Blog Post #10

Zach Dakin

Blog Post #10

        Chapter 12 is about the worlds of the fifteenth century. Columbus's discovery is no doubt the most important discovery of the fifteenth century, but you can't leave out significances such as the European Renaissance, the Mongol Movement, and much more.

In Myng Dynasty China, the civilization was widely disrupted by Mongol rule and also reduced greatly by the plague. After a rebirth, China eventually climbed out of its hole. In Europe, the government was able to escape Mongol conquest, but its population was also reduced by a plague. "Since the First Civilizations had emerged between 3500 and 1000 b.c.e., both the geographic space they encompassed and he number of people they embraced had grown substantially. By the fifteenth century, a considerable majority of the worlds population lived within one or another of these civilizations, although most of these people no doubt identified more with local communities than with a larger civilization." 

Blog Post # 9

Zach Dakin

Blog Post #9

        The World of Islam

The homeland of Islam is in a region of the Arabian Peninsula, inhabited by nomads and sheep herders who lived in independent tribes who often fought in wars with each other. 

Beholding a powerful message he obtained through his overwhelming religious experiences, Muhammad Zinn Abdullah believed himself to be the messenger of Allah, the god that Islamic people followed. Muhammad traveled to a place called Medina where he expanded his message from allah and spread Islam through out Arabia.

A big reason for the conversion of Islam was because it had popular beliefs similar to Jews and Christians. One reason the slaves and prisoners were the first to convert was because of the famous idea that everyone goes to heaven. 

        The Quran ( the bible of Islam), stated that spiritually, men and women were equal but on social terms, basically, women had rights but were still inferior to men. For example, women were allowed to divorce if they wanted, but the option wasn't so readily available to women as it was to men. Also, if a man violates a sexual taboo, he is off the hook, but women may face tortures like the cutting of their clitoris.

        As Islamic cultures and communities spread through India, Anatolia, Africa, and Spain, they all managed to react different to their new societies by rather taking the egalitarian approach or invading and conquering cities. 

Blog Post #8

Zach Dakin

Blog Post # 8

        In what different ways did the history of Christianity unfold in various parts of the Afro-Eurasian world during the third-wave era.

         

       Christianity became a popular belief system for people in the third-wave era. Without any similarities among diverse cultures, Christianity became a "commonality" for western Eurasia. "The story of global Christendom in the era of third-wave civilizations is one of contractions and expansions. As a religion, Christianity contracted sharply in Asia and Africa even as it expanded in Western Europe and Russia."

        

Blog Post #7

Zach Dakin

Blog Post # 7

        Chapter 7 mainly discusses three major trading routes used hundreds of years ago, The Silk Road, The Sea Road, and The Sand Road. The Silk Road was a a road that stretched from Asia to Europe. Camel Caravans were used to travel through the road. Goods that were exchanged among the Silk Road were in high demand, making them luxuries. One of the most popular goods on this trading route was silk, hence the name, Silk Road. While merchants and explorers traveled the Silk Road, cultures started to spread as well as diseases. The second road is actually not a road but a route. It is called The Sea Road. This route stretched from Africa to India to Asia. And a few countries in between those as well. Goods, cultures, and diseases were exchanged among this route as well. Being on the Ocean, traders biggest threat was harsh weather conditions and the fear of being attacked or robbed by pirates. The third of the important trading routes was The Sand Road. Not consisting of actual roads, this road was more of a route, it stretched across the Sahara Desert and linked North Africa and the Mediterranean. Using camel caravans to travel across the desert, gold, salt, and slaves were the main things traded among this route.

Blog post #6

Civilizations of Africa:

        African colonies that were close to the equator, suffered due to very tropical weather. The warm weather caused less fertile soils, producing less agriculture and also, attracting parasitic insects hat carry diseases.

        In the Nile Valley, south of Egypt, the Nubian civilizations of Menroë are ruled both by men and women. This civilization was well organized and offered a wide variety of skilled civilians such as,weavers, potters, Masons,farmers and servants. Because the Nile valley relied on rain-based agriculture, farmers were less dependent on irrigation. The decline of the kingdom was caused by deforestation because they used all the wood for charcoal in order to smelt iron.

Over a span of 1300 years, Arab immigration, and the rise of Islam took over Christian covilozation, shifting Nubia into the world of Islam.

