Early River Valley Civilizations 3500-450 B.C. PDF

Early River Valley Civilizations, 3500 B.C.–450 B.C. Previewing Main Ideas INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENT The earliest civilizations formed on fertile river plains. These lands faced challenges, such as seasonal flooding and a limited growing area. Geography What ri...

Early River Valley Civilizations, 3500 B.C.–450 B.C. Previewing Main Ideas INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENT The earliest civilizations formed on fertile river plains. These lands faced challenges, such as seasonal flooding and a limited growing area. Geography What rivers helped sustain the four river valley civilizations? POWER AND AUTHORITY Projects such as irrigation systems required leadership and laws—the beginnings of organized government. In some societies, priests controlled the first governments. In others, military leaders and kings ruled. Geography Look at the time line and the map. In which empire and river valley area was the first code of laws developed? SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Early civilizations developed bronze tools, the wheel, the sail, the plow, writing, and mathematics. These innovations spread through trade, wars, and the movement of peoples. Geography Which river valley civilization was the most isolated? What factors contributed to that isolation? INTERNET RESOURCES Interactive Maps Go to classzone.com for: Interactive Visuals Research Links Maps Interactive Primary Sources Internet Activities Test Practice Primary Sources Current Events Chapter Quiz 26 27  Why do communities need laws? The harvest has failed and, like many others, you have little to eat. There are animals in the temple, but they are protected by law. Your cousin decides to steal one of the pigs to feed his family. You believe that laws should not be broken and try to persuade him not to steal the pig. But he steals the pig and is caught. The law of the Babylonian Empire—Hammurabi’s Code—holds people responsible for their actions. Someone who steals from the temple must repay 30 times the cost of the stolen item. Because your cousin is unable to pay this fine, he is sentenced to death. You begin to wonder whether there are times when laws should be broken. 1 The Babylonian ruler 2 A scribe records the Hammurabi, proceedings against Mummar. accompanied by his judges, sentences 3 Mummar pleads for mercy. Mummar to death. EXAM I N I NG the ISSU ES What should be the main purpose of laws: to promote good behavior or to punish bad behavior? Do all communities need a system of laws to guide them? Hold a class debate on these questions. As you prepare for the debate, think about what you have leaned about the changes that take place as civilizations grow and become more complex. As you read about the growth of civilization in this chapter, consider why societies developed systems of laws. 28 Chapter 2  1 City-States in Mesopotamia MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES INTERACTION WITH The development of this Fertile cultural ENVIRONMENT The earliest civilization reflects a settlement Crescent diffusion civilization in Asia arose in pattern that has occurred Mesopotamia polytheism Mesopotamia and organized repeatedly throughout history. city-state empire into city-states. dynasty Hammurabi SETTING THE STAGE Two rivers flow from the mountains of what is now Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, and finally to the Persian Gulf. Over six thousand years ago, the waters of these rivers provided the lifeblood that allowed the formation of farming settlements. These grew into villages and then cities. Geography of the Fertile Crescent TAKING NOTES Identifying Problems A desert climate dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the and Solutions Use a Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. Yet within this dry region lies an arc of chart to identify Sumer's land that provided some of the best farming in Southwest Asia. The region’s environmental problems curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the Fertile and their solutions. Crescent. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain that became known as Mesopotamia (MEHS uh puh TAY mee uh). The word in Problems Solutions Greek means “land between the rivers.” 1. 1. The rivers framing Mesopotamia are the Tigris (TY grihs) and Euphrates 2. 2. (yoo FRAY teez). They flow southeastward to the Persian Gulf. (See the map on 3. 3. page 30.) The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year. As the floodwater receded, it left a thick bed of mud called silt. Farmers planted grain in this rich, new soil and irrigated the fields with river water. The results were large quantities of wheat and barley at harvest time. The surpluses from their harvests allowed villages to grow. Environmental Challenges People first began to settle and farm the flat, swampy lands in southern Mesopotamia before 4500 B.C. Around 3300 B.C., the people called the Sumerians, whom you read about in Chapter 1, arrived on the scene. Good soil was the advantage that attracted these settlers. However, there were three disadvantages to their new environment. Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little or no rain. The land sometimes became almost a desert. With no natural barriers for protection, a Sumerian village was nearly defenseless. The natural resources of Sumer were limited. Building materials and other necessary items were scarce. Early River Valley Civilizations 29  C a The Fertile Crescent, 2500 B.C. Present-day Persian Gulf sp 40°N ia 50°E 40°E n 30°E Se A N A T O L I A IRAQ a IRAN S MT S. T A U RU M E S ZA Ti Eu O GR KUWAIT gr Mediterranean ph P O is ra O S Sea te Ri s T M ve A O SAUDI ARABIA U r ve M Ri r N IA TA Sumer SYRIAN IN Fertile Crescent DESERT Agade AKKAD S Direction of flow of the Tigris and Babylon Kish Jordan River In 2500 B.C., the Persian Gulf Euphrates Umma SUMER Dead Lagash was larger than it is today. Pe Sea Uruk Over time the Tigris and 30°N rs Ur Euphrates have joined together ia E G Y P T and filled in this shallow area. n ul G ARABIAN DESERT The ancient coastline is shown ver f above with a blue line. N il e Ri Re 0 250 Miles d Se 0 500 Kilometers a GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Location Where are the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys found? 2. Place What is the most likely cause of the change in the Persian Gulf coastline? Solving Problems Through Organization Over a long period of time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with these problems. To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops. For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks. Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the peoples of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they received raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal. These activities required organization, cooperation, and leadership. It took many people working together, for example, for the Sumerians to construct their large Summarizing irrigation systems. Leaders were needed to plan the projects and supervise the dig- What are three solutions to the ging. These projects also created a need for laws to settle disputes over how land environmental and water would be distributed. These leaders and laws were the beginning of challenges of organized government—and eventually of civilization. Mesopotamia? Sumerians Create City-States The Sumerians stand out in history as one of the first groups of people to form a civilization. As you learned in Chapter 1, five key characteristics set Sumer apart from earlier human societies: (1) advanced cities, (2) specialized workers, (3) com- plex institutions, (4) record keeping, and (5) improved technology. All the later peoples who lived in this region of the world built upon the innovations of Sumerian civilization. 30 Chapter 2  By 3000 B.C., the Sumerians had built a number of cities, each surrounded by fields of barley and wheat. Although these cities shared the same culture, they developed their own governments, each with its own rulers. Each city and the sur- rounding land it controlled formed a city-state. A city-state functioned much as an independent country does today. Sumerian city-states included Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur. As in Ur, the center of all Sumerian cities was the walled temple with a ziggurat in the middle. There the priests and rulers appealed to the gods for the well-being of the city-state. Priests and Rulers Share Control Sumer’s earliest governments were controlled by the temple priests. The farmers believed that the success of their crops depended upon the blessings of the gods, and the priests acted as go-betweens with the gods. In addition to being a place of worship, the ziggurat was like a city hall. (See page 22 for a ziggurat.) From the ziggurat the priests managed the irrigation system. Priests demanded a portion of every farmer’s crop as taxes. In time of war, however, the priests did not lead the city. Instead, the men of the city chose a tough fighter who could command the city’s soldiers. At first, a com- mander’s power ended as soon as the war was over. After 3000 B.C., wars between Analyzing Causes cities became more and more frequent. Gradually, Sumerian priests and people How did mili- gave commanders permanent control of standing armies. ▼ Iku-Shamagen, tary leaders gain In time, some military leaders became full-time rulers. These rulers usually King of Mari, a power in the city-state in passed their power on to their sons, who eventually passed it on to their own heirs. city-states? Sumer, offers Such a series of rulers from a single family is called a dynasty. After 2500 B.C., prayers to the many Sumerian city-states came under the rule of dynasties. gods. The Spread of Cities Sumer’s city-states grew prosperous from the surplus food produced on their farms. These surpluses allowed Sumerians to increase long-distance trade, exchanging the extra food and other goods for items they needed. By 2500 B.C., new cities were arising all over the Fertile Crescent, in what is now Syria, northern Iraq, and Turkey. Sumerians exchanged products and ideas, such as living in cities, with neigh- boring cultures. This process in which a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion. Sumerian Culture The belief systems, social structure, technology, and arts of the Sumerians reflected their civilization’s triumph over its dry and harsh environment. A Religion of Many Gods Like many peoples in the Fertile Crescent, the Sumerians believed that many different gods con- trolled the various forces in nature. The belief in more than one god is called polytheism (PAHL ee thee IHZ uhm). Enlil, the god of storms and air, was among the most powerful gods. Sumerians feared him as “the raging flood that has no rival.” Demons known as Ugallu protected humans from the evil demons who caused dis- ease, misfortune, and misery. Sumerians described their gods as doing many of the same things humans do—falling in love, having children, quarreling, and so on. Yet the Sumerians also believed that their gods were both immortal and all-powerful. Humans were nothing but their servants. At any moment, the mighty anger of the gods might strike, sending a fire, a flood, or an enemy to destroy a city. To keep the gods happy, the Early River Valley Civilizations 31  Sumerians built impressive ziggurats for them and offered rich sacrifices of animals, food, and wine. Sumerians worked hard to earn the gods’ protection in this life. Yet they expected little help from the gods after death. The Sumerians believed that the souls of the dead went to the “land of no return,” a dismal, gloomy place between the earth’s crust and the ancient sea. No joy awaited souls there. A passage in a Sumerian poem describes the fate of dead souls: “Dust is their fare and clay their food.” Some of the richest accounts of Mesopotamian myths Vocabulary and legends appear in a long poem called the Epic of epic: a long heroic Gilgamesh. (See a selection from the Gilgamesh epic on poem that tells the page 83.) story of a historical or legendary figure Life in Sumerian Society With civilization came the begin- ning of what we call social classes. Kings, landholders, and some priests made up the highest level in Sumerian society. Wealthy merchants ranked next. The vast majority of ordi- nary Sumerian people worked with their hands in fields and workshops. At the lowest level of Sumerian society were the slaves. Some slaves were foreigners who had been captured in war. Others were Sumerians who had been sold into slav- ery as children to pay the debts of their poor parents. Debt slaves could hope to eventually buy their freedom. ▲ This gold and Social class affected the lives of both men and women. lapis ram with a shell fleece was Sumerian women could work as merchants, farmers, or artisans. They could hold found in a royal property in their own names. Women could also join the priesthood. Some upper-class burial tomb. women did learn to read and write, though Sumer’s written records mention few female scribes. However, Sumerian women had more rights than women in many later civilizations. Sumerian Science and Technology Historians believe that Sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow and that they were among the first to use bronze. Many new ideas and inventions arose from the Sumerians’ practical needs. Arithmetic and geometry In order to erect city walls and buildings, plan irrigation systems, and survey flooded fields, Sumerians needed arithmetic and geometry. They developed a number system in base 60, from which stem the modern units for measuring time (60 seconds = 1 minute) and the 360 degrees of a circle. Architectural innovations Arches, columns, ramps, and the pyramid shaped the design of the ziggurat and permanently influenced Mesopotamian civilization. Cuneiform Sumerians created a system of writing. One of the first known maps was made on a clay tablet in about 2300 B.C. Other tablets contain some of the oldest written records of scientific investigations in the areas of astronomy, chemistry, and medicine. The First Empire Builders From 3000 to 2000 B.C., the city-states of Sumer were almost constantly at war with one another. The weakened city-states could no longer ward off attacks from the peoples of the surrounding deserts and hills. Although the Sumerians never recovered from the attacks on their cities, their civilization did not die. Succeeding sets of rulers adapted the basic ideas of Sumerian culture to meet their own needs. 