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7th Grade Early World History Unit 3: Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples Lessons, readings, and activities from Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum by Oakland County Schools Adapted by St. Johns Middle School

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Page 1: 7th Grade Early World Historylonsberry.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/4/0/25401959/19...Diamond discovers that the answer lies in a geographical luck of the draw – what mattered were the

 7th Grade  

Early World History 

 Unit 3:  

Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples 

 Lessons, readings, and activities from Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum by Oakland 

County Schools  Adapted by St. Johns Middle School 

    

    

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7th Grade Early World History Check Grading   

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Ways I can earn a CHECK PLUS: (worth 5 points = 100%) 

 ▪ I answered every question. ▪ My answers are mostly accurate. ▪ I explained my thinking thoroughly in complete sentences. ▪ I used capitals and punctuation.  ▪ I wrote with my neatest possible handwriting. 

  

  

Ways I can earn a CHECK: (worth 4 points = 80%) 

 ▪ I answered all but 1 – 2 questions. ▪ My answers are somewhat accurate. ▪ I explained my thinking in mostly complete sentences.  ▪ I used capitals and punctuation most of the time.  ▪ I wrote with readable but not my neatest handwriting.  

  

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Ways I can earn a CHECK MINUS: (worth 3 points = 60%) 

 ▪ I answered some of the questions.  ▪ My answers are mostly inaccurate. ▪ I did not explained my thinking and/or I used incomplete sentences.  ▪ I used capitals and punctuation rarely. ▪ I wrote with handwriting that is difficult to read. 

   

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Quick Write #1 - Çatalhӧyük and Ur What differences do you see between these places? How would life be different in each one? Which one lines up more with your idea of “civilization” and why?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Brainstorm: Civilization 

What comes to mind when you hear the word “civilization”? Where do these ideas come from? _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Foraging Societies  Civilizations 

             

 

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Quick Write #2 - Ancient Civilizations What do you notice about where these are located? Why do you think that is the case?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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 Brainstorm: Geographic Luck 

What do you think “geographic luck” might refer to? Describe what you think a “geographically lucky” place would be like. __________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Jared Diamond and the Theory of Geographic Luck   

Jared Diamond’s journey of discovery began on the island of Papua New Guinea. There, in 1974, a local named Yali asked Diamond a deceptively simple question: “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people had little cargo of our own?”  Diamond realized that Yali’s question penetrated the heart of a great mystery of human history -- the roots of global inequality.  Why were Europeans the ones with all the cargo? Why had they taken over so much of the world, instead of the native people of New Guinea? How did Europeans end up with what Diamond terms the agents of conquest: guns, germs and steel? It was these agents of conquest that allowed 168 Spanish conquistadors to defeat an Imperial Inca army of 80,000 in 1532, and set a pattern of European conquest which would continue right up to the present day.  Diamond knew that the answer had little to do with ingenuity or individual skill. From his own experience in the jungles of New Guinea, he had observed that native hunter-gatherers were just as intelligent as people of European descent -- and far more resourceful. Their lives were tough, and it seemed a terrible paradox of history that these extraordinary people should be the conquered, and not the conquerors.  To examine the reasons for European success, Jared realized he had to peel back the layers of history and begin his search at a time of equality – a time when all the peoples of the world lived in exactly the same way.  Time of Equality At the end of the last Ice Age, around thirteen thousand years ago, people on all continents followed a so-called Stone Age way of life – they survived by hunting and gathering the available wild animals and plants. When resources were plentiful, this was a productive way of life.  But in times of scarcity, hunting and gathering was a precarious mode of survival. Populations remained relatively small, and the simple task of finding food occupied every waking moment.  Around eleven and a half thousand years ago, the world's climate suddenly changed. In an aftershock of the Ice Age, temperatures plummeted and global rainfall reduced. The impact of this catastrophe was felt most keenly in an area known as the Fertile Crescent, in the modern Middle East. Here, hunter-gathers had thrived on some of the most useful and plentiful flora and fauna in the world. They had even developed semi-permanent settlements to exploit the resources around them.  Now, with their food options disappearing from the menu on a daily basis, these people did something remarkable. They began to cultivate the hardiest species of surviving plants and animals, even bringing seeds back to their villages and planting new stock.  They were becoming farmers.  An Agricultural Revolution Diamond learns that the act of transplanting a wild plant and placing it under human control totally transforms that plant's DNA. Characteristics which aid survival in the wild, disappear in favor of qualities which suit human consumption. The plant becomes domesticated – and wholly dependent on human control for survival.  

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Only a handful of places in the world played host to this agricultural revolution. In most cases, plant domestication was a precursor to the development of advanced civilizations. Along with the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, independent domestication of wild plants is believed to have occurred in Ancient China, in Central and Southern America, in sub-Tropical Africa, and in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.  So, Diamond asks, why did each of these parts of the world go on to develop advanced civilizations, while the farmers of New Guinea were apparently left behind?  The Luck of the Draw Diamond discovers that the answer lies in a geographical luck of the draw – what mattered were the raw materials themselves.  Of all the plant species in the world, only a limited number are possible, or useful, to domesticate. To Diamond's astonishment, most of these species are native to Europe and Asia – species like wheat, barley and rice, which grew wild in abundance in only these parts of the world.  Two more species are native to Tropical Africa (sorghum and yams) while only one is native to the Americas (corn), and to Papua New Guinea (taro). Not a single domesticable plant grows wild in Australia.  And that's not all. Diamond discovers a similar dramatic inequality in the distribution of domesticable animals. Animals dramatically increase the productivity of farming, through their meat, milk, leather, dung, and as beasts of burden. Without them, farmers are trapped in a cycle of subsistence and manual labor.  Of all the animal species in the world, only 14 have ever been domesticated. 12 of these are native to Eurasia. One, the llama, is native to South America – and the farmers of New Guinea managed to domesticate the pig. But pigs can't pull plows, and until the arrival of Europeans in the 20th century, all New Guinean farming was still done by hand.  From Tools to Cities Diamond realized that the development of successful and productive farming, starting nearly 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, was the critical turning point in the origins of global inequality. From this point on, one group of people – the natives of Eurasia – would have a head start on the path to civilization.  Successful farming provides a food surplus, and allows some people to leave the farm behind and develop specialized skills – such as metal-working, writing, trade, politics, and war-making. Plus, the simple geography of the continent of Eurasia – one coherent landmass spread on an east-west axis, with universal latitudes and climates – allowed these technologies and ideas to spread beyond the Middle East with ease.  Without the environment, or the time, to develop similar skills, the farmers of New Guinea became trapped in their highland isolation.  Diamond concludes that from the end of the Ice Age, geography ensured that different societies around the world would develop at different speeds. If Yali's people had had all the geographic advantages of Europeans, perhaps they could have conquered the world.  Epilogue Diamond believes the blueprint for global inequality lies within the land itself, its crops and animals.   Source: http://www.scappoose.k12.or.us/files/Jared%20Diamond%20and%20the%20Theory%20of%20Geographic%20Luck.doc 

  

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Geographic Luck Analysis Sheet    Continent and 

Region Latitude  Climate Zone  Number of 

Large-seeded grasses 

Large mammals to domesticate by 1000 BCE 

Nile River Valley Civilization   

          

        

        

Tigris and Euphrates Civilization     

        

        

        

Indus and Ganges Civilization  

           

        

        

Yellow River Civilization  

          

        

        

In comparison . . . . 

Mississippi River  North America, runs north to south 

Approximately 29* to 44* North 

Temperate  4  0 

Amazon River  South America, runs west to east 

Approximately  0* to 10* South 

Tropical  2  0 

 

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Important Factors for the Development of Early Civilizations   

  Why were each of these sets of factors important for the development of civilizations? Take notes below as your teacher explains. Write down the most important ideas for each factor (do NOT write down everything on the slide).     

  Latitude and Climate 

                  

  Large Seeded Grasses 

                  

  Large Mammals and Domestication 

                    

   

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Writing Checkpoint: The Theory of Geographic Luck  

➢ What evidence is there to support Jared Diamond’s theory that some locations were geographically lucky and others were not? 

➢ What is it about rivers? Why did the four first large civilizations emerge around large rivers?   ➢ What factors besides rivers seemed important in the development of civilizations? 

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Remember: in the areas where civilizations eventually 

developed, people were living there long before the 

“civilization” began. They were smaller settlements 

that fell into the pattern in the picture to the left. 

This was thousands of years into agriculture. 

  

Quick Write #3 - Rivers Why did the earliest civilizations grow around rivers? Why these rivers in particular? 

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Quick Write #4 - Why not somewhere else? Why do you think civilizations didn’t arise in other places on the map?  

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Characteristics of a Civilization   

Intensification: Neolithic villages became larger and denser as populations grew, architecture expanded, and a food surplus was available. After 4000 BC/BCE, great changes occurred in cultural institutions. These changes occurred very quickly considering humans had lived as foragers and in small farming villages for over 200,000 years before this. This process of change and growth in Era 2 is called intensification. A society did not have to have every characteristic to be a civilization, but below represent some general trends.     

  Characteristic  Description 

Cities  Cities supported large populations of over 30,000 people 

Specialization  Some people living in cities took full-time specialized jobs (artisan, merchant, soldier, priest) because they were supported by farmers from the surrounding community. 

Hierarchy  A class system emerged where certain men (and sometimes women) held all the power. They were called elites. Men began to dominate in politics and women became more responsible for the life at home. This system is called patriarchy.  

The State  One city usually ruled over all others in a civilization. A king or pharaoh with a small group of officials controlled the rest of society.  

Networks of Trade   

Many civilizations traded within and outside of their borders. Technology, food, and language spread from Mesopotamia outward to Egypt, India, and China.   

Technology  Technology changed much more rapidly than in Era I. People developed metals like bronze and used those to build things like wheeled carriages.  

Monuments  Large buildings were constructed like city walls, temples, palaces, and tombs for powerful rulers.  

Spiritual Beliefs and Laws   

Spiritual beliefs and laws became richer and more complex.  

Creativity  Individuals worked with the ruling class to study astronomy, mathematics, sciences, and engineering. 

    

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Early Cities  Adapted from Big History by Cynthia Stokes Brown (2007) 

  “Were these four societies civilizations?” As you read, identify evidence that will help you answer this question and determine if they meet the criteria for civilization. 

  The first cities developed in about 3500 BCE in four river valleys across Afroeurasia. The earliest cities appeared in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys in what is now southern Iraq. Cities also appeared in the Nile valley in Egypt, the Indus valley in Pakistan/India, and in the Yellow River valley in China. All of these cities were supported by farming in the river valley areas, although the specific crops varied by place. They all also had domesticated animals which provided food as well. 

