Unit 4 The Lives of People in Earliest Civilisations PDF

History: The Lives of People in Earliest Civilisations Table of Contents Contents Page No. Unit 4: History: Lives of people in Earliest Civilisation 01 -40 4.1 Lives of People in Mesopotamia 01...

History: The Lives of People in Earliest Civilisations Table of Contents Contents Page No. Unit 4: History: Lives of people in Earliest Civilisation 01 -40 4.1 Lives of People in Mesopotamia 01 - 09 4.2 Lives of people in Ancient Egypt 10 - 20 4.3 Live of people in Harappa 21 - 28 4.4 Lives of people in Ancient Chinese Civilisation 29 - 40 1. The Lives of People in Mesopotamia Examine the personal, civic, and economic life of people based on a study of primary archaeological sources As we have already gathered from the previous lesson, the river banks, around which the civilisations grew, were a major reason why early civilisations thrived for a large number of years. In this lesson, we will study certain archaeological resources from each of the civilisations. We will examine these resources in detail and draw conclusions about the personal, civic, and economic life of people in the earliest of human civilisations. 1 The 6Cs of a Primary Source In order to analyse the primary resources, we must examine various aspects of its creation and existence. During the course of studying History, we will use 6Cs to examine a particular resource. 1. Content: Describe in detail what you see. 2. Citation: When was this created? 3. Context: What was going on in the world, the country, the region, or the locality when this resource was created? 4. Connections: Link this primary source to other things you already know or have learned about. 5. Communication: Is this source reliable? 6. Conclusions: How does this primary source contribute to our understanding of history? Let us take a look at an example: Fig 3.1 : Dancing Girl from the Harappan Civilisation 2 The Lives of Mesopotamians: Fig 3.2 : The many civilizations of Mesopotamia The first of Mesopotamian civilisation originated at the southern part of the two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris around 3500BC. This urban settlement was named Sumer which meant "land of the civilised kings". People who hailed from Sumer were known as Sumerians. Mesopotamians are known for developing the first ever known written language - cuneiform - wedge shaped marks on clay tablets. There was a huge emphasis on the written word. People recorded every important aspect of life in a written manner. Not only did it benefit archaeologists in finding detailed information about an ancient time period, but at the moment it also created a need to focus on learning and building knowledge. As a result, the first schools of the world originated in Ancient Mesopotamia. Archeologists have discovered many renowned works of literature written in cuneiform, including The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of The Great Floods. Many important clay tablets which have provided information about the lives of Mesopotamians were also discovered. Let us look at two of such texts: Fig 3.3 : The King List from Sumer For the video ( Vid 3.1 The Sumerian King List ) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. 3 Another one of the famous works is the Code of Hammurabi, originated out of Babylon. This was a compilation of laws or code of conduct which guided the lives of people during the Babylonian dynasty. These 282 case laws include economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), as well as criminal law (assault, theft) and civil law (slavery, debt). Penalties varied according to the status of the offenders and the circumstances of the offenses.3 For example, if a person from upper class broke a slave's arm, they would have to pay a fine, whereas if a noble person broke another noble person's arm, the offending noble would have their arm broken. It is also revered as the earliest example of a constitution in a rule of law. Fig 3.4 : The Code of Hammurabi For the video ( Vid 3.2 The Code of Hammurabi) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. 4 The Social Structure in Mesopotamia Fig 3.5 : Social Structure in Mesopotamia According to the evidences found at sites of excavation, it is clear that there were kings, noblemen, and slaves. The king ruled the entire population of the kingdom. Kings were considered to be representatives of God, chosen by God to rule. If the king was more successful, he was considered to be closer to God. Mesopotamians were very religious and superstitious because they depended heavily on the gift of nature. They believed that chaos and order was a decision made by Gods. As a result, priests were high up in the social structure. Writing was also given a lot of importance in the society, scribes or people who wrote about the kings were therefore, also high in the social structure along with the priests and other government officials. Merchants, artisans and traders brought money into the kingdom through buying and selling of goods. This also made the towns famous across the length of the two rivers. The more famous a town was, the more successful it was deemed to be. All of these people stood third highest in the hierarchy. Wives of kings and priests had the same status as the merchants and craftsmen. Below them were farmers and labourers and other women. At the bottom of the societal structure were slaves. Slaves were people who had no rights of their own. These people belonged to a noble person and had to do whatever was asked of them. Slaves were paid little to no money and had no freedom of any kind. 5 Religion and Belief in Mesopotamia Fig 3.6 : Statues from Mesopotamia Fig 3.7 : Statues from Mesopotamia