HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY 602THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

CONTENTS

I. MESOPOTAMIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2The Fertile Crescent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Sumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Babylonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Assyria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Chaldea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Persia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

II. ISRAEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15The Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17The Split Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18The Wandering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Modern Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

III. EGYPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23The Old Kingdom (2700-2100 B.C.) . . . . . . . 23The Middle Kingdom (2100-1580 B.C.) . . . . 26The New Kingdom (1580-1100 B.C.) . . . . . . 26The Civilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Religion, Culture, and Contributions . . . . . 29

Author: Ethel Hofflund, M.A.Editor: Richard W. Wheeler, M.A.Ed.Consulting Editor: Rudolph Moore, Ph.D.Revision Editor: Alan Christopherson, M.S.

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OBJECTIVES

Read these objectives. The objectives tell you what you should be able to dowhen you have finished this LIFEPAC.

When you have successfully completed this LIFEPAC, you should be able to:1. Name some features of the geography of Mesopotamia.2. List some reasons for constant warfare among early civilizations.3. Describe the cultures and religions of the Mesopotamian civilizations.4. Name contributions made by each of the civilizations of Mesopotamia.5. Describe the geography, religion, and history of Israel.6. Name some contributions made by Israel.7. Describe the geography, religion, and history of Egypt.8. Name some contributions made by Egypt.

VOCABULARY

Study these new words. Learning the meanings of these words is a good studyhabit and will improve your understanding of this LIFEPAC.astrology (u strol´ u je ). Study of the influence of the stars and planets on a person’s

future.bureaucracy (byu rok´ ru se). Government by groups of officials.burial (ber’ e ul). Putting a dead body in a grave; burying.castor oil (kas´ tur oil). A yellow oil obtained from castor beans.constituent (kun stich´ u unt). A voter having the power to make or change a political

constitution.cremate (kre´ mat). To burn a dead body to ashes instead of burying the body.cuneiform (kyu ne ´ u fôrm). Wedge-shaped characters used in the writing of ancient

civilizations.dowry (dou´re ). Money or property that a woman brings to her husband when she

marries him.ebony (eb´ u ne). A hard, black wood.

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THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

The Old Stone Age, in which manhunted and gathered food, fascinates us.The New Stone Age, in which man learnedto farm and raise animals, is exciting. Inthis LIFEPAC®, however, we are concerned

primarily with the time when man began todwell in cities and to communicate inwriting. We shall study Mesopotamia,Israel, and Egypt from about 3500 B.C.

gypsum (jip´ sum). A mineral used for making plaster of Paris and fertilizer.loincloth (loin´ klôth). Piece of cloth worn around the hips.Mesopotamia (mes´ u pu ta´ me u). The land along and in between the Tigris and

Euphrates Rivers.monotheism (mon´ u the iz um). Belief in one God.Nazi (nä´ tse). Member or supporter of a German political party formed by Adolf Hitler.obelisk (ob’ u lisk). A tall, narrowing four-sided stone with a top shaped like a pyramid.persecute (p er´ su kyüt). To treat badly; to do harm to again and again.Pharaoh (fer´ o- ). Any of the kings of ancient Egypt.potash (pot´ ash). Substances made from wood ashes and used in soap and fertilizers.redemption (ri demp´ shun). Delivered from sin.shaduf (shä düf´). A long rod with a bucket on one end and a weight on the other end

used for raising water.ziggurat (zig´ u rat). An ancient temple in the shape of a pyramid with an outside

staircase.

Note: These words appear in boldface print the first time they are used in this LIFEPAC. Ifyou are unsure of the meaning when you are reading, restudy the definition given in thisLIFEPAC.

Pronunciation Key: hat, a-ge, cãre, fär; let, e- qual, te.rm; it, i

-ce; hot, o-pen, ôrder; oil; out;

cup, pu. t, rüle; child; long; thin; /T-H/ for then; /zh/ for measure; /u/ represents /a/ in about,/e/ in taken, /i/ in pencil, /o/ in lemon, and /u/ in circus.

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Review these objectives. When you have completed this section you should be able to:

1. Name some features of the geography of Mesopotamia.2. List some reasons for constant warfare among early civilizations.3. Describe the cultures and religions of the Mesopotamian civilizations.4. Name contributions made by each of the civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Restudy these words.

astrology cremate dowry shadufburial cuneiform Mesopotamia ziggurat

In your study of world geography youlearned that geographical factors affect theway of life in a given area. In this LIFEPAC

you will see how civilization itselfdepended on the discovery of the rich soilin the Fertile Crescent.

I. MESOPOTAMIA

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Tigris

BLACK

SEA

CASPIA

NSEA

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(Akk

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ME

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SF

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SC

EN

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Nin

ev

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Rive

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MEDITERRANEAN

SEA

Acr

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Ca

pe

rna

um

Euph

rates

River

BA

BY

LO

NIA

GA

LIL

EE

SA

MA

RIA

Je

rich

oB

abyl

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De

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aJ

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sale

mS

UM

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Ur

Eri

du

JU

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HS

od

om

Be

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he

ba

EG

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River

Nile

Me

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his

Th

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RED SEA

Sy

ria

nD

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ARABIA

NPENIN

SULA

PERSIA

NGULF

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THEFERTILECRESCENT

Answer these questions.

1.1 Where is the Fertile Crescent? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.2 What is the Biblical title for Mesopotamia? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.3 Why were there constant wars in Mesopotamia? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.4 What country was in southern Mesopotamia? __________________________________

1.5 What country was in northern Mesopotamia? __________________________________

1.6 Who conquered all the states? ______________________________________________________

1.7 What Biblical character lived in Ur? _______________________________________________

1.8 What happened to Ur in later years? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.9 Why was the Fertile Crescent easy land to invade? ___________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

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THE FERTILE CRESCENT

Along and between the Tigris andEuphrates rivers in southwestern Asia wasa fertile land called Paddan-Aram (pae´ dunae´ rum) in Biblical times. We call this areaMesopotamia, which is its Greek name.The rich soil began north of the PersianGulf and extended to Turkey in the north.It followed the eastern coast of theMediterranean and the Nile River in Africa.Its shape was that of a half-moon orcrescent.

Thousands of years before Christ wasborn, farmers discovered this rich soil andmoved into the valleys. With the warmclimate, rich soil, and sufficient water, thelives of farmers became less difficult. Withmore settled lives, these early men hadtime to learn how to write, to trade, to usemetal, and to live in villages.

Because of the rich, open, flat land,many other tribes continued to invade theFertile Crescent. There were numerouswars and constant changes in theboundaries of countries.

In 3100 B.C. the southern part ofMesopotamia was called Sumer (soo´ mur)and the north was called Akkad. Sumerwas divided into city-states ruled bypriests and kings. The names of the city-states were Ur, Erech (er´ ek), Lagash (la´gash), Larsa (lar´ sah), and Nippur (nih´poor). Sargon I of Akkad captured andunited these city-states.

Ur was the city in which Abraham lived.The ruins of this city are seen today insouthern Iraq. At one time Ur was thecapital of Mesopotamia. It was rebuilt in650 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar II. We see theeffects of geography again: When thecourse of the Euphrates River waschanged, the city became part of thedesert.

Sargon I of Akkad captured the city-states, one by one, and built a greatempire, which he ruled from 2334-2279B.C. He established trade with other landsand started the military tradition ofMesopotamia.