World History Lecture One - Revision history

Aschlafly: One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

2014-11-16T21:27:09Z

One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Aschlafly: lecture is complete; comment on talk page

2014-01-09T14:17:25Z

lecture is complete; comment on talk page

Aschlafly: improved

2014-01-09T14:09:52Z

improved

Aschlafly: not known how "quickly" a productive society developed

2014-01-09T05:27:32Z

not known how "quickly" a productive society developed

Aschlafly: better

2014-01-09T05:05:35Z

better

Aschlafly: improved

2014-01-09T05:04:16Z

improved

Aschlafly: One cannot fully understand the attack on the United States known as "9/11" (it occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, destroying the World Trade Center), the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility betwee

2014-01-05T16:16:09Z

One cannot fully understand the attack on the United States known as "9/11" (it occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, destroying the World Trade Center), the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility betwee

Aschlafly: improved

2014-01-05T16:08:18Z

improved

Aschlafly: improved: it is the Book of Job that may be older than Genesis

2011-09-15T13:33:47Z

improved: it is the Book of Job that may be older than Genesis

Aschlafly: Protected "World History Lecture One": lecture is complete ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

2011-09-06T04:40:40Z

Protected "World History Lecture One": lecture is complete ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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 The reign of Hammurabi signaled the end of the early Mesopotamian civilization.  He created a system of justice by promulgating an elaborate code of law (called the Code of Hammurabi, or "Hammurabi's Code").  The code imposed harsh punishment of "an eye for an eye," and lower classes of people received harsher punishment than higher classes of people.  If you broke the bone of a
-"free man" (non-slave), then the punishment was to break one of your bones.  That was simple and effective, and the Old Testament uses a similar approach in some ways (ask yourself: who used this first?).  The Eighth Commandment in the Old Testament states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."  Hammurabi's Code states if someone accuses another of doing something wrong, but cannot prove it, then the accuser shall be killed.
+"free man" (non-slave), then the punishment was to break one of your bones.  That was simple and effective, and the Old Testament uses a similar approach in some ways (ask yourself: who used this first?).  One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."  Hammurabi's Code states if someone accuses another of doing something wrong, but cannot prove it, then the accuser shall be killed.
 Hammurabi attempted to be righteous and much of his correspondence survives to this day.  He encouraged legal contracts, but he also limited the amount of interest and wages that could be earned.  After 29 years of establishing order, he then conquered all of Mesopotamia, making him the first king of the Babylonian Empire.  To this day Hammurabi is respected as a great leader who achieved an enormous amount of progress that benefits all of mankind.

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 American history covers only about 400 years; World history concerns over 5000 years, going back to the first evidence of recorded events.  Our class covers the material in a course on Western Civilization or European history, and we cover far more too.  We will learn about Islam and Hinduism and all the forces that continue to shape our world to this day.  One cannot fully understand the attack on the United States known as "9/11" (it occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, destroying the World Trade Center), the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility between India and Pakistan without learning World history.
-We will consider how mankind progressed in understanding the unseen -- such as truth and gravity and God.  In mathematics, mankind progressed from the discovery of geometry ([[Greeks]]) to the concept of "zero" (Indians) to calculus (English).  In economics, mankind progressed from wage and price controls (Romans) to the "invisible hand" of the free market (Scottish), which then unleashed tremendous prosperity.  Government progressed from rulers who claimed to be gods (Egyptians), to monarchs (Middle Ages), to constitutional republics (United States).  World history spans from pre-Christian to Christian.  What are we progressing towards now?  We will learn to use history to predict the future.
+We will consider how mankind progressed in understanding the unseen -- such as truth and gravity and God.  In mathematics, mankind progressed from the discovery of geometry ([[Greeks]]) to the concept of "zero" (Indians) to calculus (English).  In economics, mankind progressed from wage and price controls (Romans) to the "invisible hand" of the free market (Scottish), which then unleashed enormous prosperity.  Government progressed from rulers who claimed to be gods (Egyptians), to monarchs (Middle Ages), to constitutional republics (United States).  World history spans from pre-Christian to Christian.  What are we progressing towards now?  We will learn to use history to predict the future.
 Do not be misled by thinking that ancient peoples were dumb or boring because they lacked the technology of modern society.  The Egyptians, for example, cleverly built the massive pyramids using techniques that no one to this day can figure out or duplicate.  In 2600 B.C., they constructed the pyramid of Khufu containing 6 million tons of stone extending to a height of 481 feet.  The workmanship was superior to anything we do today: the rock base was virtually flat, not varying in elevation by more than a half-inch; its orientation is precisely aligned with the points of a compass; its stones were perfect fits.  Inside was a chapel, a causeway, and a temple.  It baffles engineers and architects to this day.  We would not be able to duplicate it even now, with all our technology, and no one knows how the Egyptians were able to build these intricate structures 4600 years ago.  Many other cultures, from Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome to India to China, invented things and discovered knowledge that no single person today is smart enough to duplicate.  Can you build a well-functioning wheel, or make paper?
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 We owe a great deal to the achievements of the Sumerians.  They developed the first system of writing (the cuneiform), the first codes of law and the first "city-state" (essentially a nation consisting only of a large city).  Their inventions were marvelous: the seed plow, the sailboat, and the potter’s wheel.  (Distinguish "cuneiform" symbols from "ideograms", which show ideas with symbols such as arrows for war, from "phonograms", in which symbols represent sounds).
-Most workers in Mesopotamia were farmers, but some devoted their time to trade.  They had a calendar based on the moon to aid the farmers, and they developed a mathematical system using base 12.  They were tremendous inventors, creating complex systems of irrigation and discovering the plow, the cart and the wheel, and used bronze (a mixture of copper and tin) to make good farming tools.  Both men and women owned private property, had slaves, and were ruled by a king.
+Most workers in Mesopotamia were farmers, but some devoted their time to trade.  They had a calendar based on the moon to aid the farmers, and they developed a mathematical system using base 12.  They were extraordinary inventors, creating complex systems of irrigation and discovering the plow, the cart and the wheel, and used bronze (a mixture of copper and tin) to make good farming tools.  Both men and women owned private property, had slaves, and were ruled by a king.
 [[Image:Mesopotamia2.PNG|right]]
 They built cities known as Eridu, Lagash, Ur, Uruk, Isin, Kish, just to name a few.  They were smart, and developed Akkadian as their language.  One interesting aspect of Akkadian is that it lacks any tense forms such as past or future tense.  The verbs expressed the manner of an action rather than its time.
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 ==Egypt==
-Ancient Egypt was a tremendous civilization located in the fertile Nile Valley.  Ancient Egypt existed from about 3000 B.C. up until Alexander the Great conquered it in 332 B.C.  The Nile is the greatest river in the world, and is unique in flowing south-to-north, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  It floods with regularity each year (unlike the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), providing plentiful water for farming.  Situated in a desert, Egypt developed irrigation techniques that led it to be called an "hydraulic empire."
+Ancient Egypt was a spectacular civilization located in the fertile Nile Valley.  Ancient Egypt existed from about 3000 B.C. up until Alexander the Great conquered it in 332 B.C.  The Nile is the greatest river in the world, and is unique in flowing south-to-north, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  It floods with regularity each year (unlike the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), providing plentiful water for farming.  Situated in a desert, Egypt developed irrigation techniques that led it to be called an "hydraulic empire."
 What is special about Egypt?  Well, for starters, it is the oldest stationary civilization that remains in existence. Geography helped protect it against invaders.  To its east and west are deserts, to the north is the Mediterranean Sea and to the south is the rest of Africa.  Dividing Egypt in half is the great and mighty Nile.  Egypt is self-sufficient with natural resources such as plentiful clay and stone and the ability to trade for timber with nearby Lebanon and copper from Sinai.  Just as the unique, closed-in geography of the island of Manhattan has encouraged the development of a powerful economy in New York City, the landscape of Egypt enhanced its independence.  Even when conquered, the civilization does not shift anywhere, thanks to the natural boundaries.

