Rivers, CITIES, AND FirST STATES, 4000-2000 BCE 1c of the first urban centers in the world was the ancient city of Uruk Located in southern Mesopotamia on a branch of the Euphrates River, irwas home to more than. 10,000 people by the late fourth millennium wcu and boasted many large public structures and temples, One temple had stood there since before 3000 BCE: with a Time-plastered surface of niched mud-brick walls that i formed stepped indentations, it perched high above the plain. In another sacred precinet, administrative buildings and temples i adorned with elaborate facades stoud in courtyards defined by tall columns. Colored stone cones arranged in elaborate geometric patterns covered parts of these buildings, making Uruk the “shining city” of the epic devoted to its later king, Gilgamesh. ‘Over the years Uruk became an immense commercial and ad- ministrative center. A huge wall with seven massive getes sur- rounded the metropolis, and down the middle ran a canal carrying 48u STATES, 1000-2000 nt CITIES, AND FIRS 4 | ctr water from the Paphrates. On one side ofthe cit) WE HE sae tnd tele workshops. On the oer was He 167 SETTLEMENT, She quarter where paests lived. sribes Me records, and Turgal ("the big man”) ‘conferred with the elders. As Uruk PasTORALISM, grew, many small industies became ‘centralized In response Se reusing sophistication of constuction and man AND TRADE reg, Botters, metalsniths, stone bow) MAKEES: and ceepeadkers ll worked under the city admintsiraion- Limak was the first city ofits kind in world stony mark: ings new phase in hurtan development Erle humans had io emall communities seatered over the larsesPes ually, however, ome communities Became ‘eal paints Over many millennia, people Hud developed strategies to gradually spon afew hubs re into cities—concent avons Over The est of thei ersironments. The remarkable cub re age populations and insiztions of economic, egies cra anges, demographic leaps, and technological anew “ad poitieal power. Most inhabitants no loses Wosuced tions that occurred around 3500 12° yielded complex a Pepen food, working instead in specialized professhins to areal societies, clustered in cities and reinforced by Fe 000 ard 2000 vce, + hand of remarkable so TT ve par insications. City life transformed the human e cee cestered in few river basins on the Afro-Ewasith perience. cieties lp These regions located on the shores or 19 (he iene water sources dctermined where and how Pele vadenase ve rivers with reguler annual floods (in Nese" celtics, because predictable Hows of water allowed them fotamie, northwest Ina, Egypt, Nortern Chines in NES Kaw crops udequate to feed large populations Abundant rain- por Chins), became the heastlands for densely puted falallowed the worlds fist ages to ST Dut the breake te cin complex cares, Heze the world saw the throughs into big cities occured in drier zones whet Taege eas re fest lnge eves and testi states, One of hess FY Ee nnd hede of rich alluvial soils (eveated by deposits orgs (Mesopotamia) brooght forth humankind Gs these Flom seers wh in flood). With isigation inniowsons soils ‘atigetem, and all laid the foundations fr Knasons at. became arable. Equally important, # ‘worldwide warming sre et of opulent cites. This chapter deserbes Pe eh cycle caused growing seasons fo expand, “These environmen 1m ett evved, and He explores their seats and «tach Oa and technical shifts profounaly affected who lived where ie ry mportact 9 nate how ecepuianal these Pass: and how. ences ad hus we cannot ipnore the many’ smaller SOele seo aes sliced through mountains, steppe lands (f25) TARE prevailed elsewhere, far from mebaniing Joales tes selec raslands), and deserts before reaching hs a, heir was rope serve as rominders Waters caticd SPSS i and deposited them sound the deltas. PS ell in small The combination of fertile soils, Wat for irrigation, and ‘ed plants and animals made each including all its > What strategies did people develop 60 live in their environments? ‘Aegean, Anatolia, and that most of the sworld’s people continu ces amunities, far removed culturally from the monumental 2cailability of domes cerpitecture and accomplishments of the big mew sates ‘Tier basin (an tea drained by @ riven Focus Ouestions @ wwsontos.com/orvavsrack * phat tratgies dd people Acoelp t vein their environments? > What role did cities play in Mesopotannian society? . rene inon eabont Haropen ae ton ab ttn i fF! © How did the Nile River shape carly Egyptian society? 2 hat hallmark of urban life emerged in China daring this period? y How did the growth of urban societies én river basins afec. people living in the Aegean region, Anatolia, and Exrope? i iSETI EMENT, PASTORALISM, AND TRADE | 4 > What strategies did people develop to live in their environments? tributaries) attractive For human habitation. Here, cultivators began to produce agricultural surpluses to feed the city, dwellers. With cities eume greater divisions of labor, 38 dense set tlement enabled people to specialize in making goods For the consumption of others: weavers made textiles, potters made ceramics, ond jewelers made prccious omaments, Soon these sg00ds found additional uses in trade with outlying areas. And as trade expanded over longer distances, raw materials such. a9 wool, metal, timber, and precious stones arrived in the cities, These materials served in the construction and deco- ration of city walls, temples, and palaces, as well a in the fashioning of tools and weapons. One of the most coveted metals was copper casily smelted and shaped (not to mention shiny and alluring), fe became the metal of choice for charms, sculptures, and valued commodities. When combined with arsenic or tin, copper hardens and becomes hronze, which is useful for tools and weapons. For this reason the new age is often called a Bronze Age, though the term simplifies the breadth of the breakthroughs. Earty Cites atone River Basins ‘The materisl and social advances ofthe early cities oeeurted in s remarkably short period—from 4000 0 2000 ace—in three locations: che basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in central Southwest Asa; the Indus River basin in novth- western Suuth Asia; and the northern parts of the Nile River Flowing toward the Mediterranean Sea. (See Map 2-1.) In these regions humans farmed and fed themselves by relying on intensive irigation agrteultuee. Gathering in elles inhab= ited by eulers, administrators, priests, and craftworkers, they changed their methods of organizing communities by obeying divinely inspized monarchs and elaborate bureaueractes. They also transformed what and how they worshipped, by praying {0 zoomorphic and anthropomorphic gods (taking the form ~ and personality of animals and huinans) who communicated through kings und priests living in palace complexes and temples. The same advances occurred at the sume time on a mallet scale slong the river valleys ofthe Iranian plateau and J central Southwest Asia. About # millennium later a simi- ‘ fePrpces began along the Yellow River in North China, lay- ig the foundations for a culture that has flourished zoken unl hs Beople congregated in eties, new technologies appeared. rhc, for example, served both at » tool for mass: Pottery and asa key component of vehicles used for ation. At first vehicles were heavy, using four solid sates ese by oxen or anaers (Asian wid ase) technologies, metallurgy and sioneworking, provided objects and utilitarian roc, meres The emergence of cities es population centers created one of history’s most durable worldwide distinctions: the urban- rural divide. Where cities appeared alongside rivers, people adopted lifestyles based on specialized labor and the mass, production of gonds. In contrast, residents of the countryside ‘emained on their lands, cultivating the land or tending live- stock; but they exchanged their grains and animal products for goods from the urban centers, Therefore the new dis- tinction never implied isolation, because the two were interdependent. Despite the urbar ‘worlds remained linked through famil and religion. AAs the dynamic urban enclaves evolved, they made intel- lectual advances. One significant advance was the invention ‘of writing systems, which enabled people to recard and trans- mit sounds and words through visual signs. An unprece- dented cultural breakthrough, the technology of writing used the symbolic storage of words and meanings t9 extend human, ‘communication and memory: scribes figured out ways to record oral compositions as written tests und, eventually, epics recounting life in these river settlements. wal divide, both y ties, trade, polities, SMALLER SETTLEMENTS AROUND 8500 BCE Around 3500 8c, most people worldwide were living in small, villages close to the animals and plants they used for food. AS they hunted, gathered, fished, and cultivated plants, they formed small, egalitarian communities organized on the basis of clan and Family allegiznces. They used tools made of wood and/orstone, and carried gourds t transport food and water. In some locations, artisans formed and fired clay to make vessels for storing and preparing food. In other locations, crafwworkers pounded native copper into mall items of personal adornment. ‘As the population in certain areas increased. divisions between srtisans and manual laborers emerged, community Hife became more hierarchical, and villages grew into towns. ‘Ture Axcentcas In certain places, environmental factors limited the size of human settlements. Here the techniques ‘of food production and storage, transportation, and commu- nication restricted the surpluses for fe rot work the land. Thus these communities did not grow in size andl complexity, For example, in the Chicama Valley of Peru, which opens onto the Pacific Ocean, people still nesthed {in small coastal villages to fish, gather shellfish, hunt, and grow beans, chili peppers, and cotton (to make qwined vex- tiles, which they dyed with wild indigo}. By around 3500 vex these fishermen abandoned their cane and adobe homes for sturdier houses, half underground, on stceets lined with cobblestones. Hundreds if not thousands of such villages dotted the seashores and riverbanks of the Americas. Some made the |ATLANTIC PACIFIC OCEAN il Dome iM Povo dt BEE Toscan ort Hee rarer iy 00 ZS Roem sacs ie es) D wired nose careSETTLEME: > ‘What strategies did people develop to live in their environments? nPAsToRALIsm, nD trang | 47 PACIFLE INDIAN OCEAN Mar 2-1 THe Woxtp tn rHe THIRD MILLENNIUM BCE. Homan societies became increasingly diversified as agricultural, urban, and pastoral nomadic ‘communities expanded. In what different rogions did pastorelism end riverine societies ‘emerge? Considering dhe geographic features highlighted on this map. why do you think Cites appeared in the regione that chey did? How did geographic and enwieonmental Factors 4) Promote interaction between nomadic pastoral and sedentary agricultural societies?technological breukthroughs required to produce pone! eons devieed irrigation systems and water sluices if flood- flains (areas where sivers overflowed and deposited fe Pel Some even began to send their ish catches i se agrcaleural prodace To the remains of these ViSBSS; coe Ce shave revovered tropes firepit chambers end aaaips chat ceveal an elaborate religious Ife, These cere toms puctures highlighted commumal devotion and homage nea ites and rituals to celebrate bieth, death, and the mem ory of ancestors. re Sumericas, the largest population center was in (e valley of tehuaedn (near moderr-day Mesico Cit») om the vFameticaton of com created a subsistence base that enabled tevple to migrate from cues too claster of pi-hovs villages Teer ported a growing popabaion. By 3500 ce the ves aa ep cesembling large eit anova it tecmed with ae htants’ Beople lived in clusters of interdependent > Tages, especialy on the lkeshores: here was 8 case of high population density, hut not urbanization. le gus-SAHARAN Arnica The same pattem occurred in se ahoron Africa, where the population grew but did not aorevntete in urban communities. About 12,000 years BE, wee, Im exchange che cites offered monulactured ‘goods, pecially Tusury textiles made from the Fncs! quali ‘wool sree pvondery This trade began aroued 5000 Fe, ceried apy beats along the shores of the Persian Gulf, By 2000 cur hyere was extensive interaction between southern Nfcsopotaaia andthe highlands of Anatoli, the forete of aoe rrerat bordering he eastern Mediterranean, and the rich vpountains and vast plateau of Iran. (See Map 2-2.)t Storylines RIVERS, CEULES, AND FIRST STATES MAIN THEMES. Complex societies form around five great river basins sees pottery, and tools. vocus on Societies ta the Great The world’s first cities arise fom the river-basin societies transforming human lif. Most people aruind the globe still tise in interdependent villages Pastoral nomadic peoples appear, herding animals and trading animal product for grains, Rioer Basins Mesopotamia + Peoples living along the Tigris River and Euphrates River conteol floodwaters and refine irrigation techniques. + Mocopotamians establish the world Rist large cities, featuring powerful rulers, socal hierarchies, and monumental architecture. + Mesopotamia is the birthplace of writing. Indus Valley + South Asian peaples harness the Indus River and create eities like Harappa and Mohenjo Davo (Over thousands of years, trade inereased. By the mid-third milleaniunm nce, flourishing communities populated the oases (fertile areas with water in the midst of arid regions) dotting the deserts of western Syria, the Iranian plateau, northern Alghanstan, and Turkmenistan, As these communities aetively ‘niled wich theie neighbors, teading stations at the borders fa- ‘ilitted exchanges among many partners. Here in these “bor= derlands.” although far from big cities, the urbanites exchanged cultucal information, Thetr earavans of pack animals—first donkeys ana wild asses: much lates, camels—transported goods Uhrough deserts, steppes, and forests. Stopping st oasis com- “unites co exchange their wares for water and supplies, these Sarwans carried ideas aeroas Afro-Eurasia. In this way, bor- ‘eslands andl borderlanders—along with the cities they con- ‘neeted-—played a vital role in world history. Egypt + Peoples of Ligypt use Nile River waters to irrigate theinlands and create a bountiful agriculture. ‘+ Egyptian rulers known as pharauhs unify their territory establish a powerful state, and develop vibrant economy. ‘+ Egyptans build magnificent burial chambers pyramids) and worship a pantheon of gods. in the basins af the Yellow River and the Yangzi River control