Module 2

Egyptian society Pyramid's importance

Egyptian society reflected the pyramids that it built. At the top stood the pharaoh, who relied on a circle of nobles, officials, and priests to administer his kingdom. All of them were assisted by scribes, who used a writing system adapted from Mesopotamia or perhaps developed independently. Egyptian scribes actually created two writing systems, one called hieroglyphics, for engraving important relief or political texts on stones or writing them on papyrus made from roots growing in the NIle Delta, and a much simpler system called hieratic that allowed sickness towlite more quickly and was used for documents of daily life. Students learn hieratic first, and only those from well-off family or whole family had high aspirations took the time to learn hieroglyphics. The cities of the Nile Valley were also home to artisans of all types along with merchants and other tradespeople. A larger group of farmers made up the board bae of social pyramid. For Egyptians, the Nile formed an essential part of daily life. During the flooded season- from june to OCtober- farmer worked on the Pharaoh's buildings programs and other task away from their fields. When the water began to recede back, they diverted some of it in ponds for future irrigation and began planting wheat and barley for bread and beer using plow pulled by oxen or people. From October to February. Farmers planted and tended crops, and from February until next flood, they harvest them. As in mesopotamia, common people paid their obligations to their superiors in products and in labor. People's labor obligations in the Old Kingdom may have included forced work on the pyramids and canals, although recent research suggests that most people who built the pyramids were paid for their work. Some young men were drafted into the Pharaoh's army which served as both fighting force and a labor crops. The lives of all gyptians centered around the family. Just as in mesopotamia, marriage was a business arrangement. Couple's parents arranged the marriage, which seemed to have taken place at a young age. Ocnethe couple were married, having children, especially sons, was a high priority, as indicated by surviving charms to promote fertility and prayers for successful childbirth. Boy continued the family line, and only they could perform the proper burial rites for their father, Most egyptan men had only one wife, but among the wealthy some had several wives or concubines. Ordinary women were expected to obey their fathers, husbands and other men but they posed considerable economic and legal rights. They could own land, operate businesses, and testify in court. Literature and art depicts a world in which ordinary husbands and wives enjoy each other's company.

Hathor

'House of Horus' Appearance: Woman with the ears of a cow, A cow, Woman with a headdress of horns and a sun disk Hathor was a protective goddess. She was also the goddess of love and joy. Hathor was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the pharaoh. Hathor was connected with foreign places and materials. For instance, Hathor was the goddess of the desert and the turquoise mines in the Sinai. A large temple was built to honour Hathor at Dendera.

Atum

'The All' or 'Perfection' Appearance:Man with the double crown, Atum was a creator god. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum was the first god to exist on earth. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum was the first god to exist on earth. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum rose from the waters of chaos (Nun) and created all the gods.

Horus

'The One Far Above' Appearance:Man with the head of a hawk, A hawk Horus was a god of the sky. He is probably most well-known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the 'living Horus'. The ancient Egyptians had many different beliefs about the god Horus. One of the most common beliefs was that Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. After Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, Horus fought with Seth for the throne of Egypt. In this battle, Horus lost one of his eyes. The eye was restored to him and it became a symbol of protection for the ancient Egyptians. After this battle, Horus was chosen to be the ruler of the world of the living.

Cyrus victories

After his victories, Cyrus made sure the pErsians were portrayed as liberators, and in some cases he was more benevolent than most conquerors. According to later greek sources, he spared the life of the conquered king Lydia, Croesus, woc then became his adviser. He freed all the active people including the Hebrews who were living in forced exile in Babylon. HE returned the Hebrews sacred objects to them and allowed those who wanted to return back to Jerusalem, where he paid for the rebuilding of their temple. CYris successors contiend the Persian conquests creating the largest empire the world had yet to see. Darius, conquered Scythia in Central Asia, along with much of Thrace and Macedonia, area north of the Aegean sea. Thus, with in forty years the persian had transformed themselves from a subject people to the rules of a vast empire that included all the old kingdom and people of the region. Daruis began to call himself "King of Kings." Invasion of Greece by Daruis and his son Xerxes were unsuccessful, btu the Persian Empire lasted another 200 years, until it bamce part of the empire of Alexander the Great. The persian also knew how to preserve peace they had won on the battlefield. To govern the empire they created an efficient administrative system based on their newly built capital city of Persepolis, near modern Shiraz, Iran. Under Darius, they divided the empire into districts and appointed either Persian or local nobles as administrators called Satraps to head each one. The satrap controlled local government, collected taxes, heard legal cases, and maintained order. He was assisted by a council and also by officials and army leaders sent from Perseplis who made sure that he knew the will of the king and that the king knew what was going on in the provinces.

Cities and the Ideas of Civilization

Along with writing, the growth of cities has often been a way that scholars mark the increasing complexity of human societies. In the ancient world, residents of cities generally viewed themselves as more advanced and sophisticated than rural folks Judgement still made today They say themselves as more civilized Comes from Latin adjective civilis Refers to a citizen either of a town or a larger political unit such as an empire The depiction of people as either civilized or uncivilized was gradually extended to the whole societies. Beginning in the 18th century European Scholars described those societies operate in large scales not primarily through families and kin groups as civilizations Political Economic Social Organization Civilization had cities laws that government human relationship Code of manners Social conduct That regulates how people were to behave. Scientific Philosophical Theological ideas that explained the larger world. Generally only societies that used writings were judged to be civilizations, for writing allowed more permanent expressions of thought, ideas, and feelings. Human societies in which people were nomadic or lived in small villages without formal laws In which traditions and ideas were passed down orally, were generally not regarded as civilization. Until the middle of the twentieth century histories often referred to as earliest places where writing and cities developed as the cradles of civilization Proposing a model of development for all humanity the idea that all human societies developed, or should be developed in a uniform process from a cradle to a mature civilizations had now been largely discredited. Some worlds historians choose not to use the word civilization at all because it could imply that some societies are superior to others. But they have not rejected the idea that about 5,000 years ago a new form of human society appeared.

Delineate the import of the words history & citizen.

Along with writing, the growth of cities has often been a way that scholars mark the increasing complexity of human societies. In the ancient world, residents of cities generally viewed themselves as more advanced and sophisticated than rural folks, judgement still made today. They say themselves as more civilized, comes from Latin adjective civilis, refers to a citizen either of a town or a larger political unit such as an empire. The depiction of people as either civilized or uncivilized was gradually extended to the whole societies. Beginning in the 18th century European Scholars described those societies operate in large scales not primarily through families and kin groups as civilizations, Political, Economic, Social Organization. Civilization had cities laws that government human relationship, Code of manners, Social conduct. That regulates how people were to behave. Including Scientific, Philosophical, Theological ideas that explained the larger world. Generally only societies that used writings were judged to be civilizations, for writing allowed more permanent expressions of thought, ideas, and feelings. Human societies in which people were nomadic or lived in small villages without formal laws. In which traditions and ideas were passed down orally, were generally not regarded as civilization. Until the middle of the twentieth century histories often referred to as earliest places where writing and cities developed as the cradles of civilization/ Proposing a model of development for all humanity, the idea that all human societies developed, or should be developed in a uniform process from a cradle to a mature civilizations had now been largely discredited. Some worlds historians choose not to use the word civilization at all because it could imply that some societies are superior to others. But they have not rejected the idea that about 5,000 years ago a new form of human society appeared. History came from the greek word Herodotus.

What does hieroglyphs mean?

Ancient Egypt developed three types of writing, all of which are known today by the names the Greeks gave them. The earliest systems employed a large number of symbols called hieroglyphs (from the Greek hieros, "sacred," and glyphien "to carve") The name suggests, the Greeks believed there were filled with religious significance. Some of these symbols were simple pictures of creatures or objects, or pictographs, similar to those used by the Sumerians. Others were phonograms, or sings representing spoken words.

Who were the Hittites?

Another group who established an empire in the eastern Mediterranean that would eventually also confront Egyptian power. The Hittites had long been settled in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and they expanded their empire east and south into Mesopotamia. One of the key challenges the pharaohs faced after Akhentan was the expansion of the kingdom of the Hittites. At about the same time that the Sumerians were established city-states, speakers of Indo-European languages migrated into anatolia, modern day Turkey. Indo-European is a large family of languages that included english, most of the languages of modern Europe ancient Geek Latin, Perian, Hindi, Bengali and Sanskrit. It also included Hittite, the language of one of the people who migrated into this area. Information about the Hittites comes from archaeological source and also from written cuneiform tablets that provide details about political and economic life. These records indicate that beginning about 1600 BCE, Hittite kings began to conquer more territory. As the Hittites expanded Southward, they came in conflict with Egyptians, who were establishing their own larger empire. There were a number of battles, but both sides seem to have recognized the impossibility of dilated the other, and in 1258 the Egypitan King Ramses the Second, and the Hittite King Hattusili the third conclude a peace treaty which was recorded in both Egyptian hieroglyphics and Hittite cuneiform. The treaty brought peace between the Egyptians and the Hitties for a time. But this stability did not last, with several decades of this treaty, groups of Seafaring people who the Egyptians called "Sea People raided, migrated, and Marauded in the Eastern Mediteranean, disrupting trade and siem some cases looting and destroying cities. Just go these people were and where they originated is much debated among scholars, but their raids, combined with the expansion of the Assyrians, led to the collapse of the Hittite Empire and the fragmentation of the Egyptian Empire in what the historian later term the Third Intermediate Period (1100 to 653 BCE). There is evidence of drought, and some scholar suggested that a major volcanic eruptions in Iceland cooled the climate for several years, leading to a series of poor harvests. All of these developments are part of a general Bronze Age Collapse in the period around 1200 BCE that historians are as a major turning point.

