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Identifications for Early Civilizations

Page history last edited by Kimberly McEachen 15 years, 6 months ago

 Section 1

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Features of civilization - EXAMPLE [McEachen] 

ASPIRES [acronym to help you remember the features of civilization] -  (using an acronym is not required, but they are good study tools)

Definition: Characteristics of civilization - (we will use this acronym all year)

  • (A) Arts and culture - express talents, beliefs, and values of people in a society

  • (S) Social – division of social classes

  • (P) Political organizations – government and its bureaucracy

  • (I) Intellectual - system of writing

  • (R) Religion – belief systems

  • (E) Economic – job specialization

  • (S) Science - technology

 

Example: The Tigris-Euphrates civilization started from scratch. The Sumerians were characterized by a the first known writing system, intense religious beliefs, development of astronomical sciences, agricultural prosperity, and tightly organized city-states. 

Different civilzations throughout history

  

Stages of hominid development

 

Paleolithic era- Adam Barr

Paleolithic Era

  • Literally means the “Old Stone” Age
  • Ran from about 2.5 million B.C.E. to about 12,000 B.C.E.
  • Fire was tamed about 750,000 B.C.E.
  • Human beings gradually changed, with emphasis on growing brain size and erect stance. There was also an increase in average size.
  • The species Homo sapiens sapiens originated about 120,000 years ago
  • Hunting and gathering groups became common, specific roles were made for men and women.

 Stone tools like those used in the Paleolithic Era

The term Paleolithic Era refers to a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools.

 

 

Neolithic era-Dalyn Bellingham

  • Also known as "New" Stone Age
  • Only one human species existed, Homo Sapiens Sapiens
  • Period of development in human technology
  • Starting about 10,000 B.C. in the Middle East 
  • Began with rise of farming and ended when metal tools became widespread
  • Farming soon spread to Asia, North Africa and Mesopotamia
  • Domestication of pigs and cattle and the use of pottery began around 7,000 BC 
  • The growth of agriculture developed a need for permanent constructions, mud brick houses were built 

         Reconstruction of Neolithic house in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

         Reconstruction of a Neolithic House.

           

Mesolithic era- Will Boggs

 

  • Mesolithic era was known as the Middle Stone Age. This period is known for its development in human technology compared to the Paleolithic and Neolictic eras.
  • Mesolithic literally means middle stone.
  • The Mesolithic era began with the end of the Pleistocene epoch and ended with the introduction of farming which varied in years depending on the region.
  • Some places had brief Mesolithic eras because they had farming much earlier while other civilizations had the Mesolithic era for a long time.
  • When the Neolithic era began most Mesolithic civilizations disappeared, but few remained. One notable one, Denmark's Ertebelle culture, continued to make pottery and even trade with Neolithic cultures.
  • Most of the prominent Mesolithic cultures and tribes were located in Scandinavia, France, or Germany. Some of the culture names are Bischteim, Roseen, Linear Pottery, Ceramic, Ertebelle, and Vlaardingen.

 

A replica of a typical Mesolithic hut.

irishantiquities.bravehost.com/mesolithic%20hut.jpg

 

Clans, tribes, and bands

 Josh Broach

Band societies are the simplest of human unification. While a tribe may consist of multiple families, a band is generally no larger than that of an extended single family. Bands are usually egaltarian in which every member is considered to be equal and as a result there is no structured leadership. Bands were hunter-gatherer groups who relied on what nature gave to them.

A small social group is a band

 

 

Clans can be considered similar to bands in that they are usually a subgroup of a tribe. Clan unification comes from each individuals claim to a common ancestor. Sometimes an animal is presented as the symbolic ancestor of the clan which is known as animalian totem.

A clan is similar to a band but relies on symbolic unity and therefor is a more united unit than the band.

 

Tribes were/are considered to be social groups based somewhat on kinship and lacking the structure to have an urban based center to sustain "civilization". Tribes hold the birth rights to civilization as through the neolithic revolution, tribes united to form urban areas, and create all the aspects of civilization (See McEachen's Example).

 

Several people consist of a tribe, where there is generally a leader but does not contain aspects for civilization.

