World History

Olmec Civilization Social Political Environment Lived in towns and cities centered on temple mounds that they built Invented Many different writing systems Tracked the orbit of planets Created a 365 day calendar Wrote down histories in Accordion-folded books made of fig-tree bark Concept of Zero Didn?t appear in europe until 12th century Culture Practiced Human Sacrifice As did the god of Abraham Economics Classic Era Culture and Society in Mesoamerica, 200-900 Social Teotihuacan Elites able to keep control of city since worship and appeasement of gods kept everyone sane Political Teotihuacan Existed between the years 100-750 At height, population became as large as many European cities (150,000) Collapse is unclear

SPICE Chapter 12: Mongol Eurasia and Its Aftermath The Rise of the Mongols, 1200-1260 Social Nomads Menial work was left for slaves Prisoners of war People seeking refuge from starvation Leading families combined resources and solidified intergroup alliances through arranged marriages Marriages arranged in childhood and children became pawns of diplomacy Women from prestigious families could wield power in negotiations and management Risked execution and imprisonment just like men Political Nomads Pastoral nomads of the Eurasian steppes played on on-again, off-again role in Europe, the Middle East, and Chinese history for hundreds of years before the rise of the Mongols

SPICE Chapter 11: Inner and East Asia, 400-1200 The Sui and Tang Empires, 581-755 Social Buddhism was attacked for encouraging women to become more involved in politics Political After fall of Han dynasty, China was fragmented for several centuries Reunified under Sui dynasty which was held by a duo of father and son who held power from 581 to 615 until turks from Inner Asia defeated the son. Capital was called Chang?an Though northern China constituted the Sui heartland, population centered along Yangzi river in south and pointed way for chinese future expansion The sui were very militarily ambitious in extending towards Korea and Vietnam. Required manpower, livestock, wood, iron, and food supplies Sui could not sustain enough of these

The Byzantine Empire, 600-1200 Social Urban elite class or middle class shrank, power of aristocrats increased and there was a much larger gap between them and the poor/lower class Earlier roman family life centered on legally powerful father, women had enjoyed comparative freedom in public After the seventh century, women increasingly found themselves confined to home When went out, concealed faces behind veils Paradoxically, in the early to mid 11th century, women ruled the Empire alongside their husbands These social changes resemble simultaneous developments in Islamic countries Women did not take refuge in nunneries Political Arabs armies destroyed the Sasanid Empire and captured Byzantine Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia and converted their people to Islam

CHAPTER 9 The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam, 200?1200 The Sasanid Empire, 224?651 Politics and Society The Sasanid kingdom was established in 224 and controlled the areas of Iran and Mesopotamia. The Sasanids confronted Arab pastoralists on their Euphrates border and the Byzantine Empire on the west. Relations with the Byzantines Alternated between war and peaceful trading relationships. In times of peace, the Byzantine cities of Syria and the Arab nomads who guided caravans between the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires all flourished on trade. Arabs also benefited from the invention of the camel saddle, which allowed them to take control of the caravan trade.