World Civilization
GE 2101
Group: TonyXiao
Members
1. Sarinya Chansaengsuk 5511008
2. Thanes Anantamek 5511069
3. Sukanan Rattanachananon 5515869
4. Ravikarn Sawangdee 5515877
Chapter 1: The Period of Human Being
Divided into 2 periods
1. Stone Age (Pre-Historic Age)
2. Metal Age (Historic Age)
The Stone Age (Pre-Historic Age)
1. Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)
- Human was nomad and wandering
- They hunted animals and gathered food
- Tools were made from stone chipped >>> Hand Axe
- They believed in supernatural and animism
- Many species (Upper Paleolithic): Australopithecines (Homonid – Ape)
: Homo Erectus (Pitchecanthropus Erectus) – walk up right
Java man and Peking man
: Homo Sapiens – human physical started changing
Neanderthal man
Cro-Mangnon man (Prototype of Human Being) –
bigger brain, adapted to environment
- They painted in the wall caves (Late Paleolithics)
2. Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age) – Beginning of agriculture
- They lived in big groups
3. Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) – Agriculture Revolution
- They tried to grow and produce food, and started farming
- They started making pottery (The Wheel) and human shape sculpture
(Venus of Willendorf)
- They had villages
The Metal Age (Historic Age) – writing and use of iron
1. Copper Age
2. Bronze Age – many civilization such as irrigation
3. Iron Age
Chapter 2: Mesopotamia Civilization
Mesopotamia (Fertile Crescent or Cradle of Civilization): land located between
2 rivers - Tigris and Euphrates
People of Mesopotamia
1. Sumerians
- They had political system – City State 1st (Uruk, Ur, Eridu, etc.) built by
the sun baked brick with round arch and dome shape
- They created the first system of writing – Cuneiform written on clay
tablet
- They created the Lunar calendar
- They had irrigation
2. Akkadians
- King Sagon the Great attacked Sumerians and started the 1st empire
- He built the capital city called Akkad which merged all Sumerians
together
- Sumerian returned in the late of Akkadians’ era
3. Amorites (Old Babylonians)
- King Hammurabi created the 1st law called the Hammurabi’s Law (282
laws) proposed the concept of Lex Talionis - Retaliation (you get what
you did)
- He built the capital city called Babylon
4. Hittites
- The first use of iron
5. Kassites (Dark Age)
6. Assyrians
- King Tiglalt Pileser, Ashurabanipal and Sargon II built a library
- Nation of warriors
- They built the capital city called Nineveh near Tigris River
7. Chaldeans and Medes (Golden Age)
- King Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Neo-Babylon
- He built Hanging Garden, Tower of Babel and Ishtar Gate
8. Persians (The end of Mesopotamia era)
- King Cyrus (Achaemanian Dynasty)
9. Macedonian Greeks (Alexander the Great)
10. Arab Islam
Social Structure
1. Priests (Priest King – Lugal) and Nobles
2. Freemen (Citizen)
3. Slaves and Laborers
Belief
- People believed in Polytheism (Many Gods) such as Inana (Earth
Mother), Marduk (God of Babylon), Enlil (God of Lightning), Tammuz
(God of Cereal and Agriculture), Shamash (Sun God) and Anu (God of
Heaven)
- People were pessimistic (negative thinking) because there were
annual floods and outside attacks
- They built Ziggurat for praying the gods
Literature
- The 1st literature called Epic of Gilgamesh proposed the concept of
staying in the present, not future
The end
- Environment and Invasion of Persians
Chapter 3: Egyptian Civilization
Herodotus (Greek) named “the gift of the Nile” for Egypt
Geographic
- Located nearly Nile River (Irrigation)
- Surrounded by 2 big deserts (natural barriers)
- Divided into 2 parts: Upper part (South) and Lower part – Branches of
Nile (North)
- Good climate
People of Egypt
- They were optimistic and lucky
- Agriculture and Irrigation were the main careers
- They created the system of writing called Hieroglyphic
Dynasties
1. Pharaoh Menes: Namer
- He united both upper and lower parts together
- He built the capital city called Thinis
- People believed that he was the reincarnation of the god (Horus – God
of the Sky)
- It was the 1st dynastic period (1-2 dynasties)
2. Old Kingdom (Golden Age): the 1st Intermediate Period (3-6 dynasties)
- Pharaoh Zoser built the 1st Pyramid
- He proposed the political system called Royal Absolutism (Absolute
Monarchy)
- He created Bureaucracy system ( Pharaoh, Nobles, Landowners,
