Culture Hearths &

World Religions

Steven A. StofferahnDepartment of History

Geography and History of the World Seminar

Indiana State UniversityJuly 2007

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 DEFINITION

Culture Hearth:- heartland- source area- innovation center- place of origin of a major

culture* “civilization incubator”

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1STANDARD

Use maps, timelines, and/or other graphic representations to identify the location, distribution, and main events in the development of culture hearths in various regions of the world.

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

Primary Culture Hearths of the World

http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/g101ilec/china/chh/hea/chhheafr.htm

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

Primary Culture Hearths of the World:Fertile Crescent (8000 BCE)India (7000 BCE)Huang Ho (5000 BCE)West Africa (2000 BCE)Mesoamerica & S. America (8000-3000 BCE)

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

Fertile Crescent:- Neolithic Revolution ca. 8000 BCE- several early settlements: Jericho et al.- organized societies appear concurrently:

Mesopotamia: Sumer (3200)Unification of Egypt (3100)

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

India:- early agricultural sites date from 7000 BCE

- Harappan society arises ca. 3000

- dependent upon rich floodplains of Indus

- develop cotton textiles & dyes by 2000

- impt. trade contacts w/ Fertile Crescent

- Aryan migration into India ca. 1500

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

Huang Ho (Yellow River): - Neolithic Revolution ca. 5000 BCE- rich soils but floods = need for dikes, dredging- small societies flourish, 5000-3000 BCE- emergence of centralizing hereditary monarchies:Xia (ca. 2200-1750) & Shang (ca. 1750-1100)- major influence of Indo-Europeans: bronze, chariots- Zhou dynasty (1122-256): classical Chinese civilization

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

West Africa:- early Sudanic agricultural influence- incremental Bantu migrations, 3000-1000 BCE- spread across central and southern Africa- enabled by agricultural surpluses & iron- diffusion: - W. African yams & grains

- 90 million Bantu-speakers today

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.1 EXAMPLE

Mesoamerica & South America:- migrations to W. hemisphere ca. 13,000 BCE(?)- early agriculture in Mesoamerica by 7000- maize cultivation begins ca. 4000- no large domestic animals (hence no wheel)- only small villages; no large cities until later- Olmec rulers (fl. 1200-400) compel building of large ritual centers, drainage projects, & artistic objects (heads)- Olmec destroy own civilization; Maya inherit later

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.2STANDARD

Ask and answer geographic and historical questions about the locations and growth of culture hearths. Assess why some of these culture hearths have endured to this day, while others have declined or disappeared.

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.2EXAMPLE

Keys to Success:- geographical integrity- ecological sustainability- agricultural surpluses- internal order

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.2 EXAMPLE

Egypt: Gift of the Nile (3100-1200 BCE)

- regular flood cycle - natural frontiers - Nile-as-highway - breadbasket - awe and wonder

pharaohs

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.2 EXAMPLE

Egypt: 2nd Pyramid of Giza (Khafra, 2558-2532)

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.2 EXAMPLE

Common Factors of Decline:- increased contacts with hostile

neighbors- ecological degradation & exhaustion- over-attractive agricultural hearths (?)- internal disorder

all in evidence in Egypt by 1200 BCE

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.3 STANDARD

Analyze agricultural hearths and exchanges of crops among regions. Evaluate the impact of agriculture on the subsequent development of culture hearths in various regions of the world.

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.3 EXAMPLE

Columbian Exchange: DEFINITIONthe radical s.16-18 global diffusion

of:- people- animals- ideas* plants & food crops* pathogens

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.3 EXAMPLE

Columbian Exchange: DEMOGRAPHICS

New World: disaster- smallpox, measles, influenza, et

al.- 90% mortality- s.16-18: 100 million dead- adult losses = esp. devastating

Columbian Exchange: SMALLPOX

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/smallpox-images/smallpox1.htm

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.3 EXAMPLE

Columbian Exchange: DEMOGRAPHICSOld World: boon- new crops = population explosion- s.16-18: growth of 475 million!- European pol & econ expansion WORLD HEGEMONY

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.4STANDARD

Detect the factors that explain how the local and regional human and physical environments of selected culture hearths were modified over time in terms of such features as urban development and agricultural activities.