  Mesopotamia-Sumer The name Mesopotamia actually means “land between rivers” in ancient Greek. This society, also known as Sumer, is an ancient civilization of cities that developed on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers over five thousand years ago.    The first of eight Sumerian cities to develop was Uruk. Uruk had two major temples. One was to An, the sky god and another to Inanna, the goddess of love and protection. Each major city in Sumer was devoted to one or more gods. The Sumerians believed that the gods resided in the temples they built for them.    Sumerians believed in seven major gods and goddesses, who formed a council that decided what would happen to people. The four gods were An (sky), Enlil (air), Enki (water and wisdom), and Utu (sun). The three goddesses were Ki (Earth), Nannar (moon), and Inanna (love and protection). People in Sumer ranked gods just like they were ranked when hierarchies appeared. The major gods lived in temples that formed large towers called ziggurats.    Over time, the cities of Sumer were united. King Sargon of the city Akkad conquered the other cities, demolished their walls, and appointed his sons as governors. Sumer was now ruled by one city and its ruler controlled others, supported by scribes and priests. Sargon’s grandson, Naram Suen, declared himself a god.     Indus River Valley Civilization People began living in the Indus Valley in about 7000 BCE and on the Indus River by 3000 BCE. Archaeologists have excavated two Indus Valley cities, Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. Scholars have not been able to decipher Indus script, so not much is known about their culture.   Scholars do know that the people of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa were able to separate drinking water from waste-water in the first known sewage system. Some carvings on artifacts found in these cities may depict some early forms of Hindu gods. By 1500 BCE life on the Indus River had disappeared. Scholars think there may have been an earthquake or a flood that made life difficult. Another possibility is that farming became difficult because of salinization. Salinization occurs when land gets too much salt caused by the evaporation of water. Since even fresh water has small amounts of salt in it, the same problem could have caused the decline of ancient Sumer as well.       

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Ancient Egypt Fortunately, scholars have been able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, a form of writing that Egyptians developed around 3300 BCE. Scribes, or record keepers who could read and write well, kept information on an early form of paper called papyrus. Documents reveal that Egyptian settlements were united in about 3100 BCE and ruled from a city called Memphis on the Nile River Delta.     The Nile River, the longest river in the world at 4,160 miles, gave Egyptians many advantages. It provided transportation by boat that allowed their ruler, called a pharaoh, to control the distribution of resources through the kingdom. Since the river flooded annually, Egyptians farmers were able to trap water in deposits of soil to water their crops. Salinization occurs when water evaporates leaving too much salt. Because there was less evaporation here, agriculture lasted much longer than in the Indus Valley or in Sumer.    In 1687 BCE, Egypt was invaded by a people called the Hyksos who rode horse drawn chariots. This drew Egypt into warfare and Egypt ruled the Nile far to the south and as far as the Euphrates River in the north.    Yellow River Valley Civilization In China, in the far eastern part of Eurasia, a fourth civilization developed. Early Chinese cities developed on the agricultural surplus produced near the Yellow River. Urban areas evolved from villages on terraced land near the Yellow River. By 3000 BCE there were walled villages in northern China with richly appointed tombs containing pottery with mark that appeared to be ancient Chinese script.    By 1523 BCE, the Shang family had established military and political power by importing weapons from the Middle East. The Shangs ruled for 500 years. Their capital was in Anyang, now in the Henan province of modern China.    During the Shang dynasty, elites, or people at the top of the social hierarchy used bronze to make cooking pots and other artifacts. Bronze was also used for wheeled vehicles. They made books out of bamboo and used brushes for writing. There is also evidence they practiced human sacrifice.     

    

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River Valley Civilizations Graphic Organizer  Mesopotamia- 

Sumer Indus River Valley  Egypt  Yellow River 

Valley 

Dense Population (more people in smaller space) 

Agricultural Economy (farming as main activity) 

Cities 

Complex Social Hierarchy (levels of power) 

Occupational Specialization (special jobs needing certain skills) 

Centralized State (a main authority making decisions) 

Architecture (monument building) 

Writing System 

Belief System (religion or other cultural system of shared beliefs) 

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Small Group Discussion Questions   Talk about these questions in your group, going back to your charts and the text for help with your thinking. Have a note taker for each question, taking turns at this job during your conversation, but be sure that everyone in your group writes down the answers to each question by the end of the activity.   

1. What evidence is listed in the reading for complex societies in these four examples? 

                 

2. Which civilizations do we seem to know more about? Why do you think that is? 

                 

3. Why did civilization last longer in Egypt and China?                        

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The Story of Mesopotamia 

What do you know about Mesopotamia?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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The Story of Egypt What do you know about Egypt? 

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Mesopotamia and Egypt Notes  

Extension  Important Ideas (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) 

   

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Mesopotamia and Egypt Notes (Cont’d)  

Extension  Important Ideas (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) 

   

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Mesopotamia and Egypt Notes (Cont’d)  

Extension  Important Ideas (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) 

   

Summary 

 

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Mesopotamia  

Mesopotamia, or the area in the floodplain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was home to many small Neolithic farming villages that grew steadily between 4000 and 3500 BC/BCE. By 3000 BC/BCE the villages became cities and grew in population and began building walls and monuments. Sumer was a particular civilization that developed in the region of Mesopotamia.    Cities were home to a privileged class of elites who headed households supported by nearby irrigated land. The households were made up of staff, slaves, and workers. Outside the walls of the city, merchants traded products like wool and food for timber and metals from as far away as Egypt or the Indus River. Evidence of Sumerian seals has been found in both places.  

  Each city had a large monument that was believed to be home to a god. The monument was surrounded by a temple managed by priests. The temples were the wealthiest of households, each supported by agriculture, artisans who crafted metals and stones into goods, and large storehouses of surplus grain.  Sumerian religion was polytheistic – meaning there was more than one god. The religion revolved around monuments and the houses the gods. People believed that if the gods were not pleased by the splendor of the temple, floods or attacks might occur. It is believed there were two types of deities (gods) in Sumer; each city - state had local gods they worshipped, and there were also several gods that were worshipped across the larger region.  The cities of Sumer grew larger and larger as the wealth of the temples expanded. They controlled large areas of the fertile land near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. When cities grow to be this large and wealthy and traded with each other, historians 

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called them city - states. Each city - state had its own specialization of workers that promoted trade within Sumer and across Afroeurasia.  Eventually, in about 2200 BC/BCE, the rule of the Sumerian city Akkad, Sargon, conquered all of the other Sumerian city - states. His descendants who ruled after him declared themselves to be living gods. The resident gods at the cities temples became less powerful, and the entire society became subject to one ruler. Sometimes new rulers, or kings, would come from different cities and the center of power would change. About 1000 years after Sargon, Hammurabi became king of Babylon and ruled all of Mesopotamia.  

  Men and women lived on equal terms during Paleolithic and even Neolithic times, but in the era of agrarian civilizations these roles changed. Women became more responsible for maintaining a household, while men were responsible for work outside of the household (farming, trading, becoming a soldier). Though some early leaders in Sumer may have been women, after the city - states were conquered they rarely joined in politics.  Sumerians developed the first known form of writing called cuneiform. The Sumerian writing system had 3,000 characters. With so many letters to learn, being a scribe, or a person who could write Sumerian script, was a full time job. Archaeologists have uncovered about 6,000 tablets with cuneiform from ancient Sumer. 

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 Sumerians also developed the first known form of mathematics. Our math system is base-ten while Sumerians was base-twelve. This is the basis of our 60 second minute, 60 minute hour, and 24 hour day (each number is divisible by 12).  Sumer lasted until around 1200 BC/BCE when nomadic raiders attacked and destroyed many of the city - states. Before this, problems like natural disasters, disease, shortages of food, and ineffective rulers weakened the large civilization.  Reading Check In - What were some of the different groups of people (consider: gender, age, job, power, social class, etc.) living in Sumer at this time and how would their lives have differed?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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 The above information was compiled and adapted from Cynthia Stokes Brown’s Big History (2007), David Christian’s Maps of Time (2004), and J.R. and William H. McNeill’s The Human Web (2003).    

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Egypt Neolithic villages began growing as populations increased along the Nile River in much the same way as it did along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In fact, Egyptians along the Nile were trading with the people of Sumer. Much of the early architecture along the Nile looks similar to early Sumerian architecture. Egyptians probably adapted cuneiform into their own form of writing called hieroglyphics. 

Egypt was unified by the first pharaoh around 3100 BC/BCE. Since all the cities were along one river that allowed easy transportation, the pharaoh was able to easily collect tribute, or taxes, and labor to support building his monument. This made unification of the cities into one empire possible. 

Pharaohs built large monuments called pyramids, where they would be buried when they died. Egypt’s rulers claimed to be living gods who turned all of Egypt into one extremely large temple community. 

Religion in Egypt was also polytheistic, with several gods. Many of these gods were tied to the local environment, such as Hapi, the god of the Nile River. The Nile River itself represented a passageway from life to death to the afterlife. 

This community was supported by a hierarchy of workers and craftsmen. Egyptians had an abundance of stone that they used to build many of their monuments. Small homes were made out of mud-bricks just like in Mesopotamia. 

In the ancient Egyptian world, life was controlled by the pharaoh. Farmers and laborers were at the bottom of the social ladder. Above them were the craftsmen and artisans who built the pharaoh’s monuments. The upper class was made up of scribes, priests, and officials who helped the pharaoh collect taxes and resources from the surrounding area. 

Family life in ancient Egypt found men as the heads of the household. Most men took only one wife except for the pharaoh who may have taken multiple wives. 

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Wealthier families had servants and slaves to take care of children while poorer families did not. 

The elite families in Egypt were usually headed by priests of officials, however people learned to write by becoming scribes or became soldiers moved up in the social hierarchy in ancient Egypt. 

The civilization of Ancient Egypt eventually fell into decline at around 1000 BC/BCE, but the land around the Nile remained fertile thousands of years unlike in Mesopotamia. Because of this, agrarian civilization has endured around the Nile, though power eventually shifted away toward Persia in era of Empires beginning in about 500 BC/BCE. 

 

 

Reading Check In - What were some of the different groups of people (consider: gender, age, job, power, social class, etc.) living in Egypt at this time and how would their lives have differed? How was this similar to or different from Sumer?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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 The above information was compiled and adapted from Cynthia Stokes Brown’s Big History (2007), David Christian’s Maps of Time (2004), and J.R. and William H. McNeill’s The Human Web (2003).  

    

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Mesopotamia and Egypt Graphic Organizer   Directions: Fill in evidence from the reading for different social institutions in Mesopotamia and Egypt.  

Social Institution and its purpose 

Mesopotamia  Egypt 

Gov’t/Politics  To establish order in large communities 

Ruled by a King after unified  Ruled by a Pharaoh after unified. Supported by scribes and priests. 

Economics          

Family          

Religion          

Education          

Written Language 

        

Think-Pair-Share: Once you have completed the chart, work with a partner to predict the purpose for each social institution. Write your best guess in the first column.  

