Foundations%20of%20Western%20Civilization

1
Foundations of Western Civilization

• To 1000 B.C.E.

2
Prehistoric Human Societies

• The Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age, c. 40,000-c.
  10,000 B.C.E.
• Hunter-gatherers
• Trade (e.g. seashells)
• Technology
• firemaking
• bone and stone weapons and jewelry
• Art and religion Cave paintings and female
  figurines

3

• The Neolithic (New Stone) Revolution, c.
  10,000-c. 4000 B.C.E.
• Transition from a nomadic existence as
  hunter-gatherers to more settled lifestyle
• Invention of agriculture
• Domestication of animals

4

• Increasingly gender-based division of labor
• Specialized crafts (metallurgy and weaving)
• Emergence of social hierarchy patriarchal
  organization of state and society would become
  the norm in the West
• Invention of irrigation (c. 6500 B.C.E.)
  facilitated establishment of settled agricultural
  communities in the Fertile Crescent

5
Mesopotamia, c. 4000-1000 B.C.E.(Bronze Age)

• The Tigris and Euphrates
• Flood control and irrigation
• Trade, migration, movement of armies
• The Wests first large-scale civilization
• Cities containing large public buildings
• Crop diversification and diverse crafts
• Organized central governments
• Writing

6

• Religion and Mythology
• Polytheistic religious belief reflected harshness
  of war and struggle with unpredictable
  environment
• War-like gods who possessed total control over
  human lives
• Sacrifices, rituals, temples (ziggurats)
• Power of priests and priestesses

7

• Epic of Gilgamesh
• Search for immortality by semihistorical King
  Gilgamesh of Uruk after death of his friend
  Enkidu
• Realizes that only gods enjoy immortality humans
  must content themselves with fame derived from
  performing mighty deeds
• Story of a devastating flood in later version

8

• Sumer
• Earliest cities in southern Mesopotamia
• Agriculture and trade (as far away as India)
• Sumerians
• Developed the wheel
• Created first writing system (cuneiform)
• Devised a mathematical system and astronomy

9

• The Akkadian Empire, c. 2350-2200 B.C.E.
• Worlds first empire
• Sargon the Great conquered Sumerian cities and
  territories westward to the Mediterranean, in
  part to ensure metal supplies
• Destroyed by invading Gutians during reign of
  Sargons grandson

10

• The Kingdom of Assyria, c. 1900 B.C.E.
• Became dominant city-state due to control of
  trade between Anatolia and Mesopotamia
• Encouragement of private enterprise rather than
  state monopoly

11

• The Kingdom of Babylon and King Hammurabis Code
  (18th century B.C.E.)
• Earliest known written laws
• Kings responsibility to maintain order and
  justice
• Basis of international commercial law regulated
  contracts, interest, mortgages, etc.
• Criminal penalties harsh and reflective of social
  hierarchy

12
Egypt and the Levant, c. 3050-1000 B.C.E.

• Egyptian Civilization
• Geography as Destiny
• The Nile
• Protected by deserts on the east and west
• Predictable annual flooding
• Stability and Unity
• Developed in relative isolation into a prosperous
  and stable kingdom

13

• Old Kingdom, c. 2687-2190 B.C.E.
• Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by King
  Menes, c. 3100-3000 B.C.E.
• Controlling the river
• Astronomical charts
• Writing system hieroglyphs

14

• Religion and Government
• About 2,000 gods in the Egyptian pantheon
• All powerful kings were believed to be human
  incarnations of gods
• Only the king could express the ultimate truth
  and justice, or maat

15

• The Afterlife
• Belief in an immortal soul and reward for those
  who lived a just life
• Mummification
• Provisions for the afterlife in burial chambers
  of those who could afford it, including the Book
  of the Dead

16

• The Pyramids
• Royal burial tombs reflected the kings power in
  political and religious life
• King Djosers Step Pyramid at Saqqara (c. 2650
  B.C.E.)
• King Cheops Great Pyramid at Giza (c. 2575
  B.C.E.)