the waters’ flow and expand agefculcure, + These people develop an elaborate culture, which scholars later label Yangshao and Longshan, B AND EuPrHRATES Rivers: MESOPOTAMIA N THE TIGRIS eT WE > What role did cities play in Mesopotamian society? tm 3500 nce, in a world where people had heen living close to the land in small clans and seitlements, a radical break- through occurred in one place: the Mesopotamian river basin. Here the world’s fiest complex society arace. Here the city and the river changed how people lived.i RIVERS, CITIES, AN! 30 | Ghgpeen 2 p FIRST STATES, $00072000 BCE = Urbanceste Tendo routes ade Raw Materials — toe aint arncan ane ft Timber Tawa Shel is River Ban) Mar2-2 TRADE AND EXCHANGE 1) EASTERN MEDITERRANE. Extensive commercial networks linked Tey covesn Mecopotamians and people to their northéest “chat ways did Mesopotamia become iy SOUTHWEST ASIA AW! AN-THIRD MILLENNIUM BCE ; ‘the urban corse of Southwest Asia. OF Een ome fr bling materia and whch ones for eu ome! for ae nan with Egypt tothe west? According ro tne map, im ‘he crossroads of Afto-urasio? be 1D THE he wade iw materials shown, om the maps | vad Peg more exer rade comnes- | Tapping THE WATERS ts a Greck word mesning “[eoun wer teeween wo cnces,” isnot at Best glace a hospitellc place. From their headwaters in the mountains fo he north eae cast to their destinacion in the Persian Gulf, the Tigris ang tuphrates rivers are wild and unpredictable, Nooding in periods of heavy cainall and snow and drying wp uci the parched sommer months. Thus seater was both scourge and Flessing for those who migrated to the Tigris and Euphrates ase ipasin, Unpredictable floodwaters could wipe out years eerad work, but when managed properly they could Mesopatamia, whose name ranefoem the landscape into verdant and productive fields Terecereepect, the irrigation systems that the esdlios! Mecapotestane created were revolutions A landmass he Meso of mslern-daytraq and parts of Syria and south vciedesutkey, Mesopotamia embraces a rich vatiety of fe fopaphy and coltures—all unified by natural drainag power Hoth rivers provided woter for tigation ond, althovg Tan muvigable, were important routes for transport tend cormmanication by pack animal and by foot “tas fest advances occurred in the foothills of the Zaz AMoutaats long the banks ofthe smaller eivers cha eed ‘Tigris, Here, settlers discovered that nadimentary irrigateBETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES > What role did cities play in Mesopotamian society? techniques enabled chem to achieve higher agricultural yields id grester surpluses than the rain-fed areas to the north could provide. Over time they ventured out of the foothills, onto the southern alluvial plain of the Tigris and Euphrates basin, (An alluvium is an ures of lind created by river de- posits.) Although floods were more severe there and the water harder to harness, the land held greater promise of abundant harvests Converting che floodplain of the Euphrates River into a breadhasket required mastering the unpredictable waters. Both the Euphrates and the Tigris, unless controlled by war be ra Brat, Urban design reflected the cinysrole as won of gods) Spelled in a particular city that he or she had cre} ' Gops anp TEMPLES eane place to pay homage #0 the ands and their human law sted, 8 “ise to each city’s character, institutions, and re aoe ra, the King, The early cities contained enormous lationshis with its urban neighbors. paces within theic walls, with large houses separated by date SRegples aorved asthe gods’ home and asthe symbol of sais plantations, The city limits aso encompassed extensive urban craetiy, (A temple is « building where believers wo" Eat elds hich became a frequent metaphor for the city). shipped Sheis gods and goddesses and where some peoples ‘As populations grevs, te Mesopotamian cities became denser shipped ie deities had earthly residence») Rulers lavished. = BETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS: Mesorovamia | 59 > What role did cities play in Mesopotamian society? resources on temple construction and adornment co demon strate their cities’ power: Inside the temple was an altar dis- playing the cult image. (A cult is a religious movement, often based on the worship of a particular god or godess.) Benches, lined the walls, with statues of humans standing in perpetual worship of the deitys images. By the end of the third millen- nium aCe, the temple's platform base had changed to stepped platform called a siggurat. On top of the temple tower stood the main temple. Stirrounding the ziggurat ‘were buildings that housed priests, officials, laborers, and servants—all bustling about to serve the city’s god. ‘While the temple was the god's home, it was also the god's estate. As such, temples functioned like large households en- ‘gaging in all sorts of productive and commercial activities. Their dependents cultivated cereals, fruits, and vegetables by using extensive iigation. The temples owned vast flocks of sheep, goats, cows, and donkeys. Those located close to the river employed workers to collect reeds, to fish, and to hunt. Enormous labor forces were involved in maintaining thi Ievel of production, Other temples operated huge workshops for manufacturing textiles and leather goods, employing craft- workers, metalworkers, masons, and stoneworkers, Tue Pacace anp Royar Power ‘he palace, as both an institution and a set of buildings, ap- peared around 2500 pcr about two millennia later than the Mesopotamian temple, It joined the temple as « landmark of ity life, upholding order and a sense of shared membership in city affairs. Over ime, the palace became a source of ‘power rivaling that of che temple. (A palace is the official res- idence of » ruler, his family, and his entourage.) While palaces were off limits to most citizens unless they were con- nected to the royal court, elite members of the Sumerian community did enjoy access to the cult chamber. As time ‘went on, the god, like the king, became inaccessible to all but the most elite Although located at the edge of cities. palaces soon be- came the symbols of permanent secular, military, and ad- ‘ministrative authority distinct from the temples’ spiritual and ‘economic power. As the population grew in the southern al- luvium, competition among the city-states increased over scarce aruble land and access to water for irrigation, Gradu- ally the more powerful city-states came to dominate their weaker neighbors, thereby upsetting the balance of power within and among Mesopotamian citi Rulers tied their status to their gods through elaborate burial airangements. The Royal Cemetery at Ur offers spec tacular archaeological evidence of how Sumerian rulers dealt With death, Housed in a mud-brick structure, the royal burt als held not only the primary remains but also the bodies of people who had been sacrificed—in one case, more than 80 men and women. Artifacts including huge vats for cooked food, bones of animale, drinking vessels, and musical instru- ments enable scholars to reconstruct the lifestyle of those ‘Bregorat. The fist viggurst of Mecopotomia, dedicated to the moon god Nanns, was built by the Geande ofthe Neo Sumerian dynasty Ge Summ (2112-1 195 ac). Although temples had been {ised on plativems since early times, the distinctive stepped form of the niggurat was initially from the Iranian plateau. It hecame the mest important sacred sicucture in Mesopotamia,7 54 | Gapers “The Royal Tombs of Ur. The Royal Tombs of Us exeatsted in the 1930s, contained thousands of ‘hjects in gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and shell shat soure busied along with elites of the Ftest Dynssty OF Ur, in one grave, along with the skeletons of nove than sixty members of a royal household, “rere musical instruments, including this larg® arp with » golden bull's head. Such instruments would have been played atthe stual mes! [mociated sith these fabulously rch buries. Piabi identified as a queen by the cylinder near her body, was buried in a separate chamber. She "was interred in full regalia, including the elaborate headdress shown here ‘who joined their mestecs in the graves. Honoring the royal dead by including their followers and possessions in their tombs reinforced the social hicrarchies—including the verti- al ties between humans and gods—that were the corner stone of these early city-states. SoctaL HiesaRcHY AND FAMILIES Social hierarchies were an important part of the fabric of Sumerian city-states. Mesopotamia’ city-states at frst had ascemblies of elders and young men who made collective de- Cisions for the community. At times, certain eflective indi- Viduals took charge of emergencies, and over time these people surrounding the leaders aequired more durable polit~ {eal power. The social hierarchy set off the rulers from the riled. Ruling groups secured their privileged access to eco- homie and political resources by erecting systems of bureau. ‘racies, priesthoods, and laws. Priests and bureaucrats served their rulers well, championing rules and norms that legit- ‘mized the political leadership, ‘Occupations within the cities were highly specialized, and alist of professions circuleted across the land so that every fone could know his or her place in the social order. The king ‘and priest in Sumer were at the top of thelist, Followed by bu- reaucrats (scribes and household accountants), supervisors, land craftworkers. The latter included cooks, jewelers, gar deners, potters, metalsmiths, and traders. The biggest group, ‘shich was a the bottom of the hierarchy. comprised workers who were not slaves but who were dependent on their era- ployers’ households. Movement among economic classes wis hot impossible but, as in many traditional societies, it was RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STATES, 1000-2000 nee rare. There were also independent merchants who risked Tong-distance trading ventures, hoping for a generous return on their investment. ‘The family and the household provided the bedrock for Sumerian society, and its organization reflected the balance between women and men, children and parents. The Summer- ian family was hierarchical, so the senior male dominated as the patriarch, Most huscholds were composed of a single ‘tended family, all of whase members lived under the same toot, The family consisted of the husband and wife bound by contract: she Would provide chikdren, preferably male, while hhe provided support and protection. Monogamy was the norm tunlesy there was no son, in which case @ second wife or & lave girl would bear male children to serve as the married Couple's offspring. Adoption was another way to gain a male Jheit, Sons would inherit the family’s property in equal shares, ‘while daughters would receive dowries necessary for suc- Nessful marriage into other families. Most women lived in- Side the contract of marriage, but a special class of women. joined the temple staff as priestesses. By the second millen- ‘piun 8CE, they gained economic autonomy that included Swnership of estates and productive enterprises. Even in this ase, though, their fathers and brothers remained responsi- ble for their well-being. First WRITING AND Eanty TEXTS Mesopotamia was the birthplace of the first recorded words ‘of history, inscribed to promote the power of the temples sind kings in the expanding city-states. Small-scale hunter gutherer socicties and village-farming communities hadBETWEEN + What vole did cities play in Mesopotamian society? Cylinder Seal of Adad Carved from Green Stone. Many Mesopotamia involved with administration and life had one or more cylinder seals. Cylinder seals were carved wih imagery and inscriptions and were impressed into clay tablets and other documents while they weee still malleable in onder to guarantee dhe authenticity of « tramsaction. ‘the evinder scal shown here carries the inscription of the scribe Adda, The imagery includes representations of Important gods ofthe Akkadian panthean. The sun gd Sharnash vies from between the mountains in the center. Ishtar as a warrior goddess stands to the left. To the right is Ea the god of wisdom, who is associated with flawing water and Fish. Rehind him is the servant Usmu. whose double face allows him co see everything, At che far left isa god of hunting. developed rituals of oral celebrations based on collective memories transmitted by families across generations. But as societies grew langer and more complex, and their members more anonymous, oral traditions provided inadequate “glue” to hold the centers together: Those who wielded new writing tools were scribes: from the very beginning they were at the top of the social ladder, under the major power brokers—the big man and the priests. As the writing of texts became more important to the social fabric of cities, and facilitated information sharing, across wider spans of distance and time, scribes consolidated theit stip on the upper rungs of the social ladder. ‘Mesopotamians became the world’s first record keep- ers and readers. The precursors to writing appeared in ‘Mesopotamian societies when farming peoples and officials ‘who had been using clay tokens and images carved on stones to seal off storage areas began to use them to convey mes- soges. These images, when combined with numbers drawn on clay tublets, could record the distribution of goods and Ina flash of human genius, someone, probably in Uruk, understood that the marks (most were pictures of objects) could also represent words or sounds. A representation that ‘transfers meaning from the name of a thing to the sound of that name is a rebus. Before long. scribes connected visual syrmbols with sounds, and sounds with meanings. As people combined rebus symbols with other visual marks, they discovered they could record messages by using abstract, symbols or signs co denote concepts, Such signs later came to represent syllables, the building blocks of words. (See Paimary Source: The Origins of Writing According to the jumerians.) By impressing signs into wet clay with the eut end of a reed, scribes pioneered a form of wedge-shaped writing that We call cuneiform; it Billed tablets with information that was ‘ntelligibie to anyone who could decipher it, even in faraway 1 TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS: MEsopoTAMIA | 55 locations or in future generations. This Sumerian innovation enhanced the urban clites' ability to produce and trade goods, to contral property, and to transmit ideas through literature, historical records, and sacred texts. The result was a profound change in human experience, because representing