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 Babylonia was a relatively late achiever in the Mesopotamian world, occupying southern Mesopotamia where Sumer was.  Babylonia was built around  2300 B.C.  Babylon was its main city, located about 55 miles south of where Baghdad is today in Iraq.  Babylon is now in ruins, but thousands of years ago was a thriving city known for the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon," which were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Babylon was known as a city devoted to materialism and self-indulgence.  As an example of usage, the English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "the Babylonian halls of the big hotel," using the word "Babylonian" to denote luxurious extravagance.
-As a city Babylon was smaller and less important than Ur, which enjoyed several dynasties.  But the constant fighting led to the fall of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, and an Amorite king named Sumuabum established a kingdom in 1894 B.C. there.  His successors built it up, and then a brilliant ruler name Hammurabi took power as the sixth king of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 B.C.  (That is over forty years: there were no term limits for rulers then!).
+As a city Babylon was smaller and less important than Ur, which enjoyed several dynasties.  But the constant fighting led to the fall of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, and an Amorite king named Sumuabum established a kingdom in 1894 B.C. there.  His successors built it up, and then a brilliant ruler name Hammurabi took power as the sixth king of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 B.C.  (He reigned more than forty years: there were no term limits for rulers then!).
 The reign of Hammurabi signaled the end of the early Mesopotamian civilization.  He created a system of justice by promulgating an elaborate code of law (called the Code of Hammurabi, or "Hammurabi's Code").  The code imposed harsh punishment of "an eye for an eye," and lower classes of people received harsher punishment than higher classes of people.  If you broke the bone of a
@@ Line 236: / Line 236: @@
 ==Egypt==
-Ancient Egypt was a tremendous civilization located in the fertile Nile Valley.  Ancient Egypt existed from about 3000 B.C. up until Alexander the Great conquered it in 332 B.C.  The Nile is the greatest river in the world, and is unique in flowing south-to-north, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  It floods with great regularity each year (unlike the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), providing plentiful water for farming.  Situated in a desert, Egypt developed irrigation techniques that led it to be called an "hydraulic empire."
+Ancient Egypt was a tremendous civilization located in the fertile Nile Valley.  Ancient Egypt existed from about 3000 B.C. up until Alexander the Great conquered it in 332 B.C.  The Nile is the greatest river in the world, and is unique in flowing south-to-north, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  It floods with regularity each year (unlike the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), providing plentiful water for farming.  Situated in a desert, Egypt developed irrigation techniques that led it to be called an "hydraulic empire."
 What is special about Egypt?  Well, for starters, it is the oldest stationary civilization that remains in existence. Geography helped protect it against invaders.  To its east and west are deserts, to the north is the Mediterranean Sea and to the south is the rest of Africa.  Dividing Egypt in half is the great and mighty Nile.  Egypt is self-sufficient with natural resources such as plentiful clay and stone and the ability to trade for timber with nearby Lebanon and copper from Sinai.  Just as the unique, closed-in geography of the island of Manhattan has encouraged the development of a powerful economy in New York City, the landscape of Egypt enhanced its independence.  Even when conquered, the civilization does not shift anywhere, thanks to the natural boundaries.
@@ Line 242: / Line 242: @@
 Ancient Egypt was always ruled by a "pharaoh" or king, who was considered to be a god and absolute owner and dictator of the country.  He was worshiped by the people.
-The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and British all conquered and ruled Egypt at some point.  In that respect, the story of who ran Egypt is the history of the greatest world powers ever.  Egypt did not have native rule between 341 B.C., when the Persians conquered the last Pharaoh (Nectanebo II), until A.D. 1952, when the native Egyptian president Nasser overthrew a British constitutional monarchy.
+The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and British all conquered and ruled Egypt at some point.  In that respect, the story of who ran Egypt is the history of the greatest world powers ever.  But Egypt did not have native rule between 341 B.C., when the Persians conquered the last Pharaoh (Nectanebo II), until A.D. 1952, when the native Egyptian president Nasser overthrew a British constitutional monarchy.
 <big>'''The Three Kingdoms'''</big>
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 Ancient Egypt is divided into three periods:  the Old Kingdom (3100-2200 B.C.), the Middle Kingdom (2100-1650 B.C.) and the New Kingdom (1550-700 B.C.).  The peak in power of ancient Egypt was 1567-1085 B.C.
-The '''Old Kingdom''' is known for its security and prosperity, free from foreign invaders.  A unique Egyptian kingship developed during this period, and they built the great pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) as built by Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops (pronounced KEE-aps).  The pyramids protected and preserved pharaohs for what they expected in the after-life, and were marvelous engineering feats that cannot be duplicated even today.
+The '''Old Kingdom''' is known for its security and prosperity, free from foreign invaders.  A unique Egyptian kingship developed during this period, and they built the great pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) under the reign of Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops (pronounced KEE-aps).  The pyramids protected and preserved pharaohs for what they expected in the after-life, and were tremendous engineering feats that cannot be duplicated even today.
 The '''Middle Kingdom''' was a period during which Egyptian religion extended beyond the kings to the nobles and ordinary citizens.  Pharaohs began to share power with local distinguished persons.  The pharaohs were strong during this period and promoted trade by digging the Great Canal, which connected the Nile River to the Red Sea.  The Middle Kingdom is best known for its cultural achievements, such as literature and artwork.  During this period the Egyptians were also successful in draining parts of the Nile delta in Lower (northern) Egypt.  Trade expanded, but civil war plagued the Middle Kingdom just as it was a problem in the Old Kingdom.
