The Main Societies, Kingdoms, Empires, 8000 BCE-600 CE

RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Mesopotamian Societies

-3500 to 2000 BCE river systems in Middle East, India, China made the first four
civilizations
-Sumerian Babylonian civilization in Mesopotamia
-Sumerian Babylonian lay between Fertile Crescent, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
-Sumerian Babylonian practiced large agriculture and started settling in 8000 BCE
-Sumerians were first in Mesopotamia followed by Babylonians that had political
dominance
-Mesopotamians had many cities and were governed by a small class of priests and
kings
-Sumerians had first written language, Cuneiform-wedged characters in clay
-King Hammurabi had first law code, harsh punishments, but valued rules and
regulations to be followed
-people of Mesopotamia built ziggurats-temples to honor gods and goddesses-
polytheistic religion
-Mesopotamians developed base-60 number system
-great with trading and had economy into the Middle East and Indian Ocean

Egypt

-civilization was found on the banks of the Nile River

-dependency of the water of the Nile River
-agriculture settling, 5500 BCE
-King Menes in 3100 BCE united Southern and Northern Egypt
-Political breakdown in Egypt: Old Kingdom, First Intermediate, Middle Kingdom,
Second Intermediate, New Kingdom
-900 BCE most of Egypt had no independence
-women subordinate to men and had domestic responsibilities of money and
teaching children
-women owned property, could divorce
-Queen Hatshepsut was the pharaoh of Egypt
-polytheistic religion
-Egyptian book of the dead-talks about Egypt’s afterlife and the tombs
-written script hieroglyphics developed 3100 B.C.E.
-good metalworking
-great knowledge about medicine, math, and astronomy

Indus Valley Civilization

-Indus river civilization developed on coast of the Arabian sea and is present day
Pakistan and Northwestern India
-developed around 2600 BCE
-little knowledge about their religion, culture, declines
-very widespread and urban
-thought to be very unified and centralized
-lots of cities –largest: Mohenjo and Harappa
-trade extended beyond the civilizations borders
-metalworking was strong
-thought to have declined due to invasion from Aryans or to environmental factors
Early China and the Yellow River

(Shang then Zhou)

-this river valley civilization came about along the Yellow River
-Yellow and Yangtze rivers centered on agriculture, and they held social and political
unity
-2000 BCE China had bronze working
-Shang dynasty-started in Yellow river 1750 BCE, warrior aristocracy
-traded jade, ivory, silk
-pictograms were the Shang system of writing
- worship of ancestors and fortune telling was in religion
-King Wu was ruler of longest lasting Zhou Dynasty 806 years-overthrew the Shang
-Zhou considered to be “the warring states period” and had internal decline
-Zhou had innovation, some conserving of the Shang
-600 BCE , Chinese had iron tools
-Zhou had Mandate of Heaven-if a ruler governed fairly he would have a divine right
to rule
-Confucianism and Daoism developed during this time

THE CELTS

-not civilized and not politically united

-first ethnic group in Europe that was large scale
-strongest influence was in Spain, France, British Isles
-no written language
-practice oral tradition
-polytheistic and priests were called druids

THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

-Hitties dominated Mesopotamian region in 1200’s BCE

-Assyrians made the world’s first empire had new weapons
-Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of the Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans) who conquered
Assyrians
-Nebuchadnezzar made hanging gardens of Babylon
-Persians made the Persian Empire one of the largest ever before Alexander the
Great conquered
-Cyrus the great, first Persian ruler
-single currency, postal system, network of roads
-Zoroastrianism-faith of the Persian people, Persians had religious tolerant
-Macedonia and Alex the Great conquer Persia, 331 BCE
-Hebrews in Israel under Abraham were first monotheistic religion
-Jews were enslaved by Egypt, conquered by Assyrians, taken over by Neo-
Babylonians (Chaldeans)
-Phoenicians were on the east coast of Mediterranean, had economy based on
purple dye and timber
-Phoenicians had first alphabet and city of Carthage rivaled Rome
-Lydians invented metal coins

GREECE AND ROME

Early Greek History

-Aegean civilization (island of Crete) and the Mycenaean civilization (Greek

mainland)
-both civilizations were trading societies
-Mycenaean fought in the Trojan War
-the two civilizations joined to be called the Greeks, or Hellenes
-joining of two were the “Greek dark ages”

Greek City States

-Greeks were on islands and couldn’t make a single united nation

-city states were all independent of each other and were created to compensate for
the island locations
-Corinth, Thebes, Sparta, Athens all city states
-Sparta had strong slaveholding dictatorship, had Greek’s most effective and feared
army
-Athens was politically and culturally advanced, had trade and power from naval
work
-most politics in Greek city states were family oligarchies
-slavery common in Greek city states
-subordinate women
-Athens had first democracy and Pericles was the peak of democracy, no women
involved

The Classical Period (500-338 BCE) and Age of Alex the Great

-Two major wars between Persians and Greeks where Persia invaded Greece and
Spartan and Athens fought back
-Peloponnesian War-civil conflict for power of Greek world between Spartans and
Athens
-Sparta won the war over Athens
-Greek city states were weakened significantly by the outcome of the war
-Alexander conquered the Greeks (creating Macedonia-Greek kingdom preserving
Greek culture) then crossed Asia to conquer the Persian Empire
-Alexandria, city in Egypt became center of learning and trade under Alex the Great

Hellenic (Greek) Culture

-Greeks were polytheistic
-emphasis on science
-celebrating life, humanism
-literature
-Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
-Aristotle-developed parts of current scientific method

