David Carroll: January 2014

WORLD HISTORY S/2 - JANUARY 13TH - 20TH, 2014 ****MY BLOG CONTAINS ADVANCED READINGSFOR EACH UNIT. THESE READINGS ARE DIFFERENTIATION ESPECIALLY FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS AND ON-LEVEL / SPED WHO WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INDIVIDUAL TOPICS IN WORLD HISTORY THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO DELVE MORE IN DEPTH ON STANDARD TOPICSTOPICS. UNIT TOPICS FOLLOW AT THE END OF THE WEEKLY BLOG. Standards: SSWH1- STUDENT WILL ANALYZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORLD'S EARLIEST CIVILIZATIONS (CRADLES OF CIVILIZATION) Students will analyze the orgins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE. Students will describe the development of Mesopotamian societies; includes the religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with attention to Hammurabi’s code. MON. JANUARY 13TH AGENDA: 1. Creative Writing assignment - 5 Traits of a Civilization Advanced Cities: (Tell what your cities are like) 2. Record Keeping: (How will you keep records of events, computers, etc. what type of news media will you have? 3. Complex Institutions: (How will you educate your people? What type of government will you have? What are your religious beliefs? 4. Advanced Technology: (What types of technology wiLl you have, Internet, flying cars, jet packs, etc. 5. Skilled Workers: (Describe at least 3 different type of workers, occupations in your civilization. Construction workers, technicians, etc. Describe the climate and vegetation and natural resources for your Civilization . Do you have and energy source or do you have to export oil, steel., lumber, etc. How do you grow food underwater? How do you travel underwater? In outer spa e Do they do any kind of mining (for gold, diamonds, coal, etc.)? What kinds of raw materials and finished goods are produced in your civilization? Does your country import or export raw materials and/or finished goods? What is the money called in your country? How do you pay your workers, collect taxes? D. Draw a Map of the location of your Civilization or a Drawing of what an activity in your Civilization would look like. TUES. JAN. 14TH AGENDA: 1. PPt Notes Egypt 2. Activity - Writing in Hieroglyphics Close: WED. JAN. 15TH AGENDA: 1. Reading Guide Ancient Civilizations - India THURS. JAN.16TH AGENDA: 1. PPt Notes / Class Discussion China FRI. JAN. 17TH AGENDA: 1. Quiz #1 - Ancient Civilizations Mesopotamia’s first-known empire, founded at the city of Akkad, prospered from the end of the 24th century b.c.e. to the beginning of the 22nd century b.c.e. Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 b.c.e.) established his empire at Akkad; its exact location is unknown but perhaps near modern Baghdad. His standing army allowed him to campaign from eastern Turkey to western Iran. Although it is still unclear how far he maintained permanent control, it probably ranged from northern Syria to western Iran. The demise of the Akkadian Empire can be explained by internal revolts from local governors as well as external attacks from groups such as the Gutians, Elamites, Lullubi, Hurrians, and Amorites. The Akkadian Empire set the standard toward which Mesopotamian kings throughout the next two millennia strove. Because of this, much literature appeared concerning the Akkadian kings, especially Sargon and Naram-Sin. In the Sargon Legend, which draws upon his illegitimate birth, Sargon is placed in a reed basket in the Euphrates before he is drawn out by a man named Aqqi and raised as a gardener. From this humble beginning Sargon establishes himself as the king of the first Mesopotamian empire. The King of Battle is another tale of how Sargon traveled to Purushkhanda in central Turkey in order to save the merchants there from oppression. After defeating the king of the city, Nur-Daggal, the local ruler is allowed to continue to govern as long as he acknowledges Sargon as king. Naram-Sin, however, is often portrayed as incompetent and disrespectful of the gods. In The Curse of Akkad, Naram-Sin becomes frustrated because the gods will not allow him to rebuild a temple to the god Enlil, so he destroys it instead. Enlil then sends the Gutians to destroy the Akkadian Empire. As we know, however, the Akkadian Empire continued to have 25 prosperous years under Shar-kali-sharri after the death of Naram-Sin, and the Gutians were not the only reason for the downfall of the Akkadian Empire. In fact, there is no evidence for the Gutians causing problems for the Akkadians until late in the reign of Shar-kali-sharri. Although this story had an important didactic purpose, it shows that caution must be used in reconstructing the history of the Akkadian Empire from myths and legends. In the Cuthean Legend, Naram-Sin goes out to fight a group that has invaded the Akkadian Empire. Naram-Sin seeks an oracle about the outcome of the battle, but since it is negative, he ignores it and mocks the whole process of divination. As in The Curse of Akkad, Naram-Sin’s disrespect of the gods gets him in trouble