Chapter 1:The First Civilizations

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Chapter 1The First Civilizations

• 1. THE RISE OF CIVILIZATIONS
• The rise of civilizations developed along with
  surplus food production. It enabled people to
  work in political, religious, military positions,
  or in artistic various skilled occupations
  rulers to control laborers. The first
  civilization arose in Mesopotamia over 7,000
  years ago in
• West Asia. There are other 6 centers of early
  civilizations including the Nile Valley.

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• Routes of Human Migration

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Brick homes many stories high were common. They
also developed systems of writing and counting,
and dug canals to irrigate their farms.

• Around 2500 bc, a civilization developed around
  the Indus River with perfect systems of drainage
  of brick-lined sewers.

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was the first civilization to develop a
comprehensive writing system and to leave a
written record in China.

• Shang dynasty (1570-1045 bc) in the Yellow River
  Valley of the North China Plain

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• The Aztec created an empire in the 1400s in
  Mexico now, which was destroyed by the Spaniards
  in 1521.

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ruins of Maya cities have been discovered in this
area. The Maya civilization collapsed in about ad
900.

• The Maya civilization encompassed part of Mexico,
  Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras now. An
  indication of the skill and artistry of their
  architects, the

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• The Inca built one of the wealthiest and the
  largest empires in to-days South America from
  the early 1500s. Located along the western coast
  of the South Pacific Ocean, the empire extended
  more than 4000 km and included regions of
  Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and
  Argentina..

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2. CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA

• Mesopotamia, located in a region with parts of
  eastern Syria, Iraq, southeastern Turkey today,
  lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the
  Euphrates. The name Mesopotamia is a Greek word
  meaning between the rivers. Its oldest known
  communities date from 7000 bc. Several
  civilizations flourished in the region. In the
  6th century B.C. it came to be part of the
  Persian Empire, the largest empire then.

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• The Tigris River flows through Iraq that
  occupies the greater part of the ancient land of
  Mesopotamia, the plain between the Tigris and
  Euphrates rivers.

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• The Tigris that brings water to the desert has
  sustained agricultural communities for several
  thousand years.

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2. CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA

• A. Early Mesopotamian City-States Empires
• The need for self-defense irrigation led the
  Sumerians to develop cities by the 4,000 bc,
  followed subsequently by the Akkadians, the
  Gutians, the Elamites, before Hammurabi of
  Babylon (1792-1750 bc) that later fell to the
  Hittites and then to the Kassites, Amorites in
  Ashu which fell to the Hurrians. Kassite
  Babylonia flourished on the cities villages.

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• Mesopotamia nourished some of the worlds
  earliest settlements. The Sumerians in about 3500
  bc built a canal system and the worlds first
  cities.

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• Cuneiform
• Ancient peoples of Mesopotamia kept important
  documents in a system of writing, cuneiform, into
  clay or stone tablets that probably originated in
  Sumeria more than 4,000 years ago. The
  collections of tablets in Mesopotamia are viewed
  as the earliest libraries known so far.

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• This Mesopotamian terra-cotta urn that dates
  back to 5000 and 3000 bc exhibits a design
  typical of ancient Persian art. As ancient
  nomadic tribes in the Middle East left no written
  records, the artwork buried with the dead
  provides information useful about them.

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• This bronze head from Nineveh, which dates
  from about 2300 bc is representative of an
  Akkadian king. The hair style and beard are
  typical of the Mesopotamian art.

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2. CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA

• B. The Code of Hammurabi
• Babylonian king Hammurabi creates a law code.
  The basis of criminal law is that of equal
  retaliation. The law offers protection to all
  classes of Babylonian society it seeks to
  protect the weak and the poor, including women,
  children, slaves, against injustice of the rich
  and powerful. This code proves the law and
  justice of Hammurabis rule.

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• Hammurabi, king of Babylon, united the
  diverse tribes in the Mesopotamian area. Code of
  Hammurabi is a set of laws for the conduct of
  society and individuals it is one of the first
  bodies of written law in our human history.

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impressive Babylonian army, conquered his rivals
and established a unified Mesopotamia. He proved
to be as great an administrator as he was a
general.

• The Code of Hammurabi is engraved on the black
  basalt of this stele made in the first half of
  the 18th century bc. The top portion, shown here,
  depicts the sun god Shamash presenting to
  Hammurabi a staff and ring, symbols of the power
  to administer the law. In his reign (1792-1750
  bc), Hammurabi, by means of his

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• Kingdom of Babylonia (1792--) formed around the
  region where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow
  in relatively parallel courses toward the Persian
  Gulf.

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2. CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA

• C. Religion
• The Sumerians believed that the universe was
  ruled by a pantheon. They had four creating gods
  representing heaven, earth, air, water, which
  they regarded as the four major parts of the
  universe three sky deities the god of the moon,
  the sun god, and the queen of heaven gods in
  charge of mountains, rivers, plains, of cities,
  fields, farms, and of tools for farming.