Fig 3.8 : Statues from Mesopotamia The Mesopotamians were religious and believed in multiple Gods. They believed that a divine power was the force behind all natural and social matters. In the beginning, priests were the leaders and then kings took over but priests continued to play an important role in the decision making process. Fig 3.9 : Ziggurats of Mesopotamia Temples for these Gods were created in many places across the town and were known as Ziggurats (fig 3.9). The temples were made at a height to provide a resting space for deities "closer to the heavens". Statues like those shown above were placed by people in the temples to symbolise humans bowing down to God all the time. These statues often had inscriptions of a prayer dedicated to a particular God. At one excavation site, twelve such statues were discovered, three of which were females. Enlil was considered the most powerful Mesopotamian god when this statue was created. Enlil, later known as Elil, was the ancient Mesopotamian god of wind, air, earth, and storms. 6  What else can you infer about the religious practices of Mesopotamians based on the statues? Towns and Architecture Mesopotamia was divided into many city-states. This meant there were multiple rulers and kingdoms which co-existed at the same time. While the rulers were different, most people lived their daily lives in the same manner. Fig 3.10 A town in Mesopotamia Fig 3.11 A town in Mesopotamia ( 3D Model ) 7 At the center of each city, was the ziggurat. Those who were the highest on the social ladder lived closest to the city center. Therefore, the distance from the temple defined how wealthy one was. The houses of the rich and noble were made of clay, while those of farmers, labourers and slaves were made of reed. Canals meant for irrigation and drainage ran along the roads. Roads adjacent to wealthy houses were broad, while those next to impoverished houses were very narrow. The city itself was surrounded by thick walls to protect the inhabitants from invaders and attacks. As we know, Mesopotamia was a land of several kings. These rulers were constantly trying to expand their empire. In early 1900s, one such wall (fig 3.11) was excavated by a British archaeologist. It took him 12 years to Fig 3.12 Reed excavate. Fig 3.13 Ishtar Gate of Babylon Fig 3.13 Ishtar Gate of Babylon Fig 3.15 Ishtar Gate of Babylon ( 3D Model ) 8 Other inventions: Apart from having invented a language for communication and possibly the first ever constitution, Mesopotamians also invented the concept of time. They are known to have divided the day into 24-hour segments. Conclusion: The lives of Mesopotamians were, in many ways, similar to our own. The people were motivated by the idea of making their city-state stand out from the rest. Men and women worked in all kinds of jobs and children went to school to learn the ways of Mesopotamian life. In hindsight, the Mesopotamian civilisation can be credited for much of the technological advancements in early life - especially language, irrigation, and time. Summary: Some of the major Mesopotamian civilizations include the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, and Babylonian civilizations. Mesopotamian civilisation was divided into city-states which were ruled over by kings who were believed to be chosen by God People believed in multiple Gods who looked over order and social life. Each city-state was believed to have been looked after by a God. The temple for this God was called a ziggurat. The many firsts: Sumerians (the first of Mesopotamian civilisations) known for inventing the first written language, the first schools, the concept of 24-hour days, and many others. The Mesopotamian civilisation was divided into social classes. The laws and rights applied to an individual based on their class. Houses and streets were also available to individuals based on their social classes. The town was built around the ziggurat. Streets closer to the temple were broad, while those away from the temple were narrow. The entire city was surrounded by a thick wall to protect the inhabitants from invaders. 9 2. Lives of People in Ancient Egypt Examine the personal, civic, and economic life of people in Ancient Egypt based on a study of primary archaeological sources Ancient Egyptian civilisation developed in close proximity to the Mesopotamian civilisations around the same time. Egyptians made use of the technologies that developed in Mesopotamia and advanced them further to benefit the people of the kingdom. We know that ancient Egyptian civilisation prospered on the banks of the Nile river. Let us look into the archaeological sources from the civilisation to understand the lives of people a little better. The Old, Middle and the New: Ancient Egypt was divided into lower Egypt and upper Egypt based on the flow of the Nile. The History of Egypt is also divided into “kingdom periods” - old, middle and new. 1Kingdoms were ruled over by kings who were called pharaohs (pronounced as fa-roe-s). The old kingdom was also known as the Age of the Pyramids.2 It was during this time that the great pyramids of Giza were built. Scholars could gather information about this time period primarily from these monuments and the inscriptions on them. Detailed inscriptions of farming, costumes, food, and religion of the people decorate the walls of the pyramids. Fig 4.1 The Great Pyramids of Giza Fig 4.2 The Sphinx 10 The pyramids were constructed as tombs or burial places for the kings or pharaohs. The Egyptian belief, much like the beliefs of Mesopotamians, was that the pharaohs become Gods after dying. 