Chapter One:Human Origins & the Emergence of Human

Communities, to 500 BCE

African Genesis: Interpreting the Evidence• In 1859, Charles Darwin

published, On the Origin of Species-species evolve by natural selection

• Archaeological evidence, understanding evolution of other species & tracing human genetic code backwards has helped scientists track evolution of human beings over 5 million yearsAustralopithecus africanus

•First pre-human ancestors discovered•it had many features intermediate between apes & humans

Human Evolution• Australopithecines & modern humans are

hominids-members of primate family• Distinguished by three characteristics: bipedalism,

large brain & larynx low in neck• Hominids gained advantages during climate

changes• More climate changes 2-3 million years ago caused

evolution of Homo habilis-brain 50 % larger• By 1 million years ago, Homo habilis & all

australopithecines extinct• Replaced by Homo erectus (1.7 million years ago),

then Homo sapiens (400,000 to 100,000 years ago)• Genetic evidence suggests further development

emerged around 50,000 years ago (capacity for speech)

Migrations from Africa

• Low sea levels associated w/ Ice Age allowed Homo erectus & Homo sapiens to migrate from Africa to Europe & Asia

• Homo sapiens migrated from Africa (40,000 years ago) & crossed land bridge to Americas during last glacial period (32,000–13,000 years ago)

• Low sea levels allowed Homo sapiens to reach Japan & New Guinea/Australia• Minor physical evolutionary changes (skin color)• Humans adapted to new environments through process of technological adaptation

Ice Age: Food Gathering & Stone Tools

• Stone Age (2 million-4,000 years ago)– Paleolithic (Old Stone Age—to

10,000 years ago) – Neolithic (New Stone Age)

• Paleolithic -stone tools used to scavenge meat from dead animals & hunt

• Homo sapiens very good hunters –caused extinction of mastodons & mammoths 11,000 years ago

• Stone Agers foraged vegetable foods more than meat

• Humans used fire 1.5 million years ago-conclusive evidence of cooking (clay pots) only found 12,500 years ago

Gender Roles & Social Life

• Slow maturation rate of human infants & ability of adults to mate any time are thought to be causes of development of two-parent family (characteristic of hominids)

• Women gathered food, cooked, child-care

• Men mainly hunted• Hunter-gatherers lived

in small groups-migrated to follow game animals & to take advantage of seasonal variations in ripening of foraged foods

Hearths & Cultural Expressions• Migrating hunter-gatherers lived

in camps; used natural or temporary shelters

• Permanent fishing communities made more solid structures

• Clothing of animal skins sewn together w/ vegetable fiber & rawhide cords

• Hunter-gatherers spent 3-5 hrs a day on food, clothing & shelter- left time for cultural activities like gathering, organizing, passing on information, art & religion

• Cave art suggests Ice Age people had complex religion

• Burial sites indicate belief in afterlife

Neolithic Revolution:From Origins of Agriculture to First River-Valley

Civilizations

Agricultural Revolution: Domestication of Plants & Animals

• Occurred independently at different rates--caused by climate change

• occurred 1st in Middle East, East Sahara, Nile Valley, Greece, Central Europe

• Early farmers changed fields when fertility declined

• Environment dictated crops– Mediterranean=Wheat & barley– -South & SE Asia = Rice– Equatorial W. Africa = Yams– Sub-Saharan Africa = Sorghum,

millet – Americas = Maize, potatoes,

quinoa, manioc

Domesticated Animals & Pastoralism

• Domestication of animals & plants at same time

• Dogs first; then sheep & goats for meat, milk, wool

• Animals pulled plows; supplied manure for fertilizer

• Two exceptions to pattern:– Americas: no animals suitable

for domestication except llamas, guinea pigs, & some fowl; hunting remained main source of meat; humans main source of labor power

– Arid parts of Central Asia & Africa: environment not appropriate for settled agriculture; pastoralists herded cattle or other animals from one grazing area to another

Agriculture & Ecological Crisis• Humans transitioned to

agricultural or pastoralist economies because global warming (6000-2000

B.C.E.) brought environmental changes-reduced game & wild foods

• Agricultural revolution increased world’s human population—from 10 million in 5000 B.C.E. - 100 million in 1000 B.C.E.

