1. The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
Chapter 1
The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations

2. The First Humans Hominids
Australopithecines (3-4 million years ago; simple stone tools; limited to Africa)
Homo Erectus (1.5 million years ago; larger, more varied tools; moves into Europe and Asia)
The Emergence of Homo Sapiens (“wise human being”)
Neanderthals, (c. 100,000 – 30,000 years ago)
Neander Valley, Germany; other parts of Europe, Middle East
More advanced stone tools; burial of the dead
Homo sapiens sapiens, (c. 200,000 B.C.E. – Present)
“Wise, wise human being”
Replaced Neanderthals
Spread throughout the world
The spread of humans: out of Africa or multiregional?

3. The Hunter-Gatherers of the Old Stone Age
Paleolithic Age, (c. 2.5 million years ago – 10,000 years ago)
Hunting and Gathering
Nomadic Bands (20 – 30 people)
Division of Labor between Men and Women
Discovery of Fire (c. 500,000 B.C.E.)
Source of light and heat; cooking of food
Cultural Activities
Cave paintings: Chauvet in France

4. The Neolithic Revolution (c. 10,000 – 4000 B.C.E.)
An Agricultural Revolution
Shift from hunting and gathering to systematic growing of food
Neolithic Farming Villages
Permanent settlements (Çatal Hüyük)

5. The Neolithic Revolution (c. 10,000 – 4000 B.C.E.)
Consequences of the Neolithic Revolution
Trade
Specialized division of labor
Improved tools
Domestication of animals
Development of writing
Use of metals
Copper + tin = bronze
The Bronze Age (c B.C. – c B.C.E.)

6. The Emergence of Civilization
Six Characteristics of Civilization
Urban focus (cities as important centers of development)
Distinct religious structure (gods; priests)
Political and military structures (bureaucracy; armies)
Social structure based on economic power
Writing (record keeping)
Artistic and intellectual activity

7. Civilization in Mesopotamia
The City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia
Sumerian cities
Origins (c B.C.E.)
City-States (Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, Lagash)
Temples to the gods / ziggurats
Theocracy (gods rule the cities through priests)
Kingship (divine in origin)
Economy and society
Primarily agricultural with some trade
Four major social groups: nobles, dependent commoners, free commoners, and slaves

8. Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
The Early Dynastic Age (3000 – 2340 B.C.E.)
Instability; warfare between city states
The Akkadian Empire (c – c B.C.E.)
Sargon
Naram-Sin (c B.C.E.)
Third Dynasty of Ur (c – 2000 B.C.E.)
The Amorites
Hammurabi’s Empire (1792 – 1750 B.C.E.)

9. The Code of Hammurabi
A Collection of 282 Laws Revealing Strict Justice and Severe Penalties
The principle of retaliation and its impact
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
Responsibility of public officials
Consumer protections
Agriculture and trade
Domestic affairs, marriage, and family
Women’s rights and limitations

10. The Culture of Mesopotamia
The Importance of Religion
City-states’ links with gods and goddesses
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Polytheistic (belief in many gods)
Human beings subservient to gods
Divination

11. The Culture of Mesopotamia
Writing (c B.C.E.)
Cuneiform = “wedge-shaped”
Uses: record keeping, monumental texts, teaching texts
Literature and the Communication of Ideas
Mathematics and Astronomy
Number system based on 60
Geometry
Astronomy

12. Egyptian Civilization: “The Gift of the Nile”
The Impact of Geography
The “miracle” of the Nile: annual, predictable flooding
The food surplus of the fertile valley
Transportation
Security
Changelessness

13. The Old and Middle Kingdoms
Upper and Lower Egypt United (c B.C.E.)
The Old Kingdom (c – 2125 B.C.E.)
Prosperity and stability
Pharaohs (divine kings, absolute rulers)
Ma’at
Bureaucracy and the office of vizier
Nomes (provinces)
The First Intermediate Period (c – 2010 B.C.E.)
The Middle Kingdom (c – 1630 B.C.E.)

14. Society and Economy in Ancient Egypt
Organized Hierarchically
Pharaoh at the top
Upper class (nobles and priests)
Merchants and artisans
Trade
Lower classes: serfs
Majority of population
Bound to land
Tax payers
Military and labor service

15. The Culture of Egypt Spiritual Life and Egyptian Society Religion
Sun cult (Atum; Re)
Osiris, Isis, and Seth
Book of the Dead
The Pyramids
Designed as a city of the dead
Physical body and spiritual body (ka)
Mummification
Great Pyramid at Giza (c B.C.E.)
Art and Writing
Functional and integral in ritual
Writing (hieroglyphs: “priest-carvings”)

16. Disorder and a New Order: The New Kingdom
Second Intermediate Period (c – 1539 B.C.E.)
Hyksos invasion
Bronze Age
New Kingdom (c – 1069 B.C.E.)
Militarism and imperialism

17. Disorder and a New Order: The New Kingdom
Akhenaton and Religious Change
From Amenhotep IV (c – 1336 B.C.E.) to Akhenaton
Introducing worship of the Aten (god of the sun disk)
Tutankhamen (c – 1322 B.C.E.)
Restoration of old gods
The End of Empire
Ramesses II (c – 1213 B.C.E.)
Decline (after 1069 B.C.E.)

18. Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
Marriage
Husband as master of the house
Wife as in charge of the household and the education of children
Women
Labor, property, and inheritance
Hatshepsut, female pharaoh
Arranged marriages
Divorce allowed
Adultery strictly prohibited
Leisure and Entertainment
The Gulf between Upper and Lower Classes

19. On the Fringes of Civilization
Late Neolithic Europe
Megaliths
The Impact of the Indo-Europeans
Major Nomadic Movements, c B.C.E.
The Hittite Empire (c – 1190 B.C.E.)
Suppiluliumas I (c – 1330 B.C.E.)
The Use of Iron
Decline: Internal Strife; the Sea Peoples; the Gasga

20. Discussion Questions
What were some of the key characteristics that separated homo sapiens sapiens from other early hominids?
What were the advancements created during the Neolithic Revolution?
Why is Mesopotamia called the Cradle of Civilization?
What does the Code of Hammurabi tell us about equality in the Mesopotamian society?
What role did the Nile River play in the development of Egyptian civilization?
Why was Egyptian civilization so interested in death and dying?
What were the contributions and achievements of the people on the fringes of civilization?