Western Civilization I

Notes from 6/4

I.   The Paleolithic (or Old Stone) Age

Between 2 and 2.5 million years ago, the prehistoric man known as homo habilis ("skilled man") first appeared.  Homo habilis was so called because he was the first hominid to use rudimentary stone tools.  Hominids continued to evolve; homo sapiens ("wise man") who was able to create spoken language, and whose greater dexterity allowed for more efficient use of tools, first appeared some 500,000 years ago.  An "anatomically modern" homo sapiens appeared between 30 and 50,000 years ago.  

Up until about 10000 B.C.E, (the actual time varies depending on the region), not much changed.  Humans relied on hunting, gathering and fishing for survival, and lived in small, sparsely settled societies.  This long period is referred to as the Paleolithic Age.  "Paleolithic" is from the Greek, meaning "old stone."  It is during this period that humans are thought to have developed spoken language, as well as the ability to make and control fire.  Furthermore, there is considerable archeological evidence of religious practices and belief, such as cave drawings and elaborate burial rituals.  The Cro-Magnon paintings I showed from the caves of Lascaux, France (perhaps 18-12,000 years old) are examples of these more complex thought patterns and abilities.

II.  The Neolithic (or New Stone) Age

Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, starting in the Near East, people began to (1) develop better stone technologies (such as methods for grinding and carving) and (2) shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the principal means of subsistence.  These changes, along with the development of items like pottery and baskets (for storing surplus foods), allowed for the establishment of more permanent settlements as population growth.  The earliest Neolithic societies appeared around 8000 or 9000 B.C., probably in what is now southern Turkey and northern Iraq.  People also began to domesticate animals.  We have found evidence of domesticated pigs from around 6750 B.C.  By 6000 B.C., people had begun to travel on crude rafts and in carts with wheels.   This meant that previously isolated societies were coming into more contact with one another, and the exchange of ideas and practices accelerated the pace of technological and social innovation.

III.  The Bronze Age

Around 5,000 years ago, more complex societies began to appear, again first in the Near East.  Larger numbers of people settled the fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now modern Iraq (historians refer to this area as Mesopotamia, which means "the land between the rivers").  Local village customs were formalized into laws, and more sophisticated religions developed that supported social order.  All of this, not to mention the burgeoning commerce, required writing.  Finally, around this time people discovered that by combining ("smelting") copper and tin, a more useful and durable alloy which we now call "bronze" could be obtained.  This technological development is why we call the period from around 3000 B.C. to 1400 B.C. the "Bronze Age."

These elements, (1) law/government; (2) urbanization; (3) writing; and (4) metallurgy are the hallmarks of "civilization," as that term is commonly used by historians.

IV.  Specific Civilizations: Mesopotamia and Egypt

Mesopotamia is often thought of as divided into two regions.  The south is referred to as Sumer.  The north is referred to as Assyria.  

By 3000 B.C., or so, at least a dozen independent cities ("city-states") had been established in Sumer.  Cities were typically ruled by a king, who was considered to be a representative of the gods.  Also, each residents of each city typically worshipped a local deity, and at the center of each city was built a ziggurat, or temple to that god.  Of course, the construction of large, highly complex ziggurats was also a symbol of the king's power and authority.  Some historians conjecture that the biblical story of the Tower of Babel was actually based on a particularly ambitious ziggurat undertaken by some Sumerian king.

The ancient Sumerians also developed a form of writing, known as cuneiform.   This writing started out as picture-based or pictographic (i.e., scribes would draw a picture of the thing being described), but over time pictures were simplified and ideas combined to create a written language that was partly alphabetic and phonetic.

From time to time, specific city-states in Sumer achieved positions of hegemony (power) over their neighbors.  One such city-state was Babylon, whose ruler, Hammurabi succeeded in unifying all of Mesopotamia under his rule (1792 - 1750 B.C.).  Of course, Hammurabi is best known for his law code, which provides a wealth of information about social structure, values and the role of the state in the lives of the ancient Mesopotamians.

As Hammurabi's Code indicates, ancient Mesopotamia was a highly stratified society.  At the top of the social pyramid were a very small number of nobles and priests.   Below them a larger number of commoners.  Finally, at the bottom of the social order were slaves, who were extremely important to the economies of many of the Mesopotamian cities.  Women had few legal rights, although Hammurabi's code did contain some relatively enlightened provisions on divorce.   Some ancient Near Eastern societies allowed women to engage in business or own property, although none accorded women any political role.

I also discussed Ancient Egypt.  Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt developed after 3000 B.C. as a strong, centralized kingdom, rather than a collection of autonomous city-states.  The Egyptian kings, or pharaohs were considered divine, and enjoyed absolute power.  Like the Mesopotamian ziggurats, the massive pyramids built by the pharaohs were symbols of this power.

The Egyptians had developed an advanced culture during the third and second millennia B.C.  Egyptian writing, known as hieroglyphics, was also pictographic, but like the Sumerian cuneiform evolved over time to include at least some phonetic signs.  Some Egyptian poetry has survived, and the Egyptians made advances in mathematics and medicine.

Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian culture doubtless influenced the development of Greek civilization, although historians continue to debate the actual extent of that influence.

V.  The Ancient Hebrews

We took a look at the law code of the ancient Hebrews, which is contained in the Old Testament Book of Exodus.  Here's some background on the ancient Hebrews that I didn't go over in class, but that you should keep in mind:  Around 1000 B.C., the Ancient Hebrews established a unified kingdom in Israel.   Three kings, Saul, David and Solomon ruled Israel and established a capital at Jerusalem from about 100 years (ca. 1020-922 B.C.).  After Solomon's death, the kingdom split into two parts: Israel in the north, and Judah in the south.  In 722 B.C., Israel was taken over by the Assyrians, and its people were scattered.  They became known as the "ten lost tribes of Israel."  Judah, the southern kingdom, was taken over by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and thousands of Jews were taken as captives to Babylon.   This scattering or diaspora is why the Zionist movement (for the creation of a Jewish state of Israel) would become so important to Jews during the 19th century, leading ultimately to the creation of Israel in 1948.

Of course, the importance of Judaism to western civilization is its embrace of monotheism, or the belief in a single, universal god.  Although the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten  may have "experimented" with monotheism during the 14th century B.C., it is the Jews who were able to develop a permanent monotheistic religion somewhere between the 14th and 8th centuries.  Monotheistic Judaism would be the foundation for both Christianity and Islam.  (More on ancient religions next time.)