1. New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
BCE

2. Early China
BCE

3. Geography and Resources
China is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain ranges, deserts and the Pacific
But were able to trade goods and ideas
Eastern Asia is great for agriculture
Southern China receives monsoonal rain
Geography and Resources

4. China’s eastern river valleys and northern plain
Contain timber, stone, metal deposits, and productive land
Why so fertile?
Loess, a yellowish-brownish dust that blows in from Central Asia
Gives the Yellow River (Huang He) it’s name

5. Agriculture Required people working together clear forests
build water channels and dikes
build reservoirs
build terraces

6. Crops In the north In the south Millet and wheat Rice
Rice can feed more people per cultivated acre than any other grain!

7. The Shang Period, 1750-1027 BCE Shang family
Originated in the Yellow River Valley
Extended their control north into Mongolia, westward and then south to the Yangzi river
The beginning of Chinese written history
The Shang Period, BCE

8. The King and his court ruled the center of the region
Royal family members and nobility governed the provinces
In some far off regions, native rulers that swore allegiance to the Shang King were allowed to rule
The region was connected by roads

9. The Shang often fought against the nomads to the north
Called them “barbarians”
Shang cities
Palaces, administrative buildings, storehouses, royal tombs, shrines of gods and ancestors
All surrounded by a city wall

10. Commoners
Often lived outside of the city
Focused on agriculture

11. Writing system Pictograms and phonetic symbols Hundreds of signs
Small number of educated elite knew the system
(the main principle of this writing exists today, where as cuneiform and heiroglyphics have been replaced)

12. Religion King was the intermediary between the people and the gods
Male ancestors were worshipped
Rulers used divination to determine the will of the gods
Example on pages 42 and 43
Made ritual sacrifices
Animals and humans, upon the death of a ruler

13. Bronze Possession meant power and nobility
Weapons made the state powerful
Vessels were used in religious ceremonies
Ex. Pg. 41
The Shang expanded mining efforts of copper and tin

14. The last Shang ruler was defeated by Wu, the ruler of Zhou
The Zhou line of kings was the longest lasting of all dynasties
The Zhou preserved Shang culture and added to it
The Zhou Period, BCE

15. Mandate of Heaven The Zhou used the idea to justify their take over
The idea: the ruler had been chosen by the supreme deity and would retain his backing as long as he served as a wise, principled, and energetic guardian of his people

16. Religious rituals Decline in use of divination
Decline in human sacrifices

17. Western Zhou rule 11th – 9th century BCE Early period
Capitals were in the western part of the kingdom
Decentralized rule
Member and allies of the royal family ruled local territories autonomously
Elaborate ceremonies impressed people

18. Eastern Zhou era Warring States Period Unification of China
800 to 300 BCE
Moved their capital to the east
800 BCE
Local rulers became more independent
Often went to war with each other
Warring States Period
BCE
Unification of China
221 BCE

19. Changes during the Eastern Zhou
Walls between city-states
Fighter on horseback, learned from the steppe nomads
Iron began replacing bronze weapons
Southern China – first to forge steel

20. In the states Law codes were written
Governments collected taxes from the peasants
Began large public works projects
The philosophy of Legalism became popular
Believed human nature is wicked
Strict laws are required to get people to behave
Personal freedom must be sacrificed for the good of the state

21. Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Society
Confucius
Kongzi ( BCE)
An aristocrat from a small state
Idea of duty and public service
Saw a parallel between family and state
A set hierarchy
Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Society

22. Family

23. Government

24. Confucius Government exists to serve the people
The ruler gains respect by displaying fairness and integrity
Benevolence, avoidance of violence, justice, rationalism, loyalty and dignity
Had little influence in his lifetime

25. Daoism During the Warring States period Developed by Laozi
Wanted to stop the warfare
Encouraged people to follow the Dao or “path” of nature
Suggests going through life passively without fighting

26. Social organization changes
From clans or large family groups to 3 generational families
Grandparents, parents, children
New idea of private property
Belonged to the men of the family and was divided amongst the sons

27. Life of women… Very little is known
Written records tell us they were subordinate in a patriarchal society
Fathers arranged marriages
Men could have one wife, but other sexual partners as concubines

28. Concept of yin and yang
Yang = Male; like the sun is active, bright and shining
Yin = Female; like the moon is passive, shaded and reflective
The symbol shows the balance of the two forces

