Western civilization i

Beginnings – reformation

August 30: Beginnings

• Beginnings• Mesopotamia• Egypt

Beginnings

• History of civilization: how to date?• Definition of “text”• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler• Definition of “culture” • Definition of “civilization”

Beginnings

• History of civilization: how to date?– How far back “history” takes us– What is datable

• Definition of “text”• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler• Definition of “culture” • Definition of “civilization”

Beginnings

• History of civilization: how to date?– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)– What is datable

• Definition of “text”– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)– Especially the written word

• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler• Definition of “culture” • Definition of “civilization”

Beginnings• History of civilization: how to date?

– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)– What is datable

• Definition of “text”– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)– Especially the written word

• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler• Definition of “culture”

– All the ways humans adjust to their environment, organize experiences, and hand over traditions

• Definition of “civilization”

Beginnings• History of civilization: how to date?

– How far back “history” takes us (and other disciplines)– What is datable

• Definition of “text”– Artifacts that are left behind (natural, artificial)– Especially the written word

• Hunter/gatherer vs. producer/settler• Definition of “culture”

– All the ways humans adjust to their environment, organize experiences, and hand over traditions

• Definition of “civilization”– Urban culture, with distinct characteristics

Beginnings

• Various ages: paleolithic, neolithic, bronze, iron (know why they are distinguished and relative dating)

• The marks of civilization: agriculture leading to cities, metals, and WRITING– Civilization exhibits social hierarchy– Civilization produces skilled arts and crafts

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

• c. 3500-3000bc: dvlpmt of Sumerian cities (esp. Uruk)

• c. 2800-2370bc: Early Dynastic period of Sumerian city-states*

• c. 2370-2340bc: Sargon est. Akkadian dynasty & empire

(* the setting of Gilgamesh)

Mesopotamia

• c. 2125-2027bc: 3rd Dynasty of Ur**• c. 2000-1800bc: Amorites in Mesopotamia• c. 1792-1750bc: Hammurabi reigns• c. 1500bc: Est. of Kassite Dynasty at Babylon(** the earliest oral and written record of Gilgamesh)

Mesopotamia: 4th to mid-3rd millennium (3500-2340bc)

• Uruk and the other Sumerian city-states were redistributive economies– Central authority controls resources and redistributes– King and / or temple priests

• Need for land leads to expansion and war; military leaders eventually amass power and become kings– Religious tradition confirms right to rule

• City-states never united, but a common culture– Diplomacy and trade– Common pantheon– But different languages (Sumerian, Akkadian)

Mesopotamia: Sargon’s Akkadian empire

• First empire• Capital at Akkad / Agade (modern Baghdad?): an

exercise in geographical space and center (tribute comes from governed city-states)

• First standing army• Expeditions to far reaches like Anatolia and Iran:

why? (economic answer)• New military technology: composite bow and chariot• Anarchy in 2250bc

Mesopotamia: Ur III and the Rise of Assyria

• Ur rises up in the space vacated by Akkad’s fall• Bureaucratic administration (therefore has left

us documentary evidence)• Decentralized military administration• Continuing identification with ruler as god and

king• Fell c. 2000bc with Amorite invation

Mesopotamia: Assyria and Babylon

• Mercantile economy develops parallel to redistributive economy: trade routes

• Assur (Assyria) builds on this prosperity 2000-1780• Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750) dominates in

Mesopotamia: kingdom of Babylon– Centralized administration– Law code

• Babylon shrinks by 1650 (northern Babylon); Kassites take over rule by 1400

Mesopotamia

• Important points about civilization per Mesopotamia:– Cities– Writing (cuneiform): earliest is c. 3200bc– Agriculture– Ziggurat / religion (polytheistic, pantheon) / public

policy and administration (Sumerian lawcodes: 2350bc; Hammurabi 1750bc; patriarchy)

– Space and center

Egypt

Egypt

• 3100-2700bc Early Dynastic Period (I-II)• 2700-2200bc Old Kingdom (III-VI)• 2200-2052bc 1st Intermediate Period (VII-XI)• 2052-1650bc Middle Kingdom (XII-XIII)*• 1650-1550bc 2nd Intermediate Period (XIV-XVII)• 1550-1075bc New Kingdom (XVIII-XX)**

*The time of Jacob (Israel) and Joseph in Egypt**The time of Moses in Egypt

Egypt

• Nile is the source of Egyptian civilization– Annual flooding: civilization and stability

• Exists between two deserts– Defensible and contributes to stability

• History divided into: Early dynastic, Old kingdom, Middle kingdom, and New kingdom– Intermediate periods define times of political

disruption– Thousands of years of stable civilization

Egypt (beginning)

• Agriculture and herding well-established by 3500bc

• By 3000bc, two kingdoms exist, united in what we call the Old Kingdom

• “Upper” means elevation (therefore southern reaches of Egypt; “Lower” also means elevation (therefore northern reaches of Egypt)

Egypt (kings and gods)

• In Mesopotamia, kings were gods’ representatives, at best semi-divine

• Egyptian kings were divine (title: “Good God”)• Basis for divine kingship: Osiris killed by Seth;

Osiris’ son Horus defeats Seth; kings embody Horus– Establishes right to rule (Osiris was ruler of Egypt)– Establishes ma‘at (stability/justice)– King’s task: to maintain ma‘at (in service to the gods)

Egypt (pyramids)

• Pyramids: Old Kingdom • Earliest: 2680bc• Giza 2600bc (Khufu=Cheops)– 2,000,000 stones x 2.5 tons each– 13 acres– 480 feet– 70,000 workers (out of 1.5 mil population)

Egypt (social structure)

• King and royal family on top, and a regular order

• Redistributive– Again, writing as handmaid to economy– Hieroglyphics

• Nobility, artists, peasants, slaves

Egypt: end of the Old• 2200: drought and famine• Civil war 2200-2000• Chaos leads to pessimism

– Religious development: reward and punishment in afterlife• Middle kingdom rebuilds monarchy (Mentuhotep 2)

– King no longer omnipotent god; rise of nobility– Ma‘at restored, but at cost of seeing afterlife as a problem to be

solved: scarabs– Increase in trade (already existent) with Crete, Levant

(Anatolia/Palestine), Mesopotamia– Increase in immigration– Hyksos (Canaanite) rule by 1650bc

Egypt: beginning of the New• Hyksos (1650-1540) introduce bronze• Introduces chariot warfare• Late bronze-age (1500-1100) Egypt is imperially stable, lots

of commerce• New Kingdom (about 1550bc)

– First use of term “pharaoh”– Chariots and composite bow– Imperialistically driven– Thutmose 1 (1504-1492) conquers Palesine– Palaces (Amenhotep 3 and Ramesses 2)

• Decline by 1150bc

Egypt

• Important points about civilization per Egypt:– Agriculture– Writing– Religion / public policy and administration– Space and center

Summary of Beginnings

• Main points to remember:– Redistributive economies– Polytheism– Ziggurat– Cuneiform– Law code– Patriarchy– Hieroglyph– Bronze– Pharaoh