The Ancient Near East’s Earliest Empires

c. 2300 B.C. - c. 300 B.C.

How were empires of the ancient Near East governed? How do empires rise, how are they maintained, and what causes them to fall?

MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

Akkadian Empire• Sargon was the leader of the

Akkadians.

• first empire in world history (empire = a large political unit or state, usually under a single leader, that controls many peoples or territories)

• Sargon’s empire included all of Mesopotamia and lands westward to the Mediterranean.

• Sargon’s empire is known as having “no rival or equal”.

• Sargon used the former rulers of conquered city-states as governors.

• One of Sargon’s successors, Naram-Sin, declared himself a god.

Babylonian Empire• Hammurabi gained control of Sumer and

Akkad, creating a new Mesopotamian kingdom with Babylon as the capital.

• Hammurabi called himself “the sun of Babylon, … the king who caused the four quarters of the world to render obedience.”

• Hammurabi created The Code of Hammurabi which was the first set of written laws. The laws were based on a system of strict justice and contained harsh punishments for breaking the laws. A civilian’s social structure had an impact on the severity of the punishment. For example, a crime against a noble by a commoner was punished more severely than the same offense against a member of the lower class.

• Patriarchal society (men dominated) ex. a woman who’s husband died was expected to burn with her husband

The Hyksos• The Hyksos used horse-drawn

war chariots to overwhelm the Egyptian soldiers, who fought from donkey carts.

• The Hyksos taught the Egyptians how to use bronze in the making of their farming tools and their weapons and introduced them to horse-drawn war chariots.

• The pharaoh Ahmose I defeated and expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. He reunited Egypt and established the New Kingdom.

Akhenaten’s Attempt at Religious Changes

• The pharaoh Amenhotep IV introduced the worship of Aten, god of the sun disk, as the sole god.

• Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaten, “Servant of Aten,” and closed the temples of other gods.

• The people didn’t accept this monotheistic belief and were already accustomed to being a polytheistic civilization.

• After Akhenaten’s death Tutankhamen restored the old gods.

The Kingdom of Kush• The collapse of the New Kingdom

enabled Nubia to free itself and become the independent state of Kush.

• Kush conquered Egypt in 750 B.C.

• The Assyrians drove the Kushites out of Egypt and back to their original lands in the upper Nile Valley.

• Kush grew to be very involved in trading. The Kushites, having learned iron smelting from the Assyrians, made iron weapons and tools that were sent abroad. The major exports of Kush were ivory, gold, body, and slaves.

The Assyrian and Persian Empiresmore involved in fighting and

war

more peaceful

included Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asian Minor, and present day

Turkey

located in present day SW Iran and western India

mixture of different cultures

invaded Egyptfirst well organized government

primarily nomadicpolytheistic monotheistic

semitic languagecreated first library

Royal Road

efficient communication

systemsmonarchy

(absolute power)strong military

use of iron weapons

οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες

c. 1600 B.C. - c. 133 B.C.

How can geography influence political organization? How can cultural and political differences lead to conflict and change?

(The Ancient Greeks)

Greece’s Geography

• About 80% of Greece is mountainous.

• Greece consists of numerous islands.

• Because of the geography, civilizations located in different parts of Greece were isolated from each other, which resulted in different cultures.

Mycenaean Civilization• part of the Indo-European

family of peoples who spread into Europe and Asia

• made of powerful monarchies

• the royal family lived inside the walls of the civilization, while the civilian population lived outside the walls (shows superiority of royal family compared to the rest of society / social structure)

• prided themselves on their heroic deeds in battle

The Lion Gate (main entrance)

Iliad vs. the Odyssesy

epic poemsbased on

stories that had been passed down from

generation to generation

Homer used stories of the Trojan War to

compose these

the tale of the Greek hero Achilles and how his anger

led to disaster

contains the story of the Greek hero

Odysseus, after the fall of Troy, and his ultimate

return to his wife

considered masterpiecestaught the values of courage and honorwritten by Homer

Greek Expansion

• Between 750 B.C. and 550 B.C. an abundant amount of Greeks left their homeland to settle in distant lands.