  

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Primary Documents from Mesopotamia[1] and Egypt   Document A (Mesopotamia): The Sumerian Goddess Inanna Looks After the City Agade (About 2000 BCE)   So that the warehouses would be provisioned that dwellings would be founded in the city, that its people would eat splendid food… that acquaintances would dine together, that foreigners would cruise about like unusual birds in the sky… At that time, she filled Agade…with gold, Delivered copper, tin, and blocks of lapis lazuli to its storehouses… Its harbor, where ships docked, was full of excitement… Its king, the shepherd Naram-Sin, rose like the sun on the holy throne of Agade.. Its city wall touched heaven, like a mountain…. Ships brought the goods of Sumer itself upstream [to Agade], The highland Amorites, people ignorant of agriculture, Came before her there with spirited bulls and spirited bucks, Meluhhans [from the Indus valley, and] people of the black mountains, Brought exotic wares down to her… All the governors, temple administrators, and land registrars of the Gude’ena Regularly supplied monthly and New Year offerings there.     Document A (Egypt): Praise for Pharaoh’s New City (About 1300 BCE)   His majesty—life, prosperity, health !—has built himself a city, named “Great of Victories.” All men have left their towns and are settled in its territory. Temples of the gods Amon and Set, and the goddesses Astarte and Uto, mark its four quarters. Pharaoh is in it as a god. The Residence is full of supplies, its ponds with fish, its lakes with birds. Its granaries are so full of grain they come near to the sky. Onions and leeks are available for food, and lettuce, pomegranates, apples, olives. Its ships go out and come back to mooring, so it has supplies and food every day. One rejoices to live there. The small in it are like the great. The young men are dressed up every day, with sweet oil on their heads and newly dressed hair. The singers of “Great of Victories” are sweet, being taught at Memphis[the old capital of Egypt]. So live there content, Pharaoh—thou god!   

 [1] From Source: Gwendolyn Leick, Mesopotamia: Invention of the City (London: Penguin Books, 2001), 70-71, 103-104,163. Some of the language has been simplified by Anne Chapman. In <http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/units/three/landscape/03_landscape3.pdf> (p. 16-17) Accessed 6/4/10.   

 

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Document B (Mesopotamia): A Sumerian Father Gives Advice To His Son (About 2300 BCE)   My son, let me give you instructions. Pay attention to them! Do not beat a farmer’s son, or he will break your irrigation canal…. Do not break into a house… Do not speak with a girl when you are married, the [likelihood of] slander is strong… Do not allow your sheep to graze in untested grazing grounds… Submit to strength. Bow down to the mighty man.       Document B (Egypt): Instructions Of The Vizier Ptah-hotep To His Son (About 2450 BCE)   If you sit at the table of one greater than you, speak only when spoken to. Laugh after him.   When carrying a message from one great man to another, be accurate. Beware of making words worse through vulgar speech [slang], and so making for hostility between them.   If you have a son who listens to you and takes care of your property as he should, do not cut your heart off from him. But if he does not carry out your instructions, if his manners in your household are wretched, if he rebels against all you say, cast him off. He is not your son at all.   If you want to make friendship last in a home to which you have access as a master, a brother or a friend, beware of approaching the women. Do not do it.  Do not be greedy, or envious of your own kindred.   Love your wife at home as is fitting. Fill her belly, clothe her back. Make her heart glad as long as you live. Do not contend with her at law, but keep her from gaining control.   Bow your back to your superior, then your reward will be as it should be. Opposition to a superior is a painful thing.     

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  Document C (Mesopotamia): A Sumerian Father Wants His Teen-Ager To Be A Scribe (About 2000 BCE)   …Why do you idle about? Go to school, recite your assignment, open your schoolbag, write your tablet, let your “big brother” write your new tablet for you. Be humble and show fear before your apprentice teacher. When you show terror, he will like you…. Never in my life did I make you carry reeds to the canebrake. I never said to you ”Follow my caravans.” I never sent you to work as a laborer. “Go, work and support me,” I never in my life said that to you. Others like you support their parents by working… Compared to them you are not a man at all. Night and day you waste in pleasures…. Among all craftsmen that live in the land, no work is more difficult than that of a scribe. [But] it is in accordance with the fate decreed by [the god] Enlil that a man should follow his father’s work. 

       Document C (Egypt): An Egyptian Father Wants His Son To Be A Scribe, About 2000 BCE   On his way to put him into the Writing School among the children of officials, he said to his son:   I have seen how the laboring man is burdened. You should set your heart on pursuing writing instead. The scribe’s place is in the Residence City, and he shall not be poor in it. Men greet him respectfully, and he is not clothed in the workman’s apron.   If you leave the school after midday is announced, and go rollicking in the street, it is not for you. If three loaves should satisfy you, but there is still no limit to your belly, fight against it.   I have set you on the way of god. The scribe reaches the halls of the magistrates. No scribe lacks food, being fed from the property of the King’s House—life, prosperity, health!       

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Apprentice Historian Graphic Organizer 

SUMER  A  B  C 

Author: What type of person do you think wrote it? Why do you think that? 

        

     

Reason: Why was the source produced and how might this affect the reliability of it?   

                

     

Main Idea: What point is the author trying to convey? 

                

     

Social Institutions: What social institutions are described in this document? How do you know?   

                 

    

Inferences: What can you reasonably determine about the civilization based on this document?   

                

     

  

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Apprentice Historian Graphic Organizer EGYPT  A  B  C 

Author: What type of person do you think wrote it? Why do you think that? 

        

     

Reason: Why was the source produced and how might this affect the reliability of it?   

                

     

Main Idea: What point is the author trying to convey? 

                

     

Social Institutions: What social institutions are described in this document? How do you know?   

       

Inferences: What can you reasonably determine about the civilization based on this document?   

              

     

 Discuss in your group: What were some similarities and differences between Sumer and Egypt that you noticed? *Be prepared to share with the class.* 

 

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Comparing Primary Documents from Mesopotamia and Egypt   

Document B: A Sumerian Father Gives Advice To His Son (About 2300 BCE) 

  MESOPOTAMIA 

Document B: Instructions Of The Vizier Ptah-hotep To His Son (About 2450 BCE) 

  EGYPT 

My son, let me give you instructions. Pay attention to them! Do not beat a farmer’s son, or he will break your irrigation canal…. Do not break into a house… Do not speak with a girl when you are married, the [likelihood of] slander is strong… Do not allow your sheep to graze in untested grazing grounds… Submit to strength. Bow down to the mighty man.   

If you sit at the table of one greater than you, speak only when spoken to. Laugh after him.   When carrying a message from one great man to another, be accurate. Beware of making words worse through vulgar speech [slang], and so making for hostility between them.   If you have a son who listens to you and takes care of your property as he should, do not cut your heart off from him. But if he does not carry out your instructions, if his manners in your household are wretched, if he rebels against all you say, cast him off. He is not your son at all.   If you want to make friendship last in a home to which you have access as a master, a brother or a friend, beware of approaching the women. Do not do it. Do not be greedy, or envious of your own kindred.   Love your wife at home as is fitting. Fill her belly, clothe her back. Make her heart glad as long as you live. Do not contend with her at law, but keep her from gaining control.   Bow your back to your superior, then your reward will be as it should be. Opposition to a superior is a painful thing.  

  

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Directions: Compare the advice to sons in the two B documents. Discuss as a group and share your ideas. Each group member is responsible for writing the answers to the questions that follow on their own sheet!   

1. What can you infer (make your best guess based on the evidence) from the Mesopotamian document about the likely occupation and social position of the father? 

         

2. What differences exist between the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian fathers’ advice that could be explained by their different occupations and positions? 

           

3. What can you infer about the relationships...  

a. between fathers and sons?     

b. between women and men?      

c. between the upper and lower classes?       

d. What evidence did you use to make these conclusions?         

4. What would your reaction be to this kind of advice? Is it still applicable today? Why?   

    

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Brainstorm: What Would Happen?  

➢ Imagine this: You come to school like any normal day. After your four morning classes, you go to the Auditeria for lunch. Today, though, you notice there is food ready (like normal), but no cafeteria staff, no teachers, no adults anywhere. What would happen? 

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Problems in early civilizations  Solutions 

             

               

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Quick Write #5 - Mesopotamia What happened in Mesopotamia between 3200 BCE and 2300 BCE? What does the map on the board show? What do you think the world “campaign” means on this map?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Brainstorm - Controlling a large area What other changes might have changed in this time period? What other changes might have happened that would have made controlling a large area easier?  _______________________________________________________________________________________ 

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The Origins of Writing in Mesopotamia   

Directions for summarization exercise: Important information in this passage is underlined. Read the passage once as a whole section. Then, with a partner, take turns reading the underlined sentences out loud. Next, talk about how you could summarize these ideas in your own words. Working with your partner, create a summary with no more than three sentences that capture the most important ideas. 

 Ancient Mesopotamia: The Invention of Writing 

   

Writing emerged in many different cultures and in numerous locations throughout the ancient world. It was not the creation of any one people. However, the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia are credited with inventing the earliest form of writing, which appeared ca. 3500 B.C.E. The clay tablets shown above date from around 3200 B.C.E.   The writings on these tablets are simple pictures, or pictograms, which represent an object or an idea. Because clay is a difficult material on which to draw lines and curves, the Mesopotamians eventually reduced pictograms into a series of wedge-shaped signs that they pressed into clay with a reed stylus. This wedge-shaped writing is called cuneiform.The invention of writing was the dawn of the information revolution. This great technological advance allowed news and ideas to be carried to distant places without having to rely on a messenger's memory. Like all inventions, writing emerged because there was a need for it. In Mesopotamia, it was developed as a record-keeping vehicle for commercial transactions or administrative procedures. There are also texts that served as "copy books" for the education of future scribes. Eventually, cuneiform script was used to produce some of the greatest literary works in recorded history.     Adapted from Ancient Mesopotamia: The Invention of Writing. Teacher Resource Center. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. 18 April 2012 <http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html>.    

  

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The Change in Mesopotamian Script  

 Choose one of the words from the chart to analyze. 

What word did you choose? Please describe how it changes. How did it start? How did it end up? 

Which example shows when it became true cuneiform? (describe the change)  

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Writing in Egypt Writing 

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate information about religion and government. Thus, they invented written scripts that could be used to record this information. 

The most famous of all ancient Egyptian scripts is hieroglyphic. However, throughout three thousand years of ancient Egyptian civilization, at least three other scripts were used for different purposes. Using these scripts, scribes were able to preserve the beliefs, history and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb walls and on papyrus scrolls. 

Hieroglyphs and Scribes 

An important group of people in Egypt were the scribes. However, it was not easy to become a scribe. Education was not free in ancient Egypt and a scribe's training took up to twelve years to complete. People envied the scribes because they did not have to labor in the fields or fight the pharaoh's enemies. They were held in high regard by society. 

Scribes worked in temple writing rooms, markets, army barracks, the homes of nobles, government offices or anywhere their skills were needed. These highly trained men could read and write the Egyptian script called hieroglyphics, or holy writing. To us this writing looks like tiny pictures or symbols. Each picture represented a different idea or letter or sound, as it was a very complicated system. 

