Download DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION

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H I S T O R Y
Development of Civilization
Development of Civilization
Key Terms and Concepts:
Civilization
Code of Hammurabi
Culture
Cuneiform
Hieroglyphics
Monarchy
Monotheism
Neolithic Revolution
Key Locations:
Egypt
Euphrates River
Huang He
Indus River
Israel
Mesopotamia
Nile River
Tigris River
Pharaoh
Ten Commandments
Theocracy
Key Questions:
 What was the Neolithic Revolution?
 What factors led to the ride of the first civilizations?
 What were the accomplishments of the early river-valley civilizations?
Key Ideas:
 The earliest humans survived by hunting and gathering their food. They used tools of wood, bone,
and stone. They also learned to make fire.
 About 10,000 years ago, people in the Middle East developed the first agriculture and
domesticated animals during the Neolithic Revolution.
 A civilization is a form of human culture in which some people live in cities, have complex social
institutions, use some form of writing, and are skilled at using science and technology.
 The first civilizations arose in river valleys, where favorable geographic conditions allowed
farmers to grow a surplus of food.
 The Sumerians in Mesopotamia invented the wheel, sailboat, and cuneiform writing. The
Egyptians developed an advanced civilization along the banks of the Nile. They build large stone
pyramids for the afterlife of their ruler – the pharaoh – and developed a form of writing known as
hieroglyphics.
 Other early civilizations developed along the Indus River on the Indian sub-continent and along
the Huang-He (Yellow River) in China.
 The earliest civilizations were theocracies and monarchies. In a theocracy, religious leaders
govern; in a monarchy, a hereditary ruler heads the government.
 Judaism, the religion of the ancient Hebrews, was the first religion to worship only one god.
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PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
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Early Human Soceity
Rise of Rivery Valley
Civilizations
Neolithic Revolution
Hunters and Gatherers
Hebrews
China
Indus River Valley
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Learned to herd animals
People learned to grow
food
Harrappa and Mohanjo
Dara
Built large cities
Judaism
Shang Dynasty
Pictographs
Contributions
Monotheism
Mandate of Heaven
Skilled in Bronze
Silk and Textiles
Developed along the
Huang He
Had their own form of
writing
Monarchy
Pyramids
Learned to irrigate land
Ziggurats
Code of Hammurabi
Ruled by Pharaoh
Hieroglyphics
Believed in afterlife
Fertile land allowed
farmers to grow surplus
Area between Tigris and
Euphrated River
Built Cities
Legal System
Early Human Society
Anthropologists study the origins, customs, and beliefs of humankind. Most anthropologists now believe the Great Rift
Valley in East Africa was the birthplace of humankind. Many scientists believe that human beings as we know them today
– homo sapiens – first appeared sometime between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age.
The Importance of Culture
Human beings had several important advantages over other animals superior intellect, the use of hands to make tools, and
the ability to communicate through speech. Because human beings had these ways of communicating, remembering and
making things, they were able to pass on what they learned and their way of doing things from one generation to the next.
In this way, the first human cultures developed.
Culture refers to a people’s way of life. Culture includes such things as a people’s language,
types of clothing, homes, family organization, system of government, and methods of
obtaining food. Culture also includes a people’s crafts, arts, music, and religious beliefs.
The Hunter-Gatherers
• People in the earliest human societies were hunter gatherers. They did not know how to grow their own food. Instead,
they relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants for food. They learned to make fires and spears with pieces
of bone or stone, and to make canoes and boats out of logs. Because these people made tools of stone, historians refer
to these early societies as Stone Age cultures. Over thousands of years, Stone Age peoples also learned to make clay
pottery and domesticate (tame) dogs.
•
Early humans spent most of their time hunting for food. They migrated to areas where food – nuts, berries, fruits,
grains and especially herds of wild animals – could be found. During the Ice Age, people migrated out of Africa to
other parts of the world. Eventually, people even migrated to the Americas and Australia. Wherever people went, they
showed great ingenuity in adapting to local conditions.
The Neolithic Revolution
• About 10,000 years ago, one of the great turning points in history occurred. People began to change from hunters and
gatherers to producers of food. Two important developments brought about this change: people learned how to grow
food and how to herd animals.
•
Anthropologists believe this change first occurred in parts of the Middle East, where wild wheat and barley were
plentiful. People noticed they could spread the seeds of these grains to plant and grow their own crops. They also
learned how to herd farm animals such as goats, sheep and cattle. These advances are now referred to as the Neolithic
Revolution.
•
Wherever agriculture was introduced, people no longer had to wander in search of food. Instead, they could build
permanent homes and villages and establish a fixed way of life. Populations grew. Although the emergence of
agricultural societies is believed to have first occurred in Southwest Asia, it also took place independently at later
times in SE Asia, Africa and the Americas.
•
Benefits and Problems: People could grow more food than they had been able to gather or hunt, but they were also
more vulnerable to attack by other peoples. Thus changes in economics – how these people met their needs for food
and shelter – led to social and political changes. The introduction of agriculture and settlements led to the emergence
of two new social classes: warriors and priests. Defense of the village became a major concern, resulting in the
emergence of a warrior class. Priesthood emerged to conduct religious rituals in order to promote a good harvest and
to protect the village from danger.
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Early Human Society
Anthropologists believe that the first human beings (homo-sapiens-sapiens) appeared on earth during the
last geologic ice age (200,000 – 400,000 years ago).
The people who wandered the earth as this time lived in what we call the Paleolithic (old stone) Age.
These early societies were organized as Hunter-Gatherers
 Diet: hunting, fishing, foraging (wild plants and animals)

Technology: use of fire; make tools from stone and bone; make canoes and shelter from logs

Critical to the advancement and development of our specie has been our ability to adapt to
new environments and conditions.
Around 10,000 years ago began the Neolithic (new stone) Age.
 Two important developments:

With these two developments, many populations ceased to be nomadic and began settling in
permanent locations. This would mark the beginning of the ancient conflict between
agriculturalists and pastoralists developing as a result of fundamental differences in how land
should be used.

These developments also allowed for a surplus of food, which meant that not everyone in a
population was responsible for feeding themselves (subsistence farming to commercial
farming)
o People were able to develop other skills, ultimately leading to Division of Labor.
Because some skills are regarded as more valuable than others, social classes began
to emerge.
o Warrior Class: dedicated to the defense of community from physical dangers/attack
o