as he is defeated three times by the invaders. He finally seeks another oracle and receives a positive answer. Naram-Sin has learned his lesson: “Without divination, I will not execute punishment.” Despite these tales, there are others that paint Naram-Sin in a more positive light as an effective king with superior military capabilities. Along with a centralized government comes standardization. This included the gradual replacement of Sumerian, a non-Semitic language, with Akkadian, an East Semitic language, in administrative documents. Dating by year names, that is naming each year after a particular event such as “the year Sargon destroyed Mari,” became the system used in Babylonia until 1500 b.c.e. when it was replaced with dating by regnal years. There was also a standardized system of weights and measures. Taxes were collected from all regions of the empire in order to pay for this centralized administration. The Akkadian ruler appointed governors in the territories the empire controlled, but many times the local ruler was just reaffirmed in his capacity. The governor would have to pledge allegiance to the Akkadian emperor and pay tribute, but at times, when the empire was weak, the local rulers could revolt and assert their own sovereignty. This meant that the Akkadian rulers were constantly putting down rebellions. But perhaps the most important precedent started by the Akkadian Empire was the installation of Sargon’s daughter Enheduanna as the high priestess of the moon god Nanna at Ur. She composed two hymns dedicated to the goddess Inanna, making her the oldest known author in Mesopotamia. This provided much needed legitimacy for the kingdom in southern Babylonia and continued to be practiced by Mesopotamian kings until the sixth century b.c.e. Babylon was the most famous Mesopotamian city in antiquity, located along the Euphrates River, 55 miles southwest of modern Baghdad. Major excavations began in 1899 by the Germans and, in recent times, have been continued by Iraq’s Department of Antiquities. The city is first mentioned by the Agade king, Shar-kali-sharri (2217–2193 b.c.e.), who built two temples in Babylon. During the Ur III period (2112–2004 b.c.e.), various officials bore the title “governor of Babylon.” In the following centuries Mesopotamia experienced a large influx of west Semitic nomads, who settled into new cities or populated existing ones. The Sumerians designated these migrants as Martu (the west), from which the Akkadians derived Amurru (Amorites). In 1894 b.c.e. the Amorite Sumu-abum founded a dynasty at Babylon. His successor, Sumu-la-el, extended Babylon’s power by capturing the city-states of Sippar, Kish, and Dilbat. Others, however, were also expanding their kingdoms. Shamshi-Adad I succeeded in conquering all of Upper Mesopotamia, including the important cities of Ashur and Mari. Rim-Sin of Larsa dominated the south, eventually annexing the longtime rival kingdom of Isin. The balance of power further depended on major city-states such as Eshnunna, Qatna, and Yamhad (Aleppo). The Old Babylonian period began in 1792 b.c.e., with Hammurabi’s ascent to Babylon’s throne. He is perhaps best known for his Law Code, which contains many parallels with laws in the Jewish scriptures. In Hammurabi’s first 28 years only three campaigns are recorded. Most of his time was spent building Babylon’s military defenses, economic infrastructure, and temples, as well as establishing diplomacy with foreign powers. After Shamshi-Adad died in 1782 b.c.e., Assyrian power slowly declined. Hammurabi, nonetheless, continued a defensive coalition with Rim-Sin, motivated by the proximity between their respective territories. He also formed friendly relations with Zimri-Lim, the native ruler who reclaimed Mari’s throne from Yasmah-Adad (Shamshi-Adad’s son). From 1764 b.c.e. Hammurabi began to adopt a more aggressive military stance. A coalition of troops from Elam, Assyria, and Eshnunna was defeated by Babylon. The very next year, aided by Mari and Eshnunna, Hammurabi turned against his ally, Rim-Sin. With Larsa subjugated, the southern cities under its control capitulated to Babylon. For the first time since the great third-millennium empires, both Sumer and Akkad were united under one kingdom. Conscious of the significance of this, Hammurabi took for himself Naram-Sin’s title “King of the Four Quarters (of the World).” Despite changes in ruling dynasties, Babylon would remain the region’s capital until the time of Alexander the Great. Indeed, all of south Mesopotamia would later be named “Babylonia.” Hammurabi’s ambition now turned toward Upper Mesopotamia. He betrayed Zimri-Lim and conquered Mari in 1761 b.c.e. The prologue to Hammurabi’s Law Code mentions that northern cities such as Ashur, Nineveh, and Tuttul were united under his control. Babylon’s hegemony, however, did not survive Hammurabi for long. Barely a decade after his death his son Samsu-iluna was threatened by the invasion of the Kassites, whose homeland was in the Zagros Mountains. To the south the rise of the First Sealand dynasty