CHAPTER 1 Early Civilizations

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CHAPTER 1Early Civilizations
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• The Emergence of Civilization
• -A civilization is a complex culture, or way of
  life, in which large numbers of people share a
  number of common elements.
• -1st ones emerged in the river valleys of
  Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China
• -Why and how?
• (1) increased food production led to significant
  growth in the human population and the rise of
  cities.

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• (2) The need to protect these large numbers of
  people and to maintain the food supply led to the
  growth of governments.
• (3) The abundant food supply also enabled some
  people to work in occupations other than farming.
  
• (4) As artisans, craftspeople, and merchants
  began to create and trade new products, a new
  social structure based on economic power arose.

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• -Rulers and an upper class of priests, government
  officials, and warriors came to dominate society.
• ?The new civilizations all developed religions to
  explain the workings of nature and their own
  existence.
• -Temples and pyramids were built for worship,
  sacrifice, and for the burial of kings
• ?Writing was developed and used by rulers,
  priests, and merchants to keep accurate records.
• -The emergence of civilizations was a dramatic
  new stage in world history.

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• THE EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATION
• The ancient Greeks called the valley between the
  Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Mesopotamia, the land
  between the rivers.
• -the Fertile Crescent, an arc of land with rich
  soil stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the
  Persian Gulf.
• By 3000 B.C., the Sumerians had established a
  number of city-states in southern Mesopotamia.

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• City-states are cities with political and
  economic control over the surrounding
  countryside.
• In these cities, the Sumerians built
• -temples to the gods or goddesses they believed
  owned the cities, who were very powerful
• -but it was the kings who led armies and created
  the irrigation projects that allowed productive
  farming.

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• Around 2340 B.C., the Sumerian city-states were
  overrun by the Akkadians, led by Sargon.
• -this created the first empire in world history.
• In 1792 B.C., Hammurabi of Babylon formed another
  empire in Mesopotamia by gaining control of both
  Sumer and Akkad.
• One of Hammurabis most important achievements
  was The Code of Hammurabi
• -collection of 282 laws that governed almost
  every aspect of life and set severe penalties for
  violations.
• - the principle of retribution (an eye for an
  eye, tooth for a tooth) famous part of the code

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• The Sumerians invented many common items
• (1) worlds first writing system.
• -In about 3000 B.C., created cuneiform, a
  wedge-shaped system of writing.
• -creative writing famous Mesopotamian poem The
  Epic of Gilgamesh,
• (2) wagon wheel made getting people and goods
  from place to place easier.
• (3) The potters wheel
• (4) the sundial
• (5) Made bronze out of copper and tin.
• (6) also made outstanding achievements in math
  and astronomy.

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• EGYTIAN HISTORY
• Historians divided Egyptian history into three
  major periods
• the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New
  Kingdom.
• The Old Kingdom lasted from about 2700 to 2200
  B.C.
• -It was during this time that the Egyptians built
  the pyramids
• -The largest of the pyramids, the Great Pyramid,
  was built by King Khufu at Giza around 2540 B.C.

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• Next came the Middle Kingdom, which lasted from
  about 2050 to 1652 B.C.
• -was a golden age marked by stability and
  environmental achievements
• -during this time, draining of swampland to make
  new farmland
• -the digging of a canal between the Nile and the
  Red Sea to aid trade and transportation

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• the New Kingdom, which lasted from approximately
  1567 to 1085 B.C, established Egypt an the most
  powerful empire in Southwest Asia
• -For the next thousand years, Egypt was ruled by
  various foreign powers.
• -In the first century B.C., the pharaoh Cleopatra
  VII tried to reestablish Egypts
• independence.
• -She was defeated, however, and Egypt became a
  province in the Roman Empire.

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• Egyptian Cultures
• The Greeks called the early Egyptian writing that
  emerged in Egypt around 3000 B.C. hieroglyphics,
• -meaning priest-carvings or sacred writing.
• -this complex system of pictures and more
  abstract forms was used in temples and tombs.
• -the pyramids, temples, and other monuments are
  fine examples of the architectural and artistic
  achievements of the Egyptians.
• -they used their advances in mathematics and
  geometry to help build these structures.
• -the Egyptians also developed an accurate 365-day
  calendar.

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• By 1200 B.C., a power vacuum had emerged that
  allowed a number of small
• states to emerge and flourish for a short time.
• -the Israelites were one of these peoples.
• -they became known as the Jews and gave their
  name to Judaism

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• Early Civilizations in India
• Around 1500 B.C., the Aryans, a group of
  Indo-European nomadic peoples of central Asia,
  eventually dominated most of India.
• -established a caste system based on social
  classes emerged in ancient India.
• -the caste system determined a persons status,
• occupation, and economic potential.
• 1. Brahmans, or priests
• 2. Kshatriyas, or warriors
• 3. Vaisyas, or commoners and merchants
• 4. Sudras, or peasants and artisans
• 5. Untouchables - people who were not even
  considered human.

