World History I Mrs. Rogers Sem. 1 2012 Chapter 2 Study Guide: Ancient Middle East and Egypt Section 1: Ancient Sumer Fertile Crescent/Mesopotamia (mess-uh-poh-tame-ee-uh_: region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that saw the development of many early civilizations: Sumer, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, etc. Hierarchy (higher-ark-ee): dividing people into layers of social groups. Upper class including kings, government officials, and priests. Middle class including merchants, scribes, and artisams. Lower class, by far the largest group, including peasant farmers and slaves. Ziggurat (zigger-aht): large temple built in the center of Sumerian cities. Use of layers rising toward the gods. Cuneiform (cue-nih-form): one of the earliest forms of writing. Developed and refined by Sumer. Use clay tablets and wedge shaped forms to express ideas and records. Legacy: a set of ideas, inventions, and advancements in civilization past on the future generations to improve the quality of life. Gilgamesh (gill-guh-mesh): a popular story in Sumer which provides a look back at life during this early civilization in Mesopotamia. Key Ideas: 1. Early civilizations in the Middle East developed ruling kings and emperors and royal families. Some created city states with governors and other government officials to organize life and provide protection. 2. Civilizations from this time developed advances in mathematics (algebra geometry), engineering, astronomy, communication, trade, art, and literature. Ideas passed on to future civilizations improving the quality of life around the world.
Section 2: Empires Sargon (sar-gahn): ruler of Akkad, a people who seized control of Sumer. Built the first known empire in history. Babylon (bab-uh-lahn): center of a major empire along the Euphrates River. On several occasions it was destroyed and rebuilt by new conquering peoples such as the Hittites and the Assyrians. Hammurabi (ham-mer-rob-ee): leader of Babylon in Mesopotamia. Developed a code of written laws to provide order to Babylonia society: rules for marriage, personal rights, taxes, contracts, criminal behavior and so on. Civil Law: laws that controlled the personal and business activities of citizens. Criminal Law: laws that protected citizens from threats to the personal well-being of citizens and their property. Labels crimes and punishments. Hittites : invaders that conquered Mesopotamia from the Akkad. Given credit with development of iron tools and weapons which for a time gave them power over other peoples. Assyrians (uh-seer-ee-uhns): 1350-1100 BC conquered the Hittites to get control of Babylon and the Middle Eastern empire. Established a library that contained a large collection of cuneiforms books which described the early history and developments of early Mesopotamia. Nebuchadnezzar (neb-uh-cuh-neezer): 600 BC king of the Babylonian empire that replaced the Assyrians. Expanded the empire from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. Rebuilt the city Babylon with beautiful buildings including the Hanging Gardens. Persians (purr-zuhns): people that conquered Babylon in 550BC. Expanded the empire east as far a India. Darius I (dar-ee-us): king that divided Babylon in to provinces. Each province was directed by a governor. Established a bureaucracy to govern the empire. Expanded a network of roads which tied the empire together and help promote trade. Bureaucracy (buhr-ock-rah-see): a complex system of government which involved large numbers of officials to provide good leadership and public services. Officials served from the local, province, and national level of an empire.
Phoenicians (foh-neesh-ee-uns): a people that lived along the east coast of the Mediterranean. Famous for their ability to travel by sea which improved trade and expanded cultural developments to new areas. Key Ideas: 1. Over hundreds of years Mesopotamia was controlled by many different peoples. In order: Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. These empires expanded to include land from North Africa along the eastern Mediterannean east to the Persian Gulf and even India. (See maps in textbook.) 2. Over time kings needed more complex governments to meets the needs of their people and maintain order in their empire. They divided the land into city-states and then provinces. They created different levels of government with governors and a large bureaucracy to make and enforce laws. 3. Developments over time included: World trade, exchange of ideas related to trade, engineering, literature, art, weapons, tools, et cetera. Darius created a system of weights and measures to provide fair trade. He started using coins to begin replacing a barter economy with a money economy. He support a new religion based on the teachings of Zoroaster. Their belief in one God, heaven and hell, are later part of the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam The Phoenicians became great sea traders developing navigation methods and spreading cultural developments around the Mediterranean. They also created a new form of writing that included use of letters that represented sounds of speech. The alphabet was later used by the Greeks and today, the English language. Section 3: Egypt and the Nile River Lower Egypt: northern part of Egypt that includes the Nile River delta. Called the Black Land because of the rich soil and water supply. Upper Egypt: southern part of Egypt that includes the source of the Nile. It is divided from Upper Egypt by a large waterfall called the cateract.
