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Western Western River River
CivilizationCivilizationss
The “Fertile The “Fertile Crescent”Crescent”
Narrow region Narrow region of good of good farmland farmland along the along the Tigris, Tigris, Euphrates, Euphrates, and Nile and Nile Rivers of the Rivers of the Middle EastMiddle East
““The Crossroads of The Crossroads of Civilization”Civilization”
EgyptEgypt CitiesCities
GovernmentGovernment Pharaoh (king)Pharaoh (king) Was worshipped as Was worshipped as
a god (religious role)a god (religious role) Ruled with absolute Ruled with absolute
power (political role)power (political role) Had a vizier (chief Had a vizier (chief
advisor) who ran advisor) who ran day-to-day day-to-day governmentgovernment
ReligionReligionPolytheistic Polytheistic
(multiple (multiple deities)deities)
Ra, the chief Ra, the chief god in the god in the Egyptian Egyptian religion, was religion, was the god of the the god of the sunsun
The Book of the The Book of the DeadDead
Technical text Technical text which describes which describes the ritual process the ritual process of mummification; of mummification; may be one of the may be one of the earliest scientific earliest scientific medical manuals in medical manuals in history (although it history (although it does contain magic does contain magic spells!)spells!)
Egyptians believed that after Egyptians believed that after death, one’s soul was judged death, one’s soul was judged – “good” souls went to the – “good” souls went to the
Happy Fields of Food – “bad” Happy Fields of Food – “bad” souls were fed to a giant souls were fed to a giant
crocodilecrocodile
AkhenatonAkhenaton 1353 – 1336 BC?1353 – 1336 BC? Born Amenhotep IVBorn Amenhotep IV Wife was NefertitiWife was Nefertiti After his death, he After his death, he
was reviled and was reviled and many likenesses of many likenesses of him were him were destroyed destroyed throughout Egyptthroughout Egypt
Akhenaton believed in a Akhenaton believed in a single god (monotheism) single god (monotheism)
named Atonnamed Aton
Jobs & Social Jobs & Social ClassesClasses
The PyramidsThe Pyramids
The Pyramids were tombs and The Pyramids were tombs and portals to the afterlife for portals to the afterlife for
Egyptian pharaohsEgyptian pharaohs
The SphinxThe Sphinx
TutankhamunTutankhamun 1333 – 1324 BC1333 – 1324 BC Not really Not really
important as a important as a pharaohpharaoh
Importance lies in Importance lies in the discovery in the discovery in 1922 of his 1922 of his unlooted tombunlooted tomb
Died at 19Died at 19 Murdered?Murdered?
““King Tut”King Tut”
Public WorksPublic Works The Egyptians built a The Egyptians built a
complex system for complex system for harnessing the harnessing the annual flooding of the annual flooding of the Nile River to irrigate Nile River to irrigate their farmlandtheir farmland
They also undertook They also undertook numerous numerous construction projects construction projects of massive scaleof massive scale
Writing = Writing = HieroglyphicsHieroglyphics
Ancient Ancient Mesopotamian Mesopotamian
CivilizationsCivilizations
Mesopotamia = Mesopotamia = “between the rivers”“between the rivers”
Mesopotamian city-Mesopotamian city-statesstates
Each city was an Each city was an independent countryindependent country
Each had its own kingEach had its own king City-states sometimes City-states sometimes
cooperated, cooperated, sometimes fought sometimes fought each othereach other
Had common culture Had common culture and religious beliefsand religious beliefs
Hammurabi, King of Hammurabi, King of BabylonBabylon
1795 – 1750 BC (?)1795 – 1750 BC (?) Also built an empire Also built an empire
that controlled all that controlled all of Mesopotamiaof Mesopotamia
Ruled by force of Ruled by force of law – required that law – required that all 300 laws be all 300 laws be posted for all posted for all citizens to see and citizens to see and knowknow
Brought justiceBrought justice
The Code of Hammurabi = the The Code of Hammurabi = the world’s first standardized set of world’s first standardized set of
written lawswritten laws
Criminal law vs. Civil Criminal law vs. Civil lawlaw
Criminal LawCriminal Law Deals with offenses Deals with offenses
against others, against others, such as robbery, such as robbery, assault, and assault, and murdermurder
Usually lead to Usually lead to physical physical punishmentspunishments
Civil LawCivil Law Deals with private Deals with private
rights and matters, rights and matters, such as contracts, such as contracts, inheritance, taxes, inheritance, taxes, marriage, and marriage, and divorcedivorce
Usually lead to Usually lead to financial financial punishmentspunishments
Ishtar & Ba’alIshtar & Ba’al
ZoroasterZoroaster600 BC?600 BC?Persian prophetPersian prophet““Illuminated” by Illuminated” by
the one god the one god Ahura MazdaAhura Mazda
Wrote the holy Wrote the holy texts texts Zend-Zend-Avesta & The Avesta & The GathasGathas
ZoroastrianismZoroastrianismOne good god – Ahura MazdaOne good god – Ahura MazdaOne evil “tempter of men” – AhrimanOne evil “tempter of men” – AhrimanAfter Ahura Mazda destroys Ahriman, After Ahura Mazda destroys Ahriman,
there will be a Judgment Day where there will be a Judgment Day where all souls will be weighed on the good all souls will be weighed on the good and bad committed in their livesand bad committed in their lives
Would later be a strong influence on Would later be a strong influence on the development of Christianitythe development of Christianity
Jobs & Social Jobs & Social ClassesClasses
Kings and priests Kings and priests were at the top of were at the top of the social ladder, the social ladder, followed by people followed by people of means and of means and propertyproperty
At the bottom of At the bottom of the social scale the social scale were farmers and were farmers and slavesslaves
Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar II, King of BabylonKing of Babylon
630 – 562 BC630 – 562 BC Babylonian king of Babylonian king of
the Biblethe Bible Depicted as cruelDepicted as cruel Conquered the Conquered the
Israelites and took Israelites and took them into slavery them into slavery in Babylonin Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of The Hanging Gardens of BabylonBabylon
The Epic of GilgameshThe Epic of Gilgamesh Epic poemEpic poem Tells of the Tells of the
Sumerian hero-king Sumerian hero-king Gilgamesh and his Gilgamesh and his friendship with the friendship with the savage man Enkidusavage man Enkidu
After Enkidu’s death, After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh seeks Gilgamesh seeks immortalityimmortality
Also tells a story of a Also tells a story of a great flood, similar to great flood, similar to the Bible’s Noah storythe Bible’s Noah story
Ziggurat = a pyramid Ziggurat = a pyramid templetemple
Cuneiform = Sumerian Cuneiform = Sumerian writing systemwriting system