Strayer: Chapter 6: Commonalities and Variations (Africa and the Americas)

Moche

-250 mile stretch of Peru's northern coast and incorporating thirteen river valleys -economy was based on a complex irrigation system, requiring constant maintenance -governed by warrior-priests -ritual sacrifice -the immense wealth of this warrior-priest elite and the exquisite artistry of Moche craftsmen are reflected in the elaborate burials accorded the rulers. -Moche world derived from the superb skill of their craftspeople -drought, earthquakes, and occasional torrential rains associated with El Nino episodes

Niger River Valley Civilizations

-Among the most distinctive feathers of the Niger Vally civilization was the apparent absence of a corresponding state structure -Niger urban centers were not encompasses within some larger imperial system. Nor were they like the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia -Jenne-jeno and other cities of the region emerged as clusters of economically specialized settlements surrounding a larger central town.The earliest and most prestigious of these specialized occupations was iron smithing -there were eventual occupational castes -job specialization also in food production

Civilizations of the Andes (Heading)

-Bleak deserts -enormously rich marine environment, plenty of food -Afforded numerous distinct ecological niches, depending on altitude -Had access to the various resources of different environments through colonization, conquest or trade -Incas

Similarities of the Mayans and Greeks

-City states -Frequent warfare with neighbors -Polytheism -A noble class -Monumental architecture -Written language -Artistic expression

MQ 7: What Features of the Moche Life Characterized it as a Civilization?

-Dominated 250 mile stretch of Peru's northern coast -Incorporated 13 river valleys -Flourished for 700 in 100 C.E. -Economy routed in complex irrigation system that required constant maintenance -Politically civ. was governed by warrior priests elite who sometimes lived atop huge pyramids years beginning -Artist skills were remarkable and reflected in the elaborate burials given to rulers. -Renowned for: metalworking, pottery, weaving, and painting

Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom

-Highly productive on agriculture for economic reasons -A center of monumental building and royal patronage for the arts -To the Romans, Axum was the third major empire within the world they knew, following their own and the Persian Empire -Axum mounted a campaign of imperial expansion that took its forces into the kingdom of Meroë -Decline due to partly environmental changes, such as soil exhaustion, erosion, and deforestation -With their long-distance trading connections, urban centers, centralized states, complex societies, monumental architecture, written languages, and imperial ambitions, both Meroë and Axum paralleled on a smaller scale the major features of the second-wave civilizations of Eurasia. -Both were in direct contact with the world of Mediterranean civilizations

MQ 6: What Kind of Influence Did Chavin Exert in the Andes Region?

-Imitated in the region: ~Architecture, sculpture, pottery, religious images, painted textiles -Pilgrimage site -Possible training site for initiates from distant corners of the region -Temples were remodeled to resemble those of Chavin as far as 3 weeks away via llama caravan ( in many cases with locally inspired variations) -Chavin religious cult provided for the first time and for several centuries economic and cultural integration to much of the Peruvian Andes

MQ 1: Similarities and Differences Among Three Major Continents of the World

-Initially all three had gatherers and hunters -All had independent agricultural revolutions that occurred at different times -All developed civilization in regions where agriculture took hold -All developed civilizations independently (America and Africa fewer in # and smaller) -Populations of Africa and the Americas were much smaller than Eurasia -While Africa and Eurasia exchanged ideas, crops, and animals, the Americas were completely isolated -Metallurgy in the Americas was less developed than in Eurasia

Maya: Writing and Warfare

-Many cultural achievements -Intellectuals, probably priests, developed a mathematical system -Created elaborate writing system using pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements -Agriculture sustained substantial elite classes -Achievements took place within a highly fragmented political system of city states, local land lords, and regional kingdoms with no central authority, with frequent warfare -Larger units of Maya civilization were densely populated urban and ceremonial centers -Civilizations rose and fell -Deforestation and the erosion of hillsides -Frequent warfare

MQ 2: How did the History of Meroë and Axum Reflect Interaction with Neighboring Civilizations?

-Meroe's wealth and military power were in part derived from trade -Axum became a large state in part to its participation in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean commerce and the taxes that flowed from this commerce -Meroe and Axum both created their own distinct writing -Meroitic script eventually took the place of Egyptian style writing -Axum's script, Geez, was derived from South Arabian models -Axum adopted Christianity from the Roman world in the fourth century C.E., primarily through Egyptian influence. -The region once controlled by Meroe also adopted Christianity in the 340's following Meroe's decline.

MQ 5: In What Ways Did Teotihuacan Shape the History of Mesoamerica?

