Chapter 2 Ancient Middle East and Egypt

Over 5,000 years ago, the world’s first civilization was created in a area known as the Fertile Crescent. Known for its rich soils, river systems, locality to multiple seas, and natural barriers, it would be home to many other civilizations that would contribute to the history of the region.

• Within the Fertile Crescent is the land between the two major rivers; The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia, meaning “between the rivers”, would be the site of the first civilization known as Sumer. The people of this region, Sumerians, worked together to control the floodwaters and built irrigation ditches for collective security. Because of this teamwork, they created a civilization.

• Due to their lack of building materials; wood and stone, they had to make due with what they did have. Their cities were made of bricks of clay. Trade would eventually allow them to acquire goods from regions such as Egypt, India, and other areas in the region.

Government• Within its first few hundred years, around 12 city-states existed Mesopotamia. A ruler would control an army and the irrigation systems, and would try to take over land from other city-states or defend their city-state. They would collect taxes and keep records to keep their city-state organized.

Society• Sumerian society was based

on a hierarchy, or system of ranking groups. – The highest class included the

ruling family, leading officials, and high priests.

– The small middle class was made up of artisans, traders, and lesser priests.

– The largest class was the peasant/farmers.

Women were highly regarded in Sumerian society, but had little legal rights. Even so, they did have more rights then women in later civilizations after Sumer.

Religion• Sumerians were

polytheistic, believing in many gods. The gods and goddesses were responsible for truth, justice, violence, and suffering. Sumerians would appease their gods by worshiping them and building a ziggurat, a large stepped platform where a temple was on top. From the ziggurat, all ceremonies would take place. They believed everyone went to the underworld upon death.

Writing• By 3,200 B.C,

Sumerians had invented the earliest form of writing, cuneiform. Using a clay tablet, Sumerian scribes would use a stylus to by wedges on the clay tablets to record money exchanges, myths, prayers, laws, etc…

Sumerian Contributions

• First form of writing.• Developed astronomy

and mathematics.• Established a number

system based on six, dividing minutes and hours, and the idea of a 360 degree circle.

• These contributions allowed other civilizations to build upon them to advance human society.

Akkadians• Established by the ruler Sargon, Akkadians created the first empire in the world. By conquering surrounding city-states, Sargon created an empire where he put local rulers in charge of his city-states. After his death, the empire fell to other invaders.

Hammurabi• After Akkad fell, a new leader

unified the region and brought stability. Hammurabi is best known for establishing a set of laws that would become known as Hammurabi’s Code. He was the first ruler to codify, or arrange and set down in writing laws. This code was based on the Sumerian ideas of “an eye for an eye”. The Code was split into civil law (private rights and matters) and criminal law (offenses against others).

• He was also responsible for improving irrigation in his empire and creating a large army.

Hittites

By 1400 B.C., a group known as the Hittites conquered Mesopotamia. They brought with them the art of iron-making. Iron was stronger than bronze and copper, which was useful for weapons and tool making. When the empire collapsed 200 year later, the secret of iron-making spread throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

AssyriansBy 1100 B.C., a warrior

empire gained control of Mesopotamia. Although known for brutality in battle, they were also a very structured society. King Assurbanipal of the Assyrians also created the world’s first library. He had his scribes to collect ancient clay tablets from Sumerian locations.

• In 625 B.C., the ruler of Babylon defeated the Assyrians to take control of the area. Under their most aggressive ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon would rise as a powerful empire.

• Under this ruler, Babylon improved its city walls, converted the ancient ziggurat into a layered garden with a sophisticated water transport system with exotic plants and animals living on the structure. It would be considered one of the “seven wonders” of the ancient world.

• In 539 B.C., a new conquering group defeated Babylon for control of Mesopotamia. The Persians, who came from regions to the East, would be the biggest empire the world would see until the Roman Empire. Under the leaders, including Darius I, pursued a policy of tolerance. They would respect the culture and religion of the people they conquered, which allowed the empire to have strong support for many years.