29. Nubia
3100 BCE – 350 CE

30. Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination, 2300-1100 BCE
Along the Nile
South of Egyptian civilization
River irrigation was necessary
Six cataracts obstructed boat traffic
~3000BCE
Turned to agriculture and cattle herding
Was a corridor of trade to Egypt
Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination, BCE

31. Middle Kingdom – 2040 – 1640 BCE
Egyptian rulers tried to take Nubian gold mines
Set up brick forts to protect southern Egypt and regulate commerce

32. Kush In the fertile Dongola region of Nubia Powerful Kings
1750 BCE – used forced labor to build large monuments
Dozens to hundreds of servants and wives sacrificed upon their deaths
Proves a belief in the afterlife

33. New Kingdom – 1532-1070 BCE Egyptians pushed further south
Destroyed Kush
Forced native workers to work in the mines
Many died
Imposed Egyptian culture
Nubians served in the Egyptian army
Nubians began using at least parts of Egyptian religion

34. The Kingdom of Meroe, 800 BCE- 350 CE
Egypt’s authority in Nubia collapsed after BCE
712 to 660 BCE
Nubians ruled all of Egypt as the 25th Dynasty
The ruled according to Egyptian custom
The Kingdom of Meroe, 800 BCE- 350 CE

35. 701 BCE The Nubians made a mistake
Offered to help the Palestinians fight the Assyrians
The Assyrians reacted by invading Egypt and pushing Nubian power back to Nubia
Egyptian culture remained in Nubia
Ex. Burial, small pyramids, hieroglyphics

36. By 400 BCE Women of Meroe Nubian power was centered in Meroe
Sub Saharan culture began to replace Egyptian culture
Women of Meroe
Royal women involved in politics, sometimes queens ruled
Matrilineal society
The king was succeeded by the son of his sister
Roman accounts of a fierce one-eyed warrior queen

37. Meroe the city More than 1 square mile
Different trade routes met there
Reservoirs were dug to catch rainfall
Iron smelting (after 1000BCE)

38. Meroe collapsed About 350 CE
May have been overrun by nomads who had access to camels

39. First Civilizations of the Americas: The Olmec and Chavin
BCE

40. People in the Western Hemisphere
Came from Asia
20,000 to 13,000 BCE
Isolated until the 1400s CE

41. The Mesoamerican Olmec, 1200-400 BCE
Varied geography and climates
People in different areas developed different technologies
The region was not politically unified
The Mesoamerican Olmec, BCE

42. Olmec 1200-400 BCE Domesticated corn, beans, and squash Fished
Were able to have surplus food
Religious and political elites
Organized the population
Irrigation canals
Raised fields
Constructed large scale religious and civic buildings

43. Different city-states held power at different times
Most were abandoned
monuments were defaced and buried, buildings were destroyed
Why?
Over run by neighbors?
Destroyed upon the death of a ruler?

44. Olmec building Large platforms or mounds of earth
Religious and political activities performed on them
Houses of the elites built on them
Lifting the elite above the masses
Cities were aligned with certain stars
People living in the agricultural regions around the cities did most of the building

45. These items were traded with other people
Olmec artisans
Carved stone and jade
Created pottery
Made obsidian tools
These items were traded with other people

46. Olmec political structure
Probably a king that had both religious and political power
Large stone heads were carved to represent different rulers

47. Olmec religion Thousands would come to the cities for ceremonies
Human sacrifice and blood letting
Polytheistic
Jaguars, sharks, crocodiles and snakes
An idea that humans could transform into these shapes
Shamans and healers worked with the elite
Developed a calendar and a ritual ball game

48. Early South American Civilization: Chavin, 900-250 BCE
Andean Civilizations
As early as 2600 BCE
Settled along the coasts of Peru
Chavin
An early Andean urban civilization
Controlled a large, highly populated territory including coastland and foothills
Early South American Civilization: Chavin, BCE

49. A reciprocal labor system allowed for the building of public works
The capital city, Chavin de Huantar, was located at an intersection of trade routes
Could control trade
Became a ceremonial and commercial center
A reciprocal labor system allowed for the building of public works

50. Llamas Chavin religion Were used to move goods
The only domesticated beasts of burden in the Americas
Provided meat, wool and labor
Chavin religion
A jaguar deity
Evidence has been found that suggests this belief covered a large area

51. Metallurgy in America developed in this region
The technology moved into Mesoamerica
Along with maize becoming available in the Andes, proves trade
Again, no clear evidence as to why this culture collapsed