Chapter 9 (The Worlds of Islam)

In the homeland of Islam, there were tribal feuds and trading centers in the Arabian Peninsula. The people there recognized many gods, ancestors, and nature spirits. They highly appreciated oral poetry, which is interesting to me because I didn't think poetry existed back then. Mecca came to occupy a major role in Arabia. It was the home of the Kaaba and the Quraysh. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah who was born in Mecca, was the catalyst for the birth of new religion. It became a revolutionary message of monotheism. But tensions in Mecca and the Hijra started to arise, building the Umma in Medina. Soon war and alliances entered Mecca. Majority of the Peninsula was now under a unified Islamic state.

Intro to Part Three & Ch 7

The overall picture of chapter 7 was about trade. Trade had influenced civilizations by this time period. Trade was so big beause it didn't just had to do with trading goods but also technologies, cultures, and ideas were being thrown around. The growth of silk roads across Eurasia were expanding and this made connections between empires. The goods that were transported and traded were luxurious such as silk and women were producers and consumers of this. China was the main center of silk production. But a downside to trading was diseases being spread such as smallpox and measles but an upside to this was culture and religion was also being passed on. Sea roads were also a way of trading through the Indian Ocean. Many different types of voyages and roads were created for trade like Sand roads.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 focused on Africa and the Americas. It begins by explaining commonalities and variations. Continental comparisons were made, agriculture revolutions and complex societies were mentioned, uneven dsitribution of humans and domesticated animals, variation in metallurgy and literacy, and American isolation versus Africa in contact. It goes on to talk about civilizations of Africa. The major points of this were, Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization, The Making of a Christian Kingdom, and Along the Niger River: Cities without States. The Nile Valley civilization was Egypt and Nubia, there were kings and queens of Meroe. There was agriculture and long-distance trade and lasted for 1,000 years. The making of a Christian kingdom had plow agriculture and trde through the Indian Ocean. Monumental buildings and court culture and spread and conversions to Christianity and imperial expansian had also occurred. Along the Niger river, urbanization without imperial or bureaucratic systems were mentioned, iron working, and a regional West Africa trade system was created. Civilizations of Mesoamerica came about as well. The Mayas were a great civilization that started on 2000 BCE. Civilizations of the Andes also came about and brought great movements, such as religion.

Readings for the week

The readings begin with Culture and religion in Eurasia/North Africa. China has a tradition of state building. In 1122 B.C.E., the Zhou dynasty took power and the Mandate of Heaven had taken root. But by the 18th century, the Zhou dynasty had weakend and the overall unity of China was cpmpletetly gone. A bunch of Chinese thinkers were trying to find solutions to the problem. The Legalist answer was layed out by rules and laws. High rewars but heavy punishments. Qin and Shihuangdi dynasty were in charge but it did not last very long. Then Confucius thought he found the answer to the problems of China's disorders. But no actual opportunity came to him. The reading then goes on with trying to find the "right" answer for their problems. Religion was mentioned a lot. Buddhism came about when the founder Siddhartha Gautama introduced it (566- 486 B.C.E.). It was related to Hinduism and it had a popular appeal. Though it had restrictions and opportunities for women. The readings continue on to Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Classical Greece, birth of Christianity, and the spread of new religions. Chapter 5 then proceeds with societies in China there was a caste in China and India that restricted some people from wealth and power. The people at the top which where the land owners and the elite class had all the power while everyone else suffered and experinced unfairness. Slavery came about in Greece and patriarchy.

Presidential Debate/ Confucius

After watching 15 minutes of the presidential debate, I noticed that both candidates have some Confucius values. I'll begin with Hillary. In her speech, she seems more of the type to help everyone out not just the already wealthy people. She goes on in detail about her plans with helping the middle class, education, and creating more jobs. This reminded me of one of Confucius ' Analects, number 29. Hillary seems to be more modest in her speech and (I hope) seems like she will exceed with her actions. Actions speak louder than words. Also, number 18 I feel like fits with her too. I don't think she cares about the popularity she receives such as boosting her ego by saying crazy things just to be the topic of discussion, seems like she actually wants to help make things better. Trump on the other hand is quite different. I will say number 36 fits with him. He is very firm with what he wants and his speeches says it all.

Intro to Part Two & Ch 3 (State & Empire)

After the first civilization, not much has changed for the second and third wave. This is surprising to me because I would think that the second time around, many things would be different/change. Monarchs continued to have the power to rule and women still had little to no power. But there was a great growth in populations and and a growing size of states and empires. These states and empires were: The Roman, Indian, Persian, and Chinese. Chapter 3 begins with The Persians and the Greeks. In the Persian Empire, they had Cyrus and Darius as the kings. These kings had absolute power and lived a very luxurious lifestyle with palaces and even rituals. In 500 B.C.E., the most impressive empire was the Persian empire, it was the world's largest.  The Greeks were Indo-European, just like the Persians. Greece emerged around 750 B.C.E. as a new civilization, but the civilization of Athens, Sparta, of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeus and Apollo were created and problems began to arise. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes. They began in a small peninsula that was divided. But then collisions began to happen with the Persians and the Greco-Persian wars had begun.

Chapter 2 Documents

What philosophy of life commes across in the Gilgamesh story?

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is seen as violent and selfish. He then, found peace within after he encountered the immortal flood hero. This is interesting to me because when someone goes through something that could be impactful, they usually change for either better or worse. In this case  Gilgamesh learned that wisdom is more valuable than immortality. Gilgamesh then finally undestood that he could no longer be selfish and had to protect his people and provide for them.