Transcript Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Early Civilizations PowerPoint

Paleolithic to Neolithic
Review
What I need to know….
By the way, we are going to alter the first test, it’ll be more like a quiz….
Monday
Paleolithic Humans
• Paleolithic humans were hunter-gatherers.
• Men mostly hunted, women mostly gathered. There was social
equality between the two.
• Homo erectus evolved in homo sapiens. Both migrated across the
earth in the patterns discussed, although homo sapiens migrated
much later (350,000 years ago vs. 75,000 years ago)
• Advancements in technology such as fur and fire allowed them to
explore new lands at new latitudes.
Neolithic Humans (forget Mesolithic)
• The term Neolithic refers to the time period (about 9000 B.C.E.) when
humans began to settle down and farm.
• Most farming was established around the lines of latitude discussed.
• This therefore is where the first civilizations were established (Mesopotamia,
Nile River Valley, Indus River Valley, etc.).
• Domestication of animals also began.
• With these advancements in agriculture, an increase in population
also occurred.
Neolithic Humans
• Although agriculture led to the settling of some people, others
continued to hunt and gather while others moved from place to place
to farm.
• All three of these groups had an impact on the environment.
• Hunter-gatherers killed off many types of large animals, causing them to go
extinct.
• Wondering farmers, or pastorlists, caused the land to dry out in many areas.
• All groups led to the deforestation of areas in some way.
Neolithic Humans
• Those that chose to settle down and form towns were able to focus
on specialization because of the reasons discussed.
• Specialization occurred in pottery, metallurgy, and textiles
• With specialization also came the emergence of organized religion,
government, and social classes.
• An example of the earliest known Neolithic town was called Catal
Huyuk, which is located in present day Turkey. It was established
around 7200 B.C.E. It had a population of around 5,000 people.
• The civilizations we are about to talk about were much larger and
more developed. The first began to take shape around 4000 B.C.E..
Mesopotamians
Now we can stop calling the world’s people Neolithic Humans
Civilization
• Consists of a group of people that become more advanced than their
surrounding neighbors.
• The advancements may occur in political organization, social organization,
religious organization, and military organization.
• When this supremacy occurs, this advanced group then sometimes
conquers surrounding towns and peoples, and incorporates them into
their way of life (diffusion).
• One of the first groups to do this were located in Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia means “the land between the rivers”. In this case the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern-day Iraq.
• Even though this area was relatively dry, an ancient group known as
the Sumerians were able to harness freshwater from the rivers
through elaborate irrigation systems to establish an elaborate farming
system.
• This led to a dramatic increase in population because people were
now flocking to the area for food.
Mesopotamia
• Most of the new arrivals to Mesopotamia were Semitic peoples,
which included people that spoke Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and
Phoenician.
• Most of these people were nomadic herders that came from the
south and west.
• They often intermarried with the Sumerians and adapted to Sumerian
ways.
• Around 3500 B.C.E., the first system of human writing, known as cuneiform,
was established.
• Soon after, the first cities (city-states) emerged in Mesopotamia
(Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, etc.). These cities included market
places and educational systems that further drew people and trade
from elsewhere.
Mesopotamia
• The Mesopotamian cities on the previously mentioned on the prior
page each had their own sets of government, classifying them as citystates. Each city-state also extended authority to neighboring
territories outside of their walls.
• Many of the cities included impressive stepped pyramids called
ziggurats. The tallest was built in Uruk to honor the goddess Inanna.
• Due to increased wealth, competition between cities-states, and
attacks from outsiders were common.
Rise of Mesopotamian CityStates
Things are starting to get serious….
Tuesday
Mesopotamia
• Migration into city-states became more dominant. In other words, a
higher percentage of the regions people were living in cities, and new
cities were emerging further north.
• By 3000 B.C.E., monarchies had been established in many
Mesopotamian city-states.
• By 2800 B.C.E., conflicts between kings and their cities were leading
to war, and by 2350 B.C.E. the Mesopotamian city-states were falling
under control of one powerful regional empirical leader.
• Empire: occurs when an extensive group of city-states, states or
countries falls under control of one supreme authority.
Sargon of Akkad
• Mesopotamians first empire was created by Sargon of Akkad.
• Around 2334 B.C.E., Sargon overthrew his king and went on the
offensive against the neighboring Sumerian cities.
• Sargon would travel from city to city to ensure things were under
control, sometimes traveling with 5,000 travelers.
• Many under his rule resented him empirical control and by 2150
B.C.E., the empire Sargon built had fallen.
Hammurabi of Babylon
• Hammurabi ruled from 1792 – 1750 B.C.E. from his capital in Babylon,
near present day Bagdad, Iraq
• Instead of traveling from city to city to accumulate funds to run the
government, Hammurabi established an elaborate tax system,
therefore spreading the burden of running the empire more evenly
among the cities.
• Hammurabi also established the most elaborate and extensive law
code to that point in history.
Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi believed that god had chosen him “to promote the
welfare of the people, … to destroy the wicked and evil so that the
strong might not oppress the weak”
• Hammurabi’s law established high standards of behavior and stern
punishments for murder, theft, fraud, adultery, etc. (death penalty).
• Lex talionis – “law of retaliation”
• “eye for an eye” – if an eye was destroyed or bone broken, the
offender had the same done to him.
• Social standing was considered.
• EX: nobles were simply fined silver for committing acts against commoners.
Fall of the Babylonian Empire
• By 1595 B.C.E., Hammurabi’s empire had fallen to the Hittites of
Anatolia (Indo-Europeans).
• This marked a temporary return to individual rule of city-states, along
with economic turmoil.
• The Assyrian empire would rise by 1300 B.C.E.
SPICE in Mesopotamia
Now that you’ve passed your first quiz…
Wednesday and Thursday
S is for Social –
In this case, Erosion of Equality
• Families become more patriarchal.
• Women become identified more with the household.
• Wives are exchanged among men, but women were often drowned
for sleeping with other men.
• With the creation of specialization, also came the creation of wealth,
status, and power.
• As is today, those with more money held positions of power, dressed
differently, and avoided physical labor.
• Those that were poor, owned little land and were forced to work.
• At the very bottom were slaves.
P is for Politics –
We finally have government
• As mentioned before, the rise of civilization also brought the rise of
monarchies and empires.
• Organized government paved the way for early warfare and codes of
laws like Hammurabi’s.
• However, with that being said, local leaders still exerted control.
Interaction, with the Environment –
No much has changed since the Neolithic Period
• As mentioned before, abundant deforestation and salination were
problems, however even more so now due to larger populations.
• Crops yields sharply decreased in Sumer between 2400 and 1700
B.C.E., so much so that the center of the Mesopotamian civilization
shifted north and wheat was replaced by the more tolerant barley in
many places.
C is for Culture –
There’s a lot to learn here
• One of the major shifts here is the creation of more elaborate
religions, from ziggurats being placed in the middle of cities to the
introduction of Moses and his 10 commandments, given to him by a
god he called Yahweh.
• As mentioned before, we see the first form of writing, called
cuneiform, which initially started as drawings and evolved into letters
that represented sounds.
Culture continued
• With cuneiform, we see the first poems or stories, such as those
about Gilgamesh, who saved ancient Sumerian cities from being
overtaken.
• Education is also established, initially to teach writing. However, as
the period progresses more interest is given to math and astronomy.
So much so, that the first calendars are invented.
E is for Economy –
There is plenty here too….
• With specialization came the growth of economic activity and trade.
• Obviously, with new innovations comes an advantage in trade
because trading something someone else doesn’t have makes it more
valuable.
• Trade networks extended up to 1,000 miles.
• What were some of these inventions?
•
•
•
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Bronze Metallurgy (4000 B.C.E.) – jewelry, weapons, axes
Iron Metallurgy (1000 B.C.E.) – better weapons and tools
Wheel (3500 B.C.E.) – allowed people to carry more good farther distances
Ships – see next slide
Economy (ships) continued
• Ships were invented around 3500 B.C.E.
• Around 2300 B.C.E., ships were being used by Mesopotamians to
carry goods out of the Persian Gulf, to places as far away Egypt and
the Indus River Valley (which we will talk about later).
• Goods traded: textiles, leather, wood, gold, etc.
Indo-Europeans
Friday
Indo-European Origins
• The term Indo-European is meant to refer to people of the same
language family.
• This language family includes Sanskrit (India), Farsi (Iran), Greek,
Latin, and most European languages.
• Since the languages are so similar, they must have been spread by
people of the same origin.
• It is suggested that the Indo-European homeland is located
somewhere around present day Ukraine and was established as early
as 4000 – 2500 B.C.E..
Indo-Europeans
• Indo-Europeans began domesticating horses around 4000 B.C.E..
• By 3000 B.C.E., Sumerian knowledge of bronze metallurgy had made
its way north.
• Once this happened, Indo-Europeans were able to use this
technology to create chariots and plows.
• Chariots gave Indo-Europeans a significant military advantage over
their counterparts to the south.
Indo Europeans - Hittites
• The Hittites migrated to Anatolia (modern day Turkey) around 1900
B.C.E..
• By 1700 B.C.E., they had established major trade routes with the citystates of Mesopotamia.
• As mentioned previously, by 1595 B.C.E., the Hittites had conquered
Hammurabi’s might Babylonian empire.
Hittite Contribution
• Although the Hittite state dissolved by 1200 B.C.E., it’s identity left
and impact on the region.
• War chariots – eventually used by the Chinese and Romans to inflict control
over other regions.
• Iron Metallurgy
• It’s not that Hittites necessarily invented this technology, but more so
that they were able to carry its ideas (as well as their language) as far
east as China, as far west as modern France, and as far south as
modern Iran and India.