Locate the following places on the map using an atlas or maps in your chapter (easier if you Google these):

I’ve done C & L for you.

  1. Egypt
  2. Mesopotamia
  3. Persia
  4. India
  5. China
  6. NileRiver
  7. TigrisRiver
  8. EuphratesRiver
  9. IndusRiver
  10. GangesRiver
  11. Huanghe (Yellow) River
  12. Yangtze River
  13. Mediterranean Sea
  14. Indian Ocean

INTRODUCTION (P. 8)

  1. What does “Neolithic” mean?
  1. What did Neolithic man know how to do?
  1. What did fire allow early humans to do?
  1. Where did early humans first evolve?
  1. When did humans develop the ability to speak? (Careful! You have to add the number you see to the one at the top of the page.)

Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers (p. 9)

  1. List several disadvantages of humans:
  1. What do thumbs allow humans to do?
  1. Why is being an omnivore better than being just a carnivore or herbivore?

Human Life before Agriculture (P. 10)

  1. What period of time preceded (came before) the Neolithic period?
  1. When did the Old Stone Age end?
  1. What did humans know how to do during the Paleolithic period?

Late Paleolithic Developments (p. 11)

  1. There are different types of monkeys and apes today but only one type of human, Homo sapiens sapiens. What happened to the early types of humans that we have skeletons of?
  1. What did people do to get food during the Paleolithic period?
  1. Why did human groups WANT to have small populations?
  1. How did women reduce their chances of getting pregnant in order to keep their populations low?
  1. Who had more power during the Paleolithic age, men or women? (I could be trying to trick you here.)
  1. What was the greatest achievement of Paleolithic people?
  1. Pay careful attention to the footnote at the bottom of page 12. Instead of B.C. (as in 300 B.C.) or A.D. (as in 2010 A.D.) your textbook uses what for B.C. and what for A.D.? Give both the abbreviation and the full meaning.You must know this for the AP exam.

  1. What does “Mesolithic” mean?
  1. What caused the food supply to increase for Mesolithic peoples?
  1. When the food supply increased what also increased?
  1. What was the final stone age?

The Neolithic Revolution

  1. What moved the human species towards more complexsocial and cultural patterns?
  1. This invention/discovery also led to an increase in what else?
  1. What are the 2 reasons for deliberate planting?
  1. Where did farming originally begin?
  1. What is the “Neolithic revolution”?
  1. What are the positive and negatives that go with sedentary (staying in one place – not moving around) agriculture?

Positives / Negatives
  1. In Central Asia, people resisted becoming farmers. Why did they do this and how did they make a living?
  1. These nomads (people who move around) from Central Asia would play what role in world history? [This is VERY important to remember for your AP exam. It will come up again and again during the school year.]

Hmmm…extra space…what could I use this for….

How about extra credit! 20 points on the first reading quiz for the first 10 people who sign up for Twitter (go to Twitter.com) and follow me – ““Mrs_RobertsAPWH”. Make sure you type the underscore _ that serves as a space when you search for me. There’s a catch: you also MUST CORRECTLY answer question 48 to get the points.Tweet the answer. I will use Twitter during the year to give reminders and hints as well as extra credit. When I give tests Ialso use Twitter to privately send scores out to those who request them so sign up!!

  1. Examine the map on p. 14 or the one above. The following food crops are VERY important. They’re high in carbs (energy) and easy to produce in large amounts.
  2. Where did maize (corn) come from?
  3. Where did rice originate?
  4. Where did wheat start? (North Africa is one place. What’s the other?)
  5. Where did potatoes come from?
  1. How did agriculture spur specialization?
  1. What kind of innovation was very helpful to agriculture?

