midterm 1 Flashcards
V. Gordon Childe: the Urban Revolution
-Viewed culture change as revolutions: urban revolution
Result: class-based society less reliant on kinship / unified by religious ideology
Karl Wittfogel’s
“Hydraulic hypothesis” (irrigation leads to central authority) People submit themselves to this authority voluntarily
Authority eventually controls other activities: e.g., trade
Carneiro’s “Coercive Hypothesis”
If fertile farmland is bordered by desert, mountains, ocean then it is circumscribed (e.g. farmland is
limited)
Farmers settle on the floodplain/fertile lands until all land is taken up
The population keeps increasing and puts pressure on food resources
Only option is to take other people’s land
James Henry
Breasted
1916 suggested
that the exceptional fertility of the Nile and
the Euphrates floodplains was primary
cause of rise of states in these valleys – the
“Fertile Crescent Hypothesis
King Narmer
The Narmer Palette a slab slate found ar Nekton in upper Egypt carved on both sides with scenes that commemorate King Narmer
Khufu
Khufu builds Great Pyramid
on Giza plateau (near Cairo)
Smooth-sided pyramids with
limestone blocks with paved
causeways linked to mortuary
temples
Ahmose
Kamose son and was determined to secure his Asian frontier and turned Egypt into a efficiently run military state
Tutankhamun
New kingdom Pharaoh tomb that was found and it unleashed a epidemic of Egyptomania this mania took form in a variety of ways; preoccupation with golden pharaohs, with the mystical, with the alleged properties of pyramid power and ancient Egyptian religion, or with the curses of royal mummies immortalized in successive Hollywood movies. A
Sir Leonard
Woolley
excavated the Cemetery of Ur just outside the sacred precinct of Ur
2500 burials (possibly more)
were simple pits, dead
wrapped in mats or in
wooden coffin (commoners)
16 graves are ‘royal’ with
lavish grave goods, buried in
brick or stone chambers
with human sacrifices,
prestigious objects
Ea (Enki)
Utnapishtim was warned by god Ea (created humans) and was told to
build an ark for himself, his family and other living creatures
The flood comes and kills everyone and everything except those on the
ark
When gods discovered that Utnapishtim survived they were angry but
then relieved that he had saved animals and humanity, so the gods
grant Utnapishtim and his wife immortality to be spent in paradise
Gods then restored kingship and civilization with a dynasty at Kish,
one of its kings was Enmegaragesi – an historic king dated to 2600
BCE
Anu
Gilgamesh exploited his people building his great city and its
walls, so his people appealed for help from the sky god Anu
Anu creates a wild man called Enkidu in the forest who eventually goes to Uruk
and meets Gilgames
Ensi (n- seed)
(“Ensi” – Lord of
the Plowland) was the king of Erku
Khafre
Builder of the second pyramid at Giza c. 2560
-builds the middle
pyramid with the Sphinx
guarding his mortuary templ
Amenhotep(Ah man)
reigned for a mere three years and was succeeded by 8 year old
Ramesses II
the Temple of Amun at Karnak the columns of the Hypostyle Hall, completed by pharaoh Ramesses they formed lotus flowers which is the symbols of rebirth in ancient Egyptian religion
Enlil
Those who were successful built shrines at Nippur to signal their devotion to the preeminent god, Enlil, whose main temple was there, and to proclaim their authority.
Nippur was a Sumerian city and Enlil a Sumerian god.
Utnapishtim
Utnapishtim was warned by god Ea (created humans) and was told to
build an ark for himself, his family and other living creatures
Sumerian version of Noah in the Epic of Gilgamesh
Gods of Shuruppak decided to get rid of people (too noisy
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was an historic king of Uruk ~2600 BCE and was considered part
god, part human (Epic also describes the city of Uruk)
He was a young king who exploited his people building his great city and its
walls, so his people appealed for help from the sky god Anu
Anu creates a wild man called Enkidu in the forest who eventually goes to Uruk
and meets Gilgamesh
Jean-François
Champollion
Hieroglyphic writing deciphered by Jean-François
Champollion 1822 using Rosetta Stone
Prince
Meskalamdug
Tomb with objects of gold
Name on these objects and
title of king
Wore gold helmet and
sheet-metal mask
Musical instruments,
models of boats, and games
Menkaure
builds the last and
smallest pyramid using red
granite (quality over quantity?