3 This belief led the pharaohs to build great pyramids for themselves. Each of these pyramids had a temple for Gods. The inscriptions are believed to be telling the story of the kingdom created by the pharaohs. These pyramids were also filled with material things that the rulers would need for themselves to have a good life after death. There are three pyramids in Giza, each constructed by a different king. The most unique out of the three is the pyramid accompanied by the sphinx (a lion body with the head of the king). Fig 4.3 The inscriptions inside the tombs Fig 4.3 The inscriptions inside the tombs Given that the pyramids have stood the test of time till date, it is clear that ancient Egyptians were extremely skilled at architecture. The tall monuments were made out of baked bricks and limestone. Building of pyramids would have required an organised and wealthy community which was strong enough to complete the build in the hot and arid climate of Egypt. Let us try to fill the 6Cs table for Pyramids of Giza: 11 Memphis: The Seat of Power The civilisation named the area in which the pyramids were built, the city of Memphis. It was the first capital of ancient Egypt. Over a 100 pyramids were built in Memphis in the old kingdom; this made Memphis the most important city in the world. Since pyramids were made out of whitewashed bricks earlier, Memphis was also known as “white wall”. The approach to the city resembled approaching a white wall. Another name for the city was Hut-ka-Ptah. People prayed to the god of creation, for all craftsmen and artisans, Ptah (Fig 4.3). As a result, the city was often looked at as the mansion of this God. Fig 4.4 Ptah The Rise of the Middle Kingdom: We know that Ancient Egypt depended heavily on the flooding of the Nile river. Too much rain would lead to devastating floods, however just enough would create suitable conditions for farming grains. The old kingdom is believed to have collapsed due to the damage caused by floods. Poor harvests led to chaos in the kingdom. The rule of the kings began to disintegrate gradually. At this time, religion was an important part of people’s lives. Priests were respected more because they were considered to be closer to God. People began seeing them as more powerful and important than the pharaohs. Power and authority was thus distributed among local priests and governors who had some control. Power in the hands of more people, led to more improvements in the quality of life for people. This provided the civilisation with the much needed stability. A government official named Intef I, came to power and started administering rule from another city, Thebes.He initiated wars against the central rule and moved the capital to Thebes. This is where the construction of the temple complex, Karnak took place. 12 Karnak Temple Karnak, translates to “the most select of all places”, was a temple complex dedicated to the God Amun-ra, the creator and preserver of life (fig 4.4). It sits on the eastern bank of the Nile river. Egyptians believed that Gods also needed a resting place after working so hard for the success of an agricultural cycle. As a result, they created grand structures for the Gods as a sign of respect. The construction of Karnak temple took place over fifteen hundred years. Thirty pharaohs contributed to this construction. With over 134 large columns, Karnak is one of the largest temples in the world. Each of the columns have inscriptions which tell us more about the history of Ancient Egypt. Fig 4.5 Amun-ra Fig 4.6 Karnak Temple For the video ( Karnak Temple Complex in Egypt) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. Hieroglyphics (pronounced hai-ruh-glif-uks) During the middle kingdom, Egypt went through a literary revolution. Language was used for documenting religious rituals, administrative processes, the ways of life, and also to write fictional stories. Different systems of writing were used for different purposes. Hieroglyphics were used for religious purposes. Hieratic was a language that evolved from hieroglyphics and was used for administrative purposes, and for writing literary and scientific texts. Demotic was used as the “language of the people” for communicating about the day-to-day.Check figure 4.6 for the differences between the systems of writing. 13  Fig 4.7 The systems of writing in Egypt The word hieroglyphics has Greek origins. It comes from “hiero”, meaning holy, and “glyphics”, meaning writings. Hieroglyphics were written in rows and columns and could be read from left to right or right to left. The system used pictures and symbols. The face of the animals or humans in the script would denote the beginning of the sentence. Fig 4.8 Hieroglyphics 14  The writing system was discovered by scholars over twenty years with the help of the rosetta stone. Rosetta Stone is a granite slab with inscriptions in all three languages, hieroglyphs, hieratic, and demotic. It was discovered accidentally, in the city of Rosetta, in present day Egypt, in the 18th century. The scholars rushed to find the meaning of what was written on the slab. It turned out to be a declaration of support for the then pharaoh, made by the priests. Rosetta Stone is one of the key artefacts of early Egypt that helped in understanding the ancient language, which then helped scholars and archaeologists piece together extended information on the civilisation. This was possible because hieratic Fig 4.9 The Rosetta Stone was similar to ancient Greek (language of Greece). The stone contained 14 lines of hieroglyphics, 32 lines of demotic, and 53 lines in hieratic (ancient Greek). For the video ( The Rosetta Stone) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. The New Kingdom The New Kingdom was also known as the “Empire Age”. It was characterised by eliminating all foreign