Asia

before
Europe:
Empire,
Trade,

Early state and society in

southwest Asia
State

formation in
early southwest Asia
Economy
States
Politics and society

-7000-3000 BC: villages grew

into cities in Sumeria
-3000-2500 BC: city states est
in Sumeria
-1600 BC: Hittite Empire
expanded into Mesopotamia
-1100-700 BC: Phoenicians
dominant in intl trade
-1020-930 BC: Hebrew
Kingdom united monarchy
-800-720 BC: Assyrian Empire
expands and conquers
northern Hebrew kingdom of
Israel
-587 BC: Babylonian Empire
conquered Judah
-550-538 BC: Persian Empire
conquered Babylonia, Jewish

Southwest Asia: intellectual

advances
Written

script

Record

preservation
Elite education
Epic poetry
Geometry
Mathematics

Western Asian Empires:

Babylon, Assyria, Persia

Central Eurasia to 1795

Diverse

cultures

Shamanism, Christianity, Buddhism,

Islam, Zoroastrianism, Animism,

localized worship
Turkic, Mongolian, Scythian, Persian,
Tibetan
Literature: epic poetry, oral folk
literature
Economy
Pastoralism: mobility versus possessions

Central Eurasian Politics,

warfare, and diplomacy
Mobile

society

Mobility v. loyalty
Small bands: separation and retreat
Conflict resolution: warfare, separation,

alliance
Government

and state

Warrior elites: war booty as payment for

loyalty
Personalized politics
Social units: family, tribe, clan,

Central Eurasian Politics,

warfare, and diplomacy

Nomadic warfare
Constant need for self-defense
Needs for loot: luxury, slaves, tools, foods
mobility and strategic retreat
Invasion: Mongols

Diplomacy
tribute exchanges

Cycles of state formation and dissolution

Expansion of settled zone nomadic consolidation

Fragmentation of settled zone nomadic

dispersion settled zone consolidates again for
security defense cycle starts again

States and cultures in East

Asia, 800-1400
Medieval

China

Song era economic growth

Global trade in tea
Arts and literature
sciences
Rule by Confucianism
Yuan Mongol rule

Japan
Korea