Presentation for Slovak biligual school

1. ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
THE CIVILIZATIONS OF
THE GREAT RIVERS
Mgr. Aneta Crkoňová, SSAG

2. ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
 Era of palace economy, first cities and city-states on written record
 Oriental despotism – ruler is a descendant of gods (absolute power)
 Each civilization has its own polytheistic religion (temples and sacrifices)
 Civilizations located in the valleys around great rivers for practical reasons:
 Rivers were source of life in deserts of jungles
 Regular floods brought fertile soil
 Rivers provided fish
 Important source of building materials (clay, reeds)
 Easy means of transportation

3. DIVISION OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
 ANCIENT ORIENTAL CIVILIZATIONS
a) STATES WITH IRRIGATION SYSTEM:
MESOPOTAMIA, EGYPT, INDIA, CHINA
a) STATES WITHOUT IRRIGATION SYSTEM:
PHOENICIA, PALESTINE, PERSIA,
HITTITE
 CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: GREECE AND ROMAN EMPIRE
(ANTIQUITY)

4. MESOPOTAMIA
• Euphrates and Tigris = cradle of the civilization
• Part of FERTILE CRESCENT (modern Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran)
• Agriculture: barley, wheat, sesame, fruit (apple, plum, cherry, pear), onion,
garlic, ...
• Inhabitants were tribes of Semitic nomads that settled (free peasants,
craftsmen, traders, slaves, warriors, priests and scribes)
Mesopotamia was divided into 3 areas:
 SUMER (south)
 BABYLONIA (middle)
 ASSYRIA (north)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5kZA0
HtQ

6. SUMER
3 500 BC – 2 300 BC
SUMERIAN CONTRIBUTIONS:
 IRRIGATION SYSTEM – Clever system of canals, ditches and dykes
 CALENDAR/SYSTEM OF METROLOGY – lunar way of counting time, number
system based on the number 60
 BUILDING TECHNIQUES – sun-dried bricks (adobe)
 METAL-WORKING TECHNOLOGY – bronze tools and weapons
 WHEEL – transport cart and potter‘s wheel
 SCRIPT – cuneiform (scratching in a wet clay with the pointed end of a reed)

7. - City states: UR, URUK, LAGASH,
KISH, LARSA, ERIDU AND
- In the middle of the city was
ZIGGURAT (centre of religious
and economic life)
- Society divided into 4 classes:
NOBILITY, CLIENTS,
COMMONERS, SLAVES)
- Around 2 300 BC Semitic people
led by SARGON conquered Uruk
and created AKKAD EMPIRE
1st MULTINATIONAL EMPIRE
(contrast to city-states) = AKKAD
EMPIRE

8. AKKADIAN EMPIRE
2 300 BC – 2 154 BC
- Land of Mesopotamia
- named after the capital
(Akkad)
- The territorial state with
movable army, administrative
apparatus and network of
roads
- Famous sovereigns:
SARGON OF AKKAD (or
Sargon the Great) and
NARAM-SIN

9. BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
1 900 BC – 1 600 BC
- 6th ruler of Mesopotamian city-
state BABYLON (BABEL) started to
dominate - HAMMURABI
- Establishment of bureaucracy,
taxation, centralized government,
stability after turbulent times
- King‘s power was in his army and
administration
- Division of the society was similar
to Sumerian
- famous CODE OF HAMMURABI: ,,
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.“

11. ASSYRIA
1 900 BC – 612 BC
• Around the city of ASSUR
• Established traders in Anatolia (traded with metals and fabrics)
• Assyrians were excellent soldiers using chariots and savagery
• In the 8th century BC the Assyrian empire was the most powerful empire
in the Middle East
• The Neo-Assyrian empire was destroyed by Neo-Babylonian empire
• Famous library of king ASHURBANIPAL in the city of NINIVEH (the oldest
copy of the EPIC OF GILGAMESH)

12. NEO-BABYLONIAN
EMPIRE
626 BC – 538 BC
 Represented by the CHALDEANS
(tribe)
 The last empire before the rise of
PERSIA
 ISHTAR GATE, THE HANGING
GARDENS OF SEMIRAMIS,
MARDUK TEMPLE

13. PALESTINE (JEWISH NATION)
• In 1 200 BC Jews were tribes of Semitic nomads
looking for a place to settle (main historical
resource is HOLY BIBLE (old testament)
• After imprisonment in Egypt and escape with
Moses and settled in Palestine
• SAUL founded the kingdom and his son David
its capital – JERUSALEM
• SOLOMON built great temple (wailing wall)
and wrote the masterpiece Song of the songs
• Invaded by Neo-Babylonian empire, Assyria,
Romans
• The oldest monotheistic religion-
JUDAISM (Yahweh)