Priests)
- People made paper called Papyrus
- There was an political chaos in the 7-10 dynasties
3. Middle Kingdom: 11-12 dynasties
- Pharaoh built the capital city called Thebes in the upper part of Egypt
- He extended up the Nile to the south
- During 13-17 dynasties, it was the 2nd Intermediate Period
- Hyksos attacked and introduced the military affairs
4. New Kingdom (The Empire): 18-24 dynasties
- Thebes was still the capital city
- It was the long centuries of weakness and decline because of wars
with Hittites, Assyrian and Mesopotamia
5. Late Kingdom
- Alexander the Great built the city called Alexandria
- He started the Ptolemy Dynasty
- Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh who was Greeks
Religion
- People believed in Polytheism (Many Gods) such as Ra (Sun God), Isis
(God of the Nile and Fertility), Osiris (God of Underworld), Horus (God
of the Sky), Anubis (God of Death), Ptah ( God of all lives on Earth) and
Selket (God of Healing)
- Osiris was the husband of Isis and they had one son called Horus
- Set, brother of Osiris, killed Osiris by cutting his body into pieces, then
Isis put pieces of Osiris’s body together to be reborn
Heretic King: Pharaoh Amenhotep IV
-
He believed in Monotheism
He set up the new sun god called Aton
He changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaton
He built the new capital city called El Amana
His wife name was Nefertiti
After his death because of poison, every system was back to the old
one but his artistic revolution was accepted
The most popular Pharaoh: Tutankhamen
- He was the most popular Pharaoh because of his tomb made of pure
gold
Architecture
1. Pyramid of Khufu (Father), Khafre (Son), Menkaure (Grand-Son) and
Pyramid of Gizeh
2. Temple (New Kingdom)
- The great temple of Karnak and Luxor, and Abu Simbel
Mummy (Mummification)
- Belief of life after death
- 2 Parts of life after death consist of Ka (Life Force) and Ba (Individual
Personality)
- Ankh (Symbol of Eternal Life)
Chapter 4: Indus Civilization
Introduction
- The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization in the
northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Flourishing around the
Indus River basin, the civilization extended east into the GhaggarHakra River valley and the upper reaches Ganges-Yamuna Doab. It
extended west to the Makran coast of Balochistan, north to
northeastern Afghanistan. The civilization was spread over some
1,260,000 km, making it the largest known ancient civilization.
Characteristics
- Indus civilization was exactly conservative, religious and high planed.
Career
- People living at that time mainly did agriculture and trading as their
works.
People
- There was no evidence about the native people but the ancestors of
Indus people were Dravidians.
Achievement
- The writing system was found in this civilization.
Evidence
- There were two cities found in this period which are Mohenjo-daro
and Harappa and these cities were built by Dravidians.
Arts and crafts
- Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically
detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite have been found
at excavation sites. A number of gold, terra-cotta and stone figurines
of girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form. Also,
these terra-cotta figurines included cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs.
The animal depicted on a majority of seals at sites of the mature
period has not been clearly identified. Part bull, part zebra, with a
majestic horn, it has been a source of speculation. As yet, there is
insufficient evidence to substantiate claims that the image had
religious or cultic significance, but the prevalence of the image raises
the question of whether or not the animals in images of the IVC are
religious symbols.
- Sir John Marshall is known to have reacted with surprise when he
saw the famous Indus bronze statuette of a slender-limbed dancing
girl in Mohenjo-Daro.
People were also divided into classes as a list below;
-Brahmin
-Kshatriya
-Vaishya
-Sudra
Chapter 5: Indian Civilization
Introduction
- The Indian civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations of the
world. It is known as the Sindhu civilization or the Indus Valley
civilization or the Aryan civilization. Sometimes it is also referred to as
the Vedic civilization.