The Persians created roads to connect their cities and people. They improved trade by creating a uniform method of weights and measures. They continued a barter economy, or exchanging goods and services for other goods and services. However, they introduced a money economy, based on the exchange of coin for goods and services.

• Although the Persians were polytheistic, a religious leader in the city of Babylon started a new religion that denounced the Persians gods and began the first religion based on one god, a monotheistic belief. Zoroaster’s religious beliefs mirror that of Judeo-Christian beliefs. Historians believe that Zoroaster’s ideas would be emulated by the Jewish faith.

Phoenicians Not known as a conquering group

in the region, Phoenicians used their superior ability of sailing and trade to establish colonies throughout the Mediterranean. Some of their products set them apart from other traders. They made glass from the sands off their shores. They used their famous cedar for ship building. They also created a purple dye from a snail they harvested from the sea. They also created the first alphabet, which would later be adopted by the Greeks, and much later to be used by our current civilization.

Kingdom on the Nile

• The geography of Egypt limited the civilization, but allowed them to prosper and be protected from invading forces.

• Deserts on their eastern and western borders.

• A vast river delta protected them to the North.

• Cataracts, or waterfalls to the South kept their neighbors away from their borders, most of the time.

Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt

Ancient Egypt is split into three time periods.

• Old Kingdom (2575 B.C.-2130 B.C.)

• Middle Kingdom (1938 B.C.-1630 B.C.)

• New Kingdom (1539 B.C. 1075 B.C.)

• The power passed from one dynasty, or ruling family, to another; but the area stayed unified even during times when they were conquered by invaders.

The Old Kingdom Creates a Tradition

• Ruled by pharaohs, or Egyptians kings.– Absolute ruler– Revered as a god– Operated the government as a

bureaucracy– Had royal advisors known as

viziers– Created the largest of the ancient

pyramids. The Pyramids of Giza were created for the pharaoh as a resting place. Within the pyramid, the pharaoh would have all the items he or she needed for eternity.

Rocky Times for the Middle Kingdom• The cost of building the Pyramids, drought, and

frequent rebellions caused the dynasty of the Old Kingdom to fail.

• When the Middle Kingdom arose:– they improved their trade routes throughout the region. – Created more arable land by extending their irrigation

canals. When an invading group known as the Hyksos took over at

the end of the Middle Kingdom, they inadvertently introduced something the Egyptians never saw before.

THE WHEEL, connected to the chariot. The Egyptians would soon use this technology to retake the area from the Hyksos.

The New Kingdom Succeeds

• During the New Kingdom, Egypt would expand its borders way beyond Egypt. They would control much of the Fertile Crescent, far to the South in Nubia, and nearly moved into regions of present-day Turkey.

• Their many conquest gave the pharaoh the ability to build up the empire’s wealth.

The Temple of Ramses II

Fall of Egypt

• Although their commerce and culture stayed unchanged for nearly 1000 years after the New Kingdom, they would fall under the control of other empires.– Assyrians– Persians– Greeks– Romans

Religion of the Egyptians

• The Old Kingdom worshiped the sun god, Re. As time passed, they associated Re with another god, Amon. They would later call this overlord god Amon-Re. Amon-Re granted power of the kingdom to the pharaoh.

• Osiris was the god of the dead, who granted admission in the afterlife to those worthy of it.

• He also was the god of the Nile, so he was a very important god to the Egyptians.

• Isis, wife to Osiris, was important because she represented females in all their duties.

• She was revered because she was believed to give the gifts of grinding grains, spinning cloth, weaving, and caring for children.

• All duties associated with the life of a typical Egyptian female.

