Prehistory to 1500
Foundations of Civilization
 Neolithic Revolution
 Middle Asia: Mongols
 Core Civilizations
 Middle East: Muslim Empires
 Five Major World Religions
 South/East Africa: Great
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Judaism
Hinduism
Buddhism
Christianity
Islam
 China: Qin and Han Empires
 India: Maurya and Gupta
Empires
 Mesoamerica: Maya, Aztec,
Inca
Zimbabwe, Swahili city-states
 West Africa: Songhai, Mali,
Ghana
 Western/European: Ancient
Greece & Roman Empires
 One side 500BCE – 1450 CE
 Other side 1450CE - present
 Development of civilization, sources of power
 Development of world religions
 Regional trade: Silk Roads, Mediterranean Sea, Trans-
Saharan, Indian Ocean sea lanes
 New technologies
 Growth of bureaucracy/state practices
 Cross cultural interactions, technological and cultural
transfers
 Beginning about 10,000 years ago
 Emergence of permanent agriculture
 Emergence of pastoralism (domesticating animals)
 At different times, in:
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Mesopotamia
Nile River Valley & Sub-Saharan Africa
Indus River Valley
Yellow River
Papua New Guinea
Mesoamerica
Andes
 Transformation of human societies
 Work cooperatively for agriculture, more food=more ppl
 Specialization of labor, new classes of artisans, warriors,
elites: Hierarchical social structures
 Improvements in agriculture, trade, transportation:
 Pottery
 Plows
 Woven textiles
 Metallurgy
 Wheels and wheeled vehicles
 All civilizations have in common:
 Agricultural surpluses that
allowed for specialization
 Cities
 Complex institutions, like
bureaucracies, armies,
religions
 Social hierarchies
 Long-distance trading
relationships
6.
5.
5. Olmec: modern south-central Mexico
6. Chavin: modern day Peru
 Maurya Empire: Chandragupta Maurya 303 BCE
 2000 miles, northern India
 Grandson Asoka & his Edicts
 Fell apart by 185 BCE
 Dharma is good, but what constitutes Dharma? (It
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includes) little evil, much good, kindness, generosity,
truthfulness and purity. Pilar Edict Nb2 (S. Dharmika)
And noble deeds of Dharma and the practice of Dharma consist
of having kindness, generosity, truthfulness, purity, gentleness
and goodness increase among the people. Rock Pilar Nb7 (S.
Dharmika)
All religions should reside everywhere, for all of them desire selfcontrol and purity of heart. Rock Edict Nb7 (S. Dhammika)
Here (in my domain) no living beings are to be slaughtered or
offered in sacrifice. Rock Edict Nb1 (S. Dhammika)
Contact (between religions) is good. One should listen to and
respect the doctrines professed by others. Beloved-of-the-Gods,
King Piyadasi, desires that all should be well-learned in the good
doctrines of other religions. Rock Edict Nb12 (S. Dhammika)
 Chandra Gupta and two heirs
 3rd: Chandra Gupta II, 40 years of
incredible achievements
 Classical Age of Hindu and Buddhist
art and literature, for example:
 Author Kalidasa
 Kama Sutra
 First base-10 numeral system
 Sun-centered astronomy
 Plastic surgery, cataract surgery
 Developed over centuries; pre-1500 BCE
 1 billion Hindus worldwide; 900 million in India
 Collection of different beliefs rather than rigid rules
 Complete freedom of belief
 Basic precepts include: dharma, samara, karma,
moksha, Brahman
 Thousands of gods
 Shiva
 Brahma
 Vishnu
 Based on the teachings of Siddhartha
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Gautama, known as Buddha once he
achieved enlightenment
Born about 563 BCE (Mauryan Empire)
Encompasses variety of traditions,
precepts: ethical life, mindfullness
Approximately 350-500 million
Buddhists in the world
Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma
(the teachings), the Sangha (community)
 Variety of Chinese dynasties rose and fell 2000BCS+
 During time of turmoil, various philosophies arise:
 Confucius (551 BCE): 5 basic relationship around which
to organize society, filial piety
 Laozi (~553BCE): Daoism – “the way” – finding the
natural order of things
 Legalism: strong, harsh leader necessary to rule over ppl
 Yin and yang: 2 powers that represent natural rhythms
of life
 Rises in 221 BCE, based on legalism
 Emperor Shi Huangdi unifies China
 Centralization
 Great Wall of China: 1400 miles long
 Ends 206 BCE
 202 BCE – 225 CE, ruled thru mandate of heaven
 Centralized gov’t, large bureaucracy
 Civil service : intellectual + literary jobs impt
 Paper invented 105 CE: more bureaucracy!