32 Chapter 2  Sargon of Akkad About 2350 B.C., a conqueror named Sargon defeated the city-states of Sumer. Sargon led his army from Akkad (AK ad), a city-state north of Sumer. The Akkadians had long before adopted most aspects of Sumerian cul- ture. Sargon’s conquests helped to spread that culture even farther, beyond the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. By taking control of both northern and southern Mesopotamia, Sargon created the world’s first empire. An empire brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler. At its height, the Akkadian Empire loosely controlled land from the Mediterranean Coast in the west Contrasting to present-day Iran in the east. Sargon’s dynasty lasted only about 200 years, after How does an which it declined due to internal fighting, invasions, and a famine. empire differ from Babylonian Empire In about 2000 B.C., nomadic warriors known as Amorites a city-state? invaded Mesopotamia. Gradually, the Amorites overwhelmed the Sumerians and established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates River. The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of Hammurabi, from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi’s most enduring legacy is the code of laws he put together. Hammurabi’s Code Hammurabi recognized that a single, uniform code of laws would help to unify the diverse groups within his empire. He collected existing rules, judgments, and laws into the Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi had the code engraved in stone, and copies were placed all over his empire. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws The image at the right shows the top of a pillar that had Hammurabi ‘s Code engraved on it. Hammurabi’s law code prescribed punishments ranging from fines to death. Often the punishments were based on the social class of the victim. Here are some examples of the laws: PRIMARY SOURCE 8. If a man has stolen an ox, a sheep, a pig, or a boat that belonged to a temple or palace, he shall repay thirty times its cost. If it belonged to a private citizen, he shall repay ten times. If the thief cannot pay, he shall be put to death. 142. If a woman hates her husband and says to him “You cannot be with me,” the authorities in her district will investigate the case. If she has been chaste and without fault, even though her husband has neglected or belittled her, she will be held innocent and may return to her father’s house. 143. If the woman is at fault, she shall be thrown into the river. 196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. 198. If he puts out the eye of freed man or break the bone of a free man, he shall pay one gold mina. 199. If he put out the eye of a man’s slave, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half of its value. CODE OF HAMMURABI, adapted from a translation by L. W. King DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS 1. Making Inferences Why might the punishments for the crimes be based on social class? 2. Forming Opinions What do you think the value was in making the punishments for the crimes known to all? Early River Valley Civilizations 33  The code lists 282 specific laws dealing with everything that affected the community, including family relations, business conduct, and crime. Since many people were merchants, traders, or farmers, for example, many of the laws related to property issues. Additionally, the laws sought to protect women and children from unfair treat- ment. The laws tell us a great deal about the Mesopo- tamians’ beliefs and what they valued. Although the code applied to everyone, it set different punishments for rich and poor and for men and women. It frequently applied the principle of retaliation (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) to punish crimes. The prologue of the code set out the goals for this body of law. It said, “ To bring about the rule of righteousness in Hammurabi the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that ? –1750 B.C. the strong should not harm the weak.” Thus, Hammurabi’s The noted lawgiver Hammurabi was also an able military leader, diplomat, Code reinforced the principle that government had a and administrator of a vast empire. responsibility for what occurred in society. For example, Recognizing Hammurabi himself described some if a man was robbed and the thief was not caught, the Effects of his accomplishments: government was required to compensate the victim. How did As for the land of Sumer and Nearly two centuries after Hammurabi’s reign, the Hammurabi’s law Akkad, I collected the scattered code advance Babylonian Empire, which had become much smaller, fell peoples thereof, and I procured civilization? to the neighboring Kassites. Over the years, new groups food and drink for them. In abundance and plenty I pastured dominated the Fertile Crescent. Yet the later peoples, them, and I caused them to dwell including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews, would in peaceful habitation. adopt many ideas of the early Sumerians. Meanwhile, a similar pattern of development, rise, and fall was taking place to the west, along the Nile River in Egypt. Egyptian RESEARCH LINKS For more on Hammurabi, go to classzone.com civilization is described in Section 2. SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia city-state dynasty cultural diffusion polytheism empire Hammurabi USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING 2. Which of the problems you 3. What were the three 6. DETERMINING MAIN IDEAS How was Sumerian culture listed required the most environmental challenges to spread throughout Mesopotamia? complex solution? Explain. Sumerians? 7. RECOGNIZING EFFECTS Why is the development of a 4. How did the Sumerians view written code of laws important to a society? Problems Solutions the gods? 8. ANALYZING CAUSES How did the need to interact with 1. 1. 5. What areas of life did the environment lead to advances in civilization? Hammurabi’s Code cover? 9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY What 2. 2. advantages did living in cities offer the people of ancient 3. 