Chapter 2 Flashcards
Beginning of Agriculture
Hunting and gathering. 10,000 years ago. Women gathered berries, roots and grasses.
Neolithic Revolution
Agricultural revolution. In the process of gathering berries, seeds may have dropped. When the nomads returned the next season they may have discovered new growth.
Causes of Agricultural Revolution
Scientists don’t know for sure. Change in climate, rising temperatures provided longer growing seasons. As population rose, hunter and gathers felt pressure to farm.
Early Farming
Slash-and-burn. Cut trees or grasses and burn them to clear a field. Ashes fertilized the soil. As they moved to other land, the fields would grow back in a few years.
Domestication of Animals
The knowledge of hunters was used to tame animals, horses, dogs, goats, pigs.
Fertile Crescent
Best farming land in SW Asia. Between the Prussian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea.
Mesopotamia
Lands facing the Mediterranean Sea, a plain.
Environmental Challenges
Good soil
Unpredictable flooding
Periods of little or no rain
Natural resources limited
City-State
Sumerians had built many cities surrounded by fields of crops. These cities shared the same culture but govern themselves and was under their own control much like a country.
Control
Early on, priests and rulers shared control. Farmers believed that they needed the priests blessings for their crops. Priests got taxes from the sale of crops. We’re not good at war. Later ruled by Dynasty, families who fought for control and past the rule down from generation to generation .
Cultural Diffusion
With prosperous city-states, cities popped up all over. Peoples exchanged goods. New products or ideas were spread from one culture to another.
Polytheism
Belief in many Gods. Gods of weather and for crops and protection from evil.
Ziggurats
Alters to sacrifice to the Gods.
Sumerian Society
Social classes. Kings, landlords, priests were upper. Majority worked in the field. There were slaves.upper classes were educated.
Technology
Arithmetic/geometry
Arches, columns and peri I designs
Cuneiform, a style of writing.
Empire
First was Sargon of Akkad 2350 BC. He took control of both northern and southern Mesopotamia. Empire is the bringing together of several people’s and nations under on ruler.
Hammurabi
2000BC Amorites worriers invaded, overtook the Sumerians and established their Capitol Babylon. He was who reigned and developed the Hammurabi code, a single set of laws that would unify diverse groups.
Egyptian Civilization
Along the Nile. United into a single kingdom. The change from fertile soil to desert was abrupt. Yearly flooding brought rich soil. Used irrigation systems.
Environmental challenges, unlike Mesopotamia the Nile worked like clockwork. When the water was a few feet lower, crops were reduced causing starvation. When higher the water flooded houses. The desert trapped them in.
Delta
River travel was common along the mouth of the Nile into interior Africa but ended boulders churned. (First Coteract) Upper Egypt is the south. Lower is the Nile delta -broad marshy triangular area at the mouth of the river formed by silt.
Narmer
The king of Egypt. Created a double crown from red and white uniting upper and lower.
Pharaoh
Kings rule as Gods, and were thought to be as powerful. Theocracy is the rule based on religious authority.
Pyramid
A burial place for kings so that they could rule after death. Remarkable engineering with out the use of wheel. Each perfectly cut stone weighed up to 15 tons. It shows the strength of the people.
Egyptian Religion
Polytheistic with main God Re the sun God. Iris, female God representing mother. More than 2000 Gods and Goddesses. Mesopotamia had a bleak look on death while Egyptians believed in afterlife.
Mummification
Preserving of the body after death. For Royal .
Egyptian Life
Very large lower class of workers. Slaves were used for labor. The classes were not locked. Could advance through marriage. Women held many rights as men. Writing was developed.
Hieroglyphics
Using pictures to stand for ideas through carving. First written on stone and then on papyrus, reeds split and dried. They developed the calendar to keep track of floods by using the stars. Developed written number system and mathematics, built stone columns and had good medicine.
Indus Subcontinent
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. A wall of tall mountains to the north and desert to the south. Use Indus and Ganges rivers.
Harappan Civilization
Many archeological achievements, laying bricks for first cities, built levees and walls to keep water out, man made islands to build on. Plumbing. The language is made up of 400 symbols that cannot be deciphered.social division, animals are important, had a big part of trade.
China
Isolated from other civilizations. Yellow Sea China Sea and Pacific Ocean. Rivers: Haung He (yellow) in north. Chang Jiang (Yangtze) is central.
Loess
Yellow silt or furtive soil.
Environmental Changes
Developed in a river valley. Faced floods that could devour whole cities, early settlers could not traid because of isolation, and were not protected from invaders.
Early cities
Anyang built mainly of wood not stone. Upper class lived in wood houses with walls of clay and straw while peasants lived outside the city walls. Needed walls because of war. Chariots
Oracle Bone
Animal bones used by the Shang to contact the Gods. Questions were written on them and then cracked and interpreted.
Chinese writing
No links between spoken and written language. Could be read even if it couldn’t be spoken. People in all parts of China could learn same system of writing.
Dynasty Cycle
Strong dynasty, peace Declines, corrupt power weaker taxes raised Disasters, floods, invasion Old dynasty has lost Mandate of Heaven Overthrown New dynasty restores peace
Mandate of Heaven
View that royal authority came from heaven. A wicked king could loose his right to rule.
Feudalism
Political system where nobles and lords are granted land that belongs to the king.
