GHIST 101 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 – 161. Mesopotamia1. Oldest Civilization in History2. Two rivers, which run parallel to each otheri) Tigres and Euphrates 3. Sumerians lived herei) First urban civilization in the world 1. Developed first writing system2. First monumental buildings 3. Invention of the wheel4. First irrigation system5. The first to use plow and make bronze toolii) Religion1. Polytheistic- many gods (a) Each city state had gods(b) Gods may punish people for no reason, gods unpredictable, similar to unpredictable two rivers (c) Ziggurats- first pyramids in history, staffed by many peopleiii) Epic of Gilgamesh1. Story of generation to generation2. Long poem3. Boy hated by many gods, ended a tragic hero iv) Technology1. Lunar Calender- Cycle of full moon2. Sumerian Math(a) Based on units of 60(b) Still use today, 60 minutes, 60 seconds in a minute3. Importance of Writing(a) Origin of pictography(i) Disadvantages were1. Time consuming2. Easy to misinterpret3. Meaning can be vague v) Law 1. Earliest law Code, Enacted by Hammurabi (not Sumerian, was a invader that conquered)2. Hammurabi Law Code Principles(a) Punishment depended upon social rank (higher class members, less punishment, lower fines)These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.(b) Offenders subjected to same damage they caused (eye for an eye) (c) Victim could demand compensation(d) Husbands received less punishment then women vi) Expansion and Decline1. Ruled by Semitic People (thousands of city states)(a) Akkadian Empire (2,300 BC-2,200 BC)(i) Established by Sargon the great 1. This spread creation of empires (b) Hittities (1.500 BC)(c) Assyrians (900 BC)(d) Persians (500 BC)(i) After Persian conquest1. No longer center of civilization2. Land could no longer produce like the past3. Became impoverished land(e) Land declined due to environmental degradation 2. Ancient Egypt1. Used to be “oldest civilization” now we know other wise2. People use to believe many exotic stories and imagination from this 3. Nile Valleyi) First Villages by 6,000 BC (wheat and barley)ii) Two kingdoms of Egypt by 4,000 BC1. Lower Egypt2. Upper Egyptiii) Gradual Unification into one 1. Done by a Pharaoh around 3,100 BC 4. Land and People of Egypti) Benevolent Nile- Life was focused on Nile River, because it was considered “the mother of Egyptian civilization”ii) Majority of society was peasants1. Nile created agriculture and living pattern(a) Labor intensive work5. Pharaoh= “Ruler of Egypt”i) Divine Kings from 3,100 BC to 1,000 BC 1. Pharaohs were “immortal” and believed to be gods, who could negotiate with other gods, about natural disasters etc. ii) Pharaohs Governments1. Consisted of priests, landowners2. Was to protect his/her subjects 6. Dynasties i) 31 Dynasties ii) Three Kingdoms1. Old: 3,1000-2,200 BC (THIS ONE WAS MOST SUCESSFUL)2. Middle: 2,100-1650 BC3. New (Empire): 1550-700 BC7. Religioni) Polytheistic- Many Gods 1. Ex: Amun Ra- God of the sun2. Anuket, goddess of the nile3. Falcon- god Horusii) Ka = Life essence (supports ones afterlife)1. One could live forever, if after he/she dies the body is properly prepared and properly “mummified” iii) Failed Monotheistic attempt1. Akhnaton for 17 years (who was an Egyptian king)(a) Declared there was only one universal god(b) Tried to eradicate other gods, he ended up being poisoned8. Cultural Achievements i) Pyramids of the Old kingdom (very great)\ii) Built Temples and Statues iii) Hieroglyphicsiv) Examples:1. Great Sphinx of Giza(a) When people would enter a monster would kill them2. Tutankhamen(a) Only pyramid that has not been looted 3. Rosetta Stone(a) Had hieroglyphics, demented writing, and ancient greek on it (b) Found when napoleon was trying to conquer Egypt 3. The Hebrews 1. Not very politically important, but very culturally important 2. Nomadic Semitic Tribes from Mesopotamiai) Exodus and migration to Canaan by 1000 BC3. David Solomon and the later Kingdomsi) Israel in the north1. Which was conquered by the Assyrian Empire (772 BC)(a) Assyrian captured 10/12 tribes of Hebrew people(i) This refers to “Ten Lost Tribes” ii) Judah in the South4. Religioni) Judaism- Rare example of Monotheism in history1. One god: Yahweh (Jehovah)2. Covenants- Promises to people from god, that they would be saved by god3. Laws of Yahweh(a) Ten Commandments 4. Believed they were the chosen people(a) “They” (they cannot be saved” and “We” (we are saved)(b) Not open to converts 5. Babylonian Captivity and its Aftermath(a) Jews captured by Nebuchadnezzar, II (605-538 BC) (Babylonian)(i) Then was captured and released by the Persian Empire (Cyrus the Great)(b) God viewed as just and merciful(i) Hoped for Messiah (person who would come back and bring glory)6. The Phoenicians(a) Peaceful, money seekers, from today’s Lebanon (b) Great traders and travelers (c) Established many colonies in Western Med. (Carthage Empire) (d) Most Notable Contribution:(i) Alphabet1. 22 letters 2. Adopted by the Greeks (who then inserted vowels)3. Today’s Latin Alphabet 7. The Persian Empire(a) Nomadic Indo-European people who settled in today’s Iran(b) Founded by Cyrus the Great in the mid-6th Century, BC (i) Expanded with Cyrus the Great, who was a humble ruler, who left people to follow their on customs and laws, freedom of religion(c) Cyrus the Great the succeeded by Darius I8. Zoroastrianism(a) Ancient Iranian Religion(i) Claimed 2 internal forces in the universe(ii) Founded by Zoroaster (660-583 BC)1. Believed in Dualisma. Mazda (good) VS Mainyu (evil)i. Mazda defeated Mainyu, people who sided with Mazda would go to heaven, ones with Mainyu would go to hell (iii) Modern Reference:1. Also Sprach Zarathustra (1885) by Friedrich Nietzsche4. Harappan Civilizationi) Has been forgotten for centuries, very peaceful ii) Prosperous between 2600 and 1900 BCiii) Located in the Indus River Valleyiv) Had Urban planning1. Trading Networks2. Harappan Scriptv) Very Mysterious end, just disappeared 5. The Aryans 1. The Indo-Aryansi) Moved to Punjab (India) by 1400 BCii) Migration1. British theory of “Aryan Invasion”(a) Historians believed ancient India was invaded by Aryans and transformed Indiinto Caucasiansiii) Rig Veda- only source about the Aryansiv) Economic Transformations in the Ganges River Valley v) Second Urbanization 1. 1200-400 BC6.
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