Foundations 14% of the AP Exam

Climate
Climate has been a major factor in determining where people settled. Peopled settled in areas that has climates that would
accommodate agriculture and livestock.
Time Periods
The Paleolithic Age refers to about 12,000 BC. During this time people were nomadic.
The Neolithic Age refers to the age from about 12,000 BC to about 8000 BC. It is during this time that people settled in
communities and civilization began to emerge.
River Valley Civilizations refers to about 3500 to 1500 BC. The major River Valleys are described below.
Classical Civilizations refers to about 1000 BC to 600 CE. The major civilizations to emerge were Zhou and Han China,
Greece and Rome, and the Gupta Empire.

THE RIVER-VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Each early civilization developed its own unique ways of life, but they all shared some common characteristics
Complex irrigation systems
legal codes
money
art and written literature
More formal scientific knowledge, numbering systems, and calendars
Intensification of social inequality
COMPARISONS OF EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
CULTURE

POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Cuneiform;
Extensive trade with Egypt
and the Indus Valley
Epic of Gilgamesh
City-states and warrior kings
Job specialization - farmers, metallurgist,
Early use of bronze tools,
merchants, craftsmen, political
chariots
Advanced astronomy; math Hammurabi's Code
administrators, priests;
MESOPOTAMIA
Social classes;
based on 60
(developed by
Pessimistic view of world, Competition among city states as
3500 BCE)
perhaps due to irregular,
well as frequent invasions led to Marriage contracts, veils for women;
women of upper classes less equal than
unpredictable flooding of the less political stability than in
Egypt
lower class counterparts
rivers
Polytheism - gods powerful
and often cruel
Kings powerful, but not
divine
Concerned with decorative
Smaller nobility than Mesopotamia; fewer
Divine kingship - the pharaoh;
arts, shipbuilding, some
merchants
highly centralized, authoritarian
medical knowledge
Some social mobility through the
government
Less advanced in math and
bureaucracy
astronomy than
Priests have high status (only ones who
Generally stable government
EGYPT(developed
Mesopotamians
understand the complex hieroglyphic
throughout the 3 kingdoms
by 3000 BCE)
written language)
Less extensive trade,
especially in earlier eras
Women - probably higher status than in
Extensive bureaucracy; pharaoh's
Polytheism, with pharaoh as
Mesopotamia; love poetry indicates some
power channeled through
a god
importance placed on male/female
regional governors
relationships
Optimistic view of life

(regular, controllable
flooding of the river)
Strong belief in the afterlife;
Book of the Dead
Hieroglyphics - complex,
pictorial language
Writing system only recently
decipherable
Soapstone seals that indicate
trade with both
Mesopotamians and China
pottery making with bulls
and long-horned cattle a
Assumed to be complex and
INDUS VALLEY frequent motif
thought to be centralized
(developed by
Small figurines of women Limited information, but large
2500 BCE)
Cruder weapons than
granaries near the cities indicate
Mesopotamians - stone
centralized control
arrowheads, no swords
Polytheism - naked man with
horns the primary god;
fertility goddesses
Two cities: Harappa and
Mohenjo-Dara
Oracles bones used to
communicate with ancestors
Pattern on bones formed
basis for writing system;
writing highly valued,
complex pictorial language
Centralized government, power
with 3000 characters by end
in the hands of the emperor
of dynasty
SHANG CHINA
Uniform written language
(developed by
Government preoccupied with
became bond among people
1700 BCE)
flood control of the rivers Job
who spoke many different
specialization - bureaucrats,
languages
farmers, slaves
Bronze weapons and tools,
horse-drawn chariots
Geographical separation
from other civilizations,
though probably traded with
the Indus Valley
Olmecs in Mesoamerica:
Highly developed
astronomy; used to predict
agricultural cycles and
Olmecs: apparently not united
please the gods
politically; unusual for ancient
MESO AND
Polytheism; religious rituals civilizations
SOUTH
important, shamans as
AMERICA
healers
Chavin: probably political
(developed by
Ritual ballgames
unification; public works
1200 BCE)
Irrigation and drainage
operated by reciprocal labor
canals
obligations; had a capital city
Giant carved stone heads;
probably with religious
significance

