AP World History

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations,

to 600 BCE• Humans emerge from Africa, spread around the

globe

– Adaptations (control of fire, increasingly sophisticated tools) allow us to thrive in varied environments

– Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic Eras

– Use of stone tools, then bronze, then iron

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCESocieties:

• Hunter-gatherers

• Pastoral nomads

• Agriculturalists (after the Neolithic Revolution)

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCETechnology/adaptations: • Agriculture• Domestication• Metallurgy

Human-Environment Interactions:• Irrigation/water control• Domesticated plants• Large animal extinctions

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCEFirst civs develop in river valleys:

• Mesopotamia (Tigris-Euphrates)

• Egypt (Nile)

• India (Indus)

• China (Huang He)

Later, in Sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea, the Andes, Mesoamerica

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCEMonumental Architecture:

• Pyramids

• Ziggurats

• Temples

• Defensive walls

• Sewer systems

• Streets/roads

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCEEarly forms of record keeping:

• Cuneiform

• Hieroglyphics

• Glyph writing

• Pictographs

• Alphabets

• Quipu/khipu

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to

600 BCE

New worldviews:

• animism/shamanism

• Vedic religion (India)

• Judaism

• Zoroastrianism (Persia)

Trade interactions:– Egypt and Nubia– Mesopotamia and Indus

Valley

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CEWorldviews develop/evolve:• Judaism• Vedic religion becomes Hinduism• Confucianism, Daoism in China• Buddhism in India• Greek and Roman pantheons• Christianity• Ancestor veneration

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CE

Key States and Empires: • Persia

– Achaemenid (550 BCE-350 BCE) – Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes; Royal Road, Persepolis, Greco-Persian Wars; defeated by Alexander the Great

– Parthian (247 BCE-284 CE) – trade w/ Rome, Han China– Sassanid (224-651 CE) – defeated by Arab Muslims; heavy influence

on the caliphates

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CE• Qin dynasty China

(221-206 BCE)– Unified China under

Shi Huangdi– Legalism developed by

Han Feizi– Great Wall

• Han dynasty China (206 BCE-220 CE)– Liu Bang– Silk Road trade

w/Rome, Parthia– Confucianism – Civil service– Threats from Xiongnu

nomads

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CE• Maurya and Gupta India

– Maurya (321-180 BCE)- unified by Chandragupta Maurya, greatest leader was Ashoka; trade, state spread of Buddhism

– Gupta (320-550 CE)- Chandra Gupta II, Golden Age, use of Arabic numerals, decimals, 0 and pi in math

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CE• Ancient Greece

– dominated by the polis (Athens, Sparta, etc.)

– Development of aristocracy, democracy

• Draco, Solon, Cleisthenes, Pericles

– Slavery, colonization of Mediterranean region

– Persian Wars (Battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis); Peloponnesian Wars (Sparta defeats Athens)

• Culture– Greek mythology– Philosophy: Socrates, Plato,

Aristotle– Architecture– Literature:

• Homer (Iliad and Odyssey)• Poetry• History• Drama

– Comedy – Aristophanes– Tragedy – Sophocles,

Euripides, Aeschylus

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CEHellenistic Empire – Alexander the Great

• spread Greek culture throughout Mediterranean and Central Asia

• At his death Alexander’s empire divided into 3 kingdoms:

– Antigonid (Greece and Macedonia)

– Seleucid (Bactria, Anatolia)

– Ptolemaic (Egypt)

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CERome (509 BCE-476 CE)• Gov’ts: monarchy, republic, empire

• Classes: patricians, plebeians, slaves; paterfamilias led the family

• Laws of the Twelve Tables; Latin language; Aenead, aqueducts and roads connecting all parts of the empire, circuses, Colosseum, gladiators

• Defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars

• Leaders: Cincinnatus, Sulla, Marius, the Gracchi, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, Nero, Marcus Aurelius

• Pax Romana, Silk Road trade with Han China

• Polytheistic; Edict of Milan (313 CE) allows practice of Christianity

• Split by Diocletian into Eastern and Western halves – capitals at Rome and Constantinople

• Weak leaders, barbarian invasions, economic problems lead to collapse of the Western half of empire; Eastern half continues as the Byzantine Empire

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CEMesoamerica

• Teotihuacan (100 BCE-750 CE) – huge city, w/pyramids and priestly elite

• Maya

• Olmec

• Moche and Chavin in South America

Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies,

600 BCE to 600 CE

• Major trade routes flourish:

• Silk Roads- Rome, Parthia, Gupta India, Han China

• Indian Ocean trade• Trans-Saharan trade (gold!

salt!)• Mediterranean sea lanes

• New tech allows long-distance travel:– Yokes, stirrups, saddles– Domestication of horses,

camels, oxen, llamas– Dhows and lateen sails for

ships

Key Trade Routes