1. AP World History Chapter 3 Notes
Trading Peoples
AP World History
Chapter 3 Notes

2. Trading Peoples
Civilizations of Egypt & Mesopotamia greatly influenced neighboring people in the Fertile Crescent = the Aramaeans and the Phoenicians
Trading peoples
Traveled by sailing ships & by caravan
Spread languages, customs, and ideas as they traded around the Fertile Crescent

3. The Aramaeans Settled in central Assyria around 1200 BCE
Capital = Damascus
Gained control over the trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia

5. The Aramaeans
Because their caravans crisscrossed the Fertile Crescent nonstop, people learned their language called Aramaic
Main language of the region until the 800s
Closely related to Hebrew and Arabic
Many parts of the Bible were written in this language

6. The Phoenicians Canaan = land between ancient Egypt and Syria
Canaan = modern day Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan
Phoenicians settled in northern Canaan

7. The Phoenicians Sailed the seas for trade
Made strong, fast ships using timber in cedar forests
Built a string of towns & cities along their coast
Grew to become city-states
Built confederation (loose union) of city-states

9. The Phoenicians Expert navigators
Plotted voyages using the sun & stars
Took charge of Mediterranean shipping and trade

10. The Phoenicians
Created an alphabet = series of written symbols that represent sounds
Only 22 characters
Each character represented different consonant sound
Basis for our alphabet we use today

11. The Phoenicians
To protect & re-supply their ships, the Phoenicians set up a network of trading posts and colonies along the coasts of the Mediterranean
Colony = settlement of emigrants

12. The Lydians Lived in Asia Minor This area famous for its gold deposits
First group to develop a monetary system with set prices using coins
Everybody else still bartering = exchanging goods
Soon the concept of money traveled to other societies

13. The Olmec Civilization
AP World History
Chapter 3 Notes

14. Mesoamerica Meso = means middle
Refers to any cultures that lived in present-day Mexico & Central America

15. Olmec Civilization One of the earliest Mesoamerican civilizations
Located near Gulf of Mexico
Knowledge of them comes from excavations of 2 main sites = San Lorenzo and La Venta  both discovered in the 1930s

16. Olmec Civilization
Olmec = known for gigantic stone heads carved from basalt (volcanic rock)
Some more than 9 feet tall
Some weighed as much as 40 tons
Heads of rulers
Built without wheels or “beasts of burden”  Olmec moved these heads about 60 miles from the mountains to the sites where they were found
Think about the giant head from Legends of the Hidden Temple! His name was Olmec!

18. Olmec Civilization
Religion played an important role in the lives of the Olmec
Many carvings found of the main Olmec god = a being with a human body and the catlike face of a jaguar
Olmec believed the jaguar god controlled the harvests

19. Olmec Civilization
Early Olmec farmers used slash-and-burn farming = farmers cut down trees to clear land & burned whatever was left
Planted maize and other crops among fertile ashes
Problem = soil became exhausted after about 2 years
Farmers then shifted fields & repeated the cycle

21. Olmec Olmec often traded with other Mesoamerican civilizations
Olmec artifacts found in other regions
Olmec ideas show up with later civilizations, such as:
Religious ceremonies
Sacrificial rituals
Bloodletting
Game of pok-a-tok

22. Olmec Civilization as the “Mother Civilization” in Mesoamerica
Because of the influence that the Olmec civilization had on future civilizations within Mesoamerica, it is often referred to as the “Mother Civilization” in Mesoamerica

23. Pok-a-tok
A ritual ball game = rubber balls were batted back and forth across a walled court
Symbolized the back & forth struggle between this world and the next

25. Olmec Religion
Olmec rulers = BOTH political leaders AND spiritual leaders
Performed rituals and ceremonies to satisfy the gods
Temples and pyramids built where thousands could gather for special religious ceremonies and festivals

26. Religious Rituals of the Olmec
Bloodletting
Sacrifice of humans, animals, and valuable objects

27. Bloodletting Tools used: Blades Stingray spines Sharks’ teeth
Obsidian flakes
Rope with thorns
Jade “spears”

28. Sacrifice