• Journey to the afterlife involved steps.– Mummification; the preservation of a dead body using

embalming methods and wrapping the body in cloth.– Crossing the Nile; all of the ancient Egyptian burials were on

the west side of the Nile.– Acceptance by Osiris; those who could afford the other two

steps would also have their tombs adorned with spells, charms, and formulas which was supposed to help them in the afterlife.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

• ANY VOLUNTEERS????• Religious rites; preparing the body• Removal of organs• Applying materials to dry the body.• Annointing• Wrapping• Placement of spells and charms• More annointing• Placement in sarcophogus• More religious rites

Egyptian Society• At the top of society

was the pharaoh, his family, and trusted advisors and high priests.

• Below this class was the merchants, artisans, and scribes.

• The majority of people, also at the bottom of society, were the peasant farmers.

Oversaw government, military, and religious ceremonies.

Traded with other civilizations, created goods needed by all Egyptians, recorded events and history of ancient Egypt, created the beautiful artwork associated with the ancient Egyptians.

Served as the labor force, to produce the large amount of food needed to feed the empire. Also worked on the public works, such as the creation of the temples, pyramids, irrigation canals, etc….

Women• Women in Egypt enjoyed

a higher status and independence compared to women elsewhere at the time.

• They could own property, businesses, farms, almost anything; they were kept from being scribes and holding government jobs though.

• Except for the rare occasion of the pharaoh being a woman.

Hieroglyphics• Using a system of symbols

to represent sounds, hieroglyphics was used as their first form of writing.

• Eventually it evolved into marks, that represented the sounds.

• They would carve hieroglyphics on stone temples and pyramids, but they also used another medium.

• Papyrus, a paperlike writing material, was used to record information on a day to day purpose.

How do we know what hieroglyphs

say?

• During the rule of Napoleon in the early 1800’s, he commissioned a study of the ancient pyramids and the sphnix. Buried in the sand was a large stone with 3 languages on it. Known as the Rosetta Stone, the researcher, Jean Champollion easily deciphered the Greek was one of the languages. He then converted the demotic script (newer Egyptian hierglyphs) from Greek, and the old hieroglyphs from the demotic script.

Advances in Science and

Mathematics

• Because there were some who learned of the anatomy of humans through mummification processes, they were able to diagnose some typical symptoms and diseases.

• They used medicines, created prosthetics, and used many common plants and substances to health purposes.

• They created a calendar of 12 months with 30 days in each (later used by modern civilizations).

• Created geometry due to their need of it to create their grand pyramids, temples, and obelisks.

Art• One look at a

sarcophagus or temple, one can easily see that Egyptians regarded art very highly.

Judaism; Hebrews

• About 4,000 years ago, a monotheistic religious group developed in the western parts of the Fertile Crescent, along the coast of the Mediterranean.

• Based on their most sacred text, the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible), the Israelites’ views, history, and faith were interconnected with their one god.

• The remainder of the 19 books of the Old Testament is known as the Talmud.

• According to the Torah, the founder of the religion, Abraham, migrated to the region of Canaan to set up a nation for God.

• He made a covenant, or promise, with God. 1. God recognized a special relationship with Abraham and his people. 2. God declared that Canaan would belong to the Israelites.

• A drought forced many Israelites to leave Canaan. When they arrived in Egypt, the pharaoh enslaved them.

• Moses would liberate the Israelites and help them to resettle in Canaan.

• In 922 B.C., Canaan would split into two nations, Judah and Israel.

The Teachings• Based on morals and

values.• Includes cleanliness and

food preparation• Patriarchal, means that

men held the greatest legal and moral authority.

• 10 Commandments; stresses religious duties, including the observance of the Sabbath, or holy day of rest.

• Every so often, new prophets would become popular to help the Jewish people to be reminded of their duties.

• They taught a strong code of ethics, or moral standards of behavior.

• As the kingdoms of Judah and Israel fell to other empires, the beliefs of the Jews stay constant. Many left to live elsewhere, others were forced out. This spreading of the Jewish people around the region was known as the Diaspora.