EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
Mar 23, 2016
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
How do we study ancient creatures? Study their bones
and teeth Study artifacts-tools-clothing-art-weapons-toys
Hominid Human-like creatures that walk upright
Lucy One of the first
hominid skeletons found
So what?-she showed there had been creatures walking upright for nearly 3 million years
Human Development
Walked upright
hominid
Used tools
Homo habilis
Homo sapien
Modern humans
Stone Age-humans used stone tools Paleolithic- ancient
(2MYA-12,000years ago)
Mesolithic- middle (12,000-10,000years ago)
Neolithic- New (10,000-4,000years ago)
Hunter-gatherers Follow the food
supply Hunters follow the
herds of big game Gatherers foraged
until an area was picked-over
Do not raise animals or crops
Ice Age When glaciers cover a large part of the
Earth’s surface http://dsc.discovery.com/games/iceworld
/map/map.html
Neolithic Agricultural Revolution Neolithic=?
-New Agricultural=?
-Plants grown for food Revolution=?
-time of great change
Caused… Permanent
settlements Domestication of
Animals Specialization of
Labor Cities
Civilizations have… Large group of
people Surplus food Large towns
Government Division of labor
Earliest Civilizations
Why there? Agriculture and
livestock Irrigation
History begins when… people write it down.
Egypt
The Nile Egyptians Natural
Advantages?
Hieroglyphics Picture writing Stone tablets or
papyrus Rosetta stone
Dynasty A family of rulers 1st in Egypt- Menes (3200 BC)
Egyptian History Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom
Old Kingdom Sphinx and biggest pyramids Upper class= nobles, priests, and
scribes Lower class= peasants (built canals and
pyramids)
Middle Kingdom “golden age” of Egypt Hyksos (foreigners) came to Egypt and
ruled at the end of this period
New Kingdom Hatshepsut= only female pharaoh Amenhotep IV= monolithic religion King Tut
Egyptian Society Classes (rich vs. poor) Peasants worked the land Nobles ruled Trade= caravans sent goods to the east
Egyptian Religion
Egyptian Religion Polytheistic (many
gods) Belief in afterlife
Mummification Valuable objects in
tombs
King Tut Son of Akhenaten Became pharaoh
when a child Changed religion
back to polytheism Died in his late
teens
Tomb in near perfect condition
Decline of Egypt Internal strife (rich
vs. poor) Weakening of the
pharaohs
Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates vs. Nile
Similarities Differences
Annual floods Great for agriculture
Tigris and Euphrates were more violent and prone to flooding
Empires (migration and conquest) Sumer- cuneiform Babylon- Hammurabi’s code Assyria- library at Nineveh Chaldea- hanging gardens Persia- largest empire of the time Phoenicia- trade and alphabet Lydia- money economy
Hammurabi’s Code System of written
laws Consequences for
breaking them
Why trade? Comparative
advantage Everyone wins
India
Indo-Europeans Originally nomadic Took over northern India
Culture Language=sanskrit Religious
text=Vedas
Dynasties Mauryan Gupta
Inventions and Discoveries Numbers 1-9 Quadratic Equations Seven planets
visible to the naked eye
Inoculation
Asoka United India with
war Converted to
Buddhism Societal reforms
China
Isolation
Isolation
Superiority Complex
Less Cultural Diffusion
Protection
Dynasties (First two) Xia- first rulers Shang-
-controlled the Huang-strong central government
Dynasties (Next three) Zhou--territories to royal families Qin-Great Wall started-China’s name Han--meritocracy- you get a job based on skill-Silk Road
“Mandate of Heaven” The idea that a ruler
gets his right to power from God
Inventions Early seismograph Paper Process of printing Sundial