Organizing ‘Civilization’ Part 2 Professor Pacas

Egypt and Mesopotamia in Antiquity

Ancient Egypt (Africa) Egypt 3500 – 2500 BCE Not much is known of the early period of what might be termed Egyptian history. As early as 4,000 BCE there existed some fairly densely populated settlements along the Nile with somewhat complex socio-cultural developments. This period known as Naqada I 4000 – 3500 BCE saw the earliest contact between Egyptians and their eastern neighbors. The period that followed, Naqada II, saw an increase in the complexity of Egyptian civilization.

It is believed that Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was created at this time because of the emerging contact with Mesopotamia it is believed that the Egyptians borrowed the idea of ‘writing’ from the Mesopotamians because prior to this contact there were no native attempts at writing. Also archaeology has found many Mesopotamian cylinder seals in Egypt which they believe might have influenced the Egyptians to adopt the system of Hieroglyphs or pictographic writing.

Naqada III 3250 – 3100 BCE saw the emergence of larger, powerful and more centralized city states in Egypt. There was also an increase in trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia but we also begin to see trade contact between Egypt and the Levant or Syria Palestine.

It is believed that the first attempt by a ruler known as Scorpion to unify Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom was attempted at this time. The attempt at unification of Upper and Lower Egypt failed. Upper Egypt refers to the area closer to Nubia i.e. farther south of the Mediterranean while Lower Egypt is the area that borders the Mediterranean.

Dynasty I 3100 – 2900 BCE and Dynasty II 2900 – 2700BCE are best known for the first successful attempt to unite Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom accomplished by Menes during the First Dynasty period. His heirs to the thrown for the major part of their reign ruled over a unified Egypt which enjoyed a degree of centralized control and relative calm. Scanty sources show that Egypt was already a unified kingdom with a well established hierarchical system, were the king was at the top, followed by the priest class, other government officials, artisans and lastly the peasants.

Early period of Old Kingdom Egypt 2900 – 2500 BCE this is the period that the familiar Egypt of history begins to take shape. This period witnessed an increase in Egyptian trade with its neighbors as well as military campaigns undertaken against Nubia to consolidate their power over the natural resources gold and precious stones found in this region.

It is also the period that we begin to see Egyptian divergence in architecture from Mesopotamian influence to something that would become distinctly Egyptian. During the reign of Djoser in the Third Dynasty 2667 – 2648 BCE the first stepped pyramid was constructed an architectural feature that would eventually come to symbolize and be associated with the land of Egypt.

Egyptian Step Pyramid

Mesopotamian Ziggurat

Ancient ‘China’ Longshan cultural distribution Yangshao cultural distribution

Prehistoric China Chinese history is difficult to piece together since the Chinese did not begin writing a collective history until the 2nd century BCE. Most of the oral tradition that preceded this collective history is fairly accurate but the further back historians go into China’s history it becomes more difficult discern the period factually.

China The geographical region we call China today has been continuously populated as early as 600,000 BCE. It has also witnessed countless migrations from diverse ‘ethnic’ groups of people including Indo-Europeans, Turkic, and Mongolic groups. Because of this fact it is difficult to ascertain to which group the earliest civilization of China belong. Perhaps the best guess is that it was an amalgamation of different ethnic groups sharing similar cultures that eventually coalesced into the earliest civilizations of the Yellow River region.

China 3000 BCE In present day northwest China by 3500 BCE some Neolithic settlements began to coalesce into village communities. They developed a form of painted pottery reminiscent of styles from the west. This group of ‘Chinese’ civilization is known as the Yangshao Culture. Perhaps due to pressure from Indo-European migrations further west the Yangshao displaced earlier inhabitants from the Yellow River region (Longshan Culture) forcing them to migrate further east.

Yangshao China

Yangshao People Yangshao people sculpted painted pottery. Similar to more western models. Perhaps they migrated to China from further west. They cultivated millet as source of food. Culturally they were more sedentary.

Longshan Culture Perhaps due to Indo-European migrations the Yangshao people were forced to migrate further east displacing the cultures that had populated the Yellow River region and forcing them to migrate to the coastal areas of northeast and southern China. These culture, known as black pottery culture (Longshan) settled the northeast and south coast of China as far as present day Vietnam.

Longshan Culture Original settlement before being displaced by Yangshao Culture

Longshan Culture Longshan Culture worked black pottery. Perhaps aboriginal Mongolic group. Worked Jade-difficult to work, requires metal and abrasive sand to work. Cultivated rice Subsist as fishermen after forced migration to the coast by Yangshao Culture.

