Harapan Civilization (3000-2000 BCE)

Rivers Developed along Ravi River, tributary to Indus

River (flows into Indus)

Geography Indus River Valley

small cities, civilization covered large area

Afghanistan north, nomads east, traders west

not cut off from other civilizations

Expansion

Agriculture Granary (store grain/other crops)

crop surpluses→population growth

ox drawn carts

Trade jewelery, gem stones, carnelians

trade inspired expansion of civilization

control resource mines

Major Cities Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

2500 BCE extremely dense/urban

Architecture public buildings- granaries, bath houses

city layout- well planned pattern

uniform structure

suggests centralized/structured state

main streets had coverage drainage (sewers)

used bricks extensively (used ovens)

center of cities- public institutions

fortified citadels- housed public facilities

likely centers of political and ritual activities

surrounded by residential houses

different size residential houses (hierarchy)

center of Mohenjo Daro- Great Bath

incredible brick structure at heart of the city

public bathing rituals?

Language language has been unidentified

(script might not represent spoken language?

Nonlinguistic symbol system?)

little known about this culture, heavy flooding less

evidence

Religion concerned with fertility

other natural forces (river)

were some deities incorporated into later

civilizations, ultimately culminating in Hinduism?

deities mothering qualities, blend human/animal

characteristics, trees animals were sacred

procreation theme

Rulers no history of who were the rulers,

no evidence to suggest there were kings

little knowledge of political history

Politics

social classes unlike Egyptians/Mesopotamians

more palaces and tombs?

collapse 1900-1700 BCE

Indus River Valley drought

environmental factors cause decline

special Harapan shows how urbanized parts of the world

were divergent from one another even as they

borrowed from and imitated their neighbors

history based on evidence we have

Vedic Civilization (1500-500 BCE) Yellow River Basin (5000-2000 BCE)

Nomadic Indo- Aryans (1500 BCE)

aryans = "respected ones" (linguistic group?)

Yangshao Culture (4000-3000 BCE)

best known of early yellow river cultures

traveled through Hindu Kush

expands southeast, eventually covering modern

Pakistan, Bangladesh, northern India

reaches Ganges River

moved frequently after exhausting soil

constructed new villages

borrows knowledge from those of previous

culture (Harapan)

kept cattle, pastoral

slash and burn agriculture

horses were important to trade

horse and chariots- military superiority in warfare,

challenged political systems of Egypt and

Mesopotamia

copper and bronze metallurgy, wheel making

sophisticated crafts → surplusses

houses built around central square

sanskrit (perfectly made) manipulated signs symbols early as 5000 BCE

Beliefs known as Veda (Veda=knowledge)

Rig Veda- chants, eventually written in sanskrit

sacrafice livestock to gods

upanishads- philosophical writings of Brahmans

"supreme knowledge" (existentialism)

divination

oral tradition, cosmology, understanding of

universe, elaborate rituals, hymns/rhymes,

explanations, wisdom, knowledge

culture unifies the people

"conquest through culture"

animals were important (animal sacrafices)

Indra- chief god (important symbol)

(no sculptures or temples)

politically fragmented

fought fiercely among themselves

"chieftainship"

clans→lineages

Lunar and Solar

Mahabarta and Ramayana (mythologies)

Varna- Stratified Society

Brahmans- priests

Kshatriyas- warriors

Vaishyas- commoners

Shudras- laborers and servants

lives were hard

excavated cemeteries, 20% were of children 15

and younger, only a little over half lived past the

age of 40

Ramses?

barbarians vs civilized?

Longshan Culture (3000-2000 BCE) Shang Dynasty (1600-1045 BCE)

drought around 2000 BCE

bounced back fast with irrigation

center was Shandong province

communities became centralized → contact

between regions increased → trade increased

→link between north/south China

rulers promoted agricultural development

mainly agricultural society

rulers controlled their own farms, provide food straight

to royal family, wealthy surplusses

signature black pottery

jade

metal indsutry (copper)

pottery making

bronze metallurgy

bronze vessels were huge, wealthy royal family

could be made in pieces

inscribed images of importance

(usually pertains to certain ruler)

material culture

rulers supported craftworkers, controlled own lands

with resources

silk worms, raised pigs, dogs, sheep, oxen

walled villages

stories written on bamboo strips

→ bamboo annals

writing on tortoise shells

(oracle bone inscriptions)

burned deer bones- divination

rituals with jade axes

rituals- receive insight from ancestor

ancestoral worship

death rituals- sacrafice humans to accompany deceased

(family importance, patriarchy)

interpret tortoise shells, oracle bones

Di- founding ancestor

made calendars

marked stars (astronomy)

theocracy- leader derives authority through guidance of

ancestors and gods

Yu the Great- Xia Dynasty

evidence is sketchy

Tang- first ruler of Shang Dynasty

hereditary rulers

buried with chariots

territorial states centralized government

tributes government (feudalism-esque)

bureaucrats used written records oversee large

expanding population

wealthy powerful elite

intelectual achievements, particular aesthetics

received tribute from Elite, Allies, Commoners

commoners held lands as fiefs (under nobility)

surplus→royal families

artisians- valued, miners- laborers

ultimately crumbles, cannot escape invasion

bronze weapons- control access to bronze production,

prevented rivals from creating weapons

1200 BCE- chariots (status, wealth, power)

Egypt

Rivers flooding

Geography

Expansion

Agriculture

Crafts and Trade

Major Cities

Architecture

Language

Religion

deities

Rulers

Politics

social classes

collapse

special

civilization- agriculture, settlement, surplusses,

division of labor, division of society

development of rulers, laws, cities

Mesopotamia "place between two rivers" Hunter Gatherers→Stone Age

Birth of Civilization

Bronze Age (3000-1200 BCE)

