Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 The First Civilizations

• Early Humans
• Mesopotamian Civilization
• The First Empires

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Early Humans

• DID YOU KNOW? Scientists believe early humans
  made tools from other materials besides stone.
  They probably used wooden sticks to dig holes and
  used bark from trees to make containers. Unlike
  stone, these organic materials decay, so remnants
  from the early humans are unavailable.

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Early Humans

• History is the story of humans in the past, and
  historians are the people who study and write
  about humans of the past.
• Archaeologists hunt for evidence buried in the
  ground. Anthropologists study how humans
  developed and related to each other.
• The early period of human history is called the
  Stone Age. The earliest part of the Stone Age is
  called the Paleolithic period.

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Early Humans- Paleolithic People

• Paleolithic people were nomads- traveling from
  place to place to hunt and search for food.
• Women cared for children, gathered berries, nuts,
  and grains.
• Men hunted using clubs, spears, traps, bows and
  arrows.
• Adapted to their environment. For example
  Those in warm climates wore little clothing.

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Early Humans- Paleolithic People cont.

• Paleolithic people discovered fire
• Fire kept them warm, lit the darkness, scared off
  wild animals, and allowed them to cook meat which
  lasted longer.

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Early Humans- Ice Ages

• Ice Ages refer to long periods of extreme cold.
  During the Ice Ages, thick sheets of ice covered
  parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.
  (Beringia)

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Early Humans- Paleolithic People

• Developed spoken language and expressed
  themselves through art, which may have had
  religious meaning.
• Created tools such as spears and hand axes using
  stone called flint

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Neolithic Times

• People began to domesticate, or tame animals,
  during the Neolithic Age. Domesticated animals
  carried goods and provided meat, milk, and wool.
• People in different parts of the world began
  growing crops about the same time. This is
  referred to as the farming revolution.
• SEE MAP ON PAGE 13

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Neolithic Times

• Because farmers needed to stay close to their
  fields, they built permanent homes in villages.
  Two of the oldest known villages are Jericho
  (present day Israel and Jordan) and Catal Huyuk
  (present day Turkey).

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Neolithic Times

• Permanent villages provided people with security
  and steady food. The surplus food led to a
  larger population.
• Not all people in a village were farmers. Others
  made pottery, mats, and cloth. They traded these
  goods for things they didnt have.
• People continued to create new technology. They
  created better farming tools and began working
  with metal, copper, bronze, and tin.

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OTZI THE ICEMAN
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Section 1 Discussion Question

• Why was farming important to the Neolithic
  people?
• Farming allowed people to settle in one place,
  and it provided a steady food supply.

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Ch. 1 Section 2- Mesopotamian Civilization (pg.
16-23)

• Civilizations are complex societies with cities,
  governments, art, religion, class divisions, and
  a writing system.
• Rivers were important because they made for good
  farming conditions as well as made it easy for
  people to travel and trade.
• Governments were formed because someone had to
  make plans and decisions for the common good.

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Mesopotamian Civilization

• Mesopotamia is a flat plain bounded by the Tigris
  and Euphrates Rivers.
• Meso is Greek for middle.
• Mesopotamia is also referred to as the cradle of
  civilization, fertile crescent, land between the
  rivers.

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Mesopotamian Civilization

• Floods were frequent and unpredictable. Farmers
  learned to control the rivers with dams and
  channels. They also used the river to irrigate,
  or water their crops.
• Many cities formed in a southern region of
  Mesopotamia known as Sumer.
• Sumerian city-states had their own governments.
  They often fought each other. To protect
  themselves, city-states build walls around
  themselves.

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Sumerians

• Believed in many gods. Each city-state had a
  ziggurat, or a grand temple, to honor the gods.
• Most were farmers but some were artisans, or
  skilled workers. Others were merchants and
  traders.
• Sumerian city-states had three classes.
• Upper Class (kings, priests, gov. officials)
• Middle Class (artisans, merchants, fishers,
  farmers)
• Lower Class (slaves)

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A Skilled People

• Mesopotamia has been called the cradle of
  civilization because of the influence of Sumerian
  ideas on other areas
• Sumerians developed a writing system called
  cuneiform. Only a few people, called scribes,
  learned to write.
• Sumerians also produced the oldest known story,
  the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• Invented new technologies wagon wheel, sailboat,
  and the plow.
• Developed many mathematical ideas geometry,
  number system based on 60, and a 12-month
  calendar.

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Sargon and Hammurabi

• Sargon set up the worlds 1st Empire by conquering
  all of Mesopotamia. He was the King of the
  Akkadians. An Empire is a group of many
  different lands under one ruler.
• After Sargon, another group of people bacame
  powerful. They built the city of Babylon on the
  Euphrates River.
• The Babylonian king, Hammurabi, conquered lands
  north and south of Babylon to create the
  Babylonian Empire.

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Hammurabi's Law Code

• The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of laws
  covering crimes, farming, business activities,
  and marriage and family. Many punishments in the
  code were cruel, but the code was an important
  step in the development of a justice system.
• Read You Decide on pages 24,25.

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Singapore

• In Singapore, police can randomly select people
  to test for drugs in their system. If found
  guilty, the death penalty will be enacted.
• It is also illegal to chew gum or smoke in
  public. Severe punishment will be given for
  these acts.

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Iran

• Fines, public floggings, and long prison terms
  are common. Former Muslims who have converted to
  other religions, as well as persons who encourage
  Muslims to convert, are subject to arrest and
  possible execution. Drinking, possession of
  alcoholic beverages and drugs, un-Islamic dress,
  as well as public displays of affection with a
  member of the opposite sex are considered to be
  crimes.

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Ch. 1 Section 3- The First Empires

• The Assyrian empire arose about 1,000 years after
  the rule of Hammurabi.
• The Assyrian army was the first large army to use
  iron weapons. Thus, their weapons were stronger
  than those of copper and tin. They fought on
  horseback and used spears, daggers, bows and
  arrows, and chariots.
• Assyrian Capital was Nineveh. (Jonah and the
  whale)

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Assyrians

• Empire was divided into provinces, which are
  political districts.
• One of the first libraries was in Nineveh and
  held 25,000 tablets of stories and songs.
• People began to rebel because of Assyrias cruel
  treatment. The Chaldeans rebelled and took
  control on Nineveh in 612 B.C.

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The Chaldeans

• Nebuchadnezzar was the king.
• Descendents of Babylonians.
• Rebuilt Babylon, which became center of the
  Chaldeans Empire.
• Nebuchadnezzar ordered the Hanging Gardens to be
  built for his wife, who missed her green,
  mountainous homeland. The Hanging Gardens were
  on of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  (See page 29)

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The Chaldeans

• Were merchants, artisans, and traders. Babylon
  was on a major trade route and profited from
  trade. Merchants would trade their items to
  passing caravans, groups of traveling merchants.
• They studied the sky to understand the gods.
  Their astronomers mapped the stars, planets, and
  phases of the moon.
• Eventually they lost control of their Empire to
  the Persians.

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Discussion Question

• What made Babylon the worlds richest city?
• Being on a major trade route meant merchants and
  artisans benefited from trade. They city also
  had beautiful structures, such as the Hanging
  Gardens and the Ishtar Gate.

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Ishtar Gate
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon dedicated the
great Ishtar Gate to the goddess Ishtar. It was
the main entrance into Babylon. King
Nebuchadnezzar II performed elaborate building
projects in Babylon around 604-562 BC. His goal
was to beautify his capital.