Transcript Hist 100 World Civilization I Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer Upper Iowa University.

Hist 100
World Civilization I
Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer
Upper Iowa University
Lecture 3
China’s Geography
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Mountains and deserts tended
to isolate China from the rest of
the Eurasian landmass during
its early history
Like in other places, civilization
in China originated along major
rivers
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Yellow River:
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The first Chinese civilization
emerged in its river valley
Like the rivers of
Mesopotamia it wasn’t gentle
Major crops: wheat and millet
Yangtze River
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Another site of early
civilization south of the Yellow
Major crop: rice
Lecture 3
Shang Dynasty (1523-1027 BCE)
 Ancient Chinese culture
developed largely without foreign
influences
 Earliest known civilization in
China emerged under the Shang
 They were considered mythical
at one time until their existence
was confirmed by archeologists
 The Shang Dynasty controlled a
considerable part of northern
China
 Achievements
 Silk cultivation begins
 Writing developed
Shang Era
Chinese
pictographs
Lecture 3
Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE)
 Zhou originated as a tributary
state of the Shang
 In the 11th Century BCE, they
rebelled against the Shang and
eventually conquered them
 Hence, this dynasty more a
political than cultural break from
the Shang
 “Mandate of Heaven”
 Zhou cultural accomplishments
 Population filled in wide tracts of
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undeveloped land
Canals and roads built
Coined money invented
Iron smelted
Mandarin system originated
Lecture 3
Chinese Philosophies
 Confucianism
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Kung Fuci (551-479 BCE)
Synthesized the dominant
Chinese philosophical system,
although it only became
influential after his death
Main beliefs
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Kung Fuci
(“Confucius”)
Definite lines of authority
Importance of gentlemanly
conduct
Good government a must
 Daoism
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Originated with Lao-Tzu in 6th
Century BCE
There was a Dao or “Way of
Nature”
People could only be happy if
they abandoned civilization
 Legalism
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Stressed the value of an
authoritarian state in
maintaining social order
Lao-Tzu
Lecture 3
Era of Warring States
 Zhou governance
 Having brought down the Shang,
the Zhou were aware the same
thing could happen to them
 Hence, the divided their kingdom
administratively
 Still this could not stop the
gradual descent of China into
feudalism
 By the 5th Century BCE, Zhou
authority had effectively
collapsed although they
remained the nominal rulers
 China devolved into a collection
of small states perpetually at war
with each other
Lecture 3
Nubia
 Nubia was a region south of
ancient Egypt
 Cut by the River Nile it was the
best natural conduit between
North Africa and sub-Saharan
Africa
 Subject to cultural influences
from Egyptian civilization and
societies to the South
 Nubia heavily dominated by
Egypt for much of the BCE
 Egyptians attracted to Nubia by
gold and other trade goods
 Egyptians came initially as
traders, but starting in the Middle
Kingdom began to come as
conquerors and over time spread
their control further south
Lecture 3
Kingdom of Meroe
 Egyptian control in Nubia
collapsed at the end of the New
Kingdom period
 Nubians even successfully
conquered Egypt in the 8th
century BCE, establishing the
25th Dynasty and living as
Egyptians
 Eventually a new kingdom
emerged in Nubia around the
city of Meroe
 Over time, Egyptian influence
waned and Maroe adopted more
of the language, religion, and
customs coming from subSaharan Africa
Pyramids built at Maroe demonstrate
the Egyptian influence over the
early history of the kingdom
Lecture 3
Celtic Society (1)
 The history of Europe north of
the Alps is poorly known until the
people there came into regular
contact with literate societies
along the Mediterranean basin
 Much of what is known about the
Celts comes from the Romans
 The first group in northern and
western Europe well known to
history are the Celts
 As the map demonstrates Celtic
society was decentralized and
tribal
 What tied the Celts together was
a language family and broad
cultural patterns
Map of the distribution of Celtic
tribes in the late BCE
Lecture 3
Celtic Society (2)
 Celtic society was dominated by
a warrior elite that had a
monopoly on wealth and power
 Below them was a priestly caste,
the Druids, bard musicians, and
the mass of commoners
 Religion was the one institution
in Celtic society that transcended
tribal boundaries
 Tribes fought with each other,
but tended to unite against
outsiders such as the Romans
 Agriculture, artisan manufacture,
and trade supported Celtic
society
An artists impression of a Celtic
walled hilltop village located in
what is today Scotland
Lecture 3
Pre-Columbian America: Introduction
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Pre-Columbian is a term that refers
to America prior to the arrival of
Europeans in 1492
Isolation
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The key fact of pre-Columbian
history is isolation
The isolation of the population of
the Americas makes the relative
isolation of early Egypt, India, and
China seem minor by comparison
After rising sea levels at the end of
the last ice age 12,000 years ago
submerged the Beringian land
bridge, America almost entirely cut
off from the rest of humanity
The people of the Americas
experienced a massive dying off
after contact resumed, killing the
majority of the Pre-Columbian
population of the Americas
Depiction of the land bridge
connecting Siberia and
Alaska during the last ice age
Lecture 3
Mesoamerica: The Olmecs
 The highest level of civilization in
America before European contact
arguably reached in Mesoamerica
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This region encompasses modern
Mexico and Central America
 Olmecs (1500-300 BCE)
The earliest advanced civilization in
Mesoamerica
 The Olmec developed agriculture and
writing (still undeciphered)
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Basically everything known about the
Olmec based on archeology
They are most famous for their large
stone sculptures and the earliest
pyramids built in the Americas
 They seem to have set the pattern for
all subsequent civilizations in
Mesoamerica
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Carved
Olmec
head
Lecture 3
South America: Chavin
 Just as the Olmecs appear to have
been the baseline civilization in
Mesoamerica, the Chavin culture
appears to have the same status in
South America (although there is
evidence of earlier civilizations)
They are the first of a series of
civilizations to emerge in the Andes
mountain region
 Existed from roughly 900-250 BCE
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 Established cultural elements that
came to define later Andean
civilizations
Llamas as pack animals
 Crops such as maize in the lowlands
and potatoes in the highlands
 These crops and trade supported
large urban centers
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Chavin
Stone
head