Scribes wrote on papyrus, a type of paper made from the papyrus plant growing by the Nile. Fine brushes made of plant fiber were used as we would use a pen. The black ink was made from soot and water. For headings and borders, a red ink was made from a stone called ochre, which was found in the desert. Everyday messages were written on broken pieces of pottery; very important information was carved into stone so that it lasted forever. Scribes kept records of supplies and taxes, wrote letters and messages, designed the inscriptions carved into tombs and worked as teachers and librarians. 

(adapted from http://www.discovery.com and http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/homemain.html)  Stop and Jot: Compare and contrast the development of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. How was it similar and different? Think about the technology of writing - tools, writing surfaces, etc.    Why would someone want to become a scribe? Where did scribes seem to fit in the social hierarchy?    

 

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Looking Closer at Hieroglyphics   Egyptian Hieroglyphs 

The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system consists of several hundred picture signs. The signs can be divided into two classes, phonograms and ideograms. 

Phonograms are signs used to write the sounds of the Egyptian language. The particular sound value of a sign was usually obtained from the Egyptian name for the object represented. Since the Egyptians did not normally write the vowels, only the consonantal "skeleton" of the word is given. 

Ideograms, or idea-signs, in which each picture stands for the object represented or for some idea closely connected with the object. A particular word could be written using only sound-signs, or only an idea-sign, but most words were written using a combination of both. It was a particularly common practice to use one or more idea-signs at the end of a word to give the general meaning of the word. (source: http://www2.torstar.com/rom/egypt) 

Quick Write #6 - Looking closer at hieroglyphics Is the English alphabet phonographic or ideographic? Why do you think this? 

What about emojis or emoticons? Why do you think this? 

If you had to choose a writing system, would you rather use cuneiform or hieroglyphics? Why? 

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Excerpts from King Hammurabi’s Code[1]   Hammurabi ruled Babylon, an important kingdom in Mesopotamia from 1792-1750                   BC/BCE, towards the end of Era 2. The region had been in conflict for a long time                                 before he came to power. He used his army to get control of areas in southern and                                 north-central Mesopotamia. He established almost complete control over these                 areas, and one way he did this was through his development of a written code of                               laws. As far as we know, this was not the first written code of law in human history,                                   but it is the earliest legal code which archaeologists have found and deciphered in its                             entirety.   

Excerpts from Hammurabi’s Code from Babylon (About 1700 BCE)   1. If a man accuses another of murder but cannot prove it, the accuser shall be put to death. 

8. If a man steals, he shall repay thirty fold. If he hasn’t the money, he shall be put to death.  

15. If a man helps a slave to escape from the city, he shall be put to death. 

22. If a man practices robbery and is captured, that man shall be put to death.  

55. If a man opens a canal for irrigation and neglects it and the water floods a nearby field, he shall pay grain to the owner of the adjacent field.  

117. If a man sells his wife or child to settle a debt, they shall work in the house of the buyer for three years, and regain their freedom in the fourth. 

195. If a man strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand.   

202. If a man strikes the cheek of his superior, he shall receive sixty strokes with an oxtail whip. 

204. If a common man strikes a common man on the cheek, he shall pay ten shekels of silver. 

205. If a man’s slave strikes the son of a gentleman on the cheek, they shall cut off his ear. 

206. If a man strikes another in a quarrel and wounds him, but swears: “I did not strike him intentionally,” he shall only be responsible for paying the physician. 

209. If a man strikes the daughter of another and causes a miscarriage, he shall pay ten shekels. If the woman dies, they shall put his daughter to death.

[1] Source: Cohn-Haft, Louis. Source Readings in Ancient History, Vol. 1 (New York: T.Y. Crowell, 1965), 66-68; 79-81; 89-91; 96-97. Some of the language has been simplified by Anne Chapman. In <http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/units/three/landscape/03_landscape3.pdf> Accessed 6/5/10. 

   

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Graphic Organizer for Hammurabi’s Code 

  

   Action or offense  Consequence or punishment 

My reaction (what I think about this) 

1        

      

     

15                      

55             

     

202 / 

204 

            

     

209                

     

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Confession by the Deceased  From “The Book of the Dead” (about 1500 BCE).  

  In ancient Egypt, many laws were common knowledge. The following document could be seen as evidence of law. As you read, jot down an example of the law that is hinted at with each line. This is an example of what a deceased person would confess to the God of the Dead who would judge the quality of his/her afterlife.    

  Hail to you, O great god, judge of the dead! I know your name, and that of the forty-two gods with you who punish evildoers on the day of reckoning. Lord of Justice is your name. I have come to you; I have brought you justice; I have expelled deceit for you.   I have not committed evil against men. 

I have not mistreated cattle. 

I have not blasphemed a god. 

I have not defamed a slave to his superior. 

I have not made anyone weep. 

I have not killed. 

I have given no order to a killer. 

I have not added to the weight of the balance. 

I have not built a dam against running water. 

I am pure! I am pure! I am pure! 

I have not stolen. 

I have not been greedy or envious. 

I have not told lies. 

I have not practiced usury. 

I have not gossiped. 

I have not committed adultery. 

I have not been quarrelsome. 

I have not been abusive. 

 

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Cross-Text Analysis of Laws   

   Hammurabi  Confession of the Deceased 

Livestock / Farming          

             

  

Trade / Business              

  

Marriage / Relationships 

       

  

Treatment of Slaves 

       

  

Private Property / Personal Wealth         

     

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Cross-Text Analysis Group Discussion Questions:   1. What values were common in both societies? What important differences can you identify?   2. In what ways do these laws deal with some of the problems we listed on the board at the beginning of this lesson?   3. How do portions of the documents contribute to upholding social order?   4. What can you infer about the main concerns or problems of each society?   5. How did the surrounding environment, combined with their way of life, influence the types of laws they developed?   6. How do the ideas of justice, values, and morality from the ancient civilizations compare with American ideas about these same topics?     You will be assigned one question. Record your answer below: 

We think that...... 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Our evidence from the text includes: 

  

  

  

  

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Writing, Laws, and Centralized Government 1. What is being compared in this timeline? How do you know? 

2. Why do you think we don’t see the appearance of writing anywhere in the world until AFTER the development of cities? 

3. What purposes do you think writing served during this time period? 

4. Describe the political trend in Mesopotamia between 3500 BCE and 1200 BCE. Why do you think this happened? 

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Student Handout 2 - Animal-Herding Societies  Animal-herding societies. From about the fourth millennium BCE (4000 BCE), Afroeurasia saw the                         development of a new type of society and economy in parts of the Great Arid Zone. This is the belt of dry                                           and semi-arid land that extends across Afroeurasia from the Sahara Desert in the west to Manchuria in                                 northern China.  

  

Here, communities began to organize themselves around a specialized way of life based on herding domesticated animals, like sheep, cattle, horses, or camels. Known as pastoral nomadism, this economic system permitted humans to adapt in larger numbers than ever before to climates where intensive farming was not possible. Pastoral nomads lived mainly on the products of their livestock—meat, milk, blood, hides, hair, wool, and bone. They often grazed and migrated over extensive areas, and they only planted crops either as a minor, supplemental activity, or not at all.   

Stop and Jot: ● Why didn’t nomadic pastoralists settle down and farm where they were? (This is an inferential 

question... you need to use information in the text to make your best guess!)            

    

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By the third millennium BCE (3000 BCE), animal-breeding societies were appearing in a number of regions, notably along the margins of the Great Arid Zone. These communities found they could adapt to dry conditions because sheep, cattle, and a few other domesticated animals could thrive on wild grasses and shrubs. These animals converted vegetable matter that humans could not digest into meat, milk, and blood, which they could.   

Stop and Jot: Why did humans need these animals to survive around the Great Arid Zone? What was this area like and what did animals do to help humans survive?  

 Pastoral communities usually followed regular migratory routes from pasture to pasture as the seasons                           changed. When families were on the move, they lived in hide tents or other movable dwellings, and their                                   belongings had to be limited to what they could carry along. This does not mean that they wished to cut                                       themselves off from farming societies or cities. Rather, pastoralists eagerly traded with people from farming                             societies. In doing so, they obtained farm produce or other items in exchange for their hides, wool, and                                   dairy products. Sometimes pastoralists even traded their services -- as soldiers and bodyguards for farming                             communities. Thus the ecological borders between pastoral societies and town-building populations were                       usually scenes of lively trade. Because pastoral societies were mobile, and not permanently settled, the way they expressed social                           relationships differed. Instead of referring to people by where they lived, pastoral nomads expressed social                             relationships in terms of kinship --that is, who was related by “blood” to whom—closely, distantly, or not at                                   all. 

Quick Write #7 Why did pastoralists move so regularly and how did they interact with agrarian communities in this process?  

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“Migrations and Militarism across Afroeurasia, 2000-1000 BC/BCE.” World History for Us All. San Diego State University. 21 April 2012 <http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/units/three/landscape/03_landscape4.pdf>. 

 

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Student Handout 3 – Large Mammals and Nomadic Pastoralists   

Horses: The horse is often the animal most beloved by the nomadic people. The horses of Central Asia have been known for their stamina, strength, speed, and endurance since ancient times. They are adapted to the extremes of weather and terrain of this region, making them valuable forms of transportation. The mane and tail are used for making rope, weaving, and even musical instruments. Horses are not generally raised for food or hides, though they may be utilized for meat or leather. The milk of mares is made into a fermented beverage by some groups of nomadic herdsman. The famous horses of Ferghana were especially valued and used as tribute to the Chinese emperors. The Khans used the small and seemingly tireless Mongolian ponies as they began their quest across the continent to establish the Mongol Empire.   Sheep: The staple livestock of the nomadic people, sheep are valued for their milk (used to make dairy products) and mutton (meat from an adult sheep which was a basic part of their diet). The sheep's wool adapts it to the environment in terms of its texture and length. The wool is used for felt, carpets, and clothing. The hide is also valued for leather products. Sheep require protection from predators, as well as fresh pasturelands.   Goats: The goat is valued by Central Asian nomads for their meat, milk, hide, and particularly wool. As with sheep, these products are important in providing food, clothing, and products to sell. In some areas of Central Asia, the production of cashmere has become an especially profitable product of this animal. These animals are also adapted to the mountainous terrain of Central Asia.   Camels: The sturdy, steady camel is an important livestock commodity as transportation. In an arid region, this animal can survive for up to a month without fresh water. The camel is especially helpful as a beast of burden in the desert areas, with feet, hides, and eyes particularly adapted to this environment. In addition, the milk, meat, and wool of camels are also important to the people who raise them. It was the domestication of the camel that made travel along the Silk Road possible for the purposes of trade.   Bovines: (Cows/Yak/Ox) The shaggy yak is the animal of high altitudes. Cross breeding with cattle has produced a domestic ox that is a valued animal in parts of Central Asia. The domestic yak of today provides milk and meat, which is consumed fresh or dried. Hides are used for leather, and hair is used for rope and cloth. The yak is also utilized as a beast of burden and transportation as they are well adapted for their high altitude environment, much as camels are used in the desert. The less sturdy cow is found in flatter elevations and used for milk, meat, and leather, though it is not used for transportation and carrying things.   Dogs: The only non-livestock animal that is frequently found among the nomadic people of Central Asia, the dog, is used to guard livestock and property. Dogs keep predators such as wolves at bay and may be used for hunting. They are not considered pets, though they are admired for their loyalty and valued for their courage.  Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/12/g68/animalnomadstudent.pdf     

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Group Discussion Questions – Information to present to the class: ● How common is this animal in our society? Why?  ● What role does it play? How is it utilized? ● What qualities would we use to describe this animal? ● Do you think the use of this animal has changed through our history? How? Why? ● Why might this animal be especially valuable to a nomadic pastoralist? 

