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3 Major periods of history:
Ancient 3000 BC 476 AD
Medieval 325 - 1500
Modern - 1350 - Present
There is no sharp break between thesed different periods, but there are general differences.

This course will cover:

The Ancient Period, including:
#1  The Ancient Near East (Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Hebrews, Persia)
#2  The Ancient Far East (China, India)

(That takes us to the first MT exam)

Ancient Europe

#1 Greece
#2 Rome

(This will take us to 2nd MT exam)

The Middle Ages

#1 Byzantium (The Easter Roman Empire)
# 2 Islam
# 3 Western Europe

The Modern Worlds

#1 The Renaissance
#2 The Reformation

The final exam is not "cummulative."  It will deal with the material in the last third of the course, e.g., everything from the Byzantine Empire through the Reformation.

Intro to Egypt

Their civilization lasted for 2,000 years.  How?
Three keys: Physical Security, Ethical Guidance, Emotional Fulfillment (key terms)

Physical Security - food, water, shelter, protection from enemies, etc.
Ethical Guidance - must learn to work together, society has to give them rules to live by or they will fall apart ethical standards, and moral standards
Emotional Fulfillment - A sense that their society was good to live in, better than others, the belief in the basic goodness of their society

Egypt Physical Security

Geographical Advantages (Egypt was a gift of the Nile)
-provided water
-Ag. Based culture - little rainfall, land must be irrigated
-easier transportation over the water - a natural highway

KEMET - Rich black soil left by the annual flooding of the Nile River. This soil was important because of the dry conditions of Egypt. They had a Ag. Society, with little rainfall, they needed the rich soil for planting their crops year after year.
Egypt would not have flourished with out the Kemet
Egypt also had a nice warm climate
womens jobs: weaving, making clothing to keep the people of Egypt clothed
The clothing was simple and basic, no need for too much
Shelter was also not as important because of the warm climate
Egypt also had fortitude - fortified by nature
Surrounded by desert
not as much defense effort was needed (most societies spent a lot of time defending)
Only works if the people are night fighting each other

Nomes - Independent city states (42 of them) that ran along the Nile
Menes - Becomes Per-o (pharaoh) Menes united Egypt and convinced the people that there were not only humans, but Gods of the people, Gods among the people

Per-o an ancient ruler in Egypt (Per-o) a living God, a source of unity Menes united the people
Menes did not destroy the Nomes, but instead used them as independent districts
Nomes - Administrative districts unified by the Pharaoh Menes, Nomarchs (SP) were the people appointed by the pharaoh to govern the Nomes - independent city states (once the Egyptians are not fighting they have more time to develop more things such as: hieroglyphics, metals, medicine, etc.)
Ethical Guidance - Per-o was a source, because he was a living god, something to look up to and live your life for

Another source of ethical guidance, works like the Maxims of Ptah Hotep.  Ptah Hotep a successful administrator who wrote a book of advice for others who wanted to be successful:

Maxims of Ptah Hotep

"Follow the ways of your Ancestors..:\
"Don’t be proud of your knowledge" ask opinions of the foolish and intelligent, get perspectives

(Much more from the Maxims of Ptah Hotep online).


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Egypt provided physical security, ethical guidance and emotional fulfillment to sustain their civilization

Emotional Fulfillment

Society will fall apart without this as with Physical Security and Ethical Guidance
A source was the Per-o (pharaoh) the living god
We like to look up to our leaders

Religion

Egyptians were polytheistic - they believed in many gods
Sun God, RA was worshiped
Natural forces of the universe were seen as gods
Religion could explain the world around them
emotional fulfillment = liked to understand their surroundings and nature

Educational System

Ability to succeed could make one successful no matter what class system they were born into

Could become Priests or officers in the Pharaoh’s court - this helped keep fresh blood in the court system (new ideas)

Also acted as a safety valve - they knew if they tried, they could succeed
Beats out the class system

Families

Important for emotional fulfillment
Very few divorces - no records of them have been found (depicts a healthy society)
Husbands and wives are depicted side by side, working together
Images also of peasants and pharaohs with their wives
A single factor for a happy life is a stable marriage
Children enjoy a stable environment
When husband and wife stay together it passes values onto new generations

Sense of History

Ptah Hotep - transmitted the ways if the ancestors

If a society is good - it is good to look at what was successful in the past - the sense of being part of something for a long time

Per-o

The living God - the most important part of the civilization
People tend to want to make humans into Gods
Pharaoh’s job was being a God

Unas

Pharaoh (Per-o) of Ancient Egypt
An example of the potential problems of a human becoming a living God
We find out through the inscriptions on his pyramid:
Tells he is a God with an indestructible spirit
If Unas wishes one to die, they will die, If he wishes one to live the one will live

Unas repeated this practice in order to prove that he is a God - a God has powers of life and death

Practices cannibalism to show that he is a God
-Ate lungs; was seen as the Spirit
He is the last Pharaoh of his Dynasty
The people got rid of him
This shows that this was an imperfect society
Even the best of men would fail at becoming a God - Gods do not die, men do
People had to cope with the death of their Per-o or God

Mastaba--Egyptians used these to build small tombs for their fallen pharaohs

started to stack the rocks - the pyramids they had built was like a ladder into heaven, an ascent to heaven

The beginning of the Pyramids
started to do this very elaborately because their Pharaohs were their Gods
The pyramids were expensive to build and maintain

1^st Illness - 2,200 B.C. - 2,000 B.C.

