Download AP World Chapter 2: Early Societies in Southwest Asia and Indo

AP World Chapter 2: Early Societies in Southwest Asia and Indo-European
Migrations
Introduction
-Gilgamesh was the 5th king of the city of Uruk in about 2750 BCE
-Epic of Gilgamesh explores his heroics as well as themes of life, inevitability of
death, loyalty, and other themes of the complex, urban-based Mesopotamia
-Earliest urban societies were in SW Asia in 4thMilennium BCE
I. The Quest for Order
A. Mesopotamia: The Land Between Rivers
-Little rain water, but small-scale irrigation begins after 6000BCE
-By 3000 BCE, there were 100,000 Sumerians (southern part of Mesopotamia)
-Sumer attracted many migrants from among the Semitic peoples, from Arabian
Peninsula and Syrian deserts
-Constructions of cities began by 4000 BCE (Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Kish)
-In developing into city-state, they established control over surrounding regions
-City-states also undertook public works, which included ziggurats (stepped
temples) and massive irrigation projects
-External pressures mounted since Mesopotamia is flat and was easily plunderable
-Kings began to emerge by 3000 BCE, but in reality they cooperated with local
nobles
B. The Course of Empire
-As conflicts mounted between city-states (i.e. Gilgamesh was celebrated for
defending Uruk from Kish), there was en effort to establish regional kingdoms that
could incorporate many city-states after 2350 BCE
-Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315) was a noted empire builder, who began his career as
a minister to Kish before conquering many Sumerian city-states and creating an
empire that lasted until 2150 BCE
-Hammurabi, who styled himself “king of the four quarters of the world” was
another prominent conqueror (1792-1750 BCE)
-Hammurabi ruled from Babylon rather than traveling with his armies as Sargon
had done
-Instituted more regular taxes that were less ruinous on people and developed a
more thorough bureaucracy and, of course, a code of law based on principle of
lextalionis (law of retaliation) that also took into account social class
-Babylonian empire fell to the Hittites (from Anatolia) in 1595 BCE
C. The Later Mesopotamian Empires
-After chaos and turmoil ensued, imperial rule returned with the Assyrians from
northern Mesopotamia
-Assyrians used chariots borrowed from Hittites to sweep to victory
-Also used iron to take over much of SW Asia
-High point was in the seventh century BCE, when King Assurbanipal called himself
“kin of the universe” and Assyrians controlled not only Mesopotamia, but also Syria,
Palestine, much of Anatolia, and Egypt
-Assyrians used many of the same administrative and bureaucratic methods as
Babylonians, and King Assurbanipal even maintained a library at Nineveh with
Mesopotamian literature
-Assyrian rule was unpopular and collapsed by 612 BCE.
-From 600 to 550 BCE Babylon once again dominated Mesopotamia under the name
of the New Babylonian empire or Chaldean empire and under the leadership of
Nebuchadnezzar
II. The Formation of a Complex Society and Sophisticated Traditions
-With emergence of cities came growing specialization of labor, social classes,
patriarchy, writing systems, and other complex features of urban life
A. Economic Specializations and Trade
-Pottery, textile manufacture, woodworking, leather production, brick making, and
masonry all became distinct occupations
-After 4000 BCE, experimentation with copper metallurgy led to the creation of
bronze, which impacted weapons and agriculture over time
-About 1,300 Hittites crafted weapons from Iron, which was cheaper and more
available than the copper and tin required to create bronze
-Wheel developed in about 3500 BCE
-Shipbuilding also allowed significant trade across Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to
acquire silver from Anatolia, gold from Egypt, tin from Persia, and lapis lazuli from
Afghanistan
-There was a vibrant donkey caravan trade between northern Mesopotamia and
Anatolia in the circa 1800 BCE
B. The Emergence of a Stratified Patriarchal Society
-Social distinctions became more defined with rise of cities
-Kings were seen as partially or fully god-like (i.e. Gilgamesh)
-Priests and priestesses were younger relatives of rulers
-Temples were centers of wealth, serving as workshops for textile workers, banks,
orphanages, and various other functions
-Slaves came from 3 sources: prisoners of war, convicted criminals, and heavily
indebted individuals who sold themselves into slavery
-Most slaves were domestic servants who eventually were given their freedom
-Patriarchy a major theme, as demonstrated in Hammurabi’s Code which called for
the drowning of an adulterous woman but no penalty for an adulterous man
-Some women did have power as advisors to kings and governments, high
priestesses who managed temple estates, educated scribes, midwives, shopkeepers,
brewers, and bakers
-But in 2nd millennium BCE, women’s roles were limited as they were required to be
virgins at marriage and then once marries could not socialize outside the home
-By 1500 BCE married women wore veils, and this practice spread throughout SW
Asia
C. The Development of Written Cultural Traditions
-Sumerians invented a system of writing that depended on pictures in about the
