Lo3 citizens and communities: the Greek city-states

three types of government

1. monarchy- a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually hereditary ruler
2. oligarchy- a state in which supreme is held by a small group
3. democracy- in ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making 

city-states and citizens 

• the notion of citizen participation seems to have originated in geography 
• Greek city-states arose at the time the Assyrians reached for power westward from Mesopotamia 
• Greek city-states at the time had no universal empire, and were free to struggle 
• land was far less wealthy than Mesopotamia or Phoenicia
• citizens who could afford to serve as hoplites equipped themselves with bronze helmets and armor, round shields, long spears with iron blades, and short iron swords

monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy

• in the earliest times of classical Greek civilization, the communities that would become city-states were ruled by kings, along with there companion warriors
• monarchy gave way to new forms of government that distributed power more widely among male citizens
• oligarchy was one of these new forms, in this form a minority of citizens dominated the government and the power of the majority was limited in various ways
• other, large commercial, city-states gave far more power to the majority, in such cities, the common people were too numerous and active to ignore
• in these large city-states, social conflicts sometimes led to the emergence of tyranny
• but tyranny was often only a passing phase on the way to democracy 
• although the Greek city states had many features in common, each was individual in character and had its own personality 

Sparta: the military ideal 

• the Spartans were the descendants of Greeks who had conquered part of the southern mainland, territory of laconia
• by the eighth century B.C. they were a minority of landholders, ruling over a majority of helots 
• though the Laconian helots were relatively well treated and even fought in the army, the Messenians were harshly exploited, never accepted their defeats and often rebelled 
• to hold down the helots, the spartan citizens had to accept a government system that put them under almost total domination by a few among themselves 
• by the fifth century B.C., policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders 
• the Spartan government was a leading example of oligarchy 

The spartan way of life 

• along with the government system there went a way of life that dedicated male citizens entirely to the service of the state
• all men, even married ones, were required to live in barracks until the age of 30
• girls had to participate in drills to train to become child-bearing women
• the freedom of Spartan women aroused both admiration and disapproval among the Greeks 
• to protect their harsh and rigid way of life, the Spartans tried to seal off their city state from outside influences

Athens: freedom and power                                                                   the city of athens \/

• athens was a war-like community 
• Greek civilization about 800 B.C., many old-established communities in Attica merged to form a single city-state that was known by the name of the most important community, Athens 
• over the next three centuries, athens grew to become the wealthiest and one of the most powerful of Greek city-states, due to the growth of its overseas trade 
• workshops sprang up where Athenian citizens, immigrants, and  slaves worked side by side to produce weapons, pottery, and articles of silver, lead, and marble
• ships from Athens carried these products to lands from Spain to Palestine and Egypt to the south of Russia 
• with more people and greater wealth came social and political conflicts
• the disputes were usually between the increasingly powerful and wealthy aristocrats 

from monarchy to democracy 

• as a result, Athens passed through several stages of political growth, beginning with monarchy and including both oligarchy and tyranny 

LO-1 the European barbarians

the European barbarians

• 3,000 years ago, civilization spread from its Sumerian and Egyptian homelands right across southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa
• in other areas, people were still living the prehistoric village life of the agricultural revolution 

the earliest Europeans

• by 4000 B.C., farming and village life had spread throughout the continent
• the affect of this was an increase in population and wealth 
• by 3500 B.C., people in western Europe were well educated and organized enough to construct ceremonial monuments 
• one of the most impressive monuments built by the early Europeans was the Stonehenge    ------>

the barbarian way of life

• indo-European people moved into Europe, and under the influence of newcomers, the settled people began to form into ethnic groups 
• the earliest people of this region began to speak a language of a mixture of Greek and Latin
• the elite warriors lives centered around strength and courage, comradeship and loyalty, contests and battle
• among all Europeans, all the main business around life was farming 
• they lived in villages or in big farmsteads that housed several related families
• from those, formed tribes
• Europe became inhabited by people who were skilled in farming, metal working, trade, and warfare; who all spoke mostly Ind-European languages
• over a period of 3000 years, the European barbarian peoples came into contact with civilization
• the contacts were sometimes peaceful, and sometimes warlike
• each visit, the barbarians adopted the ways of life of the civilizations they visited
• the first European barbarian people to make contact with civilization were the Greeks
• from this visit, the Greeks developed there own distinctive civilization of their own, the first in Europe, and the first that is "Western" 

cyber day 1

        The ancient Egyptians relied heavily on a hierarchy system to organize there social lives and jobs. the highest of the hierarchy and the lowest being slaves and servants. Slaves/servants helped the wealthy with household duties and childcare. the farmers raised wheat, barely, lentils, onions- which benefited from irrigation of the Nile river. The artisans carved statues and reliefs showing military battle. The money/barter system was used - merchants might accept bags of grain for payment. The scribes were one of the most important, they wrote stories and kept records and anatomy and medical terms. Soldiers used wooden weapons with bronze tips, like bows and arrows. Upper class, known as the "white kilt class" - priests, physicians, and engineers. The Pharaoh was the highest on the hierarchy, know as the religious and political leader.

