Download Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources Second Edition

Most of History on a Single Slide
• Paleolithic era (250,000 to 12,000 years ago)
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The big idea: initial settlement of the earth
Small, close-knit societies of hunter-gatherers
Hit a population limit
Small does not mean bad
• Neolithic revolution (12,000 to 4,000 years ago)
– Change from food gathering to food producing
• Pastoralism, then agriculture
– Big changes to human lifestyles
• Surplus  divisions of labor, population growth
• Need to organize  governments
• Cultural changes: inequalities, religion
– New knowledge of metals = Bronze Age
Jericho & Catal Huyuk
What makes it a civilization?
(and not just a bunch of people)
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Surplus of food
Specialization
Social classes
Cities
Governments
Long-distance trade (between civs)
Organized writing systems
– Exception: the Inca
Look at the social, the political, the economic
“Civilized” versus “uncivilized”
The Emergence of Civilizations
• First civilizations develop in river valleys
– Rivers help civilization grow: nutrients, animal & plant life, transportation
– Cultural hearths
• Four river valley civilizations between 3000-2000 bce
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Mesopotamia
Egypt
India
China
TIGRIS-EUPHRATES
• Mesopotamia (land between rivers)
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Harsh heat, drought; unpredictable floods
Few natural resources; no wood
No natural defensive areas such as hills
Area open to invasion by nomads
• People in area must
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Provide permanent food supply
Regulate, provide permanent water supply
Provide defense against invaders
Acquire materials such as timber, minerals
TIGRIS-EUPHRATES
 “Necessity is the mother of invention”
 Sumer in S. Iraq: first civilization (5000 bce)
• Create cuneiform, the first writing
• City-states ruled by priests and kings
• Wars over irrigated farmland
• Land-owning aristocracy dominate; most of the
population were farmers or slaves
• Polytheistic religion tied to nature
LATER MESOPOTAMIANS
• Cycle of Civilization
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Nomads come in and conquer sedentary people
Conquerors assimilate local sedentary culture
New civilization blends cultures, thrives for a while
“New” civilization grows old, invaded by nomads
• Akkadian “First”
• First Empire
• Sargon conquered all of Sumer
• Babylonian “First”
• City at junction of Tigris-Euphrates
• Hammurabi’s Law Code
• Epic of Gilgamesh
MESOPOTAMIA AS A CHART
HUANG-HE (YELLOW) RIVER
• Developed in isolation
• Along lower Yellow River
• Rich loess soil
• Constantly flooding
• First Dynasties
• Control of flooding critical
• Xia Dynasty (Mythical?)
• God-like kings
• Taught irrigation, silkmaking
• Shang Dynasty
• Warlike kings, landed aristocracy; few priests
• Most people worked land as peasants
• Elaborate bronze workings; naturalistic art
CHINESE WRITING
• Originated during Shang
• Ideographic
• Writing denotes ideas
• First used on Oracle Bones
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Priests asked gods questions
Wrote questions on bones
Tossed into fire
Cracks read by priests (divination)
• Elitist technique = scholar-bureaucrats
• Extremely difficult to read
• Required well-educated class to use
• Only elite had time to learn
• Cuneiform, hieroglyphs had similar effects
MANDATE OF HEAVEN
• Chinese political idea
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Rulers exercise power given by heaven
Rulers continue to rule if heaven pleased
Heaven will take back mandate to rule
Heaven will replace ruling dynasty
• Indicators of a Lost Mandate
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Wars, invasions, military disasters
Over-taxation, disgruntled peasants
Social, moral decline of elite classes
Increased crime, banditry
DYNASTIC CYCLE
• One ruling family replaces another
• The Dynasty Changes
• Due to the loss of the Mandate of Heaven
• Stages in Cycle
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New dynasty arises, takes control of China
Strengthens rule, reestablishes prosperity, peace
Weakens, becomes lazy, problems arise
Invasions, revolts toss out reigning dynasty
• Shang replaces Xia, Zhou replaces Shang
HOW
THE
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MANDATE
WORK
TOGETHER
THE NILE RIVER
• Society very different from Sumer
• Nile flooded regularly, predictably
• Provided rich soil, Easy soil to farm
• Civilization regulated flooding, surveying
• Location isolated
• Pharaoh was considered god-king
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Theocracy, almost absolute
Built pyramid tombs for dead
Egypt unified for most of history
Queen Hatsheput
• Achievements
• Mathematics especially geometry; architecture
• Astronomy and medicine
• Hieroglyphics
INDUS VALLEY
• Arose around 2,500 BCE
• Main Cities
• Mohenjo Daro
• Harappa
• Hundreds of other settlements
• Independent city-states, strong government
• Extremely well-planned, coordinated cities
• Elaborate writing system (undeciphered)
• Religion
• Worshipped mother goddess
• Evidence of priestly class and temples
• Collapse
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Little evidence of warfare until end
Devastated by environmental upheavals
Destroyed by Indo-European (Aryan) nomads
Cities abandoned
MEANWHILE, IN AMERICAS
 Olmec around Gulf of Mexico, 1200bce
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Used rainfall for agriculture
Cities are centers of trade, religion
Priests and ruling class over others
Giant stone heads (as tall as 2 Mr. Storcks!)
 Chavin off coast of Peru, 900bce
 Two major regions:
mountains and coast
 Trade routes running
through mountains
 CONTRAST: Neither are river valleys
HERITAGES
• First heritages
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Passed thru children
Writing systems inherited
Intellectual systems, art copied
Religious, philosophical systems copied
Useful inventions rarely forgotten, easily spread
• River valley civilizations decline by 1000BCE
• All subject to nomadic invasions
• Indo-Europeans and Semites were strongest
• Geographical centers shifted (all except China)
• Political Structures often not continued
CIVILIZATION SPREADS
• Phoenician Sailors in Lebanon
• City-states traded across Mediterranean
• Invented 22-letter alphabet
• Asia Minor
• Hittites introduced Iron
• Lydians introduced coinage to area
• Hebrews in Palestine
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Large Semitic migration in area
There is only one God speaking through prophets, priests
God made a covenant with the Jews, his Chosen people
Ethical monotheism
• Conduct determines salvation
• Man is not eternally damned if he follows God’s rules, repents
NOMADS: BARBARIANS?
• Pastoralism
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Domestication of animals
Way of life based on herding
Often on fringes
Bordered settled areas
• Seen as savages
• Interaction vs. conflict
• Nomads traded, coexisted with settled areas
• Nomads warred on, conquered settled areas
• Often protected merchants, allowed trade
• Prior to 1500 BCE little major threat
• Chariot Peoples (Central Asian Indo-Europeans)
• Domesticated horse, invented chariot, iron weapons
• Pushed into SW Asia, S. Asia, E. Asia, Europe
• Responsible for spread of ideas, trade