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New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. 2200-250 BCE. Early China. 2000-221 BCE. China is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain ranges, deserts and the Pacific But were able to trade goods and ideas Eastern Asia is great for agriculture
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New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres 2200-250 BCE
Early China 2000-221 BCE
China is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain ranges, deserts and the Pacific • But were able to trade goods and ideas • Eastern Asia is great for agriculture • Southern China receives monsoonal rain Geography and Resources
China’s eastern river valleys and northern plain • Contain timber, stone, metal deposits, and productive land • Why so fertile? • Loess, a yellowish-brownish dust that blows in from Central Asia • Gives the Yellow River (Huang He) it’s name
Agriculture • Required people working together • clear forests • build water channels and dikes • build reservoirs • build terraces
Crops • In the north • Millet and wheat • In the south • Rice • Rice can feed more people per cultivated acre than any other grain!
Shang family • Originated in the Yellow River Valley • Extended their control north into Mongolia, westward and then south to the Yangzi river • The beginning of Chinese written history The Shang Period, 1750-1027 BCE
The King and his court ruled the center of the region • Royal family members and nobility governed the provinces • In some far off regions, native rulers that swore allegiance to the Shang King were allowed to rule • The region was connected by roads
The Shang often fought against the nomads to the north • Called them “barbarians” • Shang cities • Palaces, administrative buildings, storehouses, royal tombs, shrines of gods and ancestors • All surrounded by a city wall
Commoners • Often lived outside of the city • Focused on agriculture
Writing system • Pictograms and phonetic symbols • Hundreds of signs • Small number of educated elite knew the system • (the main principle of this writing exists today, where as cuneiform and heiroglyphics have been replaced)
Religion • King was the intermediary between the people and the gods • Male ancestors were worshipped • Rulers used divination to determine the will of the gods • Example on pages 42 and 43 • Made ritual sacrifices • Animals and humans, upon the death of a ruler
Bronze • Possession meant power and nobility • Weapons made the state powerful • Vessels were used in religious ceremonies • Ex. Pg. 41 • The Shang expanded mining efforts of copper and tin
The last Shang ruler was defeated by Wu, the ruler of Zhou • The Zhou line of kings was the longest lasting of all dynasties • The Zhou preserved Shang culture and added to it The Zhou Period, 1027-221 BCE
Mandate of Heaven • The Zhou used the idea to justify their take over • The idea: the ruler had been chosen by the supreme deity and would retain his backing as long as he served as a wise, principled, and energetic guardian of his people
Religious rituals • Decline in use of divination • Decline in human sacrifices
Western Zhou rule • 11th – 9th century BCE • Early period • Capitals were in the western part of the kingdom • Decentralized rule • Member and allies of the royal family ruled local territories autonomously • Elaborate ceremonies impressed people
Eastern Zhou era • 800 to 300 BCE • Moved their capital to the east • 800 BCE • Local rulers became more independent • Often went to war with each other • Warring States Period • 480-221 BCE • Unification of China • 221 BCE
Changes during the Eastern Zhou • Walls between city-states • Fighter on horseback, learned from the steppe nomads • Iron began replacing bronze weapons • Southern China – first to forge steel
In the states • Law codes were written • Governments collected taxes from the peasants • Began large public works projects • The philosophy of Legalism became popular • Believed human nature is wicked • Strict laws are required to get people to behave • Personal freedom must be sacrificed for the good of the state
Confucius • Kongzi (551-479 BCE) • An aristocrat from a small state • Idea of duty and public service • Saw a parallel between family and state • A set hierarchy Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Society
Confucius • Government exists to serve the people • The ruler gains respect by displaying fairness and integrity • Benevolence, avoidance of violence, justice, rationalism, loyalty and dignity • Had little influence in his lifetime
Daoism • During the Warring States period • Developed by Laozi • Wanted to stop the warfare • Encouraged people to follow the Dao or “path” of nature • Suggests going through life passively without fighting
