Key Ideas PDF

**1.1** - Humans evolved in Africa and gradually migrated to also populate Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania. - All humans alive today descended from a relatively small population of Homo sapiens who survived near-extinction. - Despite coming from a very small group...

**1.1** - Humans evolved in Africa and gradually migrated to also populate Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania. - All humans alive today descended from a relatively small population of Homo sapiens who survived near-extinction. - Despite coming from a very small group (20,000-500,000, depending on who you ask), today's human population is extremely diverse. - Linguistic and cultural diversity developed as humans settled in far-flung parts of the world; they responded, adapted to, and shaped varying environments. - The diversity of human appearances, including skin color (e.g., Jablonski and Chaplin's "Sepia Rainbow" on slide 6), also emerged as a result of differing climatic conditions.   **1.2** - Village life was different from foraging life in many ways: technology (irrigation, pottery), social relationships (neighbors), gender relations (women had more children), diet and nutrition, and spiritual practices focused on fertility and ancestors. - Village life also made people more raids by outsiders and natural disasters. Living in close quarters with other humans and domesticated animals also increased exposure to disease. - Pastoralists interacted with settled farmers; some pastoralists practiced settled agriculture for part of the year. - Increased exposure to disease and a changing diet changed the biology of many human communities, e.g., some populations developed resistance to certain diseases, some populations grew more lactose tolerant. - Farming peoples migrated to new areas, bringing their knowledge of farming, as well as animals, crops, and biological traits with them. Three major migrations to know are the Indo-European Migrations, the Bantu Migrations, and the Polynesian Migrations (aka the Polynesian Expansion).   **1.3** - Early villages were sometimes self-sufficient, but they still had connections with neighboring communities, gathering for celebrations and ceremonies. - As societies grew in complexity, more connections were forged among settled communities. These were forged by various means, including trade, migration, conflict. - Transportation was vital for the formation of these "webs." Rivers provided one method. Animals could also help (caravans) transport goods and people from one place to another. Technologies including wheeled carts and sails eventually allowed these webs to expand and intensify, though in some areas, human porters continued to provide most of the transportation power for centuries. - Eventually smaller regional webs became larger, more well-developed networks of trade and communication.  - "Webs" could break down due to disasters that led to depopulation, such as war and disease outbreaks. Some civilizational collapses, as with the Indus Valley Civilization, led to knowledge being lost. In many cases, however, knowledge was successfully passed from generation to generation and region to region, lasting until or being recovered in the modern age. - The Standard of Ur provides one example of the webs present in ancient Southwest Asia. It is crafted from materials that originated in Bactria (lapis lazuli), India (red marble), the Persian Gulf (sea shells), and it was assembled in Mesopotamia.   **1.4** - Mesopotamia is a region. It's name means "land between the rivers." The Tigris and Euphrates made this an inviting landscape for agriculture and Mesopotamian societies are credited with many early innovations, including cuneiform, a base-60 number system, and the shaduf. - Mesopotamia was connected through trade, migration, and conflict with the Nile River Valley. Mesopotamians also traded with pastoral groups in neighboring regions and settled societies in South Asia. - Mesopotamia was relatively unstable and prone to conflict. This resulted from geographic factors (lack of barriers to invasion, rivers prone to unpredictable flooding), external pressures (e.g., raiding pastoralists), and internal tensions (e.g., rebellions by local warlords). - The Assyrian Empire was an important Mesopotamian civilization. It provides the model for many themes that we will see in later empires, including: divine kingship, population transfers, the importance of infrastructure, the use of propaganda, and royal patronage of the arts and learning. - Other important technologies that influenced who could wield power in Mesopotamia were the chariot (invented Western Asia c. 2100 BCE), the composite bow (invented c. 1500 BCE), and iron tools and weapons (Assyria was the first Mesopotamian state to use iron weapons). - In Mesopotamia, political power and religion were inextricably linked. Priests, priestesses, and royal scribes were literate, while average people were not. Rulers claimed legitimacy through their connection with the gods. Temples served gods, but also upheld the social and political order. - Mesopotamian society was polytheistic and people believed that humans existed to serve the gods, who could be helpful, or cruel and capricious.   **1.5** - The Nile River region was very well suited to agriculture, because of the characteristics of the river itself. Geographic factors (predictable floods, natural barriers to invasion) also contributed to political unification and stability. Egypt was the world's first territorial state. The Nile remains vital to modern Egypt. - Pharaohs were responsible for maintaining Maat. Maat is a concept that encompasses truth, justice, and order. Pharaohs needed to have a son to carry on the dynasty, manage agriculture effectively, and try to ensure the security and unity of their state. They were divine kings. Priests and scribes served the gods and the pharaohs. - Pharaohs were mummified when they died and buried with lavish grave goods in elaborate tombs. The most famous of these are the Pyramids, which were constructed during the Old Kingdom. Later Pharaohs still had elaborate tombs and had monuments constructed, but they preferred other forms, such as obelisks and temples. - In the Old Kingdom, Egyptians believed that only pharaohs could enter the afterlife. Later, it appears that people believed that anyone who prepared for the afterlife could enter it (this was limited to those with the resources to plan for grave goods and mummification). Egyptians also came to believe that anyone who was to enter the afterlife had to be judged by the gods, who weighed the individual's heart (specifically the evil in it) against a feather (representing Maat).  - Egyptian medicine, religion, and magic were all intertwined. Egypt had doctors, but they did not understand many ailments, including the diseases that plagued their communities (e.g., malaria, tuberculosis, smallpox). Most people would not live past 30-40 years of age. - Egyptian society was highly stratified with a small elite controlling the state and agriculture. There were some artisans and craftspeople who might be relatively well-off. The majority of the population was comprised of peasants who did the hard agricultural work that fed all of Egypt. **2.1** - The Indus Valley Civilization collapsed as its cities were depopulated, but people in the region continued practicing agriculture. - The Indo-European migrations brought waves of pastoralists (Vedic peoples) into South Asia between c. 2000 and 1000 BCE. They brought horses, the chariot, the Sanskrit language, and the Vedas (religious chants and hymns).  - The Vedic peoples mixed with local populations in the Indus and Ganges river regions, settling down and adopting agriculture. They may have dominated locals politically and socially, because of their more advanced military technology, but we can't be sure what early interactions were like. - The Vedas originated as oral tradition. They were eventually recorded in writing sometime c. 1500 BCE. They tell the story of creation and praise the Gods, especially Indra and Agni. - Around 1500 BCE, the Laws of Manu were also recorded. These laws were purported to have been granted to the first man. They laid out the varna (caste) system (social hierarchy with hereditary classes that assign people particular duties/responsibilities)  that would help define society throughout much of South Asia for thousands of years. - The Upanishads were created later (c. 800-200 BCE). They provided commentaries on the Vedas, theories about the right way to live, and ideas about important religious concepts, such as Brahman and atman. - It's important to understand how the concepts of Brahman, atman, samsara, karma, dharma, and moksha fit together, as these ideas remain important in Hinduism (and also influenced ideas in Buddhism).   - **2.2** - Environmental factors created advantages for agriculture (monsoons) and travel (rivers), while also presenting dangers (typhoons, earthquakes) to societies in East Asia. - The first Chinese dynasty (series of rulers from the same family) was supposedly the Xia, founded by a descendant of the legendary Yellow Emperor, but there is no concrete evidence of its existence. - The Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046) is the first "historical" dynasty, because there is written and archaeological evidence of its existence, including Fu Hao's tomb and thousands of oracle bones. - The Shang excelled in bronze working, jade working, and warfare (chariots and bronze axes).   - **2.4** - The mountainous character of Greece presented challenges to political unification. This helps explain why the region was dominated for centuries by city states (*poleis*).  - The competitive character of Greek culture and the relative lack of good agricultural land (only about 20% of the land in Greece is fit for growing food crops) contributed to frequent warfare and many city states seeking to colonize nearby regions. - Athens had a democratic form of government that is quite different from that of the USA. Important decisions were made in the Assembly, which involved all citizen men. Most positions in the government were assigned at random through a lottery system. - War was an unavoidable part of Greek life. Most adult citizen men participated in war either as hoplites (citizen foot-soldiers) or rowers on a warship (trireme). Hoplites fought in a very effective formation called a phalanx, which required them to coordinate with and rely on the men around them. - Colonization led the Greek city-states into conflict with Persia. Athens emerged from this conflict wealthy and powerful (especially in terms of naval power). Athen's prominence and aggressive behavior provoked Sparta into war. - The Peloponnesian War was a major, long-running conflict. The conflict was primarily between Athens and Sparta, but drew in many other city-states on both sides, as well as the Persians (on Sparta's side). Sparta eventually won.  - The Athens Besieged game takes place while Athens is under siege by Sparta at the very end of the Peloponnesian War.   **2.5** - Alexander the Great's massive empire was comprised largely of territory that had once been part of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia). - Alexander's empire was short-lived; it fractured into several competing states shortly after his death. - Alexander's successors, the Diadochi, established Hellenistic kingdoms, including Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Persia. - The Hellenistic world was defined by the spread of Greek cultural influence. - Greek cultural influence could be observed in language (Koine), urban identities (cosmopolitanism), religious blending (syncretism), and the spread of Greek cultural practices/forms (drama, architecture, philosophy). - Alexandria provides an excellent example of a Hellenistic city. It housed a large, wealthy elite that shared the Greek language, was home to the famous Library of Alexandria, was very diverse, and became a center for trade. - The Seleucid rulers were very active in Hellenizing their territory. They built amphitheaters, used Greek-style architecture, and introduced coins that were based on Athenian standards. - The Seleucids pushed for the commercialization of the economy by using coins. In their empire, large-scale cash crop farming also became common (and along with this, the use of enslaved agricultural laborers). - The active approach that the Seleucids took to trade coupled with the growth of a Hellenistic cultural realm promoted long-distance trade and established the first links between the Mediterranean and China (silk first arrived in the "West" during the Hellenistic period). **3.1** - Phoenician civilization thrived thanks to advanced skills in shipbuilding and navigation, coupled with dominance in trade of valuable materials, especially Tyrian purple dye and, later, metals from Spain. - As the fortunes of Tyre, the leading Phoenician city, went into decline, Carthage rose to fill the power vacuum. Carthage eventually ruled an empire around the Mediterranean. - Carthage built its success on the legacies of Tyre/Phoenicia, relying on trade, while also becoming a dominant naval power. - Carthage eventually lost its position of prominence to Rome. Carthage's losses in the Punic Wars led to its demise. - Despite being obliterated by Rome, Carthage left behind important legacies for the world, including "royal" purple, the alphabet, trade connections around the Mediterranean, silver mining in the Mediterranean, and the fame of Hannibal Barca.   **3.2** - The Forum was the center of Roman public life. It was surrounded by important public buildings and hosted important events, including elections, speeches, political meetings, triumphal parades, trials, business deals, and entertainment. - There are pretty clear similarities between the Roman Republic and the US system. This was intentional: the founding fathers were well versed in the politics of the classical world. There are supposed to be "checks and balances" established throughout the system. There is also voting to elect representatives (very different from Athenian lottery system). - Commoners or plebeians (aka Populus Romani) made up the majority of the population, as well as the majority of soldiers in the Roman military. The patricians had much more influence in the government. The Senate was populated by the wealthiest, most powerful male patricians. - Tensions between elites (patricians) and commoners (plebeians) was a key feature of Roman politics. The power struggle between these groups was especially intense between c. 500 BCE and 287 BCE. (the Conflict of the Orders) - The Law of the Twelve Tables was written and adopted at the demand of the Plebs in 450 BCE. This involved writing down laws and posting them publicly, so that anyone could know the law and could defend themselves on its basis. - Historians debate just how democratic the Roman Republic was. The plebeians did have a say, but patricians continued to occupy the most powerful roles in the government, and only a small fraction of the Roman citizenry actually participated in elections. - The Roman Republic was undone by a series of crises during which powerful military generals disregarded Roman law and tradition, took control of the government, persecuted their political rivals, and fought civil wars. - Notable figures in the decline of the Republic include: the Gracchi Brothers, Sulla, Marius, Julius Caesar, Pompey, Octavian, Marc Antony, and Cleopatra.   **3.3** - Rome's traditional religion was a syncretic, polytheistic belief system that incorporated deities from the Italian peninsula, Greece, Egypt, and other parts of the ancient Mediterranean world. - The imperial cult became an important part of Roman culture, especially after the death of Augustus. Devotion to deified emperors bound Romans to the state by linking religious practices and political loyalty. - Roman economy and society depended for centuries on the widespread use of slavery. Enslaved laborers worked in manual jobs like agriculture and mining, as well as in other fields, such as secretarial work and household work. Typically, Roman cities had higher proportions of slaves than the countryside. - Agriculture remained vital to the Roman economy throughout the existence of both the Republic and the Empire. Small farms were widespread, though the number of large, plantation-style farms (a Hellenistic legacy) did increase, though not to the extent that historians used to think. - Roman agriculture advanced through the use of technology (harvesting devices, aqueducts, mills) and through commercialization. Rome was dependent on its long-distance trading networks to feed its urban populations, especially on the Italian peninsula, where agriculture actually declined during the Empire. - The Roman state was divided in the late third/early fourth centuries. The new capital at Constantinople overshadowed the city of Rome. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, while the Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire) continued to exist until 1453 CE. - The Western Roman Empire had many legacies: law, engineering, language, religion, military, public services, architecture, enduring ideas about power and legitimacy.     **3.4** - Persia/Iran continued to be a significant region for politics, culture, and trade after the fall of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire in the 1st c. CE. - The Parthian Empire was established in Persia/Iran following the Seleucid collapse. The Parthians were originally a nomadic group; they had helped topple the Seleucids through invasions and raids. - The Parthian state was self-consciously Persian (Zoroastrianism, heavy cavalry) and also embraced the region's Hellenistic culture (coinage, trade, etc.). - The Parthians were major rivals of Rome; they fell partly because they had been weakened by this rivalry. - The Sassanids, another formerly nomadic group, ended the Parthian state and established their own dynasty. They called their state Iran. - The Sassanids embraced Persian culture and religion, but rejected anything that was obviously Greek. They could not eradicate the area's Hellenistic character, however, and continued to use silver coins and trade along the silk roads. - The Sassanids held their territory despite threats from Rome and steppe nomads thanks to a formidable military and productive, innovative agriculture. - The Sassanids lasted for centuries, but eventually weakened as a result of invasions, climate shock, and disease. - Climate shocks came in the second and sixth centuries. Both were accompanied by outbreaks of disease. - The period of extreme cooling in the sixth c. is sometimes called the Late Antique Little Ice Age. It devastated agriculture and weakened populations throughout the heavily-populated Roman and Sassanid Empires. - The First Plague Pandemic (aka the Justinianic Plague or Plague of Justinian) hit both Iran and the Roman (Byzantine) Empire hard, killing between a quarter and a half of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean. - Arab invaders fighting under the banner of a new religion (Islam) destroyed the Sassanid Empire in the 7th c. CE. **4.1** - Judaism was well-established in the Levant long before Roman power. This religious community was distinctive in the ancient world for their belief in a single, transcendent God, who emphasized moral and ethical behavior. - The Roman province of Judaea, which was home to much of the Empire's Jewish population, was home to notable uprisings, collectively known as the Jewish-Roman Wars (c. 66-135 CE). The defeat of the Jewish rebels in these conflicts led to the Jewish Diaspora of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. - As Jewish people adapted to persecution and migration, their community grew more ethnically and culturally diverse. - Christianity began as a small