Transcript Chapter One

Chapter Five
Decline of Classical
Civilizations
Decline of Classical Civilizations
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Sub-Saharan
Africa instability
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Upper Nile Region
– Kush
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* 1000 B.C.E.
– Axum
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*conquers Kush by 300 B.C.E.
– Ethiopia
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*conquers Axum
– Trade with Mediterranean
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What were the
social effects of
trade with
Mediterranean?
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some converts to Judaism
Christianity by 300 C.E.
– West Africa
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southern fringe of Sahara
regional kingdoms
Ghana – 1st great state in W. Africa
Egypt, Kush
and Axum
North Africa
East Asia at the End of the
Classical Period
Asia ~ Japan
agriculture well-established by 200 CE
 regional states, c. 300 C.E.
 writing introduced 400 C.E.
 Shintoism
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What was
Shintoism?
– organized by 700 C.E.
– Worship of political leaders & nature (God
of Rice)
– state formation by 600 C.E.
Northern Europe
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Germanic, Celtic, Slavic peoples
–
–
–
–
–
loose kingdoms
oral culture
simple agriculture
sailing
animistic
Central America
 Olmec,
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Olmecs
c. 800–400 B.C.E.
– no writing
– Pyramids
– Agriculture - especially corn
 potatoes in Andes
– domestication of animals
 turkeys, dogs
– Calendars
Legacy
of
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Olmecs
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– Disappeared w/out a trace
Teotihuacan (Aztecs)
Maya - from 400 C.E.
 South
America
– Ancestors of Inca
 Peru, Bolivia
Civilizations
of Central
and South
America
Spread of Polynesian Peoples
The Spread of Polynesian Peoples

Polynesia
– Isolation – Fiji & Samoa
inhabited by 1000
B.C.E.
– Hawaii by 400 C.E.

Germanic Nomads
move into Central Asia
– Participate in Middle
East trade
Decline in China

China - Han Dynasty
– decline c. 100 C.E.
– Daoist revival led by Yellow Turbans
 Promised a Golden Age; attacked
weakness of Emperor; led student
protests – failed
 Epidemics
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Sui Dynasty – brief control
Tang
– from 618 C.E.
– Glorious period in Chinese history;
revival of Confucianism
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Continuity – Confucian values &
lifestyles remained
Asia c. 600 CE
Decline in India
Invasions from 600 C.E.
– Gupta empire destroyed
 Fragmentation
– Rajput – regional princes
 Buddhism declines
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Changes in
Hinduism
Islamic
invasion

Hinduism
– worship of Devi (mother goddess)
– Popular emotional religious revival
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Islam – Arab armies reach India’s NW frontier
during 7th century
– Some converts to Islam – challenge to
Hinduism
– control of Indian Ocean
5th C Sculpture,
“Buddha Preaching the Law”
India-Gupta
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Indian Ocean Trading Routes in the
Classical Period
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Why was
control of
the Indian
Ocean so
important?
Decline and Fall in Rome
2 Empires
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Two Empires
Eastern
Greek
Constantinople
continuity, vigor
> Byzantine Empire
Justinian (527–565 C.E.)
Justinian Code
Western
Latin, Germanic
Rome
decline, vulnerable
> Western Europe
Rise of Christianity
 Religion Chart (pg. 111-117)
 Hinduism
Buddhism Islam Christianity
 2-3 examples of syncretism each
 Major beliefs
– God
– Afterlife
– Moral code
– Prayer/priests/building of worship
Tigris-Euphrates Civilization
Babylonians
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developed Hammurabi’s code
– laid down the procedure for law courts
– regulated property rights
– duties of family members
– set harsh punishments for crimes.
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This focus on standardizing a legal system
was one of the features of early river valley
civilizations.
Egyptian Civilization
Egyptians
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Emerged in N. Africa along the Nile River by about
3000 B.C.E.
benefited from trade and influences from
Mesopotamia, but it also produced its own distinct
social structures and cultural expressions.
Mathematical achievements and impressive
architectural structures
From 2700 B.C.E. onward, the Egyptian pharaohs
directed the building of the pyramids, which were
to function as their tombs.
– use of slave labor
Indian and Chinese River Valley
Civilizations
Indian
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Chinese
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Indus River – 2500 BCE
– Cities: Harappa, Mohenjo Daro
– Trade w/Mesopotamia
Indo-European invasions caused devastation
Huanghe (Yellow) River
– Isolation
– Irrigation
– Horses/iron/coal
– P'an Ku – mythic ancestor of the Chinese
– Writing – ideographs (symbols)
1500 BCE - Shang dynasty
– Decline but great continuity
The Legacy of the River Valley
Civilizations
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Basic achievements:
– wheel, alphabets, mathematics, and
divisions of time
Mesopotamian art and Egyptian architecture
influenced the Greeks & Romans
The Phoenicians devised a simplified
alphabet – 22 letters
Jews - smaller Middle Eastern group - first
clearly developed monotheistic religion
Compare the river valley
civilizations
 Tigris-Euphrates
Leadership
 Law
 Religions
 Writing system
 Trade
 Technology
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Indus
Huanghe