Study Guide

I. Mystery of the Pyramids

• Pyramid Builders

  • Khufu

    • second pharaoh of the 4th dynasty

    • built the great pyramid of Giza

  • Sneferu

    • first pharaoh of the 4th dynasty (khufu’s father)

    • built the bent pyramid

  • Djoser

    • pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty

    • built the step pyramid

• Cataracts

  • shallow river rapids

  • 6 cataracts in the nile

• Nile River

  • the “lifeline of egypt”

    • fertile land

    • transportation

    • irrigation

• Narmer

  • first king of egypt

  • united upper and lower egypt

• Mummification

  • preserved bodies for the afterlife

• Sled

  • sleds were used to carry limestone blocks into place when building pyramids

• Temple

  • sacred places where priests served the gods

  • believed to be houses for gods

• Tomb

  • structures that housed the bodies of pharaohs after death

• Theories of Construction

  • Jean-Pierre Houdin

    • french architect who developed the internal ramp theory of the great pyramid of giza

      • theory suggests that an external ramp was used to build the first 30% of the pyramid, and an internal ramp was used to take stones up the rest of the way

  • Ramp Theory

    • theory that states ramps were used to carry stones into place when building a pyramid

  • Notch

    • used to aid in the construction of pyramids

  • Plumb Bob

    • a tool used to vertically level an object to the ground

  • John Romer

    • egyptologist; studied the great pyramid

• Sediments

  • nutrient rich grains at the bottom of the nile

    • when the nile river would flood every year, these grains would be deposited into nearby soil to help fertilize crop

• Afterlife

  • egyptians spent their whole life in preparation for the afterlife.

  • the egyptians had an elaborate set of practices they believed were necessary to secure immortality after death (for example; mummification, and the construction of one’s pyramid/tomb)

• Limestone

  • type of rock used in the construction of pyramids

II. Origin Narratives

• Enuma Elish

  • babylonian created story

  • written on seven tablets

• Abrahamic Religions

  • all were monotheistic (one god)

  • judaism, christianity, and islam

  • abraham was the father of many nations and would become the patriarch of three of the worlds major religions

  • abrahamic religions were centered around the worship of the god abraham

• Adam and Eve

  • a part of christanianity

  • garden of eden is the beginning of our creation

  • the first people that were created by god and were brought to earth

  • the name adam connects to man, blood, and land

• Garden of Eden

  • the beginning of our creation

  • symbolic space of perfect harmony, place of peace/happiness

  • when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, we became sinful humans

• Aboriginal Stories

  • the belief that everything came from spirits

• Star Child

  • a meteor with a baby inside hit the earth

  • crater was formed and thats where life was produced

• Big Bang Theory

  • the leading explanation for how the universe began

  • idea that the universe began as a single point, then expanded and grew

  • small point of energy exploded with great force, creating matter and propelling it outword to make the billions of galaxies of our universe

• Hero Twins

  • two twins that helped create the world and produce life

  • mayan mythology

  • brought their father back to life and made him the corn god

• Corn God

  • the maya believed in an array of gods who represented aspects of nature

  • the corn god was one of the most important gods because cord was such a staple and crucial crop

  • the story presents the idea that human beings were created from maize or corn

• Ganga

  • personified as a goddess and worshipped as a goddess

  • symbolized purification and forgiveness

  • worshipped by hindus

• Shiva

  • known as The Destroyer within the trimuruti (the hindu trinity)

  • the supreme god who creates, protects, and transforms the universe

• Brahma

  • a hindu god

  • referred to as the creator within the trimuruti

  • known as the original creator of the universe

• Ex Nihilo

  • the belief that god created the world out of nothing

  • it was a statement that showed how the world was when god began creating

  • ex nihilo —> out of nothing

• World Turtle

  • representation that the earth was created as soil piled on the back of a great turtle that grows until it carries the entire world

• Aztec Story of Creation

  • a story of birth, death, and rebirth

  • when the world is destroyed, it is born again through the sacrifice of one of the gods

• Mayan Story of Creation

  • believed in many nature gods

  • itzamna created the earth, believed to give mayans writing/calendars

  • other gods that rep. storms, the sun, the sky, etc

• Egyptian Story of Creation

  • a sungod creates his son/daughter and they work together to create the world

  • evidence of these stories are found in wall decorations and writings

III. Early Humans/Agricultural Revolution

• Surplus

  • excessive amount of food that could be traded

  • only occured in agricultural settlements —> foragers did NOT have surplus because it was harder to gather extra food

