4,000 Years in 55 Minutes:The Middle East before 610CE

HIST 10078/30/13

Reading Primary Sources

• How do you read a text?

• What information do you need to know before you can analyze a text?

• What does a text actually tell you?

Primary Sources1. “On Levantine Immigrants in Rome”2. “Saying Attributed to the Prophet”3. “A Persian View of the World,” “An Iraqi View,” and “View from

Jerusalem”4. “Another Arab View” and “Another Persian View”5. “On Subjugation” and “A Consumer’s Guide to Servants”6. “Literary Stereotypes” to the bottom of page 117. “Literary Stereotypes” from the bottom of page 118. “Some Religious Prejudices”9. “And Some Political Judgments” to the bottom of page 1410. “And Some Political Judgments” page 1511. “Five British Views of the Arabs” page 1612. “Five British Views of the Arabs” page 1713. “Five British Views” page 18 and “And Some American Prejudices” page

1814. “And Some American Prejudices” page 19-20

The Longue Durée

River Valley Civilizations

Tigris Farmland (modern)

Euphrates River and Canal Irrigation

Mesopotamia

Çatal Hüyük (7500-5700BCE)

Sumer• Settled between 4500 and 4000 BCE• Network of a dozen plus city-states• Shared language and culture

The Rise of Cities• Government/Kings – non-kin based associations• Religious institutions• Redistribution of goods – taxes/temple donations• Centers of trade

Relief from the temple of Inanna, Uruk;The zigaraut of Ur

Which Came First?Cities or Nomads?

Cities and Nomads

Invention of WritingMesopotamia (Sumerian) ~3300BCEEgypt ~3200-3100BCEChina ~1200BCEMesoamerica (Mayan) ~300BCE

Mesopotamia

Cuneiformwedge-shaped symbolsimpressed into clay tablets

Akkadian Empire (2334-2154BCE)• Sargon of Akkad (2270-2215BCE)

What is an Empire?

• The extension of political rule by one people over other, different people.• Structures that display power and luxury• Establish vast marketplaces serviced by highways, ports, etc.• Diverse peoples – exotic goods• Bureaucratic administration with uniform structures

How do Empires Work?

• Hegemony – convince subjects empire is in best interest– Peace and stability– Technological development– Extensive trade networks– Cultural sophistication– Do subjects see these benefits?

How do Empires Work?

• Dominance – power imposed through sheer force– Military force and the threat to use it– Expend massive resources on military and

security– Roads and infrastructure focused on military

mobilization• Often in the eye of the empire’s subjects…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso