Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations

1. Chapter 1 – The First Civilizations • Early Humans • Mesopotamian Civilization • The First Empires

2. Early Humans • DID YOU KNOW? Scientists believe early humans made tools from other materials besides stone. They probably used wooden sticks to dig holes and used bark from trees to make containers. Unlike stone, these organic materials decay, so remnants from the early humans are unavailable.

3. Early Humans • History is the story of humans in the past, and historians are the people who study and write about humans of the past. • Archaeologists hunt for evidence buried in the ground. Anthropologists study how humans developed and related to each other. • The early period of human history is called the Stone Age. The earliest part of the Stone Age is called the Paleolithic period.

4. Early Humans- Paleolithic People • Paleolithic people were nomads- traveling from place to place to hunt and search for food. • Women cared for children, gathered berries, nuts, and grains. • Men hunted using clubs, spears, traps, bows and arrows. • Adapted to their environment. For example: Those in warm climates wore little clothing.

5. Early Humans- Paleolithic People cont. • Paleolithic people discovered fire • Fire kept them warm, lit the darkness, scared off wild animals, and allowed them to cook meat which lasted longer.

6. Early Humans- Ice Ages • Ice Ages refer to long periods of extreme cold. During the Ice Ages, thick sheets of ice covered parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. (Beringia)

7. Early Humans- Paleolithic People • Developed spoken language and expressed themselves through art, which may have had religious meaning. • Created tools such as spears and hand axes using stone called flint

8. Neolithic Times • People began to domesticate, or tame animals, during the Neolithic Age. Domesticated animals carried goods and provided meat, milk, and wool. • People in different parts of the world began growing crops about the same time. This is referred to as the ‘farming revolution’. • SEE MAP ON PAGE 13

9. Neolithic Times • Because farmers needed to stay close to their fields, they built permanent homes in villages. Two of the oldest known villages are Jericho (present day Israel and Jordan) and Catal Huyuk (present day Turkey).

10. Neolithic Times • Permanent villages provided people with security and steady food. The surplus food led to a larger population. • Not all people in a village were farmers. Others made pottery, mats, and cloth. They traded these goods for things they didn’t have. • People continued to create new technology. They created better farming tools and began working with metal, copper, bronze, and tin.

11. OTZI THE ICEMAN

12. Section 1 Discussion Question • Why was farming important to the Neolithic people? • Farming allowed people to settle in one place, and it provided a steady food supply.

13. Ch. 1 Section 2- Mesopotamian Civilization (pg. 16-23) • Civilizations are complex societies with cities, governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system. • Rivers were important because they made for good farming conditions as well as made it easy for people to travel and trade. • Governments were formed because someone had to make plans and decisions for the common good.

14. Mesopotamian Civilization • Mesopotamia is a flat plain bounded by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. • Meso is Greek for ‘middle’. • Mesopotamia is also referred to as the cradle of civilization, fertile crescent, land between the rivers.

15. Mesopotamian Civilization • Floods were frequent and unpredictable. Farmers learned to control the rivers with dams and channels. They also used the river to irrigate, or water their crops. • Many cities formed in a southern region of Mesopotamia known as Sumer. • Sumerian city-states had their own governments. They often fought each other. To protect themselves, city-states build walls around themselves.

16. Sumerians • Believed in many gods. Each city-state had a ziggurat, or a grand temple, to honor the gods. • Most were farmers but some were artisans, or skilled workers. Others were merchants and traders. • Sumerian city-states had three classes. • Upper Class (kings, priests, gov. officials) • Middle Class (artisans, merchants, fishers, farmers) • Lower Class (slaves)

17. A Skilled People • Mesopotamia has been called the cradle of civilization because of the influence of Sumerian ideas on other areas • Sumerians developed a writing system called cuneiform. Only a few people, called scribes, learned to write. • Sumerians also produced the oldest known story, the Epic of Gilgamesh. • Invented new technologies: wagon wheel, sailboat, and the plow. • Developed many mathematical ideas: geometry, number system based on 60, and a 12-month calendar.

18. Sargon and Hammurabi • Sargon set up the worlds 1st Empire by conquering all of Mesopotamia. He was the King of the Akkadians. An Empire is a group of many different lands under one ruler. • After Sargon, another group of people bacame powerful. They built the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River. • The Babylonian king, Hammurabi, conquered lands north and south of Babylon to create the Babylonian Empire.

19. Hammurabi's Law Code • The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of laws covering crimes, farming, business activities, and marriage and family. Many punishments in the code were cruel, but the code was an important step in the development of a justice system. • Read ‘You Decide’ on pages 24,25.

20. Singapore • In Singapore, police can randomly select people to test for drugs in their system. If found guilty, the death penalty will be enacted. • It is also illegal to chew gum or smoke in public. Severe punishment will be given for these acts.

21. Iran • Fines, public floggings, and long prison terms are common. Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, as well as persons who encourage Muslims to convert, are subject to arrest and possible execution. Drinking, possession of alcoholic beverages and drugs, un-Islamic dress, as well as public displays of affection with a member of the opposite sex are considered to be crimes.

22. Ch. 1 Section 3- The First Empires • The Assyrian empire arose about 1,000 years after the rule of Hammurabi. • The Assyrian army was the first large army to use iron weapons. Thus, their weapons were stronger than those of copper and tin. They fought on horseback and used spears, daggers, bows and arrows, and chariots. • Assyrian Capital was Nineveh. (Jonah and the whale)

23. Assyrians • Empire was divided into provinces, which are political districts. • One of the first libraries was in Nineveh and held 25,000 tablets of stories and songs. • People began to rebel because of Assyria’s cruel treatment. The Chaldeans rebelled and took control on Nineveh in 612 B.C.

24. The Chaldeans • Nebuchadnezzar was the king. • Descendents of Babylonians. • Rebuilt Babylon, which became center of the Chaldeans’ Empire. • Nebuchadnezzar ordered the Hanging Gardens to be built for his wife, who missed her green, mountainous homeland. The Hanging Gardens were on of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. (See page 29)

25. The Chaldeans • Were merchants, artisans, and traders. Babylon was on a major trade route and profited from trade. Merchants would trade their items to passing caravans, groups of traveling merchants. • They studied the sky to understand the gods. Their astronomers mapped the stars, planets, and phases of the moon. • Eventually they lost control of their Empire to the Persians.

26. Discussion Question • What made Babylon the world’s richest city? • Being on a major trade route meant merchants and artisans benefited from trade. They city also had beautiful structures, such as the Hanging Gardens and the Ishtar Gate.

27. Ishtar Gate King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon dedicated the great Ishtar Gate to the goddess Ishtar. It was the main entrance into Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar II performed elaborate building projects in Babylon around 604-562 BC. His goal was to beautify his capital.