UNIT I&IIBEGINNINGS TO 600CE

KNOW THE REGIONS OF THE WORLD

THE BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS OF UNIT I&II1. What are civilizations about?2. How does change occur within a society?3. How are people impacted by, and how do they impact,

geography and climate?

MAJOR KEY CHANGES1. Discovery of farming and what happens when there

actually is enough to eat2. Developing technologies and ideas to support cities (and

to take over other civilizations)3. The rise of most of the major world religions4. The collapse of the classical empires

FOLLOWING THE FOODNomads

• Shelter – Find it!• Food – Follow it!

Two Main Types:• Foraging Societies

• Hunting and Gathering clans, or small groups, who traveled from point to point as the climate and availability of plants and animals dictated

• Disadvantages: Limited by the capacity of their surroundings; their inability to store food long-term; no permanent shelters; few personal belongings

• Pastoral Societies• Small groups of people characterized by the domestication of animals• Disadvantages: Few personal possessions; continually searching for

new grazing areas and water for herds

SETTLING DOWNAgricultural Societies:

• People figured out how to cultivate plants (Neolithic Revolution), and could stay in the same places as long as there was good soil and a stable source of water.

• Helped them build and and sustain cultural traditions do to the increased unity, along with a connection to the land, creating the thought of property in terms of ownership.

Advantages of a Food Surplus (Civilizations):• Allowed for the building of towns, organizing of armies, development of a system of writing,

creation of art, experimentation, and discovery of new technologies (irrigation).• With complexity, came organized economies, governmental structures, and religious organizations.

Impact on the Environment:• Changed the lay of the land by diverting water sources, clearing land for farms and roads, and

unearthing stones.• Animals were used for food, clothing, and agricultural labor (oxen for plows)

Technology:• Stones: sharpened and formed for farming tools.• Pottery: used for cooking and storing food.• Wheels and Sails: for transporting goods• Bronze: use of metals for tools and weapons

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #1 - MESOPOTAMIA

River: Tigris and Euphrates (flooded unpredictably)Sumer

• Developed a form of writing called cuneiform, setting down laws, treaties, and important social and religious customs.

• Polytheistic religion dominated the region in which they built ziggurats (terraced pyramids) to appease the gods.

Babylon• Expanded on the idea of written law with the Code of Hammurabi, a significant step toward modern

legal codes, and distinguished between minor/major offenses and applied the laws to nearly everyone.

Lydians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews• Lydians – created the concept of coined money to conduct trade (instead of barter).• Phoenicians – developed a simple alphabet with 22 letters making communication and the written

word much easier to learn and use.• Hebrews – developed the first major monotheistic religion after Abraham created a covenant with

God.Persia

• A empire stretching from India to Greece to Egypt.• Built the Great Royal Road to improve communication and transportation across the Empire

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #2 - ANCIENT EGYPT

River: Nile (flooded regularly)Achievements:

• Unified under King Menes, Egypt was well known for the creation of pyramids as tombs, hieroglyphics for their writing system, a fairly reliable calendar, a polytheistic society that led to mummification (preservation of the deceased)

Egyptian Women• Queen Hatshepsut is just one example, ruling Egypt for 22 years, of

women in Egypt who could buy and sell property, inherit property, choose who they would will their property to, and dissolve their marriages.

Social Structure• Beginning of the pyramid social structure, with the pharaoh at the top,

then the priests, the nobles, the merchants and skilled artisans, and finally the peasants and slaves.

Decline• Becoming powerful and prosperous brings envy from the outside, and

with a growing civilization, not all of the borders could be adequately protected, leading to the downfall of most large empires.

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #3 - INDUS

River: Indus River (Limited Contact from the Outside)Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

• Cities that were master-planned, uniformly constructed, and has sophisticated wastewater systems.

• Identified with a strong central government and a top-notch economy that traded cotton/cloth.

Arrival of the Aryans• Aryans – nomadic tribes from the Caucasus Mtns.

That swept through the Indus River Valley, establishing their religious beliefs (that becomes Hinduism) on the Indian subcontinent.

• Formed the basis of the caste system, a rigid social class system dividing the society.

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #4 - EARLY CHINA

River: HuangHe River (Isolated from the World)Shang China

• Built walls around its cities and towns and used chariots to defend them.

