1. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures
Chapters 2 and 3, Lecture 1

2. Chapter 2, Lecture 1 Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
describe how Paleolithic people adapted to their environment and invented many tools to help them survive.
explain how people in the Neolithic age began farming, building communities, producing goods, and trading.

3. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Prehistory – the time before people developed writing (before c B.C.)
How do we know about anything before someone could write it down?
Archaeology provides us information about the prehistoric period!

4. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Stone Age
Paleolithic → “Old Stone Age” (2.5 million years ago to c B.C.)
nomads – people who regularly move from place to place
life centers on the search for resources (food)
hunter-gatherers – people who hunt wild animals and gather wild plant, seeds, and roots
advances like the development of spoken language, technology, art, religion (?)

5. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chauvet Cave, present-day France

6. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
“Where you live affects how you live.”
Ice Age (c. 100,000 to 8,000 B.C.)
fire is the key to survival
technology – tools an methods that help humans perform tasks (stone, wood, and bone)

7. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Mesolithic Era – “Middle Stone Age” (10,000 to 5,000 B.C.)
smaller, more complex tools
Neolithic Era - “New Stone Age” (8,000 to 4,000 B.C.)

8. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Agricultural Revolution (a.k.a. Neolithic Revolution)
agriculture = farming; domestication of plants and animals (domesticate means “tame”)
begins in different places at different times
happens gradually over time
hunting/gathering → a settled, agrarian lifestyle
most important event in human history?

9. Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations

10. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
FARMING
STEADY SUPPLY OF FOOD
POPULATION INCREASE
(SETTLED LIFE & GREATER SECURITY)
GROWTH OF VILLAGES
SPECIALIZATION
CIVILIZATION!!

11. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
specialization – the development of different jobs
only possible because of the steady supply of food provided by agriculture
Bronze Age – c to 1200 B.C.
copper + tin = bronze

12. The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
The Stone Ages and Early Cultures Chapter 2

13. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
Chapters 2 and 3, Lecture 2

14. Chapters 2 and 3, Lecture 2 Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
identify the important contributions that the people of Sumer made to later peoples.
explain how the Sumerian city-states gave way to later empires, such as the Babylonian Empire.

15. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Civilizations are complex societies.
characteristics: (GRAPES)
G eography
R eligion
A chievement
P olitical System (Government)
E conomics
S ocial Structure
The idea of civilization is a human construct… therefore it is not perfect.

16. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Why did the characteristics of civilization develop?
Geography → Where you live impacts how you live.
Religion → How did they worship? It helped to keep things running smoothly
Achievement → anything noteworthy… the result of specialization and food adequacies
Political system → What was their government like? Decision makers kept order and made plans for food supplies and building projects.
Economics → How did they accumulate wealth? Specialization and surplus led to trade; writing was developed to keep records and pass on ideas.
Social structure → result of wealth and positions of power

17. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Early civilizations are centered near rivers.
Why?
food (irrigation for agriculture and fishing/hunting)
water supply
transportation
trade

18. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3

19. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Mesopotamia – Greek for “the land between the rivers”
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
a.k.a.: the “cradle of civilization”
in an area referred to as the Fertile Crescent

20. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3

21. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3

22. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
physical characteristics –
hot, dry climate
desert, rocky mountains
limited resources (building materials)
no natural borders
rivers flooded unpredictably → a blessing and a curse
flooding left behind fertile soil
unpredictability could be dangerous (RELIGION!)
solution: build dams, channels, and walls as irrigation systems (a system meant to bring water to crops)

23. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3

24. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Sumer – early civilization in southern Mesopotamia that became prosperous around 3000 B.C.
History Begins at Sumer by Samuel Noah Kramer
made up of city-states – independently governed cities and the territory they control
prominent city-states – Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Umma

25. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
polytheistic – more than one god, in the case of Mesopotamia, thousands of gods
deities over parts of the universe (e.g. sky or earth), natural phenomena (e.g. flooding), & human activities (e.g. metal working or basket weaving)
multitude of good and bad demons
pessimistic and fatalistic
Priests were very powerful.
Concept of afterlife was not very pleasant.
ziggurat (“mountain of god”) – grand temple with a shrine at the top, like a giant square wedding cake

26. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3

27. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Class Divisions
upper class (kings, priests, government officials, landholders)
middle class (artisans [skilled workers who made metal products, cloth, or pottery], merchants, farmers, & fishers)
lower class (slaves)
Generalities
Small mud-brick houses
women had some rights
most were farmers
Click to add text

28. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
cuneiform – (means “wedge-shaped”) Sumerian system of writing made up of wedge shaped markings
wedge shaped marks cut into damp clay tablets with a sharpened reed
scribes – record keepers, often went on to become government officials

29. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Epic of Gilgamesh –
world’s oldest known story (c B.C.)
follows Gilgamesh, a hero who travels around the world performing great deeds

30. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Other important Sumerian inventions include:
the wagon wheel
the plow
the sailboat
they were among the first to use bronze
mathematical concepts (geometry)
number system based on 60 (time and 360° circle)

31. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Sargon of Akkad–
king who conquered all of Mesopotamia
set up the first empire (a group of many different lands under one ruler)
Enheduanna – Sargon’s daughter; history’s earliest example of a female author
Click to add text

33. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Babylonian Empire
Amorites invaded Mesopotamia (2000 B.C.)
capital at Babylon
Hammurabi
Babylonian king
best known for creating a legal code – the Code of Hammurabi
covered many aspects of daily life
“eye for an eye…” – some of the time (no equality before the law)

34. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
The Code of Hammurabi
21. If any one break a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
195. If a son strike his father, his hands shall be [cut] off.

35. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
The Code of Hammurabi
196. If a [noble-]man put out the eye of another [noble-]man, his eye shall be put out.
198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
199. If he put out the eye of a slave, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

36. Later Peoples of the Fertile Crescent
Chapters 2 and 3, Lecture 3

37. Chapters 2 and 3, Lecture 3 Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
describe how Assyria’s military power and well-organized government allowed it to build a vast empire in Mesopotamia.
discuss the important landmarks built in Babylon by the Chaldean Empire and the development of the first calendar with a seven day week.

38. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
The Assyrians created a military empire in Mesopotamia and Egypt c B.C.
Sennacherib moved capital to Nineveh
Library of Nineveh
glorified military strength

39. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Why were they able to conquer?
large, well organized army (including cavalry and chariots)
iron weapons
How did they manage their territory?
strong-arm rule
use of provinces, or political districts
roads

40. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
The Chaldeans 612 B.C. – Medes and Chaldeans burn Assyrian capital at Nineveh
rebuilt capital at Babylon
King Nebuchadnezzar
reportedly built the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to please his wife (Herodotus?)
replaced by the Persians

41. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
Babylon
extremely rich city
caravans – groups of traveling merchants
walls so thick “a four horse chariot could drive on them”
science
astronomy – study of the stars (astronomers)
sundials

42. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3
The Phoenicians
some of the most notable traders and sailors of the ancient world
Creation of an alphabet (letters that can be combined into words) that serves as the basis of our own

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44. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter 3