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

wild and unpredictable, floods (rainfall)

dry in summer months

political protection for traders

safe trading routes

Stone Age (use of tools):

→ Paleolithic (old stone age) before 8000 BCE

→ Neolithic (new stone age) rise of agriculture

after 12000/8000 BCE

→Bronze Age (cities, birth of "civilization")

3000 BCE-1200 BCE

irrigation system- revolutionary

built levees, ditches, canals

Euphrates drained into the Tigris

Agricultural Revolutions- Neolithic Age

Early Settlements: (9000-8000 BCE)

shift to controlling , manipulating nature

produce food for themselves

domesticate animals- pastoralism(~5500 BCE)

bring within human domain (human control)

eventually settled agriculture

farmers and herders

development of mathematics

60-3-1-0-12 (legacies of Mesopotamia math)

hunted and gathered on a need basis

had tons of leisure time

only took around 3 hours to find food

gathering was important → women (at least)

valued equal to men

used stone tools to work fields

clay and stone pots, vessels to collect, store crops

(surplusses, trade)

woven baskets

city states of Sumer

cities were very large

cities were famous for temples- Ziggurat

center of cities

were built larger and larger

cave paintings- conscience of self

appreciation of beauty

manipulate information symbolically

spiritual purpose?

man living alongside animals/natural world?

artifice →art (human made, not natural)

learned irrigation

learned how to build walls with stones, etc.

started to settle in (permanent) villages,

expanded numbers

early homes, open spaces, communal spaces

circular→more egalitarian structures

rectangular→divided and separate

cuneiform, written on clay tablets

written records, laws, transmitted knowledge

gods rule over the cities, man was created to

serve gods

more female artifacts of females

fertility goddesses, etc.

celebrate rituals for good weather

→ successful harvest

sang, dance, sacraficed animals

each city had a patron/guardian deity

owned the city

Venus of Willendorf, Austria

25,000 years old

"original affluent society"

man vs nature- back and forth battle

division of labor- men do virile work (heavy

lifting), women do drudgery (repetitve tasks)

king is not divine (serves god)

nobes and priests

commoners

slaves

had a lot of time to relate to others

egalitarian society (even men/women)

women might have made larger contributions to

society then men

agricultural revolution→egalitarianism eroded

surplusses → specialization→social division

Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-612 BCE)

Rivers

Geography

Expansion ideology glorifying masters (themselves)

propoganda- justify its expansion

120k soldiers, annual campaign to west

brute force conquering, opposition was futile

brrutal exploitation of subjects, use of terror,

intimidation to crush adversaries

Agriculture deportations

conquered subjects relocated (undermine

rebellions) and forced to work the lands

Crafts and Trade iron age

chariots, siege towers, battering rams

Architecture

Land of Ashur- core of empire

king governed directly

inhabitants lived well, supply food, work at

temples, work as state officials

Land under Yoke of Ashur

outside of Assyria proper

inhabitants not considered Assyrians

local rulers hold power as subjects of Assyrians

had to provide massive amounts of tribute

program of forced Assyrianization

subordinates forced to accept culture

Language texts glorifying the king

Religion Ashur- god

images glorifying king and Assyrian army (success

of the empire)

deities

Rulers

Politics perfected techniques of imperial rule

raw military- constant/harsh warfare

much effort was put into maintaining military

appointed officials as provisional governments

overlooked territories, keep empire orderly

social classes

collapse empire overextends, territory too large

special

Ancient Israel(1200-587 BCE)

supposedly 2000-500 BCE

much of history from Hebrew Bible

nomadic people

story of nomadic people who occupied a part of

land between desert/Mediterranean Sea

periodically raided farms and villages of settled

people, eventually settled down, created a state

storied "Conquest of Canaan" (modern day

Israel/Palestine) 1250-1200

more likely no opposition

Abraham born in Ur in southern Mesopotamia

(2000 BCE), disgusted with idol worship

Settlement in Israel, drought, migration to Egypt

enslavement by Egyptians (1300 BCE)

Exodus and nomadic life in the desert

Ten Commandments

Israel promised to Abraham in covenant with

Yahweh

Yahweh makes coveneant with Israelites

become his chosen people, worship him

exclusively, development of monotheism

10 Commandments

early Israelites, belief in a god morphed over time

from cult of particular god into one god

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob leaders of early group

(nomadic herders)

Monarchy: Saul- first king of Israel (1020 BCE)

David- second king of Israel (1000-960 BCE)

unifies Israel, captures Jerusalem (capital)

Solomon- third king (960-920 BCE) even better

texts of hebrew bible are compliation of several

compliation of materials

originated with different groups, employed

distinctive vocabularies, offered particular

interpretations of past events

texts of today compiled 500 BCE

Cain and Able- nomadic herders vs farmers

Coalition of people invent common ancestry:

"children of israel"- divided into 12 tribes

descendents of Jacob/Joseph

history of ancient isrealites reflects a familiar

pattern in ancient middle east