Chapter 2
Ancient Middle East and Egypt
Chapter Focus:
What distinct characteristics
did the early civilizations
and empires of the Middle
East and Egypt develop?
2.1 – City-States of Ancient Sumer
Focus:
What were the characteristics of the world’s first
civilization?

Fertile Crescent*
– Stretches from
the Persian Gulf
to the
Mediterranean
Sea*
2.1
Ancient Sumer

Mesopotamia*–
“between the rivers”*
– Within the Fertile
Crescent
– Between the Tigris
& Euphrates Rivers
– Location of first
civilization: Sumer*
2.1
Sumer

Sumerian Civilization
– 12 separate citystates
– Battle to control land
& water
– War leaders evolve
 Hereditary rule
2.1
Sumerian Civilization

Government
– Ruler responsible
 City walls
 Irrigation system
 Led army
 Employed scribes
 Chief servant of
gods
 Led ceremonies

Society
– Social Hierarchy:*
system of ranking
groups
 Ruling family officials,
high priests
 Lesser priests,
scribes, merchants,
artisans
 Peasant farmers
 Slaves
2.1
Sumerian Civilization

Religion
– Polytheistic: worship many gods*
– Ziggurat: large stepped platform topped by a temple
dedicated to the city’s chief god or goddess – rituals and
prayers*
– After-life*
 All live in a grim underworld with no release*
2.1
Sumerian Civilization

Writing (3200 BC)
–
Cuneiform:*
 system of writing
using wedge-shaped
marks on clay
tablets*
 Earliest known form
of writing (myths,
prayers, laws,
contracts)
2.1
Sumerian Civilization

Legacy
–
–
–
1900 BC – Sumerian civilization replaced by other
civilizations & empires
Conquerors adopt ideas
Developed astronomy

–
Movement of planets & stars
Mathematics

Number system based on 6
–
60 minute hour
– 360 degree circle
2.2 – First Empires in Mesopotamia*
Focus: How did various strong rulers unite the lands of
the Fertile Crescent into well-organized empires?

Sargon (2300 BC)*
–
–
–
–
Ruler of Akkad
Conquers Sumer city-states
First empire in history*
Collapses after his death
2.2
First Empires in Mesopotamia



Hammurabi (1700 BC)*
King of Babylon
Hammurabi’s Code*– first written law code (~300)

Codify* – arrange and set down in writing
–


“eye for an eye & a life for a life”
Civil Law*– private rights – taxes, marriage, divorce,
property*
Criminal Law*– offenses against others – robbery,
assault, murder*
2.2
First Empires in
Mesopotamia

Hittites*(1400-1200 BC)
– From Asia Minor
– Skill

how to make iron*
– Sharper,
harder,
cheaper
2.2
First Empires in Mesopotamia

Assyrians (1350 BC)
–
–
–
–
–
Feared warriors
Ordered Society
Laws for royal household
First libraries
612 BC - defeated
Assyrians
Skinning Alive
2.2
First Empires in Mesopotamia

Babylon* (625 BC)
largest city
– King
Nebuchadnezzar*
– Rebuilt canals,
temples, walls, &
palaces
– Hanging Gardens*
Babylon
2.2
First Empires in Mesopotamia

Persia*
– 539 BC – Conquer
Babylon
– Cyrus the Great*
 Largest empire –
Asia Minor to
India
 Policy of
tolerance to those
conquered**
2.2
Persia - Mesopotamia

Barter Economy
– exchange a good or
service for another

Money Economy
– Good paid for through
exchange of token
2.2
Persia - Mesopotamia

Persian Religion*
– Zoroaster*(600 BC)
– Persian religious
thinker
 Taught of a
“single” wise god
– Ahura Mazda
 Prince of lies and
evil – Ahriman
 Final judgment
day*
2.2
First Empires in Mesopotamia

Phoenicians*
–
–
–
–
–
Occupied cities along eastern Mediterranean coast
Manufacturing and trade
Purple dye
Colony* – territory settled and ruled by people from another
land
“carriers of civilization”*



Alphabet – each symbol represents a single basic sound
22 symbols
Greeks add vowels
Phoenician Colonies
Phoenician Alphabet
2.3 – Kingdom on the Nile
Focus: How did the Nile influence the rise of the powerful
civilization of Egypt?