invaders, known as Hyksos (Greeks and Romans), from the kingdom and unifying the powers in the hands of true Egyptians. The first king of the new kingdom, Ahmose I, continued to expand the Egyptian empire to protect it from future invasions. This new expanded kingdom put Egypt in the limelight internationally. It promoted trade with the Mesopotamian kingdom bringing in much wealth Fig 4.10 The expansion of the and innovations to Egypt as well. Egyptian kingdoms The new kingdom had a great impact on defining the importance of Ancient Egypt in the History of the world. In fact, the word pharaoh (king/ruler) was coined during the new kingdom. However, the scholars referred to previous rulers as pharaohs as well. This is just one example of how the empire age defined the ancient history of Egypt. Given that the idea of divine kingship or kings being Gods on Earth was propagated during the new kingdom, many pharaohs made temples dedicated to themselves during this time period. 15 The Pharaoh Queen - Hatshepsut Hatsheput was probably one of the only female pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Traditionally, only sons of kings could become kings themselves. However, when her father, Thutmose I died, she married her half-brother to help him become a pharaoh. Unfortunately, he also died early leaving behind a three-year old son as the next ruler. Hatsheput ruled in her son’s name for a few years before she declared herself as the Pharaoh. She ruled for over twenty years and was known for bringing immense wealth and artistry to the kingdom. She built many architectural structures which we can still see today. Not only did she add to the famous Karnak temple, she also built a temple for herself, Deir elBahari, where she was eventually buried. Most of her statues were created with beards as pharaohs were mostly men. However, she made a point that the inscription made it clear that a powerful woman - “His Majesty, Herself” ruled over Egypt successfully. Fig 4.11 Hatsheput Fig 4.12 Hatsheput The Valley of Kings After her death, her son, Thutmose III took over the rule and expanded the empire all the way to Euphrates in the east and towards Nubia in the south. Using war tactics, he captured many prisoners and employed them as slaves who restored falling structures through the kingdom. After Thutmose III, Ahmenhotep came to rule. Him and his wife Nefertiti, reformed the way religion existed in Egypt. They tried to move towards monotheism - belief in one God. Fig 4.13 Nefertiti 16  Over many centuries, the strong belief in many Gods was resulting in powerful priests. In order to become the most powerful in the kingdom, Ahmenhotep seized the lands of priests and took away their powers. He closed all the temples and established a religion of one God, Aton. To many, this act was an act against the spirit of Egypt itself. The kingdom became weaker as the subjects lost their faith in the king. After Ahmenhotep died, his 10-year old son Tutankhamen (known as the Boy King) became the new pharaoh. With the help of officials and priests, he restored the new religion but died quite early, at the age of 19. Owing to the many pharaohs that ruled Egypt, the valley of kings became the burial ground for all of them. Unlike the rulers of the Old Kingdom who built pyramids, the New Kingdom rulers built underground tombs filled with gold, jewels and other material objects. Some mummified pets were also found in the valley. The valley rests at the banks Fig 4.14 Tutankhamun’s Tomb of the Nile river, at Thebes. Mummification Ancient Egyptians made tombs or resting places for their dead. They believed that life on Earth was pleasant and the best that was possible. Since Egyptians believed in life after death, they wanted to continue having the pleasures and privileges of life on Earth after death. Hence, they mummified the bodies of the dead to preserve them. The process of mummification was precise and detailed. It usually took seventy days to complete. The process was so successful that we can even identify what the person looked like 30,000 years ago if we find their mummy today! There were several steps involved in mummification: 17  1. The priests, who were experts in human anatomy, would remove the internal organs first. Only the heart was left inside the body, as it was believed to be the organ of human intelligence and being. The removed organs were kept in separate jars in fluids meant to keep them from decaying. These jars were also buried with the mummy. 2. The body was then dried up completely using salt. Moisture was completely removed from the body to avoid decay. This would cause the body to look sunken. So, linen was added to the body to make it look life-like. Essential oils were then poured over the body. 3. Then, linen was wrapped around each body part. Some parts of linen were covered in essential oils to hold them together. Amulets inscribed with prayers were placed to keep the linen in place and to protect the individual from harm. 4. A portrait of the individual’s face was placed on the head. Then, one large covering of linen (shroud) was used to cover the entire body. 5. The shroud was then painted and inscribed using hieroglyphics. Sometimes, the paintings were prayers. Some were descriptions of the person’s life. 6. Finally, objects required for the day-to-day were placed in the tomb. These included paintings, furniture, food and prayer notes. Mummification was an expensive process. Only the pharaohs and the nobility could afford this. The common person was simply buried with food and the objects of their daily life. For the video ( Mummification ) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. 