Transcript First Age of Empires

First Age
of Empires
1570 -200 BCE
New Kingdom of Egypt
(1570-1075 BCE)
• more wealth and power
• Valley of the Kings
– New burial site for pharaohs
• Queen Hatshepsut reigned
1472-1458 BCE
• Encouraged trade
• Step-son, Thutmose III
becomes pharaoh
– War-like ruler
– Led invasions into
Palestine, Syria, and
Nubia
– Expanded territory
– Gained much wealth &
new technology
Ramses II
-Last powerful pharaoh of the New
Kingdom
-fought in the Battle of Kadesh
-resulted in peace treaty between
the Egyptians and Hittites
During Egyptian rule, nobles
from Nubia sent their children
to Egyptian cities & when they
returned, they brought
Egyptian culture back to Nubia
-religion
-literature/hieroglyphics
-customs
Kingdom of Kush & the Nubians
-Egypt slowly crumbles after
Ramses II
-Libya takes over
-Nubians tried to push out the
Libyan rulers & return
Egyptian culture
-defeated the Libyans in 751
BCE under the Kushite King
Piankhi
-He ruled Egypt & Nubia
-Nubians saw selves as the
guardians of the Egyptian
values
Meroe
-major city of Kush
-golden age through trade in
Africa, Arabia, and India
671 BCE – Kushites lose Egypt
to Assyrians & retreat back to
Nubia
Assyrians
• Military power
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Ladders
Iron weapons
Tunnels
Brutal tactics
Mass deportation
• Controlled empire
through military power,
taxes, & making the
provinces dependent
upon the Assyrians
Persians
• Origin = modern-day
Iran
• Cyrus
– First king of Persian
Empire
– Expanded territory
• Honored local customs &
religions
• Granted certain
freedoms to subject
peoples
• Showed kindness
towards conquered
people
Persian Rule
• Dynasty rule
• Satraps
– Governor of a province within the empire
– Carried out the laws of the King
• Inspectors
– “King’s eyes & ears”
– Ensured satrap’s loyalty
• Royal Road
– 1,677 miles long road connecting empire
• Standardized money
Zoroaster
• Persian prophet & religious reformer
• Developed Zoroastrianism
– Religion based on a final judgement
• Goodness=ascend to paradise
• Evil=doomed to the underworld
Persian Legacy
• Tolerance
• Strong government
– Satraps
• Roads
• Zoroasterianism
China
• Under the Zhou Dynasty, during the
Warring Period, several philosophies
developed
– Confucius
– Laozi
– Legalism
– Yin and Yang
Confucius
• Believed social order,
harmony, and good
government could be
restored if society was
organized around 5 basic
relationships.
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1) ruler & subject
2) father & son
3) husband & wife
4) older brother & younger
brother
– 5) friend & friend
Laozi
• Do not strive for fame,
power, or wisdom
• Follow the “Dao” or
way
– Daoism
• Humans are the only
thing in nature that
has to argue between
right and wrong
– Which is pointless
Legalism
• Government should
use the law to end
civil disorder and
restore harmony
• Stressed punishment
more than rewards
Yin and Yang
• Yin = represents
earth, female, and
passive
• Yang = represents
heaven, male, and
active
• Together =
represents natural
rhythms of life and
complement each
other
Qin Dynasty (221-202 BCE)
• Legalist
• Autocracy rule
– Unlimited powers for the “emperor”
• Halted internal battles and crushed resistance
– Killed hundreds of Confucian scholars
– Burned the “useless” books of Confucian ideas
• Defeated invaders
• Seized land and uprooted the nobles to the capital city
– He can keep an eye on them
– He took their land
• Forced labor on roads, irrigation systems, and the Great
Wall of China
• Standardized weights & measurements
Results of the Qin Dynasty
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Wealth in trade
Increased farming production
Kept out invaders
Unified China
Unified China came at
the expense of what?
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=RsUEZtcUFg