Anubis

Appearance: Man with a jackal head, A jackal, Anubis was the god of embalming and the dead. Since jackals were often seen in cemeteries, the ancient Egyptians believed that Anubis watched over the dead. Anubis was the god who helped to embalm Osiris after he was killed by Seth. Thus, Anubis was the god who watched over the process of mummifying people when they died. Priests often wore a mask of Anubis during mummification ceremonies.

Aten

Appearance: A sun disk with rays which end in hands Aten was a form of the sun god Ra. During the reign of Akhenaten, the Aten was made the 'king' of the gods.

Isis

Appearance: Woman with headdress in the shape of a throne, A pair of cow horns with a sun disk Isis was a protective goddess. She used powerful magic spells to help people in need. Isis was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. Since each pharaoh was considered the 'living Horus', Isis was very important. Isis is often shown holding Horus on her lap. Isis is associated with thrones because her lap was the first 'throne' that Horus sat upon. Isis Knot This amulet is called the 'Isis knot' and is a symbol of protection. A temple was built to honour Isis at Philae. It is still standing today. Seth Appearance: Man with the head of a 'Seth animal' (unidentifiable) Seth was the god of chaos. Seth represented everything that threatened harmony in Egypt. He was the brother of Osiris and Isis, as well as the brother/husband of Nephthys. He murdered his brother Osiris, then battled with his nephew Horus to be the ruler of the living. At certain times in the history of ancient Egypt, Seth was associated with royalty.

Who was Cyrus the Great? What two factors lift Cyrus above the common level of warrior-kings?

Assyria rose to power from a base in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys of Mesopotamia, which had seen many earlier empires. The Assyrains were defeated by a coalition that includes not only Mesopotamian power (Babylon), but also a people with a base of power in a part of the world that had not been the site of earlier urbanized states: Persia, a stark land of towering mountains and harsh deserts with a broad central plateau in the heart of the country. Iran's geographical position and topography explain its traditional role as a highway between western and eastern Asia. Nomadic peoples migrating South from the broad steppes of Russia and Central Asia have streamed into Iran throughout much of history. CPfmp among the uncrossable desserts, most have turned either wetward or eastward, moving on until they reached the advanced and wealthy urban centers these routes, however, and Iran became the area where Nomad emts Urban dwellers. Among these names were Indo-europeans speaking people who migrated to this area about 100 BCE with their flocks and herds. There were also horse breeders and the horse gave them a decisive military advantage over those who already live in the area. One of these groups was the Medes, who settles in Northern Iran and built their capital city at Ecbatana. With The rise of the Medes, the balance of power in western Asia shifted east of Mespotama for the first time. In 6600 BCE, Cyrus the Great, king of the persians (another indo-european speaking group), and one of the most remarkables statesman of antiquity conquered MEdes. Cyrus then set out to win control of the shore of the Meditternanea and this of the terminal ports of the great trade routes that crossed Iran And Anatolia and to secure eastern Iran from the threats of nomadic invasions. In a series of major campaigns Cyrus achieve both goals. He conquered the various kingdoms of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, and swept into Anatolis, easily overthrowing the young kingdom of Lydia. His general subdued the Greek cities along the coast of Anatolia and the Phoneacian cities south of these, this gaining him flourishing ports of the mediteerana. From Lydia, Cyrus marched to the far eastern corners of Iran and conquered the regions of Parthia and Bactria in Central Asia, though he ultimately died on the battlefield.

What did Herodotus mean when he said, "Egypt was the gift of the Nile?"

At about the same time that Sumeirna city-states expanded and fought with one another in the Tigris and Euphrates Valley, a more cohesive state under a single rule grew in the Valley of the Nile River in North Africa. This was Egypt, which for long stretches of history was prosperous and secure. At various times groups invaded and conquered Egypt or migrated into Egypt seeking better lives. Often these newcomers adopted aspects of Egyptian religion, arts, and politics, and Egyptian also carried their tradition with them when they establish an empire and engaged in trade. The Gree historian and traveler Herodotus called Egypt and "the gift of the Nile," because no this single geographical factor had such as fundamental and profound impact on the Egytpian life, society, and history as this river. The Nile flooded once a year for a period of several months, bringing fertile soil and moisture for farming. In contrast the violent and destructive flood of the Tigris and Euphrates, Nile floods were relatively gentle and the Egyptians praised the Nile a creative and comforting force.

Why might it have been difficult for Egyptian to accept a female ruler?

Because the rulers are usually men. It was difficult for Egyptians to conceptualize. It gives them more equal rights. In gender hierarchies, men are superior over women. The familial connections with the divine allowed a handful of women to rule in their own right in Egypt's long history. Four pharaohs, most famous if Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut, status as a powerful ruler was difficult for Egyptian to conceptualize, and she is often depicted in male dress or with a false beard, this looking more like a male ruler who were the norm. After her death, Thutmose the Third tried to destroy all evidence that she had ever rules, sahsing statues and scratching her name off inscription, perhaps because he wanted to erase the fact that a woman had once been Pharoah.

Nile

Beginning god Horus gave powers to the Pharaoh. Temple wall commemorate the Nile. Nile water sacred bond, lives of Pharaoh and farmer different except wanting enteral life by being buried on the western shore fo the Nile river.

Pyramids

Bricks 2-15 tons with 2.3 million bticks, base a near perfect square. Orginal development was ht epryamid for a low tomb, then started adding more layers, until the Pharaoh were satisfied. Need 160 workers to move a stakes on enormous wooden shed or rolling logs, and so would need pro emend o build a pyramid. House of Pharaoh for eytenrity became a beacon of robber, Egypt was over run by treasure seekers.

The Rise of States, Laws, and Social Hierarchies

Cities concentrated people and power and required more elaborate mechanisms to make them work than they had small agricultural villages and foraging groups. These mechanisms were part of what political scoiast call "the state" An organization distinct from a tribe or kinship group In which a small share of the population is able to coerce resources out of everyone else in order togainu and then maintain power. In a state, the interest that gains power might be one... particular family, a set of religious leaders or even a charismatic or talented individuals able to handle problems of dense urban communities. However they are established, states coerce people through violence or threat of violence, and the developed permanent armies for this purpose. Using armed forces every time they need food or other resources is not very efficient However, so states also establish bureaucracies and systems of taxation States also need to keep track of people and goods, so they sometimes develop systems of recording information and accounting usually thought writings In Inca Empire of the Andes, for example, information about money, goods, and people was recorded on collections of colored knotted strings called Khipus Systems of recording information allows the creation of more elaborate rules of behavior, often written down in the form of law codes. Which facilitate further growth in state power or in the form of religious traditions. Which specify what sort of behavior is pleasing to God or other supernatural forces. Written laws and tradition generally create more elaborate social hierarchies, in which divisions between elite groups and commercial people are established more firmly. They also generally heighten gender hierarchies. Those who gain power in states are most often men, so they tend to establish laws and norms that favor males in marriage, property rights, and other areas. Whether we choose to call the process "the birth of civilization" or "the growth of the state," In the fourth millennium BCE, neolithic agricultural villages expanded into cities that depended largely on food produced by the surrounding countryside while people living in cities carried out other tasks. The organization of a more complex division of labor was undertaken by an elite group, which enforced its will through laws, taxes, and bureaucracies backed up by armed force or the threat of it. Social and gender hierarchies became more complex and rigid. All this happened first in mesopotamia, then is Egypt, and then in India and China.

Assess the following statement: "However they are established, states coerce people through violence or the threat of violence, and develop permanent armies for this purpose."

Cities concentrated people and power and they required more elaborate mechanisms to make them work than they had small agricultural villages and foraging groups. These mechanisms were part of what political scientists call "the state." An organization distinct from a tribe or kinship group. In which a small share of the population is able to coerce resources out of everyone else in order to gain and then maintain power. In a state, the interest that gains power might be one particular family, a set of religious leaders or even a charismatic or talented individuals able to handle problems of dense urban communities. However they are established, states coerce people through violence or threat of violence, and they developed permanent armies for this purpose. Using armed forces every time they need food or other resources is not very efficient. However, so states also establish bureaucracies and systems of taxation. States also need to keep track of people and goods, so they sometimes develop systems of recording information and accounting usually thought writings. In Inca Empire of the Andes, for example, information about money, goods, and people was recorded on collections of colored knotted strings called Khipus. Systems of recording information allows the creation of more elaborate rules of behavior, often written down in the form of law codes, which facilitates further growth in state power or in the form of religious traditions, which specify what sort of behavior is pleasing to God or other supernatural forces.

Trades

Craftsmen in ancient Egypt were usually trained and skilled labourers. They were often well-respected in the community and had a comfortable lifestyle. Yet every craftsman's lifestyle and social standing depended on the quality of his skills and experience. Thus, some craftsmen had more difficult lives than others. Most craftsmen worked in workshops with other craftsmen. Objects for temples or the pharaoh were made in temple workshops or palace workshops. Objects for ordinary people were made by local craftsmen in small workshops.

