2024-2025-Samenvatting 3rd Edition An Introduction to the Ancient World By Lukas
de Blois, R.J. van der Spek.
H1. The origins of civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
On the banks of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt
emerged civilisations; the rise of these civilisations, just before 3000 BC, was characterised
by increasing urbanisation, the birth of states and the invention of writing. Their foundations
had been laid over periods of thousands of years. This long period is called the Stone Age,
and consists of the Old Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and New Stone Age. In the Old and
Middle Stone Ages people lived like hunters and gatherers. By the end of the Middle Stone
Age (10.000 BC) man had improved his tool so that he could make more efficient use of
natural resources, so that they could remain in one area for a longer period of time. The next
step was that man started to cultivate plants and domesticate animals. This happened during
the New Stone Age, or the Neolithic Revolution.
There are two different kinds of agriculture: rainfall agriculture and irrigation agriculture.
A prerequisite for rainfall agriculture is an annual precipitation of at least 250 mm (Iran,
northern Iraq, Northern Syria and the coastal Mediterranean). Egypt and southern
Mesopotamia had to rely on irrigation agriculture. A slight decrease in rainfall in case of
rainfall agriculture, will lead to a food crisis and can have major consequences. Irrigation can
include both natural and artificial irrigation; irrigation agriculture was far more productive
than rainfall agriculture. The development of agriculture was of fundamental importance for
the further history of mankind. It meant that more people could remain settled in one
particular area for a longer period of time and could concentrate their attention on activities
other than food production. A civil service and priesthood emerged, and some villages
even began to resemble fortified cities (like Jericho). The largest and most influential cities
arose on the banks of the rivers of Egypt and Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC,
because here the largest quantities of food could be produced. The core of the
Mesopotamian city was the temple, and they grew into powerful organisations that owned
vast estates. It was the requirements of this temple economy that led to the invention of
writing, sometime between 3400-3200 BC. The Mesopotamian script is known as the
‘cuneiform script’, the Egyptians used the Hieroglyphic script. In most cities, the majority
of the inhabitants were peasants, who left the city to work on their land in the morning and
returned in the evening. Primitive agriculturalists sometimes remained in one area for only a
short period of time, to move again when the soil was exhausted.
Some herders moved around within a relatively small area; this
seasonal migration is called ‘transhumance’. They liked to remain
in the vicinity of the settlements of the agriculturalists, with whom
they could trade. The two groups (nomads and sedentary people)
were dependent on each other for trade, but sedentary people
could also fear raids by nomads.
The geographical conditions of Egypt and Mesopotamia were very
similar in some respects: both areas were dependent on river
water due to the absence of rain, and both were poor in various important resources. But
conditions for agriculture were more favourable in Egypt than in Mesopotamia (Earlier
flooding Nile - Egyptians sowed their crops in fertile deposits left behind by receding
,river - Nile better quality) Egypt was, due to desert, more isolated from invaders, and
Mesopotamia was conquered more.
H2. The third millennium.
The early bronze age;
Egypt, the old kingdom (c. 2600-2150).
The history of Egypt is divided into periods on the basis of ‘dynasties’ and ‘kingdoms’, the
division into ‘kingdoms’ is modern. The three kingdoms are:
1. The Old Kingdom (c. 2600- c.2150);
2. The Middle Kingdom (c.2000- c.1800);
3. the New Kingdom (c. 1550- c.1100).
The last period in the history of ancient Egypt is called the Late Period (750 BC- 332 BC),
when Egypt was frequently ruled by foreign dynasties or powerful empires. During the ‘Early
Dynastic Period’ (3000-2600) Egypt was united into a single realm. Before that time
several local cultures have been identified. The kings of the Old Kingdom commissioned
the construction of the pyramids. The Old kingdom lasted for five centuries. By the end of
that period governors had become so powerful that the pharaoh was no longer able to
sustain his central authority. There was also famine in the land.
Mesopotamia, Sumer and Akkad.
