1. The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
Chapter 1
The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations

2. Chauvet Cave
Chauvet Cave
This cave in southern France, which contains the oldest and best preserved prehistoric paintings, was discovered on December 18, More than two hundred depictions of animals have been found. (Jean Clottes/Ministere de la Culture/Corbis Sygma)

3. Neolithic goddess
Neolithic goddess
Many versions of a well-nourished pregnant female figure were found in the Neolithic ruins of Catal Huyuk, a large town in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Here she is supported by twin leopards whose tails curve over her shoulders. To those who inhabited the city this figure likely represented fertility and power over nature. (C.M. Dixon)

4. Overview of Ur
Overview of Ur
This photograph gives a good idea of the size and complexity of Ur, one of the most powerful cities in Mesopotamia (present Iraq). In the lower right-hand corner stands the massive ziggurat of Umammu. (Georg Gerster/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

5. Gilgamesh (detail)
Gilgamesh (detail)
This top section of the front panel of this soundbox of a Sumerian harp depicts Gilgamesh embracing two man-faced bulls. (University of Pennsylvania Museum)

6. Gudea
Gudea
King Gudea was one of the powerful kings responsible for the creation of public works and temples that honored Sumerian deities in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. This statue bears an inscription describing a temple dedicated to the goddess Geshtin-anna. (R.M.N./Art Resource, NY)

7. Akkadian bronze of Sargon
This stern-faced, life-size cast-bronze head, with its stylized ringleted beard and carefully arranged hair, shows Mesopotamian craftsmanship at its finest. It is thought to be either Sargon ( B.C.) or Naram-sin (ca B.C.). (Claus Hansman)

8. Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Code of Hammurabi
The principal collection of laws in ancient Mesopotamia was the code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian ruler. Unearthed by French archaeologists in , this stele contained the code, which Hammurabi claimed rested on the authority of the gods. (Hirmer Verlag Munich)

9. Kassite cylinder seal
Kassite cylinder seal
The Kassites entered Babylonia from the north around 1600 B.C. and, with the help of the Hittites, gained control of the region. They provided the land with 300 years of peace and prosperity. This cylinder seal of King Burnaburiash shows a supplicant at worship. The dog in the foreground represents the goddess Giula. The animals above the king and supplicant serve as symbols of fertility and are linked to the gods. (Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz)

10. Two sides of Narmer Palette
This palette comes from Hierakonpolis, the sacred city of the prehistoric kingdom of Upper Egypt. It records the victory (over Delta) of King Narmer, who is shown on one side wearing the crown of Upper Egypt and on the other that of Lower Egypt. This monument commemorates the union of the two halves of Egypt. (Jean Vertut)

11. Pyramids
Pyramids
The best-known pyramids of the Old Kingdom are those built for Khufu, Khafre, and Menkure, better known by their Greek names, Cheops, Chephren, and Myerinus. Cheops' pyramid is 480 feet high; Chephren's is 470 feet high, and Myerinus' is 203 feet high. (John Ross)

12. Tomb model of presentation of cattle
This series of small wooden figures comes from the tomb of Meket Ra at Deir el Bahari (Thebes). Scenes of this type were intended to show how rich the occupant of the tomb was, and how his wealth procured him offerings even after his death. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)

13. Statue of Hatshepsut
Statue of Hatshepsut
This statue of the pharaoh Hatshepsut is one of the few to depict him as a woman. He is usually shown as a man, complete with beard, which symbolizes royal power. Centuries later the proportions and carving techniques of Egyptian stone sculpture would influence the Greeks. (Brian Brake/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

14. Egyptian Book of Dead
Egyptian Book of Dead
The Book of the Dead was written to guide the deceased person safely between this world and the afterlife. The texts are intimately aligned with the cult of Osiris and also contain references to a Day of Judgment. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)

15. Akhenaton and Aton
Akhenaton and Aton
The Pharaoh Amenhotep sought to replace traditional polytheism with the worship of Aton, a single god who was represented with the sun disk. Amenhotep took the name Akhenaton ("It is well with Aton"). This relief shows the king and his wife Nefertiti worshiping Aton. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

16. Coffin of Tutankhamen
Coffin of Tutankhamen
Tutankhamen, who died at the age of 18, was a minor king who ruled Egypt from about B.C. Although most Egyptian tombs have been plundered over the years, Tut's tomb was intact when it was discovered. (Robert Harding Picture Library)

17. Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel
Strategically placed at a bend in the Nile River to face the southern frontier, this monument was an advertisement of Egyptian power. A temple was carved into the cliff behind the gigantic statues of the pharaoh. Within the temple, a corridor decorated with reliefs of military victories leads to an inner shrine containing images of the divine ruler seated alongside three of the major gods. In a modern marvel of engineering, the monument was moved to higher ground in the 1960s to protect it from rising waters when a dam was constructed upriver. (Susan Lapides/Woodfin Camp & Associates)

