...Kawthar Elwaseem DBQ Throughout history geographic features had significantly influenced both the development and growth of early civilizations. One of the main geographic features that had greatly impacted early civilizations was rivers. Rivers such as the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, not only resulted in positive affects but also negative. Two such civilizations were Egypt and Mesopotamia. Egypt's early civilization was developed near the Nile river which flows to the Mediterranean sea .The Nile was a positive geographic feature because it helped nourish the cattle’s, brought work, and trade to the people with other civilization which lead to culture diffusion. Another positive part of the Nile would be farming. 8,000 years ago men learned to farm, which provided people with a faster way to get food because farmers were able to use the Nile to water their crops. In addition the Nile flooded once a year causing massive destruction and killing thousands of people and if that wasn’t enough many people later...
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...OBST 590 - Old Testament Introduction Book Summary II Ancient Near Eastern Thought and The Old Testament By Walton ___________________ Submitted to Dr. Ashraf Basilious 27 February 2013 CONTENTS iNTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I REVIEW 2 chapter ii review 4 CHAPTER III REVIEW 6 CHAPTER IV REVIEW 7 CHAPTER V REVIEW 9 CHAPTER VI REVIEW 11 CHAPTER VII REVIEW 13 CHAPTER VIII REVIEW 15 CHAPTER IX REVIEW 17 CHAPTER X REVIEW 18 CHAPTER XI REVIEW 20 CHAPTER XII REVIEW 22 CHAPTER XIII REVIEW 23 CHAPTER XIV REVIEW 24 CONCLUSION 26 Introduction The “Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament”, by Walton covers many issues which an individual unless wanting to seek more than what is written in the bible would want to perform endless days of research and ability to see firsthand by reading Walton’s book. These areas covered in Walton’s book cover the time from when the Old Testament had begun to be written back in BC and later re-found along with other textual artifacts earth in the 18 and mid 19th century AD. The discoveries of both biblical, and other un-biblical artifacts is covered within Walton’s book to how and why some individuals who have a different form of religious beliefs. To how in the past the individual living during early Near Eastern thought processes had been in regards to God or in many cases when not Israeli or Christian involved gods which were based off an...
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...It's difficult for a country to rebuild after a war has taken place. The war in iraq has not just had drastic effects on its people, but it's art has also really been affected. War ruins communities, and it takes a long time for the communities to rebuild. For example, if you move from Iraq, and look back at the Croatian War of Independence with Bosnia and Herzegovinia in the early 1990's, you will still to this day see major evidence of a community just completely ravished because of war, and fighting for just the course of 4 years. I have been to Croatia, and have seen the damage hand on, and it is very visible from their 4 year long battle with Bosnia. The damage Iraq has consumed over the past 9 year long war with the United States is copious. In Baghdad, Iraq's National Museum consumed artifacts over time from Samarra, Ashur, Uruk, Harta and from Babylon. The museum had more than 100,000 objects all together. Because of bombings, and combat; a lot of the artifacts were moved into safe deposit boxes, and also items were put in the basement. When war broke out in 2003, thieves broke into the museum and stole many of the artifacts. The Warka Vase from Uruk, an Assyrian ivory carving, and many other precious artifacts were stolen. A real loss because of the major history in all of the artifacts. The loses were so great because their origin was from the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris. These were artifacts from places that birthed government, modernized a whole array...
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...There were many different aspects of live that lead to Mesopotamia and Egypt the first Western Civilization. The main reason that the first civilization was able to begin was because there was a climate change that occurred, this change made the way of living difficult and a way that needed to be changed. The first civilization was known as the Sumerian people. This civilization was created because the area that the Sumerian people lived became dry and flooding stopped. It is said in the book that “The rivers no longer flooded as much of the land as before, and more and more of the marshes evaporated.1” The explains how the life style that these people has with flooding has now changed to no floods and dry soil. The people of this civilization started to build channels because floods would come at any time now and wash away everything that they were growing. The new urban life style is support system of the new civilization. This includes the organized society that was made to manage the new irrigation system that they had built. This organization was put into action to control the activities that were occurring in the new society. The people that were on this system to control were the priest and priestesses; they built themselves temples in order to rule from above the people. The landed that the temples were built on was claimed by the people who lived in the temples. During this time projects were organized and the idea of taxes became a reality. The general...