Egyptian Life

Daily life in ancient Egypt revolved around the Nile and the fertile land along its banks. The yearly flooding of the Nile enriched the soil and brought good harvests and wealth to the land. The people of ancient Egypt built mud brick homes in villages and in the country. They grew some of their own food and traded in the villages for the food and goods they could not produce. Most ancient Egyptians worked as field hands, farmers, craftsmen and scribes. A small group of people were nobles. Together, these different groups of people made up the population of ancient Egypt.

Pharaohs

Egyptians understand the Pharaoh to be the living embodiment of the god horus, the source of law and morality, and the mediator between god and human. His connections with the given stretched to members of his family, so his siblings and children were also viewed as in some ways. Because of this pharaoh often took his sister or half sister as one of his wife. This concentrated divine blood set the pharaoh family apart from other Egyptians(not to marry close relatives), and allowed pharoah to imitate gods, who in egyptian mythology often married their siblings. A pharaoh choose one of his wife to be the "Great Royal Wife," or principal queen. Often this was a relative tough sometimes it was one of the foreign princesses who married the pharaoh to establish political alliances.

What were Hammurabi's goals? How did he achieve them?

Empire in Mesopotamia the wealth of USmerian cities also attracted conveyors form the north. Around 2,300 BCE, Sargon the king of a region to the north of Sumer, conquered a number of Suemrianc cities with what was probably the world's first permanent army and created a large state. The symbol of his triumph was a new capital, the city of Akkad. Sargon also expanded the Akkadian empire westward to northern Syria, which became the breadbasket of the empire. He encouraged trading networks that brought in goods from as far away as the Indus River in SOuth Asia and what is now Turkey. Sargon spoke a different language than did the Sumeriance, one of the many languages that scholars identify as belonging to the Semitic language which includes modern Bebrew and Arabic. Akkkadians, adapted cuneiform writing to their own language, and Akkadian became the diplomatic language sued over a wide area. Sargon tore down the defensive walls of Sumerians cities and appoint his own sons as their rules to help cemen his powers. He also appointed his daughter Enheduana as the high priestesses in the city of Ur. Here she wrote a number of hymns spca tilt those is praise of the goddess Inanna, becoming the world's first author to put her name to aliterlay composition. Sargon's dynast appear to have rule MEsopotamia for about 150 years, and then collapse, in part because of a period of extended droung. Various cities then rose to power, one of which was central city of Babylon. Babylonwas in an excellent position to dominate trade on both the Tigris and Euphrates river, and it was fortunate in having a very able rule in hammurabi. Initially a typical king of his era, he unified Mesopotamia later in his reign by suing military force, strategic alliance, with the rulers of smaller territories, ad religious ideas. As had earlier rulers, Hammuribi linked his success with the will of the gods. He covered himself with the sun-god Shamash, the god of law and justice and encouraged the spread of myths that explain how Marduk the primary god of Babylon had been elected as king of the gods by other deities in Mesopotamia. Marduk later became widely regarded as the chief god of mesopotamia, absorbing the qualities and powers of other gods. Balonian ideas and belief thus became part of the culture mixture of Mesopaotamia, which spread far beyond the Tigris and Euphrates Valley to the shores of the Mediterranean sea and the Harappan cities of the Indus River Valley.

Explain the relationship of proximity to complexity in human societies.

Five thousand years ago humans were living in most parts of the planet. They had designed technologies to meet the challenges presented by deep forest an jungs, steep mountains, and blistering deserts. As climate changed they adapted, building boats to cross channels created by melted glaciers and finding new sources of food when old sources were no longer plentiful. SOme places include undomesticated plants animals which allowed people to live in much closer proximity to one another then when they were foragers. The promitimety created opportunities, as larger groups pooled their knowledge to deal with life's challenges, but also related problems. Human History form that point on can be seen as a response to these opportunities,challenges, conflicts. Small villages grew into cities, people continues to develop technologies system to handle new issuer. To control their more complex structure people created a system of government that were not based on kin group, military forces, and taxation systems. They later invented writing to record taxes, inventories, and other payments, and later they put writing to other uses. The first place where these technologies and systems are introduced were the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley of Southwest Asia, and the Nile Valley northeast Africa, areas whose histories linked through trade, military conquest, and migration.

What was heirtic used for?

For record-keeping, correspondence, and manuscripts of all sorts, the earliest scribes must also have used this system of signs. In time however they evolved a kind of shorthand version of hieroglyphs- simplified forms that could be written more quickly in lines of script on papyrus scrolls. This Types of writing is called hieratic, another term derived from the greek word "sacred." Even after this script was perfected, inscription in the belief or painting and on ceremonial objects continued to be written in hieroglyphics.

What was the Mastaba

Gateway to the afterlife for Egyptians kings and members of the royal court, the Egyptian burial structure began as a low rectangular mastaba with an internal serdab and chapel, then a mastaba with attached chapel and serdab. Later Matasaba forms of decreasing size were stacked over an underground burial chamber to form the stepped pyramid

Developments

From agriculture to surplus/irrigation, growth population, to non-farmed items, to specialists ;to craftsmen, to merchants, then public works, to city's diversity and imports of goods, doctor armies and prostitutes, class systems.

Elements of Architecture

Gateway to the afterlife for Egyptians kings and members of the royal court, the Egyptian burial structure began as a low rectangular mastaba with an internal serdab and chapel, then a mastaba with attached chapel and serdab. Later Matasaba forms of decreasing size were stacked over an underground burial chamber to form the stepped pyramid. The culmination of the Egyptan burial chamber is the pyramid, in which the actual burial site may be within the pyramid-not below ground- with false chamber, false doors, and confusing passage ways to foil potential tomb robbers.

At the end of the quest, did Gilgamesh achieve immortality? If so, what was the nature of that immortality.

Gilgamesh did not achieve mortality.

What were two characteristics of Hammurabi's code according to HoWS?

Hammurabi's most memorable accomplishment the proclamation of an extensive law code, introduced about 1755 BCE. Hammurabi was not the first law code in Mesopotamia; the earliest goes back to about 2,100 BCE. Like the code of the earlier law givers. Hummarbii's law code proclaimed that he issued his law on divine authority, to establish law and justice in the language of the land, thereby promoting the welfare of the people. Hammuabi's code set a variety of punishments for breaking the law, including fin and physical punishments such as mutilation, whipping and burning. It demanded that the punishment fit the crime, calling an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth, at least among social equals, although high rankers people could pay a fins to lower ranking victims instead of having an arm broken or losing an eye. Hammurabi's code provides a wealth of information about the daily life in mesopotamia. Farming's fundamental importance the code dealt extensively with agriculture. Tenant faced severe penalties for neglect in the land or not working at all. Since irrigation was essential to grow crops tenants had to keep the canals and ditches in food repain. Anyone whose neglect of the canal resultined in dameg of crops had to be either bear the cost of losses or be sold into slavery. THe code also regulates other trades,and artisans had to guarantee the quality of their goods and services to consumers. Hammurabi code influence other law codes such as the Hebrew Scripture.

What were the primary concerns of Hammurabi's code?

Hammurbai give careful attention to marriage and the family. Elsewhere in the area, marriage had aspects of a business agreement. The groom or his father offered the positive bride's father a gift, and if this was acceptable, the bride's father provided his daughter with a dowry, which channel remained hers. The penalt for adultry, defineda as sex between a married woman and a man not her husband, was death, but the husbadn had to power to spare his wife bu otbianing a pardon for her formt he king. A father could not disinherit a son without a cause, and the coe ordered to court to forgive a son for his first offense, on family matters and other issues.

In what period were the great pyramids built?

Happened during the Old Kingdom about 2686 to 2181 B.C. Government: The pharaohs held supreme power. Royal official handled the details of government. Achievements: Great pyramids were built to serve as tombs for pharaohs. Reason for Decline: Nobles in distant areas of Egypt challenged the power of the pharaohs, resulting in a civil war that lasted for almost 200 years.

Who was Ramses II? How would you describe him as a leader?

He was an Egyptian Pharaoh. He used the peace to promote prosperity and concentrate their incomes. So, therefore, he was in favor of peace.

why is history regarded as the human past?

History came to be regarded as the part of the human past for which there are written records. History began with the invention of writings in the fourth millenium BCE, in a few parts of the world The line between history and prehistory has largely broken down. Historians who study humans societies that developed systems of writing continues to use any of the same types of physical evidence as do those who study societies without writing For some cultures the writing or record keeping systems have not yet been deciphered, so the knowledge of these people also depends largely on physical evidence Much of ancient writing survives only because it was copied and recopied, sometimes years after it was first produced The copies may not be completely accurate, either because the scribe made an error or because we decided to change something Historians studying ancient works this often try to find as many early copies as they can and they compare them to the version they think is closest to the original Works consider worth of copying tend to be those of military events involving major powers, and record religious traditions, or those that come from authors that were later regarded as important.

What does the epic tells us about the Sumerian view of the nature of human life? Where do humans begins fit in the cosmic world?

Human beings can never become authentic gods. Humans lives are limited because the gods decided that.