Location
- Ganges River
Career
- Agriculture and Trading
Political system
1. Kingdom: Magadha
2. Republic : Punjub
Alexander the Great: Alexander reached the Indus early in the 4th century,
but soon had to withdraw; nevertheless, the Greeks brought Hellenic culture
with them and established cities; these too had a last influence on the Indian
sub-continent, particular with regard to art and architecture.
Ancient period of Indian divided into 3 empires
1. Maurya Empire
2. Kushan Empire
3. Gupta Empire
Maurya Empire (322-185 BC)
Chandragupta Maurya began in 322 BC establishing a great empire in northern
India and the lands abandoned by Alexander the Great.
1) The Mauryan Empire included all of present-day northern India and much of
modern Afghanistan.
2) As an emperor holding supreme power, Chandragupta established a strong
central government, governed with the aid of paid officials, and defended his
kingdom with an army of 600,000-700,000 men. Some argue that he learned the
arts of war and government from Alexander's Macedonians.
3) Established a capital of Pataliputra was located at the confluence of the
Ganges and the Son rivers, and it was described by contemporary observers
as having long wooden walls, towers, gates, and a moat. Within were grand
palaces and other buildings.
4) According to legend, Chandragupta retired from the throne after ruling for
twenty-four years, passed it to his son, and became a monk and starved
himself to death.
The Guptas came to power in AD 320
1) The Guptas favored Hinduism, because it stressed the gods. Buddhism
accordingly declined in India, while Hinduism, now somewhat influenced by
Buddhism, became the dominant religion, a status it holds today.
2) Renewed emphasis was also placed on the caste system.
3) Over all, the Gupta rulers provided a period of peace, prosperity, and
culture flowering during the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Because of
achievements in the arts, literature, and philosophy, this period is called India's
Classical Age. Literature was written in Sanskrit, the Indian literary language.
One important work was the Panchatantra, a collection of 87 moralistic fables
which spread over the Middle East and ultimately reached Europe.
4) Near the middle of the sixth century AD, attacks on the Gupta Empire by the
Huns severely weakened it. The central government declined, and power
passed to local lords. Northern India became a patchwork of small states and
kingdoms, much as was Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Religion
Aryans introduced 3 new religions as follow; 1. Hinduism
2. Buddhism
3. Jainism
Hinduism
Results are from a blending over time of the religious beliefs of the Indus
Valley peoples and the Aryan invaders. It is best thought of not as a single
religion but as a family of related religions. There are 4 concepts in Hinduism
which are:
1. Dharma or moral code
2. Karma: The law of moral consequences and it holds each person’s
status in the present life which has been determined by the previous
life.
3. Reincarnation or Samsara : Reborn again
4. Belief in 3 great Gods :
1. Brahma
2. Vishnu
3. Shiva
The Holy text was called Vedas or the Vedic Epoch
Buddhism
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama, a northern Indian aristocrat who was troubled
by questions concerning the meaning of life and the existence of suffering and
death in the world. In his late twenties, Gautama then abandoned his wife
and family and a cloistered life of luxury and set out to seek answers to his
questions using the traditional Hindu methods of self-denial and meditation.
His quest lasted six years and involved philosophic meditation and the most
extreme forms of asceticism, or bodily self-denial. Then while seated under a
sacred fig tree, he had a moment of illumination in which he understood the
reasons behind human suffering and a means to overcome them. At this
moment, he became Buddha, or "the Enlightened One." Having achieved this
state of enlightenment, Buddha then became an itinerant teacher in the north
of India. Within a brief period of time, he had a large body of converts.
Buddhism is divided into 2 sections
1. Hinayana
2. Mahayana
Characteristics
Atheism: no god
-Never believe in god
-No ceremony to glorified god
The caste system
Doctrinally, caste was defined as a system of segregation of people, each with
a traditional hereditary occupation. The four well-known caste categories are
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. Certain people were excluded
altogether, ostracized by all other castes and treated as untouchables.