Longshan Culture It is perhaps this Longshan culture that are one in the same Yi or Yue people that took to the sea and developed as China’s first maritime people. By 3000 BCE the Longshan Culture had developed capable sea-going skills that would eventually be incorporated into China’s first historically documented dynasty.

China 3000-2200 BCE Around 3000 BCE the two cultures, Yangshao and Longshan began to intermix and exchange cultures and ideas, adopting and adapting and giving birth to a new culture. This is the semi-legendary period of China of the 3 sage kings: Yao, Shun, and Yu revered for their selfless reign focusing solely on improving living conditions for the people.

King Yu King Yu was credited for taming the floods of the Yellow River and thus allowing China to enjoy vast wealth concerning crop cultivation. This allowed the Chinese Proto-Xia people (circa 2500 BCE) to concentrate their efforts to form a more sophisticated governmental bureaucracy capable of organizing the population to work the land effectively. This new found wealth allowed the rise of artisan, craftsmen, government officials, and professional armies to service this Chinese civilization of the Yellow River region. King Yu passed his political authority to his son who was the founder of the first Chinese Dynasty- The Xia Dynasty.

Land and maritime migrations to the ‘Americas’ Inner Eurasia Outer Eurasia

Last Ice Age Hunter and gatherers of the Last Ice Age ventured to Asia following the game animals that they depended to live and eventually crossed the Bering straight into North America perhaps as early as 17,000 BCE. Asian Neolithic immigrants settled islands off the coast of China and further south and east during the same time period and it is quite possible that some migrated to South America around 10,000 BCE.

Migrations to North America from Europe Neolithic Age European hunter and gatherers might have migrated from Europe to the North America using hide boats (currachs) perhaps around 12,000 BCE some scholars speculate. Technology of weapons for the hunt that have been discovered in North America only have parallels in Europe around the same time.

The World’s Oceans as highways For these Neolithic groups that already had developed sophisticated navigational skills, the world’s oceans were highways and not barriers. Technology-In Europe wicker framed hide boats with rudimentary sails possibly allowed trans-Atlantic migrations. In Asia they were balsa wood rafts with sophisticated rudders and sails.

Survival in a New World These Neolithic hunter-gatherers of the Americas survived by specializing in hunting large game. They would use the entire animal for food, tools, weapons, shelter, clothes, etc. These were specialized communities with strict roles for men and women and different age groups-emphasis on community’s welfare.

The Hunt

Farming Revolution in the Americas Some of these hunter-gatherer tribes eventually began to experiment with agriculture, as was occurring in other parts of the globe around the same time 7,000-3,000 BCE. The main crops cultivated were maize (corn) in North and Central America and potatoes and yucca in South America.

The main crops

Revolution The adoption of agriculture and the sedentary life style associated with it allowed many of these groups to permanently settle regions in the Americas, both North and South America, and soon sophisticated sedentary civilizations grew out of these early communities.

Sophisticated urban centers of North and South America

Early Civilizations of the Americas In North America the majority of the sophisticated urban societies are predominantly found in what is present day Mexico. Though the geographical territory of what is present day U.S. did have some urban centers in Mississippi and New Mexico territories they were not as sophisticated and complex as the centers found in Mexico. It is possible that the Mexican civilizations influenced those further up north.

Mississippian Culture Complex urban centers Cultivated corn

‘Mexico’ circa 1500 BCE-400 BCE The first great civilization of Mesoamerica were the Olmecs of what is present day Mexico. Taking advantage of great soil in the Veracruz and Tabasco region of modern Mexico, the Olmecs cultivated crops that allowed surplus production and the rise of an elite class. This allowed a rise of artisans that could fashion objects out of semi-precious stone particularly obsidian and jade for the elite class. Although many artifacts have been discovered attributed to the Olmecs, archaeology and history of this early civilization is still considerably sparse.

Olmecs current facts They might be the original creators in the Americas of the concept of ‘zero.’ They had sophisticated calendars and influenced later Meso-American civilizations like the Maya. We don’t know what the people actually called themselves. Olmec is Nahuatl (Aztec) meaning Olli (rubber) mecatl meaning people.

They have a writing system similar to the hieroglyphs of the Maya but it is still has not been deciphered. They are the original MesoAmerican group to develop the ball game associated with other later civilizations. They also were the first to build earthen pyramids.

Olmecs

Decline of Olmecs 400 BCE Around 400 BCE the population on the eastern half of the Olmec territory began to dwindle and some scholars believe that this was tied to changing environmental conditions that could no longer sustain the population. By 350 BCE the population in the region had dwindled to a few thousands by the time Europeans reached the territory in the 16th century CE.

The Aegean Civilizations: Cyclades and Minoans 3200 BCE-2000 BCE

Cycladic Art

Minoan Civilization 2700 BCE