1. Prehistory
1.1. Ancestors begin to fashion tools and weapons to improve their means of survival.
1.2. The sum total of the things created and transmitted by humans, is called culture.
2. Paleolithic Culture 7,000,000 BCE -10,000 BCE
2.1. Hunters and Gatherers
2.1.1. Tools such as cleavers,spears, and choppers made of stone
2.2. Naturalism in cave art which is debated if they served as totems or ceremonial shrines for shamans
3. "Mesolithic Culture 10,000 - 8000 B.C.E."
3.1. Plants and animals are domesticated
3.2. Shrines such as stonehenge
4. Neolithic Culture 8000 - 2000 BCE
4.1. Farmers and food production
4.2. Weapons become more polished and studier
4.3. Lived in mud huts which are civilization earliest known architecture
4.4. Art such as pottery and statue made of stone
5. Birth of Civilization
5.1. River Valley Civilizations 4000 - 2000 BCE
5.1.1. urban life
5.1.2. political institutions
5.1.3. specialization and division of labor
5.1.4. trade and large-scale farming
5.1.5. wheeled vehicles and sailboats
5.1.6. metallurgy/bronze tools and weapons
5.1.7. writing and record-keeping
5.1.8. solar calendar
5.2. From Counting to Writing
5.2.1. Record keeping evolves from tokens to pictography known as Cuneiform on clay tablets
5.2.2. Egyptians use Hieroglyphs
5.3. Metallurgy: The Bronze Age
5.3.1. Chinese master bronze making
5.3.2. Metal began to replace stone in bone
5.3.3. Metallurgy is the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification.
5.3.4. Travel and trade allowed bronze age culture to flourish through many societies
6. Mesopotamia
6.1. Land Between Rivers
6.1.1. Known as the "Land Between the Rivers" because they were located between where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers empty into the Persian Gulf
6.1.2. The specialization of labor encouraged the development of social classes with different types of training, and various levels of authority
6.2. Myths, Gods, and Goddesses
6.2.1. Animism: A belief that forces of nature were inhibited by spirits
6.2.2. Were polytheistic and believed in many gods. Created myths and legends about the gods and goddesses
6.3. Ziggurat was the worshipping center of Mesopotamia
6.3.1. Made of rubble and brick
6.3.2. Shrine rooms located some 250 feet atop the ziggurat stored clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform records of the city’s economic activities, its religious customs, and its rites.
6.4. Gilgamesh: The First Epic
6.4.1. ca 3200 BCE
6.4.2. Worlds first epic(long poem about a hero's deed or mission) about Gilgamesh and his quest for everlasting life
6.5. Babylon: Hammurabi’s Law Code
6.5.1. Cities Sumer and Babylon unify to become the Babylonian empire
6.5.2. Humans were not equal, and worth was based on status and wealth. The higher up you were the more protected you were.
6.6. Iron Technology
6.6.1. Iron is introduced by Hittites. They also introduce horse drawn chariots and iron weapons which allows them to conquer most of mesopotamia.
6.6.2. With the increase in production and population in the iron age, many small states and vast empires are built
6.7. Landmarks of the Iron Age
6.7.1. Assyrians ca. 750 - 650 BCE
6.7.2. Chaldeans ca. 600–540 BCE rebuilt the ancient city of babylon.
6.7.3. Persians ca. 550–330 BCE
6.8. The Persian Empire
6.8.1. largest and world's first multicultural empire in Mesopotamia
6.8.2. Large postal system
6.8.3. Monotheistic religion based on teachings of the prophet Zoroaster which believed in good and evil and would influence later religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism
7. Africa: Ancient Egypt
7.1. Emerged from the banks of nile river and lasted more than 3000 years
7.1.1. Africa: Western Sudan
7.1.1.1. The Nok Terracottas
7.1.1.1.1. probably represent tribal rulers or ancestral chieftains
7.1.1.1.2. in 1931 large terracotta sculptures are discovered in the village of Nok
7.2. Local rulers governed the Neolithic villages along the Nile until roughly 3150 b.c.e., when they were united under the authority of Narmer Egypt’s first monarch or pharaoh.
7.3. The Gods of Ancient Egypt
7.3.1. worshipped the sun god Amon or Aten and the god of the underworld Osiris and believed in over 2000 other gods and goddesses.
7.3.2. believed in resurrection
7.4. Theocracy and the Cult of the Dead
7.4.1. Egyptians had a theocratic society ruled by pharaohs
7.4.2. Pharaohs were representatives of the sun god and had elaborate burials in pyramids
7.5. Akhenaten’s Reform
7.5.1. pharaoh Amenhotep IV elevated the sun god Atem to supreme ruler and changed his name to Akhenaten to elavate his own rule
7.5.2. Queen Nefertiti is his wife and has numerous portraits of her either due to her great beauty or the major role she played in political life
7.6. Egyptian Women
7.6.1. Land was passed down through the female line of families due to this Egyptian women had lots of freedoms and independence
7.6.2. There were 3 female rulers
7.7. Egyptian Art
7.7.1. Found mainly in tombs and reflected living life for the dead
7.7.2. Upper- class individuals appeared larger than lower class. Males were larger than females and servants
7.7.3. Sculptures made of wood and stone
7.8. New Kingdom Temples
7.8.1. Their temples mirrored their cosmos and were made of pylons and a hypostyle hall
7.8.2. celebrated the solar cycle
7.9. Literature and Music
7.9.1. Tomb and temple walls, and from papyrus rolls, come prayers and songs, royal decrees and letters, prose tales, and texts that served to educate the young
7.9.2. From the New Kingdom came a very personal type of poetry defined as lyric (literally, accompanied by the lyre or harp).
8. The Americas
8.1. Olmec, Aztec, Inca, Maya civilizations
8.2. Olmec ca. 1300 - 400 BCE were ruled by priest who represented god. Produced massive sculptures and pyramids and were proceeded by the Maya and Aztecs.
9. Ancient India
9.1. Indus Valley Civilization ca. 2709–1500 B.C.E.
9.1.1. India’s earliest known civilization was located in the lower Indus valley of northwest India
9.2. The Vedic Era ca. 1500–322 B.C.E
9.2.1. the introduction of Sanskrit, the classic language of India; and a set of societal divisions known as the caste system
9.3. Hindu Pantheism
9.3.1. Hinduism is introduced
9.3.2. Pantheism, the belief that divinity is inherent in all things, is basic to the Hindu view that the universe itself is sacred
10. Ancient China
10.1. Ancient Chinese civilization emerged in the fertile valleys of two great waterways: the Yellow and the Yangzi rivers
10.2. The Shang Dynasty ca. 1520–1027 B.C.E.
10.2.1. Shang rulers were hereditary kings who were regarded as intermediaries between the people and the spirit world
10.3. The Aristocracy of Merit
10.3.1. leadership based on excellence
10.3.2. built a system where people with greater abilities held government positions and lesser abilities held physical jobs
10.4. The Mandate of Heaven
10.4.1. The sacred right to rule was known in China as the Mandate of Heaven
10.5. Spirits, Gods, and the Natural Order
10.5.1. According to the Chinese, the spirits of deceased ancestors continued to exist in heaven, where they assumed their role as mediators between heaven and earth.
10.6. Daoism: The Philosophy of the Way
10.6.1. As much a philosophy as a religion, Daoism embraces a univer-sal natural principle: the Dao, or Way.