3. Mesopotamia? Do modern cities offer any of the same advantages? Write a compare-and-contrast essay supporting your answer with references to the text. CONNECT TO TODAY WRITING A STATUS REPORT Research the South East Anatolian Water Project in Turkey. The project will place dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Create a map and write a status report that summarizes the current status of the project. 34 Chapter 2  2 Pyramids on the Nile MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Many of the monuments built delta pyramid Using mathematical knowledge by the Egyptians stand as a Narmer mummification and engineering skills, Egyptians testament to their ancient pharaoh hieroglyphics built magnificent monuments to civilization. theocracy papyrus honor dead rulers. SETTING THE STAGE To the west of the Fertile Crescent in Africa, another river makes its way to the sea. While Sumerian civilization was on the rise, a sim- ilar process took place along the banks of this river, the Nile in Egypt. Yet the Egyptian civilization turned out to be very different from the collection of city-states in Mesopotamia. Early on, Egypt was united into a single kingdom, which allowed it to enjoy a high degree of unity, stability, and cultural continu- ity over a period of 3,000 years. The Geography of Egypt TAKING NOTES Summarizing Use a web From the highlands of East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile River flows diagram to summarize northward across Africa for over 4,100 miles, making it the longest river in the Egyptian achievements. world. (See the map on page 36.) A thin ribbon of water in a parched desert land, the great river brings its water to Egypt from distant mountains, plateaus, and lakes in present-day Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Egypt’s settlements arose along the Nile on a narrow strip of land made fer- Egyptian g Achievements tile by the river. The change from fertile soil to desert—from the Black Land to the Red Land—was so abrupt that a person could stand with one foot in each. The Gift of the Nile As in Mesopotamia, yearly flooding brought the water and rich soil that allowed settlements to grow. Every year in July, rains and melting snow from the mountains of east Africa caused the Nile River to rise and spill over its banks. When the river receded in October, it left behind a rich deposit of fertile black mud called silt. Before the scorching sun could dry out the soil, the peasants would prepare their wheat and barley fields. All fall and winter they watered their crops from a network of irrigation ditches. In an otherwise parched land, the abundance brought by the Nile was so great that the Egyptians worshiped it as a god who gave life and seldom turned against them. As the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (hih RAHD uh tuhs) remarked in the fifth century B.C., Egypt was the “gift of the Nile.” Environmental Challenges Egyptian farmers were much more fortunate than the villagers of Mesopotamia. Compared to the unpredictable Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile was as regular as clockwork. Even so, life in Egypt had its risks. Early River Valley Civilizations 35  Ancient Egypt, 3000–2000 B.C. Mediterranean The Mighty Nile Sea The Landsat image (left) shows the Nile Nile flowing into its delta. An Delta outline of the continental United States (below) shows the length of the Nile’s course. The actual length of the Nile with all its twists and SINAI turns is more than 4,100 miles. Region of Great Pyramids Prevailing winds River current WE E Nile Valley A ST STE ER Re N RN N il d e DE DESER Se Ri SERT ver a T First Cataract GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Movement In which direction does the Nile flow? 2. Location Describe the location of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. When the Nile’s floodwaters were just a few feet lower than normal, the amount of fresh silt and water for crops was greatly reduced. Thousands of people starved. When floodwaters were a few feet higher than usual, the unwanted water destroyed houses, granaries, and the precious seeds that farmers needed for planting. The vast and forbidding deserts on either side of the Nile acted as natural barriers between Egypt and other lands. They forced Egyptians to live on a very small portion of the land and reduced interaction with other peoples. However, the deserts shut out invaders. For much of its early history, Egypt was Contrasting spared the constant warfare that plagued the Fertile Crescent. What was the main difference Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt Ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile from the between the flood- mouth well into the interior of Africa. River travel was common, but it ended at the ing of the Nile and point in the Nile where boulders turn the river into churning rapids called a cataract that of the rivers in (KAT uh rakt). This made it impossible for riverboats to pass this spot, known as Mesopotamia? the First Cataract, to continue upstream south to the interior of Africa. Between the First Cataract and the Mediterranean lay two very different regions. Because its elevation is higher, the river area in the south is called Upper Egypt. It is a skinny strip of land from the First Cataract to the point where the river starts to fan out into many branches. To the north, near the sea, Lower Egypt includes the Nile delta region. The delta begins about 100 miles before the river enters the Mediterranean. The delta is a broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the river. 36 Chapter 2  The Nile provided a reliable system of transportation between Upper and Lower Egypt. The Nile flows north, so northbound boats simply drifted with the current. Southbound boats hoisted a wide sail. The prevailing winds Scorpion King of Egypt blow from north to south, carrying sailboats In 1999 Egyptologists discovered a against the river current. The ease of contact made possible series of carvings on a piece of rock about 18 by 20 inches. The tableau by this watery highway helped unify Egypt’s villages and scene has symbols that may refer to promote trade. a king named Scorpion. The rock shows a figure carrying a Egypt Unites into a Kingdom staff. Near the head of the figure is a scorpion. Another artifact, a Egyptians lived in farming villages as far back as 5000 B.C., macehead, also shows a king with perhaps even earlier. Each village had its own rituals, gods, the scorpion symbol. Both artifacts and chieftain. By 3200 B.C., the villages of Egypt were suggest that Egyptian history may go under the rule of two separate kingdoms, Lower Egypt and back to around 3250 B.C. Some Upper Egypt. Eventually the two kingdoms were united. scholars believe the Scorpion is the earliest king to begin unification of There is conflicting historical evidence over who united Egypt, represented by the double Upper and Lower Egypt. Some evidence points to