Foundational Period (up to 600 BCE)

Fertile Crescent- Valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates
Little rain, so area needs irrigation (6000 to 5000 bc)
Food supplies increase
Human population increases
First cities emerge 4000 bc
Migrants to the area increase- especially Semites
Sumer (in south) become population center

Pastoral people
Domesticate horses; learn to ride; use horses with carts, then chariots

Made from copper and tin
Used in weapons and later agricultural tools

Becomes standard Mesopotamian writing style
Reed stylus (wedge-shaped) pressed in clay then baked
Mostly commercial and tax documents
Declines with introduction of the Greek alphabet

Wheel helps trade; carts can carry more goods further
Shipbuilding makes maritime trade increase in all directions; network develops

Governments sponsor building projects and irrigation, regulate trade
Free commoners (peasants), dependent clients (no property); pay taxes and labor on building projects
Attacks by others led to wall building and military development
Kingships evolve with cooperation of noble families
More opportunity to accumulate wealth

Education: vocational to be scribe or government official
Literature: astronomy, mathematics, abstract (religious and literary like Gilgamesh)

Settle in central Anatolia
Some migrate into central Asia
Other migrations: Greece, Italy, central Europe, western Europe, Britain
All pastoral agriculturalists
All speak related languages and worship similar deities
Later wave of migrations to Iran and India (Aryan)

Develop into kingdoms of independent city-states
Little agriculture; live on trade and communications networks
Overland trade to Mesopotamia; influence on culture
Sea trade most important; get raw materials, trade for manufactured goods

Coup against king of Kish
Seizes trade routes and natural resources
Conquers Sumerian cities one by one
Chronic rebellions
Gradually empire weakens and collapses by 2000 bc

Pastoral Nomads between Mesopotamia and Egypt
Settle in some cities
Abraham leads group to Palestine
Descendents borrow law of retribution and flood story from Mesopotamia

Build powerful kingdoms
Conquer Babylonian empire 1595 bc
Technology: light horse-drawn chariots (spokes) and iron metallurgy

Centralizes bureaucracy and regulates taxation
Used local governors
Capital is Babylon
Law Code: law of retribution and importance of social status, patriarchy
Hittite assault and empire crumbles in 1495 bc

Cities: Assur and Ninevah
Controls Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and most of Egypt
Powerful army: professional officers (merit) chariots, archers, iron weapons
Unpopular rule leads to rebellions

Twelve tribes become Israelites
Mesopotamian-style monarchs with Jerusalem as capital

Cheaper and more widely available than bronze
Used in weapons and tools

Ten Commandments: moral and ethical standards for followers
Moses and monotheism
Parallels Code of Hammurabi

Conquer Israel in north and Judah in south and destroy Jerusalem
Deportees return to Judea; become known as Jews
Prophets in this period increase devotion of people
Build distinct Jewish community in Judea with strong group identity

Nebuchadnezzar
Hanging gardens of palace shows wealth and luxury

Abundant fishing, hunting, wild grains
Eastern Sudan begins to herd cattle and collect grains
Permanent settlements and the growing of sorghum and yams
Small states with semi-divine rulers

People are driven into river regions- Nile
Annual flooding makes rich soil for agriculture in Egypt, but more work in Nubia
Peoples cultivate gourds and watermelons, domesticate donkeys and cattle (from Sudan) and grow wheat and barley (from Mesopotamia)

Hieroglyphics found on monuments and papyrus 3200 bc
Hieratic script, everyday writing 2600-600 bc
Demotic and Coptic scripts adapt Greek writing
Nubia adapts Egyptian writing until Meroitic in 5th century bc (has not been deciphered)
Scribes have very priveleged lives

Great pyramids at Giza built during this period; Khufu is the largest
Violence between Egypt and Nubia (Egypt dominates)
Nubia later develops into Kingdom of Kush
Interaction through diplomacy, Nubian mercenaries, and intermarriage
Only pharaohs are mummified, later ruling classes and wealthy

Menes at Memphis unites Upper and Lower Egypt
Pharaoh, absolute ruler and owns all land (descended from gods)