-Military conquests brought many regions into its political orbit and made it a presence in the Maya Civilization -Center of a large trade network -Architectural and artistic styles of the city were imitated across Mesoamerica

Meroë (Nubian)

-Nubian civilization came to center on the southern city of Meroë -Represented the continuation of an old African/Nubian civilization -Governed by an all powerful monarch, held together by 10 women -The city and other urban centers housed a wide variety of economic specialities -Had people who practiced some combination of herding and farming -state authorities were required to supervise an irrigation system -the wealth and military power of Meroë derived in part from extensive long distance trading connections -Reputation for great riches in the world -Kingdom declined due to deforestation

MQ 8: What Was the Significance of Wari and Tiwanaku in the History of Andean Civilization?

-Political integration and common cultural traits for the entire Andean region -Culture: Styles of pottery and textiles spread well beyond their region that was under their direct political control -The Inca drew upon their imperial model -The Inca also used similar statecraft to build their empire -The Inca also used similar styles of dress and artistic impression -The Inca claimed Tiwanaku as their place of origin

Similarities and Differences civilization of Africa's and the America's

-Similiarities: ~Agricultural societies ~Social hierarchies ~Patriarchies ~Urban centers ~Monumental architecture ~All ultimately collapsed -Differences: ~Those in Northwest and North Africa borrowed from their Eurasian neighbors ~The Niger river valley civilization developed large urban centers without formal states ~The Maya developed writing ~Maya and Moche practiced human sacrifice

Geographic and Cultural Meaning of Mesoamerica

-Stretches from Central Mexico to Northern Central America -Distinct region bound together by distinct elements of a common culture: ~Intensive agricultural technology ~Based their economies on market exchange ~Practiced religion based on a similar collection of male and female dieties ~Time as a cosmic cycle of creation and destruction ~Ritual calendar of 260 days, ~Human sacrifice ~Monumental ceremonial centers ~Hieroglyphic writing

Teotihuacan: America's greatest city

-The largest urban complex in the Americas at the time and one of the six largest in the world. -Religious and art influenced -The art of Teotihuacan, unlike the Maya, has revealed few images of self-glorifying rulers or individuals. Nor did the city have a tradition of written public inscriptions as the Maya did, although a number of characters indicate t least a limited form of writing. -Huge. 10,000 square miles -Possible long distance trade

MQ 9: In What Ways Did the Arrival of the Bantu-speaking Peoples Stimulate Cross-cultural Interaction?

-They brought agriculture and iron to the regions of Africa south of the equator -This enabled larger numbers of people to live in a smaller area than was possible before their arrival -Brought parasitic and infectious diseases that the hunting and gathering people had little immunity -Many Bantu languages have the distinctive "clicks" in their local dialects that they adopted from the now extinct hunting peoples -Bantu peoples exchanged with the forest dwelling Batwa (pygmies) -Batwa adopted Bantu languages while maintaining a non-agricultural lifestyle and a separate identity

MQ 3: How Does the Experience of the Niger Valley Challenge Conventional Notions of "Civilization"?

-Witnessed creation of larger cities with the apparent absence of corresponding state structure -The cities were not: like the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia, nor were they encompassed within some larger imperial system -Resembled: Most closely early cities of the Indus valley civilization, complex urban centers operated without the coercive authority of a centralized state

Society and Religion

-agricultural Bantu-speaking peoples also created a wide variety of quite distinct societies and cultures. -developed gender systems, less patriarchal -Placed less emphasis on a high or creator of god, who has viewed as remote and largely uninvolved in ordinary life and focused instead on ancestral or nature spirits -predicated the possibility of constantly receiving new messages from the world beyond. -bantu religions were geographically confined

Chavin

-became the focus of a religious movement that soon swept through both coastal and highland Peru, aided by its strategic location on trade routes -Clear distinction between elite class and ordinary people -Artwork suggests influences from both the desert coastal region and the rain forests -Became a pilgrimage sight -no empire

Wari and Tiwanaku

-empires of both provided a measure of political integration and cultural commonality for the entire Andean region -Wari in north, Tiwanaku. in south -both were centered in large urban capitals, governments collected surplus food in the warehouses as an insurance against times of drought and famine, empires established colonies at lower elevations on the eastern and western slopes of the Andes as well as throughout the highlands -neither state controlled a continuous band of territory -spoke their own language -both collapsed, cities abandoned Wari: -agriculture employed an elaborate system of hillside terracing and irrigation, using snow melt form the Andes -tombs and temples were built of filed stone set in mud mortar and covered with smooth plaster -seemed built to a common plan and linked to the capital by a network of highways Tiwanaku: -highly productive farming economy, utilized a "raised field" system in which artificially elevated planting surfaces in swampy areas were separated by small irrigation canals. -Became famous for its elaborately fitted stone walls and buildings

Bantu Africa (Heading)

-the most significant development during the second-wave era involved the accelerating movement of Bantu-speaking peoples into the enormous subcontinent -Bantu expansion was a slow movement of peoples, perhaps a few extended families at a time, but taken as a whole, it brought to Africa south of the equator a measure of cultural and linguistic commonality, making it as a distinct region of the continent

