1. From Human Pre-history to the Early Civilization Chapter 1
AP World History
From Human Pre-history to the Early Civilization
Chapter 1

2. What is prehistory?
The things that happened to humans before their was written records.
It is a lot like a vast black space penetrated by only an occasional pinpoint of light, representing our current knowledge. 2

3. Definitions of civilization
Elements:
Urban, monumental building, writing, specialized, occupations
Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers.
Homo sapiens by 10,000 B.C.E.
larger brain
tools, weapons
Developments by 12,000 B.C.E.:
Hunting-gathering
Art
Spread to Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas.

4. The development of human creatures.
A human like creature, or hominid, was walking about in East Africa more than 5.5 million years ago, by latest reckoning. 4

5. What is the difference between a human and an ape?
Deviations in bone structures of the foot and hand, the size of the brain, and the use of language. 5

6. The Paleolithic Age
The appearance of the first tool making hominids about 10,000 B.C.E.
Also known as the Old Stone Age.
(paleo = old; lithos = stone)
Seventeen varieties of hominid evolved.
All of them became extinct between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. 6

8. Human Life before Agriculture
Paleolithic Culture :
Old Stone Age to 14,000 Y.A.
Homo sapiens sapiens c. 240,000, Y.A.
Late Paleolithic Developments:
Variety
Bands of hunter-gatherers
Agricultural settlements
Gender division of labor:
Men: hunting, fishing, defense
Women: gathering, making medicine
Spread from Africa c. 750,000 Y.A.

9. Neanderthal Man EXTINCT
Flourished in Western Germany about 30,000 years ago and then disappeared about the same time that Homo Sapiens appeared in Europe.
EXTINCT 9

10. What is civilization?
“Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor.”
(Arnold J. Toynbee)
A complex, developed culture usually associated with specific achievements. 10

11. How did civilization begin?
People began to grow food instead of chasing or gathering food.
This began to happen about ( B.C.E)
*The Agricultural Revolution. 11

13. What does stationary agriculture do for a society?
CREATES
Urban living.
Law.
Government officials.
Writing.
Military forces.
Socioeconomic classes. 13

14. What are the four river societies where civilizations began?
Mesopotamia. (Fertile Crescent)
Nile River Valley.
Indus River valley.
Yellow River valley. 14

15. Results of the Agricultural Revolution.
A steadily expanding population that lived in permanent settlements.
It created the concept of “mine versus thine.” Privately owned property.
Specialization of jobs and labor. 15

17. The Neolithic Revolution – 8000 to 3500 B.C.E.
The Spread of the Neolithic Revolution:
Hunting-and-gathering persists
Pastoralism
Sub-Saharan Africa:
root and tree crops
Northern China:
Millet
Rice
Southeast Asia, to China, India, islands
Mesoamerica, Peru:
Maize, manioc, sweet potatoes
Bronze Age
Spread of Agriculture:

18. Çatal Hüyük c. 7000 B.C.E., southern Turkey.
Large fortress like complex.
Agriculture and commerce
Shrines.
Specialization of labor.

19. Metal and Its Uses:
First metal used by humans seems to have been copper.
Bronze came next for weapons, art, and tools. (Called the Bronze Age 7000 to 1500 B.C.E)
Iron is the key metal of history. The Hittites learned to smelt iron in 1200 B.C.E. Iron is more common, stronger, durable, and sharper then bronze.
*Copper Engraving Activity. 19

20. Aspects of civilizations?
Cities:
writing
political organization
Writing:
cuneiform
Nomads: (Picture)
Herding society
Sustenance existence
War like

23. Mesopotamian Civilizations
Tigris-Euphrates Civilization:
Mesopotamia
Sumerians:
from 3500 B.C.E.
Alphabet, Cuneiform writing
City-states,
Ziggurats, Human Sacrafice.
Religion, Polytheistic.
Priesthood, gods were cruel and unpredictable.
No Trace of Ethics.
Akkadians:
Babylonians
Hammurabi code
Spread Sumerian Culture

24. Sumerian Government
City States

25. Why are the Sumerians important?
Built the first large cities up to 100,000 people.
First sophisticated system of writing.
Invented the wheel as a load bearing device.
First to use sun baked clay bricks.
First to use the plow, and gravity flow irrigation system.

26. Sumerians and Math: Set time 60 minutes. 60 seconds.
The 360 degree circle stems from the Sumerians.
Much of what we know of Geometry and Trigonometry was expanded by the Sumerians.

28. Epic of Gilgamesh First Epic Poem. Story of Garden of Eden.
Story of the Flood.
Gilgamesh searches for the secret of immortal life.
The Gods jealous of his power defeat him.

29. Hammurabi
Babylonian King who took steps to control the Mesopotamian region.
Compiled the first known code of law.
The laws had been around for years.
The laws attempted to bring equality to the weak and cause justice to prevail in the land.

