Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
• 1970’s: archeologist Mary Leakey found prehistoric footprints like that of modern humans in Tanzania (East
Africa)
o made by australopithecines (type of hominid walks upright)
• In Ethiopia, complete skeleton of adult female hominid “Lucy” from 3.5 million yrs ago
• Early hominids had opposable thumbs and walking upright helped travel distances and carry things
• Invention of tools, mastery over fire, development of languages all occurred during the Stone Age
• Earlier and longer part of Stone Age called Paleolithic Age (2,500,0008000BCE)
o Oldest stone chopping tools date back to this era; during the Ice Age
o Religious beliefs centered around nature; believed in afterlive
• Neolithic Age (80003000BCE/ dates vary in places)
o People learned to polish stone tools, make pottery, grow crops, raise animals
• Before australopithecines vanished, new hominids (Homo habilis) appeared in East Africa
o Used lava rock tools to cut meat and crack open bones = made survival easier
• 1.6 million yrs ago, before Homo habilis left, Homo erectus appeared
o more intelligent and adaptable than Homo habilis; used intelligence to develop technology; skillful
hunters with sophisticated tools; first hominids to migrate to India, China, SE Asia, EU
o developed beginning of spoken language; first to use fire
• Homo erectus evolved to Homo sapiens
o Had larger brains
• Neanderthals in SW Asia and Europe survived for 170,000 yrs and vanished 30,000 yrs ago
o Religious beliefs; shelters
• CroMagnons emerge 40,0008,000 BCE: identical to modern humans
o N. Africa > Europe, Asia; made tools with specialized uses; planned hunts; spoken language =
cooperation
• Cave paintings by primitive people: European and Asian show hunting and daily activities; American and
Australian more symbolic = sympathetic magic
12: Humans Try to Control Nature
• 40,000 yrs ago, CroMagnons same as modern man
• Paleolithic era, mostly nomads= huntergatherers; crafted crude tools i.e. sharpened sticks to aid hunting/gathering
• Made artistic creations: jewelry, sculptures, cave paintings
• Neolithic Revolution: 10,000 yrs ago, = agricultural revolution (climate change was key reason)
• Early farming methods: slashandburn, domestication of animals
• Took place in Fertile Crescent (NE Iraq/Mesopotamia)
• Farming develops independently in Africa, China, Central America…
o Catal Huyuk and Jarmo important agri. sites for studying Neolithic Age
Permanent settlements created, benefits= surplus food, specialized workers
Disadvantages= floods/fire/drought/disease destroy village; invasion by neighbors
13: Civilization
• Villages become cities:
o Economic changes: more cultivation>elaborate irrigation systems built; food surplus=specialization;
wheel and sail improved trade
o Social: social classes formed; religion more organized>worshipped gods with power over nature
• Civilization characteristics: 1. Advanced cities 2. Specialized workers 3. Complex institutions 4. Record keeping
5. Advanced technology 6. Art and Architecture
Sumer (Ur in bold):
• Advanced cities: center of trade for larger area; large population
o Defined social classes: rulers/ priests on top; trade w. bartering
• Spec. workers: artisans; merchants; scribes; soldiers; teachers; metalworkers; priests; gov. officials; peasants
• Complex inst.: formal gov. with laws; priests with religious/political power; education system (for scribes)
• Record keeping: cuneiform tablets with business transactions, hist. events, customs, traditions; calendar
• Adv. Tech: oxdrawn plows; irrigation systems; pottery eating supplies; bronze weapons; body armor
o Roads, pottery
• Art and Architecture: ziggurat(massive pyramid temple), temples, temple gates, storage for grain
21: Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia = “land between the rivers” Tigris and Euphrates
o Environmental challenge; unpredictable flooding; no natural barriers; limited natural resources
o Solutions: irrigation ditches; city walls; traded worked materials for raw materials
• Sumerians had citystates each with own gov. (Uruk, Kish, Lagaash, Umma, Ur)
o Each had own ziggurat
o Rulers (military leaders) and priests share control: priests mostly (demanded crop taxes)
Military leaders had dynasties; shift from priests to military rulers
• Cultural diffusion: new ideas spread to other cities
