8000 B.C.E to 600 C. E

Farmers in Niger/Benue River Valleys in West Africa begin migrating south and east, bringing Bantu language, knowledge of agriculture and metallurgy with them. Bantu speakers gradually move into areas formerly occupied by nomads.

collapse after about 500 years of decline. still a mystery today.

Babylon falls due to the invasions of the Hittites, who became a military superpower through their knowledge of how to use iron.

The Olmec, an urban society supported by food surpluses from corn/beans/squash develop. Accomplishments: irrigation, large-scale buildings, polytheism, writing system, calendar. Did NOT develop in a river valley.

Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt.

The Zhou Dynasty, established by Wu Wang, developed many of China's key traditions. The Mandate of Heaven, Veneration of Ancestors, social hierarchy iron metallurgy, bureaucracies, feudal system

Assyrian Empire, Persian Empire, Greeks, and Romans conquer chunks of Egypt over time.

An agricultural, urban, polytheistic civilization with access to the coast. Accomplishments: metallurgy, weaponry, llamas as beasts of burden. Did NOT develop in a river valley.

Named such by Philosopher Karl Jaspers, the Axial Age refers to the time period during which major religions and philosophies developed in order to answer the questions that previous, more animist traditions, had not fulfilled.

A time of constant fighting in chaos in China, during which no central government existed. During this time period, Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism emerged to provide possible explanations for the disorder and suffering of the Chinese.

Zoroaster, a Persian prophet, tries to explain the suffering that had troubled the Fertile Crescent since the earliest days of history. Earth was seen as a battleground between good and evil. Founded Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic religion.

Raised as a prince in Nepal, Siddhartha decided to leave the palace in order to find the answers to such questions as "why is there suffering in the world". He reached enlightenment, and became known as Buddha, or enlightened one.

The philosopher that believed that the key to finding peace in China was finding the right kind of leadership. Founded Confucianism.

Emperor Darius, divided the Persian empire into 20 provinces, each ruled by a strap, allowing the people to maintain their old customs. Achievements: Royal Road, metal coins of standard value.

The Etruscan king ruled with an absolute monarchy that the Roman people despised. They rebelled, and replaced his absolute monarchy with a system of the republic.

Republic: patricians and plebeians, government composed of a Senate, Assembly, and two consuls, civil laws to protect rights, Twelve Tables of Rome, pater familias, slavery

The ideas of the Way, Tao/Dao te Ching are attributed to Laozi. Founder of Daoism. Wu wei: act by not acting. Believed that knowledged was dangerous.

The Persian Wars united all Greek City states against their mutual enemy: Persia. The war ended in a stalemate-no clear winner. Led to an era of peace and prosperity.

The Golden Age saw Athens become a cultural powerhouse under Pericles. Democracy established for all males. Athens was rebuilt, with the new addition of the Parthenon. Delian League, an alliance against aggression from the city states' common enemies, was founded. Socrates, Plato , and Aristotle agree to find truth through rational thought and careful observation. Greek Drama, Doric/Ionic/Corinthian columns, Archimedes, Hippocrates, Euclid, Pythagoras.

Began Rome's system of law

Athens had the Delian League to lead, and Sparta had the Peloponnesian League to lead. Tensions grew as both city states grew fearful and jealous of each other's power. A dispute over the city of Corinth was the final step towards the war. Athens tried to stay inside its great walls, but a plague devastated the population and the navy was defeated at Syracuse, and thus, was weakened. Sparta did not destroy Athens, and was soon dominated by the Macedonians.

conquers the entire region, and, rather than destroying Greek culture, allowed it to flourish.

Legacy: Hellenistic Empire and Era

Founded by Cahndragupta Maurya, who united all of the smaller Aryan kingdoms into a civilization. His grandson, Ashoka Maurya, would bring the empire to its peak. The empire was powerful because of its success in trade and powerful military. However, Ashoka had a conversion to Buddhism, and preached nonviolence from thereon out. Important Rock and Pillar Edicts reminded citizens to be good and righteous.

Mayan civilization was composed of city-states that were, interestingly, ruled over by one king. Accomplishments: Tikal, works of scholarship complex calendar, warfare with religious significance, division of cosmos into three parts (heavens above, humans in the middle, underworld below), slavery,

Fought to gain control over the island of Sicily.
Rome WINS.

Conflicts involving Carthage, a city-state in North Africa, lead to a full-out war.

The Mauyan Empire begins to crumble, in part due to economic problems and pressure from northeastern attackers.

Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of the dynasty, recentralized the feudal kingdoms that had broken up after the Zhou. Accomplishments: standardization of laws/currencies/weights/measures/systems of writing, Great Wall of China, Legalism

Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, initiates the war by surprise-attacking the Romans after sneaking through the Alps, who hadn't expected an attack from the north. His army destroyed many towns, and nearly destroyed Rome, but a Roman army had landed in Carthage, forcing him to return to his home. Carthage sued for peace, and Rome rose to become the undisputed power in the Mediterranean.

Wu Ti, the Warrior Emperor, enlarged the Han empire even in the face of the invasions from the Xiongnu. Trade explodes on the Silk Road, Buddhism spreads, and the civil service exam, based on Confucius' teachings, is established to prepare a highly skilled bureaucracy for China. Accomplishments: paper, sundials, calendars, rudder, compass, metallurgy

Rome invades Carthage and burns it to the ground for literally absolutely no reason. This allowed Rome to continue expanding in the Mediterranean.

The most prominent ruler of the Han, who built roads, established an imperial university which prepared students for the civil service exam, and pursued a foreign policy of expansion.

Julius Caesar's nephew, who took the title Caesar Augustus.

Jesus is born to Jewish parents in Judea.

The Romans drive the Jews out of their homeland, and force them to scatter into communities around the Mediterranean.

After this, China remains divided in regional kingdoms for 400 years or so.

Issued by Constantine. Ended persecution against Christians in Rome.

Chandra Gupta the Great revived India and established the Gupta Empire, which was less centralized and smaller than the Maurya, but still reached a golden age of peace and prosperity in the arts and sciences. Achievements: concept of pi, concept of zero, decimal system from 1-9 (known as Arabic Numerals).

Western Roman Empire-collapses, never to be seen again
Eastern Roman Empire-Byzantine Empire

Emperor Theodosius proclaims Christianity the official religion.