Chapter 2

Ancient Mesopotamian, Egypt and Near Eastern Empires

Mesopotamian Civilization

 

  Sumerian City-States (c. 3500-2300 BCE) Greeks spoke of Mesopotamia which means “land between the rivers” Tigris and Euphrates (modern Iraq and eastern Syria).

Civilization emerged due to the fertile land and rivers. That is why Mesopotamian civilization is also called the Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia was the place of one of the earliest centers of urban civilization as early as 4000 BCE

Sumerians first developed civilization

The origin obscure (perhaps from northern India)

Settled in 3500 BCE

Emergence of the first earliest 12 independent walled city-states (c. 2900-2300 BCE)

Sumerian city-states were not united

Invented symbol writing (cuneiform) in about 3200 BCE

Constructed cities, Eridu, Erech, Adab, Isin, Kish, Larsa, Nippur, Lagash, Ur, Uruk. Sumerians used bricks for the construction of the buildings.

Constant wars between the city-states and foreign invasions resulted in their collapse

Struggle and conflicts over the natural resources such as land and water and the control of trade

Geographically Mesopotamia was open to foreign invasions unlike Egypt

 

The city of Ur (in modern-day Iraq) was one of the oldest and most important cities of Mesopotamia in the days of the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians. The Great Stela of Ur is perhaps the most significant monument ever found in Babylonia. The stela contains a pictorial record of the building of the Ziggurat in about 2300 BC.

  The Akkadian Empire (c. 2300-2100 BCE)

Akkadians conquered Sumerian city-states in about 2300 BCE

The Akkadians, a Semitic-speaking people

Got the name after the city Akkad, which was situated in the north

King Sargon I founded dynasty of Akkad and won 24 battles

Sargon build the world’s first empire and became the first king in the world history

The Akkadian empire extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. According to a legend, king Sargon washed his sword in the Persian Gulf.

Semitic languages

The Akkadian language replaced Sumeria

The Akkadians borrowed much from Sumerians

They spread Sumerian achievements beyond Mesopotamia

The Gutians ended Akkadian rule in about 2100 BCE

Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100-2000 BCE)

After disintegration of Akkadian empire warring city-states emerged

Several Sumerian cities revived, especially Ur

Often this period is also called “Sumerian Renaissance”

Influx of Elamites destroyed the city of Ur in about 2000 BC.

Period of civil war and finally invasion by the Amorites

100 thousand clay tablets were discovered from this period

The First Dynasty of Babylon (c. 1800-1600 BCE)

Amorites, a semitic-speaking, headed by Hammurabi (reign. 1792-1750 B.C.)• King of Justice

• King of Akkad and Sumer

• Lawgiver

Hammurabi conquered almost whole of Mesopotamia and Assyria. He extended civilization to the north

Conquests due to well-disciplined army and his philosophy of divide and rule.

He unified the whole Mesopotamia as during the Sumerian period

After him kings weak, which resulted in invasions by the Hittites in around 1600 BCE.

Having sacked Babylon the Hittites returned to their country.

New invaders the Kassites from Iranian Mountains and ruled for the next three centuries.

However this was considered as the dark age and very little is known about this period.

 

Religion: The Basis of Mesopotamian Civilization

A spiritual worldview. Religion frame of reference to understand both society and nature.

Religion the center of Mesopotamian religious, economic, political and social way of life

Gods were seen as part of nature [polytheism and animism]; gods of sky, earth, sea, underworld…

3000 deities

Gods controlled the universe and the worldly realm of life

Gods living realities who affected all aspects of life. To live is to execute the will of gods

Deities An [sky], Enlil [wind], Enki [earth], Marduk [god of the city].

Ziggurat; flourishing of temple building by volunteers.

Ziggurat was dedicated to specific god or goddesses who was the patron of the city

Role of the temple and priest: religious, economic and cultural center

Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to 3000 BCE.• Deals with great flood, idea of mortality and secular way of life.

