Abu Dhabi Discovery. Before reading the text, answer the questions: 1. What remains of human culture may help archaeologists learn more about distant past? 2. Which of these remains are better preserved?
Read the following text quickly without a dictionary and find out the following information:
1. the type of the artifact found 2. the age of the discovery 3. the way it looked like 4. the place where it was found 5. other things that archaeologists found during the digs A pottery vessel discovered at the oldest, best-preserved Neolithic village in eastern Arabia may be evidence of early trade across the Persian Gulf between southern Mesopotamia and an island community off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Found on the island of Marawah near the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, the 7,000-year-old pottery vessel has a pale-green surface and is painted with black geometric lines and chevrons--characteristics of pottery from Tell Al-Ubaid in southern Iraq, the heart of Mesopotamia. The design is also similar to that found on pottery made in the Susiana region of southern Iran during the fifth millennium B.C. Archaeologists suggest the presence of the pottery indicates trade at a surprisingly early time between peoples on the Gulf. The vessel was discovered in the remains of a four-room building erected in phases between 7000 and 6500 B.C. So far, archaeologists have only excavated one of the rooms, in which they have also unearthed the oldest human remains ever found in the region. The person had been buried just inside the threshold, making it likely the building hadn't been in regular use by the time of the burial--anyone entering would have literally tripped over the remains. In fact, at one point someone may indeed have stumbled over them--the bones were damaged and scattered, the feet found several yards away from the rest of the body. Among the most beautiful artifacts found so far, according to the archaeologists, were delicate buttons made of pearl oyster shells. the Archaeological Institute of America Vol. 57 № 5, September/October 2004
Ex. 1. Use the context of the article to work out the meaning of these words:
- vessel - evidence - chevrons - the Gulf - to trip / stumble over smth - to be scattered Ex. 2. Give a short summary of the article in 4-5 sentences. Lesson 2 Text A Ancient Western Asia. Before Civilization Answer the following questions: What were the main occupations of the people of ancient civilizations? Why would they move from one place to another? What were the first achievements of early civilizations? Give Russian equivalents to these countries’ names: Syria ['si(ə)riə] Lebanon ['lebənən] Israel ['izreil] Jordan ['dʒɔ:dn] Turkey ['tɜ:kɪ] Iraq [i'rɑ:k] Iran [i'rɑ:n] Study the pronunciation of the following proper names: Cyprus ['saiprəs] - Кипр Zagros Mountains ['zægrɑs] – Загрос (горная система в Иране) Jericho ['dʒerɪkəu] – Иерихон (город в Палестине, на Западном берегу реки Иордан) Tassili-n-Ajjer ['tæslin ə'dʒɜ:] - Тассилин Аджер Tigris [′taigris] – р. Тигр Euphrates [ju:′freiti:z] – р. Евфрат Guess the meaning of the following words: domestication, [də‚mesti′kei∫(ə)n], n era, [′iərə], n exploit, [ik′splɔit], [ek′splɔit], v fresco, [′freskəu], n infanticide, [in′fæntisaid], n resident, [′rezid(ə)nt], n Study the following words and expressions: ancestor, n [′ænsəstə] - прародитель, предок barley, n [′bɑ:li] – ячмень chariot, n [′t∫æriət] - колесница clay, n [klei] – глина game, n [geim] – дичь grain, n [grein] - зерно; хлебные злаки harvester, n [′hɑ:vistə] - жнец herd, n [hɜ:d] – стадо, гурт; v - пасти стадо hut, n [hʌt] – хижина, шалаш, барак inhabit, v [in′hæbit] – жить, обитать; населять, заселять inhabitable, adj [in′hæbitəbl] – пригодный для жилья inhabitant, n [in′hæbit(ə)nt] – житель, обитатель (syn. – resident) lentil, n [′lent(ə)l] - чечевица rudimentary, adj [‚ru:di′mentari] - элементарный sanctuary, n [′sæŋ(k)t∫uəri]- святилище, алтарь skull, n [skʌl] - череп warfare, n [′wɔ:fεə] – война, военный действия worship, n [′wɜ:∫ip] – поклонение, почитание; v – поклоняться, почитать, боготворить ancestor worship – культ предков bonds of kinship [′bɔndz əf ′kin∫ip] – узы родства horse-drawn chariot [′hɔ:sˏdrɔ:n] – колесница запряженная лошадью infant mortality [′infənt mɔ:′tæləti] – детская смертность life expectancy [lɑif ik′spekt(ə)n(t)si] – средняя продолжительность жизни permanent settlement [′pə:m(ə)nənt ′setlmənt] – постоянное поселение, колония religious rites [ri′lidʒəs raits] – религиозные обряды, ритуалы, церемонии to spell disaster [spel di′zɑ:stə] – сулить несчастье, беду tool kit [′tu:l kit] – набор инструментов, орудий труда trade patterns [′treid ′pæt(ə)nz] – торговые модели Read and translate the text using a dictionary if necessary: Between 9000 B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era, western civilization came into being in Egypt and in what historians call Ancient Western Asia (modern-day Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, southwestern Russia, Iraq and Iran). The earliest permanent settlements occurred between 9000-6000 B.C. and were accompanied by the domestication of plants and animals. Between 4000-3000 B.C., the first cities appeared in response to the pressures of population growth, the organizational requirements of irrigation and the demands of more complex trade