Chapter 4 - The First Empires

Section 1 – The Egyptian & Nubia EmpiresSection 2 – The Assyrian EmpireSection 2 – The Persian Empire

Section – The Unification of China

Section 1 - The Egyptian & Nubian Empires

By Jose Rosario

A. At the end of its second period of glory, power

struggles weakened Egypt. 1. The Hyksos conquered Egypt, & ruled it until 1600 B.C.,

when Pharaohs restored their power & kicked them out.

2. These Pharaohs began some conquests of their own, in the New Kingdom, Egypt was richer & more powerful than ever.

3. Hatshepsut, a female Pharaoh, encouraged trade, but herstepson , Thutmose III, removed her from power, he & other pharaohs ruled over Syria, Palestine & Nubia .

4. The pharaohs of the New Kingdom did not build pyramids,instead, they built tombs (in Valley of the Kings).

5. Ramses II (1290 to 1244 B.C ) stood out among the great builders of the New Kingdom.

6. Around 1200 B.C., Mediterranean invaders attacked Egypt.

Hatshepsut

Ramses II

B. The “Sea Peoples”, attacked the Hittites & Egypt, the Libyans took control of the land, but followed the Egyptian way of life..

1. As Egypt grew weaker, the Nubian kingdom of Kush became more powerful.

2. The people of Kush followed Egyptian traditions & customs, & protected Egyptian values.

3. King Piankhi forced the Libyans out & united Egypt again.

a. He brought back Egypt’s glory & ruled it for a few decades until the Assyrians invasion.

4. The Kushite kings settled in the city of Meroë, south of Egypt when their kingdom entered a golden age.

a. The city played an important role in trade, & making iron weapons & tools, & they traded with Arabia & India.

b. They also trade jewelry, cloth, silver lamps, & glass bottles.

5. The city thrived from 250 B.C. to 150 A.D. & fell by 350 to rival Aksum, a seaport farther south.

The Assyrian Empire

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By Jose Rosario

A. The Hittite Empire

1. Their civilization was base on military power, & their success was in part of their ability to make iron weapons.

2. Soldiers fought with bronze weapons for about 1500 years, but iron was harder.

3. So they kept their secret well guarded.

4. This brought a new age to history the Iron Age.

The Assyrians

The Assyrian King

B. They also developed the use of horses to fight wars, the horses were use to pull wooden

wagons.

1. They learned how to breed large horses so they mounted part of their army on the horseback (Calvary).

2. The Hittite built a large empire with their military strength, they ruled between 1400 B.C. and 1200 B.C. in the land that we called Turkey.

3. These people lived in wall cities made of huge blocks of stone.

4. Their Empire fell by 1200 B.C. after a series of invasions from other neighbors.

Assyrian Calvary

Section 3 – The Persian Empire

By Jose Rosario

The City of Persepolis

A. Persia, a new power, arose east of Mesopotamia, in modern Iran.

1. Mesopotamia had good farmland & was rich in minerals -- copper, lead, gold, & silver.

2. The Persians defeated the Assyrians around 550 B.C., & began their own conquests.

3. King Cyrus led his army to conquer a huge empire which it stretched from India to Anatolia (Turkey) 2,000 miles, in just over 10 years.

4. Cyrus won all this land in part because of the wise way he treated the people there.

a. He did not destroy towns & cities, like the Assyrians, & his army avoid to harm the people he conquered.

b. He let the people to practice their old religions, ex. The Hebrews were allowed return to Jerusalem & rebuild their temple

5. Cyrus , a great warrior, but was killed in battle.

Cyrus, Darius & Xerxes

B. Cyrus son, Cambyses, conquered Egypt, but unlike his father, he did not respect the Egyptians way of life.

1. The next king, Darius, extended the empire, only Greece escaped his control.

2. Darius divided the land into 20 provinces, & allowed each of them practice its own religion, speak its own language, & obey their own laws.

3. He built a 1,677 miles Royal Road to unite the empire, messengers on horses made communication better.

4. He had metal standard value coins made that could be used for business anywhere in the empire to increase trade.

5. During the Persian Empire, a new religion arose with the concept of good (light) & evil (darkness) --these two spirits were in a constant struggle.

6. These ideas influenced later religions.

Section 4 - The Unification of China

A. After the fall of the Zhou dynasty, China became a land of troubles.

1. Ancient Chinese values were forgotten, but thinkers such as Confuciustried to find ways to restore them.

2. Confucius (born in 551 B.C) believed:

1. People would have to work at five basic relationships.

1. ruler & subject,

2. father & son,

3. husband & wife,

4. older & younger brothers, &

5. friend & friend.

2. The family relationships were the most important & children should practice filial piety or respect for parents & elders.

3. Confucius tried to improve government by creating the basis of a bureaucracy or a system of departments & agencies for running the government. Educated people were needed in these jobs.

Confucianism: focuses on developing the ideal relationship between individuals and society

To achieve perfect harmony

with family, community, and

society: Align one’s entire

being with the universal moral

orderBased on the assumption that

the individual is the smallest

unit, which makes up social

institutions of increasing

levels of complexity, such as

family, clan, community,

kingdom, etc.

B. Laozi, another thinker, said nature follows a universal force called the Dao, or “the Way.” or Daoism.

1. Other thinkers formed a set of beliefs called Legalism or the use laws to restore order.

2. Chinese people used the I Ching book, which give practical advice for solving problems.

3. Other people turned to the idea of yin & yang. Or harmony between the two powers or opposite forces in the universe.

4. A 13-year-old ruler became ruler of the Qin Dynasty, named Shi Huangdior “First Emperor.”

a) He ended the turmoil in China by using the ideas of Legalism to unite China.

b) He doubled the size of China by establishing an autocracy or a ruler has unlimited power.

c) He forced wealthy nobles to give up their land in the country

d) He destroyed his enemies, control ideas by burning books, built a network of roads, set standards for writing, law, money, & weights & measures to be followed throughout the empire.

C. In the past, some Chinese rulers had built sections of wall to try to block attacks from northern nomads.

1. Shi Huangdi had hundreds of thousands of poor people connect these sections of wall and make a huge barrier.

2. When finished, the Great Wall of China stretched for thousands of miles.

3. These steps won the emperor little support.

4. When he died, his son took the throne. Just three years into his reign, peasants revolted and managed to overthrow the emperor.

5. By 202 B.C., the Qin dynasty had given way to the Han dynasty.