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Home , Cradle of civilization, Geography of Mesopotamia, Taharqa

, , and Israel

Each that you will study in this unit made important contributions to . • The Mesopotamians developed the world’s first law codes. • Egyptians built the pyramids and invented papyrus—the world’s first paper. • Israelite scripture influenced religions in Europe and .

80008000 B..C.. 5000 B..C.2.2000 B..C..

FirstFirst c. 8000 B.C. c. 3200 B.C. c. 1790 B.C. CivilizationsCivilizations Farming begins in Sumerians in intro- southwest Asia Mesopotamia duces code of laws C 1 hapter develop writing

Hammurabi stands before a god

Ancient c. 5000 B.C. c. 2540 B.C. c. 1500 B.C. Egypt & Kush Hunter-gatherers settle Egyptians complete Queen building of Great C hapter 2 Pyramid becomes Pyramids at Giza, Egypt c. 2540 B.C.

AncientAncient c. 1800 B.C. IsraelitesIsraelites enters Chapter 3

Abraham leads Israelites to Canaan

114 (t)Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Art Resource, NY, (c)John Heaton/CORBIS, (b)Tom Lovell/National Geographic Society Image Collection ers)SuperStock

° ° ° ° 0 0 1,000 mi. 30 E Caspian Sea 60 E 90 E

0 1,000 km ASIA Mercator projection Black Sea Chapter 1 T i g r

i Chapter 3 s Chapter 3 E u R s ph du R r . In . at es R . 30°N

N Persian W E . Gulf Chapter 2 R

e l S i N Red Sea Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

EQUATOR INDIAN

(tl)Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York/Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund/Bridgeman Art Library, (bl)Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, (oth NY, (bl)Erich Lessing/Art Resource, Edwin Wilbour Fund/Bridgeman Art Library, Museum of Art, New York/Charles (tl)Brooklyn OCEAN

10001000 B..C.7.750 B..C.. 500 B..C.. 250 B..C.. A..D.. 11

c. 744 B.C. c. 612 B.C. expands Chaldeans capture into Assyrian capital

Hanging gardens of Babylon c. 600 B.C.

c. 1000 B.C. 728 B.C. Kush breaks Kush free of Egypt conquers Egypt

Kushite king Taharqa c. 680 B.C.

c. 1000 B.C. 586 B.C. 168 B.C. A.D. 70 King rules Israel Chaldeans Maccabean revolt Romans capture destroy temple Jerusalem in Jerusalem

Solomon’s temple, Ancient Jerusalem built c. 950 B.C.

115 1 Ishtar Gate Mediterranean Sea

5

See First 3 Chapter 1 AFRICA 2 Sumerian figures

Red

See First Civilizations Sea Chapter 1

4

c. 3300 B.C. Iceman found in Ruled c. 1792–1750 B.C. Ruled c. 1503–1482 B.C. the Alps Babylonian king Egyptian pharaoh Chapter 1, page 129 Chapter 1, page 138 Chapter 2, page 182

116 2–3 ©Worldsat International Inc. 2004, All Rights Reserved, (t)S. Fiore/SuperStock, (c)Scala/Art Resource, NY, (bl)Giansanti Gianni/CORBIS Sygma, (bc) Museum, Paris/Bridgeman Art Library, (br)Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift,1929 (29.3.3) ASIA 3 Egyptian sphinx Caspian Sea

See and Kush Chapter 2

4 Kushite pyramids

1 2

See Ancient Egypt and Kush Chapter 2 5 Western Wall

See Ancient Israelites Chapter 3

Ruled 1279–1213 B.C. c. 1100 B.C. Ruled c. 1000–962 B.C. Egyptian ruler Israelite women King of Israel Chapter 2, page 185 Chapter 3, page 219 Chapter 3, page 208

117 (t to b)Sylvain Grandadam/Getty Images, Timothy Kendall/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gary Cralle/Getty Images, (l to r)O. Louis Mazzatenta/National Geographic Society Image Collection, SuperStock, Bettmann/CORBIS The First Civilizations

Ruins of a in

3000 B.C.2000 B.C. 1000 B.C.

c. 3000 B.C. c. 1792 B.C. 612 B.C. Age Hammurabi captured; begins rules Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia crumbles Chapter Overview Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com for a preview of Chapter 1. Early Humans Studying the past helps to understand the present. Scientists who study the past have learned that the earliest humans hunted animals and gathered plants for food. When farming developed, people settled in villages and towns. Mesopotamian Civilization Religion shapes how culture develops, just as culture shapes how religion develops. In early Mesopotamian civilizations, religion and government were closely linked. Kings created strict laws to govern people. New Empires Conflict often brings about great change. New empires arose in Mesopotamia around 900 B.C. These civilizations included the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. They used powerful armies and iron weapons to conquer the region. View the Chapter 1 video in the Glencoe Video Program.

Compare and Contrast Make this foldable to help you compare and contrast the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. Reading and Writing Step 1 Fold a sheet of paper Step 2 Turn the paper and As you read the chapter, in half from side to side. fold it into thirds. write notes under each appropriate tab of your Fold it so the left foldable. Keep in mind edge lies about that you are trying to 1 2 inch from the compare these right edge. civilizations.

Step 4 Label as shown.

The First Civilizations Step 3 Unfold and cut the top layer only along Early Mesopo- New Humans tamia Empires both folds. This will make three tabs.

119 Previewing

Before you read, take time to preview the chapter. This will give you a head start on what you are about to learn. Follow the steps below to help you quickly read, or skim, Section 1 on page 123.

2–The 1–Read under each main Early Humans the main head tells you the headings main point of Paleolithic people adapted to in large red what you are their environment and invented many tools type. They about to read. to help them survive. show the Reading Connection What do you view as the main topics greatest human achievement—sending people to covered in 3–The Reading the moon, perhaps, or inventing the computer? the section Connection helps Read to learn about the accomplishments of or chapter. you to link what people during the Paleolithic Age. you might already know to what you History is the story of humans . . . are about to read. Tools of Discovery

4–Under each main head, read the sub- heads in blue type. As you skim, also look Subheads break down pictures, maps, and at each main topic into charts. smaller topics. Read to Write Use each main head, the main ideas, and the subheads in Section 2 of this chapter to create a study outline. New Empires

Skim all of the main heads and main ideas in Section 3 starting on page 142. Then, in small groups, discuss the answers to these questions. •Which part of this section do you think will be most interesting to you? •What do you think will be covered in Section 3 that was not covered in Section 2? • Are there any words in the Main Ideas that you do not know how to pronounce? • Choose one of the Reading Connection questions to discuss in your group.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon Skim Section 2 on your own. Write one thing in your notebook that you want to learn by reading this chapter.

121 Early Humans

Looking Back, Looking Ahead Content Vocabulary Today people live in towns and anthropologist History of various sizes. Early humans (AN•thruh•PAH •luh•jihst) Social Science lived by moving from place to place, archaeologist Standards forming settlements, and exploring (AHR•kee•AH•luh•jihst) WH6.1 Students different ways to provide for artifact (AHR•tih•FAKT) describe what is known themselves and their families. through archaeological fossil (FAH•suhl) studies of the early (NOH•MAD) physical and cultural Focusing on the technology (tehk•NAH•luh•jee) development of • Paleolithic people adapted to their humankind from the domesticate (duh•MEHS•tih•KAYT) Paleolithic era to the environment and invented many tools agricultural revolution. to help them survive. specialization (page 123) (SPEH•shuh•luh•ZAY•shuhn) • In the Age, people started Academic Vocabulary farming, building communities, task producing goods, and trading. revolution (REH•vuh•LOO•shuhn) (page 127) Reading Strategy Locating Places Determine Cause and Effect Draw (JEHR•ih•KOH) a diagram like the one below. Use it Çatal Hüyük to explain how early humans adapted (chah•TAHL hoo•YOOK) to their environment. Cause: Effect:

Cause: Effect:

8000 B..C.. 6000 B..C.. 4000 B..C.2.2000 B..C.. ¸Catal H¨uy¨uk c. 8000 B.C. c. 6700 B.C. c. 3000 B.C. Jericho Çatal Hüyük founded settled begins Jericho

122 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations WH6.1 Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution. WH6.1.1 Describe the hunter-gatherer societies, including the development of tools and the use of fire. WH6.1.2 Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments. WH6.2.9 Trace the evolution of language and its written forms.