Pharaoh (fay-row): title of Egyptian kings. Believed to have god-like power. Pharaohs had absolute power meaning they ruled without concern for wishes of their people. When they died, new leaders were from the same family resulting a in dynasties. Key Ideas: 1. The Nile River with its fertile soil and dependable water source led to the development of Egyptian civilization along its narrow path from the delta at the Mediterranean south into Africa. In 3100 BC King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt. 2. Egyptian pharaohs built the Great Pyramids and other structures to bury the dead of the ruling families. Structures remain standing today. 3. Over the centuries Egypt became weak controlled at various times by the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and eventually the Romans by 30 BC. Section 4: Egyptian Civilization and Culture Mummification/mummies (mum-if-ih-ka-shun): Egyptians believed the dead would pass on to a new life after death. The preserved bodies using chemicals in the belief that the body itself would pass to another world. Osiris and Isis (oh-sih-ris and i-sus): Egyptian gods who were married and governed the underworld and the activity of the Nile River. Hieroglyphics (hi-roh-gliff-iks): A form of writing based on picture symbols. Later changed to a form of cursive writing. Used papyrus (pap-eye-russ) a paper-like material used to record early writings. King Tutenkamen (Tut): A so-called boy king. His tomb and mummified remains were discovered in the 1920s. The artifacts are a true example of the Egyptians viewed life after death.
Key Ideas: 1. Egyptians believed in many gods. Pharaohs received their power from the gods so people had to accept all decisions from their rulers. Religion put a strong focus on the after life. The Book of the Dead was found which explained many customs for preserving bodies, providing food and other physical objects the dead person could use in their new life. Rulers were buried in huge tombs such as the Great Pyramids. 2. Egyptians developed new forms of writing to record business activity, historical events, discoveries of science and technology. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone which helped researchers decipher the code of Egyptian writing. 3. Egyptians developed advances in medicine including surgery and medications. They also developed new mathematics techniques, better understanding of the planets which led to a new calendar, as well as new forms of art and literature. Section 5: Judaism (beginning of the Jewish religion) Monotheistic (mahn-oh-thee-is-tik): The Hebrew people developed a belief in one god that became known at Judaism (jew-duh-ism). Israelites (iz-ray-el-ites): Another name for the Hebrews, because they lived in the land of Israel along the eastern Mediterranean. Torah (tor-uh): A holy book of the Jewish faith. It includes the five books from the Old Testament including Genesis, Exodus. These books include a record of the early history of the Hebrew people and their religious teachings. Abraham (abe-ruh-ham): Early prophet and leader of the Hebrew people. Considered the father of the Jewish faith. Made a covenant (agreement) with God to follow his wishes in exchange for rights to the Promised Land, modern day Israel. Moses (moz-uhz): After the Hebrews were conquered and held as slaves in Egypt, Moses lead them to freedom in a new homeland of Israel. Offered the Ten Commandments as a guide for positive living and approval from God. Patriarchal (pay-tree-ark-uhl): The Jewish belief that families are led by men. Power and wealth were transferred from older men to their sons.
Key Ideas: 1. The Jewish religion believes in one God. Their history and teachings give rise to the teachings of Jesus and the beginning of Christianity. The Christian Bible combines the Old Testament based on Jewish history and tradition with the New Testament. The religion of Islam and its prophet Muhammad continue the monotheistic tradition by extending the teachings of the Jewish and Christian religions to a new religion. All three western religions have common history and similar teachings. 2. The kingdom of Israel was establish in 1000 BC under the teaching and leadership of the Jewish people under King Solomon and King David in the Israel capital of Jerusalem. In the 1940 s the modern state of Israel was re-established as the homeland of the Jewish people. There is a strong emphasis on law as written in the holy books of Judaism. 3. The Jewish faith emphasizes personal morality and fair treatment of all peoples.