Hatshepsut
Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt from 1498 to 1483 b.c., a strong-willed woman who effectively usurped the authority of the child-king Tuthmosis III. Hatshep- sut was not known for her military prowess, but she was an ambitious trader.
The Hyksos
At the end of Middle Kingdom, a large number of
different ethnic groups were living in Egypt
Second intermediate marked by the rise of the
Hyksos in Lower Egypt and Theban rulers in Upper
Egypt
Queen Puabi
Stone burial chamber at bottom of
deep shaft sealed in stone vault
Puabi on wooden bier, cloak of lapis,
gold & carnelian beads, wig, gold
bands, 3 attendants
Surrounding ‘death pit’ of men ,
female attendants, oxen, grooms (59
human sacrifices) many wearing gold
and silver jewelry
Beneath her tomb is that of a man (her
husband?) with 19 female and 2 male
sacrifices, 6 oxen, chariots, musical
instruments, and silver objects
Sargon
- means legitimate ruler
- son of priestess in temple of Ishtar
- had him in secret, sent him adrift he was found and made ruler of his people
- Conquers king of Uruk, becomes ruler of Akkad and Sumer
- founder of akkadian empire builds empire by attacking neighbours
- briliant warrior
- reigns for 50 years
Naram-Sin ( sin to declare divine)
- Ruled at the peak of the Akkadian Empire
- grandson of sargon
- declares himself divine ( broke tradition by doing this)
- “king of the 4 quarters, king of the universe’
- undermines competing authority of the temple
Ur-Nammu
Divides society into 2 groups:
free and slaves
Written in first person (king) as
the voice of justice for all, even
widows and orphan
King Djoser
Pyramid is surrounded by stone wall enclosure
with temples
- Constructed the first pyramid (six-step pyramid)
- first major stone building in antiquity
- located at Saqqara
Mentuhotep II
is regarded as the founder of the Middle Kingdom and ruled for 51 years
- ruled during 11th dynasty marking transition from First Intermediate Period to the Middle Kingdom
Thutmose II
- husband of Hatshepsut who is also her brother
- overshadowed by his queen
- suppressed a revolt in Nubia, Egypt’s territory to the south, and also sent a punitive expedition to Palestine against some Bedouins.
King Shulgi
He also promulgated the law code known as the Code of Ur-Nammu after his father.
led a major modernization of the Third Dynasty of Ur
Ruler of the kingdom of Ur 2094- 2047 BCE
- known for consolidating and expanding his kingdom
- standardized administration by appointing governors, regularizing tax and tribute payments
Nabonidus
The Babylonian ruler Nabonidus excavated ancient temples to connect his reign and religious practices to a more ancient past, just as the Aztec rulers dug into the remains of the earlier cities of Tula and Teotihuacán.
King Scorpion
- Tomb U-J at abydos was a brick lined tomb for king, name scorpion inked on jars
-Mace head from cemetry at Nekhen with king scorpion wearing a white domed crown of Upper egypt and other regalia of later dynastic kingship - figure is holding a hoe, interpreted as a ritual even opening irrigation canals
Sneferu
(Snofru) built first true pyramid (but
took 3 tries)
One was stepped, one was ‘bent ‘and finally
the Red Pyramid was perfect 43º
Encased in smooth limestone
Osiris
Osiris is god and judge of the dead and
pharaoh now assimilated with Osiris after
deat
Akhenate Nefertiti
Akhenaten (1353-1347 BCE)
was married to his sister
Nefertiti
Fifth year of his reign he moves
to break the power of the
priests of Amun and makes the
cult of the sun god Aten the
state religion
Declares himself and Nefertiti
to be god
Göbekli Tepe
has recently
rewritten the period long assigned
to megalithic/monumental
construction.
