Week 3 Civilizations

Campbell and Carr’s Weekly Review Session #3

Important/Key Civilizations

River Valley Civilizations

 Centered on Key river valleys

o Reliable source of water o Yearly flooding

o Silt

o Fertile soil o Trade o Irrigation o Food damage

Sumerian:

 Fertile Crescent

 Early River-Valley Civilization Tigris/Euphrates

 Ziggurats (stepped religious structures, multiple levels), hierarchy, organized religion, polytheistic

 Earliest known writing system (cuneiform)

Nile

 North Africa (Egypt)  Egyptian Civilization

 Huge agricultural surplus -> advanced Civ

o Population concentrates in 10 mile radius around Nile River  Pharoah as God-King

 Elaborate Religion, afterlife, and Burial Rituals  Huge Monuments

 Writing system of Hieroglyphics -> finally deciphered with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone

Indus

 India

 Mohenjo-Daro, Huge planned city, created a form of plumbing and air-conditioning, massive trade network, baths

 Harappa Civ

 Food Surpluses and Animal domestication

Yellow River (Huang He) Early China (Shang Dynasty) (& Yangtze River)

 China

 Bronze Pots (bronze shows knowledge of casting and metallurgy (tin and copper)  Oracle Bones and early forms of writing (Chinese script) divination

Classical Civilizations

Often Characterized by “Golden Ages”, times of relative peace, prosperity, and expansions of

culture, the arts, architecture, and possible sciences and engineering.

Phoenician

 Mediterranean Sea trading Empire

 Spread Culture through trade and setting up small colony cities  “Alphabet” passed through cultural diffusion to Greeks

 Shipbuilding passed to most Mediterranean Civs

Greece

 Mountainous Peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea, Geography influences civ in many ways  City-States

 Polytheistic Pantheon

 Polis idea of a city-state/nation and people, Acropolis  Trade of olive oil and wine for food

 Persian Wars (west v East)  Delphic Oracle

 Olympics  Architecture

 Golden Age of Greece o Sparta

 Military State

 State School

 Slave population of helots o Athens

 Birthplace of Democracy (Rule of the People)  Pericles, Pantheon,

 Plays, Drama, Tragedy, Comedy

 Philosophy (love of Learning)

 Socrates, Plate, Pythagoras, Aristotle o Advances in Mathematics (Euclid, Pythagoras)

 Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (Destroys Athenian Powers, weakens Greece)  Hellenistic

o Philip and Alexander the Great

o Conquer massive empire from Greece, Persia, and India o Founded many cities

o Combination of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian Cultures o Cultural diffusion

 Italian Peninsula, Protected by Alps, Center of the Mediterranean for control and trade/conquest  Influenced by Greek culture

 Romulus and Remus Myth

 Republic (Senate, 2 consuls, Assembly)-> Modern US and western nations influenced by  Roads, Architecture, sewers, running water, large cities and trade

 Legions, conquests of Western Europe

o Punic Wars (3) with Carthage in North Africa, Hannibal,  Roman Civil Wars

o Triumvirate

o Julius Caesar, Pompey Magnus, Marc Antony  Octavian (Augustus) Caesar

o Pax Romana, Roman Empire o Rise of Christianity

o Diocletian Splits Empire West and East (Byzantine)

 Fall of Rome (Economic Weaknesses, army, citizenry, size, taxation, invasions)

Byzantine Empire



“Eastern Roman Empire” Preserves Roman ideas, technology, culture is mixed with Greek



Emperor Constantine found eastern capitol Constantinople, allows Christianity in Empire



Emperor Justinian codifies law (Justinian Code)



Great Schism, Eastern Orthodox Religion

o

Trade influences spread of Orthodoxy to Russia and creation of Cyrillic Alphabet

o

Onion-dome and domed architecture



Asks for help when under attack, in part launching the 1st _Crusade



War with Islamic Kingdoms, sacked in the Crusades by Roman Catholics



Falls to Ottoman Empire at siege of Constantinople in 1453 (city is renamed Istanbul)

Maurya Empire (321-184 BCE)



Northern India, Road system and irrigation



King Ashoka (Asoka) adopted Buddhism, used missionaries to spread Buddhism to

China and Southeast Asia

Gupta (320-535 CE)



Golden Age of India



Hindu Empire that sees Buddhism grow



Literature expanded



Number system, decimal system (based on 10) developed



Advances in Science and Medicine (astronomy, Math, and surgery)

Mongols (1208-1368)



Nomadic warriors of central Asia



Eventually Ruler Genghis Khan able to unite tribes and conquer large parts of the world

(Central Asia, China, Korea,Siberia, Persia and into Eastern Europe

o

Attempted to invade Japan TWICE but both times

Kamikaze

winds and heavy

storms stopped the invasions



Developed the stirrup, and compound bow allowing effective mounted combat.



