Lecture 1 History 104 Notes 1 What does it meant to adopt an agricultural way of life Feeding themselves from nature reliance on domestic resources work land intensively animal husbandry sedentary stay in one place 2 When where how why did this occur When Where What 8000 BCE 7000 BCE 5000 BCE 5000 BCE 4000 BCE Jordan Valley Zagros Mtns Rest of SW Asia China Yellow River China Yangtze River Mesoamerica Barley einkorn emmer wheat Same Millet Rice Teosinte maize 3 What were the consequences Increased population density social inequality new relationships to land ownership new tools investment in infrastructure shift from communal to household economic organization Lecture 2 1 What is civilization Human society in which culture science industry government have been reached Latin Civis means city 2 What is the link between agriculture and civilization 5000 years of higher yields more surplus increased population density demands allowed investment infrastructure LED TO cities New more complex forms of social organization resource management 3 Where and when did the first civilizations emerge and with what characteristics EGYPT 2575 2134 BCE Predictable flooding No irrigation necessary Population spread along river delta Progressively united region under a king pharaoh Tombs MESOPTAMIA 2500 BCE Unpredictable flooding Irrigation Independent city states Clustering of cities allied or dominated Temples Lecture 3 1 Why do empires dominate the narrative of history Empire agglomeration of separate political entities under one rule Formed by marriage alliance designation as heir conquest subordination semi independent rulers pay tribute Empires are the result of surplus in society that leads to excess wealth that can allow them to pay for military expenses and build monuments 2 What problems do they face What legacies do they leave 1 problem administration Coalesce as a unified state or revert to separate independent units Legacies o Akkadian Empire conquered and united city states of Akkad Sumer o Assyrian Empire o Babylonian Empire made Babylon a political cultural and religious city god annual military expeditions Lead by Sargon first empire in SW Asia center of Mesopotamia Sacked by Hitties Code of Hammurabi Lead by Hammurabi deportation of people Lead by Aramaic Lead by Nebuchadnezzar II Darius I Darius III conquered by Alexander the Great 331 BCE Achaemenid dynasty Lead by Cyrus the Great Chaldeans conquered by Cyrus the Great o Neo Babylonian Empire o Persian Empire 3 How did successive empires in SW Asia carry on and change Sumerian traditions Kings as god s chosen kings as military leaders monuments as royal propaganda use of writing cuneiform urban economy based on agriculture trade polytheistic except Persians Lecture 4 1 How does China s earliest history compare to SW Asia King religious military leader legal administrator Monumental architecture population density palaces Ancestor worship ritual offerings divination Land aristocracy Lecture 5 1 How where why did writing first develop Where o Mesoamerica o Mesopotamia o Egypt o China How o Cuneiform o Mensuration Pictograms o Picture of an object symbol for spoken word o Coherent writing system o Adaptation to new circumstances reform standardization o Different forms for different media letter forms direction Why o Logographic sign word Syllabic sign syllable Alphabetic sign sound o Protosinatic 1st alphabetic writing o Fewer symbols to memorize 2 What impact does writing have on society As a technology writing makes communication across distances accuracy detail and permanence possible Writing new elites methods of social control criteria for documentation new subjectivities 3 How do written records shape our knowledge of the past Record keeping detail permanence Memorializing remembering Moralizing narrative meaning Lecture 6 1 What social conditions gave rise to Confucian thought Ethics emerge in prosperous societies at times of crisis or confusing changes in the social order Spenta Mainyu Holy Spirit Angra Mainyu Hostile Spirit Everyone s choices matter Everyone judged equally 2 Was there a parallel development in SW Asia Good government place in the social order individual behavior 3 What are the central tenets of their teaching FOUR KEY VIRTUES o Benevolence Ren o Reciprocity Shu o Filial Piety Xiao o Ritual li Family microcosm for society Aim to cultivate a virtuous character Emulate virtuous ancestors men of the past NOT a religion but a comprehensive ethical system 4 What is the role of politics in diffusing their technology Qin Dynasty o 1st emperor preferred Legalism o Persecuted Confucian scholars destroyed texts o Legalism linked with indiscriminate harshness Han Dynasty o Promote Confucianism to establish order o Emphasized proper character responsibility loyalty among subjects o Strengthened Emperor s place at the center of social order Lecture 7 1 What social conditions gave rise to Buddha s teaching Philosophical speculative o Forces ritual meant to symbolize o Demythologize gods Liberation through knowledge Increased prosperity signs of urbanization commercialization New political order Old vs New 2 What did Buddha teach FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS o Existence of suffering o Arising of suffering o Cessation of Suffering o Path leading to the ending of suffering Morality Meditation Wisdom 3 What religious teachings preceded the Buddha s Upanishads new interpretations of older Vedic texts practices 4 What others were contemporary Zoroasterism Jainism Confucianism Lecture 8 1 What social conditions gave rise to ancient Greek humanism Trade networks and colonies City states Not empires no central authority Mercantile cultural outposts Democracy vs Tyranny 2 What core teachings of humanist philosophy Humanism a doctrine attitude or way of life centered on human interests or values A philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual s dignity and worth and capacity for self realization through reason 3 What effect did Alexander s conquest Greek culture have on SW Asia Politics Kingdoms of Alexander s generals Alexander the Great s empire Lecture 11 Roman Republic 1 What distinguished the Roman Empire from the Roman Republic o Latinized Hellenism o Republican government executed power invested in two consuls on 1 year terms o Senate advisory body controls o Legislation passed by all male citizens o Patricians dominates plebs have a say 2 What distinguished the Roman Empire from the Athenian Empire