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Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Name:
Date:
Mr. Carey/Mr. Clarke
Overlooked Societies
Overlooked Societies
I. Overview
For many of us, the classical period from 600BCE-600CE centers upon
the civilizations of Eurasia—the Greeks and the Romans, the Persians
and the Chinese, and the Indians of South Asia. But these were not the
only cultures of this period. Because these cultures are often left out of
our traditional study of world history, it is our duty as activists to pay
these societies the respect they deserve by investigating their unique
developments, distinctive achievements, and forms of cultural
expression.
Directions: Actively read and annotate the provided texts on
overlooked societies that developed in Africa and the Americas during
the classical period. As you read, keep the following question in mind. When you are finished reading, respond to the
question in the “Homework” section of your AP World History notebooks.
1.
In 2014, thousands of world history teachers gathered in Chicago for a conference called “Defining Civilizations.”
During this conference, the teachers debated about what students should know about the classical period of world
history. By the end of the conference, a large group of teachers concluded that students should only learn about
the Greek, Roman, and Chinese civilizations because “these are the only civilizations that have shown any sort of
advancement or cultural achievement from 600 BCE to 600 CE.” Using the provided texts below, refute (go
against) this conclusion by arguing in favor of students learning about the overlooked societies of Africa and the
Americas during the classical period. Your response should include: a) reference to the regions of both Africa and
the Americas, as well as b) at least four pieces of evidence from four different sections of your reading.
I. Societies of Africa
Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom
Axum lay in the Horn of Africa, in what is now Eritrea and modern Ethiopia. Its economic
foundation was highly productive agriculture that used a plow-based farming system. Axum’s
agriculture generated substantial amounts of wheat, barley, millet, and teff. By 50 CE, a substantial
state had emerged, driven by its participation in Red Sea/Indian Ocean trade. The capital city, also
known as Axum, was a center of monumental building and artistic expression. The most famous
structures were huge stone obelisks (pillars), which most likely marked royal graves. Some of them
were more than 100 feet tall and at the time were the largest structures in the world made from a
single piece of rock. Axumite civilization also featured an organized government and written
language known as Ge’ez. To the Romans, Axum was the third major empire within the world they
knew, following their own and the Persian Empire. (1)
Through its connections to the Red Sea trade and the Roman world, Axum was introduced to
Christianity in the fourth century CE. Christians still account for nearly 60% of Ethiopia (modern-day
Axum) today, despite the fact the much of the surrounding region is now Islamic. During the fourth
through sixth centuries, Axum mounted a campaign of expansion with a powerful army and war
elephants that took Axumite territory across the Red Sea and into the Middle East. (2)
With its long-distance trading connections, cities, centralized government, complex society,
monumental architecture, written language, and empire expansion, Axum represented on a smaller
scale the major features of the second-wave civilizations of Eurasia like Rome. (3)
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Niger River Valley: Cities without Governments
The middle stretches of the Niger River Valley in West Africa witnessed the emergence of a
remarkable city-based civilization. The most fully studied city of this region was Jenne-jeno, which at
its high point probably housed more than 40,000 people. (4)
Among the most distinctive features of the Niger River Valley civilization was the lack of an
organized central government. Unlike the cities of Egypt, China, the Roman Empire, or Axum, these
Niger Rivey Valley cities were not controlled by a larger government. Despite this lack of a larger
government, the cities within this region were colorful, independent, and productive centers of
cultural expression, making advancements in ironworking, weaving, and pottery while contributing
to a rich network of West African trade. (5)
For a time, these cities represented a unique African answer to how societies could exist peacefully
and productive without the presence of an all-controlling or oppressive government. (6)
II. Societies of Mesoamerica
Intro
Westward across the Atlantic Ocean lay an altogether separate world, later known as the Americas.