 

HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES

 : (by John Bunch)

Hunting and gathering societies where societies in which they hunted with game and gathered fruits and things that grew naturally. The societies existed between 100,000 B.C. and 8,000 B.C.. at one time these societies existed all over the world but as agriculture and industry began to grow these societies started to decline. The technologies they developed near the end of their period, such as weapons, caused, in part, the growth of the population.

 

 Go to fullsize image

 A role of the women, filtering acorn mill.

 

Neolithic (or Agricultural) revolution (Colter Burgin)

  •  The Neolithic revolution was when hunter gatherers changed over to agriculture for their food source.
  • Neolithic Revolution is the term given to the development of agriculture.
  • It began in the Middle East as early as 10,000 B.C.E.
  • It gradually expanded to India, North Africa, and Europe
  • Humans settled permanently and it increased the levels of specialization in economic, political, and religious functions
  • The revolution caused a large growth in population
  • Hunter Gatherers resisted agriculture for as long as they could.
  • Metal working was extremely useful in farming
  • Caused organization of heirarchal societies.
  • Humans had more control over nature (e.g. food and animals)
  • Started major social changes
  • Trading and bartering began.

 

The Neolithic Revolution allowed peope to use agriculture to provide with food instead of the hunting and gathering method. It increased poulation, allowed people to live in one place, and gave humans more control over nature.

 

Agriculture allowed them to settle permanently through which they constructed some of the first permanent structures. Interestingly, the first mud brick houses had their doors in the roof and a ladder was used to enter and exit. - Dalyn Bellingham

 

Domestication - John Caudle

Domestication is to adapt something to benefit human beings.

  • Domestication of crops (agriculture) first started around 10,000 B.C.E. in the Middle East

  • Middle East and Asia domesticated animals starting in 9,000 B.C.E.

Sheep      Pigs

Goats      Cattle

  • The farming of cattle led to the beginning of dairy farming.

  • Domestication of Maize started circa 5,000 B.C.E.

  • Since the process of domesticating required stationary lifestyles, therefore nomadic cultures declined.

  • Domestication of different plants and animals led to large scale agriculture and a noticeable change from the old, hunter gatherer ways.

Areas of Early Domestication of Plants and Animals: shows that Asia and the Middle East were some of the first of use domestication as a means of living.

 

 

Herding societies

 

Slash and Burn Agriculture - Lewis Dalrymple

Slash and burn agriculture is when farmers cut down parts of woodlands and forest for farmland, and then burn the wood they took out of that area to make the soil more fertile.

 

  • It has been practiced throughout most of the world.
  • No longer practiced in more temperate regions.
  • Older English tems include : assarting, swidden, fire-fallow cultivation
  • Originated in the Neolithic Revolution when groups of people in forested areas needed a place to plant their crops.
  • Usually labeled ecologically destructive.
  • Use of slash and burn agriculture to plant and harvest illegal drugs has led to a yearly deforestation of about 100,000 acres.
  • Because of the effect of slash and burn agriculture, the Sahara is expanding south about 30 miles every year.

Slash and Burn Agriculture in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru.

Slash and burn agriculture in Madagascar.

 

 

Specialization of labor

 

The Bronze Age (importance of metal tools)

 

Catal Huyuk --Meghan Edwards

 

-One of the first neolithic settlements located in Anatolia, Turkey, c. 6500 BC

-The people of Catal Hoyuk grew wheat and barley and hunted cattle and foxes (food)

-the community was abandoned c. 5000 BC for unknown reasons (although some assume it was due to a climate change)

-clay figurines imply that religion was essential to the people of Catal Hoyuk

-Catal Hoyuk became the center of a trading complex (importing and exporting items such as obsidian, stone figurines, textiles...etc.) The village was considered "prosperous" for the era

http://www.earlyfarmers.net/catal/2.jpg 

-Houses (built of mud-brick) were built close together, and entered through holes in the roof (because of this, there were no streets, leading one to assume that the roofs acted as roads or sidewalks)

 

Cultural Diffusion

 

Sumerians and cuneiform - Evan Hoke

  • Sumerians developed cuneiform, the first known case of human writing.
  • Sumerian art developed steadily, with statues and painted frescoes in the temples of the gods.
  • Sumerian science caused curiosity about the movement of the sun and stars; this led to the founding of the science of astronomy.
  • The Sumerians used a system of numbers based on units of 10, 60, and 360 that we still use in calculating circles and hours.
  • Sumerian religious notions influenced the writers of the Old Testament and continue to play a role in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim cultures.
  • Sumerians believed in an afterlife of punishment – an original version of the concept of hell.
  • They fell to a people called the Akkadians, who continued much of the Sumerian culture.