• Family Focus• Important patriarchal structure where multiple

generations of families lived in the same household and believed they could call on the spirits of their ancestors.

Zhou China• Wu Wang established the Zhou Dynasty that

continued older traditions and customs, but also brought in the Mandate of Heaven (heaven grants power to rulers), a feudal system, and bureaucracy to the governmental system.

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #5 - WEST AFRICA

River: Niger and BenueBantu Migrations

• A migration over almost 200 years of the people from the Niger and Benue River Valleys that brought with them their language and knowledge of agriculture and metallurgy

Jenne-Jaro• Believed to be the first city in sub-Sahara Africa

that had a unique form of urbanism comprising a collection of individual communities.

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: #6 - MESOAMERICA AND THE ANDES

Olmec• Developed in what is today Mexico and

were supported by squash, beans, and corn.

Chavin• Developed in the Andean region of South

America and were supported by both agriculture and seafood, while also using llamas as their beast so burden.

Uniqueness of the Olmecs and Chavin• Both do not develop near a major river

system, disproving the need for early civilizations to develop around a river valley

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #1 - MAYA

City-States – Tikal• The Maya were a series of city-states ruled by

one king; they developed pyramid-like structures, wrote using a form of hieroglyphics, and produced a complex calendar system.

Religion and Warfare• Religion and warfare was interwoven; warfare

was largely fought not over land, but in order to acquire slaves who were used for building projects, agricultural production, and bloodletting rituals.

Culture• Used a ridged-field system as seen in the

tiered temple at Chichen Itza; created several ball courts used for a ritual sport

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #2 - INDIA

The Maurya Empire• Spurred by loss of Alexander the Great, a new empire

arose in India in 321BCE thanks to Chandragupta Maurya• Rose to its greatest heights under Ashoka Maurya, who

would famously convert to Buddhism after a series of military victories, spreading Buddhism to China and many parts of Southeast Asia.

• Mauryan wealth and power was based on the Indian Ocean Trade that it controlled; traded silk, cotton, and elephants.

The Gupta Dynasty• India experienced a revival under Chandra Gupta II,

beginning the Gupta Empire around 400CE.• A Golden Age of India, advancing the arts and sciences (pi

and zero)• Allowed Hinduism to take hold in India, reinforcing the

caste system, diminishing women's rights, and increasing the importance of inheriting property.

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #3 - CHINA

The Qin Dynasty• Beginning in 221BCE, the Qin dynasty, and

their Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, connected separate fortification walls to create the Great Wall of China and brought the belief system of Legalism.

The Han Dynasty• Beginning around 200BCE, the Han Dynasty

brought about the civil service system (education and examination of civil servants) based on the teachings of Confucius.

• Also invented paper, accurate sundials, and the compass and rudder that would slowly be spread along the Silk Roads.

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #4 – GREECE, PART I

Social Structure and Citizenship• A collection of city-states known as polis (Athens

and Sparta) that were composed of citizens, free people, and non-citizens (slaves).

• Citizens were expected to participate in civic decisions, creating the first democracy.

Mythology• A polytheistic religion where the Gods were believed

to possess human failings, and a religion to this day that remains a part of the Western heritage.

War with Persia• After victories at Marathon and Salamis, the Greeks

were able to maintain control of the Aegean Sea, allowing them the freedom to enter into a time of peace and prosperity.

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #4 – GREECE, PART II

The Golden Age of Pericles• Pericles established a democracy for all adult males and the

Delian League (alliance of Greek city-states) to rule Greece.• Philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle was able to

flourish, called rationalism; Greek dramas, arts, architecture, math, and science also earned their place in history.

The Peloponnesian Wars• Athens’s Delian League and Sparta’s Peloponnesian

League, finally butted heads over a trade dispute in Corinth, leading to conflict between the two and the weakening of the Greece city-states.

Alexander the Great• After his father, Philip, swept through Greece, Alexander the

Great continued the military progress of the Macedonians by conquering the Persian Empire, Egypt, and parts of India.

• Spread Greek customs, creating Hellenism (the culture, ideals, and pattern of life of Classical Greece)

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #5 – ROME, PART I

Social and Governmental Structure• Consisted of patricians (land-owning nobles),

plebeians (free men), and slaves; began as a representative republic consisting of the Senate, the Assembly, and two Consuls; developed the Twelve Tables (series of civil laws to protect individual rights); family was centered around the paterfamilias (eldest male).

