Mayan Empire
To the west of Japan is the Mayan Empire.
The mayan empire would flourish compared to Korea fighting and Japan fragmented.
The mayan golden/classical era was from :: 250-906 AD
The Mayan empire is located mainly in Central America, in portions of eastern Mexico:: Yucatan peninsula, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, portions of El Salvador
The achievements of the mayan empire(1):: Very urban civilization with 40 major cities with 40-50 thousand people in each population
The achievements of the mayan empire (2):: Current day Guatemala, city of Tikal, slightly larger than Manhattan Island
The achievements of the mayan empire (3):: first modern language to the americas
The achievements of the mayan empire (4):: masters of mathematics
they developed the concept of zero
Calendar #1:: modern calendar
modern calendar :: is composed of 18 months of 20 days making a total of 360 days. 5 days were reserved for unlucky days. they could predict earthly events like the seasons and heavenly events like age planetary movements
Calendar #2:: sacred/ religious calendar
sacred/ religious calendar :: composed of 13 months of 20 days each. every month would host a sacrifice to a group of people since they believed that this would help them speak to the gods. the targeted population was mainly kids and older people.
they believed that dying young was the best
Calendar #3 :: Long Calendar
long calendar :: dated events for over 1000s of years.
the long calendar began in the year 3113 BCE dating back to early Indus cities
the long calendar ends on December 12th 2012 marking the end if the mayan cycle
the mayan empire reappeared in 1200 AD but they no longer had the same greatness
Mayan game pacatok:: whoever wins gets sacrificed
the mayan empire had a population of 2.4 million people
Bishop deLanda learned the entire mayan language to translate mayan library in to Spanish but with his discovery of human sacrifice in the text they decided to burn down the library and its books.
there are only 3 mayan books left
disappeared from history for 250 years
in 1830 :: mayan civilization would be rediscovered by John Lloyd Stevens
John Lloyd Stevens came across mayas by accidental wandering towards one pyramid
John Lloyd Stevens would write multiple books on his findings one of them being titled “The peaceful mayan people”.
in 1956:: mexican archaeologist Albert Ruse would discover secret chambers within the step pyramids of mayan kinds and saw proof of mayan sacrifice
Albert Ruse discovery would change the world view on mayan civilization
The Aztec Empire
The aztec people were originally called :: mexicas which is where the name Mexico came from
would begin their migration in 1200 AD to the south
Purpose for the Aztec’s migration :: more fertile land & emergence of a power vacuum
According to the legend the Aztecs were told by the gods to settle where they saw a eagle land on a cactus with a succulent in its mouth
In 1325 AD:: The Aztecs would build their first settlement
The Aztec’s first build the capital of :: Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan would be a flouting city 552 sq miles and 140,000-200,000 people
Tenochtitlan was the most densely populated city in terms of population
they would expand into central & southern Mexico
1428 AD:: the beginning of the aztec expansion
The expansion would be led by King Itzacoatz who would conquer close to 500 city states, over 80,000 sq miles. would also control part of the Pacific Ocean and golf of Mexico
had to rule through military alliance of 3 cities
achievements of the Aztecs include:: 1. great farming systems with a large scale irrigation. they believed that every piece of land should be farmed in.they would drain the swap to get its rich soil from the bottom. the floating islands were their farming systems. they were able to grow many stable crops
they used two main calendars:: 1. with 365 days and was a solar calendar 2. with 260 days and was a religious calendar
the Aztecs view time in 52 year cycles
they had a similar idea of the after world like the mayans and were also big on human sacrifice
there were 9 levels of the underworld and 13 levels of heaven
the Aztecs were constantly in a state of war because of their sacrifices
they would sacrifice prisoners from war
The aztec army was composed of all abled bodied men regardless of social class who were drafted
They had special forces ex. :: the jaguar
The army used light armor and their chest protection was made of cotton padding
the army carried many weapons such as:: bows and arrows, poisoned darts, gigantic staffs with hard pointy rock at the top