Priesthood: dedicated to defense of community from spiritual dangers and promotion
of good weather/harvest
Civilizations are defined as having four qualities:
-Urban populations
-Complex social institutions
-System of writing
-Advancements in science and technology
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Hunter-Gatherer Culture (Overview)
History began when humans first passed stories from one generation to the
next. Prehistory, then, covers events that occurred so long ago that no oral
or written stories about them exist. Scholars must construct the history of
prehistoric humans based on the physical evidence they left behind.
The earliest human artifacts consist mainly of human skulls and bones and
stone tools. Starting around 40,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic Age
(Old Stone Age), human settlements—as opposed to the random skeletal
remains of earlier times—begin to appear in the archaeological record. Such
evidence becomes more plentiful for the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age),
which began about 10,000 years ago.
What Paleolithic Artifacts Tell Us
Archaeologists have discovered many artifacts from the Paleolithic Age that point to
developments in human culture. Stone tools, piles of animal bones scarred from
butchering, split stones, piles of stone shards from toolmaking, human burial sites,
and paintings on the walls of caves indicate that Paleolithic people were inventive and
capable of abstract thought.
Many of the artifacts from those periods show advances in technology, including
standardized arrowheads and stone blades with long cutting edges. Such stone tools could be used for a variety of
purposes, like cleaning and poking holes in animal hides and boring holes in bones, wood, or softer rocks.
Archaeologists have also found bone tools, like needles for sewing clothing, harpoons for catching big fish, and
javelins and spear throwers for hunting.
The abundance of tools for working with animal hides indicates that animals were used for clothing and shelter as
well as for food. Tools found in modern-day France, made by humans of the Solutrean culture of about 20,000 years
ago, were particularly well crafted. The high quality and elaborate decoration of those tools lead archaeologists to
believe that they may have been displayed as prized possessions or used as gifts to help create alliances between
different groups.
Small human communities probably moved around to follow the herds of horses, reindeer, bison, woolly
rhinoceroses, and mammoths that they hunted. Scientists speculate that the domestication of horses and reindeer
may have developed out of that pattern of following the herds to hunt them. In addition to a diet of meat, it is likely
that Paleolithic humans ate fruit, seeds, shoots, and roots where and when they were available. Because of those
two main methods of acquiring food, humans living during this time are often called hunter-gatherers.
Although no tools like spoons, ladles, or cooking pots from the Paleolithic Age have been found, there is evidence of
the use of fire, so it is certainly possible that cooking was done without using containers or that the cooking
containers were made of perishable or even edible materials, like woven reeds, leaves, or fruit peels.
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Caves provided an obvious source of shelter, and humans may have used mammoth tusks to prop up doors made of
animal skins. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a conical tent with a hearth near the center. Tools were
found near the hearth, with food and domestic trash just outside the tent area. Refuse piles not far away included flint
shavings, bones of animals, and split stones.
Cave Paintings
Art in caves began to appear in the late Paleolithic Age with simple engravings. Around 30,000 BCE, the first known
"paintings," created by blowing pigment over a hand held between a person's mouth and the cave wall, were made in
present-day southern France. Paleolithic humans also engraved designs on bones and produced sculpted figurines
and carvings. Those artifacts are called "moveable art" because they could be carried around as the community
moved from camp to camp.
Cave paintings discovered at three different European sites indicate that by about 15,000
BCE, Paleolithic people had highly developed symbolic forms of communication. The caves at
Altamira (in Spain), Lascaux, and Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc (both in France) are stunningly beautiful
and complex.
The excavations at Altamira, begun in 1879, yielded many tools made of stone and bone,
which helped to form the foundation of modern understanding of prehistoric human life. The
cave also presented a variety of painted and engraved decorations: bison, wild boars, horses,
a deer, human-shaped figures, and handprints.
The cave paintings at Lascaux (discovered in 1940) and Chauvet Cave (discovered in 1994) in
France primarily show animals, along with some hunting tools and human figures. Many
images are full of motion and harmony and seem to tell the story of a hunt, depicted in a
series of images going from left to right. More than 2,000 paintings and engravings have been
uncovered at Lascaux and more than 300 at Chauvet. Using carbon-14 dating analysis,
scientists have determined that some of the paintings at Chauvet are at least 31,000 years
old, which makes them the oldest known paintings on Earth. Unlike those at Altamira, the
French caves do not contain any other remnants of human habitation, which leads some
archaeologists to theorize that they were used only for purposes related to the paintings, like
religious or magical rituals.
Cave paintings provide evidence of the development of complex belief systems in Paleolithic cultures. Many images
are layered over previous images, which indicates that the end result was not as important as the act of creating the
image. In any case, the very creation of two-dimensional signs for living things demonstrates the ability to think in
abstract terms—a major characteristic of human culture.
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Hunter-Gatherer Culture
1. What is the difference between historic and prehistoric eras?
Prehistoric refers to a time before written records are kept
Historic implies that there is a written and recorded history kept by people of that time
2. What kinds of artifacts have been discovered from the Paleolithic Age? What can we learn about people from that
time based on these artifacts?
Tools, animal bones, cave paintings, and burial sites all give us insight as to what people during
this time were doing/eating/wearing etc... They also tell us what kinds of things these people
felt were valuable or important.
3. Describe the diet of early hunter-gatherers:
Meat and fish, fruit, nuts, roots, other edible plants. Evidence suggests that their diet was
relatively good, and that early hunter-gatherers spent less time looking for food than we
might otherwise imagine.
4. What do the cave painting at Altamira and Lascaux depict?
Animals, hunters, handprints, hunting scenes,...
In Lascaux they appear to be telling a story
5. What can prehistoric works of art teach us about the people who made them?
Like other forms of evidence and artifacts, these works tell a lot about what
these people felt was valuable. The fact that they appear to be recording a
story tells us that they wanted to pass something along to the future. While its
not a formalized written language, they do seem to be trying to communicate
something.
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Initially proposed by Childe in 1929, that theory, known
as the "oasis theory," seemed reasonable at the time;
however, in the years since Childe's research, scientists
have determined that no drought occurred in the Near
East following the ice age.
Cultivating Crops,
Domesticating Animals
For most of human history, people fed themselves on
edibles they were able to gather in fields, forests, and
marine areas, and by hunting or even scavenging the
kills left by other predators. Then, around 10,000 years
ago, humans in the region known as the Near East began
cultivating selected varieties of wheat and barley and
domesticating sheep and goats. Over time, the people of
this and nearby regions expanded their agricultural and
domesticating practices to a widening range of crops and
animals. By about 7500 BCE, farming developed
in China, where they domesticated the pig and planted
rice, millet, and soybeans. By 3500 BCE, in various
parts of the Americas, humans were planting beans,
corn, potatoes, squash, and sunflowers.
Natural Habitat Zone Hypothesis
In the 1950s, Robert Braidwood emerged as one of the
predominant archaeologists in the study of early
agriculture. He hypothesized that plants easiest to
cultivate would be those that grew well in the wild, and
therefore farming probably began in habitats where
conditions allowed wild food to grow naturally and in
abundance. His research in the hilly regions of what is
now northern Iraq uncovered evidence of an early
farming village, which supported his "natural habitat
zone hypothesis" (also known as "the nuclear zone
hypothesis" or "hilly flanks theory"). He further
contended that human knowledge at that point in time
was such that people were technologically ready to
experiment with planting. For example, in the area
known as the Fertile Crescent, people had already
developed important tools, including sharply polished
sickles for gathering wild grain and highly polished
grinding stones that could process it into flour.
Food production did not replace hunting and gathering in
all human societies the world over, nor did it become
widespread overnight in the regions where it was
adopted. To settle permanently in one place and engage
in the labor intensive tasks demanded by an agricultural
way of life was a dramatic departure from what humans
were used to. While archaeologists and scholars continue
to debate and seek definitive answers to the question of
why many human societies switched from hunting and
gathering to food production, they have developed
theories that point to a number of environmental,
geographical, demographic, and cultural factors.
More recently, physiologist and evolutionary biologist
Jared Diamond has argued that agriculture developed in
the areas where environmental factors most favored it—
that is, wherever the geography, climate, and migration
routes supported a large diversity of plants and animals
that were easily controlled, productive, and suitable as
food. That development may include such plants
as barley, rye, and wheat, and such animals as goats,
pigs, and sheep.
The Oasis Theory
The prominent 20th-century scholar V. Gordon
Childe theorized that at the end of the Pleistocene epoch,
the Near East experienced a serious drought. During
extended dry periods, plants tend to grow primarily
around such water sources as river valleys and oases.
Humans and animals in turn would have gravitated to
those same areas, each competing for the same
resources. In order to survive, he suggested, humans first
observed and then developed strategies to control the
plant and animal resources around them.
Demographic Pressures, the Marginal Zone
Hypothesis, and Cultural Factors
Although environmental factors certainly played a role,
many scholars resist the notion of "environmental
determinism." Observing the few hunting and gathering
societies that exist in modern times, anthropologists note
that they spend relatively little time acquiring food and
have a lot of leisure time. That fact might suggest that
humans would have made the shift to food production
(which requires hard work every day) only if and when
they were forced to do so—especially if they lived in
areas where wild foods and animals were abundant.
Increased population, possibly combined with declining
sources of wild foods and animals, are considered likely
factors that could have forced the change in practices for
obtaining food.
In the 1970s, archaeological theorist Lewis Binford
developed what he called the "marginal zone
hypothesis." He contended that population increases led
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groups to migrate to areas that were already inhabited by
other groups. When tension and competition for
resources
resulted,
successful hunter-gatherers and
nomadic peoples forced less successful newcomers into
marginal zones where wild plants and animals were not
plentiful. To overcome their food shortages, those
groups were forced to produce their own food.
and cities grew up around the agricultural areas, enabling
large numbers of people to exchange their knowledge
and skills. People could then develop pottery-making
techniques—since pottery was needed to store food
surpluses—and create more sophisticated, larger tools.
(Pots and large tools would have been difficult to carry
when constantly on the move.) That, in turn, created
opportunities for economic specialization, which—for
better or worse—allowed for the accumulation of
wealth.
In the past 20 years, some scholars have suggested that
because humans are complex creatures with equally
complex social relationships, other factors besides
climate and population do need to be considered. There
is a growing belief that because food products are useful
for trade, hunter-gatherers with a surplus would have an
elevated status in their society. This might create
competition that would motivate humans to find new
ways of creating more surpluses.
Disadvantages accompanied the transition to food
production as well. Compared to hunting and gathering,
farming is harder physical work, more time consuming,
and offers a more limited variety of foods. Year after
year of growing the same crop in the same plot of land
leads to soil depletion. In addition, diseases that arose
from living in constant proximity with other humans and
animals posed a new threat. That proximity also required
the development of efficient and hygienic methods to
dispose of human and animal waste.
As no conclusive evidence has been found to prove or
disprove the most likely theories, the research
continues.
Domesticating Animals
While those theories apply equally to explaining
animal domestication, there is also a more specific
theory to consider. Some scholars assert that there is a
natural symbiosis between humans and animals. For
example, during the hunting stage, dogs were likely used
as retrievers and would then be fed with the scraps.
Archaeological evidence from the Natufian site in
present-day Israel indicates that dogs were probably the
first animals to be domesticated.
Despite the disadvantages, the move to a settled,
agricultural way of life transformed human societies into
what has been called the most significant "revolution" in
human history.
The concept of a symbiotic relationship applies to other
species of animals, too. Animals that tend to be easily
herded could be led to areas with more resources for
their survival, while they, in turn, provided food
products (like milk and meat) for the humans herding
them. Archaeological evidence indicates that the first
animals to be domesticated in the Near East were sheep
and goats; in China, pigs were the first to be
domesticated; reindeer were first domesticated in
northern Eurasia; and llamas were first domesticated in
South America.
MLA Citation
"Cultivating
Crops,
Domesticating
Animals
(Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval
Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Consequences of Sedentism and Agriculture
While the reasons that motivated humans to live
permanently in one place (sedentism) and begin
cultivating crops and domesticating animals remains
uncertain, the consequences are clearly evident. While
some of the consequences created new opportunities for
people, others created a new set of problems.
Advantages of the new way of life included a relatively
stable food supply (if weather and insects didn't damage
the crops) and the opportunity to store surpluses. Towns
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Cultivating Crops, Domesticating Animals
1. What were some of the first plants and animals to be domesticated for agriculture?
Mesopotamia - wheat, barley, sheep and goats
China - rice, millet, soybeans, pigs
Mesoamerica - beans, corn, potatoes, squash, sunflowers
2. Give a brief summary of Lewis Binford’s “Marginal Zone Hypothesis” of the Neolithic Revolution:
Binford suggests that hunter-gatherer populations were higher in regions where food was
naturally plentiful, and thus less successful/competative hunter-gatherers were forced to the
margins/outskirts of these territories. With little food easily found in these outskirts,
societies were forced to adapt, and agriculture was the result.
3. Why do some anthropologists argue that hunter-gatherer societies work less for their food than do agriculturalists?
Agriculture requires more intense labor, is more time consuming, and offers fewer dietary options.
By studying hunter-gatherer societies today, anthropologists have been able to assume that similar
societies of the ancient world probably had better diets and less disease than early farmers.
4. What was probably the first animal to be domesticated by hunter-gather societies?
Dogs, as natural scavangers, probably began following human migrations very early.
Evidence suggests that they may have been the first animal human-beings acutally coexisted with.
5. List three advantages and three disadvantages of “sedentism” after the Neolithic agricultural revolution:
Advantage:
Greater amount of food, more stable food supply, greater exchange of knowledge and skills,
specialization of labor, greater potential for wealth
Disadvantage:
Harder work, less food variety and probably poorer diet, soil depletion, greater risk of
disease and contamination from human/animal waste
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The Rise of River Valley Civilizations
The first civilizations developed in four separate river valleys. Each of these river valleys offered a mild climate and a
water highway to other places. Water from the rivers also could be used for drinking and for cooking food. Each of these
valleys was also a flood plain where an overflowing river deposited fertile soil. This rich soil led to abundant harvests and
food surpluses.
Civilization is a form of human culture in which some people live in cities, have
complex social institutions, use some form of writing, and are skilled at using science and
technology.
MESOPOTAMIA (3500 B.C.-1700 B.C.)
Sometime between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the first river valley civilization developed in Mesopotamia, the region
located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (in present-day Iraq), Mesopotamia was a Greek term meaning the “land
between two rivers.”
Agriculture: Although Mesopotamia was hot and dry, people learned how to irrigate the land by diverting water from the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Irrigation allowed farming settlements to flourish and food supplies to increase. Fewer
people were able to produce more food, leading to a surplus. Other people could begin to specialize in activities other than
farming. Some became potters, weavers or metal workers. Others became warriors and priests.
Government: The people of Mesopotamia built several cities. At first, each city state, such as Uruk, Ur, and Babylon, had
its own ruler and local gods. Later, several of these city-states were united together under a single ruler.
Religion: The Mesopotamians were polytheistic, believing in as many as 2,000 different gods. Some historians contend
that Mesopotamian religions were the world’s oldest faiths. Mesopotamian rulers were often priests. A society governed
by religious leaders is known as theocracy.
Building: The Mesopotamians were the world’s first city-builders. They lacked stone or timber to build their cities.
Instead, they made their buildings from mud bricks and crushed reeds. They built walled cities, temples with arches, and
stepped-pyramids known as ziggurats. Each ziggurat was made of a series of square levels, with each level slightly
smaller than the one below it.
Cultural and Scientific Contributions: Some of the most important inventions in history took place in ancient
Mesopotamia. The Sumerians (the people of Sumer) invented the wheel and the sailboat. They were able to figure how to
reroute some of the water to irrigate fields farther away. They also developed tools and weapons of copper and bronze.
Bronze is made by melting tin and copper together; it is stronger than copper alone. The Sumerians devised a calendar,
dividing the year into 12 months. Later, the Babylonians developed a number system based on 60, providing the basis for
our seconds and minutes today. They also invented the world’s earliest known writing system, cuneiform, a form of
symbol writing on clay tablets. Cuneiform writing used 3D marks by a stylus into clay before it hardened. Only the elite
could read and write in cuneiform. Generally, priests and scribes were the ones who had this knowledge.
Ziggurat
Region Map
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Cuneiform
Mesopotamia
Sometime between 5,000-6,000 years ago settlements developed into civilization between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers in a land known as Mesopotamia. (present day: Iraq)
Chief Developments:

Agriculture – the development of irrigation allowed people to successfully grow crops in arid
places, increasing populations and (perhaps more importantly) increasing community/public
works projects

Government – as culture developed, the many cities of Mesopotamia (Uruk, Ur, Babylon,...)
united/were conquered to be ruled as a single empire. Local gods continued to be revered, and
new conquests tended to add more gods to a very full pantheon.

Religion – culture was Polytheistic following as many as 2,000 gods. As such, the priesthood
held a significant role in leadership, and kings were often high-priests as well making many of the
Mesopotamian empires political theocracy

Architecture – among the earliest city builders. Lacking timber and stone resources,
Mesopotamians built with mud/clay bricks and reeds to include such structures as the giant
stepped temples called ziggurats.

