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The Middle East:

Cradle of Civilization

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Multiple groups shaped the early history of the Middle East

• Sumerians • Babylonians• Assyrians• Egyptians• Hebrews• Persians

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Sumerians• First of the

civilizations in this area

• Influenced the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations

http://ragz-international.com/sumeria.htm

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Sumerian Firsts

• Cuneiform writing• System of numbers

based on 60 (led to our 60-minute time segments and 360 degree circle

• Cities – often more like small nations

http://www.crystalinks.com/sumerlanguage.html

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Sumerians

• Temples were originally the main institution of the cities.

• As the cities grew military leaders replaced the priests. The leaders eventually became kings.

Ziggurat Remains at Ur:http://www.hope.edu/bandstra/RTOT/CH1/CH1_BAB.HTM

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• King Sargon contributed to the start of Semitic language.

• A group of nomads, called Amorites, founded the village of Babylon, built on the Euphrates.

Babylonians

http://www.crystalinks.com/babylonian.html

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Semitic Groups

• Their king Hammurabi was famous for his legal code

• His kingdom included Sumer, Akkad, Assur, and Ninevah

• His idea of justice was “an eye for an eye.”

http://members.tripod.com/clayt/Humanities/Hammurabi.html

At left, pictures the giving of the laws

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Babylonians• Admired Sumerian

society

• Used the Sumerian language.

• Reshaped many Sumerian tales to create “The Epic of Gilgamesh.”

http://www.piney.com/Gil01.html

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Egypt • Villages along the

Nile were split into two countries; Upper and Lower Egypt.

• Pyramids were the symbol of the afterlife and still are associated with Egypt.

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/maps/mainmap.html

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Hieroglyphics• Like the Sumerian

system, based on pictures

• Eventually changed to a system where the symbols could also represent sound

• Written on papyrus, a material made from the reeds of the Nile

http://www.elismorrowsch.com/classroomnews/lp6hiero.htm

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Egypt• Religion was the key

aspect.• Worshipped gods that

were associated with Nature.

• Pharaoh Amenhotep (right) changed Egyptian religion by creating the worship one god: Aton.

http://www.crystalinks.com/akhenaten.html

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Egyptian creations• For a short

period, monotheism

• Surveying – a result of the yearly flooding of the Nile

• Geometry• 12-month, 365

day calendarPyramids of Giza http://www.culturefocus.com/pyramids-2.htm

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The Middle East is the birthplace of three major religions

• Judaism

• Christianity

• Islam All are monotheistic

(having only one God)

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The Hebrews• Recorded their

history in the Bible.

• Believed in one God with whom they had a covenant- an agreement that He would protect them as long as they obeyed Him

Fragments from the book of Ecclesiastes:

http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/dead_sea_scrolls/qohelet.shtml

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Hebrews• Famine caused

them to travel to Egypt, where they were enslaved by the pharaohs.

• Moses, their leader, saved them from captivity.

• Given the Ten Commandments http://clipart.christiansunite.com/10651020

61/10_Commandments_Clipart/10_Commandments002.gif

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Hebrews• Released from

Egypt, they fought against the Philistines and others for their promised land

• Succeeded in 1025 under the leadership of David, later the king of Israel http://www.israelmybeloved.com/land/

pics/map_davidkingdom_med.jpg

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Hebrew Legacy

• Monotheism (specifically, Judaism)

• Greater respect for human life than previous Middle Eastern societies

• Deep concern with moral behavior

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Persian Culture• Group of Aryan

tribes migrated to what is now Iran in about 2000 B.C.