In that same third millennium, Mesopotamia also came up as a great
civilisation. It was the Sumerians and then the Akkadians who
brought it to fruition. The Sumerians made use of art and writing
and made the cities of Mesopotamia great. The Sumerians lived in
city states in southern Iraq and revolved entirely around the temple,
led by a priestruler. Later on there were also secular rulers next to
the priest, whose tasks involved leadership in war. This marked the
birth of kingship, and besides the temple rose a palace.
The Akkadians are called after Akkad, the city that became the
centre of an empire around 2300 BC. Their empire embraced the whole of Mesopotamia and
extended all the way into Asia Minor. The Akkadians were Semites. The Akkadians
borrowed much from the Sumerians, including their script, religious imagery, scientific
principles and literary styles. They kept worshipping their own deities and used their own
language.
The collapse of the Akkadian empire was followed by the revival of several Sumerian
cities, which is called the ‘Sumerian Renaissance’ (c.2100-2000). The kings of Ur founded
another great empire in Mesopotamia, but was overthrown by invaders.
The basis that was laid by the empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia, could be used by next
generations.
H3. The second millennium.
The Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1600)
,Egypt, The Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1800) and the Second Intermediate Period (c.
1800-1550).
Around 2000 BC, a dynasty of governors in Thebes restored unity in Egypt and made
Thebes the capital of the new unified realm. The most powerful kings of the Middle
Kingdom were those of the twelfth dynasty. They were the kings who first started to let their
sons succeed them as kings. The Middle Kingdom was the golden age of Egyptian culture.
Around 1800 the power of the kings started to decline again and unity was lost; there came
an end to the campaigns and fewer building projects were launched. These developments
mark the beginning of the ‘Second Intermediate Period’ (c. 1800-1550), the period in which
Egypt came to be ruled by foreigners: the Hyksos, who established their own dynasties.
Mesopotamia, the Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian Periods.
In Mesopotamia, the early millennium saw the birth of two nations that were to dominate that
region the following fifteen hundred years:
Assyria and Babylonia. Their rise to power is
mostly due to foreigners: the Amorites.
Northern Mesopotamia: The city of Assur and
the Kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I (C.2000-1760).
The city of Assur had already existed in the early
third millennium, under the dominion of the
empires of Akkad and Ur. It gained independence
around 2000 BC and developed into a prosperous
city state. Its profitable trade brought it to great
wealth and prominence. In the eighteenth century
there was a period of great prosperity, when the
Amorite Shamshi-Adad I seized the throne. In
spite of his Amorite background and the fact that he ruled over and not from Assur, the later
Assyrian King List included him as an Assyrian king.
Southern Mesopotamia, the Old Babylonian Empire (c. 1800-1600).
After the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur, southern
Mesopotamia fell back to the former situation of independent
city states. The city of Babylon had until then been fairly
insignificant, but acquitted strong political power and reigned
for centuries. The foundation of Babylonian culture was laid
by the Amorite king Hammurabi (c. 1800), who is most
known for his code of law (Codex Hammurabi), which is a
valuable source of information on the social structure of this
period. Written in a monumental script, the ancient
Babylonian dialect became exemplary for later
Mesopotamian writing and thus ‘classical’. The Old
Babylonian Empire began to crumble under Hammurabi’’s
successors. After raids from the Hittite kingdom the
cuneiform record dries up, and we only know that around the
middle of the second millennium a new dynasty of Kassite
origin had taken over the country.
The Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1200).
, The ‘concert of powers’.
The four centuries between 1600 and 1200 were characterised by a more or less stable
balance of a group of great powers which maintained
contacts with one another through the exchange of
embassies and letters. The powers in the Late Bronze Age
were Egypt (the New Kingdom), Mitanni, the Hittite empire,
Assyria and Babylonia. There were also other states, more
or less powerful. The power of these states was partly based
on a new invention around 1600: the war chariot, a fast,
two-wheeled vehicle, drawn by horses. These chariots were
owned by an aristocratic elite that was awarded land in
exchange for its services.
