6XPPHU 6FKRRO - Mr. Lynch-Limon's History Classes€¦ · That mystery is the puzzle of the...

World History

Summer School

Quarter 1 Name:

World History ~ Summer School ~ Quarter 1

Each day of summer school will involve the following activities:

Quiz over the previous day’s work. Individual reading & answering questions. Group discussion of the day’s information. Completing graphic organizers and maps. Working on an individual project (one per week).

Quarter 1 Schedule:

Monday Intro Reading & Discussion - Chapters 1 & 2 Project work time

Tuesday Quiz (Ch. 1 & 2) Reading & Discussion – Chapters 3 & 4 Project work time

Wednesday Quiz (Ch. 3 & 4) Reading & Discussion – Chapters 5 & 6 Project work time

Thursday Quiz (Ch. 5 & 6) Reading & Discussion – Chapters 7, 8, 9 Project work time

Friday Present projects Test (Ch. 1-9) Reading & Discussion – Chapters 10 & 11 (starting on Quarter 2)

The Peopling of the World 1

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF The Peopling of the World,Prehistory–2500 B.C.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Scientists study stones and bones to learn about the life ofthe earliest humans. Humans developed first in Africa and spread to other partsof the world. After hundreds of thousands of years of a wandering existence,people started settling in one place. They got food by farming and by raisinganimals. This success and their new technologies soon led to the first civilizations.

Summary

Human Origins in AfricaKEY IDEA Fossil evidence shows that the earliesthumans first appeared in Africa.

People can learn about the past by using writtenrecords. However, these records cover only the

last 5,000 years or so of human life on Earth. Tolearn about the more distant time before the firstwritten records, scientists need to use special skillsand tools. They are like detectives trying to solve amystery. That mystery is the puzzle of the prehistorichuman past—the story of humans before history.

The scientists concerned with this mystery arecalled archaeologists. They work at places calleddigs, pits dug into the ground to find objects buriedfor thousands of years. They uncover tools, jewelry,or other things made by people. Such objects arecalled artifacts. Archaeologists also dig up bones—the bones of ancient humans and of the animalsthat lived with them. Some of these bones havebecome fossils, meaning they have survived overtime because they were preserved in stone. Bystudying bones and artifacts, they can find cluesabout how the earliest humans lived.

In the early 1970s, archaeologists made someimportant finds in Africa. In East Africa they foundthe footprints of humanlike beings, calledhumanoids, who had lived about 3.5 million yearsago. In Ethiopia another team uncovered a rare,complete skeleton of one of these humanlikebeings—a female that they nicknamed Lucy.

Because these early beings walked upright, theycould travel long distances more easily than four-footed ones. They could also use their free arms tocarry food, tools, and children. These creatures alsodeveloped one other major human trait. They couldmove their thumbs across the palms of their handsand touch their other fingers. Because of this oppos-able thumb, they could pick up and hold objects.

Humans made important advances during aperiod called the Stone Age, when people used tools

made of stone. In this time, they also began to usefire and developed speech. Scientists divide theStone Age into two parts. The Paleolithic Age, orOld Stone Age, began about 2.5 million years agoand lasted until about 8000 B.C. The Neolithic, orNew Stone, Age went from about 8000 B.C. toaround 3000 B.C.

Much of the Old Stone Age overlapped the IceAge, when the earth was colder than it is now. Vastsheets of ice—glaciers—covered much of the land.About 10,000 years ago, the temperature warmedand the ice melted. The ice sheets grew smallerand people began to roam wider stretches of land.

In East Africa, archaeologists have found ahumanoid fossil that they named Homo habilis. Thename means “man of skill.” It was given becausethe site also held tools made of lava rock by thesehumanoids. Homo habilis lived about 2.5 millionyears ago. About 1.6 million years ago, another kindof humanoid lived. This one, called Homo erectus,began to use tools for special purposes. They dugfor food in the ground, cut meat from animalbones, and scraped animal skins. Homo erectus alsobegan using fire and may have had the first spokenlanguage. Many scientists believe that Homo erec-tus developed into humans or Homo sapiens.

Scientists once thought Neaderthals wereancestors of modern humans but no longer do.These hominids appeared 200,000 years ago. Theylived in caves or built shelters of wood or animalskins. At one time, they were thought to be roughand wild people. Now scientists think that they mayhave held religious beliefs. These people foundways to survive the freezing cold of the Ice Age.About 30,000 years ago, though, the Neanderthalsstrangely disappeared.

About 10,000 years before these people van-ished, a new group of prehistoric people appeared.They are called the Cro-Magnons. Their bodieswere just like those of modern people. Scientists

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2 Unit 1, Chapter 1

think that these people worked with one another inplanning large-scale hunts of animals. They mayhave also had more skill at speaking than did theNeanderthals. Because they had these skills, theCro-Magnons were better at finding food. Thatmay explain why Cro-Magnons survived andNeanderthals did not.

Scientists have only a vague picture of the originof humans. The fossil record is sketchy. However,more discoveries may lead to new ideas about earlyhumans. What is clear now is that humans hadskills that helped them adapt and survive in differ-ent lands and climates.

Humans Try to ControlNature

KEY IDEA Humans began to grow food and raise animals.Their population increased, and they began to live in set-tled communities.

The first humans had faced a struggle for survival.For thousands and thousands of years, they

were concerned first with finding food and protect-ing themselves from the dangers of life in the wild.They used fire, built shelters, made clothes, anddeveloped spoken language. These areas of life areall part of culture, the special way of life followedby a group of people. Human culture changed overtime as new tools replaced old and people testednew ideas. Later some modern humans increasedthe pace of change.

The people who had lived in the early part ofthe Old Stone Age were nomads. They moved fromplace to place, never staying in one spot for long.They were always looking for new sources of food.They found that food by hunting and gatheringnuts, berries, leaves, and roots. The Cro-Magnonpeople, who came later, made tools to help them intheir search. With spears, hunters could kill animalsat greater distances. With sticks, those who gath-ered plant food could dig plants out of the earth.

These modern humans had a large kit of tools—more than 100 different ones. They used stone,bone, and wood. They made knives to cut meat,hooks to catch fish, and even a tool to make othertools. With bone needles, they sewed animal hidesinto clothes.

Cro-Magnon people also created works of art.This art gives us a fascinating glimpse into theirworld. These early humans made necklaces out ofseashells, the teeth of lions, or the claws of bears.

They took the tusks of mammoths—hairy elephant-like animals—and ground them down to makebeads. The most remarkable art from the StoneAge, though, is paintings. Thousands of years ago,artists mixed charcoal, mud, and animal blood tomake paint. They used this paint to draw picturesof animals on the walls of caves or on rocks.

Humans lived by hunting animals and gatheringplants for thousands of years. They lived in smallgroups of only 25 to 70 people. They often returnedto a certain area in the same season each yearbecause they knew it would be rich in food at thattime. Over the years, some humans realized thatthey could leave plant seeds in an area one year andfind plants growing there the next year. This wasthe beginning of a new part of human life: farming.

Scientists think the climate became warmer allaround the world at about the same time. Humans’new knowledge about planting seeds combined withthis warmer climate to create what is called theNeolithic Revolution. This was the agricultural revo-lution that took place during the Neolithic period.

Instead of relying on gathering food, peoplebegan to produce food. Along with growing food,they also began to raise animals. They raised horses,dogs, goats, and pigs. Archaeologists have studied asite in the northeastern part of the modern countryof Iraq. It is called Jarmo. The people who lived inthis region began farming and raising animals about7000 B.C. People were entering a new age.

People began to farm in many spots all over theworld. Each group developed farming on its own.Many of the places where farming worked bestwere in the valleys of major rivers. In Africa, peoplebegan growing wheat, barley, and other crops alongthe Nile River. In China, farmers began to grow riceand a grain called millet. In Mexico and CentralAmerica, people grew corn, beans, and squash. Inthe high Andes Mountains of South America, theygrew tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and white pota-toes.

The study of one village in what is now Turkeyreveals what early farming communities were like.The village, called Catal Huyuk, grew on the goodland near a river. Some workers grew wheat, barley,and peas. Others raised sheep and cattle. Becausethese workers produced enough food for all the peo-ple, others could begin developing other kinds ofskills. Some made pots out of clay that they baked—the first pottery—while others worked as weavers.

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Some artists decorated the village. Archaeologists have found wall paintings that

show animals and hunting scenes. They have foundevidence that the people had a religion, too.

Some people in the village worked as traders.Near the village was a rich source of obsidian, astone made from volcanic rock. Pieces of this rockcould be made into a very sharp cutting tool or pol-ished to be used as mirrors. People in the villagetraded the rock to those who lived far away.

Life in the early farming villages had problems,too. If the farm crop failed or the lack of raincaused a drought, people would starve. Floods andfires could damage the village and kill its people.With more people living near each other thanbefore, diseases spread easily. Still, some of theseearly villages grew into great cities.

CivilizationCase Study: Ur in Sumer

KEY IDEA Farming villages produced extra food anddeveloped new technologies. The result is the rise ofcivilizations.

Over time, farmers developed new tools—hoes,sickles, and plow sticks—that helped them

grow even more food. They decided to plant largerareas of land. The people in some villages began toirrigate the land, bringing water to new areas.People invented the wheel for carts and the sail forboats. These new inventions made it easier to travelbetween distant villages and to trade.

Life became more complex as the villages beganto grow. People were divided into social classes,some with more wealth and power than others.People began to worship gods and goddesses thatthey felt would make their crops safe and their har-vests large.

One of the first civilizations arose in Sumer. It was in a region of Southwest Asia known asMesopotamia—between the Tigris and Euphratesrivers of modern Iraq. Historians consider a civi-lization to have these five features:

1. advanced cities, which can hold many people andserved as centers of trade;

2. specialized workers, who can focus on differentkinds of work;

3. complex institutions, which can give the people a government, an organized religion, and an

economy;4. record-keeping, which can lead to other pur-

poses for writing; and5. advanced technology, which can produce new

tools and techniques for solving problems.

Sumer had all the features of a civilization. Oneof the new technologies that the people of Sumercreated was the ability to make a metal calledbronze. Workers used it to make points for spears.

One of the early cities of Sumer was named Ur.It was surrounded by walls built of mud dried intobricks. It held about 30,000 people, divided intosuch social classes as rulers and priests, traders,craft workers, and artists. They were all supportedby the food raised by farmers outside the city walls,where they watched the animals and tended thefields. Some workers dug ditches to carry water tothe fields. Officials of the city government plannedall of this activity.

Inside the city, people hurried about their busylives. Metal workers made bronze points for spears,while potters made clay pots. Traders met peoplefrom other areas. They traded the spear points andpots for goods that Ur could not produce. Sometimestheir deals were written down by people calledscribes. They were educated in the new form ofwriting that Sumer had developed. Ur’s mostimportant building was the temple. There thepriests led the city’s religious life. Temples alsoserved as storage for grains, fabrics, and gems asofferings to the city’s gods.

Review1. Determining Main Ideas What evidence do

scientists use to study the life of humans beforewritten history?

2. Comparing How did the Cro-Magnon peoplediffer from Homo erectus?

3. Drawing Conclusions What great changecame in the Neolithic period? Explain why it wasso important.

Summarizing4. What are the five features of a civilization?5. What different kinds of activity went on in

Sumer?

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Use the space below to write your answers for the questions to the Chapter Brief that

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Mark ten (10) events or developments from this chapter, in order,

on the timeline shown below.

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Early River Valley Civilizations 5

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF Early River Valley Civilizations,3500 B.C.–450 B.C.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW The world’s first civilizations developed along rivers in fourdifferent regions. Each culture met problems caused by the geography of its par-ticular area. While the cultures shared many traits with each other, each had aspecial characteristic that made it unique.

Summary

City-States in MesopotamiaKEY IDEA The first civilization in the world arose inMesopotamia. It took the form of city-states.

