Download Pre-History to 600 BCE

AP WORLD HISTORY
Power Review Session 1
Early Civilizations
(Pre-History to 600 BCE)
Before we begin…let’s get honest.
1) Right now you don’t care very much about school.
2) Right now this class is wearing you out and you are counting
the days until summer.
3) Right now you are thinking of all the other things you could
be doing on a Monday night instead of sitting here listening
to Coach Biggers go on and on and on about ancient history.
However…
1) In July you will have a different attitude.
2) In July you will be dying to know how you did on the
AP World History test.
3) In July you will not be able to turn the clock back
magically and study hard for this test.
4) It’s April 9th, you are in control of your AP Test
Results…you can be smiling or crying come July. The
difference is April and May and how you approach the
test.
THE PALEOLITHIC AGE
• 2,500,000 BCE - 10,000 BCE
• Hunting/Gathering: small bands of people required gender equality
because both men and women contributed to survival
• Mostly nomadic but some permanent settlements were established in
areas with abundant food resources (grains, fish)
• Neanderthal Man: first fully modern human beings (physically and
mentally) with belief in afterlife and burials
• Cro-Magnon Man: interested in arts, used caves for shelters
HOMO SAPIEN SAPIEN
(40,000 BCE – Present)
• Modern human beings
• Eventually forced the extinction of other
hominids like Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons
• Will eventually lead the Neolithic
Revolution!
The Neolithic (Agricultural)
Revolution
• Circa 8000 BCE in river valleys…why?
• Hunting and gathering lifestyle loses out to
settled agriculture
• People plant crops and stay in one
location to reap harvests
• Huge change for humankind!
THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION
LEADS TO…
CIVILIZATIONS!
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Advanced cities
Specialized workers and social classes
Record keeping
Art and architecture
Advanced technology
Complex institutions
• Governments
• Economic systems
• Religions/philosophies
THE NEOLITHIC AGE
8000 BCE – 3000 BCE
• Food surplus led to population boom
• Permanent settlements and communities develop, along with the idea of
private property
• Development of farming technology, art, architecture, language, job
specialization, irrigation, etc.
• Development of cities like Catal Huyuk and Jericho
RIVER VALLEY
CIVILIZATIONS
• MESOPOTAMIA: “The Cradle of Civilization”
• The Fertile Crescent had good arable land in the
middle of the desert, making it sought after and
fought over, allowing many different groups to
control this area (Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites,
Akkadians)
BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
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King Hammurabi, the Judge
Centralized bureaucratic government
Taxation system
First written code of laws (Hammurabi’s Code)
– Showed social inequalities (different levels of
protection)
SUMERIAN CITY-STATES
3000 BCE
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Successful agriculture, irrigation systems
Writing, came up with cuneiform
Use of the wheel
12 month calendar
Polytheistic with anthropomorphic gods
(deities had human like traits, often used
religious beliefs to explain the natural world)
• Built ziggurats
PEOPLE OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT
• Hittites: iron ore extraction > tools and
weapons
• Assyrians: centralized bureaucracy, brutal
military conquests
• Phoenicians: first alphabet; strong traders
• Hebrews: monotheistic empire builders
ANCIENT EGYPT
old, middle, and new kingdoms
• Rich soil in Nile River valley
• Led by Pharaoh – leader with total power
• Water management, pyramids, astronomy,
hieroglyphs, mummification, gold, calendar
• Polytheistic
• Women had some rights (property, divorce, ruled as
pharaohs) but still subservient to men
• Social Hierarchy: Pharaoh, priest, noble, merchant,
artisan, peasant, slave
• Empire crumbles and is conquered by 1100 BCE
SHANG DYNASTY CHINA
1700 BCE-1100 BCE
• Stable, agricultural surplus, trade-centered
• Northern China, ,walled cities, strong army with
chariots
• “The Middle Kingdom” world view develops