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 Here is a brief review of the famous Egyptian rulers.  The first was Menes (or Mena).  In 3100 B.C. he was already king of southern Upper Egypt, and he united it with northern Lower Egypt (note that lower Egypt is closer to the sea-level of the Mediterranean, north of Upper Egypt, as shown on the map).  We know his name because Egyptian men, not women, wore make-up and his name was found on palettes used to apply make-up.
-Though Menes is called the first "pharaoh" (Egyptian ruler), actually that term was not used until the 18th Dynasty, 1539-1292 B.C.  (Egypt was organized by "dynasties", where one family (including descendants) controlled the country.)  The term "pharaoh" signifies the Egyptian custom claiming that its ruler was a god, similar to the sky god Horus and the sun gods Re, Amon and Aton.  The pharaoh was considered to be the preserver of a god-given order, called ma'at.   Even after death the pharaoh supposedly retained divine status and magical powers.  This was a theocracy (rule by a god).
+Though Menes is called the first "pharaoh" (Egyptian ruler), actually that term was not used until the 18th Dynasty, 1539-1292 B.C.  (Egypt was organized by "dynasties", where one family, including descendants, controlled the country.)  The term "pharaoh" signifies the Egyptian custom claiming that its ruler was a god, similar to the sky god Horus and the sun gods Re, Amon and Aton.  The pharaoh was considered to be the preserver of a god-given order, called ma'at.   Even after death the pharaoh supposedly retained divine status and magical powers.  This was a theocracy (rule by a god).
 The Egyptian people were divided into separate levels or classes.  The highest level consisted of the priests and nobles, below them were the peasants, and below the peasants were the slaves (which included the Hebrews until Moses led them out in the Exodus).  Women were respected in their role of child-rearing and managing household finances, and there were two Egyptian queens:  Queen Ahhotep and Queen Hatshepsut.  Queen Ahhotep ruled in the Middle Kingdom and helped liberate Egypt from the Hyksos.  Her mummy was discovered in A.D. 1859, and her tomb contained many military artifacts honoring her.  Queen Hatshepsut served in the place of her young son who was heir to the throne, and she ruled for 15 years until her death in 1458 B.C.  She is known for expanding trade.  Women were also included in the gods (goddesses) that Egyptians worshiped.  More generally, rights of dynasty were inherited through the mother's side, making Egypt a "matriarchal" society.
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 Egyptians invented mummification, which began in the 4th Dynasty.  It took the Egyptians a long time to develop this art, but they ultimately succeeded to perfection.  Without going into all the gory details, it consists of removing the internal organs from a body after death, treating the body with resin, and then wrapping it tightly in linen bandages.  You should consider becoming a doctor if you have an interest in this!
-''Religion'': The ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods, often inspired by animals or aspects of nature such as the sun.  Only nobles could aspire to an afterlife, and only the king himself could become unified with Osiris, a legendary king who represented the forces of agriculture.  A pharaoh was considered to be a sun god, and eventually monotheism (one all-powerful god) became popular in Egypt, with the sun god Aton commanding all Egyptians' attention.  That religious view subsequently lost out to the more powerful religions of Christianity and Islam.  Now Egypt is 90% Sunnite Muslim, and the remainder mostly Christian (Copts).
+''Religion'': The ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods, often inspired by animals or aspects of nature such as the sun.  Only nobles could aspire to an afterlife, and only the king himself could become unified with Osiris, a legendary king who represented the forces of agriculture.  A pharaoh was considered to be a sun god, and eventually monotheism (one all-powerful god) became popular in Egypt, with the sun god Aton commanding all Egyptians' attention.  That religious view subsequently lost out to the more powerful religions of Christianity and Islam.  Today Egypt is 90% Sunnite Muslim, and the remainder mostly Christian (Copts).
 The Christian Copts trace their ancestors directly to the ancient Egyptians.  Unlike the Muslims in Egypt, who consider themselves Arabs, the Christian Copts do not consider themselves to be Arabs and the Christian Copts still use ancient Egyptian surnames.  They cite the sojourn by Jesus' family in Egypt to escape Herod, and the proselytizing in Egypt by Saint Mark the Evangelist, who wrote the Gospel and was martyred at Alexandria, Egypt.  He is considered the first leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, followed by an unbroken line of 117 successors to the present Pope Shenouda III.
-''Language'': The Egyptians developed a written language consisting of hieroglyphics, which are pictographs.  It originated around 3100 B.C.  It was written on papyrus as a kind of paper; papyrus is a thin parchment constructed from reeds near the Nile river.  No one could fully understand hieroglyphics until the discovery of the "Rosetta Stone" by Napoleon's troops in 1799 near the seaside town of Rosetta, located in northern Egypt.  It sits in the British Museum today, and consists of a slab of black basalt inscribing a royal decree to the king Ptolemy V, dating from 196 B.C.  The Stone is marvelous in inscribing the same message three times: once in Greek, once in Demotic (a simple form of hieroglyphics used 700 B.C. to A.D. 400), and once in hieroglyphic.  This enabled the Frenchman Jean Francois Champollion to determine what the hieroglyphic characters mean, and build a dictionary that could be used to translate other works written in hieroglyphics.
+''Language'': The Egyptians developed a written language consisting of hieroglyphics, which are pictographs.  It originated around 3100 B.C.  It was written on papyrus as a kind of paper; papyrus is a thin parchment constructed from reeds near the Nile river.  No one could fully understand hieroglyphics until the discovery of the "Rosetta Stone" by Napoleon's troops in 1799 near the seaside town of Rosetta, located in northern Egypt.  It sits in the British Museum today, and consists of a slab of black basalt inscribing a royal decree to the king Ptolemy V, dating from 196 B.C.  The Stone contains the inscription of the same message in three different ancient languages: once in Greek, once in Demotic (a simple form of hieroglyphics used from 700 B.C. to A.D. 400), and once in hieroglyphic.  This enabled the Frenchman Jean Francois Champollion to determine what the hieroglyphic characters mean, and build a dictionary that could be used to translate other works written in hieroglyphics.
 Egypt's complex, picture-based language probably hindered its growth.  The picture-based language was not as easy to use as the alphabet-based Phoenician language later adopted by the Greeks and Romans.  How would one express Christian concepts like salvation, faith, hope and redemption in hieroglyphics?  That would be very difficult to do.