symbols of spoken language facilitated an extension of communica- tion and memory, Although these gradual steps toward liter- acy were fundamental to the innovative process occurring in cities, only a tiny but influential scribal elite mastered writ- at first. ‘Much of what we know about Mesopotamia rests on our ability to decipher cuneiform script. Rebus writing appeared around 3200 nce, but not until 700 years later could the script record spoken utterances completely. By around 2400 BCE, texts began to descrihe the political makeup of southern Mesopotamia, giving details of its history and economy. Northern cities borrowed cuneiform to record economic transactions and political events, but in their own Semitic tongue. In fact, cuneiform's adaptability to different lan- guages was @ main reason its use spread widely, ‘As city life and literacy expanded, they gave rise not only to documents but also to written narratives, the stories of 1 “people” and their origins. One famous set of texts written around 2100 nce, “The Temple Hymns,” describes thirty-five divine sanctuaries. The magnific known from texts written around 2000 1 reigns of kings by dynasty, one city ut w t fabulously long reigns of legendary kings before the so-called Great Flood, which, in turn, is one of many traditional storkes that people transmitted orally for generations (and it later evolved into the book of Genesis as part of the Bible's cre- ation story). The Great Flood, a crucial event in Sumerian lentity, explained Unul’s demise as the god ‘was the most riveting of natural forces in the lives ofa rives- folk, and it helped shape the material and symbolic Foun~ dations of Mesopotamian societies.Pinay Source GD VHE ORIGINS OF WRITING ACCORDING TO THE SU MERIANS he Sumerian myth eons the inoenion of writing ty the Lord of Kula, Enmore He wanted on plan mesages across vast iano tothe Land of Arn there rival for the tome of the goddess Inunna lined. Normally messngers would enor Mase ‘and responses ao delice’ thom orally after making ar arduous journey across the mountain ‘Pamerkar felt he ae trst his mesengers memory to delice ome particulary compliated 4sS356 °° he ‘prvented weritng in the form of cunesforts script speech was substantial and its contents extensive, The -Your father, my master, has sent me to you: the Tord of tte spetenwhoxe mouth was eawy was notable to ce~ Ung Toad of Kulaba, has sent me to you.” “What is it peat it Because the messenger, whose mouih wes tired, f6 08 "hat your master has spoken? What is it to me what Pee le te repeat it the lord of Kulba ported come he has said Ma wrote the message as'f.onseblet,Formeny the “Ths uhat my master has spoken, this is what he spring of messages on clay was not established: Now, Ihae said, My king slike a huge me¥ tree, «son of Ens vn Ot Go und on that Gait was indeed so. The lord this tree Pas BOW hhigh, uniting heaven and earth; its ode Mba neeribed the message Hike a tablet, It as just exbwn reaches heaven, its trunk is set upon the carth. He aera he mentenger was ike abitd lappingits wings: who is made 10 ‘shine forth in locdship and kingship. En A ated ont ike @ woh following «id. He traversed fe merkas hs 20% OF Ueu, has given me a clay tablet. O lord ae asses mountgin, seven mountains. te ited his of Arata fees po have examined the clay tablet, after sonnets approached Arata, He stepped joyfully inte the you hase ‘earned the content of the message, say whatever srapad of Arata, he made Known the authorty of his You wil <4 (0 me) ‘and | shall announce that message int Tang Openty he spuke out the words in his heart The mes- the abring ‘Ean as glad tidings to the scion of hire with Senger fvansinitted the message to the Yord of Arata: the glistening beard, who his stalwart cow gave bith t0 nthe mountains of the shining me, who was reared on the seil of Aratta, who was ven suck at the udder of the food cow, who is sited for office in Kulaba, the moun- ‘Ei of great me, to Enmerkar, the son of Uti T shall oe fot it in hi fier rutful as Mlourshing mes tree, fo my king. the lord of Kulaba.” ‘ier he had spoken has to him, the lord of Aratta re ceived his hiln-fired tablet From the messenger. The lord Sf Aratta looked at the tablet, ‘The transmitted message vias just nail and hic beow expressed anger. The lord of aa looked at his kiln-fired tablet. At chat moment, the Jord worthy of the crown of lordship, the son of Enlll, the god Lekus, thundering in heaven and eueth caused & Rising storm, a great Lion, in. {le was making the Taatrntains quake ». , be was convulsing the mountain ange i the avvesome radiance «of hs breast: he caused the mountain range to raise ite voice in jos. ines 300-351) 1+ What passages in this reading reveal the Sumerians” “familiarity with pastoralism? 2 "What aspects of Sumerian history and geography does this mythic story preserve and transmit? ee rangham F FlackierHlowker Robson snd Seen The Flecnmte Tint Curpn of SuierinsLiertire (Oar cuneiform enon ofthe mth"Enmedar and the Ld of Aca” 995 2906, mental Soowu 78 Bick 6.BETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS. MEsovoTAMIA | 57 > What role did cities play in Mesopotamian society? Spreapine CITIES AND First Ternironian STATES Although no single state dominated the history of fourth- and third-millennium ACE Mesopotamia, a few stand out. ‘The ‘most powerful and influential were the Sumerian city-states of the Farly Dynastic Age (2850-2334 RCE) and their suc- ‘cessor, the Akkadian territorial state (2334-2193 uce). While the city-states of southem Mesopotamia flourished and competed, giving rise to the land of Sumer, the rich agri- cultural zones to the north inhabited by the Hurrians also be- ‘came urbanized. (See Map 2-3.) Beginning around 2600 ecz, northern cities were comparable in size to those in the south, ‘Though their inhabitants were culturally related to the Sume- rians and Akiadians, the northern cities had economic, po- litical, and social organizations that were distinct and independent. ‘As Mesopotamia swelled swith cities, it became unsta- ble. The Sumerian citystates holds authority over a large population and landmass: its power extends over a wider area than that of city-states.) “The most obvious leguey of Sargon’s dynasty was sponsor- ship of monumental architecture, artworks, and literary works. These cultural achievements stood for centuries, inspiring generations oF builders, architeets, artists, and seribes. And by encouraging contact with distant neighbors, many of whom adopted aspects of Mesopotamian culture, the Akkadian kings increased the geographic reach of Mesopotamia ‘The riches and competition among cities also lured in- vaders, withthe result that Sargon's “empire” was short-lived. Foreign tribesmen from the Zagros Mountains infiltrated the heartland of Abkad, conquering the capital city around 2190 ‘ace. This cycle of urban magnificence punctuated by disin- tegratfon triggered by outside forces gave rise to epic history ‘writing, and its myth of urban civility and rural backwardness still captivates teaders today: The fall of Sargon’s “empire” swith expanding populations soon found themselves com peting for agrarian lands, searce water, and hucrative trade routes. And as pastoral- ists far and wide learned of the region's bounty, they joumeyed in greater num- bers to the cities, fueling ur- banization and competition. Cities also spawned rivalry and struggles For supremacy. In fact, the world’s first great ‘conqueror emerged from onc sea cof those cities, and by the end of his long reign he had united (by force) the inde pendent Mesopotamian cities south of modem-day Bagh- dud. The legendary Sargon the Great (r, 2334-2279 14), king of Akad, brought the era of competitive inde- pendent city-states to an end. MEDITERRANEAN "SABE Northern Mesopotamia cites after 2600 2c I Northern avium (akkad) ces before 2600 9 IRI Southern shai (Sumer ce befnce 2600 30 WL, Sisatian power. 2334 ~ 1193 CE His most remarkable achieve ment was wntReation of the Mar 2-9 THe Spreap of Cries 1s MesoroTaMiA Southern cities through an. AND THE AKEADIAN STATE, 2600-2200 BCE alliance, Although thia unity Usbunlzation, began in the couthern alluvium of Mesopotamia and spread northward. Tasted only chree generations, | Eventvaly the repion achieved uniicaon uoder one teritoial state: According to es ? itrepresented the first multi- map, what were the natural boundaries of the Mesopotamian cities? How did proximity to cthaie collection of urban | the Lagros Mountains affect the new urban centers? How did the expansion northward re Cee cette | Rect the continued influence of geographic and environmental fects on tnbanization? (A territorial state is « form ee Of political organization thar - ~30 | ciepers Naram Sin. This life-sine head of a ruler cast of elmost pore copper wae found at Nineveh ip northern Iraq in the destruction Tana ue the Assyrian Empire. The style and imogery ofthis culptoral masterpiece identify tae ler of Old Akkadian Gpouaty While sometimes identified as Sargon, Hs most likely Dontrait of his grandson, Narara Sin, who consolidated and po formed the Akkadian state, Wt must have stood for over fifteen. HRonaed years in the couctyord of w temple at Nineveh before it ram jcfaced by the Medes and Elamite, whose sevage attack om Nineveh cause the Assyeian Empire to fall underscotes a fundamental but often neglected reality of the nent world: bving side by side with the city state dwellers ore peoples who followed a simpler way of life. They often lid not enter the historical record except when they intruded son the lives of theit more powerful and prosperous neighbors. Tue Inpus RIVER Vatiey: A PARALLEL CULTURE + Why do we know lens about Harappan culture than about others in Afro-Eurasia? We call the urban culture ofthe Indus ares “Harappan’ after the urban site of Harappa that arose in the third millennium nce on the banks of the Ravi River, a tributary of the Indus. fegzarian villages or nomadic commu x, RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STATES, 4000-2000 BF Developments in the Indus basin reflected an indigenous {Tocal) tradition combined with strong influences From from replatens penples, as well indirect influcnees from ds: ian Pigives on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Villages peared around 5000 acF nthe Iranian plates along he sereehistan Mountain foothills, to the west of the Indus By the cavly third millenaizm scr, frontier eillages had spread caseword (othe Feil banks ofthe Tadus River and serVGbuteries, (See Map 2-4.) The riverine settlements soon wielded agerian surpluses that supported greater wealthy ripe trade with neighbors, and public works, In due course, vareaites of the Indus region and the Harappan peoples tepan to fortify their cities and to undertake public works oe Np acale to those in Mesopotamia, but strikingly dif- ferent in function. “The tndus Valley ecology boasted many advantages especially compaced tothe urea near the Ganges Rive, he Sther great waterway of the South Asfan landmass. The seaxtupical fndus Valley had plentiful water from melting sens in the Himalayas that ensured flourishing vegetation, arr the vegion did not suffer the yearly monsoon downpours hat flooded the Ganges plain. The expansion of agriculture peeise Indus basin depended on the river's annual floods to replenish the soil aad avert droughts (as in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China). From June to Septembes the cvers ine FBP iad the plain. Once the waters receded, farmers planted wheat and barley. ‘They harvested crops the nest aoving os temperatures rose, At the sae time, the villagers ered thelr tools of cultivation, Researchers have found vejonce of furrows, probably made by plowing, thet dete fe agsund 2600 nici, Farmers were soon achieving harvests Khe those of Mesopotamia, yielding a surplus that freed tnany inhabitants from producing food and allowed chem £0 specialize in other activities. Th time, rural wealth produced urban splendor: Move “dbundont kurvests, now stored io large granaries, brought eigrante into the area and supported expanding POPU” cine By 2500 2c cities began to replace villages through wer the Indus River valley, and within 2 few generations ceering pranaries marked the urban slyline. Harappa and Mohenjo Dero, the two largest cities, each covered a licle sao then half a square mile and may have housed 35,000 sexidents. As in Mesopotamia, sach population densities “Nore unprecedented departures from the mors common which remainedy, self-sufficient. seellarappan cities sprawled across = vast floodplain covering, 500,000 square miles—two or three times the Stecapotamian cultural zone. At the height of their devel: Shmene, the Harappan peoples reached the edge of (he sre SToxical system and encountered the cultures of northern Afghanistan, the inhabitants of the desert fronsien, he anmadie hunter-gatherers to the east, and the traders fo the west.INDUS RIVER VALI sA PARALLEL CULTURE | 59 > Why do we know lets about Harappan culture than about others in Afvo-Burasia? at . “Tage ries we dha eat Sd lle = Laer Sedealennia cts nuag Map 2-4 THIRD. MILLENNIUM BCE ‘Historians know less about the urban society of the Indus Valley in the third millennia ct than they do about its contemporaties in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Still, archaeological ‘evidence gives insight into this urban complex. Where were citiet concentrated in the Indus Valley? How did the tegion’s enviroriment shape ixban development? What func- tions de you think outposts such as Lothal played in Harappan society? Hararean Civy Lire We know less about Harappan culture chan about other con- temporary cultures of Affo-Eurasia, because many of its ce- mains lis buried under deep sile deposits accumulated over thousands of years of heavy flooding. Further, scholars have been unable to identify the Indus peoples’ language or deci- Dher the seript of about 400 symbols. The script might not represent a spoken language: instead, it might be a nonlin- Buictic yanbol system. (See Primary Source: The Mystery of Harappan Writing.) Most of what remains is visible on a thousand or mote stamp seals and small plaques excavated from the region, which may represent the names and titles of individuals rather than complete sentences, Moreover, be- ‘cause the Harappans did not produce King Lists (as the tan centers Traded common = Te © Levis anh ‘Tre Inpus River VALLEY IN THE Mesopotamians and Egyp. tians did} and may not even have had kings—scholars cannot chart a Harappan po- litical history by tracing the rise and fall of dynasties and kingdoms. We