Chapter 4 First Age of
Empires
1570 BC – 200 BC
Egyptians & Nubians
►
Nomadic Invaders Rule Egypt
 Hyksos ruled Egypt from 1640 to
1570 BC
► Had
►
chariots
Hebrews Migrate to Egypt
 Arrived around 1650 BC
►
Expulsion Slavery
 By 1600 BC, the Egyptians grew
strong
► Under
Kamos
Queen Ahhotep & Pharaoh
 Drove Hyksos out
The New Kingdom in Egypt
►
1570-1075 BC
 Built an empire: control of several
peoples or states under one ruler
►
Hatshepsut's Prosperous Rule
 began rule in 1472 BC
 Encouraged trade instead of war
 major trade expedition to Punt
(Somalia)
►
Thutmose the Empire Builder
 Stepson-may have murdered
Hatshepsut
 Thutmose III armies took Syria &
n part of Euphrates
Pushed into Nubia
► Conquered an empire
►
 no longer isolated
The New Kingdom
►
Egyptians & Hittites
 Conflict over Syria &
Palestine
 Battle at Kadesh-1285
BC
 Peace treaty
► became
►
allies
Age of Builders
 Hidden tombs in
desert cliffs
 Valley of Kings near
Thebes
 Ramses built
monumental
statues/temples
 tomb found in 199550 of his 52 sons
buried with him
The Empire Declines
►
Invasions by “Sea
People”-1208
 Palestinian revolts
& Libyan invaders
►
Empire Fades
 never recovered
power/ prestige
 Libyans ruled950 to 730 BC
► Adopted
Egyptian culture
 Nubians did too
Kushites Conquer Nile
►
►
►
Egypt dominated
Nubia & Kush for
centuries
Conquered Egypt
Interaction of Nubia
& Egypt
 Forced rule on Nubia
during New Kingdom
 Heavily influenced
Nubia
 Nubian princes lived
in Egypt- adopted
their culture
 Regained
independence around
1200 BCE
Kushites
► Piankhi
Captures
Egypt-751 BCC
 overthrew Libyan
pharaoh
 United Nile River
valley
 Began 25th dynasty
of Egypt
► Erected
monument
in Kush to celebrate
 Assyrians conquered
Egypt- 671 BCEended dynasty
Golden Age of Meroë
► Kushite
royal family
moved to Meroë
► Wealth of Kush
 Traded with Africa, India,
Arabia
 Plentiful rainfall & iron
supplies
► The
Decline of Meroë
 Declined around 250 to
150 BC
 Another city, Aksum,
dominated their trade
The Assyrians
Mighty Military Machine
 Learned to fight while defending their
land
 Most feared/hated empire in region
 Foot soldiers, chariots, iron weapons,
cavalry
► Treated People poorly
 Burned cities, tortured/killed captives,
heavy taxes
 Deported entire populations
 One king, Sennacherib, claimed to
destroy 89 cities and 820 villages
► Military Organization and Conquest
 Nineveh the capital
 Start conquering 900 BC
► Well equipped with iron weapons
 Tiglath-pileser & Ashurbanipal led
campaigns
►
The Assyrians
►
►
►
Empire Expands
Conquered Syria, Palestine, Babylonia,
Anatolia, and Egypt
Assyrian Rule
 Peaked around 650 BC
 Royal Roads
 Divided empire into provinces w/ local
rulers
 Well organized military
 State of the art technology
►
Ruled through fear/terror
 Left markers so others wouldn’t revolt
 Destroyed cities-exiled people who
refused to pay tribute
 Burned cities, hung skin on walls, piled
skulls
 Built large library at Nineveh
Empire Crumbles
►
►
►
Enemies formed alliance- conquered
Nineveh in 612 BC
Babylon reborn under Chaldeans
Started a revival for Babylon
 Built into a monumental city
►
►
►
Reached height under King
Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562)
 Extended empire
 Deported Jews
 Built Hanging Gardens
Loved astronomy & maps
Poor harvest & slow trade hurt them
The Persians
►
Rise of Persia
 Modern day Iran
►
►
Cyrus I. was founder
Conquered the Medes in 540s
 Swept down from mountains of Iran in
