Introduction to Ancient History and Complex Societies

Chronological Calculations and Identifying Centuries

• To determine the years associated with a specific century, follow a simple mathematical rule: subtract $100$ from the number mentioned.

• If a person refers to a century, the actual years begin $100$ years earlier than the number sounds.

• For example, if the Hittite Empire reached its pinnacle in the sixteenth century before Christ, this corresponds to the year $1500$ BCE.

• Rule examples:

  • The thirteenth century BCE (associated with Ramses of the Egyptian Empire) refers to the year $1200$ BCE.

  • The eighth century BCE refers to the years around $700$ BCE.

  • The twentieth century BCE refers to the years around $1900$ BCE.

  • The fifteenth century BCE refers to the years around $1400$ BCE.

  • The third century BCE, when Romans began developing steel production, refers to the year $200$ BCE (symbolically referred to as February in the chronological code).

• In the BCE (Before the Common Era) side of the timeline, as the numbers decrease, time is actually moving forward.

Terminology and Historical Estimation

• Approximate or Abbreviated Dates: Since historical evidence from ancient eras is often lost, burned, or destroyed, scholars must make educated guesses.

• Circa: A Latin term meaning "close to." It is abbreviated as "ca." or sometimes "c.a."

  • Comparative Deciphering: The word is similar to the Spanish word "cerca," which also means close to.

• Lack of Records: In ancient times, records like birth certificates were non-existent. Even as recently as the $1930s$, individuals might not receive a birth certificate until years after birth, such as a child born in a rural area getting one at age $5$. Thousands of years before Christ, birth records for peasants did not exist at all.

• Flimsy Materials: Ancient records were often written on materials such as papyrus, which were easily destroyed over time.

Course Procedures and Attendance

• Attendance Policy: Attendance is taken via a sign-in sheet organized by last name.

• Signature Requirements: Students must provide an official signature rather than printing their name.

• Enrollment Status: Due to high demand and lack of chairs (resulting in chairs being given away previously), the class is currently at capacity. No new students will be added until the following week at the earliest.

History versus Anthropology

• Distinction of Fields: History is defined specifically as the study of recorded events. History begins only once humans decide to write down past occurrences.

• Excluded Topics: Topics such as early human evolution, walking upright, and the "Out of Africa" theory are categorized as anthropology and are not the focus of this historical course.

Major Milestones in Human Development

• End of the Last Ice Age: The last major ice age ended approximately $13,000$ years ago, which translates to the year $11,000$ BCE.

  • Impacts: This warming period allowed for the eventual development of farming, the wheel, and the boat.

• Beginning of Farming (Agriculture): Most scholars believe farming began approximately $12,000$ years ago, which translates to the year $10,000$ BCE.

  • Location: While China is presenting a case for early farming, the scholarly consensus is that it originated in the Middle East around this time.

• Beginning of Civilization: Defined as when large groups of people coalesce in the same region, develop a society, and satisfy specific criteria. This process began roughly $6,000$ years ago, translating to the year $4,000$ BCE.

Characteristic Mineral Ages

• Historical periods are often characterized by the dominant minerals used for tools and weapons.

• Copper: While used for tools due to its malleability, there is no official "Copper Age" as it was quickly superseded by bronze.

• Bronze Age: Lasted from approximately $3500$ BCE to $1500$ BCE (noted as March to January in class code).

• Iron Age: Began around $1500$ BCE and continues to the present day.

  • Steel: A derivative of iron that is harder and more durable. The Romans are generally credited as the first to produce steel on a significant scale around the third century BCE ($200$ BCE).

• Shelf Life of Iron: Iron infrastructure, such as water and gas mains, typically has a shelf life of $100$ to $200$ years before it fails. Modern cities like Los Angeles and those on the Eastern Coast of the United States face threats from breaking iron mains that can cause floods or gas explosions.

Regional Names for the Birthplace of Civilization

• Iraq: The modern country name for the region where civilization began. The name "Iraq" only surfaced officially in the $1920s$.

• Mesopotamia: A name given by the Greeks to describe the land between the two rivers. Once the Greeks name something, the terminology tends to remain used by scholars for thousands of years.

• Fertile Crescent: A geographic and atmospheric description. The region was so perfect for agriculture that it nearly "planted itself" and "watered itself." On a map, the green-shaded area forms a shape like a sideways crescent moon.