• Agriculture

  • the art/science of cultivating soil, growing crops, and raising livestock

  • Selective Breeding

    • mating 2 animals together, producing more of the same animal to increase the amount of livestock —> therefore more food to support larger communities

  • Domestication of Animals

    • process of adapting wild plants and animals for human use

    • goats were one of the first animals to be domesticated, then sheep, then cows

  • Domestication of Plants

    • started the beginning of an agricultural way of life

    • first domesticated plants were wheat, corn, barley, etc

• Birth of Cities

  • first cities appeared in the neolithic period when the development of agricultural techniques assured surplus crops, enough to sustain large populations

• Migrations

  • movement from one place to another

  • many people migrated during paleolithic era because they were foragers and constantly moving to hunt

    • we call this nomadism.

• Push Factor

  • factors that push people out of a certain area

• Pull Factors

  • factors that pull people to a different area because of better things there

• Paleolithic

  • old stone age—people were nomadic, developed tools

• Neolithic

  • new stone age—discovered farming/agriculture, beginning of a settled lifestyle

• Otzi

  • man found preserved in ice in the mountains

  • contained 61 tattoos around his body; found where he experienced pain (evidence of how he dealt with pain)

  • arrowhead found in his shoulder

  • found with a copper axe and his people had domesticated crops/animals

  • had more lower body damage than upper body damage

  • came from a time period of hunting and gathering

• Survival in the Mountains

  • people who lived in the mountains developed larger hearts and high blood pressure to better survive the elevation

  • used basic stone and bone tools to gather food and survive

• Hominid

  • group consisting of all modern/extinct great apes

• Homo sapiens

  • species to which all modern human beings belong

  • species of all the primates on earth that are highly developed and evolved (like us humans)

• Homo Habilis

  • “handy man” —> this species was thought to represent the first makers of stone tools

  • extinct species of human, the most ancient representation of humans

  • have longer arms than modern humans

• Homo Evectus

  • oldest known early humans to have possessed a modern human-like body

  • “upright man”

  • shorter arms and longer legs like humans

• Neanderthal

  • earliest known examples of extinct species of humans

  • have a different brain and pelvis than modern humans

• Australopithecus

  • group of extinct primates related to modern humans

  • from africa

  • early humans, somewhat similar to modern humans

• Artifact

  • object made by a human

  • can give archeologists information about the past

• Archeology

  • the study of human history through the analysis of artifacts/physical remains

  • this is significant because we can uncover what life was like many years ago

• Carbon Dating

  • determining the age or date of organic matter

  • accurate for items thousands of years old

  • helps us learn more about past civilizations

• Olduvai Gorge

  • site of the first human beings and their remains

• Tools

  • used in the paleolithic age—made life easier with hunting, gatherin, building, etc

  • usually made of chert, flint, and stone, but sometimes iron-strong metal

• Weapons

  • spears were a very common weapon made out of chert and flint

  • made it easier to catch many animals

    • harpoons/fishhooks made it possible for coastal people to catch more fish

  • development of farming tools affected where people settled

• Cognitive Revolution

  • first large revolution that occurred 70,000 years ago

  • allowed humans to communicate at a level never seen before in languages

  • allowed us to talk about things we have never seen—such as myths

  • occurred due to genetic mutation

  • allowed humans to do collective learning

• Collective Learning

  • ability of people to share and communicate knowledge over time; one group can teach others

  • helped create new techniques and tools with more knowledge

  • collective learning is a result of the cognitive revolution

• Flint Knapping

  • art/skill of creating tools and points out of stone

  • helped produce tools and weapons such as spear heads/arrow heads

• Language

  • system of communication; how humans convey meaning

  • used symbolic language

    • language that uses symbols to represent words/meaning

  • allows collective learning to occur

• Out of Africa Theory

  • people thought that humans developed in their own areas, but the theory states that humans came from africa and developed by migrating/spreading around the world

• Foraging

  • hunting/gathering food from nature

  • scavenging animals

  • foragers were in the paleolithic era when people were nomadic and always moving around to hunt and gather food

• Nomads

  • had no permanent home and was always migrating from place to place

  • people were nomads during the paleolithic

  • nomadism stopped once people started to settle into the neolithic era due to the agricultural revolution

• Specialization and Craftsmanship

  • because farming and agriculture was more efficient than foraging, not everyone had to do it