18 Social Classes and Occupations Much like Mesopotamians, the social classes in Egypt had the kings at the top. Priests were also considered government officials and acted as close advisors to the rulers. Since soldiers protected the kingdom from persistent attacks, they had higher status as well. These were followed by scribes, who maintained official documents, inscribed on temple walls, and created literature. Fig 4.15 Egyptian Social Pyramid Merchants who spread prosperity through the kingdom and across the map of the world followed. At the bottom were craftsmen, farmers and slaves. Their contribution was seen as minimal as they did not bring fame and wealth from outside the kingdom. 19 Summary: Egypt was ruled by powerful rulers, known as pharaohs The rulers made pyramids, which were resting places for their tombs and devoted to Gods The biggest contribution of Egyptian civilisation was innovations in architecture. Some of the structures are still standing till date and have taught us a lot about the civilisation. Memphis and Thebes were the two important cities of the Egyptian civilisation. Both gained prominence due to the architectural structures built there. The writing system called hieroglyphics was created to communicate. The language of the people was demotic and the one used for administrative purposes was hieratic. It was discovered first because of the Rosetta Stone The new kingdom was also known as the “empire age” as the empire extended both westwards and southwards. Hatsheput was a female pharaoh that ruled during this time. Mummification was a process that was mastered to preserve the bodies of the pharaohs and the nobility 20 3. Lives of People in Harappa Examine the personal, civic, and economic life of people in Harappan Civilisation based on a study of primary archaeological sources While Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations were thriving in the middle east, in what is present day Pakistan and India, another civilisation was taking shape - the Indus valley civilisation or the Harappan civilisation. The Indus valley civilisation was twice the size of each of the other two civilisations. Yet, unlike them it did not have massive monuments and temples. Nor were the dead buried with gold and riches. Yet, what sets this urban civilisation apart is the simple, practical and secular ways of living they practised. Fig 3.1 Excavations at Harappa The timeline of Harappa is divided into three phases: Early Harappan Phase, Mature Harappan Phase and Late Harappan Phase. Nearly 2800 sites, that can be related to these phases, have been identified till date. The mature phase represents the most prosperous period of the civilisation. Whereas, the early and late phases are related to the rise and decline of the civilisation respectively. Of the many sites that were excavated, 1022 had evidences for all three of the phases. 21 A. The Twin Cities: The first site where excavations took place was Harappa. It is because of the discovery of Harappa that the civilisation is also known by its name. Over the course of many years, as more and more cities were discovered, scholars realised that this is a much larger civilisation on the banks of the Indus river. The second large site was Mohenjo-daro or “the mound of the dead”. It was known as the mound of the dead by scholars because before excavations took place, the surface appeared as a large mound (elevated landform). Both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the largest excavated cities and resemble each other quite a lot. It is believed that at their peak, both cities had a population of over 50,000 people. A raised wall was built around the cities giving it a fortified appearance. This wall is supposed to have been built to protect the city from the flooding of the Indus river. Fig 3.2 Harappan Seal B. The Big Cities: Fig 3.3 The Major Cities 22 Other big cities included Lothal, Dholavira and Kalibangan. Lothal, situated in present day Gujarat, was one of the only cities to have featured a dockyard. It is believed that the shorter distance from the ocean made this city an optimum location for constructing a trading point. Many warehouses were also discovered around the dockyard. These were probably used to store objects before they were traded with different geographies. Fig 3.4 Lothal Dholavira, also situated in present day Gujarat, had similar architectural features as the other cities. It was one of the only towns which also featured a middle town. A mysterious signboard was excavated at Dholavira. However, despite a lot of text being available from Harappan sites, scholars have not been able to decipher the ancient language. Fig 3.5 The Signboard at Dholavira 23 C. Town Planning and Structures: The differentiating characteristic for the Harappan civilization was its meticulous town planning. The towns were usually segregated into upper and lower towns. The upper towns had wide streets while the lower towns had narrow street, meant for the passage of only one or two people at a time. The houses were made out of baked bricks. In the middle of the two towns, there would be a citadel for the ruling class to live in. The entire city was designed using a grid-system. Hence, roads met each other at right angles. The grid system also made for a sophisticated drainage system in the cities. Each house, whether large or small, had a courtyard and a bathroom inside. Pipes from inside the house would carry the waste to the streets outside. The sides of the roads had canals which helped in draining this waste. All of these canals were covered with stone slabs or bricks which also emphasises the importance of hygiene in Harappan society. Another important public structure in the cities was the great bath. Situated in close proximity to the citadel, the great bath resembled a large swimming pool with steps leading to its base on both ends. The walls and base were made of burnt bricks to prevent seepage of water. It is believed that the great bath was made for Fig 3.6 The Citadel in Harappa performing the religious ritual of bathing before an important ceremony. 