One female pharaoh - Hatshepsut

Influential wife of pharaoh - Nefertiti

Priests have highest status, based on

position as intermediaries between gods
and people
Differences in house sizes indicate strong
class distinctions
Statues reflects reverence for female
reproductive function

Social classes - warrior aristocrats,

bureaucrats, farmers, slaves
Patriarchal society; women as wives and
concubines; women were sometimes
shamans

Olmec: craft specializations; priests have

highest status; most people were farmers
Chavin: Priests have highest status;
capital city dominated the hinterlands;
most people were farmers

Jaguar symbol important

Chavin in Andean region:
Polytheism; statues of jaguar
men
Square stone architecture, no
mortar
Well-developed agriculture
based on maize
Unique geography: lived on
coast, in mountains, and in
jungle
Economic Systems
Type of System
Agricultural societies
cultivate crops
8,000 BCE

Types of technology developed rate of

technological development
domestication of plants and animals
iron tools
writing systems
constant development

Pastoral societies
domestication of horses and camels
domesticated animals
8,000 BCE
Foraging societies hunting
baskets for gathering and storing and
and gathering
hunting tools
35,000 BCE

Main geographic locations

river valleys in Mesopotamia, Nile River valley,
India, China, MesoAmerica, Andes

steppes, grasslands, deserts, mountain ranges

everywhere until sedentary agricultural societies
and then empires took over the most fertile areas

Classical Civilizations

COMMON FEATURES OF CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS

The three areas of classical civilizations developed their own beliefs, lifestyles, political institutions, and social
structures. However, there were important similarities among them:

Patriarchal family structures - Like the river valley civilizations that preceded them, the classical civilization valued
male authority within families, as well as in most other areas of life.
Agricultural-based economies - Despite more sophisticated and complex job specialization, the most common
occupation in all areas was farming.
Complex governments - Because they were so large, these three civilizations had to invent new ways to keep their
lands together politically. Their governments were large and complex, although they each had unique ways of
governing
Expanding trade base - Their economic systems were complex. Although they generally operated independently, trade
routes connected them by both land and sea.
CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS
Culture
Most enduring influences come from
Athens:
Valued education, placed emphasis on
Greece
importance of human effort, human
(about
ability to shape future events
800-300
Interest in political theory: which form
BCE)
of government is best?
Celebration of human individual
achievement and the ideal human form

Political Organization
No centralized government; concept of
polis, or a fortified site that formed the
centers of many city states
Governing styles varied (Sparta a
military state, Athens eventually a
democracy for adult males)
Athens government first dominated by
tyrants, or strong rulers who gained
power from military prowess; later

Social Structure
Slavery widely practiced
Men separated from women in
military barracks until age 30;
women had relative freedom;
women in Sparta encouraged to
be physically fit so as to have
healthy babies; generally better
treated and more equal to men

Philosophy and science emphasized the

use of logic
Highly developed form of sculpture,
literature, math, written language, and
record keeping
Polytheism, with gods having very
human characteristics
Cities relatively small
Great seafaring skills, centered around
Aegean, but traveling around entire
Mediterranean area
Perfection of military techniques:
conquer but don't oppress; division of
army into legions, emphasizing
organization and rewarding military
Rome
(about 500 talent
Art, literature, philosophy, science
BCE to
476 CE, derivative from Greece
although Superb engineering and architecture
techniques; extensive road, sanitation
eastern
systems; monumental architecture half
continued buildings, aqueducts, bridges
Polytheism, derivative from Greeks,
for
another but religion not particularly important
thousand to the average Roman; Christianity
developed during Empire period, but
years)
not dominant until very late
Great city of Rome - buildings, arenas,
design copied in smaller cities
Confucianism developed during late
Zhou; by Han times, it dominated the
political and social structure.
Legalism and Daoism develop during
same era.
Buddhism appears, but not influential
yet
Threats from nomads from the south
and west spark the first construction of
China
the Great Wall; clay soldiers, lavish
(about 500
tomb for first emperor Shi Huangdi
BCE to
Chinese identity cemented during Han
600 CE)
era: the "Han" Chinese
Han - a "golden age" with prosperity
from trade along the Silk Road;
inventions include water mills, paper,
compasses, and pottery and silkmaking; calendar with 365.5 days
Capital of Xi'an possibly the most
sophisticated, diverse city in the world
at the time; many other large cities
Aryan religious stories written down
into Vedas, and Hinduism became the
India
dominant religion, although Buddhism
began in India during this era;