• Similar to the biblical stories about the flood

 

Gilgamesh, hero of the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, sought the secrets of immortality from Utnapishtim, who, like the biblical Noah, built a ship and escaped humankind's destruction by flood. Throughout his life Gilgamesh faced many tests, often against animals, as depicted in this 8th-century Assyrian relief (Louvre, Paris). The Epic of Gilgamesh, composed about 2000 BC and found inscribed on 12 tablets at Nineveh, is the earliest known epic. (Giraudon/Art Resource)

The construction of ziggurats in Mesopotamia probably originated from an earlier tradition of raising temples on terraces so that they would be higher than any of the surrounding buildings

Ziggurat at Ur circa 2100 B.C.

Government and Law“Primitive democracy” rule of the council of elders who appointed the temporary king only during the war.However kings later became hereditary and permanentKingship bestowed by the gods; the central institution. Theocratic political systemKing did not consider himself as god but as great men selected by gods to represent them on earth. It means that gods ruled through kings.The king as everyone had to implement and obey divine laws.Social stratification of the society: kings, priests, specialists, free farmers and slavesThe Code of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 laws. Western concept of law and justice Similar to the biblical commandments

• Fragments of this code survived• Basic philosophy of law was “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.”• The code rested on the authority of gods and it prescribed different kinds of

laws. To violate them meant to violate the divine order.• Penalties varied on the social status. (nobles, commoners and slaves) so

people were not equal before the law.• Slaves didn’t have any rights• The code provided

consumer protection laws commercial laws legal laws for the society laws dealing with morality “if a son has struck his father, his hand

shall be cut off.”

 

The law code of Hammurabi, king of Babylonia from 1792 to 1750 BC, is recorded on this stele, which also bears a relief portrait of the king standing before Shamash, the god of justice. The stele was found in Susa, Iran, in 1901. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)

Writing, Mathematics and Astronomy

First schools of scribes in history in around 2500 BCEWriting for record keeping and teaching purposesDeveloped first textbooks and dictionariesClay tables in form of text-booksStudents employed after completion of the school as archivists, secretaries and accountantsCuneiform (“wedged shaped”), about 3000 BCEMathematics

• devised multiplication and division tables• devised cubes and cube roots• developed digit and place value of numbers• determined the area of right-angle triangles and rectangles• divided circle into 360 degrees• geometry used to measure fields and erect buildings

Astronomy• observations of the stars and planets• devised the first lunar calendar based on the cycles of the moon – 12 months• mythical interpretation of universe

Others• arch, dome, brick, wheel, chariots, money

 

Pictograms evolved into the cuneiform system of writing, in which a sign refers to the name of an object. This Sumerian tablet has been identified as a numerical list. (The Bettmann Archive)

Cuneiform Clay Tablet 3200 B.C.

Egyptian Civilization

 IntroductionThe Fertile Valley of the Nile

• Nile originates in Burundi and flows through Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and empties in the Mediterranean sea. It is around 6650 km long.

• Herodotus called Egypt “the gift of Nile”

• Control of river included engineering and administrative skills

• Fertility, crops, transportation and communication

• Geographical position provided Egypt with protection

Egyptian history

• Manetho, an Egyptian priest provided basic frame for the study of Egyptian history

• More than 3000 thousand years of history

• 31 royal dynasties

• 6 major historical periods

• Menes or Narmer often called “unifier of the Upper and Lower Egypt” unified Egypt in 3100 BCE and established the first dynasty

• Last Ptolemaic dynasty ended in 31 BCE

The Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100-2700 BCE) (Dynasties I-II)

The earliest phase saw the formation of the Egyptian state

Egypt was divided into Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt

Before unification settlements along Nile took place. So settlement and Nile facilitated foundation of the state

Unification was important. It was geographical and political unification. Even the royal double crown represented unification.

