Nubian Olmec and Chavin Civilizations Nubia 3100 BCE

Nubian, Olmec, and Chavin Civilizations

Nubia, 3100 BCE – 350 CE • Aswan and Khartoum • Trade center – Sub – Saharan Africa and Mediterranean • Resources: gold, copper, stones • Nile, irrigation, trade (boats/caravans to avoid cataracts) • Bantu migrations- farmers in the Sahel migrate East and South

Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination, 2300 – 1100 BCE • Old Kingdom Egypt sought riches that came through Nubia • Middle Kingdom – Egypt more aggressive, wanted more control (forts), mostly peaceful • 1750 BCE Kingdom of Kush – huge mud brick monuments • Belief in afterlife (possessions sacrificed/buried) • New Kingdom – Egypt destroyed Kush, ruled over Nubia, exploited for gold • Egypt imposed culture (elites, military, manufactured goods, towns, gods)

QUESTIONS: • Review core/periphery terms. Was Nubia ever a core civilization? • How did the technological and cultural influences of Egypt affect the formation of Nubia?

Kingdom of Meroe, 800 BCE – 350 CE • 1200 BCE - Egypt loses control over Nubia (Napata and Meroe) • Brief control over Egypt, lost when they challenged the Assyrians, Egyptian cultural influence continued • 4 th c. BCE – Meroe (trade, agriculture), sub – Saharan culture, new language, new deities • Matrilineal system (queens involved in warfare, diplomacy, monumental buildings) • City of Meroe huge, reservoirs, iron smelting • Collapsed 4 th c. BCE (nomads on camels, loss of trade)

QUESTIONS: • Compare/contrast what we know about the role of women in Egyptian and Nubian society. • What was the importance of trade to the native civilizations that emerged along the Nile south of Egypt?

Early American Civilizations • Arrival of humans to Americas contested (35, 000 to 13, 000 BCE) – isolated • Environment (Guns, Germs, and Steel thesis – see page 9 in textbook) • Elites organized population to change environment for their needs • 1000 BCE – Olmec (Mesoamerica) and Chavin (Andes)

Olmecs 1200 BCE – 400 BCE • Located in Mexico (near Veracruz) • Grew corn beans and squash primarily • Vast trade networks, encompassing very diverse areas, but small territory relative to land available - no empire/political unification • Each center seems to have fallen due to a violent rebellion (defaced monuments) • Colossal mounds used in religious ceremonies, importance of animal motifs, calendar/writing • Clear social structure, elites controlled labor pool (increased food production), merchants

OLMEC ART

Question: • Compare the Olmec Empire to the River Valley civilizations. What similarities/differences can you find: socially, politically, economically, and religiously.

Chavin 900 – 250 BCE • Very diverse environment (Andes mountains, jungles, coastal plains) • Maize, quinoa, potatoes, LLAMAS • Center of regional trade • System of reciprocal labor obligations (monumental structures and irrigation) • American metallurgy first developed in Andean region • Not conquered or brought down by rebellion • Rulers were buried with lots of gold, etc. • Similar religious beliefs as Olmecs- jaguars, priests/shamans, etc.

QUESTIONS What role did nature and the environment play in the development of early civilizations in the Americas? (What geographic challenges did American civilizations face that Euro-Asian civilizations did not? )