Unit 1: The Early Complex Societies

1. Unit 1: The Early Complex Societies Formation of Classical Societies Kaleem Minor & Steven Robinson

2. The Evolution of Homo Sapiens • Early agricultural society • population explosion caused by surplus • Emergence of villages and towns • Jericho, earliest known Neolithic village • Mud huts and defensive walls • Specialization of labor • Neolithic site of Çatal Hüyük, eight thousand people • Prehistoric craft industries • pottery, metallurgy, and textile production • Social distinctions, due to private land ownership • The origins of urban life • Emergence of cities, larger and more complex than villages • Earliest cities in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, 4000 to 3500 B.C.E.

3. The Quest For Order • Mesopotamia: "the land between the rivers" • Valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates • Little rain, so area needs irrigation (small scale by 6000 B.C.E.) • Food supplies increase which leads to human population increases • Sumer (in south) becomes population center • First cities emerge, 4000 B.C.E. • Between 3200 and 2350 B.C.E., they evolve into city-states (control of surrounding region) • Governments sponsor building projects and irrigation • Attacks by others led to wall building and military development • The course of empire • Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315 B.C.E.) • Coup against king of Kish • Seizes trade routes and natural resources • Gradually empire weakens and collapses about 2000 B.C.E. • Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.) • Centralizes the bureaucracy and regulates taxation • Capital is Babylon • Law Code: law of retribution and importance of social status • The later Mesopotamian empires • Assyrians (northern Mesopotamia), cities are Nineveh and Assur • Powerful army: professional officers (merit), chariots, archers, iron weapons • New Babylonian empire and Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 B.C.E.) • Hanging gardens of palace shows wealth and luxury

4. The Formation of a Complex Society • Economic specialization and trade • Bronze (made from copper and tin); used in weapons and later agricultural tools • Iron (about 1000 B.C.E.), cheaper and more widely available; used in weapons and tools • Wheel (about 3500 B.C.E.) helps trade; carts can carry more goods further • The emergence of a patriarchal society • Social classes • Cities: more opportunities to accumulate wealth • Kings (hereditary) and nobles (royal family and supporters) are highest class • Priests and priestesses rule temple communities with large incomes and staff • Free commoners (peasants), dependent clients (no property); pay taxes and labor on building projects • Slaves (POWs, criminals, debt servitude): mostly domestic servants • Patriarchy • Hammurabi's code: men are head of the household • Women get fewer rights after 2000 B.C.E. • Cuneiform, Mesopotamian writing style, becomes standard • Reed stylus (wedge-shaped) pressed in clay then baked • Mostly commercial and tax documents • Literature: astronomy, mathematics, abstract (religious and literary like Gilgamesh)

5. The Broader Influence of Mesopotamian Society • Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews • Early Hebrews are pastoral nomads between Mesopotamia and Egypt (second millennium B.C.E.) • Abraham leads group to Palestine 1850 B.C.E. • Descendents borrow law of retribution(revenge) • Pass down the flood story from Mesopotamia • Some migrate to Egypt in eighteenth century B.C.E. then back to Palestine with Moses • Twelve tribes become Israelites • Mesopotamian-style monarchs with Jerusalem as capital • Moses and monotheism • Ten Commandments: moral and ethical standards for followers • Compilation of teachings into Torah (1000-400 B.C.E.) • Assyrians conquer • Conquer Israel in north and Judah in south and destroy Jerusalem • Deportees return to Judea; become known as Jews (586 B.C.E.) • Prophets in this period increase devotion of people • Build distinct Jewish community in Judea with strong group identity • The Phoenicians • Develop into kingdoms of independent city-states • Little agriculture; live on trade and communications networks • Overland trade to Mesopotamia; influence on culture • Sea trade most important; get raw materials, trade for manufactured goods • Have early alphabetical script (1500 B.C.E.)

6. The Indo-European migrations • Indo-European origins • Linguists discover similarities between many languages; they must be related • Originate in steppes of central Asia as pastoral people • Domesticate horses; learn to ride; use horses with carts, then chariots • Indo-European expansion and its effects • Indo-European society breaks up about 3000 B.C.E.; peoples gradually migrate • Hittites settle in central Anatolia about 2000 B.C.E. • Build powerful kingdoms • Conquer Babylonian empire 1595 B.C.E. • Dissolve by about 1200 B.C.E. • Technology: light horse-drawn chariots (spokes) and iron metallurgy • Some migrate into central Asia by 2000 B.C.E. • Other migrations: Greece, Italy, central Europe, western Europe, Britain • All pastoral agriculturalists • All speak related languages and worship similar deities • Later wave of migrations to Iran and India ("Aryan")

