In chapter 2, Strayer talks about the emerging of new civilizations and how they formed their own cities and states. I really liked how Strayer included "A map of time" on page 61 that shows what happened during the years of B.C.E. I enjoyed reading about how important Mesopotamia was to the evolution of people and the urban life. I wasn't surprised when I was reading about how men are held in higher regards to women because I've read about it before and it was how the country was ran for thousands of years. I thought that it was really cool that some of the first civilizations created their own states around large territories. I really liked the "snapshot" on page 78 because it was interesting to see how they used drawings to communicate with each other. Even though all of these countries had the same features, they were not ran the same. For example, the environment in Egypt allowed for the people to grow more crops because the water from the Nile River would rise every year and give them the water they needed to make food. However in Mesopotamia, the environment was unpredictable so the planting of goods was never constant. In all, I really liked reading this chapter and learning about the first civilizations and how they differed from country to country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In chapter 11, Strayer explains the Mongol empire and why they were so important. The mongols didn't create elaborate cities but left an indelible mark on the historical development of the Afro-Eurasian Empire. Societies usually lived in small and scattered encampments of related kinfolk rather than in villages. The people organized themselves into clans, and lived solely on animals and manufactured goods. The Turkic language and culture spread rapidly all over Asia, and the Turks converted to Islam. They brought Islam and Turkic culture to Anatolia, and then created the Ottoman Empire. The Mongol Empire was enormous and destructive of the process and the networks of exchange and communication numbering 700,000 people. They left a cultural imprint, but didn't leave a new language, religion, or civilization. Their religion was centered around rituals invoking ancestors. The Mongols conquered, defeated, subordinate and exploited people. The Black Death reached Egypt in 1350, and ...
Read more
In chapter 4, Strayer discusses three different solutions to how China can come back together from the violence and turmoil. One solution would consist of many rules or laws that enforced punishments if necessary. The other solution consisted of using moral examples of superiors. Finally the last solution consists of doing the opposite of what Confucius thought was the solution. India created their own religion, called Hinduism, and it grew with their civilization. The nations in South Asian were transforming into a more philosophical religion instead of the ritual sacrifice. The Buddhist challenge gave restrictions and opportunities to women. I thought it was really cool that Hinduism had ancient texts that told stories between humans and deities that taught moral obligations. Persia was looking for a religious outlook in Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Zoroastrianism includes human free will, struggle of good versus evil, a savior, and judgement day. Judaism included migration and exiles...
Read more
In chapter 9, Strayer discusses the world of Islam as a whole. Islam after the Classical Era was very large and influential. It united with much of Afro-Eurasia and was influential internal and externally. Islam was home to Arabia, Mecca, Byzantine and Sassanid Empires, and the "children of Abraham." Muhammad Ibn Abdullah had a series of revelations and that became the Quran. The religion of Abraham returned and there was a revolutionary message of social justice called the Umma. The Five Pillars of Islam are declaration of faith (Shahadah), obligatory prayer (Salat), compulsory giving (Zakat), fasting in the month of Ramadan (Sawn), pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). The transformation of Arabia was caused by the tensions in Mecca and the Hijra. They entered into Mecca in 630 and there were wars and alliances. This caused for most of the Peninsula to be under a unified Islamic state, and there was a fusion of religious and political authority. The Arab Empire was starting to expand...
Read more