Life in Neolithic Communities:Cultural Expressions

• Early food producers worshiped ancestral & nature spirits centered on sacred groves, springs, wild animals; deities such as Earth Mother & Sky God

• Early societies used megaliths (big stones) to construct burial chambers & calendar circles for astronomical observations

Early Towns & Specialists • Most lived in villages, some areas supported towns

• Two best-known examples of Neolithic towns are:– Jericho-west bank of

Jordan River; walled w/mud-brick structures; 8000 B.C.E.

– Çatal Hüyük- central Turkey, 7000–5000 B.C.E.

Catal Huyuk • Center for obsidian trade; craftspeople produced pottery, baskets, woolen cloth, beads, leather & wood products

• No dominant class or centralized political leadership

• Art reflects fascination w/ hunting, but agriculture was mainstay of economy

• Flourishing religion involved offerings of food; may have centered on goddess & administered by priestesses

• Remains include decorative, ceremonial objects made of copper, lead, silver, gold;

• tools/weapons continued to be made from stone

What is significance of Jericho & Catal Huyuk?

• Emerging social organization; food producers supported nonproducing specialists; priests & craftspeople

• Labor mobilized for nonproductive projects; defensive walls, megalithic structures & tombs

• Don’t know if labor was free or coerced

Civilization EmergesCities: As farmers settled in fertile river valleys, they began to grow surplus or extra food. This extra food increased the population of the settlements. In time, the settlements grew into cities, such as Ur in Sumer or Babylon in Mesopotamia.

Organized Central Governments: As cities developed and expanded, the food supply and irrigation systems needed to be maintained. Governments, such as councils or religious leaders, began to oversee the business and existence of the cities.

Complex Religions: Religious leaders would conduct elaborate ceremonies to appease the gods (polytheism)and insure a bountiful harvest. Floods and droughts were blamed on the gods’ anger so rituals were conducted in the temples.

Job Specialization: As civilizations became more complex, artisans and craftsmen were needed to maintain specific items and tasks. No longer could individuals do all the work. Now some concentrated on teaching, scribing, stonecutting, etc.

Social Classes: As jobs became specialized so did the status & needs of certain individuals. The need for a knowledgeable & educated religious leader was more respected than unskilled workers. Herders were needed & respected for providingfood, while masons were needed for building. Slave were on lowest rung of the social ladder, warriors & kings were on top.

Writing: Records were needed to keep accounts on trade goods and food storage. Writing was needed because the information became too great. In addition, one needed to express more complex ideas such as "belief" and "social order" where pictures and words simply would not suffice.

Art and Architecture: This expressed the beliefs and values of a civilization. Different styles were developed and copied by societies. Often the art was used to impress visitors and people about the beauty and power of a king or a community

Public Works: The government would order these, although costly, to aid and benefit the community. Such things as a wall to protect from attack or a canal to aid in irrigation would help insure the survival of a people.

Mesopotamia: Settled Agriculture in Unstable AreaAgriculture difficult-relied on irrigation

– little rainfall– rivers flood at wrong time – rivers changed course

• warm climate & good soil• 3000 BCE irrigation canals constructed• Draft animals : cattle & donkeys, later

camels & horses • No significant wood, stone, metal • Sumerians earliest people-creators of

Mesopotamian cultural achievements• 2000 BCE, Sumerians supplanted by

Semitic-speaking peoples who dominated & intermarried w/ Sumerians-preserved Sumerian culture

Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia: Cities, Kings, Trade

• Villages & cities linked by mutual interdependence

• Peasants produced food for nonproducing urban elites & craftspeople

• Cities provided military protection, markets, & specialist-produced goods

• City States-– city & its agricultural land– sometimes fought over resources-

water & land; sometimes cooperated– Trade flourished– mobilized human resources to open

new farmland & to build/maintain irrigation systems

• Construction of irrigation systems required organization of large labor pool

• Two centers of power: temples & palaces• Temples were landholders-priests

controlled considerable wealth• religious power predates secular power of

palaces

Mesopotamian Politics • Decentralized, autonomous city-states • Secular leadership- originally military leaders• The Epic of Gilgamesh-secular , semi-divine

power• Frequent conflicts/conquests• Akkadian state, Sargon of Akkad-Empire Builder• Hammurabi’s Law Code reveals social

organization & unequal punishments• Essential resources obtained by territorial

expansion & through long-distance trade

Mesopotamian Economy• Agricultural but not self-

sufficient• Needed resources- obtained

by territorial expansion & long-distance trade

• Economy sacred-dependent on divine power

• Merchants originally employed by temples or palaces; later, private merchants emerged

• Trade carried out through barter or traded for fixed weights of precious metal or measurements of grains