Nile*
– 4,100 miles; longest
river in the world
– Northward flow
– Black Land – fertile
land (10 miles wide)
– Red Land – desert
2.3 - Egypt

Floods
–
–
–
Reservoirs (dry season)
Irrigation
Yearly Flood



Floods in July
Recedes in October
Flood – Plant – Harvest
2.3 - Egypt

Geography*
– Upper Egypt (South)*

–
From first cataracts,
waterfall & rapids, to 100
miles from Med. Sea*
Lower Egypt (North)*

Delta* region – triangular
marshlands; Nile empties
into the Med. Sea*
2.3 – Egypt
Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom
–
Dynasty* – ruling family; power passes from one
ruler to another

Pharaohs* – Egyptian kings
– Human & divine
– Absolute Power – own & rule all land
– Bureaucracy* – system of govn’t made up of
different jobs and authority levels
– Vizier* – chief minister who supervises govn’t
 Various depts. – taxes, farming, etc.
2.3 - Egypt
Old Kingdom

Great Pyramids**
–
–
–
Necropolis* –
cemeteries
Tombs where deceased
live for eternity
Collapse




Power struggles
Crop failures
Cost of building
pyramids
Disunite
2.3 - Egypt
Middle Kingdom


Turbulent period
– Nile doesn’t flood
regularly
– Corruption & rebellion
1700 BC
– Hyksos* take over
(100 year rule)


Introduce horsedrawn war chariot**
Adopted Egyptian
culture
2.3 – Egypt
New Kingdom

Empire reaches as far as
Syria & the Euphrates
River

Hatshepsut (1472-1458 BC)
–

first female ruler;
encouraged trade
Thutmose III
–
Hatshepsut’s stepson;
took over after becoming
an adult
 Warlike
 Stretched borders to
greatest extent*
2.3 – Egypt
New Kingdom

Ramses II* (1279-1213 BC)
– Battles – Hittites vs.
Egyptians
– First recorded peace
treaty*
– 99 years old – 150
children
2.3 - Egypt

Decline
–
–
–
After 1100 BC
332 BC – last
Egyptian dynasty
ended; Greeks
control
30 BC – Roman
armies displace
Greeks
2.4- Egypt
Focus: How did religion and learning play important
roles in ancient Egyptian civilization?

Religion
– most important gods
are associated with
the sun and the Nile

Amon-Re* – lord of the
Gods; gave pharaohs
right to rule & judged
their actions*
2.4 - Egypt


Osiris*
– God of the dead;
judges the soul*
– God of the Nile;
controls the flood*
Isis
– Daily lives of women
2.4 - Egypt

Afterlife
–
Osiris judges soul
 Eater of the Dead
 Happy Field of
Food
 Book
of the
Dead*
–
Spells, charms,
and formulas to
survive the
underworld
journey*
2.4 - Egypt

Mummification*
– Preservation of
body by embalming
and wrapping in
cloth (use body in
afterlife)*
2.4 – Egypt
Social Hierarchy
Pharaoh & Royal Family
Govn’t officials & High Priests
Merchants, Scribes, & Artisans
Peasants & Slaves
2.4 - Egypt

Social Class
– Peasants
 Off-season: build
palaces, temples, &
tombs
– Women
 Inherit property, buy
& sell goods,
divorce
 Excluded from
govn’t jobs &
becoming scribes
2.4 – Egypt
Writing

Hieroglyphics*
– Using pictures of
symbols to
represent objects,
concepts, or
sounds*
– Record important
economic, royal, &
official historical
information
2.4 – Egypt
Writing


Hieratic & Demotic
– Simple, cursive, script
for everyday use
Papyrus
– Plant that grows along
the banks of the Nile*
– Paperlike writing
material
Demotic
2.4 – Egypt
Writing

Rosetta Stone*
– Passage carved on
flat, black stone in
hieroglyphics,
demotic script, and
Greek*
– Decipher meanings
of many
hieroglyphics*
2.4 – Egypt
Science & Mathematics

Medicine
–
–

Astronomy
–

Human body –
mummification
Surgical operations
Calendar: 12 months of
30 days
Mathematics
–
Geometry


Survey land
Construction of
pyramids & temples
2.5 – Roots of Judaism
Focus: How did the worship of only one god shape
Judaism?
1.
What group of people is crediting with
creating the religion of Judaism?
Israelites/Hebrews
2.
Judaism is a monotheistic religion, what
does this mean?
One god – made Judaism different
2.5 - Judaism
3.
There was a Jewish belief that history and
faith were connected, this lead to the
creation of what book? Describe this book:
Torah – First five books of the Hebrew Bible
4.
The Israelites regard Abraham as what?
Why?
The Father of Judaism…he made a pact with
God
2.5 - Judaism
5.
Define covenant:
A binding agreement
6.
In Egypt the Israelites were in which social
class? Who led the Israelites out of Egypt?
They were slaves, held in bondage – freed by
Moses
7.
Who united the twelve tribes of Israel?
David
2.5 - Judaism
8.
What city was established as the Jewish
capital?
Jerusalem
9.
Define patriarchal:
Men held the highest authority/ and made
decisions…also means relating to the father
2.5 - Judaism
10. In the Jewish faith, the Sabbath is held in
high regard. Define Sabbath:
The Sabbath is a day of rest and worship
11. What was the Diaspora? Why was this
event important?
The migration of Jewish people (Hebrews)
throughout the world, in order to escape
Babylonian captivity