Early Humans Paleolithic people adapted to their environment and invented many tools to help them survive. Reading Connection What do you view as the great- est human achievement—sending people to the moon, perhaps, or inventing the computer? Read to learn about the accomplishments of people during the Paleolithic Age.

History is the story of humans in the past. It tells what people did and what hap- pened to them. Historians are people who study and write about the human past. They define history as the period of time Dr. Donald Johanson is shown here in 1982 with the skeletal remains of Lucy, that began after people learned to write, a 3-million-year-old hominid about 5,500 years ago. But the story of peo- ple really begins in —the time before people developed writing. In the 1930s, Louis and Mary Leakey began digging for fossils in the Olduvai Tools of Discovery What we know about Gorge in Tanzania. Archaeologists know the earliest people comes from the things that in certain areas of the world, layers of they left behind. Scientists have worked dirt and rock have been piled up slowly to uncover clues about early human life. over time by the action of wind and water. Anthropologists (AN • thruh • PAH • luh • jihsts) If you dig in those places, the deeper you focus on human society. They study how find things, the older they are, because they humans developed and how they related were buried further back in time. The to one another. Archaeologists (AHR • kee • Olduvai Gorge is very deep, and along its AH• luh• jihsts) hunt for evidence buried in walls are layers of dirt from as far back as 2 the ground where settlements might once million years ago. This made it a very good have been. They dig up and study artifacts location to look for fossils. (AHR• tih• FAKTS)—weapons, tools, and other In the 1940s and 1950s, Louis and Mary things made by humans. They also look for found many fossils of hominids. Hominids fossils (FAH• suhls)—traces of plants or ani- are creatures that walk on two legs. Human mals that have been preserved in rock. beings are the only type of hominid still British archaeologists Louis and Mary alive today. All the others are extinct. Leakey and their son Richard are probably Anthropologists think that human beings the most-famous fossil hunters. Their find- developed from earlier types of hominids. ings convinced many scientists and anthro- In 1959 Mary Leakey discovered the pologists that the ancestors of human skull of a creature nearly 2 million years beings first appeared somewhere in East old. This showed that hominids lived at Africa millions of years ago. least that long ago. In 1974 Donald

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 123 Johanson, an American anthropologist from hominids had begun walking on two legs Chicago, made an even more amazing dis- while living in Africa’s jungles, before they covery. He unearthed nearly an entire skele- moved out onto Africa’s plains. ton of a female hominid in Ethiopia. The Based on the work of these and other hominid was nicknamed Lucy and was anthropologists, many scientists today think nearly 3 million years old. that the first human beings developed in Before Lucy was found, anthropologists East Africa. Slowly, over thousands of years, thought hominids lived in the open on human beings spread out of Africa, probably Africa’s plains and used tools to hunt other in search of food and new places to live as animals. They thought hominids had begun their population increased. Gradually, they walking on two legs so they could carry settled throughout the world. their tools while they hunted. Lucy’s remains showed that hominids began walk- Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers? ing on two legs long before they used tools. Historians call the prehistoric period of Scientists’ ideas about hominids were the . The name changed again in 1992. That year Tim comes from the fact that people during this White, an anthropologist from California, time used stone to make tools and weapons. uncovered a hominid that was 4.4 million The earliest part of the period is the years old. Its teeth and bones showed that Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Paleolithic

Archaeological Dig Archaeologists use special techniques and tools when carrying out a dig. Artifacts are photographed or sketched, and their locations are mapped and noted. Soil is passed through a mesh screen to collect small fragments of tools or bone. What types of artifacts do archaeologists look for?

PRESERVING Archaeologists may use plaster LOOKING FOR FRAGMENTS to make a form or an imprint of This scientist uses a wire mesh something they have found. screen to sift the soil to BELOW THE SURFACE discover small fragments Layers of soil are of artifacts. deposited one on top of another. In gen- eral, the further the layer is below the sur- face, the older its soil and artifacts are.

GRIDS CLEANING Grids like these help archaeologists Artifacts must be handled and record and map any artifacts found. cleaned carefully, often with soft Michael Holford brushes or other instruments. means “old stone” in the Greek language. Paleolithic times began roughly 2.5 million years ago and lasted until around 8000 B.C. Paleolithic Try to imagine the world during the Stone Age, long before any roadways, farms, Cave Paintings

American Museum of Natural History or villages existed. Early humans spent most The oldest examples of Paleolithic art are of their time searching for food. They hunted cave paintings found in and France. Most of the paintings are of animals. animals, caught , ate insects, and gath- The paintings show that Paleolithic artists ered nuts, berries, fruits, grains, and plants. often used several colors and techniques. Because they hunted and gathered food, They sometimes used the uneven surface of Paleolithic people were always on the the rock to create a three-dimensional effect. move. They were (NOH • MADS), or people who regularly move from place to place without fixed homes. They traveled in bands or groups of 30 or so members because it was safer and made the search for food easier. Men and women did different tasks within the group. Women stayed close to the campsite, which was typically near a stream or other water source. They cared for the children and searched nearby woods and Painting of bison in Spanish cave meadows for berries, nuts, and grains. Men hunted animals—an activity that sometimes took them far from camp. They had to learn the habits of animals and make Why do you think Paleolithic artists tools for hunting. At first, they used clubs painted what they did? or drove the animals off cliffs. Over time, Paleolithic people invented spears, traps, and bows and arrows. animals. Food cooked over the fire tasted better and was easier to digest. In addition, Adapting to the Environment The way cooked meat could be kept longer. that Paleolithic people lived depended on Archaeologists believe that early humans where they lived. Those in warm climates started fires by rubbing two pieces of wood needed little clothing or shelter. People in together. Paleolithic people later made drill- cold climates sought protection from the like wooden tools to start fires. weather in caves. Over time, Paleolithic people created new kinds of shelter. The What Were the Ice Ages? Paleolithic peo- most common was probably made of ani- ple needed fire in order to survive the Ice mal hides held up by wooden poles. Ages. These were long periods of extreme Paleolithic people made a life-changing cold. The last Ice Age began about 100,000 discovery when they learned to tame fire. B.C.From then until about 8000 B.C., thick Fire gave warmth to those gathered around ice sheets covered parts of Europe, Asia, it. It lit the darkness and scared away wild and North America.