• Sumeria (or Sumer): The name the people living in that region and time would have called themselves. Their peak was from approximately $4000$ BCE (April) to $2500$ BCE.

Chronological Order of Middle Eastern Civilizations

• Sumerians: Peak reached between $4000$ BCE and $2500$ BCE.

• Akkadians: Peak reached between $2700$ BCE and $2500$ BCE. Notable for Sargon, the first emperor of the Akkadian Empire.

• Babylonians: Peak reached between $1750$ BCE and $1500$ BCE. Note that while short in duration, civilizations like these were massively impactful to human culture.

• Assyrians: Reach their peak from approximately $1000$ BCE (January) to $700$ or $600$ BCE (July). Modern groups still exist today that claim descent from ancient Assyrians and celebrate their culture.

• Definitions of Empire: An empire is distinguished from a civilization by being massive, multicultural, and usually intercontinental (controlling territory on at least two separate continents).

The Five Criteria for a Complex Society (Civilization)

• To be labeled as a "complex society" or a bona fide civilization, five specific categories must be satisfied:

1. Farming on a Massive Scale

• This is the foundational requirement because societies cannot develop if food is an constant emergency.

• If a population is starving, they cannot concentrate or organize to achieve higher goals.

• Modern Paranoia: Following the events of $9/11$, there was a period of intense public fear that terrorists might destroy civilization by attacking the water supply or agricultural crops.

2. Hierarchy

• This refers to distinct levels of power and social structure (who takes orders from whom).

• Example of a hierarchy chain:

  • Monarch (King).

  • Nobility (The King's family).

  • Priests (Shamans/Griots): These individuals held power because they could reportedly commune with the stars or the underworld and provide explanations for disasters.

  • Peasantry: The bulk of the population.

  • Slaves: Located at the bottom of the power structure, giving orders to no one and taking orders from everyone.

3. Division of Labor (Specialization)

• This occurs when individuals have specific, expert jobs rather than everyone farming for themselves.

• Specialized Roles:

  • Blacksmiths and other smiths.

  • Scribes: Scholars who spent $10$ or more years learning complex writing systems like those in Sumeria or Egypt.

  • Warriors/Soldiers: Individuals naturally gifted or selected to defend the society.

4. Metaphysical Component

• "Meta" means "beyond"; metaphysical refers to things beyond the physical senses (beyond what can be seen, touched, or heard).

• Any strong belief in an afterlife or spirits, even without tangible proof, satisfies this.

• Artifactual Evidence:

  • Ziggurats: Ancient tempered stepped pyramids in Iraq. In Orange County, the FBI building was constructed as a replica of a Sumerian temple. During modern conflicts, the US Military used the actual Ziggurat in Iraq as a headquarters.

  • Pyramids: Specifically built as tombs for Pharaohs. The effort to build a massive structure for a corpse demonstrates a profound metaphysical belief in the afterlife.

5. Writing System

• A complex society requires writing to communicate detailed instructions, engineering schematics, and blueprints.

• Elaborate structures like pyramids could not be built with words alone; they required high-level physics, engineering, and recorded data.

• Hieroglyphics: Found on the walls of Egyptian structures, providing evidence of their complex writing system.

Questions & Discussion

• Question Regarding Chronology: How did you get the year $200$ BCE for steel from the third century?
  
  

  • Response: By subtracting $100$ from the century name ($300$ minus $100$ equals $200$).

• Question Regarding Metal Ages: What is the specific year for the end of the Assyrian peak?
  
  

  • Response: Approximately $600$ or $700$ BCE (referred to as June or July in class code).

• Question Regarding Civilization vs. Empire: What is the difference between the two?
  
  

  • Response: Civilization is based on the five criteria of complexity. An empire is usually defined by being massive, multicultural, and intercontinental.

• Question Regarding Pyramid Construction: Why do people think aliens built the pyramids?
  
  

  • Response: Because the structures are so impressive. The stones weigh as much as a school bus (several tons) and were moved over $20$ miles without modern machinery.

• Question Regarding the US Dollar Bill: Why is there a pyramid on the back of the dollar?
  
  

  • Response: The founders of the country were masons (stoneworkers) who were in awe of the ancient builders' ability to fit stones so perfectly that a piece of paper could not slide between them. It is a tribute to that god-like expertise in masonry and specialization.