The Ancient Near East

1. The Ancient Near East Another big chunk of history in a short amount of time!

2. Mesopotamia • The land between the rivers- provided irrigation for surplus food supplies and Sumerians and Babylonians built cities along these two rivers. • These cities became independent political states that shared a common civilization. • By 3000 BC the communities of Mesopotamia were consolidated under one rule • This government was dominated by Sumer • Big cities like Ur, Akkad, and Lagash retained relative independence • Remained in the hands of local kings or priests • Some were actually elected by popular assemblies • Nomadic Semites began to immigrate to the area and number became large enough that their language was imposed on the area

3. Invention of Writing in Sumer • Writing appears to have begun at Sumer. The Sumerian pictographic form evolved by the fourth millennium into cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing. • The signs in the cuneiform system later became ideograms and evolved into an intricate system of communication. The writing system was so complicated that only professional scribes mastered it. • Scribal schools flourished throughout Sumer. Although practical, scribal schools were also centers of culture and learning. These schools set the standard for all of Mesopotamia. • Studied math, astronomy, medicine and metallurgy (made alloys like bronze out of tin and copper) • Around 3000 BC they invented the wheel • Developed a number system and an accurate calendar

4. Thought and Religion • Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic • The gods were much like human beings, only with supernatural powers. • In Mesopotamian religion, we find attempts to explain the origins of mankind. • There are numerous myths woven into the Mesopotamian religious tapestry. • Sumerian epic of creation, The Epic of Gilgamesh. • Its hero, Gilgamesh, is a wandering king who seeks immortality.

5. Sumerian Society • The arid and harsh environment fostered a religion based on placating a pantheon of harsh gods and goddesses. • The temple, or ziggurat, was the center of Sumerian life and religion. • The temple priests oversaw the agricultural work and the distribution of the agricultural yield. • The lugal (king) exercised political power over the landowning populace. • Sumerian society was organized into four classes of people: • nobles, free clients of the nobility, commoners, and slaves.

6. Commerce • Sumerians were less self sufficient that the Egyptians and were in a tremendous location or trade • They exported fine jewelry, clothes, tools and slaves • They imported metals • They used a barter system • Some historians believe that they traded as far as South America • The majority of the population was agrarian peasantry but a feudal society existed

7. The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture • The third millennium witnessed the growth and spread of Sumerian culture, by the Sumerians themselves and by the Semitic peoples who conquered them. • The Triumph of BabylonOne of the Semitic groups to conquer Mesopotamia was the Babylonians. • Babylon’s best-known king, Hammurabi (ca. 1792–1750 b.c.), forged a vibrant Sumero-Babylonian culture through conquest and assimilation. • Life under Hammurabi- one of the world’s earliest comprehensive law codes, which today provides much useful information on daily life in ancient Mesopotamia

8. Egypt • The Early Kingdom • Begins with the First Dynasty founded by Menes around 3000 BC • The kingdom reached a climax during the fourth dynasty and the pharaoh Cheops or Khufu in 2650 BC • By the 6th dynasty, the reign of Pepi II (2300 BC) the kingdom was disintegrating • Society was mainly agrarian and did not rely heavily on trade • Eventually they had to import lumber from Syria using the barter system

9. Government Structure • Pharaoh was a deity • He was originally associated with the falcon-headed god Horus and later the god Ra • Had ultimate control over all the districts or nomes in his kingdom • Started off egalitarian agrarian society but a nobility emerged • Women seem to have shared equality with men • Monogamy was the general rule

10. Egyptian Learning • Dense population, especially in Memphis the capital • Artisanship and scholarship were both encouraged • Students learned writing, reading, algebra, geometry, and astronomy • Writing system used hieroglyphs on papyrus • Eventually a phonetic system developed

11. Religion • Egyptians had a sophisticated spirituality • Tombs, mummification, the book of the dead • Priests became aristocrats with political power • Supreme Deities were Horus, Ra and Amen- idenified with the sun • Osiris was god of the Nile and the judge of the dead • Isis was the wife and sister of Osiris and was the godess of motherhood and fertility

