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Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations

Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations. 8000 BCE to 600 CE. Terms of Times. B.C. : Before Christ B.C.E. : Before Common Era (non-Christian) A.D. : Anno Domini (After the year of our Lord) C.E. : Common Era. Paleolithic Age. The “Old Stone Age ” ICE AGE! Crude stone tools and weapons

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Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations

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  1. Chapter 1 – Early Civilizations 8000 BCE to 600 CE

  2. Terms of Times • B.C. : Before Christ • B.C.E. : Before Common Era (non-Christian) • A.D. : Anno Domini (After the year of our Lord) • C.E. : Common Era

  3. Paleolithic Age The “Old Stone Age” • ICE AGE! • Crude stone tools and weapons • Nomads “Cave Man”

  4. We move to about 8,000 BC when village life began in the New Stone Age. . . Also known as the Neolithic Revolution. NEW STONE AGE

  5. A TOTALLY new way of living: From Hunter-Gatherers to Agriculture

  6. INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE • Mesopotamians first to engage in agriculture • Around 8000 BC • Cereal crops • Wheat • Barley • Herd animals • Sheep • Goats • Woman probably first farmer • Grain-collecting then noticed that stored wild grain could be grown on purpose

  7. Agriculture changed how people lived • Agriculture (Farming) • Growth of Cities • Division of Labor (Specialization) • Trade • Writing and Mathematics

  8. Self-actualization (self-knowledge, fulfillment of personal potential) Esteem (autonomy, achievement, recognition) Social (belonging, affection) Safety (security, protection from harm) Physiological (Hunger, thirst, shelter) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

  9. What does it mean to be civilized? • Characteristics of a Civilization: • Advanced Cities • Complex institutions • Government, Religion, Economy • Specialized Occupations • Record Keeping / Writing • Advanced Technology

  10. Cities • Rivers provided: • water supply • transportation • food supply from animals • Rivers provided challenges: • flooding • irrigation • Required organized, mass labor (corvee) • Construction and repair of canals and irrigation ditches Euphrates River

  11. Institutions: Government • Central authority needed to control: • Labor • Storage of grain • Dispersion of foodstuffs among population • Early governments first led by priests • Later controlled by warrior chiefs or kings

  12. Institutions: Government • Governments became more complex as new responsibilities arose such as: • tax collecting • law making • handling public works projects • organizing systems of defense

  13. Complex Religions • Generally polytheistic • Many gods represented natural forces • Others controlled human activities • Priests and worshippers tried to gain gods’ favor through complex rituals and sacrifice • Directed by unquestionable ruling class of priests • King regarded as a god or as a god’s agent

  14. Complex Religions • Temples often built to honor specific gods and goddesses Mayan temple Egyptian temple Mesopotamian ziggurat

  15. OCCUPATIONS • Needs of agriculture and stability • Clay pottery • Woven baskets • Woolen and linen clothing • Sophisticated tools and weapons • Plow

  16. Job Specialization or Occupations • Artisans specialized in various jobs, such as: • Bricklayers • Blacksmiths • Production of luxuries (Things You Don’t Really Need) • Metal technology

  17. Writing • Probably first used by priests • Earliest writing used pictograms Chinese calligraphy Egyptian hieroglyphs Mesopotamian cuneiform

  18. Writing • Symbols later added to represent words and then sounds • Scribes were specially trained to read, write, and record information • Religion • Trade • Government • Learning became cumulative

  19. Social Classes • People ranked according to their profession Chief Priests Nobles Wealthy merchants Artisans Peasants/farmers Slaves Egyptian social structure

  20. Social Classes • Priestly class is part of the beginning of social differentiation • Class structure based on specialization of labor • Generated class differences • Priests (“We talk to god, you don’t.) • Aristocrats/warriors (“We have weapons, you don’t.”) • Common people (“I guess we work...?”) • Slaves (“Uh, oh!!!”)

  21. BRONZE AGE • Around 3000 BC in Sumer • Use bronze (not stone or copper) • Gives people advantages in warfare

  22. Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent • Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations • Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

  23. Sumer: City of Ur • On the banks of the Euphrates River • Religious: Polytheistic • Agricultural Economy • Irrigation System • Bartered for goods

  24. Sumerians invented: • Brick technology • Wheel • Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees • Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute • 12 month lunar calendar • arch • ramp • Ziggurat (pyramid shape)

  25. Ziggurat – “Mountain of God” Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.

  26. Sumerian Writing: Cuneiform Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

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