The Earth and Its Peoples 3 rd edition Chapter 3 New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 2200-250 B.C.E. Cover Slide Copyright © Houghton

The Earth and Its Peoples

3rd edition

Chapter 3

New Civilizations in the Eastern and

Western Hemispheres,2200-250 B.C.E.

Cover Slide

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Akhenaton and AtonThe Pharaoh Amenhotep sought to replace traditional polytheism with the worship of Aton, a single god who was represented with the sun disk. Amenhotep took the name Akhenaton ("It is well with Aton"). This relief shows the king and his wife Nefertiti worshipping Aton. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

Akhenaton and Aton


Bells of Marquis of YiMusic played a central role in court life in ancient China. The tomb of the Marquis of Yi, who died about 400 B.C.E., contained 124 musical instruments, including drums, flutes, mouth organs, pan pipes, zithers, a set of 32 chime stones, and this 64-piece bell set. The bells bear inscriptions that name the two tones each bell could make, depending on where it was struck. Five men, using poles and mallets, and standing on either side of the set of bells, would have played the bells by hitting them from outside. ((c) Cultural Relics Data Center of China)

Bells of Marquis of Yi


Celtic hill-fortAround 500 B.C.E. Celtic peoples spread across a substantial portion of Europe. The early Celts lived in or near hill-forts--lofty natural locations made even more defensible by earthwork fortifications. Hundreds of Celtic hill-forts, such as this one, have been found across Europe. They served as centers of administration, gathering points for Celtic armies, manufacturing centers, storage depots for food and trade goods, and places of refuge. As shown here, the natural defense offered by a hill could be improved by the construction of ditches and earthwork walls. ((c) Crown copyright NMR)

Celtic hill-fort


Divination shellMany peoples of the ancient world believed that the gods controlled the forces of nature and shaped destinies. The Shang ruling class frequently sought information from shamans. Among the tools of divination used by a shaman were oracle bones or shells. After inscribing questions on the shell, the diviner would touch it with the heated point of a stick. The shell would crack, and the cracks were "read" as a divine response. (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica)

Divination shell


Egyptian Book of the DeadContaining litanies, hymns, and other religious texts, the Book of the Dead was written to guide the deceased person safely between this world and the afterlife. The texts are intimately aligned with the cult of Osiris and also contain references to a Day of Judgment. This scene shows a dead person's appearance before a divine court of judgment. His heart is being weighed in the balance to determine his fate in the afterlife. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)

Egyptian Book of the Dead


Golden coffin of TutankhamenTutankhamen, who died at the age of 18, was a minor king who ruled Egypt from about 1347-1338 B.C.E. Although most Egyptian tombs have been plundered over the years, Tutankhamen's tomb--with all its treasures--was intact when it was discovered. Among the treasures was this solid gold sarcophagus (coffin) of "King Tut," which weighs 250 pounds. The cover of the coffin depicts a handsome youth with delicacy, charm, and comeliness. (Robert Harding Picture Library)

Golden coffin of Tutankhamen


Ivory cup inlaid with turquoiseThe one royal Shang tomb not robbed before it was excavated was for Lady Hao, one of the many wives of the king Wu Ding (ca. 1200 B.C.E.). It contained sixteen human skeletons of both males and females sacrificed at her tomb, and a profusion of valuable objects, such as 460 bronze objects and nearly 750 jade objects. This ivory cup inlaid with turquoise was among the valuables. ((c) Cultural Relics Data Center of China)

Ivory cup inlaid with turquoise


Jade piece from Lady Hao's tombAmong the valuables placed in royal Shang tombs were many jade objects, such as this figure. Since Neolithic times, jade has occupied the place of gold in China and in many other cultures; it is valued for its beauty, rarity, and endurance. This figure was one of 700 jade pieces in the tomb of Lady Hao. ((c) Cultural Relics Data Center of China)

Jade piece from Lady Hao's tomb


Kassite cylinder sealThe Kassites entered Babylonia from the north around 1600 B.C.E. and, with the help of the Hittites, gained control of the region. They provided the land with 300 years of peace and prosperity. This cylinder seal of King Burnaburiash shows a supplicant at worship. The dog in the foreground represents the goddess Giula. The animals above the king and supplicant serve as symbols of fertility and are linked to the gods. (Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin/Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz)

Kassite cylinder seal


Neolithic pottery figureOver the course of the fifth to third millennia B.C.E., many distinct regional Neolithic cultures emerged in China. For instance, in the northwest people made fine pottery vessels decorated in black pigment with bold designs, including spirals, sawtooth lines, and zoomorphic stick figures. Some scholars speculate that this image depicts a shaman wearing face paint. Note the snake depicted climbing the back of its head. ((c) Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities)

Neolithic pottery figure


Neolithic pottery figureOver the course of the fifth to third millennia B.C.E., many distinct regional Neolithic cultures emerged in China. For instance, in the northwest people made fine pottery vessels decorated in black pigment with bold designs, including spirals, sawtooth lines, and zoomorphic stick figures. Some scholars speculate that this image depicts a shaman wearing face paint. Note the snake depicted climbing the back of its head. ((c) Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities)

Neolithic pottery figure


Nubian bringing giftsThis wall painting in the tomb chapel of Huy at Thebes (ca. 1600 B.C.E.) shows Nubians bringing rings and bags of gold to King Tutankhamen. The other section of this painting depicts the Egyptianized chief Hequanefer, Prince of Miam, and other Nubian chiefs bowing before the Egyptian king. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)