base our knowledge about Harappa on archaco- logical reconstructions, and these are sketchy. The sketch- iness reminds us that “his. tory’ is not what happened but only what we know about ‘what happened. Relying only ‘on fragmentary archaeolog- ical evidence, scholars have heen unable to draw the ‘ich portraits of Harappan life that they have supplied for the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians. What we know is i pressive nonetheless, The layout of Harappan cities and towns followed a well- planned pattern: a fortified citadel housing public facili ties, alongside a large resi dential area. ‘The main street running through the city had covered drainage on both sides, with house gates and doors opening onto bach al- leys. Gitadels were likely cen- ters of political and ritual activities. At the center of the citadel of Mohenjo Daro was the famous great bath, 2 brick structure 39.3 feet by 23 feet and 9.8 feet deep. Flights of steps led to the bottom of the bath, while other staite went up t0 a level of rooons sur rounding it. ‘The bath was sealed with mortar and bitumen (a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum), and its water came from ¢ large well nearby. The water drained out through a channel leading to lower land. The location, sire, and quality of the structures all suggest that the bath was for public bathing rituals ‘The Harappans used brick extensively—in houses for no- tables, city walls, and underground water drainage systems. Workers used large ovens to manufacture the durable con- struction materials, which the Harappans laid so skillfully that basic structures remain intact to this day. A well-built hhouse had private bathrooms, showers, and toilets that 2 Teenie 2 Shale= Prumary Source “SH MYSPERY OF HARAPPAN WREEING No one has deciphered the veriting sytem ofthe Harappa clsure in the Ines Valley. The Indus ripe appeared on seals and tablets—ancd ina rectly domed ie 00 3 board for public dis- jlap Atsough 0 oe is sure which Language it epresens some of characteristics provide ‘scholars with fuel for speculation As for verbal communication through writing, it needs to be understood that no one has as yet succeeded in deci- heeing the Harappan seript and that this will remain an Pnlikely eventuality unless a bilingual inscription Hiarappen and a knovin form of waiting fs found, that in corporates the names of people or places. The Harappen script ix logographic: there are 373 to 400 signs, whieh eles out an alphabet (where ove sign stands for one vowel tr eonsnnant) because alphabets usually have no more thon thicty-aix signs. Often Hatappan bangles or metal tools ave inscribed with just one sigo. Harappan writing ges from eight to left as can be made out from close ex aoination of overlapping signs scratched on pots. Short Srokes indicate numbers, and numerals precede other Signa, which could mean that in the Farappas langooge jujectives preceded the nouns they qualified. Certain signs, computer concordanees reveal, tend to occur fre Gjucnily at the end of inscriptions, which poines 10 2 Lan- ipuage using a set of phonetic suflixes, ‘Phe Forappan langage was probably agglutinacive, or a Tungaage which added suffixes to an unchanging root. This Featave is characteristic of the Dravidian language family rather than the Indo-Aryan languages. This, and the fact hat the earliest Indo-Aryan text, the Rigveda, shows Dra- Midian influence (Indicating, that the early Indo-Aryans it Vhe northwest had some contact with Dravidian speakers), make it Fkely that the language of the Harappans was a Onis Tidian one. (Nate, also, that Brahu, spoken in the hills of Nouthern Baluchistan today. @ Dravidian language.) "The inscriptions on the seals being brief, on average five to six signs long, they probably gave little more dan the owners name and designation. Perhaps it was the ple= torial often solo animal) emblem, ceadered with great Skill, thut indicated the lineuge, ancestry or social origins Bf the owner, There is no geographic pattern to the oc arenes of the various seal animals (anieorn. bull, thi: aceton, antelope, tiger or elephant), so the animal could wot possibly have signified the place of origin of the seal puter, Perhaps it was this pictorial image that lent au thority to any spoken message that accompanied a seal or fv object stamped with one. It may be noted that so far it is Hrappa and Mohenjo-daro—and mound E rather than ‘the ‘citadel mound’ AI at Harappa—that have yielded the fguidence for the most intensive writing activity. These were probably centres of admintstraston, Horappan writing uecurs on pots, seals, terracotta (stoneware) und shell bangles, copper tablets und tools one ivory rods, Large numbers of scored goblets with pointed bases that oceur at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro re important os they are one ofthe very few posters forme that ean occasionally carry seal impressions (as distinct from scratched signs)—their use remains mystery. We get the impression that writing was for humdrum pur: ites A striking exception to this is the oseurrence of & ge “public” inscription that seems to have been set up Gna stecet at Dholavira in Kutch, with letters sbout iy sea centimetres high cut out of stones and. R. S. Bisht ‘augaests, fastened on 2 wooden board. “The most important point, Doweves, is the enormous intellectual advance that the emergence of writing signty foes, When we apenk we utter sounds in one or otber lan guage using a series of sound sequences that cary specific are ecings in that language. What writing does isto encode In visual Form, that is, through a set of distinct symbols oF Tigne, those sounds and sound sequences—therchy con oping meaning oF information. Farther, writing makes posble the storage oF information o the miintenance of eoed for future reference. It makes communication at & Siatance possible Te requires of the writer knowledge of the signs and come amount of manual dexterity and of the a jee knowledge of how the visual signs are woealized and Sheourse familiarity with the relevant language, Weiting fas been termed the most momentous invention humen beings have ever made, 5 Been though we cannot read Harappan sevipt, shy isthe Inoteledge thatthe Harappansrerote in script important? > Judging from the information above about Haratpan sting what language do you think the seript most likely represents? ee Seem SOGRO Brcien Renagee The Sse of Haranpan Wein” fre Uo Sere Sp iar a he Greer do alle (New Db fe Ma Behishose 2003), 60-82THE INDUS RIVE VALLEY: A PARAL 3 Wy do we knot less about Harappan culture than about others in Afro- Eurasia? Mohenjo Dare. Mohenjo Dro, the “mound of deud,” is a large urban site of the Hiaruppan culture, The view of the city demonstrates a neat Iayout of houses and civie facilities such as sewer raining rained into municipal sewers, also made of bricks, Houses in small towne and villages were made of less durable and less costly sun-baked bricks, which are used throughout southern Eurasia even today. Trave The Harappans engaged in trade along the Indus River, thcough the mountain passes to the Iranian plateou, and along the coast of the Arabian Sex xs far as the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. They traded copper lint, shells, and ivory, as well as pottery, flint blades, and jewelry created by their craltworkers, in exchange for gold. silver, gemstones, and textiles. Some of the Harappan trading towns nestled in remote burt strategically important places. Consider Lothal, a well fortified port atthe head of the Gulf of Kharmbhat (Cambay). Although distant from tho center of Harappan society it pro- vided vital access to the sea and to valuable raw materials. Its ‘any workshops processed precious stones, both local and foreign. Because the demand for gemstones was high on the Iranian plateau and in Mesopotamia, the Harappans knew that controlling their extraction and trade was essential to Maintaining economic power. Carnelian, a precious red stone, was a local resource, but lapis lazuli had to come from what is now northern Afghanistan. So the Harappans built fortif- cations and settlements near its sources. Extending theit frontier did not stop at gemstones, however. Because metals such as copper and silver also had strateyie commercial Harappan Gemstone Necklace. Readmakers perforated lapis, lazult and other semi-precious stones using a bow daill to make tiny holes far esspension.62 | chgrer? Harappan Seal Stamps. The stamp seals of che Indus Valley allure ace distinetive, Cut from the soft stone steatite and fied fo s white color to make them hard, they have a sounded boss prereed fir suspension on the back. The images carved on thett cicface ave usually sntmals: elephants, tigers, bulls. Occasionally human Bgures, peshepe deities, perhaps rulers, ace depicted feated on a platform, of dancing, oF surrounded by animals, Many Uf the stump seals hove ineeriptione across the top ede. The hepe af the Hlarappan people has no: been deciphered, nor has {is underlying language been identified importanee, the Harappans established settlements near theit copper mines as well ‘Through a complex and vibrant wading system, the Harappans maintained access to mineral and agrarian te- sources, To facilitate trade, rulers relied not just on Harappan seaptbut also on a system of weights and measures that they Gevied and standardized. Archacologists have found Harap- pan seals, used to stamp commodities withthe names of their Pamnets ov the nature of the goods, at sites as far awoy as the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and the Iranian plateau (see ‘Global Connections & Diseonnections on p. 78). “The general uniformity in Harappan sites suggests 9 cen aralized and structured state. Unlike the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, however, che Harappans apparently built nci- ther palaces, nor grand royal tombs, nor impressive monti- mental structures. The elites expressed their elaborate urban culture in ways that did not proclaim thelr high standing, ‘Che Harappans were as unassuming os the Egyptians and ‘Mescpotamians were boastful, This quality has puzzled sehol- ars, but it underscores the profound differences in ancient Societies: they did not all value the same things. The advent ‘fuiting, urban culture, long-distance trade, and large cities ‘id not always produce the same social hierarchies and the RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STATES, 4000-2000 HEE ‘game ethos (a set of principles governing soctal and political re- Tations). What the Indus River people show us is how much the ibanized parts of the world were diverging from one another, ‘een as they borrowed from and imitated their neighbors. “Tue Girt OF THE Nive”: Ecyet > How did the Nile River shape early Egyptian society? ‘The earliest inhabitants along the banks of the Nile River srore @ mixed people. Some had migrated from the eastern wad western deserts in Sinai and Libya as these arcas grew orren from climate change. Others came from the Mediter- ranvan. Equally important were peoples who trekked north: ‘eed from Nubia and central Afcics. Ancient Egypt was @ Trelting pot where invnigrants blended cultural practices and technologies. Egypt had much in common with Mesopotamia snd the Indus Valley, Like them, it had deosely populated areas whose ehabitents depended on irigation, built monumental archi- tecture, gave theit rulers immense authority, and created complex social ordee. Tapping the Nile waters gave rise to Sgrarian wealth, commercia) and devotional centers, eutly States, and new techniques of communication “Yer the ancient Egyptian culture was profoundly distinet from its contemporaries in Mesopotamia and the Indus Val- Jey. To understand its unique qualities, we must begin with is geography The environment and the natural boundaries of aeoeres river rapids, and sea dominated the country and its inhabitants, The core area of ancient Egypt covered 386,560 Suse miles, of which only 1,720 square miles (7.5 million sone) were cultivable. Of this total, roughly 6 million acres rere in the Nile delta—the rich alluvial land Tying between The river's two main branches as it flows north of modeen- dday Cairo into the Mediterranean Sea. Tue Nive RIVER AND Irs FLOODWATERS Knowing Egypt requires appreciating the pulses of the Nile "The worlds longest river, it stretches 4,238 miles from its sources in the highlands of central Africa to its destination in the Mediterrancan Sea. In this way (and many others), Egypt ‘vas deeply attached to sub-Saharan Africa, Not omly did ite THfesgiving irigation waters and rich silt deposits come from the Alvican highlands, hut much of its original population Jhed migrated into the Nile valley from the west and the south, ‘many millennia caries> How did the Nile River shape early Egyptian society? ‘The Upper Nile is sluggish river that cuts through the Sshara Desert. Rising out of central Africa and Ethiopia, its two main branches=the White and Blue Niles—meet at present-day Khartoum and then scour out a single riverhed 1,500 miles long to the Mediterranean. The annual floods give the basin regular moisture and alluvial richness. Al though the Niles floodwaters did not fertilize or ireigate fields as broad as those in Mesopotamia or Harappa, they created green belts flanking the broad waterway: These gave rise to a society whose culture stretched along the navigable river and. its carefully preserved banks. Away from the riverbanks, on both sides, lay a desert rich in raw materials but largely un- inhabited. Fgypt had no fertile hinterland like the sprawling plains of Mesopotamia and che Indus Valley. In a sense, Egypt was the moat “riverine” of the riverine cultures The Nile's predictability as the source of life and abun- dance shaped the character of the people and theie culture. tn contrast to the wild and uncertain Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the Nile was gentle and bountiful, leading Eeypeians to view the world as beneficent. During the summer as the Nile swelled, local villagers built earthen walls that divided the floodplain into basins. By trapping the floodwaters, these basins ceptured the rich silt washing down from the Ethiopian highlands. Anmual flooding meant that the land re- ceived a new layer of topsoil every year. cruz o1FT oF Tue Nite” rover | 65 The light. fertile soils made planting simple. Peasants cast seeds into the alluvial soil and then had their livestock tam- ple them to the proper depth. The never failing sun, which the Egyptians worshipped, ensured an abundant harvest. In the carly spring, when