Technological and Cultural Achievements – developed the wheel, sail-boat
o
Metallurgy – blended tin and copper to make bronze
o
Astronomy – created calendar divided into 12 months
o
Writing – developed system of characters called cuneiform
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The Code of Hammurabi:
Hammurabi’s Code treated nobles and commoners differently. Some of the Code’s provisions punished criminals quite
harshly:
-
195: If a son strikes his father his hands shall be [cut] off.
196: If a [noble] man puts out the eye of another [noble] man his eye shall be put out.
197: If he breaks another [noble] man’s bone his bone shall be broken.
198: If he puts out the eye of a [commoner] he shall pay one [silver] mina.
o From the Code of Hammurabi
How did the penalty a nobleman faced for putting out the eye of another nobleman or a commoner differ?
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Women in Mesopotamia:
Most girls stayed at home with their mothers, where they learned cooking and housekeeping. Women were responsible for
raising the children and crushing the grain. There were enormous variations in the rights enjoyed by women in different
social classes. Wealthier women were able to go to the marketplace to buy goods, could complete legal matters in their
husband’s absence, and could even own property. These women could engage in business for themselves, and obtain
divorces. A few women, such as relatives of the ruler, enjoyed even higher status in Mesopotamian society.
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The First Farmers of the
Fertile Crescent
animal might be slaughtered. However, the men
probably still continued to hunt certain types of food.
The skins or wool of slaughtered animals were saved for
making clothing.
After the Pleistocene epoch, in the area known as
the Fertile Crescent (present-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Syria, and the southeastern part of Turkey),
people began to settle in one place where wild food was
plentiful, even before they began farming. Once they
started planting seeds, cultivating crops, and storing their
harvests, settlements grew into villages that required
permanent living structures, animal quarters, and space
to store surplus food.
Men had other tasks, like
building and repairing
homes, storage areas, and
animal enclosures. As
daylight faded, the herds
needed to be rounded up
and brought back to their
pens. It would take several
men working together to do this. By waving their arms
and perhaps using sticks as prods, the men would take
different positions around the herd and drive the animals
toward the settlement, and then into a fenced-in area.
Houses were usually constructed of mud brick walls
with a flat roof. Inside, there would be a hearth, stone
bowls and baskets, and possibly underground pits for
storing food. There might also be mud brick bins for
storing surplus grain. Several homes were grouped
together into a settlement of one or more extended
families who shared the work and food.
Despite all this work, the first
farmers also began developing
other skills and crafts, like making
increasingly sophisticated tools,
baskets, pottery, and cloth. As
settlements grew into villages,
such craft items as those plus
surplus grain and dairy products
were used for trading. That
exchange not only provided the
first farmers with special items, it
enabled them to establish social ties to neighboring
villages.
It was generally the women who went into the fields to
plant, weed, or harvest, depending on the season. Their
earliest methods of planting and weeding involved using
sticks for digging. For harvesting, the women would use
a sickle, a tool with a semicircular wood handle with
blades of polished stone inserted into it. That tool
enabled them to cut handfuls of wheat sheaves at one
stroke.
Returning
to
the
settlement, the women
would batter the stalks to
crack the husk, or chaff
(seed coverings), and then
toss it in the air so that the
chaff would blow away.
This left the grain itself on
the ground. Then, they would grind the grain into coarse
flour by either pressing it between two heavy, flat stones
or by crushing it with a stone mortar and pestle. The
flour could then be mixed with water or olive oil and
baked on the hearth or made into porridge by mixing it
with goat milk.
Both men and women developed the knowledge of how
to select and breed the most productive seeds and the
strongest, meatiest animals. As time went on, the people
of the Fertile Crescent experimented so that eventually
they were able to successfully breed cattle and pigs, and
grow chickpeas, dates, figs, flax, lentils, olives, onions,
peas, and pomegranates.
MLA Citation
Unger, Linda. "The First Farmers of the Fertile
Crescent." World History: Ancient and Medieval
Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Other chores included making reed baskets and stone
bowls for storing and carrying, making tools, and
making clothing from animal furs and fibers. At some
point, women began to spin wool and fiber into yarn and
weave it into cloth. Perhaps the first cloth ever made was
linen (made from flax plants) in Mesopotamia.
A man's day probably began at sunrise. The animals
needed to be milked, then taken out of their pens to drink
and graze on wild grasses. If meat was needed, an
19
EGYPT (3200 B.C.- 500 B.C.):
Egypt is located in Northeast Africa. The world’s longest river, the Nile, runs through it. Each year, the Nile floods the
lands along its banks, depositing fertile soil. With bright sunshine, a long growing season, rich soil, and an ample supply
of fresh water, Egyptian farmers were able to grow large amounts of food. Farmers along the Nile were able to support a
large number of craftsmen, warriors, priests, and nobles. Ease of communication along the river encouraged the
development of a highly centralized government.
Government and Society: The most powerful person in ancient Egypt was the pharaoh (king). The pharaoh governed
Egypt as an absolute ruler. The pharaoh owned all the land, commanded the army, made laws, controlled irrigation and
grain supplies, and defended Egypt from foreigners. Egyptians considered the pharaoh to be a god. Egypt was a
monarchy, a system of government in which political power is inherited. Each pharaoh inherited absolute power from his
father. Next in the social order below the pharaoh came the priests and nobles. Then came Egypt’s warriors, scribes,
merchants and craftsmen. At the bottom of society were peasants and slaves. They spent their time farming, herding
cattle, and working of building projects for the pharaohs.
Religion: The ancient Egyptians believed the body should be preserved after death to participate in the afterlife. When
pharaohs died, their bodies were embalmed and buried in a special room under a large triangular stone tomb known as a
pyramid. Here they were surrounded with gold, jewels, and other precious objects for use in the afterlife, which Egyptians
imagined as similar to life before death. Archaeologists have used these artifacts to learn a great deal about ancient Egypt.
Egyptian Accomplishments:
Medicine: Egyptians developed knowledge of the human body through embalming (preserving). They
performed surgical operations, such as setting fractures.
Hieroglyphics: Ancient Egyptians developed one of the first forms of writing, based on picture
symbols. Hieroglyphics appeared on temples, pyramids and on scrolls of reed paper, known as papyrus.
Building and Art: Egyptian architects and engineers built magnificent pyramids, palaces, and temples of
stone. They decorated their buildings and with paintings and sculptures.
Geometry & Astronomy: Egyptians developed geometry to build projects such as pyramids. By observing
the starts, they developed a calendar based on 365 days.
Pyramid at Giza
Pharaoh Iconography
20
Hieroglyphics
Egypt
The Nile River which cuts through Egypt has long been renowned for its fertile soil and agricultural
wealth. Communities within this River Valley were (with surpluses of food) able to support large
populations of craftsmen, warriors, priests, and nobles.
The river also eased travel, communication, and trade along a relatively long stretch of territory, fostering
an interconnected economy and culture, which encouraged the development of a centralized government

Government and Society – the most power individual of the ancient Nile was the Pharaoh who
was regarded as both a king and a god, making him (and on rare occasion her) the head of both
political and religious affairs. This means that Egypt was a theocracy
o
Beneath the royal family were classes of priests and nobles (aristocrats), followed by
warriors and skilled laborers, all supported by a large class of peasants and slaves.

Religion – Egyptians held a strong belief in an afterlife in which one’s soul would be tested by
gods and demons. Giant stone tombs known as pyramids were constructed (at equally enormous
cost) to house the bodies of pharaohs who were expected to rule over death as they had over life.

Technological and Cultural Achievements –
o
Medicine: gained knowledge of anatomy and physiology through the practice of
mummification; used this knowledge to treat the living in early attempts at surgery.
o
Writing: pictographic code of symbols called hieroglyphics used to record legends,
histories, and trade.
o
Architecture: designed, engineered, and built massive tombs, palaces, and temples.
Extensive use of decorated/painted columns and statues
o
Math and Science: studied geometry as exemplified in building projects; developed
calendar based upon 365 day cycle
21
the life force of sunlight, which allowed Egyptian
agriculture to be so productive.
Egyptian Religion and the Afterlife
According to ancient Egyptian creation myths, death and
rebirth defined the nature of the cosmic order. Several of
the primary Egyptian gods died in order to be reborn; the
agricultural cycle along the Nile River experienced a
death and rebirth each year; and even the sun, the moon,
and the stars had regular cycles of what appeared to be
life, death, and rebirth. For the ancient Egyptians,
honoring and maintaining that cosmic order was a
central component of daily life.
By the time of the New
Kingdom, Osiris emerged
as the preeminent god. An
ancient myth states that
Osiris was a king murdered
by his brother, Seth, who
cut Osiris into pieces and
spread them along the Nile.
Osiris' companion, Isis, mourned him bitterly, gathered
the pieces, and magically resurrected him. From that
point, Osiris ruled the underworld. Osiris and Isis then
had a son, Horus, who avenged his father by retaking the
throne from his murderous uncle. According to the myth,
Horus then became the first of the earthly pharaohs.
It was believed that the gods as well as the dead were
never too far from the living. Since gods and the dead
could influence daily life, it became important to
acknowledge their presence and treat them both with
respect and reverence by caring for their needs and
presenting them with such offerings as food, beer, and
precious objects, often in vast quantities.
The pharaoh ruled the present world, and Osiris ruled the
afterworld. The pharaoh was divine, and it was his
responsibility to carry out the gods' wishes on earth
while also protecting the people and providing blessings
from the gods. As the link between gods and men, the
pharaoh was the religious head of Egypt, although
priests carried out religious ceremonies in his place
while he governed.
In the temples, priests not only worshiped the gods, but
they also clothed and fed their statue representations,
serving them day and night. Most ordinary people
however, were more likely to leave offerings at the
temple of a local god in the region where they lived or at
the tombs of their dead. That devotion was meant to
solicit help from the gods and ward off trouble from the
dead. Ordinary Egyptians also wore charms for
protection from various ills. Priests were experts at
magical incantations useful for getting answers to
difficult questions and were known for their wisdom in
making decisions.
Life After Death
To the ancient Egyptians, death was a transition rather
than an end. When one left this world (by death), one
moved on to live in the world of Osiris. Since one would
spend eternity in the next world, preparing for it was far
more important than day-to-day life in the present.
Gods, Goddesses, and Kings
It
is
important
to
understand that while the
Egyptians had many gods
and goddesses, their notion
of the personalities of each
of these deities evolved
over thousands of years.
Across
centuries,
the
characteristics ascribed to a deity might change or
become more complex. Several gods overlapped, sharing
similar qualities or powers, and often a god or goddess
was associated with a specific location in ancient Egypt.
Many also shared the characteristics of an animal, so
they were often illustrated with animal heads or masks.
Although journeying from
this world to the next was
possible for every Egyptian,
it was not easy. A person's
heart must first be weighed
on a scale against truth,
order, and justice. If the
heart
was
free
of
wrongdoing (and, thus, light as a feather), the deceased
could proceed on the journey with Osiris, but if not, he
was devoured by a monster-god. However, the ancient
Egyptians had help in surviving the weighing of the
heart and other obstacles, in the form of magical spells,
hymns, prayers, and declarations of their upright
character that were written down and placed with the
body of the deceased. Scribes wrote those texts drawing
upon a compilation of prayers and spells that the
Egyptians called "The Book of the Coming Forth by
Day," which scholars today refer to as the Egyptian
Book of the Dead.
The most important god during the Old Kingdom was
Re (or Ra), the sun god. Re provided sustenance to
Egypt by day, died at sundown, but was raised to life
again every morning after journeying through
the underworld during the night. Thus, Re overcame
death and decay on a daily basis, in addition to providing
22
Evidence of Egyptian Beliefs
The Book of the Dead has
provided archaeologists and
historians with substantial
information about funerary
practices and beliefs in
ancient Egypt. However,
there are numerous other
sources, including the art, architecture, inscriptions,
and artifacts found in pyramids, tombs, and temples. The
great Egyptian pyramids of the Old Kingdom are the
best known of those sources. Built as the tombs of kings,
they contain every imaginable kind of evidence, from
wall paintings and inscriptions to everyday items. Nearly
everything the deceased would need in his or her new
life, like food, furniture, clothing, cosmetics, and even
board games, has been found, along with great wealth.
The oldest, entirely stone pyramid is the step pyramid
built for the pharaoh Djoser.
MLA Citation
"Egyptian Religion and the Afterlife (Overview)." World
History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Less well known are tomb structures that were built
before the pyramids. These rectangular buildings made
of brick or stone were called "mastabas." They contained
a burial chamber, sometimes deep underground;
numerous storerooms for the deceased's belongings; and
a chapel where offerings could be left both during as
well as after the person's lifetime.
Another type of tomb came
to
be
used
during
the Middle Kingdom. These
were cut into the rock cliffs
at Thebes, Saqqara,
and
elsewhere. Like mastabas
and pyramids, they had
numerous rooms for storing
possessions, a burial chamber, and often a chapel, as
well as internal courtyards. Rock-cut tombs were more
secure than pyramids or mastabas, being harder to break
into and rob. Wall paintings and relief sculptures in these
structures illustrate such daily activities as dining,
dancing, and music, as well as such ceremonies as
presenting offerings to the gods, the weighing of the
heart, and pharaohs conducting various religious rituals.
The paintings, text-inscribed walls, and objects found
inside tombs and temples were meant to make the
deceased feel at home in the next life. As such, they
provide abundant information about ancient Egyptian
religion and its concept of the afterlife.
23
Journey of the soul in Egyptian mythology
Egyptian concepts of the afterlife are strikingly diverse. The Beautiful West could be seen as a place of joyful
reunions or as a state of terrifying isolation. Death was regarded both as a unique event and as part of the continuous
process of decay and renewal. There was no promise of eternal peace for the Egyptian dead. The afterlife was full of
dangers and difficulties to be overcome, a belief that probably reflected the experience of life of the average ancient
Egyptian.
After death each individual faced a journey through the underworld to reach the presence of one of the gods who
could grant eternal life. The deceased would find themselves in an eerie landscape of rivers, deserts, and lakes of
fire, inhabited by demons and monsters. The adventures of the soul in this landscape are similar to the fairy tales of
other cultures, but the prize to be won was not a precious object or the hand of a princess, but eternal life. Some
deities were helpful to the dead, but others were hostile unless approached in the right way. The soul of the
deceased had to act like a magician and overcome threats by knowing protective spells and the true names of the
beings he or she would encounter.
Armed with these powers, the soul would eventually reach a divine domain. The last ordeal might be the judgment
of the heart in the presence of Osiris and the assessors of the underworld. The goal of the journey was to be
transformed into an akh, an "effective" or "transfigured" spirit. Those who failed to justify their existence in the
divine court faced a second death in the jaws of the Eater of Souls. The fortunate spirits could take their place
among the stars or among the followers of Osiris, Ra, Thoth, or Hathor, but they could not escape the cycles of
destruction and renewal.
The soul might experience life in the Field of Reeds, a paradise similar to Egypt, but this was not a permanent state.
When the night sun passed on, darkness and death returned. The star-spirits were destroyed at dawn and reborn each
night. Even the evil dead, the Enemies of Ra, continuously came back to life like Apophis so that they could be
tortured and killed again.
As the Western Souls, the justified dead formed part of the crew of the embattled Boat of Millions. They might be
thought of as rowing or towing the sun boat or even defending it against the forces of chaos. The vignette to Book
of the Deadspell 39 shows a dead person taking on Seth's role of spearing the Apophis serpent. In death, everyone
could be a cosmic hero in the perpetual struggle that was the central feature of Egyptian myth.
MLA Citation
Pinch, Geraldine. "journey of the soul in Egyptian mythology." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO,2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
24
25
INDUS RIVER VALLEY (HARAPPA):
More than 5,000 years ago, the Indus River Valley became another of the first
centers of human civilization. In this region, as in Egypt and Mesopotamia, a
river deposited rich soil over the neighboring plain during its annual flood.
Agriculture & Building: Farmers grew barley, wheat, dates and melons. Food
surpluses allowed people to build large cities like Harrappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
More than 1,000 cities and settlements belonging to the Indus River Valley
civilization have already been excavated. The artifacts found in these settlement
suggest a technologically advanced urban culture. Dockyards, granaries,
warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls were present in many of their
cities. They were also among the first “urban planners,” with almost all their
houses connected to public sewers and a water supply. These people, known as
the Harrappans, were also the first people known to make cotton cloth.
Trade and Collapse: Trade was an important part of the Harrappan economy. Many small clay seals, probably used for
trading purposes, have been discovered by archaeologists. They have also found kilns for making pottery and evidence of
the use of metals. The Harappans developed their own form of writing, although scholars are still unable to decipher it. No
one knows exactly why this civilization collapsed, but its end occurred suddenly.
HUANG HE (YELLOW) RIVER VALLEY:
About 500 yrs. After the settlement of the Indus River Valley, China’s first civilization emerged in the fertile plains along
the Huang He (Yellow River)
Agriculture : As in the Nile and Indus River Valleys, the fertility of the soil along the Huang He was increased by the
river’s periodic floods. Around 4,500 B.C.., people along the Huang He began growing millet (a type of grain). Later, they
learned to farm soybeans and raise chickens, dogs, and pigs.
Government: Around 1700 B.C. a ruling family, or dynasty known as the Shang, took power. They built the first Chinese
cities and established their capital at Anyang, near the Huang He. The Shang ruled with the help of powerful nobles.
Shang kings were military leaders. They were also high priests who offered sacrifices to their royal ancestors.
Cultural Contributions: The people living in the Huang He Valley were skilled at many crafts. Their ability in bronze
work can be seen in many objects surviving from this period, including superior weapons and ceremonial vessels. They
also were the first to make silk textiles from silkworm cocoons. Finally, they developed a system of writing with
pictographs, known as characters. Each character represented one word. Their pictorial characteristics, often with only
minor modifications, are still used in written Chinese today. Even those speaking different dialects use the same
characteristics.
26
India and China
The Indus Valley:
Around 3,000BCE civilization begins to develop in the Indus River Valley, which like its contemporaries
(Egypt and Mesopotamia) developed within a fertile flood plain.
Food surpluses allowed for large urban areas such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