Social organization changes • From clans or large family groups to 3 generational families • Grandparents, parents, children • New idea of private property • Belonged to the men of the family and was divided amongst the sons
Life of women… • Very little is known • Written records tell us they were subordinate in a patriarchal society • Fathers arranged marriages • Men could have one wife, but other sexual partners as concubines
Concept of yin and yang • Yang = Male; like the sun is active, bright and shining • Yin = Female; like the moon is passive, shaded and reflective • The symbol shows the balance of the two forces
Nubia 3100 BCE – 350 CE
Along the Nile • South of Egyptian civilization • River irrigation was necessary • Six cataracts obstructed boat traffic • ~3000BCE • Turned to agriculture and cattle herding • Was a corridor of trade to Egypt Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination, 2300-1100 BCE
Middle Kingdom – 2040 – 1640 BCE • Egyptian rulers tried to take Nubian gold mines • Set up brick forts to protect southern Egypt and regulate commerce
Kush • In the fertile Dongola region of Nubia • Powerful Kings • 1750 BCE – used forced labor to build large monuments • Dozens to hundreds of servants and wives sacrificed upon their deaths • Proves a belief in the afterlife
New Kingdom – 1532-1070 BCE • Egyptians pushed further south • Destroyed Kush • Forced native workers to work in the mines • Many died • Imposed Egyptian culture • Nubians served in the Egyptian army • Nubians began using at least parts of Egyptian religion
Egypt’s authority in Nubia collapsed after 1200 BCE • 712 to 660 BCE • Nubians ruled all of Egypt as the 25th Dynasty • The ruled according to Egyptian custom The Kingdom of Meroe, 800 BCE- 350 CE
701 BCE • The Nubians made a mistake • Offered to help the Palestinians fight the Assyrians • The Assyrians reacted by invading Egypt and pushing Nubian power back to Nubia • Egyptian culture remained in Nubia • Ex. Burial, small pyramids, hieroglyphics
By 400 BCE • Nubian power was centered in Meroe • Sub Saharan culture began to replace Egyptian culture • Women of Meroe • Royal women involved in politics, sometimes queens ruled • Matrilineal society • The king was succeeded by the son of his sister • Roman accounts of a fierce one-eyed warrior queen
Meroe the city • More than 1 square mile • Different trade routes met there • Reservoirs were dug to catch rainfall • Iron smelting (after 1000BCE)
Meroe collapsed • About 350 CE • May have been overrun by nomads who had access to camels
First Civilizations of the Americas: The Olmec and Chavin 1200-250 BCE
People in the Western Hemisphere • Came from Asia • 20,000 to 13,000 BCE • Isolated until the 1400s CE
Varied geography and climates • People in different areas developed different technologies • The region was not politically unified The Mesoamerican Olmec, 1200-400 BCE
Olmec • 1200-400 BCE • Domesticated corn, beans, and squash • Fished • Were able to have surplus food • Religious and political elites • Organized the population • Irrigation canals • Raised fields • Constructed large scale religious and civic buildings
Different city-states held power at different times • Most were abandoned • monuments were defaced and buried, buildings were destroyed • Why? • Over run by neighbors? • Destroyed upon the death of a ruler?
Olmec building • Large platforms or mounds of earth • Religious and political activities performed on them • Houses of the elites built on them • Lifting the elite above the masses • Cities were aligned with certain stars • People living in the agricultural regions around the cities did most of the building
Olmec artisans • Carved stone and jade • Created pottery • Made obsidian tools • These items were traded with other people
Olmec political structure • Probably a king that had both religious and political power • Large stone heads were carved to represent different rulers
Olmec religion • Thousands would come to the cities for ceremonies • Human sacrifice and blood letting • Polytheistic • Jaguars, sharks, crocodiles and snakes • An idea that humans could transform into these shapes • Shamans and healers worked with the elite • Developed a calendar and a ritual ball game
Andean Civilizations • As early as 2600 BCE • Settled along the coasts of Peru • Chavin • An early Andean urban civilization • Controlled a large, highly populated territory including coastland and foothills Early South American Civilization:Chavin, 900-250 BCE
The capital city, Chavin de Huantar, was located at an intersection of trade routes • Could control trade • Became a ceremonial and commercial center • A reciprocal labor system allowed for the building of public works
Llamas • Were used to move goods • The only domesticated beasts of burden in the Americas • Provided meat, wool and labor • Chavin religion • A jaguar deity • Evidence has been found that suggests this belief covered a large area