The World’s Oldest Megaliths
Choga Mami site
has earliest
evidence of irrigation ~4600 BCE
and irrigation spread rapidly
Saqqara
First pyramid was built at Saqqara on west bank
of the Nile
Pyramid is surrounded by stone wall enclosure
with temples
Tell es-Sawwan
multi-roomed
mud brick buildings surrounded
by fortified wall, T-shaped
buildings possibly for grain
storage and rich burial
Eridu
According to the Sumerian
creation story, Eridu was first
settlement to rise from the
primordial sea
Thebes
Mentuhotep II from Upper Egypt reunites Egypt
Moves capital to Thebes but later his successor
moved the capital to Lisht near Memphis
Uruk
Gilgamesh was an historic king of Uruk ~2600 BCE and was considered part
god, part human (Epic also describes the city of Uruk)
White Temple &
Anu Ziggura
Dedicated to the primary
god Anu (sky god)
Built of limestone
White Temple was
decorated with cone
mosaics (cones of
different colours of clay)
White temple was
constructed atop a
massive platform, called
Anu Ziggurat
Sumer
- southern plain divide, sumer was in the south
- multi-ethnic and many different languages
- major group was Sumerian
- shared common culture, writing system, and pantheon of gods
- 20 sumerian city states, hereditary not divine kings
Valley of the
Kings
Amenhotep (~1505 BCE) decided to be
buried in secret rock-cut tombs in the Valley
of the Kings
- the burial places of the New Kingdom pharaohs
Akkad
Southern plain divided into Sumer
in the south, Akkad in north
Nippur
Most important religious
centre in Mesopotamia
Essential for political control
Nippur is home of the god
Enlil (god of the gods)
Ur
oneof the first true cities
Deir-el-Medina
Generations of necropolis workers—masons, painters, and skilled artisans—lived in a compact laborers’ community at Deir el-Medina nearby. The most expert among them were known as “Servitors of the Place of Truth,”
Abydos
Earliest workshop at This (Abydos) c. 5500 BCE
Abydos remained sacred burial place of Dynastic
king
Nekhen
Nekhen was a prosperous center
The cradle of Egyptian kingship
Main businesses were brewing beer and
pottery-making
Memphis
Memphis was capital set up by Early
Dynastic kings
Located at border between Upper and
Lower Egypt
Amarna
Akhenaten moves capital to
Amarna in Middle Egypt
Tell
What remains of
Mesopotamian cities are tells
Tells are artificial mounds on
the plain
Created by the build-up and
collapse of mud-brick
buildings and rubbish of city
dwellers over time
Many became stranded in
desert as rivers changed their
course
Tholoi
Mudbrick tholoi architecture often in a key shape
Shabtis
human sacrifices were replaced by shabtis figures who
magically came to life in afterworld and
served the dead rule
Rosetta Stone
Hieroglyphic writing deciphered by Jean-François
Champollion 1822 using Rosetta Ston
Copper
First appears 3500 BCE
widespread by 3000 BCE
Tools for agriculture and warfare
Egyptian Faience
Faience is made of crushed quartz or sand crystal
- Objects were also dipped into faience power or painted with a
slurry of the paste, fired, & produced the glassy surface
Possibly intended to imitate turquoise & other gems
Hieroglyphics
sacred writing) reserved for monumental
buildings and funerary use (combination
Cult of the Falcon
Deity (temple)
(early form of Horus),
patron god of the city’s ruler
Mastabas
Kings were buried in mastabas (low mud-brick
structures)
Kadesh
city in Syria, hub of trade held by Hittites
Battle of
Kadesh &
Treaty of
Kadesh
Both kings claimed victory! Probably a draw
Ramesses led his division too quickly into battle and became
isolated in face of Hittite army
Result was first bilateral peace treaty (Treaty of Kadesh)
Cult of Aten
Quasi-monotheistic
Only way to afterlife is through loyalty
to Akhenaten and through his
teachings
shaduf & saqiya
- traditional irrigation tools
- shaduf is a bucket on a long beam with a weight on the end, lift water bucket high to water fields
- saqiya is a water wheel turned by flow of water, buckets on wheele scope water upIrrigation is improved with the invention of
the shaduf & saqiya = population increase
Red pyramid
One was stepped, one was ‘bent ‘and finally
the Red Pyramid was perfect 43º
Encased in smooth limestone
The Red pyramid has interior chambers, one
with a corbelled ceiling
Topped with pyramidion capstone
Sphinx
Khafre’s head is depicted on the sphinx
Khafre is reborn as the sun god guarding the
necropolis of the kings
Amun-Ra
Shift in cult of sun god from Ra to
Amun-Ra
Combines Amun (southern
counterpart to Ra) with Ra
Depicted wearing a headdress with 2
tall plumes
King more approachable – presented
as shepherd of his people
-the head god
-he was the most powerful god in the New Kingdom. - Amun, the god of Thebes, and Ra, the sun god, were combined to make Amun-Ra.
