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WORLD HISTORY KNOWLEDGE
PREHISTORIC MAN
Homo neanderthalensis
* May walk w/ slouch, spine no curves, heads pushed forward, muscular,
clumsy/brutish, heavy jaws, sloping foreheads, lacking intelligence
* Made tools & survived hard environments
* Lived in groups 20-30, europe, north africa
* Cannibals? Or cultural difference
Homo erectus
* Africa - asia
* Had fire 600000 - 200000 yrs ago
* Brain: 775 - 1300 cc, height 5-6 ft
* lived 100000 - 900000 yrs ago
Homo habilis
* brain capacity 650cc
* 'handy person' ; made stone tools for scavenge, hunt, cooking utensils
* Live around 2 mil yrs ago?
* Africa home of earliest humans
* Around kenya, more found w/ thumb to grip/use objects & make tools; upright 2
leg walk
Australopithecus Afarensis
* Lived about 3.2 million years ago
* Height 3ft 6 inches to 4 feet, weight ~60 pounds
* brain capacity 400 cc
* Walked upright - bipedal ape? = ancestor of modern humans
* Had consciousness - doubt?
Homo
* Homonid started from East Africa, Tanzania/Kenya, walked to 6/7 continents &
developed there; climate change needed for migration
* Most evolution formed before separation
* 3 principal interpretations of how Homo sapiens sapiens displaced other homonids:
fought and defeated all others; mated & reproduced among the species; gathered
food & available resources before the others.
PALEOLITHIC AGE
Settlement
- Conflict: fight for best lands & resources (esp. when lacking)
- 25 people/group, to marry outsiders (exogamy), 500 people/tribe required per 7-8
sq. miles of fertile land; groups began to establish small settlements.
Tools
- Tools: unique w/ varying styles of aesthetic appearance. Local patterns
differentiated each group from neighbors.
- 2,500,000–150,000 yrs ago, dominant technology of Homo erectus: stone
hand-held axe and cleaver; 250,000 years ago, Side scrapers, backed knives w/
consistent patterns of preparing flakes from the stone –emergence of archaic
Homo sapiens.; 40,000 yrs ago: narrow blades of stone, bone, ivory & antler
- OTHER TOOLS – instruments, needles… aesthetics & play already had their
roles
Art
- They formed their own dialect. Archaic Homo sapiens were capable of modern
language
- Capable of creativity: cave painting, jewelry, statuettes; the desire to create and
enjoy beautiful objects
NEOLITHIC AGE
Agriculture
- Hunter males, gatherers females; began to settle & observe growth patterns of
wild grains & migration habits of animals. Began planting cereals, maize, and
root crops. Domesticated dogs, sheep…
- Agriculture pros & cons: No lack of food & more byproducts vs. difficult work,
risks of weather, animal diseases.
- Domesticated animals: Horsepower, milk, wool, fur, leather, meat
- FERTILE CRESCENT: Mesopotamia – valley between Tigris & Euphrates
Rivers 12,000 yrs ago (10,000 BC). ATE WHEAT & BARLEY
Non Agricultural
- Tools were useful & aesthetical, made of stone; OBSIDIAN – sharp tools
- JOMON people FISH & store things they gathered instead of farming
- Beautiful pottery: 10,500 BC
Early Settlement
Village
- Helps CREATIVITY: production of textiles, pottery, metallurgy, architecture,
tools…
- Opened new possibilities for economic, social, political & creativity
Cities
- Cities were nodes for trading goods & culture, specialization of labor & social
hierarchy
- Advancing in metallurgy -> BRONZE AGE
- NEW HIERARCHIES – Administrators, artisans, traders, merchants, priests &
kings : Specialized organization, centralized rule & powerful armies
- Kept records – counting with marks, knots… until system of writing in SUMER
SUMER
Sumerians migrated into south Mesopotamia 4000 BC. Before Sumerians
were Ubaids (Semitic-speaking people, who did irrigation) Sumerians outdone
the Ubaids: built BETTER roads, canals for irrigation, etc.
