Chapter 10 Notes

Eastern Christendom
the byzantine empire has no clear starting point
-its own leaders saw it as a continuation of the Roman Empire
-roman empire formally divided into eastern adn western halves
-western empire collapsed in 5th c
-eastern empire contained ancient civilzation: egypt, greece, syria

Byzantine state
-was muc hsmaller than the roman empire
-remained a major force in easter mediterranean
-had political authority that was tightly centralized in Constantinople
-territory shrank when Turks attacked

Byzantine and the world
-had a food in both Europe and Asia
-continuation of long roman fight with persian empire
-was a central player in long distance eurasian trade
-important cultural influence

Society and the Church
-within these new kingdoms:
--highly fragmented, dectralized society
--great local variation
--landowning warrior elite exercised power
-social hierarchies
-catholic church was a major element of stability
-church and ruling class usually reinforced each other

Chapter 11 The Worlds of Islam

In chapter eleven the focus was on how birth and history of Islam religion grew. It emerged from civilizaions from the middle east.  This religion had many gods and spirits which were valued in this religion.  Muhammad Abdullah was powerful and had much religious experience that left him convinced he was a messenger from the god Allah for Arabs.  Muhammad led this religion and was responsible for its expansion and message delievered to the people. The Quran was monotheistic, it listed Allah as the only God, and as the all powerful creator. Those who believed in him must sumbit in order for them to have their place of eternal life like heaven for christians and catholics. The message was a set of 5 requirements for the believer known as the Pillars of Islam.  The pillars are a set of rules for the people to follow.

Chapter 9 China notes

China was a major player among the 3rd wave civilizations
china was also changed by its interactiosn wit non chinese peoples

The Reemergence of China
Han dynasty collapsed around 220
led to 300 years of political gragmentation
chinese migration southward

A Golden Age of Chinese Achievment
Sui Dynasty reunified China
Tan and Song dynasties  built on Sui foundations
they established patterns of Chinese life
led to economic revolution under the Song
also led to great prosperity, rapid growth, and great improvement in agricultural production


China and the Northern Nomads
two enduring misconceptions of chinese history:
idea that Chinese civilization was impressive
idea taht China was a self contained civilizations
China's most enduring interactions with foreigner was in the north
northern nomads were typically lived in small groups
occasional creation of powerful states
leaders wanted Chinese manufactured and luxury goods
nomads often felt threatened by the Chinese
China needed th nomads who controlled much of the silk roads

Chapter 8 Commerce and Culture Notes

-Modern highways built across Africa and Asia
-roots of economic globalization
-exchange of goods
-long distance trade became more important 500 CE

Silk Roads
-the growth of silk roads
- Eurasia often divided into inner and outer zones
creation of classical civilization and imperial states
-trading networks did bes twhen large states provided security

Goods in Transit
-vast array of goods traveled along the Silk roads by camel
-silk symobolized eurasian exhange system
-volume of trade was small but of economi and social importance

cultures in transit
-cultural transmission was more important than exchange of goods

disease in transit
-the major population centers of the african and eurasian world
long distance trade meant exposure to unfamiliar diseases
Black Death spread because of Mongol empire

Sea Roads
 Mediterranean sea was an avenue for commerce
-the indian ocean network was the world's most important until 1500
-sea roads as a catalyst for change
-ocean commerce transformed SE Asian and E Africa

Sand Roads
-commercial begginings in W Africa
-tranafrican trade was also based on environmental variation
-earliest trade in the region was among agricultural people in the Sudan
-Gold Salt and Slaves (trade and empire in west africa)
-introduction of the camel
-regular trans saharan commerce by 300 CE
-merchants especially wanted gold
-sahara became wanted gold from west africa
-trade encouraged new and larger political structures
-slavery was present in West Africa

Chapter 7 classical era notes

-The African Northeast

A. Africa had no common cultural identity in the classical era.

-Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization

1. Nubian civilization was almost as old as Egyptian civilization

A. Movement of Bantu-speaking peoples into Africa south of equator
B. Cultural Encounters
	1. Bantu-speaking peoples interacted with established societies
	2. most significant interaction: agricultural Bantu and gathering and hunting peoples
	3. Bantu advantages V. Civilizations of Mesoamerica A. There was a lack of interaction with other major cultures, including with other cultures in the Americas . B. The maya: writing and warfare 1. Maya ceremonial centers developed as early 2000 BCE in present day Guatemala 2. classical phase of Maya civilization 3. Maya economy 4. political system of city states and regional kingdoms was highly formed 5. rapid colapse in the century after a long term drought

Chapter 5 Eurasian Cultural Traditions

Eurasian Cultural Traditions in 500 BCE
China: Confucius and Laozi
India: Hinduism and Buddhism
Middle East: development of monotheism
Greece: rational humanism

These traditions emerged around the same time from the emergence of new states and empires, growing cities and increasing commerce

China had a state building tradition that went back to around 2000 BCE
the idea of Mandate of Heave was established by 1122BCE. The :age of waring states" broke down into chaos between 40-221BCE

Confusius was an educated ambitious aristocrat.  He spend much of life looking for a political position to put his ideas into practice.  his ideas had enormous impact on China and the rest of East Asia. His teachings were colected by students as the Analects.
Confucianism was nonreligious in character.  its emphasis was practical, focused on this world and did not deny exitence of gods and spirits but the educated elite had little to do with them.