a king crown shown below. called Scorpion. More solid evidence points to a king named Narmer. The king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown, and the king of Upper Egypt wore a tall white crown shaped like a bowl- ing pin. A carved piece of slate known as the Narmer Palette shows Narmer wearing the crown of Lower Egypt on one side and the crown of Upper Egypt on the other side. Some scholars believe the palette celebrates the unification of crown of crown of crown of Upper Egypt around 3000 B.C. Upper Egypt Lower Egypt and Lower Egypt Narmer created a double crown from the red and white crowns. It symbolized a united kingdom. He shrewdly settled his capital, Memphis, near the spot where Upper and Lower Egypt met, and established the first Egyptian dynasty. Eventually, the history of ancient Egypt would consist of 31 dynasties, span- ning 2,600 years. Historians suggest that the pattern for Egypt’s great civilization was set during the period from 3200 to 2700 B.C. The period from 2660 to 2180 B.C., known as the Old Kingdom, marks a time when these patterns became widespread. Pharaohs Rule as Gods The role of the king was one striking difference between Egypt and Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia, kings were considered to be represen- tatives of the gods. To the Egyptians, kings were gods. The Egyptian god-kings, called pharaohs (FAIR ohz), were thought to be almost as splendid and powerful as the gods of the heavens. This type of government in which rule is based on reli- gious authority is called a theocracy. The pharaoh stood at the center of Egypt’s religion as well as its government and Making army. Egyptians believed that the pharaoh bore full responsibility for the king- Inferences dom’s well-being. It was the pharaoh who caused the sun to rise, the Nile to flood, Why were and the crops to grow. It was the pharaoh’s duty to promote truth and justice. Egypt’s pharaohs Builders of the Pyramids Egyptians believed that their king ruled even after his unusually powerful rulers? death. He had an eternal life force, or ka, which continued to take part in the gov- erning of Egypt. In the Egyptians’ mind, the ka remained much like a living king in its needs and pleasures. Since kings expected to reign forever, their tombs were even more important than their palaces. For the kings of the Old Kingdom, the rest- ing place after death was an immense structure called a pyramid. The Old Kingdom was the great age of pyramid building in ancient Egypt. Early River Valley Civilizations 37  These magnificent monuments were remarkable engineering achievements, built by people who had not even begun to use the wheel. Unlike the Sumerians, however, the Egyptians did have a good supply of stone, both granite and lime- stone. For the Great Pyramid of Giza, for example, the limestone facing was quar- ried just across the Nile. Each perfectly cut stone block weighed at least 2 1/2 tons. Some weighed 15 tons. More than 2 million of these blocks were stacked with pre- cision to a height of 481 feet. The entire structure covered more than 13 acres. The pyramids also reflect the strength of the Egyptian civilization. They show that Old Kingdom dynasties had developed the economic strength and technologi- cal means to support massive public works projects, as well as the leadership and government organization to carry them out. Egyptian Culture With nature so much in their favor, Egyptians tended to approach life more confi- dently and optimistically than their neighbors in the Fertile Crescent. Religion played an important role in the lives of Egyptians. Religion and Life Like the Mesopotamians, the early Egyptians were polytheistic, believing in many gods. The most important gods were Re, the sun god, and Osiris (oh SY rihs), god of the dead. The most important goddess was Isis, who repre- sented the ideal mother and wife. In all, Egyptians worshiped more than 2,000 gods Vocabulary and goddesses. They built huge temples to honor the major deities. deities: gods or In contrast to the Mesopotamians, with their bleak view of death, Egyptians goddesses believed in an afterlife, a life that continued after death. Egyptians believed they would be judged for their deeds when they died. Anubis, god and guide of the underworld, would weigh each dead person’s heart. To win eternal life, the heart could be no heavier than a feather. If the heart tipped the scale, showing that it was heavy with sin, a fierce beast known as the Devourer of Souls would pounce on the impure heart and gobble it up. But if the soul passed this test for purity and truth, it would live forever in the beautiful Other World. People of all classes planned for their burials, so that they might safely reach the Other World. Kings and queens built great tombs, such as the pyramids, and other Egyptians built smaller tombs. Royal and elite Egyptians’ bodies were preserved by mummification, which involves embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying. Scholars still accept Herodotus’s description of the process of mummification as one of the methods used by Egyptians. PRIMARY SOURCE First, they draw out the brains through the nostrils with an iron hook.... Then Analyzing with a sharp stone they make an incision in the side, and take out all the Primary Sources bowels.... Then, having filled the belly with pure myrrh, cassia, and other What does perfumes, they sew it up again; and when they have done this they steep it in this description natron [a mineral salt], leaving it under for 70 days.... At the end of 70 days, suggest about they wash the corpse, and wrap the whole body in bandages of waxen cloth. the Egyptians’ knowledge of the HERODOTUS, The History of Herodotus human body? Attendants placed the mummy in a coffin inside a tomb. Then they filled the tomb with items the dead person could use in the afterlife, such as clothing, food, cosmetics, and jewelry. Many Egyptians purchased scrolls that contained hymns, prayers, and magic spells intended to guide the soul in the afterlife. This collection of texts is known as the Book of the Dead. 38 Chapter 2  The ancient Egyptians Pyramids and Mummies mummified the body so the soul could return to it later. Egyptian Etched into some of the stones of the pyramids are the embalmers were so skillful that modern archaeologists have nicknames of the teams of workers who built them—“the found mummies that still have Vigorous Gang,” “the Enduring Gang,” and “the Craftsman hair, skin, and teeth. Gang,” for example. Just as construction workers today leave their marks on the skyscrapers they build, the pyramid builders scratched messages for the ages inside the pyramids. This solid gold death mask of Who were the pyramid builders? Peasants provided most the pharaoh Tutankhamen of the labor. They worked for the government when the Nile covered the head of his mummy. was in flood and they could not farm. In return for their The mask, which weighs 22.04 service, though, the country provided the workers with food pounds, is part of a popular exhibit in the Egyptian Museum in and housing during this period. Cairo, Egypt. The largest of the pyramids is the Great These clay vessels are called Pyramid (right background) at Giza, Canopic jars. After preparing the completed about 2556 B.C. The diagram mummy, embalmers placed the shows how the interior of a pyramid looks. brain, liver, and other internal organs of the mummy in these jars. SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visual Sources 1. Making Inferences What does the elaborate nature of Egyptian burials suggest about their culture? 