Download Foundations of Civilization

FOUNDATIONS
OF
CIVILIZATION
The Neolithic Revolution
What was it?
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8000 – 3500 BCE
Why did it happen?
Dwindling game?
Why was it such a big deal?
Agricultural Growth
Led to permanent settlements
(usually along rivers/lakes)
 Increased population.
 More people living in smaller
spaces
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 Greater opportunity
growth.
for conflict &
 Growth= language, religion, society
 Conflict= crime, disease, disorder
What makes a Civilization?
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What are the primary elements of a
civilization?
Come up with what you think are the primary
elements of civilization.
 Limit your list to 10 items

 Consider why you feel those items should be
recognized as primary elements of civilization
Primary Elements of Civilization
Urban Focus

Cities become the center of CREPS* development
2) Distinct Religious Structure
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Gods are crucial to success of civilization
3) New Political and Military Structures
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Organized government bureaucracy rises to meet
administrative needs of population
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Armies organized to gain/maintain land and power
1)
*Cultural, Religious, Economic, Political, Social
Primary Elements of Civilization
(cont’d)
Social Structure based on economic power

Top: Kings, priests, warriors, political leaders
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Free Common People: Artisans, farmers
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Bottom: Slaves
5) Development of Communication/Writing

Used by upper class for record keeping
6) New and significant artistic and intellectual activity
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For example, monumental architecture (religious)
7) Arable land and a good location
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Allows for food surplus, population growth, and
survival
4)
River Valley Civilizations
Ancient Mesopotamia
“Land between the Rivers”
Sumer—southern Fertile Crescent (4k-2k
BCE)
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Civilization of city-states bound together by a
common culture
A Hostile Land
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Geography
Water—unpredictable flooding/drought
(too much or not enough)
Hostile Neighbors
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Defense problems
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open, flat land w/no natural barriers
for protection
Scarcity of Resources
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Resources—limited
Lack of forests
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= no wood
Few mineral/metal
resources
WHAT DID THEY
HAVE?
Dirt, rock and sand
Perseverance
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Solutions
Water---irrigation systems
Defense— walled cities and standing armies
Resources—broad trading networks with other
regions
Religion - Enter the
Supernatural
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Polytheistic
Gods had human qualities
and emotions
Interference into human
lives—hostile/care
Afterlife—”Land of No
Return”; no joy or emotion,
bleak dismal
The Ziggurat
Ziggurat
Evolution of Religion in Sumer
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Society ruled by kings &
priests
In war, power put in hands of
military leader
As wars became more
common, more military
leadership
King eventually a military
leader & religious leader
Social Classes
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Upper Class
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Middle Classes
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wealthy merchants, scribes
Lower Classes
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royal families, nobility, priesthood
laborers, farmers
Slaves
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foreigners captured in war, family
members sold into slavery,
criminals; not a permanent
situation
Sumerian Accomplishments
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Successful agriculture, river management
Writing, (cuneiform)
Use of wheel
12 month calendar, geometry
Polytheistic
Ziggurats
Decline and Fall
A millennium of war
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(3000-2000 BC)
Power changes from on CityState to another
Collapse
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Overrun by the Amorites from
the north in about 2000 BC
Amorites were Semitic
(ancestors of modern Arabs
and Jews) invaders from
eastern Syria
Akkadians Overthrew
Sumerians 1700 BCE
Babylonians overthrew
Akkadians
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Hammurabi, Code of Law
Fell to Kassites, then Hittites
1500 BCE
Hittites-iron, then fell to
Collapse (cont’d)
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Assyrians
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organized, cruel, moved capital (Nineveh), exiles,
cultural diffusion
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Conquered by Medes, Chaldeans, rebuilt
Babylon
Eventually becomes part of Persian empire
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TRENDS OF MESOPOTAMIA
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 Difficulty
maintaining power
 City-state to Empire
Who discovered the Americas?
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Europeans?
Chinese?
No one?