Hymns and incantation

Hymns and incantation to the god are among the earliest written works in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Enheguana, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, was appointed by her father as high priestess on the SUemrian city of Ur, where she wrote a number of literary and religious works, which were frequently recopied long after he death. The best known works is the hymn to the goddess Inanna. It was icnibed on a wall of the royal burial chambers in the pyramid of the Egyptian king Unas at Saqqara, a burial ground near the nile. It is one of many incantations designed to assist the kings ascnet to eh heaven and transportation into a god.

Iron

Iron has shaped World history more than any other metal, even more than gold and silver In its pure form iron is oft, but adding a small amount of carbon and bariosu amterialparticualry at high temperature transform it into a material with great structural strength Tools and weapons made of Iron dramatically shaped interaction between people in the ancient world and machine made of iron and steel created the modern world Human use iron began during the Paleolithic Era, when people living in what is now Egypt used small pieces of hematite, a type of iron oxide, as part of their tools, along with stone, bone, and wood. Beginning around 4,000 BCE, purple in several parts of the world began to pick up iron nickel meteorites and pound them into shapes Meteorite were rare Object spread from them were luxury goods, not everyday uses Jewellery, weapons and ocaislanly tools from meteoric iron have also been found in CHina, Africa, North and South America These were traded over very long distances including thought of miles around the Arctic Where indigenous people traded sharpened pieces from a gigantic iron meteorite that fell in Green land for use a harpoon tips and knife blades. Iron is the most common element in the Earth, but most iron on or near Earth's surface occur in the form of ore Smelted and extract the metal This is true for copper and tin, but these had to be smelted at a much lower temperature than iron and there were the first metal ever pride and mixed to form bronze Artisan developed long and difficult process to smelt iron from the ore DOne in an enclosed furnace and the orvess was repeated a number of times Ore was transformed into wrought Iron, which then can be formed into shapes The first smelted weapon had been dated around 2500 BCe in Anatolia Turkey Most iron produced were brittle and to be of much use until 1100 BCE, when technique gradually improved Iron weapons gradually became stronger and began to be traded around the MEditerranean By 1700 BCE, artisans in Northern India were making and trading iron implements By 1200 BCE iron was being rppdciena dosl in SOuthern India Scholars debated whether smelting was discovered independently there or learned through contact with ironmaking culture in the North Iron object was traded from Antolie north into Greece, central Europeand Western Asia By 500 BCE know;dege pf smaleting had traveled to these rotus as well Smelting was discovered idneo destiny in Modern day Nigeria in Wester Africa about 1500 BCE, by a group of people who spoke Bantu Languages They carried iron hoes, axes, shovels and weapons, and the knowledge on how to make them They migrated south and east over many centuries gave them a distinct advantage over foraging people In East Africa, Kushite people learned the advantage of iron weapons When the iron-using Assyrians drove them out of Egypt, they then estalsued a major center of Iron productions at MEroe and taded down the Afircan coast across the sea to India. The chinese probably learned smelting from central asian steppe people But in 500 BCE artisans in China developed techniques of making cast iron suing molds

Define: irrigation, polytheism, cuneiform, pictograph, and ideogram.

Irrigation: the supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels. The authority or in this system was, it seems, initially assumed by Sumerian priests. Polytheism: the worshipping of many gods and goddesses. Ideogram: A written character symbolizing the idea of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it, numerals and Chinese characters. graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Pictogram: is an ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs were used as the earliest known form of writing, examples having been discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia before 3000 BC. Cuneiform: Sumerian form of writing; the term describes the wedge shape makers made by a stylus.

What opportunities do hereditary monarchies such as that of ancient Egypt provide for women? How does this fit with gender hierarchies in which men are understood as superior?

It allowed women to rule sometimes because they were 100% descendants of the royal family. Women could also own their own land, run businesses, and testify in court. His connections with the given stretched to members of his family, so his siblings and children were also viewed as in some ways. Because of this pharaoh often took his sister or half sister as one of his wife. This concentrated divine blood set the pharaoh family apart from other Egyptians(not to marry close relatives), and allowed pharoah to imitate gods, who in egyptian mythology often married their siblings. A pharaoh choose one of his wife to be the "Great Royal Wife," or principal queen, allowing the wife to also have more power. Shows that even though men had more power and is more superior, Egypt demonstrates less of a patriarchy than other societies, and therefore doesn't fit as well with gender hierarchies in which men are understood as superior.

Read the following Quote- Now, I swear by the sun god Utu on this very day -- and my younger brothers shall be witness of it in foreign lands where the sons of Sumer are not known, where people do not have the use of paved roads, where they have no access to the written word -- that I, the firstborn son, am a fashioner of words, a composer of songs, a composer of words, and that they will recite my songs as heavenly writings, and that they will bow down before my words...King Shulgi (c. 2100 BC) on the future of Sumerian literature. What is the significance of the King Shulgi's quote?

It shows how much the people of Mesopotamia wanted to spread their influence and be remembered. To show that not all cities were advanced and civilized. Sumerian literature is important because it would persist.

Social class

Led to violence and war but religion helped unified. Religion explains something scary and uncontrolled such as a flood.

Identify Magi

Magi were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great

Temple Ophelia

Massive 12 tons bricks moved into pyramids shaped remained a mystery. Priest kept their religion alive, after the golden age of Empty to Roman rles them, and chrsitanty took over. Priest still elected the ancient gods, until they were attacked and assaulted, breaking the last link to the Pharoahs. Sacred quest for immortality gone forever.

What factors made urban life possible in Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia from summer to Babylon, states first developed in Mesopotamia, where sustained agriculture reliant on irrigation from the Euphrates and Tigris River resulted in larger populations, a division of labor, and growth of cities. Priest, and rulers develop ways to control and organize these complex societies, including armies, taxation systems, and written records. Conquerors from the North unified mesopotamian city-states into larger empires and spread Mesopotamian culture over a large area. Mesopotamia was part of the fertile crescent where seelye agriculture, first developed. The earliest agricultural villages in Mesopotamia were in the northern, hilly parts of the river valleys, where there is abundant rainfall for crops. Farmer had brought techniques of crop raising Southward by about 5,000 BCE to the SOuthern part of mesopotamia known as Sumer. In this arid climate farmer developed large scale irrigation, which required organized group effort, but allowed the population to grow. By about 3,800 BCE, one of these agricultural villages is Uruk, had expanded significantly become what many historian views as the world's first city, with a population that eventually numbered more than fifty thousand. Over the next thousand years, other cities emerged in Sumer, trading with one another and creating massive hydraulic projects including reservoirs, dams, and dikes to prevent major floods. These cities built defensive walls, market places, and large public buildings; each came to dominate the surrounding countryside, become city-states independent from one another, though not very far apart. City states of Sumer relied on irrigation systems that require cooperation and at least some level of social and political cohesion.

Ramses the Great

Mighty ruler, final ceremony took 70 days. Sacred charms sealed by honey and molten resin to protect him on the next life. Successful preservation of body is the key to immortality, if body intact and name remembered he will never die.

Nefertiti

Nefertiti used her position to spread the new religion of the sun-god Aten. Together she and Akhenaten built a new place at Akhenaten, the present day Amarbam away from the old centers of power. THere they developed the cult of Aten to the expulsion of the traditional deities. Nearly the only literary survivors of their religious belief is the Hymn to Aten, which declare Aten to be the only god. Nefertiti is often shown to be the same size as her husband, in some inscriptions is performing rituals that would have normal carried out by a Pharaoh. The exact fetial of ehr power is hard to determine. AN older Theory held that her husband removed her from power, and there is also a speculation that she may have ruled secretly in her own right after his death. Her tomb had long since disappeared.

When did the New Kingdom decline? Why?

New Kingdom lasted about 1570-1090 BC. Government: The pharaohs demanded tribute from conquered people. Achievements: The pharaohs built an empire, conquering land eastward to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia and Southward in Africa. The reasons for Decline: Egypt lost its empire to invaders from Libya, Asia Minor, and islands in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

Identify: Ahuramazda

Perisan religion was originally plttheirsic and tied to nature with Ahura Mazda, as chief god. Around 600 BCE the ideas of Zoroaster, a think and preachers began to gain prominence Zoroaster is regarded as the authors of key religious texts which were later gathered together in collection of sacred texts called Avesta. He introduced new sportual concepts stressing the devotion to Ahurmanzada alone and emphasizing the individual's responsibility to choose between the forces of creation, truth and order, and those nothingless chaos, falsehood and disorder. Zoroaster taught that people possess free will, and that they must rely on their own consciousness to guide them through an active life in which they are focused on good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Their decisions were crucial, he warned for there would come a time of reckoning. At the end of time, the forces of order would winm ad the vicotieous Ahurmazada, life the Egytpain god Osiris would preside over a last judgement today etern each person's eternal fate

What are the key elements of Zoroastrianism?