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• At the site of the ancient Mesopotamian city
  of Ur stands this mud brick religious temple
  tower, built for the moon god Nanna in the 2100s
  bc.

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temples were situated a Ur Harran. This relief
from about 2300 bc shows Ur-Nammu, the first king
of the third dynasty of Ur, making a sacrifice
before Sin.

• Often depicted as a wise old man with a long
  beard, the moon god Sin was one of the most
  famous and important Babylonian gods. His main

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• Mesopotamian Relief
• Palaces of ancient Mesopotamia were covered with
  reliefs that usually depicted scenes from the
  lives of the kings. This is a relief, which was
  one part of the palace at Dur Sharrukin, that
  shows Sargon II (721-705 BC) and one of his
  subjects.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• A. Introduction
• Ancient Egypt, (around 3300--30 bc), was the
  longest-lived civilization of the ancient world,
  the origin of the first recorded worshiper of
  one god, with one of the first religions to have
  a concept of the afterlife. Hieroglyphs (????),
  great pyramids, statues combining human and
  animal forms, and temple complexes(????), are
  only a few of its many remnants.

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• Architectural sites in ancient Egypt were
  concentrated on the Nile River between the
  Mediterranean Sea in the north and the First
  Cataract, the first major section of rapids on
  the Nile River, at Aswan in the south. The
  capital of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis, the
  south of the delta of the Nile .

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• The pyramids at Giza on the west bank of the
  Nile on the outskirts of Cairo, is the best-known
  monument.

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• Egyptian Pottery
• Pottery was among earliest art forms undertaken
  by the ancient Egyptians. This piece from the
  Pre-dynastic period (5000 -3000 BC) is decorated
  with some ostriches, boats, and geometrical
  designs.

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• Palette of King Narmer
• The Palette of King Narmer, a slate slab, depicts
  the ancient Egyptian king (center) smiting an
  enemy the piece symbolized the unification of
  Upper and Lower Egypt and marked an example of a
  trend in Egyptian art to glorify the king.

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• More than 4000 years old, the Great Sphinx at
  Giza is the most famous emblem of ancient Egypt.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• B. Old Middle Kingdoms
• Egyptian history is divided into three periods
  of stability each followed by political chaos.
  The Old Kingdom, (3rd-6th dynasties 2686-2125
  bc) Memphis set as the capital, featured
  prosperity and splendid constructions created by
  absolute monarchy. The Middle Kingdom,
  (2055-11650 bc) with Thebes as the capital,
  featured pharos concern for the people.

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• Step Pyramid at Saqqarah
• This large Step Pyramid of King Djoser was built
  during the third Dynasty, as the first royal tomb
  monumental and is considered as one of the oldest
  stone structures

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• The temple of Hatshepsut is a rock-cut tomb built
  in the 15th century BC near Thebes, designed for
  the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.

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• King Thutmose III King Thutmose III of Egypt
  came into power at the end of the reign of the
  female pharaoh Hatshepsut in 1458 BC. He embarked
  on a campaign of building the empire that
  expanded Egyptian influence into Syria,
  Palestine, and Phoenicia.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• C. Chaos, and a New Order (1550-1085 bc)
• The Middle Kingdom ended in a new instable
  time featured the rule of Hyksos, who brought in
  new farming and military skills. The 18th dynasty
  reunited Egypt into a New Kingdom that ever
  experienced some religious changes. The 19th
  dynasty extended Egyptian power to capacity, over
  Palestine and Syria. The New Kingdom ended as the
  20th dynasty collapsed.

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• Amenhotep III
• of the 18th dynasty ruled Egypt in the mid-1300s
  BC, during a period of peace and prosperity. He
  built his own palace near the capital of Egypt
  then, Thebes.

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• Aton
• Amenhotep IV, also renamed Akhenaton, established
  the deity Aton as the supreme divine ruler. In
  this sunken relief carved into the stone, he is
  depicted as making an offering to Aton who is
  described as a solar disk.

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• This is a statuette
• of Akhenaton his wife, Nefertiti. He
  directed people to worship only Aton, the sun god
  and he moved the capital from Thebes to
  Akhetaten. Nefertiti was also a devout follower
  of Aton.