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 125 The Ice Age was a threat to human life. verse. Early people also might have People risked death from the cold and also thought that painting an animal would from hunger. Early humans had to adapt bring good luck in the hunt. by changing their diet, building sturdier The Invention of Tools Paleolithic people shelters, and using animal furs to make were the first to use technology (tehk•NAH• warm clothing. The mastery of fire helped luh • jee)—tools and methods that help people live in this environment. humans perform tasks. People often used a Language, Art, and Religion Another stone called flint to make tools. By hitting advance during Paleolithic times was the flint with a hard stone, they could make it development of spoken language. Language flake into pieces with very sharp edges. To made it far easier for people to work make hand axes or hunting spears, they together and to pass on knowledge. tied wooden poles to pieces of flint that Early people expressed themselves not were the right shape for the tool. only in words but in art. They crushed yel- Over time, early people grew more low, black, and red rocks to make powders skilled at making tools. They crafted smaller for paint. Then they dabbed this on cave and sharper tools, such as fishhooks and walls, creating scenes of lions, oxen, pan- needles made from animal bones. They thers, and other animals. Historians are not used needles to make nets and baskets and sure why cave paintings were created. They to sew animal hides together for clothing. may have had religious meaning or been Contrast What is the dif- used to explain people’s role in the uni- ference between a fossil and an artifact?

learned that grinding, breaking, and shaping stones to create sharp edges made them more useful. As technology advanced, people began making specific tools such as food choppers, meat scrapers, and spear points. In time, people learned that hitting a stone in a particular way would produce a flake— Tools One of the most important a long, sharp chip. Flakes were similar to advances of prehistoric people was knives in the way they were used. the creation of stone tools. Tools made hunting, gathering, building shelter, and making clothing much Connecting to the Past easier. 1. Why do you think early people chose stones to make their first tools? The first tools were made of 2. How were flakes created? stones. Early humans quickly WH6.1.2 Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments. WH6.1.3 Discuss the climatic changes and human modifications of the physical environment that gave rise to the of plants and animals and new sources of clothing and shelter.

The Agricultural Revolution their herds. They also continued to gather seeds, fruits, and vegetables to eat. In the Neolithic Age, people started The Age came to an end farming, building communities, producing goods, when people made another important dis- and trading. covery. They realized that they could plant Reading Connection Did you know that, today, more seeds and grow their own food. They may than a third of the world’s people work in ? have learned this from the seeds they had Read to learn how farming began and how it changed stored in dirt pits. Some of the seeds might the world. have sprouted and shown people that if they put seeds in dirt and waited long After the last Ice Age ended, people enough, they could grow plants. entered the Mesolithic Age. Mesolithic With this new knowledge, people could means “middle stone” in Greek. At this stay in one place and grow grains and veg- time, people changed from hunting to herd- etables. Gradually, farming began to ing animals. They began to domesticate (duh replace hunting and gathering for many •MEHS•tih• KAYT), or tame animals for human people. They began to build villages and use. Animals provided meat, milk, and claim land for their farms. This changed the wool. They also carried goods and people way people lived and marked the begin- and pulled carts. Even so, most Mesolithic ning of the Neolithic Age, or New Stone people remained nomadic. They moved Age, which began about 8000 B.C. and from place to place in search of grass to feed lasted until about 4000 B.C. Why Was Farming Important? Historians call the changes in the Neolithic Age the agricultural rev- olution. The word revolution Stone refers to changes that greatly affect tools many areas of life. Some his- torians consider the farming revo- lution the most important event in human history. Farming did not begin in one region and spread. People in differ- ent parts of the world discovered how to grow crops at about the same time. In Asia, people grew wheat, , , soybeans, and a grain called . In , farm- ers grew corn, squash, and potatoes. In Africa, they grew millet and a grain called sorghum. Flaking tools from Farming greatly increased the a larger stone number of calories that could be

127 produced from an area of land. This made it garbage near their farms. This too helped possible to feed more people and led to an the spread of disease. increase in the world’s population. Farming People had to work harder and for much regions also had a higher population - longer hours when farming. People had to sity. People lived closer together and did till the soil in order to plant seeds. They had not have to spread out as much as they used to weed the fields by hand. Then they had to to when they hunted and gathered food. gather the crops by hand when they were Farming also changed the kind of food peo- ready. There were no machines to make the ple ate. Instead of a diet rich in meat and veg- work quick and easy. People had to walk etables, people now ate a lot of grain—usually through their fields, often bent over at the in the form of bread. Anthropologists think that waist, gathering the crops they had grown. people in the early days of farming were not as Despite the problems of diet and disease healthy as hunter-gatherers because they did and the hard work people had to do, the not have enough variety in their diet. farming revolution greatly improved the Farming required people to stay in one lives of most people. Fewer people starved place for a long time. This made it easier for to death, and more children lived to adult- diseases to spread and infect many people. hood. Settling in one place to farm also led Because people stayed in one place, they to a much more organized society and also tended to pollute their environment. made possible the world’s first towns and Their water became dirty, and they left cities.

The Rise of Farming Communities 7000–2000 B.C.

90°W30°W30°E90°E150°E

OATS RYE 60°N NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA PACIFIC ATLANTIC PACIFIC OCEAN OCEAN OCEAN 30°N TROPIC OF CANCER AFRICA

EQUATOR EQUATOR SOUTH 0° AMERICA N W E TROPIC OF CAPRICORN

S AUSTRALIA 30°S 0 2,000 mi. INDIAN OCEAN 0 2,000 km Mercator projection KEY ° Barley Potatoes Sweet potatoes60 S 1. Human/Environment Interaction According to Beans Millet Rice Tea

the map, what crops were grown in North Cocoa Oats RYE Rye Tomatoes OATS America? Coffee Olives Soybeans Vanilla 2. Region What are the major regions of the Cotton Onions Squash Wheat world where farming communities appeared? Emmer Peanuts Sugarcane Yams Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps Flax Peppers Sunflowers

128 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations (tr)Giansanti Gianni/CORBIS Sygma, (bl)Kenneth Garrett 6.4.6. Compare and contrast life in WH6.1.2 Identify the locations of human and Sparta, with emphasis on their rules in communities that populated the major regions of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments. WH6.1.3 Discuss the climatic changes and human modifications of the physical environment that gave rise to the domestication of plants and animals and new sources of clothing and shelter. ÖTZI THE ICEMAN c. 3300 B.C. How do archaeologists and historians know so much about how people lived in the Stone Age? In addition to studying fossils, they have had the chance to study an actual person from the Neolithic Age and his tools. In A.D. 1991 two hikers discovered the frozen body of a man near the border between Austria and Italy. The man was called “Ötzi” after the Ötztal Alps, the mountains where he was found. Scientists studied Ötzi’s body, his clothes, and the items found with him and learned that he lived 5,300 years ago, during the Neolithic Age. Ötzi was dressed warmly because of the cold climate. He was wearing a fur hat and a long grass cloak. Under the cloak was a leather jacket that was Scientists created this -made but had been repaired several times. To keep reproduction to show what his feet warm, he had stuffed grass in the bottom of his Ötzi may have looked like. leather shoes. Ötzi was carrying a bow and arrows, a copper ax, and a backpack. Experts believe Ötzi was a shepherd who traveled with his herd. He probably returned to his village only twice a year. From recent tests, scientists have learned more about the last hours of Ötzi’s life. Shortly before he died, Ötzi ate a type of flat bread that is similar to a cracker, an herb or other green plant, and meat. Pollen found in Ötzi’s stomach showed that he ate his last meal in the valley, south of where he was found. When Ötzi finished eating, he headed up into the mountains. Eight hours later, he died. Scientists believe that Ötzi’s last hours were violent ones. When found, he had a knife clutched in his right hand. Wounds on his right hand suggest that he tried to fight off an attacker. His left shoulder had been deeply pierced by an arrow. Some scientists think Ötzi may have wandered into another tribe’s territory. Ötzi is now displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of in Bolzano, Italy. If scientists 5,300 years from now discovered the remains of someone from our time, what might they conclude about our society?

129 Comparing the Neolithic and Paleolithic Ages Paleolithic Age Neolithic Age

Description Paleolithic people painted cave Neolithic people made and of Art and walls. They usually painted carved objects out of wood. They Crafts animals. also built shelters and tombs. How Humans People hunted animals and People began to farm in permanent Obtained Food gathered nuts, berries, and grains. villages. They continued to raise and herd animals.

