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The Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Hemisphere 2200-500 B.C.E. Early China A. Geography and Resource 1. Chinese Neolithic cultures began to spring up as early as 8000 B.C.E.
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The Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Hemisphere2200-500 B.C.E. • Early China A. Geography and Resource 1. Chinese Neolithic cultures began to spring up as early as 8000 B.C.E. 2. China is isolated from the rest of the Eastern Hemisphere by the Himalayan Mountains to the south, Pamir/Tian Mountains to the west, and the Gobi desert to the northwest.
3. China’s two great river systems are called the Yellow River and the Yangzi River (yang-zuh). 4. Winds rising over Central Asia deposits a yellowish-brown silt called loess, which is extremely fertile. 5. Because of varying degrees of precipitation, two distinct patterns of agriculture developed in China. In the North, millet and wheat – in the South, Rice. 6. China, as well as East Asia as a whole, developed complex societies independent of the Middle East and the Indus valley.
B. The Shang Period 1. Archaeologists have identified several Neolithic cultures along the Yellow River. 2. They grew millet, raised pigs, possessed stone tools, made pottery, etc. 3. Their most important development was the manufacturing of silk from the cocoons of silk worms.
4. By 2000 B.C.E., the Chinese acquired Bronze metallurgy appx. 1000 years before the Middle East! 5. For all practical purposes, Chinese history begins with the rise of Shang Clans in the early 2nd millennium B.C.E. 6. The most prominent social class among the Shang was the warrior aristocracy.
7. The Shang royal family and aristocracy worshiped the spirits of their male ancestors. 8. They believed their ancestors were interested in the fortunes of their descendents. 9. They practiced divination, techniques for the telling the future or the will of the gods by interpreting natural phenomena. (Cracks on bones)
10. They developed a system of writing using pictograms, pictures representing objects or concepts. 11. and phonetic symbols representing sounds of syllables. 12. The time to master this was extensive and took many years.
C. The Zhou Period 1. In the 11th century B.C.E., a dependent state in the valley of the Wei River, defeated the last Shang king. 2. Wu started the Zhou dynasty, which lasted from 1027 – 221 B.C.E. 3. The Zhou dynasty was the longest lasting dynasty in Chinese history.
4. In order to justify his rule, the Zhou monarchs formulated a new ideology called the “Mandate of Heaven”. 5. The chief deity was called “Heaven” and the monarch was called the “Son of Heaven”. 6. In essence, the ruler was chosen as long as he served as a wise, energetic guardian of his people.
7. Zhou history can be split into 2 different periods. Western Zhou (11th – 9th centuries B.C.E.) and Eastern Zhou (800-221 B.C.E.). 8. The Eastern Zhou is noted for the political philosophies that developed: Legalism, Confucianism & Daoism.
9. Legalism: assumes people are wicked & selfish & will only behave when ruled with strict laws and harsh punishment. 10. Confucianism: assumes human nature is good & is concerned about the moral foundation of the government. 11. Daoism: humanity should follow the “path” avoiding futile struggles and violence.
12. Yin and yang: Represents complementary nature of male & female roles in the natural order. 13. Male (yin) equated with the sun, active, bright & shining. 14. Female (yang) moon, passive, shaded and reflective.
15. This period also saw changes in social organization, especially within the family. 16. Clan-based kinship was eventually replaced by the three-generation family within the later Zhou – grandparent, parent, and children.
The Cosmopolitan Middle East A. Western Asia 1. Western Asia or the “Middle East” becomes a cosmopolitan area because culture and lifestyle become widely shared. 2. By 1500 B.C.E., Mesopotamia becomes divided into two distinct political zones: Babylonians in the south and the Assyrians in the north.
3. The city of Assur had established a trade route that extended from the upper Tigris to the Anatolian plateau. 4. This trade route brought tin and textiles to Anatolia in exchange for silver. 5. As a result of this trade a new formidable forced arrived in central Anatolia called the Hittites between 1700 to 1200 B.C.E.
B. New Kingdom Egypt 1. Towards the end of the Middle Kingdom Egypt came under foreign domination by a Semitic speaking peoples called the Hyksos. 2. The word Hyksos came to mean “Princes of Foreign Lands”.
3. At least one woman held the throne of the New Kingdom, she was Hatshepsut. (1473-1458 B.C.E.) 4. She often had herself depicted as a male to minimize opposition to her rule. 5. Amenhotep, aka Akhenaten, (1353 – 1335 B.C.E.) departed from the ways of the past. 6. He has often by credited as the inventor of Monotheism because of his attempts to establish Aten (the disk of the sun) as the Supreme Deity. 7. Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti, and their daughters were often depicted in fluid poses.
8. When Akhenaten died the old ways of Egyptian religion was restored and Amon was returned to his primacy position. 9. One of his immediate successors was the boy-king Tutankhamun (1333-1323 B.C.E.). 10. King Tut’s popularity is due to the fact his tomb was entirely intact or untouched by tomb robbers.
Nubia A. Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination 1. Since the 1st century B.C.E. “Nubia” has been applied to a thousand-mile stretch of the Nile Valley lying between Aswan and Khartoum. 2. The ancient Egyptians called it “Ta-sety” meaning “Land of the Bow”.
3. Early civilization in Nubia arose because of its wealth of resources such as myrrh, gold, copper, and semiprecious stones. 4. Nubian kingdoms maintained a matrilineal system where the monarch was the son of the previous dead king’s sister. 5. The earliest evidence for an urban center was the kingdom of Kush (1750 B.C.E.) whose capital was located in Kerma.
B. The Kingdom of Meroë 1. Egyptian weakness after 1200 B.C.E. led to the collapse of its authority in Nubia. 2. In the 8th century B.C.E., a powerful new kingdom emerged in southern Nubia. 3. Between 712 to 600 B.C.E., the kings of Nubia ruled all of Egypt as the 25th dynasty.
The Aegean World A. The Minoan Civilization in Crete 1. By 2000 B.C.E., the island of Crete, which forms the southern boundary of the Aegean Sea, was the home of the Minoan Civilization. 2. Archaeologists labeled this civilization Minoan after the Greek legends of King Minos.
3. Little is known about the Cretans of this period mainly because their writing has yet to be decoded. 4. Most of what we know comes from Greek legends like that of King Minos and his half-man, half-bull pet called the Minotaur. 5. Greek legends also maintain that Crete was the home of a vast navy and sophisticated technology.
B. The Rise of Mycenaean Civilization 1. The standard view of Greek origins is that Indo-European speakers migrated to the Greek peninsula around 2000 B.C.E. 2. A synthesis of Minoan civilization and these early inhabitants resulted in what became Greek culture. 3. They lived in relative stone age conditions until something happened around 1600 B.C.E.
4. According to Homer’s Greek literary epics, Iliad and the Odyssey (700 B.C.E.),these Mycenaens were led by the King of Mycenae called Agamemnon. 5. Archeological evidence confirmed the existence of a advanced civilization that lasted from 1600 to 1150 B.C.E. 6. That evidence consisted of a common citadel perched upon a fortified hill in the cities of Mycenae, Thebes, and Pylos.