More than 1,000 cities and settlements have been discovered in the Indus Valley

Sites suggest that early Indus civilization were highly technologically advanced

o
Cities were planned and well organized, usually found in a grid pattern
o
Buildings appear to have been connected to public sewers and running water
o
Evidence of woven cotton cloth
o
Evidence of long distance trade – Harappa trade items have been found in Mesopotamia
o
Developed pictographic writing – remains undecipherable today
Evidence suggests a rapid collapse of civilization with no clear explanations
o
Possibly the population grew too large to feed/manage
o
Disease? Climate change? Aliens?
The Huang He (Yellow) Valley:
Shortly after the settlement of the Indus Valley emerged civilization along the Huang He. While
agriculture developed very early in this region, violent and destructive floods slowed the development of
civilization. The legendary first dynasty of the Yellow Valley was Yu the Great (or Yu the Engineer) who
supposedly was able to dam and irrigate the Huang He and tame the flooding.
The Shang Dynasty is the first recorded civilization of China beginning around 1700 B.C.

Shang kings ruled through military might, with the support of a powerful noble class. (Feudalism)

Skilled in crafting bronze and carving jade

Developed technology to produce silk textiles

Developed system of writing based on pictographic characters
o
Much of modern Chinese is still based on this original language
27
Like the earliest Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, the Harappan civilization
developed in a river valley, an ideal location for an agricultural society.
"Map of Harappan civilization, about 1700 BCE." Map. World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Apr.
2014.
28
29
"Indus Valley Civilization (Visual)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
30
Shang
Dynasty
Bronze
Work
31
The Development of Writing
with lumps of clay; they also used clay envelopes to hold
tokens.
One of the key building blocks for civilization is a
system of writing—that is, a method of visually
representing spoken language in a lasting medium.
Writing helps humans to preserve more information than
any individual memory can hold and to transmit it across
distance and generations. The stories of many of the
earliest civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus
River valley, and elsewhere are closely connected to the
development of writing.
Clay tablets begin to appear in
from
the archaeological record
about 3100 BCE. By that time, a
complete writing system had
developed, with more than 1,000
separate
symbols
used
to
represent words in spoken
Sumerian. The symbols included
not only signs representing
objects but also geometric shapes
representing numerals. The writing system also included
symbols for personal names based on the sounds of the
names. That writing system is called cuneiform, which
means "wedge shaped," because of the wedge-shaped
appearance of the individual strokes of the stylus
(writing implement) as it was pressed into soft clay.
Types of Writing
Scholars identify two basic types of writing. One type,
known as meaning-based writing, uses symbols (also
known as signs) to stand for words or concepts. Most
ancient writing systems were meaning based. The
second type, known as sound-based writing, uses
symbols to stand for sounds in spoken language. Writing
that uses an alphabet is sound based. Sound-based
systems of writing have become more common over
time, although some modern writing systems, like
Chinese, are still largely meaning based.
Over time, cuneiform continued to evolve. The number
of characters or signs gradually diminished as the
writing system became more sound based and less
meaning based, and the writing became easier to master.
Originally, characters were written in columns from top
to bottom; later, writing went from left to right. The
shape of the characters also evolved to a more cursive
style.
Many writing systems
include both meaningbased and sound-based
elements. For example,
modern
English
is
basically alphabetic and
sound based, but it also
includes some signs that stand for concepts, like the
Arabic numerals "1," "2," "3," etc.
The cuneiform writing system developed by
the Sumerians ultimately was the source of a variety of
writing systems in the ancient
Near East. The Akkadians, a
group of Semitic invaders who
settled in Mesopotamia around
2500 BCE, adopted the signs of
cuneiform to represent the words
and sounds of their own very
different language. Akkadian
writing, in turn, evolved into the
form
of
writing
used
in Babylonia and Assyria.
Writing systems are also commonly classified based on
the types of signs they use. Pictographs are pictures that
stand for ideas and are often considered a precursor to
writing, not an actual form of writing. Hieroglyphics
also consist largely of picture-based signs; they are
similar to pictographs but are part of a more complex
writing system, like the one used in ancient Egypt.
Cuneiform is a set of related writing systems used in the
ancient Near East that combined meaning-based signs
(originally related to pictures) and sound-based signs.
Cuneiform also spread outside Mesopotamia to the
country of Elam in modern southwestern Iran and to
the Hittites in Asia Minor, as well as to other groups. In
each case, the people adapted the writing system to fit
their own specific spoken language and circumstances.
However, despite the wide influence of cuneiform, by
about 500 BCE it had largely been replaced by the more
efficient sound-based Semitic script. Scholars have
identified that Semitic script as a likely ancestor of the
ancient Greek alphabet, which in turn influenced the
development of the Latin, or Roman, alphabet that
English speakers use today.
Writing in Mesopotamia
The earliest known writing system developed in cities in
the region of Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, near the
mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern-day
Iraq). Clay objects dating from 3500 BCE and even
earlier show markings that scholars have identified as
representing such agricultural products as grain and
sheep. The generally accepted theory is that those
objects were used as tokens in business and accounting.
Traders strung tokens on cords and sealed the cord ends
32
without decoding it, however, it is
possible to make some educated
guesses about this writing system.
The Indus script included
approximately
400
different
symbols. Researchers believe that,
like the Mesopotamian and the
Egyptian writing systems, the
Indus script probably used a
combination of meaning-based
and sound-based writing.
Writing in Egypt
Meanwhile, in Egypt, a different form of writing was
developing: hieroglyphics. The earliest known Egyptian
writing consists of annotations to scenes cut into rock
from before 3000 BCE. Up until about 2650 BCE,
inscriptions in ancient Egyptian were too brief and
limited to allow much analysis of the language. After
that point, a much fuller set of texts begins to appear,
including writings on papyrus as well as on stone. A
wealth of texts dating from the next 2,000 years includes
religious, commercial, historical, and literary documents;
personal
correspondence;
and
more.
Inscriptions appear on a variety of materials, including
pottery and stone, and on a variety of everyday objects.
Surviving samples of Indus writing are all quite short,
with an average of about five symbols per inscription.
That evidence suggests that writing was probably not
used for creating extended texts (laws or stories, for
example) of the type found in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Some scholars speculate that the use of writing may
have been partly magical.
Ancient Egyptian writing
was largely picture based.
However, Egyptian writing
also included phonograms
(signs for sounds) and
determinatives.
Determinatives were placed
after another sign or set of signs when more than one
interpretation was possible. For example, the words
meaning "scribe" and "write" were represented the same
way in ancient Egyptian. By adding the appropriate
determinative, the writer could make it clear which word
was meant.
No samples of the Indus script that postdate the decline
of the Indus River valley civilization, which occurred
sometime around 1700 BCE, have been found.
Technically speaking, not all Egyptian writing was
hieroglyphic. There are three types of ancient Egyptian
writing:
 Hieroglyphics, used for carvings and paintings
 Hieratic script, a more cursive form used for
writing in ink on papyrus using a reed pen
 Demotic script, another cursive style that eventually
replaced hieratic writing everywhere except in
religious texts
Eventually, demotic writing was replaced by the Coptic
script, which used Greek letters to represent spoken
Egyptian. The last known demotic writing dates from the
fifth century CE.
Writing in the Indus Valley
Yet another type of early writing developed in an ancient
civilization centered in the Indus River valley on the
Indian subcontinent. That script first appeared in about
2600 BCE. Samples have been found at approximately
60 locations, with the greatest number appearing at the
sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, two major cities of
the Indus civilization.
MLA Citation
"The Development of Writing (Overview)." World
History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
So far, the Indus script has proven impossible to
decipher, although researchers have proposed theories
about the meanings of some specific symbols. Even
33
the era of the Indus River Valley divilizatiorÿ of 2900 BCE,
but really began to take on iS more modern shape around
1500 BdE with the invasion of the Aryans. The Aryans mixed
their gods and beliefs with that of the natives of India, and the
result was Iÿinduism.
The daÿ ggÿtem
Basic Belie{s of I4induiÿrn
death and rebirth of the soul. They believe
that the soul carries with it the effec'ÿ of
past lives, and that it takes many lifetimes
• When the Aryans arrived in India they implemented a sf2ict social class syÿem
based on vat,ha (color).
.There were four basic varna.
The Bi*ÿbÿ' (priest) were -
to reach enlightenment.
at the top, then the Kÿhatÿ'yag
• The idea that the soul carries
the effecÿ of past deeds or past
(warriors & princes), the Val-
lives is known as karma. From
and finally the Shudÿ'ag
the IJindu perspective, karma
(farmers & laborers). The top
dictates the type of reincarnation you receive. If you have bad
three varna were reserved for
• IJindus believe in 2'oincarna#'or, or the life,
karma from bad deeds in a past
ahgaÿ' (merchanÿ & artisans)
v'
.....................
ÿ
....
the light skinned Aryans,
d
while the loweÿ varna was comprised of
darker skinned Indians.
life, you may be reincarnated into a all,qcult life as a form of cosmic pay-back
"Dharma is the divine order and balance of
things. Each individual has the responsibility to maintain order and balance in their
• Below the ÿhudras was a group known as
the Dalit, who were ouÿide the caste system (ie. out-castes) and known as untouch-
ables. They were forced to do spiritually
own lives. Often CaMs balance and order is
unclean tasks. People would not associate
dictated by a Mindu's position in society.
with Dalit because they were polluted.
• Therefore, ff a person maintains his
d2harma, he will have good karma at the
"Within each varna there were thousands
ofjaiz" (castes), or sub-levels. Each varna
end of his life, and will receive a good ÿ'ein-
andjati had iS own rules and expectations.
carnation Each reincarnation should bring
To live within these rules or expectations
a i4indu closer ¢xÿ the ultimate goal, which
was ÿo achieve dhÿzna.
.The caste system became closely tied to
is rnolÿlÿ, or enlightenment. Moksha is at-
indu beliefs because as one achieved
tained after living a life of religious devotion without atÿachraent to worldly things.