came to be ruled by an assembly of free than women in Athens

men who made political decisions.
Athens encouraged equality for
Both Athens and Sparta developed
free males, but women and
strong military organizations and
slaves had little freedom. Neither
established colonies around the
group allowed to participate in
Mediterranean. Sparta theoretically
polis affairs.
equal; wealth accumulation not allowed Social status dependent on land
holdings and cultural
sophistication

Basic division between

patricians (aristocrats) and
Two eras:
plebeians (free farmers),
Republic - rule by aristocrats, with
although a middle class of
some power shared with assemblies;
merchants grew during the
Senate most powerful, with two consuls
empire; wealth based on land
chosen to rule, generally selected from
ownership; gap between rich and
the military
poor grew with time
Empire - non-hereditary emperor;
Paterfamilias - male dominated
technically chosen by Senate, but
family structure
generally chosen by predecessor
Patron-client system with rich
Extensive colonization and military
supervising elaborate webs of
conquest during both eras
people that owe favors to them
Development of an overarching set of
Inequality increased during the
laws, restrictions that all had to obey;
empire, with great dependence
Roman law sets in place principle of
on slavery during the late
rule of law, not rule by whim of the
empire; slaves used in
political leader
households, mines, large estates,
all kinds of manual labor
Zhou - emperor rules by mandate of
heaven, or belief that dynasties rise and
fall according to the will of heaven, or
the ancestors. Emperor was the "son of
heaven."

Family basic unit of society,

with loyalty and obedience
stressed
Wealth generally based on land
ownership; emergence of scholar
gentry
Emperor housed in the forbidden city, Growth of a large merchant
separate from all others
class, but merchants generally
lower status than scholarbureaucrats
Political authority controlled by
Confucian values, with emperor in full Big social divide between rural
control but bound by duty
and urban, with most wealth
Political power centralized under Shi concentrated in cities
Huangdi - often seen as the first real
Some slavery, but not as much
emperor
as in Rome
Han - strong centralized government, Patriarchal society reinforced by
supported by the educated shi (scholar Confucian values that
bureaucrats who obtained positions
emphasized obedience of wife to
through civil service exams)
husband
Lack of political unity - geographic
barriers and diversity of people; tended
to fragment into small kingdoms;
political authority less important than

Complex social hierarchy based

on caste membership (birth
groups called jati); occupations
strictly dictated by caste

Mauryans Buddhist, Guptas Hindu

caste membership and group
Great epic literature such as the
allegiances
Ramayana and Mahabarata
Mauryan and Gupta Empires formed
Extensive trade routes within
based on military conquest; Mauryan
subcontinent and with others;
Emperor Ashoka seen as greatest;
connections to Silk Road, and heart of converted to Buddhism, kept the
Indian Ocean trade; coined money for religion alive
trade
"theater state" techniques used during
So-called Arabic numerals developed in Gupta - grand palace and court to
India, employing a 10-based system
impress all visitors, conceal political
weakness

Earlier part of time period women had property rights

Decline in the status of women
during Gupta, corresponding to
increased emphasis on
acquisition and inheritance of
property; ritual of sati for
wealthy women ( widow
cremates herself in her husband's
funeral pyre)