• Each new Greek colony became a new Greek polis (the early Greek city state, consisting of a city or town and its surrounding countryside), independent of the polis that had founded it.

GREECEexports imports

• pottery • wine • olive oil • (fish)

• grains • metals • slaves • fish • wheat • timber

Athens Sparta• started new colonies • idea of advancing

politically and economically

• strong government • oligarchy (one or two

rulers / democracy) • arts • council of 500 • better navy • “rule of many” • planned to remain

behind city’s walls for defense

• conquered other towns • idea of isolation • military / war is most

important • oligarchy • valued stability • feared the growing

Athenian empire • council of 38 and 2 kings • stronger army • “rule of few” • “highly self-disciplined” • surrounded Athens’ walls

for offense

(calm)(artsy)

SOCIAL GROUP ROLES AND RIGHTS

adult male citizens

adult male foreigners

slaves

women citizens

men that were 18+ could vote and they were involved in all decision making, assembled, required to serve in the

military

received protection of the laws, served in military

no voting, practically no rights, job = work for rich / successful, public construction

no voting, responsible for having children (especially boys because they had to

serve in the military when they turned 18), expected to remain at home, had to have a guardian if they left the house, couldn’t own property, women weren’t allowed to

get an education, no formal job

Greek = Polytheistic• Zeus = god of all gods

• Olympus = where he lived

• Athena = wisdom

• Apollo = sun

• Artemis = moon and beauty

• Ares = war

• Aphrodite = love

• Poseidon = water and earthquakes

• Hades = underworld (not on quiz)

• Nike = goddess of victory

Socrates Plato Aristotle

Views on the Purpose of Philosophy

to improve oneself fascinated with reality / train the mind investigate

Views on human nature and nature

of the world

believed that all real knowledge is already

present within each person

a higher world of unchanging forms has

already existed

things were only physical and they did not exist in a

higher world / didn’t accept Plato’s theory of ideal

forms

Views on Government

questioned authority / soon got him in trouble

The Republic (upper class, middle class, lower class) /

people have different motivations

government that would rationally direct human

affairs

Discussion Notes

• How did marathon get its name? A man named Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to share the news that they beat the Persians.

• Democracy = theory = “rule by people”

• Direct Democracy = action of voting

Greek Culture

• their religion focused on the will of gods and goddesses

• Greek architecture focused on a standard of ideal beauty

• the study of history began with the Greeks

ancient Greece amphitheater

Alexander and the Hellenistic Era

• the Macedonians and Greeks attacked the Persians and established a large empire

• Alexander the Great is remembered for leaving a political, economical, and cultural legacy.

• Alexander the Great’s empire was succeeded by Hellenistic kingdoms.

• Hellenistic cities were known for being centers of culture.

Essential Questions

• What was discovered to be the center of the universe?

• Is the earth round or flat? Was this theory accepted? Why or why not?

• What advancements were made in math?

• Did the Hellenistic Era see religion worship?

• What was Alexander “Great”?

Picture Sources• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/14566398770228214/

• http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hammurabi

• http://www.mummies2pyramids.info/history-civilization/hyksos.htm

• https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/f0obp/til_akhenaten_a_pharaoh_who_eradicated_from/

• http://microcosomofenlightenment.weebly.com/ancient-nubian-kingdom-kush.html

• https://greeceprojectjadick.wikispaces.com/Physical+Geography

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greece

• https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-has-greek-influenced-english-language

• http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-greece/pictures/greek-architecture/ruins-of-the-theater-of-ephesus

• http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html

• https://www.pinterest.com/mfmennis/maps-of-ancient-empires/

• http://www.slideshare.net/srinaldipds/maps-ancient-and-medieval-history