Early Civilization

From 7th Grade Wiki

Contents 1 Riddle of the Bones 2 Ages 2.1 Paleolithic Age: 2.2 Mesolithic Age: 2.3 Neolithic Age: 3 Germs, Guns, and Steel 3.1 Why Civilizations Advance 4 Characteristics of Civilization 5 Examining a Ziggurat 6 Evaluating Sources 7 Mesopotamia 7.1 Barley Quest 7.2 Sumer 7.3 Assyria 7.4 Babylon 7.4.1 Hammurabi 7.4.2 Nebuchadnezzar 8 Civilization Project

Riddle of the Bones

Ages

Paleolithic Age:

paleo=old, lithic=stone. Early humans used stone tools. They were hunter / gathers. They were nomadic and moved with their food. The paleolithic age last from 3.5 mya (millions of years ago) to 10,000 BC

Mesolithic Age:

meso=middle, in between, lithic=stone. A transition period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. Humans experimented with farming and permanent settlements. 10,000 BC to 8,500 BC

Neolithic Age:

neo=new, lithic=stone. These humans still used stone tools, but they developed farming and domestication of animals. This allowed these humans to develop permanent settlements. This was aided by the warming of the Earth's climate. The Neolithic Age was from 8500 BC to 3500 BC

Germs, Guns, and Steel

Jared Diamond asks how do certain civilizations advance and dominate others.

Why Civilizations Advance

• Strong leadership
• Military might
• Natural Resources like food, oil, metal
• Large/Healthy population
• Wealth, strong economy
• Fertile Land
• Superior technology
• Geography (Jared Diamond's Thesis)

Characteristics of Civilization

1. Food surplus (most important?) ex. wheat, barley
2. Geographic Boundaries and political organization (government)
3. People living in cities ex. Babylon, Athens
4. Social classes, division of labor ex. priest, scribes, artists
5. Culture: religion, art, architecture ex. polytheistic religion, Parthenon, ziggurats
6. System of record keeping-writing ex. hieroglyphics, cuneiform

Examining a Ziggurat

What might be the purpose of the structure? What evidence may indicate its use?

Evaluating Sources

How do we know a source is reliable?

Mesopotamia

• meso=middle, in between potamia=water, river (Tigris and Euphrates) like Potomac River, hippopotamus

• In modern Iraq
• Located in Fertile Crescent - A crescent-shaped region of fertile land(good for farming). Extends from Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea the bottom touches the Red Sea.
• Cradle of Civilization: Birthplace of early civilizations
• Site of several civilizations: Sumeria, Assyria, Persia
• Sumerians were the first civilization to arise in Mesopotamia
• Persians were the last civilization
• Mesopotamia was open to invasion because lack barriers like mountains, oceans, deserts. Fertile land made it valuable to invading civilizations.

Barley Quest

Sumer

• Sumerian writing was cuneiform write using stylus on tablets
• Polytheistic=worshiped many gods
• Babylonians destroyed Sumerians, because of independent city states.
• Live in city-state=independent from other cities and surrounding lands
• Constructed temples Ziggurats with sun-dried bricks
• Used Lunar calendar (29 1/2) moon phases
• Barter: Trade services or goods for other goods or service. Does not use money or medium of exchange.

Assyria

Babylon

Hammurabi

• Hammurabi's Code - An eye for an eye. The first written legal code that applied to all aspects of society (from crimes to business agreements
• Military Leader
• City Builder

Nebuchadnezzar

Civilization Project

Please a description of the project on the 7th grade website.