Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations The Sumerians

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations The Sumerians Mesopotamia (”land between the rivers”) is the land of the Euphrates and Tigris that flow into the head of the Persian Gulf. In the third millenium BC, the first urban civilization of the world developed in the lower course of these rivers. About 5, 000 years BC the Sumerians came into Lower Mesopotamia. The Sumerians were the first people to do a number of highly important things: 1) they created the first large cities (up to 100, 000 people) or city-states; 2) they built the first monumental buildings, using sun-baked bricks and beams supported by columns that are the basic elements of suport up until the present day.

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations Achievements The Sumerians were strong mathematicians and chronologists. As agrarian societies depended on the cyclical nature of seasonal change, they needed to acquire a sense of time. The Sumerian calendar was subdivided into lunar months, corresponding to the period between one full moon and the next. Maths was based on units of 60, and geometry on the 360 degrees of a circle. They probably invented the wheel and were the first to design and bulid an irrigation system powered by the force of gravity. They were the first to use the plough and among the first to make bronze metal utensils and weaponry.

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations Writing The Sumerians developed the first sophisticated system of writing to keep documentary records. The Sumerian writing evolved from pictorial writing, or symbols derived from pictures, into conveying meaning through abstract marks. As a result, writing became a set of conventional signs. The Epic of Gilgamesh has been known from the time of the Sumerians.

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations Law One of the earliest known complete codes of laws was issued circa 1, 700 BC by the Sumerian emperor Hammurabi. It is based on two principles: 1) punishment depended on the social rank of the violator (social classes); 2) offenders were subjected to the same damages they caused to others (the ’an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ principle).

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations The Egyptians How old is the Ancient Egyptian Civilization? Herodotus was told by the Egyptian priests that 341 generations separated the first King of Egypt from the last. That makes a total of 11, 340 years. The facts are as follows: - c. 3, 100 -2, 200 years BC Egypt’s Old Kingdom - c. 2, 600 -2, 100 years BC Pyramid-building age - c. 2, 200 -2, 100 years BC first intermediate period - c. 2, 100 -1, 650 years BC Middle Kingdom - c. 1, 650 -1, 570 years BC second intermediate period - c. 1, 550 -770 years BC New Kingdom - c. 1, 300 years BC Akhenaten’s monotheist experiment - 525 BC Egypt’s conquest by Persia

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations Cultural achievements of Egypt The Egyptians were masters of stone and built up enormous statues of warrior-pharaohs. The most amazing monuments constructed by anyone anywhere is the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The Egyptian used hieroglyphic or pictorial writing that conveyed either an idea, such as ”man”, or a phonetic sound that pictured an object. Until now, 604 hieroglyphic symbols have been deciphered.

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations Eternal life The religion of Ancient Egypt was polytheistic with about 3, 000 separate names of gods identified and relating to the chief gods of the Sun – Amun, Ra, Amun-Ra. The Egyptians firmly believed in the afterlife and in the idea of eternal reward or punishment by Osiris at the Last Judgement. They believed in heaven and later on – in hell. The reign of Akhenaten (1, 367 -1, 350 BC) was associated with an attempt at introducing monotheism with Aton as the heavenly father and just the one god. This idea was a great novelty in the times of ancient civilization.

Module 2 Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations • That’s the end of Module 2. • Please read through Module 3.