Jainism
Mahavira
Principle: limitation on appeal.
They emphasized on ceremonies and they believed on non-violence.
Indian Arts
Literature: The law of Manu: The oral literature and the rule to live together.
Sculpture: Shiva Nataraja and the Lion Capital column.
Chapter 6: Chinese Civilization
Invention
- Paper, Compass, Gunpowder, Printing
Dynasties
1. Xia Dynasty
- Beginning of Historic Rules
- Yellow Emperor
2. Shang Dynasty: Bronze Age
- System of Writing: Oracle Bone
- Overthrown by Zhou Dynasty
3. Zhou Dynasty: Longest Dynasty
- 4 Eras: Western Zhou Dynasty, Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Spring and
Autumn, Warring States
- Spring and Autumn Era: Feudalism (Fighting of local rulers), Golden
Age of Philosophy
 Chinese Philosophy
1. Confucius: Confucianism (fulfill roles by duties)
- 5 Relationships of Confucianism: Father-Son, Ruler-Minister, HusbandWife, Elder-Younger Brother, Friend-Friend
2. Lao Zi: Taoism
- Harmony with nature
- Balance of Yin-Yang
- Book of Changes
- Warring State: At first, there were a hundreds of states, then there
were only 7 states, but there was only one ruled by Qin at the end
4. Qin Empire (Centralized Empire): The 1st revolution of China
- King Shih Huang Ti: The 1st Emperor (Son of Heaven)
 Legalism
- The school of law instead of Confucianism by burning books and
buried philosopher alive
- Use of Harsh
- To promote the economy and power of government
- Qin crated 4 standards of weights, measures, currencies, written script
- Built the Great Wall of China
- Overthrown by Liu Bang (leader of peasants revolution during over
taxation period)
5. Han Empire (established by Liu Bang)
 King Wu Ti: Martial Emperor
- Return of Confucianism (State of Philosophy)
- Bureaucratic System: Imperial Examination (Confucian Classics Subject)
6. Tang Dynasty
- Buddhism brought to China by Xuang Shang (Tang Sum Jang) in form
of Tipitaka
- Silk Road: The greatest expansion occurred to the West
- Pax Sinica: Rich Country – International Era
- Established contact with the Kushan Empire in the North West India to
increase the volume of trade
- Exchanged porcelain and silk with crystal from Persia
- Poetry written by Lipo: Immortal Poet
- The End: 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms period – Assassination
Chapter 7: Greek civilization
Characteristic
1.
2.
3.
-
They believed to devotion of humanity
They believed in Human achievement.
They believed to glorified humanity.
Humanity = was the idea that believed in the ability of human being.
Geographic Background
-Divided into 2 parts. 1. Athens located on the mainland
2. Sparta located on the island
Political System




All Greece believed in city-state or polis.
The highest city called Acropolis
The meeting town called Agora
Hoplite\ Phalanx: the military service of each city-states.

1.
2.
3.
4.
SPATA
Political System: Militarism
Consists of 4 elements
Kings
Council
Assemble
Ephorate
Social Structure
1. Spartiates – They had political right.
2. Perioikoi - Trader and Banker
3. Helots – servants
ATHENS
Career
 The great trader and manufacturer
Political system
 City-states
The Evolution of Athenian Government
Monarchy
Draco
 Introduced the 1st system of law which unfair for all people.
Oligarchy
Solon
 He reformed political, economic, and judicial system.
Democracy
Cleisthenes: the Father of Athenian Democracy
 He introduced “Ostracism” the annual exile of dangerous man.
Pericles: The Age of Periclus or the Golden Age of Democracy
Two major wars of Athens
The Persian War: Athenian and Persians
1. First Persian War : king Darius 1st
2. Second Persian War: king Xerxes
The Peloponnesian War: Athenians and Sparta
Based on 3 main factors
1. The growth of Athenian imperialism
2. The social and cultural difference between Athens and Sparta
3. Economic factor.
The Macedonian
Philip of Macedon
 He attacked many Greek city-state
 He became the leader of Greek.