Sumerians: warring city-states, each with central city & temple & fields
Leaders thought of conquering others > EMPIRE
2350 BC Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumerians, united all city-states, until
Hammurabi
Hammurabi: Laws: eye for eye; violent & difference between classes.
City Development
- Loyalty not to family, to city: Single leader – hereditary kings rule w/ priests
big temples: ziggurats consolidated priests’ influences
- Specialization brought on new technology: music, wheel, plow, tools & weapons,
bronze containers, mirrors...
- Traded by wheel carts & sailboat
- Built monuments, walls, moats… had soldiers & troops
WRITING: Pictograms > cuneiform > ideograms > phonetic ; could describe
abstract concepts
EMPIRE
Overview
- Empires: extension of political rule by one people over other, different peoples;
often have leaders abusing power – decadence
Purpose: bring natural resources to mother country ; bring exotic goods & diverse
people under a common rule
- Administration uniform: money, writing, measurements
- Hegemony vs. dominance: people-acceptance rule vs. rule through force
- FALL OF EMPIRES: Failure of leadership, overextension of the administration,
collapse of economy, doubts over ideology, military defeat
Example Empires
- Mesopotamia: Victory by either one city-state was avenged in next generation
Sargon of Akkad: conquered widely, displaced local civilian hierarchies with own
administration.
Invaders: Babylonians & Hittites who fell to... Assyrians: (descendants of
Akkadians) continued warfare; colonized w/ terrorism, conquered Egypt
- Egypt: governed as unified state from the start – kingdom w/ single gov. ruling
single civilization; Religion & state administration very close
Conquered Nubia: has gold, mineral, wood etc. Nubia broke free, conquered back
- Persians: destroyed Assyria, new balance of power among Egyptians, Medes,
Babylonians & Lydia emerged, but were defeated by Persia
Legend of Persian kings’ conquest power so great Babylon didn’t fight them
Honored local religion, merciful to the defeated (Cyrus II), conquered further –
Egypt (Cambyses II, dictatorial), created better administrative units & further
construction of road, etc. (Darius).
TECHNOLOGY: Two-wheel chariot, light w/ hub & spokes & carried 3 soldiers
wooden spears, leather slings hurling stones, crenellated fortresses...
GREECE
CRETE - island
- Minoans @ Crete since 6000BC.
3000BC built villages
2000BC palaces @ Knossos
- Palaces: Royal residence, religion/ritual center, HQ administration for economy;
3/4 major palaces destroyed in 1450BC; last by 1370BC
- Economy: bronze tools, gems, pottery - trade within Eastern Meditteranean
- Picto-writings since 2000BC
syllabic writing since 1700BC
2nd type script: transcribing greek, language of Crete
- Crete under Mycenae control--- 1370BC
MYCENAE - mainland
- Mycenae: capital of several small kingdoms; each had own palace w/ cemetery
(city)surrounded by wall 25ft thick
Stong in warfare, rich
- Mycenaeans: warriors and sailors, traders
trade w/ Crete, share Type B script
- Destroyed or abandoned by end of 12th C.
- New immigrants enter from North
850BC people rebuild society & culture
GREECE
- Greek peninsula: mts, rivers, seas kept polis isolated; still united by language &
history, Olympics
- City-states (polis)- small, local-governed, pop.#~thousands; biggest: 40,000
overpopulation made people spread to Anatolia region, Marseilles (France),
Catalonia (Spain)
- Built on hill[sides]; poor at bottom, rich top
Poor: stone, mud house, plain
- agora (civic market center) higher on hill, clusters of building for trade
Public buildings elegant, comfort & show; gymnasia & agora shows greek values:
public life, discipline & prowess
Ampitheatre shows significance in understanding moral issues of the day
ATHENS - worship Athena on Acropolis
- Leader of greek polis, father of democracy, best preserved
- Rulers:
600BC Solon: general, poet, ended aristocracy-domineered offices; all men may
participate & vote; rich vs. Commoners ->
Council of 400 vs. Assembly balanced things
Cancelled debts so pple arent slaves to pay off debts
Policies crumbled when his rule over (but not forgotten), until...