This is when the Nomarchs (SP) were given too much power by the Pharaoh
Power enough to break down the authority
Economy falls apart in this period
Many people claim to be the Pharaoh
They went 200 years without a steady Pharaoh
One of the Nomes of Thebes started leading the country

Middle Period

Still had everything good from the old kingdom
Two important improvements/advancements took place during this period
Government and Religion

Middle period did not put emphasis on elaborate tombs, instead concentrated on creating and maintaining a good government

Plea of the Eloquent Peasant

A peasant decides to sell his crops at the marketplace. A nobleman decides he wants th peasants donkeys who were hauling the peasants crops. The nobleman turned him away from the peasants preferred route and sent him to another road. The nobleman then accused the peasants donkey of eating some barley that was growing in a field they were passing through to their alternate route. The donkeys were taken for compensation.

The people encouraged the peasant to go to the Pharaoh, he will judge correctly
The role of a good official is to help those who can not help themselves

A great sense of ethical guidance
Also a sense of emotional fulfillment - a feeling that our society is good

Osiris

Once a king on this earth

Set or Seth, Osiris’s brother was jealous of his pharaoh brother and kills, chops and scatters Osiris’s body all around

Isis = Osiris’s wife Isis collected his body parts and brought them to the source of life, where he became alive again to rule in his own kingdom, the Kingdom of Osiris

People could get into the Kingdom by living the right and correct kind of life
created sense that awards await you if you live a good life
The middle kingdom only lasts 250 years

Hyksos

Were a warlike people - began an invasion of the people of Egypt
The Egyptians were not prepared to fight

They would write the names of their enemies or law breakers on clay pots and then smash them as a defense

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Religion - increased belief to enter the kingdom of Osiris
Middle Kingdom only lasts 250 years (hyksos brought it to an end)
Hyksos were out of the Palestine region - had horses, body armor - took control of parts of Egypt

2^nd Illness 1750 B.C. - 1570 B.C.

Egypt was dominated by these forces

Egypt had wiped out most of the records of the Hyksos leaders - because of the hatred for the hyksos

Hyksos leaders did become pharaohs
Hyksos were very much like the Hebrews
Joseph went through Egypt (biblical)
Said there would be seven years of good crops followed by 7 years of bad

Hyksos controlled many of the regions and bought the crops and land up from the pharaohs

New Kingdom 1570 B.C. - 1000 B.C.
Ahmose 1570 - 1545

begins to equip the Egyptians to drive the Hyksos out

gave his people body armor similar to that of the Hyksos
Became pharaoh because he was loved by the people
Drove the Hyksos out of Egypt
Egyptians begin to go on the offensive to avoid future invasions

Thutmose 1525 B.C. - 1495 B.C.
Takes the newly developed army and uses it for offensive attacks and invasions on others
Attacked through Palestine down to Sudan
Great Empire Period referred to this period also
They still have everything good from the previous periods
Now also have a mighty army - well equipped
Have now created wealth from the other countries and territories they had conquered
Created new trade with the ones they had taken over
What is wrong with this period?
The aggressiveness they had towards others
This was regardless of what the people wanted for their society
Thutmose II has died, his wife takes over
She calls herself the new pharaoh
She does a good job for her people
Army was not happy and wanted her son Thutmose III in power
He gained power of the Pharaoh
As Egyptians move in and take control of other societies they also gain slaves
Now they have to worry about a slave revolt
turned Hebrews into slaves - they were a free people
Fear the revolt of the Hebrew people

Because of this he ordered all the male babies killed - this kept the numbers of males who are more likely to revolt down less uprising

When a society treats one group of people badly, they start treating other people badly as well

it is bad ethically - the worse they treat one group of people - the worse their society becomes

Egyptians believed that they were to be judged by the jackal headed god when they got to the entrance of the kingdom of Osiris

Book of the Dead - this was something sold that guaranteed the entrance to the Kingdom of Osiris

Start to sell this book as an insurance policy to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Osiris

They now had the choice of leading a good life or being guaranteed into the Kingdom of Osiris - did not have to worry about leading a good life

Was much easier to buy the book

Book of the Dead = mortuary inscriptions - something that is read over the bodies of the dead - readings included: "I have not: done any harm, robbed the poor, caused pain, made anyone suffer, cheated in the fields, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, etc."

What does this do for Ethical Guidance?
Does not help - but hurts ethical guidance
religious people who are in it for the money sometimes seen as crooks
People start to hold the religion and the priests responsible
Start to hold the gods responsible
The story of Osiris had changed in the New Kingdom
shows how far the religion had gone
losing faith in priests and in god
made the per-o’s job more difficult
Started making harsh laws
Sign of someone who has lost control
Not a society you wanted to be a part of
still do have some good things going for them
Egypt survives through early history and attacks - Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, etc.
Egyptians found happiness in love - spouses
Marriages remain fairly stable, although not as good as before