2. Comparing and Contrasting In what ways are modern burial practices similar to those of the ancient Egyptians? How are they different? 39  Life in Egyptian Society Like the grand monuments to the kings, Egyptian society formed a pyramid. The king, queen, and royal family stood at the top. Below them were the other members of the upper class, which included wealthy landowners, government offi- cials, priests, and army commanders. The next tier of the pyramid was the middle class, which included merchants and artisans. At the base of the pyramid was the lower class, by far the largest class. It consisted of peasant farmers and laborers. In the later periods of Egyptian history, slavery became a widespread source of labor. Slaves, usually captives from foreign wars, served in the homes of the rich or toiled endlessly in the gold mines of Upper Egypt. The Egyptians were not locked into their social classes. Lower-and middle-class Egyptians could gain higher status through marriage or success in their jobs. Even some slaves could hope to earn their freedom as a reward for their loyal service. To win the highest positions, people had to be able to read and write. The Rosetta Stone Once a person had these skills, many careers were open in In 1799, near the delta village of the army, the royal treasury, the priesthood, and the king’s Rosetta, some French soldiers found court. a polished black stone inscribed with Women in Egypt held many of the same rights as men. a message in three languages. One For example, a wealthy or middle-class woman could own version was written in hieroglyphics and trade property. She could propose marriage or seek (top inset). A second version was in a simpler form of hieroglyphics, and divorce. If she were granted a divorce, she would be Comparing the third was in Greek (both are entitled to one-third of the couple’s property. How was the shown in the bottom inset). status of women Egyptian Writing As in Mesopotamia, the development Since ancient Greek was a well- similar in Egyptian of writing was one of the keys to the growth of Egyptian and Sumerian known language, it provided clues to the meaning of the hieroglyphics. civilization. Simple pictographs were the earliest societies? Still, deciphering the Rosetta Stone form of writing in Egypt, but scribes quickly developed took many years. In 1822, a French a more flexible writing system called hieroglyphics scholar named Jean François (HY uhr uh GLIHF ihks). This term comes from the Champollion (shahm paw LYAWN) Greek words hieros and gluph, meaning “sacred carving.” finally broke the code of the As with Sumerian cuneiform writing, in the earliest hieroglyphics. form of hieroglyphic writing, a picture stood for an idea. For instance, a picture of a man stood for the idea of a man. In time, the system changed so that pictures stood for sounds as well as ideas. The owl, for example, stood for an m sound or for the bird itself. Hieroglyphs could be used almost like letters of the alphabet. Although hieroglyphs were first written on stone and clay, as in Mesopotamia, the Egyptians soon invented a better writing surface—papyrus (puh PY ruhs) reeds. These grew in the marshy delta. The Egyptians split the reeds into narrow strips, placed them crosswise in two layers, dampened them, and then pressed them. As the papyrus dried, the plant’s sap glued the strips together into a paperlike sheet. Egyptian Science and Technology Practical needs led to many Egyptian inventions. For example, the Egyptians developed a calendar to help them keep track of the time between floods and to plan their planting season. Priests observed that the same star—Sirius—appeared above the eastern horizon just before the floods came. 40 Chapter 2  They calculated the number of days between one rising of the star and the next as 365 days—a solar year. They divided this year into 12 months of 30 days each and added five days for holidays and feasting. This calendar was so accurate that it fell short of the true solar year by only six hours. Egyptians developed a system of written numbers for counting, adding, and sub- tracting. The system would have helped to assess and collect taxes. Scribes used an early form of geometry to survey and reset property boundaries after the annual floods. Mathematical knowledge helped Egypt’s skillful engineers and architects make accu- rate measurements to construct their remarkable pyramids and palaces. Egyptian archi- tects were the first to use stone columns in homes, palaces, and temples. Summarizing Egyptian medicine was also famous in the ancient world. Egyptian doctors What were the main achievements knew how to check a person’s heart rate by feeling for a pulse in different parts of of the ancient the body. They set broken bones with splints and had effective treatments for Egyptians? wounds and fevers. They also used surgery to treat some conditions. Invaders Control Egypt The power of the pharaohs declined about 2180 B.C., marking the end of the Old Kingdom. Strong pharaohs regained control during the Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 B.C.) and restored law and order. They improved trade and transporta- tion by digging a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. They built huge dikes to trap and channel the Nile’s floodwaters for irrigation. They also created thousands of new acres of farmland by draining the swamps of Lower Egypt. The prosperity of the Middle Kingdom did not last. In about 1640 B.C., a group from the area of Palestine moved across the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt. These peo- ple were the Hyksos (HIHK sahs), which meant “the rulers of foreign lands.” The Hyksos ruled much of Egypt from 1630 to 1523 B.C. Egypt would rise again for a new period of power and glory, the New Kingdom, which is discussed in Chapter 4. During approximately the same time period as the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom existed in Egypt, civilization was emerging in the Indus River Valley. SECTION 2 ASSESSMENT TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. delta Narmer pharaoh theocracy pyramid mummification hieroglyphic papyrus USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING 2. Which of the Egyptian 3. How did being surrounded by 6. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Which of the three natural achievements do you consider deserts benefit Egypt? features that served as boundaries in ancient Egypt was the most important? Explain. 4. How did the Egyptians view most important to Egypt’s history? Explain. the pharaoh? 7. RECOGNIZING EFFECTS What impact did Egyptian 5. Why did Egyptians mummify religious beliefs have on the lives of Egyptians? bodies? 8. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING How were cuneiform Egyptian g and hieroglyphic writing similar? different? Achievements 9. WRITING ACTIVITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Select an Egyptian invention or achievement. Write a paragraph about how your selected achievement changed the Egyptians’ life. CONNECT TO TODAY CREATING A LANGUAGE Devise a set of symbols to create a language. Write several sentences and have classmates try to decipher the message. Early River Valley Civilizations 41  ▼ Games Work and Play in Games were popular with all classes of Egyptian society. The board shown below is for the game senet—also depicted in Ancient Egypt the painting. Players threw sticks or knuckle bones to move their pieces through squares of good or bad fortune. A player For ancient Egyptians, life often involved hard work. When won by moving all his or her pieces off the board. the weather was good, most worked in the fields, producing food for their families and for export. During flood season, thousands of these farmers were called upon to help build the pharaohs’ temples. But life was not all about work. Archaeological digs offer evidence that both upper-class Egyptians and the common people found ways to enjoy themselves. RESEARCH LINKS For more on life in ancient Egypt, go to classzone.com ▲ Farmers This detail from a tomb painting shows Egyptian farmers at work. Egyptians grew enough wheat and barley to have food reserves for themselves and for export to other civilizations. They also grew fruit and vegetables in irrigated fields. 42 Chapter 2  MORE ON WORK Surgeons Ancient Egypt had skilled surgeons. Written evidence shows that Egyptian surgeons knew how to stitch cuts and set broken bones. Some Egyptian mummies even show evidence of being operated on. We know the names of about 150 physicians—2 of them were women. ▲ Cosmetics Ancient Egyptians used cosmetics for both work and play. They protected field Papyrus Growers A large industry was built around the workers from sun and heat and were used to enhance beauty. Egyptian men harvesting of papyrus. Papyrus and women applied makeup, called kohl, to their eyes. They made kohl from was used to make the material minerals mixed with water. They also soaked flowers and fragrant woods in oil Egyptians wrote on. Scrolls of and rubbed the oil into their skin. The dark eye makeup softened the glare of various sizes could be made the sun. The oils protected their skin from the dry air. Egyptians kept their One mathematics papyrus was cosmetics in chests such as the one shown above. 15 feet long and 3 inches wide. MORE ON PLAY ▼ Temple Builders The artist’s colorful drawing of what the Karnak Temple Complex might have Pets Egyptians kept various animals as pets. Nobles would looked like explains why Egyptian pharaohs needed thousands of laborers to even have their pets build their temples. Some historians believe the laborers may have been part mummified and buried with of a rotating workforce drafted from the agricultural classes around Egypt—a them. A single pet cemetery form of community service. The photo at lower left shows the temple as it is was discovered that contained today. Although faded and eroded, the temple still inspires awe. 1,000,000 bird mummies. Royal Dogs The Pharaoh hound was very popular in ancient Egypt. Artifacts from 4000 B.C. show images of the breed. Today, a Pharaoh hound puppy bred for competition can cost up to $1,500. 1. Making Inferences From what you have read here, what inferences can you make about Egyptian society? See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R10. 2. Comparing and Contrasting How are the work and leisure activities of ancient Egypt different from those in the United States today? How are they similar? 43  3 Planned Cities on the Indus MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES INTERACTION WITH The culture of India today has subcontinent Harappan ENVIRONMENT The first Indian its roots in the civilization of the monsoon civilization civilization built well-planned early Indus cities. cities on the banks of the Indus River. SETTING THE STAGE The great civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt rose and fell. They left behind much physical evidence about their ways of life. This is the case in what today is the area known as Pakistan and part of India where another civilization arose about 2500 B.C. However, historians know less about its origins and the reasons for its eventual decline than they do about the origins and decline of Mesopotamia and Egypt, because the language of the culture has not been translated. TAKING NOTES The Geography of the Indian Subcontinent Drawing Conclusions Use the graphic organizer Geographers often refer to the landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and to draw conclusions about Bangladesh as the Indian subcontinent. A wall of the highest mountains in the Indus Valley civilizations. world—the Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalayan ranges—separates this region from the rest of the Asian continent. Indus Valley Rivers, Mountains, and Plains The world’s tallest mountains to the north and Cities fact a large desert to the east helped protect the Indus Valley from invasion. The Language fact mountains guard an enormous flat and fertile plain formed by two rivers—the Trade fact Indus and the Ganges (GAN jeez). Each river is an important link from the inte- rior of the subcontinent to the sea. The Indus River flows southwest from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Much of the lower Indus Valley is occupied by the Thar Desert. Farming is possible only in the areas directly watered by the Indus. The Ganges drops down from the Himalayas and flows eastward across northern India. It joins the Brahmaputra River as it flows to the Bay of Bengal. The Indus and Ganges and the lands they water make up a large area that stretches 1,700 miles across northern India and is called the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Like the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nile, these rivers carry not only water for irrigation, but also silt, which produces rich land for agriculture. Below the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the southern part of the subcontinent is a peninsula that thrusts south into the Indian Ocean. The center of the peninsula is a high plateau cut by twisting rivers. This region is called the Deccan (DEK uhn) Plateau. The plateau is framed by low mountain ranges called the Eastern and Western Ghats. These mountains keep moist air from reaching the plateau, mak- ing it a dry region. A narrow border of lush, tropical land lies along the coasts of southern India. 