Cities are not as prominent in Egypt as in Mesopotamia (agricultural villages)
Memphis, head of delta
Thebes, administrative center of Upper Egypt
Heliopolis, center of sun god cult
Nubian cities located at cataracts
Kerma, dominates trade routes
Napata, most prosperous city after Nubian conquest of Egypt
Meroe, most influential city after Assyrian invasion because it's farther south

Bantu- language group from west central Africa
Cultivate yams and oil palms
Live in clan-based villages
Trade with hunting/gathering forest people
Move south and west into the forest lands
Move south to Congo River and east to Great Lakes region
Absorb much of the population of hunter/gatherer/fisher people
By 1000 bc occupy most of Africa south of the equator
Use canoes and settle along banks of fivers; spread from there
Agricultural surplus causes them to move inland from rivers
Become involved in trade
Many other societies migrate
Spread of agriculture to most of sub-Saharan Africa
Some worship single, impersonal divine force representing good and bad
Many individuals pray to ancestors and local gods for intervention
Much mixing and intermingling of cultures

Nomadic horsemen, Hyksos, invade Egypt using bronze weapons and chariots
Capture Memphis in 1674 bc
Causes revolts in Upper Egypt
Commoners begin to be mummified

Pharaoh gains power, huge army, large bureaucracy
Building projects: temples, palaces, statues
Tuthmosis III built empire including Palestine, Syria, Nubia
Peasants and slaves (agriculture), pharaoh, professional military and administrators
Nubia: complex and hierarchical society (can tell from tombs)
Then Egypt falls into long period of decline

Patriarchy but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia
Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes

Principal gods: sun gods Amon and Re
Brief period of monotheism: Aten
Pharaoh Akhenaten's idea of a new capital at Akhenaten
Orders all other gods' names chiseled out; their names die with him
priests restore Amon-Re after death
Cult of Osiris: brother Seth murders Osiris and scatters his body. Wife Isis gathers him up and gods restore him to life in the underworld. Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death, immortality. Osiris judges the heart of the dead against the feather of truth
Nubians combine Egyptian religions with their own.

Egyptians driven out of Nubia
Nubian Kingdom of Kush; capital is Napata
King Kashta conquers Thebes in 760 bc
Assyrians with iron weapons invade from the north
Series of foreign conquests

Iron tools allow them to clear more land for agriculture
Iron weapons give them stronger position

Bronze important but copper and tin rare and expensive
Iron metallurgy develops independently in Sudan
Transportation: sailboats, carts, and donkey caravans
Trade networks--
Exotic goods from Nubia for pottery, wine, linen, and decorative items from Egypt
Wood like cedar from Lebanon
Trade with Punt

Neolithic villages in Indus River valley
Earliest remains still inaccessible because of silt deposits and rising water table
Also little known because riting not yet translated
Indus River runs through north India, with sources at Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. Rich deposits but less predictable than the Nile
Cultivated cotton before 5000 bc
Complex society of Dravidians
No evidence about political system
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro: two main cities
Each city had a fortified citadel and a large granary
Broad streets, marketplaces, temples, public buildings
Standardized weights, measures, architectural styles, and brick sizes
Social distinctions, as seen from living styles
Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility

Ecological degradation led to a subsistence crisis
Another possibility: natural catastrophes such as floods or earthquakes
Population began to abandon cities by about 1700 bc
Almost entirely collaped by about 1500 bc
Some Harappan cultural traditions maintained

Early Aryans depend heavily on pastoral economy
No writing system, but had orally transmitted works called the Vedas
Sacred language (Sanskrit) and daily-use language (Prakit)
Vedic Age is a boisterous period; conflicts with indigenous peoples
Called indigenous people dasas- enemies or subject people
Indra, the Aryans' war god and military hero
Aryan chiefdoms fought ferociously among themselves
Most chiefdoms had a leader raja/king
Gods of the sun, the sky, the moon, fire, health, disease
God Varuna: ethical concern, cosmic order
Ritual sacrifices were more important than ethics
Priests were specialists of the ritual sacrifices
Ritual sacrifices for rewards from the divine power
Sacrifices, chants, soma

