...Laura Rose World Civilization 101 March 6, 2014 “Egypt, birthplace of the oldest known civilization in Africa,” is a statement in the gallery of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Egypt has influenced many civilizations. Hebrew: Moses and Monotheism, Greco-Roman civilization, Yoruba gods, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Islamic social structures all have social institutions that dialectically emerge from the Egyptian culture. There are many aspects to the Egyptian culture. Family is very important to Egyptians; family was seen to be superior then just an individual. Blood relations are significant in all social relations, even though the family consisted of both nuclear and extended family. How they greeted each other were bases on their religion. It is traditionally a handshake, which should be first done by a woman; if not the men most bow their heads in respect.¹ Egyptians had a lot of pride in their family and it was expected for the children to take care of the parents when they get elderly. Women were allowed to get married after their first menstrual cycle while men were allowed to around the age of 16 to 20; that’s when they were expected to be able to know how to care for a family.² In Egypt people were allowed to engage in premarital sex, as long as they stayed faithful after marriage. For example women were seen as equal to men legally. They were able to own property and slaves, to administer and sell land, to make their own wills, to sign their own marriage contracts, and to...
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...disease such as the smallpox, yellow fever and malaria as the uninvited Europeans invaded their land. The isolation of the Indians from the rest of the world made their immunity to new diseases very weak. The invasion known as the beginning of the Columbian Exchange brought an epidemic upon Native Americans along with new species of plants, animals and technologies. Christopher Columbus arrived in the main land of America in 1492 by mistake. He planned to find a route to India, but has mistakenly arrived to the shore of America, and as a result, he called the people of the new land “Indians” as we still know them today. This was just one many voyages that tied the New world of America to the rest of the world. As the epidemic swept the new world, so did vast exchanges of plants that altered the diets Amerindians and the rest of the world, especially Europe. The Indians were introduced to olives, grapes, rice, sugar, onions and many other crops. Pigs, cattle sheep and rabbits were introduced; however, the horse had the greatest positive impact on the Native peoples. The new creature enhanced their military capabilities along with hunting. Hunting herds of bison in the plains would become much easier and efficient. The negative effect of the new animals was the sudden increase in the number of cattle across the new world. The first viceroy of Mexico wrote to the Spanish king: “May your lordship realizes that if the cattle are allowed, the Indians will be...
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...Unwinding the Spool of Civilization in Ponting's The Green History of the World and Quinn's Ishmael Clive Ponting's The Green History of the World and Daniel Quinn's Ishmael both critique the dominant paradigms of modern human civilization-especially where its relationship with environment is concerned. Both feel strongly that we are in trouble. Neither are quite willing to make final connections and present us with a systematic method for getting out of our impending ecological crisis, but they both do spell out what has been wrong, what is wrong now, and what will happen should we choose not to take evasive action. In the absence of similar works "in the canon" it is hard not to feel as though, (as the character Ishmael promised), if you accept their premises you are doomed to isolation for, those who see the future most clearly are usually outcasts, lost as to what power they may have to change minds and directions. Enlightenment almost always comes at a price, often steep. In the interest of exploring the necessity of dissent, let's follow that line of environmental thought a little further. Ponting presents us with the scientific/cultural evidence that backs up what Quinn is saying: that we as a species are destroying our foundations even as we proclaim our creation-Civilization-a success. If this massive breakdown and foreboding future are certainties, then we must ask-as Quinn does-who or what is telling us lies to make us believe otherwise? His character...
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...Jeremy Drummond History of World Civilizations Dr. Israel December 9, 2014 Horrible Aztecs or Hypocritical Spaniards? Since the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492, many other “explorers” sought to conquer the various native tribes and exploit the resources the Americas had to offer. When discovered by the European explorers, it was only a matter of time the not-so-great- Spanish conquistadors arrived with their plans to take over the Americas – even if it meant generating rumors and propaganda about how horrible the Aztecs were. The conquistadors would bring back reports to Europe saying the Aztecs were a brutal, human sacrificing cult who needed to be destroyed. While there is some archeological evidence to back up these claims, the Spanish strongly exaggerated the truth about such to coerce the Christians in Western Europe into thinking their invasion of the Americas was okay. Upon arriving in Mexico, Hernando Cortes, a famous Spanish Explorer who unbeknownst to many gave California its name, was an enslaver and murderer of not only the Aztecs, but his own people as well. “He was known to dismantle his own ships in an effort to force his followers had no choice but to follow him inland (Jaffee).”1 The sheer self-righteousness of he and his followers, none can fathom. At first, Cortes was mistakenly thought to be “Quetzalcoatl,” or the “bearded god of the Aztecs” because of his light skin and beard. On the contrary, Cortes is nothing close...