An example of cuneiform writing.

 

The Epic of Gilgamesh

 

-- Written in 2150 BC

-- First known work if literary fiction

-- Discovered in 1849

-- Followed the adventures of a mythic god-king and a beastial man named Enkidu

-- Dealt with gods, goddesses and immortality, themes prominent in Mesopotamian culture

-- Gilgamesh is possibly a real king of the third dynasty of Ur

 

Hammurabi’s Law Code

- 282 separate ordinances are included in the code

- The code was created by the sixth king of Babylon, Hammurabi

- The code not only carried the authority of the king, but was believed to be sanctioned by the Babylonian deity Marduk

- The laws operated off of a sense of retribution; (an eye for an eye is found in Law 196)

- The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest written codes of law in the world

- The code was displayed in public areas and temples, making it readily accessible for review

- The king was declared as the supreme arbiter of cases, although cases were often referred back to judges due to the clarity of the code

The Code of Hammurabi was discovered on a black diorite slab by J. De Morgan and V. Scheil while excavating Susa

- Jesse Hopkins

 

Egyptian Book of the Dead- "the spell for coming forth by day", Jordan Hubbard

  • Egyptologist Karl Lepsius published the collection of ancient funerary spells, passwords, and hymns in 1842 and called it the "Book of the Dead".
  • He collected the spells from tomb walls, earlier translations (Pyramid and Coffin Texts), papyrus, linen, and engravings on sarcophaguses.
  • The spells and passwords were put in the deceased's coffin to help them pass trials to enter the underworld and live happily in the Field of Reeds.
  • The spells one received depended on social status; the rich could afford to hire scribes to personalize a spell after themselves while poorer people had to make do with existing spells.
  • There are over 200 chapters in the "Book of the Dead" and it began to appear around 1600 BC in Egypt but some of the texts like the "Papyrus of Ani" are from 1240 BC.  
  • Vignettes are drawings of the spells and trials that can be found on the tomb walls or on papyrus.
  • One trial was the weighing of the heart against Ma'at (Truth); if the heart of the dead did not weigh less than a feather because it was full of sin that person could not move on into the afterlife.
  • Osiris is the king of the underworld and he judges the dead.

 

 

This scene, from the Papyrus of Hunefer, shows the Hunefer's heart being weighed against the feather of truth. If his heart is lighter than the feather, he is allowed to pass into the afterlife. Vignettes such as these were a common illustration in Egyptian books of the dead.

A vignette of the weighing of the heart.

 

Egyptian pyramids- Kim Martinez

Purpose

  • Shelter and burial monuments to safeguard the corpse and soul of the Pharaoh. 

Construction

·                    Huge limestone blocks cut, polished by hand, and positioned via ramps

·                    Probable number of pyramids built in Egypt was between 81 and 112.   Discrepancy due to difficulty in recognizing and locating actual pyramids; many are now very eroded.

·                    Most famous pyramids are near Giza, and are the only remnants of the Seven Wonders of the World. 

Design

·                    Pyramids are stacked “steps” (“mastabas”), gradually getting smaller until the top is a “point.”

·                    Shape meant to represent huge stairway that would convey the dead pharaoh to heaven.

·                    Pyramids were modeled on sacred, point stone (“benben”) which symbolized sun rays; sunrays were thought to be how pharaohs got to the heavens.  

Builders

·                    Egyptian workers, not slaves or foreigners, built the pyramids

·                    Between 20,000 – 30,000 workers used to build Giza Pyramids

     Other Involved People

·                    Architects who achieved accurate pyramid shape.

·                    Priests-Astronomers who chose pyramid site according to correct axis relating to sacred constellations. 

Interior

·                    Complicated internal structure of tunnels, hidden rooms, and numerous burial chambers, built to discourage would-be plunderers.