the Nile’s waters were at their lowest and no crops were under cultivation, the sun dried out the soil Eovrr’s Unigue Riverine CULTURE ‘The peculiatities of the Nile region distinguished it from Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Some 2,500 years ago, the Greck historian and geographer Herodotus noted that Egypt was the gift of the Nile and that the entire length of its basin was one of che world’s most self-contained geograph- cal entities. Bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, ion the efist and west by deserts, and on the south by cataracts arge waterfalls), Egypt was destined to achieve a common culture. The region was far less open to outsiders than were Mesopotamia and the Indus River basin, “Like the other pioneering societies, Egypt created a com: ‘mon culture hy balancing regional tensions and reconciling, regional rivalries. Ancient Egyptian history isa struggle of op- posing forces: the north or Lower Egypt versus the south or Nile Agriculture. The Nile ic fed by the Blue Nile, which has source in the Ethiopian highlands, and the White (ile in southern Sudan, It rises and falls according to a regular pattem thet was the basis forthe ancient Egyptian agricultural cyele. Flooding the valley in August and September, the Nile cecedes, depositing a rich layer of silt in which the crops were planted in the fall and harvested in Apel snd May. i | }Upper Egypt: the sand, the so-called red part of the earth, versus the rich soil, described as black; life versus death; hhcaven versus corth; order versus disorder. For Egypt's ruling sgroups-—notably the kings—the primary task was fo bring sta bility or order, Known as mua‘at, out of these antagonistic im- pulses. The Egyptians believed that keeping chsos, personified by the desert and its marauders, at bay through altention to ‘ma‘at would allow all that was good and right to occur. Tue RISE OF THE EGYPTIAN STaTE AND DyNasTiEs ‘Once the early Egyptians harnessed the Nile to agriculture, the area changed from being scarcely inhabited to socially complex. Whereas Mesopotamia and Harappa developed gradually, Egypt scemed to grow overnight. It quickly became 3 powerhouse state, projecting its splendor along the full length of the river valley. ‘Aking, called pharaoh, was at the center of Egyption life. His primary responsibility was to ensure that the forces of ure, in particular the regular flooding of the Nile, contin- ‘ued without interruption. This task had more to do with ap- peasing the gods than with running a complex hydraulic ‘Tauce 2-1 Dynasties of Ancient Exypt Pee-dynastic Period ynasties Lond I 3100-2686 wee Old Kingdom dymsties TU-VI 2686-2181 ne rst Intermediate Peciod Aynasties VEN, 2181-2055 ace Middle Kingdom dynasties XI-XU 2055-1650 nee, ‘Second Intermediate Period dynasties XIV-XVIE 1650-1550 nce, New Kingdom dynasties XVII-AX, 1530-1069 vcr ‘Thied Intermediate Period dynasties XXIV 1069-747 ace Late Period dynasties XXVI-XXXE TAT-332 wer ‘Suwon: Compe hn Shaw and Paul Nish, edo The Bicone af Ancient Egypt (19951. pp. 310-11, 64 | Chaser 9 _ RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STAT $, 1000-2900 HEE, system—hence, Egypt large clerical class, The king also had to protect his people from invaders from she eastern desert, fs well as from Nubians on the southern borders, These jroups threatened Egypt with social chaos. As guarantors of the rocial and political order, the early kings depicted them- selves as shepherds. In wall carvings, artists portrayed them Carrying the crack and the fail, indicating their responsibil {ny forthe welfare of their locks (the people) and of the land. Moreover, under the king an claborate bureaveracy organ- ized labor and produced public works, sustaining both his vast holdings and general order throughout the realm, ‘The narrative of ancient Egyptian history follows ite Aynastiesa structure that gives a sence of deep contimuits ‘According to a third-century 8Ce Egyptian cleric named ‘Manetho, Egypt saw no fewer than thirey-one dynasties, span- ning three millennia from 3100 ace down to its conquest by ‘Alexander the Great in 332 8CE, (See Table 2-1.) Sinee the nineteenth century, however, scholars have recast the stony Tround three periods of dynastic achievement: the Old King- dom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. At the fend of each era, cultural flourishing suffered a breakdown in Central authority, known respectively as the First, Second, ‘and Third Intermediate Periods. No other region of the ‘world has charted a history of such extraordinary length and. durability Ritvsrs, PYRAMIDS, AND Cosmic ORDER “The Third Dynssty (2686-2613 scx) launched the founda tional period known as the Old Kingdom, the golden age of lancient Egypt, (See Map 2-5.) By the time it began, the hasic {institutions of the Egyptian state were in place, as were the ideology and ritual life that legitimized the dynastic rulers. "The king as god presented himself to the population by means of impressive architectural spaces, and the priestly Class performed rituals veinforcing bis supreme status within the universe's natural order. The most important ceremony ‘was the Sed festival, which renewed the king’ vitality after he had ruled for thirty years. Although it focused on the king’s ‘italy its origins lay in ensuring the perpetual presence of water ‘King joser, the second king of the Third Dynasty, cele- brated the Sed festival in his tomb complex at Saqgara. This ‘magnificent complex, the world’s oldest stone structure (rather than the mud-brick temples and palaces of Mesopotamia). took shape during his eign. It began as a huge flar structure ‘identical to earlier royal tombs. However, the architect, {mhovep, was not satisfied with the modest shape of earlier but- ial chambers, Throughout six eenovations he transformed the structure into 2 step pyramid that ultimately cose some 200 feet above the plain, dominating the landscape like the later Mesopotamian ziggurats did (see p. 33). This mountainkikePHE GIFT OF rHe NILE EGET | 65 > How did the Nile River shape early Egyptian society? = 7 xT ay f | ¢iwesveew DESERT. f Arca under Exyan const °] + Uninc Wife vende ae & Pyramid Trade router Naural eons ‘slniwer | <= Cod Grane = Copper Limestone Emel Sardine Turgice @ 7 o Mar 2-5 OLD KINGDOM EGyPT, 2686-2181 BCE Old Kingdom Egyptian society reflected a strong influence From its unique geographi- el location. What geographical featuces contributed to Egypt isolation from the out side world and the people's sense of their unitv? What natural resource enabled the Egyptians to build the Great Pyramids? Based on the map, why do you think it was im- Portant for upper and lower Egypt to be united? structure stood at the center of an enormous walled precinet housing five courts where the ‘ing performed rituals emphasiz- ing the divinity of kingship and the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt. Because must of the struce tures were facades, the whole ‘complex became a stage for state rituals. The symbolism of the amity of Upper and Lower Egypt ‘was pervasive, embodied in the ‘entwined lotus and papyrus— symbols of each region. The step pyramid complex incorporated artistic and architectural forms thut would characterize Egyptian culture for millennia. "The Egyptian phacaoh—the king a god—used the royal tomb co embody the state’ ide- ology and the principles of the Egyptian cosmos. The ritual of death, leading to everlasting life, became part of the cultural myth, So did a common ideology stressing the unity of the long, river valley's distinet regions. ‘The pharaoh also employed sym- bols (for exemple, the dual crown representing Upper and Lower Egypt). throne names, and descriptive tiles for himself and hin advisers to represent his ‘own power and that of his ad- mninistrators, the priests, and the landed elite. The Egyptian cos- mic order was one af inequality and stark hierarchy. Established at the time of creation, the uni- verse was the king's responsibil ity to maintain for eternity. The belief that the king was a god compelled him to behave like cone: serene, orderly, merciful, and perfect. He always had to wear an expression of divine peace, not the angry snael of ‘mere human power. Pyramid building cvolved rapidly from the step version of Doser to the grand pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty (2613-2494 ace). These kings erected their : |a ree 00 | iypeer 9 _ RIVERS, CITIES, ANO FIRST STATES, 4000-2000 Bee “The Pyramide of Giza. The Pyramid Fields of Gizs lie on thre nestern side of the Nile Gjust south of the modern city “Uf Cairo. The Old Kingdom ‘pharaohs built shee eternal Testing places there, ‘surrounded by the smaller pyramids aad ench tombs of their relatives and courtless. ‘The largest pyramid of Khufit is tathe north. Khafta’s is linked to the Nile by & ccmuseway flanked by the famous Sphirx. The smallest ig that of Menkaure, the penultimate king of the (losiows Fourth Dynasty. magnificent structures at Giza, just outside modern-day Catto soy rot far rom the early royal cemetery site of Saqgara. The pyramid of Khufu, rising 481 feet above ground: isthe largest Prone structure in the world, and its corners are almost pet” feetly aligned to due north, west, south, and east. Khefra'e pyramid, though smaller, i even more alluring because it re- carn come of Its original limestone casing and because it en Joys the protective presence of the sphinx Surrounding these x eyal combs were those of high officials, almost all members Sf the roval family. The enormous amount of labor involved Constructing these monuments provides another measure it dhe degree of centralization and the surpluses in Egyptian Soeiety at this ime. The manpower came from peasants and aeykors who labored for the state at certain times of year, vioves brought from Nubia, and captured Mediterranean peoples. "Through their majesty and architectural complesigy the Giza pyramids reflect the peak of Old Kingdom culture and the remarkable Feats that its bureauctacy could accomplish. Construction of these monuments entailed the baek-breaking, ‘work of quarrying the massive stones (some weighed over 0 wns), digging 2 canal so barges could bring them lzore the Nile to the base of the Giza platcau, building a harbor there, pd then constructing stuedy brick ramps that could with: stand che stones’ weight as workers hauled them ever higher Slongthe pyramids faces. Most likely a permanent work force Gf ap to 21,000 laborers endured 10-hour workdays, 300 days jer year for approvimately 14 years just to complete the great pyramid of Khufu. RELIGION Religion stood at the center ofthis ancient world. so all = pects ofthe culture reflected spiritual expression. Eesplians Peels stood theit World as inhabited by three groups: gods, ings an dhe rest of humanity Official records ony showed seproventations of gods and Kings. Yet the people did not con Hoos their kings with gods—at least during the kings’ IMfe- fines, Mortality was the bar between rulers and deities, after ‘Jesth, Kings joined the gods whom they had represented while alive. Carrs oF THE Gons Asin Mesopotamio, every region sn Exgpt had its resident god. The fate of each deity found ex ee in the history ofits region, Some gods, such as Aman {oelieved to be physically present in Thebes the politcal cen, toot Upper Egypt, transcended regional status because of the importance of theie hometown. Over the centuries the Egyptian gods evolved, combining oter-contraictry aspects Haale deities represented by symbols: antmals and sane cn Rgures that often had animal 28 well as divine attib- eee hcr included Horus, the hawk god; Osiris, the god of Negeneration and the underworld; Hathor, the goddess of TiBlabicth and love: Ra, the sun god: and Amun, a creator considered to be the hidden god: Official religious practices took place im the main tem ples, the heart of ceremonial events. The king and his yents cared for the gous in their temples, giving them r= pect, adoration, and thanks, In return che gods, embodied> How did the Nile River shape early Egyptian saclety? Egyptian Code. Oxtie (top left) is the dying god who rules ever the netherword. Mort frequently he is depicted as a mommy wearing a hite crown with plumes and holding the scepter across his chest, The god Horus (op Fight and boron). who was also rendered as Ra-Horakny, fe the faleon-headed Egyptian of the nine dees of Heliopolis and ie the son of (Osiris and Isis.Sarre tn sculptured images, maintained order and nurtured the ting and_through blim—all humanity. in this contractual ing ionship, the gods were passive and serene while the Kings mere active, a difference that reflected their unesusl were anship. The practice of religious rituals and commu vernon with the gods formed the cult, whose constant and aacgnet performance was the foundation of Egyptian reli Shon, Its goal was co preserve cosmic order fundamental ro ‘creation and prosperity ‘One of the most enduring cults was that of the goddess Isis, who represented ideals of sisterhood and motherhood, “According to Egyptian mythologs, Isis, the wife of the mur ered and dismembered Osiris, commanded her son, Hors, aeeascomble all of the parts of Osiris o that he might re- arm his rightful place os king of Egypt. taken from him by Fram saosin his esl brother Seth. Osiris was seen asthe god aS ebinth, while {sis was cenowned for her medicinal skills ord knowledge of magi. For millennia her principal place of rorship was 2 magnificent temple on the island of Philse Well afer the Greeks and Romans had conquered ExyPt the people continued to poy homage to Isis at her Philae temple. Tux Priestnoon The esponsibility for upholding cults Telito the king. However, the task of upholding che cult reg lating rituals according to 6 cosmic calendar, and mediat- ngumong gods, king, and society fell to one specialist class: the priesthood. Creating this class required elaborate rules fos clecting and walning the priests to project the organized power of spiritual authority. The fact that only che prise pend enter the temple's inner sanctuin demonstrated theit Sralted status, The god, embodied in che cult statve, left the Semple onky at great festivals, Even then the divine image 75 seeined hidden in a portable shrine. This arrangement cn Sured that priests monopolized communication between Spiritual powers and thefr subjects—and that Egyptians an Ferstood their own subservience to the priesthood “although the priesthood helped unify the Egyptians und focused theie attention on the central role of temple life, un- cificial religion was equally important, Ordinary ancient