CIVILIZATION

  1. The earliest civilizations formed in what 4 areas? (Don’t skip section main point bullets!)
  1. Why did agriculture lead to communities rather than scattered farms?
  1. When large villages like Catal Huyuk started to rule over smaller surrounding communities a need was created for what two aspects of civilization?
  1. A 5th area of civilization arose later where?
  1. Of those 5 areas, which 3 had some connection and which 2 were isolated from the rest? Write the 3 that had some connection inside the larger bubble and write the 2 that were isolated in the 2 smaller bubbles.
  1. What advantages do cities provide civilizations?
  1. What was the first system of writing called and what did it look like?
  1. Why did civilizations develop writing?
  1. When did writing become widespread?
  1. Why is history mostly about civilizations?
  1. How did people who lived in civilizations see those who did not live in civilizations?
  1. What does “barbarian” mean and where does the word come from?
  1. List several negative aspects of civilizations:
  1. In general, where were the first civilizations located? Why?

INDIVIDUAL CIVILIZATIONS – welcome to PERSIA! It stands for Political, Economic, Religious, Social, & Area (as in geography)

Here are some guiding questions to help you understand what each component of PERSIA is about. Use these when you get stuck and aren’t sure what you should take notes on.

Political

Who is in charge? What is power based on? Who gives that person or group power? Is there a contract? What's the government structure? Are there significant wars, treaties, courts, or laws?

Economic

How do people earn their food? Is it based on agriculture, commerce, small trades or professions, or industry, like manufacturing or technology? Where's the money? What are the valued and traded commodities? What technologies or industries define culture?

Religious

What is the meaning of life? Where did the group come from? What happens when they die? How do they spend their lives? Who talks to god(s)? What are the basic beliefs? Are there leaders or documents that define religion? Are there conversions? If so how?

Social (this is probably the trickiest one to remember – just remember SOCIAL=PEOPLE!!)

How does the group relate to one another? How do people communicate? What do people do together? How is the group organized? What are the family and gender relations? Are there social classes? How do they live? Are there inequalities? What is unusual about this society or social class?

Intellectual

Who are the thinkers? What groups are given the chance to learn? How do people learn? Where does knowledge come from? How do people or societies apply knowledge to solve problems? What kinds of innovations occur? What resources do they find or adapt? What new things are created that had not previously existed? What do they contribute to science, math, education, or philosophy? How does technology contribute to the economy, military, or art? What key literature or poetry does this group produce or value? What does this literature focus on? What music do they have? What style of painting is practiced? What does their architecture look like? What is distinctive about their art? What type of clothing is worn here?

Area

What does the land look like? What are the major features? What is the climate? How does geography affect the people? How do they change their environment? Where do most people live? Why? What do people produce in various areas? Are there different peoples/languages/religions, etc. in various areas of this land or are they all the same? What are the borders? Where is the capital? Do people have to compete over resources?

Note that you will not always find information in your text for every single PERSIA categorical item. Use PERSIA to take notes on and compare the civilizations below.

Fill in the blank boxes. You MAY find info about one civ in another civ’s section. LOOK!

Keep in mind that when I help you by doing part of your work, to show you how to fill out a chart for example, that DOES NOT MEAN TO IGNORE THE PART I DO!!

TIGRIS-EUPHRATES (p. 18-20) / INDUSRIVERVALLEY (p. 22)
POLITICAL / Unknown
ECONOMIC / Pottery industry
Farming
Silver use for trade/money.
Trade with Egypt & IndusRiverValley.
RELIGIOUS / Unknown but probably combined with Indo-European invaders/migrants’ religion later.
SOCIAL / Classes:


INTELLECUTAL / Houses had running water.
Writing/Alphabet – not deciphered.
AREA / Middle East
Mesopotamia
Valley between the Tigris and EuphratesRivers.
Arid – irrigation needed.
Hard to defend – flat w/ few natural barriers.
EGYPT (p. 20 & 22) / CHINA - SHANG DYNASTY ([p. 22-23)
POLITICAL
ECONOMIC
RELIGIOUS
SOCIAL
INTELLECTUAL / Horse riding, pottery, bronze use, iron use, coal, writing on bones (Oracle Bones) led to ideographic symbols, astronomy, art focused on delicate designs, music. Silk production. Simple mud houses.
AREA / North Africa
Less open to invasion.
NileRiver
Arid - Irrigation needed.
Mediterranean Sea north.
Desert west and south.

