Chapter 2 First Civilizations: Africa

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Chapter 2 First Civilizations Africa
Asia3200 B.C.-500 B.C.

• Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile
• Section 2 Egyptian Civilization
• Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer
• Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders
• Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• Summary
• Historians split ancient Egyptian history into 3
  periods
• 1.) The Old Kingdom
• 2.) The Middle Kingdom
• 3.) The New Kingdom

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• One of the earliest civilizations arose in Egypt
  about 5,000 years ago
• Since most of Egypt is desert, people settled
  along the Nile River

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• The fertile soil of the Nile Valley produced good
  crops
• Yearly floods soaked the land and deposited rich
  soil
• The river also served as a highway for travel by
  boat

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• The Egyptian ruler was called a Pharaoh
• After the death of a Pharaoh, power usually
  passed to another member of his family
• These ruling families were called dynasties

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• The 3 periods of Egyptian history are the
• 1.) Old Kingdom (2700 B.C.-2200 B.C.)
• 2.) Middle Kingdom (2050 B.C.-1800 B.C.)
• 3.) New Kingdom (1550 B.C.-1100 B.C.)

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• During the Old Kingdom, the Pharaohs created a
  strong government
• They also built giant pyramids
• Pyramids are massive burial tombs that took many
  years and millions of stone blocks to build

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• The Middle Kingdom was a troubled period
• The Nile did not flood regularly, so in many
  years crops did not grow
• Although, Egypt conquered many lands, rebellion
  was common

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• Then invaders called the Hyksos HIHK sohs,
  defeated the Pharaohs army and gained control of
  Egypt

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• The New Kingdom began over a hundred years later
  when the Egyptians drove out the Hyksos
• Powerful Pharaohs created a large empire that
  reached the Euphrates river

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile

• Egypt traded with Asia and Africa
• Trade and warfare spread Egyptian culture to
  other countries
• In return, those places gave Egyptians new ideas

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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile
Old Kingdom (2700 B.C.-2200 B.C.)
? Pharaohs organize strong government
? Egyptians believe Pharaoh is a god
? Old Kingdom is known as Pyramid Age
? Egyptians build giant pyramids at Giza
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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile
Middle Kingdom (2050 B.C.-1800 B.C.)
? Egyptians suffer food shortages
? People rebel
? Hyksos conquer Egypt
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Section 1 Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile
New Kingdom (1550 B.C.-1100 B.C.)
? Powerful Pharaohs build large empire
? Queen Hatshepsut becomes Pharaoh Encourages trade
? Ramese II conquers Palestine Syria
? Egyptian power begins to decline
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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Summary
• Ancient Egypt was an advanced society where
  people were divided into classes

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Religion was an important part of everyday life
  in Egypt
• Egyptians believed and many gods and goddesses
• They also believed in life after death

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• They prepared their dead for the afterlife
  through a preservation process called
  mummification
• The mummies of some Pharaohs were buried in
  pyramids

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Egyptian society had its own class system
• Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was both god
  and a king
• He had the highest position in society

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Next where the priests, who served the gods and
  the goddesses
• Near the bottom was the biggest group, the
  peasant farmers
• Beneath the peasants were the slaves

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Women in ancient Egyptian society had more
  freedom than in any other ancient civilization
• For example, at different times Egypt was ruled
  by women
• 1.) Hatshepsut
• 2.) Cleopatra

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• The Egyptians made many advances in learning and
  art
• In medicine, they learned to cure many illnesses
  and to perform surgery
• Egyptians developed a calendar very similar to
  the one we use today
• They also created picture writing called
  Hieroglyphics

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization

• Egyptian temples and monuments have survived
  thousands of years
• Egyptian statues and paintings show daily life,
  ceremonies, and military victories

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Section 2 Egyptian Civilization
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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Summary
• The fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates
  Rivers supported the development of Sumerian
  civilization

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Geography helps explain the rise of civilization
  in the Middle East
• Like the Nile River in Egypt, the Tigris and
  Euphrates Rivers made the land around them fertile

