. Mesopotamia “Between the rivers” Modern-day Iraq “fertile crescent”
Tigris and Euphrates
Modern-day Iraq
“fertile crescent”
Sumerians the dominant people

3. The Wealth of the Rivers
Nutrient-rich silt
Key: irrigation
Need to work together
Promoted development of local governments
City-states
Sumer begins small-scale irrigation 6000 B.C.E.
By 5000 B.C.E., complex irrigation networks
Population reaches 100,000 by 3000 B.C.E.

4. Sumerian City-States Cities appear 4000 B.C.E.
Dominate region from 3200 to 2350 B.C.E.
Ziggurat home of the god
Uruk
Irrigation systems
Defense from nomadic marauders
Absolute monarchies

5. Political Decline of Sumer
Sargon of Akkad ( B.C.E.)
Destroyed Sumerian city-states one by one, created empire based in Akkad
Empire unable to maintain chronic rebellions
Hammurabi of Babylon ( B.C.E.)
Improved taxation, legislation
Used local governors to maintain control of city-state
Babylonian empire later destroyed by Hittites from Anatolia, ca B.C.E.

6. Legal System Code of Hammurabi
Established high standards of behavior and stern punishment for violators
Lex talionis – “law of retaliation”
Social status and punishment

7. Later Mesopotamian Empires
Assyrians use new iron weaponry
Beginning 1300 B.C.E., by 8th to 7th centuries B.C.E. control Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, most of Egypt
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (r ) takes advantage of internal dissent to create Chaldean (New Babylonian) empire

9. Technological Development in Mesopotamia
Bronze (copper with tin), ca B.C.E.
Military, agricultural applications
Iron, ca B.C.E.
Cheaper than bronze
Wheel, boats, 3500 B.C.E.
Shipbuilding increases trade networks

10. Social Classes Ruling classes based on military prowess
Offspring of gods
Religious classes
Role: intervention with gods to ensure good fortune for community
Considerable landholdings, other economic activities
Free commoners
Peasant cultivators
Some urban professionals
Slaves
POW, criminals, debtors

11. Patriarchal Society Men as landowners, relationship to status
Patriarchy: “rule of the father”
Right to sell wives, children
Double standard of sexual morality
Women drowned for adultery
Relaxed sexual mores for men
Possibilities of social mobility for women
Court advisers, temple priestesses, economic activity
Introduction of the veil at least ca B.C.E.

12. Development of Writing
Sumerians experiment with pictographs
2900 B.C.E. Sumerians create writing system
Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped”
Preservation of documents on clay
Declines from 400 B.C.E. with spread of Greek alphabetic script

13. Mesopotamian Literature
Epic of Gilgamesh, compiled after 2000 B.C.E.
Heroic saga
Search for meaning, especially the afterlife
This-worldly emphasis

14. The Early Hebrews
Hebrew scripture, Abraham migrated to northern Mesopotamia ca B.C.E.
Parallels between early biblical texts, code of Hammurabi
Scriptures state Hebrews under Moses go to Palestine, ca B.C.E.
On-going conflict with indigenous populations
King David ( B.C.E.) and Solomon ( B.C.E.)

15. Moses and Monotheism
Hebrews shared polytheistic beliefs of other Mesopotamian civilizations
Moses introduced monotheism, belief in single god
Denied existence of competing parallel deities
Personal god: reward and punishment for conformity with revealed law
The Torah (“doctrine or teaching”)

17. The Phoenicians
City-states along Mediterranean coast after 3000 B.C.E.
Extensive maritime trade
Dominated Mediterranean trade, B.C.E.
Development of alphabet symbols
Simpler alternative to cuneiform
Spread of literacy

18. Indo-European Migrations
Common roots of many languages of Europe, southwest Asia, India
Implies influence of a single Indo-European people
Probable original homeland: modern-day Ukraine and Russia, B.C.E.
Domestication of horses, use of Sumerian weaponry allowed them to spread widely

20. Implications of Indo-European Migration
Hittites migrate to central Anatolia, ca B.C.E., later dominate Babylonia
Influence on trade
Horses, chariots with spiked wheels
Iron
Migrations to western China, Greece, Italy also significant

21. Early African Societies and the Bantu migrations

22. Development of African Agriculture
Sahara desert originally highly fertile region
Western Sudan region nomadic herders, ca B.C.E.
Domestication of cattle ca B.C.E.
Later, cultivation of sorghum, yams, increasingly diverse
Widespread desiccation of the Sahara ca B.C.E.

23. The Gift of the Nile Gradual, predictable flooding
Deposits support productive agricultural society
“Gift of the Nile”

24. Early Agriculture in Nile Valley
10,000 B.C.E. migrants from Red Sea hills (northern Ethiopia)
Introduce collection of wild grains
5000 B.C.E. Sudanic cultivators, herders migrate to Nile River valley
Adaptation to seasonal flooding of Nile through construction of dikes, waterways
Villages dot Nile by 4000 B.C.E.

25. Impact on Political Organization
Need for formal organization of public affairs
Need to maintain order and organize community projects
Egypt: simple, local irrigation projects
Rural rather than heavily urban development
Trade networks develop

26. Unification of Egypt Menes, ca. 3100, unifies Egyptian kingdom
Tradition: founder of Memphis, cultural and political center of ancient Egypt
Rule of the pharaoh
Claimed descent from the gods
Absolute rulers, had slaves buried with them from 2600 B.C.E.
Most powerful during Archaic Period ( B.C.E.) and Old Kingdom ( B.C.E.)

27. The Pyramids Symbols of the pharaoh’s authority and divine status
A testimony of the pharaohs’ ability to marshal Egypt’s resources
Largest Khufu (Cheops), 2.3 M limestone blocks, average weight 2.5 tons
Role: burial chambers for pharaohs

28. The New Kingdom
Few pyramids, but major monumental architectural projects
Engaged in empire-building to protect against foreign invasion
After New Kingdom, local resistance drives Egypt out of Nubia
Kingdom of Kush revives ca B.C.E.
Invasions of Kushites, Assyrians destroy Egypt mid-sixth century B.C.E.

29. Economic Specialization
Bronze metallurgy introduced late, with Hyksos invasion
Development of iron early, ca. 900 B.C.E.
Trade along Nile River
More difficult in Nubia due to cataracts
Sea trade in Mediterranean

30. Hieroglyphs “Holy inscriptions”
Writing appeared at least by 3200 B.C.E.
Pictographic, symbols representing sounds and ideas
Survives on monuments, buildings, and sheets of papyrus
Hieroglyphs for formal writing, hieratic script for everyday affairs used from 2600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
Greek alphabet adopted – demotic and Coptic scripts
Meroitic writing: flexible system borrowed from hieroglyphs, represents sounds rather than ideas

31. Development of Organized Religious Traditions
Principal gods Amon and Re
Religious tumult under Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) (r B.C.E.)
Introduces sole worship of sun god Aten
One of the world’s earliest expressions of monotheism
Death of Akhenaten, traditional priests restore the cult of Amon-Re to privileged status