Early Civilizations

Early HumansWhat we know about the earliest people comes from the things they left behind.

• Archaeologists – hunt for evidence buried in the ground

• Artifacts - weapons, tools, and other things made by humans

• Fossils - traces of plants or animals

• Anthropologists - focus on human society (how they developed and how they related to one another.

B.C. and A.D.• B.C. --- “Before Christ”• A.D. --- Latin words Anno Domini and means “the year of our Lord”. • B.C. is the time period before Christ and you count backwards from

A.D. 1. • *-------------*-------------*--------------*-------------*--------------*---------------*• 3 B.C. 2 B.C. 1 B.C. A.D. 1 A.D. 2 A.D. 3 A.D. 4

• Common Mistake: Many people refer to A.D. and “after death” which is not accurate. This is not accurate because it does not account for the years that Christ was alive on Earth.

• B.C. and A.D. are western and Christian oriented. Some people prefer the terms to be neutral to all global regions and religions. Instead people around the world use the abbreviations B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era).

Primary and Secondary sources

Differences?

Primary Sources

• ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records

• CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art

• RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

Secondary Sources

• PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias

• interprets and analyzes primary sources

Examples:

Primary Sources• Diary of Anne Frank -

Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII

• The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History

• A journal article reporting NEW research or findings

• Weavings and pottery - Native American history

• Plato's Republic - Women in Ancient Greece

Secondary Sources• A journal/magazine article

which interprets or reviews previous findings

• A history textbook • A book about the effects of

WWI

Primary or Secondary?

Paleolithic or Old Stone Age

Paleolithic means “old stone” in the Greek language.

Roughly 2.5 million years ago – around 8000 B.C.

Hunters-Gatherers

Nomads

• Traveled in bands of 30 or more and camped near streams or another water source (Why?)

• Men – hunted– Clubs or drove off cliffs– Invented spears, traps, and bows/arrows

• Women – looked after children, searched for berries, nuts, and grains

Adapting to the Environment

• Climate – clothing/protection• Caves• Fire

Ice Ages• Long periods of extreme cold• Last Ice Age was from 100,000 B.C. – 8000 B.C.

Advancements

• Development of the spoken language• How did they express themselves prior to this?• Paintings – religious meaning? (brought good

luck for the hunt)• Taming of fire• Technology

– flint used to make tools – axes and spears; – skilled tools – fishhooks and needles (animal

bones)

Lascaux Cave in Dordogne, Francediscovered in 1940 by 4 teenage boys

What does this tell us about life in the Paleolithic Age?

Primary or Secondary Source?

Neolithic or New Stone Age

8000 – 4000 B.C.

People started farming, building communities, producing goods, and

trading.

Why was farming important?

• Farming revolution

Ӧtzi the Iceman

• Discovered in 1991• Named Ӧtzi after the Ӧtztal Alps where he was found

Earliest VillagesÇatal Hüyük

8000 B.C.

Çatal Hüyük

• Mud- brick homes packed tightly together and decorated inside with wall paintings

• Spaces between were used as a garbage dump

• Buried dead below floor of house

• Babies buried wearing jewelry

Benefits of a Settled Life

• Greater security• Steady food supplies healthy, growing

populations more workers to produce a bigger crop

• Surplus trade/barter• Specialization (i.e. pottery, weaving)

Advancements

• Better farming tools – sickle• Domestication of animals• Worked with metals (copper)• After 4000 B.C., craftspeople in western Asia

mixed copper and tin to form bronze, which was widely used. Bronze was harder and longer lasting.

• Hence, the Bronze Age from 3000 B.C. and 1200 B.C.

The Neolithic Revolution

Effects of Farming

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Beringia_land_bridge-noaagov.gif

Paleolithic Age Neolithic Age

Art and Crafts

How Humans Obtained Food

How Humans adapted

Work of Men and Women

Paleolithic Age Neolithic Age

Art and Crafts Painted cave walls (usually animals)

Made pottery and carved objects our of wood; built shelters and tombs

How Humans Obtained Food

Hunters and gatherers Farmed in permanent villages, raised and herd animals

How Humans adapted Learned to make fire, created a language, and made simple tools and shelters

Built mud-brick houses and places of worship, specialized in certain jobs, used copper/bronze to create more useful tools

Work of Men and Women Women gathered food and cared for children. Men hunted.

Women cared for children and performed household tasks. Men herded, farmed, and protected the village.

Review Questions

Questions

1. Who are archaeologists and what do they study?

2. How did domesticating animals help with the Neolithic people?

3. Why were Paleolithic people nomads?4. Why was the ability to make a fire so

important?

5. Complete the chart

Cause: Farming begins

GEOGRAPHY influenced the development of river valley

civilizations.

Early River Valley Civilizations

Sumer •Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable•No natural barriers•Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings

Egypt •Flooding of the Nile predictable•Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages•Deserts were natural barriers

Indus Valley • Indus flooding unpredictable•Monsoon winds•Mountains, deserts were natural barriers

China •Huang He flooding unpredictable•Mountains, deserts natural barriers•Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations

Why were River Valleys important?

• Good farming conditions made it easy to feed larger #s of people.

• Provided fish and freshwater• Travel and trade

Ancient Mesopotamia

Civilizations• Civilizations are complex societies

that have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system.

• Into what body of water does the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers flow?• Why do you think the region of Mesopotamia was so well suited for the growth of civilization?

Mesopotamia

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (4000 B.C.)“land in between the rivers”

Why was this a perfect place for the 1st civilization?

1. Fertile Crescent - large arc of fertile land in the Middle East

2. Tigris & Euphrates Rivers made it possible for farming

3. Cattle, pigs, goats & sheep were accessible

What was it like?

