The Ancient World:
Prehistoric, Mesopotamian,
and Egyptian Civilizations
First Humans
ca. 300,000 B.C.E. – Neanderthal
ca. 200,000 B.C.E. – Homo sapiens in
Africa; 35,000 years ago established in
Europe
1.
2.
3.
4.
Made tools
Cooked with fire
Buried dead in ritual ceremonies
Worshiped forces of nature
Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
ca. 35,000 - 10,000 B.C.E. (corresponds
with geological Ice Age)
Cave art: Lascaux, France (fig. 1.1) –
bulls, humans, etc., painted in deeper
parts of caves not used for living
Portable art: Woman of Willendorf (fig.
1.2)
Neolithic (New Stone Age)
ca. 8000-2300 B.C.E.
Megalithic structures – Stonehenge (fig.
1.4), a post-and-lintel structure, perhaps a
calendar
Bronze Age
ca. 2300-1000 B.C.E.
Began to cultivate the land
Civilization in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Present-day Iraq
The arts, writing, and law flourished
Empires dominated the Near East and
northern Africa
The Sumerians
ca. 3500 B.C.E.
First people to use writing (cuneiform)
Constructed monumental buildings:
Ziggurats – stepped pyramids
Literature: Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells
of a Great Flood also recounted in the
Hebrew Bible
Religion: polytheism
Empires of the Ancient Near East
Akkadians: the Victory Stele of NaramSin (fig. 1.8)
Babylonians: Law code of Hummurabi
(Stele, fig. 1.9)
Assyrians: conquered lower Egypt
1. Ashurbanipal
2. Nebuchadnezzar II – Ishtar Gate (fig. 1.13)
Persians: Darius’ palace at Persepolis
(fig. 1.14). Persepolis later fell to
Alexander the Great
Egypt: Religion and Society
Pharaoh, or king, was living embodiment
of a god
Rest of society stratified
Polytheistic
Belief in the immortality of the spirit
Treasures buried with mummified dead to
insure happiness after death
The Arts of Egypt
Architecture
1. Great Pyramids of Giza (fig. 1.2)
2. Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (fig. 1.24)
3. Temple of Amen-Mut-Khonsu (fig. 1.25)
Sculpture
1. The Great Sphinx (fig. 1.21)
2. King Menkaure and Queen (fig. 1.22)
3. Four Seated Figures of Ramesses II (fig. 1.27)
The Arts of Egypt
Painting
1. House and Garden of the Scribe Nakte (fig.
1.26)
2. Nobleman Hunting in the Marshes (fig. 1.28)
3. Musicians and Dancers (fig. 1.29)
Rulers of Egypt
Akhenaten: cult of the god Aten
1. Established court at Amarna with his queen
Nefertiti
2. Rule noted for new intimacy in the pictorial
depiction of humans (fig. 1.30)
Tutankhamen: restored cult of Amon-Re
Ramesses II: monumental, richlydecorated tombs
Decline of Egypt
Kush empire
Assyrians
Persians
Alexander the Great: Hellenistic culture