Military Dominance• The Punic Wars set the stage of the powerful

Roman military, with Carthage’s final defeat in 146BCE; gave control of the western Mediterranean to the Romans, while the conquering of Greece in the same year gave them control of the eastern Mediterranean.

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: #5 – ROME, PART I

Collapse of the Republic, Rise of Imperialism• Overcrowding the cities, a high rate of inflation, and

political leader infighting led to the creation of the first triumvirate (Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar)

• Julius Caesar took power, ousting the other two, but was soon assassinated, leading to the creation of the second triumvirate (Octavius, Marc Antony, and Lepidus).

• Octavius rose to power, took the name Augustus Caesar, and became emperor in 27BCE, ending the Roman Republic; brought forth the Pax Romana (200 years of Roman peace).

Religious Diversity• Paganism was the state religion in Rome, but shortly

after the reign of Augustus, Christianity began to take hold, but was initially suppressed and persecuted alongside Judaism.

• Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313CE, ending the persecution of the Christians and bringing religious tolerance to area.

THE COLLAPSE OF THE CLASSICS

Several common factors caused all three empires to fall:

• Attacks from the Huns - The Huns were a nomadic people of Asia that began to migrate south and west during this time period. Their migration was probably caused by drought and lack of pasture, and the invention and use of the stirrup facilitated their attacks on all three established civilizations.

• Deterioration of political institutions - All three empires were riddled by political corruption during their latter days, and all three suffered under weak-willed rulers. Moral decay also characterized the years prior to their respective falls.

• Protection/maintenance of borders - All empires found that their borders had grown so large that their military had trouble guarding them. A primary example is the failure of the Great Wall to keep the Huns out of China. The Huns generally just went around it.

• Diseases that followed the trade routes - Plagues and epidemics may have killed off as much as half of the population of each empire.

The fall of empire affected the three areas in different ways.

• The fall of the Gupta probably had the least impact, partly because political unity wasn't the rule anyway, and partly because the traditions of Hinduism and the caste system (the glue that held the area together) continued on after the empire fell.

• The fall of the Han Dynasty was problematic for China because strong centralized government was in place, and social disorder resulted from the loss of authority. However, dynastic cycles that followed the dictates of the Mandate of Heaven were well defined in China, and the Confucian traditions continued to give coherence to Chinese society.

• The most devastating fall of all occurred in Rome. Roman civilization depended almost exclusively on the ability of the government and the military to control territory. Even though Christianity emerged as a major religion, it appeared so late in the life of the empire that it provided little to unify people as Romans after the empire fell. Instead, the areas of the empire fragmented into small parts and developed unique characteristics, and the Western Roman Empire never united again.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #1 - POLYTHEISMWho Believes?

• Religions of Mesopotamian and Mediterranean empires(except for Hebrews and Christians), Hinduism, and sects of Buddhism and Daoism.

What do they Believe?• Belief in multiple gods who impact

daily life on earth.Impact of the Belief?

• Center of art and architecture for most of the civilizations; led to the rise of a powerful priestly class.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #2 - CONFUCIANISM

Who Believes?• Chinese culture beginning around 400BCE.

What do they Believe?• A political and social philosophy started by Confucius and

dealing with how to restore political and social order by…• Identifying five fundamental relationships and their

obligations to each other• The formation of junzi (individuals considered superior

due to education, conscientiousness, and working for the greater good)

• And the stressing of values (ren - kindness, li - respect, xiao – family obligation).

Impact of the Belief?• Flexibility of the belief system allowed it to flourish with

other religions; created an orderly society and a distinctive Chinese culture that spread minimally.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #3 - DAOISM

Who Believes?• Chinese culture beginning around 500BCE.

What do they Believe?• Founded by Lao-tzu (Loazi) and deals with the

idea of dao or the way of nature which is an eternal principle governing all the workings of the world; also deals with the doctrine of wuwei (disengagement from worldly affairs and a simple life in harmony with nature)

Impact of the Belief?• Promoted scientific discoveries; worked in

harmony with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Legalism in China, creating a distinctive Chinese culture apart from the Western world.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #4 - LEGALISMWho Believes?

• The Chinese, especially during the Qin dynasty.What do they Believe?

• The idea that peace and order were achievable through a centralized, tightly governed state, advocating the need for tough laws and harsh punishment.