12. The Middle Kingdom • After the death of Pepi II, central government broke down • Nobility gained tremendous authority and began to bicker among themselves • Plague and Famine forced the re-establishment of a strong central government • The 12th dynasty under Amenemhet III established an absolutist rule moving the capital to Thebes • Seen as a mature stage of development: art was less important and attention shifted to science • Math, construction, and mining flourished • Amenemhet’s successors were incompetent and the kingdom was overrun by the Hyksos

13. The New Kingdom • After 200 years Ahmose I overthrew the Hyksos • Restructured the army with indigenous soldiers • He was succeeded both excellent leaders who strengthened the kingdom: Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Ikhnaton, and Ramses II • By 1150 BC, under Ramses III, Egypt became dependent on mercenary troops again • They begin to decline and the kingdom falls in 1085 BC

14. A Shattered Egypt and a Rising Phoenicia • Invaders from Africa and the Near East shattered the power of Egypt and the Hittites.Long wars weakened Egypt, causing political and economic chaos. • Nubians extended power northward. • Kingdom of Kush grew up in the area of modern Sudan. • Egyptian ideas and beliefs made their way, through Palestine and Syria, to Europe. • Cluster of smaller kingdoms evolved: Phoenicians, Syrians, Hebrews. • The Phoenicians were traders, experts in metalworking, textile manufacturers, and inventors of the phonetic alphabet from which our own is derived.

15. Israel • In terms of Religion, The Hebrews have had the biggest influence on western civilization • From a nomadic tribe called the Hapiru from the line of Abraham who migrated into Egypt • The mass migrated out of Egypt and settled in Palestine in the 13th BC • Saul, David, and Solomon • Solomon created a unified nation and built a temple • When he died the kingdom was split in two: north (Israel) and south (Judah) • Israel began to build sanctuaries to other gods • Israel was eventually wiped out by the Assyrians • Judah was crushed by the Babylonians

16. The Children of Israel • South of Phoenicia arose the small kingdom of the ancient Jews. • Origin is uncertain. • came to Palestine through the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. • stability was established by the kings Saul, David, and Solomon. • Saul warred against the Philistines and established a monarchy over the twelve tribes. • David carried on Saul’s work. • Captured and fortified the city of Jerusalem. • Made Jerusalem the political and religious center. • Solomon organized the collective tribes into twelve territorial districts. • Temple at Jerusalem was part of his overall building program. • Dedicated temple and made it the home of the Ark of the Covenant. • Hebrews broke into two political halves on Solomon’s death. • Northern kingdom (Israel) destroyed by Assyrians (8th century b.c.). • Southern kingdom defeated by Babylonians in 587 b.c. • Cyrus the Great of Persia permitted exiles to return to Jerusalem.

17. Jewish Religion • Old Testament was the key sacred writing. • The Covenant was a kind of contract between Yahweh and the Hebrews. • Yahweh was the Jews’ only god (monotheism). • Ten Commandments • The Torah, or Mosaic Law, was very harsh. • Later custom and law were more humanitarian

18. The Empire of the Persian Kings • Persians (or Iranians) were Indo-European nomads, like the Aryans who conquered India in the second millennium b.c. They arrived in present-day Iran around 1000 b.c. • The Persian ruler Cyrus the Great (r. 559530 b.c.) created the largest empire yet to exist in the Near East. • Cyrus had an enlightened view of empire, practiced religious tolerance, and allowed the subject peoples of his empire great autonomy. • Emperor Darius (r. 521486 b.c.) adopted the Zoroastrian religion. • Zoroaster preached a new concept of divinity and human life. • He described the cosmos as a battle between opposing forces of good and evil, represented by the gods Ahuramazda and Ahriman. • taught that individuals must decide whether to choose Ahuramazda or Ahriman. • Zoroaster preached a Last Judgment. • Zoroastrian thought influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.