Mesopotamian Society

• Stratified somewhat fluid society • Hierarchy associated w/ economic

activity & rank/power• Elites=administrators, priests

controlled land as part of duties• Commoners owned small garden

plots-dependent on state in return for labor

• Artisans/craftsmen worked mainly for “the state”

• Slaves-not essential to economy-war captives or debts

Women in Mesopotamia• Women lost social status w/

dependence on agriculture• own property • maintain control of dowry • trade • work outside home • status declined further in 2nd

millennium• Rise of urbanized middle class-

laws favored husbands• Women preserved or increased

wealth• Some given to temple deity

Mesopotamian Religion• Religion was syncretic blend of

Sumerian & later Semitic beliefs & deities

• Polytheistic, anthropomorphic-human emotions, capricious, undependable

• Each city had it’s own guardian deity• Empire building elevated some deities

to greater prominence• Humans were servants of gods-

complex, specialized hereditary priesthood served gods

• Temples were walled compounds containing religions & functional buildings

• Most visible part of temple compound was ziggurat

• Little knowledge of beliefs & religious practices of common people

• Evidence indicates a popular belief in magic used to influence gods

Mesopotamian Technology & Science

• Technology: “specialized knowledge used to transform natural environment & human society”

• irrigation systems & nonmaterial specialized knowledge such as religious lore, ceremony, writing systems

• Cuneiform:– evolved from using pictures to

represent sounds or parts of words– Complex; required hundreds of

signs- monopolized by scribes– Used to write economic, political,

legal, literary, religious, & scientific texts

Mesopotamian Technology & Science• Irrigation, transportation

(boats, barges & donkeys)

• bronze metallurgy, brick making, engineering

• Military technology-paid, full-time soldiers; horses; chariots; bow & arrow & siege machines

• numbers (base-60 system)-advances in mathematics & astronomy

Egypt:“Gift of the Nile”

• Defined by Nile River-narrow green strip of arable land on either side of its banks, & fertile Nile delta area

• “Red land” = desert• “Black Land” = cultivated• Upper Egypt=along the

southern part of Nile as far south as the First Cataract

• Lower Egypt= north delta area• Climate good for agriculture-

little or no rainfall• Farmers depended on river for

irrigation

Egypt: “Gift of the Nile”• Nile floods beneficial • Predictable, & at right time• Rich deposit of silt

– Provided “season”s – inspired orderly view of universe,

blessings of the gods

• Other natural resources:– reeds (papyrus for writing) – wild animals– birds & fish – plentiful building stone & clay– access to copper & turquoise

from desert – gold from Nubia

Egyptian Politics: Divine Kingship

• Evolved from pattern of small states ruled by local kings-merged into large, unified Egyptian state around 3100 B.C.E.

• Thirty dynasties: three long periods: Old, Middle, New Kingdoms; in-between periods of political fragmentation & chaos

• Kings (pharaohs) dominated Egyptian state- gods come to earth-ensured welfare & prosperity of people-maintain Ma’at (truth, order, justice, harmony, law, morality)

• Death of pharaoh beginning of journey back to gods • Funeral rites & preservation of body important to maintain Ma’at• Early pharaohs buried in flat-topped rectangular tombs-stepped pyramid tombs appeared about

2630 BCE & smooth-sided pyramids later• Great pyramids at Giza constructed 2550-2490 BCE (Old Kingdom period only)• Constructed w/ stone tools & simple lever, pulley & rollers-required substantial resources & labor

Egyptian Politics: Administration & Communication

• central administration through system of provincial & village bureaucracies• Bureaucrats kept track of land, labor, taxes, people; collected resources • Supported central government institutions- palace, bureaucracy & army & maintain temples,

construct monuments• Two writing systems: hieroglyphics & cursive• Papyrus- used for religious & secular literature &record keeping• Tensions between central & local government were constant • When central power was predominant, provincial officials were appointed & promoted by

central government on merit • When central power was weak, provincial officials become autonomous- made positions

hereditary-buried in own districts rather than near tomb of king

Egypt: Administration & Communication• More rural than Mesopotamia• had cities, but not excavated• regarded foreigners as enemies,

but desert nomad neighbors posed no serious military threat

• sought resources through trade, not aggressive

• traded directly w/ Levant & Nubia- indirectly w/ Punt (part of modern Somalia)