Alexander the Great
 Philip of Macedon’s son
 He was the greatest conqueror
 He introduced “ Hellenistic Civilization
Religion
 Polytheism
Greek thought and Culture
Philosophy
 The Nature of the universe
 The problem of the truth
 The meaning and purpose of life
Greek Philosophy
Thales: Father of Philosopher
Anaximander
 Introduction of Biology: Theory of Organic Evolution
Pythagoras: Father of Mathemetic
 Introduced Pythagorean mathematic.
 Deductive method
Democratus: Atomist
 Atomic theory
Practical Knowledge
** Sophist: the way of life
Herodotus: Father of History
Hippocratus: Father Medicine
3 Great Sophists of Greek: 1. Socrates 2. Plato 3. Aristotle
Socrates: The First Father of Sophist
 His theory emphasized ethical knowledge
 The method of learning by questioning and answering
 Knowledge of virtue
Plato


-
Socrates’ student who was born in Athens.
His achievement
The perfect plan for society
The element of human being
Aristotle
 Plato’s student
 Established Lyceum
 Introduced “ Teleological”
 Tutor of Alexander the Great
Zeno
 Introduced “Stoicism” good life was to be spent serving other and state
by freeing oneself from all passion
Greek Art and Literature
Homer
 He wrote the outstanding of Greek Epics : the Iliad and the Odyssey
Drama: the Worship of Dioysus: Tragedy and Comedy
Architecture
 Doric style
 Ionic style
 Corinthian
Sculpture
 The statue of Athena in the Parthenon
 Zeus in the temple of Olympian Zeus
Chapter 8: Roman Civilization
Geographical Background
 Located on the Italian Peninsula.
 Rome as the capital city.
 Rome located on the Tiber river
Characteristic
 Conservative people
Group of people
1. Indo-European Italic people
2. Etruscan: Asia Minor
3. Greece people
Rome Government
 Monarchy system
 King has highest power “imperium”
Monarchy
 7 Kings
 Republic overthrown Monarchy
Rome People
1. Patricians: the upper class, wealthy people
2. Plebeian: the lower class, farmers, laborers and artisans
 The Roman Constitution was an unwritten accumulation of laws and
customs
Republic
Consuls




Led the army
The chief of priest
The supreme judge
Senate got the highest authority
Senate
 Controlled finances and foreign policy
Assembly
 Listen and approved
 Voting for all future forms
The Great War
The Punic war: Roman vs. Carthage had 3 times
1. Roman jealously over Carthaginian expansion is Sicily
2. Roman interpreted the CarthagiNian attempt to rebuild an empire.
3. Roman wants a complete destruction of Carthage and the trading.
The Great Civil War
First Civil War: Marius vs. Sulla
Second Civil War: Pompey and Julius Caesa
Third Civil War: Octavian and Anthony
Empire
Five good Emperors: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius, Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
 He was the greatest Rome emperor, had strong and stable government.
 After his death, Roman was declined by Germanic people.
 He was last one of five Good Emperors
Religion
 Polytheism
 Organization class of priest
Social Life
The lower class: social clubs or guilds called “collegia”
Roman’s Law
 Law of Twelve (Tables Law of Nature)
Art and Culture
Literature
Cicero: Father of Roman Eloquence
Ovid: the outstanding writer of Rome
Livy: Rome history expressed his idea and feeling in Prose style
Science
 Pliny the Elder
 Galen: Physician
Roman Arts
Architecture




The pantheon in Rome , Italy
The colosseum
The baths of Caracalla
The civil center of ancient Rome
Sculpture
 The statue of Marcus Aurelius : Equestrian statue
Decline of Roman
1.



Internal problem
Political problems
Economic cause
Lack of civic ideas
2. External
 German attacked the western part of Rome
Chapter 9: Islam Civilization
Historical Background
-The native people are Arab people.
-People divided into 2 groups:
1. Urban Arabs: lived in Mecca
2. Nomadic Arab: Sheik as the leader
Religion
-At first, Arabs people believed in animism, especially the worship of Ka aba.
