Introduction to Part 2 and Chapter 3

Introduction to Part 2 (109):

• Human community increasingly spread across the planet, encompassing more people and larger territories
• First Civilizations "breaking down" - Technological and economic
• Consequential changes: destroyed city Carthage in North Africa
• Hierarchies were not familiar with change and challenge
• Thematic Fashion - Eurasian/North African Civilization
• Human Journey - remarkable achievements, continuing power

Chapter 3:

EMPIRES AND CIVILIZATIONS IN COLLISION: THE PERSIANS AND THE GREEKS

1. Mediterranean world - Persian Empire and Greek Civilizations emerged, long interactions and clashes
2. Established political system, cultural values, and ways to organize their societies

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

1. Largest, impressive
2. Kings = Monarchs; willing to take down religious regions and officials
3. Effective Admin called Satraps
4. "Eyes and ears of kings"
5. Egypt and Babylon, Persian Kings took care to uphold local religious colts (121)

THE GREEKS

1. Huge, centralized 
2. Divided by steep mountains and valleys (123)
3. In greek civilizations, wealthy and well-born men has the rights of full citizenship
4. Women, slaves, and foreigners took up the other portion of population
5. Sparta - famous for extreme of military discipline (125)

COMPARING EMPIRES: ROMAN AND CHINESE

1. Both emphasized territorial expansion
2. China - Confucianism identified principles necessary for political and social order, emphasized the emperor's divine majesty (links to heaven)
3. Rome -Bureaucracy was less complex, greater emphasis on law codes
4. Rome - Used colonies to foster unity and integration throughout the empire
5. Chine was revived - Confucianism lasted forever

Documents: Life and Afterlife in Mesopotamia and Egypt

In Search of Eternal Life:

• Gilgamesh - becoming civilized
• Civilization - The transformation of when the beast started to become human

Beast:

1. Wilderness
2. Silence
3. Shaggy (facial hair, long)
4. No settled living
5. Ate grass, including the animals
6. Friends = animals
7. Relied on water (only liquid)

Human:

1. Oils (Moisturizing)
2. Bread (Alternative made from the grass)
3. Friends = other humans
4. Beer (Alternative drink instead of water)
5. Protect humans
6. Weapons
7. Challenge each other 

Law and Justice in Ancient Mesopotamia (95-97):

• On Crime, Punishment, and Justice
• On the Economy
• On Class and Slavery
• On Men and Women - Different rules, unfair

The Afterlife of a Pharaoh:

• You have to be great to others in order to go to "Afterlife"
• Surrounding yourself with happiness
• God taking your hand to heaven

A New Basis for Egyptian Immorality/The Occupations of Old Egypt:

• Improving writing was a key factor
• Communication
• Practices

Defining Civilization:What features of civilization, described in Chapter 2, do the documents illustrate?

- The meaning of civilized to the Mesopotamians meant transforming from being a beast to a human. In the story of Gilgamesh, they discovered different changes of how people lived and what they've become. One example, people starting eat differently. Instead of relying on grass and drinking water, they've expanded their knowledge by making other food/drinks by using the sources that they already have.

- There's still segregation between men and women (treated differently, unfair)

- Different religions, but people still believe in afterlife

- Communication is important. We still use the "tool" of writing and speak to each other

First Civilizations

The Emergence of Civilization:

• Small "breakthroughs" to a new way of life
• Larger communities formed - Some expanded their population while others collapsed

Introducing the First Civilization:

• "Cradle" - Located in present day Iraq
• Earliest written language

Norte Chico (63):

1. Monumental architecture was found
2. One of the smaller cities
3. "Rich fishing" such as anchovies and sardines

Indus Valley (66):

1. No palaces, temples, graving, kings, or warrior classes
2. Irrigation: Salt lowered crop yields
3. Wood was frequently used for fuel

China (67):

1. Oracle bones predicted the future
2. The "occasional goods" were found in China

The Question of Origins:

• If the water system was efficient and provided for everyone, it can continuously provide for the civilization which helps them grow
• Irrigation = Water System
• Irrigation allows the workers to know what water system they'll need + the amount of water that'll need to be provided

An Urban Revolution/Erosion of Equality (71):

• Different groups put into categories

1. Junior/Senior Scribes
2. Temple Scribes
3. Royal Scribes
4. Others

• No one grew their food because they were being supported by farmers

Hierarchies of Class/Gender (71-73):

• First civilization transferred from a wealthy status to normal
• The bottom of the hierarchies were slaves
• No "division" or segregation between sex
• Women played masculine roles - ruling, being a priest

Patriarchy in Practice (74-75):

• Laws between male and female were unequal
• Women were divided in two categories - Fifteenth and Eleventh Century
• "Those under the protection and control of one man, were required to be veiled when outside the home, whereas non respectable women, such as slaves and prostitutes, were forbidden to wear veils and were subject to severe punishment if they presumed to cover their hands." (75)

Agriculture

Breakthroughs to Agriculture:
The beginning of the section was a brief description of the meaning of Agriculture and how it was created. Agriculture taught the home sapiens how to provide for themselves. It was a form of lifestyle because they also learned about their population growth, where to settle their villages, diseases that were found in animals they hunted, civilization, literature, and basic writing skills. The main source that helped people survive was hunting for animals. This was also known as "Domestication". Domestication benefited the humans health wise, but made mammals become extinct with the excessive amount of hunting.

Globalization of Agriculture:
Agriculture also helped groups communicate with one another by exchanging their products. It was difficult at first because not everyone spoke the same language. Eventually they realized that certain areas in the world speak similarly which made it easier for trading and made them want to migrate more.

Agriculture Village, Pastoral Societies, and Chiefdoms:
Agriculture Village -

• Socially and gender equally
• Rely on animals and plants for foods

Pastoral Societies -

• Rely on plants
• Raising livestock

Chiefdoms -

• Selected seniors from families
• Hierarchical political organization

Nissa's Story

Nissa had five different sections on what she experienced throughout her lifetime. The first section that she discussed was what her life was like before she entered adult hood. Nissa went in depth about how she survived - health wise. She owned nothing because she lived in the bush, and not the village. She relied a lot on her father for food because providing that supply was the male role during that time period. She told stories of when her father would bring home food and how it would excite her since her family did not own much. She also shared her dislike of stingy people that she was surrounded by. Later in the section, Nissa shares her first marriage/loss and what it felt like. At first, she wasn't for her marriage, but eventually learned how to love her husband. She became extremely attached to all of her husbands, but losing them was never easy for her. She felt hopeless because she did not know who would care for her children which gave her the reason to search for new love continuously. I honestly feel like she becomes selfish in this section because she's using the men for their abilities. There's no true love that's given back to the men she falls for. She only wants them for their food, money, and of course sex. Her excuse was that woman shouldn't wait around doing nothing because if her husband doesn't provide what she wants, she's left with him because she didn't explore for someone else.

What do you think of Nissa's account as a description of what Paleolithic peoples might have been like?

I feel like the Paleolithic era is no different to how society is like today. People still experience the same situations that Nissa gone through during her lifetime. The only thing that changed from back then to now is that men don't have the role of providing. Today, both genders share that role. There are a lot of cases now of women being single and having to provide for themselves including their family. They can't expect different men to help provide for them in order to live. Women can't just "sit around" anymore because things such as money, food, love, and education won't be handed to them. Especially in this era because everyone works hard for what they earn.