In The Beginning, Ch. II, p. 20-39.

Chapter 2, In The Beginning

a. the historic nature of the city!
b. many historic cities continue to thrive after thousands of years
c. hunter-gatherer tribes set up temporary camps & occupied caves where fruits, nuts, fish & game were plentiful
d. stone-age: material security, even affluence
e. little evidence is left of our hunter-gatherer ancestors
f. charcoal deposits were left
g. caves: secure place
h. Pont du Arc: oldest cave paintings
i. most cave paintings (1/2) were found in France
j. beginnings of farming: 10,000 BC
k. agriculture: allows a sedentary lifestyle
l. soil fertility must be manipulated, crops must be stored
m. 9,000 BC: wheat, barley, oats, millet, rice, pulses, potatoes, maize: staples
n. hoes, sickles, ploughs, threshing devices were used
o. trade spread: land/sea/river travel expanded
p. Tutsi, Dinka, Nuer, Masai live off the milk of their cattle which they mix with blood
q. herding cultures: semi-permanent settlements, circular layouts, circular buildings
r. women are sedentary, children are sedentary, men move
s. Levant, 8500 BC, sedentary farming villages emerged
t. formalized political/spiritual hierarchies developed
u. writing and military power began to be used
v. 23,000 to 12,000 BC, last ice age
w. Jericho was one of first towns to be excavated. Jericho was founded in 8,000BC
x. Jericho used irrigation from the Jordan River
y. Jericho installed massive defense towers around 7,000BC
z. Jericho was a difficult place for outsiders to conquer

a. Joshua led the Israelites to sack Jericho
b. Ahab repaired Jericho, Jericho was never taken over by the Israelites


Catal Huyuk, Anatolian Supernova
a. located on a fertile, well-watered plateau in Anatolia
b. dates back to 7,100BC
c. thriving farming region & obsidian industry
d. laid out according to a beehive pattern
e. leopard’s spots was a favorite motif
f. cowrie shells from the Mediterranean, manganese copper & turquoise from eastern Anatolia & the Sinai
g. mercury was imported from Sizmar
h. tabular flint was imported from the Taurus Mountains
i. Catal Huyuk: spiritual center
j. how did Catal Huyuk come to an abrupt end?
k. Iraq, Greece, Italty: developed agricultural and trading settlements between 6,400 and 5,800 BC.
l. the Harrappans occupied the Indus Valley from 3,500 & built Mohenjo-daro & Harappa
m. The Canaanites (Phoenicians) p. 28
n. Sumer: region in southern Mesopotamia, between lower Tigris & Euphrates rivers (Southern Iraq)
o. inventions: development of writing, bronze, gold, silver metallurgy, first use of the wheel
p. large libraries of clay tablets
q. highly stratified societies: kings/priests represented the divine powers
r. upper class: kings, priests, nobles
s. middle class: artisans, craftsmen, businessmen, teachers, scribes
t. lower class: slaves who had to perform a variety of physical tasks

Uruk & The Story Of Gilgamesh
a. Uruk was in Genesis 10
b. large zigurats, schools, family houses, sarcophagi were discovered
c. wheels were found
d. 50,000 people in Uruk
e. Uruk was ruled by a powerful king
f. Enmerkar, man who built Uruk
g. Gilgamesh, built a defensive wall
h. Gilgamesh, 2/3 god, 1/3 human

Summary of Gilgamesh:
Gilgamesh is the greatest king on earth, > Gilgamesh is oppressive > people pray to Anu> Anu creates Enkidu with the strength of many animals > Shamhat a harlot is brought to Enkidu, Enkidnu makes love and loses his wildness, the harlot takes Enkidnu to meet Gilgamesh > Enkidnu becomes lazy from the opulence > Gilgamesh cuts off monster’s head, deforestation occurs!

lesson: forest are cut for urban construction & for creating more farmland. Great cities are vulnerable to decline & decay.

Ur
a. grew even bigger than Uruk
b. temporary home of Abraham & the Israelites
c. clay tablets kept records of events
d. floods & mudslides plagued those cities
e. trees were used for timber & baking clay bricks
f. deforestation > soil was washed downhill
g. the soil became too salty, couldn’t grow as many crops
h. salinisation of soil is a major problem
i. 1,600 BC: Hittites attacked Sumerian cities
j. Egypt’s farmland was productive for 7,000 years
k. Greeks developed the alphabet, oratory, democracy, mathematics, theatre, aesthetics, arts
l. bioproductivity of forests/farmland outside of cities made city-life possible
m. Greeks were a highly expansionist civilization
n. Athens-most Athenians lived in modest houses
o. 43,000 of 317,000 (13%) were citizens in 431 BC
p. the community should have priority over the individual
q. Athens was more of an aristocracy than a democracy
r. civilization & deforestation: two sides of the same coin