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UNIT 1: Foundations 8000 B.C.E.–600 C.E. Topic 3 Basic features of early civilizations in different environments: culture, state, and social structure Activator • Complete the SPRITE worksheet on the earliest civilizations. Mesopotamia Culture Independent innovation that passed to Egypt/Indus 4000 BCE bronze, copper Wheel, irrigation canals 3500 Sumerians – cuneiform – first writing – stylus – objects > sounds Number system – 60 – movement of heavenly bodies navigation time Architecture – ziggurats – 1) glory of civilization, 2) many gods Clay primary building material First epic – Epic of Gilgamesh – 1) great flood story King’s quest to achieve immortality great traders State • Unpredictable flooding – need for government – irrigation • City-states – controlled city + surrounding area • Geography – lack of natural barriers – invasion – defensive walls • Conflicts over water/property rights • Akkadians/Babylonians – spread Sumerian culture – Code of Hammurabi – first written law code • Different rules for gender/social classes • Very harsh, favored upper class • Systematic, consistent set of regulations, not arbitrary will of a ruler • After 900 BCE –Assyrians and Persians ruled • king-like figure – lugal “big man” Social Sturcture • Ruled by elite, rulers, priests • Farmed by slaves – could purchase freedom • Patriarchal – men could sell wives/children to pay debts – 1600 BCE women wearing veils – But…women could gain power courts, priestesses, scribes, small business Egypt Culture • 3000 BCE – Nile River • pharaoh – pyramids – tombs for self/families – Decorated w/ colorful paintings • polytheists – afterlife > mummification – Egyptian Book of the Dead – what happened to soul, how to reach happy – afterlife > mummification and tombs • • • • bronze tools weapons after Mesopotamia Kush – independent innovation iron – spread to Egypt some trade w/ Kush and Mesopotamia hieroglyphics – from trade contacts Mesopotamia – papyrus – paper making • geography – protected – could create unique civilization • less urban than Mesopotamians • 365 day calendar, medicine, math, astronomy State • • • • Nile overflowed annually – predictable irrigation led to organization/government agricultural villages engaged in trade pharaoh – king – power – living incarnation of sun god • • • • geography – protected from invading people beginning 3100 when Menes unites Upper and Lower Egypt 2040-1640 BCE Middle Kingdom – culturally dynamic New Kingdom – 1500 – regained from foreign invaders Hyksos – focused on military • by 900 in control of foreign invaders – internal disorder, invasions Social Structure • Social classes, but commoners could enter government service – rise in social status • Patriarchal, but women had some privileges – Women sometimes acted as regents for young rulers, priestesses, scribes – managed household finances/education of children – right to divorce husbands/alimony – could own property – Queen Hatshepsut Indus – 2500 BCE Indus River - Pakistan Culture Streets laid out in precise grid – houses had running water/sewage Harappan writing not deciphered – much unclear active trade w/ Indus valley and Sumer – ores from one place found in others blend of Aryans and Indus valley people affected future course of history quite large – size of France/urbanized State unpredictable flooding Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro Because of similarities of cities, tightly unified, centrally controlled Overtaken by Indo-Europeans – Aryans Already dying out – 1) river change or 2) earthquake, 3) erosion of soil 4) salt in wells whole societies – all over – Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro only tip, last Social Structure little known – Dravidians relatively egalitarian not as patriarchal Aryans – based it on color – Varnu Aryans eventually control politically, but Dravidians would win out culturally Shang – most isolated – Huange He valley – Yellow River – “China’s Sorrow” Culture Isolated by deserts, mountains, and seas – unpredictable flooding Still some trade w/ Southwest Asia and South Asia Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 left written records) Knowledge of bronze metallurgy – from Southwest Asia Strengthened Shang war machine 1000 BCE Ironworking Fortune telling and ancestor worship started here Palaces/tombs built for emperors Writing – oracle bones Oracle scratch person’s question on bone/shell – heat it Resulting cracks read to learn message from gods State Dynasties Central rule to oversee irrigation/flood-control projects Walled cities – center of cultural, military, economic – set precedent in villages Zhou replaced Shang – “mandate of heaven” – if leader governed wisely and fairly, he could claim right to divine rule Warrior aristocracy fought northern/western neighbors – barbarians – expanded empire Tradition of central authority Began as small agricultural cities along Yellow River Social Structure Stratified – ruling elites, artisans, peasants, slaves Patriarchal – father needs to know children are his Subservient multiple marriages preference for sons - infanticide ancestor worship Matrilineal society before Shang Mesoamerica and Andean South Culture lacked knowledge of wheel Olmecs/Maya – pyramids/temples Polytheistic Cultural diffusion – maize, terraced pyramids Calendars Ball game on a court Quetzalcoatl – god who would return to rule world in peace Mayan reached height in 300 CE system of writing – pictographs value of zero astronomy – predicted eclipses length of year within a few seconds State small city-states – ruled by kings – fought against each other Prisoners of war – slaves/sacrifices to gods lack of pack animals/geography prevented communication Inhabitants cooperated for irrigation systems Rugged terrain of Andes prevented central gov’t from organizing Social Structure • Elite class of rulers/priests vs. commoners and slaves Geography not in valleys of major rivers smaller rivers/streams near oceans no large animals/beasts of burden – llama biggest animal – human labor Questions to Ponder • • • • • • • • • • Importance of bronze? Iron? Reasons why cities are important to civilization? How was Sumeria politically organized? What event/happening do most historians begin the history of Egypt? On what did Egyptian civilization depend? How did ancient Egypt civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization resemble each other? How did they differ? What major similarities did the four great river systems have in common? Where are they? What differences do they have? Major characteristics of the Shang dynasty? What was the longest Chinese dynasty and what were the factors for its longevity? What were the major civilizations in Classical Mesoamerica? Major reasons why pastorialism did not develop in the Americas?