44 Chapter 2  Ancient India, 2500–1500 B.C. Monsoon Winter 40°N H KUS Dry monsoon winds DU HIN K ARAKORA (October to May) M M Wet monsoon winds TS (June to September) KHYBER. PASS Indus Valley civilization r ve Ri BOLAN PASS Harappa us d H In Kalibangan I IN M D A O- Mohenjo- AN L G Daro GE A TI C Y A THAR PL S DESERT G a AIN tr a R. nges Rive ahmapu r Br Monsoon Summer INDIA Arabian Go dav Sea ari Rive 20°N DE C C A N r K rP L A T E A U S 0 200 Miles i s hna er A T R iv H 0 400 Kilometers G WES ERN Bay of TER Bengal EAST N G H 80°E ATS 100°E GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps 1. Human-Environment Interaction What landforms presented natural barriers around the Indus Valley? 2. Movement Why do the winter monsoon winds carry so little moisture? Monsoons Seasonal winds called monsoons dominate India’s climate. From October to February, winter monsoons from the northeast blow dry air westward across the country. Then, from the middle of June through October, the winds shift. These monsoons blow eastward from the southwest, carrying moisture from the ocean in great rain clouds. The powerful storms bring so much moisture that flood- ing often happens. When the summer monsoons fail to develop, drought often causes crop disasters. Environmental Challenges The civilization that emerged along the Indus River faced many of the same challenges as the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian Identifying civilizations. Problems Yearly floods spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area. However, the What environ- floods along the Indus were unpredictable. mental challenge The rivers sometimes changed course. did the farmers of The cycle of wet and dry seasons brought by the monsoon winds was the Indus Valley face that the unpredictable. If there was too little rain, plants withered in the fields and Sumerians and people went hungry. If there was too much rain, floods swept away whole Egyptians did not? villages. Early River Valley Civilizations 45  Civilization Emerges on the Indus Historians know less about the civilization in the Indus Valley than about those to the west. They have not yet deciphered the Indus system of writing. Evidence comes largely from archaeological digs, although many sites remain unexplored, and floods probably washed away others long ago. At its height, however, the civ- ilization of the Indus Valley influenced an area much larger than did either Mesopotamia or Egypt. Earliest Arrivals No one is sure how human settlement began in the Indian sub- continent. Perhaps people who arrived by sea from Africa settled the south. Northern migrants may have made their way through the Khyber Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains. Archaeologists have found evidence in the highlands of agricul- ture and domesticated sheep and goats dating to about 7000 B.C. By about 3200 B.C., people were farming in villages along the Indus River. Planned Cities Around 2500 B.C., while Egyptians were building pyramids, peo- ple in the Indus Valley were laying the bricks for India’s first cities. They built strong levees, or earthen walls, to keep water out of their cities. When these were not enough, they constructed human-made islands to raise the cities above possi- ble floodwaters. Archaeologists have found the ruins of more than 100 settlements ▼ A map of the along the Indus and its tributaries mostly in modern-day Pakistan. The largest cities citadel portion were Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa. Indus Valley civilization is some- of Mohenjo- times called Harappan civilization, because of the many archaeological discover- Daro shows ies made at that site. an organized pattern of One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their buildings and sophisticated city planning. The cities of the early Mesopotamians were a jumble streets. of buildings connected by a maze of winding streets. In contrast, the people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city. Buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the simpler, irregu- lar, sun-dried mud bricks of the Mesopotamians. “College” Early engineers also created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems. These systems could rival any Granary urban drainage systems built before the 19th century. The uniformity in the cities’ planning and construction suggests that the Indus peoples had developed a strong Stair central government. Harappan Planning Harappa itself is a good example of this city planning. The city was partially built on mud- brick platforms to protect it from flooding. A thick brick wall about three and a half miles long surrounded it. Inside was a citadel, which provided protection for the royal family and also served as a temple. Tower The streets in its grid system were as wide as 30 feet. Assembly Walls divided residential districts from each other. Hall Houses varied in size. Some may have been three stories high. Narrow lanes separated rows of houses, which were laid out in block units. Houses featured bathrooms where wastewater flowed out to the street and then to Fortifications sewage pits outside the city walls. 46 Chapter 2 Plumbing in Mohenjo-Daro From the time people began living in cities, they have faced the problem of plumbing: how to obtain clean water and remove human wastes? In most ancient cities, people retrieved water from a river or a Plumbing Facts central well. They dumped wastes into open drainage ditches or carted The ancient Romans also built them out of town. Only the rich had separate bathrooms in their homes. sophisticated plumbing and By contrast, the Indus peoples built extensive and modern-looking sewage systems. Aqueducts plumbing systems. In Mohenjo-Daro, almost every house had a private supplied Roman cities with bathroom and toilet. No other civilization achieved this level of water. convenience until the 19th and 20th centuries. The toilets were neatly In the 17th century, engineers installed a series of water built of brick with a wooden seat. Pipes connected to each house wheels to pump water for the carried wastewater into an underground sewer system. fountains of Versailles, the palace of French king Louis XIV. The water was pumped from a RESEARCH LINKS For more on river three miles away. This water and waste management was the largest water-supply go to classzone.com system powered by machine rather than gravity. The flush toilet was patented in 1775 by Alexander Cumming, a British mathematician and watchmaker. 1 In their private baths, people took showers by pouring pitchers of water over their head. 2 Wastes drained through clay pipes into brick sewers running below the streets. These sewers