Unit 1 and 2: 8000 BCE to 600 CE
Fertile Crescent- land between Tigris and
Euphrates (present day Iraq)
By 3000 BCE:
Sumer had population of 100,000
➢ Cities had kings with absolute authority
➢
Social Order
Hereditary kings and priests/priestesses
➢ Free commoners
➢ Dependent clients
➢ Slaves
➢
Technology and Art
Cuneiform c. 2900 BCE
➢ Astronomy and math lead to 12 month calendar
➢ Epic of Gilgamesh c. 2000 BCE
➢
Hammurabi (1792 to 1750 BCE)
First documented attempt to detail crimes and
punishments
➢ High standard of behavior and strict punishments
➢ “Eye for an eye”
➢ Shows society was patriarchal with strict social
structure
➢
Agriculture around Nile c. 5000 BCE
Protected by its geography
Centralized states c. 3100 BCE ruled by
pharaohs
Technology and Art
Skilled in math, medicine, and astronomy leading
to solar calendar of 365 days
➢ Hieroglyphics
➢ Pyramids
➢
Social Order:
Pharaoh and priests
➢ Commoners
➢ Slaves
➢
Polytheistic religion with belief that death
was a transition into new existence, hence
mummification
Developed c.
3000/2500 BCE
and ends c. 1500
BCE
Mysterious
because language
still undeciphered
Polytheistic
Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro –
walled cities
Technology and Economy
Traded pottery, tools, decorative items, and
obtained gold, silver, and copper from Persia
and wool, leather and olive oil from Meso.
➢ Metal tools of bronze and copper
➢ Cotton c. 5000 BCE
➢ Writing of 400 symbols
➢
Nomadic people of Indo-European origin
enter through Khyber Pass c. 1700 BCE
Est. racial mix
Vedas reveal hierarchical, male-dominated
society
Polytheistic with nature gods
Social structure: The Caste System
India developed by 6th c. BCE into small
regional kingdoms fighting each other, most
often remaining decentralized
One example of centralized rule was the
Mauryans in 320s BCE
Chandragupta Maurya filled power-vacuum
left after Alexander the Great withdraws
from India
His grandson Ashoka (Asoka) continued
conquering until bloody campaign convinced
him to rule by moral example
Tightly organized bureaucracy, built roads,
hospitals and rest houses which facilitated trade
Rock Edicts
After his death, the empire declined and India
returned to regional kingdoms…but order and
stability remained with increase in trade
India united again c. 320
CE by Chandra Gupta
South remained out of his
control
Left local government and
administration in power
Invasion of the White Huns
weakened the empire and
India returned to regional
rule
Economy
Benefited from expansion of agriculture and
increase in trade
➢ Ashoka promoted trade by building roads,
wells, and inns
➢ Silk Roads connected India with China
➢ Indian sailors master monsoon winds, sailing
to Indonesia and Southeast Asia
➢ Their cotton and black pepper made it all the
way to Rome
➢
Social Structure and Gender Roles
Women forbidden to read Vedas and were legally
minors
➢ To marry well, a woman needed a large dowry
➢ Women couldn’t inherit and widows could not
remarry
➢ Women had property rights but declined in status
during Gupta
➢ Ritual of sati for wealthy women
➢ Strict social hierarchy with caste system, occupation
dictated by caste
➢
Culture, Arts, Science, Technology
Ashoka helps spread Buddhism
➢ Hinduism gradually eclipses Buddhism
➢ Indian art stressed symbolism
➢ Geometry and algebra flourish: circumference of
earth and value of pi calculated, concept of zero,
decimal system and “Arabic” numbers developed
➢ Chess and playing cards
➢
●
Out of Africa
http://www.wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ext/duiker_maps/swfs/ds1_1.html
Bantu
●
2000 BCE to 1000 CE, spread from West Africa thru SubSaharan Africa, spread iron and language, bananas
furthered migration, increased Africa’s population
Phoenicians
●
Seafaring people of eastern Mediterranean Sea, colonies
in N Africa and S Europe, alphabet, spread maritime
skills and spread alphabetic language to Greece, Rome,
and on
Polynesia
➢
Australia around 60,000 years ago, 2000 BCE
spread to other Pacific islands like Fiji, Samoa,
Hawaii, planned colonization?, distinct
development
Israelites
➢
Originated about 2000 BCE with Abraham,
settled in Canaan, monotheism distinct, migration
to Egypt led to slavery and freed by Moses,
formed kingdom of Israel, no conversion, basis of
Christianity and Islam, Jewish Diaspora
Huang He or Yellow River
1766 to 1122 BCE
Oracle bones
Written Chinese pictographs evolved into
ideographs
Bronze metallurgy aids in rise of military
state
1122 to 256 BCE
Mandate of Heaven
➢
➢
Power divinely given but could be taken away if justice
and order not maintained
Floods, earthquakes, and peasant rebellions threatened
dynasty
Veneration of ancestors and family unit
Class distinctions: ruling elite, aristocrats, free
artisans, peasants, slaves
Iron metallurgy
Zhou lost control of western half of empire
as early as 771 BCE and last two centuries
known as Era of Warring States
441 to 221 BCE no strong central
government - constant fighting and disorder