dharma, and had good karma as a result,
It usually ÿakes many lifetimes within the
wheel of life to achieve molÿha.
one would be reincarnated incxÿ a higher
Tzarna, and thus get closer to mokÿha.
34
Impact on 14indu Liveÿ
Polytheis-tic or Monotheistic?
"I-Iindus typically believe in
°I-Iindus worship at a temple called a
mandir. These mandirs are usually dedi-
over 33,000 gods and goddesses. The three main gods
are Brahman (the Creator),
cated to one god or goddess, and contain a
shrine of that god inside. Iqindus perform
daily puja, or worship. Many Hindus have
Vishnu (the Protector), and
hiva (the Desÿoyer). They
uch shrines in their own homes.
are sometimea referred tz) as the trinity.
• For Iqindus, the cow is a sacred animal.
There are t¢¢o main reasons for thiÿ: First,
the cow provides enormously useful prod-
°Many Hindus worship only Vishnu or onlÿ
hiva, and ÿee the other godÿ and god-
desseÿ aÿ aÿpecÿ of Vishnu or ÿhiva. These
I4indus comprise ¢v¢o different sect,€ of I-Iinduism known as Vaishnavism and ÿhaiv-
ucÿ like milk and dung. The dung is uÿed aÿ
a fertilizer and is burned aÿ a
fuel. ÿecond, in IJindu scriptures, one of the forms Lord
ism.
Krishna took while visiting
acred ÿynÿolÿ 8r Boolÿ
Earth was that of a cow.
• As a result, lqindus do not eat beef and are
often vegeÿrianÿ. Cows can {requentlÿ be
found wandering in city streeÿ and in temples unmolested.
• The ÿanges river is also considered sacred.
Again, in Hindu legend the
goddess ÿanga who had the
power to purif9 anything, descended to earth and became
the ÿanges river, ttindus from
all over India make pilgrimages to the banlÿ of the ÿanges to be purified in iÿ waters.
°Cremation is alÿo an important practice of
Iqindus. Like the holy trinity of birth, life &
death, cremation completes the process of
destroying the bodÿ to release the soul to
be reborn. Manÿ I4indus want their ashes
thrown into the ÿanges river, believing the
waters will puriÿ their souls.
°Finally, the caste sgÿtem haÿ had a tremendous impact on lqindu lives. Caste did-
tateÿ what job you will work, where you
may live, and who you can marry. Iqindus
do not aspire to change their caste - to do
so would violate dharma.
35
1. What is the hiÿtor9 of the origin of Iqindu- 5. What are the 4 basic varna & what are
ism7
their jobs?
The reliÿon dates back to Z500 BCE, but
The Brahmiÿ (pries*ts) were at the top, then
reall9 began to take on its more modern
the Kghatriyasg (warriors 8r princes), the gaishape around 1500 BCE with the invasion
,ÿhyasg (merchants 8r artisans) and finall9 the
of the Argans. The Argans mixed their go&
laudvag (farmers & laborers).
and beliefs with that of the natives of India,
and the result was I-Iinduism,
6. What are Dalit & what do the9 do?
2. What are the basic I-Iindu beliefs about:
The Palit, were outÿide the cas*te sgstem (ie.
out-castes) and known as untouchables.
a. Reincarnation: the life, death and
The9 were forced to do spirituall9 unclean
rebirth of the soul. The9 believe that the
soul carries with it the effectÿ of paÿ lives,
and that it takes man9 lifetimes to reach
tasks. People would not associate with Dalit
because the9 were polluted.
enlightenment,
7. I-low is the idea of dharma attached to
caÿte?
b. Karma: the idea that the soul carries One'sjati (caÿe) duties were the dharma ex-
the effects of past deeds or past lives
pectedÿ and the dharma dictated karma and
reflected the reincarnation. Thus one's cur-
c. Dharma: the divine order and balance of things. Each individual has the re-
rent life (or caste) reflected one's past life.
sponsibilit9 to maintain order and balance
8. I-Iow is caste tied to the I-Iindu beliefs in
Queÿion #2?
As one achieved dharma, and had good
in their own lives. This balance and order is
dictated b9 a I-Iindu's poÿition in societg.
karma as a result, one would be reincarnated
into a higher garna, and thus get closer to
d. Moksha: enlightenment
mokÿha,
3. What is the relationship between the
above 4 beliefs?
9. What are the g major I-Iindu gods & what
If a person maintains his dharma, he will
have good karma at the end of his life, and
are the9 sometimes referred to as?
carnation should bring a t-Iindu closer to
Des-,troger).
The three main gods are Brahman (the Creawill receive a good reincarnation. Each rein- tor), Vishnu (the Protector), and ÿhiva (the
mok.ÿha,
10. I-low can I-Iinduism be considered monotheiÿic when there are more than gg, O00
4. What is the caste sgÿem and on what is
it based?
gods/goddesses?
It is a sgstem of social control or discrimina- Man9 I-Iindus worship onl9 Vishnu or only
tion. It WAÿ baÿed on color (aÿ implemented hiva, and see the other godÿ and goddesÿeÿ
b9 the PmgarM, but now iÿ based on birth or aÿ aÿpectÿ of Vishnu or ÿhiva.
famil9 name.
36
11. ÿmat are some of the Hindu Hott3 booksF
15, Wÿnt3 is the cow a sacred animal for Hino
The Yedasÿ, the UpaMÿhadÿ the Bhayahad
dus.'?
Gfta and the Ramagaÿa.
Firÿ, the cow provides enormousK3 useful
products like milk and dung. The dung is
12. What is the "Aura" and what does it represent?
used as a fertilizer and is burned as a fuel.
gecond, in Hindu scriptures, one of the forms
Hindus repeat "aura" while prat3ing or meditating to clear their mindÿ. The "a" represents the beginning, the "u" represenÿ progress, and the "m" stands for dissolution.
Lord Krishna took while visiting Earth was
that of a cow.
16. Wht3 is the ÿanges a sacred river 8r what
is the impact of this?
The sound represents the creation, development and destruction of things, or the three
In Hindu legend the goddess ÿanga descended to earth and became the ÿanges
parts of the holt3 trinitt3.
river. Hindus from all over India make pil-
13. What are 2 other Hindu st3mbols & what
images to the banks of the ÿanges to be
do theU represent?
purified in its waters.
The swas-*tika is an ancient st3mbol of good
fortune or protection, and the lotus flower
which is a beautiful flower that blooms in
swampt3 water, stdmbolizing birth.
14. Where do I-Iindus worship?
At a temple called a mandir.
17. Wht3 do I-Iinduÿ cremate their dead?
Cremation completes the process of de,to9ing the bodt3 to release the soul to be reborn.
lg. What is the impact of caÿe on Hindus?
Caÿe dictates what job t3ou will work where
t3ou mat3 live, and who t3ou can mart9.
Analtjais:
19. Even in modern times, it has been difficult to get untouchables to pursue medical care
(despite life-threatening illness). Wh9 do t3ou think that might be?
This is true.., mant3 untouchables prefer to just die and be reincarnated than be cured of
simple diseases. Obviouslt3, in terms of their religion, thet3 believe if the9 have followed
their dharma, thet3 will have good karma, and will succeed in a good reincarnation. ÿo wh9
not jugt die?
20. How has Hinduism prevented modern social mobilit97
Well obviouslt3, there has been a reluctance to intermarrt3.., but bet3ond that, t3our caste
dictates t3ourjob. And t3ourjob dictates t3our social sÿtatus. ÿo unless 9ou can change t3our
name, or change t3our caÿe, t3ou reallt3 can't aspire to a different job. (NOTE: In modern India, things are changing.., especiallt3 given increasing urbanization and with that, an increased mixing of caates.)
37
texts (Indo-Europeans vs. the indigenous Harappan
civilization), the region in which they were composed
(Central Asia vs. northern India), and during what time
period (ca. 4000–2000 BCE vs. ca. 1800–1500 BCE).
Indo-Aryan Belief Systems
Hinduism, the dominant religion in India, has provided a
belief system and social order to a large part of the
world's population for at least 3,000 years. While the
exact origins of Hinduism are rooted in an era before
recorded history, most scholars believe that Hinduism
began to emerge in India in around 1500 BCE through a
combination of the beliefs and practices of the
indigenous Indian population (sometimes referred to as
"Dravidian," although that more accurately refers to a
language family) and a group of newcomers known as
the Aryans. The Aryans were a group of Indo-European
nomadic tribes who either invaded northern India or
migrated there in the mid-second millennium BCE. It
appears that the Aryans soon achieved a form of cultural
dominance over the indigenous populations. The
resulting "Indo-Aryan" population developed a belief
system that had tremendous influence on the culture and
practices of the region, some of which have continued
through the present day. That system included a social
order divided into distinct social classes, which
expanded into the Indian caste system; a belief in
multiple gods with a small number of dominant deities;
and ritual practices involving sacrifices, veneration of
sacred animals, and consumption of sacred food or
drink.
Polytheism and Caste
The primary picture that
has emerged of the IndoAryans of the second
millennium BCE is of
a polytheist culture with
hereditary social divisions.
They worshipped multiple
gods—numbering
33
according to the Rigveda—with a single dominant god
or divine force known as Brahma. The names of the
Indo-Aryan gods bear some intriguing similarities to the
gods worshipped in other Indo-European societies: the
sky god Varuna, for example, appears to be cognate with
the Greek god Uranus, while the thunder god Indra is
cognate with the Scandinavian god Thor. The linguistic
and mythological similarities between those gods does
not mean that they were the same god, or that they
performed the same function in different religious
traditions, but it does suggest that some of the basic
elements of Vedic tradition arose from the same cultural
roots that influenced the polytheistic religions of Europe
and the Near East. The Hindu pantheon of gods
expanded considerably in later years and in different
places—one Hindu tradition reveres an estimated 300
million gods—but it seems that many of the most
important Hindu gods and religious concepts were
already present in the Indo-Aryan culture of the second
millennium BCE.
The Vedic Texts
It is difficult to determine
what the Indo-Aryan
people of the late Bronze
Age believed because they
left no written records, but
archaeologists
and
historians have been able
to make some strong
guesses about their belief systems. Those scholars base
their
conclusions
on
a
combination
of archaeological evidence, comparisons with other
Indo-European populations from the same period,
inferences from modern and historical societies in India,
and close examination of sacred texts from the Vedic
cultures that emerged out of Indo-Aryan culture in the
first millennium BCE. Those sacred texts, which include
the Vedas and the Upanishads, were composed orally
over a period of hundreds or even thousands of years and
were put into writing in the ancient Sanskrit language
beginning in around 600 BCE. Those documents, in
particular the Rigveda, are immensely important sources
for historians because they present the earliest written
records of the cultural knowledge and beliefs of the
Indo-Aryan people. The historical interpretation of the
texts remains controversial, however, because there is
disagreement among scholars about who composed the
One
of
the
most
significant aspects of
Aryan culture for later
Indian life was the
existence
of
strong
divisions among social
classes. Scholars, most
notably Georges Dumézil,
have hypothesized that early Indo-European societies
were divided into three classes: warriors/kings, who
protected and ruled their societies; priests, who looked
after the spiritual life of their communities and may have
acted as teachers and keepers of cultural knowledge; and
peasants, who attended to the farming, animal
husbandry, and other tasks that supported the upper two
classes. Some historians have argued that this threefold
division of society among the Indo-European Aryans
gave rise to the later Hindu system ofvarna, the most
basic division of the Hindu caste system. The theory
suggests that when the Aryans asserted their dominance
over the indigenous populations, they placed themselves
38