VISUALIZING THE PAST: MESOPOTAMIA IN MAPS (p. 19)

  1. Locate Mesopotamia on this map. Now look at the smaller map inserts. Why did those empires spread east to west but NOT south down the Arabian Peninsula? There’s a strong clue on the bigger map.

DOCUMENT: HAMMURABI’S LAW CODE (p. 21) [very important for the AP exam!]

NOTE: the term “villain” used repeatedly in this document does NOT mean “bad guy”. It’s an old word for a serf. Serfs were poor farmers who lived on the land of a noble (upper class person) and paid their rent in labor and/or the crops they grew.

  1. What penalties were common for crimes under Hammurabi?
  1. Do you think there was much crime under Hammurabi? Why?
  1. Were people treated equally in Babylonian society? Cite evidence from the document to prove your contention.
  1. Were men and women equal? If not, who had more power? Cite evidence from the document to support your argument.
  1. Which of Hammurabi’s laws do you feel was the fairest? Summarize it in your own words.

IN DEPTH—THE IDEA OF CIVILIZATION IN WORLD HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

  1. The Chinese, as well as American Indians, Greeks, and Romans, believed that barbarians could become civilized by doing what?
  1. The Chichimecs and other nomadic barbarians would conquer, settle down and then do what, resulting in their becoming civilized?
  1. How did Europeans change the concept of civilization in the 18th and 19th centuries?

THE HERITAGE OF THE RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

  1. List several of the achievements of the river valley civilizations you feel are the most important:
  1. Of the four river valley civilizations focused on in this chapter, which ONE has the strongest connection to civilizations that followed it in that region?
  1. What was the key contribution of the Phoenicians to world history? (HINT: you’re using it right now).
  1. What did the Lydians contribute to world history?
  1. What did the Jews contribute to world history?
  1. What does “monotheism” mean?
  1. What does “polytheism” mean?
  1. What two later religions were strongly influenced by Judaism?
  1. Why did Judaism not spread like Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam would later?

THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS

  1. What common factor contributed to both India and Egypt’s river valley civilizations declining?
  1. Was there a great deal of contact between the river valley civilizations? Why?
  1. Why would Egypt and Mesopotamia’s river valley civilizations have the most contact? (HINT: Did you label your map yet?)

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: THE EARLY CIVILIZATIONS AND THE WORLD

There is some information here you may want to go back and add to your GPERSIA chart.

  1. Which river valley civilization served as a middle man or connection between other civilizations?
  1. What connected Egypt to peoples to its south such as Ethiopia?
  1. What territories would China influence eventually?
  1. What key technology was China already using that made women and rich people very happy?
  • READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE AND ANALYZE THE PICTURES ON THE NEXT PAGE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM.

An Inscribed Oracle Bone and Chinese Characters

(1600-1100 BCE)

The inscriptions on the oracle bones have become very important historical evidence in the study of early Chinese civilization. The oracle bones, known in Chinese as jia gu wen, are either tortoise shells (jia) or ox shoulder blades (gu) with scripted texts (wen). The first oracle bone was discovered in 1889 in An YangCounty, the capital of the Shang Dynasty (1,600-1,100 B.C.E.), and so far nearly 100,000 pieces have been unearthed.
It is believed that the original function of the oracle bone scripts was for fortune telling. The scripted bones were thrown into fire, and the priests read the crack signs from the bones and told fortunes. The inscriptions on the oracle bones represent the earliest form of the Chinese written language. Unlike most of the languages in the world, the Chinese language has never evolved from its original pictographic and ideographic structure into alphabetic or syllabic form. It maintained its ancient flavor into contemporary times, due largely to China's long period of cultural isolation. The chart shows the evolution of early Chinese writing from pictogram to ideogram and to phonogram.

This inscribed oracle bone above dates from the Shang Dynasty. The markings reflect the earliest known form of Chinese written language.

The pictures above are examples of cuneiform, the earliest type of writing known. It started in the Middle East/Mesopotamia about 1,500-2,000 years before Chinese writing began.

Compare cuneiform, the ancient Mesopotamian writing system, with China's oracle bone characters. What are the differences and similarities? Use the above text and pictures along with page 17 & 19 for more information on cuneiform to answer the question.

Similarities / Differences