Chapter 2: Complex Societies in Southwest Asia and the Nile Valley Flashcards
Where were most civilizations started?
In Mesopotamia
What does Mesopotamia mean
Land between 2 rivers. The Tigris and Euphrates
What does Fertile Crescent mean and why was Mesopotamia called this?
It means healthy and full of goodness. They had rich soil that was good for farming due to the close rivers.
What was important aspects in Mesopotamia
Religious beliefs
Legal Structure (law)
Literature
Mesopotamia was the first to do what
Make laws
What is Cuneiform
Written language
How was Mesopotamia’s writing preserved.
With clay tablets that still exist to today.
How did Mesopotamians write
With symbols in certain orders to make words
All languages do what over time?
Evolve
What was most cuneiform about
Legal transactions, laws, and other business transactions
What were the 3 kingdoms during ancient Egyptian times.
Old, Middle, and New Kingdom
What is a pyramid used for
It is a halfway house that the king, who is seen as a direct descendant to a god, is buried here. This is so that his physical body can rest while his spiritual one ascends to be with the gods.
Old Kingdoms qualities
Prosperous, stable, lasted 800 years.
Why did the old kingdom fall
Was more than likely internal problems such as political, famine, or that the pharaohs were products of incest and were just bred to basically nothing.
What are the two reasons why a kingdom will fall?
Internal or external issues.
What did the fall of the Old Kingdom cause
Civil unrest, political problems, and there were no written records of this time mostly because people were busy with other things.
The Middle Kingdom was called what, and what were its qualities
The Golden Age, it was wealthy, prosperous, influential, they have also done away with pyramid building.
What did the Middle Kingdom build instead of pyramids
Temples, all of the structures ever built were not near the nile in case of flooding
In the age of the Middle Kingdom you will find examples of what
Trade
Why does the Middle Kingdom collapse
External invasion by the Hyksos people. They won because they used war chariots and bronze weapons. The Egyptians were using copper (which was soft and weak)
From 1786 to 1570 Egypt was under the control by the Hyksos, after they defeated them in 1570 what began?
The New Kingdom
How did this change the Egyptian’s point of view
They know understand the importance of territory and the expansion of it. They expanded into the fertile crescent and became very aggressive.
Who was Akhenaten and why was he important
This king tried to give a new monotheistic religious revolution. The god was Aten. The people did not like this at all, and the priest went on to kill him.
What is the importance of Akhenaten’s son, King Tut?
Tut was not a strong, influential ruler. Ruled as a young teen and died as a teen. But his temple was found full of jewels and gold. So researchers can infer that other stronger rulers had so so so much more in their tombs.
How did the New Kingdom end?
This is when ancient Egypt ended. External enemies, internal problems and now foreign powers would rule it.