Throughout the classical period, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ensured that the cultures and
societies of the Americas operated in a world apart from those of Africa and Eurasia. And yet these
cultures and societies of the Americas were quite special. Notably, the remarkable achievements of
early American civilizations and cultures happened without the many large domesticated animals
and ironworking technologies that the peoples of Africa and Eurasia had. Additionally, the societies
and cultures of the Americas faced the challenge of creating civilizations in difficult environments,
from dry coastal environments and steamy rain forests to cold and windy cliff faces cut by numerous
mountains and valleys. Finally, nothing similar to the contact between Egypt and Mesopotamia, or
Persia and the Greeks, or the extensive communicated along the Silk Road existed for early American
civilizations—they created everything they had on their own. (1)
Teotihuacan: The Americas’ Greatest City
At roughly the same time as the Mayans flourished in the southern regions of Mesoamerica, the giant
city of Teotihuacan was also thriving in present-day Mexico. The city had an area of nearly eight
square miles and a population estimated between 100,000 and 200,000. It was by far the largest city
in the Americas at the time and one of the six largest in the entire world. Physically, the city was
impressive, filled with broad avenues, plazas, huge marketplaces, temples, palaces, apartment
complexes, slums, waterways, reservoirs, drainage systems, and colorful murals. Along one of the
main avenues, known as the Street of the Dead, were the homes of the upper classes, the
headquarters of state authorities, many temples, and two giant pyramids. (2)
Off the main avenues in a grid-like patterns of streets lay thousands of apartment compounds, home
to the city’s common peoples, each with its own kitchen area, sleeping quarters, courtyards, and
shrines. Masons, leather workers, potters, construction workers, merchants, and government
workers all made their homes in these apartments. Buildings, both public and private, were
decorated with mural paintings, sculptures, and carvings. (3)
Chavin: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement
In both the coastal and highland regions of present-day Peru, archaeologists have uncovered
numerous local ceremonial centers and temple complexes that were built between 2000 BCE and
1000 BCE. Around 900 BCE, one of them—called Chavin—became the focus of a religious movement
that swept across Peru. Chavin featured an elaborate temple complex that included art galleries,
hidden passageways, straircases, ventilation, drainage canals, and distinctive carvings. Chavin
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
religion represented its gods as jaguars, crocodiles, and snakes, while Chavin priests made use of the
narcotic (drug-based) effects of surrounding plants to create fantastic artwork. (4)
Over the next several centuries, the religion of Chavin proved attractive across much of Peru and
beyond, as Chavin-style temple architecture, sculpture, pottery, religious images, and painted textiles
were widely copied throughout the region. Chavin itself became a center of religion and trade
throughout South America. (5)
Moche: A Civilization of the Coast
By 200 BCE, Chavin society had faded and was replaced by the Moche civilization. The Moche people
flourished between 100 and 800 CE, with an economy based upon a complex irrigation system, which
funneled runoff from the Andes into fields of corn, beans, squash, and cotton, all fertilized by bird
droppings called guano. Moche fishermen also harvested millions of anchovies from the Pacific
Ocean. (6)
Politically, Moche was controlled by warrior-priests, some of whom lived atop huge pyramids, the
largest of which was constructed from 143 million sun-dried bricks. These warrior-priests, often
under the influence of drugs, ran a variety of complex rituals thought to keep the Moche civilization
in order. They also organized the ritual sacrifice of human victims, drawn from their many prisoners
of war. Images on Moche pottery show a ruler dressed in a magnificant headdress and seated on a
pyramid, while a parade of naked prisoners marches past him. For these rulers, the Moche world was
one of war. (7)
The Moche civilization was known for its advanced artistic expression, as seen through the works of
its many metalworkers, potters, weavers, and painters. Face masks, figures of animals, small earrings,
and other jewelry items, many plated in gold, display amazing abilities and striking artistry.
Decorating Moche pottery are realistic portraits of noble lords and rulers and images from the life of
common people, including the blind and the sick. Battle scenes show warriors confronting their
enemies raised with clubs. (8)