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...In today’s world we have the law enforcement of all levels that protect and serve the people from and all acts of violence, theft and any other crime committed against one another. When a dead beat father leaves his baby’s mothers because he doesn’t want to own up to the responsibility we have a legal court system that gives that women right to child support. In today’s world we have what’s called a due process that is provide and individual, company a state justice. Whenever there has been some wrong doing our country now has a system to reclaim justice to the victim. This system of justice originated from a Babylonian King. King Hammurabi’s code would lay the foundation of justice for the people for generation to come after him. Before the greatness of Babylon in early Mesopatamia there was the III dynasty of Ur. The founder and king of the Ur dynasty Ur-Nammu ruled from 2113 - 2096 BC. “King Ur- Nammau was very involved in the rebuilding of his dynasty in agriculture and re- establishing civil order and security. King Ur-nammu would be succeeded by his son Shugli that ruled from 2096 -2048 BC. King Shulgi was very skilled in hunting and was an expert in military tactics” (Woolley 53). King Shugli would then have two sons to succeed him and take the crown unfortunately they had a very difficult maintaining the dynasty and as the legal and administration began to fall apart so did the dynasty and it would be reduced to a small city state. With...
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...divorce. At that point, the woman was to return to her father’s home until she remarried. In terms of men, it seem as if many of the laws were biased and leaning in their favor. In one of the statues, men were permitted to sleep with other women as so long as she has his name. As for women, it is not the same. With that being said, women were not equal to men, and instead not considered as an individual human being, but as a product under the name attached to her. References Horne, C., Johns, C., King, L. (n.d.). Ancient History Sourcebook: Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE [Online]. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp#text Mahdavi, Farid (2012) World history: The Human Experience to 1500, Ancient Mesopotamia (5000-1000) pg. 2.2...
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...in the world and originated in ancient Mesopotamia between 2350 – 2150 B.C. The regime of the Akkadian empire ruled based on political domination, taxation, and literacy. The Akkadian Empire was birthed after Sargon I conquered the Sumerian city-states and founded the empire in the capital city of Akkad. Absolute monarchy and the idea of divine kingship originated in the Akkadian empire; as a result, influenced many civilizations to come. Akkadian kings were portrayed to be glamorous in art due to their high influence and stature in Akkadian society. However, Naram-Sin, great grandson of Sargon I and Akkadian king between 2254 and 2218 BC, was responsible for introducing the idea of divine kingship by portraying himself to be divine on a relief sculpture dedicated to one of his war victories. The relief is called the Stele of Naram-Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E) and the purpose was to exemplify Naram-Sin as a supernatural figure. The Stele of Naram-Sin is carved into pink sandstone and stands a staggering 6 feet and 7 inches tall. It was discovered by French archaeologists slightly before 1900 on the Iranian site of Susa and it’s currently in the Louvre Museum. The human figures depicted on the stele are carved in a way that they are popping out of the flat pink sandstone surface. The relief illustrates Naram-Sin and his soldiers marching up a mountain conquering the Lullubi people who lived on the mountains in the eastern region of Mesopotamia. The battle event on the relief was illustrated...
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...When examining the ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is vital to observe the distinct similarities between their religious beliefs. Considering the geographic closeness of the two ancient civilizations, Mesopotamia occupying mainly modern day Iraq, centered around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and Egypt which is still located in the region recognized as modern Egypt, centralized around the Nile River, and the overlapping time frame both of these societies occupied, it is not unexpected that Mesopotamia and Egypt would possess similar ideologies. Despite the fact that the political structure of these civilizations differed between Mesopotamia’s unstable collection of city-states and Egypt’s unified monarchy, both societies were comprised a polytheistic philosophy where the Gods reflected a larger, universal system. Furthermore, both ancient civilizations relied on the flooding of their adjacent rivers for survival and these floods manifested within their religious ideologies. Although, the annual flooding of the Nile gave the Egyptians a sense of comfort and satiability surrounding death and was the direct rational of the Egyptians belief that rebirth followed death, the inconsistent flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates left the Mesopotamian people uncertain of the continuity of lives, evident in their harsh God’s and lack of interpretation of what the after-life consists of. Nevertheless, the similarities between the two culture’s religious beliefs are far too comparable...
