Notes: The Ancient World-1st Civilizations: The foundation of civilizations is traced back to the 4 great River valleys...governments may have developed to direct and plan irrigation and flood control projects The 4 River Valleys: 1. The Nile in Africa 2. The Tigris-Euphrates in SW Asia 3. The indus in S. Asia 4. The Huang in E. Asia • Egyptian civilizations were very stable • 30 Egyptian dynasties from 3200 BC to 300 BC • Accurate calendars tracked _________ • Geometry was used to draw field boundaries & construct ______________. • ______________ came from belief in immortality and an afterlife • • • • Tigris-Euphrates / Mesopotamia / the Fertile Crescent Sumer- Region of southern Mesopotamia contained city-states Ziggurats- Sumerian temples Cuneiform- form of wedge-shaped writing developed after 3000 BC • 2330 BC Akkadians conquered the Sumerians (ruled for about 150 yrs) • 1792 BC Hammurabi ruled Babylon and conquered upper Tigris-Euphrates Valley • · He is know for the Code of Hammurabi- one of the earliest known examples of human laws being defined and written down in an orderly way • • Power shifted in the 1600s BC to the Hittites >in 900 BC The Assyrians >in 600s BC the Chaldeans, and >the largest empire in 539 BC, the ______________. The Code of Hammurabi The Tigris-Euphrates Valley - stretching from modern day Turkey through Iraq The Sumerian temple called a Ziggurat was the central feature of the city-states The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Tower of Babel Artist's conception of the tower based on archaeological data. The tower's most splendid incarnation was probably under King Nebuchadnezzar II who lived from 605-562 BC. The King rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high. According to an inscription made by the king the tower was constructed of "baked brick The Phoenicians, Lydians, & Hebrews • The phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime culture that spread across the Mediterranean between the period of 1550 BC to 300 BC. • The Phoenicians developed the alphabet on which our own alphabet is patterned. • The Lydians of Asia Minor were the first to use coined money beginning in about 600 BC. • The Semitic speaking Hebrews had a great influence on all history. Judaism, considered an ethical monotheism, is the Hebrew form of monotheism. The Torah outlines the Hebrew code of laws which set a higher value on human life than earlier law codes Phoenician vessel Phoenician coin.