How Humans People learned to make fire, People built mud-brick houses and Adapted created a language, and places of worship. They specialized made simple tools and in certain jobs and used copper and shelters. bronze to create more useful tools. Work of Women Women gathered food and cared Women cared for children and and Men for children. Men hunted. performed household tasks. Men herded, farmed, and protected the village.

Humans made great advances from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. 1. How did the work of men change from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age? Mexico. Some of the earliest known commu- 2. Describe What advances were made in nities have been found in the . toolmaking between the Paleolithic and One of the oldest is Jericho (JEHR•ih• KOH) in Neolithic Ages? the West Bank between what are now Israel and . It dates back to about 8000 B.C. Another well-known Neolithic commu- The Growth of Villages People who nity is Çatal Hüyük (chah • TAHL hoo • farmed could settle in one place. Herders YOOK) in present-day . Little of the remained nomadic and drove their animals community remains, but it was home to wherever they could find grazing land. some 6,000 people between about 6700 B.C. Farmers, however, had to stay close to their and 5700 B.C. These people lived in simple fields to water the plants, keep hungry ani- mud-brick houses that were packed tightly mals away, and harvest their crops. They together and decorated inside with wall began to live in villages, where they built paintings. They used other buildings as permanent homes. places of worship. Along with farming, the During the Neolithic Age, villages were people hunted, raised sheep and goats, and started in Europe, , Egypt, , and ate fish and bird eggs from nearby marshes.

130 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations (l)Michael Holford, (r)Ron Sheridan/Ancient Art & Architecture Collection The Benefits of a Settled Life Neolithic use wool and other fabrics for clothes as well. people found greater security by living in These craftspeople, like farmers, also took settled communities. Steady food supplies part in trade. They exchanged the things they led to healthy, growing populations. Soon made for goods they did not have. villagers produced a food surplus. That is, In late Neolithic times, people contin- they grew more food than they needed. ued to make advances. Toolmakers created They were able to trade their extra food for better farming tools, such as the sickle for other goods made by people in their com- cutting grain. In some places, people began munity or who lived nearby. to work with metals. At first they used cop- The food surplus made it possible for per. They heated rocks to melt the copper people to practice specialization (SPEH •shuh• inside and then poured the melted copper luh•ZAY•shuhn), or the development of differ- into molds for tools and weapons. ent kinds of jobs. Because not everyone was After 4000 B.C., craftspeople in western needed for farming, some people had the Asia mixed copper and to form a metal time to develop other types of skills. They called bronze. Bronze was harder and made pottery from clay to store their grain longer lasting than copper. It became and other foods. Others used plant fibers to widely used between 3000 B.C. and 1200 make mats and to weave cloth. This led to a B.C., the period known as the Bronze Age. new type of clothing. Early humans had Compare How did the worn only animal skins. Now people could Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages differ?

Study Central Need help understanding the lives of early humans? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.

What Did You Learn? Reading Summary 1. Who are archaeologists, and 5. Compare Compare the tech- what do they study? Review the nology of the Paleolithic Age 2. How did domesticating animals with that of the Neolithic Age. • Early humans were nomads who help the Neolithic people? CA CS1. moved around to hunt animals Critical Thinking 6. Analyze Why was the ability and gather food. They built to make a fire so important? 3. Determine Cause and shelters and used fire to survive. CA HI2. In time, they developed language Effect Draw a diagram like the and art. one below. List some of the 7. Previewing effects that farming had on Create a three-column chart. • During the farming revolution, people’s lives. CA HI2. In the first column, write what people began to grow crops Effect: you knew about early humans and domesticate animals, Cause: before you read this section. which allowed them to settle Farming Effect: In the second column, write begins in villages. Effect: what you learned after reading. In the third, write what you 4. How do changes still would like to know. in the Neolithic Age still affect CA 6RC2.4 people today? CA HI2.

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 131 Mesopotamian Civilization

Looking Back, Looking Ahead Meeting People In Section 1, you learned how Sargon (SAHR•GAHN) History farming allowed people to settle in Hammurabi (HA•muh•RAH•bee) Social Science one place. Some people settled in an Standards area called Mesopotamia. Content Vocabulary WH6.2 Students civilization analyze the geographic, Focusing on the (SIH•vuh•luh•ZAY•shuhn) political, economic, irrigation IHR religious, and social • Civilization in Mesopotamia began ( •uh•GAY•shuhn) structures of the early in the valleys of the and -state civilizations of Meso- . (page 133) artisan (AHR•tuh•zuhn) potamia, Egypt, and Kush. • Sumerians invented writing and (kyoo•NEE•uh•FAWRM) made other important contributions scribe (SKRYB) to later peoples. (page 136) empire (EHM•PYR) • Sumerian city-states lost power Academic Vocabulary when they were conquered by complex (kahm•PLEHKS) outsiders. (page 139) consist (kuhn•SIHST) Locating Places code (KOHD) Tigris River (TY•gruhs) Reading Strategy Euphrates River (yu•FRAY•teez) Sequencing Information Use a Mesopotamia diagram to show how the first empire (MEH•suh•puh•TAY •mee•uh) in Mesopotamia came about. (SOO•muhr) Babylon (•buh•luhn) city-states formed

30003000 B..C.2.2250 B..C.. 1500 B..C..

3000 B.C. c. 2340 B.C. c. 1792 B.C. City-states Sargon conquers Hammurabi rules arise in Sumer Babylon Mesopotamia Babylon

132 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations WH6.2.1 Locate and describe the major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations. WH6.2.2 Trace the development of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power. WH6.2.3 Understand the relationship between religion and the social and political order in Mesopotamia and Egypt. easy to feed large numbers of people. The Mesopotamia’s Civilization rivers also provided fish, freshwater to Civilization in Mesopotamia began in drink, and made it easy to get from one place the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. to another and to trade. Trade enabled Reading Connection Do you live in a region that goods and ideas to move from place to receives plenty of rain or in a region that is dry? Think place. It was no accident, then, that cities about how that affects you as you read how the grew up in these valleys and became the Sumerians’ environment affected them. centers of civilizations. As cities took shape, so did the need for Over thousands of years, some of the organization. Someone had to make plans early farming villages developed into civi- and decisions about matters of common lizations. Civilizations (SIH • vuh • luh • ZAY • concern. People formed governments to do shuhns) are complex societies. They have just that. Their leaders took charge of food cities, organized governments, art, religion, supplies and building projects. They made class divisions, and a writing system. laws to keep order and assembled armies to defend themselves from enemies. Why Were River Valleys Important? The With fewer worries about meeting their first civilizations arose in river valleys basic needs, people in the river valleys had because good farming conditions made it more time to think about other things. They

Ancient Mesopotamia

30°E 40°E 50°E C

a KEY s p 40°N i ASIA MINOR a n

S e a M M E e SO d Eu P Nineveh ite ph r O ra t T T n e i ea s A g n R M r Se i a . I s ASIA A R . NILE Tyre SYRIAN DELTA DESERT Jerusalem Jordan R. Babylon 30°N EGYPT Dead Uruk Giza Sea Persian Gulf N

W Ancient N E Shoreline i l e R Red Sea S . 1. Location Into what body of water ARABIAN do the Tigris and the Euphrates DESERT Rivers flow? 0 500 mi. 2. Place Why do you think the region 0 500 km of Mesopotamia was so well Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection suited for the growth of civilization? of chariot from Mesopotamia

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 133 Hirmer Verlag placed emphasis, or special importance, on extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the religions and the arts. They also invented Persian Gulf. ways of writing and created calendars to Mesopotamia had a hot, dry climate. time. In the spring, the rivers often flooded, Early civilizations shared another fea- leaving behind rich soil for farming. The ture—they had a class structure. That is, problem was that the flooding was very people held different ranks in society unpredictable. It might flood one year, but depending on what work they did and how not the next. Every year, farmers worried much wealth or power they had. about their crops. Over time, the farmers learned to build The Rise of Sumer The earliest-known civ- dams and channels to control the seasonal ilization arose in what is now southern Iraq, floods. They also built walls, waterways, on a flat plain bounded by the Tigris River and ditches to bring water to their fields. This (TY• gruhs) and the Euphrates River (yu•FRAY• way of watering crops is called irrigation teez). Later, the Greeks called this area (IHR • uh • GAY • shuhn). Irrigation allowed the Mesopotamia (MEH • suh • puh • TAY • mee • uh), farmers to grow plenty of food and support which means “the land between the rivers.” a large population. By 3000 B.C., many cities Mesopotamia lay in the eastern part of the had formed in southern Mesopotamia in a Fertile Crescent, a curving strip of land that region known as Sumer (SOO• muhr).