·                    Shafts of sunlight evident in certain locations, to remind the people that the dead Pharaoh would ascend to the heavens via sunbeams. 

Contents

·                    Corpse of dead pharaoh (along with part of spirit – “ka”), and everything needed for the Afterlife.

·                    Items needed for afterlife included furniture, food & drink, and servants. 

 

A view of the pyramids at Giza from the plateau to the south of the complex. From right to left are the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure. The three smaller pyramids in the foreground are subsidiary structures associated with Menkaure's pyramid.

 

 

Egyptian hieroglyphics-Taylor McAlister

 -Egyptian pictures that was used as the formal writing system

  -used throughout Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms

  -More than 2,000 characters

  -Each represent a common object

 

Egyptian hieroglyphics were invented by the Egyptians as a writing system for their civilization.  This helped create an amazing Egyptian civilization.

  

Hittites - Elayne Monjar

 

·         Ancient Anatolian people whose empire in the 14th century BCE reached from northwestern Syria, south to the Litani River and eastward to upper Mesopotamia.

·         Empire around 1180 BCE broke up tiny “Neo-Hittite” city-states, some lasting to 8th century BCE.

·         Hittites were famous for the manufacture of iron artifacts, their skill in building and using chariots. 

·         Hittites used cuneiform letters and had the first constitutional monarchy. 

·         Their kingdom was divided into three periods, the Old Hittite Kingdom (1750- 1500 BCE), the Middle Hittite Kingdom (1500-1430 BCE), and the New Hittite Kingdom, aka the Hittite Empire, (1430- 1180 BCE).

·         The Empire collapsed due to civil wars, rivals for the throne, and the external threat of the Sea People (raiders who sailed around the eastern Mediterranean).

·         Hittites made huge advances in legislation and justice; they rarely used death as a punishment.

·         The actually origins of the Hittite people are unknown

 

 

 

 

These are cravings depicting several Hittite soldiers.  The soldiers were known to humty, in Ancient Egyptian which means women-soldiers, because they wore their hair long. 

 

Assyrians

(Rishi Simha - taken from other class because a student dropped):  Assyrians were mighty warriors who lived in a region of northern Mesopotamia called Assyria, or Ashur.  Their empire reached its greatest heights during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.  They spoke a Semitic language called Akkadian.  Colossal, winged bulls and lions are just just one example of the art they created. 

 

This winged, human-headed bull stood at the entrance of an Assyrian king’s palace. 

Sources:  Starr, Ivan. "Assyria." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2008. Grolier Online. 1 Sep. 2008 <http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0018760-0>.

 

Persian Empire - Overcash

 

  • The Persian Empire was established by Cyrus the Great in 550 B.C.E. in and around present day Iran

  • They had conquered land that was 3,000 miles across from border to border

  • The were tolerant of the beliefs of the people the conquered and allowed them to practice their own religion

  • The Persians and the Medes were the two dominant tribes to make up the Persian Empire

  • The Persians were considered the empire builders of Mesopotamia

  • Was an absolute monarchy that denied the common man his say in political life

  • Persian Kings ruled by appointing local governors called Satraps

  • At the time the Persian military was said to be invincible

  • They were powerful and rich, but made very few contributions to human civilization

  • Persian Empire was taken over by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.E

 

 

 

 

The Persian Empire Territory at its peak.

 

The Persian Empire Territory at its peak.

 

 

 

 

Indus River Valley: Harappa

-An urban city along the Indus River, Harappa was a part of the Indus River Valley Civilization.

-The Indus River Civilization was well settled by 2500 BCE.

-Areas such as Harappa were so advanced that they even had running water in houses.

-Though they had means of trading with other areas such as Mesopotamia, they developed their own alphabet and language.

-The language and alphabet of the Harappa civilization influenced the culture of India, but it has yet to be completley deciphered.

This image helps you to see the location of the Harappa Civilization in India.

 

 

Indus River Valley: Mohenjo-Daro- Leya Wood (other section)

This began in 2600 BCE.  It was in South Asia.  It is important because it was one of the world’s first civilizations.  It was the biggest and most developed city at its peak.  It brought about the beginning of Hinduism, the world’s oldest practiced religion.  Name means Mound of the Dead.  