Multiple Perspective
Civilizations in the Americas were separate
from classical civilizations
9500 B.C.E. earliest evidence of human
occupation
Believed to be mongoloid people
5000B.C.E. Plant domestication
What is the significance of this event?
Many of these plants that were domesticated
in Central and South America prior to the
arrival of…
A Change in Settlement
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Sedentary Agriculture vs Nomadic Hunters
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What do you think the difference was?
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Structure and civilization
Maya
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900B.C.E. – 1500
C.E.
Religion central aspect
Scientifically
Advanced
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Economy based
on agriculture
and trade
Extensive
records
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Astronomy,
math, calendars
Where are they
now
Government
organized
around citystates
Aztec
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1350 CE – Rise
of Aztecs
Centered
around one
ruler
Warlike people
interested in
conquest
Adopted some
of the practices
of the Maya
civilization
Inca
• 1438 – 1532 CE
• Population of 9
million
• Highly
sophisticated
• Why was this
essential?
• Everyone had a
specific duty.
• What does this
sound like?
Egyptian Overview
Rich soil, gentle flooding
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3 Kingdoms
water management, pyramids,
astronomy, hieroglyphs, calendar, gold,
spices
Polytheistic
Women rulers, buy, sell property,
inherit, will property, dissolve marriages,
still subservient to men
Hierarchy: pharaoh, priest, nobles,
merchants, artisans, peasants, slaves
Conquered by (1100 BCE)
Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans,
Islam, Ottomans, Europeans
Earliest Egypt
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c. 6000 BCE
Agriculturally based
3600 BCE – cities/economies along Nile
Little social stratification
Writing
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Began around 3500 – 3000
(hieroglyphics…hieratic…demotic)
Nomes – administrative districts
Narmer or Menes unified Egypt…?
Polytheistic Society
No records of city-states
The Rosetta Stone
Did they make pyramids?
No, tombs! (mummified!)
Increasingly became more and more complex
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Population, social strat., culture…
Irrigation(shaduf)
Old Kingdom
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Monumental Architecture
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Step pyramids
Increased administrative and economic
organization
Trade extends from North to South
Downfall
Weak central power and increasing
nomarch power
 2181 BCE Old Kingdom falls and parts
ruled by nomarchs
 First Intermediate Period
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 100 yrs of disunity
Middle Kingdom
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2050 BCE - King Mentuhotpe reunites Egypt
Revived trade along Nile to Palestine and trade
along the Mediterranean
Fine art and literature flourishes
More organization and power than ever before
Becomes an empire
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Power spreads to Nubia and Middle East
Ends with invasion of the Hyksos and Nubian
pushing Egyptians out
New Kingdom
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Established after the Second
Intermediate Period (1650 – 1550
BCE)
1550 BCE – 1050 BCE
Hyksos expelled
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Rises and establishes an empire
Largest Egyptian empire ever
 Parts of Mesopotamia
 Colonies were more for revenue and
less for governance/land holdings
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Notable pharaohs
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Ramses II – rebuilds parts (temples,
palaces)
Hatshepsut – female ruler
Amenhotep – changes name to
Akhenaten, adopts a monotheistic
religion (never catches on)
Weakness allows them to be
overtaken by outsiders in the
future.
Indus Valley
Indus Valley: 2500-1500 BCE
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Outside contact
more limited
Kyber Pass
connection to
outside via trade
Harrappa, MohenjoDaro
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Largest Cities (40K –
100K)
Mohenjo-daro : aerial view
Mohenjo-daro
of the “Citadel”
view
The “Great Bath”
another view of the “Great Bath”
view of a small, side street
looks like a small
tower, but actually it
is a neighborhood
well
A bathroom on a private residence
A public well in Harappa, or perhaps an
ancient laundromat...
A large drain or sewer
Characteristics
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Literate society (writings on bricks and seals)
Master-planned cities as focal point
Water system
Strong central government
Polytheistic
Written language
Pottery, cotton, cloth
Standard weights and measurements
Grain storage
Harappan granary
Decline
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Cities abandoned, reason unknown
domination of an indigenous people ?
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who rebelled ?
foreign invasion?
gradual decline ?
climate shift: the monsoon patterns
flooding
destruction of the forests
migrations of new peoples: the Aryans
Possible route of the Aryan invasions
Aryans arrive 1500 BCE
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From Caucasus Mtns. Black/Caspian Sea
Aryans – Lighter Skinned
Dravidians - Darker
Nomads who settled
Vedas, Upanashads