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer
Tigris Euphrates
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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• This region was called the Fertile Crescent
  because of the good farmland curved in the shape
  of a crescent
• The land between the rivers was called Mesopotamia

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• By 5,000 years ago, villages along the Tigris and
  Euphrates had grown into busy cities
• These city-states made up the civilization of
  Sumer

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Different city-states fought each other for land
  and water
• During the fighting, people turned to powerful
  war leaders to protect them
• Over time, leadership passed down within the war
  leaders families, and social classes developed

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Like Egyptians, the Sumerians made important
  contributions to the world
• They built the first wheeled vehicles
• Systems of ditches and canals provided flood
  protection and water for crops

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• The Sumerians were the first people to write
• They used wedge-shaped writing called Cuneiform
  to record information as early as 3200 B.C.

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Sumerians developed algebra and geometry
• By studying the sun and the moon, the Sumerians
  invented an accurate calendar

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Section 3 City-States of Ancient Sumer

• Later on, invaders conquered the Sumerians
• The conquerors adopted many of the Sumerian ideas
  and passed them on to later civilizations

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Summary
• Strong rulers united the lands of the Fertile
  Crescent into well-organized empires

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Many groups invaded and conquered the
  civilizations of the Fertile Crescent
• Some invaders destroyed the city-states
• Others stayed to rule

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Some of these rulers created large,
  well-organized empires
• Empires are a group of territories under the
  control of one ruler or government

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• One powerful ruler was King Hammurabi of Babylon
• Around 1790 B.C., Hammurabi put together a set of
  laws, called the Code of Hammurabi
• The Code of Hammurabi was the first major
  collection of laws in history

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Another important ruler was Darius of Persia
• In 522 B.C., Darius controlled an empire that
  stretched from Asia Minor to India

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders
Empire of Darius of Persia
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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Darius divided his empire into provinces, or
  locally controlled regions
• Later rulers used his ideas about government

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Different groups of people met in the crossroads
  of the Fertile Crescent
• Many groups made advances in technology and ideas
• For example, Phoenicians developed the first real
  alphabet to record their trades

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders

• Through warfare and trade, ideas and technology
  spread
• As time passed, the contributions of people who
  lived in the Fertile Crescent reached all the way
  to India and Europe

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Section 4 Invaders, traders, Empire Builders
Civilization Dates Achievements
Babylonians 1790 B.C. Code of Hammurabi
Hittites 1400 B.C. Forged iron tools and weapons
Assyrians 1100 B.C. First libraries
Persians 539 B.C. -Conquered large empire -Improved trade by using coins standard measures
Phoenicians 600 B.C. Created first alphabet
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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• Summary
• The Jewish religion was unique in the ancient
  world because it was monotheistic (belief in 1
  God)

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• The Hebrews were one of the groups that lived in
  the Fertile Crescent
• The Hebrews recorded their history in a sacred
  book called the Torah

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• According to the Torah, God made a covenant, or
  binding agreement, with Abraham to be the God of
  the Hebrews

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• Later the Egyptian Pharaoh made slaves of the
  Hebrews
• Moses helped the Hebrews escape
• For forty years they wandered in the desert
• Finally they set up the kingdom of Israel, with
  Jerusalem as its capital
• The Hebrews believed that God had promised them
  this land
• Later the kingdom split apart, and both sections
  were conquered

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• In time, Hebrew beliefs evolved into the religion
  we know today as Judaism
• Judaism was different from the other ancient
  religions
• Other religions believed in many gods
• Judaism was monotheistic, teaching a belief in
  one God

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• The Hebrews also believed that God had chosen
  them as His people
• The laws of Judaism are called the Ten
  Commandments
• They describe how people should behave toward God
  and toward each other

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism

• Often in Jewish history, there were prophets, or
  spiritual leaders, who explained Gods will
• The prophets taught about moral standards and
  justice
• For example, powerful people should protect the
  weak
• Prophets also taught that all people were equal
  before God

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Section 5 The Roots of Judaism