Civilization

Civilization

• What is Civilization– Advanced Cities– Specialized Workers

• Food surplus provided the opportunity for specialization• As cities grew the need for specialized workers grew.• Traders, priests, government officials

– Complex Institutions (well organized central governments

• Government, religions, and economy • Soaring population made government necessary• Education systmen

Civilization• Writing (Record Keeping)

– As government, religion and economy grew so did the need for record keeping.

– Writing system is development– Pictogram: simple drawings that represents symbols,

then sounds• Advance Technology

– New tools– Farmers stated to use animals and nature– Melting copper and tin together made bronze– Public Works: building irrigations systems, roads,

bridges and defensive walls

Civilization

• Social Classes;– Ranked according to their jobs– Priests, wealthy merchants, artisans,

peasants, then slaves• Arts and Architecture: Expressed the

beliefs and values of people• Complex Religion

– Polytheistic: many gods: sun god, river god, moon god.

How did Civilization StartI. Villages grew into cities

• Communities were based on agriculture• Domesticated animals became more common• Population increased

II. Economic Changes• Food surpluses freed some villagers to pursue

other jobs• Developed skills besides farming• Craftspeople• Trade with other villages stated• Two Important inventions: Wheel and sail

(Mesopotamian)

How did Civilization Start

• III Social Changes– Complex and prosperous economy affected

the social structure of the village life.– Social classes starting to form– Religion is more organized– Polytheistic

Civilization

• Spread of Civilization– City-states started to form– Empires were territories controlled by one

ruler. ( Group of city-states)– Interactions with nomads (culture diffusion)

• Civilization and Change– Environmental changes– Interactions among peoples (Culture

Diffusion)

Ancient CivilizationsI. Early River Valley

– Neolithic Period, permanent settlements appeared in river valleys– River valleys provided rich soil for crops & protection from invasions– Fertile Crescent

II. Locations and Time Frame (3500B.C. to 500B.C.)– Egyptian: Nile River Valley and Delta (Africa)– Mesopotania: Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys– Indus River Valley: Indian– Huang He Valley: China

III. Others:– Hebrew: Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River valley– Phoenicians: along the Mediterranean Sea coast– Kush : located on the upper Nile River (South)

Mesopotamian CivilizationI. Location

– People started top settle in the Southern parts of the Fertile Crescent before 4500 B.C.

– These people were called SumeriansII Sumerian (City State)

– Geography;• Fertile Crescent, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates

Rivers• River flooded yearly: Dry hot summers, No rainfall after the

floods. • No natural barriers for protection• Surplus of wheat and barley

• Sumer– Earliest cities in southern

Mesopotamia– Agriculture and trade (as

far away as India)– Sumerians

• Developed the wheel• Created first writing

system (cuneiform)• Devised a mathematical

system and astronomy

Mesopotamian CivilizationIII Great Solutions:

• Large irrigation ditches to irrigate their fields and for protection.

• These activities required organization, cooperation, and leadership

• This is the beginning of organized government and laws

IV Government and Society• World’s first city states• Social hierarchy: Priests controlled early government, • Centralized government based on religion authority• Monarch (soldiers) took control during war. Pass their

powers to their sons. Forming Dynasties• Women lost status overtime.

The Law Code of Hammurabi

Reign of Hammurabi of Babylon, 1792-1750 B.C.

Code of Hammurabi• FIRST WRITTEN LAWS *******• Needed a single, uniformed code

of law• Code listed 282 specific laws

dealing with everything from family relationships to business

• Different punishment for rich and poor and for men and women

• *******Important Idea: It reinforced the principle that government had a responsibility for what occurred in society

Religion• Religion and Mythology

– Polytheistic religious belief reflected harshness of war and struggle with unpredictable environment

• War-like gods who possessed total control over human lives

• Sacrifices, rituals, temples (ziggurats)

• Power of priests and priestesses

Ziggurat at Ur

Ziggurat at Ur

SumerianScience and Technology

• Irrigation• Bronze• Wheel, Sail, Ramp and plow• Basic algebra and geometry.• Strong in Astronomy which led to

calendars

• Language and writing •  Pictograms: Earliest written symbols •  Hieroglyphics: Egypt •  Cuneiform: Sumer •  Alphabet: Phoenicia

A pictogram- a simplified picture used in early forms of writing

Sumerian Writing

• Cuneiform:– Need to keep records– Developed from

pictographs – Recorded myths,

laws, treaties, and business

– ScribesVideo Writing

Cuneiform

CuneiformMesopotamian

Cuneiform

Egyptian Culture

• Writing – Hieroglyphic

• Earliest forms were pictures• Later pictures stood for a sound• Written on papyrus

• Science and Technolgy– Pyramids, Mathematics, geometry &

Calendar.

