Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE
The Middle East: “The Crossroads of Three Continents”
The Ancient Fertile Crescent Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”
Sumerians
Sumerian Religion - Polytheistic
Enki
Appeasement of the gods
Innana
Ziggurat at Ur
Monumental
Architecture
= a hallmark
of “civilization”
Mesopotamian Trade
“The Cuneiform World”
Technology
Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped” Writing
Cuneiform Writing
Sumerian Cylinder Seals
Gilgamesh: The First Literature
The Royal Standard of Ur
Circa 2600 BCE
Mesopotamian Harp
Board Game From Ur
Sophisticated Metallurgy Skills
at Ur
Sargon of Akkad:
“The World’s First Empire”
[Akkadians]
The Babylonian Empires
Hammurabi’s
[r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.]
Code
Hammurabi, the Judge
Important Facts
•Difficult geography for farming – unpredictable
rivers
•Open geography led to invasions
•Open geography led to trade and exchange of
ideas
•FIRSTS: agriculture, Writing, wheel, cities, base60 counting , literature
A View of Egypt by Satellite
The Fertile Nile Valley
The Annual Flooding of the Nile
Nile Irrigation-the Shaduf
Menes:
Unifier of Upper & Lower Egypt
c. 3050 B. C. E. ?
Scenes of Ancient Egyptian
Daily Life
Making Ancient Egyptian Beer
Egyptian Social Hierarchy
Egyptian Priestly Class
Egyptian Scribe
Papyrus  Paper
Hieratic Scroll Piece
Papyrus Plant
Hieroglyphics “Alphabet”
24 “letters” + 700 phonetic symbols
Materials Used in Mummification
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Linen
Sawdust
Lichen
Beeswax
Resin
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Natron
Onion
Nile Mud
Linen Pads
Frankinsense
Preparation for
the Afterlife
Egyptian Mummies
Seti I
1291-1278 B. C. E.
Queen Tiye, wife of
Amenhotep II
1210-1200 B. C. E.
Ramses II
1279-1212 B. C. E.
Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Final Judgement
Anubis
Horus
Osiris
Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara
Giza Pyramid Complex
Important Facts
• Calm environment and protected
geography = better view of afterlife and
gods
• Also allows Egypt to unify under 1
government
• Trade and exchange occurred south to
Nubia and East to Mesopotamia