The Silk Road - This overland route extended from western China, across Central Asia, and finally to the Mediterranean area.
Chinese silk was the most desired commodity, but the Chinese were willing to trade it for other goods, particularly for horses
from Central Asia. There was no single route, but it consisted of a series of passages with common stops along the way. Major
trade towns appeared along the way where goods were exchanged. No single merchant traveled the entire length of the road,
but some products (particularly silk) did make it from one end to the other.
The Indian Ocean Trade - This important set of water routes became even more important in later eras, but the Indian Ocean
Trade was actively in place during the classical era. The trade had three legs: one connected eastern Africa and the Middle East
with India; another connected India to Southeast Asia; and the final one linked Southeast Asia to the Chinese port of Canton.
Saharan Trade - This route connected people that lived south of the Sahara to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The
Berbers, nomads who traversed the desert, were the most important agents of trade. They carried goods in camel caravans, with
Cairo at the mouth of the Nile River as the most important destination. There they connected to other trade routes, so that Cairo
became a major trade center that linked many civilizations together.
Sub-Saharan Trade - This trade was probably inspired by the Bantu migration, and by the end of the classical era people south
of the Sahara were connect to people in the eastern and southern parts of Africa. This trade connected to the Indian Ocean trade
along the eastern coast of Africa, which in turn connected the people of sub-Saharan Africa to trade centers in Cairo and India.
Fall of Civilizations
Recall that all of the river-valley civilization areas experienced significant decline and/or conquest in the time period around
1200 BCE. A similar thing happened to the classical civilizations between about 200 and 600 CE, and because the empires
were larger and more connected, their fall had an even more significant impact on the course of world history. Han China was
the first to fall (around 220 CE), then the Western Roman Empire (476 CE), and finally the Gupta in 550 CE.
SIMILARITIES
Several common factors caused all three empires to fall:
Attacks from the Huns - The Huns were a nomadic people of Asia that began to migrate south and west during this
time period. Their migration was probably caused by drought and lack of pasture, and the invention and use of the
stirrup facilitated their attacks on all three established civilizations.
Deterioration of political institutions - All three empires were riddled by political corruption during their latter days,
and all three suffered under weak-willed rulers. Moral decay also characterized the years prior to their respective falls.
Protection/maintenance of borders - All empires found that their borders had grown so large that their military had
trouble guarding them. A primary example is the failure of the Great Wall to keep the Huns out of China. The Huns
generally just went around it.
Diseases that followed the trade routes - Plagues and epidemics may have killed off as much as half of the population
of each empire.
DIFFERENCES
Even though the empires shared common reasons for their declines, some significant differences also may be seen.
The Gupta's dependence on alliances with regional princes broke down, exhibiting the tendency toward political
fragmentation on the Indian subcontinent.
Rome's empire lasted much longer than did either of the other two. The Roman Empire also split in two, and the
eastern half endured for another 1000 years after the west fell.
The fall of empire affected the three areas in different ways. The fall of the Gupta probably had the least impact, partly
because political unity wasn't the rule anyway, and partly because the traditions of Hinduism and the caste system (the
glue that held the area together) continued on after the empire fell. The fall of the Han Dynasty was problematic for
China because strong centralized government was in place, and social disorder resulted from the loss of authority.
However, dynastic cycles that followed the dictates of the Mandate of Heaven were well defined in China, and the

Confucian traditions continued to give coherence to Chinese society. The most devastating fall of all occurred in
Rome. Roman civilization depended almost exclusively on the ability of the government and the military to control
territory. Even though Christianity emerged as a major religion, it appeared so late in the life of the empire that it
provided little to unify people as Romans after the empire fell. Instead, the areas of the empire fragmented into small
parts and developed unique characteristics, and the Western Roman Empire never united again.
COMMON CONSEQUENCES
The fall of the three empires had some important consequences that represent major turning points in world history:
Trade was disrupted but survived, keeping intact the trend toward increased long-distance contact. Trade on the Indian
Ocean even increased as conflict and decline of political authority affected overland trade.
The importance of religion increased as political authority decreased. In the west religion, particularly Christianity,
was left to slowly develop authority in many areas of people's lives. Buddhism also spread quickly into China,
presenting itself as competition to Confucian traditions.
Political disunity in the Middle East forged the way for the appearance of a new religion in the 7th century. By 600 CE
Islam was in the wings waiting to make its entrance onto the world stage.
Compare causes for collapse of empires including role of
nomads
Han Dynasty, 300 BCE - 300 CE
imperial expansion beyond military control, especially pressure
of Xiung Nu nomadic groups
Roman Empire, 100 BCE - 471 CE
imperial expansion beyond military control, especially pressure
of Hun nomadic groups

Results of collapse
period of disunity; rise of Buddhism; continuation of
Confucian bureaucratic model; Sui and then Tang dynasty
rise of Christianity; creation of Byzantine empire; feudalism
in Latin West; rise of Arab caliphates

