Monday -
- Forum post leaders discussed topics
- Set up weekly blog
World History Introduction (Chapter 1)
- "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." - Bernard Wood, George Washington paleoanthropologistÂ
- What is World History? BC and AD? BCE? CE?
- The history of the world
- BC - Before Christ
- AD - anno Domini (Latin for "In the year of our Lord")
- BCE - Before Common Era
- CE - Common Era
- How old is the Earth?
- 4.6 billion years
- Where were the oldest human fossils found?
- Africa - Specifically Tanzania, Ethiopia, and recently Morrocco
- 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?
- Invention of tools, mastery of fire, development of language, invention of wheels, invention of boats (the sail), art
- Louis and Mary Leakey
- Searched for hominid remains in Tanzanian from the 1930s-1970s
- Hominid - the group consisting of all modern and extinct Great Apes (modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans plus all their ancestors.)
- Hominid - the group consisting of all modern and extinct Great Apes (modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans plus all their ancestors.)
- Found humanlike fossils in 1959 in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania (in Africa)
- This discovery would usher many other findings over the decades
- Searched for hominid remains in Tanzanian from the 1930s-1970s
- Donald Johanson
- Discovered a 3.2 million-year-old fossil of a female skeleton in Ethiopia named "Lucy" in 1974
- This was the oldest known hominid remains found until 2015
- Started "History of the World in Two Hours"
Tuesday -
Watched movie
Wednesday -
Watched movie
Thursday -
- Earliest Homo Sapiens
- Found in Morocco (Africa) June, 2017
- Oldest Homo sapiens fossils found so far
- previous oldest was 150,000 years ago
- These fossils date back 300,000-350,000 years ago
- Controversial within scientific community
- Are they truly homo sapiens or "early modern humans"?
- Agricultural/Neolithic Revolution
- Prior to more organized agriculture, people were nomadic and hunted animals and gathered plants-hunter-gatherer
- They lived in groups of about 25-70 people
- No one knows exactly how things changed, but about 10,000 years ago, people started more organized farming
- Along with planting crops, people also domesticated animals such as horses, dogs, goats, and pigs
Friday -
- Watched a video on Labor Day
- Agricultural/Neolithic Revolution Cont.
- As time went on, people started setting up villages, which then, over time, turned into towns and then some into cities.
- As cities emerged, more complex ways of thinking and living emerged leading to civilization
- As cities grew, social classes emerged
- Civilization - An advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached (a highly advanced society)
- The Five Traits of a Civilization
- 1. Advanced cities
- Uruk - 50,000 people
- 2. Writing/Record keeping
- Cuneiform tablets - records of business transactions, historical events, customs, and traditions
- 3. Specialized workers
- teachers
- priests
- potters
- farmers
- weavers
- scribes
- etc....
- 4. Complex institutions
- Formal governments with officials and laws
- Priests with both religious and political power
- A rigorous education system for training of scribes
- 5. Advanced technology
- The wheel
- Pyramids
- 1. Advanced cities
- What are natural borders?
- Border of two countries that is natural (mountains, water, etc.)
- Why are defensible borders important for a civilization to thrive?
- So they aren't attacked
- The Five Traits of a Civilization
Chapter 2 - Early River Valley Civilizations
- Arose in 4 separate river valleys around 3500 B.C.
- Fertile soil, mild climate, waterway for transportation, water for crops and drinking
- Provided for abundant crops and food surpluses
- Fertile crescent- fertile land above Saudi Arabia
- Mesopotamia- region between two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)
- City-state- a city and the surrounding territory it controls; functioned like an independent country
- Dynasty- a series of rulers from a singer family - father to son
- Cultural diffusion - Process in which ideas spread from one culture to another
- Polytheism- belief in many gods
- Monotheism- belief in only one God
- Empire- group of territories or nations ruled by a single ruler
- Delta- A broad, marshy area of land formed by deposits of silt where a river tuns into a bigger body of water
- King Narmer- King of Egypt that many believe united Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 BC
- Pharaoh- The god-kings of Egypt-seen as almost as powerful as the gods of the heavens
- Theocracy- Government headed by religious leaders or a leader regarded as a god
- Pyramid- tombs for pharaohs
- Mummification- the process of drying and embalming a corpse to prevent decay; usually reserved for royalty and the rich
- Hieroglyphics- Egyptian form of writing
- Papyrus - what Egyptians wrote on. Came from papyrus reeds found in marshy areas
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