____________________    Animal Uses Checklist: Listen to your classmates’ presentations, and place an “X” in each category as                               appropriate. If an animal did not provide the item to people, leave the space blank. Identify one unique                                   quality about each animal (what makes it different from the rest?) summarize in the space provided.  

   Horse  Sheep  Goat  Camel  Bovine  Dog 

Milk                   

Meat                   

Hide (skin) or hair/wool                   

Transportation                   

Unique Quality     

       

          

       

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Student Handout 4 - Descriptions of Nomadic Peoples  in the Written Record 

  Document 1: Pastoralism in China, 100 BC/BCE  

A first century Chinese historian described the Xiongnu, a large nomadic pastoral group, in the following way:  

The Xiongnu live in the Northern Barbarian lands and wander, following their herds, moving from place to place...searching for water and pastures. They have no cities, no permanent dwellings and no cultivated fields… Their children ride on the backs of sheep and shoot [arrows] at birds and rats… According to their custom, during times of peace, they follow their herds and hunt animals and birds to sustain life; in crisis everyone uses their unique tactics for an attack and invasion… When it is profitable they advance; when it is unprofitable they withdraw, never being ashamed of retreat… From their rulers on down everyone eats meat, wears animal hides, and puts on felt and furs.  

 Document 2: Mesopotamia, From a poet’s tale of the marriage between the Goddess Innana and the God Damuzi (2nd Millennium BC/BCE)  

The man of my heart works the hoe.  The farmer! He is the man of my heart! He gathers the grain in great heaps… 

The shepherd, I will not marry the shepherd! His clothes are course; his wool is rough. 

I will marry the farmer.   

Document 3: During the second millennia BC/BCE, a pastoral group from Inner-Eurasia (see Map II), invaded the Indus River Valley. They brought with them a language known as Sanskrit part of a larger language family known as Indo-European, the same language family that English and other European languages developed from. They also brought with them prayers and hymns priests would chant before battle. After they had settled down and developed their own form of writing, these hymns were written down in a book called the Rigveda.   

1. His face is like a thundercloud, when the armored warrior goes into the lap of battles. Conquer with an unwounded body; let the power of the armor keep you safe. [He is calling for protection by the metal and leather armor he wears and by the sacred power of the hymn.] 

2. With the bow let us win cows, with the bow let us win the contest and violent battles with the bow. The bow ruins the enemies’ pleasure. 

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3. She [the bow] comes all the way up to your ear like a woman who wishes to say something, embracing her dear friend; humming like a woman, the bowstring stretched tight on the bow carriers you safely across in the battle. . . . 

4. These two who go forward like a woman going to an encounter hold the arrow in their lap as a mother holds a son. Let the two bow-tips, working together, pierce our enemies and scatter our foes. 

5. Standing in the chariot, the skillful charioteer drives his prize-winning horses forward wherever he wishes to go. Praise the power of the reins: the guides follow the mind that is behind them. 

6. Neighing violently, the horses with their showering hoofs outstrip everyone with their chariots. Trampling down the foes with the tips of their hoofs, they destroy their enemies without veering away. . . . 

7. Her [the arrow’s] robe is an eagle, and her tooth is a deer; bound with cows, she flies as she is sent forward. Let the arrows give us shelter wherever men run together and run separately. [The arrow is robed with eagle feathers, tipped with deer-horn and bound with leather thongs.] 

8. Spare us, O weapon flying true to its mark; let our body be stone. . . . 

9. He beats them on the back and strikes them on the haunches. O whip the horses, drive forward into battle the horses who sense what is ahead. . . . 

10. Whoever would harm us, whether it be one of our own people, or a stranger, or someone from far away, let all the gods ruin him. My inner armor is prayer. 

  

Source: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/units/three/landscape/03_landscape4.pdf  

 Document 4:  

“Pastoral Nomadic groups thought of themselves as blood brothers, committed to live and die for their tribe. Their society was patriarchal, and men owned the herds. These cowboys of the ancient world loved riding and racing horses, hunting, wrestling, and archery.   Warfare was even more important for pastoral nomads than it had been for earlier pastoralists because of rising population and more competition for grazing land. Nomads had to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”  --Jean Elliott Johnson and Donald James Johnson (2000) The Human Drama, p. 85.   

    

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Student Handout 4 Continued – Source Analysis of Documents 

   Food  Clothing tools weapons 

Homes  Ways of life in peace 

Approach to war 

1) Document on the Xiongnu 

                  

      

        

2) Sumerian document… farmer is the man of my heart 

                    

           

3)  A Pastoralist View 

                    

           

4) Militant Pastoralists 

                  

          

 

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Student Handout 4 Continued – Source Analysis of Documents 

   Source  Primary/ secondary (P or S) 

Point of view (pastoralist, agrarian, or Neutral) P, A, or N) 

Possible purpose of document 

Possible evidence of bias 

1) Document on the Xiongnu 

                  

           

2) Sumerian document… farmer is the man of my heart 

                           

  

3) A Pastoralist View 

          

                        

  

4) Militant Pastoralists 

          

                        

  

 

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Student Handout 5: Pastoral Nomads - Adaptations and Interactions  Pastoral nomads are animal-herding people who migrate seasonally in search of grazing land for their livestock. Pastoral nomadic groups became significant on the stage of Afro-eurasian history in the second millennium BCE.  Adaptations: Like hunting, pastoralism offered a technological solution to the ecological problems that the harsh environment of Inner Eurasia posed. Its success encouraged population growth, and as populations grew, Inner Eurasian communities faced new challenges. They had to find ways to mobilize scarce resources both to sustain themselves and to defend themselves against rival groups. The relatively flat landscape of Inner Eurasia offered a few natural resistances. Where geography offered no shield, societies had to rely on tactical and fighting skills.  

  

Stop and Jot after reading the paragraph and studying both maps:  Why was farming not an option for people living in Inner Eurasia?          Why was pastoral nomadism more practical?      

     

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Why were pastoralist societies so warlike? The pastoral way of life favored warrior cultures. Livestock was a less secure resource than agricultural crops. Disease could swiftly destroy a large herd, and rival nomad rustlers might steal an entire herd. Herders had to be able to react quickly in a crisis. Controlling large animals also required the physical skills of a rodeo rider and the logistical skill of a cattle driver. This means that they had to have a system of military readiness both to protect their animals and to raid their neighbors. It requires physical strength, endurance, and a great tolerance for hardship.   Stop and Jot: What was difficult about living as a pastoralist and taking care of herds of animals? How did people adapt to these difficulties?  ________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Pastoral societies had to be able to transform themselves easily into armies capable of fighting with skill, spirit, and ferocity. Military resources had to be concentrated in relatively sparse populations. Therefore, training in how to ride and shoot had to begin at an early age. The pastoral nomadic way of life also encouraged aggression and a willingness to resort to violence, a limited empathy for other peoples’ suffering, restrained affections in personal relationships, and great concern for personal courage and status. Pastoral societies instilled these martial values in both women and men.  Stop and Jot: How did people adapt to the specific challenges of being a nomadic pastoralist? What values, attitudes, and skills did they have to develop to survive and succeed?  ________________________________________________________________________________________

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Interactions: Contacts with farming societies of Outer Eurasia may have created new opportunities for trade and raiding. With the rise of chariot warfare in the second millennium BCE, empires such as those of China and Assyria needed horses for their armies. Since they didn’t have the land needed to support large herds, they had to import horses from the steppes. Pastoralists of Inner Eurasia could maintain large herds only if they took up a nomadic lifestyle. If this argument is correct, it suggests the beginning of an interdependent relationship between Inner and Outer Eurasia.   Pastoral nomads frequently moved with their livestock herds through regular yearly circuits to find fresh water and pastures. Nomads depended for survival on the meat and milk of their flocks, as well as other resources like hides (skin) and bone, but they still needed some agricultural products, such as grain. As a result, pastoral nomadic societies relied on farming societies for certain products. Pastoral nomads usually needed the grains and luxury products of agricultural societies more than farmers needed surplus livestock. This unbalanced relationship helps explain why relations between nomads and settled peoples sometimes became violent, especially along the borderlands between Inner and Outer Eurasia.  

Quick Write #8 What did farmers and pastoralists need from each other?   

Why did this matter? What was the impact of their dependence on each other and their interactions? 

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Notes: History of Technology in Early Civilizations 

As you view the PowerPoint and discuss different types of technology, think about how each type of technology changed people’s lives. Also think about how each type of technology might have led to other changes in technology.  

POTTERY 

 

Slide 4: Initial Thoughts - How do you think pottery changed people’s lives? How might it have lead to other changes in technology? 

  

Slide 5: Stop and Jot.  1. What is the map showing?   2. What seems to be the connection between agriculture and pottery?   3. How do you explain this connection?   4. What else do you notice? 

   

 

Slide 6: Turn and Talk.  1. In what ways is a pot a form of 

technology?  

2. What are the possible uses of a ceramic pot?  

3. What do you think it takes to make a pot? 

a. What type of knowledge?  

b. What type of skills?  

c. What types of resources?  

Slides 7+8: Watch the Video. Discuss AND Write.  1. What do you notice? What was interesting or 

surprising?   

2. Do you see anything in this process of making ceramics that relies on modern technology?  

3. Could this have been done 4,000 years ago? What do you think? Why or why not?  

4. Why would someone still make pottery this way today? 

   

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THE PLOW 

 

Slide 9: Initial Thoughts - How do you think the plow changed people’s lives? How might it have led to other changes in technology?      

 

Slides 10+11: Stop and Jot.  1. Describe what you see.   

     

2. What is a plow and how is it used?        

3. How would it change farming?      

4. What might we learn from these images about gender in Ancient Egypt?       

 

Slide 12: Stop and Jot.  1. How did the invention of the plow change people’s lives? 

   

2. Predict: How might the plow have led to other changes in technology?      

   

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IRRIGATION 

 

Slide 13: Initial Thoughts - How do you think irrigation changed people’s lives? How might it have led to other changes in technology? 