Egypt, the New Kingdom (c.1550-1100).
Once again it was a dynasty of Theban rulers who restored unity in Egypt. The last king of
this dynasty shook off the yoke of the Hyksos dynasty. The eighteenth dynasty
(c.1550-1300 BC) is probably the most famous. Their kings were referred to as ‘pharaoh’
(’great house’= palace), immediately set about building an empire. The best known pharaoh
of the eighteenth dynasty is Thutmose III (c. 1450). Nubia was of particular interest for
Egypt because of its gold. Their viceroy was controlled by Egypt, and it took over a lot of
Egyptian culture. In Palestine and Syria, the kings retained their authority, but had to admit
Egyptian troops and controllers into their territories and had to pay taxes. Cultural influence
was less strong in these areas. Pharaoh Akhenaten (c. 1350) attempted to transform
Egyptian polytheism into a religion based on the worship of only one god, the sun god Aten,
but was accused by his successors of having neglected his duties. The eighteenth dynasty
came to an end when three generals successively seized the throne.
In the thirteenth century, Egypt managed to recover its unity once more, thanks to the
efforts of Ramses II (1279-1212), of the nineteenth dynasty.
Babylonia and Assyria.
Shortly after the fall of the Old Babylonian empire (c. 1600), the Kassites assumed control
in Babylon. They governed Mesopotamia for over four centuries. During this time, there was
a strong religious and cultural continuity in southern Mesopotamia; Sumerian and Akkadian
continued to be used as written languages.
Although Assyria was weak at first, shortly after 1350 they expanded, and the Middle
Assyrian empire was founded that stretched from northern Mesopotamia to north-eastern
Syria. Mesopotamia was thus governed by Assyria and Babylonia.
Mitani.
Mitani was a state situated between the upper reaches
of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Its occupants were
Hurrians or Khurrites. Hurrian (which was written in
the Cuneiform script) was used for official documents
and they worshipped their own deities, but several
Indo-Aryan elements are discernable in Mitannian
culture.
de Blois, R.J. van der Spek.
H1. The origins of civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
On the banks of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt
emerged civilisations; the rise of these civilisations, just before 3000 BC, was characterised
by increasing urbanisation, the birth of states and the invention of writing. Their foundations
had been laid over periods of thousands of years. This long period is called the Stone Age,
and consists of the Old Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and New Stone Age. In the Old and
Middle Stone Ages people lived like hunters and gatherers. By the end of the Middle Stone
Age (10.000 BC) man had improved his tool so that he could make more efficient use of
natural resources, so that they could remain in one area for a longer period of time. The next
step was that man started to cultivate plants and domesticate animals. This happened during
the New Stone Age, or the Neolithic Revolution.
There are two different kinds of agriculture: rainfall agriculture and irrigation agriculture.
A prerequisite for rainfall agriculture is an annual precipitation of at least 250 mm (Iran,
northern Iraq, Northern Syria and the coastal Mediterranean). Egypt and southern
Mesopotamia had to rely on irrigation agriculture. A slight decrease in rainfall in case of
rainfall agriculture, will lead to a food crisis and can have major consequences. Irrigation can
include both natural and artificial irrigation; irrigation agriculture was far more productive
than rainfall agriculture. The development of agriculture was of fundamental importance for
the further history of mankind. It meant that more people could remain settled in one
particular area for a longer period of time and could concentrate their attention on activities
other than food production. A civil service and priesthood emerged, and some villages
even began to resemble fortified cities (like Jericho). The largest and most influential cities
arose on the banks of the rivers of Egypt and Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC,
because here the largest quantities of food could be produced. The core of the
Mesopotamian city was the temple, and they grew into powerful organisations that owned
vast estates. It was the requirements of this temple economy that led to the invention of
writing, sometime between 3400-3200 BC. The Mesopotamian script is known as the
‘cuneiform script’, the Egyptians used the Hieroglyphic script. In most cities, the majority
of the inhabitants were peasants, who left the city to work on their land in the morning and
returned in the evening. Primitive agriculturalists sometimes remained in one area for only a
short period of time, to move again when the soil was exhausted.