Sumerian Ziggurat

The top of the ziggurat was considered to be a holy place, and the area around the ziggurat contained palaces and royal storehouses. The surrounding walls had only one entrance because the ziggurat also served as the city’s treasury. How did people reach the upper levels of the ziggurat?

Statues of Sumerians

134 Scala/Art Resource, NY What Were City-States? Geography waterproof bricks were used for walls, as helped to isolate Sumerian cities from each well as homes, temples, and other buildings. other. Beyond the areas of settlement lay Gods and Rulers The Sumerians believed mudflats and patches of scorching desert. in many gods. Each was thought to have This terrain made travel and communica- power over a natural force or a human tion difficult. Each Sumerian city and the activity—flooding, for example, or basket land around it became a separate city-state. weaving. The Sumerians tried hard to Each city-state had its own government and please their gods. They built a grand temple was not part of any larger unit. called a ziggurat (ZIH• guh• RAT) to the chief Sumerian city-states often went to war god. The word ziggurat means “mountain with one another. They fought to gain glory of god” or “hill of heaven.” and to control more territory. For protec- With tiers like a giant square wedding tion, each city-state surrounded itself with a cake, the ziggurat dominated the city. At wall. Because stone and wood were in short the top was a shrine, or special place of supply, the Sumerians used river mud as worship that only priests and priestesses their main building material. They mixed could enter. The priests and priestesses the mud with crushed reeds, formed bricks, were powerful and controlled much of the and left them in the sun to dry. The hard land. They may even have ruled at one time.

A portion of the Royal Standard of Ur, a deco- rated box that shows scenes of Sumerian life

These ruins are from the Sumerian city-state of Uruk. What was a city-state?

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 135 (l)Nik Wheeler/CORBIS, (r)Michael Holford WH6.2.2 Trace the development of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power. WH6.2.3 Understand the relationship between religion and the social and political order in Mesopotamia and Egypt. WH6.2.9 Trace the evolution of language and its written forms.

Later, kings ran the government. They led armies and organized building projects. The A Skilled People first kings were probably war heroes. Their Sumerians invented writing and made position became hereditary, which meant other important contributions to later peoples. that after a king died, his son took over. Reading Connection Do you like to read? If so, you owe a debt to the Sumerians, because they were the first What Was Life Like in Sumer? While to invent writing. Read about this achievement and others. Sumerian kings lived in large palaces, ordinary people lived in small mud-brick The Sumerians left a lasting mark on houses. Most people in Sumer farmed. Some, world history. Their ideas and inventions however, were artisans (AHR• tuh• zuhns), or were copied and improved upon by other skilled workers who made metal products, peoples. As a result, Mesopotamia has been cloth, or pottery. Other people in Sumer called the “cradle of civilization.” worked as merchants or traders. They trav- eled to other cities and towns and traded Why Was Writing Important? The people tools, wheat, and barley for copper, tin, and of Sumer created many things that still affect timber—things that Sumer did not have. our lives today. Probably their greatest People in Sumer were divided into three invention was writing. Writing is important social classes. Generally, a person had to stay because it helps people keep records and in the into which he or she was pass on their ideas to others. born. Only rarely could someone move up. People in Sumer developed writing to The upper class included kings, priests, war- keep track of business deals and other riors, and government officials. In the middle events. Their writing was called cuneiform class were artisans, merchants, farmers, and (kyoo• NEE • uh • FAWRM). It consisted of hun- fishers. These people made up the largest dreds of wedge-shaped marks cut into damp group. The lower class were enslaved people clay tablets with a sharp-ended reed. who worked on farms or in the temples. Archaeologists have found thousands of Enslaved people were forced to serve these cuneiform tablets, telling us much others. Slaveholders thought of them as about Mesopotamian life. property. Some slaves were prisoners of Only a few people—mostly boys from war. Others were criminals. Still others wealthy families—learned how to write. were enslaved because they had to pay off After years of training, they became scribes their debts. Debts are money or goods (SKRYBS), or record keepers. Scribes held owed to others. honored positions in society, often going on In Sumer, women and men had separate to become judges and political leaders. roles. Men headed the households. They also The Sumerians also could decide whom their children would produced works of literature. The world’s marry. Only males could go to school. oldest known story comes from Sumer. It is Women, however, did have some rights. called the Epic of (GIHL • guh • They could buy and sell property and run MEHSH). An epic is a long poem that tells the businesses. story of a hero. The hero Gilgamesh is a Explain How did Mesopo- king who travels around the world with a tamian control of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers friend and performs great deeds. When his benefit their society? friend dies, Gilgamesh searches for a way to

136 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations Scala/Art Resource, NY live forever. He learns that this is possible Sumerians developed many mathemati- only for the gods. This epic poem is still cal ideas. They used geometry to measure studied today. fields and put up buildings. They also created a number system based on 60. We Advances in Science and Math The have them to thank for our 60-minute hour, Mesopotamians’ creativity also extended to 60-second minute, and 360-degree circle. technology. You read earlier about Sumerian In addition, Sumerian people watched irrigation systems. Sumerians also invented the skies to learn the best times to plant the wagon wheel to help carry people and crops and to hold religious festivals. They goods from place to place. Another break- recorded the positions of the planets and through was the plow, which made farming stars and developed a 12-month calendar easier. Still another invention was the sail- based on the cycles of the moon. boat, which replaced muscle power with Identify How did the use wind power. of mathematics benefit the Sumerians?

Education Students today In ancient Mesopotamia, only boys from wealthy and high-ranking families went to the edubba, which means “tablet house.” At the edubba—the world’s first school—boys studied reading, writing, and mathematics and trained to be scribes. For hours every day, they copied the signs of the cuneiform script, trying to master hundreds of words and phrases.

Today, both boys and girls go to school. They study reading, writing, mathematics, and many other subjects. As students advance in their education, they have a great number of career choices and are able to choose the career that fits their talents. In what way is education different today than it was in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablet Mesopotamia?

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 137 (l)Mesopotamian , , Iraq/Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library, (r)Will Hart/PhotoEdit WH6.2.2 Trace the development of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power. WH6.2.4 Know the significance of Hammurabi's Code.

HAMMURABI Reigned c. 1792–1750 B.C. Hammurabi was a young man when he succeeded his father, Sinmuballit, as king of Babylon. When Hammurabi became king, Babylon was already a strong kingdom in Mesopotamia. During his reign, however, Hammurabi transformed Babylon from a small city- state into a large, powerful state. He also united the other city-states of Mesopotamia under one rule. Hammurabi was directly involved in the ruling of his kingdom. He personally directed projects, such as building city walls, restoring temples, and digging and cleaning irrigation canals. A great deal of planning went into his projects. City streets, for example, were arranged in straight lines and intersected at right angles, much like the way our cities are planned today. One of Hammurabi’s goals was to control the Euphrates River because it provided water for Babylon’s farms and trade routes for cargo ships. He also needed to control the river’s annual flooding Hammurabi so that villages and crops would not be washed away. Hammurabi did this by issuing laws controlling the use of irrigation ditches. His laws protected the area and helped bring water to the fields. That was one reason he developed a strict law code, or collection of laws: damaged irrigation channels could cause many people to be injured or even killed. Hammurabi fought for many years against his enemies to control the river. He even used water to defeat them. Sometimes he would dam the river to withhold water needed for drinking and for crops, and then release a sudden damaging flood. Because of Hammurabi’s efforts, the Find a copy of the Code of Hammurabi, either on- center of power in Mesopotamia shifted line or in a reference book. Notice the kinds of from the south to Babylon in the north situations and the punishments that are described. where it remained for the next 1,000 years. How do these compare with current laws and punishments that exist in the United States?