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• Of the great civilizations discussed so far,
• China was the last to develop.
• -Why?
• -China was isolationed from the rest of the world
• the first major Chinese dynasty was the Shang
• Dynasty, 1750 B.C to 1122 B.C
• -It featured an organized government, a system of
  writing, and advanced skills in the creation of
  bronze vessels.

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• The Zhou dynasty began in 1045 B.C. and lasted
  until 256 B.C.
• -One important development during this dynasty
  was the Mandate of Heaven.
• -this allowed the Zhou kings to rule over all
  humanity by a mandate, or authority to command.
• -The king was also responsible for following
• the Way, or Dao.
• -It was the rulers duty to keep the gods pleased
  in order to
• -protect the people from natural disaster or a
  bad harvest.
• -A king could be overthrown and replaced by a new
  ruler if he failed to uphold the Way.

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• the Qin dynasty emerged after this period.
• -Concerned by raids by nomadic people from the
  north, they built a system of walls to repel the
  invaders.
• -This construction project became known as the
  Great Wall of China

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• In the sixth century B.C., philosopher Confucius
  traveled throughout China
• -Confucius believed that if humans acted in
  harmony with the purposes of the universe, they
  would prosper.
• -Proper behavior requires living in accordance
  with the Dao (Way),
• - People should think of others before
  themselves, as outlined in the Five Constant
  Relationships.
• -also believed in a work ethic whereby hard
  work by individuals would help society as a whole
  to prosper.
• -Confucian element of humanity asked all
  individuals to show compassion and empathy for
  others.

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People and Ideas on the Move
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Many gods, all faces of Brahman
Number of gods
No gods
One God
Vedas Upanishads, Mahabharata, and others
The Torah and other books of the Hebrew Bible
Books on the teachings and the life of the Buddha
Holy Books
Karma
Eightfold Path
Ten Commandments
Moral Law
Leaders
Brahmins
Monks
Priests, judges, kings, prophets
Moksha
Enlightenment, Nirvana
A moral life through obedience to Gods law
Final Goal
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• CLASSICAL GREEK CIVILIZATION
• Geography played an important role in the
  development of Greek civilization.
• -Greece is small.
• -The mountains isolated Greeks from one another,
  causing Greek communities to develop their own
  ways of life.
• -the Greeks became seafarers due to the many
  islands and a long seacoast
• Mycenaean civilization flourished in Greece
  between 1600 and 1100 B.C.

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• Mycenaean civilization reached its high point
  between 1400 and 1200 B.C.
• When Mycenaean civilization collapsed around 1100
  B.C., Greece entered a period of population
  decline and lower food production.
• -called the Dark Ages
• -approximately 1100 to 750 B.C.
• -few records exist of what happened during this
  time.
• -at end of Dark Ages, poet Homer wrote Iliad and
  Odyssey (epic poems)

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• By 750 B.C., the city-stateor what the Greeks
  called a polisbecame the central focus of Greek
  life.
• -The main gathering place in the polis was
  usually a hill,
• -top of it was a fortified area called an
  acropolis.
• Forms of government differed among the
  city-states.
• -Some had democracy, or rule of the many.
• -Others were committed to oligarchy, or rule by
  the few.
• -These differences seen in the two most famous
  and powerful Greek city-states, Sparta and
  Athens.

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• Sparta
• -the lives of Spartans were rigidly organized and
  tightly controlled.
• -Males were prepared from childhood for life in
  the army, where they were expected to serve until
  age 60.
• -Since men were away from home for long periods,
  women in Sparta enjoyed greater freedom and power
  in the household than was common elsewhere in
  Greece.

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• Classical Greece is the name given to the period
  of Greek history from around 500 B.C. to the fall
  of Greece in 338 B.C.
• -Athens took over leadership of the Greek world.
• -Under Pericles, Athens expanded its empire
  abroad while allowing democracy to
• flourish at home.
• -During this Age of Pericles, Athens was governed
  by a direct democracy
• -a system in which the people participate
  directly in government decision making through
  mass meetings.

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• -Every male citizen of Athens participated in the
  governing assembly and voted on all major issues.
  
• The growth of the Athenian Empire frightened the
  other Greek empire of Sparta,

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• -Athens and Sparta had built two very different
  societies, and neither could tolerate the others
  system.
• -A series of disputes finally led to the outbreak
  of the Great Peloponnesian War between the two
  powers in 431 B.C.
• -The disastrous war lasted until 405 B.C. and
  ended in the destruction of the Athenian Empire.