Picture of the city in ruins.

 

Huanghe River Valley – Andrew Steiner

Huanghe River Valley

-         Also known as the Yellow River, the Huanghe allowed for agricultural development and the eventual establishment of the Chinese civilization

-         Developed in relative isolation to the other river valley civilizations

-         Has most links to modern culture of all river valley civilizations due to distinctiveness and limited infiltrations of foreign culture

-         The Huanghe civilization is the subject of much Chinese legend due to its elaborate conception of their remote origins

-         An organized state carefully regulated irrigation

-         Technologically and scientifically advanced, particularly in astronomy and metalworking

-         Artistically inclined, the Chinese were skilled potters and musicians; invented an ideographic form of writing by grouping pictographic characters together

 

  

            Huang He River Valley                                Yellow River

 

POLYTHEISM- Russell Stewart

     :   The doctrine or belief in more than one god or in many gods.

  • There are several different polytheistic religions
  • The nature of polytheistic gods is widely varied
  • Hard Polytheism is the belief that there are several independent gods that are sometimes at odds with each other.
  • Soft Polytheism is the belief that several gods are simply aspects of a single greater god
  • The most well-known polytheistic religions are the ancient Greek and Roman gods.
  • The most wide-spread modern form of polytheism is Hinduism, mostly found in India
  • Interesting fact: The Christian belief in the trinity is often denounced as polytheism in Judaism and Islam
  • Polytheism is often considered a form of mythology

Roman God pictures.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/ancient-roman-gods/images/ancient-roman-gods-5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://karenswhimsy.com/ancient-roman-gods.shtm&h=824&w=500&sz=83&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__AQysIZOvAxV5Wfs3TWwWgdtWSv4=&tbnid=-q4Y-Ni3Mo0JbM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Droman%2Bgods%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

World Religions (Hindu in purple)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wamware.com/world-religions/images/map.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.wamware.com/world-religions/map.htm&h=613&w=1000&sz=161&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__sMtig6ybOAx10Zk3z_9Q3cgxOgs=&tbnid=98yEkZpZnyx3KM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhinduism%2Bmap%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

please try to insert the images right in here - use upload images on the right

 

Hebrews and monotheismn - Cameron Tripp

  • The Hebrews lived in the area of Palestine called Canaan.
  • Canaan is located between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea.
  • Most of our knowledge about Ancient Hebrews comes form the Torah
  • The Torah is the Hebrews holy book.
  • The Hebrew people trace their ancestry to Abraham.
  • Abraham was a shepherd who lived in Ur around 2000 BC.
  • God chose Abraham to be the father of the Hebrew people and commanded him to move to Canaan.
  • This began the world’s first monotheistic religion.
  • The Hebrews proclaimed that Yahweh was the one and only god and that he had power over all peoples, everywhere.
  • The Hebrews believed that Yahweh would give then protection in exchange for a promise of their obedience.
  • This mutual promise is called a covenant.

Map of Abraham's Journey

 

Phoenicians and the Alphabet-Sara Toomey

 

The Phoenicians came up with a much more condensed phonetic alphabet.  Instead of the cumbersome 550 characters of cuneiform, their alphabet had only 22.  This alphabet is the origin of our 26 letter alphabet.  It was influenced by the Greeks and Romans which led directly to our set of characters.  It was written from right to left horizontally with no spaces between words.  It was also the first language the Holy Bible was printed in.

 

The Phoenician alphabet

 

 

Khalaf, "Phoenician Alphabet." A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia,. 2008. 4 Sep 2008 <http://phoenicia.org/alphabet.html>.

 

Lydians and coinage (Lise Ross)

The Lydian Coin is thought to be one of the first coins created:
     -It was made from electrum (an alloy made of gold and silver)
     -The first coins had the symbol of the Lion on them and later on the bull was added
     -the proportions were not always the same, so the values were not consistent
     -When King Kroises came to power he was the first person to issue a bimetallic currency, meaning they had gold and silver coins
     -some of the demnominations were too small to use
     -each of the coins were handmade, leaving to each coin not being the perfect weight, but still close enough for use
     -it was a pivotal development of modern coinage  

This is one of the first handmade gold coins of the Lydian economy. 

 

 

 

 

 

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