18. Hittite warrior
Hittite warrior
This tall figure was carved on the wall of an entry gate to the city of Hattusas, the Hittite capital, during the New Kingdom Period. Fierce-looking, vigorous, and outfitted with battle ax, sword, kilt, and possibly mail shirt, he is designed to frighten away both human and supernatural enemies. (Ankara National Museum)

19. Hittite solar disc
Hittite solar disc
Perhaps the major contribution of the Hittites was the introduction of iron into war and agriculture in the form of weapons and tools. Here it was used to create a cult standard representing the Hittite concepts of fertility and prosperity. The circle surrounding the animals is the sun, beneath which stands a stag flanked by two bulls. Stylized bull's horns spread from the base of the disc. The symbol is also one of might and protection from outside harm. (Museum of Anatolian Civilization)

20. Door plaque of temple in Balawat
These figures are from a plaque attached to the doors of a temple built in the town of Imgur-Enil, now Balawat. The more important of these doors was commissioned by Shalmaneser III. (British Museum/Michael Holford)

21. Ashurbanipal on royal lion hunt
This relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, which shows the king fighting a lion, is a typical representation of the energy and artistic brilliance of Assyrian sculptors. The lion hunt, portrayed in a series of episodes, was a favorite theme of Assyrian palace reliefs. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)

22. Phoenician ivory of cow and calf
This small, delicately carved plaquette from Nimrud of a cow and calf illustrates the wealth of artistic talent at the disposal of the Phoenicians, whose civilization reached its peak between 1050 and 750 B.C. (Department of Antiquities, Iraq)

23. Relief of marine trade
Relief of marine trade
In this Assyrian relief Phoenician ships tow hewn logs for building purposes to a foreign port. Phoenician ships like these not only plied the eastern Aegean but also ventured into the western Mediterranean. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)

24. Ishtar Gate
Ishtar Gate
Babylon was protected by a double enclosure totaling over 11 miles in length. The north side was the most strongly fortified. In front a double castle protected the main gate, which was dedicated to Ishtar, and housed a kind of museum containing ancient and foreign monuments. Here we see a reconstruction of the magnificent Ishtar Gate. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)

25. Tomb of Cyrus
Tomb of Cyrus
Cyrus the Great (r B.C.), king of the Persians, was one of the most remarkable statesmen of antiquity. For all his greatness Cyrus retained a sense of perspective, and his tomb, though monumental in size, is rather simple and unostentatious. Greek writers reported that it bore the following epitaph: "O man, I am Cyrus the son of Cambyses. I established the Persian Empire and was king of Asia. Do not begrudge me my memorial." (The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)

26. Stone relief of Persian Magi
This stone relief from Dascylium, headquarters of the Persian governor in northwest Anatolia, shows two magi wearing veils over their mouths and holding bundles of sticks used in the ceremony of sacrifice. The Persian kings and their subordinates were Zoroastrians, and it is likely that Zoroastrianism spread to the provinces, where significant numbers of Persians lived, and influenced the beliefs of other peoples. (Archaeological Museums of Istanbul)

27. Silver rhyton
Silver rhyton
This Achaemenid Persian silver rhyton (drinking vessel) is in the shape of a griffin, a mythological animal that is part lion and part eagle. Persian rulers commanded the talents of western Asia's best artists and craftsmen, silversmiths among them. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)

28. Persepolis
Persepolis
Darius I began the elaborate citadel; his son, Xerxes, continued its construction; and his grandson, Artaxerxes I, completed the magnificent city of Persepolis, which was a confluence of styles--Median, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek. Only portions of the audience hall remain. (George Holton/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

29. Map: Spread of Cultures in the Ancient Near East
This map illustrates the spread of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures through a semicircular stretch of land often called the Fertile Crescent. From this area knowledge and use of agriculture spread throughout the western part of Asia Minor.

30. Map: Balance of Power in the Near East
This map shows the regions controlled by the Hittites and Egyptians at the height of their power. The striped area represents the part of Mesopotamia conquered by the Hittites during their expansion eastward.

31. Map: Small Kingdoms of the Near East
This map illustrates the political fragmentation of the Near East after the great wave of invasions that occurred during the thirteenth century B.C.

32. Map: Western Asia
Western Asia
In the Fertile Crescent, an arc-shaped region of dependable annual rainfall, the Neolithic Revolution began after 10,000 B.C. In southern Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the world's first urban civilization took root about B.C.

33. Map: Ancient Egypt and the Levant
The unique geography of the Nile Valley left a stamp on ancient Egypt. Fertile soil made Egypt wealthy, and the surrounding desert led to periods of isolation from nearby Africa and Asian cultures.

34. Map: The International System, ca. 1500-1250 B.C.
In this area of competing kingdoms and city-states, the most dramatic conflict was that between Egypt and the Hittites for control of Syria and Palestine.

35. Map: The Assyrian and Persian Empires
In the 660s B.C. the Assyrians ruled the largest empire the ancient world had seen yet, extending from the Tigris to the Nile. The Persian Empire was even greater. Around 500 B.C. it reached from its heartland in southwestern Iran westward to Macedonia and eastward to India.