4-Early Civilizations Their Cultural Heritage - Mesopotamia
4-Early Civilizations Their Cultural Heritage - Mesopotamia
4-Early Civilizations Their Cultural Heritage - Mesopotamia
HUMANITIES
• EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
AND THEIR CULTURAL
HERITAGE – I
• MESOPOTAMIA
• A civilization is often defined as a complex culture with
five characteristics:
• (1) advanced cities, -not just population, but also trade
• (2) specialized workers,
• (3) complex institutions, -government, religion, the
economy
• (4) record keeping,
• government officials had to document tax collections, the passage
of laws, and the storage of grain.
• Priests needed a way to keep track of the calendar and important
rituals.
• Merchants had to record accounts of debts and payments.
• (5) advanced technology
Agriculture and the Rise of Civilization
Civilization gradually emerged in the Middle East and northeast
Africa along great river systems as sedentary agricultural
societies increased production and developed new forms of
social organization.
• Agriculture did not always lead to civilization
• but it could stimulate the development of government
• HOW? to define property rights and organize irrigation.
– Rights over property stimulated improvements that passed on to heirs
– more extensive government.
– Irrigation projects along major rivers required cooperation among farmers, a
large labor supply, and political and economic organization to manage the
systems
• New inventions more directly promoted civilization
• HOW ?
• enabled large agricultural surpluses available in the Middle East
by 4000 B.C.,
Innovation, Specialization, and Productivity
• Among the most important technological advances
were
- The plow
– the potter’s wheel,
– wheeled vehicles,
– improved shipbuilding,
– the introduction of bronze tools.
• Each of these inventions gave rise to
– greater economic specialization,
– improved productivity,
– greater surpluses.
• The first full civilizations that arose in the Tigris-
Euphrates (by 3500 BCE)and Nile valleys (by
3000 BCE) were both dependent on the river
systems around which they were organized
• Mesopotamian civilization differed from Egyptian
in significant ways
– Different political and cultural characteristics
• By 1000 B.C.E. –river valley period ended-, both
of these formative civilizations had begun to
decline, but they produced smaller civilizations
dependent on their initial contributions.
River valleys
• Over time small and simple settlements >> larger and
complex centers with a variety of activities –agriculture,
trade, manufacturing
• Specialization>> more efficient production
• Societies with these characteristics emerged in different parts of the prehistoric world such as
Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India, more or less independent of each other in different
time periods.
• Early civilizations settled on fertile flood plains on the banks of great rivers and they were
close to grasslands suitable for raising farm animals.
• The formation of the state is a very important development in the history of humanity.
• Division of labour
• Ideal of justice
WHAT IS MESOPOTAMIA?
• It is formed by combining the Greek words —mesos—
meaning middle and —potamos—meaning river, and
literally means “the land between two rivers.”
• It is the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
stretching from the southeast of Anatolia to the Persian
Gulf.
• It is the intersection point of the Nile and Indus river
civilizations.
• different cultures and languages come together; therefore,
it has been a region where permanent effects were left in
the fields of writing, technology, language, trade, religion
and law.
• the Fertile Crescent
• hosted settlement with the drying of the swamps in 4000 BC.
• When they settled in the region, they knew how to make pottery.
The first real mechanical tool, The "potter's wheel", which is thought
to have appeared around 3500 BC, is one of the Sumerian inventions.
• Again, the oldest known sailing boat is a model found in a Sumerian
tomb around 3500 BC. Shortly thereafter, two-wheeled chariots and
wheeled vehicles used for intercity transportation of goods appeared.
• Invention of writing: The first writing system was developed by the
Sumerians in 4000 BC. After about 1000 years, the cuneiform script
was adopted. Especially the Sumerian priests used writing to record
the goods that were previously found in temples, and warehouses.
• The Sumerians produced written works in the
field of written literature for the first time in
history. Creation and the Epic of
Gilgamesh, The Flood Story
Private property
Social stratification
Lowest: small peasants, daily
workers, serfs, slaves
Slaves
Born as a slave
Becomes a slave
Middle strata:
scribes, artisans, traders
Craftsmen:
pottery, metalworking, weaving, carpentry, boat
making, stone carving, brewing, goldsmithing,
bakery, basketry, pastry making, perfumery
Law: marriage, divorce, inheritance, corruption
Women's right to divorce and remarriage
A woman can own property.
Receives a share of the inheritance
Writing:
Collection, storage, distribution of surplus product
Literacy privilege
•
• Gods in human form –forces of nature
• Fortune telling
Science ?
• advanced in mathematics
• used their calculations to help understand the
movement of the sun and stars.
• The Sumerians created patterns of observation
and abstract thought,
• the science of astronomy
• a numeric system based on units of 12,60, and
360, still useful to many societies
• Calendars –phases of the Sun and the Moon
– Important for agricultural societies
– Lunar calendar with 12 lunar months