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 |}
-After leaving Egypt, the Hebrews settled back in the hills of Palestine or Canaan along eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately where Israel is today.  They quickly developed a productive society despite the barrenness of the land.  They implemented a system of private property, which much sharing within the family structure.  Before long, they became targets for their primitive, pagan neighbors.  Worst among these were the Philistines, who had iron weapons and good organization.  The Hebrews, in contrast, were loosely affiliated and unprepared to defend against outside invasions.  The Bible recounts many of these struggles with the Philistines, which God used to punish the Hebrews for disobedience and bring them back to Him.
+After leaving Egypt, the Hebrews settled back in the hills of Palestine or Canaan along eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately where Israel is today.  They developed a productive society despite the barrenness of the land.  They implemented a system of private property, which much sharing within the family structure.  Before long, they became targets for their primitive, pagan neighbors.  Worst among these were the Philistines, who had iron weapons and good organization.  The Hebrews, in contrast, were loosely affiliated and unprepared to defend against outside invasions.  The Bible recounts many of these struggles with the Philistines, which God used to punish the Hebrews for disobedience and bring them back to Him.
 <big>'''Saul, David and Solomon'''</big>
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 <big>'''Chaldean Empire'''</big>
-Nebuchadnezzar II was a military genius who demonstrated his prowess with a massive conquest of the Egyptian army in 606 or 605 B.C., thereby gaining control of all of Syria. After his father's death, he obtained the submission of Judah and spent the next few years expanding the Babylonian empire into Palestine. Although Nebuchadnezzar suffered many losses, he persisted and ultimately captured Jerusalem on March 16, 597, and then later again in 586, when the Chaldeans also destroyed Solomon's temple.  Nebuchadnezzar kidnapped and deported prominent Hebrews back to Babylonia, as recounted in the Bible and known as the Babylonian Exile.  Nebuchadnezzar was a godless military commander who suffered from seven years of madness, but at times he protected key prophets like Jeremiah.  Daniel described the period of madness by Nebuchadnezzar, but the Babylonian people did not dare criticize their own ruler.  Daniel 4:34-37.
+Nebuchadnezzar II was a military genius who demonstrated his prowess with a massive conquest of the Egyptian army in 606 or 605 B.C., thereby gaining control of all of Syria. After his father's death, he obtained the submission of Judah and spent the next few years expanding the Babylonian empire into Palestine. Although Nebuchadnezzar suffered many losses, he persisted and ultimately captured Jerusalem on March 16, 597, and then later again in 586, when the Chaldeans also destroyed Solomon's temple.  Nebuchadnezzar kidnapped and deported prominent Hebrews back to Babylonia, as recounted in the Bible and known as the Babylonian Exile.  Nebuchadnezzar was a godless military commander who suffered from seven years of madness, but at times he protected key prophets like Jeremiah.  Daniel described the period of madness by Nebuchadnezzar, but the Babylonian people did not dare criticize their own ruler, as told in the Book of Daniel 4:34-37.
 Babylon was a culture that did not have the good moral values of the Hebrews, and Babylonians did not accept God.  The Babylonians were constantly raiding, kidnapping, killing or converting the Hebrews into slaves.  Much of the Old Testament is about how the Hebrews would gain or lose favor with the Lord, and the Babylonians would prevail against the Hebrews as they lost favor with the Lord.  "Babylon" is mentioned 246 times in the Old Testament!

