AP World History
From Human Pre-history to the Early
Civilization
Chapter 1
What is prehistory?
• The things that happened to humans before their
was written records.
• It is a lot like a vast black space penetrated by only an
occasional pinpoint of light, representing our current
knowledge.
Definitions of civilization
Elements:
• Urban, monumental building, writing, specialized,
occupations
• Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers.
• Homo sapiens by 10,000 B.C.E.
– larger brain
– tools, weapons
Developments by 12,000 B.C.E.:
• Hunting-gathering
• Art
• Spread to Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas.
The development of human creatures.
• A human like creature, or hominid, was walking
about in East Africa more than 5.5 million years ago,
by latest reckoning.
What is the difference between a human and an
ape?
• Deviations in bone structures of
the foot and hand, the size of
the brain, and the use of
language.
The Paleolithic Age
• The appearance of the first tool making hominids
about 10,000 B.C.E.
• Also known as the Old Stone Age.
• (paleo = old; lithos = stone)
• Seventeen varieties of hominid evolved.
• All of them became extinct between 50,000 and
10,000 years ago.
Human Life before Agriculture
Paleolithic Culture :
• Old Stone Age to 14,000 Y.A.
• Homo sapiens sapiens c. 240,000, Y.A.
Late Paleolithic Developments:
• Variety
• Bands of hunter-gatherers
• Agricultural settlements
Gender division of labor:
• Men: hunting, fishing, defense
• Women: gathering, making medicine
• Spread from Africa c. 750,000 Y.A.
Neanderthal Man
• Flourished in Western Germany
about 30,000 years ago and then
disappeared about the same time
that Homo Sapiens appeared in
Europe.
What is civilization?
• “Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a
voyage and not a harbor.”
(Arnold J. Toynbee)
• A complex, developed culture usually associated with
specific achievements.
How did civilization begin?
• People began to grow food instead of chasing or
gathering food.
• This began to happen about (8000-5000 B.C.E)
• *The Agricultural Revolution.
What does stationary agriculture do for a
society?
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CREATES
Urban living.
Law.
Government officials.
Writing.
Military forces.
Socioeconomic classes.
What are the four river societies where
civilizations began?
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Mesopotamia. (Fertile Crescent)
Nile River Valley.
Indus River valley.
Yellow River valley.
Results of the Agricultural Revolution.
• A steadily expanding population that lived in
permanent settlements.
• It created the concept of “mine versus thine.”
Privately owned property.
• Specialization of jobs and labor.
The Neolithic Revolution – 8000 to
3500 B.C.E.
The Spread of the Neolithic Revolution:
• Hunting-and-gathering persists
• Pastoralism
Sub-Saharan Africa:
• root and tree crops
Northern China:
• Millet
• Rice
• Southeast Asia, to China, India, islands
Mesoamerica, Peru:
• Maize, manioc, sweet potatoes
• Bronze Age
Spread of Agriculture:
Çatal Hüyük
• c. 7000 B.C.E., southern
Turkey.
• Large fortress like
complex.
• Agriculture and
commerce
• Shrines.
• Specialization of labor.
Metal and Its Uses:
• First metal used by humans seems to have
been copper.
• Bronze came next for weapons, art, and tools.
(Called the Bronze Age 7000 to 1500 B.C.E)
• Iron is the key metal of history. The Hittites
learned to smelt iron in 1200 B.C.E. Iron is
more common, stronger, durable, and sharper
then bronze.
Aspects of civilizations?
Cities:
• writing
• political organization
Writing:
• cuneiform
Nomads: (Picture)
• Herding society
• Sustenance existence
• War like
Mesopotamian Civilizations
Tigris-Euphrates Civilization:
• Mesopotamia
Sumerians:
• from 3500 B.C.E.
• Alphabet, Cuneiform writing
• City-states,
– Ziggurats, Human Sacrafice.
• Religion, Polytheistic.
• Priesthood, gods were cruel and unpredictable.
– No Trace of Ethics.
Akkadians:
• Babylonians
• Hammurabi code
• Spread Sumerian Culture
• Sumerian Government
– City States
Why are the Sumerians important?
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Built the first large cities up to 100,000 people.
First sophisticated system of writing.
Invented the wheel as a load bearing device.
First to use sun baked clay bricks.
First to use the plow, and gravity flow irrigation system.
Sumerians and Math:
Set time
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60 minutes.
60 seconds.
The 360 degree circle stems from the Sumerians.
Much of what we know of Geometry and Trigonometry was
expanded by the Sumerians.
Epic of Gilgamesh
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•
•
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First Epic Poem.
Story of Garden of Eden.
Story of the Flood.
Gilgamesh searches for the
secret of immortal life.
• The Gods jealous of his power
defeat him.
Hammurabi
• Babylonian King who took
steps to control the
Mesopotamian region.
• Compiled the first known
code of law.
• The laws had been around
for years.
• The laws attempted to bring
equality to the weak and
cause justice to prevail in
the land.
Criminal Law
• Vengeance was no
longer a personal thing
but a thing controlled
by the state.
• Established
punishments for
offenses against others
such as robbery,
assault, and murder.