Egyptians matched their clite rulers in faithfulness to the els but thee dictance from temple Iife caused them to find eifferent ways to fulfil thei religious needs and duties. Thus they sisted local shrines, just as thase of higher status visited the temples, There they prayed, made requests, and Tet of: ferings to the gods. Mactcat Powers Magic had a special importance for comamoners, who believed that amulets (ornaments orn (0 bring good fortune and to protect against evil forces) heli ex Cranhdinary powers-—for example, preventing illness and guar- Gatecing safe childbirth. To deal with profound questions, Commoners looked to omens and divination (a practice thet IATES, 4000-2000 BCE residents of Mesopotamia and ancient Ching also used to predict and contro future events). Like the elites, common: Pre attributed supernatural powers to animals. Chosen ai trols received special treatment in life and after death: for imple, the Egyptians adored cats, whom they hept as pete eed hese image they used ro represent certain deities, Apis lls. sacred to the god Ptah, merited special cemeteries and rpusning sitaale.Toices, dogs. jackals, baboons lizards, fish, makes, crocodiles, and other beasts associated with deities enjoyed similar privileges: WriTING AND SCRIBES Egypt, like Mesopotamia, wus a seribal culture. Egyptians PEP aid that peasants toiled so that scribes could live in cvafort: in other wards, literacy sharpened the divisions be- (Sin rural and urban worlds. By the middle ofthe third mil> etiam nce, Kitevacy sus well established among sinell Gilles of experts in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Fact that fon individuals were literate heightened the scribes’ social status, Although in hoth cultures writing emerged in response SMeconomie needs, people soon grasped its atlity for com” e gmative and religjous purposes. As soon as literacy took old, Mesopotamians und Egyptians were drafting historical records and literary compositions. ‘Bosh the early Mesopotamian and Egyptian scripts were complex, In fact, one Feature ofall srting systems 1s that “they became simpler and more elficient at repre stating the full range of spoken utterances. Only when the frst alphabet appeared (in Southwest Asia, to record Aramaic are and 1500 ect) did the potential for wider literacy surface. “To yodge from remaining records, it seems that more ESYD- tines than Mesopotamians were literate. Most high-ranking Egyptians were also trained as scribes working in the Hingis Cea the army, or the priesthood: Some kings and members Of the royal family learned to write as well. Tayplians used to basic forms of weting throughout an; siquite Hieroglypls (rom the Creek sacred carving) served eple ryal or divine contexts. Fest Dynasty tombs yield veeede in 2 cursive script written with ink on papyrus, pot tery, or other absorbent media. This demotic writing (from Spe Gecek demote, meuning “popular” or “In common use”) ae core common, Used for tecord keeping, it slso found rare in letters and works of literature—including naerative fettom, monuals of instruction and philosophy, cals and 2 afte hymns, love poems, medical ond mathematical texts, Collections of rituals, and mortuary books, Becoming literate involved taking lessons from scribes, and theve skills clustered in extended families. Most students crated training when they were young, before entering the Jarcoucracy. After mastering the copying of standard texte sn pemotic cursive or hieroglyphs, students moved on to literary i iTHE GIFT OF THE NILE: Boyer | 69 ‘> How did the Nile River shape early Egyptian society? Fayption Hicroglphs and “Cursive Seript The Egyptians wrote in eo dist ‘The mote formal is hieroglyphs, which is based on pictorial images that carry values of either ideas {idiograms) or sounds (phonemes). All voyal and funera jane, euch as this funcracy relief from the Old Kingdom, are rendered in hieroglyphic scrip. Daily documents, accountings, licerary texts, land che like were most often written in a cursive eeeipt called demotic, which wae wetten with ink on ‘panycus. The form of the cursive signs is based on the hieroglyphs but is more abstract and can be Farmed aate quickly. works, he upper classes prized the ability to read and write, regoning it as proof of high intellectual achievement. When they died, they had their student textbooks placed alongside their corpses as evidence of their talents. ‘The literati pro- duced texts mainly in temples, where these works were also preserved. Wetting in hieroglyphs and transmitting texts con- tinued without break in ancient Egypt For almost 3,000 years. Tue Prosperity oF EGYPT ‘The agrarian surpluses, urbanization, elaborate belief sys tems, population growth, and splendor that characterized Mesopotamian, Harappan, and Egyptian socictics led to hheightoned standards of living and cising populations. Under Pharaonie rule, Eyypt enjoyed spectacular prosperity Its pop- ulation grew at an unprecedented rate, swelling from 330,000 in 4000 ncr to | million in 2500 AcE and neaely § million by 1500 net ‘The state’ success depended on administering resources stillfuly, especially agriculeural production and labor. Every- cone, from the most powerful elite to the workers in the Field, ‘was part of the system. a principle, no one possessed private ‘Property: in practice, Egyptians treated land and tools as their ‘own—but submitted t0 the intrustons of the state, No one “challenged the state's control, especially over texation, prices, ‘ai the distribution of gaods. Such control required a large ueracy that maintained records, taxed the population, gods, organized a steong military and aided local officials in regulating the Nile’ floodwaters. LaTEeR DYNASTIES AND Taeir Demise ‘As the Old Kingdom expanded without a uniting or dominating city like those of Mesopotamia or Harappa, the Egyptian state ‘became more dispersed and the dynasties began to lookincreas- ingly outward, Expansion and decentralization eventually ex- ‘posed the dynasties’ weaknesses. The shakeup resulted not from ‘external invasion (asin the Indus Valley) or bickering between rival city-states (as in Mesopotamia), but from feuding among clite politcal factions. In addition, an extended drought strained Egypt’ extensive irigation system, which could no Tonger water the lands that fed the region's million inhabitants. Imagery of great suffering Filled the royal tombs’ walls. The long teign of Pepy Il (2278-2184 ace) marked the end of the Old Kingdom. Upon his death, royal power collapsed. (See Primary Source: The Admonitions of Ipuwer) For the next hundred years, rivals jostled forthe throne. Local magnates assumed hereditary con- trol of the government in the provinces and treated Jands pre- siously controlled by the royal family as theie personal property. ‘And local leaders plunged into bloody regional struggles to keep the irrigation works fnesoning for their own communities. This so-called Fist Intermediate Period lasted roughly from 2181 te 2055 ace until the century-long drought ended. i i |20 | hapten _ wives, CEPTS, AND FIRSTS | HE. ADMONITIONS OF IPUWER narder to mointin porer during a period of increasing drug Paty 2a7se2iss scr) ove many advange and tax ezeption provincdt robles. At the end of his long reigns "0 sear re capable of ucintaining comtrabzed pee. he colle the central state was ars and pyption society fell nto caus, A mumber of poigvant tes saritten By prophets aaa capeured thts situation. One ofthe mast moving mas the ext Kw the Ipuver Papyrus, written by an Egyption sage ‘Behold, the fire has gone up on high, and its burning goes Rehold, the magistrates of the land are driven out forth against the enemies of the land. throughout the land [,. are driven out from the palaces ‘Behold, things have been done which have aot hap ‘nehold, nuble ladies are now on rafts, and magnates pened for longtime past: the hing hasbeen deposed by oF “he labor establishment, while he who could rot the rabble. Sicep even on walls is now the possessor of a bed an pe who wee buried as afaleon (is deveid) of Behold: the potent ‘of wealth now spends the night tiers and what the pyramid concealed has become empry. rs while he who once begged his dregs for himoelf is Sa has belallen thatthe Land has been deprived now: the posses of overflowing howls. of the kingship by a fow lawless men. ‘Behold, the possessors of robes are now in rags, while een ae fallen into rcbellion against the he who could not weave for himself is now 2 possessor of Unnae the Ta 1 of Re, even she soho makes the Two fine tres Lands content. Bebold, he who could not build « hoat for himscll is eet the secret of the land whose Himits were un now ee possetsnt ofa fleet their erstwhile one looks at Lean wuged, und the Residence is throwin down in ther, ut HHCY A his. ‘a moment. Behold, he who had no shade is now the possessor of ome paypttefallen to pouringaF water, and hewho shede, while ‘the erstwhile possessors of shade are now in poured water on the around has caried off che strong mon the full blast of the storm. in misery ‘Behold, he who wos ignorant ofthe fe is now the pos mi dhe Serpentis taken from is hole, and these- —sessorof 3 ROT, Tehile he who never sang for himself now crete ong King of Lipper and Lower Cyypt ae divulged. aunts the Songstress-goddese Rehold, the Residence is afraid hecause of want, and [men go about] unopposed to stir up strife. 15 Imthis reading, the “Residence” is the palace and the are t knotted isl up with confedera- 7 Lande” are Upper ad Lever bgypl. Whe doyou “eet, and the coward takes the beave man’s property, think “he oho eas buried as afeleon” 2° “Behold, the Serpent [...] the dead: he who could not > aes the effects of the collapse uf Egypt's Old cngdom: 5 Hone can we use such « docrrnent as “The Admonitions of Ipucuer” to understand conditions in Paype a this te? make @ sarcophagus for ‘himself is now the possessor ofa tomb. ad, the poseasos af tombs ue cected on tothe high ground. while he who could not make = coffin for a ee aie [the possesor] oF (reste ra Te = tom ‘Behold, this has happened [to] mens he who could not a Ee oe SS [mn se med con sabe thc has Range ecco owl Les Pon pines pens Sia pa Poach ch The Almonds of user fom 6‘THE YELLOW AND YANGZI RIVER BAS! vs rastasia [7 > What halimarks of urban life emerged in China during this period? Tue YELLOW AND YANGZr RIVER BaAsINs: East ASIA + What hallmarks of urban Ue emerged in China during. this period? Like the Mesopotamians and Egyptians, Bast Asian peoples clustered in river basins. Their settlements along the Yellow River in the north and the Yangzi River in the south becarne the foundation of the future Chinese state, By 5000 ace, both millet in the north and rice in the south were under ‘widespread cultivation. ‘Yotin the following three millennia (when Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley were creating complex, city-based cultures) the Chinese moved slowly: China's grcat riverine ‘cultures did not arise until the second millennium nce. (See Map 2-6.) Like the other regions’ waterways, the Yellow and any rivers had annual floods and estensive floodplains suit- able for producing high agricultural yields and supporting. dense populations. In China, however, the evolution of, hydraulic works, big cities, priesy and bureaucratic classes, and a new writing system took longer. Living conditions and the environment played # key role in ancient Chinese society just as they did in the riverine cule tures of Mesopotamia, Harappa, and Egypt. In the river basins of China, abundant food and the fact that communi: lies were widely dispersed encouraged the development of lo- ‘alized agrarian cultures, Complex cities would come later, Alco contributing to their diferent development were a lack of easily domesticated animals and plants and an abundance of geographic barviers. Geography isolated China, for the Himalayan Mountains and the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts prevented large-scale migrations between East Asia and cen tral Asia and hindered the diffusion of cultural breakthroughs occurring eleewhere in Afro-Eurssia From YaNcsHAo to. Lonosnan Cutrure China's classical histories place the beginnings of Chinese culture at the Xia dynasty, dating from 2200 ace. Archaeo- logical studies of riverine environments in Fast Acia tell a dif- nt story. Whether or not the Xia existed as a historical sty, archacological cvidence stiggests our study of the Yel- Rivet hasin and Vangei delta should begin earlier—in the ‘milena from 4000 t 2000 nc. ina was never completely free of outside influences. Unlike the Americas, East Asia was not separated from the rest of Afro-Eurasia hy great oceans, Some travelers did arrive Via the ocean, but more came via the Mongolian steppe, through which nomads introduced important technologies such as metalworks. Nomads were drawn to the agriculttral settlements (as they were in Mesopotamia), and they brought innovations, bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), and other g00ds from afar, Through trade and migration, nomadic cule tures and technologies filtered From the steppes to seuled ‘communities on the rivers, “The combination of agrarian settlements and increasing, contact with neighbors promoted greater cultural complex ity. The evidence includes breakthroughs in communication. Although the Chinese did not create a graphic writing sys- tem ungil the middle of the second raillennium ace, archae~ ‘logists have found preliterate signs and marks on pottery at Jiahu, on the Yellow fiver. These date as early as the seventh millennium ece—long before similar signs appeared in Mesopotamia and Faypt Markings on red pottery, found near the village of Yang- shao along the Yellow River in northwestern China, are on- other pioneering system of signs and symbols from as early as 5000 BCE. Archaeologists have also discovered analogous signs on early pottery in southern China. A complex society that required writing (such as that of the Sumerians) did not develop until much later. Nevertheless, shamans in the ‘emerging villages of the fourth and third millennia BCE may hhave used signs in performing rituals, music, and heating, as well asin divination, ‘China's early riverine societies produced stone and pottery storage vessels that reflected increasingly urban settlements. Neat the village of Langshan in Shandong province on the North China plain, for example, archaeologists discovered ‘Yangshao Bowl with Dancing Figures, c. 5000-1700 ace. The Yangshao, also referred to as the "painted pottery” culture. produced gray or ved pottery painted with blach geometric designs and occasionally with pictures of fish or human faces and figures. Because the potter’ wheel was unknowa at the time, he vescale ‘were probably fashioned with strips of clay.22 | Ghapren2__ RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STATES, 9000-2000 80%, i i I Mungolinscpre rds Yee, ve of Loon cure Yangshso else WR Beer of Laver cal = Lonashan migration if Ga Spread of ce arming nit fring veemens fore $000 1 fe Farming element ater 3000 80% PaciFIc OCEAN Mt add) SEA ‘Map 9-6 ccultares that ‘Complex agricultural societies Flourhed ere during this time? What Gina in this period? Based on groaraphic. simular? . pe the major geographic differences between how were thee euloures different, ab : “differences among the area%, tery and a complete town enclosure of hh finds contrast with the simpler arti ‘Longshan residents could polished black pot compacted earth. Suel facts of the Yangshzo sites. Furthermore, ‘hurned deet scapules (shoulder blades) so that divinersTHE YELLOW AND VANGZI RIVER BASINS: Rast asta | 75. > What hallmarks of urban life emerged in China dering this period? Longshan Beaker, ¢. 