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 Peru (South America)</td><td> 900 B.C.</td></tr></table>
 <!--Please don't delete the table, I worked on it hard. -->
-History books speculate about "prehistory", which predates writing (i.e., before 3400 B.C.).  But there is no reliable evidence to support this speculation, and it is not worth spending time on.  There is no reason to think that man existed for thousands of years without ever expressing himself in written form.  But in case you are asked on a standardized test, historians describe the period of time known as "prehistory" as the "Stone Age."  They divide the Stone Age into two time periods: "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic".  The Paleolithic Age is older, when man supposedly relied on hunting and picking nuts and fruit to supplement his diet.  The Paleolithic Age was followed by the Neolithic Age, which consisted of the rise of agriculture.  The "Neolithic Revolution" means the "Agricultural Revolution," when farming became dominant.  The dates of these ages are controversial, and historians have a bias for giving them older dates than archaeology actually proves.
+History books speculate about "prehistory", which is the period prior to written records (i.e., before 3400 B.C.).  But there is no reason to think that man existed for thousands of years without ever expressing himself in written form.  But in case you are asked on a standardized test, historians describe the period of time known as "prehistory" as the "Stone Age."  They divide the Stone Age into two time periods: "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic".  The Paleolithic Age is older, when man supposedly relied on hunting and picking nuts and fruit to supplement his diet.  The Paleolithic Age was followed by the Neolithic Age, which consisted of the rise of agriculture.  The "Neolithic Revolution" means the "Agricultural Revolution," when farming became dominant.  The dates of these ages are controversial, and historians have a bias for giving them older dates than archaeology actually proves.
 After the Stone Age came the Bronze Age, beginning in 3500 B.C., when copper and/or bronze tools were used.  That was followed by the Iron Age, which began in Turkey around 2200 B.C. and later spread to other regions.  As its name suggests, people during this period used iron for tools.

