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The Ancient World: Prehistoric, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian Civilizations

The Ancient World: Prehistoric, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian Civilizations. First Humans. ca. 300,000 B.C.E. – Neanderthal ca. 200,000 B.C.E. – Homo sapiens in Africa; 35,000 years ago established in Europe Made tools Cooked with fire Buried dead in ritual ceremonies

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The Ancient World: Prehistoric, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian Civilizations

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  1. The Ancient World: Prehistoric, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian Civilizations

  2. First Humans • ca. 300,000 B.C.E. – Neanderthal • ca. 200,000 B.C.E. – Homo sapiens in Africa; 35,000 years ago established in Europe • Made tools • Cooked with fire • Buried dead in ritual ceremonies • Worshiped forces of nature

  3. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) • ca. 35,000 - 10,000 B.C.E. (corresponds with geological Ice Age) • Cave art: Lascaux, France (fig. 1.1) – bulls, humans, etc., painted in deeper parts of caves not used for living • Portable art: Woman of Willendorf (fig. 1.2)

  4. Neolithic (New Stone Age) • ca. 8000-2300 B.C.E. • Megalithic structures – Stonehenge (fig. 1.4), a post-and-lintel structure, perhaps a calendar

  5. Bronze Age • ca. 2300-1000 B.C.E. • Began to cultivate the land • Civilization in Mesopotamia

  6. Mesopotamia • Present-day Iraq • The arts, writing, and law flourished • Empires dominated the Near East and northern Africa

  7. The Sumerians • ca. 3500 B.C.E. • First people to use writing (cuneiform) • Constructed monumental buildings: Ziggurats – stepped pyramids • Literature: Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells of aGreat Flood also recounted in the Hebrew Bible • Religion: polytheism

  8. Empires of the Ancient Near East • Akkadians: the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin (fig. 1.8) • Babylonians: Law code of Hummurabi (Stele, fig. 1.9) • Assyrians: conquered lower Egypt • Ashurbanipal • Nebuchadnezzar II – Ishtar Gate (fig. 1.13) • Persians:Darius’ palace at Persepolis (fig. 1.14). Persepolis later fell to Alexander the Great

  9. Egypt: Religion and Society • Pharaoh, or king, was living embodiment of a god • Rest of society stratified • Polytheistic • Belief in the immortality of the spirit • Treasures buried with mummified dead to insure happiness after death

  10. The Arts of Egypt • Architecture • Great Pyramids of Giza (fig. 1.2) • Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (fig. 1.24) • Temple of Amen-Mut-Khonsu (fig. 1.25) • Sculpture • The Great Sphinx (fig. 1.21) • King Menkaure and Queen (fig. 1.22) • Four Seated Figures of Ramesses II (fig. 1.27)

  11. The Arts of Egypt • Painting • House and Garden of the Scribe Nakte (fig. 1.26) • Nobleman Hunting in the Marshes (fig. 1.28) • Musicians and Dancers (fig. 1.29)

  12. Rulers of Egypt • Akhenaten: cult of the god Aten • Established court at Amarna with his queen Nefertiti • Rule noted for new intimacy in the pictorial depiction of humans (fig. 1.30) • Tutankhamen: restored cult of Amon-Re • Ramesses II: monumental, richly-decorated tombs

  13. Decline of Egypt • Kush empire • Assyrians • Persians • Alexander the Great: Hellenistic culture

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