14. NORTH – ISRAEL
SOUTH - JUDAH

15. PERSIA – THE FIRST ACHAEMEDIC
EMPIRE (550 BC – 330 BC)
• IRANIAN EMPIRE based in Western Asia founded
by CYRUS THE GREAT who unified tribes of shepards
• Strong army – he conquered Mesopotamia, Palestine,
Phoenicia, Egypt, Turkey and fought with Greek city-
states in Asia Minor
• DARIUS I. reformed the empire: stronger army, division
of an empire to 20 satrapies with satraps as governors,
new roads and currency = DARIC and started the
Persian wars
• XERXES invaded mainland Greece – BATTLE OF
THERMOPYLAE
• ALEXANDER THE GREAT defeated Persia in 330 BC and
he created a new empire
• ZOROASTRIANISM – one of the world‘s oldest
continuously practiced religions, it is about the constant
battle of good and evilhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXFebggoweE

17. Periodization of
ancient egypt

18. E
G
Y
P
T
• One of the most remarkable civilizations
• In the valley of THE NILE RIVER – ,,THE BLACK LAND“ (very fertile
soil), the desert was referred to as ,,THE RED LAND“ (function of
protection)
During PREDYNASTIC PERIOD there were 2 regions:
 UPPER EGEPYT (south)
 LOWER EGYPT (north, Delta of the Nile)
• Regions were unified in 3 100 BC by PHARAOH MENES (Meni) who
established the first dynasty and capital – MEMPHIS (Mennofer)
• Pharaohs were despotic rulers with absolute political, religious and
judical authority
• Administrative apparatus was represented by NOMARCHS (provincial
governors)
• The important role had priests and scribes
• Other inhabitants: warriors, free peasants, traders and slaves (they
built the pyramids)
•5 000 BC – 640 AD

20. • Egyptian script used more then 2 000 HIEROGLYPHIC characters and was written
on PAPYRUS
• The tombs of pharaohs were in the VALLEY OF THE KINGS and in PYRAMIDS
built during the period of OLD KINGDOM with SPHINX (head of human and body
of a lion)
• The 1st pyramid was DJOSER (step pyramid) and the best known are the pyramids
of KHUFU (Cheops), KHAFRA and MENKAURE in GIZA
• 150 year of chaos during the 1ST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD unified in MIDDLE
KINGDOM
• Egypt was usually under attacks from sea nations and in 2ND INTERMEDIATE
PERIOD = ERA OF HYKSOS (Semitic people who conquered Egypt)
• New weapons: horse-drawn chariot, sword, new arrowheads, shield, metal helmet
• Unification in NEW KINGDOM under THUTMOSE III.
• AKHENATEN founded a new city AKHETATEN and established the new religion –
AMUN (polytheism)-> ATEN the Sun god (monotheism)

22. Egyptians believed in afterlife and reincarnation in case when
body of the dead stayed preserved – MUMMIFICATION
The organs were removed from the body and put into a
CANOPY and the body put into SARCOPHAGUS with amulets
They also wrote BOOK OF THE DEAD – funerary text, to assist
the dead person on his/her journey

23. FORMER EGYPTIAN GODS (polytheism)

25. • New kingdom was the golden age of Egypt
• Most famous pharaohs were TUTANKHAMUN
(the richest tomb discovered by HOWARD
CARTER) and RAMESSES II. (The most
powerful of the Egyptian empire)
• Ramesses II. got to war with the HITTITE
EMPIRE (Anatolia) and after the BATTLE OF
KADESH (1285 BC) – the biggest battle of
ancient history, they reached the agreement
• Later the Hittite empire was destroyed by the
SEA PEOPLE who also caused decline of New
kingdom -> 3RD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
• LATE PERIOD was the restoration of the
Egyptian kingdom. In 525 BC conquered by
ACHAEMENID EMPIRE under CAMBYSES
• Legacy: mathematics, geometry,
architecture, astronomy, medicine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYVZFWHKWKI

26. INDIA
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
(3 300 BC – 1 300 BC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYVZFWHKWKI

27. • Cities HARAPPA and MOHENJO-DARO build in
90-degree street pattern (grid system)
• The oldest sanitation system (running water,
private pools, drainage system)
• The civilization of the VEDIC AGE (1500-500 BC)
created the CASTE SYSTEM that divided Indian
society into social classes:
 BRAHMINS (priests)
 KSHATRIYAS (rulers, warriors)
 VAISHYAS (merchants, craftsmen)
 SHUDRAS (servants)
 DALITS - UNTOUCHABLES (cleaners)
• The ancient language of SANSKRIT
• In the Ganges – MAGADHA EMPIRE (territorial
state which spread buddhism)

