History
1101:
Western
Civilization I
New York City College
of Technology
Fall 2011 – Section 6744
Mon. & Wed., 2:30 – 3:45 PM
Brendan P. O’Malley, Instructor
bo’malley@gc.cuny.edu
The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
THE BIG PICTURE (MIDDLE EAST & EUROPE)
TECHNOLOGY:
Paleolithic, 600,000 – 10,000 B.C.E.
Bronze Age, 3,000 – 600 B.C.E.
Neolithic, 10,000 – 3,000 B.C.E.
Iron Age, 1,300 – 400 B.C.E.
MIDDLE EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS:
Sumer and Akkadia, 4,100 – 1,700 B.C.E.
Assyria, 2,400 – 612 BC.E.
Hittites, 1,650 – 1,180 B.C.E.
Phoenicia, 1,200 – 539 B.C.E.
Ancient Egypt, 3,100 – 1,000 B.C.E.
Babylonia, 1,900 – 539 B.C.E.
Early Hebrews, 1,500 – 587 B.C.E.
Persia, ca. 550 – 330 B.C.E.
OTHER WORLD CIVILIZATIONS:
Mesoamerica: Maya, 1,800 B.C.E. – 900 A.D.
China: Shang Dynasty, ca. 1,700 – 1046 B.C.E.
Olmec, 1600 – 400 B.C.E.
Zhou Dynasty, 1045-256 B.C.E.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Defining the Term: Paleolithic
• Term is from Ancient Greek: “Paleo” = Ancient, Old /
Lithos = “Stone”
• Approximately 600,000 to 10,000 B.C.E. (“Before
Common Era”)
• “Pre-Historic”: What is required to produce history?
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Paleolithic Characteristics
• Technology: Humans fashioning primarily stone tools, but also some
from bone and wood.
• Nomadic hunter/gatherer groups of 30-40 individuals.
• Impulse to Make Art: Venus Figurines, as early as 33,000 B.C.E.;
Chauvet Cave Paintings, earliest known ca. 30,000 – 32,000 B.C.E.
• Long-Distance Trade Networks: Example of bloodstone from
Scottish island found across Northern Europe.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Chauvet Cave Paintings, France,
ca. 30,000 – 32,000 B.C.E.
Venus of Willendorff, Austria,
ca. 22,000 – 24,000 B.C.E.
The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Paleolithic Chronology
• Roughly 60,000 B.C.E.: Human migration from Africa to Eurasia
via the Arabian Peninsula
• Emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens (“thinking, thinking man”),
fully modern human beings, around 40,000 B.C.E.
• Neanderthals die off around 30,000 - 25,000 B.C.E.
• Maximum glaciation reached around 18,000 B.C.E., with significant
retreat of glaciers by 10,000 B.C.E., which is also the end of the
Paleolithic period.
• By 10,000 B.C.E., European human population is about 20,000.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Neolithic Period, 10,000 – 3,000 B.C.E.
• Agriculture: Planting and cultivating grains, with Middle
Eastern grains like wheat and barley being among the first
• Domesticating Animals: Sheep around 8,500 B.C.E. in the
Middle East, with cattle and pigs perhaps a little later.
• Settlements: Towns of 2,000 like Jericho by 8,000 B.C.E. Also
beginning of social differentiation: some have more wealth.
• Slavery: Normal feature of society, and not racialized.
• New Warfare: Agricultural revolution made pushed warfare to
a larger scale; “Walls of Jericho” three yards thick.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Mesopotamia, ca. 3000 – 1000 B.C.E.
• Ancient Greek: “meso” = between / “potomos” = river
• Mesopotamia: Present-day Iraq, and parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iran
• “The Fertile Crescent”: The wet lands in and around the Tigris and
Euphrates River; area featured some of the earliest cities.
• Bronze: Ca. 3,000 B.C.E., Mesopotamians learned to smelt metals.
• Sumerian Civilization Emerges Ca. 3200 B.C.E.: Drier climate leads
to more sophisticated organization of irrigation and government.
• City of Uruk reaches 10,000 by 2900 B.C.E.
.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Mesopotamia, ca. 3000 – 1000 B.C.E.