the aztec army had no modern weapons
the aztec had a rigid social structure and serfs and slaves at the bottom
the aztec would build their empire through trade
the decline of the aztec began in :: 1517 AD
in 1517 AD the Spanish sent Cordoba out and he landed on mayan territory and saw lost of wealth and gold and then went back to tell spain
In 1519:: Spain would send Cortez to Mexico to observe
Once in Mexico cortez ignores his instructions and would establish city of Veracruz
Cortez would build alliances with citys around and began to build an army
The Aztec King Montezuma II would invite Cortez and his men for a welcoming dinner since the king and the people believed Cortez looked like the god of war
Once on Tenochtitlan Cortez and his men began to kill the people and hold the king Mintezuma II captive where he would die
After 2 Years in 1521:: the Spanish would win
The decline of the Aztec was because:: main killer was smallpox
Nahuatl:: was their native language and is seen in todays language with words like chocolate and Chile
Ghana
The kingdom of ghana is also know as:: the kingdom of gold & the Gold Coast
Kingdom of Ghana is the 1st west african trading empire
Kingdom of Ghana is located in west africa between the senegal river to its west and niger river to the east between the salt and gold trade
The kingdom of Ghana is 400 miles north of modern day Ghana
Ghana:: warrior chief
the first power structure was the king was the one with absolute power/the law and the only one allowed to use the gold
the second power structure was the military with its iron based technology. a army of nearly 200,000 soldiers with iron tech, archers & bows
the third power structure was the kaya maghan:: masters of gold
710 AD:: the beginning of the salt & gold trade
islam and muslims would spread through North Africa and would begin mining salt which was the equivalent to gold
muslims would establish mining communities in the Sahara desert to the north of ghana
Before entering ghana they would stop at the niger river and conduct a silent trade to ensure everyone accepted the trade
Once silent trade was accepted than salt tradered can enter ghana after paying the entrance tax ( mitqal )
Also had to pay taxes before leaving too
Gold mined in the south (same rules of taxation)
2 capital cities, twin cities, one for the king and the other one for the others: Kumbi & Saleh
Also involved in the slave trade
Kumbi & Sales both had 50,000 people each
of the two cities one was for muslims and the other for people of other faiths
ghana wasn’t an islamic empire they worshiped nature :: pantheistic
in 1039 AD:: Ghana would decline because of Ebn Yasin from Arabia
Yasin saw Ghana riches & trade as a corruption to the islamic community
Went to west africa and would establish Ribat (relation community)
Ribat would influence the rise of the Almoravivs which would attack in 1054 AD and would defeat ghana in 1076 AD
w/ collaps of ghana 130-150 years civil war would begin
1202 AD The sosu tribe would win civil war and salt and gold trade
Leader Sumanguru would practice witch craft,
Sumanguru would:: Allowed trade to be interrupted by corruption, Allowed the rape of the woman, Political assassinations
Sumanguru Killed all but one future leader that was physically and mentally disabled named Sundiata Keita know as the Lion King
Sundiata Keita would challenge Sumanguru ::Battle of kirna
Sundiata Keita would beat sumanguru by dipping his arrow into the blood of a white rooster
Upon victory in 1240 AD:: Sundiata Keita would establish the second trading empire called Mali
Mali :: where the king resides
All malaysian kings would be called mansa:: lord/ emperor
Mali is the second west African trading empire
Sundiata Keita would convert to islam
English African Historian Basil Davidson would claim that the conversion was due to economic and political reasons
New capital city in the south:: niani
Sundiata Keita Rule for 33 years
1314-1337: ruled mansa Musa nickname black moses
Mansa Musa was the Richest man ever according to fords magazine
Mansa Musa’s greatest achievements was in 1324 when he decided to take a hajj is a pilgrimage to meka
Stop at Ciairo to give gold and pay homage
by 1400 AD Mali was gone
The Pacific Realm
The pacific realm is in the Pacific Ocean which is the largest geographic area in the world and with the smallest population (9 million people)
The pacific realm is compromised of 3 regions:: #1 in the west - Melanesia #2 central- Micronesia #3 east- Polynesia
Australian and New Zealand are not part of the pacific realm
The pacific realm is rich and abundant in natural resources and phosphates which are good for food production
