The Middle East: Cradle of Civilization

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The Middle EastCradle 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/bandst
ra/RTOT/CH1/CH1_BAB.HTM
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Babylonians

• King Sargon contributed to the start of Semitic
  language.
• A group of nomads, called Amorites, founded the
  village of Babylon, built on the Euphrates.

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.

At left, pictures the giving of the laws
http//members.tripod.com/clayt/Humanities/Hammura
bi.html
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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/lp6hier
o.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 calendar

Pyramids of Giza http//www.culturefocus.com/pyram
ids-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//ww
w.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/1065102061/10_C
ommandments _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_david
kingdom_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.htm
l
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Persians PracticedTolerance

• 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 Abul-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. Whos 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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