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Originated ca. 4-5 million years ago
◦ “Lucy”
◦ “Ardi”
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“Homo sapiens” (“thinking humans”)
originated ca. 100,000 years ago
Ca. 40,000 years ago =
solidification of
“homo sapiens sapiens”
Paleolithic Era
(ca. 600,00010,000 BCE)
◦ “Old Stone Age”
◦ “Hunter-gatherers”
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What is culture?
◦ EVERYTHING not determined by biology
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Early humans had lots of culture
Examples:
◦ Speech/Language
◦ Art
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What is culture?
◦ EVERYTHING not determined by biology
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Early humans had lots of culture
Examples:
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Speech/Language
Art
Music
Religion
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Ca. 5000 BCE = domestication of animals in
North Africa
◦ Earlier in Asia
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Broad-spectrum gathering = staying in one place
and using nearby resources
Development of Agriculture
Neolithic Era (ca. 10,000-3000 BCE)
◦ “New Stone Age”
◦ Massive increase in
human population
◦ Sizeable villages
◦ Portable Agriculture
◦ Stone tools
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“Fertile Crescent”?
Challenges of survival spurred development
3500 BCE = substantial increase in
population of Sumer region
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“Fertile Crescent”?
Challenges of survival spurred development
3500 BCE = substantial increase in
population of Sumer region
◦ Rapid growth between 3500 and 3000 BCE
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Massive irrigation systems
Fortification of towns/cities
Migration from smaller villages to larger cities
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First major city in the western world
Massive walls
Urban Life:
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Increased power of political, religious, military elite
Social classes
“Lugal” = ruler
Changes for women
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Technological improvement needed for growth
Agriculture:
◦ Canal system of dikes
◦ Improved plow and wagon
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Art:
◦ Pottery wheel
◦ Gold and silver jewelry
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Government
◦ Seals
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Military:
◦ Casting bronze for weapons
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Writing
◦ Pictograms
◦ Cuneiform
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Competition for resources = fierce
3000-2300 BCE = war over Sumer region
between Ur, Lagash, Uruk, Umma
Sargon (ca. 2334-2279 BCE) =
King of Akkad
◦ Ruled 55 years
◦ Eventually came to rule all of Sumer
 First empire in the western world
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Sargon the Emperor
◦ “King of the Four Regions”
◦ Worked hard to win loyalty
◦ After death, everything collapsed
 Briefly re-established by Naram-Sin
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Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE) established
Sumerian empire under Babylonian rule
Established the Code of Hammurabi
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Mathematics
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◦ Codified laws
◦ Penalty of death
◦ Sophisticated Babylonian system
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Collapse of Babylonian Empire
◦ Death of Hammurabi was the
beginning of the end
◦ Hittites destroyed Babylon by
1600 BCE