Civilizations through the Classical Period

1. Civilizations through the Classical Period First Wave—River Valley Second Wave—Roman, Persian, Indian, Chinese Third Wave—Arab, Mongol and Inca

2. Continuties • Monarchs continued to rule most of the new civilizations • Men continued to dominate women • A sharp divide between the elite and everyone else persisted almost everywhere as did the practice of slavery • No technological breakthrough such as the Neolithic Revolution occurred as landowning elites had little incentive to innovate, for they benefited enormously from taking the surplus that the peasant farmers produced • Nor would peasant farmers have any reason to invest effort in creating new forms of production when they knew full well that any gains they might generate would be seized by their social superiors. • Merchants, who were often the risk takers, might have encouraged innovations but they were dominated by powerful states and were viewed with suspicion and condescension by the more prestigious social groups.

3. Changes • Population grew • Growing size of states or empires that structured civilizations dwarfed the city-states of Mesopotamia • Rise and fall of empires represented changes to the people who experienced them • Great philosophical and religious systems emerged • China was source of technological change which flowed to the West • Bellows, silk-handling machinery, wheelbarrow, better harness for draft animals, crossbow, iron casting, gunpowder, magnetic compass, paper, printer, porcelain • India pioneered the crystallization of sugar and techniques for manufacturing of cotton textiles • Roman achievements in construction and engineering as well as glass-blowing • More dense and widespread networks of communication and exchange connected many of the world’s people • Long-distance trade routes represented trans-regional interaction exchanged goods as well as ideas [religion] • Spread of diseases

5. Forced Migration of Jews Created Diaspora Communities