MAJOR MIGRATIONS
Phoenicians - By about 2000 BCE this small group of seafaring people from a coastal area of the eastern
Mediterranean Sea had set up colonies in North Africa and southern Europe. Pressured by both lack of space in their
homeland and desire for prosperity from trade, the Phoenicians traveled widely over the entire Mediterranean area.
To facilitate their trading, they simplified the cuneiform system, producing an alphabet with 22 characters that was
far easier to learn and use. Not only did the Phoenicians spread their maritime skills, but their alphabet became the
basis fo alphabets in Greece, Rome, and eventually for many modern languages.
Israelites - According to Judaism, the Israelites actually originated about 2000 BCE in the Mesopotamian city of Ur
with the founder of the religion, Abraham. Abraham and his family migrated to the eastern Mediterranean, where
they settled in a land they called Canaan. The Jews were distinctly different from other people of the area because
they were monotheistic, believing in only one god. They later migrated to Egypt to escape a spreading drought.
There they became slaves, and under their leader Moses, they returned to Canaan where they eventually formed the
kingdom of Israel. The Jewish religion greatly influenced the people that they contacted, although it did not actively
encourage conversion of non-Jews. Jewish beliefs and traditional stories were written down and later became basic
to Christianity and Islam. The religion stressed the importance of prayer, worship, and good behavior &endash;
tenets that have become characteristic of many other monotheistic religions.
Aryans - These herding peoples originated in the Caucasus area, but they began migrating in many directions about
the mid 2nd millennium BCE. Waves of Aryan migrants invaded the Indian subcontinent, decimating the cities of
the Indus Valley. The Aryans remained a nomadic people for many years, but eventually pushed eastward, settling
in the fertile Ganges River area as agriculturalists. The Aryans imposed their caste system on the natives, a complex
social structure with strict social status differences and virtually no social mobility. Their stories also became the
basis for Hinduism.
Huns 300-400s C.E.; originated in the Gobi Desert (China) and moved to what we now call Hungary; Pushed the
natives out and the natives (Goths) started to move into Roman Empire. Attila the Hun invaded Gaul (France) in
451, but they were pushed back. They then invaded Rome in 453, but Attila died and the Hun Empire quickly
collapsed.
Germanic Peoples found from the Black Sea to the Rhine.
In 476, Odoacer, a Visigoth, officially became the leader of Rome.

Basic features of major world belief systems

BELIEF
BASIC FEATURES, INCLUDING GENDER ROLES
MAJOR AREAS
SYSTEMS
belief in a number of deities that can be anthromorphic or
Polytheism
everywhere
related to the non-human world
Five Relationships
Confucianism
East Asia
Mandate of Heaven
Yin-Yang, Dualism in Nature, People part of the balance in
Daoism
East Asia
Nature
Greek philosophy; trade and common culture throughout
Hellenism
Mediterranean
Mediterranean
science and technology developments at Alexandria -- Library
caste system
multiple expressions of deities
Hinduism
South and Southeast Asia
emphasis on ritual prayer
sacred texts
Four Noble Truths
South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast
Buddhism
Eight-Fold Path
Asia
Judaism
Christianity

Islam

monotheistic, emphasis on daily prayer,

sacred text -- Torah
monotheistic
Jesus Christ as savior
Gospels, emphasis on saints
monotheistic
Mohammad as prophet
Qu'ran, Sufi emphasis on saints
Sunni, Sh'ia split

Mediterranean world
Mediterranean world and then expansion into
Latin West, areas controlled by Byzantines,
Ethiopia, India
Arabian peninsula, Mediterranean world then
expansion into Islamic Spain, Persia, India,
North Africa, Sudanic Africa

Class/Social Systems:
social structures a
The caste system in
Indian subcontinent

Major slave systems

Confucian social
hierarchy

Social stratification
Family structure
Major castes:
brahmin -- priests
patriarchal and
merchants
patrilineal
farmers
untouchables
Slaves could not be citizens in
ancient Greece or Rome.
Under Islam, the
Slaves under Islam could become
mother's status
free if they converted.
determined if the
In all agricultural societies, slavery or
child was free or
serfdom was a common last resort for
slave.
farmers in debt or in need of military
protection.
Rulers -- hereditary unless
overthrown and challenger gains
"mandate of heaven"
Civil servants selected by
patriarchal and
examination (this system is begun
patrilineal
during the Han dynasty)
Farmers
Craftspeople