Three philosophies emerge attempting to
end the fighting and restore order:
Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
221 BCE to 206 BCE
First emperor Qin Shihuangdi
centralizes imperial rule using
Legalism
Sponsored building defensive
walls (precursor to Great Wall)
Standardized weights,
measures, script, currency, laws
Burns Confucian books and
buries alive Confucian scholars
When emperor died revolts
broke out
206 BCE to 220 CE
Used centralized imperial rule but lessened
Legalist hard edge
Wu Di (141-87 BCE) built roads and canals,
est. university with Confucian curriculum
Civil service exams
Expand into North Vietnam, Korea, and
Central Asia
Economy
Cycle: agriculture flourishes with increase in longdistance trade, iron metallurgy increases agricultureincreasing trade and military strength
➢ Military strength allowed overland trade to increase
because peace and order maintained
➢ Silk Roads flourish under the Han Dynasty, connecting
them to Central Asia, India, and Roman Empire
➢ Tributary system of trade with “inferior neighbors”
and gifts to nomads
➢
Social Structure and Gender Roles
Patriarchal society with set social structure
➢ Women were to find match to strengthen family
alliances; widows could remarry
➢ Upper class women tutored
➢ Scholar-gentry, peasants, merchants
➢
Culture, Arts, Science, Technology
Family and ancestors most important unit
➢ Filial piety
➢ Daoist reverence for nature important in Han
➢ Wheelbarrow, horse collars, watermills
➢ Sternpost rudder and compass
➢ PAPER
➢
Neo Babylonian empire fell to Persians in 539 BCE
Vast and tolerant empire organized into satrapies;
Royal Road; Zoroastrianism
Minoans (3000 BCE to 1450 BCE)
➢
Island of Crete; writing known as Linear A;
peaceful; legend of King Minos and minotaur;
palace at Knossos; Snake goddess; frescoes;
reasons for collapse unknown (Santorini
eruption, invasion?)
Mycenaeans (2200 BCE to 1100 BCE)
➢
Mainland Greece; writing known as Linear B;
Trojan War
Like India, primarily decentralized based on
local identity
Organized by polis (city-state); some
monarchy, many had collaborative rule
(Sparta v. Athens CC)
Dark Ages (1100 BCE to 800 BCE)
Migration
Population pressures created era of colonization
➢ Colonies used own resources and followed own
path
➢ Facilitated trade throughout region
➢ Spread Greek culture
➢ Created political conflict with Persia
➢
Persian War (500-470 BCE)
Delian League
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
King Philip II had Greek peninsula under his
control by 338 BCE
Alexander the Great
Conquered Persia by 330 BCE
➢ Died in 323 BCE
➢ Empire divided among three of his generals
➢
†
†
†
Antigonid (Greece and Macedonia)
Ptolemaic (Egypt)
Seleucid (Persia)
Relied heavily on trade
During Hellenistic Era, caravan trade and
sea lanes in Mediterranean flourished
Patriarchal with strict social divisions
➢
➢
Women mostly owned no land and wore veils in public
Could be a priestess and upper-class women fairly
literate (Spartans competed in athletics)
Slaves acquired because they accrued debt, were
POWs, or traded
Greek religion was polytheistic and personified
nature
Philosophy
Socrates encouraged reflection:
“Unexamined life is not worth living”
➢ Plato’s Republic: ideal state had philosopher
king
➢ Aristotle
➢
Literature: Homer conveyed the value of
the hero in Greek society
Plays
Architecture: temples and columns
Science: strides in anatomy (Galen),
astronomy, and math (Archimedes)
Punic Wars with Carthage (264-146 BCE)
From Republic to Empire
Class tensions between patricians and plebeians
➢ Unequal distribution of wealth
➢ Julius Caesar
➢ Augustus (27 BCE)
➢
Pax Romana
Twelve Tables
System of roads leads to economic success
Uniform currency
Common language: Latin
Mediterranean Sea: the Roman Lake
Empire strongly interdependent
Patriarchal, pater familias
Women
Oversaw domestic affairs
➢ Strict limits on inheritance
➢
New classes of merchants emerge as wealth
of empire expands
Slaves (1/3 of pop.)
Influence of the Greeks
Religion
Polytheistic
➢ Conflict with Jews and Christians
➢ Edict of Milan and Theodosius
➢
Engineering: roads, concrete, aqueducts,
public baths, stadiums, temples
Art and Architecture: influenced by Greeks
Silk Roads
Stretched from eastern China (Changan)
through Mongolia and Taklamakan Desert to
India and eastern Roman Empire
➢ Traveled in stages through oasis towns
➢ Buddhism popular in oasis towns such as
Samarkand, Kashgar, and Dunhuang
➢
Indian Ocean
“Sea lanes of the Silk Roads”
➢ From Guangzhou in southern China to SE Asian
islands, India, Arabian Sea, and Persian Gulf
➢ Main participants? Malay and Indian sailors
➢ Religion and culture spreads, Buddhism to SE
Asia as well as Hindu cults
➢
Mediterranean Sea
The Roman Lake
➢ Trade from Syria to North Africa
➢
Spread of Disease
Han and Roman Empires suffered epidemics
in 2nd and 3rd c. CE (exacerbated by trade and
interaction)
➢ Trade declined & economies more regional
➢
Migration
Bantu Migration
➢ Polynesian Migration
➢