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.4 EXAMPLE

The Reinvention of Ancient Athens

Culture Hearths

GHW 1.4 EXAMPLE

Peisistratus (546-527 BCE)- popular tyrant of Athens- land redistribution and 5% income tax- reshapes Athenian agriculture & economy:

OLIVE OIL and CERAMICS- Athens becomes a major commercial hub- leads to Athens’ hegemony in the Greek world

Questions

~Discussion

World Religions

GHW 2.1STANDARD

Map the spread over time of world religions from their points of origin and identify those that exhibit a high degree of local and/or international concentration.

World Religions

GHW 2.1EXAMPLE

Spread of World Religions (500BCE-600CE)

http://www.maps.com/referenceProduct.aspx?pid=11439

World Religions

GHW 2.1 DEFINITION

RESTRICTED:- localized identity- circumscribed recruitment base- serving particular local social need

Hinduism: varnas Judaism: chosen people Shinto: kami as distinctly

Japanese

World Religions

GHW 2.1 DEFINITION

UNIVERSAL:- universal identity- open recruitment base- addressed to universal questions

Buddhism: human suffering Christianity & Islam: salvation

World Religions

GHW 2.1EXAMPLE

Spread of Islam (632-750CE)

World Religions

GHW 2.1EXAMPLE

Spread of Islam (632CE-present) Historical Maps Online:

- antiquarian but still useful

- University of Pennsylvania collection

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~rs143/map.html

World Religions

GHW 2.1EXAMPLE

Spread of Islam (632CE-present) Online Lesson Plans with Activities:

- Council on Islamic Education

- based on Frontline documentary

http://www.cie.org/Audiences.aspx?id=ed

World Religions

GHW 2.1 EXAMPLE

Spread of World Religions: FILMS

Buddhism: “Ashoka”Christianity: “From Jesus to Christ”Islam: “The Message”

www.imdb.com

World Religions

GHW 2.2STANDARD

Differentiate among selected countries in terms of how their identities, cultural and physical environments and forms of government are affected by world religions.

World Religions

GHW 2.2 EXAMPLE

Spain: Crucible of Competing Cultures(c.200 BCE – 1492 CE)

Romans (paganism)Visigoths (Arianism) MozarabsUmayyads (Sunni Islam)Almoravids (puritanical Islam)Jews (influential minority)Northern Christians (militant

Catholicism)The Reconquista and the Legacy of

1492

World Religions

GHW 2.2 EXAMPLE

Spain: Crucible of Competing Cultures

(c.200 BCE – 1492 CE)

MUSICAL COMPARISON:Mozarabic chant (“Vox

clamantis”) vis-à-vis

Qur’anic recitation

World Religions

GHW 2.3STANDARD

Compare and contrast different religions in terms of perspectives on the environment and attitudes toward resource use, both today and in the past.

World Religions

GHW 2.3 EXAMPLE

R. Foltz, Worldviews, Religion, and Environment (2003)

- stereotype: West/Christianity to blame for ecological crisis

E / indigenous societies more in tune with nature

- reality as somewhat more complex:

Japan & Shinto: reverence or CONTROL?

bonsai tree as symbol

current ecological disasters in Asia?

World Religions

GHW 2.4STANDARD

Analyze and assess the rise of fundamentalist movements in all the world’s major religions during contemporary times (1980-present), and describe the relationships between religious fundamentalism and the secularism and modernism associated with the Western tradition.

World Religions

GHW 2.4 EXAMPLE

Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam (2003)

Islamism:- response to perceived humiliations 1683, 1798, 1917, 1948, 1967, 1991, 2003(?)

- incomprehensible to the West- primarily internally focused

World Religions

GHW 2.4 EXAMPLE

Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God (2001)

Fundamentalism:- a 20th-century phenomenon- strong current in all major religions- painful response to modernity- ironically dependent on modernity

Armstrong’s own plea for rapprochement

Questions

~Discussion

Resources

Culture Hearths &

World Religions

Steven A. StofferahnDepartment of History

Geography and History of the World Seminar

Indiana State UniversityJuly 2007