24  The third key structure found in most Harappan cities is the granary. The word granary comes from grains. This was a place where Harappans possibly stored surplus food grains for later use. Given the specifically planned nature of the Harappan cities, many scholars believe that Harappan cities had well thought out administrative rule which ensured the following of certain norms and procedures Fig 3.7 The Great Bath while building towns. D. Art and technology: Harappan civilisation was chalcolithic - they showed highly technical use of bronze in the construction of their art and tools. Based on sources excavated, it seems that Harappans gave a lot of importance to culture and play. They mixed bronze with other metals and stone to make statues as seen in Fig 5.8 and Fig 5.9. Both of these statues are evidence of how Harappans liked to dress up, even if it was just for special occasions. Furthermore, jewellery (fig 5.10) discovered from sites confirms that wearing it was an essential part of their regular lives. Fig 3.8 The Priest King Fig 3.9 Dancing Girl 25  The detailing on statues, and the delicate patterns of jewellery tells us that craftsmanship and artisanry might have been a specialised profession in Harappa. Spindles were also discovered on sites, this tells us that Harappans used to weave their own cloth. It is possible that it is the creation of all of these artefacts that put Harappa on the world map Fig 3.10 Harappan Jewellery through trading as well! E. Trade: The dockyard in Lothal is a large piece of evidence that tells us about Harappan trade. Seals, weights, and measures discovered at nearby sites further tells us that Harappans were very particular about conducting business, whether internally within Harappan cities or with external civilised cities. 26  Fig 3.11 Weights and Measures Given that Harappan sites were not a great source of bronze, scholars point at the barter system being the way of conducting trade. Warehouses, at the dockyard, were most likely used to store surplus grain which were used for bartering other raw materials. F. Burial Sites : 6 Harappan people were often buried after death. While the burial site is not reflective of many religious rituals, the presence of pots in the grave is indicative of the idea that they buried the individual with food grains and water to help them make their journey to the afterlife. Fig 3.12 Burial Site in Harappa 27  Overall, there is not much available evidence as to whether Harappans practiced religion or if there were clear social classes like there were in other civilisations. What is clear is that Harappans were focussed on conducting trade, maintaining a pragmatic lifestyle and on ensuring everyone had access to basic health and hygiene. Overall, there is not much available evidence as to whether Harappans practiced religion or if there were clear social classes like there were in other civilisations. What is clear is that Summary: Harappans were focussed on conducting trade, maintaining a pragmatic lifestyle and on ensuring The everyone had major cities ofaccess to basic Harappan health and civilisation werehygiene. : Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan. The towns of Harappa were well planned. Cities were divided into upper town and lower town, with the citadel in the center. Each house had a toilet and a drainage system. The waste flowed into canals at the side of the streets which were covered with baked bricks or stones. Houses were organised in a grid-system and streets met each other at right angles. The great bath and granaries were important structures found across all Harappan cities. Lothal was the only city with a dockyard while Dholavira was the only city with a middle town feature. Warehouses by the dockyard and an extensive collection of seals, weights and measures tell us that Harappans engaged in extensive trade. The intricate designs on statues and jewellery tells us that Harappans were talented craftsmen and artisans. 28 4. Lives of People in Ancient Chinese Civilisation Examine the personal, civic, and economic life of people in ancient Chinese civilisation based on a study of primary archaeological sources The Chinese civilisation flourished around the Yellow River or Huang He (pronounced hoo-ang hey). The Huang He river was also known as “China’s sorrow” as it flooded frequently and caused great devastation and upheaval to human life. Then why did people continue to live alongside the river? Huang He also brought with it rich deposits of fertile soil. Hence, the flooding left behind large amounts of soil on the river bank, allowing people to grow more crops on small farmlands. In lesson 2, Locations of the Early Civilisations, we studied the physical geography of China briefly. Roughly, only one-tenth of the Chinese land is suitable for farming. The rest of it is in the form of plateau and desert. More so, the east of China is surrounded by the sea. As a result, it would have been difficult for the information to both come into the civilisation and go out from it. Scholars believe that people inhabited the area much before the first available records of Chinese dynasties. Fig 4.1 Physical Map of China 29 In the earliest of times, many small kingdoms existed along the river, all led by different kings. These smaller kingdoms were also called tribes. This time is also known