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Name: ____________________________AP World History 101Era 1 – Foundations (to 600 B.C.E)KEY CONCEPT 1.3: THE DEVELOPMENT & INTERACTIONS OF EARLY AGRICULTURAL, PASTORAL, & URBAN SOCIETIESStandard – 4.0 3.5Less than 3.560 – 55 Points54 – 45 points44 points or lessFilling out Notes in Note packet _____/ 12 pointsScore on test SAQ #1_____/ 24 PointsSAQ #2_____/24 Points Take THIEVES notes on the following paragraph below from Freedmanpedia 1.3 From about 5,000 years ago, urban societies developed, laying the foundations for the first civilizations. The term?civilization?is normally used?to designate large societies with cities and powerful states. While there were many differences between civilizations, they also shared important features. They all produced agricultural surpluses that permitted significant specialization of labor. All civilizations contained cities and generated complex institutions, such as political bureaucracies, armies, and religious hierarchies. They also featured clearly stratified social hierarchies and organized long-distance trading relationships. Economic exchanges intensified within and between civilizations, as well as with nomadic pastoralists. As populations grew, competition for surplus resources, especially food, led to greater social stratification, specialization of labor, increased trade, more complex systems of government and religion, and the development of record keeping. As civilizations expanded, they had to balance their need for more resources with environmental constraints such as the danger of undermining soil fertility. Finally, the accumulation of wealth in settled communities spurred warfare between communities and/or with pastoralists; this violence drove the development of new technologies of war and urban defense.First Sentence- Read the first sentences from the paragraphs and put the most important informationLast Sentence- Read the last sentences from the paragraphs and put the most important informationSummary – Read the paragraphs and summarize the most important details belowPart I: First Empires, Social Hierarchy, Technology, Weapons For the following sections take notes on the:First sentence of each paragraphLast sentence of each ParagraphSummarize the most important details and key wordsII. The first states emerged within core civilizations.A. The states that emerged in core civilizations welded great power over people's lives and came to reinforce the inequalities that first developed with the advent of agriculture. A?state?is single political system or government presiding over a group of people or societies. It can be a single city under one leader, or a cluster of cities and communities under a king. It can be a modern democratic nation or a totalitarian regime. States sometimes included people who did not willingly chose to live under their government, as in conquered people living in an empire. What the best form of a state should be and its role in the lives of its people has been debated throughout the history of civilization. Only in recent history have?some people come to believe the state's function is to protect their freedoms, guard their property, and create the conditions for the individual to freely flourish as he or she wishes. The individualism inherent in this modern view did not exist in the pre-modern world. Indeed, many of our most cherished beliefs--equality, personal liberty, and tolerance--were not as valued by our ancestors.?Most creation myths held that the world sprung out of some primordial state of chaos, and to hold this chaos at bay early civilizations stressed the importance of order above freedom. They tolerated hierarchies and inequality to a degree most of us today would find highly distasteful. A hierarchical society, with the leader at the top, the intermediate elites and bureaucrats, and finally the masses of agricultural labors at the base, was thought to be essential to an orderly and secure civilization. This has its literal embodiment in the pyramids of Egypt rising, as it were, from the harsh chaos of the North African desert.?These hierarchies as well as the power of the leader were most often sanctioned by religion in the ancient world. A close relationship existed between the power of the state and religious belief. Ancient kings adorned themselves with images of divine approval and performed their duties with a mixture of ceremonial and religious rites. Their decrees, military victories and laws were portrayed as being somehow connected with a higher, spiritual cause. Not until the European Enlightenment would politics be shorn from religion, and both given separate domains in public life. Take notes hereRead the following website and take notes - Olmec Colossal Stone Heads- Cartwright?published on 21 March 2014The stone head sculptures of the?Olmec civilization?of the Gulf Coast of Mexico (1200 BCE - 400 BCE) are amongst the most mysterious and debated artefacts from the ancient world. The most agreed upon theory is that, because of their unique physical features and the difficulty and cost involved in their creation, they represent?Olmec?rulers. Seventeen?heads have been discovered to date, 10 of which are from San Lorenzo and?4 from La Venta; two of the most important Olmec centres. The heads were each carved from a single basalt boulder which in some cases were transported 100 km or more to their final destination, presumably using huge balsa river rafts wherever possible and log rollers on land. The principal source of this heavy stone was Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains. The heads can be nearly 3 m high, 4.5 metres (9.8 feet, 14.7 feet)?in circumference and average around 8 tons in weight. The heads were sculpted using hard hand-held stones and it is likely that they were originally painted using bright colours. The fact that these giant sculptures depict only the head may be explained by the widely held belief in Mesoamerican culture that it was the head alone which contained the emotions, experience, and soul of an individual.Facial details were drilled into the stone?(using reeds and wet sand) so that prominent features such as the eyes, mouth, and nostrils have real depth. Some also have deliberately drilled dimples on the cheeks, chin, and lips. The heads all display unique facial features - often in a very naturalistic and expressive manner - so that they may be considered portraits of actual rulers. Many of the stones are difficult to place in their original context as they were not necessarily found in the positions the Olmecs had originally put them. Indeed, Almere Read (41) suggests that even the Olmecs themselves regularly moved the heads around for different ritual purposes. Another theory is that the heads were used as powerful markers of rulership and distributed to declare political dominance in various territories. Interestingly, the four heads from La Venta were perhaps originally positioned with such a purpose in mind so that they stood as guardians to the sacred precinct of the?city. Three were positioned at the northern end of the complex and the other one stood at the southern end; but all faced outwards as if protecting the precinct. These heads are very similar to the San Lorenzo heads but display a regional variance in that they are wider and more squat in appearance.That the other heads might have been discovered out of their original setting is suggested by the fact that very often they show signs of deliberate vandalism and most were buried sometime before 900 BCE in what appears to have been a?purposeful ritual distancing with the past. However, it has also been suggested that some of the heads were buried shortly