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...September 25,2012 In 1492 meanwhile Spaniards reconquested the last Muslim kingdom that fell into Catholicism, Columbus’ voyages embarked with conquerors heading for fame, fortune and most of all to expand the Roman Catholic faith. One of these conquerors was Cortes who was under the authority of Diego Valazquez governor of Cuba, like most conquerors Cortes broke away from Valazquez and headed to conquer Mexico, which he heard is a country full of riches. Cortes’ use of leadership played a fundamental role the result of the conquest of Mexico. From the very beginning he to induced fear into the Mexicas with the usage of technology, he made them believe they were tueles by acting god like, he befriended many enemy states and most of all his military technique when they entered Tencohtitlan lead to their conquest of Mexico. Moctezuma’s leadership on the other hand lead to the conquest of Mexico, he would give gifts and praise the Spaniards not inflicting fear. He lost all power over the Mexicas once he was captured which lead to their conquest. Leadership, military and political strategies led to the conquest of Mexico. The Spaniards finally arrived at the Port of San Juan de Ulua, they were greeted by two ambassadors sent by Moctezuma. These ambassadors were accompanied with painters to take pictures back to their prince. Cortes saw this as a chance to make an impression of their technology and strength. “Cortes Ordered our gunner to load the lombards with great charge...
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...Chapter 7 Confucian Classics-the ancient texts recovered during the Han Dynasty that Confucian scholars treated as sacred scriptures. Silk Road- the trade routes across central Asia through which Chinese silk and other items were traded Eunuchs-castrated males who played an important role as palace servants Age of division- the period after the fall of the Han dynasty when china was politically divided Grand canal- a canal, built during the Sui dynasty that connected the yellow and Yangzi Rivers. Notable for strengthening china’s internal cohesion and economic development Pure land- a school of Buddhism that taught that calling on the Buddha Amitabha and his chief helper, one could achieve rebirth in Amitabha’s pure land paradise Chan-a school of Buddhism that rejected the authority of the sutras and claimed the superiority of mind-to-mind transmission of Buddhist truths Nara- Japan’s capital and the first true city; it was established in 710 and modeled on the Tang capital of Chang’an ------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 Corpus Juris civilis- the “body of civil law,” it is composed of the code, the digest and the institutes. Dioceses- geographic administrative districts of the church, each under the authority of a bishop and centered around cathedral Arianism- a theological belief, originating with Arius, a priest from Alexandria that denied that Christ was co-eternal with god the father. Popes- heads of the Roman...
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...Hsiang-Wang Liu World Civilizations III November 11, 2012 The Wealth and Poverty of Nations Why Some Are So Rich and Some Are So Poor The book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why some are so rich and some are so poor, discusses that the characteristics of a society’s cultural history is the key to explaining success, in today’s global world. It also discusses why they achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty. This book was written by David Landes, a professor of history and economics at Harvard University. The book was first published in 1998. It is based off of Adam Smith’s, The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776. The moral of this book describes how the writer explores the differences between the West and the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The book explains how our people got to a certain place in the world and the difficulties getting there. David Landes believes that this topic is overdue for discussion and feels he should step up to the subject. Landes starts with discussing the geography of the nations. He mentions in chapter one that many rich countries lie in the temperate zones, particularly in the northern hemisphere and the poor countries are in the tropics and semi- tropics. Philosophers believe that “this reveals the deepseated optimistic bias with which we approach problems of development and the reluctance to admit the vast differences in initial conditions with which today’s poor countries are faced compared...
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...Eric Grimes Hsiang-Wang Liu World Civilizations III November 11, 2012 The Wealth and Poverty of Nations Why Some Are So Rich and Some Are So Poor The book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why some are so rich and some are so poor, discusses that the characteristics of a society’s cultural history is the key to explaining success, in today’s global world. It also discusses why they achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty. This book was written by David Landes, a professor of history and economics at Harvard University. The book was first published in 1998. It is based off of Adam Smith’s, The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776. The moral of this book describes how the writer explores the differences between the West and the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The book explains how our people got to a certain place in the world and the difficulties getting there. David Landes believes that this topic is overdue for discussion and feels he should step up to the subject. Landes starts with discussing the geography of the nations. He mentions in chapter one that many rich countries lie in the temperate zones, particularly in the northern hemisphere and the poor countries are in the tropics and semi- tropics. Philosophers believe that “this reveals the deepseated optimistic bias with which we approach problems of development and the reluctance to admit the vast differences in initial conditions with which today’s poor countries are faced...
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...Clash of civilizations script What Huntington thinks * in his hypothesis he thinks that today’s world has actually come to a period where the age of ideology or economically has ended. * Instead he says that the primary source of conflict between nations and humankind will be cultural and religious. That nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations ad even groups of different civilizations * Huntington also suggested that the main reason of world politics tend to be conflict between western and non-western civilizations Why civilizations will clash * differences based on history, language, region, religion, tradition and culture are more fundamental and stable that other differences between people. And these fundamental differences are product of centuries so they will not disappear anytime soon * The world is becoming a ‘smaller’ place and as a result interactions across the world are increasing which intensifies ‘civilization consciousness’ and the awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations * Due to economic modernization and social change, people are separated from longstanding local identities. Instead, religion has replaced this gap, which provides a basis for identity and commitment that transcends national boundaries and unites civilizations. * The growth of civilization-consciousness is enhanced...
