The Bronze Age: New Civilizations in the Eastern & Western Hemispheres

1. The Bronze Age: New Civilizations in the Eastern & Western Hemispheres John Ermer Miami Beach Senior High School AP World History

2. The Huang He River Valley • China = isolated by natural barriers • Himalaya mountains in SW • Pamir Mountains, Tian Mountains, Gobi Desert in West • Mongolian Steppe to the NW • Pacific Ocean to the East • Minimal contact w/ rest of Asia = distinct development • Various climate zones (Subarctic to Subtropical) • Loess deposits create fertile agricultural lands • Colors the Yellow River • Northern China farms millet and wheat • Southern China farms rice

4. Shang Dynasty (1750-1027 B.C.E.) • Neolithic Chinese (Xia Dynasty) • Silk production, pounded earth walls, pottery, livestock, grain • Enters Bronze Age c. 2000 BCE (later than W. Asia) • Earliest written records in China—pictograms & phonetic • Warrior culture, military campaigns against nomads • POWs taken as slaves to Shang capital • Decentralized political system, clan leaders rule locally • Cities were administrative/religious centers—fengshui • Most common people lived in farming villages • Divination and sacrifice • Bronze = sign of authority

5. Shang Artifacts

7. Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE) • 1027: Last Shang king defeated by Zhou leader, Wu • Zhou adopt many Shang cultural elements, add new ones • The Mandate of Heaven • Decline in divination, priestly power, sacrifice • Continued decentralization of political power • 800 BCE: Shift from Western capital to Eastern capital • Zhou power destabelized, local leaders increase power, war • 480-221: Warring States Period • Long protective walls, mounted soldiers, steel production • Legalism

9. Chinese Society: Confucianism & Daoism • Aristocrats seek to influence Zhou leaders • Kongzi “Confucius” (551-479 BCE) is such an aristocrat • Governments = family, hierarchy, human goodness, anti-Legalist • Ren (familial benevolence) = moral government • Daoism founded by Laozi, “follow the path (dao)” • Accept the world as is, follow natural path • Clan-based kinship replaced by three-generation family • Women subordinate to men, Confucius equates to commoners • Monogamous marriage, but men allowed concubines • Yin and Yang = different roles for women and men

11. Kushite Nubia (3100-1100 BCE) • Connects N. Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa • Heavily influenced by Egypt with sub-Saharan elements • Nile River = main geographic feature • Irrigated farmlands, cataracts, portaged trade • Kush = powerful Nubian kingdom • Kerma (capital) = First urban center in tropical Africa • Kushite craftsmen more advanced than Egyptians • Destroyed by New Kingdom Egyptian army • Egyptian culture, religion, architecture adopted by Kushites

12. Meroitic Nubia (800 BCE- 350 CE) • Egyptian power weakens, loses control of Nubia • 712-660 BCE Nubian kings rule Egypt as pharaohs • Assyrian invasion ends Nubian rule in Egypt, kings retreat to Nubia • 500s: New Nubian kingdom based in Meroë in the south • Sub-Saharan culture begins to replace Egyptian model • Matrilineal family succession, women often ruled as queen • Economy based on trade and agriculture • 350: Meroitic kingdom collapses • Western nomads attack on camels • Trade with Rome declines as it shifts to Red Sea • Rise of Axum (Aksum) in Ethiopia lessens regional influence

14. The Americas (1200-250 BCE) • First Americans migrated from Asia in waves • Isolated in the western hemisphere • Mesoamerica & Andean region develop the most • Limited trade encourages urbanization • Irrigation and large-scale building practiced • Olmec and Chavin peoples project power over regions

15. The Olmec (1200-400 BCE) • Dominated Mesoamerica • Microclimates produce variety of climate zones • Leads to trade and cultural exchange • The Olmec centered on Atlantic coast of southern Mexico • Influence stretches much further to Pacific& Central America • Production of corn, beans, and squash • Urban centers eventually abandoned, destroyed, buried • Cities designed on basis of celestial bodies (stars) • Kingship based on secular and religious power • Large stone heads carved to honor individual leaders • Olmec culture influenced later Mesoamerican cultures

17. The Chavin (900-250 BCE) • Mountains, arid coastal plains, dense interior jungles • Complex social institutions, regional exchange, shared labor • Chavin capital, Chavin de Huantar, 10,300 ft. in Andes • On trade routes connecting coast to mountain valleys • Communal shared labor used for infrastructure building • Llamas domesticated as beasts of burden • Terraced agriculture, adobe brick