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...Michael Yost B. Berry History 140 07 Nov 2004 Egypt and Mesopotamia; the comparison and contrast of the ancient societies As we take a look at the Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies, there are several similarities. Although, each of the societies had some differences within them, they both borrowed technologies from other societies and were successful during their period in history. Evolving from the Paleolithic times where the people were in small tribes, they lived in whatever shelter that was found. There became a transition to a more stable style of living, known as the Neolithic time or New Stone age. It was a period of history where agriculture started to take hold. Both Egypt and Mesopotamia began to farm the land and settle into an area. Neolithic people began to settle around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; as well as, the Nile River roughly 8,000 B.C. River water provided the necessary irrigation needed to grow crops and a fertile land for farming. These people started to develop science of agriculture. By using agriculture, the Neolithic people move away from the traditional life as a nomad. These people were not always on the move to hunt or gather the food needed to survive. This was the first time for people to enjoy the benefits of not moving around all the time and to develop a large society in one area. Around 4000 B.C., the Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures began to develop and flourish. With large groups of people within one area, they...
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...GarHanging Gardens of Babylon By: Katerina Gillian The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are considered to be one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They were built in the ancient city-state of Babylon, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil, in Iraq. Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the gardens to be built during his reign of 43 years between the years of 604-562 BC. He built it to help his homesick wife, Amyitis, who was from Media, overcome her depression. She missed the gardens and mountains of her homeland. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon impressed travelers and historians in ancient times. Although they no longer exist, the idea of such a magnificent garden still peaks the curiosity of people today. Architecturally, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were an impressive. The gardens were quadrilateral in shape. Stairways went to the highest terraced roofs. The plants on these terraces overhung stone column supports. Arched vaults were placed on cubed fountains. The fountains provided humidity that acted as a form of air conditioning. The shade from the trees also helped keep cool the gardens. The garden rose in close planted levels to create man-made mountain greenery. The gardens were supported by a detailed structure of stone pillars, brick walls, and palm tree trunk beams. These trunks were watertight. “Palm beams were placed over with reed and bitumen mats, as well as two layers of baked mud brick.” All of this was coated in a layer of lead. There were fourteen underground...
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...Catal Hüyük was one of the world’s first towns, and it was one of the biggest and oldest civilizations. It was existed in Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) around 6250- 5400 BCE which is about 8000 years ago. At that time, most people lived in other civilizations were gatherers and hunters, but people in Catal Huyuk had proved to grow crops, herding and had craftsmen as well. Catal Huyuk is situated to the east of Carsamba River, near the town of Cumra, which is modern day Konya, Turkey. The word “catalhuyuk” means “forked mound” which refers to the site east and west mounds, because no one knows what townspeople called their home 8000 years ago. I and many other archaeologists believe that the ancient city has the size of 50 soccer fields. The first excavation was carried in 1960s, but due to the technology problems, they had stop excavating the site, until 1993, Ian Hodder began extensive excavation with full-scale modern technologies, he had dig for several years, a laboratory was built and a museum was underway. The site contains remains of ancient pottery, signs of prehistoric domestication and herding, and permanent farming, including the organized cultivation of wheat and other cereals, and granary structures for storing and preserving food grains. Coupled with the fact that it dates to at least 7500 BC to 5700 BC, this makes it the biggest and best preserved ancient Neolithic site to date and just one in a growing number of new ancient sites which continue to push back...
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...society. As societies expand, they form into civilization with sophisticated form of communications and development of technologies. Physical geography as well as natural resources can shape the cultures and societies around us. We know that early societies have adapted their ways of life for survival. The success or failure of the society can lead to expansion or downfall of a civilization. Environmental and geographic factors are known to contribute in the development of early civilizations such as Mesopotamia as well as the development of the United States through the process of diffusion from people and ideas over time. In the early civilizations, the presence of water symbolized life. Mesopotamia was the birth of early civilization due to its significant geographical characteristics, the rivers. The accessibility to water source from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers provided the early civilization with the knowledge to bring forth dependable food source. Mesopotamia was located in between two rivers (Soomo, 2013a). The Tigris River, which is shorter compared to the Euphrates River, has deeper channels, which can accommodate more water. The Euphrates River begins in the mountain of the Eastern Turkey. It is longer compare to Tigris River; however, water loss occurs through evaporation due to its hot & dry climate. "The Tigris runs almost parallel with the Euphrates and together...
