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Chapter 2 Chronology
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Early civilizations, formed the first written languages.
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Both ancient civilizations had different water ways which affected trade and warfare. Egypt's Nile was predictable and surrounded by dessert while Mesopotamia's saw many invasions. Egypt was able to sustain fertile soil because the Nile deposited fresh silt to the soil. This allowed for more social and political stability because Egypt had excellent soil health (able to grow food). Mesopotamia experienced soil degradations due to overuse (would have to conquer new territory for food).
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Mesopotamia is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It was located in West Asia, the northern part of the Fertile Crescent.
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Specialized in production. Used fisheries, beans, and fruit as a source for food.
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A key difference between the Olmec civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization is immigration. Eurasia was founded in 100,000 B.P. and Mesoamerica 15,000 B.P. Due to this time difference, Mesopotamia is older and grew to an advanced civilization more quickly than the Olmec. Periodization in American history v.s. world history has showed me that unlike analyzing smaller time periods, from now on I'll be researching larger time periods and their significance without much specificity.
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Both the Indus Valley and Oxus were large cities with no long-lasting architecture or political hierarchy. Oxus excelled in agriculture and long distance trades. Both cities were located near Central Asia.
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The Olmecs are the earliest known Mesoamerican civilization.
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The significance of analyzing far removed civilizations from each other is that we can examine differences in cultural identities and living standard as time progressed. This will give us an understanding of why some civilizations might be different from others considering migration patterns and agricultural/pastoralism advancements. If each chapter introduced different regions within the same time periods, the overall understanding of the development of civilizations would be lost.
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The first three largest dynasties in traditional Chinese history. Bridged ancient Chinese civilizations and the beginning of a modernized society. Developed agricultural practices in Xia, developed writing and stratified government in Shang, and bronze weapons and the domestication of horses in Zhou. Lasted from 2200-771 B.C.E