• Exports-papyrus, grain, gold • Imports-incense, Nubian gold,

Lebanese cedar, tropical African ivory, ebony, animals

Egyptian Economy • Agricultural• Self-sufficient • Small businesses, factories• Heavy taxes, high interest

rates• traded directly w/ Levant &

Nubia- indirectly with Punt (probably part of modern Somalia)

• Exports-papyrus, grain, gold • Imports-incense, Nubian gold,

Lebanese cedar, tropical African ivory, ebony, animals

Egyptian Society • Population =1-1.5 million physically heterogeneous people, some dark-skinned-some lighter-skinned

• king & high-ranking officials; lower-level officials, local leaders & priests, professionals, artisans, well-off farmers; & peasants- majority of population

• Peasants lived in villages, cultivated soil, paid taxes, provided labor

• Women subordinate- engaged in domestic activities– Had right to hold, inherit & will

property– Retained rights over their

dowry after divorce– More rights than

Mesopotamian women• Slavery small percentage-less harsh

than elsewhere-not essential to the economy

Egypt: Belief & Knowledge

• Based on cyclical view of nature • Two most significant gods-sun-

god Re & Osiris, god of Underworld, was killed, dismembered, restored to life, represented renewal & life after death

• Kings-identified w/ Re & Horus, son of Osiris- served as chief priests

• large amount of wealth spent constructing fabulous temples

• Temple activities included regular offerings to gods & great festivals

Egypt: Belief & Knowledge

• Belief in afterlife inspired mummification-provided knowledge of chemistry, anatomy

• Tombs/artifacts provide extensive information about daily life

• Tombs built in desert avoided wasting arable land-reflected social status of deceased

• Mathematics, astronomy, calendar making, irrigation, engineering, architecture, & transportation technology

Indus Valley Civilization

• Central part of Indus Valley area is Sind region of modern Pakistan

• Adjacent related areas included Hakra River (now dried up), the Punjab & Indus delta region

• Indus carries silt- floods regularly twice a year

• Access to river water for irrigation allowed farmers in Indus Valley region to produce two crops a year despite sparse rainfall

Indus Valley: Material Culture• flourished from 2600 to 1900 BCE • Harappa (3½ miles circumference,

population about 35,000)• Mohenjo-Daro (larger)• brick walls, streets in grid pattern-

covered drainage systems carried away waste

• citadel-center of authority, storehouses for grain, barracks for artisans

• controlled surrounding farmland• Harappa may have been nexus of

trade in copper, tin, & precious stones from NW

• High degree of standardization in city planning

Indus Valley• Better access to metal than

Egyptians & Mesopotamians-artisans created utilitarian & luxury items

• Extensive irrigation systems, potter’s wheel, kiln-baked bricks & bronze metallurgy

• Extensive trade w/ NW- Iran, Afghanistan & even Mesopotamia

• know little of the identity, origins, or fate of people of Indus Valley

• Writing system not deciphered

Why did Indus Valley Collapse?• Former Theory-Indus Valley cities

abandoned around 1900 BCE - invasion• Current theory-decline due to natural

disasters & ecological change• Agricultural production declined• Hakra River-dried up, salinization,

erosion • When urban centers collapsed, so did

way of life of elites-peasants probably adapted & survived

ConclusionsPolitical & Economic Comparisons• Mesopotamia, Egypt, & Indus Valley all developed along river systems where

they were assured an adequate water supply for agriculture• all developed political structures for organization of labor for irrigation systems• Kingship developed as the political leadership system of both Egypt &

Mesopotamia-Egypt’s kings were believed to be divine in origin, while Mesopotamia’s rulers were not

Religious & Cultural Comparisons• The predictable flooding of the Nile translated into a relatively optimistic

outlook on the afterlife for Egyptians• In contrast, the unpredictable & violent flooding of Tigris-Euphrates Basin gave

Mesopotamians a more fearful expectation of their afterlife• All three civilizations developed architectural techniques for building large

structures• Egyptian women appear to have enjoyed more equality in society than did

Mesopotamian women

Discussion Questions1. How did differences in the environment and geographical location

affect the development of these three early civilizations?2. What evidence do you see here of interaction between these

civilizations and other peoples (including interaction among the three civilizations themselves)? How important do you think that interaction with other peoples was for the development of these three civilizations?

3. What demands arose for these civilizations that led to their technological advancements?

4. What factors might explain the rise and decline of civilizations in general and of these particular civilizations?

5. How do the religious beliefs and world-views in Mesopotamia and Egypt reflect the relationships between the environment and the people of these civilizations?

6. What is the connection between knowledge and power? How did writing play into this relationship?