1. Chapter 1 From the Origins of Agriculture to the first Early River Valley Civilizations

2. Before Civilization Stone Age- 2 million to 4 thousand years ago
Stone age is subdivided into the Paleolithic age (old stone age to 10,000 years ago) and the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)
Stone tools are developed in the Paleolithic Age

3. This cave is significant b/c
Chauvet Cave On December 18, 1994, this cave in southern France was discovered by Jean-Marie Chauvet, a French official. It contains the oldest and best preserved prehistoric cave paintings; more than three hundred paintings were found of animals that inhabited the Stone Age world, including panthers, cave bears, and mammoths. This black-painted panel in the Chauvet Cave shows horses, rhinoceroses, and wild oxen. (Jean Clottes/Ministere de la Culture)

4. Fossilized footprints
Archaeologist Mary Leakey (shown at top of photo) found these remarkable footprints of a hominid adult and child at Laetoli, Tanzania. The pair had walked through fresh volcanic ash that solidified after being buried by a new volcanic eruption. Dated at 3.5 million years old, the footprints are the oldest evidence of bipedalism yet found. (SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
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5. The Agricultural Revolutions
The first stage of the long process of domestication of plants was semi cultivation
The next stage was the use of fire
The transition to agriculture took place first and is best documented in the Middle East
The environments in which agriculture developed dictated the choice of crops

6. Domestication of animals proceeded at the same time as domestication of plants
As with plants, domestication of animals occurred independently in various parts of the world
Helocene Period 9000 B.C.E. - when most historians agree that a global warming made people transition from hunter gathering lifestyles to agricultural or pastoralist lifestyles.
This change took place most likely due to a reduction in the supply of game and wild food plants
The agricultural revolution increased population from 10 million in 5000 B.C.E to between 50 and 100 million in 1000 B.C.E

7. Centers of Plant and Animal Domestication
Many different parts of the world made original contributions to domestication during the agricultural revolutions that began about 10,000 years ago. Later interactions helped spread these domesticated animals and plants to new locations. In lands less suitable for crop cultivation, pastoralism and hunting predominated. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)

8. Life in Neolithic Communities
Early food-producing societies used megaliths and seemed to relate to religious beliefs
Stonehenge, pictured here, was built around 2000 bce and used to mark the position of the sun and other celestial bodies at different times of the year.

9. Question? How would religious beliefs differ for foragers and farmers?
Answer: Foragers would place importance on sacred fields, springs, and wild animals v. farmers that would praise the Earth Mother, Sky God, or deities representing fire, wind, and rain

10. Early Towns and Specialists
Most people in early food-producing societies lived in villages
Larger Towns would also develop in Neolithic times
The two best-known examples of the remains of Neolithic towns are at Jericho and Çatal Hüyük.
Jericho, on the west bank of the Jordan River, was a walled town with mud-brick structures and dates back to 8000 B.C.E.

11. Jericho

12. Catal Huyuk
Çatal Hüyük, in central Anatolia, dates to 7000–5000 b.c.e.
Çatal Hüyük was a center for the trade in obsidian.
Ask what obsidian is

13. Catal Huyuk
The art of Çatal Hüyük reflects a continued fascination with hunting, but the remains indicate that agriculture was the mainstay of the economy.

14. Catal Huyuk

15. Catal Huyuk

16. 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)
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17. Impact of Agricultural Rev (Neolithic Rev)
As a result of possible climate change permanent agricultural villages emerged first in the Mediterranean. It then spread through the 4 ERV civilizations
Differentiation of crops and animals emerged depending on locale
Communities had to work cooperatively
Negative impact on environment through grazing of large areas and leading to erosion.

18. Impact continued
More food and a reliable food source which in turn inc. the pop.
Surplus=specialization of labor=new classes=development of the elites
Gender inequality developed during this time period. Why?
Technological advancements led to improvement in agricultural production,trade, and transportation.
Pottery, Plows, Woven textiles, Metallurgy, Wheels and wheeled vehicles
Hunter and gathering =20% hunting and 80% gathering so women were more important prior to the agricultural revolution
During the Neolithic revolution a woman’s role moved to the family, etc. while the men were elevated to farming.
Give example of how most societies could originally trace their heritage through the matrilineal line.
Kikuyu famrers on Moutn Kenya in East Africa said that women ruled the men conspired to impregnant all the women at the same time so they couldn’t fight back.

19. Mesopotamia

20. Mesopotamia is the alluvial plain area alongside and between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
little rainfall
warm climate and good soil.
The earliest people of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians Approx B.C.E

21. A Sumerian cuneiform tablet from the city of Lagash, 2112-2004 B. C
A Sumerian cuneiform tablet from the city of Lagash, B.C., from the Ur III period. This tablet contains calculations of the area of fields for the town of Lagash.
Cuneiform is the earliest known form of writing

22. Early Mesopotamian society was a society of villages and cities linked together in a system of mutual interdependence
City States Developed
Larger Territorial states would develop
Akkadian state founded by Sargon of Akkad in 2350 B.C.E
Ur from B.C.E
“Old Babylonian” state founded by Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s Code- The first great laws of early Mesopotamian society