138 WH6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush. WH6.2.4 Know the significance of Hammurabi's Code.

In the 1800s B.C., a new group of people Sargon and Hammurabi became powerful in Mesopotamia. They Sumerian city-states lost power when built the city of Babylon (BA• buh• luhn) by they were conquered by outsiders. the Euphrates River. It quickly became a Reading Connection Have you heard of the Roman center of trade. Beginning in 1792 B.C., the Empire, the Aztec Empire, or the British Empire? The Babylonian king, Hammurabi (HA • muh • RAH• rise and fall of empires is an important part of history. bee), began conquering cities to the north and Read on to learn about the first empires in the world. south and created the Babylonian Empire. Hammurabi is best known for his law Over time, conflicts weakened Sumer’s code, or collection of laws. (See pages 140 city-states. They became vulnerable to attacks and 141.) The code covered crimes, farming by outside groups such as the Akkadians (uh• and business activities, and marriage and the KAY• dee• uhnz) of northern Mesopotamia. family—almost every area of life. Before the The king of the Akkadians was named law code, rulers could treat others nearly any Sargon (SAHR • GAHN). In about 2340 B.C., way they wanted. The code forced all people Sargon conquered all of Mesopotamia creat- to follow the law in how they treated others. ing the world’s first empire. An empire (EHM• Hammurabi’s code influenced later law PYR) is a group of many different lands under codes, including those of Greece and Rome. one ruler. Sargon’s empire lasted for more Explain Why was Sargon’s than 200 years before falling to invaders. empire important?

Study Central Need help understanding the Sumerian civilization? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.

What Did You Learn? Reading Summary 1. What is a civilization? 4. Geography Skills How did Review the 2. What was the Code of the geography of Mesopotamia Hammurabi? shape the growth of • In time, farming villages devel- population and creation of oped into civilizations with Critical Thinking a civilization? CA CS3. governments, art, religion, writ- ing, and social class divisions. 3. Summarize Information 5. How did the The first city-states developed Draw a chart like the one below. affect CA HI2. in Mesopotamia. Use it to list the achievements Sumerian society? of Mesopotamians that helped 6. Persuasive Writing Imagine • Many important ideas and inven- improve their civilization’s you are living in a city-state tions, including writing, the wheel, CA HI6. economy. in ancient Sumer. Write a letter the plow, and a number system to a friend describing which based on 60, were developed in Achievements of Mesopotamian Civilization Mesopotamian idea or invention the region of Mesopotamia. you believe will be the most • Several empires, including the important to humanity. Babylonian Empire, took control CA 6WS1.2 of Mesopotamia.

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 139 WH6.2.4 Know the significance of Hammurabi's Code.

Hammurabi’s Laws: Fair or Cruel?

Some of the laws reflect that Fair B.C., King Hammurabi Around 1750 fairness. • Law 5: If a judge makes an error wrote 282 laws to govern the people of through his own fault when trying Babylon. Historians and scholars agree a case, he must pay a fine, be that these ancient laws were the first to removed from the judge’s bench, cover almost all aspects of society. and never judge another case. However, historians and scholars do not agree whether Hammurabi’s laws were • Law 122: If someone gives some- fair or cruel. thing to someone else forshould safe- Those who see the laws as just and keeping, the transaction and a contract fair give the following reasons. They be witnessed say the laws made between the two parties. • stated what all people needed to • Law 233: If a contractor know about the rules of their builds a house for society someone and the • brought order and justice to society walls start to fall, • regulated many different activities, then the builder from business contracts to crime. must use his own money King Hammurabi wrote an intro- and labor to duction to his list of laws. In that make the introduction, he says that the laws walls secure. were written to be fair. His intention was “to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and evil-doers, so that the strong should not harm the weak....”

Stone monument showing Hammurabi (standing) and his code 140 140 Cuneiform tablet with the text of the introduction to the Code of Hammurabi

Cruel • Law 22: If someone is caught in the Some historians and scholars think act of robbery, then he shall be put Hammurabi’s laws were cruel and to death. unjust. They say the laws • Law 195: If a son strikes his father, • called for violent punishments, often the son’s hands shall be cut off. death, for nonviolent crimes • Law 202: If someone strikes a man • required different punishments for of higher rank, then he shall be accused persons of different social whipped 60 times in public. classes • allowed no explanation from an accused person. Some of the laws reflect this cruelty. Document-Based Questions Law 3: If someone falsely accuses • 1. Why do some people think someone else of certain crimes, then Hammurabi’s laws were fair? he shall be put to death. CA HR5. 2. Why do others think the laws were cruel? CA HR5. 3. Were the laws fair or cruel? Take the role of a historian. Write a brief essay that explains how you view Hammurabi’s laws. Be sure to use facts to support your position. You can compare Hammurabi’s laws to our 141 modern laws to support your argument. CA HR5. CA 6RC2.7 New Empires

Looking Back, Looking Ahead Meeting People In Section 2, you learned about the Nebuchadnezzar History empires of Sargon and Hammurabi. (NEH•byuh•kuhd•NEH•zuhr) Social Science Later empires—those of the Assyrians Standards and the Chaldeans—used their Content Vocabulary WH6.2 Students military power in new ways. province (PRAH•vuhns) analyze the geographic, caravan (KAR uh VAN) political, economic, • • religious, and social Focusing on the astronomer structures of the early • Assyria’s military power and well- (uh•STRAH•nuh•muhr) civilizations of Mesopo- organized government helped it tamia, Egypt, and Kush. build a vast empire in Mesopotamia Academic Vocabulary by 650 B.C. (page 143) core (KOHR) • The Chaldean Empire built important interval (IHN•tuhr•vuhl) landmarks in Babylon and developed route (ROWT) the first calendar with a seven-day week. (page 145) Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast Complete Locating Places a Venn diagram like the one below Assyria (uh•SIHR•ee•uh) listing the similarities and differences Persian Gulf (PUHR•zhuhn) between the Assyrian Empire and the Chaldean Empire. Nineveh (NIH•nuh•vuh) Hanging Gardens

Assyrians Chaldeans

900900 B..C.7.700 B..C.. 500 B..C..

Nineveh c. 900 B.C. 612 B.C. 539 B.C. Assyrians control Nineveh captured; Persians conquer Babylon Mesopotamia Assyrian Empire Chaldeans crumbles

142 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations WH6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.

The Assyrians Why Were the Assyrians So Strong? The Assyrian military was well organized. At its Assyria’s military power and well- core were groups of foot soldiers armed organized government helped it build a vast empire with spears and daggers. Other soldiers in Mesopotamia by 650 B.C. were experts at using bows and arrows. The Reading Connection Today, many countries have army also had chariot riders and soldiers armed forces to protect their interests. Read to dis- who fought on horseback. cover how the Assyrians built an army strong enough to This fearsome and mighty force was the conquer all of Mesopotamia. first large army to use iron weapons. For centuries, iron had been used for tools, but About 1,000 years after Hammurabi, a it was too soft to serve as a material for new empire arose in Mesopotamia. It was weapons. Then a people called the founded by a people called the Assyrians (HIH• TYTZ), who lived northwest of Assyria, (uh•SIHR•ee•uhns), who lived in the north developed a way of making iron stronger. near the Tigris River. Assyria (uh•SIHR•ee• They heated iron ore, hammered it, and uh) had fertile valleys that attracted outside rapidly cooled it. The Assyrians learned invaders. To defend their land, the Assyrians this technique from the Hittites. They pro- built a large army. Around 900 B.C., they duced iron weapons that were stronger began taking over the rest of Mesopotamia. than those made of copper or tin.