The Daoist was associated with Laozi.  Doaism was in many wasy the opposite of confucianism.  Education and striving for improvment was artificial.  the concept of dao is the way of nature, the underlying principle that governs all.

Chapter 4 Eurasian Empires

The Eurasian classical era say a second wave of civilization. 
The Persian Empire in 500 bce, was the largest most impressive empire.  It was a diverse empire with a population of around 35 million people. The Persian Empire had an elaborate cult of kingship ruled by the will fo the god Ahura Mazda in an absolute monarchy.  The greeks emerged 750 bce flourished about 400 years.  The Greeks most distinctive feature is the popular participation in political life of city states.  The Greco- Persian war was the point of collision was Ionia, Greek settlements.  Persia responded with expeditions against Greeks. The war resulted with a victory radicalized athenian democracy. It lead to the 50 year Golden Age of Greek culture after Persian Wars. During these years the construction of Parthenon occur along with the birth of the Greek theatre.

Chapter 3 First Civilizations

Civilizations are a relatively recent phenomenon in human hustory made possible by the surpluses produced by the Agricultural Revolution. The distinctive features of civilizations are cities with monumental architecture and populations in the tens of thousands, powerful states that could compel obedience, and much greater inequality in economic function, wealth, and social status.

This global phenomenon started with six major civilizations and some smaller manifestations scattered arond the world that deeloped after 3500 BCE. One of the earliest civilizations emerged in Sumer.  They were the first written language.  Indus valley civiliation in Indus and Sarawati river valleys arose between 3000 and 2000BCE. Unlike other civilizations it generated no palaes, temples, elaborate graves, kings or warrior classes.

in around 2200 BCE a First Civilization took shape in China by ruler the "son of heaven". China maintained impressive cultural continuity into modern times. The Olmec produced a first civilization much later 1200BCE on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They created the first written language in the amreicas.

Chapter 2 Agriculture Revolution

Agriculture began around 12,000 years ago.  It was called often the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution, it was speaking of the cultivation of particular plants as well as the taming and breeding of particular animals.The coming of agriculture brought a transformation of human life all across the planet and was the foundation for important resources such as growing populations, settled village,
empires and civilizations, and even writing and literature.

Agriculture is the basis for almost all human developments since.

Agriculture brought about a new relationship between humans and other living things.

It is actively changing what they found in nature rather than just using it, shaping landscapes, and selective breeding of animals.

Agriculture allowed the domestication of nature such as plants and animals that humans came to rely on and soon lost gathering and hunting skills. The agricultureal revolution soincided with the end of the last ice age and the end of ice age coincided with human migration across earth. Global warming started around 16,000 years ago and ice age was over by 11,000 years ago. The warmer, wetter weather allowed more wild plants to grow. Gathering and hunting people had learned ways to manage the natural world which lead to the "broad spectrum diet".  They developedof sickles and baskets along with other tools to make use of wild grain. Soon gathering and hunting peoples started to establish more permanent villages especially in resource rich areas.  The population growth led to a food crisis.  They were depended on the plants and animals that were available in their regions. Only a few hundred plant species and 14 large mammal species were domesticated. Agriculture spread in two ways; by diffusion (gradually spread of techniques and perhaps plants and animals, but much more movement of human population) and colonization or migration of agricutural peoples. With the spread of agriculture came the spread of language and culture. The globalization of agriculture took about 10,000 years. the culture of agriculture lead to much greater populations and changes in world population (from 6 million people to 50 million in 5,000 years).  Farming did not necessarily imporve life for ordinary people and meant that much more hard work was needed.  In early agricultural societies health deteriorated and new diseases from interaction with animals became more common.

Discovering The Global Past Chapter 1

In chapter one of Discovering the Global Past  it discusses the importance of water in early civilizations. Specifically its main question being "How did the need for steady supply of water affect the technological, economic, political and legal development of ancient societies?"
In Mesopotamia, farmers relied on different types of irrigation to keep the land useful.  If irrigation wasnot maintained the land would be a waste. Egypt did not get much rain and it forced many to rely on the Nile River like many did in China with the Yellow River due to the lack of rain.
Because the irrigation system began so long ago, historians relied on the remains of the land to identify how the natives preserved their land. When historians discovered the first civilizations writings they learned the importrance of the irrigations systems based off the evidence of the writings.