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Timeline for the Emergence of Civilization. 40,000 years ago: Homo sapiens sapiens 10, 000 BCE: end of last ice age and development of the farming package 10,000 – 4,000 BCE: spread of Neolithic culture 3,500 BCE: Sumerian civilization emerges
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Timeline for the Emergence of Civilization • 40,000 years ago: Homo sapiens sapiens • 10, 000 BCE: end of last ice age and development of the farming package • 10,000 – 4,000 BCE: spread of Neolithic culture • 3,500 BCE: Sumerian civilization emerges • 3,000-2,000 BCE civilization appears in Nile, Indus, and Yellow river valleys
Discuss Stonehenge • Neolithic or Paleolithic? • What does it tell us about the people who constructed it? • What was its purpose?
How did Neolithic culture differ from Paleolithic culture? • Agriculture • Animal husbandry/livestock rearing • Permanent settlements • Denser populations • Increasing hierarchy/patriarchy • All of the above
Ancient Sumeria The First Civilization
Timeline for Sumeria • 3500 BCE: Writing and cities emerge • 2500 BCE: Uruk becomes the dominant of dozens of city states • 2200 BCE: Sumeria conquered by the Akadians • 2000 BCE: Epic of Gilgamesh written; great ziggurat of Ur built • 1800s BCE: Hammurabi’s Babylonian Empire
Discuss the Epic of Gigamesh • Why was this story so popular? • What were the features of the culture that produced this piece of literature? • What attitudes did it reveal about • Civilization • Government • The gods • Humanity in general • Men & Women in particular
How would you characterize Enkidu prior to his encounter with Shamhat? • a warrior king • a noble savage • a chivalrous rogue • a priest of the temple
Uruk Mosaic walls of Uruk, Staatliche Museum zu Berlin The Lady of Warka, Iraqi Museum, Baghdad
Cuneiform Letter written by a merchant c. 1800 BCE
Third millennium agglomeration of Sumerian city states Located in Northern Sumeria Controlled by Semitic Akkadians Probably Sargon = Who claimed to represent the gods Akkadian Empirec. 2200 BCE
Discuss the Code of Hammurabi • What was the point of the introduction to the code • How would you characterize these laws? • What can laws tell us about the society that produced them?
What did Hammurabi claim in his introduction? • That he would protect the weak • That the gods had asked him to produce the code • That he was to destroy the wicked • That he would bring about the rule of righteousness
Overview • Geopolitical Structure • Geographical Influences • City-State Rivalries. • Technological Developments • Warfare • Commerce • Astronomy • Cultural Achievements • Ziggurats • Cuneiform • Epic of Gilgamesh • Hummurabi’s Code
What defines civilization? Why were neolithic and paleolithic cultures not civilizations • What is implied in the term civilization • How have civilizations referred to those people who did not belong to their culture?
Background • Sumeria was the richest and most populous region of Mesopotamia; its cultural influence continued long after it was dominated by Akkadian and Babylonian rulers • It was one of the earliest regions to develop an urban culture; it had dozens of independent city-states by 3000 BCE • It became the most technologically advanced region of its day • Because of its riches and knowledge, it eventually became the target for conquest by larger and more organized political entities
Geopolitical Structure • Mesopotamia literally means “land between the rivers,” a reference to the strip of land that separates the Tigris and Euphrates rivers • irrigation was essential for development • dry but very fertile soil, especially in Sumeria • cities emerge c. 3500 • ruling elite • temples to gods • commerce • writing to keep track of commerce
Sumerian Cities • There were approximately two dozen cities in Sumeria by 3000 BCE • Gods were often associated with a locality or even a family • These local gods attracted the intense loyalty as guardians and representatives of city states • Consequently the temple priests who mediated relations between the people and the gods exercised enormous influence on this society
City-State Rivalries • As cities proliferated across the river valley, leaders sought to maximize the boundaries of their territory • city-states develop: a city that exercises jurisdiction and collects taxes across the countryside • rivalries and warfare become common characteristics of Sumerian culture • because of the relative parity of the city-states, as a region Sumeria remains relatively divided politically • although certain, cities such as Ur, exercise leadership over the region, political unification eludes the Sumerians who remain divided due to political rivalries
Consequences of Political Rivalries • Technological developments & culture of Sumeria • Warfare - Sumeria remains politically unsettled (warfare) from 3500-2300 • The quest for dominance leads Sumerians to experiment with new ideas in • metallurgy for weapons - The Bronze Age (4000-1000 BCE) • astronomy in order to predict the future • acquisition of materials • long distance commerce • money • transportation: wheels
Rough Outlines for Metallurgical Development • 4000-3000 BCE: copper is pervasive; bronze (copper + tin) developed in Sumeria and gradually diffuses northward • 3000-1200: The heart of Bronze Age Civilization; Bronze is pervasive • 1200: The beginning of the Iron Age; starts in Middle East and southeastern Europe; because iron was plentiful and easily produced weaponry becomes cheaper and more readily available to larger numbers of people
Other Technological Developments from Sumeria • Potter’s Wheel • Wheel for carts and later chariots • Sailboats • The Seed Plow or Harrow
Cultural Achievements of Sumeria • Cuneiform • dates to approximately 3500 BCE • the rebus principle: pictograms used to denote sounds and eventually syllables rather than entire words • no direct connection between it and later Phoenician alphabet which the Romans adopted • Ziggurats • stair stepped temples with no internal chambers • Scene of rituals designed to win favor of the gods • Often associated with the Tower of Babel described in Genesis 11:1-9