Roles of women
ideal: wife and mother
but their labor was needed for agricultural
work and domestic industries
Rare cases of women rulers.
Female slaves were usually for domestic
work, but in large empires female slaves
might be brought in the household of the
elite to bear children. Under Islam, the
mother's status determined if the child was
free or slave.

ideal: wife and mother but their labor was

needed for agricultural work and domestic
industries.
Rare cases of women rulers. (e.g. Empress
Wu during the Tang dynasty)

Merchants
Roman Catholic Church for Latin
West (remember -- power of
sacrament)
Rulers (lords/kings)
Patriarchal family
knights
structures and trends in serfs
Latin West and
merchants in cities
Byzantium
Byzantine emperors and Orthodox
patriarch
merchants
peasants
slave soldiers (Mamluks)
head of clan, tribe, lineage
Pastoral groups and
shepherds, horse, yak, llama, and
other non-urban
camel breeders and trainers
societies
craftspeople
(some Bantu)
slaves

patriarchal and
patrilineal

ideal: wife and mother but their labor was

needed for agricultural work and domestic
industries.
Rare cases of women rulers.

combination of
matriarchal and
patriarchal
matrileneal and
patrileneal

Women included in political decisionmaking and major economic activities,

including war sometimes

Diverse interpretations
What are the issues involved in using civilization as an organizing principle in world history?
This is a very politically correct topic. Civilization is a western word that is defined as having: 1) a food producing based
that generated surpluses, 2) an increase in population, 3) specialization of labor, 4) a social hierarchy, 5) growth of trade, 6)
centralization of political and religious authority, 7) monumental building, and 8) the development of writing and written records.
Many historians would suggest that a better way of organizing world history is through studying human creativity.
Civilization often implies superiority. Not all settled agricultural societies had monumental architecture or writing systems, so
they appear to be "lesser" than those that did.
What is the most common source of change: connection or diffusion versus independent invention?
Major question: do civilizations develop major ideas on their own (pyramids in Egypt, ziggurats in Mesopotamia, and
temples in Mayan Empire) or do they get their ideas because they had been exposed to them elsewhere.
Once trading networks and missionaries travel, there's almost constant connections that lead to diffusion. Independent
inventions often happened before 1000 C.E. when humans were isolated geographically from each other.
Major comparison and snapshots:
Compare development of
political systems, trade
systems, and migrations in
major early civilizations

Major similarities

Major differences

Indian king linked to Braham religious

Compare Indian compared with traditions that say the ruler is a god-king
Chinese political traditions and Chinese rulers, "son of heaven", dependent
institutions
on gaining and keeping the mandate of
heaven
environmental causes for migration or
Compare The role of nomadic attacks:
groups in Central Asia with
population density made Bantu move south
The impact of Bantu migrations and east
in Africa
drought or cold made Xiungnu/Huns move
south or west
Compare trans-Saharan trading
system with the Silk Road

dependent on the role of trading cities

land-based

the Bantu migration displaced

foraging groups and continued
creating new, small density of
agricultural settlements.
Central Asia nomads caused
Chinese ruling elites and Roman
ruling elites to lose political power.
trans-Saharan: periphery of AfroEurasian trade networks

trading system

Compare Indian Ocean with

East European trading system

luxury, non-perishable trade goods:

porcelain, silk, gold, salt
Silk Road: heart of Afro-Eurasian
slaves commonly traded
trade networks, therefore more
dependent on camel and horse transporation goods and people involved
Muslim merchants prominen
Indian Ocean: more extensive sea
routes, more technological
dependent on the role of trading cities
both centered around major bodies of water: developments with shipbuilding,
use of compass from Sung China,
Indian Ocean and Black Sea
more extensive exchange of goods
slaves commonly traded
and ideas, not dominated by any one
syncretism:
Indian Ocean -- Swahili as trading language, political or religious group
mix of religions in port cities
East European -- Vikings used Byzantine
East European -- dominated by
coins and Orthodox Christianity adopted by Byzantine Christians though others
Russians
were allowed to participate by
paying tribute