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...The definition of a civilization according to Huntington is a cultural entity. It is the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species. It is defined by common elements such as: language, history, religion, customs, institutions and the self identification of people. Civilizations may include a large number of people or a very small number of people. They may include several Nation States or only one. They can blend or overlap and even include sub civilizations. Huntington's definition of a civilization matches up well with what we have learned in class. Civilization's are complex and civilizations are dynamic. They rise and fall, and divide and merge. They have many characteristics which include: urban revolution, distinct religious culture, new political and military structures such as bureaucracy, new social structures based on political power, the development of writing and the development of war complexity in material sense. Huntington divided the world into seven other civilizations, Western, Latin American, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu and Slavic-Orthodox. He said that Africa was only a possible civilization. Huntington said that “people's religious and cultural identities will be the main source of conflict in the post- cold war world” and there will be conflict between Western Civilizations and Islamic Civilizations because of seven main reasons...
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...Geography controls whether or not a civilization can have domesticated animals, was able to produce steel and also had immunity to germs. Without having any of those, it lead for some civilizations to become unequal. Laboring specialists enabled certain groups to develop weapons and tools, and also disabled some to develop weapons, armor, tools. With some civilizations being able to develop faster, and some not being able to develop, that cause inequality in the world. Agriculture affected what crops a civilization could grow because they have to have the right climate to grow crops. Wheat has to have a dry climate, but yet, moist climate, sago, grows in a very wet climate. Wheat is easily harvested, sago pulp takes the whole tribe just...
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...Early Civilizations Brittney Franzen There are many different reasons or forces that contributed to the make-up of cultural early civilizations. The first force would be the forces of nature and it is natural environment. The factors of this would be climates and seasonal changes. This is important force factor for early civilization because this force affected the people of the early civilization for clothing and food such as game and wild plants. These people were nomadic which means that they would follow the herds of game for their survival. The geographical features also were a major part of the early civilizations because they need to be able to protect themselves from others that may challenge them and their civilization. For example the people of Ancient Greece were in different city states and would challenge each other for territories for farming and other needed resources from the land. The mountains and seas were a major physical land features that would protect them from one and other. But this also in turn created different cultures and civilizations throughout Ancient Greece. So there were many different views that varied from group to group. An example of this would be social societies, religious views, structures, and civilizations altogether are different. The social society would be the government or rulers, merchants, slaves, and priests. The different social classes such as higher classes being the dictator, priests, or other people of the...
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...Contributions of River Valley Civilizations Document-Based Question By: Krupa Patel The ancient River Valley Civilizations of Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia all made key contributions to future societies. Two contributions made by the Mesopotamian civilization, are introducing a complete set of laws and creating the world’s first written language. In Document 1, it states how Sumerians created cuneiform script over 5000 years ago. They used this writing system to keep track of business deals far away, to pass on new ideas to each generation, and to keep records. Cuneiform is what initially started languages all over the world; it was a form of communication that evolved differently in each society. Future civilizations would establish their own languages, gradually making its way to the modern century. In addition, the Mesopotamian civilization developed Hammurabi’s Code, the most complete set of laws that has survived. Document 2 supports this reasoning, by stating that these set of rules were important because they helped govern a civilization while trying to protect people even if they had little political power. From this, future civilizations would begin to make their own laws to have a more organized society. The Code of Hammurabi, however, also brought forth the idea of class. For instance, punishments were based on the class of the lawbreaker and the victim of the crime. The Mesopotamian civilization contributed two major things that even impact the world today: language and...
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...Introduction The world we live in today has not always been what it is but has been built to what it is today. While little is known of the Western world, specifically the Americas before explorers such as Christopher Columbus discovered it, there exists rich literature of ancient civilizations that have shaped all spheres of modern life. The most recognized civilizations include the Egyptian civilization, the Roman Empire, and the Greek civilization. The fall of one civilization led to the rise of another civilization and so forth. The earliest recorded civilization, however, is the Egyptian civilization and scholars have credited it with influencing the subsequent empires that rose afterward, especially Alexander's the Great Greece Empire...
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...How did migration, trade and nomadic invasion threaten and or aid classic empires and civilizations? Mason Pirio 10/12/14 Period 4 Migration, trade, and nomads effected early civilizations in many ways, some positive and some negative. Nomads made trade difficult at times and occasionally invaded sedentary civilizations. Trade helped boost early economies by providing civilization with useful resources which could not be found in their own region. Migration was key in terms of disseminating culture and ideas throughout the classical world. Migration and trade also spread religion; an example of this is when Buddhism spread from India to china. There were also many drawbacks to migration as it spread new diseases that some cultures were unequipped to deal with. Trade greatly aided the economies of early civilizations. Silk was a common item of trade in china, as china had the highest quality of silk at the time. The Silk Road was passage in which many travelers used to acquire silk from china. Trade was also important because some places had things that other places didn’t. Trade also encouraged the spread of new ideas and technology such as hunting methods, weaponry, arts, and most of all, religion. Nomads threatened the trade of early civilizations, and the civilizations themselves. A prime example of nomadic invasion is in china. China feared being attacked by the Mongols, so they built the Great Wall of China to defend from any attacks from the north. This can be both...
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