after their production in a process of ancestor worship or that they were defaced and buried by subsequent rulers to legitimize their claim to power and exclude competing lineages. It could also be that?they were even damaged in order to neutralize the dead ruler's power. Whatever the reason, the heads were buried and forgotten for nearly three thousand years?until the first head was re-discovered,?in 1871 CE, with the last being excavated as recently as 1994 CE.Resources and WeaponsB. The earth's natural resources are not distributed equally. Thus it was only natural that some states were better situated geographically to compete with others and become successful. We have seen that the discovery of bronze was a great boost to the production of better tools and weapons; it led to larger agricultural yields and more advanced tools. The problem with bronze, however, was that it was brittle and would sometimes break upon contact with armor, bones or rocks. Soon, man learned to make a superior metal: iron.?The production of this metal was more complex than that of bronze. Whereas bronze could be produced on an open fire, such fires were not hot enough to produce iron. Man learned to dramatically increase the temperature of fires by blasting air into the coals. This fed the fire more oxygen than it would get from a normal burn. With such fires, iron could be smelted.?Iron weapons stayed sharp and easily shattered bronze weapons. Armies brandishing these weapons had a significant advantage over armies using stone or other metals. Because its production required additional technological skills, iron-making skills were kept secret by those who first learned how to make it. But it was iron that allowed for the first major wars of territorial expansion.?It was the?Hittites?who first learned to manufacture iron. The methods of iron production were guarded so carefully the Hittites cut out the tongues of those who knew how to make it in order to prevent this technology from falling into the hands of their enemies. Armed with iron weapons, the Hittites were able to expand their civilization and project their power on surrounding people. Imperial conquest had begun.?Take notes hereWatch the following video- Mesopotamia Hittites Iron Weapons- notes hereChariot by?Rodrigo Quijada Plubins? published on 06 March 2013 - a light vehicle, usually on two wheels, drawn by one or more horses, often carrying two standing persons, a driver and a fighter using bow-and-arrow or javelins. … Horses were not used for transport, ploughing,?warfare?or any other practical human activity until quite late in history, and the chariot was the first such application. Donkeys and other animals were preferred in early civilizations.THE HORSEThe horse's main ecological niche was the Eurasian steppe; a very wide (4,800 km) and narrow (800 km on average) strip of grassland running roughly from Hungary to?China, encompasing parts of what today is Ukrania, southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan and Mongolia. For most of ancient history, the steppe --which means “wasteland” in Russian-- was the home of nomadic societies whose economy was based on herding, complemented by hunting and, to a much lesser degree, sporadic, itinerant agriculture. No?cities?or settled communities existed in the steppe, save a very few spots.Steppe dwellers domesticated the horse for the purpose of breeding it for food like sheep and other animals already domesticated. That process is unfortunately poorly understood, and it occurred sometime before 2500 BCE. The wheel, an invention imported from the civilized Middle East, had arrived in the steppe around 3100 BCE. The invention of the chariot in the steppe - perhaps originally meant as an improved tool for hunting - occurred roughly by 2000 BCE, probably in the area just east of the southern Ural mountains, where the oldest chariots have been unearthed. The word for horse appears just around this date for the first time in?Mesopotamia, when an increase in north-south trade through Iran is attested. ARROWS AND JAVELINS WERE THE MAIN WEAPONS USED BY THE FIGHTER ON BOARD, WHILE A SECOND PERSON DROVE THE CHARIOT.Write notes hereINVENTION OF THE CHARIOTThe chariot then became a moving platform from which soldiers could shoot at enemies. Arrows and javelins were the main weapons used by the fighter on board, while a second person drove the chariot. The tactic was to move constantly, in and out of the?battle, shooting from a distance.There is no clear explanation as to why humans invented the chariot first, before riding the horse directly, which seem more straight-forward to us. A chariot was obviously more expensive than the horse alone, and chariots could not enter or properly manoeuver in landscapes where a mounted horse can, such as hills, marshes or forests. We know people tried mounting horses very early, since we have found drawings depicting it, but those seem rare experiments that did not seem to work. The most common scholarly suggestion is that horses at that time were weaker than in the present, unsuitable for supporting a man and only after a very long period of constant, selective breeding, did a stronger horse come into being. Horses started consistently to be mounted roughly a millenium and a half after the chariot was invented.The “compound bow”, invented sometime during the second millenium BCE, was the final ingredient for the rise of a deadly ensemble. Bow and arrow were much older, and the innovation of the compound bow was the use of two types of materials, inside and outside the bow, which gave it considerably more power. Compound bows were able to accurately hit a target 300 m away, and penetrate an armour 100 m away. It was the preferred weapon of charioteers and later horseback riding societies. Its power is reflected in the fact that these bows were last used in?war?as recently as the 19th century CE by the Chinese, well into the fire arms age.We have scarce knowledge of what happened with the communities in the steppe once the chariot was invented. We can assume that war intensified - and some evidence about it does exist -, and those who first or better grasped the new invention stormed their neighbours, sizing valuable hunting and pasturing land rights. We truly understand the impact of the chariot only when this new form of warfare came out of the steppes and into the settled, agricultural, civilized lands.Write notes hereCHARIOTEERS & WARFAREThe first reference to charioteers in the civilized world comes from?Syria?around 1800 BCE. Over the course of the next four centuries, chariots advanced into?civilization, either by direct migration of steppe people or by diffusion, and it quickly came to be the preferred elite weapon.Hittites?established their first kingdom with the help of chariots c. 1700 BCE, and thereafter used them intensely; Hurrians, from somewhere near the Caucasus, penetrated in the Middle East and carved a kingdom for themselves that was to play an important role in that region,?Mitanni, around 1500 BCE;?Egypt’s north was taken by charioteers called?Hyksosc.1650 BCE, who established their own dynasties; in China the first dynasty appeared, the Shang (starting c. 1600 BCE), with an aristocracy of charioteers; Mycenaeans adopted the chariot in?Greece, which likely helped them invade their more sophisticated? HYPERLINK "" Minoanneighbours (c. 1400 BCE); tribes called Kassites appeared driving chariots from Iran and took?Babylonia, establishing their own dyansty (c. 1570 BCE), which was to last four centuries; and the steppe dwelling Aryans, charioteers as well, from c. 1500 BCE migrated south to what today is Iran, Pakistan and?India, profoundly influencing the local culture, particularly establishing the basis for?Hinduism. The famous king?Darius the Great?of the much later Persian?empire?would proudly state his?Aryan?descent for good reason.Everywhere, in?Europe, the Middle East, India and China, all rulers, from petty chiefs to great pharaohs, took the chariot as their master weapon. They started depicting themselves riding chariots, waging wars in chariots, including chariots and horses in their tombs as symbols of power, and so on. Their surrounding aristocracy of course followed suit, so the elite forces in every polity came to be charioteers. The horse came to be a valuable military asset, no longer a food source. Horse breeding became key for these states, and all powerful kings aspired to have the proper stables to supply their armies with chariots; imports from the steppes, though,? long remained their major source.The most famous chariot battle was that of? HYPERLINK "" Kadesh?