Early Civilizations, 3500–600 B.C.E.

Early Civilizations, 3500–600 B.C.E. 2

Chapter Overview • Civilization • Tigris-Euphrates Civilization • Egyptian Civilization • Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared • River Valley Civilization in India • China • Early Civilizations in the Americas • The End of the River Valley Period

FIGURE 2.1 This detail from Egyptian tomb art shows a husband and wife harvesting grain. As dictated by patriarchal values, the husband takes the lead in the work and the wife follows, but in Egypt, unlike Mesopotamia, men and women were depicted working together.

Civilization • Defining civilization • Economic surplus, distributed unequally • Formal governments with bureaucracies • System of writing • Urban centers • Problematic definition • Cities and writing not found in early agricultural settlements

Civilization • Criticism • "Civilization" connoting "better" • Progress • Superiority • Yet cruelty, rudeness in civilized societies • Mass overuse of land

TIMELINE 5000 B.C.E.–500 B.C.E.

Tigris-Euphrates Civilization • Mesopotamia • Civilization developed from scratch • Sumeria • Writing • Cuneiform: stylus on clay tablets • Phonetic • Scribes • Art • Astronomy, numeric system

Map 2.1 Early SumerThe civilization fanned out along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

FIGURE 2.2 One of the early uses of writing was to mark property boundaries. This picture shows cuneiform writing on a Mesopotamian map from about 1300 B.C.E. The map focuses on defining the king's estate, with sections for priests and for key gods such as Marduk. In what ways did writing improve property maps?

Tigris-Euphrates Civilization • Sumeria • Religion • Patron gods • Ziggurats • Political and Social Organization • City-States • Establish boundaries • Kings • Defense, war • Strong patriarchal family structure

Tigris-Euphrates Civilization • The Akkadian Empire • Sargon I • c. 2400 B.C.E. • To Egypt and Ethiopia • The Babylonian Empire • c. 1800 B.C.E., unites under Hammurabi • Law Code • Scientific knowledge expanded

FIGURE 2.3 A translation of the map shown in Figure 2.2. (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Neg.#S4-13970)

Map 2.2 Mesopotamia in MapsThis map shows the location of Sumer and two later empires in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.

Egyptian Civilization • Farming by 5000 B.C.E. • Civilization emerges by 3200 B.C.E. • Difference: no city-states • Government • Pharaoh, intermediary between gods and men • Pyramids from 2700 B.C.E. • Bureaucracy • Regional governors

Map 2.3 Egypt, Kush, and Axum, Successive DynastiesEgypt weakened, kingdoms farther up the Nile and deeper into Africa rose in importance.

FIGURE 2.4 The statue known to the West as the Sphinx and to the Arabsas the Father of Terror has the head of a man, wearing the royal headdress of ancient Egypt, and the body of a lion. At 200 feet long and 65 feet tall, it was the largest single-stone statue in the ancient world. Exactly who built it and when is unknown, but it is believed to have been constructed as the guardian of the Necropolis at Giza (home of the Great Pyramids) and a symbol of the power of the pharaohs.

Egyptian Civilization • Kush • Interacted with and eventually invaded Egypt • Ideas and Art • Hieroglyphic alphabet • Pictograms, phonetic • 24-hour day • Monumental labor force for pyramids

Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared • Geography, invasion influence • Political form • Mesopotamian city-states • Egyptian centralized government • Both with elite groups at the top • Treatment of women • Mathematic findings • Lasting heritages in their regions

Women in Patriarchal Societies • Agricultural civilizations • Higher birth rate for work • Property ownership of males • Patriarchal society develops • Males dominate political life • Female roles submissive • Women • Some religious roles • Emotional roles, indirect control of men

River Valley Civilization in India • Harappan civilization, 3rd millennium B.C.E. • Indus River system • Valley plains, snow-fed rivers • The Great Cities of the Indus ValleyHarappa, Mohenjo-Daro • Densely populated • Drainage systems • Grain storage • Extensive trade

Map 2.4 India in the Age of Harappa and the Early Aryan MigrationsAlthough South Asia's first civilization was located in the Indus valley in the northwest, the Aryan invasions from southwest Asia led to extensive settlement in the Ganges valley to the east and to internal migrations that gave rise to the splendid Dravidian civilization in the Deccan and Tamilland further south.

River Valley Civilization in India • Harappan civilization, 3rd millennium B.C.E. • Conservative tool use • Vulnerable to attack • Decline • Flooding, environmental changes • Invasions, migrations • Violence • Complete destruction of culture

River Valley Civilization in India • After Harappa's Fall • Period of Aryan migrations • Vedas • Sanskrit • Epic Age, 1000-600 B.C.E. • Mahabharata, Ramayana • The Upanishads • Tight levels of village organization • Social inequality

China • Huanghe (Yellow River) • Controlled river with dikes • Shang dynasty (c. 1500 B.C.E.) • Fought on horseback • State takes on cultural responsibilities • Ideographs—about 3000 in Shang era • Science • Silk manufacturing • Ancestor worship and rituals

FIGURE 2.5 This elaborately decorated bronze vessel from the Shang era shows the sophisticated artistic expression achieved very early in Chinese history. It also demonstrates a high level of metalworking ability, which carried over into Shang weapons and tools. Although the design of these ritual vessels often was abstract, mythical creatures such as dragons and sacred birds were deftly cast in bronzes that remain some of the great treasures of Chinese art.

Map 2.5 China in the Shang and Zhou ErasAs this map of early centers of Chinese civilization depicts dramatically, Chinese peoples occupied only a small portion of the area that would correspond to China from the last centuries B.C.E. to the present day.

China • The Zhou Dynasty (c. 1029–700 B.C.E.) • Followed Shang dynasty • A feudal period • Encouraged southward movement of settlement • "Mandate of heaven" • Divine support of rulers

Early Civilizations in the Americas • Reasons for later development • Later development of agriculture • Fewer domesticated animals • North–south travel across climates • Lack of metalwork, the wheel • Limited archaeological remains • Little evidence, like Harappa

FIGURE 2.6 The origins of the Olmecs remain shrouded in mystery. Some of their enormous stone sculptures seem to have distinctively African features that indicate possible transatlantic contact. Similar features also have been found in early Khmer art from southeast Asia.

Early Civilizations in the Americas • The Olmecs • c. 1500 B.C.E. • Sculpture of giant stone heads • Formal calendar • Hereditary elite • Chavin and the Andean World • Difficult transportation • Levels of agriculture encouraging trade

Early Civilizations in the Americas • Chavin and the Andean World • Chavin de Huantar • 850–250 B.C.E. • Large temple platforms • Active craft population • Influence unknown • Continuing agriculture and population growth despite decline

The End of the River Valley Period • River valley societies widely separated • No single development as transition out of this period • The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations • Lasting impact of the first civilizations • Basic ideas about social structures

The End of the River Valley Period • The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations • Basic tools of civilization • Writing • Mathematics • Political forms • Enduring divisions among global populations • Legacy of Egypt and Mesopotamia

The End of the River Valley Period • New States and Peoples around 1000 B.C.E. • Phoenicians • New alphabet from about 1300 B.C.E. • Active as traders in the Mediterranean

The End of the River Valley Period • Judaism • Semitic peoples • Settled in Eastern Mediterranean from 1200 B.C.E. • Special relationship with their deity • Hebrew bible • Moral code • Appropriate forms of worship • Monotheism

A Sumerian clay tablet with cuneiform characters aimed at tallying numbers of sheep and goats as part of early agriculture.

Early Civilizations, 3500–600 B.C.E.