Perisan religion was originally plttheirsic and tied to nature with Ahura Mazda, as chief god. Around 600 BCE the ideas of Zoroaster, a think and preachers began to gain prominence Zoroaster is regarded as the authors of key religious texts which were later gathered together in collection of sacred texts called Avesta. He introduced new sportual concepts stressing the devotion to Ahurmanzada alone and emphasizing the individual's responsibility to choose between the forces of creation, truth and order, and those nothingless chaos, falsehood and disorder. Zoroaster taught that people possess free will, and that they must rely on their own consciousness to guide them through an active life in which they are focused on good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Their decisions were crucial, he warned for there would come a time of reckoning. At the end of time, the forces of order would winm ad the vicotieous Ahurmazada, life the Egytpain god Osiris would preside over a last judgement today etern each person's eternal fate Scholars and kompor Zoroastrians debate where her Zoroaster saw the forces of disorder as malevolent deity named Angra Mainyu who was co-eternal and independent from Ahura Mazda or whether he was simply using this term to mean evil thoughts to destructive spirits. Later forms of Zoroastrianism followed each of these lines of understanding. Most Zorostains fleived that Amuramzagda and Angra Mainyu were locked out gechter ina cosmic battle for the human race, scholar called dualism. Some however had a montheistic interesting and saw AMeruamazasa as the holy uncreated god. Whenever he actually lived, Zoroaster writings were communicated by teachers, and King Darius began to use the Zorostria language and images. Under the protection of the Persian kings, Zoroatrain ideas spread throughout Iran and the rest of the perisna empire and then into central china. Zorachtrian became the official religion alter in perisan empire ruled by Sassanid dynasty and much later Zoroshtiarn migrated to westenr India, were you became known as Parsis, and still live today. Zoroatrian survied the fall of the persian empire to infltuen christianuyu , Islam, Bus=ddhism, larhely of its belifs in a just life on earth and happy after life. Good behavior in the world, even though inrecongized at the time, would receive ample rewards in the hereafter. Evil, no matter how powerful a person had been in life, would be punished after death. In some form or another Zoroatrains concepts stillbrave many modern religions.

King Tut

Prepared for eternity with basket pots, toys, clay models, food. Deepest level fo the tomb was a piece of steel, more valuable than every gold at that time. Tut did around the age 18 or 19 with a young wife.

What led to the eventual success of the Assyrians?

Small kingdoms like those of the Phoneians and the jews could existing only in the absence of a major power. In the night century BCE, one makroe power arose in the form of the Assyrians, who starting in Northern Mesopotamia created an empire tough often brutal military conquests. And from a base in what is now Southern Iran, the Persians establish an even larger empire, developing effective institutions of government. Starting form a base in Northern Mesopotamia around 900 BCE, the Assyrains began a campaign of expansion and domination, conquering, exacting tribute, and building nrw fortified towns, places and temples. Over the next several centuries, Baloynia, Syria, Phoenia, Israel, and many other states fell. By means of almost constant warfare, the assyrian created an empire that stretched from caota if Bubeleh on the Tigris River to Central egypt. Revolt against the Assyrians inevitable promised the reveles bloody battle sand cruel sieges followed by surrender, accompanied by systematic torutre nd slaughter, and sometime deportations. Assyrian myths were certainly harsh, bt in practical terms Assyria's success was due primarily to the size of its army of infantrymen, archers, and critters and to the army's sophisticated and effective military organization. In addition, the Assyrian developed a wide variety of siege mercenary and techniques that include excavations to nermien city walls and battering rams to knock down walls and gates. Never before in this area had anyone applied such technical knowledge to warfare. The Assyrains invented the concept of a corp engineer who bridged rivers with pontoons or provided soldiers with inflatable skins for swimming. THe Assyrians also knew how to coordination their effore, both in open battle and in siege warfare. Not only did the Assyrains knew how to win battles, but they also knew how to take advantage of their victories. As early as the 18th century, the Assyrians kings began to organize their conquered territories into an empire. The lands closest to Assryia became provinces governed directly by Assyrian officials. Kingdoms beyond the provinces were no annexed but became dependent states that followed Assyian lead and also paid Assyria a heft tribute. By the 17th BCE, Assyrian power was firmly established

Record how the earliest writings were kept for each of the following: Mesopotamia Egypt China

Some early written texts survive in their original form because people inscribe them in stones, shells,bone or other hard materials, intend for it to be permanent Stones with inscriptions were often erected in the open in public places for all to see, so they included text that leaders felt had enduring importance such as laws, religious proclamations, decrees, and treaties. Sometime this permanence is accidental. Mesopotamia, all writing was initially made up of indentations on soft clay tablets which then hardened. Hundreds of thousands of these tablets reviewed , the oldest dating about 3200 BCE, this allowed historian to learn many aspects of everyday life. By contrast Egypt writings at the same, writings was often done on papyrus sheets, made from plants that grow abundantly in Egypt. Some of these papyrus have survived, but papyrus is much more fragile than hardened clay,and so most disintegrated. In China the oldest surviving writings is on bones and turtle shells from about 1200 BCE, but it is clear that writing was done much earlier on less permanent material such as like or bamboo. However they have survived and howeer limited they are, written record often become scholars' most important original sources for investigating the past. This the discovery of a new piece of written evidence from the ancient past, such as the dead sea scrolls which contains sections of the Hebrew Bible and were first seen by scholars in 1948, is always a major event. But reconstructing and deciphering what are often crumbling odcaments can take decades, and disputes about how these records affect our understanding of the past can go one forever.

Howard Carter

Spent 10 years looking for Tut's royal tomb, and on the 6th expedition he fund it. They chipped away a wall. First thing he saw were ceremonial couches preserved officials. Carter found magnificent treasures, but when he was collecting the treasure the mummy was shattered. Tut is known as a treasure not for an Egyptian Pharaoh.

Sumerian politics

Sumerian politics and society, exactly how kings emerged in the Suemrian society is not clear. Scholars have suggested that during times of crisis, a chief priest or sometimes a military leader assumed what was supposed to be temporary authority over a city. He established an army, trained it, and led it into battle, making increasing use of the bronze weaponry that became more common after 2,500 BCE. Temporary power gradually became permanent kingship, and kings in some Sumerian city-states began to hand down the kingship to their sons, establishing patriarchal hereditary dynasties in which power handed down through male line. This is the point at which written record of kingship begin to appear. The symbol of royal estates was the place and came to the river the temple in it grandeur. Kings made alliance with other powerful individuals often through marriages. Royal family members were responsible for many aspects of government. Kings worked closely with religious authorities and relied on ideas about their connections with the gods, as well as the kings; military might, for their power. Royal children, both sons and daughters, were sometimes priests and priestesses in major temples. Acting together, priests, nobles, and kings in Sumerian cities used force, persuasion, and threats of higher taxes to maintain order, keep the irrigation systems working, and keep food and other goods flowing. The kings and noble held extensive tracts of lands, as did the temple. These lands are worked by the palaces or temple's clients, free men and women who were dependent on the palace of the temple. They received crops, and other goods in return for their labor. Although this arrangement assured the client of a livelihood, the land they worked remained the possession of the palace or the temple. Some initial and families owned land outright and paid taxes in the form of agricultural products or item they made. As the bottom rung of society were the slaves. Slavery like mnay aspects of society, predates to written records, and not exaclty sure how and when people first began to own other people. Like animals, slaves were a source of physical power do for their owners, providing them an opportunity to amass more wealth and influence. Each of these social categories included both men and women, but their experiences were not the same, for SUemrian society made distinction based ib geber. Most elite landowners were male, but women who held positions as priestesses or as queens ran their own estates independently of their husband Some women owned businesses, and took care of their own accounts. They could own property and distribute it to their offspring. Sons and daughters inherited from their parents, although a daughter received her inheritance in the form of dowry, which technically remained her,but was managed by her husband or husband's family after marriage. The Sumerians established the basic social and economic influences, and intellectual patterns of MEsopotamia, and ingliteces their neighbors to the north and east.

What is the difference between a pictograph and a phonograph?

Symbols were simple pictures of creatures or objects, or pictographs, similar to those used by the Sumerians. Others were phonograms, or signs representing spoken words.