• Overwhelmed the natives and seized control

• Name comes from Persis, or Pars, an area that was one of the most powerful http://www.execulink.com/~wblank/persia.htm

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Persian empire

• Created by the conquests of Cyrus the Great and his son-in-law, Darius I

• Divided into provinces, it was connected by a system of roads and relay stations

(relief from Persepolis - Darius

http:// www.livius.org/da-dd/darius/darius_i_0.html

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Persians Practiced

Tolerance• Allowed some political freedom

• Respected native customs and religions

• Result was minimized dissent and chances of rebellion

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Fell to Alexander the Great in 331 B.C.

http://aztec.lib.utk.edu/~kidder/alex1.html

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Zoroastrianism

• Official Persian religion• Dominant from 500 B.C. until Islam

replaced it in 7th century A.D.• Still practiced in a few areas• World is governed by two opposing forces,

good and evil, who are fighting. However good will eventually prevail.

• Followers of good will be rewarded with eternity in paradise

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Zoroastrian gods

One of the symbols of Ahura Mazda, the sun god

http://www.bamjam.net/Iran/Persepolis.html

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Persian literature

• Ethical and moral works primarily

• Best known form is poetry, although prose exists

• Poetry used to preserve history, first in pre-Islamic times, and again during 9th and 10th centuries

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Shah-nama

• National epic of Persian people

• Written by Abu’l-Qasim Firdawsi

• Used existing stories

• Used Persian vocabulary as much as possible

• Intended to preserve national identity in the wake of Islamic conquest

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Shah-nama

• A history of Persia from the beginning of the world to the Arab conquest

• Describes the creation and the earliest kings’ fights with the demons of darkness

• Long cycle of wars between the Persians and the Turan

• Reign of Yazdigird, last pre-Islamic ruler of Persia

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Shah-namaMain Characters

•Rustam—(Father)

•Suhrab—(Son)

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Rustam

• Greatest hero

• Spans three centuries

• Adapted into an English poem by Matthew Arnold

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Islam

• Originated 6th century A.D.

• Founded by Mohammad, a citizen of Mecca

• Mohammad received revelations from the angel Gabriel.

• Revelations became the Koran

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From the city of Mecca where Mohammad lived, Islam spread with the conquest of what are now Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

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Islamic Beliefs

• One God, Allah, who is creator and sustainer of all things

• All are required to submit to his will; Islam means submission

• Five Pillars – submit, pray five times a day, perform acts of charity, fast during

Ramadan, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca

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Islamic Beliefs5 Pillars of Islam

•Worship only Allah

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Islamic Beliefs5 Pillars of Islam

•Turn to Mecca & pray five times a day

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Islamic Beliefs5 Pillars of Islam

•Perform acts of charity

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Islamic Beliefs5 Pillars of Islam

•Fast during Ramadan

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Islamic Beliefs5 Pillars of Islam

Make a pilgrimage to Mecca

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Place of other religions

• Torah and New Testament held to be scriptures

• Islam is the final and perfect one in a series of religions, including Judaism and Christianity

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Islam remains the major religion of the area

However, the area has sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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Arabic literature

• Odes – usually committed to memory, but later recorded

• Religious commentaries, primarily on the Koran

• History

• Philosophy

• Science

• Fiction began later than others

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Rumi• A founder of a

group of Islamic ascetics known as the whirling dervishes

• A major Islamic poet

• A best-seller even today with a CD to his credit-Madonna recorded one of his poems.

• A writer of passionate love poetry- to Allah

http://www.shira.net/dervturk.htm

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One Thousand and One Nights

• Most famous Arabic lit

• A collection of fables & folktales• Framed by the story of

Shaharazad, who used the stories to save her life

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European nations’ actions have impacted the Middle East

After World War I, the British, who with the French had taken over Arab territories, established a Jewish homeland in

Palestine.

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When the British withdrew in 1948,

the State of Israel was proclaimed.

Arabs protested bitterly and violence over this issue is a major part of newscasts today.

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1. What does “The land between two rivers mean”?

2. Name two firsts invented by the Sumerians

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3. Who’s code was based on the principle, “eye for an eye”?

4. Name the writing system the Egyptians invented

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5. What did a pyramid symbolize for the Egyptians?

6. What was one invention of Egyptian science?

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7. What was one key religious difference unique to Hebrew culture?

8. Which culture enslaved the Hebrews?

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