Important developments that led to the foundation of the state

• Kingship

• cultural regionalism disappeared

• social structure and hegemony of Egyptian culture/ “self-identification”

• administration at Memphis, which was strategically located for control of both Upper and Lower Egypt

• establishment of trade and organized economy

• introduction of hieroglyphic writing

 The Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BCE) (Dynasties III-VI)The Old Kingdom lasted for about 500 hundred years. This period symbolizes peace, stability, no standing army and only internal interest

By the III dynasty Egyptian kings achieved full supremacy and ruled from their capital at Memphis

The royal power was absolute. Rule through royal family and nobility

The word pharaoh literally means “great house”

The best symbol of the Old Kingdom were great pyramids

During the 4th dynasty main pyramids were built

The first pyramid was Zoser pyramid built by architect Imhoteph in around 2600 BCE

Giza Complex and the largest Khufu pyramid:

• 481 feet high

• 756 feet long on each side

• Built of 2.3 million stone block

• Each block 2.5 tones

• 100 thousand people spent 20 years building it

Pyramids symbolize political and military authority economic strength religious motives

The earliest pyramidal structure of the ancient world, the Step Pyramid (c.2630 BC) of King Zoser at Saqqara, Egypt, consists of six terraces of receding sizes with a mastaba (tomb) at its nucleus. (Corbis/MIT Collection)

A camel caravan passes the pyramids of Khufu (Cheops), Khafre, and Menkaure at Giza, Egypt, on the eastern edge of the Sahara. (Corbis/Jonathan Blair)

The Great Sphinx is among the world's best known and most admired ancient treasures. Its extraordinary monumentality attests to advanced engineering and construction methods which continue to baffle contemporary scientists. The body (of a recumbent lion) and the head (of a divine king) of the Great Sphinx are carved from living rock. The outstretched paws are added masonry. The whole figure was originally covered with painted plaster, traces of which are still visible. (Deni & Will McIntyre/AllStock/PNI)

The First Intermediate Period (c. 2200-2000 BCE) (VII-XI)

Causes:

• declining of royal power

• growing provincial power of priests and nobles

• rise of independent rulers

• economic decline due to the construction of pyramids

• civil war

• dynasty ruled only part of Egypt

 The Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1800 BCE) (XI-XII)

After the period of confusion the governors of Thebes established the Middle Kingdom in 2052 BCE.

12th dynasty restored king’s power and partial control of nobles

Reestablishment of trade with Palestine, Ethiopia and Nubia.

New capital Thebes

New deity Amon-Re.

The resurgent power of nobility, the erosion of central authority, mark the end of the Middle Kingdom and beginning of the Second Intermediate Period

The Second Intermediate Period (1800-1600 BCE): Hyksos Invasion (XIII-XVII)

A plot by Hyksos and Nubians to control entire Egypt. Nubians occupied southern while Hyksos occupied northern part of Egypt. Supporters of Egyptian royal family were in between.

Dominated by Hyksos “king shepherds” invaders since around 1800 BCE

Desert and geographical position could not save Egypt this time

They were Semitic-speaking people and their origin was not certain

Established rule, controlled trade links and had Egyptian governors.

Introduced use of bronze and new warfare tactics. They were the first to use horse chariot in the battle.

The pharaohs Camose and Amose drove the Hyksos out of Egypt in 1575 BCE

Egyptians conquered the capital city of Hyksos Avaris

The New Kingdom Empire (c. 1600-1200 BCE) and AfterKing Thutmose III built powerful army and began extending Egyptian frontiersConquests of Nubia, Palestine and Syria resulted in conflict with Hittites EmpireStruggle between the two weakened bothAmarna Period (1346-1364 BCE):

• religious struggle and priests challenged pharaoh• Amenhotep IV resisted the priesthood of Amon and devoted himself to

Aton “sun-disc”• His wife Nefertiti supported him in the foundation of new religion• Changed his name to Akhenaten “satisfies Aton” and moved capital from

Thebes to place called Tell-el-Amarna, which means “Horizon of the Sun”

• God Aton universal and creator of the universe; [monotheism]• Opposition to the worship of Aton and persecutions of Amon-Re

followers• Economic decline, foreign invasions, and revolution.• Tutankhamen restored the old religion and returned capital to ThebesRamses the Great, who ruled 67 years, was among the last powerful Egyptian kings. He was also known as tomb builder and fought Hittites in the battle of KadeshAfter 1200 BCE Egypt fall under control of Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans

Ramses II, the third king of the Egyptian 19th dynasty, is depicted in this stone sculpture. His 67-year reign was a time of great prosperity and marked the height of Egyptian military power, culminating in a peace treaty (1283 BC) with the neighboring Hittites. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)

The gold funerary mask of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen (r.1361-52 BC) was among the items that were discovered in his tomb by Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. Tutankhamen was only nine years old when he succeeded to the throne. (Corbis/Charles & Josette Lenars)

Religion: The Basis of Egyptian Civilization

Religion shaped political and social life of Egyptian society. It is illustrated in great pyramids, mummification and religious literature

Religious beliefs the basis for art, medicine, astronomy, literature..

