First Age of Empires

1. First Age of Empires 1570 BC-200 BC

2. What group invaded Egypt? • Asiatic invaders, calledHyksos • Followed the Middle Kingdom and ruled from about 1640 to 1570 BC. • During this time, the Hebrews also settled in Egypt • Many believed they were invited by the Hyksos, because they were ethnically similar • Eventually, the Pharaoh’s regained their power and expelled the Hyksos from Egypt • Hebrews remained, but were enslaved

3. When was the new kingdom? • Followed the reign of the Hyksos • 1570-1075 BC • Pharaohs sought to strengthen Egypt by building an empire • Wealthier and more powerful than ever before

4. Who were the powerful Pharaoh’s of the New kingdom? • Hatshepsut • Declared herself pharaoh, because her stepson was too young at the time • Encouraged trade, rather than waging war • Thutmose III • Hatshepsut’s stepson (may have murdered her to assume leadership) • Much more warlike ruler • Made Egypt a mighty empire • Ramses II • Made peace treaty with Hittites that lasted a century • Great builder of the New Kingdom

5. Why did the empire decline? • Other strong civilizations challenged Egypt’s power • Attacked by land and sea • Never recovered its previous power • Broke into numerous small Kingdoms

6. How did the Kushites conquer Egypt? • Had prior contact with Egypt during the New Kingdom • Had adopted many Egyptian customs and beliefs • As the New Kingdom declined, the Kushites felt they could guard Egyptian values • Their rule was short-lived, as Egypt soon fell to the Assyrians, warlike people from Southwest Asia

7. Who were the Assyrians? • Came from the northern part of Mesopotamia • Easy for others to attack because land was flat and open • Developed warlike behavior in response to those actions

8. How did Assyria gain a powerful empire? • Highly advanced military organization • Very disciplined • Showed no mercy to those they conquered • State-of-the-art weaponry • Used iron • Soldiers covered themselves in stiff leather and metal armor • Engineers designed floating structures used to support bridges during warfare • Dug beneath city walls to weaken defenses

9. How did the Assyrian Empire Expand? • Conquered many lands • Their system of management involved local governors reporting to a central authority • Additional military campaigns brought taxes and tribute to the treasury

10. How did the empire crumble? • 612 BC • Combined army of Medes and Chaldeans burned and leveled the capital of Nineveh • Babylon then became the capital, under Chaldean rule • Nebuchadnezzar restored the city

11. Where was the Persian homeland? • Migrated from Central Europe and southern Russia to the mountains and plateaus east of the Fertile Crescent • Fertile farmland and a wealth of minerals • Copper, lead, gold, silver • Traded minerals and came into contact with neighbors to east and west • At first there were many kingdoms, but two powers emerged • The Medes and the Persians • Soon, the Persians dominated the Medes

12. Persian Ruled • After Cyrus died, his son Cambyses was named ruler • Conquered Egypt and expanded the rule of the Persian Empire • He was not as tolerant as his father and rebellion broke out across the Empire • Cambyses’s successor, Darius, seized the throne and spent three years trying to end revolts • Eventually brought peace and stability to empire and began conquest • Was very successful in expanding empire.

13. What were provinces and satraps? • Conceived by Darius • Provinces • 20 in the Persian empire • Similar to the homelands of different groups of people who lived under empire • Spoke own language, practiced own religion, followed many of own laws • Satraps • Governor of provinces

14. Who was Cyrus the Great? • King of Persia • Conquered several neighboring kingdoms • Military genius • Very kind and tolerant towards conquered people • Believed in honoring customs and traditions of people that he conquered

15. What promoted trade in the empire? • Excellent systems of roads • Allowed quick communication • Metal coins • Standard value • Circulated throughout empire

16. Confucius and the Social order • Confucius was China’s most influential scholar • Lived when Zhou dynasty was in decline • Wanted to restore order and moral living in China

17. Five Basic Relationships • Confucius believed that government could be restored if five basic relationships were formed • Ruler and subject • Father and son • Husband and wife • Older and younger brother • Friend and friend

18. Filial Piety Respect for parents and ancestors, in life and after death

19. What were the Confucian ideas about government? • Thought that education could transform individuals • Laid the groundwork for the foundation of a bureaucracy, a trained civil service, who would run the government

20. What were the other Chinese ethical systems? • Daoism • Chinese thinker named Laozi • Natural order was important • Universal force called Dao guided all things • Legalism • Highly efficient and powerful government key to restoring order • Us law and civil order • Believed in very harsh punishment for those that violated the law • I Ching • Book of oracles who solved ethical problems • Yin and Yang • Represented natural rythms in life • Yin: Cold, dark, soft, mysterious • Yang: Warm, bright, hard, clear • Symbol represents harmony of Yin and Yang

21. How did the qin dynasty unify China? • Employed legalist ideas • Qin ruler assumed the name Shi Huangdi, which means “First Emperor” • Halted internal battles, defeated invaders, crushed resistance to his rule • Doubled China’s size • Established an autocracy by murdering Confucian scholars and burning “useless” books

22. What changes did Shi Huangdi bring to China? • Highway network • Standards in writing, law, currency and weight • Irrigation projects that increased farm production • Built Great Wall of China (defensive wall) • Constructed by peasants • Had to work for free, or were put to death

23. What happened to the Qin dynasty? Lasted a short time Shi Huangdi’s son was not a powerful leader Peasants soon rebelled and the Han Dynasty came to power.