TThehe AssyriansAssyrians atat WarWar

When attacking a walled city, the Assyrians used massive war machines. The wheeled battering ram was powered by soldiers. It was covered to protect the soldiers inside, but it had slits so they could shoot arrows out. What other methods did Assyrian soldiers use to attack cities? Assyrian Empire

0 300 mi. 40°E Assyrian 40°N 0 300 km winged Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection ASIA statues stood M MINOR E as guardians at S Nineveh O P city gates. O T E A Mediterranean u T p M i h g Sea r I r at A i Tyre e s s R Jerusalem R. . Babylon EGYPT

N N

i l ARABIAN e WE R DESERT . KEY Red Assyrian Empire S Thebes Sea Assyrian kings divided the empire into provinces (PRAH • vuhn • suhs), or political 1. Location What major rivers were part of the Assyrian Empire? districts. They chose officials to govern each 2. Human/Environment Ineraction province. The job of these officials was to What geographical features may collect taxes and enforce the king’s laws. have kept the Assyrians from Assyrian kings built roads to join all expanding their empire to the north and south? parts of their empire. Government soldiers were posted at stations along the way to protect traders from bandits. Messengers on The Assyrians were ferocious warriors. government business used the stations to To attack cities, they tunneled under walls rest and change horses. or climbed over them on ladders. They Life in Assyria The Assyrians lived much loaded tree trunks onto movable platforms like other Mesopotamians. Their writing was and used them as battering rams to knock based on Babylonian writing, and they wor- down city gates. Once a city was captured, shiped many of the same gods. Their laws the Assyrians set fire to its buildings. They were similar, but lawbreakers often faced also carried away its people and goods. more brutal and cruel punishments in Anyone who resisted Assyrian rule was Assyria. punished. The Assyrians drove people from As builders, the Assyrians showed great their lands and moved them into foreign skill. They erected large temples and palaces territory. Then they brought in new settlers that they filled with wall carvings and stat- and forced them to pay heavy taxes. ues. The Assyrians also produced and col- A Well-Organized Government Assyrian lected literature. One of the world’s first kings had to be strong to rule their large libraries was in Nineveh. It held 25,000 tablets of stories and songs to the gods. empire. By about 650 B.C., the empire stretched from the Persian Gulf (PUHR•zhuhn) in the Modern historians have learned much about east to Egypt’s Nile River in the west. The ancient civilizations from this library. capital was at Nineveh (NIH • nuh • vuh) on Explain Why were the the Tigris River. Assyrian soldiers considered brutal and cruel?

144 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations Boltin Picture Library WH6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.

The Chaldeans Chaldeans decided the time had come to fight back. The Chaldean Empire built important In 627 B.C.Nabopolasar led his people in landmarks in Babylon and developed the first calen- Gianni Dagli Orti/CORBIS rebellion against the Assyrians. The dar with a seven-day week. Chaldeans joined with the , another Reading Connection What landmarks exist in your people in the region who wanted to break town or the nearest city? Read to learn some of the spe- free from the Assyrians. Together the cial landmarks that made the Chaldean capital of Chaldeans and Medes defeated Assyria’s Babylon famous. army. In 612 B.C. they captured the Assyrian capital of Nineveh and finally put an end to Assyria’s cruel treatment of people led the hated Assyrian empire. to many rebellions. About 650 B.C., the Nabapolasar and his son, the famous Assyrians began fighting each other over King Nebuchadnezzar (NEH•byuh•khud• who would be their next king. Because the NEH• zuhr), then went on to build their Assyrians were not united, a group of peo- own empire. By 605 B.C., the Chaldeans had ple called the Chaldeans (kahl•DEE•uhns) were able to rebel. The Chaldean people had moved from the Arabian Peninsula into southern Mesopotamia about 1000 B.C. Their small WebActivity Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and kingdom was quickly conquered by the click on Chapter 1—Student Web Activity to learn more about the first civilizations. Assyrians but the Chaldeans hated their new rulers. With the Assyrians busy fight- ing each other, King Nabopolasar of the

HangingHanging GardensGardens

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. A complex irrigation system brought water from the Euphrates River to the top of the gardens. From there, the water flowed down to each of the lower levels of the gardens. What other sights made Babylon a grand city?

Ruins of the Hanging Gardens conquered nearly all of the lands the These terraced gardens showcased large Assyrians had ruled. They made Babylon trees, masses of flowering vines, and other the capital of their empire, and because of beautiful plants. A pump brought in water this, the Chaldean Empire is sometimes from a nearby river. Nebuchadnezzar built called the New Babylonian Empire. the gardens to please his wife, who missed the mountains and plants of her homeland The City of Babylon The Chaldeans rebuilt in the northwest. the city of Babylon as the glorious center of their empire. The city became the world’s One Greek historian in the 400s B.C. largest and richest city. It was surrounded by described the beauty of Babylon. He wrote, a brick wall so wide that two chariots could “In magnificence, there is no other city that pass on the road on top of it. Built into the approaches it.” Outside the center of wall at 100-yard (91.4-m) intervals were Babylon stood houses and marketplaces. towers where soldiers kept watch. There, artisans made pottery, cloth, baskets, Large palaces and temples stood in the and jewelry. They sold their wares to pass- city’s center. A huge ziggurat reached more ing caravans (KAR • uh • VANZ), or groups of than 300 feet (91.4 m) into the sky. Another traveling merchants. Because Babylon was marvel, visible from any point in Babylon, located on the major trade route between was an immense staircase of greenery: the the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Hanging Gardens at the king’s palace. Sea, it became rich from trade.

Chaldean Empire c. 605 B.C.

40°N 0 200 mi. KEY 40°E 0 200 km Original Chaldean settlement Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection Farthest extent of Chaldean Empire

Caspian MESOPOTAMIA ASSYRIA Sea Nineveh MEDES N

T i g W Byblos r E i Mediterranean s Damascus E R Sea u . S Tyre ph ra t es R. 30°E JUDAH Jerusalem ARABIAN DESERT PERSIANS Babylon Susa EGYPT

CHALDEANS 1. Location How far apart are the 35°N cities of Susa and Damascus? Persian 2. Region How were the Gulf geographical locations of the original Chaldean settlement and 50°E Judah similar?

146 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations S. Fiore/SuperStock Babylon was also a center of science. Like earlier people in Mesopotamia, the Chaldeans believed that changes in the sky revealed the plans of the gods. Their astronomers (uh • STRAH • nuh • muhrs)—peo- ple who study the heavenly bodies— mapped the stars, the planets, and the phases of the moon. The Chaldeans made one of the first sundials and were the first to develop a seven-day week.

Why Did the Empire Fall? A number of weak leaders, along with poor harvests and decreased trade, caused the Chaldeans to lose their power. In 539 B.C. Persians from The Ishtar Gate was at the main entrance the northeast captured Babylon and made to ancient Babylon. Describe the wall that Mesopotamia part of the new Persian surrounded Babylon. Empire. Identify What were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Study Central Need help understanding the Assyrians and Chaldeans? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.