 Expanded thru assimilation
 China’s Golden Age: today, Chinese refer to
themselves as ethically Han
 800BCE to 146 BCE (when came under Roman rule)
 Iliad and Odyssey date from 800BCE
 776 BCE first Olympics
 Sappho
 Pythagoras
 “Classical Greece”: 480-323BCE (until Alexander dies)
 Hippocrates
 Plato
 Socrates
 Thucydides
 Hellenistic Greece: 323-146BCE
 Euclid
 Archimedes
 3 - 5 slide ppt on a trade route:
 Silk Roads: Harrison
 Mediterranean Sea trade routes: Ben
 Trans-Saharan trade routes: Jackie
 Indian Ocean sea lanes: Elliana
 Mongols: Zur x
 Swahili City-states: Lucas x
 Great Zimbabwe: Aaron x
 Aztec: Sophia
 Inca: Chloe x
 Maya: Rachel x
 Mali: Rebecca
 When? Where? Who? Significance? What traded? Use maps and
lots of images…
 Email me your slides by Monday at noon: powerpoint ONLY (.ppt)
 Village of Rome settled sometime in 8th century BCE
 Roman Republic: 509 BCE – 27 BCE
 451 BCE Twelve Tables est. Roman Republic laws
 Dominant people on Med. Sea by 200BCE
 Julius Caesar, First Triumvirate, then invaded, dictator,
assassinated
 Octavian Second Triumvirate, then Emperor
 Roman Empire: 27 BCE – 476CE
 Good emperors, bad emperors…lots of emperors
 Pax Romana: 27BCE-180CE (Pompeii?)
 Constantine (313CE): converts empire to Christianity
 Empire divided into Eastern and Western: 395CE
 End of empire: 476CE when last Western emperor
dethroned by barbarian Huns
 Abraham: father of Judaism, Christianity & Islam
 Lived around ~1800BCE
 Abraham roamed Egypt/Canaan/Mesopotamia, made first
covenant with God for protection and obedience
 Moses: around 1200BCE led Hebrews out of slavery in
Egypt, got 10 commandments
 New covenant with god
 Wandered, settled in Canaan (Palestine)
 Kingdom of Israel est. 1020BCE, ups and downs
 First Temple destroyed 586 BCE, exile to Babylon for 70 yrs
 Jews return, rebuild, various ups and downs
 Roman Empire conquers
 Second Temple destroyed by Rome in 70CE, diaspora begins
 Monotheistic
 God all knowing, all powerful
 Sacred Text: Torah – generally, but also means:
 Tanakh: is an acronym to include the Torah (Jewish “law”), the Nevi’im
(“prophets” -- history of Israel), and Ketuvim (“writings”-- of faith and
devotion)
 Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
 Nevi’im: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and lesser prophets
 Ketuvim: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
 Mishnah: around 100
Rabbi Judah brought together oral traditions of
discussions on the Torah in a written collection
 Talmud: Entire collection of oral sermons, stories and parables on the Torah, a
commentary on Jewish law that forms the backbone of a Jew’s scholarly and
religious life (compiled in the Middle Ages)
CE
 Jesus born 4 – 6 BCE, starting at age 30,
miracles reported
 Taught monotheism, personal relationship to God,
based on 10 Commandments, gathered disciples
 Gospels claim J rose after death=Messiah=eternal life
for all, disciples spread teachings
 Pax Romana
 common languages
 excellent Roman roads
 Christians persecuted until Constantine; by 380CE
official religion of Roman Empire
 Great diversity in church, disciples write Gospels
 Christian Bible: Hebrew Bible/”Old Testament” +
Gospels/”New Testament”
 Roman capital moved to Constantinople 312 CE
 Byzantine Empire: 395CE-1453CE
 Emperor Justinian
 Connection to Western world, but (almost) in Eastern
world
 Schism in Christianity: 1054 CE
 divides Western Christianity (Pope, Catholic) and
Eastern Christianity (Patriarch, Eastern Orthodox—
Greeks, Russians, etc.)
