• Early agricultural society
• population explosion caused by surplus
• Emergence of villages and towns
• Jericho, earliest known Neolithic village
• Mud huts and defensive walls
• Specialization of labor
• Neolithic site of Çatal Hüyük, eight thousand people
• Prehistoric craft industries
• pottery, metallurgy, and textile production
• Social distinctions, due to private land ownership
• The origins of urban life
• Emergence of cities, larger and more complex than villages
• Earliest cities in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, 4000 to 3500
B.C.E.
I. Mesopotamia: "the land between the rivers"
I. Valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates
II. Little rain, so area needs irrigation (small scale by 6000 B.C.E.)
III. Food supplies increase which leads to human population increases
I. Sumer (in south) becomes population center
IV.First cities emerge, 4000 B.C.E.
I. Between 3200 and 2350 B.C.E., they evolve into city-states (control of
surrounding region)
II. Governments sponsor building projects and irrigation
III. Attacks by others led to wall building and military development
II. The course of empire
I. Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315 B.C.E.)
I. Coup against king of Kish
II. Seizes trade routes and natural resources
III. Gradually empire weakens and collapses about 2000 B.C.E.
II. Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.)
I. Centralizes the bureaucracy and regulates taxation
II. Capital is Babylon
III. Law Code: law of retribution and importance of social status
III. The later Mesopotamian empires
I. Assyrians (northern Mesopotamia), cities are Nineveh and Assur
II. Powerful army: professional officers (merit), chariots, archers, iron weapons
III. New Babylonian empire and Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 B.C.E.)
I. Hanging gardens of palace shows wealth and luxury
I. Economic specialization and trade
I. Bronze (made from copper and tin); used in weapons and later agricultural
tools
II. Iron (about 1000 B.C.E.), cheaper and more widely available; used in weapons
and tools
III. Wheel (about 3500 B.C.E.) helps trade; carts can carry more goods further
II. The emergence of a patriarchal society
I. Social classes
I. Cities: more opportunities to accumulate wealth
II. Kings (hereditary) and nobles (royal family and supporters) are highest
class
III. Priests and priestesses rule temple communities with large incomes and
staff
IV.Free commoners (peasants), dependent clients (no property); pay taxes
and labor on building projects
V. Slaves (POWs, criminals, debt servitude): mostly domestic servants
II. Patriarchy
I. Hammurabi's code: men are head of the household
II. Women get fewer rights after 2000 B.C.E.
III. Cuneiform, Mesopotamian writing style, becomes standard
I. Reed stylus (wedge-shaped) pressed in clay then baked
II. Mostly commercial and tax documents
IV.Literature: astronomy, mathematics, abstract (religious and literary like
Gilgamesh)
I. Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews
I. Early Hebrews are pastoral nomads between Mesopotamia and Egypt (second
millennium B.C.E.)
I. Abraham leads group to Palestine 1850 B.C.E.
II. Descendents borrow law of retribution(revenge)
III. Pass down the flood story from Mesopotamia
II. Some migrate to Egypt in eighteenth century B.C.E. then back to Palestine with Moses
I. Twelve tribes become Israelites
II. Mesopotamian-style monarchs with Jerusalem as capital
III. Moses and monotheism
I. Ten Commandments: moral and ethical standards for followers
II. Compilation of teachings into Torah (1000-400 B.C.E.)
IV.Assyrians conquer
I. Conquer Israel in north and Judah in south and destroy Jerusalem
II. Deportees return to Judea; become known as Jews (586 B.C.E.)
III. Prophets in this period increase devotion of people
IV.Build distinct Jewish community in Judea with strong group identity
II. The Phoenicians
I. Develop into kingdoms of independent city-states
II. Little agriculture; live on trade and communications networks
I. Overland trade to Mesopotamia; influence on culture
II. Sea trade most important; get raw materials, trade for manufactured goods
III. Have early alphabetical script (1500 B.C.E.)
I. Indo-European origins
I. Linguists discover similarities between many languages; they must be
related
II. Originate in steppes of central Asia as pastoral people
III. Domesticate horses; learn to ride; use horses with carts, then chariots
II. Indo-European expansion and its effects
I. Indo-European society breaks up about 3000 B.C.E.; peoples gradually
migrate
II. Hittites settle in central Anatolia about 2000 B.C.E.
I. Build powerful kingdoms
II. Conquer Babylonian empire 1595 B.C.E.
III. Dissolve by about 1200 B.C.E.
IV.Technology: light horse-drawn chariots (spokes) and iron metallurgy
III. Some migrate into central Asia by 2000 B.C.E.
IV.Other migrations: Greece, Italy, central Europe, western Europe, Britain
I. All pastoral agriculturalists
II. All speak related languages and worship similar deities
V. Later wave of migrations to Iran and India ("Aryan")
I. Climatic change and the development of agriculture in Africa
I. Sahara region used to be grassy steppe lands with water (10,000 B.C.E.)
I. Abundant hunting, fishing, wild grains
II. Permanent settlements and the growing of sorghum and yams (7500
B.C.E.)
