Chapter TwoWestern Asia and Egypt

3500-500 BC

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Civilization Begins in Mesopotamia

• Mesopotamia = “the land between the rivers”

• Tigris-Euphrates River Valley

• Little rain, but rivers provided silt and irrigation capability

• Three general empires– Sumer

– Akkad

– Babylon

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Polytheism Grows in Mesopotamia

• Polytheism = “many gods”

• Harsh climate, famine led people to call on help from gods in nature

• Ziggurats (temples) built to honor the god of a city

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The Sumerians

• Walled cities like Ur featured buildings of clay bricks

• Theocracy develops—government by divine rulers

• Farming was supported by trade and industry

• Copper, gold, and silver all in use for jewelry and tools

• Traded as far away as India and the Mediterranean Sea

• Invented the wheel for work purposes

• Three groups of people– Nobles– Commoners– Slaves

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Sumerian Creativity

• Developed cuneiform writing– Pointed stylus marked on clay

tablets– Dried tablets became

permanent records

• Scribes became powerful people as the record-keepers

• Wagon wheel transported goods

• Potter’s wheel helped make containers

• First to develop bronze• Number system based on 60• Geometry and astronomy

began herehttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cuneiform&view=detail&id=9E58BDD18F8879ECFA471B053F0032170326F99C&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Empires Develop in Mesopotamia

• Sumerian city-states fought and conquered each other

• First great empire called Akkad, led by Sargon (2340 BC)

• Babylon develops by 1792 BC

• Hammurabi rules in 1750’s BC

• First written law codes developed under Hammurabi’s rule

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Egyptian Civilization Develops Along the Nile River

• Northern river delta called “Lower Egypt”

• Upstream area farther south called “Upper Egypt”

• Protected by the desert and the Red Sea, people faced less warfare than Mesopotamians

• Nile flooding brought water and silt to the desert

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Egyptian Religion

• Polytheistic gods, associated with natural forces

• Sun god (Amon-Re) was source of life (Pictured)

• Pharaoh’s (rulers) claimed to be descended from Amon-Re

• River and land gods Osiris and Isis also very important

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Three Egyptian Kingdoms

• Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC)

• Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC)

• New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC)

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Old Kingdom

• Pharaoh ruled with the help of his vizier

• Claimed divine power

• Pyramids built in this period as tombs for the pharaohs

• Egyptians believed they had two bodies– Physical one

– Spiritual one called “ka” (Symbol pictured)

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Pyramids Built at Giza

• “The Great Pyramid” built for Khufu around 2540 BC

• How it was built is still a mystery

• Great Sphinx is statue guarding the pyramids

• Symbol of royal power in Old Kingdom

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Middle Kingdom

• Developed after 150 years of instability

• Conquered Nubia to the south

• Armies sent into Palestine and Syria

• Traded along east coast of Mediterranean and down the Red Sea to Ethiopia

• Pharaohs concentrated on helping people by building canals and draining swampland to farm more

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New Kingdom

• Hyksos conquered Middle Kingdom and ruled for 100 years

• Horse drawn chariots and bronze weapons were too tough to match

• Driven out by pharaohs by 1550 BC• Egypt becomes most powerful

empire in SW Asia• Akhenaten failed to change major

god to Aten and destroy worship of the others

• Ramses II reasserts Egypt’s power in 1200s BC (Pictured)

• “Sea Peoples” push Egyptians out of the Middle East, and Kingdom collapses soon thereafter

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Life in Ancient Egypt

• Layered society for thousands of years– Pharaoh

– Nobles and Priests

– Merchants, artisans, scribes, and tax collectors

– Peasant farmers

• Positive attitude about life

• Men ruled families, but women and children were not poorly treated

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Egyptian Accomplishments

• Invented hieroglyphic writing system

• Wrote on papyrus reeds made into paper

• Great architectural advances like the pyramids

• 365 day calendar

• Embalming and other medical expertise

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Other Groups of Peoples in the SW Asian Region

• Still numerous nomadic people on the fringes of the civilized areas during this time period

• Hittites were first Indo-Europeans to use iron (1600-1200 BC)

• Phoenicians were great sea traders on Mediterranean and invented the alphabet

• Israelites ruled present day Israel-Palestine from about 1200 BC to 586 BC

• Northern tribes overrun by Assyrians in 722 BC

• Southern tribes overrun by Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians) in 586 BC and removed from the land in the Diaspora http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ten+lost+tribes+of+israel

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Judaism—First Monotheistic Faith

• Believed in one God

• Believed they had a covenant (contract) based on their belief in Him

• Torah provided the basic rules of the Jewish faith

• Age of prophecy developed as Assyrians and Chaldeans challenged the Jewish empire

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New Empires Near the End of This Time Period

• Assyrians ruled from the southern part of Turkey around 700 BC to 612 BC

• Most famous ruler Ashurbanipal• Built world’s first library at

Nineveh• Great warriors with large armies

equipped with iron weapons• Used terror to promote their rule• Defeated by Chaldeans in 612 BC• Their most famous ruler was

Nebuchadnezzar in city of Babylon

• Fell to the Persians in 539 BChttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nineveh+library&view=detail&id=E77FEAB001ED9B162959217E9FEA68626298B717&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Persians Move Westward to Conquer Middle East

• Cyrus the Great captures Babylon in 539 (pictured)

• His son Cambyses conquered Egypt

• Darius I conquered Thrace and fought the Greeks between 521 and 486 BC

• Created satrapies and established the Royal Road and the Immortals

• Eventually conquered by Alexander the Great of Greece

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Zoroastrianism

• Persian religion

• Ahuramazda was the god

• Evil spirit Ahrimanopposed him (pictured)

• Humans had free will to support one or the other

• Supporters of Ahuramazda believed they would go to heaven

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