Early Roman History

-City of Rome developed in the Mediterranean

-Rome had a long lasting empire that dominated the Mediterranean and its
bordering places
-Rome had monarchy and foreign rulers, Etruscans
-Romans retaliated making Roman Republic
Roman Republic

-during the period there were issues with the lower and higher classes
-Senate was ruled by the upper class
-executive power within consuls
Expansion into Mediterranean power
-Rome v. Carthage-Punic Wars
-Rome won Punic wars and was strongest state in the Western Mediterranean
-Rome moved into Asia and Egypt and into Europe after victory in Punic wars

Collapse of Roman Republic

-small farmers went bankrupt because of the fall of grain prices

-increased use of slave labor by large landowners caused problems
-poverty increased
-civil wars 91-30 BCE
-Julius Caesar, had dictatorial power in Rome’s 2nd Civil War
-Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE

The Roman Empire

-Roman Empire developed after Roman republic and remained for almost 5
centuries
-Caesar Augustus was Julius Caesar’s grandnephew who ruled first in Roman Empire
-Augustus renewed wealth and strength and had long reign (Rome’s Golden age)
-300 CE, Eastern Roman empire broke away and was called Byzantine Empire
-military was stretched and politics couldn’t sustain the remaining Western half or
what was left of the Roman Empire
-army gained lots of control over imperial government, economy had troubles
-476 CE, Western Roman Empire and the city of Rome were taken over by gothic
tribes and had fallen

Roman Society

-distinction between citizens and non citizens

-subject peoples were still respected as long as they obeyed Roman law, they had
no civil rights
-overtime divisions between upper and lower class weren’t as strict
-wealth determined place in society
-heavily relying of slave labor
-strictly patriarchal, but became more accepting to women to divorce and have
economic rights by the late republican roman period

Rome’s Cultural Legacy

-Romans admired Greek culture

-Romans were builders and engineers
-aqueducts: efficient transfers of water
-Eastern part of Roman Empire where Christianity was created
-Christianity was Roman Empire’s official religion

CHINA THROGUH THE HAN AND SUI DYNASTIES

-Qin dynasty made dictatorial by leader Huangdi

-Qin had Great Wall that did not always keep invaders out of China
-strong emperor, legalism, large bureaucracy

The Han Dynasty

-long lasting in China, efficiently governed empire

-Emperor Wu Ti ruled Han
-Han armies expanded
-Han had tributary system that gained payments from neighbors
-monopoly of silk production in China
-government corruption, economy slumped, bad agriculture production contributed
to fall
-Sui reestablished order in 589 CE way after 220 CE when Han fell

CENTRAL ASIA

-origin of many nomadic groups

-Tartars, Seljuks, Ottomans origins
-Mongols and Gupta Empire of India originated

EARLY JAPAN

Origins of Japanese State

-unknown not found/proven

The Nara State

-first imperial state under rule of Yamato family

-Shinto religion made the emperors valid under the Sun god
-Nara, Japan’s capital
-Chinese had impacts on Japanese art, religion, literature

CLASSICAL INDIA

Aryan Invasion

-Northern India was invaded by the nomadic group of the Aryans

-Aryans set up a warrior aristocracy
-Aryans and the current Indians were blended in culture making Indian culture
-Sanskirt in India for religion and reading
-Vedic and Hindu religion
-strict and complex caste system

The Mauryan Empire

-brought India together as a single state

-strong military
-extensive trade
-cotton was a key good
-Ashoka was emperor and converted to Buddhism
-trade with India
-Ashoka pushed for harmony between Buddhists, Hindus, and other Indian religions

The Gupta Empire

-collapse of Mauryan empire by outside attacks

-Gupta controlled northern and central India
-smaller and less centralized than Mauryan but had strong culture and economy
-religious toleration amongst rulers
- trade with China and S.E.A.
-concept of pi and the decimal system
-Huns created the fall of the Gupta Empire
-India was decentralized when the Gupta fell

BYZANTIUM

-Eastern Roman Empire when it separated

-capital built at Constantinople
-provided commercial and cultural connections among Europeans and people of the
Middle East and Asia
-preserved Christianity in middle east and Eastern Euro
-Emperor Justinian had built the church of Hagia Sophia which is now a mosque
-Corpus Juris Civils-reiterating Roman law code under Justinian
-Byzantine empire captivated most of Western Roman Empire’s holdings before it
collapsed
-lost some ground to Islam spreading in Africa and Middle East

EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE

The Concept of “Middle Ages”

-collapse of Western Roman Empire caused the middle Ages or medieval period

Barbarian Invasions

-Europe was invaded by various barbaric tribes

-Germanic invaders and Asiatic (Huns) were prominent invaders
-sometimes settled in Europe’s lands

The Bantu

-Bantu people came from the Niger River basin of West Central Africa
-helped shape sub Saharan Africa’s culture
-depended upon cattle for economy

Nubia and Ghana

-besides Egypt, first major civilization in Africa was in Nubia and Ghana
-Nubia helped link trade from north and south
-powerful nation of Kush in 1750 BCE
-Ghana, on the Atlantic Coast was the land of gold
- Ghana was part of the trans-Saharan trade network

EARLY CULTURES IN THE AMERICAS

Mexico and Central America

-Olmecs located on Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

-were not near a major river system
-Teotihuacan was one of the world’s biggest cities
-City of Teo. Was taken over by the Mayans

Andean Societies in South America

-Andean cultures were skilled with weaving and metalworking

-heavily urban
-the plains in the lands were ideal for nomads

North American Cultures

-Anasazi-ancient one
-cliff dwellings of North Americans