Worlds Together Worlds Apart Chapter 2

Uruk

One of the first urban centers in the world, city of King Gilgamesh

River Basins

areas drained by a river including all its tributaries

Bronze

lusted after bc it was easily moldable, and cheaply made from copper

Where were main Riverine cities?

Near the Tigris and Euphrates River Basin, Nile River, Indus River Basin. All relied heavily on irrigation.

Urban Rural Divide

history's most durable world wide distinction. Contrast between agriculture and urban culture. Lifestyles interdependent.

Inner Mongolia and Central Asia

all herding, very little planting. Focused on the domestication of cattle, sheep, and horses.

Rise of Trade

Important bc it helped with the exchange of cultural information, vital to Mesopotamian society

Tigris and Euphrates

Flooded a lot, but with time the Mesopotamians learned to irrigate and control flooding. Besides good soil, they had to trade for everything else bc they lacked natural resources.

City

Well defined urban area with a dense population

City State

political organization based on the authority of a single large city that controls the surrounding countryside

Social Hierarchy

Distinctions between privaleged and less privaleged

Akkadian and Sumerian beliefs

Gods shaped political institutions and controlled everything. All major gods had a city they "created".

Temples

served as the Gods home and as the symbol of urban identity. Very elaborate and expensive. Functioned like large households/workshops.

Palaces and Royal Power

appeared around 2500 BCE, source of power rivaling the temple. Symbol of permanent secular, military, and administrative power.

Scribes

people who wrote down the history of the Mesopotamians, used sledge shaped writing called cuneiform

Territorial State

a form of political organization that holds authority over a large population and landmass.

Harrappan Culture

little is known bc the written language can't understood. Had fortified citadel housing, public facilities, alongside large residential areas, with good drainage.

Trade between Mesopotamia and Indus River Valley

copper, flint, shells, ivory, pottery, flint blades, and jewelry for gold, silver, gems, and jewelry

Ethnic Makeup Ancient Egypt

contained people form Sinai, Libya, Mediterranean, Nubia, and Central Africa

Culture in Ancient Egypt

densely populated, depended on irrigation, gave their rulers immense power, contained a complex social order

Riverine Culture in Egypt

self contained bc not connected like Mes. and Indus.

Egyptian Dynasty

Spanned 3100-332 BCE, contained Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom

Religion of Egypt

Gods, then Kings, then everyone else. Kings became gods after death during Old Kingdom. Commoners used amulets, animals associated w deities

Language in Egypt

hieroglyphs, written by scribes, whose literacy elevated their status

Prosperity in Egypt

success from the government administering resources carefully, no private property, but treated as so until the government came and took it

Riverine Culture in China

didn't emerge until the 2nd millenium BCE because food was so abundant in widespread agrarian cultures

Afro-Eurasian Nomads

considered barbaric by those living in cities, warrior culture

Anatolia

clear regional cultures, Troy the most famous and most advanced city

European Culture

dominated by warfare, wild frontier with thick foliage, Northern plains herded cattle, and used ploughs

Beer Mugs

different shapes and sizes but used in the warrior cultures of europe