1. The Ancient World

2. First Humans 100,0000 years ago. From Africa to Asia, to Europe
Hunters
Worshipped forces of nature

3. Paleolithic 40,000-8,000 B.C. Cave artists
Lascaux, France—bulls, humans
Caves used for ritual ceremonies

4. Neolithic 8000-2300 B.C. Megalithic structures—Stonehenge
Post-and-lintel structures aligned with astronomical prositions

5. Bronze Age 2300-1000 B.C. Began to cultivate the land
Civilization in Mesopotamia

6. Mesopotamia Present-day Iraq The arts, writ6ing and law flourished
Empires dominated the Near East and northern Africa

7. The Sumerians 3500 B.C. First people to use writing
Constructed monumental buildings
Music
Religion: violence
Ziggurats: pyramids with steps to the hereafter

8. Empires of the Near East
Gilgamesh: hero-king of the Old Babylonians
Great Flood also recounted in the Hebrew Bible
Hammurabi’s legal code
Assyrians conquered lower Egypt
Nebuchadnezzar II – Ishtar Gate
Persians: Darius’ palace at Persepolis
Persepolis fell to Alexander the Great

9. Egypt: Religion and Society
Polytheism
Pyramids of Giza
Belief in the immortality of the spirit
Treasures buried to ensure happiness after death

10. The Arts of Egypt Akhenaten: cult of the god Aten
Established court at Amarna with his queen Nefertiti
Intimacy in the pictorial depiction of humans
Tutankhamen: restores cult of Amon-Re
Ramesses II: monumental, richly-decorated tombs
Nefertari: his wife helped expand empire

11. Decline of Egypt Kush empire Assyrians Persians
Alexander the Great: Hellenistic culture

12. The Indus Valley 2600-1500 B.C. Unfortified cities
System of writing, terracotta sculpture
Aryans conquered 1500 B.C.
Vedas: religious texts
Hinduism

13. China The Bronze Age Shang dynasty (1700-1100 B.C.)
Carved jade, cast bronze
Zhou ( B.C.)

14. Minoan Civilization Crete (2500-1250 B.C.) Palace-cities
Artisans: jewelry, figurines
Women unusually free and equal

15. Mycenaean Civilization
Greek mainland ( B.C.)
Mycenaens: warriors and pirates
Treasure found in Mycenae includes the “Mask of Agamemnon”
After Trojan War, Mycenae fell