Western Civ Unit 1

Agricultural Revolutions:

The Agricultural Revolutions were around 7000 BCE. The earliest location where agriculture was seen as purposeful was in the ancient Near East. This was the transition from hunter-gatherer to the use of agriculture (the domestication of plants and animals) as a way of life. People became more sedentary, so this meant having to live in one place, thus slowly creating a way to do so.

Bronze Age:

Bronze Age Collapse:

City-State:

A city-state is a self-governing community made up of a city, its surrounding villages, and the land it controls. They all had their military, laws, rulers, etc. An example of this would be Ur.

Cuneiform:

Cuneiform is a type of script/writing that was wedge-like and was used in Mesopotamia for many years.

Divine Kingship: 

Divine kingship was the idea that living pharaohs were Horus. Meaning the only person who can interact with gods/goddesses in the temple. Also, the dead pharaohs were Osiris (God of the Underworld).

Empires:

Hieroglyphics:

Hieroglyphics is another type of script. It was used in Egypt and can also be called “sacred carving.”

Imperialism:

Imperialism is maintaining or extending power over other places (expansion) by using their power. Usually through the military. Both the Hittites and Ramses used this. Both wanted to extend their power over the E. Med. Coast. Eventually pushing out the Hyksos to the point that the Hittites and Ramses needed a peace treaty (the first recorded treaty ever).

Irrigation Agriculture vs. Rainfall Agriculture:

Irrigation agriculture is what Egypt and Southern Mesopotamia used. They used the rivers near them (Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile) to help grow plants. This includes natural irrigation, which is when the land floods, and artificial, which is when they build channels to help with irrigation. Rainfall agriculture requires 250 mm of rain per year, which only a few places at the time had (Iran, N. Iraq, and N. Syrian). 

Peoples:

Semitic peoples (Hyksos) settled in the Auaris delta. They established their dynasties (19th) in Lower Egypt. They brought techniques for making bronze, horse-drawn light chariots, and plated metal armor. They were eventually driven out around 1540 BCE.

Law Codes and Treaties:

There were two law codes we talked about and one treaty. The treaty we talked about was the peace treaty between Ramses and the Hittites. This allowed for the battle between them to be over. They had to return refugees and had to give mutual aid if attacked (other things as well).

One of the law codes we talked about was Hammurabi’s Code. It had three parts: a prologue, a law code that is case law and is characterized by lex talionis—law of retribution—and lastly an epilogue: Hammurabi explains why the code is significant and should be adopted by later cultures. His law code said women had lower status, death was a common punishment, treatment of the enslaved was bad, men were valuable, traditional, strict, etc. Some think it is used more as a scare tactic than as an actual law.

The other law code we talked about was Ur-Nammu’s. He created the first written law code in the Near East, the common system of weights and measures—the sexagesimal system (60), which we still use today.

Monarchy:

A monarchy was a little different in ancient Egypt. They had a more theocratic type of monarchy. Meaning they ruled by divine kingship. Divine kingship was the idea that living pharaohs were Horus. Meaning the only person who can interact with gods/goddesses in the temple. Meaning they acted as an intermediary between the gods and the people. Also, the dead pharaohs were Osiris (god of the underworld). The leader was over justice, religious rituals, the military, and their society.

Polytheism/Monotheism:

Polytheism is the belief in many gods. An example of this would be Mesopotamia (Sumer/Akkadians). They had many gods that dealt with different things like the sky, moon, love, etc. This includes primordial, active, and personal gods.

Monotheism is the belief in only one god. An example of this would be the Israelites. They were Jewish.

Stratified Society:

In ancient Egypt, a "stratified society" meant that the population was divided into distinct social classes with a rigid hierarchy, where the Pharaoh held the highest position, followed by nobles, priests, scribes, artisans, and finally the majority peasant farmers at the bottom, with very limited social mobility between these levels; essentially, a pyramid-like structure where one's social status was largely determined by birth and occupation. 

Theocratic State:

Theocratic states are land that belonged to the city’s patron deity. It was used by the Sumerians (pharaohs/gods).

Babylonians:

Babylonia was a political region in southern Mesopotamia with the capital of Babylon. They were invaders from the Syrian Desert, Amorites. 

Enheduana:

Enheduana was a priestess and the daughter of Sargon (1st emperor (Akkadian emperor)). She was appointed by him to be the priestess at the temple of the moon god in ancient Ur. She is known to some as the earliest named author ever for her hymns. 

Hammurabi:

Hammurabi was the first to unite Babylonia and Assyric, wrote his own law code, elevated Marduk as head of the Babylonian Pantheon, and Marduk took on Enlil’s functions (wind, storms, agriculture, and authority).

One of the law codes we talked about was Hammurabi’s Code. It had three parts: a prologue, a law code that is case law and is characterized by lex talionis—law of retribution—and lastly an epilogue: Hammurabi explains why the code is significant and should be adopted by later cultures. His law code said women had lower status, death was a common punishment, treatment of the enslaved was bad, men were valuable, traditional, strict, etc. Some think it is used more as a scare tactic than as an actual law.

Hittites:

The Hittites established a capital at Hattusas in 1650 BCE. They eventually extended territory over the Taurus Mountains to the Mediterranean Sea. Even though they had this land, they wanted control over the E. Med Coast. This caused many issues with Egypt (Ramses ||)

Egyptians:

Israelites:

Israelites were monotheistic but believed in Henotheism. The Babylonians deported and captured many Jews from Jerusalem. Eventually, they were able to return.

Nubians:

Phoenicians:

Phoenician city-states were a part of empires but eventually became independent after 1200 BCE. Phoenicians had many colonies along the Mediterranean because of the need for metals. They were seafarers and traded many materials (timber, metal products, dried cloth, etc.). Most importantly, they are part of the reason we have a letter-based alphabet and not a symbol-based one.

Ramses II:

Sargon of Akkad:

Sargon of Akkad was the founder of Akkadian rule in Mesopotamia. Leading to him creating the first empire, making him the first emperor (‘king of Sumer and Akkad”). He established three things: a capital, that being Agade/Akkad, a dynastic rule, and used cuneiform to make the Akkadian language.

Sumerians:

Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia. They used irrigation agriculture. Sumerians believed in strong militaries and a temple economy. The strength of a city’s military determined who was king. They were not imperialistic, were a theocratic city, and had secular leaders. They also used cuneiform and were polytheistic.

Akkadian: 

The king of Sumer (Sargon) used cuneiform to create their language, Akkadian. Akkadian was used for over 3000 years.