        During a dry spell, the Niger River attracted a large amount of people due to its mass body of water. This created clusters of civilizations to live along the Niger River, allowiing growth of cities. The clusters of cities weren't governed by one bigger government. Each city had its own political structures. The most prestige occupation during this time was iron smithing. Their ability to turn earth to metal and create so much of it was considered a key to their power and immense danger.

Blog Post #5

The United States and the decisions it has made, has been compared to the Roman Empire. Empires are usually large states with political systems. They are normally large, and conquer other states to use their resources. Empires are a fascination to both ancient and modern people because of their massive size, retaining a lot of information to learn from these times. The size of the empires brought together people from many traditions and religions that enabled exchanges in cultures and values. 

In 500 b.c.e., The most noteworthy empire was The Persian Empire. The empire stretched from Egypt to India and consisted of 35 to 50 million people from dozens of different cultures. The most famous leaders of this empire were Cyrus (557-530b.c.e.) and Darius (522-486b.c.e.). 

One of the smallest empires was Classical Greece, ranging from only 2 to 3 million people and existed upon a small peninsula of mountains and valleys along the Mediterranean Sea. The need for resources in Greece lead to deforestation and soil erosion. The most important part of Greece's empire was its idea of citizenship, which gave people the right to vote for policies and laws, giving citizens a lot of power.

One of the most famous, The Roman Empire, started out as a small and weak city-state in Italy. With new revisions of laws, and creating new political systems, it took The Roman Empire more than 500 years to re-establish itself, conquering many states and expanding its walls, becoming one of the most memorable empires of our time.

Blog Post #4

What understanding of the afterlife does The Epic of Gilgamesh suggest?

In The Epic of Gilgamesh,  Gilgamesh and his best friend, Enkidu, travel to the edge of the world and fight demons and gods side by side. Enkidu is killed by a god and Gilgamesh grieves upon this greatly. Gilgamesh then sets off on a quest to find the secret to immortality. On this journey, he is tested by a god to see if he can handle immortality by staying awake for a whole week. After realizing he cant pass the tests, he returns home with the advice from a god that he should enjoy life as much as possible and enjoy the pleasures of the world for immortality is futile. He also concludes that his ruling of his country was the greatest accomplishment he had made and that the power he had achieved was his own version of immortality.

Blog Post #3

 

What accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization?

Civilizations didn’t breakthrough until people started discovering agricultural. This was also known as the Agricultural Revolution. The Agricultural Revolution didn’t happen until a considerably late time in the human existence meaning civilizations didn’t either. The ability to irrigate land meant farmers could produce enough food for whole societies. So as agriculture grew more and more, so did civilization.

Blog Post #2

Topic/Question: What do you think of Nissa's account as a description of what paleolithic peoples might have been like?


   Nisa, A woman who lives in the Kalahari Desert on the border of Botswana and South Africa, compares her life to those living in the paleolithic era. The people who lived in the paleolithic era were Nomads which consisted of men and women being hunters and gatherers ( Men usually the hunter and women being the gatherer).  They lived solely off of the resources of the land which eventually would run out, causing them to keep finding sufficient land.

   Nisa spent most of her life in a community who fully participated in the same ways of life as the paleolithic era. In 1971, An American anthropologist observed and interviewed Nisa, who shares her life experiences living her life "in the bush.'' She talks about her childhood memories, Marriage and death of her husbands,  and medicines used in her community. As she describes her early life, she says she has absolutely nothing and her family owns no possessions. She talks about marriages and having four husbands as well as having affairs. One thing she said that really caught my attention was "When you are a woman, you don't just sit still - you have lovers. You don't just sit with one man, One man can give you only so little, but when you have lovers, one brings you one thing and another brings you something else.'' She also talks about an herbal medicine used by people in her community called ''n/um." This was a common medicine to use whenever one felt ill.

  I believe that living life with no possessions and only living off of resources from the land is definitely a good imitation of those who lived in paleolithic era, but whether we like it or not, evolution occurs and the paleolithic era was over two and a half million years ago. Evolution has occured since then Our bodies function in way more complex manners than primitive humans. Nisa talks about having love affairs with multiple husbands and how some men can bring her food and another with money. I am certain that two and a half million years ago, the primitive woman were not focused on having one man give her money and another give her food. These are characteristics of woman who are born into eras where currency exists. My point is, Nisa and her community may live inspired by the paleolithic era but it is impossible to consider them paleolithic people, evolution wont allow it.

Blog Post #1

First Blog Created