Also know as the :: reals of colonialism
Pacific realm is colonized by US and Europe
50-51% of people living in Melanesia are Melanesian
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the largest island in Melanesia
PNG has the largest population inn the pacific Realm
80% of the entire pacific ream population live in PNG
PNG is rich in aluminum, tin, zinc, and gold \n has a large indian population
PNG is urban
PNG had menstruation huts
1974:: PNG gains indépendance from Indonesia
the solaman islands which are named after the king of izrael king solaman who they believed the island was the root of his wealth
The solaman islands consised of over 1000 islands with 200,000-400,000 people
majority of the population in the solaman islands are:: forign business oeiple
Solaman islands is the location os a famus WW2 battle
New Caledonia (NC) is extremely urban and controlled by France
Citizens born in NC are born with French citizenships
NC is a business trade island and also makes money from tourism
Fiji is the only island nations to be colonized by two European nations, France & Britain
90% of Fiji’s wealth comes from tourism
Fiji didnt gain their independence until 1980
The word Micronesia comes form how microscopic (1sq mile) the islands in it are
Micronesia is dominated by the US
Micronesia has strong economic cities
Guam is the larges island nation in Micronesia in size and population
Guam is US territory & houses US naval nations
Currently the people of Guam are attempting to bring back their culture and language
One side of Guam is rainy and the other side is bright and heavenly
Guam has a lot of volcanic territory making it a geologist dream
Naunu:: richest island nation in Micronesia wealthy enough to remain independent
Marshall Islands (MI) are controlled by the US
MI is the testing site for atomic weapons
Bikini Beach:: was heavenly tested on making its waters radio active for 70 years until around 5 years ago
Polynesia:: poly=3 →is the shape of a triangle
Hawaii is the largest island in Polynesia
Hawaii became a US state in:: 1959
Hawaii is the:: southern most state in the US
Hawaii makes most of their money through tourism
Tonga:: only island nation with an independent monarchy
Tahiti:: tourism makes them money & most of the population is French
Easter Island:: is controlled by Chile
Antartica
The ancient greeks were the first to have thought of Antartica
1772:: began the search for antartica
England sends out expeditions in search of Antartica
Captain James Cook was the first to lead the ships in the expadition of antartica
England was never able to get to antartica becaise the ice around was too thick though they did cross the artic circle 3 different times
England would discover two islands south of giorga::sandwhich islands
England also finds islands with large population of seals and this stares the killing of seals for their fur
James cook would be killed on Hawaii island by natives
1820:: Fabian von Bellingshausen(FVB) sailing under Russian flag from Estomia spets foot in Antartica
FVB discovers two islands and names them:: Peter I & Alexander I
According to US Captain Palmer was the first to set foot on Antartica but Palmer himself claims to not
1822:: Great Britain sends another ship led by James Weddell crossing Weddell Sea and going further south than James Cook
1840:: Britian sends James Ross to Antartica with two ships the biggest one being names Terror
Terror was:: 340 tons and designed for rough weather
James Ross would claim the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice shell which is half the size of the US
Other nations including France and the US would begin exploration to antartica
The French c=would claim some islands
1897::began the race for the South Pole
The main competitors were::Sober Falcon Scott and Ronald Amundsen
Ronald Amundsen would use dogs to guide him which made him the first to claim in 1911
1912:: Sober Falcon Scott would arrive in the same area as Ronald Amundsen
Antartica:: big; bigger than Russia, 5 1/2 million sq miles, 1 1/2 times larger than US; worlds largest desert, no population
Antartica is the area of the future::70 lakes & rivers under ice, can sustain life, natural resources, tree fossils indication green life
Known as the white desert:: Antartica
1946:: things would change for Antartica with the start of Operation HIGHJUMP led by Captain Richard Byrd
1961:: UN would step in and put in place an agreement which would allow the split of areas of interest
One piece of land that is unclaimed:: Maria Byrd Land
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