Bronze age

The Bronze Age collapse was a time of massive political and economic disruption, but also a period of the spread of new technologies, especially Iron. Irons appears to have been smelted in Anatolia as early as 2500 BCE, but it was too brittle to be much use until about 1100 BCE, when techniques improved and iron weapons gradually became stronger and cheaper than their bronze counterparts. THis in the schema of dividing history into periods according to the main material out of which tools are made. The Iron Age began about 1100 BCE. Iron weapons because important items to trade around the Mediterranean and throughout the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys and the technology for making them travelled well. The decline of Egypt allowed new power to emerge. South of Egypt along the Nile was a region called Nubia, which as early as 2,000 BCE served as a channel for trade though which of ivory, gold, ebony, and other product flows north from the Sub-Saharan Africa. Small Kingdoms with large buildings and ruch timbs arose in this area. As EGypt expanded during the NEw Kingdom, it took over Northern Nubia, incorporating it into the growing Egyptianempire. The Nubians adopted many features of Egyptian culture, including the Egyptian gods, the use of hieroglyphs, and the building of the pyramids. Many Nubiand became officials in Egyptian bureaucracy and officer in the army, and there were significant inter marriage between the two groups. With the contraction of the Egyptian Empire, an independent kingdom Kush rose to power in Nubia, with its capital at Napata in what is now Sudan. The Kushites conquered southern Egypt in 727 BCE, the Kushite King Piye swept through the entire Nile Valley of the delta in the north. United Once again, Egypt enjoyed a brief period of peace during which Egyptian cult continued to influence that o its conquerors. In the 7th century BCE, invaidng Assyarians psuhed the Kushtes out of Egypt and the Kushite rulers moved their capital further up the Nile to Meroe, where they built hundreds of pyramids. Meroe became a center of iron production, its iron products the best in the world, smelted using wood from the vast forests in the area. Meroe traded iron goods to Africaand across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to India. GOld and cotton textiles also provided wealth to the Kushite Kingdom, which in the third country BE developed its own alphabet, but Meroitic script has not yet been delivered. HWile Kush expanded in the SOuthern Nile Valley, another group rose to prominence along the Meditteranean coast of modern Lebanon. These people established the prosperous commercial centers of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, all cities still thriving today. These people were master ship builders and from about 1100 BCE to 700 BCE many of the ingredients of these cities became the sea borne merchants of the mediteranean. Theri most valued products purple and blue textiles form which originated their Geeek Name Phoenician, meaning purple people. They also worked bronze and Iron, which they shipped process or as an orem and made and traded glass products. Phoenicians Introduced grape growing to new regions around the Mediterranean, dramatically increasing the amount of wine available for consumption and trade. THey imported rare goods and material such as hunting dogs, gold and ivory from PEria in the east and from their neighbors to the East. The variety and quality of the Phoenicians trade goods generally made them welcome vistos. They established colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean and as far west as the Atlantic coast of modern day portugal. In the ninth century BCE, they found a city called Carthage in modern- day Tunisia, which became the leading city in Western MEditeranea, although it would one day struggle with Rome for domination of the region. Phoeneican voyages brought them into contact with the Greeks, to whom they introduce aspects of the older and more urbanized colonized culture of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Phoenicians overwhelming cultural achievements was the spread of a complexity phonetic system of writing that is an alphabet. Writers of cuneiform and hieroglyphics had to develop signs that were used to represent sounds, but there were always used with much later number of ideograms. Sometime around 1800 BCE< worker in Sinai Peninsula, which was under Egyptian control began to use only Phonetic sign to write, with each sign designating one sound, THis system vastly simplified writing and reading speed among common people as a practical demands for record keeping and communication. Egyptian scribes and officials continue to use hydrogeophysics, but the Phoenicaina fapted the simpler system for their own language and spread it around the Mediterranean. The greek modified this alphabet or their own language, and the Roman alter based their alphabet on Greek. Alphabets based on the Phoneician alphabets were also created in the Persian Empire and domed the basis of Hebrew, Arabic and various alphabets of South and Central Asia. The system event by ordinary people pseard by Phonecian merchants is the origin of most of the world phonetic alphabet used today.

How did the Rosetta Stone solve the riddle of hieroglyphics?

The Egyptian language gradually died out as the result of centuries of foreign rule begin with the arrivals of Greeks in 332 BCE. The last documents written in it date from the fourteenth century CE, by which time the great majority of Egypt's inhabitants spoke Arabic. Modern scholars were therefore faced with the task of deciphering these various types of writings in a long-forgotten language. The key appeared in the form of the Rosetta Stone, named after the Delta town near the snow here on of the Napoleon's officers discovered in 1799. This irregular shape fragment of a sone stale dated from 196 BCE> On it, a decree issued by the priests at Memphis honoring the ruler Ptolemy V had been carved in hieroglyphics, hieratic, and demotic Greek. Even with Greek translation, the two Egyptian texts proved to be incomprehensive until Thomas Young, an english physician interest in ANcient Egytpian, lined some of the hygronics to specific names in the greek version in 1817. A short time later, the brilliant Frenchman jean-Francios Champlloion, located the names Ptolemy and CLeopatra in both Egyptian scripts. Having thereby determined the phonetic symbols for P, O, L and T in demotic, he was able to slowly build up an "alphabet of symbols, and by 1822 he had deciphered the two Egytpain text. Today Egyptilogists are able to reach each new inscriptions or documents from ancient Egypt that comes to light.

What was the Book of the Dead? What can be learned from it?

The Egyptians likewise developed view of an afterlife that reflected the world around them, and that changed over time. During the later parts of the Old Kingdom, the walls of kings' tombs were carved with religious texts that provided spells that would bring the king back to life and help him ascend from god. Towards the end of the old Kingdom, the tombs of powerful nobles also contained such inscriptions, an indication that more people expected to gain everlasting life. In the Middle Kingdom (2080 to 1640 BCE), new types of spell appeared on the coffins of even more people, a further expansion in admission to the afterlife. During the New Kingdom, a time when Egypt came into greater contact with the culture of the Fertile Crescent, Egyptians developed even more complex ideas about the afterlife recording these is written frunery manuscript that have come to be known as the Book of the Dead. These texts explain that the soul left the body to become parts of the divine after death, and told the god of Osiris, who died each year and was then brought back to life by his wife Isis, when the Nile flooded. Osiris eventually became king of the dead, weighing dead humans hearts to determine whether that had lived justly enough to deserve everlasting life. THe Egyptians also believed that proper funeral rituals, in which physical body was mummified were essential for life after death, so Osiris was assisted by Anubi, the jackal-headed god of mummification. To ancient Egyptians, the king embodied justice and order, harmony among people, nature and the divine. Kings fif not always live up to this ideal of course. The two parts of Egypt were difficult to hold together, several times in Egypt's long history there were period of civil war and political fragmentation, which scholars term the First (2180 to 2080 BCE), and second (1640 to 1570 BCE) Intermediate periods. Yet the monarchy survived,and in each period a strong warrior like king arose to restore order and expand Egyptian power.

What was the most significant contribution of the Hittites to the development of civilization in the region?

The Hittites were different from other people in the region in two significant ways. First, they spoke a language that scholars have identified as belonging to the Indo-European language family. Second, by the end of their period of expansion the Hittites used iron weapons to some degree. Hittite kings began to conquer more territory. As the Hittites expanded Southward, they came in conflict with Egyptians, who were establishing their own larger empire. There were a number of battles, but both sides seem to have recognized the impossibility of dilated the other, and in 1258 the Egypitan King Ramses the Second, and the Hittite King Hattusili the third conclude a peace treaty which was recorded in both Egyptian hieroglyphics and Hittite cuneiform. The treaty brought peace between the Egyptians and the Hitties for a time. But this stability did not last, with several decades of this treaty, groups of Seafaring people who the Egyptians called "Sea People raided, migrated, and Marauded in the Eastern Mediteranean, disrupting trade and siem some cases looting and destroying cities. Just go these people were and where they originated is much debated among scholars, but their raids, combined with the expansion of the Assyrians, led to the collapse of the Hittite Empire and the fragmentation of the Egyptian Empire in what the historian later term the Third Intermediate Period (1100 to 653 BCE). There is evidence of drought, and some scholar suggested that a major volcanic eruptions in Iceland cooled the climate for several years, leading to a series of poor harvests. All of these developments are part of a general Bronze Age Collapse in the period around 1200 BCE that historians are as a major turning point.

Where was the Middle Kingdom capital?

The Middle Kingdom lasted from 2040- 1786 BC. Government: Strong dynasty ruled Egypt from Thebes.

What led to the decline of the Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom lasted from 2040- 1786 BC. Government: Strong dynasty ruled Egypt from Thebes. Achievements: Culture and trade flourished. Traders traveled to Nubia, Palesine, Syria, and Crete. Reasons for Decline: The power of nobles and priests weakened the Pharaoh's rule. The Hykos invaded, using superior weapons.

Who was Akhenaton and why is he significant?

The New Kingdom pharaoh include a number of remarkable figures. AMong these was Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs in Egypt's long history who seized the throne of herself and used her reign to promote building and trade. Amenhotep the third corresponded with other powerful kings on the Fertile Crescent, sending envoys, exchanging gifts, making alliances, and in some cases marrying their daughters. Amenhotep the THird was succeeded by his son who took the name of Akhenaten. He renamed himself as a mark of his changing religious ideas, choosing to worship a new sun god, Aten, instead of the traditional AMon or Ra. e was not a monotheist, but he did order the erasure of the names of other sun gods from the walls of buildings, the transfer of taxes from the traditional priesthood of AMon-Ra, and the buildings of huge new temple of Aten. Akhenaten's wife Neferititi supported his religious ideas, but this new religion, imposed from above failed to find a place among the people, and after his death traditional religious practice continued.

God and Goddesses

The ancient Egyptians believed in many different gods and goddesses. Each one with their own role to play in maintaining peace and harmony across the land. Some gods and goddesses took part in creation, some brought the flood every year, some offered protection, and some took care of people after they died. Others were either local gods who represented towns, or minor gods who represented plants or animals. The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to recognise and worship these gods and goddesses so that life continued smoothly.

Writing

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about religion and government. Thus, they invented written scripts that could be used to record this information. The most famous of all ancient Egyptian scripts are hieroglyphs. However, throughout three thousand years of ancient Egyptian civilization, at least three other scripts were used for different purposes. Using these scripts, scribes were able to preserve the beliefs, history and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb walls and on papyrus scrolls.

