The Ancient Near East
The Birth of Civilization and the
Origins of Life in the Ancient Near
East
I. The Birth of Civilization in
Western Asia
• Cities vs. Villages
• Earliest cities emerge
in Mesopotamia
• Importance of
cooperation in
irrigation
• Militarism produced
rulers
• The role of religion
I. The Birth of Civilization (cont.)
• Standing in awe of
the divine
• Religion organized
society
• Temples were
complex institutions
• Mesopotamia was
“civilized” by 3200
B.C.E.
“Civilization”: The stage in human
organization when governmental,
social and economic institutions
have developed sufficiently to
manage the problems of order,
security, and efficiency.
II. Mesopotamian Civilization
A. Ancient Sumer (3200-2000 BC)
• Southwestern territory
of the Valley
• Independent cities
conquered by
“Sargon the Great”
around 2300 BCE
• Unpredictable
Weather Conditions
• Evolution of view of
the Sumerian gods
A. Ancient Sumer (cont.)
• Significance of Sumerian
Temples
• Invention of the Wheel
(around 3200 BCE)
• Invention of cuneiform
writing
• Very Hard language to
learn
• Earliest Sumerian
literature
--world’s oldest poetry
B. Old Babylonia (2000-1600 BCE)
• Invasion of semitic
language groups like the
Amorites
• Most famous Amorite
ruler = Hammurabi
• Hammurabi’s Code of
Law
-- “An Eye for an eye”
-- “Let the Buyer Beware”
• Procedures in Amorite
trials
B. Old Babylonia (cont)
• Some sense of justice
• Some sense of a
“welfare state”
• The Epic of
Gilgamesh
• Introduction of
personal religion
• Major mathematical
achievements
• Babylonian social life
C. “The Dark Age” (1600-1300
BCE)
• Reasons for the fall of the
Amorites
• Horse-drawn chariots
challenge traditional oxdrawn chariots
• Invasion of the Hittites
• Kassite Occupation
• Prestige of Iron weapons
and implements
• Assimilation of previous
cultural accomplishments
D. The Assyrian Empire
(1300-612 BCE)
• Semitic language
group settling in the
north Tigris area as
early as 3000 BCE
• Became skilled in
chariot warfare and
began to conquer
neighbors
• Reign of Sennacherib
(705-681 BCE)
D. The Assyrian Empire (cont)
• The Assyrian capital
city: Nineveh
• Palace Library
• Assyrians known for
brutality in warfare
--only Mesopotamian
civilization to submit
to a queen
• Brutality of Assyrian
art
D. The Assyrian Empire (cont)
• Assyrian brutality
produced hatred and
rebellions among
subjugated peoples
• Sophisticated, far-sighted
and effective military
organization
--invented concept of a
corps of engineers
• The defeat of the
Assyrians and the
destruction of Nineveh
E. New Babylonia (612-539 BCE)
• Medes and
Chaldeans defeat the
Assyrians in 612 BCE
• Most famous
Babylonian ruler was
Nebuchadnezzar
• The defeat of
Belshazzar by the
Persians in 539 BCE
E. New Babylonia (cont)
• The ancient city of
Babylon
• The Ishtar Gate
• The Hanging Gardens
• Babylonian astronomical
achievements
• Not “astrologers”
• Babylonian court
astronomers and their
diaries
III. Egyptian Civilization
• Picture of serenity and
stability
• Long periods of peace
• Smiling Egyptian statuary
• Reasons for Egyptian
stability
• Centrality of the Nile
River
--khed meaning “to go
downstream”
--khent meaning “to go
upstream”
A. Political History Under the
Pharoahs
• Divided into 6 Eras
• Archaic Period—1st
Pharoah
• Old Kingdom
Period—Building of
1st pyramid and era of
royal absolutism
• First Intermediate
Period—central
authority disappeared
A. Political History (cont)
• Middle Kingdom Period—
Golden Age of royal
cooperation with middle
class and
democratization of
religion
--concept of “ma’at”
• Second Intermediate
Period—Hyksos invasion
• New Kingdom Period—
Era of Empire and the
Exodus of the Israelites
B. Egyptian Religion
• Polytheism to QuasiMonotheism back to
Polytheism
• Significance of the Sun
God “Amon-Re” and
Osiris, the God of the Nile
• Pharoah was the
representative of Amon
on earth
• Cult of Osiris personified
the life-giving power of
the Nile
B. Egyptian Religion (cont)
• Mummification and the
Hereafter
• Egyptian polytheism took
many forms including the
worship of animals
• Stress on ethics in
Egyptian religion
• Amenhotep institutes the
worship of Aton around
1375 BCE
--Queen Nefertiti
• King Tut restores worship
of old gods
C. Egyptian Intellectual
Achievements
• Hieroglyphics
• Importance of the
Papyrus Plant
• Experimentation in all
sorts of literature
• Interested in practical
science—calendar
unrivalled until the time of
Julius Caesar
• Medical Achievements
• Mathematical
Achievements
D. The Splendor of Egyptian Art
• Sudden appearance of
the Pyramids
• Pyramid of Khufu
• Reasons for the voluntary
labor that built the
pyramids
• Temple Building replaces
Pyramid Building during
the Middle Kingdom
--Temple of Karnak
D. Egyptian Art (cont)
• Statues of Pharoahs were
colossal in size
• Rigidity and
impassiveness
symbolized Egyptian love
of stability
• Anatomical distortion was
practiced
• Akhenaton’s naturalistic
revolution in art
--Famous bust of Nefertiti
E. Social and Economic Life in
Ancient Egypt
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Class system in Ancient Egypt
Huge gap between the rich and the poor
Treatment of Women
Economic system built on agriculture
Trade flourished after 2000 BCE
Early Egyptian factories
Egyptian Business Innovations
--invented deeds, contracts and wills
--oldest known currency in history
IV. The Persian Empire (539 BCE
on)
• Far-sighted Diplomats
who allowed subjects to
practice native customs
and religions—Cyrus the
Great allowed the Jews to
return to Jerusalem
• Persians gave the
Ancient Near East
political unity and cultural
diversity
• The rule of Cyrus the
Great
IV. The Persian Empire (cont)
• Later Rulers: Darius and
son Xerxes
• Efficient administration of
a huge empire
• Persian Road system
• Aramaic language
• Wealthy and Distant
Royal Absolutism
• Early Persian Religion
• Introduction of
Zoroastrianism (circa 600
BCE)