(1294 BCE), fought between the two super powers of the time, Egypt and? HYPERLINK "" Hatti?(Hittites), where some 50 chariots are presumed to have participated for each side. The small number of chariots compared to infantry troops is a good indicator of how effective the chariot was: in China the ratio was up to 25 infantry soldiers per chariot.Write Notes Here Use the OPTIC steps below for the visual 490484236271Relief orthostat (stone slab at base of?wall) of?war?chariot?from Sam'al (Turkey), west side of citadel gate; Basalt; Late?Hittite?period (9th cent BCE); Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul Archaeological Museums.00Relief orthostat (stone slab at base of?wall) of?war?chariot?from Sam'al (Turkey), west side of citadel gate; Basalt; Late?Hittite?period (9th cent BCE); Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul Archaeological Museums.OverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). The composite bow.- ancient Egyptians used several different types of bows. The two most common varieties were the self bow, made of one piece of wood, and the laminated composite bow.The composite bow was introduced to Egypt from Western Asia probably around 1700 BC. It was made of layers of different materials, such as wood, horn and sinew. It was superior to the self bow and could hit a target at a distance of some 250 m. The bow had a characteristic double-curve shape which became triangular when strung (the ends were bent back when the bow was being strung).Take notes hereWatch the following video- Egyptian Warfare (Part 3/4)- from the beginning to 4:50Write notes hereC.When powerful cities began to conquer and impose their rule over other communities a new type of political system was born, the?empire. Empires grow primarily through military conquest, absorbing land and people into their domain against the will of those conquered. Consequently, empires are likely to be composed of regions with different religious, ethnic, and linguistic traditions. Conquered groups of people rarely accept their foreign domination peacefully. Centrifugal forces threatened empires, creating fault lines between cultural and ethic zones. Thus the diversity inherent in empires presented new challenges in maintaining political and social order in the ancient world. Such states had to devise techniques for holding their vast domains together.Take notes hereD. The interaction civilizations had with pastoral nomads often provided the links for the diffusion of new technologies. New weapons and modes of transportation spread from one area to another. As hard as the Hittites tried to conceal their method of iron production, this skill spread to others. When the Assyrians learned iron metallurgy they applied its use more effectively than the Hittites and their army became very feared in the ancient world. In Africa, the?Bantu?people used iron to facilitate their migration across the continent, spreading this new technology as they moved.?Take Notes here The Story of Africa: Early History- Skills and Tools- know from archaeological data that by about the fifth century after the birth of Christ the skills and technology required for iron working had spread throughout much of central, eastern and southern Africa.It is not known exactly how this transmission of knowledge and expertise took place, but it is believed to be linked to a mass movement of people across the continent, known as the 'Bantu migration.' This episode in Africa's past has often been ignored but its implications for the future development of the continent is crucial.Bantu?is the word widely used as a description of a body of people originally based in west or central Africa who, over the course of three thousand years, moved to populate east and southern regions.It's not clear how the Bantu gained their skills in iron working. The great smelting tradition of the Kushite Kingdom of?Meroe(around 500 BC) did not spread either further west or towards the south, although we do not know this for sure.In West Africa, the knowledge of iron working may have come from the Phoenicians who in 800 BC founded the colony of Carthage on the North African coast. The skills may have crossed the Sahara desert with the Berber nomads who dominated much of the North African plains.?It has also been suggested that iron smelting may have started in Africa itself, without any outside influences, but so far none of the theories are conclusive. What we do know is that iron smelting was established in Nigeria, central Niger and southern Mali by around 500-400 BC, spreading to other parts of West Africa by 1000 AD.Take notes here OverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). III. Culture played a significant role in unifying states through laws, language, literature, religion, myths, and monumental building.First sentence of each paragraphLast sentence of each ParagraphSummarize the most important details and key wordsA. The vast amount of resources civilizations garnered enabled them to fund public and civic projects such as temples, defensive walls, roads, irrigation and sewage systems. Sewage disposal networks have been unearthed at some of the oldest cities. In the city of Lothal in the Indus River valley, a complex sewage system had a main line running through the city with smaller lines connecting to it. Projects of this nature require planning and organization to a degree that can only be carried out by a government. Road construction is another example of the state marshaling resources for projects that advance the good of city. Note that the formation of a large gathering of settled people in one area (a city) necessitated a complex government to organize needed services such as irrigation, sewage systems, and roads.?Not all public work projects were undertaken for practical urban purposes. The close relationship between the state and religion meant that governments supported the construction of temples and religious monuments. The city-states and empires of Mesopotamia constructed large temples called?ziggurats. Religious practice centered around these large buildings, to which people brought offerings of animals, vegetables, fruits and butter. Here priests would offer sacrifices, both human and animal, which were thought to secure the good will of the gods.?The ziggurat could perform social and military functions as well. In the temple schools children learned religion, mathematics, geometry and other subjects. Being accessible only by three long sets of stairs, the top of the ziggurat provided safety during times of flooding and invasion.?The man hours required to construct a monumental building of this size had to be organized by a central government. To expend so much human labor for this project also testifies to the tremendous surplus of agriculture