 Constantinople center of Eastern Orthodox Church
 Muhammad the Prophet: born 570CE,
became convinced Gabriel spoke to him
as last of the prophets
 Islam=submission to the will of Allah
 Muslim=one who has submitted
 Ka’aba as house of worship for Abraham
(and others) already in Mecca, but
hostile to Muhammad
 Went to Medina (“city of prophet”),
showed good leadership, gained
followers, battled Mecca, won 630CE :
Muhammad dedicates Ka’aba to Allah
 Muhammad dies two years later after
nearly unifying Arabia under Islam
 Monotheistic, individual responsibility
 Holy book: Qur’an (references J/C texts & origins)
 Sunna=example Muhammad’s life; Qur’an+Sunna=
shari’a: body of law for applying God’s will to daily life
 Five Pillars: duties to demonstrate submission to God
 Faith (Shahadah): "There is no God but Allah, and
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Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
Prayer (Salat)
Alms (Zakat)
Fasting (Sawm): holy month of Ramadan
Pilgrimage (Hajj)
 Umayyads: 661 – 750CE
 beginning of hereditary succession of caliph
 moved capital to Damascus (trade center)
 Worldly life, excesses of wealth
 Abbasids: 750 – 1258CE
 Moved capital to Baghdad
 Bureaucracy, centralized gov’t, strongly religious
 Various smaller indep Muslim states existed, but all
linked by religion, trade
 Golden Age of learning: Baghdad House of Wisdom,
universities, arts, medicine, engineering: Renaissance
 Kingdom of Zimbabwe: 1220CE – 1450CE
 Controlled the Ivory and Gold trade
 Expansive Empire with over 150 Tributaries
 Rigid 3-tiered social system
 Until modern times Great Zimbabwe was the
largest stone structure in Southern Africa
 Trading states along the east
coast of Africa, stretching from
Kenya to Mozambique
 Earliest Swahili culture formed
in the 6th century BCE
 Major cultural advances: 900 CE
 introduction of organized
religion (Islam)
 unique language
 Shirazi Era: 900CE-1400CE
(approx)
 Golden age of expansion and
trading
 Traded local resources, most
notably gold and ivory, other
luxury items
 Connected inner Africa with
Indian Ocean trading networks
 Fell in 1500s as Portuguese rose
 ~830CE-1235CE
 With domestication of camel, trans-Saharan trade in
gold, salt & ivory routes enriched area
 No written history; origins of empire uncertain—most
info comes from merchants
 Pre-Islamic, monarchy, stable economy and military
(~200,000 soldiers)
 Traveler wrote of king: He sits in audience or to hear
grievances against officials in a domed pavilion around
which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered
materials. Behind the king stand ten pages holding shields
and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the
sons of the kings of his country wearing splendid garments
and their hair plaited with gold. The governor of the city sits
on the ground before the king and around him are ministers
seated likewise. At the door of the pavilion are dogs of
excellent pedigree that hardly ever leave the place where the
king is, guarding him. Around their necks they wear collars
of gold and silver studded with a number of balls of the
same metals
 1230CE – 1340CE
 Sundiata
 1340CE – 1591CE
 Muslim empire, conquered Mali
 Largest African empire: 1.4 million sq
km
 Trans-Saharan trade based in empire
 Gold, ivory, salt
 Clan system, universities, center of
learning & commerce in Timbuktu
 Established 2000BCE, lasts as a people and culture to
present
 Trade crucial factor: type
varied, from long-distance
trading spanning the length of
the region, to small trading
between farm families
 Each Region had exclusive
resources:
 Highlands = granite and
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obsidian.