sect of Judaism in the Roman Empire. It spread and became a separate faith through the actions of early disseminators of Jesus Christ's teachings, including Paul of Tarsus. - Many people in the Roman Empire found the Christian message of equality and a personal connection to a loving God to be very appealing. - In the 1st-3rd centuries CE, Christianity spread despite sporadic (and sometimes widespread) persecution of Christians by Roman authorities. - Roman authorities took issue with Christians for a number of reasons, including their reluctance to participate in Roman life (army, politics, religion), their apparent secretiveness, and their rejection of traditional Roman values. - Constantine played a vital role in Christianity's success in the Roman Empire by ending religious persecution with the Edict of Milan. Theodosius later effectively made it the religion of the Empire. - The Council of Nicaea made Christian doctrine and practice more uniform (Nicene Creed). - After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Christian churches in Western Europe started to differ substantially from their Eastern counterparts. These differences and disagreements about authority in the Church eventually led to schism, which created two different forms of Christianity: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.   **4.2** - The expansion of rice agriculture and the introduction of iron tools in northern India helped cities and powerful states grow. - The Maurya (Mauryan) Empire was the first state to unify most of the Indian subcontinent. Rulers from the Kshatriya class had the easiest time establishing their legitimacy, though they still relied on the Brahmin priests to validate their rule. - As the Maurya Empire grew, religions in the region continued to interact with one another, eventually creating a constellation of religious beliefs and practices that we today call Hinduism. Some of these practices placed much less emphasis on the role of Brahmin priests, as they increasingly revolved around personal devotion to a deity or deities. - Hinduism today is the majority religion (appx. 80%) of India and Nepal. It retains many ideas found in early Vedic texts, but also embraces a range of deities not found in those texts. - Major denominations of Hinduism include: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Each focuses on a specific deity or collection of deities and emphasizes different ideas or practices. - Hindu deities to know: Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu (+ Rama and Krishna) - Core concepts to know: Varna (caste), dharma, karma, samsara, moksha   **4.3** - Jainism and Buddhism created partly through rejection of elements of Hinduism - Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism still share some key concepts and beliefs - Buddhism is a major universalizing religion, becomes one of the most important faiths across Asia; Jainism is quite small, mainly limited to India - Core Concepts in Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, Middle Way (Moderation), Karma, Samsara, Dharma (sometimes spelled Dhamma), Nirvana - Key Factors in Spread of Buddhism: Monasteries, Missionaries, Monuments, Migration; Silk Roads, Powerful States - Famous monuments and monasteries could be found across Asia from Afghanistan (e.g., Bamiyan) to China (e.g., Longmen). - Three Schools of Buddhism to Know: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana (Vajrayana is a subset of Mahayana Buddhism) - Mahayana spread more readily than Theravada, because of its emphasis on personal cultivation, the divinity of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and a path to enlightenment for non-monastics. - Buddhism has heavily influenced mindfulness practices in the Western world in the 20th and 21st centuries.   **4.4-4.5** - Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism developed in response to the unrest of the Warring States Period; all offered theories on how to establish order in society. - Confucianism focuses on hierarchy and obedience, as well as the responsibility of authority figures to lead through moral example. Became the dominant philosophy of the Han Empire. - Daoism (also spelled Taoism) promoted the principle of inaction; good government would permit people to live naturally and without ambition because their basic needs were met. Was influential in many Chinese governments, but never the main ideology. - Legalism focused on strict laws and harsh punishments; it brought about the centralization and bureaucratization of power in China, first in the Qin state, the king of which later established the Qin Dynasty. - Han China abandoned many of the harsh aspects of legalism, but retained the government structure established by the Qin. This basic structure remained in place until 1912. - The Han Dynasty was economically and militarily successful. Like the Roman Empire, however, the Han Dynasty came to be internally fractious and overextended, which led to its fall.