Civil Law
• This branch of law deals
with private rights and
matters, such as
business contracts,
taxes, marriage, and
divorce.
African Civilizations
Egyptian Civilization: (MAP)
• Pharaoh
• Pyramids
• from 2700 B.C.E.
• Kush (Picture)
Cracking the Hieroglyphic Code
• Napoleon’s military found
the Rosetta Stone when
they invaded Egypt in 1799
during the Napoleonic
Wars.
• He ordered ink impressions
from the stone sent to
European scholars.
• The Stone contained three
languages.
• Made it possible to
translate Egyptian
Hieroglyphics.
The Hittites
• Developed the ability to work iron.
• Iron was more common then copper or
bronze.
• Iron was sharper and harder then bronze.
• The Hittites were able to arm more men
because of the cheap Iron.
• They soon invaded Mesopotamia.
• The empire collapsed and iron use spread.
The Assyrians
The Terror Kings
• By 1100 B.C.E Learned to
forge iron weapons and
invaded their neighbors.
• They gained the reputation
as the most ruthless people
in all of Mesopotamia.
• “The city and its houses,
from top to bottom, I
destroyed and burned with
fire.”
– Babylon destroyed by the
Assyrians
A Nomadic People
• Abraham migrated from
Mesopotamia to the land
of Canaan.
• The land of Canaan was
controlled by the
Egyptians.
• The Hebrews fled to Egypt
during a great famine.
• Moses led the Hebrews
out of Egypt and back to
Canaan.
The Kingdom of Israel
• By 1000 B.C.E the Israelites
had set up a kingdom with
Saul as the first king.
• King David further
expanded the Kingdom and
was successful in
conquering Jerusalem,
which then became the
Hebrew capital.
• Solomon David’s son built
the famous Temple of
Jerusalem. Solomon was
the most famous Jewish
King but also was not liked
for his high taxes.
One True God
• The beliefs of the Israelites differed in that they
were Monotheistic.
• With this belief came a belief that they were gods
chosen people.
Sea People Invasions
• Phoenicians
• Alphabet from 1300 B.C.E.
http://www.salimb
eti.com/micenei/s
ea.htm
Indian River Valley Civilizations
Indus River:
• Harappa, Mohenjo Daro
• Indo-Europeans
Earliest Indian Civilization
• Mohenjo-Daro was first
Indian civilization.
• We know little of this first
culture.
• We do know that their cities
had massive populations
even as large as those of
Sumer.
• This civilization lasted 1000
years then just faded away.
City Planning
• The cities of Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa were both
planned cities.
• Very large Three miles in
circumference.
• Wide roads, city walls.
• Strong government.
• Strong leaders.
Religious Beliefs
• Ancient India was
Polytheistic.
• Ancient worship of the
Bull.
• Modern worship of
cattle.
Decline and Disappearance
• By 1750 B.C.E the quality of life in the Indus Valley Cities was
declining.
• Crude pottery replaced the finer works of earlier days.
• Mud slides, Volcanoes, and earthquakes possibly contributed
to the destruction.
Chinese River Valley Civilizations
• Shang
Shang Government
• Built large palaces, rich tombs, and had armies led by
women.
• Government was set up around a clan system.
• The government was loosely structured between
many families or clans.
Shang Bronze Work
• Unique in their Bronze work.
• Almost a perfect bronze
Shang Social Classes
• Shang soldiers used bronze weapons,
leather armor, and horse drawn
chariots.
• They had artisans and merchants.
• Most people were peasants.
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Lived in thatch pit homes.
Farmed with stone tools.
Forced to repair dikes.
Forced to fight alongside local lords in war.
Shang Religious Beliefs
• Prayed to many gods.
• (Polytheistic)
• Chief God was Shang Di.
– Mother goddess who brought
plants and animals to earth.
• Gods did not speak to mere
mortals, but to kings and
nobles.
• Lower classes of people had
to appeal to their ancestors,
through sacrifice and prayer.
• Slaves = No soul so they could
be safely killed.
Shang Religion
Yin and Yang
• Chinese religion
believed in a delicate
balance between two
great forces.
• Yin = linked to earth,
darkness, and female
forces.
• Yang = linked to heaven,
light, and male forces.
Shang System of Writing
• Pictographs = Pictures
represent things.
• Ideographs = Signs that
expressed thought.
• Oracle Bones = Shang priests
wrote on animal bones and
turtle shells.
– The priest would heat the bones or
shells till they cracked then they
would interpret the cracks.
• Calligraphy = Art for those who
learned to write.
The First Civilizations, Conclusion
Isolation of Civilizations:
• Division among peoples
• Contacts increase with time
Big Questions
• What advantages does an agriculturally based society have
over a hunter gatherer based society?
• Compared to non-civilized societies, what are the major
drawbacks of civilization?
• Why is the development of writing important in the history of
the river valley civilizations?
• Compare the main features of Egyptian and Mesopotamian
civilizations. What did the two civilizations have in common
as early civilizations? What were their main differences in
values and organization?
• Why was Jewish monotheism a significant development in the
religious history of early civilization?