Ancient Period
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Ancient Period The Birth of Civilization ~Technological & Environmental Transformation~ Periodization…up to interpretation ________________ 10000 BCE 8000 BCE ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _____________ 5500 BCE ____________ 4000 BCE _______________ ________________ 3500 BCE 3200 BCE _______________ ________________ 3000 BCE 1800 BCE _______________ ____________ ____________ _____________ 1500 BCE 1350 BCE ____________ _____________ ____________ _____________ 1200 BCE ____________ _____________ 1000 BCE ________________ 800 BCE ____________ Analyze the changes and continuities from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. Analyze the changes and continuities in the Middle East from 8000 BCE to 600 BCE. Analyze the similarities and differences in Egypt and Mesopotamia between 3500 BCE and 1000 BCE. Questions to Consider Demographics & Movement Trade Gender Roles Belief Systems Political organization Themes to Consider Analyze the changes and continuities from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. ??? ~perhaps there are no continuities, which speaks to Agricultural Revolution~ Modern humans migrated to all regions of the world Cultural advances made humans more productive Paleolithic Life (45000 BCE to 10000 BCE) Life was brutal: life shortened by warfare & childbirth Populations were low due to large amount of land necessary to support food needs Paleolithic Life (45000 BCE to 10000 BCE) Equalized by comfortable tone of life? ◦ Labor did not dominate time ◦ Purposefully migrated ◦ Men & women had different roles, but women were not subordinate Paleolithic Life (45000 BCE to 10000 BCE) Cultural advances = population growth 1. Migrate to colder climates 2. Fewer pathogens 3. Yielded still higher populations As Ice Age ended, warming temperatures created a crisis that forced humans to adapt, thus: ◦ Agriculture Paleolithic Life (45000 BCE to 10000 BCE) Slow transition to agriculture, but revolutionary ◦ Independent invention in at least 5 locations Middle East (wheat, barley, cattle, goats) = first Neolithic Life (10000 BCE to 4000 BCE) Impacts: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Number of diseases increased Humans settled & populations became denser Birthrates rose Malnutrition increased Life expectancy fell Trade b/t settled peoples & pastoralists developed Neolithic Life (10000 BCE to 4000 BCE) Analyze the changes and continuities in Middle East from 8000 BCE to 600 BCE. ??? early Ancient Era, farmers depended on rain 4000 BCE = innovation period ◦ Bronze Shift to river valleys Fostered the formation of states River Valley Civs Demographic & Migration Trends Paleolithic beliefs centered on fertility Neolithic beliefs centered on polytheistic natural spirits & afterlife ◦ Reliance on nature to create fertile environment reflected shift to farming ◦ Gods were male and female, to be appeased, & specific to a culture ◦ Ancestors were common targets of veneration Belief Systems Late Ancient Period, Judaism & Hinduism presented beliefs that were more abstract & capable of uniting Belief Systems Farming brought lower status to women ◦ Why? Women foraged & thus first farmers 1. Plow agriculture & use of domesticated animals put men in charge of the vital task of farming 2. Settlement meant class divisions & hereditary aristocracy Women’s reproduction needed to be managed Gender Roles River Valley Civs brought governments that codified subordinance in laws ◦ Yet, upper class women sometimes benefitted Later religions, like Judaism, institutionalize new concepts of women Gender Roles Initially, trade was largely a diplomatic venture ◦ 95% of population were farmers Bronze = need for resources ◦ Fostered trade Trade Late Ancient Period = blossoming of trade ◦ Phoenicians Trade Late in Ancient Period, several developments cause the movement of human populations: ◦ Interaction sparks migration ◦ Iron technology Demographic & Migration Trends ◦ Interaction sparks migration 1. Converging farming zones – Asia & Africa Demographic & Migration Trends ◦ Interaction sparks migration 2. Pastoralist-Agriculturalist exchange: Aryans Indo-Europeans Demographic & Migration Trends ◦ Iron technology allows farming to be established away from river valleys again Demographic & Migration Trends Changes? Continuities? So, analyze the changes and continuities from 8000 BCE to 600 BCE. Analyze the similarities and differences in Egypt and Mesopotamia between 3500 BCE and 1000 BCE. ??? Mesopotamia Geographic location has many results ◦ More urbanized Government ◦ Kings were powerful, but not divine ◦ Non-farmers (5%) – priests & aristocrats held most government offices Mesopotamia Government ◦ Often lacked political unity: city-states w/ common culture ◦ Sumer w/ cuneiform ◦ Babylonia & Hammurabi’s Code Mesopotamia Pessimistic belief system of many gods Harsh patriarchy ◦ Only widows could own land ◦ Veiled to maintain honor ◦ Adultery earned death penalty Mesopotamia Economy ◦ Traded w/ Anatolia, South Asia, Egypt (tin & textiles for silver) ◦ Slavery existed but discouraged POWs difficult to control; enslaving own meant less taxes ◦ Peasants Free but subject to corvee labor Trend toward loss of freedom as debts mounted Mesopotamia Egypt Geographic location has many results ◦ Less urbanized Government ◦ Politically unified kingdom Ruled by god-king: pharaoh Egypt Optimistic view of gods & goddesses & afterlife Pictorial writing system, but no epic literature developed Patriarchal but women had greater freedoms ◦ Queens could govern (divine inheritance), daughter could perform religious rites Egypt Economy ◦ Traded w/ Upper Nile, Mediterranean, Mesopotamia (pottery, wine, honey for raw materials, exotic African goods) ◦ Slavery uncommon at first, but as Egypt expanded so too did enslavement of foreigners ◦ Peasants Free but subject to corvee labor Trend toward greater freedom as slaves filled construction needs ◦ Merchants were less important in Egypt Egypt ◦ Less is known due to gaps in scholarship India ◦ Harappa, cities ◦ Traded with Mesopotamia & Central Asia China ◦ Xia & others before Shang? ◦ Most isolated but still traded ◦ Rigidly patriarchal Only sons capable of venerating ancestors Lacking a male heir was regarded as a crime against the ancestors India & China? Similarities? Differences? Analyze the similarities and differences in Egypt and Mesopotamia between 3500 BCE and 1000 BCE. Periodization is analysis of Changes & Continuities So, transitional period of 1500 BCE to 600 BCE: late Ancient or early Classical? ________________ 10000 BCE 8000 BCE ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _____________ 5500 BCE ____________ 4000 BCE _______________ ________________ 3500 BCE 3200 BCE _______________ ________________ 3000 BCE 1800 BCE _______________ ____________ ____________ _____________ 1500 BCE 1350 BCE ____________ _____________ ____________ _____________ 1200 BCE ____________ _____________ 1000 BCE ________________ 800 BCE ____________
