Prehistory tothe Renaissance

The first humans were hunter-gatherers - About 10,000 years ago some settled into tiny villages - About 5,000 years ago city-based civilizations emerged

Early civilizations emerged in North Africa, the Middle East,India, and China

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Africa Egypt

Old Kingdom - Rich farming civilization emerged in the Nile River valley over 5000 years ago - Egyptian pharaohs

Middle Kingdom - Trade and warfare led to cultural diffusion - Polytheistic religion and society organized into classes

Later Kingdoms and Trading States (730BC) - The Bantu language spread throughout Africa from west Africa - Trade routes connected north, west, and east Africa (salt and gold)

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Mesopotamia - Sumer, city-states, emerged between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers over 5000 years ago

- Sumerians developed the first form of writing, cuneiform (3100BC)

Hammurabi - Code of Hammurabi, the first major collection of laws

Judaism - monotheistic religion, developed by Hebrews who had migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan

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IndiaThe Indus Valley - India’s first civilization emerged about 2,600BC - Around 1,500BC Aryans arrived from the north

Society - Society was based on a rigid Hindu caste system

Powerful Empires - Between 600 and 500BC strong, unified empires emerged - The Maurya Dynasty (321-220BC) conquered much of India (Asoka) - India establishes contact with civilizations in Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia - The Gupta Dynasty (320-540AD) brings in an age of peace and prosperity

Hinduism and Buddhism emerge - Hinduism stresses perfection of the spirit through reincarnation - There is no one specific founder - Buddhism stresses perfection of the spirit through meditation - Siddhartha Guatama (the Buddha) is the founder

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ChinaEarly Civilizations in China - Long distances and geography separated China with other areas, this led to the belief that China was the center of the Earth, and sole source of civilization

Dynasties - China was ruled by Dynasties; Shang (1650BC), Zhou (1027BC) - They studied the heavens, the Zhou made the first books - Shi Huangdi (Sure Hwong-dee) rose to power and ushered in China’s Golden Age and connected the Great Wall of China - The Han (206BC-220AD) made advances in trade, government, technology, and the arts - The Silk Road, stretching 4,000 miles, linked China with the Fertile Crescent and beyond. - Ruled with the Mandate of Heaven

Religion/Philosophy - Religious practices came to center on respect for ancestors - Confucianism and Legalism emerge focusing on ordered living - Daoism focused on universal balance between yin and yang, and getting back to nature

The Mongol Conquest - In the early 1200sAD the Mongols of central Asia overran land from China to Eastern Europe - Under the Khan (leader) the Mongols emerged as tolerant rulers. - Under Kublai Khan the Mongols made the Silk Roads safe and profitable – exchanging goods, ideas, and DISEASES across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa

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Early People of the Aegean - Early civilizations (Minoans and Mycenaeans) were sea-based - These early people absorbed both Egyptian and Mesopotamian ideas - Best know for Homer and his accounts of the Trojan War

Greek City-States - City-States varied; Sparta-military, Athens-Democracy - Greece was known for its artists, writers, and philosophers - Greece was united under Philip of Macedonia, and later his son, Alexander the Great who helped spread and blend Greek culture with Persia, India, and Egypt

Rome - By about 270BC Rome occupied most of Italy, by 133BC Rome’s power reached from Spain to Egypt - Augustus ushers in the age of the Empire in 31BC, for 200 years Rome experiences the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). - Rome borrowed a lot from Greek art, religion, and architecture - Christianity emerges as an urban religion in Rome

The Long Decline - Eventually the Empire split in two due to it’s size - The Western Empire fell in 476AD due to corruption, fighting, debt, and invasions - The Eastern Empire lasts 1,000 years after the west, eventually falling to the Ottomans

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Muslim Civilizations - In the 600sAD a major religion, Islam, emerged in Arabia

Muhammad - The prophet of Islam was born in 570AD, and called to be a messenger of God - Muslims believe in one, all powerful and merciful God - 5 Pillars: One God, Daily Prayer, Charity, Fasting, Hajj - Their holy book is the Quran

Spread of Islam - After Muhammad’s death in 632 Islam spreads across the Byzantine and Persian empires, and from the Atlantic to Indus Valley (largely through army conquest) - While Europe was in the Dark Ages, Muslims continued the learning of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as brought the silk road trade network under their control - In 1453AD Muslim Ottomans captured Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul - There were 3 major Muslim Empires: The Mughals (India), Ottomans (Turkey), and Safavid (Persia)

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EuropeEarly Middle Ages - Europe was fragmented and isolated due to Germanic invasions (fall of the Roman Empire)

Feudalism - System of government-based on land division, protection and loyalty - Strength of church

England - Growth of royal power led to clashes between the church and kings

Magna Carta - limited the power of the king

Europeans Look Outward - The Crusades---attempt by European Christians to regain the Holy Land - spread of culture and increased trade

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Societies InteractTrade Routes Emerge - The Indian Ocean Trade Network linked East Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia together in sea-based trade - The Silk Roads, made safe and profitable by the Mongols, united the known parts of the world together in land-based trade - The Americas and Oceania are still not connected by trade

Contact Increases - Due to contact from the Crusades and explorers like Marco Polo, Europe experiences a “renaissance” or rebirth of learning that pulls them out of the Dark Ages - Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance will spread north, furthering innovation and trade which will link the known world with the Americas and Oceania later

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North America - made up of very diverse populations - the societies were strongly influenced by geography

Middle America - first settlers were nomadic

Maya - developed writing and an accurate calendar - society divided into social classes

Aztecs - by 1500 their empire numbered 30 million and controlled most of Mexico-conquered by the Spanish with the helped of groups conquered by the Aztecs

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