7. Early agricultural society in Africa • Climatic change and the development of agriculture in Africa • Sahara region used to be grassy steppe lands with water (10,000 B.C.E.) • Abundant hunting, fishing, wild grains • Permanent settlements and the growing of sorghum and yams (7500 B.C.E.) • Small states with semidivine rulers (5000 B.C.E.) • Climate becomes hotter and drier after 5000 B.C.E. • People are driven into river regions--Nile • Annual flooding makes rich soil for agriculture • Egypt and Nubia: "gifts of the Nile" • Egypt--lower third of Nile River; Nubia--middle third of Nile • After 5000 B.C.E. peoples cultivate gourds and watermelons, domesticate donkeys and cattle (from Sudan), and grow wheat and barley (from Mesopotamia) • Agriculture easy in Egypt (due to Nile flooding) but more work in Nubia • States begin to emerge by 4000 B.C.E., small kingdoms by 3300 B.C.E.

8. Unification of Egypt • Egypt, large and prosperous state by 3100 B.C.E. • Menes at Memphis unites Upper and Lower Egypt • Pharaoh, absolute ruler and owns all land • Archaic Period (3100-2660 B.C.E.) and Old Kingdom (2660-2160 B.C.E.) • Great pyramids of Giza built during this period; Khufu the largest • Violence between Egypt and Nubia (Egypt dominates from 3000-2400 B.C.E.) • Nubia later develops into Kingdom of Kush • Interaction through diplomacy, Nubian mercenaries, and intermarriage • Turmoil and empire • Period of upheaval after Old Kingdom (2160-2040 B.C.E.) • Middle Kingdom (2040-1640 B.C.E.) • Nomadic horsemen, Hyksos, invade Egypt • Using bronze weapons and chariots (Egypt does not have) • Captures Memphis in 1674 B.C.E. • New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.E.) • Pharaoh gains power, huge army, large bureaucracy • Building projects: temples, palaces, statues • Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 B.C.E.) built empire including Palestine, Syrian, Nubia • Then Egypt falls into a long period of decline • Egyptians driven out of Nubia in 1100 B.C.E. • Nubian Kingdom of Kush; capital is Napata • King Kashta conquers Thebes (in Egypt) in 760 B.C.E. • Assyrians with iron weapons invade from the north

9. The formation of complex societies • The emergence of cities and stratified societies • Nubian cities • Kerma, dominates trade routes • Napata, most prosperous city after Nubian conquest of Egypt • Meroë, most influential city after Assyrian invasion because it is farther south • Social classes • Egypt: peasants and slaves (agriculture), pharaoh, professional military and administrators • Nubia: complex and hierarchical society (can tell from tombs) • Patriarchy in both but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia • Women act as regents, like female pharaoh Hatshepsut • Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes • Economic specialization and trade • Bronze important but copper and tin rare and expensive • Iron metallurgy develops independently in Sudan • Transportation: sailboats, carts, and donkey caravans • Trade networks • Egypt and Nubia: exotic goods from Nubia ebony, gold, gems, slaves and pottery, wine, linen, decorative items from Egypt • Egypt and the north: especially wood, like cedar from Lebanon

10. The formation of complex societies • Early writing in the Nile valley • Hieroglyphics found on monuments and papyrus by 3200 B.C.E. • Hieratic script, everyday writing 2600-600 B.C.E. • Demotic and Coptic scripts adapt Greek writing • Scribes live very privileged lives • Nubia adapts Egyptian writing until Meroitic in fifth century B.C.E. (untranslated) • The development of organized religious traditions • Principal gods: sun gods Amon and Re • Brief period of monotheism: Aten • Pharaoh Akhenaten's idea of a new capital at Akhetaten • Orders all other gods' names chiseled out; their names die with him • Mummification • At first only pharaohs are mummified (Old Kingdom) • Later ruling classes and wealthy can afford it • Eventually commoners have it too (Middle and New Kingdom) • Cult of Osiris • Brother Seth murders Osiris and scatters his body • Wife Isis gathers him up and gods restore him to life in underworld • Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death, immortality • Osiris judges the heart of the dead against the feather of truth • Nubians combine Egyptian religions with their own

