Early Civilizations Part 1

Early Civilizations at a Glance: Part I - Mesopotamia & Egypt

 Mesopotamia  City-States  political structures stressed tightly organized city-states  ruled by a king  claimed divine authority  war leaders  Government regulate religion and enforce its duties  provided a system of courts for justice  A Stratified Patriarchal Society  1. Kings & nobles  royal family and supporters  2. Priests and priestesses  rule temple communities with large incomes and staff  3. Free commoners  no property)  pay taxes and labor on building projects  4. Slaves  mostly domestic servants  Hammurabi's code  law of retribution and importance of social status  laid down the procedure for law courts  regulated property rights and duties of family members  set harsh punishments for crimes  men are head of the household  women get fewer rights after 2000 B.C.E.  by 1500 B.C.E. are wearing veils  Writing in Mesopotamia  Cuneiform, Mesopotamian writing style, becomes standard  Reed stylus (wedge-shaped) pressed in clay then baked  Mostly commercial and tax documents  Education: vocational to be scribe or government official  Literature: astronomy, mathematics, abstract (religious and literary like Gilgamesh)

 Egypt  Imperial Egypt  Egyptian Religion  Principal gods: sun gods Amon and Re  Mummification

 At first only pharaohs are mummified (Old Kingdom)  Later ruling classes and wealthy can afford it  Eventually commoners have it too (Middle and New Kingdom)  Cult of Osiris  Brother Seth murders Osiris and scatters his body  Wife Isis gathers him up and gods restore him to life in underworld  Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death, immortality  Osiris judges the heart of the dead against the feather of truth  The Pharaohate of Egypt  Unlike Mesopotamian civilization, very durable and centralized institutions  Pharaoh: king of Upper & Lower Egypt  God on earth  Egyptian Society  Social classes  Pharaoh  professional military and administrators  peasants and slaves  Patriarchy but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia  Women act as regents, like female pharaoh Hatshepsut  Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes  Writing in Ancient Egypt  Hieroglyphics found on monuments and papyrus by 3200 B.C.E.  Hieratic script, everyday writing 2600-600 B.C.E.  Demotic and Coptic scripts adapt Greek writing  Scribes live very privileged lives