Muhamad: the last prophet
-He was born in Mecca
-He introduced new religion called Islam
-Islam:submission to the will of god
-Believed in only one god =Allah
-Muslim:the follower who surrendered to Allah
-He developed the idea of Allah from Judaism and Christianity
-Mecca people believedinJehoveh so he changed god name to Allah
-The basic ideas of Islam come from the Jewish Old Testment & thework
of Jesus
-He got conflict with the government of Mecca
-He moved from Mecca to Medina
-This movement called Hejira
-Hejira was the first year of Islam and also is thebeginingof Islam
calendar
-He built many mosques government, he won, so mecca yield to Islam
-He ordered all his followers that pray in the direction of Jerusalem have to
face forward to Mecca
-He announced that he was the last prophet
The Holy text
-Quran: the direction word from Allah & basic religion obligations or Pillar of
Faith
-Jihad: is the holy war off Muslim to defense of the faith
Political System: Caliphate
-Caliph –the leader of state and religion
- After his period, Arab people divided into two groups
1. The Umayyad dynansty
-They expanded their territories to westward
Muslim defeated
1. Byzatine
2. Syria
3. Persians
4. Palestine
5. Egypt
6. North Africa
7. Spain
-the last war was the battle of tours
2. The Abbasids dynasty
The belief of Islam
-5 pillars of Islam or 5 basic of obligation
- 1st pillar: believe in only Allah
- 2nd pillar: all Muslim have to pray for five times per day
- 3rd pillar: Ramadan
- 4th pillar: Charity
-5th pillar: Hadj
Arts
Architecture
-the arch and tower help inspired Gothic style
Chapter 10: The Middle Ages
Location
-Western & Central Europe
Historical Background
- This period found local fighting: Dark age
- Italy is the center of Christianity
- Spain was the center of Islam
The Carolingians
- Germanic Royal Family moved to Northern France, Belgium&Western
Germany
Charles Martel
- The leader of Carolingians whole is responsible for defeating Muslim in
the battle of tours &preserved Europe for Christianity
Charlemagne: Charles the Great
-He was Christian
-Established his empire in France the lower countries & Germany called The
holy Roman Empire
- Holy: firmly Christian
- Roman the ancient Roman Empire
-HE was the 1st emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
Religion
-Christianity: Catholic Church as the center of Medieval people
- The age of faith
- Pope as the leader of Christianity & control power on secular idea
-The Papacy was an elective monarchy
Punishment of Christianity
-Excommunication person: prohibited on all social intercourse
-Interdict: prohibition of all sacrament’s collections
The rise of independent states
Germany
Frederick
-Pope crowed him king to stop rebellion in Rome
-He controlled the northern&central Italy
Frederik 1
-He attempted the unite Italy&Germany so he was excommunicated for many
times
-After his death, was called the Great interregnum or the time between the
regn
-In 1273 German elected Rundolf of Hapsburg as king
France
Henry 2
-he established Common law to separated power from papal authority by
brought the clergy who against law to the royal court
John
- He was protested by people so he wassigned Magna Carta or the Great
Charter which as the based on the premise that everyone was under the
law
Spain
-Pope encourages Spanish Christian to against Spanish Muslim
Italy
-Podesta or a city leader ruled attacked Russian
Economic life
-The rise of Guild: an organization of people which had particular skill
-Main concept: Standardizing of products & fixed prices
Political System
Manorial system: open field & self-efficient unit
Religious War
Crusades War: Christian vs. Muslim
-Cause: The holy land: Jerusalem
Philosophy
-Aristotle was the great philosopher of Medieval’s scholars
-Medieval scholars divided into 2 groups
1. Catholic Faith
2. Rational Thought
Thomas Aquinas: The outstanding philosophy Italian Catholic priest
-He combined Catholic Faith & Rational thought together called Scholasticism :
related in Christian terms on knowledge of logic, science, law, medicine,
theology
Medieval scholars introduced their knowledge by
1. Establishment of universities
2. Translation of newly discovered text
Arts
Architecture
The Gothic Style
1. Soaring Tower
2. Pointed Arches
3. Stained Glass
Literature
-express on religious stories in Latin Language