2500 8c€. [angshan has heen called the hick pottery” culture, and its exquisite black pottery was ot painted but eather decorated with rings, How did the growth of urban societies in river basins alfect people ving in the Aegean region, Anatolia, and Europe? LIANGZHU CULTURE ‘The Liangzha people were sophisticated agriculturalists, growing rice and fruits along the Qiantang River where it flows into Hangzhou Bay. Among their implements were fat and perforated spaces, as well as rectangular and curved sickle-ike knives with holes. They raised domesticated water buffalo, pigs, dogs, and sheep. Archaeologists have discov- ered the remains of net sinkers, wooden floats, and wooden paddles, which demonstrate a familiarity with watercraft and fishing, Other wood artifacts are pieces of boats, house foun- dations, tools, and utensils. Stone and bone artifucts were so- phisticated as well. Liangzhu artisans produced black poctery from soft paste thrown on a wheel, and like the Long- shan they created ritual objects ftom several varieties of jade, ‘They mined it in the Great Lake (Taihu) area of the Yangzi delta, close to the Liangzhu tombs. Animal masks and bird designs adomed muny pieces, revealing a shared cosmology that informed the rituals of the Liangrhu elite. In the late third raillennium sce, a long drought bit China (as it did Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India). Although the climate change limited progress and forced migrations to mote dependable habitats, the Chinese recovered early in the second millennium ace. Now they ereated elaborate agrarian, systems along the Yellow and Yangvi rivers that were similar rrigation systems along the Euphrates, Indus, and ‘Liangehu Jade Axe Blade, 23400-2250 ece. The ‘Liangrhu represented the last Stone Age culture in the River delta, Theie culture ‘wos highly stratified, and jade, silk, ory, and lacquer artifacts swore found exelusivel basal sites. Nile, Extensive trading networks and a stratified social hier archy emerged: like the other river basin complexes of Asia and North Africa, China became a centralized polity. Here, 00, a powerful monarchy eventually united the independent communities. But what developed in China was a social and Political system that emphasized an idealized past and a tra- dition represented by sage-kings. In this and other ways, China diverged from the rest of Afro-Eurasia LIFE ON THE MARGINS OF AFRO-EURASIA > How did the growth of urban societies in river basins affect people living inthe Aegean region, Anatolia, and Europe? Those dwelling in river basins and established cities with hi- erarchies, bureaucracies, and strong militaries were inclined to see outsiders—particularly nomads—as “barbarians. Actually; the city people's imagery and narratives that depict nomads as uncivilized are not objective, hecause they were more concemed with promoting themselves than with por- toying the nomads uecurately: The nomads surely would not have recognized themselves as savages lacking culture, faith, and organized life. In fact, they had frequent contact with the urbanites and become skilled users of their technologies. (Sec Map 2-7.) Despite heing less urbanized and strati- fied than city dwellers, they fashioned institutions and belief systems that were as durable as those of the metropolitan centers. The people living outside the river hasins had a distinctive warrior-based ethos, such that the top tiers of the social lad- der held chiefs and military men instead of priests and scribes. This feature was especially evident in Europe and Anatolia, where weaponry rather than writing, palisades (de- fensive walls and turrets) rather than palaces, and conquest rather than commerce dominated everyday life. Here, t00, the inhabitants moved beyond stone implements and huneing, ‘and gathering, but they remained more egalitarian than river- ine folk and did not evolve much heyond small societies led by chiefs AEGEAN WorLps Contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia affected the Aegean worlds, but it did not transform them, Geography stood. the way of significant urban development on the mountain- ous islands, on the Anatolian plateau, und in Europe. Even though people from Anatolia, Greece, and the Levant hadRS rere AND FIKST STATES, 1000—#000 CE te | hapten? _ RIVERS, CITIES, | Lf teres Fh BEE Ucban complexes Yeni ore Gotten S etongelte srend cf ages “Traded Coenmatiies '§ on THE Manors MEDITERRANEAN AND EuROPE, 5000-2000 BCE Grhan sacetes in Southwest Asis fad profound influences on peripheral sets, “What three peripheral worlds did the } > Ci ae of Soutrest Sein influence? In what ways di the spread of Fie ead copper tools and weapons trensfona } ‘Ragin and Enropeam societies? How did agriculture spread from ‘Southwest Asia to these worlds? fs evidence of more formal administration and organizations the Acgean islands in the sisth millennium CE, Foe ance endured for 2,000 years before becoming, in some communities ‘by 2500 ec, but the norm was seat~ more complet. ins toslements separated by natural obstacles. Consider ‘On mink ee esnd mountainous Crete, the largest island in the Aegean, fortified settlements ho “Rogoun, where veaforing peoples occupied settlements seri trolled a small area of egricultucally pr Seer Rroughout its rugged interior. By the carly ehird mit Metallurgy devcloped in both Crete and wad made occasional contact with EBYPE populated 1d Creece and on the Cycladic islands i the yused local rulers who con- reductive countryside. the Cyclades. There _lennium BCE, Grete bsLIFE ON THE MarorNs oF arRo-eurasta_| 77 * How did the growth of urban societies in river basins affect people ving in the Aegean region, Anatolia, and Europe? and the coastal towns of the Levant, encountering new ideas, technologies, and materials as foreigners arcived on its shores. People coming by ship from the cousts of Anatolia and the Levant, as well as from Egypt, traded stone vescels and other Iusucy objects for the island's ebundant copper. Lacking arich ogearian hase, most communities remained small at fewer than 100 inhabitants, and only a few grew over time, By the middle of the third rofllenuium sce, a more complex society was emerging in eastern Crete. During the second millennium 8Ce, Knossos, located in a rich agricultural plain, became the primary palace-town in an ex waded network of palaces. Evidence from burial sites sug- gests that some households belonged to an elite class, for they took gold jewelry and other exotic objects with chem to their graves. (Fora diseussion of abjects butied with the dead in several cultures, see Global Connections & Disconnec- tions. Ritual Objects in the Iranian Plateau, China, and Egypt.) Aegean elites did not reject the niceties of cultured life, hut they knew that their power rested as much on cheit ragged landscape's resources as on self-defense and trade with others. ANATOLIA ‘The highland plateau of Anatolia shows clear evidence of re- sfonaf cultures focused on the control of trade routes and mining outposts. This arce had been populated almost from the time that humans walked out of Africa, and the pace of change was slow because people clung to their village ways and stone tools. True cities did not develop here until the third rmillennium fice, and even then they were not the sprawling population centers epical of the Mesopotamian plain, Instead, small communities emerged around fortified citadels hous- ng local rulers who competed with one another. ‘Two im prestively fortified centers were Horoz Tepe and Alage Hyak, Which have yielded more than a dozen graves—apparently royahfull of gold jewelry, ceremonial standards, and elabo- tate weapons. ‘Another important site in Anatolia was Troy te the far ‘west, [ts legendary as the place of the famous war launched by the Creeks (the Achaeans) and recounted by Homer in the Mad. Teoy developed around 3000 RCE on the Mediterrancan ‘coast in a (crtle plain, In the 1870s the German archaeolo- st Heinrich Schliemann identified Troy level I as a third- aullennium Bc (ortfied settlement with monumental stone gateways and stone-paved ramps. The extremely rich Troy {vel tthad five targe buildings called megarons, forerunners “5. oF the classic Greek temple. Here, Schliemann found gold “Gand silver objects, vessels, jewelry and other srtifacts. Many <£{ St€sinilar to the ones found in graves al Alaga Hayle More- "Ofer since they parallel finds on Grete and on the Greek ‘mainland, they indicate that Trey participated in the trading ‘ystem Linking the Aegean and Southwest Asian worlds. AE the same time, Tray faced predatory neighbors and pirates ‘who attacked from the sea—an observation that explains its impressive fortifications, Euro} Tur WesTeERN Frontier At the western reaches of the Eurasian landmass was a te- gion featuring more temperate and also more frigid climates, with smaller population densities. Itt peoplee—forerunners of present-day Europeans—hegan to make objects out of metal, Formed permanent settlements, and started to create com- plex societies. Here, too. hierarchies replaced egalita ways, Yet, as in the Aegean worlds, population density and so- cial complexity hud limits, More than in the Mediterranean or Anatolia, warfare dominated social development in Europe. Two contributing Factors Were the persistent fragmentation of the region's peoples and the type of agrarian development they pursued. The introduction of the plow and the clearing of woodlands expanded agriculture. Agrarian development here was not the result of city-states or dynasties organizing irrigation and set- tlement (as in Mesopotamia and Egypt), but rather the result of households and communities wielding axes for defense and For cutting down trees. Compared to the riverine societies, Europe was a wild frontier where violent conflicts over re~ The gradual expansion of agricultural communities even- tually reached a critical point. The growth of fling mining, to an industrial level (as evident in the thousand shafts sunk. at Krzemionki in Poland and the flint-mining complex of Grimes Graves in England) indicates a social and economic transformation. Most important, mining output slashed the cost and increased the availability of raw materials needed to make tools for clearing forested lands and tilling them Into arable fields, As agriculcural communities proliferated, some hecame villages thut dominated their regions. But nowhere did these folk create large cities and corresponding states. By 4000 nce the more developed agrarian peoples had coalesced into large communities, constructing impressive monuments that remain visible today. In western Europe, large ceremonial centers shared the same model: enormous shaped stones, some weighing several tons each, set in com- mon patterns —in alleyways, troughs, or circles—known a8 ‘megalithic ("great stone") constructions. These daunting proj- ects required cooperative planning and work. In the British Isles, where such developments occurred later, the famous ‘megalithic complexes at Avebury and Stonehenge probably reached their highest stages of development just before 2000 nes. No matter how forbidding the ecology of Europe ‘was in this period, in the centuries after 3000 ce, culmi- nating in new developments around 2000 nc, the whole of the northern European plain came to share a common7 | we seo? ————————— RIVERS, CITIES, AND FIRST STATES, Inp0-2000 wee Global Connections: be Disconnecttons. CHINA, A ‘mimportant aspect of religios practice isthe interaction between the worldly and the divine, between the living and the dead. Thousands of years ago ritual objects, such as ‘ynnulets, starues, or carved objects representing the ends, vere tangible representations of the connection berween the earthly and the sacred. Other objects carrying images bf important myths and stories were useful in ceremonies tnarking major events, such as birth or death. They may lve have acted as more permanent signs of the divine, in shrines of temples, In both cases, ritual objects repre- sented the sacred in everyday life IRANIAN Puateau Ancient humans deposited sym- bolic objects with the dead to case the journey to the world beyond and to provide necessities in the afterlife. Excavated graves in the Jicoft region of south-central iran contain thousands of symbolic abjects as well ws utilitar- jan vessels. Most numerous are eylindrieal vessels made Sf soft green stone (locally available steatite or chlorite) carved with elaborate designs that carried symbolic mean- ing, Also carved from the green stone and featuring sim ilar designs are Eurniture inlays and rectangular slabs with handles ‘While many of the designs show a repeating grid pat- tem or curl or scorpions, some represent gods in human form wearing bull horns on their heads as a sign of divin- ior A common motif portrays a bird of prey grasping a snake in its tulone; a leopard confronts the shake. Both the body of the bird and the snake have holes fer holding tmultihued stones, making the overall pattern colorful and. ively, The confrontation of the snake and the leopard rep resents the struggle between forces of nature. Neither wing; rather, they are abvrays in equilibrium. ‘Vessels from Jiroft have come to light in the Persian, Gulf and in Mesopotamia. Some historians argue that they were objects of trade, just like semiprecious lapis lavuli and carnelian were. However, the centrality of these RITUAL OBJECTS IN THE IRANIAN PLATEAU, Jiroft Vase. Persians looked to the distant past for