Timeline for the Emergence of Civilization

1. Timeline for the Emergence of Civilization • 40,000 years ago: Homo sapiens sapiens • 10, 000 BCE: end of last ice age and development of the farming package • 10,000 – 4,000 BCE: spread of Neolithic culture • 3,500 BCE: Sumerian civilization emerges • 3,000-2,000 BCE civilization appears in Nile, Indus, and Yellow river valleys

2. Evolutionary ChangeHominidsHomo erectus2,000,000 years ago

3. Migration of Homo Sapiens Sapiens

5. The Fertile CrescentWhere the Neolithic Revolution began

6. Catalhuyuk or Catalhoyuk

7. Catalhüyük

8. Mother Goddess sculpture from Catal Huyuk

10. Discuss Stonehenge • Neolithic or Paleolithic? • What does it tell us about the people who constructed it? • What was its purpose?

12. Burial Mounds Around Stonehenge

13. Construction of Stonehenge

14. Preseli Mountain in Wales

19. How did Neolithic culture differ from Paleolithic culture? • Agriculture • Animal husbandry/livestock rearing • Permanent settlements • Denser populations • Increasing hierarchy/patriarchy • All of the above

20. Ancient Sumeria The First Civilization

21. Timeline for Sumeria • 3500 BCE: Writing and cities emerge • 2500 BCE: Uruk becomes the dominant of dozens of city states • 2200 BCE: Sumeria conquered by the Akadians • 2000 BCE: Epic of Gilgamesh written; great ziggurat of Ur built • 1800s BCE: Hammurabi’s Babylonian Empire

23. Discuss the Epic of Gigamesh • Why was this story so popular? • What were the features of the culture that produced this piece of literature? • What attitudes did it reveal about • Civilization • Government • The gods • Humanity in general • Men & Women in particular

24. How would you characterize Enkidu prior to his encounter with Shamhat? • a warrior king • a noble savage • a chivalrous rogue • a priest of the temple

25. Uruk Mosaic walls of Uruk, Staatliche Museum zu Berlin The Lady of Warka, Iraqi Museum, Baghdad

27. The Plow: One of Many Sumerian Inventions

28. The Wheel: Transportation and Storage

29. Sumerian Astronomy/Astrology

30. The Development of Cuneiform

31. Cuneiform Letter written by a merchant c. 1800 BCE

32. Nippur – A Sacred City

33. City of Nippur – and Temple of Enlil

34. Temple of Enlil, Bel or Baal in Nippur

35. Temple of the Moon in Ur

36. Third millennium agglomeration of Sumerian city states Located in Northern Sumeria Controlled by Semitic Akkadians Probably Sargon = Who claimed to represent the gods Akkadian Empirec. 2200 BCE

37. Akkadian Empirec. 2300 BCE

38. First Babylonian Empire c. 1800

39. Discuss the Code of Hammurabi • What was the point of the introduction to the code • How would you characterize these laws? • What can laws tell us about the society that produced them?

40. What did Hammurabi claim in his introduction? • That he would protect the weak • That the gods had asked him to produce the code • That he was to destroy the wicked • That he would bring about the rule of righteousness

41. Overview • Geopolitical Structure • Geographical Influences • City-State Rivalries. • Technological Developments • Warfare • Commerce • Astronomy • Cultural Achievements • Ziggurats • Cuneiform • Epic of Gilgamesh • Hummurabi’s Code

42. What defines civilization? Why were neolithic and paleolithic cultures not civilizations • What is implied in the term civilization • How have civilizations referred to those people who did not belong to their culture?

43. Background • Sumeria was the richest and most populous region of Mesopotamia; its cultural influence continued long after it was dominated by Akkadian and Babylonian rulers • It was one of the earliest regions to develop an urban culture; it had dozens of independent city-states by 3000 BCE • It became the most technologically advanced region of its day • Because of its riches and knowledge, it eventually became the target for conquest by larger and more organized political entities

44. Geopolitical Structure • Mesopotamia literally means “land between the rivers,” a reference to the strip of land that separates the Tigris and Euphrates rivers • irrigation was essential for development • dry but very fertile soil, especially in Sumeria • cities emerge c. 3500 • ruling elite • temples to gods • commerce • writing to keep track of commerce

45. Sumerian Cities • There were approximately two dozen cities in Sumeria by 3000 BCE • Gods were often associated with a locality or even a family • These local gods attracted the intense loyalty as guardians and representatives of city states • Consequently the temple priests who mediated relations between the people and the gods exercised enormous influence on this society

46. City-State Rivalries • As cities proliferated across the river valley, leaders sought to maximize the boundaries of their territory • city-states develop: a city that exercises jurisdiction and collects taxes across the countryside • rivalries and warfare become common characteristics of Sumerian culture • because of the relative parity of the city-states, as a region Sumeria remains relatively divided politically • although certain, cities such as Ur, exercise leadership over the region, political unification eludes the Sumerians who remain divided due to political rivalries

47. Consequences of Political Rivalries • Technological developments & culture of Sumeria • Warfare - Sumeria remains politically unsettled (warfare) from 3500-2300 • The quest for dominance leads Sumerians to experiment with new ideas in • metallurgy for weapons - The Bronze Age (4000-1000 BCE) • astronomy in order to predict the future • acquisition of materials • long distance commerce • money • transportation: wheels

48. Rough Outlines for Metallurgical Development • 4000-3000 BCE: copper is pervasive; bronze (copper + tin) developed in Sumeria and gradually diffuses northward • 3000-1200: The heart of Bronze Age Civilization; Bronze is pervasive • 1200: The beginning of the Iron Age; starts in Middle East and southeastern Europe; because iron was plentiful and easily produced weaponry becomes cheaper and more readily available to larger numbers of people

49. Other Technological Developments from Sumeria • Potter’s Wheel • Wheel for carts and later chariots • Sailboats • The Seed Plow or Harrow

50. Cultural Achievements of Sumeria • Cuneiform • dates to approximately 3500 BCE • the rebus principle: pictograms used to denote sounds and eventually syllables rather than entire words • no direct connection between it and later Phoenician alphabet which the Romans adopted • Ziggurats • stair stepped temples with no internal chambers • Scene of rituals designed to win favor of the gods • Often associated with the Tower of Babel described in Genesis 11:1-9