• Bronze, pottery, silk, decimal system, calendar
• Patriarchal, polytheistic, ancestor veneration,
oracle bones (pre-Confucian)
• Bureaucracy already starting
• Most people were agricultural serfs with limited
freedom; others were artisans/craftsmen
SHANG DYNASTY CHINA
ZHOU DYNASTY CHINA
1100 BCE – 256 BCE
• Replaced the Shang…Mandate of Heaven used and will
be part of Chinese political history for millennia
• Ruled for 900 years keeping traditions
• Feudal system in place with bureaucracy to help manage
the growing empire
• War amongst feudal kingdoms finally caused collapse
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
3300 BCE – 1700 BCE
• Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
– Geography limited contact with outsiders
– Master planned, water systems, strong central
government, polytheistic, written language
– Pottery, cotton, cloth
– Cities abandoned for unknown reason
– Aryans invade circa 1500 BCE
THE ARYANS
• THE VEDIC AGE IN INDIA, 1500 BCE-500 BCE
– THEORY: Aryans were Central Asian nomads who
conquered the region of modern day India
– Holy books (the Vedas and Upanishads) form the
basis for Hinduism
– Caste system in place (strict social hierarchy)
• Priests, Warriors, Landowners, Merchants, Peasants,
Untouchables
Theoretical Aryan Migrations
BANTU MIGRATIONS
• Around 1500 BCE agriculturalists in West
Africa began migrating to the south and east,
taking their culture and technology with them
• These migrations lasted for 2000 years
• Bantu farmers displaced nomads and changed
Africa forever
THE AMERICAS
• Olmecs (Mexico), Mayans (Mexico/Guatemala), and
Chavin (Andes) developed similarly to the pattern of
most River Valley Civilizations: urbanization,
polytheistic, irrigation, writing, calendars, monumental
buildings, social structure, city-states
• Similar pattern of development in different part of the
world…yet no contact with others!
• Difference: no major rivers so had to adapt to
rainforest and mountains
• No domesticated work animals…no wheels
EARLY RELIGIONS & PHILOSOPHIES
(Belief Systems to 600 BCE)
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Hinduism
Judaism
Zoroastrianism
General Commonalities of early polytheism
EARLY POLYTHEISM
• Gods related to nature and the elements (sky
gods, wind, water, etc.)
• When disaster struck (floods, drought,
earthquakes) the people believed their gods were
angry with them (Epic of Gilgamesh)
• Cultural borrowing occurred frequently (gods
were borrowed and integrated from neighboring
peoples)
• Most cultures were polytheistic and used some
form of sacrificial system to appease the gods
HINDUISM
• Begins in India, evolving over time starting in 3000
BCE
• Brahma is the supreme force in the universe
• Vishnu and Shiva are manifestations of Brahma
• Reincarnation until one reaches Moksha (enlightenment) and
the cycle of life-death-rebirth ends
• Dharma (duty of caste) and Karma (fate based on
dharma)
HINDUISM continued
• Sacred texts include:
– The Vedas
– The Upanishads
– The Bhagavad-Gita
 Prime example of henotheism: acknowledging
many deities but worshipping one (Brahma)
 Very diverse belief system
 Caste system = strict social stratification in life
J U D AISM
• Originates in Southwest Asia/Middle East
• Debate over origins and times (circa 3000 BCE to
1500 BCE starting dates)
• Important figures: Abraham, Moses, David
• Monotheistic belief system based on covenant with
Yahweh (Hebrews as God’s chosen people)
• Ten Commandments, sacrificial system, temple for
worship, strict dietary and social codes
• Sacred text: Torah (Hebrew Bible)
ZOROASTRIANISM
• Originates in Persia (Iran) circa 2000 BCE
• Cosmic Dualism
– Two deities fighting for the souls of humanity
– Heaven and Hell (for the faithful and the wicked
respectively)
• Will influence other religions (formative Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam)
• Eventually will be displaced by Islam (Shi’ite) in Persia
(Iran)
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Generalities of
Early Religions
Anthropomorphic gods = human traits
Sacrifices to appease the gods
Disasters were seen as punishments from the deities
Polytheism was the norm
Gods were usually tribal rather than universal
– Zoroastrianism and Judaism emerged out of polytheistic
cultures