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The First Civilizations

The First Civilizations. John Ermer AP World History Miami Beach Senior High School. Prehistory. Paleolithic Age (c 1,800,000 B.C.E.- c 8,000 B.C.E.) Nomadic Hunter-Gatherers Fire, bone tools, animal skin, stonework Neolithic Age (c 8,000 B.C.E.-c 3,000 B.C.E.) Agricultural Revolutions

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The First Civilizations

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  1. The First Civilizations John Ermer AP World History Miami Beach Senior High School

  2. Prehistory • Paleolithic Age (c 1,800,000 B.C.E.- c 8,000 B.C.E.) • Nomadic Hunter-Gatherers • Fire, bone tools, animal skin, stonework • Neolithic Age (c 8,000 B.C.E.-c 3,000 B.C.E.) • Agricultural Revolutions • Systematic Agriculture • Domesticated Animals • Land Ownership by Clan • Long lines of patrilineal or matrilineal kinship • Reverence for ancestors—afterlife? • Civilization • Six General Characteristics • Cities, Religion, Social Structure, Government, Writing, & Art

  3. River Valley Civilizations

  4. Mesopotamia • The Fertile Crescent • Tigris and Euphrates rivers • “Mesopotamia” Land Between Two Rivers • Unpredictable Floods • The Sumerians • First urban dwellers; Ur, Eridu, Uruk • Cuneiform Writing • The Akkadians • Semitic language • First Empire

  5. Mesopotamian Society • City-States • Sun-dried brick city walls • Irrigation networks • Government • Sumerian lugal • Theocracy and Monarchy • Empire Building • Sargon of Akkad • builds first empire, dominates neighbors • Hammurabi of Babylon • Code of Laws • Social Structure • 1. Free Landowning Class 2. Farmers and Artisans 3. Slaves • Patriarchal Society (males dominate politics; women retained control of dowry, owned property, engage in trade) • Religion • Polytheistic, nature based anthropomorphic gods and goddesses • ziggurat

  6. The Nile River Valley (Egypt) • The Nile River Valley & Delta • “The Gift of the Nile”=Floods • The Black Land • The Red Land • Natural Defenses & Resources • The Three Kingdoms • Old Kingdom • Middle Kingdom • New Kingdom

  7. Egyptian Civilization • Government • Capital cities: Memphis (Old Kingdom), Thebes (Middle & New Kingdoms with Memphis at times) • Divine Kingship—maintaining ma’at • Pharaohs as gods—sons of Re • Pharaohs vs. the Bureaucracy • Writing • Papyrus and Hieroglyphics • Urban Administrative Capital & Farming Villages • Less urban than Mesopotamia, more dependent of agriculture • Canal Building and Land Surveying

  8. Egyptian Society • Social Structure • Multi-racial society • Upper Class: Royals and high gov’t officials • Middle Class: Priests, lower level officials, scribes, artisans, large land owners, and local leaders • Lower Class: Peasants • Women=subordinate • Property ownership, divorce, significant influence over men in private • Religion • Cycles of Renewal • Polytheistic, anthropomorphic gods and goddesses • Mummification and the Afterlife • Medical expertise • Domination of economic wealth

  9. The Indus River Valley

  10. Indus Societies • Several hundred urban centers along river valley • Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro • Dravidians replaced, pushed south by Indo-Europeans • Cities • Walled with rectangular road grids • Citadels • Metal work more common than in Mesopotamia and Egypt • Ecological change and systemic failure bring Indus civilization down around 1900 BCE

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