 

Slide 14: Write to Answer.  1. Describe what you see. 

     

2. What is irrigation and what did it do for early civilizations?      

 

Slide 15: Discuss and Write.  Why do you think Egyptians depicted themselves irrigating? 

 

Slides 16-18: Discuss and Write.  1. What challenges or problems might arise from people depending on the same water supply? 

     

2. Why did early laws and values include rules about irrigation?      

3. How do you think irrigation changed farming?       

   

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WOVEN TEXTILES 

 

Slide 19: Initial Thoughts - How do you think woven textiles changed people’s lives? How might they have led to other changes in technology? 

 

Slide 20: Turn and Talk.  1. What do you notice? What 

catches your interest or attention?   

2. What can we learn about an ancient culture from studying their clothes?    

3. Why might clothing styles have differed from one civilization to another? Or from one social position to another?  

Slide 21: Discuss and Write.  1. What role might textiles have played in society? 

    

2. How would you characterize the difference in clothing between the ruling elites and the laborers?     

3. How is this similar to or different from how people treat clothing in our society?     

 

 

METALLURGY 

 

Slide 23: Initial Thoughts  1. What is metallurgy? 

    

2. How do you think metallurgy changed people’s lives? How might it have led to other changes in technology?       

   

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Slide 24: Stop and Jot.   1. How are these artifacts evidence of job specialization? 

   

2. What jobs and resources were needed to make them?    

 

WHEELS AND WHEELED VEHICLES  

 

Slide 25: Initial Thoughts - In what ways do you think wheels and wheeled vehicles changed people’s lives? How might they have led to other changes in technology?     

    

 

Slide 26: Stop and Jot.  1. What is a chariot? 

  

2. What made it move?   

3. How do you think King Tut used his?   

 

Slide 27:  Culture includes…   Diffusion means…   Define Cultural Diffusion:    

Slide 28: Discuss and Write.  1. How is the chariot an example of cultural diffusion? 

    

2. Where did the chariot NOT spread? Why might that be? 

   

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Slide 29: Turn and Talk.  1. Why do you think chariots were important? 

   

2. How did the chariot intensify the speed of cultural diffusion?    

 

 

 

Slide 30: Turn and Talk. Jot your thoughts below for your own notes.   1. How would trade have been different before these technologies? What would have been traded and 

how? What would people have needed from other places?    

2. How would conflict between groups of people have been different before these technologies? Why and how would people have fought?    

3. So, how do you think these technologies (bronze, wheels, textiles, etc) changed trade and conflict?    

4. How do you think these technologies changed over the next 1,000 years? Why do you think they changed over time? To what extent are these technologies still important today?    

   

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An Overview of the History of Technology  

As you read about each type of technology and its development, talk to the text. In the space provided, jot down questions and connections...what does this make you think about? What questions do you have? What do you wonder? 

Example: Fire (~500,000 years ago) 

An event of crucial importance in the development of technology is the taming of fire. This probably happened 500,000 years ago in China, where the caves occupied by early hominids appear to contain hearths. Some experts believe there is evidence of the use of fire much earlier in southern Africa.  It would be many millennia (thousands of years) before fire was adapted for any purpose other than for warmth and for roasting meat and root vegetables. But, around 250,000 years ago, hunters realized the sharpened point of a wooden spear could be hardened by charring its embers.  

 

1) Neolithic Technology (from ~8000 BC) 

The technological potential of fire was not discovered until well into the Neolithic period. Pottery, fired in a primitive kiln, is known from about 6500 BC. The smelting and casting of metal requires considerably higher temperatures and was not attempted until much later, from about 4000 BC. The introduction of copper, and then bronze, brought to an end the early Neolithic Period.   Other basic technologies, not requiring fire, were well established in Neolithic times. Textiles appeared almost as early as pottery. Weights designed to help thread spinning were common in Neolithic sites, and fragments of fine woven cloth survived in graves at Çatalhӧyük from as early as 5800 BC. 

 

2) Spinning (from ~8000 BC) 

The spindle developed naturally from the process of twisting fibers into a thread by hand. The spun thread needed to be stored, and the easiest way was to wind it onto a stick while continuing to twist more fibers into longer thread. This meant the stick was also attached to the unfinished thread (the fibers which were still being twisted). The stick, therefore, needed to twist with the fibers.   Instead of being an drawback, this was turned into an advantage. When the stick was given greater weight, by attaching it to a lump of clay or stone, its momentum helped in spinning the fibers into thread.  

 

   

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3) Weaving (from ~6000 BC) 

Until recently, the earliest known scraps of cloth were woven from wool. Dating from abou 5800 BC, they came from Çatalhӧyük in Anatolia. Similarly, the first known example of linen was from about 5000 BC in Egypt, where flax (an indigenous wild plant in the Mediterranean region) was cultivated. But a small woven fragment discovered in 1993 near the upper reaches of the Tigris River dates back even farther to 7000 BC.   Cotton was grown in both Eurasia and America. Woven cotton from about 2500 BC has been found in the Indus River Valley and in Peru (in South America). Some of the most abundant woven textiles were recovered in China, where weaving silk began around 2850 BC. 

 

4) Yoke and Harness (from ~4000 BC) 

The harnessing of draft animals was a major technological advance in agriculture as well as transport. The first to be harnessed was the ox, conveniently provided by nature with a fleshy hump above the shoulders. A yoke laid in front of the hump and would remain in place even when a heavy burden was pulled. Sometimes, a lighter yoke was attached to the horns. Oxen were dragging heavy objects or loaded sledges by about 4000 BC.  

 The camel had an even more convenient hump. Its height made it less suitable for draft purposes than the ox, but beginning around 1000 BC it was used in Asia and north Africa for drawing wagons and plowing. By contrast, harnessing the horse proved problematic.  A traditional yoke could only be kept in place on a horse by passing an extra harness in front of its chest. However carefully they were placed, these harnesses would push on the horse’s windpipe. The heavier the load, the less air the horse would be able to breathe.  For many centuries, this meant horses were not very effective as draft animals. The solution, discovered in China after 400 AD, was to provide a firm collar which fit around the neck and shoulders of the horse to distribute the load’s weight more evenly. Collars of this kind reached Europe by about 800 AD, enabling the horse to become the main draft animal of the region for both plowing and hauling.  

 

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5) The First Miners (from ~4000 BC) 

By 4000 BC, deep shafts were cut into the hillside at Rudna Glava, in the Balkans (SE Europe), to excavate copper ore. This robbing of the earth’s treasures was carried out with seriousness and respect for nature. Fine pots, bearing produce from the daylight world, were placed in the mines as a form of payment and appreciation to the spirits of the dark interior of the earth.  By about 3800 BC, copper mines were also 

worked in the Sinai Peninsula (eastern Egypt). Crucibles found at the site reveal smelting (using heat to remove metal from ore) was carried out as part of the mining process.  

 

6) The Plow and Draft Animals (from ~3000 BC) 

The plow was almost certainly the first implement for which humans used a source of power other than their own muscles. When planting seeds, it was essential to break up the ground. In the early stages of agriculture, this was achieved by hacking with any pointed implement - the antler of a deer, a hook branch from a tree. But a useful furrow for seeds could more easily be achieved by dragging a point along the surface of the ground. The first plows consisted of a sharp point of timber, sometimes hardened in a flame or tipped with flint, projecting downwards at the end of a long handle.  In the light soil of Egypt and Mesopotamia, where plowing was first undertaken, a simple pointed implement of this kind was sufficient to break up the earth and form a shallow trench. Such a plow could be dragged by a couple of men. But the use of draft animals, such as oxen, from at least 3000 BC, greatly sped up the process.   In northern Europe, with heavier soil, this type of plow was ineffective. A more elaborate machine was developed, probably by the Celts in the first century BC, in which a sharp blade cut into the earth and an angled board turned it over to form a furrow.   

 

 

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7) The Potter’s Wheel (~3000 BC) 

When a pot was built from the base by hand, it was impossible for it to be perfectly round. The solution to this problem was the potter’s wheel, which has been a crucial factor in the history of ceramics. It is not known when or where the potter’s wheel was introduced. Indeed, it likely developed very gradually from a platform on which the potter turned the pot before shaping another side (thus avoiding having to walk around it). 

 By about 3000 BC, a simple revolving wheel was a part of the potter’s equipment in Mesopotamia, the cradle of so many innovations.  

 

8) The Wheel (~3000 BC) 

The wheel is often considered the single most important advance in early technology. It is sometimes said to have evolved from the potter’s wheel. Both are first known at approximately the same time period, around 3000 BC. But they share no geographical origin, and it is unlikely that either form came from the other. Each is a natural solution to a very different problem.  In early technology, a wagon wheel could only be made from wood. Several of the earliest known wheels have been found in the heavily forested regions of Europe.  

 

 

    

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A Guided Reading on the Bronze Age  

As you read, jot down answers to the questions in the boxes. You may Turn and Talk before you write, but each student must write his/her own answer.  

 Bronze and Iron Ages The Neolithic Age was succeeded (followed) in Eurasia by the Bronze Age. In any given region, the Bronze Age is considered to begin when bronze became a much-used material for tools and weapons. The term “Bronze Age” is generally not used if only a few bronze tools were being made, or if bronze was only being used for jewelry.   During the Neolithic period, humans began to make limited use of copper (small amounts of pure copper can be found in nature), which could be hammered or melted and cast. Later in the Neolithic Period, smelting technology emerged in Southwest Asia, allowing copper to be extracted from copper ore. Ore is naturally occuring solid material from which metal or other valuable substances can be extracted. Smelting was later used for various other types of ore as well. These processes were part of the science and art of metallurgy, taking metal from rock ore and creating new goods out of it.   While copper can be used for tools and weapons, it is rather soft. It was eventually discovered that by blending copper with tin, a much harder metal can be created: bronze. (Occasionally, other elements were used instead of tin.)  

What was smelting?     Why was bronze better than copper? Give an example of why this might be important.      

 The Bronze Age of Eurasia spanned 3000-1000 BC. Like the Neolithic Period, it began in Southwest Asia, from where it spread in all directions. It took roughly a thousand years for the Bronze Age to cover the entire east-west span of mainland Eurasia, from the Atlantic (Western Europe) to the Pacific (China). Naturally, it also spread northward and southward in this area. Thus, by 2000 BC, most of Eurasia had transitioned (moved) to the Bronze Age.  While the Bronze Age also spread to North Africa, the Sahara Desert prevented it from ever reaching Sub-Saharan Africa.  

How and why do you think knowledge about bronze spread?       

 

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Bronze Age Transition Eurasia ca. 3000-2000 BC (ca is an abbreviation for “circa,” which means “about,” “around,” or “approximately.”)  

 Source: http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/the-stone-bronze-and-iron-ages/   

How do you think the spread of Bronze helped to change Eurasia? Why would people want a harder metal? Make a list of possible effects and/or uses. .       

