Ancient Civilization

Egypt

Egyptian Empire About 1450 B.C.

Civilization: Nile River

–Located in Africa–Flows North–The Nile cycle-

• Flood• plant• harvest

Specialized Workers

• Artisans specialized in various jobs, such as:• Bricklayers - Potters• Blacksmiths - Architects• Mummifiers• Doctors

Job Specialization

• Created great architecture and art• monumental architecture• pyramids, ziggurats, big cities• huge temples and associated structures• to fill the needs of a god-oriented state• under the control of the priestly class

Complex Institutions - Political

• Theocracy–system in which the ruler is a

divine figure.- Power was passed from one

dynasty to another and land remained united.

Menes

• - united the two regions. He is believed to have been the

–1st pharaoh of Egypt – start the 1st national government

–1st Egyptian Dynasty.

3 different Kingdoms (old, middle and new)

• Old Kingdom 2700- 2200 BCE • Old Kingdom- 3rd dynasty- pharaohs

(Egyptian rulers) were believed to be gods.– Viziers- chief ministers

• Viziers also collected taxes, farming, etc.

– During this time the pyramids (tombs for eternity) were built. They believed in life after death.

**Sphinx and pyramids

Middle Kingdom 2050- 1800 BCE

•Middle Kingdom- corruption and rebellions, but still was able to dig canals for irrigation

New Kingdom1550-1100BCE

New Kingdom- regained power and created a larger empire.

King Tutankhamen

• 18 year old ruler found in 1922, he was a minor ruler. What made him so famous was that his tomb was found completely intact.

• Tomb found completely intact

http://ambassadors.net/archives/images/King_Tut_face_tomb.jpg

Complex Institutions: Religion

• Polytheistic - believed divine forces ruled this world and the afterlife.

• Amon-Re- chief god, sun god• Osiris- god of the underworld and the Nile (controlled annual floods)• Isis- goddess taught women skills• Akhenation- tried to sweep away all gods except Aton, he failed. Due to

others being afraid to abandon their gods.

• Egyptians believed that gods promised eternal life after death.

Book of the Dead

• Test- souls had to pass a test in order to win eternal life.–Book of the Dead- contains, spells,

charms for dead to use in the afterlife. It was placed in the tombs.

Valley of the Kings

• pharaohs were buried here

Advanced Cities

• Memphis• Thebes• Planned and usually walled cities• Centers of worship and trade

Advanced Technology

• Irrigation, levees – control of the Nile• Mummification-preservation of the dead• Pulleys• Levers• Architecture• Calendar• Numbers – geometry• Medicine

Record Keeping

• Papyrus- paper like material, use reed pens and ink– Paper was not invented until

AD 100 in China

Hieroglyphics• Scribes- kept records on all going- on

• Hieroglyphics- pictograms that depicted objects

Rosetta Stone:The stone was found written in 3 languages: Hieroglyphics, simple hieroglyphics, and ancient Greek. The Greek could be translated and allowed us to translate the hieroglyphics.

Ancient CivilizationsAncient Civilizations

MesoAmerica

Olmecs: MesoAmerica’s Mother Culture

Chavin: along the South American coast

Olmecs Civilization: 1200 B.C. – 400 B.C.

Olmec head or colossal head (the king) Central American Location

OlmecsSpecialized WorkersSpecialized Workers• Priests

• fishers• farmers • traders• artisans

OlmecsComplex InstitutionsComplex Institutions

• Ruling Priest• Religious centers (Great Pyramid) • ritual ball game• trade network from Mexico City to Honduras• rivers provide for transportation

OlmecsAdvanced CitiesAdvanced Cities

• San Lorenzo – 1150 B.C• La Venta – 800 B.C• Bay of Campache• up too 100 inches of rain;• hills to the north• present states of Veracruz and Tabasco

OlmecsAdvanced TechnologyAdvanced Technology

• Chinampas: irrigation system • Used stone for tools• monuments• iron ore reached Olmecs through trade

OlmecsRecord KeepingRecord Keeping

• No written records kept!! • Only sculptures of leaders or religious figures

Chavin900 BC to 200 BC

South American Location Carved head of a half human, half feline deity

ChavinSpecialized WorkersSpecialized Workers

• Priest• artisans• masons

ChavinComplex InstitutionsComplex Institutions

• Very religious: featuring ziggurats and earthen mounds

• No political institutions• Religious centers not outposts for great empires• columns is characterized by an essentially

zoomorphic repertory (jaguars, snakes, condors, caimans) to which human faces are added here and there

ChavinAdvanced CitiesAdvanced Cities

• Chavín de Huántar-one of the oldest known and most admired pre-Hispanic sites. Center of the Chavin Dynasty.

ChavinAdvanced TechnologyAdvanced Technology

• people created a successful drainage system. Several canals built under the temple acted as drainage

• used early techniques to develop refined early gold work

ChavinRecord KeepingRecord Keeping

• What was found aided in influencing future civilizations.

