HIST 11051 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Chalcolithic, Civitas, Sericulture

• School: Kent State University
• Department: History
• Course: HIST 11051
• Professor: Julio C Pino

Document Summary

First river valley civilizations, pre-civilization, stability due to need to control water, small groups could not regulate waters, small groups could not defend area, predecessors to civilizations, small farming villages, first appeared in s. w. Land owning aristocracy dominate: warlike society with slavery, trade for needed materials. Later mesopotamians: cycle of civilization, nomads come in and conquer sedentary people, conquerors assimilate local sedentary culture, new civilization blends cultures, thrives for a while. New civilization grows old, invaded by nomads: akkad first , first empire, sargon conquered all of sumer, babylonian first , city at junction of tigris-euphrates, hammurabi"s law code. Laws included in jewish torah: mesopotamia as a chart, the nile river, society very different from sumer, nile flooded regularly, predictably, provided rich soil, easy soil to farm, civilization regulated flooding, surveying. Indus valley: arose around 2,500 bce, main cities, mohenjo daro, harappa, hundreds of other settlements. Independent city-states, strong government: extremely well-planned, coordinated cities, elaborate writing system (undeciphered, religion, collapse.