23. 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.E.) or Naram-sin (ca B.C.E.). (Claus Hansmann)
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24. 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)
First system of laws (skip over, they should know)
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25. 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.)
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26. Mesopotamia
Resources
Territorial Expansion Long Distance
Trade

27. Mesopotamian Society Kings, Priests controlled wealth
Three Classes of people
1. Free landowning people
2. Dependent farmers and artisans
3. Slaves (Prisoners of War)

28. Development of agriculture brought about a decline in the status of women
Men did the value-producing work of plowing and irrigation
Women had no political role
They could own property, control their dowry, and engage in trade.
Women’s social status would continue to decline with the rise of urban merchant class

29. Mesopotamian Religion
Anthropomorphic
Deities
(Human Characteristics
For Animals or Inanimate
Things)
Tutelary Gods
(Gods that protect
Each city)

30. (click on video) Temples (Ziggurat) Priesthood served the Gods
Common people possibly had beliefs in magic

31. Technology and science (click on video)
Cuneiform- evolved from the use of pictures to represent the sounds of words or parts of words.

32. Top 6 things to remember about Mesopotamia
The region was unstable due to the unpredictable changing of the currents of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which was caused by the flooding from snow melting in the northern mountains.
Sumerians created cuneiform and it marks the divide of pre-history and history and is an example of record keeping .
They lived in city-states and had sophisticated irrigation systems to support the large areas within the city states
First system of law=Code of Hammurabi
Kingship=gov’t
Religion=Gods that were anthropomorphic and needed nourishment from sacrifices at ziggurats
The floods would cause the rivers to change course cutting off fields and towns from water and river communication
Kings were in charge of temples, maintain city walls, defending the city state, deity representative on earth
Religion=polythesitic, ziggurats are still debated on their actual use=temples?

33. Egypt

34. The Land of Egypt: “Gift of the Nile”
The land of Egypt is defined by the Nile River, the narrow green strip of arable land on either side of its banks, and the fertile Nile delta area.
The rest of the country is barren desert, the unfriendly “Red Land” that contrasted with the “Black Land,” which was home to the vast majority of the Egyptian population

35. Egypt was traditionally divided into two areas: Upper Egypt, along the southern part of the Nile as far south as the First Cataract, and Lower Egypt, the northern delta area.
The climate was good for agriculture, but with little or no rainfall, farmers had to depend on the river for irrigation.

36. The Nile floods regularly and at the right time of year, leaving a rich and easily worked deposit of silt.
Egyptian agriculture depended upon the floods, and crops could be adversely affected if the floods were too high or not high enough.
Generally speaking, however, the floods were regular, and this inspired the Egyptians to view the universe as a regular and orderly place.

37. Egypt’s other natural resources included reeds (such as papyrus for writing), wild animals, birds and fish, plentiful building stone and clay, and access to copper and turquoise from the desert and gold from Nubia.

38. Divine Kingship
Egypt’s political organization evolved from a pattern of small states ruled by local kings to the emergence of a large, unified Egyptian state around 3100 b.c.e.
Historians organize Egyptian history into a series of thirty dynasties falling into three longer periods: the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. These three periods were divided by periods of political fragmentation and chaos.

39. Kings known as pharaohs dominated the Egyptian state.
The pharaohs were regarded as gods come to earth to ensure the welfare and prosperity of the people.
The death of a pharaoh was thought to be the beginning of his journey back to the land of the gods.
Funeral rites and proper preservation of the body were therefore of tremendous importance.

40. Early pharaohs were buried in flat-topped rectangular tombs.
Stepped pyramid tombs appeared about 2630 b.c.e. and smooth-sided pyramids a bit later.

41. Top things to know about Egypt as a ERV civilization
“Gift of the Nile” The Nile river provided lush vegetation
Due to lack of rainfall they depended heavily on irrigation (Black land v Red Land)
Floods were at the best times of the year unlike the Tigris and Euphrates
Divine Kingship and the Pharaoh
He was considered a god on earth. He was the link b/w the people and the gods.
Pyramids were erected as burial tombs for the pharaohs
Although Egypt is located at an intersection b/w Asia and Africa Egypt was less a crossroads and more an isolated land protected by its environment, unlike Mesopotamia which was open to migration and invasion.
Explain the theory of religion and afterlife with the rivers of Mesopotamia and Egypt
Age of pyramids lasted a century but many more pyramids were constructed for nearly 2 millennia

42. Top things about Egypt cont…
Hieroglyphics
Papyrus=Paper
Religion was centered around the environment
Sun god, Re, and the Pharaoh represented Horus the son of Re
Mummification=preservation of dead pharaohs and ruling class.

43. Top things to know about the Indus Valley Civilization
Located in modern Pakistan
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are the two Indus civilizations that have been discovered and excavated the most extinsively
They spoke the Dravidian language but it has yet to be deciphered
Metal appears more frequently than in Mesopotamia and Egypt
Skilled irrigators
Traded with Mesopotamia

44. Indus continued
We know little about the political, social, economic, and religious structures of their society
It is believed that the Indus Valley civilization was abandoned around 1900 BCE due to a “systems failure”.
The precipitating cause of this could have been a natural disaster such as an earthquake of flood.