750-200 BCE Chavin Religious Movement
730 BCE Nubian conquest of Egypt
1st-7th century CE Spread of Bantu speaking peoples
300-600 CE Flourishing of Teotihuacan
4th century CE Christianity introduced to Axum
730 BCE Nubian conquest of Egypt
1st-7th century CE Spread of Bantu speaking peoples
300-600 CE Flourishing of Teotihuacan
4th century CE Christianity introduced to Axum
- Teotihucan - The ruins of an ancient Mesoamerican city in central Mexico, near Mexico City, that flourished a.d. c200–c750 and is the site of the pyramids of the Sun and Moon and of many temples, palaces, and dwellings.
- Maya Civilization - A Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, noted for the Maya hieroglyphic script, the only known fully developed writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.
- Niger Valley Civilization - Distinctive city based civilization that flourished from about 300 C.E. to 900 C.E. in the floodplain of the middle the Niger River and that included major cities such as Jenne-jeno; the Niger Valley civilization noteworthy for its apparent lack of a centralized state structure, having been organized instead in clusters of economically specialized settlements.
- Bantu expansion - Gradual migrations of the Bantu-speaking peoples from their homeland in what is now southeastern Nigeria and the Cameroons into most of eastern and southern Africa, a process that began around 3000 B.C.E and continued for several millennia. The agriculture techiniques and ironworking techonolgy of the Bantu speaking farmers gave them an advantage over the gathering and hunting people they encountered.
- Chavin - The cult began after 1000 B.C.E., peaked in popularity 900 to 800 B.C.E., spread through Peru, and vanished approximately 300 B.C.E. Cult probably arose when maize became an important crop in South America; it was needed to support a large population. The cult may have been designed to promote fertility and abundant harvests. Achievements include large temple complexes, elaborate works of art, fishing nets, experimentation with minerals, techniques of gold, silver, and copper metallurgy used in the creation of jewelry, and small tools.
- Piye - Piye was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from 747 BCE to c. 722 BCE. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, modern-day Sudan.
- Axum - Classical era kingdom of East Africa, in present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, flourished from 100 to 600 B.C.E
- Meroe - Classical era kingdom of East Africa, in present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, flourished from 100 to 600 B.C.E Thousands of years ago, meroe was a thriving hub of trade and home to some 25,000 residents.
- Moche - An important regional civilization in Peru, governed by warrior-priests that flourished from 100 to 800 C.E.(Pre-Inca)
- Syncretism - The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
I. Continental Comparisons
A. Agricultural revolutions and complex societies
B. Uneven distribution of humans and domesticated animals
C. Variations in metallurgy and literacy
D. American isolation versus Africa in contact
II. Civilizations of Africa
A. Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization
1. Egypt and Nubia
2. Kings and queens of Meroë
3. Agriculture and long-distance trade
4. Coptic for 1,000 years
B. Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom
1. Plow agriculture and Indian Ocean trade
2. Monumental buildings and court culture
3. Conversion to Christianity and imperial expansion
C. Along the Niger River: Cities without States
1. Urbanization without imperial or bureaucratic systems
2. Iron working and other specializations
3. Regional West African trade system
III. Civilizations of Mesoamerica
A. The Maya: Writing and Warfare
1. As early as 2000 b.c.e.
2. Urban centers, mathematics, and astronomy
3. Engineered agriculture
4. Competing city-states
5. A century of collapse after 840 b.c.e.
B. Teotihuacán: The Americas’ Greatest City
1. Planned, enormous, and still a mystery
2. 150 b.c.e.–650 c.e.
3. 100,000–200,000 inhabitants in 550 b.c.e.
IV. Civilizations of the Andes
A. Chavin: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement
1. Temple complexes centered around a village
2. Village became a major religious center
3. Links to all directions via trade routes
B. Moche: A Civilization of the Coast
1. 250 miles of coast, 100–800 c.e.
2. Elite class of warrior-priests
3. Rich fisheries and river-fed irrigation
4. Fine craft skills
5. Fragile environment
C. Wari and Tiwanaku: Empires of the Interior
1. 400–1000 c.e.
