The Ancient World (3000 - 700 BCE) Flashcards
Describe some aspects of Sumerian culture?
- Centralized hierarchies headed by rulers who often had priestly roles
- Each of the cities were seen as the home of one of the major Sumerian gods (Nanna at Ur, Innana at Uruk)
- Developed the first full writing system (Cuneiform)
What is a Ziggurat?
Stepped temple towers in honor of Sumerian deities
Describe in general the complex civilizations that had arisen around the world by around 3000 BCE.
Mesopotamia, along the Nile in Egypt, along the Yangtze in China, and somewhat later the advanced cultures of the Chavin in Peru and Olmecs in Mexico.
Europe’s first sophisticated culture, the Minoans, flourished on Crete around 2000 BCE.
What is the first full writing system created?
Cuneiform in Sumerian Culture.
Who first united the separate city-states of Sumeria and when?
King Lugalzagesi (of Umma) around 2400 BCE - he conquered Ur and Uruk and reduced the eastern city of Lagash to dependent status.
What empires/civilizations followed that of Sumeria, and established dominance over the entire region.
Babylonian and Assyrian Empires
Describe the rise and fall of Ur (south of modern Iraq) from ~3000-2000 BCE.
- Began thriving around 2900 BCE becoming extremely wealthy
- The tombs of rulers Queen Pu-abi and Meskalamdug have yielded artifacts of great value.
- Eclipsed politically by Sargon of Akkad, but Ur-Nammu founded the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2050 BCE and flourished for years on the shoulders of forced labor.
- Ur Nammu’s heirs extended the empire (especially Shulgi, 2094-2047 BCE)
- Under Ibbi-Sin (ruled 2028-2004) outlying regions broke away and invaders from nearby Elam finally ended the Third Dynasty’s power.
What areas did the Akkadian Empire encompass? What years?
Modern Iraq, SW Iran, Syria, Lebanon, SE Turkey
~2300-2083 BCE
Describe some features of the Akkadian Empire.
- A calendar was introduced for the whole of babylonia
- New systems of taxation and standardized weights and measures were imposed.
- Akkadian became the language of the government.
Name the rulers following Sargon of Akkad and describe the eventual collapse of the empire.
- Naram-sin, Sargon’s grandson, who squashed rebellion and was worshipped as the “king of the world”
- The empire collapsed under Shar-kali-sharri, the son of Naram-sim.
What areas were included in Babylon?
Modern Iraq, SE Syria
When did Babylonian kings start carving out their empire? What period did this start?
Around 1900 BCE, marking the start of the “Old Babylonian” period
When did Hammurabi rule?
1792-1750 BCE
Where did Hammurabi say he received his code of law?
From the justice god Shamash
Describe Hammurabi’s conquests during his reign?
After Shamsi-Adad’s death, he extended his city-state’s reach and conquered the whole of southern Mesopotamia between 1766-1761 BCE.
Describe the decline of Babylon?
Under Samusuiluna (ruled 1749-1712), Hammurabi’s son, Babylon faced serious rebellion and Nippur and Ur broke away. The south of Mesopotamia went into decline, but the old dynasty continued to rule the North until 1595 BCE, when the Kassites sacked the city.
What area were the Hittites from?
A kingdom in central Anatolia (modern day Turkey), but was constantly shifting it’s borders based upon conquest.
Although comparatively little is know about the Hittite Old Kingdom, name some of the known leaders in chronological order?
The first ruler, Hattusili, founded Hattusa in about 1650 BCE.
Under his successor, Mursili I (ruled 1620-1590 BCE) the Hittites campaigned in Syria, but by the reign of Telipinu (1525-1500 BCE) Hatti was once again reduced to its core territory around the Capital (Hattusa).
Name some of the main leaders during the new Kingdom of Hittites?
Tudhaliya III (ruled 1360-1344) , the first ruler of the new kingdom, the Hittites expanded again, defeating the rulers of Aleppo and Mitanni.
Hatti reached it’s height under Suppiluliuma I (ruled 1344-1322 BCE), who conquered northern Syria and threatened Egyptian control over Palestine.
Mutawalli II (ruled 1295-1272 BCE) fought the Egyptians in a bitterly contested battle at Kadesh in 1274 BCE, which both sides claimed victory.
Describe the collapse of the late Bronze Age?
In the late Bronze Age of the near east, diplomatic communities had developed a thriving system based on bronze.
Between 1200 and 1050 BCE, raids and migrations overwhelmed the established powers. The collapse appears to have began a little before 1200 BCE, when the citadels of Mycenaean Greece were destroyed.
The fall included the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Kassites in Babylon.
Where were the Phoenicians located and when were they in power?
Lebanon and the Mediterranean coastline.
In power from around 1200 BCE to ~146 BCE.
What were the Phoenicians known for?
They were skilled navigators that built many boats and established successful trade routes across the Mediterranean. They’re also known for their alphabet.
What areas were included in the Assyrian Empire and when were they in power??
Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and SW Turkey.
In power from ~2000 BCE - 610 BCE.
Name some of the leaders and main events during the height of the Assyrian Empire?
The Assyrians carved out an empire under the reign of Assur-Ubalit (1363-1328 BCE).
They conquered Babylon in the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I (ruled 1243 - 1207 BCE).
Assyria then fell to the “Sea Peoples” and didn’t recover until around 1000 BCE when the Neo-Assyrian empire emerged.
Describe some of the main leaders and events in the Neo-Assyrian empire and what they were known for?
The Neo-Assyrians were known as fierce warriors, utilizing chariots and new iron weaponry, along with terror tactics and mass executions.
Assurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III expanded the Assyrian territory, then a brief decline that was revived by Tiglath-Pileser II and his heir Sargon II.
Describe the collapse of the Assyrian empire?
In 612 BCE, a coalition of Medes and Babylonians captured the Assyrian capital Nineveh. By 610 BCE the empire had vanished.
When and where did writing develop?
Writing developed independently in five different areas: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China and Mesoamerica.
Describe the earliest forms of writing and where they were developed?
Cuneiform - wedge-shaped writing in Mesopotamia
Pictoral Heiroglyphs - used in Egypt from around 3200 BCE.
Many early forms of writing were logographic, which means what?
Each symbol represents an entire word or idea. Egyptian and Mesopotamian writings mixed logograms with symbols that represented sounds.
What is the Rosetta Stone?
A stone that paralleled texts in hieroglyphic, demotic and Ancient Greek that allowed Francois Champollion to decipher it in 1822-1824.
What were the earliest alphabets?
The people of Ugarit in Syria developed a cuneiform alphabet around 2000 BCE.
Turquoise miners in Sinai used another early alphabet system shortly afterward, and it may have been this script, with 30 signs, that spread northward into Phoenicia where it evolved into the 22-sign Phoenician alphabet around 1000 BCE.
How did the Phoenician alphabet spread in influence?
It spread through the expansive trading network of the Phoenicians in the Mediterranean, which cast its influence in developing the scripts of Greece and Rome.