• Ziggurats: Religious temples to a particular deity that were meant to
bridge the gap between humans and gods, but were also
administrative and economic centers. Also built as displays of a
leader’s power.
• Trade: Exported textiles in exchange for metal, stone, and luxury
goods. Traded with Syria, Arabian peninsula, and even India.
• Law: Earliest pertained to families. Divorce was allowed, but
adultery was punishable by death. Men could keep concubines.
Laws were also passed to make “respectable” women wear different
clothing from prostitutes.
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Mesopotamia and Egypt, ca. 2000 B.C.E.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1,100 B.C.E.
Sumerian Religion
• Sumerians saw themselves and their gods as struggling against a
mysterious chaos, like the sudden flood of a river, and had a generally
pessimistic outlook.
• Sumerians believed they were slaves to their gods, and needed to provide
them with sacrifices and incense to keep them appeased.
• Demons could cause illness and bad fortune. Priests were called in to treat
the sick and practiced augury (the reading of animal entrails) to predict the
future. People wore amulets as protection.
• Sumerians were doubted there could be a happy afterlife, and thought their
one chance for happiness was in this life.
• Akkadian conqueror, Sargon, uses religion to unite Akkadians and
Sumerians, to facilitate peace around 2,350 B.C.E. by combining deities of
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both cultures through his daughter, Enheduanna, as high priestess.
The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1,100 B.C.E.
Sumerian Culture: Epic of Gilgamesh
• Collection of stories about Gilgamesh, a king who ruled Uruk
around 2,700 B.C.E., and his adventures with his wild and
uncivilized friend, Enkidu. It was written down around 2,000 B.C.E.
Gilgamesh struggles to find meaning in the death of his friend:
Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, we
joined together, and went up into the mountain. We grappled with and killed the Bull of
Heaven, we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, we slew lions in the
mountain passes! My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me,
Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, the fate of
mankind has overtaken him. Six days and seven nights I mourned over him and would not
allow him to be buried until a maggot fell out of his nose. (Tablet X)
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Development of Writing in Sumer
• Developed to keep track of commerce, probably starting as pictographs.
• Cuneiform develops by 2,800 B.C.E., wedged-shaped characters made in
wet clay tablets.
Laws and Justice
• Code of Hammurabi: Written law codes emerge as early as 2,500 B.C.E.
Laws collated by the ruler Hammurabi (ca. 1792-1750 B.C.E.) show a strict
and hierarchical society: those who strike their fathers will have their hand
cut off, and “eye for an eye” is literal.
• Society comprised of elites (priests and warriors), freemen (artisans,
merchants, and some farmers), and slaves—law treats each differently.
• Women and children had some protections, but they were still property of
their husbands. Husbands needed proof to bring adultery charges and a
.
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woman could divorce her husband, but adultery could
mean death.
The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Indo-European Contributions
• Black Sea and Caucus Mountains: Produced a people who often
invaded the Fertile Crescent and spread cultural practices, having a
profound effect on the development of the West.
• Language: Linguists have labeled these invaders from Central Asia
“Indo-Europeans” since their language served as the basis for all future
European languages (except for Finnish, Basque, and Hungarian). In
addition to invading Europe, some settled in India, Iran, and Turkey.
• Horsemanship and Warfare: Excellent warriors who used horses,
becoming proficient in archery while riding chariots.
• Developed four-wheeled, horse-drawn carts.
• Created their own written languages after contact with Mesopotamians.
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Chart showing the many languages that branched off from the original Indo-European tongue
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Ancient Middle East: 600,000 – 1100 B.C.E.
Hittite Empire
• Indo-European people known as the Hittites establish a kingdom
in what is now modern-day Turkey around 1650 B.C.E.
• Integrated many aspects of Mesopotamian culture—like
writing—but remained a violent and warlike people.
• Developed a potent new weapon: the war chariot.
• In addition, the Hittites were skilled archers.
• King Suppiluliuma I (r. ca. 1380-1345 B.C.E.) conquers much of
Mesopotamia.
• Battle of Kadesh (1299 B.C.E.): Hittites clash with Egyptians.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
Ancient Egypt
• Society grew along the banks of the Nile, a 4000-mile
African river that flooded from June to October every year,
creating fertile lands and good growing season.