in the three highest classes: Kshatriya for the
warriors/kings, Brahmin for the priests, and Vaishya for
merchants and skilled craftsmen, while placing the
subjugated into the Sudra caste of laborers. The fifth
caste of Hindu society, the untouchables, may have been
incorporated into the varna system as the Indo-Aryans
brought newly conquered populations under their
control. The Indo-European-influenced varna system
may then have been combined with a preexisting system
of hereditary professions, known as jati, that gradually
expanded and became codified into the caste system
known in India today.
The Indo-Aryan Legacy
Many aspects of the IndoAryan belief system did
not continue into later
Hindu practices, while
many modern aspects of
Hinduism do not appear to
have been part of IndoAryan
beliefs.
For
example, the Rigveda describes a society in which a
great deal of religious ritual centers on the consumption
of soma, a stimulating beverage that is simultaneously a
god and an offering to the gods. While ritualistic
consumption and sacrificial offerings of sacred food and
drink is still a part of some Hindu religious practices,
soma and its ritual centrality are no longer evident.
Another significant area of difference is in the treatment
of cows; modern Hinduism supports vegetarianism and
views cows as sacred animals, whereas the ancient
Aryans came from a pastoral tradition in which beef and
other types of meat were a substantial part of the diet.
While there is still much to be learned about Indo-Aryan
belief systems, it is clear that this ancient culture played
a major role in the development of religion and society
in India. Further archaeological and linguistic research
may shed light on this pivotal component of Indian
history.
MLA Citation
"Indo-Aryan Belief Systems (Overview)." World
History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
39
By about 600 BeE, many people in India had become dissatiÿ-'ÿ
fled with Brahmin power and privilege. Many began to question the rigid caste system of I4induism, and began looking for
other options - options that would offer more people greater
hope and a greater sense of equality.
gidÿ ¢ÿauÿama - The Buddha
• giddhartha 4autama was born in ÿ68 BCE, a
Basic Beliefÿ
prince in the warrior (KshaCxiyas) caste. His fa-
soul.
ther ruled a kingdom in Nepal, and he grew up in
a life of wealth and privilege.
• At the age of 29, ÿiddhartha ventured ouCÿide
°They also believe in karma - the idea
the palace and discovered human suffering. I-Is
that the soul carries the effec¢ÿ of
past deeds (good or bad).
• They do believe in something called
dharma, but for Buddhists, dharma
represen¢ÿ the teachings of the
Buddha, not the duties of yourjati.
became upset and wondered about the point of
• Like Hindus, BuddhisN believe in
teincÿfzbÿ or the rebirth of the
• Buddhisÿ do not embrace the notion
of the caste system. They believe
people to be equal and able to achieve
enlightenment - a concept they call
life. He leÿ his life in the palace to live the life of
a religious agcetic (one who renounces all
worldly things and lives a meager existence).
"One day, as ÿauÿma sat under a
Bodhi €ÿee meditating, he achieved
enlightenment. The enlightenment
he received has become the
principal teachings of Buddhism.
"Dautama was given the name
"Buddha", or "enlightened one".
lÿe Three Trainingÿ or l:ÿ'acficeÿ
Teachingÿ ofÿhe Buddha
"The Buddha also taught the
'ÿhtÿold Patdz which is divided into
three mindful practices.,
1. Virtue (good conduct, morality)
2. ÿoncenlÿaÿion (mediÿation,
mental development) Developing
one's mind is the path to wisdom.
3. Wisdom (discern-
ment, enlightenment)
Wisdom will emerge if
your mind is clear and
pure.
40
The £ÿ Pÿecepÿ
,The Eighffold Path is the path to enlightenment, and the waÿ to
end suffering. It is sometimes called the Middle Path between
• Do not kill (It is
desire and self-denial. It incorporates the three practices.
-Wisdom
aÿ 'not harming'.)
• Right understanding (of the 4 Noble Trutlÿ)
"Right thinking (following the right path in life)
sometimes translated
• Do not ÿaÿal. (Avoid
fraud/economic
exploitation.)
-Virtue
'Do not lie.
"Right speech (no 19in9 criticism, gossip, harsh language)
"Right conduct (b9 following the ÿ weceptÿ)
"Do not nÿu.ÿe ÿex,
• Right livelihood (support: 9ourself without harming others)
abstain, no adulturÿ
for married couples.)
-ÿoncentration
'Right effort (good thoughts, conquer evil thought)
"Right mindfulness (be aware of bodÿ, mind, feelings)
• Right concentration (meditate to achieve higher
consciousness)
architecture of the
Pagoda, a stÿle drawn ....
directlÿ ÿom the Buddhist
stupa (a place for relics).
"Manÿ Buddhists, like ttindus,
are vegetarian.
• Also like ttindus, Buddhistÿ
worship in temples, but
usuallÿ have shirnes in their
homeÿ. Often small
shrines can be seen
"Do not Con&,ume
alcohol oÿ drugÿ.
(Nothing t:o cloud the
mind.)
ectÿ of Buddhiÿ
Impact of Buddlÿiÿm
"Can be seen in Asian k
(Monks & nuns must
• ÿvada- dominates Noutheast Asia. The ultimate goal
is to reach nirvana through intense studÿ and meditation.
The practice of meditation was originallÿ restricted
monks, thus on19 monks had the hope of achieving
nirvana. Common people were urged to live good lives in
hopes of a better rebirth. It is sometimes referred to as the
"lesser vehicle" because few people can achieve nirvana.
"Malÿgana- dominates northern Asia (ÿhina, Japan,
Korea). The goal is to make sure everyone reaches nirvana.
In fact, one should desire to be reincarnated in order to
help more people reach nirvana. Nirvana is attained
through a normal life without undue focus on studt3 and
Bonsai, tea
meditation. It is sometimes referred to as the "greater
vehicle" because it offers hope for enlightenment to mant3.
"ÿzÿ- found primarilÿ in Japan, The entire focus in gen is
on meditation aÿ a waD 1o gain self-knowledge and
enlightenment.
"ÿDÿ5ÿ common in areas of the t4imalaÿas such as Tibet
ceremonies,
& Nepal. Tibetan Buddhism is similar to Mahauana in that
flower arranging, zen gardens
as well as the martial artÿ of
it focuses on others. Lamaÿ are teachers in the
along roadways in
Buddhist nations.
• In Japan, the influence of
Zen can be seen
in the artÿ.
karate 8rjudo all derive from
Tibetan tradition that are exempt from the wheel
of life, death 8ÿ rebirth. Theÿ have come as
the meditation found in zen.
teacherÿ to help others attain enlightenment.
41
1. Wht3 were people dissatisffied with Hinduism?
Mam3 people in India had become dissatisfied with Brahmin power and privilege, and
began to queÿion the rigid caste syatem of
9, What are the three mindful practices?
Virtue (good conduct, morality),
Concentration (meditation, mental
development), and Wisdom (discernment,
enlightenment).
Hinduism, and began looking for other options.
6. Whÿ is the eightfold path sometimes
called the Middle Path.'?
2. I-Iow did ÿiddhartha ÿautama become the It is sometimes called the Middle Path
Buddha? (Give background in{ormation.)
between desire and sel{-denial. The correct
Fie grew up a wealthÿ prince, but left the
path is not one of indulgence nor one o{
palace to seek understanding and enlighten- complete asceticism.
ment, which he found while meditating beneath a Bodhi tree.
7. What are the practices of the eighffold
path?
3. Iqow do Buddhigt beliefs differ from
Wisdom focuses on right thinking & under-
I-Iindu?
anding, Viÿue focuses on right speech,
a. Dharma- dharma represents the
conduct & livelihoodÿ and Concentration fo-
teachings of the Buddha, not the duties of
cuses on right effort, concentration and
mindfulness.
yourjati (caste)
b. Caÿe- Buddhiÿs do not embrace the
notion of the caÿe sgÿem, The9 believe
5, Explain the g precepts.
people to be equal and able to achieve
a. Do not kill. (It is sometimes translated
enlightenment,
as 'not harming'.)
4. What are the Four Noble Truths?
b, Do not ÿeal. (Avoid fraud/economic
exploitation,)
a. Pukkha- All life is suffering.
c, Do not lie.
b. ,,qamudaya - There is a cause for suffering.
c. IVirodha - There is an end to suffering.
d. Do not misuse sex. (Monks & nurÿ muÿ
abatain, no adulturt3 for married couples.)
e. Do not consname alcohol or drugs.
d. Mag'ga- In order to end suffering 9ou
muat follow the eighffold path.
(Nothing to cloud the mind,)
42
c. Zen- The entire focus in Zen is on
9, ÿat do the g precepts remind you of'?
Answers matj varg, but parallels should be
drawn to the 10 commandments.
meditation as a wa!ÿ to gain self-knowledge
and enlightenment.
10. Explain the diÿerent zects of Buddhism.
d. Tibetan- similar to MahatAana in that it
a. Therevada- The ultimate goal is to reach focuses on others. Larnaÿ are teachers in the
meditation. The practice o{ meditation was
Tibetan tradition that are exempÿ from the
wheel of life, death & rebirth. ThetA have
originalltA restricted to monks, thus onltA
come as teachers to help others attain
monks had the hope o{ achieving nirvana.
enlightenment.
Common people were urged to live good
liveÿ in hopes of a better rebirth. It is
ll. Describe at least 4 wagÿ Buddhism influ-
nirvana through intense ÿudtA and
sometimes referred to as the "lesser vehicle" ences the lives of believers.
because few people can achieve nirvana.
The impact can be seen in the architecture
of the pagoda, and in roadwatA and household shrines. Buddhiÿ are o£en vegetari-
b. ManatAana- The goal is to make sure
evertjone reaches nirvana. In fact, one should ans. And in Japan, the influence of Zen can
desire to be reincarnated in order to help
be seen in the arts. Bonsai, tea ceremonies,
more people reach nirvana. Nirvana is
flower arranging, zen gardens as well as the
attained through a normal life without
martial arts of karate &judo all derive from
undue focuÿ on ÿudt2 and meditation. It is
sometimes referred to as the "greater
vehicle" because it oilers hope for
enlightenment to mantA.
the meditation found in zen.
Analyÿia:
12. Why do tAou think there are certain similarities between I-Iinduism and Buddhism.'?
(What are some similarities?)
The similarities matA exiÿ because 9iddhartha Gautama himself was originally a I4indu... or
Buddhism matA be seen as a form of Iqinduism that incorporated a greater degree of hope
and equalittA.
Both believe in reincarnation, the concept of karma, and enlightenment. Both also embrace
dharma, although they differ on the definition o{ dharma.
43
44
Hunag He Valley
Indus Valley
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Civilization
Huang He River Valley modern day China near
Beijing
Indus River Valley modern day Pakistan
Fertile river valley and
predictable annual
flooding allowed for
very successful
agriculture
Along Nile River and delta
Cultivated rice, millet, and
soy
Variety of crops, including
food crops and cotton
Irrigation allowed for
growth of wheat and
barley crops
Agriculture
Between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
Location
Shang Dynasty is first
recorded
Developed militaristic
empires controlled by strong
ruling families (Dynasties)
Not a lot known.
Evidence suggests large
trade empires that were
relatively without
conflict.
Theocratic monarchy
headed by god-king called
Pharaoh, supported by
priestly aristocracy
Developed:
wheel, sailboat, irrigation,
bronze tools, 12month
calendar, cuneiform
Powerful city-states ruled,
periodically uniting into
militaristic empires. Often
were ruled as theocratic
stats
Writing system which
formed the base of the
modern Chinese language
Silk textiles
Excellent bronze work
Writing sysmtem that to
date is undeciphered
Highly developed and well
planned cities
Developed knowledge in
medical science
Developed hieroglyphic
writing system, geometry
and astronomy, and
massive engineering
projects
Contributions
Government
KINGDOMS OF THE HEBREW:
The ancient Hebrews, or Israelites, lived south of Phoenicia in the area occupied by
present day Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. Because of their location, the Hebrews
