Chapter 2 – Early Societies in Southwest Asia and North

Africa
The Quest For Order
Mesopotamia: “The Land between the Rivers”
Sumer
Sumerian City-States
Sumerian Kings
Egypt: “The Gift of the Nile”
The Nile River
Unification of Egypt
Pharaohs
The Pyramids
The Course of Empire
Sargon of Akkad
Hammurabi and the Babylonian Empire
Hammurabi’s Laws
The Egyptian New Kingdom
The Assyrian Empire
Nebuchadnezzar and the New Babylonian Empire

The Development of Complex Societies

Economic Specialization and Trade
Bronze Metallurgy
Iron Metallurgy
The Wheel
Ship Building
Long Distance Trade
The Emergence of Stratified Societies
Social Classes
Mesopotamian Kings
Temple Communities
Slave
Egyptian Society
The Construction of Patriarchal Societies
Women’s Roles

Writing and the Formation of Sophisticated Cultural Traditions

The Origins of Writing
Cuneiform Writing
Hieroglyphs Writing
Education, Literacy and Learning
Scribes
Astronomy and Mathematics
 The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Origins of Organized Religion
Community Gods
Amon-Re
Akhenaten
The Quest for Immortality
Cult of Osiris

The Broader Influence of Mesopotamian and Egyptian Societies

Mesopotamian Influence on the Hebrews and the Phoenicians
The Hebrews
Yahweh
The Phoenicians
Alphabetic Writing
Egyptian Influence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Nubia
Kush
Iron Metallurgy

Chronology