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 Peru (South America)</td><td> 900 B.C.</td></tr></table>
 <!--Please don't delete the table, I worked on it hard. -->
-History books speculate about "prehistory", which predates writing (i.e., before 3400 B.C.).  But there is no reliable evidence to support this speculation, and it is not worth spending time on.  There is no reason to think that man existed for thousands of years without ever expressing himself in written form.  But in case you are asked on a standardized test, historians describe the period of time known as "prehistory" as the "Stone Age."  They divide the Stone Age into two time periods: "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic".  The Paleolithic Age is older, when man relied mostly on hunting and picking nuts and fruit to supplement his diet.  The Paleolithic Age was followed by the Neolithic Age, which consisted of the rise of agriculture.  The "Neolithic Revolution" means the "Agricultural Revolution," when farming became dominant.  The dates of these ages are controversial, and historians have a bias for giving them older dates than archaeology actually proves.
+History books speculate about "prehistory", which predates writing (i.e., before 3400 B.C.).  But there is no reliable evidence to support this speculation, and it is not worth spending time on.  There is no reason to think that man existed for thousands of years without ever expressing himself in written form.  But in case you are asked on a standardized test, historians describe the period of time known as "prehistory" as the "Stone Age."  They divide the Stone Age into two time periods: "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic".  The Paleolithic Age is older, when man supposedly relied on hunting and picking nuts and fruit to supplement his diet.  The Paleolithic Age was followed by the Neolithic Age, which consisted of the rise of agriculture.  The "Neolithic Revolution" means the "Agricultural Revolution," when farming became dominant.  The dates of these ages are controversial, and historians have a bias for giving them older dates than archaeology actually proves.
 After the Stone Age came the Bronze Age, beginning in 3500 B.C., when copper and/or bronze tools were used.  That was followed by the Iron Age, which began in Turkey around 2200 B.C. and later spread to other regions.  As its name suggests, people during this period used iron for tools.
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 Two of the oldest towns are the biblical town of Jericho, located in Palestine (on the "West Bank" of the Jordan River, between Israel and Jordan today), and Catal Huyuk, located in modern-day Turkey.  Jericho was famous for its high city walls to protect against attack.
 [[Image:Ancient lands.JPG|right]]
-The ancient world was the source of the most basic aspects of life that we still use today, such as the seven-day week and marriage.  The Bible remains the best written explanation for these and many other aspects of the ancient world.  Note that all four civilizations discussed in this lecture arose in or near what we now call the "Middle East."
+The ancient world was the source of the most basic aspects of life that we still use today, such as marriage and the seven-day week in the calendar.  The Bible remains the best written explanation for these and many other aspects of the ancient world.  Notice that all four civilizations discussed in this lecture arose in or near what we now call the "Middle East."
 ==Mesopotamia==
-So where did civilization begin?  In a region known as Mesopotamia, which is Greek for "land between the rivers."  The "rivers" are the Tigris and Euphrates, located in Western Asia.  Where, exactly?  Civilization began in fertile areas of Iraq northeast of the desert, known as part of the "Fertile Crescent."  It extends along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (including modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria) and through the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run southeast into the Persian Gulf (see the next page for the map).  These rivers deposited silt in the surrounding land, creating rich alluvial soil.  Today the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are not far from the location of our soldiers in Iraq.  But our soldiers are mostly pictured in dry, sandy areas, while the ancient people would have stayed close to the water.  Moreover, ancient floods have probably changed the landscape over time.
+So where did civilization begin?  In a region known as Mesopotamia, which is Greek for "land between the rivers."  The "rivers" are the Tigris and Euphrates, located in Western Asia.  Where, exactly?  Civilization began in fertile areas of Iraq northeast of the desert, known as part of the "Fertile Crescent."  It extends along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (including modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria) and through the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run southeast into the Persian Gulf (see the next page for the map).  These rivers deposited silt in the surrounding land, creating rich alluvial soil.  Today the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are not far from the location of present-day Iraq.
 Genesis 2:8-14 describes the beginning in Mesopotamia as follows: "Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ... A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. ... The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur.  And the fourth river is the Euphrates."<ref>This course uses a variety of translations for the Bible, this time using the "NIV" version.</ref>  Using the ages mentioned in the Bible and counting backwards, biblical scholars have dated this as about 6000 years ago, or about 4000 B.C.  This is about 500 years before our earliest record of ancient writings, which is what one might expect; it wouldn't take long for man to start writing messages, but the oldest messages are unlikely to be "extant" (still existing today).
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 In the fourth millennium before Christ, between about 3500 and 3000 B.C., cities began to sprout their own political and economic systems.  Both of these developments occurred in southern Mesopotamia.  The first such city (that we know of) was called Sumer, and its occupants were the Sumerians.
-We owe a great deal to the work of the Sumerians.  They developed the first system of writing (the cuneiform), the first codes of law and the first "city-state" (essentially a nation consisting only of a large city).  Their inventions were marvelous: the seed plow, the sailboat, and the potter’s wheel.  (Distinguish "cuneiform" symbols from "ideograms", which show ideas with symbols such as arrows for war, from "phonograms", in which symbols represent sounds).
+We owe a great deal to the achievements of the Sumerians.  They developed the first system of writing (the cuneiform), the first codes of law and the first "city-state" (essentially a nation consisting only of a large city).  Their inventions were marvelous: the seed plow, the sailboat, and the potter’s wheel.  (Distinguish "cuneiform" symbols from "ideograms", which show ideas with symbols such as arrows for war, from "phonograms", in which symbols represent sounds).
-Most workers in Mesopotamia were farmers, but some devoted their time to trade.  They had a calendar based on the moon to aid the farmers, and they developed a mathematical system using base 12.  They were marvelous inventors, creating complex systems of irrigation and discovering the plow, the cart and the wheel, and used bronze (a mixture of copper and tin) to make good farming tools.  Both men and women owned private property, had slaves, and were ruled by a king.
+Most workers in Mesopotamia were farmers, but some devoted their time to trade.  They had a calendar based on the moon to aid the farmers, and they developed a mathematical system using base 12.  They were tremendous inventors, creating complex systems of irrigation and discovering the plow, the cart and the wheel, and used bronze (a mixture of copper and tin) to make good farming tools.  Both men and women owned private property, had slaves, and were ruled by a king.
 [[Image:Mesopotamia2.PNG|right]]
 They built cities known as Eridu, Lagash, Ur, Uruk, Isin, Kish, just to name a few.  They were smart, and developed Akkadian as their language.  One interesting aspect of Akkadian is that it lacks any tense forms such as past or future tense.  The verbs expressed the manner of an action rather than its time.

