Western civilization i
Beginnings – reformation
August 30: Beginnings
• Beginnings
• Mesopotamia
• Egypt
Beginnings
•
•
•
•
•
History of civilization: how to date?
Definition of “text”
Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler
Definition of “culture”
Definition of “civilization”
Beginnings
• History of civilization: how to date?
– How far back “history” takes us
– What is datable
•
•
•
•
Definition of “text”
Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler
Definition of “culture”
Definition of “civilization”
Beginnings
• History of civilization: how to date?
– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)
– What is datable
• Definition of “text”
– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)
– Especially the written word
• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler
• Definition of “culture”
• Definition of “civilization”
Beginnings
• History of civilization: how to date?
– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)
– What is datable
• Definition of “text”
– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)
– Especially the written word
• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler
• Definition of “culture”
– All the ways humans adjust to their environment, organize
experiences, and hand over traditions
• Definition of “civilization”
Beginnings
• History of civilization: how to date?
– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)
– What is datable
• Definition of “text”
– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)
– Especially the written word
• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler
• Definition of “culture”
– All the ways humans adjust to their environment, organize
experiences, and hand over traditions
• Definition of “civilization”
– Urban culture, with distinct characteristics
Beginnings
• Various ages: paleolithic, neolithic, bronze,
iron (know why they are distinguished and
relative dating)
• The marks of civilization: agriculture leading to
cities, metals, and WRITING
– Civilization exhibits social hierarchy
– Civilization produces skilled arts and crafts
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
• c. 3500-3000bc: dvlpmt of Sumerian cities
(esp. Uruk)
• c. 2800-2370bc: Early Dynastic period of
Sumerian city-states*
• c. 2370-2340bc: Sargon est. Akkadian dynasty
& empire
(* the setting of Gilgamesh)
Mesopotamia
• c. 2125-2027bc: 3rd Dynasty of Ur**
• c. 2000-1800bc: Amorites in Mesopotamia
• c. 1792-1750bc: Hammurabi reigns
• c. 1500bc: Est. of Kassite Dynasty at Babylon
(** the earliest oral and written record of
Gilgamesh)
Mesopotamia: 4th to mid-3rd
millennium (3500-2340bc)
• Uruk and the other Sumerian city-states were
redistributive economies
– Central authority controls resources and redistributes
– King and / or temple priests
• Need for land leads to expansion and war; military
leaders eventually amass power and become kings
– Religious tradition confirms right to rule
• City-states never united, but a common culture
– Diplomacy and trade
– Common pantheon
– But different languages (Sumerian, Akkadian)
Mesopotamia: Sargon’s Akkadian
empire
• First empire
• Capital at Akkad / Agade (modern Baghdad?): an
exercise in geographical space and center (tribute
comes from governed city-states)
• First standing army
• Expeditions to far reaches like Anatolia and Iran:
why? (economic answer)
• New military technology: composite bow and
chariot
• Anarchy in 2250bc
Mesopotamia: Ur III and the Rise of
Assyria
• Ur rises up in the space vacated by Akkad’s fall
• Bureaucratic administration (therefore has left
us documentary evidence)
• Decentralized military administration
• Continuing identification with ruler as god and
king
• Fell c. 2000bc with Amorite invation
Mesopotamia: Assyria and Babylon
• Mercantile economy develops parallel to
redistributive economy: trade routes
• Assur (Assyria) builds on this prosperity 20001780
• Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750) dominates in
Mesopotamia: kingdom of Babylon
– Centralized administration
– Law code
• Babylon shrinks by 1650 (northern Babylon);
Kassites take over rule by 1400
Mesopotamia
• Important points about civilization per
Mesopotamia:
– Cities
– Writing (cuneiform): earliest is c. 3200bc
– Agriculture
– Ziggurat / religion (polytheistic, pantheon) / public
policy and administration (Sumerian lawcodes:
2350bc; Hammurabi 1750bc; patriarchy)
– Space and center
Egypt
Egypt
•
•
•
•
•
•
3100-2700bc Early Dynastic Period (I-II)
2700-2200bc Old Kingdom (III-VI)
2200-2052bc 1st Intermediate Period (VII-XI)
2052-1650bc Middle Kingdom (XII-XIII)*
1650-1550bc 2nd Intermediate Period (XIV-XVII)
1550-1075bc New Kingdom (XVIII-XX)**
*The time of Jacob (Israel) and Joseph in Egypt
**The time of Moses in Egypt
Egypt
• Nile is the source of Egyptian civilization
– Annual flooding: civilization and stability
• Exists between two deserts
– Defensible and contributes to stability
• History divided into: Early dynastic, Old
kingdom, Middle kingdom, and New kingdom
– Intermediate periods define times of political
disruption
– Thousands of years of stable civilization
Egypt (beginning)
• Agriculture and herding well-established by
3500bc
• By 3000bc, two kingdoms exist, united in what
we call the Old Kingdom
• “Upper” means elevation (therefore southern
reaches of Egypt; “Lower” also means
elevation (therefore northern reaches of
Egypt)
Egypt (kings and gods)
• In Mesopotamia, kings were gods’
representatives, at best semi-divine
• Egyptian kings were divine (title: “Good God”)
• Basis for divine kingship: Osiris killed by Seth;
Osiris’ son Horus defeats Seth; kings embody
Horus
– Establishes right to rule (Osiris was ruler of Egypt)
– Establishes ma‘at (stability/justice)
– King’s task: to maintain ma‘at (in service to the gods)
Egypt (pyramids)
• Pyramids: Old Kingdom
• Earliest: 2680bc
• Giza 2600bc (Khufu=Cheops)
– 2,000,000 stones x 2.5 tons each
– 13 acres
– 480 feet
– 70,000 workers (out of 1.5 mil population)
Egypt (social structure)
• King and royal family on top, and a regular
order
• Redistributive
– Again, writing as handmaid to economy
– Hieroglyphics
• Nobility, artists, peasants, slaves
Egypt: end of the Old
• 2200: drought and famine
• Civil war 2200-2000
• Chaos leads to pessimism
– Religious development: reward and punishment in afterlife
• Middle kingdom rebuilds monarchy (Mentuhotep 2)
– King no longer omnipotent god; rise of nobility
– Ma‘at restored, but at cost of seeing afterlife as a problem
to be solved: scarabs
– Increase in trade (already existent) with Crete, Levant
(Anatolia/Palestine), Mesopotamia
– Increase in immigration
– Hyksos (Canaanite) rule by 1650bc
Egypt: beginning of the New
• Hyksos (1650-1540) introduce bronze
• Introduces chariot warfare
• Late bronze-age (1500-1100) Egypt is imperially stable,
lots of commerce
• New Kingdom (about 1550bc)
–
–
–
–
–
First use of term “pharaoh”
Chariots and composite bow
Imperialistically driven
Thutmose 1 (1504-1492) conquers Palesine
Palaces (Amenhotep 3 and Ramesses 2)
• Decline by 1150bc
Egypt
• Important points about civilization per Egypt:
– Agriculture
– Writing
– Religion / public policy and administration
– Space and center
Summary of Beginnings
• Main points to remember:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Redistributive economies
Polytheism
Ziggurat
Cuneiform
Law code
Patriarchy
Hieroglyph
Bronze
Pharaoh