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...Sumer “The Land Of civilized Kings with help by Gods?” Sumer, located in the southern region of what is now modern day Iraq and Kuwait was once a region known as ancient Mesopotamia. It is thought to be the cradle of civilization which lied between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. The word Mesopotamia means” between the rivers” in Greek. Sumer was inhabited around 4500 BC, but this claim has been contested or the years by archaeologists, due to artifacts unearthed in excavated mounds. So, the Sumerians were not the first settlers in this region, according to the dates of the artifacts it was the Proto-Euphrateans, inhabitants of the Euphrates River. These inhabitants moved from being hunters-gathers to agrarian society evidence by the stone tools from hoes, knives and clay aircrafts! So, when did the Sumerians enter this era? The first ruler of Sumer was a king named Etana of Kish, who came to throne as early as the third millennium B.C. According to the kings list, he is described as the one who stabilized the land. The (kings list) is a scribe document located in the city of Lagash, time frame 2100BCE, that list all of the kings and their great accomplishments during their reign, in other words an attempt to show the continuity of order in their society dating back to the beginning of civilization. Both the Mesopotamians and the Sumerians believed that civilization was a result of the god’s triumphs of order over the chaos of men. Who were these Gods? The Sumerians called...
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...Ancient Civilizations The first civilizations in history were developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hurrapan and China some 5,000 years ago. All receive the name of river civilizations because they were developed on the banks of major rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates in Mesopotamia; the Nile in Egypt; the Indus in the Hurrapan civilization; and the Yellow River in China. The banks of these rivers were occupied lands very fertile and easy to water, causing a great development of agriculture. The economic growth produced major changes; the population increased and the small villages grew into large cities with many thousands of inhabitants. A civilization is a complex culture in which a large number of people share several common elements. Historians have identified some basic features of the civilization, most of which is obvious in the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Hurrapan, China and Egypt. These include: (1) Urban revolution; the cities become the principal points of the political, financial, social, cultural and religious development. (2) Religious structure characteristic; the gods are considered crucial to the success of the community, and professional religious classes; as administrators of the property of the gods and they regulate relations with the gods. (3) New political structures and military; arises an organized government bureaucracy to meet the administrative demands of the growing population, while armies are organized to acquire domains and power. (4) A...
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...Events/Important/key Dates • 7,000~ 4,000 BCE: Spread of agriculture through most of Middle east. • 5,000 BCE: Farming along Nile River • 4,000 BCE: Sumerians settle in Tigris- Euphrates valley • 4,000 BCE: Sumerians (a people who had migrated into the area from the north) provided final boost toward establishing civilization • 4,000 BCE: cumulative effects of agriculture & technology → civilization as a new organizational form (wheel, bronze use, and writing facilitated) • 3,500 BCE: Writing is introduced. (based on new needs for commercial property and political records → celebration of the deeds of proud local kings) • 3,500 BCE: Early Sumerian alphabet • 3,100~2,700 BCE: Initial kingdoms in Mesopotamia and Egypt • 3,000 BCE: Introduction to bronze tools • 3,000 BCE: Mesopotamian husbands veiled their wives on marriage → to protect the wife’s honor • 2,700~2,200 BCE: Old Kingdom period , Egypt • 2,600 BCE: First great pyramid • 3,400~2,200 BCE: Akkadian Empire conquers Sumer • 2,052~1,786 BCE: Middle Kingdom period → civilization spreads to Upper Nile. • 2,000 BCE: Sumerians wrote the Epic of Gilgamesh ( world’s oldest story) • 2,000 BCE: Sumerians produced the potter’s wheel, invented glass, introduced useof fertilizer and silver → Trade expands → Sumerians had trading contact with India • 1800BCE: Babylonian Empire rose again • 1600BCE: fall of Babylonian Empire • 1,300 BCE: (Egypt) Queen Nefertiti → role in religious reforms → men and women have equal...
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