this civilization could produce. Thus monumental building served to showcase the wealth and power of the state.Take notes hereDigital reconstruction of the White Temple, Uruk (modern Warka), c, 3517-3358 B.C.E.Digital reconstruction of the White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka), c.?3517-3358 B.C.E. ??artefacts-berlin.de; scientific material: German Archaeological InstituteOverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS - during a time when Egypt was one of the richest and most powerful civilizations in the world, the pyramids—especially the Great Pyramids of Giza—are some of the most magnificent man-made structures in history. Their massive scale reflects the unique role that the pharaoh, or king, played in ancient Egyptian society. Though pyramids were built from the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period in the fourth century A.D., the peak of pyramid building began with the late third dynasty and continued until roughly the sixth (c. 2325 B.C.). More than 4,000 years later, the Egyptian pyramids still retain much of their majesty, providing a glimpse into the country’s rich and glorious past.THE PHARAOH IN EGYPTIAN SOCIETYDuring the third and fourth dynasties of the Old Kingdom, Egypt enjoyed tremendous economic prosperity and stability. Kings held a unique position in Egyptian society. Somewhere in between human and divine, they were believed to have been chosen by the gods to serve as mediators between them and the people on earth. Because of this, it was in everyone’s interest to keep the king’s majesty intact even after his death, when he was believed to become Osiris, god of the dead. The new pharaoh, in turn, became Horus, the falcon-god who served as protector of the sun-god, Ra.Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king died, part of his spirit (known as “ka”) remained with his body. To properly care for his spirit, the corpse was mummified, and everything the king would need in the afterlife was buried with him, including gold vessels, food, furniture and other offerings. The pyramids became the focus of a cult of the dead king that was supposed to continue well after his death. Their riches would provide not only for him, but also for the relatives, officials and priests who were buried near him.Take notes hereTHE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZANo pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza, located on a plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, on the outskirts of modern-day Cairo. The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the famed seven wonders of the ancient world. The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the famed seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built for Khufu (Cheops, in Greek), Sneferu’s successor and the second of the eight kings of the fourth dynasty. Though Khufu reigned for 23 years (2589-2566 B.C.), relatively little is known of his reign beyond the grandeur of his pyramid….…Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone (averaging about 2.5 tons each) had to be cut, transported and assembled to build Khufu’s Great Pyramid. The ancient Greek historian?Herodotus?wrote that it took 20 years to build and required the labor of 100,000 men, but later archaeological evidence suggests that the workforce might actually have been around 20,000. Though some popular versions of history held that the pyramids were built by slaves or foreigners forced into labor, skeletons excavated from the area show that the workers were probably native Egyptian agricultural laborers who worked on the pyramids during the time of year when the Nile River flooded much of the land nearby.Take notes hereЩ?? BЦI?? ??Σ PYЯΛMID?- the video and take a few notes below (just 4-5 notes will be enough)Do the OPTIC Steps for the two images below:28322653634200The pyramids of Egypt are themselves representative of hierarchical and stratified societies.In both pastoralist and agrarian societies, elite groups accumulated wealth, creating more hierarchical social structures and promoting patriarchal forms of social organization. (This social structure is from Egypt) OverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). Read and take notes from the following- MR.BARTON'S AP WORLD HISTORY: Defensive Walls- necessity for any city that was in danger of invasion or attack, defensive walls are an important part of the history of most ancient cities. Though they are often known as city walls, many were not bound to a single city. A famous example of this would be the Great Wall of China.Two of the oldest cities that had defensive walls were the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk and the city of Jericho that lies on what is now the West Bank. Both of these cities existed as early as 8000 BCE.The Great Wall of China: the world's most famous example of a defensive wall, built during the Zhao dynasty.Around 3500 BCE in the Indus Valley civilization, there were many small villages behind fortifications of both wood and stone. In about 2500 BCE, the city of Mundinak (which existed in what is now Afghanistan) had defensive walls with bastions.Some cities had strong enough armies and militaries that the city had little to no need for protection by a defensive wall. A notable example would be Ancient Sparta, which had relatively weak fortifications.Take notes hereFigure?10: Sumerian UrOverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). Part II- Language, Laws and Trade Writing and Laws C. As the buying and selling of goods became more involved, people needed a systematic way to remember information. Complex financial exchanges required a means to record quantities, previous agreements, exchange values and contracts. From trade writing was born. The ability to use written symbols to record quantity and meaning is a giant stride in the development of civilization. Previously, small communities retained their collective memories and celebrations through oral traditions; legends, lore, and their meanings were memorized and passed on through stories told to the younger generations. This method works well in small agricultural villages, but oral traditions are not sufficient enough to provide large urban populations with a common identity, or social "glue," to hold them together. Writing inaugurated an information revolution in which stories and records could be disseminated much faster and with greater accuracy. What began as a need to keep records of trade paved the way for written laws, precise communication that did not depend on memory, literary traditions, and a treasure trove of written documents that have given historians a window into the past.?It seems that the Middle East is where writing began. The Sumerians, in southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), were the first to develop written language, probably around 3500 B.C.E.. Their system of writing,?cuneiform, began as literal representations of quantity and pictures. Later these gradually took on abstract characters and became phonetic. After Egypt had contact with Mesopotamia, they too developed a system of writing called?hieroglyphs. This written language was only deciphered in modern times when Napoleon discovered the Rosetta Stone during his invasion of Egypt in 1798.?The dissemination of systems of writing is a perfect example of the interaction of early societies in the ancient world. Writing technology spread into new areas from locations in which it had independently developed. Sometime after writing was discovered by the Sumerians, a group of people called Akkadians migrated into the city-states of Sumer in Mesopotamia. They spoke a Semitic language that