as the mythical kingdom. The Xia dynasty is believed to have been ruling during this time period. The Xia king was a creative engineer who devised a way to prevent floods from happening by building canals and dams. He was seen as a righteous ruler. The Shang dynasty overthrew the Xia dynasty and came to be known as the first known dynasty of Ancient China. While scholars suggest that human beings populated the geographic regions around the river from a much earlier time, historical evidence has only been discovered from the beginning of the Shang dynasty rule. Under the Shang dynasty, religion, writing, metallurgy and architecture took shape.The Shang dynasty made the city of Anyang (ahn-yang) their ruling capital. The king used chariots and weapons made of bronze to launch attacks on nearby small kingdoms. Over a small period of time, the Shangs ruled almost the entire valley around the Yellow river. To protect this large kingdom, military warlords (strongest persons in the army) were appointed to oversee smaller areas. These warlords had their own armies along with a much larger Fig 4.2 The first King (Tang) of Shang army of the king, which protected the borders. Dynasty The warlords made the upper class section of the society in return for the protection they offered to the king. They were known as aristocrats (ar-is-toh-crats). Much like the kings, even aristocrats passed their power from one generation to the next. 30 A. Oracle Bones and Spirituality: The Shangs prayed to their ancestors, or family members who were no longer alive. The supreme ancestor of the Shangs was Shangdi. In order to seek blessings from Shangdi, people often burned animal bones in the fire as they focussed on their sorrow or problem. The priest would write the question on the bone or on a turtle shell and burn it. As the bones cracked, people would interpret the cracks based on their script and infer what Shangdi was trying to communicate to them. The bones would feature both the question asked, and the answer to the question. For many years, archaeologists continued to find bones with inscriptions on them. They were called dragon bones. However, the inscriptions were in proto-chinese (the earliest form of writing that emerged from China) and the bones were used as a writing base, like paper. These bones have told scholars a lot about the history of the Shangs. Fig 4.3 Oracle Bone For the video ( Mummification ) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. 31 Towards the end of the downfall of the Shang dynasty, only the king was allowed to use the power of oracle bones. Hence, not much is known about common people from the later time periods. 32 B. Writing The oracle bones have not only told scholars about religious beliefs of the Shangs but have also been insightful in understanding the Chinese script. The writing on the bones is proto-chinese, proto meaning early. The modern Chinese script still resembles proto- Chinese in many ways. We will look at how writing developed during other dynastic rules further in the lesson. 33 C. Metallurgy: Since the Shangs were constantly at war, with other kingdoms that tried to capture more land, they needed strong weapons. Oracle bones have shown that chariots, bows and arrows were the common weapon of choice. Delicate use of bronze is evident during the Shang dynasty. Shang arrows were made of bronze, hence they were smaller but travelled greater distances. Bronze objects were also a symbol of prosperity and held very high significance in religious rituals. This is evident as ceremonial objects and vessels made of bronze were discovered by scholars from tombs of the aristocrats. The carvings on these objects demonstrate how much the technology had developed when it came to casting bronze. It is believed by scholars that the images carved are meant to ward off evil. When compared to objects such as the Dancing Girl of Harappa, it is clear that the ancient Chinese had taken craftsmanship one step further. Fig 4.5 Objects made of Bronze 34 D. Architecture and Social Classes: The ancient Chinese cities were created with two walls. The inner city wall housed the palace of the emperor, temples, cemeteries, bronze workshops and bone workshops. The people who lived inside these walls were the aristocrats and those who were most essential for conducting religious rituals. The common people lived outside the inner city wall but inside the outer city wall. They were not allowed to enter the inner city. These included traders and farmers. The emperor made it a point to go on excursions to other walled cities to exert administrative control over the warlords. They also ensured that the agricultural land was maximised so as to ensure surplus grains for the large kingdom. The Feudal system was followed in ancient China. This meant that the farmers did not own the land they cultivated crops on. Instead, aristocrats took control of the land as they provided protection to the farmers. Everything that the farmers grew belonged to the aristocrats and some portion of the yield was kept by the farmers for their own nourishment needs. Similarly, artisans and craftsmen were patronised (giving financial support) by aristocrats. The bronze objects made by them were in turn kept by the rich for ceremonial rituals. In fact, when an aristocrat died and was buried, the farmers, artisans and servants who served them, were buried with them. The Shangs also believed in life after death, like the Egyptians. Scholars have discovered tombs filled with bronze objects and the remains of many other humans. These humans are the people who served them during the aristocrat’s life on earth. It was believed that their sole purpose was to continue doing the same after the aristocrat’s death. E. The fall of the Shang dynasty and the rise of the Zhou dynasty: The last king of Shang dynasty, emperor Zhou (joh), killed the brother of emperor Wu (woo) through unfair means. Emperor Wu then invoked the mandate of heaven. 