Deities worshiped by Egyptians numbered in thousands

Beliefs in animism, polytheism and monotheism

Spirits could take forms of humans and animals and were present everywhere

Over a time special deities emerged such as Horus, Amon, Re, Isis and Osiris.

Egyptians spend money and resources to please deities. That is why there were many ceremonies and rituals.

Immortality of the spirit and the quest of pharaohs for immortality.

Valley of the kings in the West “life goes from one shore to another”

Mummification and pyramids “stone medium of immortality”

divine kingship+ the concept of ma’at [truth and justice]

The Temple of Luxor, or Southern Sanctuary, at Luxor, Egypt, was begun by the 18th-dynasty king Amenhotep III (r. 1417-1379 BC) and dedicated to Amon-Re, king of the gods. It was built of sandstone from the quarries of Gebel Silsila. (Corbis/Vanni Archive)

Osiris, god of the dead and the underworld, was one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians expected to be judged after death and to be presented before Osiris when found innocent. (Corbis/Rober Wood)

In this image is a portion of the text of the Book of the Dead. In the representation, the deceased’s heart is being weighed under the observation of the deities Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys. Also present are Maat, Thoth, Hor, and Anubis. The creature kneeling before the shrine is a monster who will eat the heart if it fails to pass inspection.

Contributions in SciencesReligious activity stimulated literary activity

Hieroglyphic writing in 3200 BCE found on stone and papyrus. This writings influenced Phoenician alphabet

Architecture represented in tombs and pyramids

Astronomy

• movements of the stars

• 365 day calendar, influenced Julius Caesar calendar

Mathematics• system of numbers

• 360 degrees of a circle

• Pi ratio

Medicine• surgical techniques and drugs

• accurate diagnosis

• human anatomy

Arts and architecture• pyramids, tombs and temples

From the end of the 4th millennium BC, hieroglyphics, which are pictorial symbols used in early writing systems, were an integral part of Egyptian writing. These hieroglyphics were engraved on a temple wall in the ancient village of Karnak, in southern Egypt. (Corbis-Bettmann)

As far as the science of Egyptology is concerned, the Rosetta Stone might well be the most important rock ever found. Discovered in 1799 by French soldiers during Napoleon's occupation of Egypt, it contains an inscription carved in both Egyptian and Greek. Since scholars could read the Greek version, the Rosetta Stone served as a tool for deciphering the previously mysterious hieroglyphics. (Corbis-Bettmann)

Egyptian Civilization: Political, Economic and Social Life

The key to Egyptian civilization was political system

Pharaoh supreme power. He literally owned Egypt and people

Administrative system

• Pharaoh

• Vezier or DPM was responsible directly to king. He managed all departments

• Nomarch was royal official or governor

• Nomes were administrative units [22 in the Upper Egypt and 20 in the Lower Egypt]

Classes

• Pharaoh, priests, nobility, the middle class [merchants and artisans], soldiers and slaves

The Ancient Near East:

Peoples and Empires

 Introduction

In about 1500 BCE emergence of international empires beyond the river valleys

Emergence of empires led to the extension of civilization

Indo-European migration one of the causes for the emergence of new empires

Indo-Europeans originated from wide regions ranging from South-eastern Europe to the region beyond Caspian Sea or Southwest Asia [Iran, Afghanistan and former Russian Republics].

Started migrations in about 2000 BCE, which brought them to Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia and India.