would later be called Babylonian, and was related to Hebrew, the language of the ancient Jews. This spoken language was completely different from their Sumerian hosts, but they had no system to record it. Consequently, the Akkadians borrowed the cuneiform writing system from the Sumerians and adapted it to their spoken language. Because cuneiform became phonetic it could be adapted to any spoken language. Soon, eight languages in the ancient world had borrowed cuneiform to record their spoken languages, including Assyrian, Armenian, and Persian.?Developing later and completely independent from Mesopotamia and Egypt, Chinese writing retained the basic elements of its pictorial characteristics as it evolved. In some instances, a semblance of the original image may still be seen in some Chinese characters. See, for example, the evolution of the Chinese pictograph for a horse below:?Take notes hereWatch and take notes on the following video - Writing Cuneiform- from 0:30 – 1:50Watch and take notes on the following video - Egyptian Hieroglyphics- from 0:40 – 6:40First Law Codes in the Foundations EraD. Once systems of writing had been developed it became possible for civilizations to create laws and legal codes. Perhaps the best example of an ancient legal code is the?Code of Hammurabi?developed by the Babylonians. It is not coincidental that the Babylonians were the first to create a codified system of laws. They were one of the earliest empires in history and consequently needed some uniformity and order imposed by a central government over an increasingly diverse population (remember the definition and nature of empires above). Moreover, the Babylonians adopted cuneiform from the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. Cuneiform was more versatile and efficient than pictorial systems of writing, thus allowing for a more literate public. The?Code of Hammurabi?was created as a way to make the laws known to the population, not only to institute limitations on people's lives but also to protect people from arbitrary rule and give them legal leverage. The preamble to the Code of Hammurabi states that Babylonian (rather then the more academic Sumerian) was to be the language spoken in the courts and in which the laws were written. Because they were inscribed on large black columns across the empire, all people would know what the law required of them.?One striking feature of the Code of Hammurabi is its strict "eye-for-an-eye" relation between an offense and its punishment. Here, for example, are some excerpts from Hammurabi's Code:If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house.More importantly Hammurabi's Code reinforced the social and gender hierarchies of Babylonian civilization. The law imposed different penalties for the same crime committed by people of different social status. The penalty for thief, for example, could be a fine for someone of the upper class and a much harsher penalty, such as dismemberment or death, for someone of the lower class. Thus the inequalities that naturally formed with surpluses of agriculture were standardized and perpetuated in laws that were made known to everyone in the empire. That is not to say that laws were wholly exploitative and unjust. In the Babylonian Empire, a slave had the right to sue his or her master for unfair treatment. We have records for such cases in which slaves won against their masters. The laws of an empire brought uniformity to a new type of political state that was inherently diverse in its ethnic and cultural constitution. The image on the left depicts a stele, or carved stone column, on which the Code of Hammurabi was enscribed. These were placed across the breadth of the empire to disseminate the laws to all people. Note the picture on top of the stele which depicts Hammurabi receiving the laws from the Babylonian sun god Shamash. People are more likely to follow laws if they believe the laws are of divine origin.Take notes here An example of the cuneiform system of writing. Because the medium of soft clay made it difficult to make circular motions, cuneiform has an angularity to?its script. These are some of the laws from the Code of Hammurabi: () 16: If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female slave of the court, or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at the public proclamation of the [police], the master of the house shall be put to death.53: If anyone be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the [grain] which he has caused to be ruined.54: If he be not able to replace the [grain], then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded.132: If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man,?she shall jump into the river for [the sake of her] husband. (2)S- SpeakerWhat’s the speaker’s POV? C- ContextDoes this fit in an “age” or an “era”?A- AudienceWho is the speaker writing for? Does the audience “side” with the speaker? P- PurposeCan you summarize in one sentence, the main idea, argument, or persuasion in the doc?The Code of Ur-Nammu- polk.k12.ga.us/userfiles/644/Classes/177912/Code%20of%20Ur-Nammu.pdfThe Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest known law code surviving today. It was written on tablets, in the Sumerian language c. 2100–2050 BC. Although the preface directly credits the laws to king Ur-Nammu of Ur (2112–2095 BC), some historians think they should rather be ascribed to his son Shulgi. The first copy of the code, in two fragments found at Nippur, was translated by Samuel Kramer in 1952; owing to its partial preservation, only the prologue and 5 of the laws were discernible.[1] Further tablets were found in Ur and translated in 1965, allowing some 40 of the 57 laws to be reconstructed.[2] Another copy found in Sippar contains slight variants. Although it is known that earlier law-codes existed, such as the Code of Urukagina, this represents the earliest extant legal text. It is three centuries older than the Code of Hammurabi. The laws are arranged in casuistic form of IF (crime) THEN (punishment)—a pattern followed in nearly all later codes. For the oldest extant law-code known to history, it is considered remarkably advanced, because it institutes fines of monetary compensation for bodily damage, as opposed to the later lex talionis (‘eye for an eye’) principle of Babylonian law; however, murder, robbery, adultery and rape were capital offenses. The code reveals a glimpse at societal structure during the "Sumerian Renaissance". Beneath the lugal ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "lu" or free person or the slave (male, arad; female geme). The son of a lu was called a dumu-nita until he married, becoming a "young man" (gurus). A woman (munus) went from being a daughter (dumu-mi), to a wife (dam), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (nu-ma-su), who could remarry.These are some of the laws from the Code of Ur-Nammu- take SCAP notes on them - The Code of Ur-Nammu- polk.k12.ga.us/userfiles/644/Classes/177912/Code%20of%20Ur-Nammu.pdfAmong the surviving laws are these: ? 1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed. ? 2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed. ? 3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver. ? 4. If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free, he does not leave the household. ? 5. If a slave marries a native (i.e. free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner. ? 6. If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male. ? 7. If the wife of a man followed after another man and he slept with her, they shall slay that woman, but that male shall be set free. (§4 in some translations) ? 