There is an arc of rich land in Southwest Asiathat is called the Fertile Crescent. Two of its

rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, flow southeast-ward toward the Persian Gulf. Each spring thesnow in nearby Turkish mountains melts, swellingthe rivers. This flooding leaves rich mud in theplain between the rivers. Because of this, manythousands of years ago humans began to settle inthat plain, known as Mesopotamia. They grewwheat and barley. It was here that the first civiliza-tion began.

About 3500 B.C., the Sumerians moved into thisregion and settled. They faced three problems. First,the floods were not regular. One year they wouldcome in April, and the next year they might comein June. Once the flood passed, the hot sun quicklybaked the land into clay. Second, the small farmingvillages had no protection against enemies. Third, thearea lacked stone, wood, and metal to use for tools.

The Sumerians solved these problems. They dugditches from the river to their fields so they couldbring water to their crops. They built walls of bakedmud around their villages for defense. Becausethey could grow more food than they needed, theytraded the extra for stone, wood, and metal fromother lands.

Several large city-states were at the center ofthe Sumerian world. These cities had control over a surrounding area and could act independentlymuch like a country does today. Slowly some peo-ple rose to power in many of the city-states. Theybecame rulers, as did their children after them. Ruleof an area by the same family is called a dynasty.

The Sumerians believed in many gods, each ofwhom had power over different forces of nature orparts of their lives. People, they thought, were justthe servants of the gods. They believed that thesouls of the dead went to a joyless place under the

earth’s crust. These views spread to other areas andshaped the ideas of other peoples.

Society was divided into social classes. At the topwere the priests and kings, after whom came wealthymerchants. Next were ordinary Sumerian workersin fields and workshops. Slaves made up the lowestlevel. Women could enter most careers and couldown property, but there were some limits on them.

The people of Sumer invented the sail, the wheel,and the plow. They were the first to use bronze.They also developed the first writing system—onclay tablets. They invented arithmetic and geometry,which they used to help them build large structures.

Centuries of fighting between the city-statesmade the Sumerians weak. In 2350 B.C., the con-queror Sargon defeated Sumer and captured othercities to the north. By bringing together many dif-ferent groups, he made the world’s first empire. Itspread the culture of Sumer to a wider area. A fewhundred years later, a different group of peopleconquered the Sumerian region. These people wereled by a king named Hammurabi, who is famousfor his code of laws. It was a harsh code that pun-ished people for wrongdoing. However, it also madeit clear that the government had some responsibil-ity for taking care of its people.

Pyramids on the NileKEY IDEA The earliest civilization in Africa arose alongthe Nile River. A ruler called the pharaoh brought peopletogether in a united kingdom.

Another civilization arose along the banks of theNile River of East Africa. The Nile flows to the

north, toward the Mediterranean Sea. It, too, floodseach year, and the waters leave rich soil on the riverbanks. There the people of ancient Egypt grewfood and began to build their own culture. Theyworshiped the Nile as a life-giving god.

For many centuries, the people of Egypt livedin two kingdoms, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt.

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The former extended from the Nile’s marshy deltaregion north to the Mediterranean, just 100 milesaway. Upper Egypt began at the Nile delta andextended south to the Nile’s first area of churningrapids. About 3100 B.C., the king of Upper Egyptunited the two kingdoms.

In the years between 2660 and 2180 B.C., thebasic marks of the culture of Egypt arose. Rulingover the land was the pharaoh, who was not only aking but also seen as a god. Pharaohs believed thatthey had an eternal spirit that allowed them to rulethe land after their death. So these kings builtthemselves magnificent tombs. The tombs were hugepyramids made out of massive limestone blocks.

Egyptians believed in many gods and in an after-life. One god, they thought, weighed the hearts ofeach dead person. Hearts judged heavy with sinwere eaten by a beast. Good people, with feather-weight hearts, would live forever in a beautifulOther World.

The pharaoh and his family were at the top ofEgyptian society. Below them were people of wealthwho owned large amounts of land, the priests, andmembers of the government and army. Then camethe middle class—merchants and people whoworked in crafts. At the base were the peasants. Inlater times, the Egyptians had slaves. People couldmove from one rank of society to another. Thosewho could read and write held important positions.

The Egyptians, like the Sumerians, developed a way of writing. They used pictures to stand forsounds. The pictures could be put together to makewords and sentences. At first they wrote on stone,but later they began to make a kind of paper out ofa water plant. The Egyptians invented many newthings such as a system of written numbers and acalendar. Their calendar had 12 months, each ofwhich had 30 days. They were famous in the ancientworld for their ideas in medicine.

After 2180 B.C., the pharaohs lost power. Egyptwent through a time of troubles until strong rulersonce again took control. They ruled for four cen-turies until the land fell prey to invaders in 1640 B.C.

Planned Cities on the IndusKEY IDEA People of the first civilization in India builtcities on the banks of the Indus River.

South Asia—modern India, Pakistan, andBangladesh—lies separated from the rest of

Asia by tall mountains. Just below the mountains

are two large plains that hold the Ganges and Indusrivers. The high mountains gave the people safetyfrom invaders. Because they lived close to the sea,the people could travel over the water to trade withother peoples.

The people along the Indus River had many ofthe same challenges that the people in Mesopotamiahad. Their river flooded each year and left soil goodfor farming, but the floods did not occur at the sametime each year. In addition, the river sometimeschanged course. The region’s weather caused prob-lems also. Each winter, strong winds blew dry airacross the area. Each spring, the winds broughtheavy rains.

Historians have not learned much about thepeople who settled in the Indus Valley becausethey cannot understand their way of writing. Theyknow that people were farming along the river byabout 3200 B.C. They also know that the culture of these people covered an area larger than eitherMesopotamia or Egypt.

About 2500 B.C., these people began buildingtheir first cities. The cities showed careful planning.In Mesopotamia, cities were a jumble of streets laiddown without planning. In the Indus Valley, how-ever, the builders of cities created a grid of streets.They built a strong area called a citadel that waseasy to defend and held all the important buildings.They also had systems for carrying water andsewage. These features suggest people had devel-oped a strong central government.

The civilization of the Indus was peaceful.Because the houses were mostly like one another,scholars think that the Indus culture did not havesharp differences between social classes.

These early people left an important mark onthe region. Some religious objects include symbolsthat became part of the culture that developedlater in India. Historians have discovered that thepeople of the area traded with the people ofMesopotamia.

Around 1750 B.C., though, the cities began toshow signs of trouble. The Indus Valley civilizationcollapsed around 1500 B.C. No one knows the reason,but there are several possibilities. Satellite imagesshow there were earthquakes in the region.Because of the quakes, the Indus River may havechanged its course. This ended the good effects ofthe yearly floods. The people may have overworkedthe land and left the soil too poor to produce cropsany longer.

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River Dynasties in ChinaKEY IDEA The first rulers of China introduced ideasabout government and society. These ideas had a lastingeffect on Chinese civilization.

The last of the great early civilizations arose inChina—and continues to this day. China’s

geography insured that it would develop apart fromother cultures. It was isolated from other areas. Theland lies protected by a great ocean, huge deserts,and high mountains. Within China, though, are tworich rivers, the Huang He and the Chang Jiang.Almost all the good farmland in China lies betweenthese two rivers. The Chinese people also made useof the flood waters of these rivers. They had to becareful, though, for the Huang He could cause ter-rible floods that could kill whole villages of people.The mountains did not protect China totally. Manytimes during Chinese history, people living to thenorth and west of China invaded the land.

Just a few thousand years ago, some peoplebegan to farm along the rivers. About 2000 B.C., thefirst dynasty of rulers brought government to China.A Chinese legend tells of a clever engineer whotold the people how to build walls to control theflooding river and bring water to the farm fields. It is not certain that such a person lived, but it isknown that about this time the Chinese began tobuild cities.

Around 1500 B.C., a new dynasty began to rule.They are called the Shang, and they began to leavethe first written records in China. Objects found intheir palaces and tombs also tell us much abouttheir society. Chinese people built their buildingsof wood, not mud-dried brick as the other earlycultures did. Huge walls made of earth surroundedthese buildings to protect them. The walls wereneeded because it was a time of constant war.

At the top of Shang society were the king andthe nobles who helped him fight these wars. At thebottom was the mass of peasants who lived in hutsoutside the city walls. They worked hard on thefarms, using wooden tools because the Shang believedthat bronze was too good to be used for farming.

Shang society was held together by a strongbelief in the importance of the group—all the peo-ple—and not any single person. The most importantpart of society was the family, and children grew uplearning to respect their parents. The family playeda central role in Chinese religion, too. The Chinesethought that family members who had died could

still influence the lives of family members still alive.They gave respect to dead members of the family,hoping to keep them happy.

The Chinese system of writing differed fromthose of other groups. Symbols stood for ideas, notsounds. As a result, the many different groups inChina, who all had a separate spoken language,could still understand the same writing. The writ-ten language had thousands of symbols, however,which made it very hard to learn. Only speciallytrained people learned to read and write.

About 1027 B.C., a new group, the Zhou, tookcontrol of China. They adopted Shang culture, butstarted an idea of royalty that was new to China.Good rulers, they said, got authority to rule fromheaven. They claimed the Shang rulers were notjust and had lost the favor of the gods. That is whythey had to be replaced. From then on, the Chinesebelieved in divine rule. However, it also meant thatdisasters such as floods or war pointed to a rulerthat had lost the support of the gods and needed tobe replaced.

The Zhou gave the rights to large areas of landto members of the royal family and other nobles.The nobles promised to fight for the rulers and toprotect the peasants who lived on the land. Laterthe power of these nobles grew great. Eventuallythe Zhou rulers lost all power. The nobles foughteach other for control of China in a period calledthe “time of the warring states.” It lasted manyhundred years, and the Chinese people sufferedduring this time.

Review1. Determining Main Ideas What challenges did

the Sumerians face, and how did they solve them?2. Comparing and Contrasting How was the

religion of Egypt different from the religion ofMesopotamia?

3. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing EffectsWhy did the pharaohs of Egypt build largetombs?

4. Clarifying What was special about the citiesbuilt by the people of the Indus Valley?

5. Determining Main Ideas What new idea ofkingship did the Zhou rulers bring to China?

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Maps – Chapters 1 & 2

On the blank map (found on the next page), mark the following items:

Location where the human race began Path of humans spreading out through the entire world Rivers:

o Tigris o Euphrates o Nile o Indus o Huang He o Chang Jiang

Early River Valley Civilizations: o Mesopotamia o Nile River Valley o Indus River Valley o Zhou Dynasty China

People and Ideas on the Move 9

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF People and Ideas on the Move,2000 B.C.–250 B.C.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW People of the plains of western Asia moved into the settledareas of early civilizations. Hittites created one empire. Aryans brought new ideasinto India. Partly in response to Aryan rule, the Hindu and Buddhist religions tookshape. Around the Mediterranean Sea, others spread their culture through trade.Hebrews struggled as they followed their religion based on belief in one god.

Summary

The Indo-EuropeansKEY IDEA Indo-European peoples moved into areas newto them, including Europe, India, and Southwest Asia.They met people already living there.

While some peoples built civilizations in thegreat river valleys, others lived on the huge

plains of western Asia. They rode horses and tendedcattle, sheep, and goats. They spoke many differentlanguages, but all of them came from the sameoriginal language. These people are called theIndo-Europeans. Then, for some reason, startingabout 1700 B.C., they began to leave their homes.They moved into some of the settled areas andbegan to conquer them.

One of these Indo-European peoples was theHittites. They rode two-wheeled chariots and usediron weapons to conquer the area that is nowTurkey. They moved farther and took the ancientlands of Mesopotamia. When they moved to thesouth, they ran into the Egyptians. Neither sidewas able to defeat the other, however, so theydecided to make peace.

