4. Prehistoric Culture
Paleolithic (“Old Stone”) ca. 6 million to 10,000 b.c.e.
Tribal hunters and gatherers
Crude stone and bone tools and weapons
Cave painting and sculpture
5. Neolithic (“New Stone”) ca. 8,000 to 4,000 b.c.e.
Farming and food production
Polished stone and bone tools and weapons
Architecture
Pottery and weaving
6. The world’s oldest clay
vessel found.
Japan
•The Jomon Period, Japan
14,000 to 400 B.C.E.hoto:
7. Cave Paintings of Lascaux
•Cave
paintings
Dated 15,000-
10,000 B.C.E.
• Hall of
Bulls, France
22. The Birth of Civilization
Writing evolved from counting.
Reverse side of a pictographic tablet from Jamdat Nasr, near
Kish, Iraq, ca. 3000 B.C.E. listing accounts involving animals
and various commodities including bread and beer. Clay
23. Hieroglyphs, Queen Nefertari before the Divine Scribe Thoth, from the tomb of
Nefertari, north wall, Valley of the Queens, Egypt, New Kingdom, Nineteenth
Dynasty, 1290-1224 B.C.E.
25. 26
Rosetta Stone,196 B.C.E. The same information is inscribed in
hieroglyphic, a pictographic script, demotic script, a simplified
form of hieroglyphic, and Greek.
Why is this stone so
important?
26. Metal began to
replace stone and
bone.
Ceremonial vessel with a cover, late
Shang dynasty, China, ca. 1000
B.C.E. Bronze, height 20-1/16 in.
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.
Metallurgy: The Bronze Age
27. Mesopotamia
“Land Between the
Rivers” (Tigris and
Euphrates river)
(present day Iraq)
World’s first multi-
ethnic empire
Head of an Akkadian ruler
(Sargon l), from Nineveh, Iraq, c.
2350 B.C.E. Bronze, 12" high.
Museum of Antiquities, Baghdad.
32. . 33
The Babylonian Creation
Sumerian creation myth
(poem), 2000 b.c.e.
first cosmological myth
Tiamat, the Great Mother,
vs Marduk the hero-god
who creates Babylon
34. Epic of Gilgamesh
Mesopotamia
produced the world’s
first literary epic.
2000 b.c.e
Gilgamesh between two human-headed bulls
(top portion). Soundbox of a harp, from Ur,
Iraq, ca. 2600 B.C.E.
What is an Epic?
42. The immortal plant
Gilgamesh finds the plant capable or rendering him
immortal
Only to have it stolen by a snake while he sleeps
44
43. 45
Epic of Gilgamesh may
have been chanted
with a harp
Harp reconstructed from Ur, ca. 2600 b.c.e. Wood and inlays of
gold, lapis lazuli and shell, 3 ‘ 6”
44. Babylon:
Hammurabi’s Law
Code
most extensive and
comprehensive set of laws
to survive from ancient
times.
Susa, capital of Elam (now in Iran), c.
1792-1750. Basalt, height of stele
approx. 7', height of relief 28". Louvre,
Paris.
46. Iron Technology
King Assurnasirpal ll hunting lions (Lion Hunt), from Nimrud,
Iraq, c. 883-859 B.C.E. Alabaster relief, 3' 3" x 8' 4".
Iron was introduced by the Hittites.
Cheaper to produce and more durable then bronze.
65. Egyptian Women•all property was
inherited
through the
female line.
•economic
independence
•civil rights and
privileges.
Procession of female musicians with instruments, including a harp, double pipes, and a
lyre, Tomb of Djeserkarasneb, Thebes, ca. 1580-1314 B.C.E.
66. Hatshepsut, ca. 1500-1447 B.C.E.
governed Egypt - 22 years.
pictured in male attire, royal wig and false beard, and
carrying the crook and flail
67.
68. Queen Tiye (Amenhotep
III)
the first queen of Egypt
to have her name on
official acts
69. Akhenaten is associated with
monotheism as a religious view.
Aten (God of the Sun
Disk)
supremacy over all
other gods.
Statue of Akhenaten, from Karnak, Egypt, Amarna Period, 1353-1350 B.C.E.
Sandstone, approx. 13" high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
72. KingTutankhamen
Ca. 1345-1325 B.C.E. the tomb housed riches of astonishing variety, including the
pharaoh’s solid gold coffin, inlaid with semi-precious carnelian and lapis lazuli
73. Egyptian cover of the coffin of
Tutankhamen (portion), from the Valley
of the Kings, ca. 1360 B.C.E. Egyptian
Museum, Cairo.
74. King Tut's New Face (National Geographic)
anthropological artists, Elisabeth Daynhs of
Paris
75. Canopic coffinette (coffin of Tutankhamon), c. 1327 B.C.E. Gold inlaid with enamel
and semiprecious stones, 15 3/4" high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo
76. Presentation of Nubian tribute to Tutankhamon (restored), tomb chapel
of Huy, Thebes, 18th Dynasty, c. 1336-1327 B.C.E. Wall painting, 6' x 17 1/4'.
78. The rays of the sun
god shine down on
Tutankhamen and
his consort
Throne with Tutankhamen and Queen, detail of the back, late Marana period. New Kingdom,
18th dynasty, ca. 1360 B.C.E. Wood plated with gold and silver, inlays of glass paste. 80
79. Colossal Heads, Mexico
Olmecs. ca. 1200 b.c.e.,
Meso-America -one of the
largest and advanced
cultures.
honor their rulers, 20 tons
80.
81.
82. Ancient India
Bearded Man, Mohenjo Daro, Indus Valley, c. 2000 B.C.E.
Limestone, 7" high. National Museum, New Delhi.
1500 B.C.E.
Ayrans (light-
skinned )
enslaved Sind
(dark-skinned)
caste system.
83. earliest known
sculpture of sub-
Saharan Africa.
Africa : Western Sudan
Head, Nok culture, ca. 500 B.C.E.-200 C.E.
Terracotta, height 14-3/16 in. National
Museum, Lagos/Bridgeman.
84. Ancient China
royal tombs
carved jade and bronze
objects.
Standing figure, late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-1100
B.C.E., from Pit 2 at Sanxingdui, Guanghan,
Sichuan Province. Bronze, height 8 ft. 7 in.
85. Yin and the Yang Yin/Yang, “the
foundation of the
entire universe,”
interprets all nature
as the dynamic
product of two
interacting cosmic
forces, or modes of
energy.
87. Epic of Gilgamesh Essay
In your own words answer the following questions about
the Epic of Gilgamesh:
Who was Gilgamesh? What was he searching for and
why? How does this epic reflect the ideals of
Mesopotamian culture? What makes Gilgamesh an epic
hero? Are there any comparable figures in
contemporary literature of life?