Intro Part 2 & Ch3

Part two:
We are transitioning into what took place after the First Civilizations: large-scale globalization of civilizations, spreading across the the planet with increasing numbers of people and larger territories. There was a constant trend in civilizations falling and new civilizations emerging and (today) historians are  still gathering and putting together the pieces. Even though economic and social patterns hadn't significantly changed, the world was different from the time of the First Civilizations. And as we dive deeper into the chapters it'll become more apparent on where to compare these experiences of the various peoples.    

Ch3:
After reading chapter three one section really caught my interest, reading about Alexander the Great and his conquest during the Hellenistic era (323-30 B.C.). Alexander the Great's mission was to unify Greece by taking down the Persian Empire and that is just what he did. He became a legend, "King of Asia," and it was among the greatest military feats of the ancient world because it created a Greek empire from Egypt and Anatolia to Afghanistan and India. We has anointed as pharaoh and was declared a "son of the gods" by Egyptian priests. However, shortly after his death his empire was divided into three kingdoms,  and with it the spread of Greek culture.  

"The Afterlife of a Pharaoh"

Question: "How is the afterlife of a pharaoh represented in this text?"

Answer:
Just off the top of my head, from a previous class I remember that the Egyptians celebrated death and the afterlife. Specifically, I remember that the pharaoh's prepared for their afterlife throughout the whole time they were "in office." However, the representation of the afterlife of a pharaoh in this context is that Egyptian thinking was very similar to Mesopotamia about: life, death, and the afterlife. Some of the first evidence came from pyramid texts, on the walls of a royal tomb as spells, incantations, or prayers to assist the pharaoh when entering eternal life amongst the gods. It was discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian king, Teti, representing some of the oldest religious writings in world history.

Ch2: 1st Civilizations

One of the sections in chapter two really stuck out to me: Hierarchies of Class. During early civilization there was no such thing as inequality and forms of hierarchy. Everyone worked together and shared a common goal for the greater good, to survive. However, that all changed as the First Civilizations began to form. The upper class were wealthy due to land or salaries and were able to avoid physical labor all together. They had the finer things in life and of course occupied the highest positions in political, military, and religious life. Sounds all too familiar. In Mesopotamia certain class' had consequences. For instance, if a free-born commoner got into a fight with someone of equal rank there was a small fine, but if the person hit someone superior to them that person would be whipped 60 times in public. It was just interesting to read how even the earliest civilizations struggled with money, power, etc. in many ways and more that humans and society today continue to struggle with.

Aqueducts & Han Dynasty

According to the article, "The Need for Water in Ancient Societies," Emperor Claudius completed many essential, rather numerous, public works. Including an aqueduct and drainage of a channel (Lake Fucine and harbor at Ostia). To finish the drainage of the canal, which was three miles long, he had to tunnel a mountain and this took eleven years with 30,000 men.

According to the article, "The Need for Water in Ancient Societies," Shao Xinchen, was an administrator for the people of Nanyang and encouraged farming. He dug canals and ditches, building water gates in many places, expanding irrigated lands. Xinchen also came up with regulations that were, inscribed on stones, for the people on fair distribution of water.

End of Ch.1 & Nissa's Story

As time went on during the Paleolithic era the first farmers made life changing break throughs in agriculture: domesticating livestock and plants. Though, there was a downfall to this. Many of those now domesticated plants and animals were no longer able to survive (wildly) without the protection and care of humans. Many humans lost their gather-hunter skills. Not to mention there was a chance that all of their hard work could be destroyed due to climate, or lack of climate, leading to famine or other catastrophes. However, because of agriculture many humans were able to live longer, populations increased, and they were able to settle. At the end of the chapter a sentence really stood out to me: "All of these uses of the Paleolithic have been a way of asking, what have we lost in the mad rush to modernity, and how can we recover it?"

The story of Nissa was insightful on how people lived in the bush and how living in the bush shaped their lives. At first the story made me happy but towards the end I felt sorry for Nissa and wished I could have given her a hug.