Caste: Hereditary, unchangeable social class
The Sanskrit word varna "color" refers to social classes
Four main varnas: brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, merchants), shudras (landless peasants and serfs)
Later the category of the untouchables was added
Subcaste, or jati, represented more elaborate scheme of social classification
Determined by occupations
Elaborate rules of jati life: eating, communication, behavior
In caste system, social mobility difficult but still possible
Usually a result of group, not individual, effort
Foreign peoples could find a place in society of the castes

Thoughtful individuals retreated to forests as hermits
Dravidian notions of transmigration and reincarnation were adapted
The Upanishads, words of religious teachings
The religious forums: dialogues between disciples and sages
Brahman: the universal soul
Highest goal: to escape reincarnation and join with Brahman
Samsara: an individual soul was born many times
Karma: specific incarnations that a soul experienced
Moksha: permanent liberation from physical incarnation
Samsara and karma reinforced caste and social hierarchy
Upanishads were also spiritual and intellectual contemplations
Taught to observe high ethical standards: discourage greed, envy, vice
Respect for all living things, a vegetarian diet

First Punjab in northern Deccan
Used iron tools and developed agriculture
Lost tribal organizations but established regional kingdoms

Patriarchal and patrilineal society
The Lawbook of Manu prepared by an anonymous sage
Dealt with moral behavior and social relationships
Advised men to treat women with honor and respect
Subjected women to the control and guidance of men
Women's duties: to bear children and maintain household
Sati, social custom in which widow throws self onto funeral pyre

The Yellow River- water source at high plateau of Tibet. Loess soil carried by the river's water, hence "yellow". "China's Sorrow" - extensive flooding. Loess provided rich soil, soft and easy to work
Excavations at Banpo village: fine pottery, bone tools

Archeological discovery of the Xia is still in its early stages
Legendary King Yu, the dynasty founder, a hero of flood control
Erlitou: possibly the capital city of the Xia

The Yangzi valley; dependable river; two crops of rice per year
Many of the indigenous people of southern China assimilated into Chinese agricultural society
Some were pushed to hills and mountains
Some migrated to Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand
The state of Chu in the central region of Yangzi challenged Zhou for supremacy
Adopted Chinese political and social traditions and writing

Arose in the southern and eastern areas of the Xia realm
Many written records and material remains discovered
Bronze metallurgy, monopolized by ruling elite
Horses and chariots traveled with Indo-European migrants to China
Agricultural surpluses supported large troops
A vast network of walled towns
The Shang capital moved 6 times- Yin last
Lavish tombs of Shang kings with thousands of objects
Other states besides Shang, for example, Sanxingdui

Ruling elite with their lavish consumption of bronze
Hereditary aristocrats with extensive landholding
Administrative and military offices
Manuals of etiquette
Free artisans and craftsmen mostly worked for elites
Trade networks linked China with west and south
Oar-propelled boats traded with Korea and offshore islands
Peasants, the majority of the population
Landless peasants provided labor, lived in small subterranean houses
Women's work: wine making, weaving, silkworm raising
Wood, bone, stone tools before iron was spread
Slaves, mostly war prisoners

Absence of organized religion and priestly class
Believed in the impersonal heavenly power- tian
Oracle bones used by fortune tellers: inscribed question, subjected to heat, read cracks
Discovery of "dragon bones" 1890s
Early Chinese writing, from pictograph to ideograph
More than 2 thousand characters identified on oracle bones
Modern Chinese writing is direct descendant of Shang writing

Early dynasties rule through family and kinship groups
Belief in ancestors' presence and their continuing influence
Burial of material goods with the dead
Offering sacrifices at graves
Family heads presided over rites of honoring ancestors' spirits
Patriarchal society evolved out of matrilineal one
The rise of large states brought focus on men's contribution
After the Shang, females devalued

Zhou gradually eclipsed Shang
Mandate of heaven, the right to rule
The Zhou needed to justify overthrow
Ruler as "the son of heaven"
Mandate of heaven only given to virtuous rulers
Decentralized administration
Used princes and relatives to rule regions
Consequence: weak central government and rise of regional powers

The Book of Change, a manual for diviners
The Book of History, the history of the Zhou
The Book of Rites, the rules of etiquette and rituals for aristocrats
The Book of Songs, a collection of verses- most notable work
Most Zhou writings have perished- destroyed by emperor of Qin

