August 28 - September 15 - Blogs

WORLD HISTORY INTRODUCTION - CHAPTER 1

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." George Washington University paleoanthropologist Bernard Wood

- What Does it Mean? Just because you can't find evidence of something, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

____________________________________

How old is the Earth? 4.6 Billion years
Where were the oldest human fossils found? - Africa-Specifically Tanzania, Ethiopia, and recently Morocco
Who found the oldest human fossils? - Louis and Mary Leakey, Donald Johanson, and numerous other scientists
What are some of the biggest achievements in World History? - Inventions of: tools, mastery of fire, development of language, invention of wheels, invention of boats (the sail), art

____________________________________

Searched for hominid remains in Tanzania from the 1930's-1970's/Hominid - the group consisting of all modern and extinct Great Apes
Found humanlike fossils in 1959 in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania (in Africa)
This discovery would usher many other findings over the decades.

____________________________________

Discovered a 3.2 million-year-old fossil of female skeleton in Ethiopia named "Lucy" in 1974
This was the oldest known hominid remains found until 2015

____________________________________

Lucy - The oldest known hominid (extinct great Ape) named Lucy that was found as a female skeleton in Ethiopia discovered 3.2 million years ago

____________________________________

Before more organized agriculture, people were nomadic and hunted animals and gathered plants-hunter-gatherer
Lived in groups of about 25-70 people
Nobody knows exactly how things changed, but about 10,000 years ago people started getting more organized farming
Along with planting crops, people also domesticated animals

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

What are natural borders - bodies of water that divides a part of a country
What are some natural borders that would be helpful to an early civilization? Mediterranean Sea

____________________________________

CHAPTER 2 - Early River Valley Civilizations

More fertile soil, mild climate, waterway for transportation, water for crops and drinking
Provided for abundant crops and food surpluses

____________________________________

The fertile crescent - fertile land
Mesopotamia - Greek for "land between the rivers"
City state - (Athens) a city and the surrounding territory it controls; functioned like an independent country
Dynasty - A series of rulers from a single family-father to son
Cultural diffusion - process in which ideas spread from one culture to another
Polytheism - believe in more than one god
Monotheism - believe in only one god
Empire - belief in many gods
Delta - River landform (The NIle)
King Narmer - King of Egypt that many believe united Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 BC
Pharoah - The god-kings of Egypt-Seen as almost as powerful as the gods o the heavens
Theocracy - Government headed by religious leaders or a leader regarded as a god
Pyramid - tombs for pharoas
Mummification - The process of drying
Hieroglyphics - Egyptian form of writing
Papyrus - What Egyptians wrote on. Came from papyrus reeds found in marshy areas

____________________________________

Indian Subcontinent - the landmass that includes Pakistan India and Bangladesh
Monsoon - Seasonal winds that can bring dry air or heavy rain-Huge impact on India
Mandate from Heaven - A just ruler that has approval from the gods/An unjust ruler can lose their mandate to rule
Dynastic Cycle - The rise, fall and replacement of dynasties
Feudalism - A political system in which the king gives land to nobles/lords and in return, they vow loyalty and military service to the king/Used in China, Japan and Europe