• Hot, dry climate• Spring – rivers often flooded (not always)

destroying crops, homes, etc. • Farmers believed they needed their gods to bless

their efforts.• Irrigation • Some areas were marshy.• Vulnerable to attack and invasion

Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent

• Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations

• Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

City-states

• Their own gov’t• Often went to war with each other

– To gain glory and to control more territory

• Protection = wall made of river mud

Ziggurat – mountain of god or hill of heaven

At the top was a shrine or a special place of worship that only the priests and priestesses could enter.

The area around the ziggurat contained palaces and royal storehouses. The surrounding walls had only one entrance because the ziggurat also served as the city’s treasury.

Ziggurat

Social Classes

• Upper class– Kings, priests, and gov’t officials– Kings lived in palaces.

• Middle class– Artisans, merchants, farmers, and fishers– Lived in small mud-brick houses

• Lower class– Enslaved people who worked on farms or in the

temples.

Roles of Men and Women

Men• Headed the households• Only ones that could go to

school

Women• Had some rights• Could buy and sell property

and run businesses

Mesopotamia“cradle of civilization”

Sumerians left a lasting mark on world history. Their ideas and inventions were

copied and improved upon by other people.

Sumerian Writing: cuneiform

Developed to keep track of business deals and other events.

Sumerian language

Sumerian Literature

• Oldest known story comes from Sumer.• Epic of Gilgamesh

Advances in Science and Math

• Irrigation systems• Used geometry to

measure fields and put up buildings

• Created a number system based on 60

• Watched skies to learn the best times to plant crops and hold religious festivals

• Recorded positions of planets and stars

• Developed a 12 month calendar based on the cycles of the moon

Sumerian city-states lost power when they were conquered by

outsiders.

Akkadians

Babylonia

Hammurabi

• Best known for his law code or collection of laws

• Hammurabi Code

“If a man stole the property of church or state, that man shall be put to death;

also the one who received the stolen goods from his hand shall be put to

death.” The laws governed such

things as lying, stealing, assault, debt, business partnerships, marriage, and divorce. In seeking protection for all members of Babylonian society, Hammurabi relied on the philosophy of equal retaliation, otherwise known as “an eye for an eye.”

Hammurabi’s Code

• His intention was “to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and evil-doers, so that the strong should not harm the weak. . .”

• Those that thought they were fair for the following reasons:– Brought order and justice to society– Regulated many different activities– Stated what all people needed to know about the rules of

their society.

Hammurabi’s Code

• Law 5: If a judge makes an error through his own fault when trying a case, he must pay a fine, be removed form the judge’s bench, and never judge another case.

• Law 122: If someone gives something to someone else for safekeeping, the transaction should be witnessed and a contract made between the two parties.

• Law 233: If a contractor builds a house for someone and the walls start to fall, then the builder must use his own money and labor to make the walls secure.

Hammurabi’s Code

• Some thought that these laws were cruel and unjust.– Called for violent punishments, often death, for

nonviolent crimes– Required different punishments for accused

persons of different social classes– Allowed no explanation from an accused person

Hammurabi’s Code

• Law 3: If someone falsely accuses someone else of certain crimes, then he shall be put to death.

• Law 22: If someone is caught in the act of robbery, then he shall be put to death.

• Law 195: If a son strikes his father, the son’s hands shall be cut off.

• Law 202: If someone strikes a man of higher rank, then he shall be whipped 60 times in public.

BABYLONIAN ZIGGURAT

THE MANY PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA:

1. Sumerians (ancient Sumer’s city-states)

(3000 B.C. - 1800 B.C.)

2. Babylonians (Babylonian Empire)

( 1800 B.C. - 1200 B.C.

3. Assyrians (Assyrian Empire)

(1200 B.C. - 539 B.C.)

4. Persians (Persian Empire)

(539 B.C. - 330 B.C.)

Review

1. What is a civilization?2. What was the Code of Hammurabi?3. How was the geography of Mesopotamia

suited for the growth of population and creation of a civilization?

4. Why did the Sumerian record the positions of the stars and planets and develop a calendar?

Achievements of Mesopotamian Civilization

The First Empires

Assyrians and Chaldeans

The Assyrian Empire

The Assyrian Defense

• Large, well-organized army• Foot soldiers armed with spears and

daggers• Experts with bows and arrows• Chariot riders and a cavalry• 1st army to use iron weapons

Techniques in war

• Burn crops, destroy dams, cut down trees

• Tunneled under walls or climbed over them using ladders

• Battering rams

A stone carving of the Assyrians conquering an Egyptian town in their war on Egypt.

A well-organized gov’t

• Divided into provinces• Roads joined all parts of the empire

A drawing of the Assyrian capitol of Nineveh.

The ruins of Nineveh.

Life in Assyria

• Writing• gods• More brutal/cruel punishments• Literature• Temples and palaces

The Chaldeans

• Captured Nineveh in 612 B.C.• King Nebuchadnezzar• Controlled all of Mesopotamia from

605 to 562 B.C.

Nineveh under siege by the Babylonians and Medes.

Babylon

• World’s largest and richest city• Brick wall• Center – large palaces and temples• Hanging gardens, one of the seven

wonders of the ancient world

Babylon

• Outside the center was houses and marketplaces.

• Trade• Center of science

Conquered by the Persians

Review

1. Why was the Assyrian army a powerful fighting force?

2. What were some of the accomplishments of Chaldean astronomers?

3. How did the Assyrians set up a well-organized gov’t?

4. Why do you think the Assyrians took conquered peoples from their lands and moved them to other places?

Review

5. What different types of knowledge and skills would the Babylonians need to build the Hanging Gardens?

6. Describe the beauty of ancient Babylon.