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This chapter traces the rise of civilizations in the Middle East over a period of three thousand years and the contributions that these cultures and empires made to Western civilization. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, we see the development of agriculture and technology accompanied by the emergence of great cities and stratified societies. Art, religion, warfare, law, and, most importantly, writing gained sophistication as these ancient cultures interacted with each other. The ideas of the earliest civilizations were taken up by the cultures that followed. Writing was crucial because it facilitated this process of cross-fertilization. Learning ObjectivesIn Chapter 1, students learn about the pre-historic evolution of the ancestors of human beings beginning ca. 600,000 B.C.E., and the origins of tool-using modern humans ca. 40,000 B.C.E. in sub-Saharan Africa. about the organization of pre-historic human groups by kin and religion. how, in Mesopotamia, agriculture and animal husbandry brought about the population growth needed for the foundation of cities, with their labor and social specialization. about the complexity of daily life in Sumerian cities, and the unique roles of slaves, women, priests, workers and rulers. about the rise of Mesopotamian kingship; the growth of empires. about the use of religion by the Akkadian conqueror Sargon to unite and pacify Akkadians and Sumerians. how the prosperity of Egypt gave way to crisis and invasion. about Phoenician trade, colonization, wealth and writing. about the development of monotheism among the ancient Hebrews; how they developed social cohesion despite exile and diaspora; the use of the Bible as a historical source. about the influence of Zoroastrianism, with its emphasis on both good and evil as active forces, on Jewish and Christian theology. |