Unit 1—Foundations

1. Unit 1—Foundations 8000 BCE to 600 CE

2. We begin at about 8,000 BC when village life began in the New Stone Age. . . Also known as the Neolithic Revolution. NEW STONE AGE

3. A TOTALLY new way of living: From Hunter-Gatherers to Agriculture

4. INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE • Mesopotamians first to engage in agriculture • Around 8000 BC • Cereal crops • Wheat • Barley • Herd animals • Sheep • Goats • Woman probably first farmer • Grain-collecting then noticed that stored wild grain could be grown on purpose

5. Agriculture changed how people lived • Agriculture (Farming) • Growth of Cities • Division of Labor (Specialization) • Trade • Writing and Mathematics

6. Human/Environmental interaction • Tools and weapons • Social and political organization • Homes • Lake houses in Switzerland • Long houses along Danube • Stone huts in Britain • Reed lean-tos in Egypt • Clay brick huts in Middle East • Broad language groups appeared

7. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION • Originally ruled by council of elders • Authority moved to single leader • Close-knit society • Communal granaries, ovens, and fields • Private property limited to personal possessions

8. POSSESSIONS • Needs of agriculture and stability • Clay pottery • Woven baskets • Woolen and linen clothing • Sophisticated tools and weapons • Plow

9. RESULTS OF AGRICULTURE • Required intensification of group organization • Neolithic farmers lived in settlements • Ranged from 150 (Jarmo) to 2000 (Jericho)

10. OUTSIDE CONTACTS • Neolithic communities had links • Walls indicate some fearful • Others were more peaceful • Obsidian and turquoise in Jericho from several 100’s of miles away • Either gifts or received in trade Jericho

11. Origins and Spread of Agriculture

12. What does it mean to be civilized? • Historians have determined 6 characteristics of civilization: • Cities • Organized central governments • Complex religions • Social classes • Job specialization and the arts • Writing

13. Cities • Rivers provided: • water supply • transportation • food supply from animals • Rivers provided challenges: • flooding • irrigation • Required organized, mass labor (corvee) • Construction and repair of canals and irrigation ditches Euphrates River

14. Organized Central Governments • Central authority needed to control: • Labor • Storage of grain • Dispersion of foodstuffs among population • Early governments first led by priests • Later controlled by warrior chiefs or kings

15. Organized Central Governments • Governments became more complex as new responsibilities arose such as: • tax collecting • law making • handling public works projects • organizing systems of defense

16. Complex Religions • Generally polytheistic • Many gods represented natural forces • Others controlled human activities • Priests and worshippers tried to gain gods’ favor through complex rituals and sacrifice • Directed by unquestionable ruling class of priests • King regarded as a god or as a god’s agent

17. Complex Religions • Temples often built to honor specific gods and goddesses Mayan temple Egyptian temple Mesopotamian ziggurat

18. Social Classes • People ranked according to their profession Chief Priests Nobles Wealthy merchants Artisans Peasants/farmers Slaves Egyptian social structure

19. Social Classes • Priestly class is part of the beginning of social differentiation • Class structure based on specialization of labor • Generated class differences • Priests (“We talk to god, you don’t.) • Aristocrats/warriors (“We have weapons, you don’t.”) • Common people (“I guess we work...?”) • Slaves (“Uh, oh!!!”)

20. Job Specialization and the Arts • Artisans specialized in various jobs, such as: • Bricklayers • Blacksmiths • Production of luxuries (Things You Don’t Really Need) • Metal technology

21. Job Specialization and the Arts • Created great architecture and art • monumental architecture • pyramids, ziggurats, big cities • huge temples and associated structures • to fill the needs of a god-oriented state • under the control of the priestly class

22. Writing • Probably first used by priests • Earliest writing used pictograms Chinese calligraphy Egyptian hieroglyphs Mesopotamian cuneiform

23. Writing • Symbols later added to represent words and then sounds • Scribes were specially trained to read, write, and record information • Religion • Trade • Government • Learning became cumulative

24. UNIQUENESS OF CIVILIZATION • Civilization was not simply next inevitable step from Neolithic Age • Many peoples remained at simple food-raising stage for thousands of years—without developing any sort of civilization • Only four locations developed civilizations entirely on their own • China • Indus River Valley • Mesopotamia/Egypt • Central America and Peru