Impact of the Belief?• Allowed China to unify and complete massive building

projects; caused widespread resentment among the common people.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #5 - HINDUISM

Who Believes?• The Indian subcontinent

What do they Believe?• Began with the Aryan invaders who believed in a

supreme force called Brahma, who is in all things; the goal of Hindus is to merge with Brahma which can’t be accomplished in one lifetime, leading to the creation of dharma (rules and obligations of the caste), karma, and moksha (the highest state of being).

• Holy texts include the Vedas and the Upanishads.Impact of the Belief?

• A religion and a social system; spawned Buddhism; created a relationship with the animal kingdom

BELIEF SYSTEM: #6 - BUDDHISM

Who Believes?• The eastern civilizations of India, China, Japan, and Southeast

AsiaWhat do they Believe?

• Founded by Siddhartha Guatama who believe in the Four Noble Truths (all life is suffering, suffering is caused by desire, on can be free of this desire, one is freed by following the Eightfold Path) and try to follow the Eightfold Path to move toward nirvana (perfect peace and harmony)

• Split into two large movements:• Theravada – emphasizes meditation, simplicity, and an

interpretation of nirvana as the renunciation of human consciousness and of the self.

• Mahayana – emphasized the idea of salvation and deified Buddha.

Impact of the Belief?• Appealed to the lower ranks because of its rejection of social

hierarchies; spread rapidly through the trade routes and took hold.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #7 - JUDAISMWho Believes?

• The HebrewsWhat do they Believe?

• The awareness of a unique relationship with God (covenant) where they honor and serve God by following the Laws of Moses (in the Torah), by promoting the ethics of the prophets, and by maintaining the identity of the people.

Impact of the Belief?• The first of the major monotheistic faiths; will spawn

Christianity and Islam.

BELIEF SYSTEM: #8 - CHRISTIANITY

Who Believes?• Began with a small group of Jews, but soon spread

to the non-Jewish community and the wider Roman Empire.

What do they Believe?• Began with Jesus of Nazareth who spread his

teachings of devotion to God and love for human beings; everlasting life is achievable then through the belief of the divinity, death, and resurrection of Christ, creating a link between God and human beings.

Impact of the Belief?• Appealed widely to the lower classes and women;

created a marriage of Christianity and empire, beginning with the Roman Empire.

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATIONS OF UNIT I&IIMost important technologies developed by the early civilizations included farming tools:

• Ploughs, hoes, rakes, the wheel, and potteryCreation of weapons and defenses systems:

• Iron technology, wheeled chariots, the stirrupBuilding of public works projects:

• Irrigation, dikes, canals, public and private sewers, massive architectural monuments (pyramids, coliseum, etc.)

Specialized skills and crafts:• Luxury items (silk, etc.), jewelry, manufactured products (olive oil)

Means of communication and record keeping:• Calendars, concept of zero, paper materials (papyrus, etc.)

ROLE OF WOMEN IN UNIT I&IIWives and mothers became the unrecognized power behind the throne as the managers of the household and responsible for the children’s education.

• Upper class women – restricted on public appearances• Lower class women – continued to work outside the home

Religion’s Effect:• Christianity and Buddhism – women were considered equals

in their ability to achieve salvation• Hinduism and Confucianism – more structured and restricted

IMPORTANT TERMSAgricultureAgrarianBands/ClansBarbarianBureaucracyCivilizationCity-StatesClassicalDomesticationEconomyEgalitarianEmperorEmpireFeudalismForagingHierarchyHierarchicalHunter-GathererIrrigation

MonarchyMonotheismNeolithicNomadicPastoralPaleolithicPhilosophyPolytheismRiver ValleySedentarySettlementSubsistenceSurplusSustenanceTheocracyTraditionalUrbanizationVassals

IMPORTANT PEOPLE, PLACES, AND EVENTS

Alexander the GreatAnalects of ConfuciusBronze AgeByzantiumCalendarCode of HammurabiCuneiformDemocracyEight Fold PathFour Noble TruthsGothic MigrationsGreat WallHan DynastyHellenismThe HunsIndian Ocean Trade

Iron AgeJewish DiasporaLegalismPax RomanaPyramidsRoman RepublicRoman SenateShang CivilizationShi HuangdiSiddhartha GuatamaSilk Road TradeTorahVedas of HinduismXiongnuZiggurats