What Did You Learn? Reading Summary 1. Why was the Assyrian army 5. Why do you a powerful fighting force? think the Assyrians took con- Review the quered peoples from their • Using cavalry and foot soldiers 2. What were some of the accomplishments of Chaldean lands and moved them to armed with iron weapons, the other places? CA CS3. Assyrians created a large empire astronomers? that included all of Mesopotamia Critical Thinking 6. Explain Why did the and extended into Egypt. 3. Summarize Information Chaldeans join with the Medes Draw a chart like the one to fight the Assyrians? CA HI1. • The Chaldeans built a large below. Use it to describe empire in Mesopotamia that the city of Babylon and why it 7. Science Link What different included Babylon, the largest and became powerful. CA HI2. types of knowledge and skills richest city in the world at that would the Babylonians need time. Babylon Under Chaldeans to build the Hanging Gardens? CA 6RC2.3 8. Posing Questions Write four ques- 4. Analyze How did the tions about the Chaldeans you Assyrians set up a well- would like answered. Use the organized government? library and Internet to research CA 6RC2.0 and write answers to your questions. CA HR1.

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 147 WH6.2.9 Trace the evolution of language and its written forms.

Ancient Forms Sculpture of of Communication chariot from Mesopotamia Long before the rise of civilization, early people expressed themselves through paintings. People may have used these images to explain the universe. Later, people in Mesopotamia began using writing not only to express their ideas, but also to record important events and tell stories. These include epic stories of heroes, proverbs about how to live properly, and law codes. Study the painting and the passages that follow, and then answer the ques- tions on page 149.

Reader’s Dictionary

old ones: the elders or leaders of the Enkidu (ehn•KEE•doo): Gilgamesh’s city friend and traveling companion

Cave Painting

One of the earliest forms of communication was through art. Beginning around 30,000 B.C., people began to crush rocks to make powder for painting on cave walls. The images they painted include animals, hunting scenes, and people engaged in various activities. These paintings may have had a religious meaning or may have been intended to record events.

This cave painting is in Lascaux, France. The cave is filled with images drawn or carved by people during the Paleolithic Age, about 15,000 years ago. The images show animals and people, and tell stories about Paleolithic life.

148 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations Advice for Gilgamesh The Code of Hammurabi

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a legend about the The following is law seven from the Code of travels of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk in . Hammurabi. He ruled Babylon from around It was written about 2000 B.C. In the following 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. passage, Gilgamesh is warned about going on a 7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of dangerous adventure alone. another man, without witnesses or a con- The old ones shaped their mouths and spoke, tract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, saying to Gilgamesh, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he “Do not trust all that strength of yours, take it in charge, he is considered a thief and Gilgamesh. shall be put to death. Make sure your eyes are wide, your blow cer- tain. —“Code of Hammurabi,” L.W. King, trans.

The one who walks in front guards his friend; the one who knows the way safeguards his companion.

Let Enkidu go before you as you march; he knows the way of the forest, to the cedars. He has seen battle, understands warfare. Enkidu will watch over the friend, make the way safe for his companion.”

—Gilgamesh, John Gardner and John Maier, trans.

Stone monument showing Hammurabi (standing)

Cave Painting 6. Do you think the punishment would be the 1. What kind of animals are shown? same if there were a witness or a contract? Why? 2. Why do you think this image was painted? Read to Write The Epic of Gilgamesh 7. How do you think the author of the Epic of 3. What do the old ones tell Gilgamesh to do Gilgamesh would have used words to express instead of relying on his strength? Why? the image of the cave painting? 4. Why do the old ones think it is a good idea 8. Based on the primary sources, explain what for Enkidu to accompany Gilgamesh? values you think were important to people in ancient Mesopotamia. How do these values The Code of Hammurabi compare to ours today? CA HI2.; HR4. 5. What is the punishment for making a deal without a witness or a contract?

CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations 149 Scala/Art Resource, NY Standards WH6.1 & WH6.2

14. Describe What rights did women have in Review Content Vocabulary the city-states of Sumer? CA 6RC2.0 1. Write a brief paragraph that describes and 15. Predict How successful do you think the compares the following terms. Assyrian army would have been if it had archaeologist artifact not learned how to strengthen iron? fossil anthropologist CA HI4. Indicate which of the following statements are true. Replace the word in italics to make any Geography Skills false statements true. Study the map below and answer the follow- ing questions. ___ 2. An artisan kept records in cuneiform. 16. Location On what continent was the 3. ___ Assyrian kings divided their empire earliest fossil evidence of humans found? into political districts called provinces. CA CS3. 4. ___ A civilization is a group of many differ- 17. Movement Based on fossil evidence, ent lands under one ruler. where did early humans go first, Europe or Australia? CA CS3. Review the 18. Analyze Which three continents are not Section 1 • Early Humans shown on this map? How do you think 5. How did Paleolithic people adapt to their early humans reached those continents? environment? CA CS3. 6. What were the major differences between people who lived in the Paleolithic period and those who lived in the Neolithic period? Section 2 • Mesopotamian Civilization Spread of Early Humans 7. Where were the first civilizations in 30°E90°E150°E Mesopotamia? 25,000 40,000 years ago 8. What kinds of contributions did 60°N years ago Sumerians make? ASIA 9. How did Sumerian city-states lose power? EUROPE Section 3 • New Empires 100,000 years ago 10. What helped Assyria build an empire in 30°N Mesopotamia? AFRICA 11. 50,000 What scientific advancement did the 150,000–200,000 EQUATOR 0° years ago Chaldeans make? years ago Critical Thinking 30°S 12. AUSTRALIA Explain Why do you think Mesopotamia N is sometimes called the “cradle of 0 2,000 mi. civilization”? CA 6RC2.3 W E 0 2,000 km KEY 13. Analyze Why was the development of Mercator projection S Movement of early humans farming called a revolution? CA HI3.

150 CHAPTER 1 • The First Civilizations Self-Check Quiz To help you prepare for Read to Write the Chapter Test, visit ca.hss.glencoe.com 19. Expository Writing Most of what we know about early humans comes from scientific discoveries. Write two to three paragraphs explaining how these scientists help historians gather 25. Researching Many impor- information about the past. CA 6WA2.2 tant scientific discoveries, such as Lucy in 20. Using Your Use your Chapter 1 1974, changed the way that scientists foldable to create an illustrated time line. understand early human history. Use your Your time line should extend from the local library to research the discovery by date Jericho was founded to the fall of anthropologist Tim White in 1992. What the Chaldean Empire. Create drawings or kind of new information did this discovery photocopy maps, artifacts, or architecture provide about early hominids? Write a to illustrate your time line. CA 6WS1.3 research paper describing the importance of this discovery. CA HI5. Using Academic Vocabulary 21. Use the words listed below as you write a two- to three-paragraph summary of Chapter 1. Make sure that you cover all of the important events and cultures that appear in the chapter. CA HI1. task code revolution core Select the best answer for each complex interval of the following questions. consist route 26 Which of these was a purpose Economics Connection of the ziggurat in ancient 22. Persuasive Writing Suppose you are a Mesopotamia? merchant in Çatal Hüyük. A new group of A people wants to trade with your village. weapon storage Write a short speech to persuade your vil- B schoolhouse lage that there are economic benefits to C office for recording votes trading with other people. CA HI6. D the city’s treasury Linking Past and Present 27 The importance of ancient poems such as the Epic of 23. Analyzing Information Imagine you are Gilgamesh is that they continue a nomad who travels from place to place to provide people with to hunt and gather food. What things would you carry with you to help you sur- A historically accurate vive? Make a list of items and discuss it descriptions of events. with your classmates. CA 6RC2.4 B fantastic adventures with great heroes. Reviewing Skills C a deeper understanding of events. 24. Previewing Imagine that a D stories about real, historic friend has to read Section 3. Write a few people. paragraphs telling him or her how to preview the section. CA 6RC2.4

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