Neolithic Revolution (8000 BCE- 600 BCE) AP World History begins
Domestication of plants
First wheat in the Middle East
Rice in East and Southeast Asia
Yams in West Africa
Maize in the Americas
Tarot roots in New Guinea
Domestication of animals
Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, goats in Afro-Eurasia
Llama only large domesticated animal of the Americas
Early settlements not "civilizations"
Jericho and Catal Huyuk
Domestication of plans and animals leads to a food surplus
Food surplus leads to a specialization of labor creating:
Religion, writing, artisans and goods, merchants and trade, architectural advances, military
and improved technologies (Ex. Wheel (3500 BCE), plow, iron)
Iron metallurgy
Bronze Age (3000 BCE)
Iron Age (1300 BCE)
Theme 1 (Interaction between humans and environment) seen with farming and irrigation
Theme 2 (Development and interaction between cultures) seen as Indus and Mesopotamians trade
Americas develop in isolation
As “civilizations” progress, the status of women falls sharply!
Mesopotamia: What are they known for (3-4 things)?
Hammurabi’s code
Diffusion of iron/Hittites
Egypt What are they known for (4-5 things)?
Ancient River Valley Civilizations
Indus River Valley
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (Pakistan): What are they known for (3-4 things)?
Aryans: Indo Europeans invade, Vedas form the basis of Hinduism, caste system
becomes embedded in Indian culture (Warriors, priests, merchants and workers)
China:
Shang Dynasty What are they known for (3-4 things)?
Zhou Dynasty
Mandate of Heaven used to justify rebellions
Longest lasting Chinese dynasty
Exceptions to the river valley rule:
Chavin (Peru) and Olmec (Central America)
Other Noteworthy groups of Period 1 (8000 BCE-600 BCE)
o Indo European migrations (central Asia, horses, language)
o Bantu migrations
o Sub-Saharan Africa, impact on language, farming, iron technology
o Hebrews
o Monotheism, Abraham, covenant with God
o Phoenicians
o 22 letter alphabet
Religions:
Animism (spirits reside in ordinary objects)
Africa, North America, Central Asia
Hinduism
Judaism
Zoroastrianism
Teachings of Zoroaster or Zarathustra, Persia, good and evil
What are some big ideas that cross the whole period in all places?
Period 2
Rise of classical civilizations (Rome, Han, Gupta) and the development of major world religions
Big Picture Events:
Rise and fall of empires
Development and spread of world religions and belief systems
Major development and expansion of large trade networks
Rise and fall of Empires
China
Zhou dynasty ends in 256 BCE
Qin dynasty (221 BCE-209 BCE)
the warring states period
Legalism
Terra Cotta warriors and starts the Great Wall
Standardizes weights, measurements, currencies, laws and written language
Han dynasty (206 BCE to 200 CE)
Golden Age of China
Establish the Silk Road
Buddhism spreads to China via silk road
Civil Service Exam begins
Technology
Paper manufactured, sun dials, calendars, compass, rudder, seismograph, water
powered mills
India
Mauryan Empire (322- 185 BCE)
First to unify the Indian subcontinent
Gupta Empire (320- 550 CE)
Golden Age of India
Not as centralized, smaller than the Mauryan
Hinduism reasserted
Major continuity throughout India
Sati a strong example of patriarchal society in India
Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great
Great Royal Road (1600 miles of roads comparable to eventual Roman roads)
Capital Persepolis (comparable to Chang’an, Athens, Rome, Teotihuacan)
Persian War and Alexander the Great of Macedonia
Greece
Adopted Phoenician alphabet
City-states: Athens and Sparta
CultureAristotle model of Greek thought by use of logic
Alexander the Great
Conquered Greece and spread Greek culture (Hellenism)
Empire facilitated interaction and spread of culture (Greece, India, Persia, and Egypt)
Library of Alexandria in Egypt center of learning (good comparison to later Timbuktu,
Mali)
o Geometry, medicine, anatomy, circumference of the earth, Pythagorean
theorem, geocentric thought of Ptolemy
Rome (Greatest achievements are law and engineering)
Roman Republic What are they known for (4-5 things)?
Empire
Julius Caesar killed (44 BCE), Octavian Augustus becomes emperor
Empire stretches from England to Middle East
Pax Romana (Roman peace)
Law- innocent unless proven guilty by court
Engineering (Coliseum), aqueducts
Roads (comparable to Persian royal road and later Incan roads)
Roman culture influenced by Greek cultural diffusion
Slavery- Both Greek and Roman society heavily dependent on slavery
(comparison to Chinese dependency on the peasants)
Silk Road: Rome traded precious metals with the Han for silk
Americas
Maya (300-1100 CE) What are they known for (4-5 things)?
Teotihuacan
City in valley of Mexico (later model for Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan)
Moche of South America in the Andes (100-700 CE)
Extensive irrigation, complex culture
What are some comparisons across civilizations?
Fall of Empires
Maya- possible exhaustion of the environment
Han China- (220 CE)
Internal - population increases, land problems, corruption, peasant rebellion called
Yellow Turban (184 CE), disease
External- conflict with nomadic Xiongnu
Roman Empire (Western Rome falls in 476 CE, East survives as the Byzantine Empire)
Internal- tax revolts, poor leaders, division of empire, violent death of emperors, over
expansion, decrease in trade, reliance on mercenaries, disease
External- Huns and Goths
Gupta- Invasion by the White Huns- cost weakened state and eventually overrun
Hinduism and caste system survived
Religions
Polytheism- most early civilizations were polytheistic (belief in many gods)
o Animism- Africa, Americas
o Shamanism- Americas, Central Asia
India
Hinduism: Aryan invaders, caste system, dharma, reincarnation, moksha, Vedas,
Sati
Buddhism: symbols, influence of Hinduism, Siddhartha Gautama, Four Noble
Truths, Eightfold path, Nirvana, Ashoka
Silk Road spread Buddhism to China
Also spread to Southeast Asia- Angkor Wat (both Hindu and Buddhist)
 China
Confucianism: the Warring State period, what does it emphasize, Filial piety
o Embraced by governments as ruler superior to ruled
o Civil Service Exam based on Confucian Analects
o Government bureaucracy based on merit
o Allowed for the possibility of social mobility
o Patriarchal society develops as a husband superior to wife
o Eventually see foot binding
o Eventually combines with Buddhism to form Neo-Confucianism during the
Tang dynasty
Daoism and Legalism
Middle East
Judaism
Christianity
Interactions of the Classical period
Silk Road
Indian Ocean
Trans-Saharan
Camel in first century BCE significant
Camel saddle in 300’s CE greatly increases trade across the Saharan
Trade connects Sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa and Mediterranean
Mediterranean
Carthage, Phoenicians, Greeks, Berbers, Romans and Egyptians all traded
Sub-Saharan
Bantus inspire trade
Connect Sub-Saharan Africa with East Africa and the Indian Ocean
Americas
Trade during this time is limited and is regional unlike Afro-Eurasian world