AP Exam ReviewSemester 1 Information

Unit 1.1: Early Civilizations

Chapters 2-4

Neolithic Age

Named for new stone tools

Transition to settled communities about 10,000 BCE

Evident in use of ceramics

City development meant class hierarchies

Appeared in Fertile Crescent

Domestication of plants and small animals (goats and sheep)

Sumer

First city was Sumer in Mesopotamia

First system of writing used for commerce

Dominated Mesopotamia for nearly a millennium

Religious leaders ruled in conjunction with kings

Temples called ziggurats reflect power

Divine power of kings

Epic of Gilgamesh and Code of Hammurabi

River Valley Civilizations: Egypt

“Gift of the Nile”

Economy based on cereal agriculture

Wrote on papyrus Rosetta stone containing 3 types of writing helps

decipher

Unification 3100 BCE

No independent city-states

Akhenaten

Monotheistic worship of Aten, built Akhetaten

River Valley Civilizations: Indus

Valley Two major cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Writing not decipherable

No monumental buildings No evidence of social stratification

First use of cotton, trade connections over broad area

Succeeded by Aryan civilization

China

Xia, Shang and Zhou early dynasties

Center on Huang He (Yellow River)

Class distinctions Hierarchical and patriarchal

Cities as religious centers Human and animal sacrifice

Oracle bones as early writing

Zhou developed “Mandate of Heaven”

Zhou ended into “Warring States Period”

Mesoamerica and South America

Early cities were religious shrines linked by shamans to world of spirits

Built on lakes, not river systems

Range of irrigation techniques

Andean civilization connected mountains to coast

Niger River Valley

Results of innovation and diffusion

Iron smelting as diffusion from Phoenicians

Bantu migrations carried iron knowledge thousands of miles south

Jenne-jeno

Indigenous city in Sub-Saharan Africa Cooperative, peaceful society without class

division

Unit 1.2: Early Empires

Chapters 5-8

Imperialism

Extension of political rule by one people over another

Growth through conquest

Hegemony- promotion of benefits that make rule acceptable

Requires power to enforce rule

Early Empires

Mesopotamia

Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, and Assyrians early invaders

Egypt

Conquered up and down Nile

Invaded in turn by Nubians, Assyrians, Persian an Alexander the Great

Persia

Empire begins under Cyrus I

Darius I extended into India and pushed Zoroastrianism Cyrus and Darius merciful towards defeated foes

Greek City-States

Greek polis centered on a single city

Built for defense and geography (agora, acropolis)

Athens

Political democracy under Solon (commoners in government)

Persian War temporarily united Athens and Sparta under Delian League Defeated in Peloponnesian War

Macedonian Empire

Began under Philip II, extended under his son Alexander Alexander extended into Indus Valley, troops mutinied

Hellenistic ecumene

Rome

Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome ended with annexation of Carthage

Granted some citizenship to conquered peoples

Patron-client relationship providing reciprocity

Struggle of the Orders between plebeians and patricians

Augustus turned Rome into an empire

Influenced by Greek culture

Military enforced by conquering peoples

Pax Romana protected trade

End of empire by barbarian invaders

Under Constantine, Constantinople second capital of empire

Later becomes Byzantine Empire

China

Qin unified empire after Warring States Period

Construction of Great Wall

Favored legalism

Han favored Confucianism

Confucius canonized earliest historical texts (Book of Songs, Book of Changes, Rites and Rituals)

Daoism (taught by Laozi) believe in natural order, embraced with Confucianism

Sui completed Grand Canal linking Yangzi and Yellow Rivers

Japan accepted cultural hegemony of China

Confucianism and Daoism

Confucianism

During Warring States period, from Confucius

Meant to create order

Maintenance of tradition for order

Filial piety (patriarchal), veneration of ancestors

Well-educated officials; Analects to train civil servants

Support under Han

Daoism

During Warring States period, from Laozi

Balance in nature (yin and yang)

Following “the way”

Politics and education unnecessary

India

Aryan settlers named for Indo-Aryan language family

Earliest sources of Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Puranas, and Mahabharata

First Indian empire after ATG led by Chandragupta Maurya

Asoka- Mauryan emperor who converted to Buddhism, closest to unifying entire Indian subcontinent

Resurgence of Hinduism under Gupta Empire with power of brahmins

Unit 2: World Religions

Hinduism

Earliest lasting religion

Confined mostly to Indian subcontinent

Sacred texts provide insight

Rig Veda- speculation on creation, gods, no answers, sanctions caste system Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras

Brahamanas- rituals, myths, gods

Upanishads- mystical speculation, teaching of atman, stages of life

Bhagavad-Gita- dharma, warfare, life, death and rebirth

Puranas- focus on Hindu gods, dance of Shiva cycle of creation and destruction

Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama reached enlightenment, preached 4 Noble Truths

Sangha as order of monks

Sects of Buddhism

Mahayana and Theravada

8 sects in China Pure Land, Chan most important

Emperor Wu made Buddhism official religion of Tang Dynasty

4 sects in Japan Zen Buddhism

Coincided with Shinto

Judaism

Single, caring God made covenant with Abraham

TaNaKh sacred scriptures

Women fewer rights than men

Diaspora from holy land

Earliest under Babylonians, longest lasting under Romans Maintained distinctiveness and community

Division into Israel and Judea after Solomon

Divided into 4 groups Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes under Roman rule

Christianity

Jesus’ teachings emerged out of Judaism

Angered Jewish and Roman leaders

Apostles spread religion through preaching and organization

Appeal to lower classes until conversion of Constantine

Theodosius made Christianity official religion

Division between east and west on central issue of authority of Roman pope

Direct confrontation when Crusaders attacked Constantinople

With stopping of Muslim invaders at Tours, made Christianity a “European” religion

Charlemagne crowned HRE by Pope

Islam

Begins with preaching of Muhammad after visions from Angel Gabriel

Teachings in the Quran: 5 Pillars of Islam

Issue of succession after Muhammad

First caliph was Abu Bakr

Shi’a wanted successors as relatives of Muhammad, Sunni wanted Umayyad clans 83% today are Sunni

Mongols end Abbasid caliphate

Islam spread to India, SE Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa

Crusades called to take back the Holy Land from Muslims, motivation beyond religion

Spread of Islam Conquered Arabia Peninsula, Persia, spread into Egypt, Balkans and into

North Africa, India, and Spain

More concern of conquering than spreading religion

Umayyad (Damascus) and Abbasid (Baghdad) end with Mongols

Respect for “People of the Book” but high taxes

Heightened trade, preserve ancient works, “Arabic numerals”, astrolabe, astronomy, urban centers, architecture, Sufism

Al-Andalus in Islamic Spain

Stopped advance at Battle of Tours 732

SE Asia

Delhi Sultanate

Spread by commercial contacts

Africa

Across Sahara trade routes, Indian Ocean

Ghana, Mali, East Africa

Cultural syncretism