Psychological warfare to terrorize enemies



Adopted technologies from conquered peoples (siege weapons, boats)



Pax Mongolia

– Mongolian Peace, re-opened and expanded the Silk Road

Chinese Dynasties

Shang

 Bronze Pots (bronze shows knowledge of casting and metallurgy (tin and copper)  Oracle Bones and early forms of writing (Chinese script) divination

 Semi-mythical (archeological evidence)

Zhou

 Chinese Culture develops,

o Writing system, clothes, silk production expands, chopsticks o Semi-feudal relationships and social rank

o Major Chinese Philosophical Period (1000 Thoughts Period)

 Confucianism

 Daoism

 Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

o Warring States Period

 Zhou broken up into many smaller warring kingdoms

Qin (221 BCE- 206 BCE)

 “First” Dynasty to unify China

 Emperor Qin Shi Huang a autocratic ruler

 Used Legalism as the main belief set for the government o Strict Laws

o Harsh penalties o Spying on people

o Censorship (ALL books other than those on religion and agriculture burned) o Historians killed

 Build massive underground tomb, terra cotta warriors

 Built Canals, started Great Wall, standardized weights and measures

 Silk Road Trade

 Confucianism as the basis for government, Scholar-Gentry created  Canals and roads built

 Wheelbarrow and sundial invented

 Tribute State Status created (nations that gave and received “gifts” to Han China o Acknowledged China as the Middle Kingdom (best)

o Reinforces ethnocentrism

 Buddhism introduced by missionaries from India, spreads throughout China

Sui (589-618 CE)

 Confucianism as focus of government

o Civil Service Test based on Confucianism create better-educated government officials and more efficient government

 Ever-ready granaries ensured that the gov’t could feed population in hard times

Tang (618-907 CE)

 Part of a Golden Age of Chinese dynasties

 Confucian Civil Service expanded and offered to ALL claases  Grand Canal Project

 Persecution against Buddhists ~5000 Buddhist temples destroyed and land seized  Wood-Block Printing invented

Song (907-1276 CE)

 Continues Golden Age  Population ~ doubles

 Large maritime (water) trade network developed  Movable type Wood-Block Printing

 Gunpowder invented  Footbinding

Yuan (1271-1368 CE)

 Foreign dynasty of the Mongol (Pax Mongolia)

 Kublai Khan most famous emperor

o Visits of Marco Polo (Italian merchant who writes about travels and china sparking interest in the East and China)

 End Civil Service Exams (jobs go to Mongols)  Harsh Laws (mongol law)

Ming (1368-1644 CE)

 Early Large maritime trade network, Tribute System Expanded o Voyages of Great Admiral Zheng He

 Travels to Indonesia, India, and East Africa o Bring back Civil Service Exam on Confucianism o Build Forbidden Palace

o Broke contact with many trade and tribute nations

Qing (1644-1912 CE)

 Foreign Dynasty (from Manchuria, nomadic horse-people)

 Resented by the ethnic Han Chinese Force queue haircut on Chinese men as a sign of submission



Last dynast (opium War, rebellions, etc)

African Trading Kingdoms (Ghana, Mali, Songhai)

 Built in West Africa and Sahara Desert  Trading Kingdoms

o Gold and salt trade also ivory, hardwoods, iron, and slaves o Knew trade routes across desert, gave them power

o Used oasis as stopping points  Mansa Musa -

o Islamic Leader of Mali, massive Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, o Brings back Islamic judges and teachers, cultural diffusion o Capital Timbuktu a major center of Islamic learning and trade  Askia Mohammad

o Massive empire of Songhai o Centralized power

o Cite of Timbuktu re-emerges as a massive center of learning and research, libraries

Islamic Expansion/Golden Age of Islam

o Unify Arabian (Bedouin) tribes o Expand through conquest to

o Arabian Peninsula, Middle East o Northern India

o Eastern Europe to Austria/Hungary o Baltic

o All of North Africa o Spain (Southern Spain) o Greece

o Ruled by Caliphs, later various leaders and sultans or pashas o Massive trading kingdoms/Empires traded along the Silk Road

o Islam spread through cultural diffusion and trade/merchants o Great wealth

o Civil Service test based on Confucianism create better-educated government officials and more efficient government

o Civil Service test based on Confucianism create better-educated government officials and more efficient government

o Conquer Byzantine Empire, absorb and preserve works of Greek mathematics and philosophy o Adopt Indian decimal system (become Arabic numerals which we use today)

o Large trading empires from India to Africa and Spain

Feudal Japan (1159-1868 CE)

o Shogun military leader holds actual power in Japan in Emperor’s name

o Class structure similar to Feudal Europe Shogun, Daimyo, Samurai, Peasants, artisans, merchants o Land the greatest sign of wealth/commodity

o Service (military pledged for land)

o Bushido, strict code of conduct for samurai, similar to chivalry in Europe o NO social mobility

o Tokugawa Shogunate closed Japan to European trade and contact for ~300 years) Tokugawa isolation/seculsion

Mesoamerican Civilizations

Mayan (200-900 CE)

o Advanced building and agriculture to feed large urban populations o Built pyramid temples, large cities

o Knowledge of astronomy to predict seasons o Better planting and harvesting o Rigid Class Structure

Aztec Empire (1200-1500 CE)

o Conquered and preyed on surrounding tribes (slaves/human sacrifices) o Advanced building and agriculture to feed large urban populations o Built pyramid temples, large cities

o Human sacrifices to gods for harvests

o Built chinampas or floating gardens near capital; of Tenochtitlan (mexico city) o Labor intensive

o Allowed agriculture on swampland/lake

o Destroyed by Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortes (and disease they brought)

Inca (1438-1533 CE)

o

Advanced building and agriculture to feed large urban populations

o

Andes mountains

o

Built massive roads to connect Empire (like Rome)

o

Terracing to feed city populations

o

Empire conquered surrounding areas