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 Our course will place a special emphasis on aspects of World history that continue to be influential today, such as world religions and cultural conflicts; we will link what happened in ancient times to what is happening today.  We are the product of our past.  We will make use of the Bible, which is the greatest history book ever written.
-American history covers only about 400 years; World history concerns over 5000 years, going back to the first evidence of recorded events.  Our class covers the material in a course on Western Civilization or European history, and we cover far more too.  We will learn about Islam and Hinduism and all the forces that continue to shape our world to this day.  One cannot fully understand the attack on 9/11, the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility between India and Pakistan without learning World history.
+American history covers only about 400 years; World history concerns over 5000 years, going back to the first evidence of recorded events.  Our class covers the material in a course on Western Civilization or European history, and we cover far more too.  We will learn about Islam and Hinduism and all the forces that continue to shape our world to this day.  One cannot fully understand the attack on the United States known as "9/11" (it occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, destroying the World Trade Center), the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility between India and Pakistan without learning World history.
 We will consider how mankind progressed in understanding the unseen -- such as truth and gravity and God.  In mathematics, mankind progressed from the discovery of geometry ([[Greeks]]) to the concept of "zero" (Indians) to calculus (English).  In economics, mankind progressed from wage and price controls (Romans) to the "invisible hand" of the free market (Scottish), which then unleashed tremendous prosperity.  Government progressed from rulers who claimed to be gods (Egyptians), to monarchs (Middle Ages), to constitutional republics (United States).  World history spans from pre-Christian to Christian.  What are we progressing towards now?  We will learn to use history to predict the future.

