Early Civilization:

The Fertile Crescent

On your desk…

• Each of you has a piece of paper folded in half. • When I tell you, I would like to you read the

directions on the paper and do exactly what it says. Please remain QUIET!– Group A will go first– Group B will go second

• When I say STOP, you must STOP!

Hmmmm…• What happened on the left side of the room?• What happened on the right side of the room?• What was your reaction of the group that you

were NOT a part of?

Chaos vs. Civilization

• Why do civilizations emerge?• What is the key component of a civilization

based on your observations?

• Order – It is the rule of law or proper authority.

• Chaos – It is a state of utter confusion.

Order

Chaos

Think on it…

• Come up with your own definition of a civilization…write it down!

Our Definition

Civilization Defined:

• The stage of cultural development marked by urbanization, advanced techniques of agriculture and technology, material, scientific, and artistic progress, expanded population, and complex social organization that have developed to manage problems of order, security and efficiency.

The First Civilizations

• 3500BC – development of the wheel and axle allows trade to expand from seafaring vessels to land as well–Result: spread of culture and prosperity

• 2900BC – Bronze Age results in the development of durable, long lasting tools –Weapons, helmets, shields, etc.

Civilization over Chaos

• Hunting-gathering eclipsed by agriculture– No more nomadic

existence– Farming = harder work,

but with higher yield and no food shortages

– Need for irrigation– Family size increases

• Emergence of:– Artisans & craftsmen– Cities– Trade– Social Classes

Social ClassesKing

Priests, nobles, military

Artisans, small traders, merchants

Farmers

Slaves

Story Time!

Using your iPad

• In the “Education” folder, tap the icon that says “Student”

• The app will prompt you to enter a room number:

– Enter: 915540

Ancient Mesopotamia

• What does Mesopotamia literally mean?– The Land Between the Rivers

• Why was this a perfect place for the 1st civilization?1. Fertile Crescent - large arc of fertile land in the

Middle East due to rich soil2. Tigris & Euphrates Rivers made it possible for

farming due to flooding

What Challenges Did People Face in Mesopotamia?

1. Unpredictable floods destroyed crops, homes & people

2. Some areas were marshy and unsuitable for farming because of over-flooding

The Many People of Mesopotamia

1. Sumerians (3000 B.C. - 1800 B.C.)

2. Babylonians (1800 B.C. - 1200 B.C.)

3. Assyrians (1200 B.C. - 539 B.C.)

4. Persians (539 B.C. - 330 B.C.)

Sumerians

• How was Sumer governed?– Sumer was never united under one ruler – Independent city-states– Largest city was Ur– Results in their downfall…why?

• Sumerians were great inventors– The wheel (around 3500 BCE)– Invention of cuneiform writing– Developed a sexagesimal (base 60) place-value number system

• Earliest literature– World’s oldest poetry– The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Evolution of the Wheel• Stage one: Early men placed rollers beneath

heavy objects so that they could be moved easily.

• Stage two: Early men began to place runners under a heavy load, which they discovered would make it easier for the load to drag. This was the invention of the sledge.

• Stage three: Men began to combine the roller and the sledge. As the sledge moved forward over the first roller, a second roller was placed under the front end to carry the load when it moved off the first roller. A model of a sledge with such rollers is in the Smithsonian Institution.

The Evolution of the Wheel• Stage four: Soon, men discovered that the rollers

which carried the sledge became grooved with use. These deep grooves actually allowed the sledge to advance a greater distance before the next roller was needed to come on!

• Stage five: The rollers were changed into wheels. In the process of doing so, wood between the grooves of the roller were cut away to form an axle and wooden pegs were fastened to the runners on each side of the axle. When the wheels turn, the axle turned too in the space between the pegs. The first wooden cart was thus made.

• Stage six: A slight improvement was made to the cart. This time, instead of using pegs to join the wheels to the axle, holes for the axle were drilled through the frame of the cart. Axle and wheels were now made separately.

I am the great king Gilgamesh…read

the handout about my epic tale!

Sumerian Religion

• Polytheistic, anthropomorphic deities• Each city-state had its own patron god• Ziggurats – Massive, stepped-pyramids used as temples by

Sumerian priests– Existed long before the Egyptian pyramids

Main Sumerian Deities

• An: God of heaven• Enlil: God of the air • Enki: God of freshwater, male fertility, and

knowledge• Inanna: Goddess of love, female fertility and warfare• Ki: Goddess of the earth.• Nanna: God of the moon• Ninurta: God of war, agriculture• Utu: God of the sun

Religions have attempted to build their sanctuaries on prominent heights. Since no such natural heights were available in the flat flood plains of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), ancient priests and kings determined to build ziggurats, square or rectangular artificial stepped temple platforms. Functionally, temples were placed on raised platforms to give them prominence over other buildings in a city, and to allow more people to watch the services performed at the temple. Symbolically, however, the ziggurat represents the cosmic mountain on which the gods dwell. The priests ascent up the stairway to the temple at the top of the ziggurat represents the ascent to heaven. The great ziggurat at Khorsabad, for example, had seven different stages; each was painted a different color and represented the five known planets, the moon, and the sun.

WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE REVEAL ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF PEOPLE IN MESOPOTAMIA?

This staircase runs directly up the front of the ziggurat. Possibly only the temple priests were allowed to climb these steps to get to the higher stages of the ziggurat.

Many archaeologists believe that there was a temple on the highest

terrace of the ziggurat.

Drains for rain water

Terrace

The mud-brick core of the ziggurat was covered with

baked bricks. Each baked brick measured

about 12 x 12 x 3 in and weighed up to 33lbs. About

720,000 baked bricks would have been needed in building the first stage of the ziggurat. This brick was stamped with

the name and title of Ur-Nammu, the king who ordered the ziggurat built. Most bricks

used to build the ziggurat were stamped. Somebody had the

job of stamping the damp bricks.

ZIGGURATS

BABYLONIAN ZIGGURAT

Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex that included a courtyard, storage

rooms, bathrooms, and living quarters, around which a city was built

The Ziggurat at UR

iPad Reading Quiz

• Use the “Student Socrative” app and login– 915540

1. What was your name?2. How was Assyria’s method of expansion very

different from those of other civilizations?3. Describe the Assyrians in your own words.4. What led to the downfall of the Assyrians?5. How did the Persians treat the people they

conquered?6. What religion did the Persians practice?

The Babylonians

• King Hammurabi creates the Babylonian empire by defeating city-states in Sumer

• Babylonians built or developed:– Great walled cities– Roads allow caravans (groups of travelers) to

converge on Babylon and its bazaars (markets)– First book of codified laws (Hammurabi’s

Code)

Hammurabi• “So That the Strong Should

Not Harm the Weak”

Hmmm…I think

someone “got my nose”?

The Babylonians

• Astronomy & Astrology – First to recognize that astronomical phenomena

are periodic and apply mathematics to their predictions

– Babylonian observations of celestial phenomena are recorded in the series of cuneiform tablets known as the Enûma Anu Enlil.• Series of 70 tablets dealing with Babylonian astrology• Collection of omens, estimated to number between

6500 and 7000

Enûma Anu Enlil

Enûma Anu Enlil

The shelves of a tablet library excavated at Sippar in southern Mesopotamia.

The Assyrians

• Defeat the Babylonians around 1500BC• Very skilled warriors– Develop the battering ram– Used slings and armored chariots– First civilization to have a standing army

• Capital located at Nineveh– Great library and record holdings

• Eventually overcome in 612BC – Who defeated them?– The Medes & Chaldeans

• Babylon rises again

Assyrian Warriors

Assyrian Warriors

Assyrian Warriors

Assyrian Battering Ram

Assyrian Battering Ram

Second Rise of Babylon (New-Babylon)

• Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt the city of Babylon– Constructed canals, aqueducts, temples and

reservoirs– The Hanging Gardens of Babylon– Once again, Babylon became a center for

learning and science

• New Babylonian Empire falls to the Persians in 539 BC

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• Built: Around 600 BC • Function: Royal Gardens • Destroyed: Earthquake, 2nd Century BC– Only wonder whose archaeological remains

cannot be verified.

• Built to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis of Medes who was depressed and missed her homeland

King Nebuchadnezzar II

Rock, paper, scissors,

shoot!

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Video

The Ishtar Gate

• The eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. • It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of

King Nebuchadnezzar II • The roof and doors of the gate were of cedar• The whole gate was covered in lapis lazuli

glazed bricks which would have rendered the façade with a jewel-like shine

Bulls, Lions, & Dragons

Persia

• Cyrus the Great unified the nomadic people – Becomes the largest empire in Mesopotamia – Defeat the Babylonians, Assyrians, Jews, Phoenicians and

Syrians, and the Greeks in modern Turkey– Sometimes called Achaemenid Empire

• Practiced Zoroastrianism – monotheistic– Worshipped only ONE god

• Developed a bureaucratic government– A government that is run by bureaus (or departments)

staffed with nonelected officials– 20 provinces called satrapies

• Highly tolerant society

Zoroastrianism

• Religion based on the teachings of Zoroaster• All good comes from the god named Ahura

Mazda• All evil comes from the spirit named Angra

Mainyu• Holy text is called the Mathra-Spenta ("Holy

Words")• “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds”

Ahura MazdaNot THAT

kind of Mazda…

Angra Mainyu