encroached on Babylon’s territories. For one and a half centuries Hammurabi’s successors clung to a dynasty that was a mere shadow of its former glory. In 1595 b.c.e. Murshili I, king of the Hittites, sacked Babylon, terminated its dynasty, and marked the end of Ancient India and China Ancient Indian civilization developed along the Indus River around 2500BCE and Ancient Chinese Civilization developed along the Huang He River around 2000BCE. Historians know more about the Ancient Chinese civilization, despite its development in geographical isolation, than they do about the Harappan Civilization that developed along the Indus river in India. Ancient Chinese writing had been deciphered as it simply evolved into modern day Chinese script. However, the Harappan Civilization developed a writing system whose deciphering has been impossible since the civilization disappeared and appears in no other civilizations. The Indus and Chinese River Valley Civilizations and the Legacy of all "first"Civilizations Indian and Chinese River Valley Civilizations. A prosperous urban civilization emerged along the Indus River by 2500 B.C.E., supporting several large cities, such as Harappa. Indus River peoples had trading contacts with Mesopotamia, but they developed a distinctive alphabet and artistic forms. Invasions by Indo-Europeans resulted in such complete destruction of this culture that little is known today about its subsequent influence on India. Civilization along the Huang (Yellow) River in China developed in considerable isolation, though some overland trading contact developed with India and the Middle East. In addition to the existence of an organized state that carefully regulated irrigation in the flood-prone river valley, the Chinese had produced advanced technology and elaborate intellectual life by about 2000 B.C.E. There was also less of a break between Chinese river-valley society and the later civilizations in China than in any other region. The Shang ruled over the Huang River valley by about 1500 B.C.E. These rulers are noted for managing the construction of impressive tombs and palaces. In Depth: The Idea of Civilization in World Historical Perspective. The belief that there are fundamental differences between the "civilized" and the "barbarians" is an old and widespread one, used by the Chinese, American Indians, ancient Greeks, and modern western Europeans, to name just a few. The latter attempted to define a series of stages in human development that ranged from utterly primitive to "advanced," with the advanced culture belonging to the western Europeans. By the nineteenth century, racial qualities were quantified as qualifiers for position along the hierarchy of "civilization." In the twentieth century much of that intellectual ancientalphabets.jpgbaggage was eventually discarded. At present, the most accepted way to approach a definition of civilization is to see it as one of several ways humans identify social organization. The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations. Basic achievements like the wheel, alphabets, mathematics, and divisions of time are vital legacies of the early civilizations. Mesopotamian art and Egyptian architecture influenced the Greeks, and subsequently the Romans, who both passed on much of their heritage to Muslim and European civilization. The Phoenicians devised a simplified alphabet that greatly influenced the Greek and Latin writing systems. The most influential of the smaller Middle Eastern groups were the Jews, who gave the world the first clearly developed monotheistic religion. In Depth: The Legacy of Asia's First Civilizations. The first civilizations that developed in south Asia and China matched the Mesopotamian civilizations in size, complexity, and longevity. Although much of the Harappan civilization was destroyed and unknown for thousands of years, some legacies (e.g., yoga positions) carried on. In contrast, much from the early Chinese civilizations survived and profoundly influenced the history of that region; of particular note is the Mandate of Heaven and its writing system. The First Civilizations. The first civilizations established a pattern of division among the world's peoples. After Homo sapiens spread to almost every corner of the world and then had relatively little contact with each other, separate languages and cultures developed. But by 1000 B.C.E. the Phoenicians traded with Britain and Chinese silk was sold in Egypt. Overall, four distinct centers of civilizations developed: the Middle East, India, China, and Egypt (five if the nascent Olmec civilization is included). Each had important commonalities including trade, writing, and cities, yet was in many ways different from the others. Thus, the duality of common experience and diversity has been part of the human experience for a very long time. Geography: Take a look at these maps of Ancient China and Ancient India to see the geographic location of both civilizations. Ancient Indus River Valley Map.jpg AncientChinaMap.jpg

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