The Hittites adopted many features of the cul-ture that had grown in Mesopotamia before theyarrived. Some they used without making anychanges, but others they adapted to suit their ownideas. The Hittites ruled their Southeast Asiaempire from about 2000 to 1190 B.C. Then they fellto a new wave of invasions.

Another group of Indo-European people namedthe Aryans moved into modern India. They firstcaptured the land of the people of the Indus Valley.They were divided into three classes of people:priests, warriors, and peasants or traders. Theycame to see the non-Aryans living in the area as afourth class. Over time, they developed complexrules for how people in these classes, or castes,could interact with one another. People were borninto their caste for life. Some “impure” people livedin a group outside this class system. They were

butchers, grave diggers, and trash collectors. Becausethey did work that was thought to be not clean, theywere called “untouchables.” They were kept awayfrom contact with the members of other classes.

Over many centuries, the Aryans took more andmore of what is now India. Eventually many pow-erful people tried to create their own kingdoms.They fought each other until one kingdom, Magadha,won control over almost all of India. Around thistime, an epic poem Mahabharata was written. Ittells the story of a war. The poem reveals theblending of cultures at the time and sets downideals that were to become important in Hindu life.

Hinduism and BuddhismDevelop

KEY IDEA Religious beliefs arose in India during the ageof Aryan settlement. Later these ideas developed intothe religions of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs thatforms no one system. Unlike many religions, it

was not founded by just a single person. It is a reli-gion that allows great variety for its followers. Certainideas became common to the beliefs of all Hindus.

Hindus believe that each person has a soul.However, there is also a larger soul, called Brahman,that brings together all the individual souls. A person’s goal is to become free of desire and notbothered by suffering. When that takes place, theperson’s soul wins escape from life on Earth. It cantake a long time to reach that understanding. Hindusbelieve that the soul is born again into another bodyafter death. In the next life, the soul has anotherchance to learn its lessons. According to Hindus,how a person behaves in one life has an effect on theperson’s next life. Someone who was evil will bereborn into a poor position. Someone who did gooddeeds, however, will benefit in the next life.

Another religion that arose in India was Jainism.It was started by Mahavira, a man who lived from

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about 599 to 527 B.C. He believed that every crea-ture in the world—even animals—has a soul.Because of that, people must be sure not to harmany creature. Today, Jains take jobs that are certainnot to hurt living things.

Another new religion, Buddhism, arose aboutthe same time as Hinduism and Jainism. Buddhismhas millions and millions of followers all around theworld. It was started around 528 B.C. by SiddharthaGautama.

Siddhartha searched for a way that would allowhim to escape the suffering of human life. He spentmany years searching for this answer and triedlearning from many different teachers. Finally, hesat down and meditated under a tree. After 49 daysof this meditation, he had his answer. He was nowcalled the Buddha, which means the “enlightenedone,” and he began to teach others.

The new teaching was based on the Four NobleTruths:

1. Life is filled with suffering and sorrow.2. Suffering is caused by people pursuing the

immediate pleasures of the world.3. The way to end suffering is to end all desires.4. The way to end all desires is to follow the

Eightfold Path leading to nirvana—release fromselfishness.

As with Hinduism, the Buddha taught that thesoul would be reborn into a new life. This chain ofnew lives would continue until the soul, like theBuddha, reached understanding.

These ideas attracted many followers. Manypeople who lived in the lower classes of Indiansociety saw these ideas as a chance to escape fromthe limits placed on them. His teaching also spreadin southern India, where the Aryans did not havemuch influence. Some followers took the ideas toother lands. In the centuries after Buddha’s deathin 483 B.C., Buddhism appeared in Southeast Asia.Later it was carried to China and then to Koreaand Japan. Merchants and traders played an impor-tant role in spreading the religion. Strangely, inIndia where Buddhism was founded, the religionfaded. It was possibly just absorbed into Hinduism.Many places that are important to Buddhismremain in India, however. Buddhists from aroundthe world travel there to visit locations connectedto the life of Buddha.

Seafaring Traders KEY IDEA Trading societies developed civilizationsbeyond the Fertile Crescent region.

In the Mediterranean area, a new culture aroseon the island of Crete. It is called the Minoan

culture after a legendary king. The Minoans werepeaceful people who lived in rich cities that weresafe from invaders. They controlled trade in theirarea and sent their fine pottery, swords, and metaldrinking cups to other lands. They also sent othercountries their style of art and architecture. Thisstyle later had influence on the art of Greece.

Archaeologists have explored the ruins of ancientcities of the Minoans. They have found beautifulwall paintings that offer looks into Minoan culture.One interesting feature of life on the island was thehigh position that women seem to have held. Anearth goddess seems to have headed all the gods ofCrete, and women ruled over some important reli-gious places. Among other peoples who lived nearby,women did not play such important roles.

Minoan cities were damaged in 1470 B.C. by aseries of disasters. First, a number of earthquakesrocked the island, destroying buildings. Then a vol-cano exploded on a nearby island. That was followedby huge waves and clouds of white ash from thevolcano’s fire. These shocks seem to have been toomuch for the Minoans. The Minoan civilizationended about 1200 B.C.

Another people arose on the eastern shore ofthe Mediterranean because of their role as traders.Living in several city-states in what is today Lebanon,they traded far and wide. Some may have evensailed as far as Britain—and perhaps around Africa.They were the Phoenicians.

The Phoenicians put colonies all along the coastof the Mediterranean Sea. Colonies were 30 milesapart because that was the distance that one of theirships could travel in a day. One of those colonies,Carthage, in North Africa, later became a majorpower in the Mediterranean world. Phoenicianstraded such goods as wine, weapons, metals, ivory,slaves, and objects made of wood and glass. Theyalso made a red-purple dye that was highly valued.

The important achievement of the Phoenicianswas their alphabet. They used symbols to stand forthe sounds of consonants. They wanted a way ofwriting so they could make records of their tradeagreements. They brought their system of writingto other lands such as Greece, where Greeks

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changed the form of some letters. The alphabetthat we use today, however, had its beginnings inPhoenician writing.

The Origins of JudaismKEY IDEA The Hebrews became the only ancient peoplein their region to believe in one god.

Another people entered the world scene. Theymade a claim to an important piece of land, the

area now called Palestine. This region sat on theeastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and on theRed Sea, which led to the Indian Ocean. As a result,it opened to the trade of many lands. The peoplewho settled here were the Hebrews, and theybelieved that the land had been promised to themby God. Today the Jewish people are the descend-ants of the ancient Hebrews.

The Hebrews were among the world’s earliestpeoples to believe in one god. Their story beganin Mesopotamia, where a man named Abrahamlived. God told him to move his family to Canaan,where he would prosper. Abraham promised thathe and his people would always obey God. God,in turn, promised to always protect them fromtheir enemies.

Later the Hebrews suffered from the failure oftheir crops. They moved to Egypt, but over timethey were made into slaves. After many years, theyleft in a mass departure that Jews called the Exodus.According to the sacred book of the Jews, a mannamed Moses led them out of Egypt. They wan-dered 40 years in a wilderness. During that time,the story says, Moses received from God the TenCommandments. These were the laws that theHebrews were to follow. For the second time, Godpromised to protect these people in return for theirobedience to his laws.

After Moses died, the people finally reachedPalestine and settled down. They began to adoptnew ways of life. They often fought with other peo-ples living in the area, as each group tried to controlthe best land and other resources. The Hebrewswere organized into twelve groups, called tribes.Each tribe was separate from the others, but intimes of danger they would all get together underleaders called judges. One of those judges was awoman named Deborah. This was unusual forwomen in Hebrew society, who were expected tostay home and raise children.

The Hebrews had other leaders called prophets.They said that they were messengers sent by Godto tell the people how he wanted them to act. Theseprophets told the people that they had two duties:to worship God and to deal in just and fair ways witheach other. With this message, religion was changing.Instead of being a part of life run by priests whofollowed certain rituals, it was now a matter of eachperson living a moral life.

From about 1020 to 922 B.C., the Hebrews wereunited under three kings. The first, Saul, drove offenemy peoples; the second, David, made Jerusalemthe capital; and the third, Solomon, built amagnificent temple to be used to worship God.After his death, though, the kingdom split into twoparts. For the next two centuries, these kingdomshad their ups and downs. Finally, though, theywere conquered by outside forces. The Chaldeansdestroyed Solomon’s great temple and forced theHebrews to leave the land and settle in Babylon.They lived there for several decades, until theChaldeans themselves were conquered. The newruler allowed 40,000 of the Hebrews to returnhome. They rebuilt the temple and the walls of thecity of Jerusalem.

Review1. Clarifying What were the social groups of the

Aryan people who entered India?2. Summarizing Explain the beliefs of Hindus

about life and death.3. Developing Historical Perspective Where did

the ideas of the Buddha have appeal?4. Drawing Conclusions What kind of movement

is represented by the Minoans and Phoenicians?Why was it important?

5. Comparing and Contrasting What wasunusual about the religion of the Hebrews?

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF First Age of Empires, 1570 B.C.–200 B.C.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Egypt becomes an empire by conquering other lands. Itlater falls to the Assyrians, who are highly skilled at war. When they fall, Persiansbecome the power in Southwest Asia. Their empire treats conquered peoplesless harshly. In China, thinkers develop different ideas to restore values after thewarring Zhou Dynasty falls. However, the new Qin Dynasty is just as cruel.

Summary

The Egyptian and Nubian Empires

KEY IDEA After Egypt conquered Nubia, these twoempires along the Nile began trading and cultural ties.

At the end of its second period of glory, Egyptwas weakened by internal power struggles.

New invaders, the Hyksos, soon swept into Egypt.They had the chariot, a new machine of war thatthe Egyptians had never seen before. The Hyksosruled Egypt for many years until the pharaohs tookback their land. Then they began some conquestsof their own. The time from 1570 to 1075 B.C. iscalled the New Kingdom. In this third period,Egypt was richer, more powerful than ever.

The pharaohs of this New Kingdom broughtEgyptian rule to Syria and Palestine in the east.They also moved south into Nubia, a part of Africathat lay near where the Nile began. Egypt hadtraded with and influenced Nubia for centuries.During the New Kingdom, the rulers of theNubian kingdom of Kush accepted many traditionsand ideas from Egypt. They began to build pyra-mids, to worship Egyptian gods, to wear Egyptianclothing, and to use a form of writing that was simi-lar to the writing used in Egypt.

The pharaohs of the New Kingdom also wantedto create great tombs for themselves. They did notbuild pyramids, like those who had come before,however, because these tombs were often lootedfor their precious goods. Instead, they built theirtombs in a secret place called the Valley of theKings. Some pharaohs also built huge palaces forthemselves or temples to the Egyptian gods.

Eventually, though, the pharaohs becameweaker. Starting around 1200 B.C., a new group ofpeople reached the eastern Mediterranean, andthey brought trouble with them. As the power ofEgypt fell, the land broke into many small king-doms. Soon people from Libya took control of theland. The rulers in Kush felt that they were the pro-

tectors of Egyptian civilization. They moved intoEgypt to force the Libyans out.

The Kushites ruled Egypt for a few decadesuntil another people—the Assyrians—invaded andforced them back to their home. There the Kushitekings settled in the city of Meroë, south of Egypt.Their kingdom entered a golden age. The city wasfar enough from Egypt to protect it from attack.Yet, it was close enough to trade routes to play animportant role in trade. Meroë also became animportant center for making iron—and weapons of iron.

Traders in the city brought their iron to the portsof the Red Sea. They were taken on ships to Arabiaand India. The traders from Meroë, in the mean-time, brought back jewelry, cloth, silver lamps, andglass bottles. The city thrived from about 250 B.C.to about A.D. 150. By A.D. 350 Meroë had fallen torival Aksum, a seaport farther south.

The Assyrian EmpireKEY IDEA Assyria created a powerful army and con-quered its neighbors. Rulers built an empire and formeda government to run it.

