Time Period I 8000 BCE 600 BCE Period
Time Period I 8000 BCE – 600 BCE
• Period 1 8000 BCE-600 BCE • Starts @ Neolithic Revolution • Before 8000 BCE homosapiens (us) Out of Africa – Modern humans migrate after about 80, 000 years ago from Africa – Island hop across Indonesia into Australia by 40, 000 years ago – Cross Bearing Strait into Americas circa 20, 000 years ago
• Civilization (farming) leads to disease, women inequality (& shortness) • 8000 BCE – Neolithic Revolution/Agricultural Revolution in Fertile Crescent (Mespotamia) • First crops = wheat/barley in Middle East • Then rice/China, yams/AFR, maize/AME • Farming brings surplus of food – If your food and security…
• Domesticated animals start in Middle East – Lambs, goats, cows • Only Llamas in South Am. • Farming begins independently in several areas – Especially American – Ag settlements (not civs) – Jericho 8000 BCE (Israel) – Chatel Huyuk 7000 BCE (Turkey)
• • • What is a civ? Food surplus Job specialization Writing Art Trade Stratification Army New Tech
• Metals during this time are very important • First Bronze (copper + tin) – 3000 BCE • First Iron (among Hittites in Anatolian Peninsula) – 1300 BCE
• Themes • Environment altered by humans – Irrigation – Indus, Nile, Yellow all flood • Developments from cultural interaction – Trade among empires • As civilization progresses, woman’s status declines – Hunters/gatherers egalitarian
• • River Valley Civs: Mesopotamia Flooding = angry gods Open Geography = causing trouble, less stability Sumer Cuneiform = earliest known writing Epic of Gilgamesh – Flood found in other stories
• Govs less centralized – City states • Sumerian Advancements • Wheel, calendar, 60 base number system
• Babylonians take over Sumer • Code of Hammurabi – Diff rules for diff classes – Protection of property rights – Super strict – Gender inequality
• • Mesopotamia, cont. Polytheistic ziggurats Hammurabi’s Code Cuneiform Wheel Gilgamesh
• Hittites bring iron to Mesopotamia • Diffusion – getting something from another culture • Syncretism – merging cultural elements
• • Major Mesopotamian cultures: Sumer Acadians Babylon Hittites Assyrians Persians
• Egypt • Nile predictable flooding – Less angry gods & focus on wonderful afterlife • 3 kingdoms – old, middle, new • Pyramids in old • Interact w/ Nubians in middle (comparison of artistic styles, religious symbols, & political legitimacy) • More militaristic in new
• Pharaoh • Pyramids show social stratification • Priest in role of huge power support base for royal power • Hieroglyphic writing • Papyrus = paper
Compare Zigs, Pyrs, Am pyrs
Compare Cuneiform, Herioglyphics, Mayan Glyphs
• Hatshepsut – women ruler – Then Egypt has more status for women than other civs • Diffusion of bronze into Egypt from Hyksos
• • Egyptian Highlights: Polytheistic Social Strat Centralized (more than Meso) Higher status for women Pyramids Hieroglyphics
• Indus (Pakistan) (N. India) – Cities: Mohenjo Daro, Harappa • Indoor plumbing, peaceful • Social stratification evident, but less so than other Bronze Age civs • Proof of long distance trade – Indus seals found in Mesopotamia • Aryans migrate into N. India after Indus Civ’s collapse • Start Hinduism/Caste System Rig Veda (Indra the Thunder-Wielder, etc. )
• China (Shang Dynasty) first • Oracle bones (& turtle shells) – Scratch questions in character writing, fire, get answers from ancestors through cracking • Zhou (pronounced “Joe”) – Longest dynasty – Create Mandate of Heaven ideology • God gives emperor right to rule if he is good • Ancestor veneration of emperor’s ancestors is key • Maybe a justification to overthrow Shang?
• Exceptions to river valley rule • Americas – Olmec in Central America – Chavin in Peru
• Important groups • Indo-Europeans – Rode horses – Spread from C. Asia into other areas (Aryans) • Bantu migrations (from 2000 BCE) – Sub Saharan Africa – Spread their language, farming and iron • Hebrews (first monotheists) • Phonecians – Phonetics (becomes modern alphabet)
• Religion in U 1 • Animism – “animating” giving objects spirits – Esp. relevant to Cent. Asia, Americas, & Sub-Sah Af. • Hinduism • Judaism • Zoroastrianism – Battle b/t Good and evil starts here – Arguments for this was first monotheist religion – Good god/bad god maybe polytheistic – Maybe archetype for God/Devil
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