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The Legacy of Classical Greece
Government
Arts

• Direct democracy citizens rule by majority vote
• Written code of laws
• Citizens bring charges of wrong doing trial by
  jury
• Expansion of citizenship to all free adult males,
  except foreigners

• Drama and poetry
• Sculpture portraying ideals of beauty
• Painted pottery showing scenes of Greek life
• Classical architecture

Culture
Science Technology

• Disagreement whether sun or earth at center of
  universe
• Accurate estimate of circumference of earth
• Euclids geometry textbook
• Development of lever, pulley, pump

• Greek language
• Mythology about gods and goddesses
• Olympic Games
• Philosophers search for truth
• -Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

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• In 359 B.C., Philip II became king of Macedonia,
  Greeces northern neighbor.
• -In 338 B.C., the Macedonian army crushed the
  Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronea
• His son Alexander the Great took over
• and invaded the Persian Empire.
• -over the next three years, he moved east and
  northeast, as far as modern-day Pakistan.
• In June 323 B.C., however, he died at the age of
  32.

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• Alexander created a new age, the Hellenistic Era.
  
• -Hellenistic is derived from a Greek word meaning
  to imitate Greeks.
• -During this age, the Greek language and Greek
  ideas spread to Southwest Asia and beyond.
• -Hellenistic rulers encouraged the massive spread
  of Greek colonists to fill administrative and
  army positions
• -The city of Alexandria stood out as a home to
  poets, writers, philosophers, and scientists.

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• THE EMERGENCE OF ROME
• Between 1500 and 1000 B.C., Indo-European peoples
  moved into Italy.
• -The Latins, who settled around Rome, spoke
  Latin.
• -They est a republic,
• a type of government in which the leader
• is not a monarch and certain citizens have the
  right to vote.
• -By 264 B.C., the Romans had conquered areas
  outside the city of Rome
• -created the Roman Confederation to rule Italy.

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• -Under this system, some people would have full
  Roman citizenship and others would be Roman
  allies who could get citizenship

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• In the early Roman Republic, there were 2 social
  classes
• (1) The patricians were wealthy landowners who
  could vote and serve in office and became the
  ruling class.
• (2) The plebeians were the less wealthy and
  common people who could vote but not serve in
  office.
• -two consuls ran the government and led the
• Roman army into battle.
• -The praetor was in charge of civil law as it
  applied to
• Roman citizens.
• -As the Roman Republic gained more territory,
  another praetor was added to address issues of
  non-citizens.

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• -the council of the plebs, an assembly just for
  plebeians, was
• created in 471 B.C.
• -Plebeians were eventually permitted to become
  consuls.
• -The council of plebs could pass laws for all
  Romans.
• -Despite these gains, the Roman Republic was
  ruled by a few wealthy patrician and plebeian
  families and was not a true democracy.

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• The Roman Senate had acquired the real control of
  the government.
• Augustus became the first Roman emperor after the
  Senate named him imperator, or commander in
  chief.
• -The word emperor comes from imperator.

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• The Early Empire in Rome lasted from A.D. 14 to
  180.
• -From 96 to 180, five so-called good emperors
  ruled during a period of peace and prosperity
  called
• the Pax Romana or Roman Peace.
• -They created domestic programs - offering funds
  to poor parents and building public works
  projects such as aqueducts, bridges, roads, and
  ports.
• -With over three and a half million square miles
  of territory and around fifty million people, it
  was one of the greatest states the world had ever
  seen.

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• -Trade networks covered the vast empire in which
  silk from China and grains from Egypt came to the
  people of Rome.
• -Although trade was significant to the economy,
  the majority of Romans were farmers.

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First Age of Empires
Persia 550350 B.C.
Egypt 1570 1075 B.C.

• Persian kings were tolerant in their treatment of
  peoples and cultures that made up their empire.
• Kings permitted a high degree of local
  self-government, so that conquered peoples
  enjoyed remarkable freedom.
• The empire was divided into 20 provinces, each
  ruled by a satrap (or governor).

• Pharaohs set up a professional army.
• Pharaohs invaded surrounding territories in
  Africa and Southwest Asia.
• Egypt drew vast wealth from the lands it
  controlled around the Nile and far beyond.

Nubia 751 B.C. A.D. 350
China 221202 B.C.
Assyria 850-612 B.C.

• Confucian and Legalist ideas laid the groundwork
  for a strong central government and a
  bureaucracy.
• Chinese emperors of the Qin Dynasty defeated
  invaders and crushed internal resistance.
• China crushed political opposition at home in a
  sweeping program of centralization.

• Nubia and Egypt interacted and spread their
  culture to their trading partners.
• The kings of Nubia conquered Egypt, ousted Libyan
  rulers,and restored Egyptian way of life.
• Nubia made use of abundant natural resources to
  establish trade between Africa, Arabia, and India.

• Assyria developed a sophisticated military
  organization and state-of-the- art weaponry to
  conquer an empire.
• The empire engaged in brutal treatment of its
  conquered peoples.
• Kings used harsh taxes as well as military power
  to control conquered peoples.