    • people chose to focus on specific skills—not everyone has to focus on farming

  • began making better tools, and could focus on the development of language and religion (unites communities)

• Social Class

  • civilizations had a system of social classes that were divided into the ruling class

    • ruling class: made up of royalty/government officials

    • common people: farmers, artisans, and merchants (lower class)

IV. Mesopotamia

• Cradle of Civilization

  • referred to as the fertile crescent

  • crescent-shaped region in western asia and north africa that carried fertile land for agriculture

  • where civilizations were developed independent of other civilizations

• Babylonian Empire

  • known for confiding laws, and occupied the middle and southern part of mesopotamia

  • people were polytheistic in babylon (worshipped many gods)

  • hammurabi was the king of babylonia and was the first to write laws down

  • ancient akkadian-speaking state

  • contained a social class with the citizens on top, free slaves, then enslaved people

  • women were not highly ranked and had to stay loyal to their husbands

  • empire fell after the death of hammurabi

• Assyrian Empire

  • major ancient mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city state

  • the first area to develop iron weapons, superior to the bronze ones

  • they were the first to surrender

  • they contained a professional army

    • constantly highly trained

    • made highly protective armor and spears of iron

• Akkadian Empire

  • independent collection of citystates

  • sargon became the king of akkad and contained an army that started to conquer neighboring citystates and soon established the akkadian empire

  • weak provincial control

• Sumerian

  • person from the civilization of sumer

  • sumerians developed writing systems and trained scribes

    • developed cuneiform

• Sargon

  • became the king of akkad and had new ideas for the citystate

  • he would capture citystates, conquering all of southern mesopotamia and syria, anatolia, etc

  • one of the earliest of the worlds great empire builders

• Gilgamesh

  • was the king of uruk

  • was in the epic poem: epic of gilgamesh

    • written on clay tablets

    • helped influence roman/european epic poetry and culture

    • the first epic written

    • gave us insight into sumerian thoughts/beliefs

• Enkidu

  • character and best friend of gilgamesh in the epic of gilgamesh

  • was created to help gilgamesh become a better ruler because people were extremely tired of him

  • 1/3 human, 2/3 beast

  • is killed by the goddess ishtar

• Assurbanipal

  • king who ruled the largest empire in the world

  • king of assyria

• Polytheism

  • belief/worship of many gods

  • sumeria, akkadia, assyria, and babylonia were polytheistic

• Ziggurat

  • form on monumental architecture originating in ancient mesopotamia

  • was on a mountain raised for the worship of gods

    • it was believed that gods were in the sky, and being up high meant being closer to them physically

• Battering Rams

  • armored, wheeled structures containing a large log/ram to bash against locked gates

• Iron Age

  • assyrians started to use iron and bronze for warfare weapons

  • iron was less rare and more efficient

  • helped lead civilizations to more permanent settlements and revolutionized tools, weapons, and warfare

  • iron was a longer-lasting and stronger than bronze

• Irrigation

  • the watering of land to make it ready for agriculture

  • helped increase the amount of food farmers were able to grow, crops grew consistently

  • required less work from people

• Cuneiform

  • groups of wedges/lines used to write several languages

  • evolved to make it easier to write

  • helped with trading

• Phonetic Writing System

  • the letters in a certain word stand for the noises that are made to say it

  • rosetta stone held 3 written languages on it—how we started translations

• Scribe

  • specialized writers

  • select group of wealthy men were allowed to attend school and would write on clay tablets that were able to be preserved

  • sumerians trained the scribes extremely hard because it was a very desirable job

• Hammurabi’s Code

  • a collection of 282 rules, with set punishments to meet his requirements of justice

  • controlled people’s daily life and behavior

  • first set of written laws

• Fertile Crescent

  • a crescent-shaped region in the middle-east, extending around the tigris and euphrates rivers

  • gave rise to the world’s earliest civilizations because the land was perfect for supporting large populations

• Empire

  • a political unit having territory of great extent under authority

  • the akkadian empire was the first ancient empire of mesopotamia

• Behistan Inscription

  • multilingual inscription, includes 4 panels of cuneiform writing around a set of 3D figures, cut into limestone

  • visualizes the king of the persian empire and his death

• Lugalzagesi

  • the last sumerian king before the conquest of sumer by sargon of akkad in the rise of the akkadian empire

  • first conquered the major cities of lagash and kish, then overcame the sumerian cities of ur and uruk