Family of Indo-European language include Greek, Latin, German, Slavic, Sanskrit…

 The Hebrews: "The Children of Israel“ [c. 1800 BCE]

Early History

• The Hebrews are Semitic-speaking people

• They had a tradition concerning their origins and history

• Written down in Hebrew Bible known as Old Testament

• Descendants of Abraham who migrated from Mesopotamia to the land of Palestine in about 1800 BCE

• Since then Hebrews were identified as "children of Israel"

• This migration took place in around 1800 BCE

• Due to food shortage they migrated to Egypt in around 1600 BCE

• Enslavement, "Exodus" and Moses in about 1300 BCE

• Period of wandering and in 1220 BCE Jewish tribes entered Palestine

• Conflict with Philistines

United Kingdom (c. 1000 BCE)

• Power vacuum in the Near East

• Around 1000 BCE emergence of a monarchy under Saul, David and Solomon

• By the time of King Solomon (c. 971-973 BCE) controlled all Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital

• Under Solomon expansion and political, economic and military organization of life

• Solomon’s building projects

• Solomon is best known for the construction of the Temple in the city of Jerusalem

• Hebrews began viewing the Temple as the symbolic center of their religion and hence of the Hebrew kingdom.

The Divided Kingdom

• After Solomon’s death emergence of tensions between northern and southern Hebrew tribes

• Kingdom of Israel [10 lost tribes] Samaria

• Kingdom of Judah [2 tribes] Jerusalem

• Assyrians emerged as power in the 9th century and in 722 BCE they destroyed Kingdom of Israel while Kingdom of Judah had to pay tribute to the Assyrians.

• Then Neo-Babylonians conquered Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE and destroyed the Temple. Babylonians deported many Hebrews to Babylon [Babylonian Captivity]

• Persians destroyed the Neo-Babylonians in 536 BCE and allowed Hebrews to return and rebuilt their temple.

• The revived kingdom of Judah survived until the conquest of Alexander the Great in the 4th century.

The Spiritual Dimensions of Israel

• A commitment to Yahweh "he causes to be"

• Hebrew Bible or Torah

• Land and God-People relationship

• “Chosen People”

• Covenant with Yahweh

• Obedience to the law of God

• Prophets

The reading of the Torah is a fundamental part of Jewish liturgical services. The Torah, or first five books of the Bible, presents a system of moral and religious conduct and is revered as the essence of divine revelation received by Moses on Mount Sinai. Here, a boy reads the Torah as part of his bar mitzvah ceremony. (Miro Vintoniv/Stock,

 

This is Herod's Temple as reconstructed in a model of ancient Jerusalem by archaeologist Michael Avi-Yonah. The actual temple, built by Herod the Great in the 1st century BC, was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. (Archive Photos)

 The Hittites Empire (ca. 1600-1200 BCE)

In around 1600 BCE Hittites established empire in Asia Minor

The first Indo-European group to rise to the level of civilization

Remained virtually unknown until very recently, because 100 thousand tablets were discovered dealing with Hittites history

Indo-Europeans originated from wide regions ranging from South-eastern Europe to the region beyond Caspian Sea or Southwest Asia [Iran, Afghanistan and former Russian Republics].

They were in Asia Minor before 2000 BCE

Hittites were warlike people

Ruled Asia Minor, northern Syria, raided Babylon and challenged Egypt for control of Syria and Palestine.

Mursilis I in 1595 BCE raided Babylon but returned back

They succeeded due to well-trained army

Developed iron industry

Borrowed several features of Mesopotamian civilization

The Hittite Empire declined in around 1200 BCE

The Assyrian EmpireEmerged after fall of the Hittites in around 1200 BCEEstablished powerful states and extended civilizationSemitic-speaking people Their homeland was northern MesopotamiaTheir capital Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq)The Assyrian military machine: army; pioneer corps; guerrilla warfare; siege; terror tactics; iron weapons; horse-drawn war chariots; belief that their gods commanded them to conquerBy 700 BCE their empire included: Mesopotamia; parts of Iranian plateau; sections of Asia Minor; Syria; Palestine and Egypt down to ThebesIn 612 BCE Assyrians defeated by a coalition of Medes and Neo-Babylonians. Capital city of Nineveh burned downTheir rule was successful due to the following:

• King enjoyed absolute power [greatest king was Ashurbanipal]• Developed efficient communication system• Developed effective military leaders and fighters• Able to deploy troops; Their army was between 100,000 and 200,00

strong.• Army well-organized and disciplined.• Used Iron weapons; The Assyrian spearmen, archers, and cavalrymen

were equipped with weapons and armor of iron.• Used different military tactics

Assyrian Society and Culture

• King representative of god Ashur

• Nobles

• They improved roads, established messenger service, irrigation to facilitate effective administration of conquered lands

• Had strict laws

• Not afraid to mix with other people

• Guardians of Sumerian and Babylonian culture

Neo-Babylonian Empire (c. 600 BCE)

Leader Nebuchadnezzar II

612 BCE destroyed Assyrians

Conquest of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE

Defeated by Persians in 536 BCE

Known for

• Hanging Gardens [built for emperor’s wife]

• Ishtar the Gate of Babylon

• Tower of Babylon

• Biblical accounts

 

The Persian Empire or The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE)

Aryan people were on Iranian plateau as early as in about 1100 BCE

Persian empire developed from that of Medes, which became very strong in the 6th century. It is also called “The Achaemenid Empire”

In 612 BCE Medes and Neo-Babylonians defeated Assyrians

In around 560 BCE the Persian Cyrus defeated Medes

Cyrus the Great (559-530 BCE) “father of Persia”

• Lydia and Greek city-states taken in 547 BCE

• Mesopotamia taken in 539 BCE.

• Jews could return to Jerusalem; Cyrus showed mercy and tolerance

• Cyrus was: Skilful organizer of empire Provided tolerance Was favourable by priesthood Permitted local people to be officials Had a reputation for mercy Created a "world empire"

Expanding the Empire• Cambyses (530-522 BCE)

Captures Egypt Title of pharaoh, 525 BCE

• Darius I (521-486 BCE) Codified Egyptian law; built a canal to link the Red Sea and

Mediterranean; build Persopolis Persian greatest extent Added the number of territories Revolt in Asia Minor [499 BCE Ionian Revolt] In Battle of Marathon, in 490 BCE, Persians defeated Alexander the Great in 330 BCE ended ancient Persian Empire

• The Parthians (c. 240 BCE-220 CE)• The Sassanid Empire (224-651 CE)Governing the Empire

• Stable rule and tolerance; Considered generosity and tolerance to be more effective than terrorism and brutality. Captured Babylon without a battle

• Administrative ability (provinces). 20 satrapies with governors • Royal road – Sardis to Susa; a network of roads• Monarchy/Persian king• Uniform language/ Aramaic; empire’s basic language of commerce and

administration• Economy; taxing; agriculture, irrigation; Taxes could be paid with official

coins [The gold daric & the silver shekel]• Professional army and Postal service; a huge army of 300,000 men; Built

the first great navy

 

 

The architectural remains and relief sculptures of Persepolis, the Persian city of the great kings of the Achaemenid Empire, are among the most impressive monuments of the ancient world. These are part of the ruins of the Apadana, the great, palatial audience hall. When the Apadana was built, stone was used for the foundations, door casements, columns, and stairways. Walls of colorfully glazed brick filled in and around to connect these elements.

 

Darius I was the greatest of the Achaemenid kings. He ruled from 522 to 486 BC. He is seen here (seated) in a relief sculpture, along with his successor, Xerxes. Darius is famous as a lawgiver, and many stories were told about his severity yet impartiality in administering the law. It appears that he strove to standardize legal practices all over his vast empire. (The Bettmann Archive)

Persian Religion

• Zoroastrianism; it influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

• Zoroastrianism was also similar to Vedic Aryan Religion

• Zarathustra/Zoroaster (628-551 BCE) was founder or prophet-reformer

• Zoroaster preached a message of moral reform during an age of materialism, political opportunism and ethical indifference

• Holy Scripture of Zoroastrianism was Zend Avesta, which was written in 300 CE

• Concept of belief Ahuramazda was god of goodness [wise god] Ahriman was god of evil [spirit of evil] Struggle between good and evil

• Addituional beliefs Afterlife Hell and heaven Punishment Free will

• Importance of water and fire as means for the purification and sacrifice