Kristina Pinochi

China was a major classical civilization and has been since the Ancient Era. Trade has always been huge in China. Confucianism was reborn in the classical era because it was used to reorder during the Golden Age. Neo-Confucianism he wanted relationships of power to be orderly.  The economy in china grew quickly because of technology and engineering. There were a lot of improvements in industrial production. A major importance to note was rice was drought resistant so they always had food.  Reading about the examination system was interesting. I think it would be really scary to have only one exam that determines my whole life. It would really suck to be poor because you would not be able to afford a tutor.  After reading this chapter it seemed like almost everyone wanted to be Chinese because they had a really good economy. I would not want to be a female in china during the classical period because of the foot binding that was required for women. 

This chapter is important because it focused on Christendom. Christendom began in the Classical Era in year 0 when Jesus was born. He was seen as a threat to Romans because he had a lot of followers and they felt they were loosing control so they killed him. People had to hide while practicing Christianity in their homes. Eventually the Romans decided to make it the official religion. The problem with that was once it became the official religion the government had the control on how people could interpret the religion. People were not allowed to have their own interpretations. It was interesting to read that Byzantium would say that the empire did not fall or collapse it just moved east to Constantinople. Vladimir was a prince in Russia who wanted to control people of different backgrounds. He "shopped" for religions and chose Eastern Orthodox as the religion to be practiced. A huge reason why he did not choose Islam was because Islam did not allow people to drink and that...

This Chapter focused on three routes used for trading. The first was the Silk Route in Eurasia. This route provided products mostly for the elite. Things like porcelain, gold, paper and food. Unfortunately this route caused the population to decrease because the rats were able to carry the black death. The silk road was not a real road, but it did cause a huge increase in trade. The second route was the Sand route located in the Sahara in West Africa. This route was used to trade gold, slaves, and salt. Things were carried by camels, horses, donkeys and slaves. It was challenging for traders to navigate because they had to rely on other people for directions. This rode lead to hierarchy and advanced commercial centers. The third trading route was the sea in the Indian ocean surrounding Africa, Mediterranean, and China. This route allowed the trade of porcelain, spices, and bigger items because boats were transporting goods. Ideas were able to spread because of these boats and that ...

There were different variations of how places were socially. Places like the Niger River cities had relative equality. Men and women balanced each other and worked together. This reminds me of the gather-hunter era. The Bantin Migrations was most significant because there was no social hierarchy because they were gathering and hunting. Once agriculture started taking place it lead to social inequality. Americas greatest city was Teotihuacan and it was very inspiring. They were very big and only had to trade within each other. The Pacific islanders were interesting to read about. They only had small villages with no large cities. Everyone had rolls to play. There was Social hierarchy  because they conquered within each other.

Social inequality started taking place in the Neolithic Era. In China wealthy families had land. Peasants were forced to give their land to the wealthy. Landlords were able to escape taxes leaving the peasants to make up for it. Most people were actually peasants and a lot of them could barely survive. Peasants were the backbone for society because they worked so hard. Merchants were seen as unproductive and greedy. In India they had a caste system. The caste system was made up of priest, warriors, merchants, peasants and outcasts In Rome a third of the population were barbarians or slaves. It started with people enslaving animals for agriculture and then that lead to human slaves. Slaves were so miserable they would commit suicide. It is interesting to look at how social inequality has developed over time In the Paleolithic era there was no real social hierarchy because everyone was moving all the time. In the Neolithic era people had property after they learned how to obta...

Confucius: -located in China -Social harmony through moral example -Concerned about order and place in social relationships  -Had a lot of thoughts on leadership and what makes a good leader -Mandate of heaven: if their is peace among the people that leader is the correct leader Socrates: -Located in Greece -Father of philosophy -Students wrote his ideas  -Socratic dialogues  -Concerned with nature of reality and knowledge is obtained through reason -Style of persistent question  -Explanations of human life and nature Mohamed: -Located in the middle east  -Quran -5 pillars of Islam -Believed that religion and politics could not be separated  Hindu: -India -Systems of gods -Believed in reincarnation/ Karma was the pathway to enlightenment  -Belief that when you die you are reincarnated into different levels of hierarchy: Priests, warriors, merchants, peasants, and outcasts.  Buddha: -located ...

Persians: -Had no pictures of a god to worship -Thought it was foolish of people who worshiped at alters -They would climb to mountains to worship Zeus -When they worshiped they were not worshiping or praying for themselves but rather to the King. -Celebrated their birthdays by eating huge meals including lots of meats -Persians love wine -What I did not like learning about the Persians were they greeted each other differently depending on how they ranked socially. If someone was lower then the other they would have to lie down on the floor. Egyptians: -large number of beautiful buildings and monuments -Women go out and trade while the men sit at home -Sons are not required to support their parents, but daughters have to -When a relative died they would shave their heads in mourning. -Had animals living with them -Only people to use circumcision -Excessively religious -Drink out of bronze cups -Very clean

Classical Era: (500 B.C.-1400 AD) -Competition for dominance between civilizations -Unique thinkers develop the seminal ideas that still define us as peoples -Formation of complex empires+ Cosmopolitan Urban Centers -Political units arise which straddle more than one continent Empires: are large states that exercise coercive power. They usually are aggressive and conquer other states to steal their resources. Cosmopolitans: People that come from all around the world to learn their language, food, customs, religions, clothing, etc. Persians: -In my opinion the Persians were successful but very short lived -They were able to bring together all of the major ancient civilizations of Afro-Eurasia into one big empire. -They had a really big military -They were eventually conquered by the Greeks The Golden Period: - Lasted 100 years and was the development of Greek Humanism -Philosophy where big questions are answered using the Human mind -The art was precise and very reali...

DANCING GIRL: -The dancing girl statue looks very confident -Feminine -Very skinny and fit -Nude -She is wearing a lot of jewelry:          -Necklace          -Bracelets all the way up her arm -Almost contradicts what we know about Indus Valley people because it looks like she is wealthy with all of her jewelry. -Made out of copper

The first civilizations took place in the Ancient Era in 3500 B.C. The three places that this chapter mostly looked at were Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus Valley. Civilizations are bigger centrally organized places. City states are smaller and have their own government. Egypt and Indus Valley were civilizations while Mesopotamia was a city state. Mesopotamia and Egypt had a lot of similar qualities. They both showed to have social hierarchy. That is when people start competing each other for wealth, status and power and that creates different levels of hierchary. We know there was social hierarchy because of the pharaohs and pyramids. The biggest problem Mesopotamians had was their water was very unpredictable and out of control. Egypt had more stability because they were able to figure out when the rivers were going to flood so they had more time to relax and had a lot of free time. Mesopotamians were constantly working trying to feed themselves. The Indus Valley civilization was l...