• Siege Towers

  • tall wooden wheeled towers doused in water, so they would not burn

  • engineers built ramps up the walls, designed a siege plan, built ladders, etc

  • assyrians were very very VERY good at seige warfare

• Curved Shields

  • large rectangle curved chield made from 3 sheets of wood vlued together and covered with canvas and leather

  • would cary sheilds and swords/daggers to protect themselves in warfare

• Engineers

  • a person who designs/builds machines, roads, buildings, etc

• Ur-Nammu

  • founded the sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur, in southern mesopotamia

  • has a code that says “if a man commits a murder, that man must be killed”

  • the ruler of citystate Ur

• Sumerian Achievements

  • Global Trade/Roads

    • sumerians lacked essental materials such as stone, metals, and wood, so they traded globally

    • roads were built to transport goods and armies of mesopotamia

    • roads were made of mud bricks

  • Numbering System

    • sumerians used a numerical system based on 1, 10, and 60

  • Time Measurement System

    • sumerians divided the year into 30 day months, divided the day into 12 periods, and divided the periods into 30 parts

    • helped with “inventing” time

  • Public Libraries

    • sumerians established the first public libraries; the birthplace of writing

  • Chemistry/Welding

    • sumerians would weld bronzes and iron for weapons

    • they would heat up metals to be bonded but not fully soften them

  • Metallurgy

    • the ability to combine copper with other metals, resulting in hard, but malleable metal called bronze

    • bronze age was the first metallurgical age—copper was the first metal to be used; iron was used later on

  • Hydraulic Engineering

    • a system of ditches to control flooding

    • dug vertically down throughout the tunnel to the slope of the mountain to collect and distribute water in fields for irrigation

  • Archives

    • sumerians would use picture symbols marked into clay tablets to keep records because clay was easier to be preserved

  • Currency/Weight Systems

    • currency used was the shekel, used standardized measurement for commerce and architecture

  • Beer/Wine Making

    • sumerians would mash grains, boiling wort, and ferment the mixture with yeast to make beer

    • they would drink wine of their feelings—they would drink beer a lot because it was healthier than the water they had

  • Epic Poetry, Laments, Songs and Musical Notation

    • sumerians would use cuneiform on clay tablets to represent musical compositions

    • music was played for many gods and goddesses

    • they used epic poetry to tell tales of intense adventures of heroes—epics helped influence modern writing

  • Mass Schooling

    • select group of wealthy males could attend school

    • mainly practiced writing on clay tablets to become scribes

    • sumerians were the first to develop a school system

  • School for Administrators

    • sumerian administrators maintained law and order; people were assisted by a council or elders—both men and women

  • Pottery

    • sumerians were the first to develop the turning whel, a device that allowed them to mass-produce pottery

    • reflected the values and culture of mesopotamia

    • pottery was used to store or prepare food

  • Wheel and Heavy Chariots

    • used wheels to make pottery

    • chariots made out of tree trunks helped carry heavy loads over long distances and in battle or warfare

  • Mills (textile mills, brick mills)

    • sumerian textiles were produced from wool

    • first inventors to gather wool to be woven into fabric for clothing on an industrial scale

• Sumerian Religion

  • Shamash

    • an akkadian and mesopotamian sun god and god of justice and light

    • believed to see everything that happened in the would everyday

    • responsible for justice and protection of travelers

  • Innana

    • ancient mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility

    • known by the akkadian empire, babylonians, and assyrians as Ishtar

  • Ishtar

    • ishtar asks gilgamesh to marry her because she is the goddess of love and war

• The Ishtar Gate

  • the 8th gate of babylon—main entrance to the city

  • built to show the power and wealth of the babylonian empire

  • animals and flowers were decor to symbolize the gods

• Mass Deportation

  • expulsion of a person or group of people from a country

  • assyrians were known for their cruelty in their treatment of enemies

  • used mass slaughter and deportation of people in southeastern anatolia

• Forced Resettlement

  • used as a tool of political domination and to help maintain control over conquered areas

• Impalement

  • act of pushing a sharp object thru someone

  • assyrians would do this as siege warfare

• Burning People Alive

  • form of torture the assyrians would use

• Flaying

  • method of slow execution in which skin is removed from the body

  • assyrians would punish prisoners by flaying them

• Mutilation

  • destroying, removing, or damaging a limb or body part of a person

  • assyrians would mutilate people’s limbs and would behead statues of other cities to show power