2. Highland centers with colonies in the lowlands
3. Distinctions between the two, yet little conflict
4. Collapse, but the basis for the late Inca
V. Alternatives to Civilization: Bantu Africa
A. Cultural Encounters
1. Migrations spread a common Bantu culture
2. Bantu strengths: numbers, disease, and iron
3. Bantu impact on the Batwa
4. Impacts on the Bantu in East Africa
B. Society and Religion
1. Wide varieties of Bantu cultures developed, 500–1500
2. Less patriarchal gender systems
3. Ancestor or nature spirits rather than a Creator God
4. Localized not universal faiths and rituals
VI. Alternatives to Civilization: North America
A. The Ancestral Pueblo: Pit Houses and Great Houses
1. Slow start to agriculture and settled society
2. Chaco Phenomenon, 860–1130 c.e.
3. Astronomy and art but then warfare and collapse
B. Peoples of the Eastern Woodlands: The Mound Builders
1. Independent agricultural revolution
2. Burial mounds of the Hopewell culture
3. Cahokia, 900–1250 c.e.
4. Social complexity but weaker cultural unity
VII. Reflections: Deciding What’s Important: Balance in World History
A. What gets included in world history and what gets left out?
B. Duration? Population? Influence? Evidence?
C. Location of historian and audience?
D. No consensus on a proper balance
A. Agricultural revolutions and complex societies
B. Uneven distribution of humans and domesticated animals
C. Variations in metallurgy and literacy
D. American isolation versus Africa in contact
II. Civilizations of Africa
A. Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization
1. Egypt and Nubia
2. Kings and queens of Meroë
3. Agriculture and long-distance trade
4. Coptic for 1,000 years
B. Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom
1. Plow agriculture and Indian Ocean trade
2. Monumental buildings and court culture
3. Conversion to Christianity and imperial expansion
C. Along the Niger River: Cities without States
1. Urbanization without imperial or bureaucratic systems
2. Iron working and other specializations
3. Regional West African trade system
III. Civilizations of Mesoamerica
A. The Maya: Writing and Warfare
1. As early as 2000 b.c.e.
2. Urban centers, mathematics, and astronomy
3. Engineered agriculture
4. Competing city-states
5. A century of collapse after 840 b.c.e.
B. Teotihuacán: The Americas’ Greatest City
1. Planned, enormous, and still a mystery
2. 150 b.c.e.–650 c.e.
3. 100,000–200,000 inhabitants in 550 b.c.e.
IV. Civilizations of the Andes
A. Chavin: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement
1. Temple complexes centered around a village
2. Village became a major religious center
3. Links to all directions via trade routes
B. Moche: A Civilization of the Coast
1. 250 miles of coast, 100–800 c.e.
2. Elite class of warrior-priests
3. Rich fisheries and river-fed irrigation
4. Fine craft skills
5. Fragile environment
C. Wari and Tiwanaku: Empires of the Interior
1. 400–1000 c.e.
2. Highland centers with colonies in the lowlands
3. Distinctions between the two, yet little conflict
4. Collapse, but the basis for the late Inca
V. Alternatives to Civilization: Bantu Africa
A. Cultural Encounters
1. Migrations spread a common Bantu culture
2. Bantu strengths: numbers, disease, and iron
3. Bantu impact on the Batwa
4. Impacts on the Bantu in East Africa
B. Society and Religion
1. Wide varieties of Bantu cultures developed, 500–1500
2. Less patriarchal gender systems
3. Ancestor or nature spirits rather than a Creator God
4. Localized not universal faiths and rituals
VI. Alternatives to Civilization: North America
A. The Ancestral Pueblo: Pit Houses and Great Houses
1. Slow start to agriculture and settled society
2. Chaco Phenomenon, 860–1130 c.e.
3. Astronomy and art but then warfare and collapse
B. Peoples of the Eastern Woodlands: The Mound Builders
1. Independent agricultural revolution
2. Burial mounds of the Hopewell culture
3. Cahokia, 900–1250 c.e.
4. Social complexity but weaker cultural unity
VII. Reflections: Deciding What’s Important: Balance in World History
A. What gets included in world history and what gets left out?
B. Duration? Population? Influence? Evidence?
C. Location of historian and audience?
D. No consensus on a proper balance