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• Ramses II of the 19th dynasty had several
  large statues of himself set in the temple at
  Luxor that occupies part of the ancient capital
  of Egypt, Thebes. The pharaoh was viewed as a
  living god, and his reign a high point in the
  ancient history of Egypt.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 1. Population
• As ancient Egypt was an agricultural society,
  its densest population was on the floodplains.
  Only a small fraction of the population lived in
  cities towns. A major city generally had a
  densely populated center, such as Memphis, and
  Thebes. Population density decreased as distance
  from the center increased.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 2. Social Structure
• Ancient Egyptian urban society were made up of
  three levels the king surrounded by upper- class
  nobles and priests merchants artisans the
  largest number of serfs or common people, who
  cultivated the land, paid taxes to the king,
  nobles, priests, provided military service
  and forced labor for public building projects.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 3. Family Life
• The father worked outside, his wife inside. In
  wealthy families, the wifes power extended over
  the servants. Children were expected to care
  properly for and support their parents of old age
  and the afterlife. The living-and-dead contact
  took place by ancestor cults at home. Divorce
  rather than adultery was acceptable.

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• This bed carriage, resembling a cow, is one of
  the earliest and most elaborate examples of
  furniture preserved in ancient Egyptian tombs.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 4. Writing
• Around 3300 to 3200 bc, hieroglyphs (????)
  came into being, first to denote objects
  concepts, and eventually to represent sounds
  primarily. In the form of images drawn from the
  Egyptian environment, the scripts shaped the
  longest-lived system of writing, used until the
  end of the 4th century ad.

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• In ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs were used to
  record important documents, and were also painted
  on tomb walls and coffins.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 5. Religion and the Afterlife
• Egyptian gods took human, animal or mixed
  forms to represent natural forces, statues of
  which represented the abstract powers of the gods
  in concrete form. Sun gods land gods were
  well-known creation gods. Religion was
  deep-rooted in ancient Egyptians, such as the
  concern for afterlife the preparations for it.

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• The temple at Luxor was built to honor the gods,
  with colossal statues and obelisks as a standard
  then.

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• Creation Myth In this painting Sun god Ra son
  Shu stands on another son, Geb, later the Earth.
  Shu, god of the air, raises up Ras daughter Nut,
  later the sky.

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• Goddess Isis
• Isis is the goddess of motherhood fertility in
  Egyptian mythology. Isis worship lasted until the
  6th century ad when the last temples were closed
  as a result of the adoption of Christianity which
  was widespread already in the Near East.

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• Egyptian Mummy
• The ancient Egyptians are believed to be the
  first people to create a mummy, in which a dead
  body is artificially preserved to delay the
  decaying process. They believed that it was
  necessary to preserve a body in order to allow
  the soul to survive.

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• Osiris is the ruler of the dead in the underworld
  shown here, center, with Anubis, another god of
  the dead.

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• The Egyptian Book of the Dead was used by the
  dead to guide and protect the soul on the
  dangerous journey through the afterlife. This
  scene shows the final judgment of the dead before
  Osiris, god of the dead through the ritual of
  weighing the deads heart to determine whether he
  can be awarded eternal life.

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• Seti I Anubis
• (1306 -1290 bc)
• Seti I managed to defend Egypt against
  invaders from abroad and conquer Palestine.
• In this painting, Seti I was with jackal-headed
  Anubis, guardian of tombs, god of the dead.

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• Egyptian Relief
• Ancient Egyptians decorated tombs with paintings
  and reliefs to ensure the dead to spend an
  eternal life in a comfortable and familiar place.
  The relief here shows the dead seated at a table
  stacked with offerings of food.

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3. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

• D. People and Society
• 6. Arts
• The ancient Egyptians produced a large body of
  creative works in areas such as architecture,
  literature, music, painting, sculpture drama.
  Often the purpose of their artistic output was
  not recreation or cultural enrichment, but the
  communication of some sort of religious idea or
  theme concerning life and afterlife.

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• Ramses III, reigned from 1194 to 1163 BC, who
  defended Egypt against many foreign invasions.
  Paintings depicting his military feats decorate
  the walls of his temple, near the ancient city of
  Thebes, though the painting shown here depicts
  his queen.

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• The Banquet is part of a wall painting from
  Thebes in the New Kingdom. The top section shows
  nobles of the court and their wives receiving
  attention from slaves, waiting for the food piled
  high on the right figures in the row below might
  be ladies of the court.

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• Death Mask of Tutankhamun
• The death mask of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun is
  made of gold inlaid with colored glass and
  semiprecious stone. This mask comes from the
  innermost mummy case in the tomb of the pharaoh.

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• Rosetta Stone
• The Rosetta Stone, inscribed in 196 BC, provided
  the key to the translation of ancient Egyptian
  hieroglyphs. It contains a decree, praising the
  Egyptian King Ptolemy V, that is carved in
  Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic, and
  Greek.

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4. CONCLUSION

• The Mesopotamians and Egyptians, founders of
  Western civilization, developed cities and fought
  with the problems of organized states developed
  writing created literature new political,
  military, social, religious structures
  constructed monumental architecture. They left
  records for us to view how they explored the
  nature of human relationships, the nature of the
  universe, and the role of divine forces.
• 
  ? ?