 Human
made objects we now call “artifacts”
gives us clues to our humble beginnings
without written history.
• Archaeologists are scientists that study these
artifacts for small clues about how people lived
during this pre history era.
 Culture
– a person’s unique way of life.
• Anthropologists are scientists that study culture and
behavior.
 Old Stone Age = Paleolithic
• 2,500,000 – 8,000 BC or BCE
• Invention of language
• Primitive stone tools
 New Stone Age = Neolithic
• 8,000 – 3,000 BC or BCE
• Polished stone tools
• Agriculture
• Domestication of Animals
• Pottery
Age
Age
 Technology
– ways of applying
knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet
the needs of people.
 Early
tools were made from…
• bone > stone > polished stone > obsidian (fire
rock) > copper > bronze > iron > steel >
titanium etc.



Nomadic Hunter-Gatherers - small groups of
people that traveled together following animals
and gathering wild nuts and berries (food
sources).
Settlements – large groups of people sustained
by planting large amounts of food and training
animals to help tend the fields and as a food
source.
These new settlements happen on almost every
continent almost exactly at the same time. *
 Slash
and Burn Farming – to clear an
area to settle in, early people burned cut
down trees and grasses. The ashes that
resulted acted like a fertilizer for the soil
to be planted on/in.
 Hunters
used their knowledge of wild
animals to begin to domesticate animals
such as horses, dogs, goats, and pigs
 Figured out enclosures
 Pastoral nomads
The transition from nomadic huntergatherer to farming and herding happened
on almost every continent in the world at
approximately the same time
This allowed people to form settlements
 More
people in closer proximity resulted in
the sharing of ideas and collaboration.
• Which results in early written records and the need
for a written/ spoken language.
• Cuneiform – believed to be one of the earliest forms
of written language, was etched into stone tablets.
 Early
irrigation, pottery, woven cloth aided
the development of “big cities” like Ur in
Sumer.
• Located in the area called Mesopotamia.
• Made possible by people specializing in 1 trade.
=
the land between
two rivers
 Fertile Crescent =
Mesopotamia + Nile
River Valley
 Tigris
(Ty-grihs) and Euphrates (yooFRAY-teez) Rivers.
 These
rivers flood at least once a year, when
the waters recede they leave behind a
nutrient rich mud called SILT.
 The
SILT is then gathered and used as
fertilizer for crops.
 Farmers
also used the rivers as a water
source to irrigate their fields.
 Unpredictable
rainfall caused the Sumerians
that lived in the area to dig irrigation
ditches to channel water to their fields.
 The
terrain was so flat it gave no natural
defense, so the Sumerians created large city
walls from mud bricks for defense.
A
lack of raw materials in Mesopotamia
forced them to trade with other villages.

City-State: a city that with its surrounding territory
forms an independent state.

5 Characteristics that made the Sumerian civilization
stand out.
•
•
•
•
•
Advanced Cities
Specialized Workers
Complex Institutions
Record Keeping
Improved Technology
Ziggurat – massive temple
For Polytheistic worship



Theocracy – government ruled by a religious
leader
Farmers believed the gods had a hand in
determining wither or not their crops were
successful, so the high priest had to be
respected.

The priest demanded a portion of every farmers
crops as taxes.

Multiple wars led to military leaders replacing
the religious leadership.
 Military
rulers often handed power down
to their sons… this is called a Dynasty.
 Dynasty
– leadership is passed down
from multiple generations of the same
family.
 Father
-> Son -> Grandson -> Great
Grandson
 Surplus
food from farming allowed Samaria
to trade with nearby villages.

Also, brought attention and jealousy to Samaria, that
eventually led to wars.
 This
trade brought about Cultural-Diffusion
 Cultural
Diffusion- the process by which
new ideas spread from one culture to
another.
 Sumerians
as well as most early
civilizations were Polytheistic.
 Polytheism
- belief in multiple gods.
• Poly = many
 God
etc.
of Rainfall, God of Sun, God of Wind,
 Top
Level: Kings, landholders, and some
priests.
 Middle
 Lower
Class: Wealthy Merchants
Class: Farmers and everyone else.
 Slaves
• Usually foreigners captured during conflicts/
wars.
 Wheel
 Sail
 Plow
 Bronze
 Cuneiform
 Empire
– a joining of several peoples,
nations, city-states under one ruler.
 Babylonian
Empire – created by people
known as the Amorites whom invaded
and defeated the Sumerians around 2000
BCE.
• Capital city was Babylon built on the Euphrates
River.