Some herders moved around within a relatively small area; this
seasonal migration is called ‘transhumance’. They liked to remain
in the vicinity of the settlements of the agriculturalists, with whom
they could trade. The two groups (nomads and sedentary people)
were dependent on each other for trade, but sedentary people
could also fear raids by nomads.
The geographical conditions of Egypt and Mesopotamia were very
similar in some respects: both areas were dependent on river
water due to the absence of rain, and both were poor in various important resources. But
conditions for agriculture were more favourable in Egypt than in Mesopotamia (Earlier
flooding Nile - Egyptians sowed their crops in fertile deposits left behind by receding
,river - Nile better quality) Egypt was, due to desert, more isolated from invaders, and
Mesopotamia was conquered more.
H2. The third millennium.
The early bronze age;
Egypt, the old kingdom (c. 2600-2150).
The history of Egypt is divided into periods on the basis of ‘dynasties’ and ‘kingdoms’, the
division into ‘kingdoms’ is modern. The three kingdoms are:
1. The Old Kingdom (c. 2600- c.2150);
2. The Middle Kingdom (c.2000- c.1800);
3. the New Kingdom (c. 1550- c.1100).
The last period in the history of ancient Egypt is called the Late Period (750 BC- 332 BC),
when Egypt was frequently ruled by foreign dynasties or powerful empires. During the ‘Early
Dynastic Period’ (3000-2600) Egypt was united into a single realm. Before that time
several local cultures have been identified. The kings of the Old Kingdom commissioned
the construction of the pyramids. The Old kingdom lasted for five centuries. By the end of
that period governors had become so powerful that the pharaoh was no longer able to
sustain his central authority. There was also famine in the land.
Mesopotamia, Sumer and Akkad.
In that same third millennium, Mesopotamia also came up as a great
civilisation. It was the Sumerians and then the Akkadians who
brought it to fruition. The Sumerians made use of art and writing
and made the cities of Mesopotamia great. The Sumerians lived in
city states in southern Iraq and revolved entirely around the temple,
led by a priestruler. Later on there were also secular rulers next to
the priest, whose tasks involved leadership in war. This marked the
birth of kingship, and besides the temple rose a palace.
The Akkadians are called after Akkad, the city that became the
centre of an empire around 2300 BC. Their empire embraced the whole of Mesopotamia and
extended all the way into Asia Minor. The Akkadians were Semites. The Akkadians
borrowed much from the Sumerians, including their script, religious imagery, scientific
principles and literary styles. They kept worshipping their own deities and used their own
language.
The collapse of the Akkadian empire was followed by the revival of several Sumerian
cities, which is called the ‘Sumerian Renaissance’ (c.2100-2000). The kings of Ur founded
another great empire in Mesopotamia, but was overthrown by invaders.
The basis that was laid by the empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia, could be used by next
generations.
H3. The second millennium.
The Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1600)
,Egypt, The Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1800) and the Second Intermediate Period (c.
1800-1550).
Around 2000 BC, a dynasty of governors in Thebes restored unity in Egypt and made
Thebes the capital of the new unified realm. The most powerful kings of the Middle
Kingdom were those of the twelfth dynasty. They were the kings who first started to let their
sons succeed them as kings. The Middle Kingdom was the golden age of Egyptian culture.
Around 1800 the power of the kings started to decline again and unity was lost; there came
an end to the campaigns and fewer building projects were launched. These developments
mark the beginning of the ‘Second Intermediate Period’ (c. 1800-1550), the period in which
Egypt came to be ruled by foreigners: the Hyksos, who established their own dynasties.
Mesopotamia, the Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian Periods.
In Mesopotamia, the early millennium saw the birth of two nations that were to dominate that
region the following fifteen hundred years:
Assyria and Babylonia. Their rise to power is
mostly due to foreigners: the Amorites.