The Assyrians who took Egypt had started theircareer of conquest hundreds of years earlier

and farther to the east. They came from the north-ern part of Mesopotamia. Their homes were opento attack, however. The Assyrians decided to form astrong fighting force to defend their homes. Soon,though, they turned to conquest.

The Assyrians used many different methods towin their battles. Their soldiers wore leather or metalarmor and carried strong iron-tipped spears and ironswords. They used troops for rapid attacks and largenumbers of men with bows to shower an enemy witharrows. Some opponents hoped city walls would stopthe Assyrian army, but they could not. The Assyrianssimply dug tunnels under the walls to weaken them.They used heavy battering rams to knock down the

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wooden gates of the city. The Assyrians conqueredalmost everything in their path. They usually killed orenslaved those they defeated.

Between 850 and 650 B.C., the Assyrians con-quered all of Mesopotamia along with Syria andPalestine. Then they took modern Turkey andEgypt. They ruled by putting kings in power whowould support them. They also collected taxes andtribute—yearly payments a people make to astronger power. If a city did not hand over theyear’s tribute, the Assyrian army moved in anddestroyed it.

The Assyrian kings were builders, too. One builtthe city of Nineveh on the north branch of the TigrisRiver. It was the largest city of its day. Anothergathered thousands and thousands of writing tabletsfrom the lands that had been taken. When thesewere found in modern times, they gave historiansmuch information about the ancient world.

The Assyrians’ cruelty had made many enemiesover the years, however. Eventually those enemiesbanded together and struck back. In 612 B.C., anarmy captured Nineveh. To pay the Assyrians backfor their past actions, it destroyed the city.

The Chaldeans, who had ruled the area earlier,took control of Mesopotamia again. They rebuiltthe city of Babylon, and once more they made itone of the greatest cities of the world. The cityincluded famous gardens that brought many differ-ent plants from the cool mountain regions to thedry desert where the city was. To keep the plantsalive, slaves worked hidden pumps that broughtwater to the garden.

They also built a huge building called a ziggurat.This was a step-shaped pyramid that soared 300feet into the air. At night, scientists would study thestars and the planets. What they saw and recordedbecame the beginnings of the science of astronomy.

The Persian EmpireKEY IDEA The Persian Empire accepted the differencesof many different peoples as rulers tried to govern wisely.

East of Mesopotamia, in modern Iran, arose anew power in the ancient world, Persia. The

area had good farmland and was rich in such min-erals as copper, lead, gold, and silver. About 550B.C., the Persians began conquering neighboringkingdoms and founded a huge empire.

Their leader was King Cyrus, an excellent gen-eral. Cyrus led his army to conquer a huge empire

that stretched from the Indus Valley in India all theway through Mesopotamia to Turkey. It coveredabout 2,000 miles, and he took all this land in justover 10 years.

Helping Cyrus win this vast land was the wiseway he treated the people who lived in these lands.Unlike the Assyrians, who destroyed towns and cities,Cyrus made sure that his army did nothing to harmthe people he conquered. He allowed the people topractice their old religions, too. It was Cyrus wholet the Hebrews return to Jerusalem and rebuildtheir temple there.

Cyrus died in 530 B.C., and the kings who fol-lowed him had to decide how to run the vast newempire. His son was a failure, but the next king—Darius—proved as able as Cyrus had been. He putdown several revolts, won more land for the empire,and created a government for the empire. OnlyGreece escaped Persian control.

Darius divided the land into 20 provinces, eachholding a certain group of people. He allowed eachgroup to practice its own religion, speak its ownlanguage, and obey many of its own laws. He alsoput royal governors in place to make sure that thepeople obeyed his laws. To bring his large empiretogether, Darius built a road that ran 1,677 milesand made it easy to move goods—and troops—from place to place. Also, Darius made metal coinsthat could be used for business anywhere in theempire. This was the first time that an empire solarge shared a system of money.

During the Persian Empire, a new religionarose in Southwest Asia. A prophet namedZoroaster tried to explain why the world worked asit did. The earth is a battleground, he said, wherethe spirit of good and the spirit of evil fight. Eachperson is supposed to take part in the struggle.How a person would be judged depended on howwell he or she fought for good. These ideas hadinfluence on later religions.

The Unification of ChinaKEY IDEA War and turmoil in China helped produce newphilosophies and a drive to bring together the Chinesepeople.

In Chapter 2, you learned that China’s ZhouDynasty collapsed into the “warring states

period.” China became a land of troubles. Long-held Chinese values—social order, harmony amongpeople, and respect for leaders—were forgotten.

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Some thinkers, however, tried to find ways torestore these values.

One of the most important of these thinkerswas Confucius. Born in 551 B.C., he became a well-educated man who thought deeply about the troublesof China. He believed that a time of peace couldreturn if the people would work at five basic rela-tionships: ruler and subject, father and son, husbandand wife, older and younger brothers, and friendand friend. The family relationships, he thought,were the most important.

He also tried to change government for the bet-ter. Using his ideas, the Chinese built a system inwhich people could work in the government only ifthey had a good education. Over time, the ideas ofConfucius spread to other countries of East Asia.

Another thinker of this period was Laozi, whowas more interested in putting people in touchwith the powerful forces of nature. Nature followsa universal force called the Dao, or “the Way,” saidLaozi. People do not follow this force, but they canlearn to do so.

A third set of ideas came from a group of peoplecalled the Legalists. They said that the way to restoreorder in China was to have a strong government. A ruler should reward those who do what they aresupposed to do, the Legalists said, and punishharshly those who do wrong.

These three ways to restore values were justphilosophical debates. So, for practical advice insolving problems, people in China could consult abook called I Ching. Other people turned to theidea of Yin and Yang, two powers that balancedtogether to make harmony in the universe. Yangrepresented all that is warm, bright, hard, andclear. Yin stood for all that is cold, dark, soft, andmysterious. By having these two forces in balance,a person could reach harmony.

While these ideas moved through China, a newruler arose to put an end to the troubles of the war-ring states period. At 13, he became king of a partof China called Qin (chihn), and he used the ideasof the Legalists to bring the different parts ofChina together. In 221 B.C., he took a new name—Shi Huangdi, which means “First Emperor.”

Shi Huangdi defeated many leaders of differentstates and doubled the size of China. He also actedto extend his power within this land. He forcedwealthy nobles to give up their land in the countryand move to his capital city. There he kept a watch-ful eye on them, while he gave their land to members

of his government. The emperor wanted to controlideas, too. He ordered his government to burn manybooks—those that held ideas that he disagreed with.

Shi Huangdi also took steps to bring all parts ofhis empire together. He ordered the peasants tobuild a network of roads that linked one corner toanother. The roads made trade grow, but the peas-ants hated the emperor for the forced work. He setstandards for writing, law, money, and weights andmeasures that were to be followed throughout theempire.

Finally, he moved to protect his empire fromforeign invaders. In the past, some Chinese rulershad built sections of wall to try to block attacksfrom northern nomads. Emperor Shi Huangdi hadhundreds of thousands of poor people work to con-nect these sections of wall and make a huge barrier.When finished, the Great Wall of China stretchedfrom the Yellow Sea to the Gobi Desert.

These steps won the emperor little support.When he died, his son took the throne. Just threeyears into his reign, peasants revolted and managedto overthrow the emperor. By 202 B.C., the QinDynasty had given way to the Han Dynasty.

Review1. Clarifying Why did the Kushites move into

Egypt, and where did they go after they weredefeated?

2. Drawing Conclusions What made theAssyrians such a powerful army?

3. Comparing and Contrasting What was differ-ent about how Cyrus ruled his empire?

4. Summarizing Describe the three ways torestore values that were lost in China during thetime of the warring states.

5. Clarifying What did Shi Huangdi do to unitehis empire?

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Route of Indo-Europeans Location where each of these religions started:

o Buddhism o Hinduism o Judaism

Early Empires: o Egypt o Nubia o Assyria o Persia o Qin Dynasty China

For each empire, write down what caused them to lose power Jerusalem Great Wall of China

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF Classical Greece, 2000 B.C.–300 B.C.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW A rugged Greek landscape causes creation of independentcity-states. They fight one another but unite to defeat invaders from Persia.Athens becomes the home of culture, but its empire collapses after years of warwith Sparta. Alexander conquers Greece, the Persian Empire, and Egypt. After hisdeath, a new culture blends influences from territory he conquered.

Summary

Cultures of the Mountainsand the Sea

KEY IDEA The shape of the land caused separategroups of Greek-speaking peoples to develop societiesin isolation from one another.

The lives of the ancient Greeks were shaped bythe geography of their land. Greece is a rocky

land with high mountains and deep valleys. It wasdifficult to move over this land. So, Greeks living indifferent areas could not easily be united. Goodfarmland covered only a small part of Greece andcould not support many people. The Greeks hadeasy access to the sea, however. They becameexcellent sailors, and trade became important. Theclimate is mild, which allowed Greek men to spendmuch time outdoors. They attended public eventsand were active in civic life.

The first culture to arise in Greece was that ofthe Mycenaeans. They were among the Indo-Europeans who invaded many areas around 2000B.C. The Mycenaeans were ruled by powerful warrior-kings in their main city, Mycenae. Otherrulers lived in palace-forts in other cities.

The Mycenaeans came in contact with theMinoan culture of Crete. They adopted many partsof this culture, including the form of writing andsome religious beliefs. Because of this contact, theMycenaeans also became interested in trade.According to ancient legend, Mycenaeans also hada long war with the people of Troy, a city inAnatolia. The famous Trojan Horse—a gigantic,hollow wooden horse hiding Greek soldiers—ispart of that legend.

The culture of the Mycenaeans fell about 1200 B.C. Sea raiders destroyed their palaces. Forthe next 400 years, Greece went into decline—adecline so deep that no written records exist fromthis period. However, through spoken word, Greeksof this time continued to relate epic stories of theearlier age of heroes. One long poem, the Iliad,

tells of the war with Troy. The Greeks also createda rich set of myths. Many of them tried to explainthe world in terms of the actions of the Greek gods.

Warring City-StatesKEY IDEA Greek culture produced many city-states.They had different forms of government, one of which isdemocracy.

By 750 B.C., the center of Greek life was thepolis, or city-state. This name was given to

Greek cities and the countryside villages surround-ing them. Each city-state was independent. Thepeople who lived in them were fiercely proud oftheir homes. These city-states had different kindsof government. A monarch or king might rule some.A family of nobles might rule a few. A few wealthymerchants might rule others. Also, the idea of agovernment made of representatives chosen by thepeople took hold in some city-states. The mostprominent of these city-states was Athens.

In Athens, as in other city-states, the wealthyand poor clashed in a contest for power. Athens,however, avoided major political upheaval by intro-ducing reforms. Solon, an Athenian leader whocame to power in 594 B.C., removed some of thelaws that the poor did not like, such as debt slavery.He also opened the assembly, where laws were dis-cussed and approved, to all Athenian citizens. Some90 years later, the Athenian leader Cleisthenesintroduced further reforms. The most important ofthese was the setting up of the Council of FiveHundred. This body proposed laws and advised theassembly. Council members were chosen by lot.

The reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes allowedAthenian citizens to take part in a limited democ-racy. But citizenship was limited to a small group ofAthenians. Only free adult male property ownerswere considered citizens. Women, foreigners, andslaves were denied citizenship and played no rolein Athenian political life.

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Sparta, a very strong city-state in the south ofGreece, developed in a very different way. Theleaders of Sparta made their city a military state.Boys joined the army at age seven and wentthrough a long period of training as soldiers.Spartan women ran the farms and other businesses,freeing their husbands to serve in the army. A smallCouncil of Elders suggested laws that had to beapproved by a vote of all Spartan citizens.

Over the years, the Greeks developed the abilityto make iron weapons. Because these cost less thanweapons made of bronze, more people could affordthem. Soon each city-state had its own army. Thesoldiers were from all walks of life—armed with ironweapons and ready to defend their homes. This newcitizen army proved itself in fending off an attackfrom the east. The powerful Persian Empire set itssights on conquering the Greeks. In 490 B.C., Persianships landed 25,000 soldiers on the coast of Greece.At the Battle of Marathon, the Greeks won atremendous victory that saved Athens.

