Cornell Note Taking Date Style Topic Page # (The Fertile Crescent) Main Idea (*) Description ( - ) Summary of Notes
Why study Middle Eastern civilizations instead of studying civilizations elsewhere?
*The Fertile Crescent -The location in the Middle East where civilizations first appeared in history -Comprised of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine (Canaan) -Prospered because of the fertile river valleys
Garden of Eden
What is a city state?
*City states -When a city is the center, capital, and home for an entire country or empire -The first form of Countries and Empires
*Sumerians (4,000 2270 B.C.) -The first known civilization and empire -Centered in the Biblical city of Ur
*Cuneiform -The first form of known writing -Developed by the Sumerians -Made of wedge shaped symbols drawn into wet clay *Scribe One of the few who were educated in literacy
*Ziggurats -The pyramid shaped tiered temples at the center of every Mesopotamian city as the main place of polytheistic worship, government and business
*Polytheism -The Belief in numerous gods/goddesses *Monotheism -The belief in single gods/goddesses *Pantheon -The name for a collection of gods/goddesses in a religion
*Legacies of Mesopotamia -The use of 60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours - The use of 7 day weeks and a 12 month calendar -The use of 360 degree circles -Siege Weapons -The Postal System
Cornell Note Taking Date Style Topic Page # (The Empires of Mesopotamia) Main Idea (*) Description ( - )
*Sumeria (4,000 2270 B.C.) -Created the first empire by unifying city states of Southern Mesopotamia -Invented the Arch which supports greater weight -Created the Sundial
*Akkad (2,270 2,050 B.C.) -The City State which overthrew the Sumerian Empire and united ALL of Mesopotamia -First led by Sargon the Great
*Old Babylon (1,800 1530 B.C. ) -First led by Hammurabi the Great who defeated Akkad forming the first Babylonian Empire -One of the wealthiest city states of Mesopotamia
What aspect of criminal justice do you think the ancient world avoided when possible?
*Hammurabi's Code -The first and oldest unifying code of laws, 282 of them -Describes the conduct for contracts, crimes, and trials. -The punishments included heavy fines, death and bodily harm -Favored men and the rich
*Hittites (1530 1200 B.C.) -Originally from Turkey or Asia Minor -First empire to use germ warfare and iron weapons -Defeated the Babylonians and seized Mesopotamia -Signed first ever peace Treaty with Ramses II of Egypt
-Crippled by the Bronze Age Collapse Eruption and conquered by the Assyrians
*Assyria (900-600 B.C.) -Tactic geniuses with specific schools for every form of war -Used the Hittite knowledge of Iron to make near steel weapons -Conquered the Entire Fertile Crescent including Egypt -Were defeated by a coalition of nations led by Babylon
How would you destroy a castle without throwing projectiles?
*Assyrian Technology -Assyrian s were among the first to utilize siege weapons including Siege towers and Battering Rams while also inventing wall mining and boat bridges
*Neo-Babylon (600 to 539 BC) -Referred to as Neo for being the reborn Babylonian Empire -Also called the Chaldean Empire for its Chaldean kings
What Biblical events took place in Babylon?
*Nebuchadnezzar -The most famous king of Neo-Babylon -Created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his homesick foreign wife -The sophisticated irrigation system was what made it unique
*Persia (536 to 336 B.C.) -Conquered the Middle East from Egypt to India -The largest western empire prior to Rome -Modern day Iran
-Divided into Satrapies ruled by Satraps -Built the Royal Road unifying Persia -Granted religious freedom to its citizens
-Conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia
Cornell Note Taking Date Style Topic Page # (The Ages of Metal) Main Idea (*) Description ( - )
What element of civilization allowed for the production of ADVANCED tools?
*Smelting The process of extracting ore from rock -Few metals were used for tools or war as they had to be; 1. Easy to find 2. Easy to melt 3. Reliably strong
*The Copper Age (5,000 B.C. - 3,500 B.C.) -The first period of smelting and metal use -Easier to locate and easier to melt than iron -First discovered by the Sumerians
*The Bronze Age (3,500 B.C. 1,200 B.C.) -Created from Copper with small amounts of tin -Was easier to produce and stronger than basic iron
*Bronze Age Collapse (1,200 B.C.) -A dark age period in the Fertile Crescent which was sparked by the Santorini (Thera) eruption -Caused a shortage of tin forcing civilizations to switch to iron and improve their iron
*The Iron and Steel Age (1,200 B.C. 2,000 A.D.) -Discovered by the Hittites, mastered by the conquering Assyrians after the Bronze Age Collapse
-Iron becomes steel when infused with carbon -Steel was not universally understood until the 1800 s during the Industrial Revolution with Henry Bessemer
North Pacific Gyre and Plastic
Now we are in the age of 3d printing, bioengineering, and laser cutting