Chapter 1: The First River Valley Civilizations - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Chapter 1: The First River Valley CivilizationsSlide2

Two Early City-States

Catal Huyuk

JerichoSlide3

Catal Huyuk is the oldest and the largest Neolithic city found, so far. It dates to 8,000 years BCE and was occupied continuously for 376 generations. No specific reasons for its abandonment have been found. Slide4

A section of an earlier digSlide5

An artist’s reconstruction of

Catal Huruk Slide6

Archaeologists at work Slide7

A skeleton found in a house.Slide8

A fertility goddess

A pottery bowl with tripod stand

A mural of two animals Slide9

Jericho

~8000 BCESlide10

Mesopotamia - The Land Between Two Rivers

Mesopotamia was a place where many cities began to grow. As its name suggests, Mesopotamia was located between two rivers. The two rivers were the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.

Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, and surrounded by desert. People came to Mesopotamia because the soil between the two rivers was very fertile.

When a newborn baby begins life, he or she is placed in a

cradle

. Mesopotamia is called the

cradle of civilization

because the first civilizations began there, about 5,500 years ago in 3500 B.C.Slide11

Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East.

USASlide12
Slide13

Mesopotamia was located in what is now the country of Iraq.Slide14

City-States Formed Along the Rivers

Many city-states formed along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. They each had their own form of government, and the people worshipped different gods and goddesses. Eventually, they each had their own kings. The region where the two rivers meet was called Sumer. The people who lived in the Sumer region were called Sumerians.Slide15

Why Did These Cities Develop?

Due to the

fertile

soil in Mesopotamia, farming was very successful. In fact, people were able to create

surpluses

of food. This meant that some people could stop farming and begin doing other things, like building a city.

As cities began to develop, people began to worry about others who might come and

invade

their city. They wanted to protect themselves from enemies, so people in Mesopotamia built walls around their cities.Slide16

Sumerians

Remember, Sumer is the region where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers meet.

Writing first began in Sumerian cities. The first schools were set up in Sumer over 4,000 years ago. Sumerian schools taught boys the new invention of writing. Those who graduated became professional writers called

scribes

. Scribes were the only people who could keep records for the kings and priests. Boys that wanted to be scribes had to attend school from the age of 8 to the age of 20.Slide17

Sumer was different from all other earlier civilizations

Advanced citiesSpecialized workers

Complex institutionsRecord keepingAdvanced technologyDeveloped city-states

Food surplus increased population expanded trade expansion of Sumerian society

Sumerian SocietySlide18

Polytheistic

Wrote myths (Epic of Gilgamesh)Had social classes

Priests and kings were at the topSlaves were at the bottomWomen probably couldn’t attend school but had many other rightsAdvances in mathematicsNumber system based on 60 (60 seconds = 1 minute)

Sumerian Society (cont.)Slide19

Wagon wheel

Potter’s wheelNumber system using base 60 – time and circles12 month calendarMetal plow

SailSome of the 1st known mapsNew architecture: BricksArch and ramp

Sumerian InventionsSlide20

Sumerian Writing

Scribes used a sharp point called a

stylus

to etch words into clay tablets. These tablets have been discovered by

archaeologists

and looked at by

historians

.Slide21

A Sumerian City

Sumerian city streets were so narrow that you could hardly get a cart through them.

Sumerian houses faced away from crowded streets. Instead, they faced onto courtyards where families ate and children played.

Narrow Streets

Courtyard AreaSlide22

Sumerian Cities

On hot nights, people slept outdoors on the top of their house’s flat roof.

Sumerians had a form of light at night. They burned oil lamps.

Sumerians even had plumbing! Clay pipes that were buried underground carried their waste away. Inventions like plumbing wouldn’t come around for another thousand years in other parts of the world!Slide23

Sumerian Religion

Sumerians worshipped many gods, not just one. This belief in many gods is called

polytheism

. “Poly” means many and “Theism” means gods.

The picture above shows a

ziggurat

. Ziggurats were the main temples used to worship the gods of a city. Ziggurats were built in the center of the city. They had steps and ramps, and it was believed that the gods descended to the Earth using the ziggurat as a ladder.Slide24

ziggurat

Gods

Sumerian Mythology

Sumerian

myths

, or stories, explained people’s beliefs. Sumerians believed that a person must keep the gods happy by going to the ziggurat and praying to them. They believed that the gods would reward them for good service. They also believed that the gods would punish the people who made them angry.Slide25

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Search for immortality by semi-historical King Gilgamesh of Uruk (~2700 BCE) after death of his friend Enkidu.

Realizes that only gods enjoy immortality; humans must content themselves with fame derived from performing mighty deeds

Story of a devastating flood in later version Slide26

The Epic of Gilgamesh PowerPointSlide27

The Downfall of the Sumerians

Each of the Sumerian city-states had a ruler, and these city-states began fighting each other. They fought over land and the use of river water. Since the Sumerians were constantly at war with each other, they became weak. By 2000 BC, Sumer was a weakened area, and by 1759 BC, Sumer was conquered by another group of people - the Babylonians, who were from the north.Slide28

Who Controls Mesopotamia?Slide29

From Sumerians to Babylonians

The Sumerian city-states eventually fell to foreign invaders (2000s BC)

The Akkadians:Semites- nomadic people from the Arabian Peninsula that migrated to MesopotamiaSargon I (2300-2200 BC) unites all Mesopotamian cities (creates first empire)Slide30

The Ancient Babylonians

Amorites (2000-1600 BC)

Conquered many parts of old Sumeria (including Babylon)Hammurabi - created a law code with harsh punishmentsBorrowed heavily from Sumerian cultureAfter Hammurabi’s death Babylon declinedSlide31

Hammurabi’s Code (~1700 BCE)

Hammurabi was the king who united most of Mesopotamia and conquered the Sumerians. He developed a “code” of laws. The laws were numbered from 1 to 282. Law number 196 states:

If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

Some people summarize Hammurabi’s code by saying “an eye for an eye.”

Law number 195 states:

If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.

There are many, many more laws like this in Hammurabi’s Code.

A statue of HammurabiSlide32

On the left is a

stela

, which has all 282 of Hammurabi’s laws engraved on it. This stela is located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

The Hammurabi stela was discovered in 1909, in Susa, Elam, which is now Khuzestan. Khuzestan is a province of southern Iran.

Susa

Stelas containing Hammurabi’s Law Code were erected throughout the Mesopotamia River Valley.Slide33

The Law Code of Hammurabi PowerPointSlide34

Hittites

Began to conquer Asia Minor (2000 BCE)

A strong army with chariotsConquered Babylon in 1595 BCE)Borrowed from Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultureHad a law code less harsh than Hammurabi’sLasted until about 1200 BCESlide35

Assyrians

Started to gain strength about 900 BCE

Powerful armyTreated conquered people cruellyLarge empire with good roadsCollapsed about 612 BCESlide36

Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)

Defeated the Assyrians in about 612 BCE

Descended from Hammarabi’s BabyloniansAt its height during the rule of Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BCE)Spent a lot of money on Babylon

Built Hanging Gardens

Empire collapsed in 539 BCE after being defeated by the PersiansSlide37

Persians

Were Indo-Europeans

Cyrus (conquered from the Nile to the Indus) Darius I Administered the empire using satraps (governors)Tolerant to those who were conqueredIncreased trade and built roadsLost to the Greeks in 480 BCE