lecture 1: the birth of civilization
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Lecture 1: The Birth of Civilization
The Hominids (6-7 million years old)
Hominid Family The extinct and
extant humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
Homo: 1.5-2.5 million
years genus that includes
modern humans and their close relatives
Forced out of trees by a warm spell in Africa when savannah spread
Early Hominids
Homo Habilis: 2.5-1.4 million years
ago Crude stone tools Furs Learned to make fire
Homo Erectus 1.3 million to 300,000
years ago Skilled Hunter-
Gatherers Controlled Use of Fire
Later Hominids
Homo Neanderthalis 250,000-24,000 years
ago Europe and Asia Adapted to the cold First religious humans Died out when things
warmed up
Homo Sapiens 50,000 years ago to
now Came out of Africa Adapted for
Endurance Running and temperate to hot climate
US
The Stone Age
The Paleolithic (1-2 million BC to 10,000 BC):
Hunter-Gatherer tribes Mesolithic Era (10,000 to 6,000 BC):
Herding of Animals Begins Horticulture
Neolithic Era (7,000 to 3,500 BC):
Horse and Ox domesticated for transport / labor Better agriculture. Grains (Eurasia, Africa); Corn (America) Cities now arise Some can specialize in craft and other skills
Ancient Mesopotamia in Bronze Age
River-Based Civilization Irrigation Agriculture
Monarchical Cities Fighting for Dominance
Sumeria (3-2000 BC)
Babylon and Amorites (1900-1600 BC)
Babylon founded by Amorites in 1900
Center of a local empire
Code of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) Fixed laws, fixed
punishments Influenced by class Backed by the gods GE: p. 39-42
Sumerian Tech
Bronze armor and weapons – spears and bows Lacked siege technology
Cuneiform Writing Babylonians (base 60 numbers) created basis
of our time keeping and measurement of circles (360 degrees) and thus our latitude & longitude
Invented the Wheel (Pottery, Carts)
Sumerian Society
Religion Polytheistic Humanity exists to
feed the gods with Sacrifice
Story of the Flood (Epic of Gilgamesh, GE, p. 16-22)
Classes: Nobles (War) Commoners (Craft) Slaves (Farm)
Literate Scribe class Trade by Barter
Ancient Egypt
The Gift of the Nile Annual Floods =
Super Agriculture Land
The Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC):
Ruled by the Pharoah, a Living God
What was buried with you, you took to the Afterlife
This inspired Pyramid construction for the Pharoah
Great Pyramid Sphinx
Ancient Egypt
The First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom (2200-2052 BC / 2052 BC – 1786 BC):
Pyramids sacked during time of anarchy
Reunited Kingdom has a weaker Pharoah
But it pushes south, west, east
Everyone can pass to afterlife now!
The Second Intermediate Period and New Kingdom (1786-1575 BC / 1575 BC – 1087 BC):
Barbarians (Hyskos) take over for a while
Once overthrown, Egypt builds an Empire
Fights Hittites, both sides then stomped by Iron Age Barbarians (Sea Peoples)
Society
Akhenaten:
Pharoah who tried to overthrow the priests; institute monotheistic sun worship
After his death, his son Tutenkhamen goes back to the old ways
Women in Egypt Below ruling elites, did much
of the same work as men
Pharoahs married their sisters
Hatsheput ruled in her own right, depicted male in art
GE, p. 52-4.
Other Middle Eastern Nations
The Hittites (1500-1200 BC):
Iron-Age Chariot Warriors, Foes of Egypt The Assyrians (1000-612 BC):
Ruled by terror and hate; everyone teams up to kill them Neo-Babylonian Empire: (626-539 AD):
Post-Assyrian empire Biblical king Nebuchanezzar Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Harappan or Indus Culture (2600-1700 BC)
70 cities
Common city structure, writing, measures, styles Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (35,000 +) SEWERS!!!!
Economy: Export Cotton, Import Metals and Gems
Religion: Poorly Understood
Collapse: Ecological Disaster, Aryan Invasion
The Aryans
Steppe Nomads who hit Iran and India 1800-1500 BC
The Vedas—Ritual Texts of the Aryans Around 1000-600 BC, the Brahmins (Priests) write the Brahamanas (commentaries on the Vedas) and the epics: The Mahābhārata and the Ramayana
Aryans gradually mix with the conquered folk but tend to treat darker skinned folk (Dasas) as inferior, even much later.
Originally lived pretty crudely; by 700 BC, they live in nice cities and have rediscovered writing
Class System
Brahmins (Priests) Rshatriva (Warrior) Vaishya (Free Commoner) Shudra (Servant) Dasas (Least Desirable Jobs, treated as scum)
Class is hereditary and considered due to behavior in past lives; you have a dharma, religious duties of your class. Carry it out and you move up the chain, fail and you go down the chain.
Bhagavad-Gita, GE, p. 75-8.
Aryan Religion
Classic Nomadic Polytheism → Very Abstract and Philosophical over time
Original Aryans worshiped manlike and animal-man gods, like Indira, a thunder/war god who rode an elephant or Ganesh, god of Elephants
Priests gradually came to see this as silly and moved on to more abstract issues
Early China
Yellow River Valley (4000 BC onwards)
Grain cultivation and wattle and daub pithouses The Shang (1700s-1000s)
Bronze age city states with chariot warrior nobles Ancestor worship and a Celestial kingdom Human Sacrifice
The Western Zhou (1050 BC-771 BC)
Feudal State Idea of the Mandate of Heaven
The Iron Age
Eastern Zhou (771-486 BC)
Central authority is crumbling Warring States Period (401-256 BC)
Agriculture improves but government collapses Shift from noble charioteers to professional soldiers with
crossbow, spear, iron armor. Huge armies Kings arise and establish literate bureaucracies
Philosophical ferment
Migration to the Americas
Humans arrive during last Ice Age (13,000 years ago)
Push South in Waves
Technological Isolation
Stone Age Arrival Stone Tools and Dogs No Agriculture or other animals
Low Levels of Long-Distance Trade Slows Idea Spread
Everyone Mostly Invents It On Their Own, Unlike Eurasia and Africa
Bio-Isolation
Lack of Draft Animals Fewer indigenous diseases Cultural Impacts
Healthier Cities But Smaller Cities due to Poor Farming Less Long Distance Trade
Corn and Agriculture
4000 BC – Breeding of Corn Begins in Mesoamerica
Americans grow high-protein plants (such as beans)
Three Sisters Cultivation Corn on a fertilized mound Beans grow up the Corn Squash surrounds and protects
Mesoamerica (2000-1500 BC)
Culture Zone in Central-South Mexico and Central America
Obsidian is primary weapon / tool material
Stone housing
City-States
Mesoamerican Calendar
Sacrifice of blood and humans
Andean South America: Preceramic and Initial Period: 3000-800 BC
Oldest Ritual Center: 2800 BC
Mix of Seafood, Squash, Beans, Chili Peppers
Cotton Clothing
2500 BC: The Llama is domesticated
2000 BC – Pottery is invented, Agriculture Rises
Chavin de Huantar and the Early Horizon (800 BC-200 AD)
Chavin de Huantar—900 BC, Peru Highlands
Trade and Agriculture
Declines between 500 and 300 B.C
Skilled metal workers and textile makers
Religion involved hallucinogens and shamanism
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