The Accumulation of Knowledge in the Ancient World

When did Sapiens learn to manipulate ecology?

8000 years ago

When and where did sapiens learn how to domesticate plants and animals?

around Iraq, 10,000 BC

What is another name for the Neolithic Revolution?

The New Stone Age

What capabilities did the cognitive revolution provide Sapiens?

Can form settlements and the start of ancient empires

What happened when agriculture became more productive?

A labour surplus created culture shift (if 1 farmer feeds 5 people, then 4 people don’t have to farm)

What were the implication for social cultures?

• New forms of labour lead to complex cultures

• Role division = need to externalise what we know (started with pottery seals, leads to pictorial languages)
  

What was the implication for writing?

• Record keeping externalised

• Creates an objective account of reality, independent of human minds

• Leads to: numbers and mathematics (for officials, land planning, trade)

How did knowledge of astronomy in 2000 BCE impact agriculture?

It allowed nature to be seen as predictable, as more was known, there was more to utilise = efficiency & labour surplus and knowledge = power

When was the start of Archaic Greece?

800 BCE

What were the characteristics of Archaic Greece?

• Technical craft

• Adopted slavery from the Persians, so elites could focus on politics and intellect

• Alphabetic writing (a letter for each sound) laid the  foundations for the philosophers of Athens

Farmers and society

A symbiotic relationship

What did the accumulation of knowledge of the natural world allow for?

The manipulation of ecology

Describe Ancient Greece in 800 BCE

• Multiple city-states along the Mediterranean Coast

• Many slaves, elites lived in luxury

• Trireme ships to trade

• Coinage & cathedrals

• Alphabetic writing

What was Greek Mythology like in 600 BCE?

It explains natural phenomena & societal values and is based on 12 Olympian deities led by Zeus on Mount Olympus