Overview, Final Post

What are the TEN MOST IMPORTANT FACTS we learned this semester?   

1.) Neolithic Revolution- The Neolithic Revolution, aka Agricultural Revolution, was the transition from the Paleolithic Age to a new world of societies, civilizations, and empires, which led to what we have today; Cities, States, Countries... During the Neolithic Revolution groups of people settled down and began growing their own crops, domesticating animals, and making homes and other buildings which were permanent rather than pick up/pack up/and move every few weeks or so. Peoples diets changed because now they always had easy access to food, the population expanded "more Food = more Babies", Social Classes began to form, Gender Roles were doled out, new Technologies were invented... It changed the course of human history. (see Neolithic Revolution Ch2 Post for more information.)


2.) Expanded Trade- From the start of all empires, there was trade. Some within the empire itself, some to nearby communities, whereas others had trade across the regions to empires all over the place. The biggest example of trade we learned of this year was the Silk Road (500-1500C.E) which was exchange all across Eurasia. The delivered luxury goods from China all the way to the Roman Empire, and everywhere in between. There were also Sea Routes of Exchange throughout the Indian Ocean. These trade routes not only spread goods across the region, but also religions, disease, and cultural influences. Trade was everywhere, drawing upon the resources that weren't within one civilizations reach, Egypt got goods from Mesopotamia, Sudan, the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa. (see Change and Continuity Essay, paragraph two for more examples.)

 3.) Spread/Beginning of Religion- Religion is obviously a very important aspect of all that we learned, of all history. It is the reason for many cultural languages, entertainment, art, government, architecture, etc. Religion spread through trade as well as distant settlement. Some of the most important of these are Judaism, which was the root for many following religions, Zoroastrianism which was the first monotheistic religion, and Greek Philosphy, because what different philosophers have come up with over history has carried on into the present. Religions are the base for many entire cultures, and many of the religions we learned about are still present today. (see Religious Beliefs Ch5 Post; Silk Road Ch8 Post, top.)

4.) Patriarchal Civilizations/Empires- Patriarchal Societies are societies where men are dominate over woman. Majority of civilizations are patriarchal; China, Rome, Greece, India, Mesopotamia, etc. In the Ancient and Classical World Patriarchy was more hardcore than it currently is. Patriarchy is still around, but woman have more rights in current communities than they did back then. Men basically owned woman, they got to control them and speak for them, woman didn't have the same citizenship rights as men, and in some societies mothers were even beneath their own son (three obediences, China). Men were also punished less severely for crimes they comitted. (see Patriarchal Societies Ch6 Post.)

5.) Writing- When writing came into play within societies that was obviously a big deal. Before written works, historians didn't have much that was left to learn about the people that lived there and how they lived. Writing began for many different reasons depending on the society. The world's first alphabet was by the Phoenicians. In China they had Pictographs put onto Oracle Bones in order to tell the future, where as in Maya and Egypt there were writings to celebrate the king/pharaohs great deeds. (see #5 Egypt Ch3 Post; #7 Classical Governments Ch4.)

6.) Technological Innovations- All the innovations that came to be were/are important to the course of human growth, in every way; agriculture, herding, travel/trade, education... In China, during the Qin Dynasty, a system of weights, measures, and currency was developed, the written form of Chinese came about. and a standard cart axle length. Plows, woven textiles, pots, metallurgy, looms, saddles and stirrups, triangular sails...all of these innovations led to something greater. (see Neolithic Revolution Ch2 Post; Silk Road Ch8 Post.) 

7.) Social Classes- Social Classes are everywhere, there is a hierarchy to every aspect of life, some are written out and in the form of laws that must be followed where as others are unspoken hierarchies that are expected to be followed without mention. Upper Class people were the ones with wealth, power, or land. They had the finest of everything, avoided physical labor in general, and they held the top positions in Politics/Military/Religious Leaders. Distinguishable by their clothing, housing, and manner of burial. In many empires, the more slaves you owned the more money you had, therefore putting you within the upper class. Free commoners, the majority of the population, were artisans, lower level officials, soldiers, police, servants, or farmers. Slaves were generally prisoners of war, criminals, or debtors. What laws and regulations applied to you generally depended on your Social Class. (see Patriarchal Society Ch6 Post.)

 

8.) Paleolithic Era- The Paleolithic Era was the beginning of time for humans. They lived before there was civilizations, writing, education, wars, etc. They lived within tribes that moved when the area they currently were residing had been picked clean and there was not much left to forage, when the animals had migrated or were dwindling, or even if they found the carcass of an animal that was too large to drag home. (see Summary of Paleolithic Societies Ch1 Post.)

 9.)  Art/Architecture- Art and Architecture often was drawn from the religions of the society, but also had influences from foreigners brought t them by trade or through other means of interaction. Greeks liked nudity, therefore much of their statues, which were created for the gods, were designed with the ideal "perfect body" in mind. Also in Greece they built huge temples for their gods, like the Parthenon for Athena with Greek columns along the temple. In Rome the big deal was arches and domes and columns. Pyramids were primarily built as temples or burial tombs for leaders of the Empire. (see Egypt Ch3 Post; Greek Theater Post; Mesoamerica and Eurasia Ch7 Post, 3rd Similarity.)

10.) Greek Theater- The start of theater was more important than it gets credit for, think about it; currently, one of the most prominent forms of entertainment is TV/Movies. Those only came about because theater was such a huge hit, and the Greeks invented theater itself, Greek culture is the root of many American distractions. Theater in Greece began as a way to show respect to their gods, to show wonderful feats that they accomplished, namely Dionysus. Dionysus, god of fertility and wine, was also the god that was most often celebrated in theater productions and had a festival held in his namesake. (see Greek Theater Post)

Sorry for the Highlighting, it won't let me remove it.