8. If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin female slave of another man, that man must pay five shekels of silver. (5)S- SpeakerWhat’s the speaker’s POV? C- ContextDoes this fit in an “age” or an “era”?A- AudienceWho is the speaker writing for? Does the audience “side” with the speaker? P- PurposeCan you summarize in one sentence, the main idea, argument, or persuasion in the doc?Development of Literature and Religions in the Foundations Era E. This period of early societies and civilizations saw the development of some important seminal religious concepts. Although most of these beliefs cannot be found today in the same form they had in this earlier time, they continue to have a profound influence on billions of religious believers in the modern world. We will see in the next time period how these foundational beliefs developed and became codified into major belief systems during the classical age.(first paragraph) – You can summarize this short paragraph in one sentence For the next parts take notes on the:First sentence of each paragraphLast sentence of each ParagraphSummarize the most important details and key wordsVedic Period Around 1500 B.C.E. a group of pastoral nomads know as Aryans began to cross the Hindu Kush mountains into what is today northern India and Pakistan. They brought with them religious hymns, or songs, known as?Vedas. For generations priests had memorized these holy poems verbatim and had passed down this wisdom orally. These priests presided over sacrifices of cows and other animals in order to appease their gods, such as Indra, the god of thunder and war. The Vedas told the story of the creation of 4 social groups called varnas into which all people were categorized. Centuries later, Portuguese visitors to India would call these groups?castes.?Gradually, these nomadic people began to settle down, practice agriculture, and integrate with the indigenous people living in South Asia. Iron tools helped them produce large surpluses of agriculture. As they abandoned their nomadic lifestyles and became more urban, the sacrificial system outlined in the Vedas began to seem less relevant. Holy men who lived outside of towns and villages practiced aestheticism and drew followers, or disciples. These teachers were outside the official religious practices and focused more on philosophical issues, such as the meaning of life and what man's place in the universe is. The teachings of these holy men formed the basis of a body of teachings called the?Upanishads?and they mark the end of the Vedic period. The core of the Upanishads, the teachings about karma, atman, and reincarnation, would be integral to the formation of Hinduism in the classical age.?Vedic periodHebrew MonotheismThe Hebrews were Semitic people who migrated from Mesopotamia. According to Genesis chapter 12 in the Hebrew scriptures, God made a covenant with Abraham and led him out of his city to a land promised to all his descendants. The Hebrews held to monotheism, a belief in only one supreme God who presided over all the cosmos.?Monotheism is not just polytheism stripped down to one God. Its belief in a single deity means that all other gods are necessarily false, a position that implies an exclusive claim to religious knowledge. This influence of Hebrew monotheism can be see in Christianity and Islam which developed centuries later. Monotheism also has a strong ethical dimension. The gods of polytheism usually represent aspects of nature, and rituals and sacrifices aim to secure the weather needed for successful harvests. Monotheistic religions hold that God is a personal being and He directly intervenes in human history. God has ethical requirements about how His followers act, and will judge mankind accordingly. Thus Monotheistic religions tend to emphasize corporate and personal morality.Hebrew MonotheismZoroastrianismZoroastrianism was the religion of Persia (modern day Iran) before the coming of Islam. There is debate as to whether it is monotheistic or not. It teaches that the world is caught in a war between a good God and an evil God, but that the good God is destined to win. Our actions contribute to this cosmic struggle. Thus it is a belief system very much interested in ethics.?The religion began with the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek) and teaches a final judgment, eternal life for the good, resurrection, and a place of eternal punishment for the evil. The commonalities with other monotheistic faiths is clear. There are only several thousand adherents to this religion today, mostly in Iran and India.ZoroastrianismWhat Is The Ancient Religion Zoroastrianism?- notes here Watch and take notes on the following video In Focus: Oracle Bones (Dragon Bones)- . As these civilizations grew economically and demographically through trade, their societies became more stratified. The simple divisions of people into social classes became more complex. Patriarchal and hierarchical divisions, as we have seen, became reinforced through laws, religion, and custom.?G. H. A significant development of civilizations during this period was literature. With the invention of systems of writing, stories that had been passed down orally could be written and shared more readily. Literature is not just about amusing stories. Widely held literary traditions reveal the unconscious assumptions people have about existence, morality, and the meaning of life. (Think of the Bible and Homer's writings.) Literature borrows its content from real life, gives form and interpretation to that content, then feeds those interpretations back into real life each time a story is read or told. It shapes the categories by which people organize the raw experiences of their lives and frames a society's concepts of heroism, ethics, and the human condition.?The?earliest literary tradition we know of is the?Epic of Gilgamesh. Originating from the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, it spread and was adapted to other nearby civilizations. The earliest complete extant version of this epic is the Babylonian version of the story. You can read the complete text?HERE.?The hero of the epic is Gilgamesh, who sets out to find the meaning of human life after his companion Enkidu dies, only to discover that eternal life is only for the gods. The mortality of mankind suggested in this story is in contrast to many other civilizations' belief in the afterlife during this same time. Some experts have suggested that this pessimistic cultural outlook might have been influenced by the harshness of Mesopotamian life, with its randomly flooding rivers, political disunity, and their lack of natural barriers to invaders. Nevertheless, the Epic of Gilgamesh reflects the culture of ancient Mesopotamians.?Take notes hereThe Epic of Gilgamesh: Great Flood(c. 2700-2500 B.C.E.)?Introduction?The Epic of Gilgamesh, truly a remarkable mythic saga with many major philosophical and theological implications, also featured a description of a cleansing flood sent by the gods. Given the topography of Babylonia, with its untamed, turbulent rivers and frequent floods, one should not be surprised that the Babylonians would have created a myth based on such violent and destructive natural occurrences.?