The Persians returned ten years later. The Greekslost a battle on land, despite the heroic efforts of asmall band of Spartans. The Persians also burnedAthens. However, the ships of Athens won a greatsea battle. The Spartans followed it with anothervictory on land. The threat from Persia was over.

Democracy and Greece’sGolden Age

KEY IDEA During Greece’s Golden Age, democraticideas and Greek culture flourished.

Athens chose Pericles as its leader, and heserved in that role for more than three decades.

In that time, he took many steps to make Athensbetter. He had three main goals:

1. He wanted to make Athens more democratic. Sohe created more positions in government thatpaid a salary. Poor people could hold these jobs.

2. He wanted to make Athens stronger. The city wasthe head of a group of more than 200 Greek city-states called the Delian League. Pericles used theleague’s money to make sure that Athens had thestrongest navy in the Mediterranean.

3. He wanted to make Athens beautiful. So heagain used Delian League money to fund a greatbuilding program in his city.

Athens also became home to a group of veryskilled playwrights. Some wrote tragedies, plays

about the pain and suffering of human life. Otherswrote comedies, which often included importantideas. Some plays were critical of Athenians, proofthat Athens was a free and open society.

After being rivals for many years, Sparta andAthens finally went to war beginning in 431 B.C. Theconflict ended badly for Athens. In 430 B.C. a horri-ble plague killed a large portion of Athens’ people.After several battles, the war dragged on until Athensfinally gave up in 404 B.C. Athens had lost its empire.

In the time of uncertainty after Athens’ defeat,several great philosophers appeared. They tried tounderstand human life. One, Socrates, believeddeeply in truth and justice, but many people didnot trust him. He was convicted of treason andforced to drink poison. His pupil, Plato, recordedmany of his ideas and became an important thinkerin his own right. A third was Aristotle. He wrotebooks that summarized all things known to theGreeks at the time. He also invented a way ofthinking logically. His work was very influential formany centuries.

Alexander’s EmpireKEY IDEA Alexander the Great conquered Persia andEgypt. Then he moved as far east as the Indus River innorthwest India.

North of Greece was the kingdom of Macedonia.The Greeks looked down on the people there

because they lacked the great culture of Greece.The Macedonians were tough fighters, though, andhad a strong leader in King Philip II. He decidedto use his army to invade Greece. The Greek city-states united too late to save themselves. TheMacedonians won, and Greek independence wasnow over. Philip did not enjoy his victory for long,though. He died just two years later, and his sonAlexander became king at age 20.

Alexander was a brilliant general, just like hisfather. He had been taught well, and he preparedto carry out his father’s dream of conquering thePersian Empire. In 334 B.C., Alexander invadedPersia. He won two stunning victories and thenmoved south to enter Egypt. He was crownedpharaoh and founded a city that he named for him-self—Alexandria. He then turned back to Persiaand won another great battle, which ended allPersian resistance. The empire was now his.

The young king pushed east, taking his army asfar as India. He won another battle and moved

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deeper into India. However, after many years ofmarching and fighting, the soldiers wanted to returnhome. Alexander agreed, and turned back. On theway back, he began to make plans for how to gov-ern his new empire. Then he suddenly fell ill anddied. He was just 32 years old.

Three of Alexander’s generals divided his empire.One ruled Macedonia and Greece. Another tookcontrol of Egypt. The third became ruler of the landsthat used to be in the Persian Empire. Alexander’sempire was not long-lasting, but it had importanteffects. After Alexander, the people of Greece andPersia and all the lands between mixed togetherand shared ideas and culture.

The Spread of HellenisticCulture

KEY IDEA Hellenistic culture was formed of ideas fromGreece and other lands. It flourished throughout Greece,Egypt, and Asia.

Anew culture arose—the Hellenistic culture. Itblended Greek with Egyptian, Persian, and

Indian influences. The center of this culture wasAlexandria, Egypt. Located in the delta of the NileRiver on the Mediterranean Sea, it had a ship har-bor. Trade was lively and Alexandria had a largepopulation from many different countries.

Alexandria was also a beautiful city. Its hugelighthouse towered over the harbor to show a lightto incoming ships. Its famous museum had roomswith works of art, a zoo, and a garden. Itsmagnificent library held half a million scrolls ofpapyrus that contained everything known in theHellenistic world. It was the first true researchlibrary, and scholars read through the scrolls.

These scholars kept alive what was known aboutscience. Some used an observatory to look at thestars and the planets. One of these astronomersdeveloped two important ideas. He argued that thesun was actually larger than the earth, which noone had thought to be the case before. He also sug-gested that the earth and other planets revolvedaround the sun. Other astronomers rejected theseideas, though, and their views remained commonfor many centuries. Another scientist tried to esti-mate the size of the earth. He came extremelyclose, figuring the earth to be about 16 percentlarger than its actual size.

The thinkers in Alexandria also made advancesin mathematics. Euclid wrote a book with the basicideas of geometry; his approach is still used today.Archimedes was another important scientist andmathematician. He invented many clever machines,including the Archimedes screw, which could beused to bring water from a low level to a higherone. It was used to bring water to fields beingfarmed.

Two new schools of philosophy arose in thesetimes. The Stoics argued that people should live amoral life to keep them in harmony with naturallaws. Desire, power, and wealth, they thought, couldhurt a person’s moral well-being. The Epicureanssaid that people could rely only on what theylearned from their five senses. They urged everyoneto live moral lives. People should try to do things inmoderate ways, rather than taking anything to anextreme.

The arts flourished in the Hellenistic age as well.Sculpture, in particular, had several notable achieve-ments. The sculpture of this time differed from thatof the earlier Greek style. In the past, figures hadbeen idealized, as sculptors tried to show a perfectform. In the Hellenistic age, figures were morerealistic and emotional.

Review1. Recognizing Effects What effect did geography

have on the way Greece developed?2. Summarizing What were the different forms of

government of the Greek city-states?3. Comparing and Contrasting Compare and

contrast Athens and Sparta.4. Drawing Conclusions What happened to

Alexander’s empire, and why?5. Synthesizing What was the long-lasting effect

of Alexander’s empire?

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF Ancient Rome and EarlyChristianity, 500 B.C.–A.D. 500

CHAPTER OVERVIEW The Romans make a republic in Italy and rise to power, butthe internal struggle for control of their growing strength changes the govern-ment to an empire. The empire enjoys a long period of peace, during which anew religion, Christianity, arises. The empire finally collapses in the western part,but Rome leaves a legacy of many important ideas and achievements.

Summary

The Roman RepublicKEY IDEA The early Romans made a republic. It grew inpower and spread its influence.

The city of Rome was founded by the Latin peo-ple on a river in the center of Italy. It was a

good location, which gave them the chance to con-trol all of Italy. It put them in the middle of theMediterranean Sea. Two other groups lived in whatis now Italy: the Greeks in the south, and theEtruscans in the north. The Romans borrowedsome ideas from both peoples.

About 600 B.C., an Etruscan king ruled over hispeople and Rome. By this time, Rome had grown tobe a wealthy and large city. The Romans resentedthe Etruscan rule. In 509 B.C., they finally over-threw the king. They declared that Rome would bea republic. The people would have the power tovote to choose the leaders of the government. Theysaid that Rome would never again have a king.

Two groups struggled for power in the newrepublic—the nobles and the common people. Atfirst, the nobles dominated the government. Overtime, the common people won more rights. Thebasis for Roman law was a set of rules called theTwelve Tables. They said that all free citizens wereprotected by law. They were posted in a publicplace for all to see.

The government had three parts. Two consulswere elected each year to lead the government andthe army. A person could not become consul a sec-ond time until after ten years had passed. In thisway, the Romans hoped to prevent one personfrom having too much power. The second impor-tant part of the government was the Senate. Itbegan by choosing 100 members from the upperclasses. Later its size was expanded and somemembers were common people. The Senate passedlaws. There were also assemblies that all peoplebelonged to. They made laws that applied to alltheir members. All free-born males were citizens

and had the right to vote. Any citizen who ownedproperty had to serve in the army.

In the fourth century B.C., Rome began toexpand. Within 150 years, it had captured almostall of Italy. Rome allowed some of the conqueredpeoples to enjoy the benefits of citizenship. With itsgood location, Rome saw a growth in trade. Thisbrought it into conflict with Carthage, a trading cityin North Africa.

From 264 to 146 B.C., Rome and Carthagefought three bitter wars. In the first, Rome woncontrol of the island of Sicily. In the second, anarmy from Carthage caused great destruction inItaly, although Rome itself was spared. In the third,Rome defeated Carthage once again and com-pletely destroyed the city. In another few decades,Rome also conquered Greece, Macedonia, Spain,and parts of modern Turkey. It controlled theMediterranean Sea.

The Roman Empire KEY IDEA Rome became an empire. Its government,society, economy, and culture changed.

Rome’s victory brought conflict between richand poor. When two brothers tried to pass laws

that would help the poor, they were killed. ThenRome erupted in a civil war as leading generalsfought for power.

Julius Caesar tried to take control. First hejoined with two others—Crassius, a wealthy man,and Pompey, a successful general. For the next tenyears, these three led Rome. Caesar gained famewith several victories in battle. Pompey now fearedCaesar, and the two fought another civil war thatlasted several years. After he won, Caesar tookcharge of the government. He made many changesthat added to his popularity. However, he raised themistrust of some members of the Senate whofeared he wanted to become king. A group of themkilled him.

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Once again Rome suffered civil war. The winnerwas the nephew of Caesar, who took over the gov-ernment of Rome. He had the title Augustus,meaning “exalted one.” The Roman Empire wasnow ruled by one man.

For about 200 years, through bad emperors andgood, the Roman Empire was a great power. Itspopulation of between 60 and 80 million enjoyedpeace and prosperity. The empire stretched aroundthe Mediterranean, from modern Syria and Turkeywest and north to England and Germany. Itdepended on farming, which employed 90 percentof all workers. Trade was also important, bringingsilk from China. Goods traveled by ship and alongthe Roman roads.

Defending all these people were the soldiers ofthe army. These included some troops recruitedfrom the conquered peoples. Once they finishedtheir time in the army, they became Roman citi-zens. This way, the empire extended its benefits tomore and more people. Running the empire weregovernment officials who reported to the emperor.

The quality of life in the empire depended onsocial position. The wealthy had rich lives full ofluxury and huge meals. The poor—including manypeople in Rome itself—had no jobs and receivedhandouts of food from the government. The gov-ernment also entertained them, paying for spectacu-lar—and bloody—shows of combat in public arenas.

About a third of the people in the empire wereslaves. They were usually people from a land thathad been conquered by the army. Many timesslaves tried to organize a revolt to win their free-dom, but they never could succeed.

The Rise of ChristianityKEY IDEA Christianity arose in the eastern part of theempire and spread throughout Roman lands.

One of the groups whose land was taken intothe empire was the Jews. Many Jews wanted

to rid their land of the Romans. Others hoped forthe coming of the Messiah—the savior. Accordingto tradition, God promised that the Messiah wouldrestore the kingdom of the Jews. In this time, Jesuswas born.

At age 30, Jesus began to travel the countrysidepreaching his message of the love of God. Accordingto close followers, he performed many miracles. Hetaught that those who regretted their sins wouldenter an eternal kingdom after death. His fame grew,

and many people thought him the long-awaitedMessiah.

Jewish church leaders did not believe that histeachings were those of God. Roman leaders fearedhis hold on the people. Jesus was arrested and sen-tenced to death. After his death, his followers saidthat he had appeared to them again and then goneto heaven. They said this proved he was the Messiah.They called him “Christ,” which is Greek for “sav-ior,” and his followers came to be called Christians.

