Ways of the World: Chapters 3 and 4

When and where did the first civilizations emerge?

they started in the several millennia after 3500 BCE.

3500-3000 BCE: Sumer (Mesopotamia)

Nile River Valley (North Africa)

Nubia (North Africa)

3000-1800 BCE: Norte Chico (Peru {more than 25 urban centers, the largest of which is Caral})

3rd Millennia BCE: Indus Valley (Between Indus and Saraswati Rivers)

what accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization?

the Agricultural Revolution; the surplus of food allowed more spare time, then specialized jobs, and hierarchies.

Warfare and trade

Everything together provided incentives for innovations, and resulted in more competitive societies.

What was the role of cities in the early civilizations?

They were political/administrative capitals; they were the centers for the production of culture, housed manufacturing activity, and served as a market place.

In what ways was social inequality expressed in early civilizations?

Wealth, Status, power

eg: Code of Hammurabi

In what ways have historians tried to explain the origins of patriarchy?

plow based agriculture: men were better able to perform because it was more intensive and farther from home, which went against women because they were supposed to be at home to take care of the children

Near the Andes: men were less important in the household, and they may have been more available to assume the powerful and prestigious specialist roles. From there, they were able to shape the society to benefit them at the expense of women.

Military conflict: the military was mostly men, which led to the association of men and civilizations, and women were usually the first prisoners of war.

How did Mesopotamian and Egyptian patriarchy differ from each other?

Mesopotamian patriarchy was a lot stricter with the rules of what women can and can't do. Women were more like a property and had almost no say in anything.

In Egypt, women were treated equal to men, with the same opportunities

What were the sources of state authority in the first civilizations?

recognition that complexity of life in cities required authority to coordinate and regulate the community. It solved problems like irrigation, conflicts, and defending the city

In what ways did Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations differ from each other?

political organization, religious beliefs and practices, the role of women, Environment and culture, cities and States

Mesopotamian outlook on life was negative and there was lots of violence, while Egyptian was more cheerful and positive.

Mesopotamia was made up of many city-states, and because there was no higher government, many conflicts ended in violence, resulting in the quick ending of Mesopotamia; Egypt was comprised of few unified territories that stretched 1000 mi and lasted for 3000 years.

In what ways were Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations shaped by their interactions with near and distant neighbors?

The two civilizations were able to trade goods.

The interactions brought along the Hittites and the Hyksos, who invaded the lands. They brought new things with them, both positive and negative.

What distinguished civilizations from other forms of human community?

Civilizations were comprised of thousands of people and were broken up into hierarchies. Civilizations were large and had their own written languages, along with specialized jobs.

How does the use of the term "civilization" by historians differ from that of popular usage?

Historians describe a civilization as a society with specialized jobs, languages, and a social hierarchy, while popular usage would define it as "many people" or something similar to "city life"

In the development of the First Civilizations, what was gained for humankind, and what was lost?

Gained: language, new inventions and discoveries, surplus of food, hierarchies, governments, cities

lost: hunting and gathering ways, equality

How did Persian and Greek civilizations differ in their political organization and values?

The Persian government was a monarchy- the king almost unapproachable, deserving his title of king, while the Greeks had small city-states with much of the citizens' participation (citizenship)

What were the consequences for both sides of the encounter between the Persians and the Greeks?

When the Persians tried taking over Greece, the Greek held them off. This had little affect on Persia, but a massive impact on the Greeks. Holding off the Persians was prideful for them, and after the Greco-Persian wars, Greece went into its Golden Age. (although, it did cause a civil war later because of the debate on whether or not to keep the same political structure id city-states)

What changes did Alexander's conquests bring in their wake?

The Persian Empire was defeated, he freed Egypt from the Empire and became Pharaoh, he burned Persepolis. When he died his empire was broken up into 3 kingdoms. The Hellenistic Era followed his conquest. Everywhere he went, he was spreading Greek culture.

How did Rome grow from a single city to the center of a huge empire?

Rome started out with its beliefs and political system (the republic) and started gaining land. Victory against Carthage brought much land to Rome, as it was a powerful empire. The Roman Empire extended north to Britain, south to North Africa, and east to the Middle East.

1. The values of the Roman republic, including rule of law, the rights of citizens, upright moral behavior, and keeping one's word

2.Poor soldiers hoped for land, loot, or salaries.

The well-to-do or well-connected gained great estates, earned promotion, and sometimes achieved public acclaim and high political office by participating in empire building.

3.Expansion was necessary to supply Rome with the slaves necessary to keep labor supplies high enough for Rome to function effectively.

How and why did the making of the Chinese empire differ from that of the Roman Empire?

the Chinese empire wasn't a new empire, it was one of the first civilizations and had been reduced to warring states- or 7 competing kingdoms. When Rome was becoming a great empire, the Chinese empire was fixing itself up because they thought that the state that their empire was in was unacceptable.

The building of the Roman Empire took centuries long, while the rebuilding of the Chinese empire was quick.

In comparing the Roman and Chinese empires, which do you find more striking-- their similarities or their differences?

....

How did the collapse of empire play out differently in the Roman world and in China?

The Roman Empire began falling apart for several centuries, but the actual total collapse date of the western half of the empire is 476 CE; the eastern half was turned into the Byzantine Empire, but still kept the Roman culture. The Chinese Empire's end was under the last ruler of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE.

Nomads led to the collapse of both empires, but in China, the nomads eventually rebuilt the dynasties.

Why were centralized empires so much less prominent in India than in China?

Politically, the civilization emerged as a fragmented collection of towns and cities. Indian empires failed to command the kind of loyalty or exercise the degree of influence that Chinese empires did. An astonishing range of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity characterized this civilization, as an endless variety of peoples frequently invaded and migrated into India from Central Asia across the mountain passes in the northwest. In contrast to China, India's social structure, embodied in the caste system linked to occupational groups, made for intensely local loyalties at the expense of wider identities that might have fostered empires.

What common features can you identify in the empires described in this chapter?

-All empires controlled large areas and populations.

-All empires were brought together by conquest and funded in part by extracting wealth from conquered peoples.

-All empires stimulated the exchange of ideas, cultures, and values among the peoples they conquered.

-All empires sought to foster an imperial identity that transcended more local identities and loyalties.

-All empires ultimately collapsed.

In what ways did these empires differ from one another? What accounts for those differences?

-Some empires sought to rule through local elites; other empires sought to rule with a more centralized power structure.

-Some empires were new; others drew on older traditions.

-Some empires lasted for considerably longer periods than others.

-Some empires assimilated conquered peoples more quickly and completely than others.

Are you impressed with the greatness of empires or with their destructive and oppressive features? Why?

....

Do you think that the classical empires hold lessons for the present, or are contemporary circumstances sufficiently unique as to render the distant past relevant?

....