were deeply influenced by the civilizations of both Mesopotamia and Egypt.
According to tradition, the forefather of the Hebrews, Abraham, grew up in
Mesopotamia in the city of Ur. Later, Abraham moved to Israel.
Unlike other ancient peoples, the Hebrews did not believe in many gods. Instead,
they believed in one universal God, who was both just as all-powerful. This new
religion was called Judaism. Jew did not believe that God had human
characteristics or the head of an animal, like the gods and goddesses of
Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Jews saw their God as an invisible but powerful force or spirit that created the
world and that demanded proper moral conduct. Monotheism, the belief in one
God, became the basis for several later religions, including both Christianity and
Islam.
The Ten Commandments: The early history of the Hebrews and their relationship with God is told in the first books of
the Bible, known as the Old Testament. According to the Bible, the ancient Hebrews migrated to Egypt to escape food
shortages from drought. They remained in Egypt for hundreds of years, where they became enslaved. Their leader, Moses,
later took them out of Egypt and freed them from slavery. According to the Bible, Moses also presented the Hebrews with
the Ten Commandments, which came directly from God. These commandments forbade stealing, murder, adultery, and
other forms of immoral behavior. They also commanded the Hebrews to worship one God and to keep the Sabbath (a day
of rest). When the Hebrews returned to Israel from Egypt, around 1,000 B.C. they found it was occupied by new peoples.
This led to a series of wars, ending with the Jewish re-conquest of Israel. The Hebrews then established their capital at
Jerusalem, where they built a temple to worship God.
45
Basic Beliefÿ
Origins of dudaiÿ
• Jews are monotheistic,
• A man named Abram and his wife Nara livedÿ;1ÿ
just ouÿide the Numerian city of Ur./ a,ÿa ÿ"ÿ2'i
• Jews believe that 4od appeared to Abram and Uÿ!
made a coveÿaat (mutual agreement) with him.
Abram agreed to worship only 4od, and 4od
agreed to make Abram ÿ his deecendenÿ His
chosen people.
• 4od renamed Abram, Abraham (father of multitudes) and
gara, £'aÿ,ah (mother of nations). 4od also promised Abra-
ham 8r his descendents a special land, and Abraham and
arah left Ur and traveled to the promised land of Canaan
(modern day Israel).
"Abraham & ÿarah grew old, and they had no children.
They wondered how ÿod was going to create a nation of
people descended from them. ÿarah was too old to have
children. ÿarah decided that her husband should sleep
with her maid, Hagar, to conceive a child. I-Iagar became
pregnant and bore a son named Ishmael. Because of a
miracle, ÿarah also became pregnant and bore a son, Isaac.
• ÿarah became jealous of I-Iagar, and sent her and Ishmael
away into the desert. Ood looked aÿer and protected I-Ia-
gar 8r Ishmael, but was angry with Abraham 8r ÿarah for
taking matters in their own hands. I-Ie proclaimed that
Isaac & Iÿhmael would both be fathers of nations, and
that there would always be enmity (anger, hatred) between their descendent.
"Jews trace their descent from Isaac, and Arab-Muslims
trace theirs from Ishmael. Many believe the rootÿ of the
Arab-Israeli conflict began here.
46
which means they believe in
'only one god.
• Jews believe that they are
4od's chosen people, and
that they were given a special land to inhabit (Israel).
• There is a belief in original
sin -- that man is born sinful,
and can only be cleaned
through sacrifice.
• The Jewish ÿod differed
from other gods found at
the time - I-Is was merciful,
but required a st2ict code of
ethics 8r behavior.
"The guide for Jewish behavior can be found
in the Ten Commandments and the
numerous laws
found in the ToraK
• Jews rest on the @abbath,
which runs from ÿundown
Friday night to sundown
.ÿaÿrday.
"Finally, Jews believe that a
Messiah (savior) is coming
to rule the world in peace
and giory.
acred 89ÿ1:)ola 8r Booka
ecÿ of Judaism
'The most recognizable Jewish
ÿ,
• Rÿoÿn Judaism - Jews began integrating
symbol is the ÿtaÿ o:Daÿd- a six
more into society. They began adapting
-pointed star. This star is found on
themselves 8r some of their practiceÿ to
the Israeli flag.
the society they lived in. Many American
Jews began having services in Engiish to
-ÿ o ÿ s 0 ,, 0:"': .............
• Another common symbol is the ÿ [][I ÿ [I ÿ_[[
menoÿ'ah which is used to cele-r,ÿ]ÿ,ÿ_ÿ
• Jews worship in a temple known as a
allow more integration.
• Oÿ5odox Judaimn - Opposed Reform Judaism, and warned Jews to anchor them-
qgnayoDÿo, and often read passages from
the Tanakh aloud. The Tanakh is an acro-
selves to traditional ways. They have a
stxict interpretation of the Tanakh, and
nym for the 3 Jewish hold books - the To.pah (first S books), the !Vex'Tin (writings of
closely observe the ÿabbath and all dietary
laws. Only men are rabbis.
the prophetÿ) & the Ketuwim (writings).
" Corÿe.ÿ'ai:iv'e Judaiÿrn- Resfÿ between
Christianÿ refer to the Tanakh as the Old
Reform 8ÿ Orthodox Judaism. 'I"ney believe
Testament, but Jews do not.
it is important for Jewish law to adapt to
contemporarÿ life, but believe traditions
brate dhanukah,
'ÿ
giÿtoÿ of the Jewish People
should not be compromised.
• The hiÿory of the Jewish people is a rela-
hnpact on bive
tively tragic one. The highlight of their paÿt
was the unified Kingdom of Israel eÿab-
"One of the biggest impactÿ on the lives of
lished by King David around
believera is on diet,. Jews are not to eat any
1000 BdE, and the construe-
pig productz, and they are not supposed to
tion of the Temple in Jerusa-
mix meat and milk productÿ. They are cup-
lem by ÿolomon in 960 BC]ÿ.
• The kingdom was divided into northern &
posed to eat Koÿtÿe2 (blessed by a rabbi),
but not all Jews follow these dietary rules.
southern parts. The northern kingdom was
conquered by the Aÿgÿ'ian.¢ around 720
°Jews are also supposed to keep the
BdE, and the southern kingdom by the
Babylonianÿ in ÿg6 BCE, The Jews were
intentionally scattered throughout the Mid-
For Orthodox Jews, this means that
dle East, an action known as the Piaÿpoÿa.
• In 70 dE, the Romans destroyed the Tem-
the local temple to be able to walk.
ple in Jerusalem, and dispersed the Jews
who had gathered there throughout their
cised in a special ceremony called the Bris.
abbath, which begins Friday night.
they must prepare all food ahead of
time, and must live close enough to
"Jews reqmire all male babies to be circum-
This is a physical symbol of the covenant
with ÿod.
mpire. (A second diaspora.)
"Jews were routinely persecuted in Evxope
throughout the Middle Ages, but in modern
timeÿ it is the Itolocaust that stands as the
• Another right of passage that is observed
is the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Jewish teens
celebrate this around their lÿth birthday. It
moÿt tragic example of anti-ÿemiÿn (anti-
includes ceremonies in the ÿynagogue
Jewish feeling).
where they read from the Torah, then have
a party afterward.
47
1. I-Iow old is Judaism.,?
7. What are some basic beliefs of Jews
Judaism is one of the world's oldest relig-
(name at leaÿ s)
ions, iÿ dates back nearl9 4000 9ears.
2. Where did it originate.,?
Belief in one Pÿod (monotheistic), belief that
the9 are Dod's chosen people, belief that
the9 were given a special land to inhabit
In Iraq. The cit9 of Ur was in the ÿumerian
(Israel), belief in original sin, belief in lO
civilization which was in Mesopotamia.
commandments, in the need for sacrifice, in
the holiness of the gabbath and in the com3. Wh9 is it such an important religion his-
ing of a Messiah or savior,
toricallg?
It is the first monotheiÿic religion, and gives 8:. What are 2 Jewish sgmbols 8r what are
rise to the world's other two major monothe9 used for.,?
theiÿic religions - Chriÿianit9 and Islam.
The star of David is moÿ widel9 recognize&
and is used on the Israeli flag. The menorah
4. What was the covenant made between
is a sgmbol of Chanukah.
Abram 8r God?
Abram agreed to worship onl9 Do& and Dod 9. Where do Jews worship & what are their
agreed to make Abram & his descendents
hol9 books.,?
liis chosen people.
A sgnagogue is a Jewish temple, and the Ta-
nakh includes the Torah, the Nevi'im 8r the
N. What did Dod promise Abram.,?
Ketuvim.
Dod renamed Abram, Abraham (father of
multitudes), and IIe also promised Abraham
& his descendents a special land, and Abra-
10. Describe 3 sects of Judaism.
a. Reform - Jews who integrate into
ham and Sarah left Ur and traveled to the
the societ9 in which the9 live.
promised land of ÿanaan (modern dat3 Israel).
b. Orthodox - retain traditional wags
and strict observance of the gabbath and all
6. Explain the Abraham-lIagar-Sarah triangle & the results.
arah was too old to have children, and de-
dietar9 laws.
cided that her husband should sleep with
c. Corÿervative - believe it is important for Jewish law to adapt to contempo-
her maid, lIagar, to have a child, liagar be-
rat9 life, but believe traditions should not be
came pregnant and bore a son named Ishcompromised.
mael. Sarah also became pregnant and had a
son, Isaac. Sarah became jealous of liagar
11. What was the historical highlight oft he
and sent her awatj. Dod proclaimed that
Jewish people.,?
Isaac & Ishmael would both be fathers of
The unified Kingdom of Israel established b9
nations, and that there would alwags be en- King David around 1000 BCE, and the conmity (anger, hatred) between their descenruction of the Temple in Jerusalem bÿ
olomon in 960 BCE,
dents.
48
1ÿ. ÿat iÿ a Diaspora? How ÿ when did
enough ÿo ghe local temple ÿo be able ÿo
this occtw to the Jews?
walk. The9 rausÿ nog do any work on the
A diaspora is a lorced migration. This was
done to the Jews by the Assyrians in 720
Sabbath,
BCE, the Babylonians in 6ÿ6 BCE, and the
16. Why do Jews require male circumcision.'?
Romans again in 70 CE.
This is a physical symbol ol the covenant
with Cÿod,
lg. What is anti-Semitism.'?
17.What is the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.'?
The Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a right ol passage
Anti-Jewish sentiment. Discrimination of
Jews.
into manhood or womanhood, Jewish teens
14. Describe some Jewish dietary laws.
celebrate this around their lgth birthday. It
Jews are not to eat any pig products, and
includes ceremonies in the Synagogue where
they read from the Torah, then have a party
afterward.
they are not supposed to mix meat and milk
products. They are supposed to eat Kosher
(blessed by a rabbi).
16. How are Jews to keep the Sabbath?
The Sabbath begins Friday night. For Orthodox Jews, this means that they must prepare
all lood ahead of time, and must live close
Analysis:
1ÿ. Jews typically do not proselytize (attempt to convert people). Why do you think that
is?
The Jews believe themselves especially chosen by 4od. They are an elite group with thousands of years ol hiÿory. There has never really been a major locus on conversion...
throughout the 01d Testament, prophets were sent by 4od not necessarily to add to Jewish
numbers, but to remind wayward Jews of the way back to the path of righteousness.
19. What are ways that Jews have attempted to differentiate themselves from others7
Circumcision was not just a physical symbol it was also a means of differentiation. It is a
fairly common practice today, but in ancient times, onl9 Jewish men were circumcised.
Also, Jewish dietary laws definitely set them apart. And Jewish practices and beliefs
(monotheism, keeping the Sabbath, etc... ) made Jews significantly different from other
groups,
49
Abraham
who sought to persecute Abram. The family resettled in
Haran, near the Euphrates River.
Abraham
is
honored
in
the
traditions
of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the first man to
form a spiritual covenant with God. Although there are
no proven details of his life, nor even proof that he
existed, he is viewed as a spiritual forefather by over half
the population of the world.