• Sumerians = polytheistic (see English)
o No joy after death afterworld is bad place
o Women priests, women had many rights: landholding, read, write, scribes
• Technology: invented wheel, sail, plow, first to use bronze, arithmetic, geometry, base 60 number system,
modern time units come from it
• Architectural innovations: arches, columns, ramps, pyramid ziggurat
• First to develop system of writing (cuneiform) on tablets: written with pointy triangular tipped reeds
• 30002000 BCE, Sumer citystates constantly at war with each other and could no longer ward of attacks of
people of surrounding hills/deserts
• Sumer never recovered from attacks and succeeding rulers adopted Sumerian culture to their own needs
• c. 2350 BCE, conqueror Sargon with army from Akkad (citystate N. of Sumer) defeated Sumer
o Akkadians already had adopted most of Sumerian culture; Sargon’s conquests spread the culture
further beyond TigrisEuphrates Valley
• By taking control of N. and S. Mesopotamia, Sargon created 1st empire
o At peak, Akkadian Empire controlled Mediterranean Coast in the west to Iran (today) in the east
o Lasted only 200 yrs before decline
• c. 2000 BCE, nomadic warriors (Amorites) invaded Mesopotamia and overwhelmed Sumerians
• established capital at Babylon along Euphrates River
• Babylonian Empire reached peak during reign of Hammurabi (17921750 BCE)
o Hammurabi’s Code of laws: first single, uniform code of laws written down in stone all over empire
o 282 specific laws many related to property issues; protected women and children from unfair treatment
o diff. punishment for diff. social classes; principle of retaliation (eye for an eye…)
o gov. responsible for society’s actions
• 2 centuries after Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonian empire fell to Kassites
23: Pyramids on the Nile
• Egypt united into single kingdom early on
• Nile flows N.: civilization arose along fertile Nile banks
• Nile flooded regularly: necessary for life; deserts as natural barriers
• River travel common ended at 1st cataract (rapids)
•
• winds blow upstream (N to S) so you can travel by sailboat upriver and down
• 5000 BCE farming villages with own rituals, god, ruler
• 3200 BCE 2 separate kingdoms: lower and upper Egypt
• eventually united (most likely) by King Narmer
•
• Old Kingdom: in Mesopotamia, kings represent gods; in Egypt, kings=gods=pharaohs
o Theocracy: pharaoh @ center of religion and gov.
o Pharaoh had eternal life force (ka): pyramids to protect pharaoh in afterlife
• Didn’t use wheel
• Early Egyptians polytheistic: Re (sun god), Osiris (dead), Isis (mother/wife goddess)
• Believed in an afterlife where you would be judged
• Mummification of elites led to advanced medical techniques
• King, queen, royals at top of soc. Pyramid
o Priests, wealthy landowners, gov. officials, army commanders
Peasants and laborers slavery came later
Egyptians not locked into social class couple move up esp. if know to read/write
o Women had many of the same rights as men
• Innovations:
o Scribes developed flexible writing system = hieroglyphics (pics changed from representing ideas to
letters)
Wrote on papyrus reeds
o Developed calendar for planting w/ 365 days in a year
o Arithmetic for taxes
o Geometry for pyramid building
o Medicine for healing bones, surgery, check heart rate…
• Decline of Old Kingdom
o Strong pharaohs regained control during Middle Kingdom (20401640 BCE)
o Hyksos from Palestine invaded and ruled Egypt (16301523 BCE)
o New Kingdom – Egypt rose again
3.1 The IndoEuropeans
o Group of Nomadic ppl from Steppes dry grass lands
o Primarily pastoral (herded)
o Tamed horses and rose light 2 wheeled chariots
o Lived in tribes that spoke forms of indoeuropean languages
o ancestor of many modern languages
o Nomads migrated in all directions (17001200 BCE)
o By 2000 BCE the Hittites occupied Anatolia (Turkey)
o High rocky plateau rich in minerals timber agriculture
o Separate Hittite city states formed empire in 1650
o Capital Hattusas
o Adopted Akkadian (to speak w/ foreigners) after conquering Akkadian Babylon
o Hittites dominated SW Asia 450 yrs (occupied Babylon and fought w/ Assyria)
o Signed treaty w/ Assyrians to help each other
o Excelled in war technology chariots, iron weapons, armor
o Fell in 1190 BC as part of a great wave of invasions from N. (capital burned)