AP/HUMA 1770 6.
0A
One World:
Historical and Cultural Perspectives of
Globalization
Lecture 3
Agenda:
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Greece
The Hebrews
Mesopotamia
• a) The Land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
• b) The Sumerians
• c) Mesopotamian Empires:
• Sargon of Akkad
• Old Babylon
• Assyria
• New Babylon
Mesopotamia (2900BCE)
Ur
• Image c2500 BCE
Great Ziggurat of Ur (built c 2100 BCE)
• Stele of Hammurabi
Assyrian Empire
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Excavating Mesopotamia
• Map of Old Kingdom
Egypt
Egypt
• The Importance of the Nile
• Early Dynastic (or Archaic) Period (3150 - 2700 BCE)
• Old Kingdom Egypt (2700 - 2190 BCE)
• The Middle Kingdom (2190 - 1552 BCE)
– Including First and Second Intermediate Period
• The New Kingdom (1552 - 1069 BCE)
• Egyptian Dynasties
The Great Pyramids at Giza
Great Sphinx at Giza
Tutankhamun
Minoan Civilization (3000-1500 BCE)
• Based the southern island of Crete
• Elaborate palace structures (Palace of
Knossos)
Minoan Civilization (3000-1500 BCE)
• Developed written language (Cretan Script)
• Apparently pleasure-loving and materialistic
• Arts and crafts: pottery, jewellery, sculpture
• Brightly coloured Frescos, or wall paintings,
plastered the walls of the Knossos Palace
Map of Ancient Greece
Map of Ancient Greece
Mycenaean Civilization (1900-1100 BCE)
• The Palace of Knossos occupied by Mycenaean
warrior culture
• Mycenaeans ruled ancient Greece; captured
Troy, as described by Homer’s poetic epic the
Iliad and Odyssey
• Mycenae was one of the major capital city-
centres of Greek civilization, a military
stronghold
• A king of the Mycenaea was King Agamemnon
Mycenaean Civilization (1900-1100 BCE):
Agamemnon’s Mask
and the Lion’s Gate
Greece: The Archaic Age (800-479 BCE)
• Greek “Dark Ages” (1100-800 BCE)
• Transition to Archaic Age
• Anthony Esler notes: “the dark ages successfully
destroyed the monarchical kingdoms, leaving
the way open for wider participation in
government during the next age”.
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Cultural Topography of the City-State
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Cultural Topography of the City-State
• The upper city of Athens was called the Acropolis,
• The Acropolis featured a Temple where Greeks
worshipped Gods.
• Athena’s famous Temple is called the Parthenon.
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Cultural Topography of the City-State
• The Lower city of Athens was where people lived,
worked and played; the central place of the lower city
was called the Agora
Greek Philosophers:
• Socrates (469-399 BCE), an intellectual gadfly stinging
Athenians into questioning traditional values, examining
their own lives, thinking seriously about the real meaning
of life.
• Socrates emphasized questioning/dialogue, oral
communication, dialectic method
• Socrates was the teacher of Plato (427-348 BCE), who
was the teacher of Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Gods
• Polytheistic: Greeks believed in many Gods—
Zeus, Father of gods and men, Poseidon, god of
the sea, earthquakes and horses, Apollo, God of
disease and healing.
• Gods, who were immortal, controlled all aspects
of nature
• Quality of life was dependent on the good will of
the gods.
• God worship was interwoven with every aspect
of Greek life.
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Sculpture
• Greek sculpture became more flowing and naturalistic.
Sculptures demonstrated a new capacity to carve
idealized human forms.
• More than just decoration, Greek statues might be
considered a form of political communication. As Taylor
points out: “Sculpture and architecture provide strong
evidence of a growing sophistication in the art of
persuasion. Statues of gods and men became larger and
more realistic as individual politicians strove to project
themselves and their achievements before the
population”(26).
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
Dionysus Theatre
• Dionysia festival, which honored Dionysus, the god of
wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy.
• Dionysus Theatre
• Comedy and Tragedy
• Men in “Drag”
• Dramatic Masks
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
(Poseidon or Zeus, c. 460 B.C, bronze statue)
Greece: The Classical Age (479-323 BCE)
War and Military Technology
• The Persian Wars (Athens and Sparta fought the
Persian Empire of Darius I)
• Triremes—long, oar-driven warships, equipped with
battering rams—were central to Greek victory.
Greece: The Hellenistic Age (323-146 BCE)
Alexander The Great
• Alexander of Macedonia was one of the most
successful military commanders in history
• Globalizes Greek culture and ideas
• Following Alexander’s conquests, “Greek
administrators, Greek traders, Greek ways of
living, thinking and carving stone would become
part of the life of much of Asia” (85).
• established a multi-cultural empire of sorts.
Greece: The Hellenistic Age (323-146 BCE)
Alexander The Great “propagandist”
• Hegemony: rule by force and
consent
• “Son of Zeus”
• Coins as mediums of exchange
and Alexander’s political
communication
• Persian War Fresco (next slide)
Greece: The Hellenistic Age (323-146 BCE)
Alexander The Great “propagandist”
The Hebrews –
Origin and History
• The Torah tells story of Abraham, founder of
Judaism (“Abrahamic” religions) (2000-1500 BCE)
• Lived in Canaan, but then moved towards
Egypt and became enslaved (1500-1250 BC)
• Moses led the people out of Egypt
• Established The Ten Commandments
• Monotheistic religion (“worship of a single God”),
• Religion, not geography, is what forms Hebrew
identity
The Hebrews –
Settlement in Canaan and Kingdom Building
• Settlement in Canaan
• Canaanites
• Golden Age of Hebrew
Civilization: Kingdoms of Saul,
David, Solomon (1000 BCE)
• Form capital in the city of
Jerusalem
The Hebrews –
Settlement in Canaan and Kingdom Building
• Artistic rendering of King
Solomon’s Temple
• Kingdom falls to Assyrian
Empire in 8th century BCE
• Hebrews exiled to Babylon
(598-586 BCE)
• Beginnings of Jewish
Diaspora
Key terms
• Alluvium
• Polytheism
• Monotheism
• Democracy
• Helenism