Sacred/historical texts of Aryans
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basis for Hinduism
Caste system
warriors, priests, peasants
later re-ordered: Brahmins (priests), warriors, landownersmerchants, peasants, untouchables (out castes)
Caste System, 1000 BC
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skin color
ritual purity
“Us--Them” feelings
divine order of four castes
Caste System (“Varnas”)
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Brahmins: the priests
Kshatriyas: the warriors
Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
Sudras: non-Aryans
Caste system, con’t
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produced by Brahmins
literature emphasized the divine order
hierarchical relationship
inheritance and marriage
the most powerful organizer of Indian society
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thousand of castes today
Castes
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define a person’s social universe
define a person’s standard of conduct
define a person’s expectations
define a person’s future
define how a person deals with others
China: Shang on the Hwang
Shang: 1600-1100 BCE
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Stable agri-surplus, trade-centered
N. China, walled cities, strong army, chariots
“The Middle Kingdom” World View
Trade with Mesopotamia
Bronze, pottery, silk, decimal system, calendar,
water control
Patriarchal, ancestors as advocates w/the gods
Stratified into nobles and commoners
Ability to control floods led to increased power
It’s Zhou Time
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Replaced Shang around 1100 BCE
Ruled 900 years, kept customs, traditions
Mandate of Heaven and the dynastic cycle
Feudal system, nobles gained power,
bureaucracies, middle class emerges
War amongst feudal kingdoms, collapse 256
BCE
This is the time of Confucius and Lao Zi
THE PHOENICIANS
The Phoenicians
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“Purple People”
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Called “carriers of civilization” because they spread
Middle Eastern civilization around the Mediterranean.
Trade via Ship mainly on the Mediterranean
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Famous for purple cloth and dye
Lacked good farmland (Lebanon)
Accomplishments
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Sailing
 Lebanon known for cedar trees, made strong ships
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Trade
Most important contribution – Phoenician Alphabet – 22
THE HEBREWS
From Establishment to Exile to Expansion
Establishment
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Left a great legacy – monotheistic religion
3000 years prior to Christ
Nomadic people
Settled along the edges of the Arabian Desert between
Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Twelve tribes descended from Abraham(the patriarch) settled
in Canaan but many drifted south, possibly as a result of
drought to Egypt.
They lived in peace in Egypt until they were enslaved
Appx. 1200 B.C. - The Jews were led out of Egypt by Moses.
Moses led the Hebrew people to Mt. Sinai where they
received the Ten Commandments.
Moses then led the Jewish people to the promised land after
wandering through the desert for 40 years but he was not
allowed to enter
Establishment:
Hebrew Rulers and Kingdoms
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Palestine was now the homeland of the Hebrews but it was
inhabited by Canaanites and the land was also susceptible to
invasion by other groups of people such as the Philistines
The 12 Tribes had to find a way to unify and combat these
invading nations.
1029B.C.E. – tribes agree to follow one King
King Saul – impressive fighter but unable to win when it
was necessary
There was a power struggle between David battled Saul and
David was victorious
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He became king.
David was a gifted military leader and completed the
conquest of Canaan.
Created political unity, established a Hebrew state and
capital at Jerusalem
Establishment:
Hebrew Rulers and Kingdoms
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King Solomon
Brought splendor to the Hebrew nation
Known as a shrewd diplomat and great builder
Strengthened the army, rebuilt and fortified
cities and constructed a temple, constructed
ships and traded with the Phoenicians
Exile and Babylonian Captivity
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721 B.C.E. – the northern Kingdom of Israel was exiled by
Sennacherib of Assyria(Assyrians)
These Exiles drifted into assimilation and became known
as the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.
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One theory is that that one tribe eventually made it to Ethiopia
586 B.C. E. – The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed
Thousands of Jews were forced into exile in Babylon
This exile lasted 60 years
However, in that time, their passion for their homeland
never faded and they did not assimilate
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Psalm 137, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to
the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest
Joy”
Expansion
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539 B.C.E. – King Cyrus the Great begins to
allow the Jewish people to return home
Some Jews stayed behind and became the first
Diaspora of the Jewish faith
They replaced sacrifices with prayer in
synagogues which replaced The Temple