Cultural encounters

-the movement of peoples also generated numerous cross-cultural encounters -Bantu speaking farmers had numerous advantages -Batwa people "forest specialist" produced materials which entered regional trading networks in exchange for the agricultural products of their Bantu neighbors -Bantu speaking farmers created chiefdoms -Bantu cultures changed as they encountered different peoples

Civilizations of Mesoamerica (Heading)

Achievements occurred without the large domesticated animals or iron-working technologies that were so important throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. Environment ranged from steamy lowland rain forests to cold and windy highland plateaus, cut by numerous mountains and valleys and generating many microclimates, contributing to substantial linguistic and ethnic diversity and to many distinct and competing cities, chiefdoms, and states. Bound together by common culture. Its people shared an intensive agricultural technology devoted to raising maize, beans, chili peppers, and squash. Employed common ritual calendar and hieroglyphic writing

Bingham: Comparisons between developments in Africa and the Americas.

Americas in General: more stable environment, no iron, no domestic animals (besides llama) or sustainable crop (had to engineer maize), small settlements, little interaction, revered nature Africa in General: linked to Eurasian world, less conducive farming environment, iron, domestic animals and nutritious domestic plants, lots of widespread interaction/trade of culture and agriculture (think Bantu), unified by similar languages

How does the Bantu religion compare and contrast to major Eurasian religions?

Contrasts: - Generally, the Bantu people placed less emphasis on a Supernatural or All Encompassing God, whereas an omnipotent God is present and is a major focus in Eurasian religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. - There was a popular belief that angry witches were the reason why bad things happened to people in the Bantu community, whereas in Hinduism and Buddhism, bad things happened due to karma and your actions in your past life. - The Bantu people believed in "continuous revelation" meaning new messages from the supernatural world could constantly be received, whereas in major monotheistic religions they had "once and for all" revelations from God.(Bible, Quran, and Torah) - The Bantu religion had no desire to be universal, so it was geographically confined unlike Christianity which had strong evangelical impulses Comparisons: - Both the Bantus and the Chinese placed high honor and power in their ancestral spirits. - The Bantu religion and Daoism placed a similar emphasis on the natural world rather than the supernatural world.

Continental Comparisons

Gathering and hunting long remained the sole basis for sustaining life and society in Eurasia, Africa, and Americas Eurasia was home to more than 80 percent of the world's people, Africa about 11 percent, and the Americas about 6 percent

Civilizations of Africa (Heading)

Many differences grew out of the continent's environmental variations small regions of the mediterranean climate int he northern and southern extremes, large deserts, even larger regions of savanna grasslands, tropical rain forest in the continent's center, highlands and mountains in eastern africa, combined with the continent's enormous size, ensured endless variation among Africa's many people Distinctive environmental feature: Bisected by the equator, it was the most tropical Spawned many disease-carrying insects and parasite

MQ10: In what ways were the histories of the Ancestral Pueblo and the Mound Builders similar to each other, and how did they differ?

Similarities: 1) Both had a wide and loose network of exchange 2) Agriculture was based off of crops in Mexico, such as maize and corn - advancements in architecture - urban centers - established social inequality - semi-sedentary -focused on astronomy Differences: 1) The Mound Builders hosted an independent Agricultural Revolution 2) While the Ancestral Pueblo originally built below the ground, the Mound Builders built above the ground 3) Mound Builders had larger settlements after corn-based agriculture 4) The Mound Builders came from a long history of mound-building, whereas the Ancestral Pueblo was a start-up culture -Pueblo (Chaco) had more direct contact with Mexico

Bingham: In what ways did the arrival of Bantu-speaking peoples stimulate cross-cultural interaction?

The Bantu-speaking peoples brought agriculture to regions of Africa south of the equator, enabling larger numbers of people to live in a smaller area than was possible before their arrival. They brought parasitic and infectious diseases, to which the gathering and hunting peoples had little immunity. They also brought iron. Many Bantu languages of southern Africa retain to this day distinctive "clicks" in their local dialects that they adopted from the now-vanished gathering and hunting peoples that preceded them in the region. Bantu-speaking peoples participated in networks of exchange with forest-dwelling Batwa (Pygmy) peoples. The Batwa adopted Bantu languages, while maintaining a nonagricultural lifestyle and a separate identity. The Bantu farmers regarded their Batwa neighbors as first-comers to the region and therefore closest to the ancestral and territorial spirits that determined the fertility of the land and the people. As forest-dwelling Bantu peoples grew in numbers and created chiefdoms, those chiefs appropriated the Batwa title of "owners of the land" for themselves, claimed Batwa

MQ 4: With What Eurasian Civilizations Might the Mayan be Compared?

The competing city states of Mesopotamia or Classical Greece instead of the imperial structures of Rome, Persia, or China because of its fragmented political structure