Northern Mesopotamia: The city of Assur and
the Kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I (C.2000-1760).
The city of Assur had already existed in the early
third millennium, under the dominion of the
empires of Akkad and Ur. It gained independence
around 2000 BC and developed into a prosperous
city state. Its profitable trade brought it to great
wealth and prominence. In the eighteenth century
there was a period of great prosperity, when the
Amorite Shamshi-Adad I seized the throne. In
spite of his Amorite background and the fact that he ruled over and not from Assur, the later
Assyrian King List included him as an Assyrian king.
Southern Mesopotamia, the Old Babylonian Empire (c. 1800-1600).
After the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur, southern
Mesopotamia fell back to the former situation of independent
city states. The city of Babylon had until then been fairly
insignificant, but acquitted strong political power and reigned
for centuries. The foundation of Babylonian culture was laid
by the Amorite king Hammurabi (c. 1800), who is most
known for his code of law (Codex Hammurabi), which is a
valuable source of information on the social structure of this
period. Written in a monumental script, the ancient
Babylonian dialect became exemplary for later
Mesopotamian writing and thus ‘classical’. The Old
Babylonian Empire began to crumble under Hammurabi’’s
successors. After raids from the Hittite kingdom the
cuneiform record dries up, and we only know that around the
middle of the second millennium a new dynasty of Kassite
origin had taken over the country.
The Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1200).
, The ‘concert of powers’.
The four centuries between 1600 and 1200 were characterised by a more or less stable
balance of a group of great powers which maintained
contacts with one another through the exchange of
embassies and letters. The powers in the Late Bronze Age
were Egypt (the New Kingdom), Mitanni, the Hittite empire,
Assyria and Babylonia. There were also other states, more
or less powerful. The power of these states was partly based
on a new invention around 1600: the war chariot, a fast,
two-wheeled vehicle, drawn by horses. These chariots were
owned by an aristocratic elite that was awarded land in
exchange for its services.
Egypt, the New Kingdom (c.1550-1100).
Once again it was a dynasty of Theban rulers who restored unity in Egypt. The last king of
this dynasty shook off the yoke of the Hyksos dynasty. The eighteenth dynasty
(c.1550-1300 BC) is probably the most famous. Their kings were referred to as ‘pharaoh’
(’great house’= palace), immediately set about building an empire. The best known pharaoh
of the eighteenth dynasty is Thutmose III (c. 1450). Nubia was of particular interest for
Egypt because of its gold. Their viceroy was controlled by Egypt, and it took over a lot of
Egyptian culture. In Palestine and Syria, the kings retained their authority, but had to admit
Egyptian troops and controllers into their territories and had to pay taxes. Cultural influence
was less strong in these areas. Pharaoh Akhenaten (c. 1350) attempted to transform
Egyptian polytheism into a religion based on the worship of only one god, the sun god Aten,
but was accused by his successors of having neglected his duties. The eighteenth dynasty
came to an end when three generals successively seized the throne.
In the thirteenth century, Egypt managed to recover its unity once more, thanks to the
efforts of Ramses II (1279-1212), of the nineteenth dynasty.
Babylonia and Assyria.
Shortly after the fall of the Old Babylonian empire (c. 1600), the Kassites assumed control
in Babylon. They governed Mesopotamia for over four centuries. During this time, there was
a strong religious and cultural continuity in southern Mesopotamia; Sumerian and Akkadian
continued to be used as written languages.
Although Assyria was weak at first, shortly after 1350 they expanded, and the Middle
Assyrian empire was founded that stretched from northern Mesopotamia to north-eastern
Syria. Mesopotamia was thus governed by Assyria and Babylonia.
Mitani.
Mitani was a state situated between the upper reaches
of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Its occupants were
Hurrians or Khurrites. Hurrian (which was written in
the Cuneiform script) was used for official documents
and they worshipped their own deities, but several
Indo-Aryan elements are discernable in Mitannian
culture.
