The landscape

Deserts: Sahara, Arabia.

great Rivers: Nile and Euphrates

Fertile plains, close toRivers.MIDDLE EAST

MESOPOTAMIA3500-330

SUMMER3500-2000 BC

AKKAD2300

(Sargón II)

BABYLON(Hammurabi)

1800-539

ASSYRIA1350-612

PERSIA530-330

Greek ConquestAlexander the Great

330

MESOPOTAMIA: TIME AND SPACE

Summer (3500 BC)

Writting was discored in Summer.Scribes and traderswere important in Mesopotamia

Wheels were inventedby Sumerians in 3000BC, making transportmuch easier and changingwarfare techniques.

Ziggurats were the templesOf every city. There was a santuaryIn the top of the building, and were Attended by priest.

Mesopotamia was ruled by city states like Uruk, Ur or Lagash. They were indepent, but Shared the same culture

Sumer: Sargon II (2300 BC)

Sargon of Akkadcreated the first empire in history and was able to conquer all the sumeriancities. Like Moses, Sargon

was the son of Ishtar,and was saved from the riverEufrates by a gardener.

Babylon and Assiria

After 2000 BC, Sumer decayedAnd new reigns and cities appeared.Among Them, Babylonians and Assirianswere the most powerful and createdvast empires in Middle East.

Hamurabi codewas the first law to be written.

Assirians were terrifing warriors.Merciless, they killed all men anddeported women and children as

slaves.

The persian empire (539-330)Defeat at Issus

Persepolis was the capital ofThe biggest empire of Asia till then.

“Three thingsHave to learnall Persianyouth: ride ona horse, shoot the bow andtell always thetruth.” HERODOTO

Mesopotamia: Society and economy

• Hierarchical society: – elite (aristocracy, priest and

high officials)– Intermediate levels (scribes

and merchants)– Low levels (peasants and

artisans)– War slaves.

Economy depended mainly on agriculture and livestock.

Trade was important as well.

Empires used to pillage the conquered lands and

after that to impose taxes on them.

Standard of UrAnd three social classes

Mesopotamia: cultureCuneiform writtingAppeared in MesopotamiaIn 4000 BC and it is the first in human history.

Babylons are the inventorsOf astronomy, and the First poem in history is fromMesopotamia too.

Mesopotamians werePolytheist, with Marduk andIshtar. Persians broughtA new religion, the zoroastrisme

Clay tablet fromUruk, used forAdministrative purposes

The first epicPoem: the works ofGigamesh

EGYPT: TIME AND SPACEOLD KINGDOM

2700-2200(pyramids)

MIDDLE KINGDOM2050-1650)

(hyksos invasion)

NEW KINGDOM(1650-1070)(Ramses II)

LATE PERIOD(700-30 BC)Persian and

Greek conquestCleopatra,

Last queen of Egypt

ROMAN CONQUEST30 BC

Egypt: politics

Egypt was a kingdom ruled by a pharaon, with the help of the army and a strong priesthood.

In the old kingdom, pyramids were built and the Egyptian rule dominated all the Nile Valley.

Channels had to be madeTo control and shareThe waters of river Nile and Its annual floods.

Therefore, a strong humanPower was needed for that,And this is the origin of The state in Egypt.

Egypt: politicsThe middle Kingdom suffered the Invasion of the hicsos, coming from Mesopotamia.

After that, the new kingdom became more militarist and carried Out an expansion of its territoriesby pharaons like Ahmose and Tutmosis III.

Big palaces and temples were built

Instead of pyramids.

Ramses II, is holding an axe In one hand, and

three heads of prisonersIn the other, as a symbol

of victory against the enemies

Hicsos introducedIn Egypt new warfareSuch as the war chariot

Egypt: societySociety was very hierarchycal.There was a ruling elite (priesthood, warriors and scribes).Under this elite lays the rest (farmersAnd merchant). There were some slaves for the hardest works (mininig)

Women had more rights thanIn many other civilizations

Egypt: EconomyAll the wealth of Egypt relied on theFertile lands in the borders of the Nile.Dams and canals were built to control The river.

Irrigated agriculture: wheat, vines, olives,Livestock: cows, pigs, sheeps…Crafts: textiles, pottery, jewellery…

Egypt: lifestyleEgyptian society was very complexand with a wide social division ofWork and occupation.

Marriages were generallyPolygamous, and slavesWere used for domesticService.

Egypt: Economy

Egytians were artisans and traders too. They exported pottery, papyrus and cereals Mainly to Greece and Mesopotamia.

Artisans took advantage of theNatural resources of the country:Limestone, papyrus, etc…

Papyrus: it was The ancient “paper”,softer and more brittlethan ours.

Egypt: art and cultureThe ancient egyptians built specially tombs and temples.There were three types of tombs: mastabas (flat roofs), pyramids (staircase first, and smooth afterwards) and finally, hypogeas, like tunnels carved in rock.

The pyramids, how long it took to build it up?

“Pyramids took a long time to

build. The Great Pyramid at Giza took 50,000 people 20 years to build. Workers lived in special villages based around the building site and gangs of workers would quarry the stone and then move it on rollers to the pyramid. Each block of stone was huge, weighing about 2.5 tonnes, and it took a great deal of effort to put each piece in place.”

Egypt: culture and art

In the new empire, egyptians gave Up building pyramids, and started the creation of huge temples, like Karnak and Luxor.

Egyptian writting: hieroglyps

Egyptians are one of the first cultures thatWe can call “historic”: they invented theScripture with hieroglys (jeroglíficos)

How could we translate hieroglyps?

The reason lies in this stone, discovered in 1799 by french archaeologist: the rosetta stone, an egyptian text translated into ancient greek. Nowadays you can find it in the Britsh Museum (London)

Egypt: religion

Egyptians were polytheistAnd believed in many gods,Most of them with animal Forms, like Horus or Anubis

Egypt: religion

Egyptians believed in life after death,And that is the reason why so many tombsWere created. It was supposed that dead people should take with them everything that they need for the other life.

Anubis was the guardianof the death

Mummies are preservedafter 3500 years till now.

After death, men were judgesby Anubis for their deeds in life