   

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The Great Bronze Age of China: An Exhibition from the People’s Republic of China (Important ideas are underlined) 

 At about the same time Stonehenge rose in England and Abraham framed the principles of Judaism in the 

Middle East, a Bronze Age culture developed in China that in many respects was seldom equaled and never surpassed. 

This development seems to have occurred early in the first half of the second millennium BC in the fertile Central Plains 

of the Yellow River Valley. For thousands of years, this area had sustained Neolithic cultures of increasing complexity, 

which ultimately culminated in the first Chinese civilization. By the time of the Bronze Age, this culture was 

characterized by a strong centralized government, urban communities with distinct social classes, palatial architecture, 

a distinctive system of writing, elaborate religious rituals, sophisticated art forms, and bronze metallurgy.  

Unlike other cultures, where bronze was first used chiefly for tools and weapons, in China, this alloy of copper 

and tin was reserved for the manufacture of majestic vessels that played central roles in state rituals and ancestor 

worship for more than 1,000 years, even after the official beginnings of the Iron Age in the fifth century BC. 

Representing the wealth and power of the rulers, these ritual utensils show the highest degree of technical and artistic 

accomplishment in early Chinese civilization. 

How was the use of bronze in China different from how it was used in other places?       

Ancient bronzes were well preserved because of how they were stored. Sometimes, ancient bronzes were 

placed in storage pits where they were hastily hidden by fleeing members of a defeated elite house. More commonly, 

however, they were used in burial and placed in tombs. During the Shang Dynasty, members of the royalty were buried 

with their bronzes, ceramics, weapons, amulets, and ornaments. They were even buried with the human and animal 

entourage that surrounded them in life: servants, bodyguards, horses, chariots, and charioteers. During the Zhou and 

Han periods, lavish burials continued, but human sacrifice was rarely practiced. Instead, the custom was preserved by 

the substitution of figurines of wood or clay intended to resemble the entourage of the deceased.  

How do we know about ancient Chinese use of bronze?        

 

millenium: 1,000 years  palatial: looking like a palace, being very large and splendid 

elaborate: detailed, complicated, intricate, complex 

alloy: a metal made by combining 2 or more metallic elements, usually to make a better metal substance 

entourage: a group of people surrounding an important person 

lavish: very elaborate, expensive, or luxurious 

 

Turn + Talk: Why do you think leaders in places like China and Egypt left behind such elaborate tombs and symbols of their rule? What does that say about the nature of leadership and government in the Bronze Age?   

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Journal Write How did these technologies change the ways in which people… 

Lived? Worked? 

Interacted? Provide two pieces of evidence and reasoning for each question. 

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Quick Write #9 What kinds of conflict AND cooperation might there have been during Era 2 (4000 BC to 1000 BC)? Who 

might have been in cooperation, or in conflict, with whom? Why?  

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Interaction in Afroeurasia from 4000-1000 BC 

  CONFLICT  COOPERATION 

Within Farming Societies 

        

 

Across Farming Societies 

        

 

Between Farming and Nomadic Societies 

        

 

   

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Conflict and Cooperation Station Activities  

Station 1: Egyptian Lawn and Order    

    

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Station 2: Egyptian Economy  

1. What goods were produced in Ancient Egypt?       

2. How were people paid for their work?       

3. Where and how did people trade within Ancient Egypt?       

4. What were some of the different types of jobs in Ancient Egypt?       

5. How did a person’s job and position in society affect his/her life?       

6. What was the attitude of the scribe who wrote the “Satire of the Trades” toward people with “lower” jobs than his?       

7. Why do you think some jobs were seen as worse than others?     

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Station 3: War and Peace  

War and Peace in Ancient Egypt 

  War (loot and tribute)  Peace (trade) 

Who was involved?  (Egypt and who else?) 

      

 

What did Ancient Egypt get out of it? (Provide specific examples) 

        

 

Why did it happen? (Provide specific examples) 

        

 

     

What was tribute and why did other kingdoms pay tribute to Ancient Egypt? 

         

What types of products did Egypt seem to need from other places? Why do you think they couldn’t provide these goods for themselves? 

         

   

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Station 4: Shipwreck - Thinking with Maps  

To help you analyze trade as cooperation between different societies, use the map below along with the Station 4 materials to plot out where the artifacts in the Uluburun shipwreck were from. Place the number for each artifact item on the map in the region from which it came. For example, Artifact #1 is from Cyprus. Find Cyprus on the map and then place a #1 in that area. When you have placed each number on the map, draw a circle around the area that appeared to be connected by trade, and answer the questions that follow.  

 Source: http://peternulton.com/images/eastern_mediterranean_late_bronze_age.jpg 

  What does this map tell you about cooperation through trade?           

(Continued on CP74)   

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Station 4 Continued…  

Now, choose three different types of artifacts. Knowing what these artifacts were and where they came from, what generalizations can you make about life and trade during this period? What inferences (best guesses) can you make? For example, what do you think it means that there were several swords found on the ship? Use the graphic organizer to complete this task.   

Item # and Name 

Description of Item  What can this artifact tell me about life and trade in this time period? 

          

 

          

 

          

 

What generalizations can I make about life and trade in this era from all three of these objects?       

         

   

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Station 5: The Hyksos  

Complete the dialogue using ideas from the Station 5 handout.  

  

  

The Hyksos were nomads who moved into the area of the Egyptian kingdom. What do you think they might have been looking for in Egypt? Why do you think this? Stop and jot your thoughts below.   

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  WHO WAS INVOLVED?  CONFLICT, COOPERATION, OR BOTH? 

Station 

Within Ancient Egypt? 

Ancient Egypt AND Other Civilizations? 

Ancient Egypt and Nomads?  What evidence 

demonstrates there was conflict? 

What evidence demonstrates there was cooperation? Yes/

No  Reason  Yes/No  Reason  Yes/

No  Reason 

1  

Law + Order 

       

             

2  

Egyptian Economy 

       

             

3  

War + Peace 

       

             

4  

Ship- wreck 

       

             

5  

The Hyksos 

       

             

   

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Historical Patterns in Different World Zones   

     

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World Zone Checklist: Did IT Exist? In the chart below, place a checkmark (✔) in the correct boxes to indicate IF and WHEN the activity existed 

in a particular world zone.  

Year (BC):  3500  2500  1500  1000  Did it exist in this zone at this time? 

AFROEURASIA 

        Foraging 

        Pastoral Nomadism 

        Small-Scale Farming/Sedentism (Small Villages) 

        Large-Scale Farming/Cities 

        Metallurgy and Metal Tools 

        Kingdoms/Empires 

The AMERICAS 

        Foraging 

        Pastoral Nomadism 

        Small-Scale Farming/Sedentism (Small Villages) 

        Large-Scale Farming/Cities 

        Metallurgy and Metal Tools 

        Kingdoms/Empires 

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 

        Foraging 

        Pastoral Nomadism 

        Small-Scale Farming/Sedentism (Small Villages) 

        Large-Scale Farming/Cities 

        Metallurgy and Metal Tools 

        Kingdoms/Empires 

OCEANIA 

        Foraging 

        Pastoral Nomadism 

        Small-Scale Farming/Sedentism (Small Villages) 

        Large-Scale Farming/Cities 

        Metallurgy and Metal Tools 

        Kingdoms/Empires 

    

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World Zones Reading Guide   

  

How were the Americas similar to and different from Afroeurasian civilizations? Provide at least 2 pieces of evidence. 

   

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World Zones Reading Guide (Cont’d)   

  

How was Sub-Saharan Africa similar to and different from Afroeurasian civilizations? Provide at least 2 pieces of evidence. 

   

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World Zones Reading Guide (Cont’d)   

  

How was Oceania similar to and different from Afroeurasian civilizations? Provide at least 2 pieces of evidence. 

   

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World Zones Reading  

THE AMERICAS 

Around 2000 BCE, the evolution of teosinte to maize [corn] was 

complete. This ushered in a new era of sedentism -- where people lived 

in stable villages. Teosinte is the ancestor of maize and bears tiny, edible 

fruits. Over thousands of years, the early hunter-gatherers of 

Mesoamerica selectively bred the most productive teosinte plants until 

they were large enough and fruitful enough to support a settled 

population. 

Simple agricultural villages flourished in Mesoamerica’s valleys and 

mountains. These villages lacked complex social structures and 

organized along purely egalitarian lines. Since these early peoples were 

no longer tribal nomads, they found themselves at the mercy of nature’s forces. The success – or failure – of 

their harvests depended entirely upon environmental and climatic conditions. 

The evolution of maize was accompanied by another major milestone in the evolution of Mesoamerican 

civilization: the use of fired ceramics [pottery]. The earliest reliably dated pottery of the region belongs to a 

tradition called Ocos. Ocos pottery originated from the Pacific coast of Chiapas and Guatemala. It has also 

been found across the continent from Veracruz to Honduras. It seems that trade and communication 

between settlements was already widespread at this time. 

Around 1000 BCE, chiefdoms emerged with increasingly complex social structures. They included craft 

specialization and simple stratification. Surveys in Oaxaca, Mexico have revealed large residences probably 

belonging to the chief, as well as public ceremonial buildings. Similar research in coastal Chiapas – the heart 

of Ocos culture – also reveals the emergence of such chiefdoms. 

Adapted from: http://interamericana.co.uk/2009/08/the-early-formative-2000bc-1200bc/ 

 

Earliest Urban Society in Americas Found at Peruvian Sites…Cities Occupied By 3000 B.C. 

Adapted from: Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, December 23, 2004; Page A08 

Washington Post 

Three river valleys that cross the windblown desert of coastal Peru were once home to the earliest urban 

society yet found in the Americas. Yesterday, archaeologists reported that they found a set of cities with 

ceremonial complexes -- complete with pyramids -- far more extensive than the first excavations suggested. 

Researchers said recently completed radiocarbon tests at 13 large sites in Peru's Norte Chico region showed 

that the cities were occupied for 1,200 years. Evidence suggests that these were relatively sophisticated 

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communities beginning around 3000 BCE, making the civilization as old as ancient Egypt's. The inhabitants 

probably grew cotton commercially and traded it to coastal communities for fish, the researchers said. 

Researchers years ago identified a substantial prehistoric settlement along the coast, but the recent work in 

Norte Chico has focused on a larger number of inland mounds flanking the rivers emptying out of the 

Andes Mountains. 

For several years, an archaeological team has excavated a site with six pyramids near the Norte Chico town 

of Caral. The team identified 20 large sites, each with at least one terraced pyramid and some with as many 

as seven. 

"Anybody driving up the valleys is going to see them, but recognizing them as archaeological sites is 

challenging," one of the archaeologists, Dr. Haas said. "Many of the local people see them simply as hills." All 

together the sites could have supported more than 20,000 inhabitants. 