(Enlil and EA are gods in this story that brings the flood)'When Enlil had come, when he saw the boat, he was wroth and swelled with anger at the gods, the host of heaven, "Has any of these mortals escaped? Not one was to have survived the destruction." Then the god of the wells and canals Ninurta opened his mouth and said to the warrior Enlil, "Who is there of the gods that can devise without Ea? It is Ea alone who knows all things." Then Ea opened his mouth and spoke to warrior Enlil, "Wisest of gods, hero Enlil, how could you so senselessly bring down the flood?Lay upon the sinner his sin,Lay upon the transgressor his transgression,Punish him a little when he breaks loose,Do not drive him too hard or he perishes;Would that a lion had ravaged mankindRather than the flood,Would that a wolf had ravaged mankindRather than the flood,Would that famine had wasted the worldRather than the flood,Would that pestilence had wasted mankindRather than the flood.S- SpeakerWhat’s the speaker’s POV? C- ContextDoes this fit in an “age” or an “era”?A- AudienceWho is the speaker writing for? Does the audience “side” with the speaker? P- PurposeCan you summarize in one sentence, the main idea, argument, or persuasion in the doc?Another example of a literary tradition is the?Rig Veda?of the Ayrans in South Asia. The Rig Veda is the earliest of the collection of Vedas, or religious hymns, that characterize the Vedic Period in India's history. As we have seen above, the monotheism of the Hebrews tends to generate an exclusivist attitude in religious matters. On the contrary, one of the most salient lines in the Rig Veda is "Truth is one, but the wise speak of it in many different ways." Even in the earliest of the Vedas we see the beginning of an inclusivist religious culture that seeks to absorb other religious traditions in its search for the truth. This will later be a characteristic of Hindu culture.H. Rig Veda Summary- Veda?is an ancient piece of Hindu literature that comprises over one thousand poems and songs describing the origins and theology of the Hindu religion; it is the first of four Vedas:?Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda,?and?Atharva Veda. The author of the works comprising the?Rig Veda?is unknown. Scholars estimate that it was produced sometime between 900 BCE and 1200 BCE. Originally written in Sanskrit, the?Rig Veda?is available now in a number of languages, which make it accessible to readers worldwide today. These poems and songs are referred to scholastically as hymns, or religious lyrics. Broken up into ten Mandalas, or books, the?Rig Veda?seeks to connect people through religion, culture, and most of all, knowledge.Understanding a general overview of this text is not like understanding a novel. While there are many stories contained in the?Rig Veda, a better understanding can come from learning about the various aspects of the hymns contained in the text.The hymns in these ten Mandalas serve a number of purposes. One such purpose is to praise Hindu deities…. These stories are known for their use of metaphor.Continuing with the different types of stories, or Suktas, one finds Tattvadnyan Suktas, which present Hindu philosophy. Many of the Suktas were used in ritual, such as marriage ceremonies, for example, Samskar Suktas. To repel negativity such as illness or nightmares, the Mantriki Suktas might have been spoken or performed.The Suktas that inform daily life are the Laukik Suktas. These offer guidance from everything such as gambling to how a king should rule and treat his people. Aapri Suktas were used for animal sacrifice, and Kook Suktas were used in main sacrifices.In addition to those broader categories, there are some elements in certain Mandalas that are of note. In the second Mandala, readers will find hymns to the seasons. In the third, there are hymns to the rivers. The fifth Mandala includes a hymn to induce one to sleep. The sixth Mandala contains hymns that praise cows, a sacred animal in the Hindu religion, and speaks of weapons such as drums, armor, and bows and arrows. Frogs—revered for their ability to bring rain in the view of the composers of these hymns—are praised in the seventh Mandala.Some of the Mandalas, such as the second through the seventh, share various qualities in meter and style. For example, all of them begin with praise to Agni, the god of fire, the sun, lightning and the hearth.Though authorship of the?Rig Veda?is anonymous, stylistic similarities suggest that the hymns were created in batches by the same family of rishis, or poets. In Hinduism, the rishis are considered to be seers or sages who weave wisdom, timeless knowledge, and truth into their hymns. To the Vedic civilization, these poets were considered to be divine, though they were neither deities nor mortals.The?Rig Vega?has impacted history in numerous ways. Along with the other Vedas, it brought together those who worshipped—and continue to worship—the Hindu pantheon, or deities. It instructed how life should be lived for members of each class, and how religion ought to be practiced, from worshipping the gods to making sacrifices and performing rituals.Beyond that, the hymns contained in the?Rig Vega?spread Hindu culture, language, and poetic form. The ancestors of the Indians were known as the Indo-Aryans, who settled northern India during the Vedic age, a one-thousand-year period ending in 500 BCE. This period of time spanned the Bronze and Iron Ages, which brought about many innovations that changed the fabric of society, some of which are still in use today. Examples include soap, rope, the umbrella, door locks, tools and weapons. These advances made the day-to-day job of growing and harvesting food more efficient, which allowed people to begin exploring pastimes, which led to further innovation.The impact of Bronze and Iron Age civilizations like the Vedic civilization can be felt thousands of years after they flourished. Texts such as the?Rig Veda?preserve important aspects of life in those civilizations. Vedic beliefs themselves informed the creation of the Hindu religion, which has not only survived to the present day, but thrives. Related texts include the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and older Upanishads.Take notes here Trade Take notes using the following from THIEVESFirst sentence of each paragraphLast sentence of each ParagraphSummarize the most important details and key wordsF.?Individual?human beings have always traded things of value among themselves. As basic as this sounds, this is the beginning of economic exchanges. When urban societies developed these exchanges become more complex; laws were devised to regulate trade and often a class of people, called merchants, developed to preside over large economic exchanges. Initially, farmers and artisans would bring beads, textiles,agricultural produce and pots to the cities. As cities become aware of each other they traded among themselves, thus expanding buying and selling from local to regional levels. With the grown of civilizations in the valleys of major rivers, trade expanded to transregional (across regions) exchanges and included both land and maritime routes (see map on the left.) Some notable exchanges between early civilizations include the followingF. Between Mesopotamia and the Indus Civilization?Surpluses of agriculture?in the southern area of Mesopotamia produced large populations and more complex social classes. Yet the region lacked metals necessary for more advanced tools and the new urban elites desired “prestige materials” to showcase their personal wealth and status. Contact with the Harappan society of the Indus River region met these needs. Merchants carried metals and semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli from the Indus valley to eager markets in Mesopotamia.?