middle of the fourth millennium BCE to keep track of commercial transactions and
tax collections
-By 2900 BCE, the Sumerians had developed cuneiform, which involved using a
stylus fashioned from a reed to impress symbols on wet clay
-Cuneiform declined in the 4th century BCE when Greek alphabetic script spread
-Literacy led to creation of formal school and expansion of astronomy and math, and
many Mesopotamian conventions continue today—12 months in year, 60 minutes in
an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute
-Literacy also enabled sophisticated works like the Epic of Gilgamesh
III. The Broader Influence of Mesopotamian Society
A. Hebrews, Isrealites, and Jews
-Hebrews were speakers of the ancient Hebrew language
-Israelites formed a branch of Hebrews who settled in Palestine after 1200 BCE
- Jews descended from southern Israelites who inhabited the kingdom of Judah
-Early Hebrews were pastoral nomads who inhabited lands between Mesopoyamia
and Egypt and participated in Mesopotamian society by embracing lextalionis,
adapting flood stories, and making their way into Epic of Gilgamesh
-Some Hebrews went to Egypt around 1800 BCE but departed to Palestine under
leadership of Moses in 1300 BCE—they were organized into 12 tribes and known as
Israelites
-Eventually they discarded tribal structure and created monarchy under David
(1000-970 BCE) and Solomon (970-930 BCE)
-Jerusalem became a key, cosmopolitan city that featured a lavishly decorated
temple in honor of Yahweh rather than ziggurats to honor the false gods of previous
Hebrews and Mesopotamians
-Torah was compiled between 800 and 400 BCE
-Following reign of Solomon, split between between large kingdom of Israel in north
and Judah, known as Judea, in south
-In 722 BCE, Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and most
Israelites spread and assimilated into other cultures
-Then, founders of the New Babylonian empire toppled the Assyrians, then toppled
Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE—unlike northern cousins, most of these
Israelites eventually returned to Judea with renewed spiritual strength and became
known as Jews
B. The Phoenicians
-North of Israelites’ kingdom in Palestine, the Phoenicians occupied a narrow
coastal plain between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lebanon Mountains—they
spoke a Semitic language and referred to their land as Canaan
-Instead of a unified monarchy, there were commercially-interested city-states like
Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Byblos
-Most known for Maritime trade, they exported metal goods, textiles, pottery, glass,
cedar logs from Lebanon Mountains, purple dyes, and works of art
-Dominated Mediterranean trade between 1200 BCE and 800 BCE
-Largely adapted Mesopotamian gods to their own purposes
-After initially using cuneiform, Phoenecians developed an early alphabetic script
consisting of 22 symbols representing consonants by 1500 BCE (no vowels)
-By 9th century BCE, Greeks had adapted Phoenecian alphabet by adding vowels
IV. The Indo-European Migrations
-During end of 16th and 17th centuries, Tokugawa shoguns promoted conservative
values and spread anti-foreign message as they brought an end to civil disorder
A. Indo-European Origins
-Indo-European languages are dominant in Europe, southwest Asia, and India—
even English falls into the Germanic subgroup of Indo-European languages
-Original homelands of Indo-Europeans was the steppe region of modern Ukraine
and southern Russia just north of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea
-Early Indo-Europeans hunted horses, then domesticated horses by 4000 BCE, and
then learned to hitch horses to carts, wagons, and chariots by 3000 BCE
-Harnessing of horses enabled Indo-Europeans to be dominant and to expand
B. Indo-European Expansion and Its Effects
-As they flourished in southern Russia, Indo-European speakers experienced a
population explosion which prompted some of them to move into the sparsely
inhabited eastern steppe
-Between 3000 BCE and 1000 BCE, Indo-European migrations were gradual,
incremental processes
-In 1900 BCE, Hittites migrated to central plain of Anatolia, and then by 1595 they
had conquered Babylonia and were continuing to spread until dissolving in 1200
BCE
-Hittites were known for two technological innovations—light, horse-drawn
chariots and refined iron metallurgy
-By heating iron in a bed of charcoal, then hammering into the desired shape, they
could forge strong, durable implements
-Other Indo-Europeans went East into Tarim Basin of Western China
-Another wave of Indo-Europeans went west to Greece by 2200 BCE, with their
descendants moving into central Italy by 1000 BCE
-Yet other waves went to central Europe (by 2300 BCE to Germany and Austria) and
western Europe (by 1200 BCE to France and shortly thereafter the British Isles),
always relying on pastoral and agricultural economies without building large states
-Another Indo-European wave went to Iran, as the Medes and Persians migrated to
Iran Plateau by 1500 BCE and the Aryans filtered into Northern India
-All these Indo-European societies had three social groups: military ruling elite,
small group of priests, and large class of commoners