The Ancient Near East
I. Introduction
A. What is History?
1. Prehistory is the time before people learned to write. A broad general term which is roughly ends 3500 BC
2. History is the written record of man’s significant activities
B. Attributes of Civilization – (pg 41)
1. A System of Writing
a) Need to be considered civilized
b) Otherwise they cannot tell us anything
2. A System of Language
a) A way to communicate with one another
3. Advance social, political, and economic institutions
a) Division of activities
b) A system based on something
c) Use of metals tells about civilization
(i) Not just using stone
(ii) Must use metals before being considered civilized
C. What is culture?
1. Consists of all the skills people have in their activities
2. Beliefs and ethical standards
3. Everything people use and think in their daily lives
4. More complex than that
D. What is a Barbarian?
1. Greeks invented term
a) Felt people beyond cities were barbarians
b) Everything these people said sounded like barb barb to the Greeks
2. People who are not civilized
3. Could have a lot of skills
4. Angels and Saxons are Barbarian tribes
5. People who have not acquired all three parts of civilization
F. Dating – pg 3-ff
1. Thermoluminescence
2. Relative Dating
a) Pottery Sequences dating level by Petrie
b) Can date within 50 yrs
G. Periods of Prehistory
1. Lower Paleolithic – 3 million to 35,000 BC
2. Upper Paleolithic – 35,000- 10,000 BC
3. Mezolithic – 10,000 – 8,500 BC
4. Neolithic – New Stone Age
a) People able to polish varnish knife
b) Master of Stone
c) Development of agriculture
d) People were planting their crops
e) Domesticated animals
f) Europe went through the Ice Age – had different dates
H. The City of Jericho – Anno Domine
1. It has been excavated
a) Settled for long time beginning around 9,000 BC
b) Cuvolinear House
c) Sunken House
d) House mats
e) Varnished houses
f) Burials under the floors of the house
(i) Cut off the head of the dead
(ii) Decorated the skulls
(iii) Made the skulls have a lifelike appearance
(iv) Think there’s an afterlike
(a) Neaderthals in caves show belief there was an afterlife
(b) Put food with the dead
(c) Left weapons
2. There is a spring there that waters the entire valley
a) Things really grow there
b) Oranges size of grapefruits
I. Cave Paintings – pg 19 Los Gov
1. Attempt to influence
2. Rain dance
3. Not sure why they decorated
4. They do not tell us why they did
J. Female Figures – Pg 30
1. Fertility idols
2. Large Breasts
3. Large stomachs
4. Made sure they had children