Lowlands = cotton, animal
skins, feathers, beeswax
Northern Yucatan = salt
Jade = eastern Guatemala
Quetzal feathers = Highland
cloud forests
Cocoa = west coast
 Developed civilization:
writing, cities, extensive
religion, empire of millions
 1438CE – 1533CE
 Developed civilization: quipu,
arts, religion, architecture
 Extensive economy & trading:
potatoes, maize, llamas, ducks,
cotton, alpaca wool, silver,
ceramics & especially gold
 Tribute-based empire, complex mythology/religion
(human sacrifice), calendar, architectural and artistic
accomplishments—base of today’s Mexico culture
 Triple Alliance: three cities Tenochtitlan (Mexico City),
Texcoco and Tiacopan, Lead by Emperor Moctezuma
 Merchants called pochteca
 Traded gold, silver, cloth and cotton, animal skins,
agriculture, wild game, and woodwork
 At various times the empire controlled modern day
China, Korea, Mongolia, Iran, India, Turkestan,
Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, and Russia
 late 1100'sCE, Temujin, a Mongol chieftain
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later known as Genghis Khan, unified
nomadic tribes into a superior fighting
force
conquered largest geographical empire in
history
Mongol armies ruthlessly eliminated any
resistance in their conquest
Inflicted terror and destruction
everywhere including the slaughter of
entire city populations
Established roads connecting Russia and
Persia with eastern Asia
Greatly increased contact between
cultures and promoted trade, religiously
tolerant
Brought printing, paper, gunpowder, and
the compass from China to Europe
 Began in Han Dynasty: 206BCE
 Extended 4000 miles
 Networked Eurasian landmasses & connected China
with Europe & areas between
 Disintegrated after Mongols: 1360CE
 Last shipped silk : 1400CE
 Controlled by different empires at different times and
places
Goods traded: China (silk, perfume, spices, medicines)
India (spices, ivory, textiles, gems, pepper)
Roman Empire (gold, silver, wine, glassware)
Other traded: religion & philosophies (Buddhism esp.),disease (Black Plague),
technology (compass, gunpowder)
 Trade has
existed in
Mediterranean
Sea for millennia
 Phoenicians,
Greeks, Romans,
Byzantines,
Muslims
 Height: 1300s1800s, Italian
City-states
(jump started
Renaissance)
 Traded: silk,
spices, opium
 Peak: 700CE-1400CE
 Dominated by Muslim
traders & West African
empires
 Traded: gold, salt, ivory,
spices
 Linked West African gold
with Renaissance, linked Muslim world together,
contributed to creating civilizations in West Africa
 Always trade in Indian Ocean: based on monsoon
season
 Ancient Rome traded with India
 Height: 800-1600CE
 Indians, Swahili city-states, Muslim Empires
controlled
 Traded gold, spices, gems, ivory, other luxury items
 1600CE Portuguese took over; world focus switches to
Atlantic
 Early Middle Ages: 476 – 1000CE
 High Middle Ages: 1000CE – 1300CE
 Late Middle Ages: 1300CE – 1453CE
 Early Middle Ages: (“Dark Ages” if any are)
 depopulation, deurbanization, and increased
barbarians
 North Africa and Middle East become Islamic
 Towards 800CE, feudalism helps move away from
subsistence agriculture & urbanization of Northern and
West Europe
 Religious art & architecture flourished
 Crusades
 Nation building
 Chivalry, courtly love
 Laws: Justinian Code, mathematics of Fibonacci,
philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, paintings of Giotto,
poetry of Dante and Chaucer, travels of Marco Polo,
architecture of Gothic cathedrals like
 Calamity: climate change=famine, up to 75
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years of it
Black Death: toll as high as ½ of
population in some places, towns hard hit
Prices of labor rose as laborers died,
workers felt right to greater
earnings=popular uprisings
Period of stress in society=creative social,
economic and technological developments
Church divided against itself (1057CE
Great Schism)
Further nation building
Spread of Black Death