III. Small states with semidivine rulers (5000 B.C.E.)
II. Climate becomes hotter and drier after 5000 B.C.E.
I. People are driven into river regions--Nile
II. Annual flooding makes rich soil for agriculture
II. Egypt and Nubia: "gifts of the Nile"
I. Egypt--lower third of Nile River; Nubia--middle third of Nile
II. After 5000 B.C.E. peoples cultivate gourds and watermelons, domesticate
donkeys and cattle (from Sudan), and grow wheat and barley (from
Mesopotamia)
III. Agriculture easy in Egypt (due to Nile flooding) but more work in Nubia
IV.States begin to emerge by 4000 B.C.E., small kingdoms by 3300 B.C.E.
I.
I. Egypt, large and prosperous state by 3100 B.C.E.
I. Menes at Memphis unites Upper and Lower Egypt
II. Pharaoh, absolute ruler and owns all land
II. Archaic Period (3100-2660 B.C.E.) and Old Kingdom (2660-2160 B.C.E.)
I. Great pyramids of Giza built during this period; Khufu the largest
II. Violence between Egypt and Nubia (Egypt dominates from 3000-2400 B.C.E.)
III. Nubia later develops into Kingdom of Kush
IV. Interaction through diplomacy, Nubian mercenaries, and intermarriage
Turmoil and empire
I. Period of upheaval after Old Kingdom (2160-2040 B.C.E.)
II. Middle Kingdom (2040-1640 B.C.E.)
III. Nomadic horsemen, Hyksos, invade Egypt
I. Using bronze weapons and chariots (Egypt does not have)
II. Captures Memphis in 1674 B.C.E.
IV. New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.E.)
I. Pharaoh gains power, huge army, large bureaucracy
II. Building projects: temples, palaces, statues
III. Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 B.C.E.) built empire including Palestine, Syrian, Nubia
IV. Then Egypt falls into a long period of decline
V. Egyptians driven out of Nubia in 1100 B.C.E.
I. Nubian Kingdom of Kush; capital is Napata
II. King Kashta conquers Thebes (in Egypt) in 760 B.C.E.
VI. Assyrians with iron weapons invade from the north
I. The emergence of cities and stratified societies
I. Nubian cities
I. Kerma, dominates trade routes
II. Napata, most prosperous city after Nubian conquest of Egypt
III. Meroë, most influential city after Assyrian invasion because it is farther south
II. Social classes
I. Egypt: peasants and slaves (agriculture), pharaoh, professional military and
administrators
II. Nubia: complex and hierarchical society (can tell from tombs)
III. Patriarchy in both but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia
I. Women act as regents, like female pharaoh Hatshepsut
II. Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes
II. Economic specialization and trade
I. Bronze important but copper and tin rare and expensive
II. Iron metallurgy develops independently in Sudan
III. Transportation: sailboats, carts, and donkey caravans
IV.Trade networks
I. Egypt and Nubia: exotic goods from Nubia ebony, gold, gems, slaves and pottery,
wine, linen, decorative items from Egypt
II. Egypt and the north: especially wood, like cedar from Lebanon
I.
Early writing in the Nile valley
I. Hieroglyphics found on monuments and papyrus by 3200 B.C.E.
II. Hieratic script, everyday writing 2600-600 B.C.E.
III. Demotic and Coptic scripts adapt Greek writing
IV. Scribes live very privileged lives
V. Nubia adapts Egyptian writing until Meroitic in fifth century B.C.E. (untranslated)
II. The development of organized religious traditions
I. Principal gods: sun gods Amon and Re
II. Brief period of monotheism: Aten
I. Pharaoh Akhenaten's idea of a new capital at Akhetaten
II. Orders all other gods' names chiseled out; their names die with him
III. Mummification
I. At first only pharaohs are mummified (Old Kingdom)
II. Later ruling classes and wealthy can afford it
III. Eventually commoners have it too (Middle and New Kingdom)
IV. Cult of Osiris
I. Brother Seth murders Osiris and scatters his body
II. Wife Isis gathers him up and gods restore him to life in underworld
III. Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death, immortality
IV. Osiris judges the heart of the dead against the feather of truth
V. Nubians combine Egyptian religions with their own
I.
