1st Six Weeks Flashcards
Neolithic Revolutions
First in the Middle East around 8000 BCE and later in other regions, hunter-foragers settled in areas with a steady water supply and good soil, planted seeds in the ground on purpose -agriculture- and lived in permanent buildings in villages. In the Neolithic Revolution, irrigation of crops was developed and animals, such as dogs, cats, cattle, and horses, were domesticated to aid with hunting, transportation, and agriculture, and/or function as a food supply. One result of closer contact with animals was increased exchanges of diseases to and from people.
Hunting-Foraging Bands
Before the development of agriculture, nomadic peoples around the world lived in small groups that were often related to each other. They hunted game and collected wild or undomesticated plants for food. These peoples are also known as hunter-gatherer groups. Technology included bows and arrows, Clovis points (large stone arrowheads) and spears. While those tools may not sound like technology to us, in their day, those tools were vital in assisting humans in the hunt. The very survival of hunting-foraging bands depended on finding adequate food supplies from wild game and plants. Most of the individuals in these groups practiced a form of religion called animism.
River Valley Civilizations
The River Valley Civilizations are those first places where Neolithic Revolutions occurred. Mesopotamia in the Middle East (“Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”); the Nile Valley in North Africa(the Egyptians); the Indus River Valley in South Asia; and the Shang in the Yellow, or Huang He, River Valley in East Asia were among the earliest known river valleys where agriculture first began. The classic definition of “civilization” means “a city” and these early civilizations also built the first buildings made of stone or brick, and placed them together to form the villages, which developed into cities.
PIRATES on Mesopotamia.
Politics: Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens were descended from the City of Gods.
Interactions: Cities were built along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Religion: Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded.
Arts & Literature: Sculptures were made from durable stone and clay.
Technology: Math and science was based on a sexagesimal (base 60) numerical system.
Economy: The Sumerian city-states were based on trade and farming.
Society: Early society was ruled by a “council of elders.”
PIRATES on Ancient Egypt.
Politics: The pharaoh was the absolute monarch of the country, wielding complete control of the land and its resources.
Interactions: The success of the ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to the conditions of the Nile River Valley.
Religion: Gods were worshipped in cult temples.
Arts & Literature: Hieroglyphics were created and carved on to tablets for communication.
Technology: Ancient Egyptians achieved a relatively high standard of productivity and sophistication in technology, medicine, and mathematics.
Economy: Egyptians used a money-barter system.
Society: Artisans and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers.
PIRATES on Indus River Valley.
Politics: There was no singular ruler but several.
Interactions: A major reason regarding the decline of the Indus Valley civilization was a shift in the course of the river and natural disasters such as drought, flood, etc.
Religion: Towns had great baths, believed to be used for religious bathing.
Arts & Literature: The typical art included sculptures, jewelry, pottery, and small stone figurines.
Technology: They developed a system of uniform weights and measures.
Economy: The economy was a trade based one.
Society: The Indus River Valley may have a population of over 5 million.
PIRATES on Huang He River Valley.
Politics: The kingdom was divided into different territories that were ruled,by aristocratic warlords (military leaders).
Interactions: The river is crucial in the development of the civilizations.
Religion: The people’s religion was based on harmony and belief.
Arts & Literature: The Zhon literature was very important.
Technology: Silk worms produced high quality silk cloth.
Economy: Documented economics are rare due to the fact that the Huang He River Valley lacked written language for an extensive period.
Society: The country depended on peasants to produce for food.
Pastoralism
While some people were settling into cities, others raised domesticated animals but did not develop agriculture, so they remained on the move. They were known as pastoralists. In moving with their herds, they spread information about other groups and developments in technology. Call them “agents of change.” Pastoralists emerged in parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia around the same time as the Neolithic Revolution. One example of a pastoral group that is still functioning in the twenty-first century are the Mongols of East Asia.
Urbanization
Small villages in River Valley Civilizations often grew into larger cities, and those cities became important centers of government, trade, and religion. Urban areas saw the development of specialization of jobs, such as scribes or merchants; social levels, such as elites and slaves; and gender roles, such as expectations that men would usually be government leaders and members of the military and women would usually engage in domestic functions like cooking, sewing, and child-rearing. Counting and writing systems began in cities as a means of keeping records of stored food and other goods. One of the first writing systems was cuneiform from Mesopotamia. Religious temples like Ziggurats in Mesopotamia are examples of monumental architecture that developed in early cities. Some examples of early cities in Eurasia are Sumer in Mesopotamia, Catal Huyuk in Turkey, and Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in South Asia’s Indus River Valley. In the Americas, the Olmec civilization developed cities in Mesoamerica by 1600 BCE, and the Chavin civilization, along the coast of modern-day Peru, built urban centers by 900 BCE.
Early Empires
Over time, more cities developed in the River Valley Civilizations and were united under a ruler, or king, who claimed his power was derived from the gods. They Babylonians in Mesopotamia were one early empire that conquered rival cities by force and put them under one code of law. A very important example of a written early law code was the Code of Hammurabi, from Babylon, about 1750 BCE. The Egyptians in North Africa established a large and long-lasting empire that, at its peak, stretched along the Nile River from modern Sudan to the Mediterranean coast, west into modern Libya and northeast into modern Lebanon.
Animism/Polytheism
The earliest-known form of religion, animism, sees gods in nature (worshipping the sun, for example). It was popular among hunting-foraging bands. Polytheism (“many gods”) differs from animism in that gods in polytheism have specific names and duties. The Greek god Apollo, for example, was the god “in charge” of the sun.
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in one god. The Hebrews of Southwest Asia practiced one of the earliest known monotheistic religions, Judaism. This feature set them apart from their neighbors and made them unique in early history. Another monotheistic faith, from Persia in Central Asia, was Zoroastrianism.
Summarize cave paintings.
Cave paintings are paintings that were drawn by cavemen long ago. They consisted of largely of animals and rarely people or foliage.
Who were the Hittites?
The Hittites were a civilization that began to appear in the valleys and plateaus in Asia Minor in 2000 BCE. They experienced the Bronze metallurgy and made a critical technological discovery by figuring out how to make tools and weapons out of iron.
List some similarities and differences between Hinduism and Buddhism.
Similarities:
-Both believed in a perfect state of being.
-Both had a concept of suffering and reincarnation.
Differences:
-Hinduism: Had little expansion, caste system was a major impact
-Buddhism: Had massive expansion, caste system was not as enforced