        The ancient Egyptians relied on and used the Nile river for every day things. The Nile provided natural resources to the Egyptians that were not offered usually. One of the most important things the Nile provided and what the Egyptians used most, was for drinking and bathing water. The Nile flooded every July of every year. The Nile opened into a Delta at the end, flowing from south to north. A delta is a letter in the Greek alphabet, it looks like a triangle.The delta is a broad, marshy triangular area of fertile silt. The Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in lore and writing. 

        In conclusion, the Nile River was much needed to support and provide life in ancient Egypt without it life would have not prevailed and natural resources would have been scarce. The ancient Egyptians social hierarchy was on of the most important aspects of life in ancient Egypt. The hierarchy determined peoples jobs, how much they make, how important they are, and where they may even live.

life in egypt

5 aspects of life in Egypt

• geography
• daily life
• pharaohs
• gods and goddesses
• pyramids

Egypt

land of the pharaohs: Egypt

the Nile and the "two lands"

• upper Egypt was a 500 mile long strip of fertile land along the Nile; lower Egypt was the wide land of the Nile delta, emptying into the Mediterranean sea
• the Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in love and writing 
• C. 3100 B.C. the two lands were united under  single king or "pharaoh"

government by a God-King 

• pharaoh was all powerful, worshiped as a god and intimately connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses 
• Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe called "maat" 
• pharaoh's had multiple wives, often their own sisters, and all routes to financial and social success were through the palace
• women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands, only a tiny few ever wielded real political power 

God, Humans, and ever-lasting life 

• Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies 
• Egyptians believed in an after life and mummified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey
• all souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster (heaven or hell)

to be continued...

lo3

land of the pharaohs: Egypt

• the traditions of Egyptian civilization became so strong that they flourished even in its last thousand years, when the country was repeatedly invaded and for long periods under foreign rule

the Nile and the "two lands"

• upper Egypt is a narrow strip of fertile land, five hundred miles in length and averaging no more than twelve miles in width, that stretches alongside the river as it flows across the north African desert
• lower Egypt is a fan-shaped pattern of waterways, or delta, formed by the Nile in the last hundred miles before it reached the sea  
• in 3100 B.C. the two lands were unified under the rule of a single king
• the country's rulers are then and on know as pharaohs 

tending the "cattle of god"

• by birth, pharaoh was the son of the sun-god Re, the king of all the other gods and goddesses 
• in his succession he became the incarnation of Horus, the falcon-headed ruler of the sky
• when he died, he became one with Osiris, who resigned as pharaoh of the underworld 
• it was him who the gods and goddesses appointed 
• all of Egypt was deemed to belong to the pharaoh as his personal property
• officials and priests built tombs for themselves and their wives with inscriptions boasting of their virtuous deeds, and handed on their positions to their sons - all with the pharaoh's knowledge and approval 

men and women under the pharaohs 

• women closest to the pharaoh had divinity as well
• Egyptian deities were said to practice incest 
• pharaoh had many other wives along with his principal one 
• Hatsheput was one of the few female pharaohs
• women as well as men were entitled to benefit from the pharaoh's rule
• unlike sumer there are no records of women's expectations of men, but men were expected to respect the women in there families  

gods, humans, and everlasting life 

• many deities tracing back to the stone-age were originally conceived int he form of an animal
• the sky-god Horus is usually depicted as having the head of a falcon
• worshiped many different deities as a custom
• Egyptian priests believed that behind each god or goddess(deities) layed a divine power
• Egypt came to offer a growing hope of immortality(the Egyptian religion)
• the hope of immortality strengthened ethical ideas in the Egyptian religion 

the writing of the words of god

• the hieroglyphs was the earliest Egyptian writing 

from pre-history to civilization

Prehistory- the period before history was recorded through written documents

• the early development to organized skills, led to the rise of the first civilization-those of Mesopotamia and Egypt 
• in other civilization near here, there appeared social economic structures, effective and lasting governments, writing systems, compelling religious beliefs , scientific and technical achievements, and sophisticated literary and artistic styles, all of which influenced future civilizations
• the achievements of these first civilized peoples soon began to spread to their neighbors 

before civilization: the prehistoric era

• the prehistoric was before humans produced written documents, written documents was the main material of actual history 
• for prehistory began with the human race itself, the era ended with the rise of civilized societies 
• early humans began to appear in eastern Africa
• about 200,000 years ago the human like species  brains actually began to grow larger 
• these human species began to spread into more areas outside of africa
• it became the human race of the present day about 14,000 years ago
• the earliest prehistoric era is called the paleolithic age
• the period of growing into other countries is called the neolithic age, also when they became more civilized
• the bronze age was the cause of metals replacing stone
• the iron age followed
• they had groups of 20 to 30 people to find food and protect themselves 
• men were responsible for hunting and making tools
• women for taking care of young children