25. Common Characteristics ?? • Water!! • Deserts of river cultures short on resources • River Valley Civilizations • Opportunity to adapt environment • Suitable for domesticated plants/animals • Relatively stable (a bit hot) climate

26. GEOGRAPHY influenced the development of river valley civilizations.

27. Early River Valley Civilizations Environment • Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable • No natural barriers • Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings Mesopotamia • Flooding of the Nile predictable • Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages • Deserts were natural barriers Egypt • Indus flooding unpredictable • Monsoon winds • Mountains, deserts were natural barriers Indus River Valley • Huang He flooding unpredictable • Mountains, deserts natural barriers • Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations China • Mountains and ocean natural barriers • Warm temperatures and moderate rainfall • Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations Mesoamerica & Andes

28. Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent • Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations • Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

29. Sumerian Writing: cuneiform Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

30. Sumerians invented: • Brick technology • Wheel • Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees • Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute • 12 month lunar calendar • arch • ramp • ziggurat

31. Ziggurat – Holy Mountain Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.

32. Babylon • First know written law code • “Rule of Law” • Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC

33. EGYPT“The Gift of the Nile” Hieroglyphics Pyramids Geometry Advances in medicine and surgery Nile River Sahara Desert

34. Indus River Valley2500 BC – 1500 BC • Harappan culture • Well planned cities • Grid pattern • Modern plumbing • Built on mud brick platforms • Protected against seasonal floods • Larger cities • Houses built of baked brick • Smaller towns • Houses built of sun-dried mud brick

35. Aryan Migration • pastoral  depended on their cattle • warriors  horse-drawn chariots

36. Varna (Social Hierarchy) Brahmins Kshatriyas Vaishyas Shudras Pariahs [Harijan]  Untouchables

37. Shang China1600 BC – 1027 BC • Yellow River Valley • Bronze, jade, stone, bone and ceramic artifacts • Advanced culture • Divinations • Religion • Astronomy • Calendar • Art • Medicine

38. Shang China1600 BC – 1122 BC • Religion • Human as well as animal sacrifices • Regarded their land as only civilized land and called it Zhongguo (Middle Kingdom) • Lack of contact with foreigners led to belief in: • Strong sense of identity • Superiority • Center of earth • Sole source of civilization

39. Zhou China1122 BC – 256 BC • Bronze, jade, silver, gold • Mandate of Heaven • Power to rule came from heaven • Power could be removed if ruler not just • Veneration of ancestors • All must honor family responsibilities • Period ended with Era of Warring States

40. Mesoamerica and Andean South America2900 BC – 1400 BC • Mesoamerica • Maize, chili peppers, avocados, beans • Pottery • Stone bowls • Beads • Waddle and daub structures • No draft animals

41. Mesoamerica and Andean South America3500 BC – 1400 BC • Andes • Textiles technology • Sophisticated government • Religion • Lacked ceramics • Largely without art • Most impressive achievement was monumental architecture • Large platform mounds • Sunken circular plazas

42. Civilization • Cities that served as administrative centers • Political system based on control or defined territory rather than on connections of kinship • Significant number of people engaged in specialized, non-food-producing activities • Status distinctions, usually linked to accumulation of substantial wealth by some groups • Monumental building • System for keeping permanent records • Long distance trade • Major advances in science and arts • Richard W. Bulliet

43. Classical India

44. Mauryan Empire (320 BCE-320 CE) • Chandragupta • Unified northern India after Alexander the Great withdrew • Set up efficient bureaucracy • Asoka (grandson) • Dedicated life to Buddha • Continued bureaucracy • Hospitals, roads

45. Gupta Empire (320-647 CE) • Chandra Gupta I • Bureaucracy • Allowed local government in south

46. Social Structure • Patriarchal • Women were legally minors • Women under control of fathers, husbands and sons • Caste system continued

47. International Trade Routes

48. Items Traded spices silks cotton goods spices rice & wheat horses gold & ivory gold & ivory cotton goods

49. GuptaArt Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.

50. 1000 diseasesclassified 500 healingplants identified Printedmedicinal guides Kalidasa Literature PlasticSurgery Medicine Gupta Achievements GuptaIndia Inoculations C-sectionsperformed SolarCalendar Astronomy Mathematics DecimalSystem The earthis round PI = 3.1416 Conceptof Zero