THE BRONZE AGE: NEW CIVILIZATIONS IN THE EASTERN & WESTERN HEMISPHERES Mr. Ermer Miami Beach Senior High School World History AP

The Huang He River Valley  China = isolated by natural barriers  Himalaya mountains in SW  Pamir Mountains, Tian Mountains, Gobi Desert in West  Mongolian Steppe to the NW  Pacific Ocean to the East  Minimal contact w/ rest of Asia = distinct development  Various climate zones (Subarctic to Subtropical)  Loess deposits create fertile agricultural lands  Colors the Yellow River  Northern China farms millet and wheat  Southern China farms rice

Shang Dynasty ( B.C.E.)  Neolithic Chinese (Xia Dynasty)  Silk production, pounded earth walls, pottery, livestock, grain  Enters Bronze Age c BCE (later than W. Asia)  Earliest written records in China—pictograms & phonetic  Warrior culture, military campaigns against nomads  POWs taken as slaves to Shang capital  Decentralized political system, clan leaders rule locally  Cities were administrative/religious centers—feng shui  Most common people lived in farming villages  Divination and sacrifice  Bronze = sign of authority

Shang Artifacts

Zhou Dynasty ( BCE)  1027: Last Shang king defeated by Zhou leader, Wu  Zhou adopt many Shang cultural elements, add new ones  The Mandate of Heaven  Decline in divination, priestly power, sacrifice  Continued decentralization of political power  800 BCE: Shift from Western capital to Eastern capital  Zhou power destabelized, local leaders increase power, war  : Warring States Period  Long protective walls, mounted soldiers, steel production  Legalism

Chinese Society: Confucianism & Daoism  Aristocrats seek to influence Zhou leaders  Kongzi “Confucius” ( BCE) is such an aristocrat Governments = family, hierarchy, human goodness, anti-Legalist Ren (familial benevolence) = moral government  Daoism founded by Laozi, “follow the path (dao)”  Accept the world as is, follow natural path  Clan-based kinship replaced by three-generation family  Women subordinate to men, Confucius equates to commoners Monogamous marriage, but men allowed concubines Yin and Yang = different roles for women and men

Kushite Nubia ( BCE)  Connects N. Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa  Heavily influenced by Egypt with sub-Saharan elements  Nile River = main geographic feature  Irrigated farmlands, cataracts, portaged trade  Kush = powerful Nubian kingdom  Kerma (capital) = First urban center in tropical Africa Kushite craftsmen more advanced than Egyptians  Destroyed by New Kingdom Egyptian army  Egyptian culture, religion, architecture adopted by Kushites

Meroitic Nubia (800 BCE- 350 CE)  Egyptian power weakens, loses control of Nubia  BCE Nubian kings rule Egypt as pharaohs Assyrian invasion ends Nubian rule in Egypt, kings retreat to Nubia  500s: New Nubian kingdom based in Meroë in the south  Sub-Saharan culture begins to replace Egyptian model Matrilineal family succession, women often ruled as queen  Economy based on trade and agriculture  350: Meroitic kingdom collapses  Western nomads attack on camels  Trade with Rome declines as it shifts to Red Sea  Rise of Axum (Aksum) in Ethiopia lessens regional influence

The Americas ( BCE)  First Americans migrated from Asia in waves  Isolated in the western hemisphere  Mesoamerica & Andean region develop the most  Limited trade encourages urbanization  Irrigation and large-scale building practiced  Olmec and Chavin peoples project power over regions

The Olmec ( BCE)  Dominated Mesoamerica  Microclimates produce variety of climate zones Leads to trade and cultural exchange  The Olmec centered on Atlantic coast of southern Mexico  Influence stretches much further to Pacific & Central America  Production of corn, beans, and squash  Urban centers eventually abandoned, destroyed, buried  Cities designed on basis of celestial bodies (stars)  Kingship based on secular and religious power  Large stone heads carved to honor individual leaders  Olmec culture influenced later Mesoamerican cultures

The Chavin ( BCE)  Mountains, arid coastal plains, dense interior jungles  Complex social institutions, regional exchange, shared labor  Chavin capital, Chavin de Huantar, 10,300 ft. in Andes  On trade routes connecting coast to mountain valleys  Communal shared labor used for infrastructure building  Llamas domesticated as beasts of burden  Terraced agriculture, adobe brick