Temples

The ancient Egyptians believed that temples were the homes of the gods and goddesses. Every temple was dedicated to a god or goddess and he or she was worshipped there by the temple priests and the pharaoh. The large temple buildings were made of stone so that they would last forever. Their walls were covered with scenes that were carved onto the stone then brightly painted. These scenes showed the Pharaoh fighting in battles and performing rituals with the gods and goddesses.

Pyramids

The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. The pharaohs were buried in pyramids of many different shapes and sizes from before the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom. There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt. The three largest and best-preserved of these were built at Giza at the beginning of the Old Kingdom. The most well-known of these pyramids was built for the pharaoh Khufu. It is known as the 'Great Pyramid'.

Geography

The ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided into two types of land, the 'black land' and the 'red land'. The 'black land' was the fertile land on the banks of the Nile. The ancient Egyptians used this land for growing their crops. This was the only land in ancient Egypt that could be farmed because a layer of rich, black silt was deposited there every year after the Nile flooded. The 'red land' was the barren desert that protected Egypt on two sides. These deserts separated ancient Egypt from neighbouring countries and invading armies. They also provided the ancient Egyptians with a source for precious metals and semi-precious stones.

Compare the lives of the following classes in Mesopotamian society: The Elites (Kings, Priests, Nobles), Clients, and Slaves.

The authority or in this system was, it seems, initially assumed by Sumerian priests. Encouraged and directed by their religious leader, people build temple on tall platforms in the center of their cities. Temple grew in elaborate complexes of buildings with storage space for gain and other project and housing for animals. 2100 BCE, the major temple complexes embellished with huge stepped pyramid called ziggurat, with a shrine on the top. Surround the temple and other larger building was the house of ordinary citizens each constructed around a central courtyard. To Sumerians, and later people in Mesopotamia as well, many different gods and goddesses controlled the world, a religious idea later scholar called polytheism Polytheism means the worshipping of many gods and goddesses. Each deity represent cosmic forces such as the sun, moon, water, and storms. The gods judged food and evil and would punish humans who lied or cheated. Gods themselves suffered for their actions, sometimes for no reason at all, just a humans did. People believe that humans had been created to serve the gods if they served them well The best way to honor the gods was to make any temple built for them as grand and impressive as possible because the temple's size demonstrated the strength of the community and the power of its chief deity. One it was top of the ziggurat, was often off-limits to ordinary people. Instead the temple was staggered by priest and priestesses who carried out rituals for the god or goddess.

Time

The civilization of ancient Egypt lasted for over three thousand years. During this time there were many changes in terms of what the ancient Egyptians believed in, and how they lived their lives. However, many aspects of the basic culture, religion, and artistic style of ancient Egypt remained the same.

How did the architects attempt to protect the contents of the tombs?

The culmination of the Egyptan burial chamber is the pyramid, in which the actual burial site may be within the pyramid-not below ground- with false chamber, false doors, and confusing passage ways to foil potential tomb robbers.

Developments of Sumerian system

The development of the Sumerian systems of writing was piecemeal, with scribes making changes and additions as they were needed. The system became so complicated that the SUmerian established scibal schools, which by 2,500 BCE flourished throughout the region. Students that ehschool were all male, and most came from families in the middle range of urban society. Ech school had a master, a teacher, and monitors. Discipline was strict, and students were caned for sloppy work and misbehavior. One graduate of a scibal school had few fond memories of the joy of learning. Scribal schools were primarily tinted to produce individuals who could keep records of the property of temple officials, kings, and noble. Writing first developed as a way to enhance the growing power of the elite not to record speech. Sumeriabs write numbers as well as words on clay tablets, and some surviving tablets show the multiplication and division problems. Mathematics was not just a theoretical matter to the people living in Mesopotamia, because the buildings of cities, palaces, temples, and canal demanded practical knowledge of geometry and trigonometry. The Sumerian and later Mesopotamian made significant advance in mathematics using a numerical system based on units of sixty, ten, and six, from which we derived out divisions of hours into sixty minutes and minutes into 60 seconds They also developed the concept for place value the value of a number depends on where it stands in relation to other numbers. Witten texted were not an important part of SUemrian religious life, nor they were central to the religious practices of most of the other people in this religion. Stories about the gods circulated orally and traveled with people when they moved up and down the rivers, so that gods often acquired new names and new characteristic over the centuries. Sumeriance also told stories about heroes and kings, many of which were eventually reworked into the world' first epic poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, late rewritten down. Is a narration of achievements, labors, and sometimes failure of heroes that embodies people's ideas about themselves.

Mummification

The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert. The heat and dryness of the sand dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'. Later, the ancient Egyptians began burying their dead in coffins to protect them from wild animals in the desert. However, they realised that bodies placed in coffins decayed when they were not exposed to the hot, dry sand of the desert. Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so they would remain lifelike. The process included embalming the bodies and wrapping them in strips of linen. Today we call this process mummification.

familial

The familial connections with the divine allowed a handful of women to rule in their own right in Egypt's long history. Four pharaohs, most famous if Hatshepsut. She was the sister and wife of Thutmose the Second, and after he died, served as regent (advisor and co ruler) for her young stepson Thutmose the third who was the son of another woman. Hatshepsut sent trading expedition and sponsored artists and architects, ushing in a period of artistic creativity and economic prosperity. She built one of the world's greatest temples, an elaborate terraced temple at Deir El Bahri, which eventually served as her tomb. Hatshepsut, status as a powerful ruler was difficult for Egyptian to conceptualize, and she is often depicted in male dress or with a false beard, this looking more like a male ruler who were the norm. After her death, Thutmose the Third tried to destroy all evidence that she had ever rules, sahsing statues and scratching her name off inscription, perhaps because he wanted to erase the fact that a woman had once been Pharoah.

What does the Epic of Gilgamesh reveal about the Sumerian's attitudes towards God and human beings.

The gods created human beings. Their attitudes also reveal that humans can communicate and interact with the gods and they try to validate themselves. Gods are able to take human form and connect with humans. The gods are very moody. God are the all powerful beings human respect out of fear, and so Gilgamesh tried to eliminate every god.

Gilgamesh's Quest for Immortality

The human desire to escape the grip of death appears in many cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the earliest record of this topic. The oldest element of the epic go back to the stories told in the third millennium BCE. According to tradition, Gilgamesh was a king of a Sumerian city of Uruk. In the story, Gilgamesh is not fulfilling his duties as the king very well and sets out with his friends Enkidu to perform wondrous feats against fearsome agent of ogd. Together they kill several supernatural beings, and the god decide the Enkidu must die. He foresees his own death in a dream. Enkidu sickens and des. Gilgamesh is distract and determined to become immortal. He decided to journey to Ut-napishtim and his wish, the only humans who have eternal life. Everyone he meets along the way asks him about his appearance. Gilgamesh finally reaches Out-napishem. He asks Ut how he and his wife can be immortal like the gods, if death is inevitable. Ut-napishtime tells him a story of they survived a flood avant by the gods and the chief god Enlil blessed them with eternal life. Gilgamesh wants this as well, but fails two opportunities Ut-Napishtim provides for him to achieve it. At the end of the epic he simple return to Uruk with the boatman Ur-shnabi.

Pharaoh

The most powerful person in ancient Egypt was the pharaoh. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'. As 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners. As 'High Priest of Every Temple', the pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honour the gods. Many pharaohs went to war when their land was threatened or when they wanted to control foreign lands. If the pharaoh won the battle, the conquered people had to recognise the Egyptian pharaoh as their ruler and offer him the finest and most valuable goods from their land.

Trace the steps that led to the invention of writing.

The origins of writing probably date back to the ninth millennium BCE, when people in Southwest Asia, used clay tokens as counters for record keeping. By the fourth millennium people had realized that impressing the tokens on soft clay or drawing pictures of tokens on clay, was simpler than making tokens. THis breakthrough in turn suggested that more information could be conveyed by adding pictures of other objects, and slowly the new technology of writing developed. The result was a complex system of pictographs in which each sign pictured an object, such as "star." These pictographs were the forerunners of the Sumerian form of writing known as Cuneiform, from the latin term for wedge shaped, sued to deicbibe the idnetaions made by a sharpened sylius on clay. Scribes could combine pictograms to express meaning. For example the sign for women combined with the sign of of a mountain have the word mountain woman, which meant slave woman, because the Sumerian regularly obtained their slave woman from wars against eh en,pies in the mountains. Pictograph were initial limited in that they could not represent abstract ideas, but the development of ideograms, signs that presents ideas, make writing more versatile. Thus the sign for star could be use dt indicate heaven, sky, or even god. The real breakthrough came when the scribes started using the signs to represent sounds. For instance, the symbol for water (two parallel wavy lines) could also be used to indicate "in," which sounded the same as the spoken word for water in Sumerian.

What was demotic used for?