28. Ancient India was the birthplace of 2 of the world‘s religions –
BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM
- Buddhism, one of the oldest world religions was founded by PRINCE
SIDDHARTA GAUTAMA in 6th century BC worships no God, but aims to reach
the enlightment - nirvana

29. CENTRAL AMERICA

30. THE INCAS (PERU)
• firstly a small tribe in THE ANDES mountains
and then developed America‘s first cities
• Ruler PACHACUTI expanded the territory
with agreement or conquest
• administrative, political and military center in
CUSCO
• Official language QUECHUA and QUIPU –
recording devices fashioned from strings
• No markets, government distributed the
goods and leftovers were stored in capital
• Upper class: kings, priests, government
officials, commoners
• Lower class: servants, farmers, artisans
• GOD OF THE SUN (they believed the king is
related to him – oriental despotism)
• Conquered by FRANCISCO PIZARRO in 16th
century (ruler ATAHUALPA refused to
convert to Christianity)
• MACHU PICCHU – the lost city in the
mountains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5ktwPXsyM

31. THE AZTECS (MEXICO)
• According to their legends origin is in a place
AZTLAN somewhere in NW Mexico
• Class system: king or high priest, nobility,
merchants, artisants, commoners, farmers, slaves
• Commoners had to pay tribute in goods or services
(crops, jewellery, clothing, or labour)
• Boys were trained to combat from early age
• The more captives they took, the higher social rank
would be
• They held human sacrifices (they cut the beating
heart out )
• AZTEC CODICES (law, history, prophesy,
astronomy, ritual calendar) books made from tree
bark and painted on deerskin or agave fiber paper,
it was burnt by the Spanish for pagan content
• Conquested by HERNANDO CORTES in 16th
century https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaWDXwmjf_Q

32. THE MAYANS
(YUCATAN)
• Todays GUATEMALA and BELIZE
• They had no political center
• Society was organized into a number
of independent states
• Agriculture: maize, beans, squashes,
chilli peppers
• Temples (CHICHEN ITZA), El Castillo
– Temple of Kukulcan (feathered
serpent)
• Mayan calendar predicted the end of
the world
• Human sacrifices (e.g. Well of
Sacrifice where the victims were
drowned for the Rain God)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK9yv5wAoY0&t=312s

33. CHINA
DYNASTIC
HISTORY BEGAN
AROUND 1 500 BC
VALLEY OF YELLOW
RIVER AND YANGTZI
(LONG) RIVER

34. • QUIN SHI HUANG unified the city
states and founded the empire
he ruled as the first emperor in 221
221 BC
• He passed many reforms: common
law code, administration, banned
and burned many books, built the
GREAT WALL OF CHINA and a
massive new national road system,
as well as the city-
sized mausoleum guarded by
the TERRACOTTA ARMY
• FORTUNE-TELLING and the
WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS are the
oldest customs of Chinese
civilization

35. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpy5BMhMYYw

36. • Agriculture was based on a millet grown in
the north and rice grown in artificial pools –
paddies
• The fertile soil of Chinese Yellow river is
called loess
• CHINESE SCRIPT is the oldest script that has
been used with few changes
• Inventions: compass, paper, ink, silk, tea,
porcelain, gunpowder
• Mandate of Heaven – the idea that
someone is in power because god wants
them to be
• CONFUCIANISM – philosophy founded by
CONFUCIUS, based on education, family and
and traditions, the system has a hierarchy
• TAOISM – founded by LAOZI, philosophy
about living in a harmony and the natural
way

37. PHOENICIA (3 200 BC – 2 750 BC)

38. • Independent city-states TYRE, SIDON,
BYBLOS located in todays Syria,
Lebanon, Israel
• Founded daughter cities on the coast
of Mediterranean sea – most famous
CARTHAGE
• Great craftsmen and traders
• ships (BIREME and GALLEY), glass,
dyes (TYRIAN PURPLE POWDER from
murex sea snail shell), luxury and
common goods (fish, fabrics), 1st
money (coins)
• basic of LATIN ALPHABET (22
characters),1st ROUND EARTH theory
and early democracy
• EL – one universal God of love, mercy
and the enemy of violence

39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvzXRtAe0Mw

40. REVISION FOR
THE TEST
NEXT WEEK