Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE The Middle East: The Crossroads of Three Continents

Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE The Middle East: The Crossroads of Three Continents

The Ancient Fertile Crescent Area The Middle East: The Cradle of Civilization

Sumerians

Sumerian Religion - Polytheistic Enki Innana Anthropomorphic Gods

Mesopotamian Trade The Cuneiform World

Cuneiform: Wedge-Shaped Writing

Cuneiform Writing

Sumerian Scribes Tablet House

Sumerian Cylinder Seals

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh Epic Tablet: Flood Story

Ziggurat at Ur Temple Mountain of the Gods

The Royal Standard of Ur

Mesopotamian Harp

Board Game From Ur

Sophisticated Metallurgy Skills at Ur

Sargon of Akkad: The World s First Empire [Akkadians]

The Babylonian Empires

Hammurabi s Code [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.]

Hammurabi, the Judge

Babylonian Math

Babylonian Numbers

Mesopotamian Societies Sumerians non-semitic people /language Uruk (and other cities) Babylonians / Akkadians later (c.1200-600 BCE) Semitic people.language

Mesopotamian Societies cuneiform writing hierarchy priestly class irrigation-based agriculture

Gods and Goddesses Sin (the moon) Father figure Shamash (the sun) Deity of justice Ishtar (the morning star) Sex, war, community

Gods and Goddesses Ereshkigal goddess of the Underworld Ea god of fresh water

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh and Enkidu The gods create Enkidu, a hairy wild man, and place him in the forest near Uruk. He lives like an animal, startling the locals. They send to Gilgamesh, who suggests that they tame him by sending him a woman to sleep with.

MAP 2.1

Sargon the Great of Akkad unified Mesopotamia around 2300 B.C.E. The Akkadian Empire spread Sumerian culture throughout the Near East

Sargon

The empire Sargon created fell around 2200 B.C.E. Was its fall a result of drought?

Hammurabi, king of Babylon (ca. 1792 1750 B.C.E.), created the next great empire in Mesopotamia He is remembered today largely because of his law code

Law Earliest known complete code of laws: Principles Punishment depends on social rank Victim s right to personal compensation Government is impartial referee

Hammurabi s Empire

Government and Social Structure in Mesopotamia Theocratic monarchy Three classes Priests, noble landlords Freemen (majority) Slaves

Status of Women Status declined over time Early Sumer: more or less equality between the sexes Artisan occupations were open to women Adultery was the worst crime in marriage

Divorce was initiated by husbands Sexual and Marital Life Arranged marriages Dowry Brides were expected to be virgins

SUCCESSORS TO THE SUMERIANS Successors Akkadians (under Sargon) Amorites, or Old Babylonians (under Hammurabi) Hittites Assyrians Chaldees or New Babylonians

Decline of Mesopotamia in World History Ceased to be important after the Persians conquest the region (580s B.C.E.)

II. The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language arrived in Anatolia perhaps as early as 2700 BCE settled as farmers and herders in the lands of existing Anatolian kingdoms were probably backwards compared to the sophisticated kingdoms that were their neighbors

warfare among the Hittites neighbors gave them the opportunity to rise to prominence in 19 th century BCE king Hattusilis I built the capital at Hattusas conquest of neighboring land begins

Hittites may have had an advantage over the Anatolian kingdoms they conquered because of their iron weapons the Hittites were the first people to make weapons and tools out of this metal they conquered much of Anatolia and even campaigned beyond Anatolia

around 1595 BCE the Hittites participated in an attack on Babylon this attack led to the overthrow of the dynasty that Hammurabi had founded two centuries earlier the Hittites probably participated in the sacking of the city, then returned home

much of what is now known about the Hittites comes from clay tablets found at Hattusas and other locations, artifacts, and excavations of Hittite cities the Hittite tablets are written in cuneiform, which they adopted for their language

The Hittite Empire was at its strongest between about 1475 BCE and 1200 BCE Hittite warriors fought the Egyptians and Rameses II to a standstill at Kadesh around 1300 BCE peace followed the battle with both sides realizing that a treaty of peace was better than continued bloodshed

the Second Millennium B.C.E. The Middle East in the Second Millennium B.C.E. Although warfare was not uncommon, treaties, diplomatic missions, and correspondence in Akkadian cuneiform fostered cooperative relationships between states. All were tied together by extensive networks of exchange centering on the trade in metals, and peripheral regions, such as Nubia and the Aegean Sea, were drawn into the world of commerce. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.) Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Hittites had a complex society: slaves commoners farmers, craftsmen, herders warriors possibly also commoners warriors sat in an assembly that could try cases and order punishments, but could not make laws

nobles strong; frequent challengers of the king s authority royal family also a noble family; members of this family held influential posts Hittite nobles and the royal family frequently quarreled, and plots against the royal family were frequent

The Hittite Empire fell abruptly around 1200 BCE The cause? The Sea Peoples raided and destroyed Hittite cities. So vicious were these attacks the Hittite Empire collapsed.