The third type of writing came into use only in the 18th century BCE, as written communication ceased to be restricted exclusively to priests and scribes. It was less formal and was easier to master, and the greek referred to it as demotic writings, derived "from the people." From this time on, all three systems were in use, each for its own specific purpose: religious documents were written in hieratic, inscriptions on monuments in hieroglyphics, ad all other texts in demotic.

writing, cities, and states

The remains of buildings, burial sites, weapons, tools, artwork, and other handmade objects provide out only evidence off... How people lived, thought, felt, died during most human past Beginning about 5,000 years, people in some parts of the world developed new technology, writing, the surviving examples of which have provided a wide range of information Writing developed to meet the needs of more complex urban societies that are often referred to as "civilization" Writing met the needs of the state, a new political form that developed during the time

Cyrus's system

This system decreased opposition to Persian rule by making local elites part of the system of government, although sometimes satrap used their authority to build up independent power. The perisan allowed people they conquered to amintian their own customs and belfs as longs as they paid the proper amount of taxes and did not rebel. Their rule resulted in an empire that brought people together in a new political system, with a culture that blended older and newer religion traditions and ways of seeing the world. Communication and trade were eased by a sophisticated system of roads linking the empire from the coast of Asia minor to the valley of the Indus River. These roads meant that the king was usually in close touch with officials and objects, and they simplified the defenses of the empire by making it easier to move Persian armies. Roads also aided the flow of trade which Persian rulers further encouraged by building canal, that lnk the red sea and the Nile. Persian made significant contributions to art and culture. In art,they transformed the Assyrain traditions of plastic in realistic monumental sculpture that deliberated glory details of slaughter.

Female pharoahs

Though female pharaohs were very rare, many royal women had power through their position as Great Royal wives. HTe most famous sis Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten. The name means the perfect woman had come, and the inscription give her my other titles.

Describe the impact of the Nile River on the development of Egyptian civilization.

Through the fertility of the NIle and their own hard work, Egyptians priced an annual agriclutere surplus, which in turn sustained a growing and prosperous population. The Nile also unified Egypt, serving as a highway that promoted east communication. The political power and structure that developed in Egypt came to be lined with the Nile. Somehow the idea developed that a single individual, a king, was responsible for the rise and fall of the nile. THe king came to be viewed as a descended the gods and thus a god himself. This belief came about before the development of writing in Egypt, so the precise details of its origins have been lost. Political unification most likely proceeded slowly, but the stories told about early kings highlights one who had united Upper Egypt (Upstream valley in the South), and Lower Egypt (The delta area of the Nile that empties into the Mediterranean Sea), into a single kingdom around 3100 BCE. Historian later divided GEthistory into dynasties, of families or kings and are recently into periods of disincentive characteristics. The political unification of Egypt in the Archaic periods (3100 BCE to 2660 BCE) ushered in the period known as the old Kingdom (2600 to 2180 BCE), the er for prosperity, artistic flowering, and evolution of religious beliefs. THe focal point of religious and political life in the Old Kingdom was the king, who commanded the wealth, resources, and people of Egypt. The King's surroundings had to be worthy of god, snf only a magnificent place is suitable for his home. The word Pharaoh, during the New Kingdom (1570 to 1070 BCE), came to be used for the kings, originally meant the great house. Just as kings occupied a great house in life, they reposed in great pyramids after death, Built during the Old Kingdom, these massive stone tombs contained all the things needed by the king in his afterlife, and also symbolizes the king's power and his connections with the sun-god. Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians were polytheistic, worshipping many gods of all types, some mightier than others. They developed complex ideas of their t=gods that reflect the world around them,and these views changed over many centuries if Egyptian history as gods took on a new attributes and often merged with one and another. During the Old Kingdom, Egyptian considered the Sun-god Ra the creator of life. Much later during the New Kingdom, the pharaoh of a new dynasty favored the worship of a different sun-god, Amon, who they described as creating the entire cosmos by his thoughts. As his cult grew, Amon came to be identified with Ra, and eventually the Egyptians combined them together into one son god Amon-Ra.

Mother of all cities

Uruk, contained population density of unprecendeted amounts, 30,000 people living in one settlement. Legends of Gilgamesh explains the city of Uruk, modern developments such as temple place halls, with innovative techniques.

What were the achievements of Persian empire?

Whenever he actually lived, Zoroaster writings were communicated by teachers, and King Darius began to use the Zorostria language and images. Under the protection of the Persian kings, Zoroatrain ideas spread throughout Iran and the rest of the perisna empire and then into central china. Zorachtrian became the official religion alter in perisan empire ruled by Sassanid dynasty and much later Zoroshtiarn migrated to westenr India, were you became known as Parsis, and still live today. Zoroatrian survied the fall of the persian empire to infltuen christianuyu , Islam, Bus=ddhism, larhely of its belifs in a just life on earth and happy after life. Good behavior in the world, even though inrecongized at the time, would receive ample rewards in the hereafter. Evil, no matter how powerful a person had been in life, would be punished after death. In some form or another Zoroatrains concepts stillbrave many modern religions.

Distinguish the emphases in the two names ascribed to the process where in the fourth millennium BC, Neolithic villages expanded into cities: "the birth of civilization" OR "the growth of the state"

Whether we choose to call the process "the birth of civilization" or "the growth of the state," in the fourth millennium BCE, neolithic agricultural villages expanded into cities that depended largely on food produced by the surrounding countryside while people living in cities carried out other tasks. The organization of a more complex division of labor was undertaken by an elite group, which enforced its will through laws, taxes, and bureaucracies backed up by armed force or the threat of it. Social and gender hierarchies became more complex and rigid. All this happened first in mesopotamia, then is Egypt, and then in India and China.

What contributions did the Hyksos make to Egyptian civilization?

While eyptian civilization flourished in the nile Valley, various groups migrated throughout the Fertile Crescent and them accommodate themselves to a local culture. Some settled in ile Delta, including a group of Egyptians call Hyksos, meaning rulers of the uplands. Although they were alter portrayed as a conquering horde, the Hyksos were actually migrants looking for good land, and their entry into the delta began around 1800 BCE, was probably gradual and generally peaceful. The newcomers began to worship the Egyptians deities and modeled their political structure in those of the Egyptians. The Hyksos brought with them methods of making bronze and casting it into weapons that became standard in Egypt. Tey thereby brought Egypt fully into the Bronze Age culture of the Meditteranea World. The Hyksos also introduced horses drawn chariots and composite, bows made of multiple material for greater strength, which along with the bronze weaponry revolutionized the Egyptian warfare. The migration of the Hyksos, combined with a series of famined and internal struggles for power, led Egypt to fragment politically in what later came to be known as the Second Intermediate Period. In about 2570 BCE, a new dynasty of pharaohs arose, pushing the Hyksos out of the Delta and conquering territory to the South and Northeast. These warrior-pharaohs inaugurated what scholars refer to as the NEw Kingdom, s period characterized not only by enormous wealth and conscious imperialism but also a greater sense of insecurity because of the new contact and military engagements. By expanding Egytpian power beyond the Nile Valley the pharaohs created the first Egyptian empire, and they celebrate their triumphs with monuments on a scale unparalleled since the pyramids of the Old KIngdom. Their giant statues and rich tombs also indicate an expansion of imported slave labor, although some scholars are rethinking the extent of slave labor in the New kingdom.

Who were the Kushites and the Phoenicians? Assess their role as facilitators of cultural diffusion.

With the contraction of the Egyptian empire, an independent kingdom, Kush, rose to power in Nubia. Another group that rose to prominence along the Mediterranean was the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were people of the prosperous city-states in what is now Lebanon who dominated trade throughout the Mediterranean and spread the letter alphabet. Their role as facilitators of cultural diffusion was TRADE.

Written Sources and the Human Past

Writing is closely tied to the idea of history itself. The term history comes from the greek word Historia, created by Herodotus. Herodocuts used this word to describe the inquiry into the past. Words of History and Inquiry are the same. Herodotus based his histories at their core a study of the origins of the wars between the Persians, and the Greeks that occurred about the time he was born On the oral testimony of people he had met as he travelled. Many of these people had been participants of the war So Herodotus was proud he could really do much on eyewitness accounts of the people involved. Today this methodology is called "oral history" Remains a vital techniques for studying the recent past. Heroductus most likely his histories out loud at some sort of public gathering Herductus wrote down his histeos and consulted written documents

According to the text: "Written laws and traditions generally create more elaborate social hierarchies." Why?

Written laws and tradition generally create more elaborate social hierarchies, in which divisions between elite groups and commercial people are established more firmly. They also generally heighten gender hierarchies. Those who gain power in states are most often men, so they tend to establish laws and norms that favor males in marriage, property rights, and other areas.

Who eventually destroyed the Assyrian empire? What is ironic about the Assyrian legacy?

Yet the downfall of Assyria was swift and complete. Babylon won its independence in 626 BCE, and joined forces with a new group, the Medes, an indo European speak people from Pedia. Together the Babylniean and the Medes destroyed the Assyian Empire in 612 BCE, paving the way for the rise of the persians. Their cities destroyed and their power shattered, the Assyrians seemed to disappear from history. Modern archeology has brought eh Assyrians out of obscurity. In the 19th century archaeologist unearthed huge sculpted figures of wined bulls, human head lion, and sphinxes, along with cuneiform tablets that recounted everything from military campaigns to business relationships. For the kings palaces, Assyrian artists carved relief that showed scenes of the war as a series of episodes that progressed from the time the army marched out until the enemy was conquered. In doing so, they created a visual narrative of events, a form still favored by comic book artists and author of graphic novels. Assyria rose to power from a base in Mesopotamia and they were defeated by an alliance that included Mesopotamian power.

Rosetta Stone

a huge stone slab inscribed with hieroglyphics, Greek, and a later form of Egyptian that allowed historians to understand Egyptian writing.