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 "World history" is the true story of thought, ideas, culture, language, wars, governments, and economic systems throughout ''all'' of mankind's history.  This includes billions of people over thousands of years.  Every source is available to us, including the Bible.  Everything mankind has ever written, invented, observed, conquered and destroyed is part of "World history."  For example, we will study how Carthage was built into a power, and how it was then forever destroyed by its enemies from Rome.
-Our course will place a special emphasis on aspects of World history that continue to be influential today, such as world religions and cultural conflicts; we will link what happened in ancient times to what is happening today.  We are the product of our past.  You can think about whether that is a good thing, or a bad thing.  Perhaps the answer depends on what we make of it.  We will make use of the Bible, which is the greatest history book ever written.
+Our course will place a special emphasis on aspects of World history that continue to be influential today, such as world religions and cultural conflicts; we will link what happened in ancient times to what is happening today.  We are the product of our past.  We will make use of the Bible, which is the greatest history book ever written.
-American history covers only about 400 years; World history concerns over 5000 years, going back to the first evidence of recorded events.  Our class covers much of the material in a course on Western Civilization or European history, but we cover more too.  We will learn about Islam and Hinduism and all the forces that continue to shape our world to this day.  One cannot fully understand 9/11, violence in the Middle East, or hostility between India and Pakistan without learning World history.
+American history covers only about 400 years; World history concerns over 5000 years, going back to the first evidence of recorded events.  Our class covers the material in a course on Western Civilization or European history, and we cover far more too.  We will learn about Islam and Hinduism and all the forces that continue to shape our world to this day.  One cannot fully understand the attack on 9/11, the violence in the Middle East, or the hostility between India and Pakistan without learning World history.
-We will consider how mankind progressed in understanding the unseen, such as truth and gravity and God.  In mathematics, mankind progressed from the discovery of geometry ([[Greeks]]) to the concept of "zero" (Indians) to calculus (English).  In economics, mankind progressed from wage and price controls (Romans) to the "invisible hand" of the free market (Scottish), which then unleashed tremendous prosperity.  Government progressed from rulers who claimed to be gods (Egyptians), to monarchs (Middle Ages), to constitutional republics (United States).  World history spans from pre-Christian to Christian.  What are we progressing towards now?  We will learn to use history to predict the future.
+We will consider how mankind progressed in understanding the unseen -- such as truth and gravity and God.  In mathematics, mankind progressed from the discovery of geometry ([[Greeks]]) to the concept of "zero" (Indians) to calculus (English).  In economics, mankind progressed from wage and price controls (Romans) to the "invisible hand" of the free market (Scottish), which then unleashed tremendous prosperity.  Government progressed from rulers who claimed to be gods (Egyptians), to monarchs (Middle Ages), to constitutional republics (United States).  World history spans from pre-Christian to Christian.  What are we progressing towards now?  We will learn to use history to predict the future.
-Do not be misled by thinking that ancient peoples were dumb or boring because they lacked the technology of modern society.  The Egyptians, for example, cleverly built the massive pyramids using techniques that no one to this day can figure out or duplicate.  In 2600 B.C., they constructed the pyramid of Khufu containing 6 million tons of stone extending to a height of 481 feet.  The workmanship was superior to anything we do today: the rock base was virtually flat, not varying in elevation by more than a half-inch; its orientation is precisely aligned with the points of a compass; its stones were perfect fits.  Inside was a chapel, a causeway, and a temple.  It amazes architects to this day.  We would not be able to duplicate it, and no one knows how the Egyptians were able to build these intricate structures 4600 years ago.  Many other cultures, from Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome to India to China, invented things and discovered knowledge that no one today is smart enough to duplicate.  Can you build a useful wheel, or make paper?
+Do not be misled by thinking that ancient peoples were dumb or boring because they lacked the technology of modern society.  The Egyptians, for example, cleverly built the massive pyramids using techniques that no one to this day can figure out or duplicate.  In 2600 B.C., they constructed the pyramid of Khufu containing 6 million tons of stone extending to a height of 481 feet.  The workmanship was superior to anything we do today: the rock base was virtually flat, not varying in elevation by more than a half-inch; its orientation is precisely aligned with the points of a compass; its stones were perfect fits.  Inside was a chapel, a causeway, and a temple.  It baffles engineers and architects to this day.  We would not be able to duplicate it even now, with all our technology, and no one knows how the Egyptians were able to build these intricate structures 4600 years ago.  Many other cultures, from Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome to India to China, invented things and discovered knowledge that no single person today is smart enough to duplicate.  Can you build a well-functioning wheel, or make paper?
-A word about terminology: "B.C" means "Before (the birth of) Christ" and "A.D." means ''Anno Domini'' (Latin for "in the year of our Lord") or simply "After (the birth of) Christ."  The "1st century B.C." means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 100-1 B.C.  The "6th century B.C." is thus 600-501 B.C.  The 20th century (A.D.) included the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means "in the year of our Lord," the truly proper form is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2006.  Dates are based on the birth of Christ, and it is wrong to erase Christ from the annotation, as school textbooks do with "BCE" for "Before the Common Era" and "CE" for "Common Era."  To convert from a public school textbook, remember that BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.
+A word about terminology: "B.C" means "Before (the birth of) Christ" and "A.D." means ''Anno Domini'' (Latin for "in the year of our Lord") or simply "After (the birth of) Christ."  The "1st century B.C." means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 100-1 B.C.  The "6th century B.C." is thus 600-501 B.C.  The 20th century (A.D.) included the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means "in the year of our Lord," the truly proper form is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2014.  Dates are based on the birth of Christ, and it is wrong to erase Christ from the annotation, as school textbooks do with "BCE" for "Before the Common Era" and "CE" for "Common Era."  To convert from a public school textbook, remember that BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.
 World history divides into four sections:  Ancient History (Creation-A.D. 500), the Middle Ages (A.D. 500-1500), the Pre-Modern Era (A.D. 1500-1900), and the Modern Era (A.D. 1900-Current).  The Renaissance (A.D. 1300-1600), including the Reformation, overlaps with the Middle Ages and Pre-Modern Era.  Note that dates are not precise in this course: the further back in time we go, the less we know about the actual dates of key events.  For events before about 1000 B.C., most estimated dates are actually plus or minus a few hundred years.
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 ==Introduction to Ancient History==
-Ancient history is everything before about A.D. 500 or 600, when every major religion except Islam was established.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created and developed during ancient history, which is why this time period is emphasized so much in education.
+Ancient history is everything before about A.D. 500 or 600, when every major religion except Islam had been established.  Ancient history created civilization and achieved many of the greatest intellectual breakthroughs of all time.  Literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, language, etc., were all created and developed during ancient history, which is why this "classical" time period is emphasized so much in education today.
 [[Image:Cuneiform images.jpg|right]]
-When did mankind first begin?  There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.  The oldest writing was a pictographic tablet called a "cuneiform" (pronounced kyu-NEE-uh-form) dated to perhaps 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  Cuneiform looks like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  Although cuneiform was a primitive writing style, it continued in use until shortly before the birth of Christ.  Originally pictographs (e.g., to write "foot", you would draw a foot), cuneiform expanded to 600 stick-based symbols or figures, with each one developing multiple meanings (e.g., the symbol for "foot" also developed the meanings of "to go" or "to stand," depending on the context).<ref>http://i-cias.com/e.o/cuneiform.htm</ref>  For those who "text message" on cell phones, notice how each key has multiple possible letters and how the phone resolves the ambiguity and forms words depending on how the letters fit together to form a word.  Cuneiform had only 600 symbols, but their multiple meanings were resolved by seeing how they fit together to form sentences.  Notice that cuneiform was not an alphabet or western-style script; the oldest script-based language is from the Indo-Aryan language, and an example dating back to 1550 B.C. was found in the Sinai.
+When did mankind first begin?  '''''There is no reliable evidence of man existing before 3500 B.C.'''''  The oldest writing was a pictographic tablet called a "cuneiform" (pronounced kyu-NEE-uh-form) dated to perhaps 3400 B.C. from Sumer (SOO-mur) in Southern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today).  Cuneiform looks like chicken-scratches featuring wedge-like or arrow-shaped characters.  Although cuneiform was a primitive writing style, it continued in use until shortly before the birth of Christ.  Originally pictographs (e.g., to write "foot", you would draw a foot), cuneiform expanded to 600 stick-based symbols or figures, with each one developing multiple meanings (e.g., the symbol for "foot" also developed the meanings of "to go" or "to stand," depending on the context).<ref>http://i-cias.com/e.o/cuneiform.htm</ref>  For those who "text message" on cell phones, notice how a key can have multiple possible letters and how the cell phone resolves the ambiguity and forms words depending on how the letters fit together to form a word.  Cuneiform had only 600 symbols, but their multiple meanings were resolved by seeing how they fit together to form sentences.  Notice that cuneiform was not an alphabet or western-style script; the oldest script-based language is from the Indo-Aryan language, and an example dating back to 1550 B.C. has been discovered in the Sinai.
 Historians feel that spoken language originated in southeastern Europe near the Black Sea, not far from the Ararat mountain range cited in the Bible in connection with Noah.  Using population estimates, we know that about 300 million people existed in the world at the time of Christ, and extrapolating backwards yields only one family in the year 3300 B.C.  The oldest trees do not predate this time; the oldest sequoias, which never die of old age, are no older than 2000 B.C.

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 |-
 |Wisdom Literature
-|perhaps older than Genesis
+|The Book of Job may be older than Genesis
 |Job, David & Solomon are main authors
 |Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs

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