ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Unit 2

How Time is Measured in History

His- Story Pre-history – time before written history. B.C. – Before Christ A.D. – Anno Domini – The Year of our Lord

(after Christ’s birth)

3000 2000 1000 500 1 500 1000 2000

BC – Before Christ AD – After Christ’s Birth

Ages of Man

Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic – New Stone Age –

this is where we will begin our study of history (Neolithic Revolution – 1st agricultural settlements begin).

Bronze Age – 3,500-1,200 BC

Stone Age Tools

How Civilization Developed

Humans, in their early stages were hunters and gatherers & nomads

As humans discovered agriculture and that animals could be domesticated they settled in groups.

As settlements grew in size, societies became more complex – civilization.

Food surpluses led to more specialization

Villages Grow into Cities

Larger villages built irrigation systems.

Traders profited from more goods to exchange.

Two important inventions—the wheel and the sail— traders could move more goods over longer distances.

Civilization

Social ChangesSocial classes with varying wealth,

power, and influence began to emerge.

ReligionPrehistoric religious beliefs centered

around nature, animal spirits, and some idea of an afterlife.

As populations grew, organized religions developed

River Valley Civilizations

Mesopotamia“The Land Between Two Rivers”

Tigris & Euphrates

How Civilization Developed

How Civilization Developed

One of the first civilizations - Sumer.

Located in Mesopotamia ( Iraq )

Geography of the Fertile Crescent

Surrounded by a desert climate, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year.

Floodwater left behind a thick bed of mud called silt - Great for farming

The floods were unpredictable

Limitations of Sumerian Geography

Unpredictable flooding combined with a periods of little or no rain.

With no natural barriers for protection - Sumerian villages nearly defenseless.

Limited natural resources. Building materials and other necessities were scarce.

Technology Overcomes Geography

The people created solutions to deal with their problems – dug irrigation ditches to bring water to crops.

For defense they built city walls made of sun dried bricks..

Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools for raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal..

How Civilization Developed

A civilization is often defined as a complex culture with five characteristics: (1) advanced cities, (2) specialized workers, (3) complex institutions, (4) record keeping, and (5) advanced

technology. Advanced cites

depended on trade.

Specialized Workers

As cities grew, specialized workers developed like traders, government officials, and priests.

Food surpluses provided the opportunity for specialization—the development of skills in a specific kind of work.

Some city dwellers became artisans—skilled workers who make goods by hand.

Complex Institutions

Complex institutions: government, religion, and economic systems

Large populations of early cities made government, or a system of ruling, necessary.

Leaders emerged to maintain order and to establish laws.

Complex Institutions

The ziggarat was the hub of both government and religious affairs.

It also served as the city’s economic center.

It was used for storage of food and valuables.

Record Keeping

Around 3000 B.C., Sumerian scribes—or professional record keepers—invented a system of writing called cuneiform, meaning “wedge-shaped.”

Civilization Emerges in Ur

Ur - on the Euphrates River

About 30,000 people Rulers, priests and

priestesses had great power.

Wealthy merchants profited from surplus trade.

Artists and artisans produced lavish tools, musical instruments, and gold daggers

Women in Sumeria

Could work as merchants, farmers, or artisans. Be priestesses.

Could own property Some upper-class women

did learn to read and write.

Sumerian women had more rights than women in many later civilizations, but they were NOT EQUAL to men.

The Sumerian Cities

By 3000 B.C., Sumerians had many cities. Shared the same culture, but developed

their own separate governments Each city and the land it controlled formed a

city-state – an independent country The center of all Sumerian cities was the

walled temple with a ziggurat in the middle. Polytheistic: Sumerians believed many

different gods .

The Temple: Center of City Life

Like a city within a city, the temple was surrounded by heavy walls.

The pyramid-shaped monument is called a ziggurat- which means a stepped temple.

The temple also housed storage areas for grain, crops, and supplied as offering to the gods.

Sumer’s earliest government were controlled by priests.

Famers believed the success of the crops depended on the weather (gods).

The ziggurat was not just religious, it was also a trade and government center.

The Sumerians believed that the souls of the dead went to a hell (a place without joy).

Leadership of Sumeria

During war, priests did not lead the city. Men of the city chose a tough fighter who

could command the city’s soldiers until the war ended.

In time, some military leaders became full-time rulers who passed their power on to their sons, who passed it on to their own heirs.

Such a series of rulers from a single family is called a dynasty.

The Dynastic Cycle

Sumerian Science and Technology

Sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow and they were among the first to use bronze. Arithmetic & Geometry - developed a

number system in base 60 Architectural innovations -Arches,

columns, ramps, and the pyramid. Cuneiform- Sumerians created a system of

writing. One of the first known maps.

The First Empire Builders

They united to form an empire- brings together several previously independent nations under the control of one ruler.

Sargon defeated the city-states of Sumer forming the world’s 1st empire.

THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE

The Babylonians In about 2000 B.C.,

Mesopotamia was invaded by the Amorites. The invaders took over and established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates River.

The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of Hammurabi

The World’s 1st Written Law Code

Hammurabi made the first uniform code of laws

He collected existing rules, judgments, and laws into the Code of Hammurabi.

Hammurabi had the code engraved in stone and copies were placed all over the empire.

Rebirth of Babylon

King Nebuchadnezzar restored the city and built the famous hanging gardens.

Babylon fell shortly after his death.

The Sumerians Video