Karnak &
Temples of
Amun
is a purpose-built complex of temples and
religious structures on the edge of Thebes
Surrounded by mud-brick walls (painted white)
- one of the most significant religious temples located in thebes
- religious center for amun-ra
- believed to be the spot where creation happened
kings conquering enemies while gods look-on
Halaf
Hassuna, in turn, was replaced by Halaf (6000–5400 b.c.), characterized by elegant painted pottery and in its later stage by the circular “beehive” houses excavated at Arpachiyah near Nineveh.
Hassuna
The villages of the Hassuna area, from around 6500 b.c., were clus- tered on the fertile, rain-fed plain of northern Mesopotamia
Samarra
Tell es-Sawwan, a Samarran settlement, had mud-brick houses, a central fortified area with T-shaped structures, possibly grain stores. Richly furnished burials hint at wealth, including traded materials like copper and obsidian. It reflects early developments seen later in Ubaid and Uruk periods, located in the central Mesopotamian plain.
Ubaid
- Ubaid phase (6000–4200 B.C.) originated in southern plains.
- Spread north, replacing Samarra and Halaf styles.
- Oueili (c. 6000 B.C.) exemplifies early Ubaid, reliant on irrigation near marshlands.
- Eridu (Ubaid 1) featured elaborate mud-brick structures resembling later temples.
- Religion played a key role; temples formed community centers and economic institutions.
- Ubaid people established trade networks for raw materials and luxury items.
- Trade extended to northern Mesopotamia, eastern Anatolia, and Persian Gulf coast.
- Ubaid zone served as an “interaction sphere,” connecting southern plains with other regions through trade and exchange.
What the god world was believed to be to Mesopotamians
- Mesopotamians saw a divine mirror to the living world.
- Rulers, even if not divine, had specific secular duties.
- Temples’ acceptance was vital for legitimacy.
- Gods defended the city through a council.
- Rulers provided offerings to patron gods.
- Patron gods protected against disasters and ensured a good harvest.
- Rulers made offerings to maintain gods’ favor.
- Displeasure of gods could bring negative consequences to the state.
Evolution of writing in Mesopotamia
- clay tokens - 16 shapes representing different commodities
- Bullae - hollow clay ball with tokens inside, seals were impressed on the outside
- tablets- replaced with cuneiform- mostly economic, inscriptions were shape of earlier tokens, then language sounds
City states
city is a hub of commercial, ritual, and social activity
- different jobs and status
Territorial state
- city is a political center where elite and ritual specialist lived
- rest of pop in hinterland
- taxes paid to elites
- not sure of craft
Upper egypt crown
white domed crown
- indjet
Lower egypt crown
red curled crown
- deshret
Lower egyp and upper egypt crown
mix of both
- sekhemt
Ba (b for BYE)
- spirit can leave body and room
- travel on falcon
Ka (KARE for me)
Spirit needs to be nourished
- painted on tomb like a table with food
Phases of flood plain development (HHSU)
- Hassuna - first farmers, in river valleys, used some irrigation, mud-wall and open courtyards
-. Halafian - foothills/uplands, finely painted pottery, mudbrick, rain fed - Samarra - chogo mami, canal irrigation, Tell es-sawwan room, for grain or burials
- Ubaid- foundation for mesopotamia, first farmers in southern plain, temples + irrigation
Primary elements for study of ancient states?
- urban living (densely packed)
- centralized gov’t
Where does power need to be created in levels of society? (ESP)
- economic power
- social power
- politica
Ra (RAlly hot, cRAtor)
- sun god
- creator of earth, heaven and underworld
- Egyptians believed he created seasons, plants, human kind and animals
Kingdoms
- state under centralized authority from capital city
Intermediaries
- power became decentralized held by local authorities