The Babylonian Empire was ruled by a man
name Hammurabi.
Code of Hammurabi – code of laws that would
help unify diverse groups of people within the
empire.
• Very harsh punishments
• Encouraged people to not break the law
• Corruption (paying off crimes to a lower class)

Code was literally etched in stone and put in the
town square so all had access to the laws.
 The
Nile in Egypt flows from South to North
from Mt. Kilimanjaro (tallest mountain in
Africa) to the Mediterranean Sea.
 The
Nile is the longest river in the world.
 Very
similar situation to Mesopotamia
• Rise and fall of Mediterranean Sea and seasonal
melting of snow on upstream mountains caused ebb
and flow of the rivers water levels.
 Egypt’s
climate is hot and arid (dry),
desert like conditions.
• The Nile gives the region a much needed source
of water.
 The
Nile is Egypt’s lifeline.
• If the floodwaters did not rise
high enough and leave enough
silt then thousands would starve.
 Lower Egypt
• Consists of the lower
elevation portion of the Nile
River and Nile River Delta
which itself is 100 miles
long (cardinal direction N).
 Upper Egypt
• Consists of the upper
elevation portion of Egypt
and Lake Nasser (cardinal
direction S).


Started as small farming villages with separate
rituals, gods (polytheism), and chieftains.
The 2 Kingdoms – “Upper” Nile and “Lower” Nile
• Eventually united under 1 king, thought to be Narmer
 Narmer combined the two kingdoms crowns to have features
of both.

Theocracy – type of government in which the
leader is a religious leader.
Ra
Osiris
Sun
Dead
Isis
Ideal Woman
 Ancient
Egyptians believed they would
be judged for their deeds upon dying.
• Conscious was a large part of this – your heart
could weigh no more than a feather.
 Royal
and elite Egyptian bodies were
Mummified – embalming, drying, and
wrapping a corpse to slow decay.
 Old
Kingdom
• (2700 BCE-2200 BCE): Pharaohs
had absolute power and were
considered gods on earth. But that's
not why this kingdom is nicknamed
"The Pyramid Age". Pharaohs were
buried in pyramids only during this
time period in history.

Valley of the Kings – area where
multiple pyramids were used as
burial tombs for Pharaohs.
Ramses II
Hatshepsut
Tutankhamen
 Hieroglyphic
– translated
from Greek, “sacred
carving”
 Rosetta
Stone – artifact that
allowed hieroglyphics to
be decoded
• Papyrus – reeds that were
places crosswise, moistened,
and pressed to create a paper
like sheet.
Middle
Kingdom
• (2100 BCE-1800 BCE): The middle kingdom was
Egypt's Golden Age. Trade flourished, arts
and literature flourished. Egypt built strong
armies to defend herself against her
neighbors. During the time period of the middle
kingdom, pharaohs were expected to be good
kings and wise rulers
New
Kingdom
• (1500 BCE-1000 BCE): The new kingdom was
Egypt's expansion period. Egypt expanded
her borders through military conquest and
became a world power.
 The
Indus and Ganges rivers are located
in present day INDIA and PAKISTAN.
 Together
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
form the Indian Subcontinent.
• Subcontinent – a large area of
Land that is part of a continent,
but is also separated from the
continent
 The
Indus and Ganges Rivers make up
a fertile plain similar to that of
Mesopotamia.
 On
India’s Northern border are the
tallest mountains in the world… the
Himalayas.

On India’s Southern border is the
Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
 India
is effected by Monsoons, which
brings seasonal winds and usually
heavy rainfall in the Summer months
and an extremely dry spell during the
Winter months.
 If
the summer monsoon fails to bring
large amounts of rain then crops often fail
in the interior of India.

The early settlers called the Harrapan’s of the
Indus River valley had their own written language.
• We have yet to decipher or decode this language due to the
absence of a bilingual transcription like the Rosetta Stone for
hieroglyphs.