30. Criminal Law
Vengeance was no longer a personal thing but a thing controlled by the state.
Established punishments for offenses against others such as robbery, assault, and murder.

31. Civil Law
This branch of law deals with private rights and matters, such as business contracts, taxes, marriage, and divorce.

32. African Civilizations
Egyptian Civilization: (MAP)
Pharaoh
Pyramids
from 2700 B.C.E.
Kush (Picture)

33. Cracking the Hieroglyphic Code
Napoleon’s military found the Rosetta Stone when they invaded Egypt in 1799 during the Napoleonic Wars.
He ordered ink impressions from the stone sent to European scholars.
The Stone contained three languages.
Made it possible to translate Egyptian Hieroglyphics. 33

37. The Hittites Developed the ability to work iron.
Iron was more common then copper or bronze.
Iron was sharper and harder then bronze.
The Hittites were able to arm more men because of the cheap Iron.
They soon invaded Mesopotamia.
The empire collapsed and iron use spread.

38. The Assyrians The Terror Kings
By 1100 B.C.E Learned to forge iron weapons and invaded their neighbors.
They gained the reputation as the most ruthless people in all of Mesopotamia.
“The city and its houses, from top to bottom, I destroyed and burned with fire.”
Babylon destroyed by the Assyrians

40. A Nomadic People
Abraham migrated from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan.
The land of Canaan was controlled by the Egyptians.
The Hebrews fled to Egypt during a great famine.
Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt and back to Canaan.

41. The Kingdom of Israel
By 1000 B.C.E the Israelites had set up a kingdom with Saul as the first king.
King David further expanded the Kingdom and was successful in conquering Jerusalem, which then became the Hebrew capital.
Solomon David’s son built the famous Temple of Jerusalem. Solomon was the most famous Jewish King but also was not liked for his high taxes.

42. One True God
The beliefs of the Israelites differed in that they were Monotheistic.
With this belief came a belief that they were gods chosen people.

43. Sea People Invasions
Phoenicians
Alphabet from 1300 B.C.E.

48. Indian River Valley Civilizations
Indus River:
Harappa, Mohenjo Daro
Indo-Europeans

49. Earliest Indian Civilization
Mohenjo-Daro was first Indian civilization.
We know little of this first culture.
We do know that their cities had massive populations even as large as those of Sumer.
This civilization lasted 1000 years then just faded away.

50. City Planning
The cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were both planned cities.
Very large Three miles in circumference.
Wide roads, city walls.
Strong government.
Strong leaders.

51. Religious Beliefs Ancient India was Polytheistic.
Ancient worship of the Bull.
Modern worship of cattle.

54. Decline and Disappearance
By 1750 B.C.E the quality of life in the Indus Valley Cities was declining.
Crude pottery replaced the finer works of earlier days.
Mud slides, Volcanoes, and earthquakes possibly contributed to the destruction.

55. Chinese River Valley Civilizations
Shang

56. Shang Government
Built large palaces, rich tombs, and had armies led by women.
Government was set up around a clan system.
The government was loosely structured between many families or clans.

57. Shang Bronze Work
Unique in their Bronze work.
Almost a perfect bronze

58. Shang Social Classes
Shang soldiers used bronze weapons, leather armor, and horse drawn chariots.
They had artisans and merchants.
Most people were peasants.
Lived in thatch pit homes.
Farmed with stone tools.
Forced to repair dikes.
Forced to fight alongside local lords in war.

59. Shang Religious Beliefs
Prayed to many gods.
(Polytheistic)
Chief God was Shang Di.
Mother goddess who brought plants and animals to earth.
Gods did not speak to mere mortals, but to kings and nobles.
Lower classes of people had to appeal to their ancestors, through sacrifice and prayer.
Slaves = No soul so they could be safely killed.

60. Shang Religion Yin and Yang
Chinese religion believed in a delicate balance between two great forces.
Yin = linked to earth, darkness, and female forces.
Yang = linked to heaven, light, and male forces.

61. Shang System of Writing
Pictographs = Pictures represent things.
Ideographs = Signs that expressed thought.
Oracle Bones = Shang priests wrote on animal bones and turtle shells.
The priest would heat the bones or shells till they cracked then they would interpret the cracks.
Calligraphy = Art for those who learned to write.

62. The First Civilizations, Conclusion
Isolation of Civilizations:
Division among peoples
Contacts increase with time

63. Big Questions
What advantages does an agriculturally based society have over a hunter gatherer based society?
Compared to non-civilized societies, what are the major drawbacks of civilization?
Why is the development of writing important in the history of the river valley civilizations?
Compare the main features of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. What did the two civilizations have in common as early civilizations? What were their main differences in values and organization?
Why was Jewish monotheism a significant development in the religious history of early civilization?