Herders
Exchange of products between nomads and Chinese farmers
Nomads frequently invaded rich agricultural society
Nomads did not imitate Chinese ways
Nomads relied on grains and manufactured goods of the Chinese

Spread through China
Ends monopoly on bronze

Nomadic invasion sacked Zhou capital in 711 bc
Territorial princes became more independent

The last king of the Zhou abdicated his position in 256 bc

By the mid-century of the first millennium ce, human communities in all habitable islands of the Pacific Ocean
About 10000 years ago, rising seas separated Australia and New Guinea
Australia: hunting and gathering until the 19th and 20th centuries ce
New Guinea: turned to agriculture about 3000 bc
Austronesian peoples from southeast Asia were seafarers to New Guinea, 3000 bc
Early agriculture in New Guinea: root crops and herding animals
Austronesian migration to Polynesia
Outrigger canoes enabled them to sail safely
Agriculture and domesticated animals
Austronesian migrations to Micronesia and Madagascar

Large wave of humans traveled from Siberia to Alaska around 13000 bc
By 9500 bc, humans reached the southernmost part of South America
As hunting became difficult, agriculture began 7500 bc
Early agriculture: beans, squashes, chilies
Maize became staple 5000 bc
Agricultural villages appeared after 3000 bc
No large domesticated animals, no wheeled vehicles
Ceremonial centers by the end of 2nd millenium bc

By 12000 bc hunting and gathering peoples reached South America
By 8000 bc they began to experiment with agriculture
Complex societies appeared in central Andean region after 1000 bc
Andean societies were located in modern-day Peru and Bolivia
Main crops: beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton
Fishing supplemented agricultural harvests
By 1800 bc the people produced pottery, built temples and pyramids

Agricultural villages
Pottery with geometric designs
Networks of trade/communication: pottery, obsidian, shells, tools traded
After 500 bc trade network declined; cultures developed independently
Hierarchical chiefdoms; tension led to migration
Divine or semi-divine chiefs: led public rituals, oversaw irrigation

The "rubber people"
Lived near the Gulf of Mexico
Elaborate complexes built
Colossal human heads- possibly likenesses of rulers
Rulers' power shown in construction of huge pyramids
Trade in jade and obsidian
Decline of Olmecs: systematically destroyed ceremonial centers by 400 bc
Influence of the Olmec: maize, ceremonial centers, calendar, human sacrifice, ball game

Complexity of Andean society increases
Devised techniques of producing cotton textiles and fishing nets
Discovered gold, silver, and copper metallurgy
Cities began to appear shortly after Chavin cult
Early Andeans did not make use of writing

In the highlands of Mexico
Colossal pyramids of sun and moon
High point between 400 and 600 ce; 200000 inhabitants
Paintings and murals reflect importance of priests
Rulers and priests dominated society
2/3 of the city inhabitants worked in fields during daytime
Artisans were famous for their obsidian tools and orange pottery
Professional merchants traded extensively throughout Mesoamerica
No sign of military organization or conquest
Cultural traditions: ball game, calendar, writing, sacrifices
Decline of Teotihuadan from about 650 ce; was sacked and destroyed mid-eighth century

Lived in the highlands of Guatemala
Besides maize, they also cultivated cacao
Tikal was the most important Mayan political center, 300-900
Maya warfare: warriors had prestige; captives were slaves or victims
Chichen Itza, power by 9th century; loose empire in Yucatan
Maya decline began in 800 ce; many Mayans deserted their cities
Society was hierarchical
Kings, priests, and hereditary nobility at the top
Merchants were from the ruling class; they served also as ambassadors
Professional architects and artisans were important
Peasants and slaves were majority of population
The Maya calendar had both solar and ritual years interwoven
Maya writing was ideographic and syllabic; only 4 books survive
Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth, taught that the gods created humans out of maize and water
Gods maintained agricultural cycle in exchange for honors and sacrifices
Bloodletting rituals honored gods for rains
The Maya ball game: sporting, gambling, religious significance

In northern Peru
Irrigation, trade, military, no writing
Artistic legacy: painting on pottery, ceramics