• Egyptian society developed in a more isolated state than the
societies of Mesopotamia, with less fear of invasion.
• Egyptians felt their lives were structured by a consistent
pattern provided by the Nile. More optimistic in their
outlook than Sumerians.
• According to tradition, a king named Menes consolidated
Egypt as a unified kingdom for the first time around 3100
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B.C.E.
The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
The Old Kingdom, 2700 – 2181 B.C.E.
• Developed a religion focused on several deities: the sun god Re
(or Amon), the Nile spirits Isis, Osiris, and Horus. Believe that
these gods had blessed Egypt with many gifts.
• An important concept to Egyptians was ma’at, a belief in truth,
justice, and order, and that rulers were gods brought to Earth to
uphold this concept.
• Trade with Nubia gave Egypt goods from Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Prosperous families could afford sculpture portraits that
idealized family life.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
The Goddess Isis
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
The Old Kingdom, 2700 – 2181 B.C.E.
• Developed a system of writing known as hieroglyphs, which
means “sacred writing” in Greek. A symbol could portray an
object, an idea, or phonetic sound.
• Hieroglyphs were used for religious purposes and tended to be
carved in stone; for more day-to-day use, Egyptians used more
simplified scripts written on papyrus, durable paper made from
reeds.
• Early on there were female scribes, but the job increasingly
became a male one.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
Middle Kingdom, 2060 – 1785 B.C.E.
• A severe drought brought political and social chaos to the Old Kingdom,
bringing it to end around 2080 B.C.E.
• After a twenty-year period of chaos, King Amenemhat I of Thebes
restored order and another prosperous period known as the Middle
Kingdom commenced.
• Egyptians of the Middle Kingdom conquered Nubia and began trade with
the peoples of Mesopotamia.
• Weakening leadership led to Nubian revolt and the conquest of Egypt by
the Hyksos, a people probably from Central Asia who had settled in the
Nile Delta and employed superior military technology, including bronze
weapons, chariots, and body armor.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
New Kingdom, 1570 – 1085 B.C.E.
• Adopting bronze weapons and chariots themselves, Egyptians at last defeated the
Hyksos and established a new dynasty around 1570 B.C.E.
• Pharaohs of the New Kingdom seemed bent on preventing conquest by expanding
Egyptian power and conquering new lands, including the Fertile Crescent.
• The female pharaoh Hatshepsut (1504-1482 B.C.E.) built new public works and
demanded that she be portrayed in artworks as a man.
• Pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1377-1360 B.C.E.) tried to replace the traditional worship
of rival gods—especially the priests of Osiris who offered immortal life in
exchange for money—with the worhsip of single god called Aten, the sun disk.
This attempted reform caused turmoil.
• Egyptian society enjoyed a resurgence under Ramses II (1279-1213 B.C.E.), but
subsequent leaders proved incapable of holding the fragile empire together.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Ancient Egypt, ca. 3100-1000 B.C.E.
New Kingdom, 1570 – 1085 B.C.E.
Hatshepsut and Ramses II
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Peoples of the Mediterranean, ca. 1300-500 B.C.E.
Phoenicians
• Successful oceangoing trading people based in the cities of Byblos,
Sidon, and Tyre, located in what is now Lebanon.
• Created a major trading colony at Carthage, in what is now
Tunisia.
• Traded beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, down the African coast,
Spain, and up to Britain in search of metals for tools and weapons,
and also for luxury goods.
• Improved on Sumerian writing by creating a purely phonetic
alphabet of twenty-two letters, a system later adopted by most
Western languages.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
Peoples of the Mediterranean, ca. 1300-500 B.C.E.
Phoenician Alphabet
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The Roots of Western Civilization
People of One God: Hebrews, 1500-500 B.C.E.
Early Hebrew History, 1500-900 B.C.E.
• Early Hebrews were semi-nomadic and moved from Mesopotamia to the land of
Canaan: the modern states of Israel, Lebanon, and western Syria from 2000-1700
B.C.E. The Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—led tribes in their
wanderings; Jacob took the name “Israel,” marking his people’s special
relationship with one God.