The family thrived by producing wool and conducting
business on the bountiful trade routes that pass through
Haran. When Terah died, Abram became the head of the
family. Abram was a wealthy man in charge of many
people, but he was soon to have an experience that
would send him from Haran onto a great journey.
According to Genesis, God came to Abram and told him
to travel from his birthplace and his father's house to a
land that God would show him. God said that he would
make a great nation from Abraham. From that moment
on, Abram's life would be linked with the word of his
God.
There are multiple sources that provide accounts of
Abraham's life, although those accounts differ widely
from source to source. Probably the most influential
account is in the book of Genesis in the Bible, the central
sacred text for both Judaism and Christianity. The most
important account forMuslims is in the Koran, in which
Abraham appears many times under the name Ibrahim.
Variants on his story are told in other sacred texts, as
well as in local legends throughout the Near Eastern
countries where he supposedly lived. All of the extant
written accounts, however, were composed centuries
after he is thought to have lived; there are no sources
from his proposed lifetime that mention him. His
existence, then, can be neither proven nor disproven. For
billions of people around the world, though, his
existence is taken as a matter of faith.
Abram left Haran accompanied by his wife, Sarai, his
nephew Lot, and other family members and followers.
They traveled through what is now Syria and wound up
in Canaan, described in the Bible as a plentiful land.
Abram stayed for a while in the city of Shechem, where
he built a temple to his god. He later built an altar at
Bethel. A severe drought hit Canaan, and Abram was
forced to take his family to Egypt in search of food.
Abraham has been described as the first monotheist, but
that is not necessarily accurate. Genesis does not
specifically say that he didn't believe in other gods, only
that Abraham had a special covenant with his God. For
millennia, Jews have believed that this covenant was the
source of their special relationship with God. Christians,
recognizing the origins of their faith in Judaism, have
viewed Abraham as the first great prophet to help
increase human understanding of God's message.
Muslims view Abraham as the first Muslim because of
his submission to God.
The family found refuge in Egypt, but Abram was
concerned that the pharaoh would kill him in order to
take Sarai, who was reportedly quite beautiful. Abram
therefore claimed that Sarai was his sister, and the
pharaoh soon took her for aconcubine. Abram's god sent
plagues on Egypt to punish pharaoh for taking Abram's
wife, and eventually pharaoh gave her back and
commanded Abram to leave the country.
Different dates have been put forth for Abraham's birth.
Scholars tracing biblical lineages place him as early as
2100BCE, while some archaeologists state that the
historical details in Genesis conform better with a date
after 1000 BCE. The most common estimate is
sometime between 2000 and 1800 BCE. Abraham,
originally named Abram, is thought to have been born
in Ur, a very ancient city in Mesopotamia. In Abram's
youth, his father, Terah, led the family out of Ur; some
versions suggest that he had to flee Nimrod, a local king
50
Abram had evidently been successful in Egypt, because
Genesis reports that he returned to Canaan rich with
livestock, silver, and gold. He reached a settlement with
his nephew Lot that Lot would settle with his followers
in the fertile Jordan valley, including the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah, while Abram's followers would settle in
the mountains and deserts of Canaan. At some point
after that, God commanded Abram to walk throughout
Canaan, claiming it as the promised land for his
descendants.
Further Reading
Armstrong, Karen, A History of God, 1993; Metzger, Bruce M., and Roland E.
Murphy, eds. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New York: Oxford University
Press,
1991;
Szulc,
Tad,
"Abraham:
Journey
of
Faith," National
Geographic,December 2001; Van Seters, John, Abraham in History and
Tradition, 1975.
MLA Citation
"Abraham." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Abram settled in Hebron, where he built an altar to
honor God. He later marched to Sodom to rescue Lot
from hostile kings. Abram made his permanent home in
Hebron, but he still had one large concern—God had
promised that he would be the father of a nation, but he
was still without a child and, supposedly, in his 80s.
Sarai, by this point in her 70s, suggested that he have a
child with her maid Hagar. Abram agreed, and Hagar
soon gave birth to Ishmael. Some years later, God
visited Abram in his tent and said that Sarai would soon
be pregnant. It was at this time that God changed their
names to Abraham and Sarah. A short time later, Sarah
gave birth to a son of her own, named Isaac. Abraham,
in accordance with his covenant with God, circumcised
Isaac eight days after he was born. Fearing that Ishmael
would take Isaac's inheritance as the first born, Sarah
forced Hagar and Ishmael to flee into the desert, where
God provided them with water and food. Muslims trace
their ancestry to the family Ishmael raised in the desert,
while Jews trace their heritage back to Isaac.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Some years later, God tested Abraham's faith by
commanding him to sacrifice his son. In the Jewish and
Christian traditions this son was Isaac, but Muslims
believe that Ishmael was actually the son involved. At
the last minute, satisfied with Abraham's faith, God told
him to spare the child and sacrifice a ram instead.
Thereafter, Abraham settled in Beersheba, near Hebron.
According to Genesis, Sarah died at the age of 127 and
was buried in the cave of Machpelah. Abraham was said
to be 175 when he died. Isaac and Ishmael buried him
next to Sarah.
51
after his birth, his parents hid him and later set him
afloat on the Nile River to escape the sentence of death
imposed on all Hebrew male babies. As a subject people,
and one in thrall to the Egyptians, the Hebrews
constituted a state within a state. The reed basket in
which Moses floated was found by the daughter of the
pharaoh, who took Moses in and raised him at court. The
biblical book of Exodus, which recounts the plight of the
Hebrews and their flight from Egypt, says that Moses
was raised as an Egyptian, only later embracing his
Hebrew roots.
Moses
One of the best known figures from the Old
Testament, Moses was important not only to the early
Hebrews, but also to later "peoples of the Book,"
the Christians and Muslims. As the representative of the
Hebrew God Yahweh, Moses matched his will against
the Egyptian pharaohand his ministers to free the
Hebrews from bondage, lead them out of Egypt, and
present them with God's laws. Tradition also holds that
Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible,
known collectively as "the Pentateuch."
As a young man, Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who
beat a Hebrew laborer. He fled Egypt for the desert land
of Midian, where he met up with a Midianite tribe and
married a Midianite woman. It was while tending the
flocks and searching for pasture in the desert that Moses
found his calling. The Bible recounts that Moses found a
burning bush, one that was not destroyed by the fire, and
that he heard the voice of Yahweh. Though not at all
confident that he was up to the task (Moses tried in vain
to convince God to choose someone else), Moses
eventually agreed to do the will of Yahweh and free the
Hebrews from slavery.
Moses is a difficult
subject for historians.
The body of evidence
that
provides
information about his
life and deeds consists
of religious texts,
which, while often
excellent
windows
into the past, are not
primarily concerned
with
matters
of
history. First and
foremost, texts like
the Bible are works of faith. As such, historians have
few firm dates for Moses and must continually
reexamine evidence as it comes to light.
Biblical exegesis and archaeology continue to reveal
new information. Despite the problems historians face,
many accept the basic tradition that emerges from the
Bible. Moreover, it is abundantly clear that the
early Jews, and their spiritual descendants the Christians
and Muslims, held Moses as one of the chief architects
of earlyJudaism and thus of later Bible-based faiths.
(While Christians and Muslims believe that their sacred
texts, the New Testament and the Koran, supersede the
Bible's Old Testament, Moses remains an important
religious person to both.)
In this task, Moses was assisted by his brother Aaron, a
man far more comfortable with public speaking. The two
confronted the pharaoh, possibly Ramses II, and pleaded
several times, unsuccessfully, for the Hebrews. Exodus
recounts several encounters between Moses and the
pharaoh—including contests between Moses and
Egyptian magicians and the visitation of various
plagues—and the battle of wills between them. What
seems to have swayed the pharaoh was grief, when his
oldest son died in the last plague to strike Egypt.
The pharaoh agreed to free the Hebrews but then
pursued them with the Egyptian Army. Under the
leadership of Moses, approximately 15,000 Hebrews left
Egypt (tradition put the number at 2 million) and
stopped at the Reed Sea, with the Egyptians close
behind. (Early Biblical scholars mistook the Reed Sea
for the Red Sea.) The waters parted to allow the
Hebrews to cross and then washed the Egyptians away.
From there, the Hebrews traveled to Mount Sinai.
Tradition holds that it was atop this mountain that Moses
received the Ten Commandments from Yahweh. The
laws, which include proscriptions against murder, theft,
and other crimes, were the basis for Hebrew law, much
Scholars believe Moses was born either in the 14th or
13th century BCE. His parents, Amram and Jochebed,
belonged to one of several Hebrew tribes, the tribe of
Levi. Moses had two siblings, Aaron and Miriam, both
of whom helped him with his tasks. There is much in the
childhood of Moses that is legendary. For example, soon
52
of which is likewise attributed to Moses (thus the term
Mosaic law).
The period at Mount Sinai highlights a persistent
problem and theme of the Old Testament, namely the
growing devotion and separation of the Hebrews and
God. While Moses was atop the mountain, the Hebrews
began to worship another deity. Hebrew patriarchs
and prophets constantly sought to bring the Hebrews
back to God, a process that underscores the difficulty of
maintaining monotheism inlands
were polytheism dominated.
Moses led the Hebrews through the wilderness for 40
years but never entered the Promised Land Yahweh
destined for them. According to the Bible, he lived for
120 years, disappearing after a climb up Mount Pisgah
from the Jordan Valley. His death and burial remain
mysterious. Joshua took over leadership of the Hebrews,
but few of the leaders after Moses held the exceptionally
high regard that he did. In part, this is due to the
personality of Moses, a man who despite his lack of
confidence was able to do God's will. He was vital in
freeing the Hebrews; he handed down to them the laws
of God; and he reined them in when they strayed from
their faith. As such, Moses became a powerful symbol,
not only among the Hebrews, but also among later
Christians and Muslims.
Further Reading
Gager, John G., Moses in Greco-Roman Paganism, 1972; Kissling, Paul
J., Reliable Characters in the Primary History: Profiles of Moses, Joshua,
Elijah, and Elisha, 1996; Malherbe, Abraham, Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of
Moses, 1979; Scheindlin, Raymond P., A Short History of the Jewish People:
From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood, 1998.
MLA Citation
Emmons, Jim Tschen. "Moses." World History: Ancient and Medieval
Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
53