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Foundations of Western Civilization

Foundations of Western Civilization. Prehistoric Human Societies. The Paleolithic (“Old Stone”) Age, c. 500,000-c. 10,000 B.C.E. Hunter-gatherers Trade (e.g. seashells) Technology firemaking bone and stone weapons and jewelry Art and religion: Cave paintings and female figurines.

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Foundations of Western Civilization

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  1. Foundations of Western Civilization

  2. Prehistoric Human Societies • The Paleolithic (“Old Stone”) Age, c. 500,000-c. 10,000 B.C.E. • Hunter-gatherers • Trade (e.g. seashells) • Technology • firemaking • bone and stone weapons and jewelry • Art and religion: Cave paintings and female figurines

  3. The Neolithic (“New Stone”) Revolution, c. 10,000-c. 3501 B.C.E. • Transition from a nomadic existence as hunter-gatherers to more settled lifestyle • Invention of agriculture • Domestication of animals

  4. Increasingly gender-based division of labor • Specialized crafts (metallurgy and weaving) • Emergence of social hierarchy: patriarchal organization of state and society would become the norm in the West • Invention of irrigation (c. 6500 B.C.E.) facilitated establishment of settled agricultural communities in the Fertile Crescent

  5. Mesopotamia, c. 3500-1801 B.C.E.(Bronze Age) • The Tigris and Euphrates • Flood control and irrigation • Trade, migration, movement of armies • The West’s first large-scale civilization • Cities containing large public buildings • Crop diversification and diverse crafts • Organized central governments • Writing

  6. Egypt and the Levant, c. 3050-1000 B.C.E. • Egyptian Civilization • Geography as Destiny • The Nile • Protected by deserts on the east and west • Predictable annual flooding • Stability and Unity • Developed in relative isolation into a prosperous and stable kingdom

  7. Other Bronze Age Civilizations • The Peoples of the Levant • The Canaanites • Dominated trade between the Mediterranean and Near East • Developed first alphabet, c. 1600 B.C.E. • The Hebrews • Origins, according to the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament • Abraham and migration from Ur to Palestine (c. 1900 B.C.E.) • Loosely organized into twelve tribes • Abraham’s covenant with the Hebrew god Yahweh

  8. Bronze-Age Greece and Anatolia, c. 2200-1000 B.C.E.

  9. The Hittite Kingdom, c. 1750-1200 B.C.E. • Maintained dominance by controlling trade routes and raw materials, especially metals • Military prowess • Sack of Babylon, 1595 B.C.E. • Prevented Egyptian domination of the region by stopping Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 B.C.E.)

  10. Minoan Crete, c. 2200-1400 B.C.E. • Palace society: centered on independent palace complexes that controlled the religious, economic, and political life of their communities • Mediterranean polyculture • Integrated the cultivation of grapes, olives, and grain • Other cultural features • Highly specialized crafts • Redistributive economy regulated from palace complexes • Sophisticated artwork depicting scenes of leisure and sports

  11. Mycenaean Greece, c. 1800-1000 B.C.E. • Earliest mainland Greek culture characterized by independent hilltop fortifications that competed with each other for resources and territory • Redistributive economy similar to that on Crete • Warfare a central preoccupation, perhaps even eclipsing religion

  12. The Sea Peoples and Calamities of c. 1200-1000 B.C.E Exact reasons remain unknown, but region’s political equilibrium was upset and most centers were dramatically wiped out. In the resulting Dark Ages, most traces of Civilization disappeared for several centuries.

  13. Unity of the Mediterranean Sea (See next slide) Well-developed written laws Uniform currency Uniform system of weights and measures The Romans established a strict policy of religious toleration Height of the Roman Empire(145 CE – 476 CE)

  14. The Middle Ages(477 CE – 1300 CE) • Emergence of Feudalism • For safety and for defense people formed small communities around a central lord or master. • King awards land grants or "fiefs" to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops, in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies • “The Crusades” • Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the Middle Ages • Dark Ages: lack of Latin literature, lack of contemporary written history, general demographic decline, limited building activity and material cultural achievements in general.

  15. Rebirth of “classical ideas” that had been lost European Sailors begin world voyages to set up trade routes with Asia – “Age of Explorers” Painters want human beauty and life’s pleasures represented in their art. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello Scientific advances in astronomy, physics, biology, anatomoy The Renaissance(1301 CE – 1600 CE)

  16. Advances in all areas of human activity—politics, industry, society, economics, commerce, transport, communication, mechanization, automation, science, medicine, technology and culture—appear to have transformed an Old World into the Modern or New World The Modern Age(1601 CE – Present) American Industrial Revolution

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