11. Early agricultural societies of sub-Saharan Africa • The dynamics of Bantu expansion • Bantu--language group from west central Africa • Live along banks of rivers; use canoes • Cultivate yams and oil palms • Live in clan-based villages • Trade with hunting/gathering forest people • Early migrations of Bantu (3000-1000 B.C.E.) • Move south and west into the forest lands • Move south to Congo River and east to Great Lakes region • Absorb much of the population of hunter/gather/fisher people • By 1000 B.C.E. occupy most of Africa south of the equator • Features of the Bantu • Use canoes and settle along banks of rivers; spread from there • Agricultural surplus causes them to move inland from rivers • Become involved in trade • Bantu rate of migration increases after 1000 B.C.E. due to appearance of iron • Iron tools allow them to clear more land for agriculture • Iron weapons give them stronger position • Early agricultural societies of sub-Saharan Africa • Many other societies besides Bantu migrate • Spread of agriculture to most of sub-Saharan Africa by 1000 B.C.E. • Mostly small communities led by chiefs with "age sets" and initiation rites • Religious differences by area • Some worship single, impersonal divine force representing good and bad • Many individuals pray to ancestors and local gods for intervention • Much mixing and intermingling of cultures

12. Harappan Society • Background • Neolithic villages in Indus River valley by 3000 B.C.E. • Earliest remains inaccessible because of silt deposits and rising water table • Also little known because writing not yet translated • Foundations of Harappan society • The Indus River • Runs through north India, with sources at Hindu Kush and the Himalayas • Wheat and barley were cultivated in Indus valley • Complex society of Dravidians, 3000 B.C.E. • Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: two main cities • Each city had a fortified citadel and a large granary • Broad streets, marketplaces, temples, public buildings • Harappan society and culture • Social distinctions, as seen from living styles • Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility • Harappan society declined from 1900 B.C.E. onward • Ecological degradation led to a subsistence crisis • Another possibility: natural catastrophes such as floods or earthquakes • Population began to abandon their cities by about 1700 B.C.E. • Almost entirely collapsed by about 1500 B.C.E. • Some Harappan cultural traditions maintained

13. Indo-European migrations and early Aryan India • The Aryans and India • The early Aryans • Depended heavily on a pastoral economy • No writing system, but had orally transmitted works called the Vedas • Sacred language (Sanskrit) and daily-use language (Prakit) • The Vedic Age: 1500-500 B.C.E. • A boisterous period; conflicts with indigenous peoples • Indra, the Aryans' war god and military hero • Aryan chiefdoms fought ferociously among themselves led by rajas • Origins of the caste system • Caste and varna • The meaning of caste: hereditary, unchangeable social classes • The Sanskrit word varna, "color," refers to social classes • Social distinctions in the late Vedic Age • Four main varnas, recognized after 1000 B.C.E.: brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, and merchants), shudras (landless peasants and serfs) • Later the category of the untouchables was added • Jati, or subcastes, were determined by occupations • Development of patriarchal society • Patriarchal and patrilineal society • Advised men to treat women with honor and respect • Subjected women to the control and guidance of men • Women's duties: to bear children and maintain the household • Sati, social custom in which widow throws self on funeral pyre

14. Religion in the Vedic Age • Aryan religion • Aryan gods • Gods of the sun, the sky, the moon, fire, health, disease • God Varuna: ethical concern, cosmic order • Ritual sacrifices were more important than ethics • Priests were specialists of the ritual sacrifices • Ritual sacrifices for rewards from the divine power • The blending of Aryan and Dravidian values • The Upanishads, works of religious teachings (800-400 B.C.E.) • The religious forums: dialogues between disciples and sages • Brahman: the universal soul • Highest goal: to escape reincarnation and join with Brahman • Samsara: an individual soul was born many times • Karma: specific incarnations that a soul experienced • Religion and Vedic society • Samsara and karma reinforced caste and social hierarchy • Upanishads were also spiritual and intellectual contemplations • Taught to observe high ethical standards: discourage greed, envy, vice • Respect for all living things, a vegetarian diet

15. Political Organization in Early China • Early agricultural society and the Xia dynasty • The Yellow River • Water source at high plateau of Tibet • Loess soil carried by the river's water, hence "yellow" • "China's Sorrow"--extensive flooding • Loess provided rich soil, soft and easy to work • The Xia dynasty • Established about 2200 B.C.E. • Legendary King Yu, the dynasty founder, a hero of flood control • Erlitou: possibly the capital city of the Xia • The Shang dynasty: 1766-1122 B.C.E. • Arose in the southern and eastern areas of the Xia realm • Many written records and material remains discovered • Bronze metallurgy, monopolized by ruling elite • Horses and chariots traveled with Indo-European migrants to China • The Shang capital moved six times • Lavish tombs of Shang kings with thousands of objects • The Zhou dynasty: 1122-256 B.C.E. • Zhou gradually eclipsed Shang • Mandate of heaven, the right to rule • The Zhou needed to justify the overthrow • Ruler as "the son of heaven" .Mandate of heaven only given to virtuous rulers • The fall of the Zhou • Nomadic invasion sacked Zhou capital in 711 B.C.E. • The last king of the Zhou abdicated his position in 256 B.C.E.