At first his followers were all Jewish. Later, underone follower, Paul, the Christians began to look toall people, even non-Jews, to join the church. Theleaders of the early church traveled throughout theempire spreading the teachings of Jesus.

From time to time, Roman leaders tried to punish the Christians. They were angered whenChristians refused to worship the Roman gods.Romans had them put to death or killed by wildanimals in the arena. However, the religion spreaduntil, after almost 200 years, millions of peopleacross the empire believed. It spread because itaccepted all believers, whether rich or poor, man orwoman. It gave hope to those without power. Itappealed to people who were bothered by the lackof morality in Roman life. It won followers becauseit offered a personal relationship with God and thepromise of life after death.

As the early church grew, it developed anofficial structure. Priests led small groups of wor-shipers in individual churches. Bishops, based inmost major cities, controlled all the churches intheir area. The bishop of Rome headed the church.

In A.D. 313, Christianity entered a new era. TheRoman emperor Constantine said that Christianswould no longer be persecuted. He gave his officialapproval to Christianity. A few decades later, itbecame the empire’s official religion. WhileChristianity grew in power, it also felt some growingpains. Church leaders sometimes disagreed overbasic beliefs and argued about them. From time totime they met in councils to settle these matters.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

KEY IDEA The empire became weakened by internalproblems and bothered by the arrival of warlike nomads.The empire was divided and later fell apart.

Beginning about A.D. 180, Rome entered a periodof decline. It suffered economic problems.

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Trade slowed as raiders threatened the ships andcaravans that carried goods over sea and land. Thesupply of gold and silver went down, and the priceof goods increased. Food supplies dropped as tiredsoil, warfare, and high taxes cut the amount of grainand other foods produced on farms. On top of that,the empire had military problems. German tribescaused trouble on the frontiers while Roman gener-als fought one another for control of the empire.

After a century of these problems, a newemperor, Diocletian, took the throne. He passedmany new laws trying to fix the economy. He triedto restore the status of the emperor by naminghimself a son of the chief Roman god. He evendivided the empire into eastern and western halvesto make it easier to govern. Many of these changeswere continued by Constantine, who in 324became emperor of both halves of the empire. Afew years later, Constantine moved the capital ofthe empire to Byzantium, a city in northwesternTurkey where Europe met Asia. The city was even-tually renamed Constantinople after Constantine.

These reforms delayed the end of the RomanEmpire but could not prevent its fall. The easternpart of the empire remained strong and unified,but in the west trouble continued. German tribesmoved into the empire, all of them trying to escapefierce warriors—Mongol nomads from CentralAsia—that were moving into their land. These werethe Huns, and their arrival helped bring about theend of Rome. The Roman armies in the west col-lapsed, and German armies twice entered Romeitself, looting and burning the once-great city. Afterthe death in 453 of their leader, Attila, the Hunswent back to central Asia. However, the Germanshad arrived for good. By 476 there were Germanpeople living in many areas of Europe. That year aGerman general removed the last western Romanemperor from the throne.

Rome and the Roots of Western Civilization

KEY IDEA The Romans developed many ideas and insti-tutions that have become part of Western civilization.

Rome took features of Greek culture and addedideas of its own. This combination of influences

helped shape Europe and the Western world.Roman sculpture, for instance, borrowed Greek

practices but with a difference. Roman statues

were more realistic. Romans perfected a kind ofsculpture in which images stood out three-dimensionally from a flat background. Romansmade pictures from tiny tiles, a process calledmosaic, and enjoyed wall painting. Roman writingwas based on Greek models, too.

Romans became famous for their skill at engi-neering. They used arches and domes to build large,impressive buildings. Many of these forms are stillused today. They also built an excellent system ofroads and built several aqueducts to carry waterfrom distant lakes or rivers to large cities.

Rome left another mark on the world. Manylanguages, from Spanish to Romanian, are based onLatin. Even languages such as English have manywords taken from Latin.

Rome’s most lasting influence, though, was insetting certain standards of law that still influencepeople today. These include the ideas that

• all persons should be treated equally by the law;• a person should be thought innocent of a crime

until proven guilty;• someone who accuses another person of a crime

has to prove it; and• a person should be punished only for actions, not

for thoughts or opinions.

ReviewDetermining Main Ideas1. Describe the government of the republic.2. Describe the empire during the long time of

peace.3. Analyzing Issues What important change did

Paul make to Christianity?4. Summarizing How did Diocletian try to fix the

empire?5. Clarifying Give two examples of principles of

Roman law that still influence people today.

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Locations of: o Athens o Sparta o Persian Empire o Thermopylae o Macedonia o Rome (city) o Constantinople o Mediterranean Sea o Jerusalem

Draw the boundaries of o Alexander the Great’s Empire o Roman Empire

Show where the Roman Empire was divided into two halves

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF India and China EstablishEmpires, 300 B.C.–A.D. 550

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Skillful generals and rulers establish empires in northernIndia. They join together many different peoples and bring peace and prosperityto the land. During this time, the religions of India undergo changes in order tobe more appealing to the common people. In China a great empire sets the pat-terns of Chinese government and culture that would be followed centuries later.

Summary

India’s First EmpiresKEY IDEA The Mauryas and the Guptas made empires inIndia. Neither family, though, united India for very long.

In 321 B.C., Chandragupta Maurya used his armyto defeat the king of eastern India. He took the

throne and started a dynasty named after him.Chandragupta, not stopping with eastern India,

moved west. In 305 B.C., he began to challengeSeleucus, one of Alexander the Great’s generals.The two armies clashed for several years, and even-tually Chandragupta won. For the first time, north-ern India, from west to east, was joined under therule of one person.

Chandragupta was a harsh ruler. He charged aheavy tax on all the farmers who raised food—one-half of the crop they grew each year. He used thewealth he gained to build a huge army. He createda government that he controlled by carefully choos-ing officials and keeping a watchful eye on them.He split his empire into four provinces, each ruledby a prince. These areas, in turn, were divided intosmaller pieces that were run by members of thegovernment.

We know a great deal about life in Chandragupta’scourt because Seleucus sent a Greek there as anambassador. He described the richness of the palaceand the beauty of the capital city.

Chandragupta’s grandson Asoka took the thronein 269 B.C. and brought the Mauryan Empire to itsgreatest height. At first he was a warlike king andfought many fierce battles with an enemy to thesouth. Then he decided to accept the teachings ofthe Buddha.

Asoka promised to rule in a fair and just way.He issued laws that urged his subjects to avoid vio-lence. He made great roads so that people couldtravel easily—and then placed wells and rest stopsall along these roads for travelers to refresh them-selves. Soon after Asoka died, however, his empirecollapsed.

For the next 500 years, India was a land oftroubles. In the center of India, a new kingdomarose to dominate the scene. In the northwest,many Greeks, Persians, and Central Asians enteredthe land, fleeing the invasions of others. Theyadded new ideas and languages to India’s rich mixof culture. In the south, three different kingdomsfought each other off and on.

Around A.D. 320, a new power arose in thenorth. It was Chandra Gupta (not related to thefirst emperor), and he came to power by marryingthe daughter of an important royal family. With thisalliance, he took the title of king and began to con-quer other areas.

His son, Samudra Gupta, followed the same pol-icy and for 40 years fought to win new lands for theGupta Empire. His son, Chandra Gupta II,brought the empire to its largest size. He managedto take parts of western India, including importantports on the Indian Ocean. With these, the Guptaswere able to engage in the rich trade that con-nected India, Southwest Asia, and the world of theMediterranean Sea. The Gupta Empire, like theMauryan Empire before it, now stretched all acrossnorthern India.

Farmers worked their land, following the cycle ofthe seasons. Each family was led by the father, and allmembers of the family worked on the farm. Part ofeach crop had to be paid to the king each year.Farmers also had to set aside part of each month towork on community resources such as wells or dams.Craft workers and those who worked in trade lived inspecial sections of each village, town, or city.

The Gupta kings were patrons of the arts, andartists flourished during their rule. The peoplewere happy, too, according to a Chinese travelerwho spent many years in India. However, thisperiod of calm ended soon after the death ofChandra Gupta II. Another wave of invaders,related to the Huns sacking Rome at this time,

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moved into India. Soon the great Gupta Empirehad broken up into several smaller kingdoms.

Trade Spreads IndianReligions and Culture

KEY IDEA Indian religions, culture, and science developedand changed. Through trade, they reached other lands.

Over time, the religions of Hinduism andBuddhism became more and more distant from

the common people. The special class of priestscontrolled Hinduism. Followers of the Buddhafound it difficult to find the promised goal of releasefrom this world. As new peoples moved into India,they brought new ideas. These ideas had an impacton these religions.

The Buddha had taught that a tough course ofspiritual life was the way to escape from the suffer-ing of the world. Self-denial was difficult for manypeople to follow, however. Many people came toworship the Buddha himself as a god, even thoughhe had forbidden it. Then they came to believe thatother people could become Buddhas themselvesthrough good works and sacrifice.

These ideas created a new kind of Buddhism,and the religion broke into two ways of belief. Sometook the new doctrine, and others held on to thestricter beliefs. However, with this new approach,Buddhism became a popular religion. All believershad the chance to be saved. This change caused anincrease in art. Buddhists with money built templesand shrines and then paid artists to decorate themwith sculptures and paintings.

Hinduism changed too. By the time of theMauryan Empire, only priests were involved inmany rituals of the faith. For centuries, Hinduismhad been a religion of many gods. Now other reli-gions based on only one god were becoming moreimportant. Many Hindus began to emphasize threegods in particular. By devoting themselves to thesegods, people began to feel the religion moredirectly in their lives.

Indian art enjoyed a period of great vigor duringthese centuries. Poets and playwrights wrote beau-tiful works of literature, while other artists laid thefoundations for the classical form of dance in India.

The scientists of India had many achievements.They proved that the earth was indeed round manyhundred years before Europeans realized it. Theymade great advances in mathematics, too. Theyinvented the idea of zero and of decimal numbers.

The doctors of India became highly skilled. Theyknew more than 1,000 diseases and used hundredsof medicines from plants to help their patients.

India was also a center of trade. It traded cottoncloth and animals to China for silk. Traders broughtspices from Southeast Asia to India along caravanroutes called the Silk Roads. Then they sold themto Rome and to other western peoples. This tradewas so busy that large numbers of Roman coinshave been found in India. The Indians also tradedtheir own cotton cloth in Africa for ivory and gold.They sent rice and wheat to Arabia for dates andhorses. They carried out this trade by land and sea.

Along with goods, Indians spread their culture.The art and architecture of many lands in SoutheastAsia shows the influence of Indian art. Some adoptedHinduism, and many began to follow Buddhism.

Han Emperors in ChinaKEY IDEA The Han Dynasty made China larger. It alsostarted a system of government that lasted for centuries.

An empire also arose in China, one that wouldhave long-lasting effects on Asia. The Chinese

had been united briefly under the Qin Empire, butit fell apart in a period of civil war. Two leadersworked together to win control of China. Then oneof them, Liu Bang, turned on the other anddefeated him in battle. In 202 B.C., he named him-self the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. The Hanwould rule parts of China for the next 400 yearsand set many patterns for Chinese culture for cen-turies to come.

Liu Bang made his government strong so thatno one else could rival him for power. Local officialsled the government throughout the land. Theyreported to the emperor in the capital. The rule ofthe previous emperor had been very harsh. Liu Bangtook a different approach. He lowered taxes andhad lighter penalties for crimes. Life became easierfor the Chinese people.

After the death of Liu Bang, one of his wives,the Empress Lü took over. In this time, as in otherparts of Han rule, court politics was a major part oflife around the ruler. Each group tried to find a wayof making sure that it could get and hold power.This game of political chess would take the ruler’sattention from the people he was supposed to rule.

