1-12: Agricultural to the Fall of Rome Flashcards
Review of the first quarter of Crash Course World History
Why settle near water?
Fishing; abundant food source, often undangerous
“nasty, brutish, and short”
Thomas Hobbes; describing the “State of Nature” thought experiment - not likely the case
Pros of Herding
Food, drink, and shelter
Cons of Herding
Constant moving
Requires certain animals - none of which are from the Americas (except llamas) - sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, horses, cames, reindeer, water buffalo, yak
Agriculture
Process of domesticating plants to grow as a food source for humans
Advantages of Agriculture
good crops = less starvation
potential food surplus - allows for larger specialization/projects
can be done anywhere with soil and a water source
Disadvantages of Agriculture
often have to radically change the environment
takes lots of labor - to the point that humans enslave others to do it
can lack nutritional diversity
famine, drought
Why agriculture?
We don’t really know
Larger population, settle in one place
There are other ways to get more food
Once you start, can’t really stop
May lead to inequality - but not guaranteed to
8 Signs of Civilization
4 or more;
1) Surplus food
2) Cities + public works
3) Specialization of labor
4) Social stratification
5) Centralized government
6) Art and architecture
7) Writing
8) Shared values
When was the Indus Valley Civilization?
~3500 BCE - 1300 BCE
What rivers were the Indus Valley Civilization between?
Indus and Saraswati Rivers
IVC: Cities and their characteristics
Harappa
Mohenjo Daro
Perpendicular streets - suggests zoning government
Dense, multistory homes - all had water and drainage
Plumbing system
The Great Bath - suggests shared values and sanitation
No monumental palaces found - suggests personal religion, may suggest un-royal leadership
IVC: Writing System
Indus Script
Can’t read their writing
How do know the IVC traded extensively?
Seals on goods (of monsters and writing)
Found in Mesopotamia
Bronze and cloth found in IVC must have come from elsewhere
What was exceptional about the IVC?
They were likely pacifists
No weapons, like swords and spears
No signs of cities being burnt/razed
They had low wealth concentration
Homes roughly the same size, all had water/drainage access
IVC: Downfall
1) Conquest (unlikely at this point in time)
2) Climate change and drought
3) Earthquakes (damage, change in sea level, change in water supply)
IVC peoples likely migrated eastward
Mesopotamia Meaning
Meso - Between
Potomoi - Rivers
Mesopotamia Rivers
Tigris
Euphrates
What was the older of Mesopotamia’s two economic systems?
Proto-socialism
Famers gave crops to public storehouses
Workers received uniform wages in grain
Themes of “The Epic of Gilgamesh”
City v Country - City wins - Wild Man is civilized, becomes friend and brother to King
Death
Largest City in Early Mesopotamia
Uruk
Uruk characteristics
Walls
Canals
Temples
Ziggurats
Mesopotamian religion
Polytheistic
Moody gods
Why did Mesopotamian gods flood the earth?
Humans were being too noisy and making it hard to sleep
What were the Mesopotamian rivers like?
Violent
Unpredictable
Difficult to navigate
Difficult to work with (used slave labor to irrigate)
Who was in charge in the older of Mesopotamia’s political system’s?
Priests; they communicated with difficult gods
Mesopotamia: Transition from Temples to Palaces
1,000 years
Power moves from Gods to people
Military leaders and rich landowners marry high priests
Mesopotamian writing system
Cuneiform
Mostly used to record business transactions: wheat and goats
What is important about writing? (Mesopotamia)
1) Increased social stratification (literate+illiterate)
2) Recorded history
Mesopotamia: Necessary Trade
Traded for most things but crops (metal, stone, wood, etc)
Mesopotamia: Trading implies what?
Territorial Kingdoms
When did the Mesopotamian City-State period end?
2000 BCE
Why did the Mesopotamian City-State period end?
shift in rivers
drought
easy conquering for nomadic peoples (Amorites) and neighboring cities (Elamites)
What was the newer of Mesopotamia’s two economic systems?
Taxation
People produced as much as they want, and paid taxes to chiefs (eventually kings)
Who was in charge in the newer of Mesopotamia’s political systems?
Chiefs and Kings, who passed power to their sons
Hammurabi
Law Code: presumption of innocence + retributive justice
What was the Assyrian Empire known for?
Brutality
Deport + relocate people following conquest
Mutilated potential rebels
Meritocratic military
Who was the God of Assyrian Religion?
Ashur
maintains the world through the King of Assyria
What was the driving force behind the God of Assyrian religion?
Conquest
If conquering continues, the world continues
If conquering ends, the world ends
Why did Assyria collapse?
Assyria extended its empire beyond its roads, making control difficult
Lost capital of Nineveh and major city of Harran in 600s BCE (to Neo-Babylonians and Medes)
Lost battle, and world continued; Assyrian religion proved false
What names was Hammurabi referred to by?
“Father” and “Shepherd”
Abrahamic concepts