Tests showed that the sites were inhabited between 3200 BCE and 1800 BCE. The sites also reflected the 

same unusual mix of primitive technology and sophisticated social organization noted several years ago 

during the Caral excavation. 

"There are no ceramics, limited textiles, no metal and only the most primitive stone tools," Haas said. The 

evidence to date suggests that the contemporaneous societies in Egypt and Mesopotamia were far more 

technologically advanced. 

Nevertheless, Haas said, the Norte Chico inhabitants were building pyramids as high as 60 feet on 

rectangular bases as long as 300 feet and as wide as 240 feet. Each center had a ceremonial circular plaza 

surrounded by stone pillars 6 to 12 feet tall. 

"The technology isn't much, but the sites are substantial in size, and size counts," said archaeologist Brian S. 

Bauer of the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Size represents the amount of labor that can be organized, 

and given that people don't offer their labor freely, it reflects a social hierarchy or a concentration of 

power." 

Masons used reed bags full of stones to fill out each level of the pyramid. Then they built a new structure on 

top, adding facing and stones to create a progression of terraces similar to those used much later by the 

Maya of Central America. The garbage heaps yielded huge numbers of anchovy and sardine bones as well as 

shellfish remains. However no bones of land animals or of the immense predatory fish that prowl the 

Humboldt Current were found. 

All of these findings supported the early theory that the inland Norte Chico communities probably grew 

cotton and traded it for fish to coastal fishermen, who used the cotton to make nets. Bluefin tuna and other 

large Humboldt fish must be caught with hook and line in deep water off the coast. 

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Haas also noted that every site lies next to an irrigation canal, and that the garbage heaps contained "all 

kinds of organics." They include cotton fiber and residue of beans, chilis, avocados, guavas, squash, a podded 

tree fruit known today as pacay, and a stone fruit called lucuma. 

"They have agriculture, and you never have to pull the [irrigation] water more than a kilometer," Haas said. 

"The reason we get the [population] explosion is because agriculture is easy here." 

Bauer, however, said the absence of a staple food crop -- usually corn or potatoes in Andean countries -- 

suggested that the Norte Chico inhabitants were growing "industrial cotton" on a relatively large scale and 

maybe nothing else. 

"In Mesopotamia, Egypt and China, you tend to think of cereal production -- rice or wheat," Bauer said. 

"That comes later in Peru." In Norte Chico, by contrast, "these people concentrated on the seashore. The 

Peruvian coast has one of the highest fish densities in the world." 

Note: At this time in the Americas, people were using copper, gold, and silver to make jewelry and other such things, 

but they did not use metal for tools. In the Andes, people raised llamas and alpacas for their wool and as pack animals, 

but they did not develop large-scale pastoral nomadic cultures. 

 

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 

3500 BC 

In Nubia (modern-day Sudan), wide grasslands gave rise to 

cattle-herding cultures. Throughout the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, 

small groups of hunter-gatherers, mostly related to modern day San 

bushmen and Pygmy peoples, lived in small, temporary encampments. 

They followed their prey and foraged for nuts, berries and other 

nutritious plants. Settlements of fishermen existed next to rivers and 

lakes. 

2500 BC 

By this time, farming had spread to Nubia, reaching the southern limits for agriculture based on wheat and 

barley. 

To the south of the Sahara, the cattle-herding populations ranged over a vast swathe of territory, stretching 

from modern-day Sudan into West Africa. Hunter-gatherer peoples and fishermen, mostly related to today’s 

Pygmies or San Bushmen, lived on the rest of the continent. 

1500 BC 

By this time, semi-nomadic populations of cattle herders occupied the vast lands stretching from the 

present-day Sudan into West Africa and down into East Africa. Probably by this date, however, a crucial 

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breakthrough had been made. Somewhere within this huge territory, the domestication of sorghum and 

millet occurred. These cereals were much more difficult to domesticate than the wheat and barley which 

originated in western Asia. Yet, these cereals are suitable for tropical rainfall areas and eventually became 

the staple crops throughout most of Africa. For then, however, populations of hunter-gatherers lived 

throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa. 

1000 BC 

Cattle-herding and farming gradually spread throughout western and central Africa. Around this time, 

some peoples in West Africa who lived on the fringes of the rain forests began to make the difficult 

transition to forest farming. This agriculture was based on quite a different set of crops than savannah 

agriculture. Forest agriculture focused on cultivating fruits and roots such as plantains and yams as the 

staples. Throughout the greater part of central and southern Africa, people remained hunter-gatherers and 

fishermen.  

Adapted from: http://www.timemaps.com/history/africa-1500bc/ 

 

OCEANIA 

 

Find “Near Oceania” on the map above. This will help you understand the text that follows. 

   

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The Pacific was the first ocean to be explored and settled, and its history is one of voyages. New Zealand, 

isolated far to the south, was the last substantial land mass to be reached. 

Water Crossing By Modern Humans 

People living in Near Oceania had highly developed artistic and linguistic abilities, similar to those living in 

Europe at that time. They also had the technological ability and motivation to cross expanses of water, land, 

and space, which are characteristic of modern humans. 

How they crossed is unclear, as no boats have been found. Adzes – a tool suitable for hollowing out logs - 

were not yet invented. But giant bamboo, ideal for rafts, grew in the region and people at this time had 

good knives. Rafts would have had to have been big enough to carry a viable breeding population of at least 

six women and their mates. 

Island Hopping 

Large islands, many visible from one to the next, created a ‘voyaging corridor’ from mainland Asia to the 

end of the Solomon Islands in Near Oceania. The alternating north-west monsoon and south-east trade 

winds assisted travel back and forth along the corridor. 

After 20,000 BC, people traded in valuable stone, hunted terrestrial animals, and found the same seafood 

and edible plants as they migrated from island to island. But to the east, especially beyond New Guinea, 

there were fewer land animals available for hunting. There is evidence that some marsupials (mammals with 

pouches like kangaroos) were taken from New Guinea to smaller neighboring islands, where they were 

subsequently hunted. Trade in stone and the movement of these marsupial animals mark an increasing 

sophistication – people were bringing resources with them rather than travelling to the resources. 

By 25,000 years ago, this first episode of human settlement in the Pacific was complete. The western Pacific 

then became a training ground for seafarers and navigators. After the climate began to warm some 10,000 

years ago, the population grew, methods of plant cultivation were developed, and settlement patterns 

changed. Settlement of Remote Oceania was next to occur. 

Around 1500 BC, a culture known as Lapita (ancestors of the Polynesians, including Māori) appeared in the 

Bismarck Archipelago in Near Oceania. Recent DNA analysis suggests they originally came from islands in 

South-East Asia, and there was some interbreeding with people already living in the Bismarcks. 

The pottery of the Lapita people was similar in form to that of their forebears, but their decorative style was 

an innovation that emerged in the Bismarcks. The design included stylised faces, which were most elaborate 

during the early years of the migration and clearly carried cultural significance. This unique style was one of 

several traits referred to as the ‘Lapita cultural complex’.   

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Lapita in Remote Oceania 

The Lapita were the first people to 

penetrate Remote Oceania. Between 1200 

and 1000 BC they spread rapidly from 

Melanesia to Fiji and West Polynesia, 

including Tonga and Samoa. Explorers and 

settlers travelled across an expanse of the 

western Pacific in only 5–10 generations. The 

picture we have is of a fairly small population 

travelling at speed. 

When Lapita people migrated from Near 

Oceania, they left behind the disease of 

malaria. As a result, the population 

increased, providing extra migrants for the voyaging frontier. They established a few permanent villages in 

each major island group. Some settled, while others journeyed on, but contact continued between 

communities on different islands. This migration was not driven by overcrowding, as there was land to spare. 

Rather, it is likely that social factors such as prestige or curiosity were an incentive to find new islands. 

Lapita people lived in villages on small islands near large ones, or on the coast of larger islands. Some had 

houses that were built on poles over the water. As they travelled from island to island, they transported 

plants for cultivation, including taro, yam, breadfruit, banana, and coconut. They also took domesticated 

pigs, dogs, and fowls. The Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) was either brought or came as a stowaway on the 

canoes. As bones of domesticated animals have proved hard to find in the Lapita sites of Fiji and West 

Polynesia, some researchers think that the earliest Lapita people to reach these eastern islands were foragers 

rather than gardeners, and that the food plants arrived later. 

The migrants caught diverse seafoods with nets, spears, and hooks. The large numbers of native birds and 

animals on the new islands provided a reliable food supply in the early years, as the people established their 

economies. But many species, including large flightless birds, a land crocodile and giant iguana lizards, were 

defenseless against this new human predator, and soon became extinct.  

Adapted from: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-migrations/3

   

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World Zones Essay Outline In this paper, you will make an ARGUMENT with a CLAIM, EVIDENCE, and REASONING. A claim is a conclusion or statement of opinion, supported by evidence which includes examples and information, explained by reasoning which describes HOW the 

evidence you chose supports and confirms the claim you made. 

 

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World Zone Essay Rubric:  

Name:________________________________________  Score: ______ / 25 

   3  2  1  0 

Main Claim 

Clearly states a preference and previews main reasons for choice. 

States a preference and somewhat previews reasons for choice. 

States a preference, but does not preview reasons for choice. 

No clear claim. 

Advantages and Disadvantages  Evidence + Reasoning 

Discusses both the advantages and disadvantages to living in this zone, based on evidence from texts, AND discusses how disadvantages could be overcome. 

Discusses both the advantages and disadvantages to living in this zone, but needs further development OR does not discuss how disadvantages could be overcome. 

Discusses only one component, either advantages or disadvantages. 

Advantages and disadvantages not discussed.  

Food Production, Technology, and Social Organization  Evidence + Reasoning 

Evidence and reasoning for zone choice include aspects of food production, technology, and social organization. 

Discusses food production, technology, and social organization but needs further development in all areas OR provides clear evidence and reasoning for only two. 

Only addresses some of these areas (food production, technology, and social organization), AND needs more evidence.  

Food production, technology, and social organization are not addressed.  

Comparison to Other Society  Evidence + Reasoning 

Clear, logical comparison to other society is made and based on evidence. 

Comparison to other society is made, but needs further evidence and development. 

Attempt at comparison to other society is made, but not rooted in evidence. 

No comparison to other society is made. 

Conclusion 

Clearly and concisely sums up reasoning and restates claim. 

Restates claim, but reasoning could be more clearly summed up. 

Attempts a conclusion, but claim and reasoning are not clearly restated. 

No clear conclusion. 

Use of Evidence / Support 

Overall argument is logically tied to evidence and information from the sources. 

Overall argument is mostly tied to evidence, although not in all places.  

Overall argument is loosely tied to evidence, and lacking connection in several places.  

Lack of evidence and support for argument. 

Mechanics and Organization 

Essay is clearly organized and free from major mechanical errors.  

Essay is organized with only a few mechanical errors.  

Essay has some organization issues and mechanical errors that take away from the overall clarity of the writing. 

No clear organization and many major mechanical errors. 

 

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