From 141 to 87 B.C., the emperor Wudi ruledHan China. He made the area of his empire muchlarger, pushing it almost to the size of modern

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China. He began by defeating some nomads wholived in the north and bothered the people withconstant attacks. He moved troops and settlers tothe west. He sent soldiers to the north into modernKorea and to the south to modern Vietnam.

Wudi also changed the government in importantways. To run his government, he had a large num-ber of officials who reached down to the smallestvillage. To find people to fill these posts, he intro-duced a new system. Those who wanted to work forthe government had to earn the right by passing anexam. The exam tested them on their knowledge ofthe writings of Confucius, the Chinese philosopherwho had lived 400 years earlier. He also builtschools around the country that taught this knowl-edge. This system continued to work into the 20thcentury.

To support this large government, Wudi col-lected taxes. Farmers paid part of the crops theygathered each year. Merchants paid taxes on thegoods they traded. Peasants also gave one month’sworth of labor each year to the government to workon large public building projects such as dams androads.

Under Han rule, the Chinese had many newinventions. One of the most important was paper.Before that invention, books were printed on silk.Because paper was much cheaper, using it meantthat there were more books—and more learning inthe country. The Chinese also improved farming byinventing a new two-bladed plow.

This change was important because the numberof Chinese people had grown greatly. The Hanemperors told their people that farming was themost important work to do—because they neededto grow much more food to feed so many people.

At the same time, several industries becameimportant. The government took control of miningsalt and making iron, coins, and alcohol. For awhile the government went to work making silk.This expensive cloth was in great demand in India,Rome, and other lands. Only the Chinese knewhow to make silk from the cocoons of the silkworm,and they kept their secret closely guarded. Theywanted to be sure to control the trade.

China now included many different peoples,and the Han rulers tried to make sure that theylearned Chinese ways. They urged their people tomarry with people from these other groups. Newbooks told the story of the history of China.

One group that did not do well in Han Chinawas women. According to the teachings of Confucius,women were supposed to meet the needs of theirhusband and children and not become involved inother areas of life. Although some women in theemperor’s family might wield power, this was rare.

The empire began to have problems as the richpeople who owned large amounts of land grew moreand more rich. The poor, at the same time, werebeing forced to pay heavy taxes. For about 40 years,China suffered in two ways. The members of thecourt were caught up in plots to try to gain power.Meanwhile, the peasants rebelled against their hightaxes and poor lives. A government official namedWang Mang took the throne and tried to help thepoor by taking land from the large landholders. Inthe middle of these changes, though, a terrible floodstruck China and destroyed millions of homes. Thepeasants rebelled again, and Wang Mang was killed.At that time, a member of the old imperial Hanfamily was put back on the throne. A new Hanrule—called the Later Han Dynasty—was created.

For the next few decades, China enjoyed peaceand wealth. Later, though, the same problemsarose again—the gap between rich and poor wastoo great. By A.D. 220, the Han Dynasty had fallenfor good.

Review1. Comparing and Contrasting Compare and

contrast the rule of Chandragupta Maurya andAsoka.

2. Drawing Conclusions How did Buddhism andHinduism become more popular religions in thisperiod?

3. Summarizing Describe two advances in the sci-ences in India of the Guptas.

4. Forming and Supporting Opinions WhichHan emperor do you think was most important?Why?

5. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing EffectsWhat basic problem was there in Han China,which led to its fall?

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African Civilizations 29

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Name Date

CHAPTERS IN BRIEF African Civilizations, 1500 B.C.–A.D. 700

CHAPTER OVERVIEW African peoples develop different ways of adapting to thecontinent’s many environments. Yet, African cultures share many characteristics.Africa’s earliest known culture develops in West Africa. Bantu-speaking peoplebegin south of the Sahara Desert. Over the centuries they move until they fill thesouthern half of Africa. In East Africa, the kingdom of Aksum rises and flourishes.

Summary

Diverse Societies in AfricaKEY IDEA African peoples developed many different waysof life as they adapted to many different environments.

Africa is the second largest continent in theworld. It reaches 4,600 miles from east to west

and 5,000 miles from north to south. It has aboutone-fifth of the earth’s land. Much of the land is ahigh plateau, with lower land near the coasts. Therivers that flow along this high land often formwaterfalls or rapids. As a result, boats cannot usethese rivers to travel either to or from the coast. Also,the coast is not good for boats. It has relatively fewharbors for so large a landmass.

Africa has many different environments. TheEquator crosses Africa and much of the continentlies in the tropics, where the weather is hot all yearround. Even in this area, though, the environmentsare widely different. There are hot, dry deserts;steamy, wet rain forests; and high, cool mountains.

About a third of Africa’s land is desert. This harshland holds few people. It also forms a barrier topeople who want to move from one area to another.The Sahara Desert in the north of Africa is aboutone-third the size of the United States. Dense rain-forests cover much of the central part of Africa.This area receives heavy rainfall. Trees grow totowering heights and block sunlight from the forestfloor. As a result, few small plants grow underneaththe tall trees.

The northern and southern regions of Africahave large numbers of people. They have good soilfor farming and plenty of grass for animals to eat.They have pleasant climates. Most Africans live onthe grasslands that cover almost half of the conti-nent. They grow grains, including rice and wheat,and tend to cattle. Each year, though, the SaharaDesert expands and takes away a bit more of thisgrassland.

The first humans in Africa got food by huntinganimals and gathering plants. Even today, some

African peoples still use this method for obtainingfood. Men hunt animals with spears or bows andarrows. Women and children gather roots andberries.

Over time, these people learned to tame animalsand raise them for food. These ancient herderskept cattle, goats, or sheep. Like the hunters andgatherers, these herders were nomadic people. Asthey moved, they looked for plentiful grass and forwater for their animals. When food or water wasused up in one area, they moved to another.

About 10,000 B.C., some people in Africa beganto farm—growing their own food instead of gather-ing wild food. Later the climate changed, bringingmore rainfall to the Sahara. People farmed thereuntil the climate changed once again around 4000B.C. and the desert returned. The people then leftthe desert and headed for many different areas.They went to farm in the Nile Valley and WestAfrica or on the grasslands. Some moved to therain forest.

The grasslands had good soil, and the peoplecould grow extra food. As in other areas, farmingled to changes in African society. With more food,people lived longer and the population grew. Somepeople were able to specialize in tasks beyond rais-ing food, such as making jewelry or pottery. Othersbecame leaders. They organized the group’s effortsto grow food, defend against invaders, or plan forthe future.

African peoples had many differences becauseof the different environments in which they lived.The people who lived south of the Sahara, though,had these features in common:

• The family was the most important unit of soci-ety. In some groups, family was considered allpeople who come from common ancestors. Thisis called a clan.

• They believed that one god created the world.Also, they felt that plants, animals, and other

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natural forces all have spirits that play an impor-tant role in life.

• They relied on oral storytelling, rather than writ-ing, to pass on the traditions of their people.

The Nok culture, of West Africa, existed fromabout 500 B.C. to A.D. 200. The Nok people areknown for their interesting pottery figures and forbeing the first people in Africa who knew how tomake iron. Some styles of Nok pottery are stillfound in Africa today.

By looking for signs of the past, archaeologistsfound an ancient city in West Africa. Djenné-Djenois the oldest known African city south of the Sahara.The city rested on the banks of the Niger River.Researchers have found thousands of objects suchas pottery, toys, jewelry, and knives. The oldestpieces are from 250 B.C.

The city held about 50,000 people at its largest.At first, they lived in round huts made of reeds andcovered with mud. Later they lived in houses ofmud bricks. They grew rice, raised cattle, and madeiron. They traded these goods for gold and copper.

Migration Case Study:Bantu-Speaking Peoples

KEY IDEA Throughout history, various peoples havedesired to leave their homes and move to a new land.

Throughout human history, many peoples havefelt the urge to move from their homes to a

new land. While there are many reasons that peo-ple make such a move, they can be grouped intothree main causes:

1. Environmental. The climate of an area maychange or its soil may become too poor for farm-ing or all the water may be used up. Then, peo-ple move to a new area.

2. Economic. There are too many people in an areaor too little food or too few jobs. Then, somepeople will move to another place to find theland, food, or jobs they need.

3. Political. Sometimes one group of people treats adifferent group harshly. They may capture theirland and turn them into slaves. The people madeto suffer in this way may end up moving to a newland. They may go by force—as when they aremade slaves—or by choice—as they hope toescape their suffering.

Any of these factors can push people out of anarea. Or they may pull people into an area. These

are called push-pull factors. For example, availablejobs will pull people into an area. But too few jobswilll push them out.

These reasons have pushed or pulled people tomove from the beginning of human life on Earth,and they continue to do so today. The large-scalemovement of people in modern times can betraced in written records. In studying times beforewritten history, though, researchers need to lookfor other clues to these migrations. One clue theyuse is language.

People bring their language with them whenthey move to a new place. Languages do changeover time. Suppose that historians find two lan-guages from two distant areas that have words thatare somewhat similar. They can conclude that thosetwo languages may have both come from the sameoriginal language. They say that the original speak-ers of the language simply moved to the two differ-ent areas long before. Then, the two languageschanged independently of one another. This kind ofclue has given historians a way of understandingthe early history of Africa. Many languages spokenin Africa today developed from the same parentlanguage called Proto-Bantu. The people whospoke Bantu first lived in a part of modern Nigeria.In the first few centuries A.D., they began to movesouth and east. Over time, they spread throughoutAfrica south of the Sahara Desert, reaching thesouthern tip around 500 years ago. They broughttheir language and their culture with them.

One reason that these people moved had to dowith how they farmed. Their method was to clearforest land by burning down trees. This left a plotof rich soil that was suitable for growing food—fora few years. After that, however, the soil no longercould produce good crops. The people then neededto move to a new area to clear a new patch ofground.

Another reason they moved was that their farm-ing was so successful. Farming helped them producemore food than they could by hunting and gather-ing. With more to eat, groups became larger—andthe land more crowded. They could not move north,where the Sahara Desert made a barrier. So theyhad to move farther and farther south.

As they reached new areas, the Bantu peoplesmet other peoples. Sometimes these meetings wereviolent. The Bantus, who knew how to make iron,had better weapons than those they met, who onlyhad stone tools. Some of the peoples that they met

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are still found in Africa, but they live in small areaswith very harsh environments. The Bantus took thebetter land.

The Kingdom of Aksum KEY IDEA The kingdom of Aksum in East Africa becamean important part of trade between different nations. Italso adopted Christianity as its religion.

The peoples in East Africa had far more contactwith people from other areas. The Kushite

kingdom of Nubia had close relations with Egypt,and its kings even ruled Egypt for a while. Thatkingdom continued for many centuries as a tradingpower. It was then replaced by the kingdom ofAksum in modern Ethiopia.

Aksum may have begun when Arabian tradersmixed with the people of Kush about 1000 B.C. Itsfirst mention in written records is in a Greek bookfrom A.D. 100 that talks about the king of Aksum.About that time, the kingdom of Aksum began togrow, taking other lands. Some were in Africa, andsome were on the Arabian peninsula.

With this growth, Aksum became an importantpart of world trade. Salt, emeralds, brass, copper,gold, cloth, olive oil, and wine all moved throughAksum. Its trade routes helped link Rome to India.In the early 300s, Aksum had a strong new kingnamed Ezana. He captured more land on theArabian peninsula. Then he conquered Kush anddestroyed the ancient city of Meroë in 350. Theaction removed an old rival in trade.

Because it was a trading center, Aksum was hometo peoples from many different cultures. At the timeof King Ezana, these different peoples all spoke toone another in Greek in order to be understood. Themixing of these different peoples did more thanbring a new language to Aksum. It also brought anew religion. During his rule, King Ezana decidedto become a Christian. Slowly, the religion spreadthroughout the land. Even today, about 22 millionpeople in modern Ethiopia are Christian.

The people of Aksum developed a special wayof building. They made structures out of stone, notmud baked into bricks by the hot sun. Their kingsbuilt tall pillars of stone that reached as high as 60feet. They were among the tallest structures in theancient world.