[2]?When maritime routes emerged, bulk items like cotton textiles, grain and timber where traded. Mesopotamians traded terra-cotta pots, gemstones and pearls. Trade was facilitated by written contracts and enclaves of merchants which developed along the routes. Mesopotamian seals, used to sign negotiated trade agreements, have been found in the cites of the Indus valley.Between Egypt and Nubia?The powerful Egyptian state along the Nile also engaged in trade. The monarchs of Egypt longed to control the region called?Nubia?to the south of them. At this time in history, Nubia was the only place in sub-Saharan Africa known to the outside world. Homer referred to it as the "remotest nation." The coveted trade items of sub-Saharan Africa, most notably?ivory,?gold?and?slaves, made their way north through the land of Nubia. Although they sought to exploit this trade corridor, the Egyptians despised Nubian people and culture and had no desire to occupy it.?The trade between Egypt and Nubia brought many Egyptian cultural and political practices to the states of Nubia. Their political structure resembled that of the pharaohs; Nubians adopted hieroglyphs, the Egyptian system of writing; they built pyramids as burial tombs; and their god Amun was a direct borrowing from Egyptian religion. Thus trade became the vehicle of cultural and political interaction between urban societies.An Akkadian seal drawn by artist Audrey McIntosh. It depicts water buffalo that were traded from the Indus to Mesopotamia.[1]OverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). Nubia was Egypt's connection to the valued slave and ivory trade of Sub-Saharan Africa.OverviewLook at the entire visual image- write 2-3 details that explains what is in this image. This is “big picture,” and not a small detail in part of the image. PartsFocus on the parts of the visual (read labels, look for symbols, study the details). Write 2-3 details about what the individual parts/symbols mean or represent?TitleWrite the title and 2-3 details about what the title tells you about the image. I learned thatName 2-3 major ideas or concepts that you learned from this mapContext Use the clues in the visual image to establish when the document was created. Provide 2-3 examples that show this (if the year is listed that counts as one). Women in Mesopotamian SocietyLast Updated Sep 19, 2014?|?Mesopotamia- role of women in Mesopotamian society, as in most cultures throughout time, was primarily that of wife, mother and housekeeper. Girls, for example, did not attend the schools run by priests or scribes unless they were royalty. Girls stayed home and learned the household tasks they would perform when they grew up and married.However, as the polytheistic religion practiced by Mesopotamians included both gods and goddesses, women were also priestesses, some of them not only important, but powerful. A family might sell a daughter to the temple, and they were honored to have a priestess in the family. Families could also sell their daughters into prostitution or slavery. Prostitution, however, was not regarded as vile or degrading at that time. In fact, a form of sacred prostitution in the temples existed side by side with secular prostitution.Shortly after a girl reached puberty, her father arranged a marriage for her. Marriages were legal contracts between two families and each family had obligations to meet. A bride’s father paid a dowry to the young couple. The groom’s family paid a bride price. While ancient Sumerians and Babylonians could and did fall in love, and romantic love was celebrated in songs, stories and literature, it wasn’t encouraged in real life. The basis for a society is the family unit, and Mesopotamian societies structured the laws to encourage stable families.Most women, then, were wives and mothers, doing the necessary tasks of women everywhere: taking care of their families, raising children, cleaning, cooking and weaving. Some women, however, also engaged in trade, especially weaving and selling cloth, food production, brewing beer and wine, perfumery and making incense, midwifery and prostitution. Weaving and selling cloth produced much wealth for Mesopotamia and temples employed thousands of women in making cloth.Women in Sumer, the first Mesopotamian culture, had more rights than they did in the later Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian cultures. Sumerian women could own property, run businesses along with their husbands, become priestesses, scribes, physicians and act as judges and witnesses in courts. Archeologists and historians speculate that as Mesopotamian cultures grew in wealth and power, a strong patriarchal structure gave more rights to men than to women. Perhaps the Sumerians gave women more rights because they worshipped goddesses as fervently as they did gods.For men, divorce was easy. A husband could divorce a wife if she was childless, careless with money or if she belittled him. All he had to say was “You are not my wife.” Women could initiate divorce, but had to prove her husband’s abuse or adultery. Monies paid to each family, in cases of divorce, had to be returned. If women were caught in adultery, they were killed. If men were caught in adultery, a man might be punished financially but not killed. While women were expected to be monogamous, husbands could visit prostitutes or take concubines.Patriarchy in EgyptPatriarchy Like many other societies, ancient Egyptian society was patriarchal: men and their male heirs controlled the majority of relationships. In the realm of the household, elite Egyptian women controlled property, business, ritual, and family matters. This is not always obvious from the surviving records, which are frequently biased and, in the case of documents composed by the all-male scribes, directed toward an all-male audience of readers. Women were accorded theoretical equality under most laws relating to property and inheritance. However, the absence of women from government posts and the realities of patriarchy (including differences in the ability of women to inherit and own property) prevented equal access to influential positions and limited the independent accumulation of wealth. Subordination was linked to the concept of fertility, which ascribed to a woman the responsibility and duty of reproduction as service to her husband. This is revealed by Old Kingdom (third-millennium) authors, who advised men, “When you prosper, found your household. Take a hearty wife, a son will be born unto you” and “Gladden her [the wife’s] heart as long as you live; she is a fertile field for her lord.” Women and Household DutiesOne of the most common female titles on monuments is that of “mistress of the house”; that women remained at home in charge of the running of household affairs is implied by passages from New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1050 B.C.E.) documents and supported by the idealized tomb scenes where women are shown engaged only in household duties of child rearing and food preparation, as opposed to men, who were engaged in activities outside the household (hunting, bureaucratic functions). Household activities such as beer brewing and baking are depicted on tombs as being overseen by the male tomb owner, but it was probably women or their servants who actually performed the tasks. Evidence also indicates that women engaged in weaving, grain storage, animal husbandry, and craft production within the household confines. For much of her life, the mistress of the house was pregnant; a woman often gave birth to twelve or more children, few of whom survived into adulthood. Children and Family Ideals Children were desired, and the state of childlessness is noted with concern by Egyptian authors and on tomb inscriptions. Children were important because they were responsible for the domestic altar and for performing rituals in the cult of the ancestors. Children were given special cylindrical charm cases to wear around their necks for protection. In turn, they were expected to show affection and respect for both parents. Take notes here ................
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