Chapter 1: The First Civilizations, Western Asia and Egypt

• The First Humans: Australopithecine (four million years),Homo erectus (1.5 million years), Homo sapiens (250,000 years) – Neanderthal (100,000 – 30,000 B. C. E.) – Homo sapiens sapiens (200,000 B. C. E. onward)
• The Hunter-Gatherers of the Old Stone Age: Paleolithic Age (2,500,000 – 10,000 B. C. E.) hunters, food gatherers, making of stone tools and use of fire
• The Agricultural Revolution: Neolithic Age (10,000 – 4,000 B. C. E.) food cultivation (grains and vegetables), domestication of animals – cultivation and domestication of animals in the Middle East (8,000 B. C. E.), central Africa, central and northwestern India, and Mesoamerica 7,000 B. C. E.), Balkans (6, 500 B. C. E.), western Asia 6, 000 B. C. E.), Southeast Asia and South China (5,000 B. C. E.), south France and central Europe (4, 000 B. C. E.). Enduring patterns of the age included fixed dwellings, domesticated animals, regular farming, male-female division of labor – a turning point in human history
• The Emergence of Civilization: Civilization is a complex culture of large numbers of human beings - common elements such as: an urban revolution, distinct religious structure, political and military structures, social structure based on economic power, development of writing, artistic and intellectual activity, development of material sense. Independent civilizations emerged in India China, Mesopotamia, and Egypt – reasons for emergence could be challenge and response to a variety of factors such as surplus food production or nonmaterial reasons such as religion
• Civilization of Mesopotamia
  The City-States of Ancient Mesopotamia: Sumerians built city-states by 3,000 B. C. E. – prominent building was the temple built on a mound called the ziggurat- believed in divine right theory of kingship, kings lived in palaces, assisted by army, government bureaucracy, priests and priestess – economy primarily agriculture based with trade and industry (woolen textiles pottery, and metalwork), three social groups (nobles, commoners, and slaves)
  Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia: Common rivalry among city-states - Akkadians overran Sumerian city-state, established empire (2340-2110 B. C. E.), Ur-Nammu reunited Mesopotamian empire (2113-2000 B. C. E.), Amorites under Hammurabi created new empire (1792-1750 B. C. E.) Babylon made capital, assimilated Sumerian ways, built temples, defensive walls, irrigation canals, revived economy through trade, famous for Code of Hammurabi
  The Culture of Mesopotamia: Temple complex at the center of the community, polytheistic religion, achievements in writing (The Epic of Gilgamesh), mathematics, and astronomy - geometry used to measure fields and erect buildings
• Egyptian Civilization: "The Gift of the Nile": Civilization along the longest river of the world - continuous over thousands of years
  Old and Middle Kingdoms: Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B. C. E.) was prosperous with construction of the greatest and largest pyramids - capital located at Memphis - pharaohs ruled as absolute monarchs (god kings) with assistance from the family (bureaucrats were in charge of departments of agriculture, treasury, police, justice, river transport, and public works)- Ma'at or spiritual power the most important guiding principle - provincial administration under the care of governors. Middle Kingdom (2050-1652 B. C. E.) was a golden age with kings ruling as the shepherd of the people
  Society and Economy in Ancient Egypt: King was at the top, nobles and priests surrounded him and ran the government, merchants and artisans engaged in trade to Crete, Syria, Nubia, and down the Red Sea - majority of the people belonged to the agricultural sector - lower classes included serfs
  The Culture of Egypt: Religion very important and inseparable part of society - sun gods (Atum and Re) and land gods (Osiris and Isis). Pyramids built to dedicate the dead (mainly kings and their families and the nobles who helped the kings) - largest and magnificent were pyramids of King Khufu in Giza. Painting, sculpture, temple building, tomb building in a formulaic fashion, writing developed during the first two dynasties
  Chaos and a New Order: The New Kingdom (1567-1085 B. C. E.) Important kings were Amenhotep, Akhenaten, Tutankhamon, and Rameses II -most powerful state in the Middle East - militaristic, expanded geographically - last thousand years of the B. C. E. lost importance, dominated by Libyans, Nubians, Persians, Macedonians, during the first century B. C. E. became part of the Roman Empire.
  Daily Life in Ancient Egypt: Family and Marriage: Arranged marriages, monogamy, wife respected, divorces heard of, adultery prohibited and punished
  New Centers of Civilization: Farming spread via Balkan area into Europe - megalithic structures in Great Britain and France (3200-1500 B. C. E.), later in Scandinavia, Corsica, and Sardinia
  Impact of the Indo-Europeans: People who spoke the Indo-European languages (Greek, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit, German, and Slavic) migrated from the Black Sea or southwestern Asia to the West and influenced civilizations in region
  The Phoenicians: Transmitters of language, alphabet passed on to the Greeks, lived around Palestine, established themselves in colonies in southern and western Europe, fell to the Assyrians and Persians
  The Hebrews: The "Children of Israel," a nomadic people who had gone through bondage in Egypt until Moses led them out - King Solomon first monarch who established control over all of Palestine, capital Jerusalem, temple was the center of the kingdom - Solomon's death created split between northern and southern Hebrews - fell to Assyrians and later the Chaldeans - Hebrew religion based on belief in one God (Yahweh), all people were his servants, ethical standards based on the Ten Commandments given to Moses, law of God the guiding principle of life, prophets communed with God and acted as His voice to the people - Judaism accessible to everyone via the written text, loyalty to religion rather than political leaders
• The Rise of the New Empires
  The Assyrian Empire: Formed on the upper Tigris River - later included Mesopotamia, parts of the Iranian plateau, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Thebes - Ashurbanipal most prominent king - kings had absolute power, assisted by a hierarchy of officials - effective military leadership and trained army capable of a variety of military tactics, resulted in conquests - believed in assimilating with others - Assyrian language and religion united the people - agriculture and trade sustained the economy - Assyrian culture was an assimilation theirs, the Mesopotamian, Sumerian, and Babylonian - palaces in Nimrud, Nineveh, and Khorsabad
  The Persian Empire: Chaldeans overthrew Assyrians - most prominent king was Nebuchadnezzar II (605 - 562 B. C. E.) - Persians overthrew empire in 539 B. C. E. - from southwestern Iran - King Cyrus by conquests enlarged empire to include Lydian kingdom and all the way to western India, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia - Cambyses, successor of Cyrus conquered Egypt, Darius invaded Greece - King ruled empire by dividing it into provinces or satrapies that were self-governed by the satraps who paid tributes to maintain the kingdom'sjustice, security, military - Darius appointed members of royal family as satraps who had hereditary powers - excellent communication kept the empire together - Susa was the capital where the king resided in splendor, later in Persepolis - excessive taxation and hoarding of wealth by kings resulted in the downfall of the empire - Persians worshipped nature with the aid of Magi or priests - 660 B. C. E. Zoroaster wandered in solitude ad received revelations that gave him the status of prophet - his teachings were written down in the third century B. C. E. as the Zend Avesta and the new religion was called Zoroastrianism - monotheistic (Ahuramazda or God) - important teachings included Good Thought, Right, and Piety - good and evil coexist and people are free to choose - at the final judgement there will be separation of good and evil - kings patronized the religion and helped in its spreading around the empire - later Zoraostrianism accepted other Gods making it a polytheistic religion
  Conclusion: Early civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt established the basic aspects of government, economy, religion, and social life