Aksum had other advances as well. Outside ofEgypt and Meroë, it was the only culture of ancientAfrica to have a written language. The language of

Aksum had been brought to the land by Arab tradersmany hundreds of years before.

The people of Aksum also developed a new wayof farming. They cut wide steps called terraces intothe steep mountainsides in their country. The ter-races helped the land hold water instead of lettingit run down the mountain in a heavy rain. They alsoused dams and stone tanks to store water and usedditches to channel it to their fields.

Aksum remained an important power in EastAfrica for 800 years. It was first challenged in the600s, though, after the new religion of Islam cameto Arabia. The followers of Islam captured the landsthat Aksum held in the Arabian peninsula. Within afew decades, they had taken much of North Africa,and Aksum remained an island of Christianity in asea of Islam.

At first, these conquerors left Aksum alone. By710, however, they had destroyed its chief port onthe Red Sea. The Aksum kings moved their capitalover the mountains to a hard-to-reach area. Cut offfrom other Christian lands and from the sea trade,though, Aksum went into decline.

Review1. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing Effects

What impact did geography have on the wayhuman societies developed in Africa?

2. Determining Main Ideas What features of cul-ture are common to people south of the Sahara?

3. Clarifying Give an example of one of the threereasons that people move from their home to anew land.

4. Analyzing Causes and Recognizing EffectsWhy did the Bantu peoples move their homes?

5. Drawing Conclusions Why was Aksum important?

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The Americas: A Separate World 33

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CHAPTERS IN BRIEF The Americas: A Separate World,40,000 B.C.–A.D. 700

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Long ago, huge ice sheets cover the land. The level of theoceans goes down, and a once-underwater bridge of land connects Asia and theAmericas. Asian hunters cross this bridge and become the first Americans. Theyspread down the two continents. They develop more complex societies and newcivilizations. The earliest of these new cultures are found in central Mexico andin the high Andes Mountains.

Summary

The Earliest AmericansKEY IDEA The first Americans were separated fromother parts of the world. Nevertheless, they developed insimilar ways.

North and South America form a single stretchof land that reaches from the freezing cold

of the Arctic Circle in the north to the icy watersaround Antarctica in the south. Two oceans oneither side of these land masses separate themfrom Africa, Asia, and Europe.

That was not always the case, though. Fromaround 1.6 million to about 10,000 years ago, theearth went through an Ice Age. During this time ofsevere cold, much water froze into huge sheets ofice called glaciers. With water trapped in ice, thelevel of the world’s oceans went down. The loweredoceans exposed land that is today again covered bywater.

One strip of this land, called Beringa, con-nected Asia and North America. Wild animalscrossed this rocky land bridge and entered NorthAmerica for the first time. Some of the Asians whohunted these animals followed them. Withoutknowing it, they became the first Americans.

No one knows for sure when these first peoplereached the Americas. Some historians say it tookplace as long ago as 40,000 B.C. Others say it hap-pened as late as 10,000 B.C. A recent discovery inChile suggests that people were well settled in thatpart of the Americas by 10,500 B.C. Since Chile liesfar south of the land bridge, some experts say thatpeople needed many thousands of years to travelthat far. For this reason, they think that the firstpeople over the land bridge must have arrivedabout 20,000 years ago.

Whenever it was that they arrived, these firstAmericans clearly lived as hunters. One of theirfavorite targets for the hunt was the huge mam-moth. This creature was like an elephant covered

with thick, long hair to protect it from the bittercold of the Ice Age. It was so large that one animalalone gave enough meat, hide, and bones to feed,clothe, and house many people.

Over time, all the mammoths died, and the peo-ple were forced to look for other food. They beganto hunt smaller animals such as rabbits and deerand to fish. They also began to gather plants andfruits to eat. Because they no longer had to roamover large areas to search for the mastodon, theysettled for part of the year in one spot.

Between 12,000 and 10,000 B.C., the climatechanged. The Ice Age ended, and the worldwarmed up again. The huge sheets of ice melted,and the oceans rose again to cover the land bridgethat connected Asia to the Americas. By this time,though, people lived from north to south in theAmericas. They lived in many different environ-ments and found special ways of life suited to theplace where they lived.

About 7000 B.C., the people living in centralMexico started a quiet revolution—farming. It wasthe same kind of radical change that had happenedin several spots in Asia and Africa. By 3400 B.C.,they had several foods that they grew, includingsquashes, beans, chilies, and the most importantone—corn. Corn grew so well that a family of threecould, in four months, grow enough corn to feed itfor two years.

Over many centuries, the practice of farmingspread throughout the Americas. In what is nowthe eastern United States and in the region of theAndes Mountains, early Americans may have dis-covered the idea of farming on their own. In cen-tral Mexico, farmers became so skilled at growingcorn that they could enjoy three harvests each year.

Farming had the same results in the Americasthat it did in Asia and Africa. Growing food gavepeople a more reliable food supply—and morefood, too. As a result, more people could be fed,

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they were healthier, and they lived longer. Thepopulation grew. Because farmers produced somuch food, some people could concentrate onother ways of making a living. They began to workin different arts and crafts or to learn how to buildbuildings. Some people grew to be rich—to ownmore than others and to enjoy a higher position insociety. Some people became rulers, and othersbecame their subjects.

Early MesoamericanCivilizations

KEY IDEA The Olmecs created the first civilization in theAmericas. It influenced later civilizations in the area.

These changes marked the beginnings of morecomplex societies. The first of the early

American civilizations arose in southern Mexico, anarea of hot rain forests. These people are called theOlmecs, and they flourished from about 1200 to400 B.C. They were an important culture becausethey had influence on their neighbors and on peo-ples who lived long after them.

The Olmecs lived along the Gulf Coast ofMexico in a land of dense forests and heavy rains.The land gave them many benefits, though. It hadgood clay that could be used for pottery, wood andrubber that could be taken from the forest, andstone for building in the mountains to the north.The rivers could be used to move people andgoods, and the soil was excellent for growing food.

Archaeologists have found earthen mounds,courtyards, and pyramids built of stones. Standingon top of the mounds were many monuments madeof stone. Some are columns, others seem to bealtars used in religious ceremonies, and still othersare heads. Some of these stone structures are verylarge and weigh as much as 44 tons.

Researchers are not sure whether the Olmecsites were monuments to rulers or areas importantfor religious reasons. They do think that the Olmecshad many gods who stood for important forces ofnature. The most important god, it seemed, was thejaguar spirit. Many stone monuments show figuresthat are half human and half jaguar.

The Olmec peoples busily traded with otherpeople to the north and south. In return for theproducts they made, they received iron ore and dif-ferent kinds of stone. Along with their trade goods,they spread their culture to other people. For somereason, the Olmecs disappeared around 400 B.C.

Historians still do not understand why. However,their influence lived on.

Another important early culture of Mexico wasthe Zapotec people. Their home was to the south-west of the Olmecs in a valley that had excellentsoil for farming and plenty of rainfall. They beganto rise about 1000 B.C. at a site that included stoneplatforms and temples. A few hundred years later,they developed a kind of writing and a calendar.

About 500 B.C., the Zapotecs began building thefirst city in the Americas. Called Monte Albán, itgrew to hold as many as 25,000 people and lastedas late as A.D. 700. The city was an impressive sightwith high pyramids, temples, and palaces made outof stone. It had an observatory that could be usedto look at the stars. However, the Zapotec culturealso collapsed, and, as with the Olmecs, historiansdo not know why.

Both of these cultures left their mark on laterpeoples, though. The jaguar figure of the Olmecscontinued to appear in the sculpture and pottery of people who came later. Also, the look of Olmectowns—with pyramids, open space, and huge stonesculptures—was repeated in later times. The Olmecsdeveloped a ritual game played with a ball that alsocontinued to be used in the area.

The Zapotecs also shaped the lives of later peo-ples. Their way of writing and their calendar—based on the movements of the sun—were takenby other groups. The dramatic and beautiful city ofMonte Albán also influenced later peoples, whobuilt their own cities in similar ways. These citiescombined religious purposes with the needs of thecommon people who lived in them.

Early Civilizations of the Andes

KEY IDEA In the rugged landscape of the AndesMountains, various peoples created their own civilizations.

Other interesting civilizations arose in theAmericas far to the south of the Olmec and

Zapotec peoples. This took place in an environmentthat was very harsh—the high Andes Mountainsthat snake down the western edge of South America.This range of mountains has many peaks that aremore than 20,000 feet high.

Toward the northern part of South America,along these mountains, lies the modern country ofPeru. In this area, the mountains are steep andvery rocky. The area is also very cold, with many

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mountains covered by ice and snow during theentire year. It is very hard to travel this area, andthe climate changes quickly from being hot duringthe day to bitter cold at night. The soil is poor aswell, making it hard to grow food.

It was in this difficult land that a new civiliza-tion arose in the mountains. That culture is calledChavín. It takes its name from a major ruin, Chavínde Huántar, in the Andes Mountains. At this site,researchers have found pyramids, open spaces, andlarge mounds made of earth. The Chavín culturewas at its height from 900 B.C. to 200 B.C. It is con-sidered the first influential civilization in SouthAmerica.

Scientists have found objects that suggest thatthe Chavín culture helped shape other people livingto the north and south of this site. In these othersites, they see the art styles and symbols of religionthat they had found at Chavín. They think that themain site was not the center of a political empirebut was the chief site of a spiritual or religiousmovement. People from other areas may have madetrips to the main site to pay their respects. TheChavín culture, like the Olmecs in Mexico, mayhave been a “mother culture,” one that gave thefirst form to the ideas and styles of the area.

Two other important cultures arose in Peru.The Nazca culture developed along the coast of thePacific Ocean in the south of Peru. It lasted from200 B.C. to A.D. 600. The Nazca people built largeand complex systems to bring water to their farm-lands. They made beautiful cloth and pottery.

The Nazca are most famous for another of theirfeatures, though. Called the Nazca Lines, they arehuge pictures scraped on the surface of a rockyplain. The drawings include a monkey, a spider,some birds, and other creatures. What is mostremarkable is that the pictures are so large thatthey can be seen and appreciated only from high inthe air. Some experts think that the Nazca drewthese pictures to please their gods.

The other culture of early Peru arose along thePacific Coast but far to the north. This was theMoche culture, and it lasted from A.D. 100 to A.D.700. The Moche tapped into rivers that floweddown from the mountains. They built ditches tobring water to their fields, where they grew manydifferent crops. They raised corn, beans, potatoes,squash, and peanuts. They also fished, caught wildducks and pigs, and hunted deer.

Archaeologists have found some tombs of theMoche people, and they show that the culture hadgreat wealth. They have found jewelry made ofgold, silver, and jewels. The Moche people madebeautiful pottery that showed scenes of everydaylife. So, even though they never had a written lan-guage, it is possible to learn much about how theylived.

Eventually, though, the Moche culture also fell.As with the other peoples of the Americas, the rea-son for this fall is not known. For the next hundredyears, other cultures would rise and fall in theAmericas. Most of them remained separate fromone another, however.

ReviewAnalyzing Causes and Recognizing Effects1. What did the first Americans hunt, and what

happened when that supply of food disappeared?2. What happened when the early peoples of

America began to farm?3. Drawing Conclusions Why were the Olmecs

and Zapotecs important?Determining Main Ideas4. How was the environment of the Andes

Mountains difficult?5. Write one important thing each about the

Chavín, Nazca, and Moche peoples.

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Maps – Chapters 7, 8, and 9


Locations of: o Djenne-Djeno o Meroe o Sahara Desert o Bering Land Strait/Bridge o Monte Alban o Chavin de Huantar o Andes Mountains

Draw the borders of: o Mauryan Empire o Gupta Empire o Han Dynasty China o Kingdom of Aksum o Olmec civilization o Zapotec civilization o Chavin civilization o Nazca civilization o Moche civilization

Path of Bantu migrations

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