World Civ to the 18th century

Codify

Precise standards of social conduct

Code of Hammurabi

• Upper class - heavy responsibilities fully under law

• Middling - free peoples, merchants and such

• Enslaved peoples - People who were conquered or captured - no rights

Distinction in Hammurabi law codes

• Committing violence (up) to any point, the punishment is more severe than if you were committing violence to a lower class

• Punishment is more harsh to full citizens or those who have influence

• A husband would be allowed to divorce and dismiss his wife for not giving him sons in return for paying back the dowry to his family

• Societal justice (an eye for an eye)

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The story deals with themes such as the possibility of immortality, conflict, friendship, and resurrection

Gilgamesh’s people cry out to the gods because of his harsh rule — The gods send their champion. After searching the world for immortality, he does not find it. He returns back to his people and decides to be a just king.

Egypt

• 3500 BC - we have evidence of basic economic practices developing among the Nile River Valley

• Around 3100 BC you see the removal / disappearance of most outside influences — more of a singular culture

• Around 2700 BC was the development of Egyptian hieroglyphics

Importance of the Nile in Egypt

• They refer to Egypt as the “gift of the river” — they learned to use the flooding to their advantage through irrigation and communication

Characteristics

• Egypt developed a conservative, unquestioning society. conformity.

• The Pharaoh’s rule was absolute because they ruled as gods

• Physical geography played a tremendously important role in shaping Egyptian life

The Egyptians view of the pharaoh

The pharaoh made the law. There was no need for an extensive code or law because the pharaoh decided what was right and wrong. The people accepted this because they had no power, and to not disrupt the idea of “ma’at” that the pharaoh embodies

ma’at

Right ways — a right order and way to do all of life (thinking and acting)

Ra

The sun god, seen as the supreme god

Isis

The goddess of fertility responsible for the flooding of the Nile

How did Egyptians view their bodies after death?

They believed that their body met their spirit after death and therefore developed advanced methods of embalming.

The Great Pyramid(s)

The Great Pyramid of Khufu/Cheops (Pharaoh) — built around 2650 BC with around 100,000 workers who worked over the course of 25 years.

Thebes

A class of the wealthy that are expected to maintain social codes and beauty.

The Hebrews

The ancient Hebrews stand out among all other ancient peoples because it the influence they had with their theology and mortality

Ethical monotheism

• belief in one god that shapes how you live your life / a god that sustains the universe but also loves his people

City-state

A secular government in which a considerable amount of power and responsibilities are shared among the citizens

Aspects about city-states

• Loyalty belongs to your city-state

• Around 300 city-states emerged in Greece

• A typical city-state had around 20-30k, and was roughly the size of an American county.

The Particularism of the Greeks

Historians say that this aspect of the Greeks was both the strength of the Greek world but also their greatest weakness

Homer

The most famous of all the Greek Poets

The Iliad and the Odyssey

The most famous epic poems

The Iliad

A Homeric epic that revolves around Achilles and the Trojan war

The Odyssey

A Homeric epic that revolves around Odysseus’s account of returning home to Ithaca

Greek Drama

The Greeks aren’t only known for these interesting plays, but the amphitheaters they created and actors that embody emotion.