patterns. According to our previous definitions, these societies of Egypt and Ancient Western Asia correspond to what we would call civilization. Around 10,000 B.C., many hunter-gatherers living along the coastal plains of modern Syria and Israel and in the valleys and hills near the Zagros Mountains between Iran and Iraq began to develop special strategies that led to a transformation in the human community. Rather than constantly traveling in search of food, people stayed in one region and exploited the seasonal sources of food, including fish, grain, fruits and game. At a community such as Jericho, people built and rebuilt their mud brick and stone huts rather than moving on as had their ancestors. In general, these communities began to focus on seasonal food sources and so were less likely to leave in search of new sources. Just why hunters and gatherers in this region of the ancient world turned to agriculture is difficult to say. And there are a variety of problems associated with this transformation. For one thing, specialization in a relatively small number of plants or animals could spell disaster during times of famine. Some scholars have argued that agriculture developed out of an increased population and the development of a political hierarchy. In settled communities, infant mortality decreased and life expectancy rose. This change may have occurred since life in a fixed community was less demanding. The practice of infanticide decreased since children could now be used in rudimentary agricultural tasks. And as population growth put pressure on the local food supply, gathering activities required more coordination and organization and led eventually to the development of political leadership. Settlements began to encourage the growth of plants such as barley and lentils and the domestication of pigs, sheep and goats. People no longer looked for their favorite food sources where they occurred naturally. Now they introduced them into other locations. An agricultural revolution had begun. The ability to domesticate goats, pigs, sheep and cattle and to cultivate grains and vegetables changed human communities from passive harvesters of nature to active partners with it. The ability to expand the food supply in one area allowed the development of permanent settlements of greater size and complexity. The people of the Neolithic or New Stone Age (8000-5000 B.C.) organized fairly large villages. Jericho grew into a fortified town complete with ditches, stone walls, and towers and contained perhaps 2000 residents. Although agriculture resulted in a stable food supply for permanent communities, the revolutionary aspect of this development was that the community could bring what they needed (natural resources plus their tool kit) to make a new site inhabitable. This development made it possible to create larger communities and also helped to spread the practice of agriculture to a wider area. Farmers in Turkey cultivated plants that came from hundreds of miles away. The presence of tools and statues made of stone not available locally indicates that there was also some trading with distant regions. Agricultural society brought changes in the organization of religious practices as well. Sanctuary rooms decorated with frescoes and sculptures of the heads of bulls and bears shows us that structured religious rites were important to the inhabitants of these early communities. At Jericho, human skulls were covered with clay in an attempt to make them look as they had in life suggesting that they practiced a form of ancestor worship. Bonds of kinship that had united hunters and gatherers were being supplemented by religious organization, which helped to regulate the social behavior of the community. Around 1500 B.C., a new theme appears on the cliff walls at Tassili-n-Ajjer. We see men herding horses and driving horse-drawn chariots. These practices had emerged more than fifteen hundred years earlier in Mesopotamia, a desert plain stretching to the marshes near the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Chariots symbolized a dynamic and expansive phase in western culture. Constructed of wood and bronze and used for transport as well as for warfare, the chariot is symbolic of the culture of early river civilizations, the first civilizations in Ancient Western Asia.
Ex.1. Answer the following questions: 1. What caused the appearance of the first civilizations? When and where did it happen? 2. How did the settled communities differ from the communities of hunter – gatherers? 3. What problems could the settled way of life bring to people? 4. What positive sides did the life in a settled community have? 5. What results did the agricultural revolution bring? 6. How did the changes in agriculture influence economy and religious life? 7. What new image appeared among the rock paintings around 1500 BC? What does it symbolize?
Ex. 2. a) Give English equivalents to the following expressions and explain what spheres of life in the first civilizations they referred to: 1. постоянные поселения 2. продолжительность жизни 3. укрепленный город 4. алтарная комната 5. религиозные обряды 6. элементарные сельскохозяйственные задания 7. поклонение предкам 8. набор инструментов 9. узы родства 10. колесница, запряженная лошадью 11. детская смертность 12. сулить несчастье
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