The dynamics of Bantu expansion
I. Bantu--language group from west central Africa
I. Live along banks of rivers; use canoes
II. Cultivate yams and oil palms
III. Live in clan-based villages
IV. Trade with hunting/gathering forest people
II. Early migrations of Bantu (3000-1000 B.C.E.)
I. Move south and west into the forest lands
II. Move south to Congo River and east to Great Lakes region
III. Absorb much of the population of hunter/gather/fisher people
IV. By 1000 B.C.E. occupy most of Africa south of the equator
III. Features of the Bantu
I. Use canoes and settle along banks of rivers; spread from there
II. Agricultural surplus causes them to move inland from rivers
III. Become involved in trade
IV. Bantu rate of migration increases after 1000 B.C.E. due to appearance of iron
I. Iron tools allow them to clear more land for agriculture
II. Iron weapons give them stronger position
II. Early agricultural societies of sub-Saharan Africa
I. Many other societies besides Bantu migrate
II. Spread of agriculture to most of sub-Saharan Africa by 1000 B.C.E.
III. Mostly small communities led by chiefs with "age sets" and initiation rites
IV. Religious differences by area
I. Some worship single, impersonal divine force representing good and bad
II. Many individuals pray to ancestors and local gods for intervention
V. Much mixing and intermingling of cultures
I. Background
I. Neolithic villages in Indus River valley by 3000 B.C.E.
II. Earliest remains inaccessible because of silt deposits and rising water table
III. Also little known because writing not yet translated
II. Foundations of Harappan society
I. The Indus River
I. Runs through north India, with sources at Hindu Kush and the Himalayas
II. Wheat and barley were cultivated in Indus valley
III. Complex society of Dravidians, 3000 B.C.E.
II. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: two main cities
I. Each city had a fortified citadel and a large granary
II. Broad streets, marketplaces, temples, public buildings
III. Harappan society and culture
I. Social distinctions, as seen from living styles
II. Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility
III. Harappan society declined from 1900 B.C.E. onward
I. Ecological degradation led to a subsistence crisis
II. Another possibility: natural catastrophes such as floods or earthquakes
III. Population began to abandon their cities by about 1700 B.C.E.
IV. Almost entirely collapsed by about 1500 B.C.E.
V. Some Harappan cultural traditions maintained
I. The Aryans and India
I. The early Aryans
I. Depended heavily on a pastoral economy
II. No writing system, but had orally transmitted works called the Vedas
III. Sacred language (Sanskrit) and daily-use language (Prakit)
II. The Vedic Age: 1500-500 B.C.E.
I. A boisterous period; conflicts with indigenous peoples
II. Indra, the Aryans' war god and military hero
III. Aryan chiefdoms fought ferociously among themselves led by rajas
II. Origins of the caste system
I. Caste and varna
I. The meaning of caste: hereditary, unchangeable social classes
II. The Sanskrit word varna, "color," refers to social classes
II. Social distinctions in the late Vedic Age
I. Four main varnas, recognized after 1000 B.C.E.: brahmins (priests), kshatriyas
(warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, and merchants), shudras
(landless peasants and serfs)
II. Later the category of the untouchables was added
III.Jati, or subcastes, were determined by occupations
III. Development of patriarchal society
I. Patriarchal and patrilineal society
I. Advised men to treat women with honor and respect
II. Subjected women to the control and guidance of men
III. Women's duties: to bear children and maintain the household
II. Sati, social custom in which widow throws self on funeral pyre
I. Aryan religion
I. Aryan gods
I. Gods of the sun, the sky, the moon, fire, health, disease
II. God Varuna: ethical concern, cosmic order
II. Ritual sacrifices were more important than ethics
I. Priests were specialists of the ritual sacrifices
II. Ritual sacrifices for rewards from the divine power
II. The blending of Aryan and Dravidian values
I. The Upanishads, works of religious teachings (800-400 B.C.E.)
I. The religious forums: dialogues between disciples and sages
II. Brahman: the universal soul
III.Highest goal: to escape reincarnation and join with Brahman
IV.Samsara: an individual soul was born many times
V. Karma: specific incarnations that a soul experienced
II. Religion and Vedic society
I. Samsara and karma reinforced caste and social hierarchy
II. Upanishads were also spiritual and intellectual contemplations
III.Taught to observe high ethical standards: discourage greed, envy,
vice
IV.Respect for all living things, a vegetarian diet
• Early agricultural society and the Xia dynasty
• The Yellow River
• Water source at high plateau of Tibet
• Loess soil carried by the river's water, hence "yellow"
• "China's Sorrow"--extensive flooding
• Loess provided rich soil, soft and easy to work
• The Xia dynasty
• Established about 2200 B.C.E.
• Legendary King Yu, the dynasty founder, a hero of flood control
• Erlitou: possibly the capital city of the Xia
• The Shang dynasty: 1766-1122 B.C.E.
• Arose in the southern and eastern areas of the Xia realm
• Many written records and material remains discovered
• Bronze metallurgy, monopolized by ruling elite
• Horses and chariots traveled with Indo-European migrants to China
• The Shang capital moved six times
• Lavish tombs of Shang kings with thousands of objects
• The Zhou dynasty: 1122-256 B.C.E.
• Zhou gradually eclipsed Shang
• Mandate of heaven, the right to rule
• The Zhou needed to justify the overthrow
• Ruler as "the son of heaven" .Mandate of heaven only given to virtuous rulers
• The fall of the Zhou
• Nomadic invasion sacked Zhou capital in 711 B.C.E.
• The last king of the Zhou abdicated his position in 256 B.C.E.