539 BC
 Cyrus II conquered Babylon
►
Allowed Jews to return to homeland in
538 BCE-allowed to rebuild temple
 Eventually took over Mesopotamia, Syria,
Canaan, Phoenicia, Lydia, and Greek citystates of Asia Minor (Ionia)
 Tolerant to others cultures
 Allowed to retain their own language,
religions, and customs
►
Killed in battle on eastern border
Persian Rule
►
Cambyses and Darius
 Conquered Egypt in 525 BC
► Ruled harshly, unlike his father
► Died eight years later, revolts
erupted
 Darius seized the throne with the
help of the Ten Thousand
Immortals in 522 BC
 Spent the next three years putting
down revolts
 Then began conquering
Afghanistan
►
Empire went from the Nile to
the Indus River, 3,000 miles
with 50 million people
Persian Rule
•
Divided it into provinces or
satraps
 Military officials & tax
collectors were “eyes &
ears” of king
 People paid tribute &
soldiers
 Crushed rebellion quickly
 Brought artisans from all
over empire to build
Persepolis
 Encouraged trade: used
coins
 Royal Road- 1,677 miles stops every 14 miles with
food, water, horses
 Messengers could travel in 7
days
Persian Legacy:
Zoroastrianism
 Before 500s BCE,
polytheistic
 570 BCE, Zoroaster
reformed religion
 Strict moral code
►
 Struggle between good &
evil-human choice
 Ahura Mazda: good,
Ahriman: Bad
 achings linked to glorifying
kings
 Pomp & pageantry
 Zoroaster influenced
Judaism, Christianity,
Islam: heaven, hell, Last
Judgment
Political Order
 Tolerance & good govt.
brought order & stability to
the region
Unification of China
►
Confucius and the Social Order
 Born Kongfuzi in 551 BC
►
Confucius Urges Harmony
 Good govt. & social harmony achieved if
people used ethics
 Reciprocity
►
►
Golden Rule
Five Relationships
 For moral behavior
 Learn by example
 Stressed filial piety
►
Family a mini society
 After his death, 479 BC, work collected
into The Analects
►
Confucian Ideas About Govt.
 Education could transform anyone into a
gentleman
 Laid the groundwork for bureaucracy
►
A trained civil service
Legalism
•
Rejected Confucianism
 Strict laws/harsh
punishments
 Hanfeizi
 Humans evil by nature
 Favored by Qin Emperor
 Helped unify China
 Too harsh, never used
again
A. Confucius cont.
►
►
Harmony w/ nature
4. Taoist Ideas
 Laozi, 500s BC
 Could be a Taoists and
Confucianists
► Govt.
►
vs. individual
5. Yin and Yang
 Two opposing forces
 Yin: cool, dark, female,
submissive
 Yang: warm, light, male,
aggressive
 Need balance
The Qin Dynasty
►
►
►
Local lords revolted against the Zhou
1. A New Emperor
By 221 BC, Qin wiped out the Zhou
 Qin Shi Huangdi
►
United the area under a strong, central govt.
 Attacked invaders north of the Huang He and
pushed as far south as Vietnam
 36 Military districts, standardized coins, laws,
and writing
 Commanded all nobles live in his capital
►
Uprooted 120,000 families
 Forced labor for roads and canals
 Legalists murdered hundreds of Confucian
scholars to prevent criticism
►
Burned useless books
B. The Qin cont.
►
2. A Program of Centralization
 Built a network of 4,000 miles of roads
►
Trade boomed
 Set standards throughout China for
writing, law, currency, and weights
and measures
►
3. Great Wall of China
 300,000 troops worked to build the
4,000 mile wall
 Keep Mongolians out
 Thousands died
►
4. The Fall of the Qin




Cruel tyrant
210 BC, Qin died, so did the dynasty
Peasants rebelled against the son
By 202 BC, the Han Dynasty replaced
the Qin