world history unit1 ancientworld
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TRANSCRIPT
The Past? Dates? Events? People? A class that helps students prepare for
college and the SATs? Something students need to take so that
Coach Flo has a job? Something to sleep through? I have no idea, but I know it sucks?
History is a story that tells us who we are … by telling us who we were.
The story must tie facts together, but there is no need to have all the information to tell the story
Stories from the past combine to help us tell our story
Time before the development of writing Scientists say it may go back hundreds of thousands of
years No documented “story” without writing Really belongs to scientists and archaeologists Many human advances, including the ability of humans
to domesticate agriculture – leads to settlements
Civilizations developed along major river systems all over the world
Some settlements are tens of thousands of years old
Rivers brought not just water, but silt as well, which fertilized the land
Certain rivers are predictable in their floods
Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates Egyptian: Nile Indian: Indus Chinese: Yellow
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Modern Day Iraq Writing: Cuneiform (Wedge-shaped writing) Government: City-states Religion: polytheistic and tied to nature Epic of Gilgamesh: Flood story Hammurabi's Code: equality before the law
Nile River: flows north from the highlands of Ethiopia to the Med – civilization develops only along the river
Settlements in Egypt are probably older than in Mesopotamia, but writing developed later
Religion: polytheistic with Pharaoh (king) as son of Re Government: first empire (multiple nations – one ruler) –
Nile runs from Black Africa to Arab Africa Writing System: Hieroglyphics (picture writing) – has
thousands of characters – much more sophisticated than Mesopotamian cuneiform
Phoenicians Found in modern day
Lebanon (north of Israel) Sea traders – colonized the
entire Mediterranean area Traded with Egyptians and
Greeks – brought goods and culture across the Med
Developed the alphabet to facilitate trade
Alphabet – set of symbols based on sounds of a language
Hebrews (Israelites) Small and insignificant
kingdom found in and around Jerusalem (eastern part of the Med.
Often conquered by others (Egypt, Babylonia, Rome, Alexander, Persia)
Religion – monotheism Judaism Old Testament Foundation for both Christianity
and Islam
Indus River – in northern India – contains the highest concentration of people in the world
Some settlements along the Indus may be perhaps 25,000 years old
Religion: Hinduism
Settlements along the Yellow River Isolated by geography from the rest of the world Government: ruled by dynasties (long periods of familial
rule). According to tradition, dynasties would rule until they lost the “mandate of heaven” (authority from the gods)
Three major philosophies developed in Ancient China Confucianism Daoism (Taoism) Legalism
Confucius Chinese 6th century BC
philosopher Everyone has duties and
responsibilities Accept your position in life Correct order in life will bring
stability (balance is key) Ruler’s responsibility was to
provide good government People’s responsibility was to
be respectful and loyal subjects
Taoism Reject conflict and strife in
everyday life Seek to live in harmony with
nature Simplicity in life and the virtue
of yielding to outside pressure Water – yields to pressure, yet
is an unstoppable force that causes immense changes
Best government – one that governs least
Youngest of the philosophies in Ancient China Sought to unite Confucianism with Taoism under a strict
code for behavior – only through a strict sense of loyalty and unity could peace and harmony with nature and self be achieved
Harsh rules – set down by harsh rulers Government control of everything, down to the smallest
facet of everyday life (made great use of paper to get the word out)
Rulers greatest asset – ability to control the people and provide stability
Control and discipline brought unity and harmony
Hinduism Old Indian religion Both polytheistic and
monotheistic All powerful world soul or
force in all of us Based on reincarnation and the
caste system All of us are trying to rejoin the
world’s soul
Buddhism Siddartha Gautama – first
Buddha or “enlightened one” Based on understanding
relationship between desire and pain
Eliminate desire to eliminate suffering
Eliminate desire = achieve Nirvana and break cycle of reincarnation
Oldest surviving major world religion Polytheistic and monotheistic at the same time Brahman – the world’s soul (monotheistic) Different Hindu gods -- really just manifestations of Brahman Creation – Brahman shattered – each of us has a piece of Brahman –
it’s the “life force” in all living things Reincarnation – cycle of rebirth based on Karma (the way you live
your life)– we’re all eventually trying to rejoin Brahman – only members of the priest class with good Karma will be able to rejoin Brahman
Caste system: 14 levels of humans from Brahmin (priest class) to Untouchables (lowest humans)
Siddhartha Gautama – Hindu prince who had a crisis of faith and walked among the people and observed the world
Four Noble Truths Everyone suffers Suffering is caused by desire To eliminate suffering – eliminate desire To eliminate desire – follow the Eight fold path to righteousness
Eliminating desire would thus allow a person to become “enlightened” or a Buddha. This was called achieving a state called Nirvana
Achieve Nirvana and break the cycle of reincarnation and join the world’s soul
Anyone not achieving Nirvana would ensure their good Karma and would go up on the ladder of reincarnation
Ancient powerful empire (550 BC to 350 BC) centered in modern day Iran
Stretched from the steps of India to the Greek world – largest empire of its time
Developed the first ideas behind Local Autonomy as a way to govern its empire
ran into Greek colonies in what is today Turkey (ancient Anatolia) and fought a protracted war against the united Greek city states – it’s a war that Persia will lose.