• According to the scriptures, Moses led a group out of Egypt around 1250 B.C.E.,
thus helping to forge the Hebrews into a national group with a religious purpose.
• The Hebrew scriptures came into being from 1250 to 150 B.C.E., collected from
oral and written tradition; the first five books constitute the Torah, or law code.
• Hebrews settled around Jerusalem between 1200 and 1050 B.C.E., and anointed a
series of kings: Saul (1024-1000 B.C.E.), David (1000-961 B.C.E.), and Solomon
(961-922 B.C.E.). Solomon had a temple constructed in Jerusalem by Phoenician
craftsmen, which became the center of worship for the Hebrews.
• Larger kingdom broke into two after Solomon: the states of Israel and Judah, the
first being more prosperous, and the second more adherent to the religious laws. 26
The Roots of Western Civilization
People of One God: Hebrews, 1500-500 B.C.E.
A Jealous God, 1300-587 B.C.E.
• The scriptures say Moses bound his people to a special covenant with God: they
would become the “chosen people” in return for worship of one God.
• The Ten Commandments, according to scripture, were given to Moses during the
exile from Egypt.
• According to the scriptures, Moses led a group out of Egypt, thus helping to forge
the Hebrews into a national group with a religious purpose.
• Around 800 B.C.E., a set of Hebrew prophets—including Amos, Jeremiah, and
Isaiah—emerged to call Jews to follow a higher ethical standard.
• Conquest of Israel in 721 B.C.E and the capture of Jerusalem and destruction of
the temple by the Babylonians were seen as punishment for leaders who strayed
from monotheistic practice; Jews sent into “Diaspora” with no state of their own.
• Eventually the tolerant Persians allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 583
B.C.E. and build a “Second Temple” in 515 B.C.E.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Growth of Empires, 1200-500 B.C.E.
The Growth of Empires
• By 1000 B.C.E., the value of controlling larger territories was
becoming apparent: secure strategic areas, get more metal for
weapons and tools, and gain more seaborne trade.
• Disruption in normal trade around 1200 B.C.E. forces
Hittites in Asia Minor to try plentiful iron for metal weapons,
and it proves stronger than Bronze.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Growth of Empires, 1200-500 B.C.E.
Assyrians, 911 – 612 B.C.E.
• People originally from the northwest Tigris-Euphrates Valley
• Amassed iron weapons to obey the command of their god, Assur,
who demanded to rule over the known world, including Egypt.
• Assyrians relied on terror and propaganda to strike fear in their
enemies, portrayed their brutal conquests in arts and written
records.
• Also relied on military engineers to build bridges, dig tunnels, and
create siege weapons.
• Maintained their empire through the use of a common Aramaic
language and road-building.
• Finally brought down by a coalition of Egyptians, Babylonians,
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and an Indo-European tribe from western Iran.
The Roots of Western Civilization
The Growth of Empires, 1200-500 B.C.E.
Babylonians/Chaldeans, 612-539 B.C.E.
• Also known as Chaldeans to distinguish them from the earlier
Babylonians of Hammurabi’s time.
• Like the Assyrians, they used terror to subdue the enemies,
including brutal punishments like being flayed or burned alive.
• This brutal policy led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E.
• King Nebuchadrezzar rebuilt Babylon into a magnificent city, with
giant ziggurats dedicated to the god Marduk.
• Babylonians developed an elaborate astrological system and
complex math.
• The harsh Babylonian rulers found little sympathy when the
Persians invaded and captured Babylon in 539 B.C.E.
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The Roots of Western Civilization
The Growth of Empires, 1200-500 B.C.E.
Persians, 550-330 B.C.E.
• Unlike the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Persians ruled by
tolerance rather than fear.
• King Cyrus allowed his Jewish subjects to return to Jerusalem and
rebuild their temple and allowed Babylonians to worship Marduk.
• Cyrus kept local officials but installed Persian governors called
satraps.
• The Persians used Aramaic as a language of commerce, expanded
road systems to enable better trading, and adopted the use of coins.
• Persian tolerance allowed for a long period of peace.
• Persians developed their own form of monotheistic religion called
Zoroastrianism, which is still practiced today. It features the
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worship of Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Light.