universal Grnegery. Bull uns appear on a chlorite vase from near Jiro, where such items were erafted in about 2500 1 vessels to the home society’s funerary customs suggests that they were personal effects carried by traders and craftsmen who traveled to the large citics of the distant her valleys, There fs no evidence that the objects were exchanged im tradeCnina The Liangzhu people of ancient China crafted ritual abjects from several varieties of jade that they mined in the Yanggi delta, The Liangrhu decorated many of these pieces with animal masks or bird designs. Especially im- portant were circular jade objects called bi discs (found in tomb sites) and squate cong tubes. The cong jades, used in divination practices, were round in theit hollow interior. (he rounded portion represented heaven and the square portion the earth; the jade tubes thus signified interaction between heaven and earth, the dead and the living. Both heaven and earth were penetrated by a central axis run- ‘ing through the jede's shaft, which symbolized the sacred. ing the land of the Ling from the place of tains di the dead Jude was the most important precious substance in Cost Asia, Associated with qualities of goodness, purity, luck, and virtue, it was carved into ceremonial Knives, hide handles, religious objects, and claborate jewelry. Recause jade is eatremely hard, its intricate carving re- «wired much time and great skill, Smaller objects, wach as bbhules andl amulets, could also serve 2 ceremonial purpose. Juste objects used in bunials might sit in the mouths and on the eyes of the deceased, or jade ornaments, jewelry, and al objeets might accompany them. Men and women «liferent ornaments, including necklaces and head- Altesses, swords and seals wr Inancient Eaypt, precious stones and metals shuped into jewelry and ritual objects were important, es- pecially in burying the dead. Archaeologists often find amalots and funerary jewelry placed in specific positions ‘on the bodies of mummies. ‘The system of preparing a body for mummification was so specialized that it re- speeial jewelry distinct from what ordinary people wore during theit lives, Scholars think that funerary mulets served to protect mummies from suffering in the afterlife. ‘The Egyptian Book of the Dead contains Egyptian Funeral Amulet. This winged searah is « symbol of rebirth and would have heen placed in the wrapping of the mummy along with other amulets sa assure the successful passage of the deceased into the afterlife, ‘The Egyptions understood she dung-beetle that pushes «a hall of dung as Khepri, the divine protector ofthe daily drawings, paintings. and spells explaining how to use cer- tain amulets. Nearly every mummy that archaeologists have discov ered has had one such amulet, made of stone, glass, or wood in the shape ofa pillar with cross bars at its top, per- haps mimicking the form of a tree (see Carol Andrews, Egyptian Mummies). Other types of amulets resemble parts of the body, particularly an arm or a foot, indicating that the person had suffered in that body part or that a limb was missing, and the amulet could serve as its sub- stitute. In either case, embalmers apparently desired to make the deceased person as whole as possible for the journey into the afterlife. Amulets of this sort often complemented the features of the person hom they accompanied. ‘Whether they expressed religious or social status in this ‘world or fended off evil spirits in the nest, ritual objects were key in the practice of religion. Amulets and ritual jew clry personalized the divine, representing a connection to heaven that could betong to un individual. In this was, it~ ‘ual objects stressed the interconncctedness of worldly and spiritual life.————— a909-2000 nee so | Ghepron?_RIVENS, CITIES, AND EJAST STATES. stonehenge. This spetacslae site located in the Slisbury Plain fa Wotehite southwestern England, is one of several such megalithic Store ouhe tgion. Corrected by mary generations of builders, 6a wgngement of the large stone uprights enabled people strana oun pein the yea heh the poston ofthe sun, Events ch 3s ‘Re epring ond autumn equinotes were connected teith agricultural and religious activites, vmateral culture bused on ogficultare the herding of cattle repens) social stratification. The fist sign of an emerging rence and milk the use of the plough, and the use of warrior ‘calture was the appearance of drinking cups. (See {or mea iieles and metal iools and weapons, mainly ofcop- Brians Sov The Male Warrior Burials of Varna and ten The most characteristic ubjeets atsociated with this Now Down.) The violent men who now protected their com: reed culture are the Corded Ware pots—sorcalled from the munity Teceived ceremonial burials complete with thely vate oa anpress lines on thei succes (vee Map 2-7). own denne ged weapons. Archaeologists have found ee Thar thas new economy was found from Ukraine in shess wariet ‘burials in a swath of European lands extend a at ae tear Countees in the west i evidence ofthe ing from sresent-day France and Switzerland to present-day aoe ee cued communications that linked and united pre- central Res Because the agricultural communities now Vious disparate and widely separated regions. sre producing surpluses that they could store, residents Knitting communication, exchange, and mobility had 19 “Sofend thelr land and resources from encroaching among the European communities led to increasing wealth neighbors. Frere ONparked orgenined varfare ovet frontier lands and paressive culture was taking shape based on violet but also sparked oven an ironic twat, che integration of confrontations betwee Qaule males organized in “tribal” Tacal communities led to greater friction and produced troupe, War elrures arose in all westem Furepean sosiissPrimary Source THE MALE WARRIOR BURIALS OF VAR Burials of elite individuals across the region stretching from the Black Sea to the Atlantic reveal previous objects and weapons associated with a competitive warrior eul- ture, At Varna, on the Blick Sea coast of Bulgaria, the lifestyle of the “big men” ascoctated with u farming village from around 4000 BCE came to light in 1972 when a farmer driving a tractor uncovered an ancient cemetery. ‘The burials at Varna may represent a powerful and sel ‘connected settlement. since most other contemporary sites «lo not display such high levels of wealth. The grave of rman who died at about age forty-five (pictured here), lange pots used for drinking and storage were found. Moze strik- ing were the 990 gold objects: most were decorative de- views sewn onto his elothing, but others included bracelete oon hoth arms, @ necklace, and small gold-handled axe. The weapons buried with him—daggers, axes, and spearheads, and points—were made of flint. jother burial—from Nett Down in Wiltshire, Eng- nd, and dating to around 2500 nce—reveuls a less de- eloped culture. In this case, a small tomb cut into the chalk ground and covered with a small mound of earth contained a young male warrior, He was buried with the tio most significant objects connected with his life: a bbronve dagger and, by his hands, 2 large bell beaker. No sold or precious metal omaments sccompanied the man, ‘who was clearly part of a poorer society than Varna's. AS ‘one scholar has remarked, “the grave neatly encapsulates the ideal male image of drinking and fighting.” marked by the universal presence of a new drinking instru- ‘ment, the “hell beaker" —so named! by archaeologists because it resembled an inverted bell. Armed groups carried these ‘caps across Europe, using them (0 swig beer and mead dis- ins, honey, herbs, and nuts. As beer drinking \ local variations on beer mugs appeared, again ing the constant interplay between external commu- Aleation and loeal forces. 's pew tools and weapons spread across Europe, the re- Hion adopted similar eultural practices. The tvin pillars of ‘ricultute and metalworking, initially in copper, became the sepporty of daily ife almost everywhere. At the same time, though, « split between Eurupe’s eastern and western flanks ‘ccurred: in the millennium follosing 2500 ace, warriors in ed From gp spread, ma laste, GSS A AND NEETU DOWN > Most indtvictual burials contain male bodies What doce ‘his face tell us about men’s roles in these evolving: patriarchal societies? > When we compare these sites to those in Egypt and China, what can we learn about the émportance of burying the ead across these societies? western Europe hecame more combative in attling for ter- sitory snd resources ‘Warfare had the ironic effect of accentuating the bor towing among the region's competing peoples. After all, the violent struggles and emerging kinship groups fueled a ta sive demand for weapons, alcohol, and horses. Warrior clites borrowed from Anatolia the technique of combining copper, swith tin to produce harder edged weapons made of the alloy bronze. Soon smiths were producing them in bulk—as evi- denced by hoards of copper and bronze tools and weapons from the period found in central Europe. Traders used the rivers of central and northern Eutrope co exchange their prized metal products, creating one of the first commercial networks that covered the landmass.———— Constant warfare propelled Europe to become a [Although the siverine cultures shared basic features at ier auctety The cate of violence and conflict ea aeags evolution Followed a distinctive path. Where there Tre oer drove a basic ogpicultoral economy had 080 signi’ 9 “dngle river_the Nile or the Indus—the agrarian bin- that nt cri integrated European Kinship-based oral soci- fevands ‘frat fed the cities lay along the banks of the mighty cae realm of ther owo, and it separated them from the | Wa¥stv°y in these areas cities were smal; hus the Egyptian cies aranean societie an ordered world of palaces, «nd Tlacappan worlds enjoyed more political stability and seribes, and well-disciplined commoners. 1 alr. In contrast cites in the immense floodplain of the Tigris und Eophrates needed large bintcrlande to est hear opulations. Because oftheir growing power and need G& thele Popees, Mesopotomian cities vied for preeminence, ConcLusioNn for Niheie competition often became violent. (As we will see se Chapter 3. a similae pattern emerged after 1500 ACE in Chine. where the Yellow and Yang! iver environments fo Sfieseed the rapid expansion of Chinese settlements into cities.) ‘Over the fourth and third rillennta we, the world’s social Tensdceape changed in significant ways. In a Few key Locations, ‘where giant rivers irigated fertile lands, comples human wenere BE fegan to emerge, These areas experienced allthe ad CANE stond at one end of the spectrum of social com- aertpesand dificules of expending populations: oceppationsl ICT “tithe other end, in most areas of the world, people FIN lived in simple, egalitarian societies based on hunting Spectelization; socal hierarchy; rising standards of Iving 99° Phisticated systems of art and science; and centralized 97 athering, and bese ogiulrure—-as in the Americas and b> seercher goods. Saharon Africa, In between were worlds sch ‘as Anatolia, Fu Faction and distribution of food, clothing, Crzemonial sites and trading crossroads became cities thet °PE vind Large parts of China, where towms emerged and SEretoped centralized religious and political systems. AS renulture abvanced —but not withthe leaps and bounds of see ries, and euler labored to keep complex socictles—Uhe gr Seerine cultures. Beyond these frontiers, farmers Topethice, the differences between country folk and sits eee a mads survived 2s they had for many centuries. Some ene i ned Tn effect, ubanization was an example of of them, os The Aegean, forged warrior societies. Elee- soot g wate in which societies were becoming more come wheres 08 ‘the borderlands between Mesopotamian city- plex and stratified. Socal distinctions aso affected the goles S24, people created thriving tcading networks. a asrrrniics began to fer from Taspite of theoe labs! idiferences, changes in climate of- fected everyone and could slow or even reverse development. ‘of men and women, kinship groups in the countryside. 4000 os SOUTHWEST ASIA: AND, NORTH AFRICA (Chine along Yellow River slow River valley: THE EASTERN ‘MEDITERRANEAN AND EUROPE 3500 sce Chicama Valley along Pacific Ooeen.contt in modern-day Pera thrive: . 13900 ace Teluoeén Valley in modern-day Mexico theives % Lake Vietorta + 400 nev Dene ilge life by Lake Chad and Niger River Congo River adHovw~and whether--cultures adapted depended on local cis ‘cumstances. As the next chapter will show, the human agents vf change often came From the fringes of larger settlements and urhan areas. Review and research materials are available wwsoxros.con/sTupyerace ax StudySpace Key TERMS alloviues (p- 51) river basin (p. 44) bronve (p. 45) scribes (p. 55) cay (p51) social hierarchies (p. 52) city-state (p. 52) ‘temple (p. 52} cult (p. 33) territorial state (p. 57) palace (p. 53) uurban-rural divide (p. 45) STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Deseribe how cities in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and. Exypt differed from small village communities across the ‘lobe. Why did cles emerge in relatively few places between £4000 and 2000 nce? 2, Define pastoraliom. Where in Afro-Eurasia did this form of social organization devclap and thrive? stupy guestions | 8¢ 2 dently shared chaacteratcs among erbaits in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valles and Euyet. Wha features Asiguishod each fom she ober? 4, Compare and conta city-state structures in Bgpt nd “Mesopocamia, Why was Eaypt more polly anfed than Seopetam? 5. Anal the influence of lng-istence rod onthe political ‘nd economic development of urban societies in Expt, Mesopotamia, andthe leds Valley How dd contacts ith ther people iafluence exch sores? 6. Compare ond contest the ways in which eal wating merged inthe urban societies betwee $000 aed 2000 BCE How did each use this new technology? How common wes Iterags> 7, Explin how the ss fits represented Tap forvad in complex in human histor. How did urban dwellers shape political, ccanomic, and cara developments in their regio 8, Eoin Bact Ais raativ physical itclation ftom other Alt. Eatasansoceaes during this pernd. To what erent id this isolatidn shape soiel evelopment in this region between 43000 and 2000 wee? ‘9. Identify shared characteristics of European, Anatolian, and ‘Acgeansctlements between 3000 and 2000 8c How did setlements in these regions on the margin ifr from urban settlements inven basins? ‘+ 2000 nex Stonehenge conse isthe madery United Kingdon + 2500 ce Fore villages in Aegeen