35  The Zhou dynasty ruled for over 800 years - making it the longest rule by a dynasty in China. During their rule, technological advancements in farming were made. Irrigation canals were used to water the crops during seasons without rain. More importantly iron ploughs were created. This made it possible to till the land which was harder to till with wooden ploughs. As a result, the farmers could grow much more food. Fig 4.6 Confucius F. Fall of the Zhou and Rise of the Qin: The reign of the Zhou dynasty is considered to be a golden age for the ancient Chinese. As the territory grew, states further away from the capital started declaring themselves as sovereign states. This meant that they were not ruled by the Zhou emperor. In an effort to bring the states under central control, wars started erupting. Each state followed military protocols. They were not to attack an unarmed individual. The protocol also stated that each opponent was to be given time to organise enforcements and prepare for battle. However, one state focussed on victory at all costs and broke from protocol. Ying Zheng, the king of the state Qin, had a large army and iron weapons and chariots. This helped in the state of Qin emerging victorious, thereby giving rise to the Qin dynasty. 36  Fig 4.7 Warring States of China G. The Qin Dynasty : Ying Zheng renamed himself as Shi Huangdi - ‘the first emperor’. He united the other 6 states by taking several measures to create a common identity. First, he ordered the demolition of the walled fortifications around the states to prevent future disharmony. He then went on to build the great wall of China around his empire to build the perception of one kingdom within the boundaries of the Fig 4.8 Shi Huangdi - ‘the great wall. first emperor’ 37  Fig 4.9 The Great Wall of China For the video ( The Great Wall of China ) in this section please refer to the student website of this lesson. 38 He confiscated all the weapons and melted them to control the access to weapons for enemies of the state. He ordered the creation of uniform weights and measures, and vehicles. This ensured a free trade policy across the kingdom and easy access to all towns. Furthermore, he demanded the usage of a common script across the land. He went in to establish command centers with military leaders as the appointed heads. Any person who spoke against the emperor was executed or enslaved and contributed to the construction of the great wall. In order to avoid attacks on himself, he constructed underground tunnels to escape in times of danger and to move about the town without visibility. After Shi Huangdi, weak rulers succeeded to the throne and the Qin dynasty quickly collapsed to give rise to the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty adopted Confucianism and ruled over ancient China for almost 400 years. They developed universities and prioritised education in keeping with the spirit of self improvement and personal mastery. Many dynasties came later to shape the history of China. China also went through years of instability and lack of an emperor. Ancient China, however, has been key to understanding dynastic rule for the world to learn from. 39 Overall, there is not much available evidence as to whether Harappans practiced religion or if there were clear social classes like there were in other civilisations. What is clear is that Summary: Harappans were focussed on conducting trade, maintaining a pragmatic lifestyle and on ensuring everyone had access to basic health and hygiene. Ancient Chinese civilisation flourished on the banks of the Huang He or the Yellow River which was also known as China’s sorrow. The Xia king devised ways to protect the civilisation from floods and was known as one of the most righteous king. The Shang king, Tang, overthrew the Xia king to establish Shang dynasty. He appointed warlords who commanded their army to protect China from invasions. The warlords and administrative people were known as the aristocrats. Oracle bones were a means to predict the future. Animal bones or tortoise shells were thrown in fire with a question inscribed on them. The heat would cause cracks on the bones. These cracks were interpreted by priests as answers to problems. Earliest form of writing was discovered on oracle bones, this is known as proto- chinese. Advanced metallurgy or the art of casting bronze and inscribing carvings on bronze was invented in ancient China. Bronze objects were considered sacred and important for religious rituals. Chinese cities were built with inner city walls and outer city walls. Aristocrats, emperors, bronze workshops and oracle workshops resided inside the inner city walls. Farmers and tradesmen stayed within outer city walls. The Mandate of Heaven was created by the first ruler of Zhou dynasty. It stated that the king was chosen by God. Sorrows or problems experienced by the kingdom was a sign that the king has failed to meet God’s wishes. After the Zhou dynasty weakened, China disintegrated into 7 sovereign states. Shi Huangdi declared himself as the first emperor. He united the 7 states under the name of the Qin dynasty. He brought forth universal script, weights and measures and built the Great Wall of China. Shi Huangdi was buried with an entire lifesize army made of terracotta. The Han dynasty took over from the Qin and continued to strengthen the great wall. The believed in Confucianism and established many universities to promote learning. 40