• Phoenicians: • Sailors and Traders• Settle along the eastern Mediterranean

• Colonized throughout the Mediterranean, as far away as Sicily and Spain

• Alphabet*****************************

China

–Writing- very difficult»10,000 characters»calligraphy- art form

Egyptian Writing“Hieroglyphics

Egyptian Civilization

• Location– North Africa– Nile River Valley– Delta

• Government:– Theocracy– Pharaohs

Egyptian Culture

• Religion and Life– Polytheistic– Pharaoh viewed as god as well– Death: After life

• Mummification, embalming and drying the corpse• Built great pyramids: TOMBS

• Society: Hereditary• Royal family, Upper class, Middle class, lower class• Women had a higher status & greater independence

Egyptian Pyramids

Mummification

Purification of the body

Removal of the Internal organs

Drying the body

Washing the body

Body is stuffed with dry materials

Internal organs are put into jars

Body is Wrapped in linens

Body is wrapped in linens

Indus River Valley Civilization

Indus• Geography (India)

– Indus and Ganges Rivers– Hindus Kush and Himalaya

separate India from Asia

• Civilization:– Little is know – Traded with Africa– Planned Cities (sewage system)– Strong Central government– Religion: Polytheism

• Writing unknown

Indus

• India began along the Indus River, where two cities developed: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

• The Harrappans inscribed pictograms-scientists have not been able to decipher the meanings

• The two cities had common traits:

• Built using baked clay bricks • Planned before construction, using a grid

pattern• Had indoor plumbing• These early cities were destroyed by

Aryan invaders when they conquered the region

China • Location: Huang He Valley

• Natural barriers isolated ancient China• Religion: Polytheism

» Believed in spirits of family ancestors.» Consulted the gods through the use of oracle bones

• Culture: Strong family tires» Loyalty to the family» Women were treated was inferiors

• Government: Strong Central government,» First Dynasties» Sharply divided between nobles and peasants (» Ruled by class of warrior-nobles

• Writing: early character stood for an idea, not a sound» Helped unify China

• Technology:– Flood control an irrigation projects, Calendar, Math, and Silk cloth.

China

Other Civilizations• Phoenicians:

• Sailors and Traders• Settle along the eastern Mediterranean • Colonized throughout the Mediterranean, as far away as Sicily and

Spain• Alphabet*****************************

• Persian Empire: – Built on earlier Central Asian and Mesopotamia Civ– Tolerance of conquered peoples– Development Imperial bureaucracy– New Religion: ZOROASTRAIANISM

– One wise god controlled the world and one evil god » Good v.s. Bad

– Money Economy– Road System to link the Empire

Monotheism and Polytheism

• Development of religious traditions • Monotheism is the belief in only one

God• Polytheism is the belief in many gods•  Polytheism was practiced by most early

civilizations. •  Monotheism was practiced by the

Hebrews.

Raise of Judaism• Origins of Judaism

– Abraham is considered the founder of Judaism.– Moses:

• led the Israelites out of Egypt to Canaan”• The land they believed that God promises them

– Jerusalem: Capital of kingdom of Israel• Beliefs, traditions and customs of Judaism

– Monotheistic: one god– Torah: contains written records and beliefs of Hebrews– Ten Commandment: heart of Judaism

• state moral and religious conduct• A set of laws that God gave them

Judaism

• Spread of Judaism– Exile: The Chaldens destroyed the great

temple in Jerusalem: forcing Israelites into exile.

– Diaspora: scattering of people, sent Jews to different parts of the world

• Why is Judaism Important– First monotheistic religion– Foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and

Islamic Religions

Characteristics of Early Civilization

• Social patterns– Hereditary rulers

• Dynasties of kings and Pharaohs• Rigid class system, where slavery was accepted

• Political Patterns– World’s first states( city-states,

kingdom/Empire)– Centralized governments (Religious Auth)– Written laws: Ten Commandments/ Code of

Hammurabi

• Development of Economic Patterns– Metal tools & Weapons– Increasing agricultural surplus– Increase in trade along the rivers/seas

Phoenicians****– Specialization of labor

• Religion Traditions– Polytheism was practiced by most early Civ– Monotheism was practiced by the Hebrews

• Writing: – Pictograms Hieroglyphic, Cuneiform, Alphabet

Language and Writing

CuneiformHieroglyphics

Hieroglyphics

The King

The Governors

The Aristocracy

The Peasantry

Social and political organization: • The King: he had military powers.• The Governors: they governed the territories of the

kingdom. They were generals and judges at the same time.

• The aristocracy: they were priests and traders.• The peasants: the people who work the land.

The Four River Valley Civilization

Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C. Sargon’s Empire, 2350-2320 B.C.

The Dynasty of Ur, 2100-2000 B.C.

The Amorite invasions, 2100-1900 B.C.Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon, 1792-1750 B.C.

The statue of the god Marduk with his dragon, from a Babylonian cylinder seal. Marduk killed Tiamat.

Apsu: the fresh waters (male principle)Tiamat: the salt waters (female principle)

Ea, the god of intelligence and wisdom, puts Apsu in a trance and then kills him.

These carved stone figures, their eyes wide with awe and their hands clasped in reverence, were placed in Mesopotamian temples by worshippers to stand in perpetual prayer on their behalf before the god or goddess to whom the sanctuary was dedicated.

There were many gods. For example, Anu was the father of the gods and the god of the sky; Enlil was the god of the air; Utu was the sun god and the lord of truth and justice; Nanna was the moon god; Inanna was the goddess of love and war; Ninhursag was the goddess of earth; and Enki was the god of fresh water as well as the lord of wisdom and magic.

 

While they served and revered the great gods, most people felt little connection with these distant beings. Ordinary people depended on a relationship with their own personal god - a kind of guardian angel - who protected individuals and interceded for them with the great deities.

HieroglyphicsEgypt