550BC Peisistratus - tyrant (one man autocratic ruler)
fostered economic growth helping farmers; export promotion programs, road
construction & other architecture work beautifying Athens
Athens chaotic & civil war after his death;
510BC Athens noblemen got Sparta (rival city) to invade
Cleisthenes (tyrant), did away with the aristocratic centers of power by registering
every Athenian as a citizen by residence (deme) in the city Reorganized districts into
ten electoral units -> new political identities and allegiances.
So people are politically loyal to their residence, not heredity or wealth. This unifies
people, and allows immigrants.
Assembly meets every 10 days, all male attend; 6000 necessary.
Council of 500 – open because members were selected from each
neighborhood by lottery – 1 yr term, max. 2 yr.
PERSIA
Darius challenged Greek polis
City-state vs. empire = local administration vs. imperial power = democracy vs
imperial.
Greek polis in Anatolia under Darius’ empire – they had freedom to retain gov. but
must pay tax to Persia
Athens came to help, unsuccessfully, but Darius got angry
490BC Darius attacked Athens by sea
Greeks: advantage of knowing geography, and Athens + Sparta, biggest states
cooperated
Persians: 48,000 in ships vs. Greeks: 10,000 hoplite, 1000 soldiers and 1000
slaves helped
Disciplined formation: phalanxes (tight row after row of soldiers) won over Darius
Xerxes I: 480BC attacked land & sea
Spartans troops defended & died, bought Athens time to regroup & flee
@ Bay of Salamis: 100 Persian ships vs. 300 Greek triremes (3 lvl vessel ~170
rowers)
Athenians cornered Persians in channel & destroyed them
By Land: 479BC 100,000 Persians attacked
Sparta + Athens + others = 40,000 people; WON
Persia left Europe -> overextended powers
GOLDEN AGE of Greece
Athens
- Pericles as leader: democratic, philosophic, Athenians prideful & loyal; started
colonizing, wanted radical egalitarian democracy
- @ agora, everyone went & socialized, CENTER of the city. Physical prowess &
discipline important.
- Philosophy. Socrates (loyal citizen) > Plato (non-sexist) > Aristotle (sexist)
- Limits: State > citizen; women, non-citizen cannot participate. Men = men = true
friendship
- Constructed empire of own; started with Delian League, alliance: Athens & other
city-states, for the war. Eventually members could not leave the league, but
cannot meet Athens’ demands for tribute & ships; Athens used funds to beautify
city
- Peloponnesian War: 461BC they turn Sparta for help; ten yrs Athens/allies vs.
Sparta/allies; 432BC Sparta attacks Athens, 404BC Sparta supported by Persia
- Athens: Thalassocracy – Sparta destroy their fleet & city collapses
Alexander the Great Empire
Philip
- Philip prince>king of Macedonia’s goals: unify peaceful Greece; liberate Greek
city-states from Persia
Built strong army & fought himself
- Established new towns in areas he conquered to pacify & administer the area;
relatively good ruler, but main Greece opposed him w/ orator Demosthenes’
“philippics” (condemning speech) predicting end of democracy if Macedonia
conquers Greece
Alexander the Great
- Age 20 succeeded throne, disciplined army by horse went 22,000 mi. conquering
lands from Egypt to India; largest empire of his time
- Benevolent despotism (respecting local religions, ruling through local hierarchy,
maintained local tax rates), but killed those who opposed him to display power
- Army would not go further, he died in Babylon 323BC, empire broke up
- 2 major kingdoms after: Egypt (Ptolemies), Babylon +Iran, Afghanistan, Anatolia
(Seleucids)
Legacy
- Diffused Greek language & culture, while local cultures persevered & made
Greek culture more complex, elaborate, cosmopolitan
built Hellenistic ecumene (multi-cultural center community)
- Roads, canals & new cities, w/ greatest library Alexandria of Greek knowledge;
flow of trade & culture