Nubian bringing gifts


Nubian pyramidsThe Nubians adopted many aspects of Egyptian culture and customs. The pyramids of Meroitic rulers in the northern cemetery of Meroe (shown here) are not as magnificent as their Egyptian predecessors, but they served the same purpose of honoring the dead king. Their core was constructed of bricks, which were then covered with stone blocks. At the doors of the pyramids stood monumental gates to the interiors of the tombs. (Michael Yamashita)

Nubian pyramids


Olmec headThe word Olmec comes from an Aztec term for the peoples living in southern Veracruz and western Tabasco, Mexico, between about 1500 and 300 B.C.E. All later Mesoamerican cultures derived from the Olmecs. Measuring 9 feet, 4 inches in height, and over 10 tons in weight, this colossal basalt head monument from San Lorenzo is a superb example of Olmec sculpture intended as architecture. The facial features have led some scholars to suggest African influences, but that hypothesis has not been proven. (Nathaniel Tarn/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

Olmec head


Royal Anyang tombThis was one of the eleven large tombs excavated at the royal burial ground at Anyang, from which the Shang kings ruled for more than two centuries. This grave, about 60 feet deep and 300 feet long, would have taken thousands of laborers many months to complete. But even more wealth was expended to fill it with bronze, stone, pottery, jade, and textile goods. Human victims were also placed in it. (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica)

Royal Anyang tomb


Statue of HatshepsutThis statue of the pharaoh Hatshepsut is one of the few to depict her as a woman. She is usually shown as a man, complete with beard, which symbolizes royal power. Centuries later the proportions and carving techniques of Egyptian stone sculpture would influence the Greeks. (Brian Brake/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

Statue of Hatshepsut


Temple of Ramesses II at Abu SimbelStrategically placed at a bend in the Nile River to face the southern frontier, this monument was an advertisement of Egyptian power. A temple was carved into the cliff behind the gigantic statues of the pharaoh. Within the temple, a corridor decorated with reliefs of military victories leads to an inner shrine containing images of the divine ruler seated alongside three of the major gods. In a modern marvel of engineering, the monument was moved to higher ground in the 1960s to protect it from rising waters when a dam was constructed upriver. (Susan Lapides/Woodfin Camp & Associates)

Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel


Terracotta warriorsIn 221 B.C.E. the state of Qin unified China for the first time in many centuries. The king of Qin called himself the First Emperor of this dynasty. Assassins tried to kill him three times, and he spent lavishly on a tomb designed to protect him in the afterlife. Archaeologists have unearthed thousands of life-size terra-cotta soldiers--a lifelike guard--buried in pits about half a mile from the First Emperor's tomb. The soldiers were originally painted in bright colors, and they held real bronze weapons. (Robert Harding Picture Library)

Terracotta warriors


Women beating chimesThis drawing of women beating chimes, a scene from a bronze vessel of the Zhou era, illustrates the important role of music in festivals, religious rituals, and court ceremonials. During the politically fragmented later (Eastern) Zhou era, many small states marked their independence by having their own musical scales and distinctive arrangements of orchestral instruments. (Courtesy, Sichuan Museum)

Women beating chimes


Map: Ancient Nubia

Ancient NubiaThe land route alongside the Nile River as it flows through Nubia has long served as a corridor connecting sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa. The centuries of Egyptian occupation, as well as time spent in Egypt by Nubian hostages, mercenaries, and merchants, led to a marked Egyptian cultural influence in Nubia. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: Balance of Power in the Near East

Balance of Power in the Near EastThis map shows the regions controlled by the Hittites and Egyptians at the height of their power. The striped area represents the part of Mesopotamia conquered by the Hittites during their expansion eastward. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: The Celtic Peoples

The Celtic PeoplesCeltic civilization originated in Central Europe in the early part of the first millennium B.C.E. Around 500 B.C.E. Celtic peoples began to migrate, making Celtic civilization the dominant cultural style in Europe and north of the Alps. The Celts' interactions with the peoples of the Mediterranean, including Greeks and Romans, encompassed both warfare and trade. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: China in the Shang and Zhou Periods, 1750-221 B.C.E.

China in the Shang and Zhou Periods, 1750-221 B.C.E.The Shang dynasty arose in the second millennium B.C.E. in the floodplain of the Yellow River. While Southern China benefits from the monsoon rains, northern China depends on irrigation. As population increased, the Han Chinese migrated from their eastern homeland to other parts of China, carrying their technologies and cultural practices. Other ethnic groups predominated in more outlying regions, and the nomadic peoples of the northwest constantly challenged Chinese authority. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations

Minoan and Mycenaean CivilizationsThe earliest complex civilizations in Europe arose in the Aegean Sea. The Minoan civilization on the island of Crete evolved in the later third millennium B.C.E. and had a major cultural influence on the Mycenaean Greeks. Palaces decorated with fresco paintings, a centrally controlled economy, and the use of a system of writing for record keeping are some of the most conspicuous features of these societies. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: Olmec and Chavín Civilizations

Olmec and Chavín CivilizationsThe regions of Mesoamerica (most of modern Mexico and Central America) and the Andean highlands of South America have hosted impressive civilizations since early times. The civilizations of the Olmec and Chavin were the originating civilizations of these two regions, providing the foundations of architecture, city planning, and religion. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


Map: Small Kingdoms of the Near East

Small Kingdoms of the Near EastThis map illustrates the political fragmentation of the Near East after the great wave of invasions that occurred during the thirteenth century B.C.E. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)


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The Earth and Its Peoples 3 rd edition Chapter 3 New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 2200-250 B.C.E. Cover Slide Copyright © Houghton