17

• Middle Kingdom, c. 2061-1665 B.C.E.
• Diminished flooding of the Nile and famines
  around 2350 B.C. E. led to civic disruption and
  the loss of royal authority
• Regional governors withdrew support of the king,
  spawning political breakdown and the First
  Intermediate Period (c. 2190-2061 B.C.E.)
• King Mentuhotep IIs reunification of Egypt
  initiated the Middle Kingdom
• Territorial expansion and increased trade contacts

18

• New Kingdom, c. 1569-1081 B.C.E.
• Second Intermediate Period (c. 1664-1570 B.C.E.)
• Famines
• Invasion by the Hyksos
• Thebans from Upper Egypt reunited Egypt as New
  Kingdom
• Warrior pharaohs further extended Egypts borders
  and trade contacts

19

• New Kingdom aberrations
• Queen Hatshepsut (r. 1502-1482 B.C.E) Only woman
  to rule as pharaoh (and female king)
• Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV, r. 1372-1355 B.C.E.) and
  Nefertiti
• Introduced cult of one central god, Aten, and
  moved capital to Amarna
• Wife tried to restrain his zeal, but his devotion
  to Aten undermined his effectiveness as ruler
• Tutankhamen (r. 1355-1346 B.C.E.) restored
  worship of traditional gods

20
Other Bronze Age Civilizations

• The Peoples of the Levant
• The Canaanites
• Dominated trade between the Mediterranean and
  Near East
• Developed first alphabet, c. 1600 B.C.E.
• The Hebrews
• Origins, according to the Book of Genesis in the
  Old Testament
• Abraham and migration from Ur to Palestine (c.
  1900 B.C.E.)
• Loosely organized into twelve tribes
• Abrahams covenant with the Hebrew god Yahweh

21

• Exodus
• Hebrews moved into Egypt under Abrahams
  descendant Joseph. By 13th century B.C.E., they
  were enslaved to work on the pharaohs building
  projects.
• Moses led Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage, and on
  Mount Sinai he reestablished their covenant with
  Yahweh (c. 1250 B.C.E.)

22

• The Hebrew Covenant
• The Ten Commandments
• The Torah (Pentateuch) first five books of the
  Bible
• Hebrew Monotheism
• Idea of Yahweh as the one God developed in the
  centuries after the period of Exodus
• Fundamental influence of Biblical texts and
  monotheism on Christianity and Islam, and of
  Hebrew law on Western ethical tradition

23
Bronze-Age Greece and Anatolia, c. 2200-1000
B.C.E.
24

• The Hittite Kingdom, c. 1750-1200 B.C.E.
• Maintained dominance by controlling trade routes
  and raw materials, especially metals
• Military prowess
• Sack of Babylon, 1595 B.C.E.
• Prevented Egyptian domination of the region by
  stopping Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh (c.
  1274 B.C.E.)

25

• Minoan Crete, c. 2200-1400 B.C.E.
• Palace society centered on independent palace
  complexes that controlled the religious,
  economic, and political life of their communities
• Mediterranean polyculture
• Integrated the cultivation of grapes, olives, and
  grain
• Other cultural features
• Highly specialized crafts
• Redistributive economy regulated from palace
  complexes
• Sophisticated artwork depicting scenes of leisure
  and sports

26

• Mycenaean Greece, c. 1800-1000 B.C.E.
• Earliest mainland Greek culture characterized by
  independent hilltop fortifications that competed
  with each other for resources and territory
• Redistributive economy similar to that on Crete
• Warfare a central preoccupation, perhaps even
  eclipsing religion

27
The Sea Peoples and Calamities of c. 1200-1000
B.C.E Exact reasons remain unknown, but regions
political equilibrium was upset and most centers
were dramatically wiped out. In the resulting
Dark Ages, most traces of Civilization
disappeared for several centuries.