Uniform Religion

Theocracy

Links to modern Hindu – depictions of Shiva hints
that even ancient Indian people practiced Hinduism.
 Grid
System
 Plumbing and Sewage Systems
 Written
Language
 Divisions in society were not great
 Few weapons found
 Close ties with religion
 Thriving trade with people of the region
 Scientists
believe that early tectonic
activity (earthquakes) disrupted the
flow of water of the major rivers and
destroyed villages.
 Earthquakes
also caused the water
supply to dry up in areas that previously
had a steady supply of water.
 Early
civilizations cropped up around
the Huang He (Yellow River) and the
Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers.
 Huang
He called the “Yellow River”
because the silt that is left behind after
high water levels makes the water
appear yellow in color.

Himalayan Mountains, India, Nepal, and
Bangladesh to the Southwest

Gobi Desert to the North – 4th largest desert in
the world

Taklimakan Desert to the West

Japan, Philippians, and the Pacific Ocean to
the East
• Harsh geographic landscape isolates China and trade
was difficult in ancient times.
 Only
about 10% of China’s land is
suitable for growing crops.
• Most of this land is between the Yellow and
Yangtze Rivers.
 Loess
– another name for the fertile
silt left behind after river flooding.

“Legend” tells us that the first Chinese dynasty
came before Mesopotamia it was called the Xia
Dynasty.
• Xia Dynasty’s leader was named Yu, he was an early
engineer and mathematician.
• Yu developed a way to control the Yellow River’s flooding
and irrigation for farmers

Shang Dynasty – first family of leaders in
China to leave written records.
• Built elaborate palaces and tombs.
• Built city walls because they were constantly at war.

Value the group over the individual.

The most important virtue was to respect one’s parents.

Patriarchy – social structure where males take the lead role.

Class system
• The Rich and Privileged (Nobles):
 Lived in wood framed houses inside the city walls.
 Owned land
 Educated
• The Farming Class (Peasants and Craftspeople)
 Lived in mud huts outside the city walls.
 Sent tribute to landholders for “protection”
 Were NOT sent to school to be educated (vocational)

Believed that the spirits of family ancestors had
the power to bring fortune or disaster.
• Ancestors were not treated as gods but as something to
be respected.

People of the Shang Dynasty believed they could
communicate with their God(s) through Oracle
Bones.
• Oracle Bones – small animal bones or tortoise shells
that priests wrote questions to their gods on.
 Priests then applied a hot poker to the oracle bone which
would cause it to crack and then interpreted what the cracks
meant. (POWER)

Used pictograms or symbols to represent ideas

Each symbol in Ancient China represented a syllable
instead of a letter or complete word.

The language was nationally read and did not require
anyone to be able to speak a particular language.
• All parts of China, speaking different languages could read this early
written language so it had a unifying affect on the nation.
• This national written Chinese language made understanding and
enforcing laws much easier throughout the vast nation of China.
• One disadvantage was the people of China needed to over 1,500
characters of the language to pass as barely literate.
 The language had over 10,000 unique characters.


Zhou people overthrow the Shang Dynasty
The justification for this was that the gods did not
favor the Shang leader because of his poor
leadership

A leader having divine approval from the gods
became to be known as the…

Mandate of Heaven – a god given and
approved, leadership appointment
• God wants me to be your leader etc.
• Becomes central view in Chinese Government
 Dynastic
Cycle – the pattern of rise,
decline, and replacement of dynasties.
• New Dynasty gains power ->
• Strong Dynasty establishes peace and prosperity->
• Dynasty declines over time ->
• Natural occurances and invasions make Dynasty
appear weak, appear to lose Mandate ->
• Dynasty is overthrown ->
• REPEAT FROM TOP
 The
Zhou Dynasty establishes Feudalism
• Feudalism – a political system which nobles, or
lords, are granted the use of lands that legally
belong to a king or emperor.
 In return for the use of the lands knights and nobles
pledge their military services and protection of the
people in their estates.
 Roads
and Canals to stimulate trade
 Coined
 Blast
money was introduced
Furnaces to produce iron.
• Cast iron production would not be matched in
Europe until the Middle Ages