• Complex Institutions – describe their government, religion and economy

• Record Keeping – Name and describe their record keeping system

• The rest of the characteristics can be bulleted points

The Fertile Crescent / Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

SCAAR

• Sumerians• Akkadians• Babylonians

Geography of the Fertile Crescent

• Area of land in the middle of a desert climate

• Lies between the TIGRIS and EUPHRATES RIVERS

• “Mesopotamia” means “land between the rivers” in Greek

Environmental Factors

• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers deposit a rich mud called SILT that allows farmers to harvest large quantities of wheat and barley

• Area has ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES:– Flooding of rivers was unpredictable– Sumer was a small region with no natural

barriers for protection– Limited natural resources

SOLUTIONS

• Irrigation ditches• City walls for defense• Traded with the

peoples of the mountains for the things they lacked

• Cooperation, organization, and leadership were required to accomplish these tasks

Specialized Workers• Priests• Rulers (Kings) – at 1st chosen for war time

only, then became full-time monarchs, establishing dynasty.

• Merchants• Artisans• Scribes• Farmers• Slaves

Complex Institutions• Law system to govern the people.• Governments controlled by temple Priests.• Polytheism – believed in many gods – Enlil was

most powerful.• Schools for upper-class boys.• Akkadians created 1st empire.• Hammurabi’s Code - Babylonians led by

Hammurabi who created a uniform code of laws to unify the people. 1st to be written down and applied to everyone, but differentiated between classes and sexes.

Advanced Cities• Built walled cities.• City-states – city and surrounding land.• Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma and Ur.

Advanced Technology• Irrigation ditches to water fields.• Walled temples with ziggurat at the center.• Invented the wheel, plow, sail.• 1st to use bronze• Sciences – astronomy, chemical substances, studied

disease.• Arithmetic and geometry.• Number system based on 60 (60 seconds=1 min.

and 360 degrees in circle)• Mud bricks and mortar, arches, columns, ramps.

Record Keeping• 1st writing system in history – Cuneiform.• Taxes in the form of crops.• Epic of Gilgamesh – epic poem about the

adventures of King Gilgamesh.• Maps.

Ancient Hebrews

Jews in Palestine/Israel

Specialized Workers

• Abraham – a shepherd chosen by God to be the “father” or 1st of the Hebrew people according to the Torah.

• Slaves – forced into slavery in Egypt. Later led out of slavery by Moses.

• Settled herders, farmers and city dwellers.• Separate roles for men and women in society.• Religious teachers were called prophets

Complex Institutions

• God = Yahweh• Monotheism was unique to the Hebrews for the time.• Covenant made between Abraham and God – God protects

them as long as they obey him.• Passover celebrates being freed from slavery.• Were originally organized into 12 tribes that were self -

governing but during times of crisis would be led by Judges.• Tribes united under 3 kings – Saul, David and Solomon –

formed kingdom of Israel.

Advanced Cities

• Ur – in Mesopotamia is where Abraham was born.

• Abraham moved his people to Canaan.• Later, they moved to Egypt, then back

to Canaan.• Jerusalem established under King David.

Advanced Technology

• Learned iron smelting from neighboring peoples and produced iron tools and weapons.

• Solomon built temple to hold the Ark of the Covenant, which held the tablets of Moses’ law.

• Bronze used in building.

Record Keeping

• Torah containing the teachings and history of the Hebrew people.

• Ten Commandments – given to Moses by God – became basis of the civil and religious laws of Judaism.

• Ideas influenced Christianity and Islam.• Taxes were used to pay for massive building projects.

Between the Huang He and Yangtze Rivers

Ancient China

Specialized Workers• Nobles- land owners• Civil Servants- government administrative

workers• Professional warriors• Artisans• Wall builders• Peasants- farmer

Complex Institutions•Duties to their family and to their emperor•Religion:

–Main god: Shang Di–Spirits of ancestors have power to bring good

fortune or disaster

•Feudalism- use of land that legally belonged to emperor in exchange for military protection

•Mandate of Heaven

Advanced Cities•Anyang- capital of the Shang Dynasty, built out of wood

•Hao- Zhou capital

Advanced Technology•Had Bronze, but thought it was too precious for tools

–Wooden digging sticks, hoes, sickles made of stone

•Chariot•Silk•Roads•Canals•Coined money• Iron/cast iron•Dagger, axes, swords•Crossbow

Record Keeping• Oracle Bones

– write a questions to the gods on a bone, apply a hot poker to it, which causes it to crack, priest interpreted the cracks to see how the gods had answered

• Calligraphy• Written language based on ideas not sounds

– One could read Chinese without being able to speak a word of it

The Harappan Civilization

3300 BCE - 2400 BCE

Specialized Workers

• Merchants• Engineers• Doctors• Masons• Artisans

Bison Seal, Mohenjo-Daro

pottery, Mohenjo-Daro

Complex institutions

• Hindu Faith• Hindu Caste System

A Priest-King, Mohenjo-Daro

Varna (Social Hierarchy)

ShudrasShudras

VaishyasVaishyas

Kshatriyas Kshatriyas

Pariahs [Harijan] Untouchables

Pariahs [Harijan] Untouchables

BrahminsBrahmins

The Caste System

The mouth?

The arms?

The legs?

The feet?

WHO IS…

What is a JATI?

BrahminsBrahmins

KshatriyasKshatriyas

VaishyasVaishyas

ShudrasShudras

Advanced cities

• Mohenjo-Daro• Harappa• Kalibangan

Citadel

Of

Mohenjo-Daro

Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro

Wide View, Mohenjo-Daro

Advanced technology

• Grid System City Design• Plumbing• Medicine

The Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro

Public Well, Harappa

Drain, Harappa

Record keeping

• Sanskrit • Harappan Writing (undecipherable)

Sanskrit writing

Harappan Writing

Undecipherable to date.