Summary: From the Big Bang to the Romans, from the Cavemen to Columbus, from Egypt to the Fall of Britain. World History is all around us, and someone needs to put it all together. This is a work in progress.
What you will read below is a full summary of World History, to learn everything, click the links to learn more.
World History is basically something you can barely comprehend. It's impossible to put it all in writing, because even before the Big Bang, what happened? There is so much history, you can't put it in writing.
Note: This will be looked at in a scientific view. I am a beleiver in a religion, Christianity, but to agree with science I have put this in a scientific view.
World History v1.1: Chapter 1 is laid out, summary completed.
World History v1.2: Chapter 1 is finished, Chapter 2 is laid out. Chapter 2's layout may need fixing. Thought of expanding introductions.
World History v1.3: Chapter 2 is complete. Chapter 3 is still yet to be laid out. Introduction is expanded.
World History v1.4: Chapter 3 is laid out, chapter 4 is announced. Chapter 3 may need re-arranging.
World History v1.5: Chapter 3 is complete, chapter 4 is laid out, and chapter 5 is anounced. I may do some re-arranging again of chapter 3. Moving introduction to summary for better navigation.
World History v1.6: Chapter 4 is complete, chapter 5 is laid out, and chapter 6 is announced. Moved intro to summary.
World History v1.7: Chapter 5 is complete, chapter 6 is still to be laid out, chapter 7 will be announced later.
World History v1.8: Chapter 6 is laid out, Chapter 7 is announced. Chapter 6 May need re-arranging.
World History v1.9: Chapter 6 is finally complete. Chapter 7 is laid out, and chapter 8 is announced. I may have to change chapter 8.
World History v2.0: Chapter 7 is complete. Chapter 8 is laid out, chapter 9 is announced.
World History v2.1: Chapter 8 is complete!!! Chapter 9 is yet to be laid out.
Chapter 1: Before Man edit
Thing happened on our earth before man was even a thought, you will be very intrigued of what happened.
Univeral Creation edit
The universe is a vast, expanding area arguably estimated to be about 150 billion light years across.
Science, Theology and many cultures have postulated on the creation of the universe. In the scientific community alone there have been many theories over the years, but most have come to agree with the general concept of one partiicular theory.
We call it, the Big Bang. The Big Bang states that the universe was once at a point of singularity. The theory holds that space itself expanded out, approximately 13.7 billion years ago, at a rate faster than the speed of light at first and has continued expanding to today and beyond at varying rates. These theories have been backed by many observations however the rate of expansion has always shown a lack of complete understanding for scientist. Recently theories around dark matter, dark energy, expansionism and strings all offer possibilities to help complete out understanding.
Christains and many other religeons beleive that great diety's spoke the universe into existance. Although such claims are not accepted by science, they are the most accepted claims by ordinary people.
When the universe was created it is unknown when stars came into existance, or how. They may have possible all come from an Eve Star. Much like Mother Eve, it is the theory that all stars are 'offspring' from one star. Such claims cannot be proven by science.
Galactical Creation edit
The Milky Way, as we call it is known to be at least 13.2 billion years old. When the Big Bang occured, there were no stars in the galaxy, thus, the first known Dark Age of our Universe. The only accepted theory is that dark matter and gas were attracted by eachother, and came together, thus forming the first galaxies. Stars then formed from the gases, forming galaxies.
The Milky Way is no exeption. Gas came together, formed, and our universe was born.
Planetary Creation edit
Earth and the rest of the planets were created in a solar nebula about 4.5 billion years ago. The crust gradually cooled when water began accumulating in the earth's atmosphere.
Science cannot come to an agreement how the moon became in orbit.
At the time, water covered nearly 5/6ths of the earth. Over the past two billion years, the size of all continents has doubled.
While the earth's water gradually became absorbed into the atmosphere, the continents became changing as well.
Pangaea, a massive supercontinent, existed some 250 million years ago. Gradually, the continents drifted to their rightful place today. The drift is caused by seafloor spreading. In seafloor spreading, the continents are thought to drift inches per year.
Creation of Life edit
3.7 billion years ago, in a volcanic hot spring, the first life form came into existance. This was a small, basic molecule. Eventually, this molecule would evolve, and would crawl from it's hot spring into the air, and out into the world.
These small molecules would eventually become extinct, and would be replaced by their evolved offspring. The molecules would become more and more advanced, gaining a cell. It would eventually become an amoeba. The amoeba would become more and more advanced.
What rate, and the order it evolved in is unsolved.
Plants, were created differently. An algal mat, a layer of usually filamentous algae on marine or fresh water soft bottoms, peaked for the first time. Like animals, it creeped our from its marine home and found new life on earth. They evolved slowly over time.
It was around 500,000,000 BC that earth began to look like it does today.
Life Before Man edit
Around 300,000 BC, there was no such thing as man. No cities, no towns. The world was full of apes, great cats, and other animals you would recognize today. Altohugh these animals were not fully evolved into what they look like today, you would still be able to recognize one from the other.
Life was just beginning on earth, but Mother Nature was about to meet a newer ruler, they call it, man.
What You've Learned edit
[x] You've learned about the beginning of the universe.
[x] The Big Bang
[x] The creation of Galaxies and the Milky way.
[x] The creation of the earth.
[x] The earth changing features and continents.
[x] The first animal, and its evolution.
[x] The first plant, and its evolution.
[x] Life before Man
Chapter 2: Rise of Man edit
This chapter is scarcely known to today's historians. The claims made in this chapter are barely known. Please make note.
From Monkey to Man edit
Evolution is questioned by many religions today. It's the base of most life today. But humans evolved- frankly, the same. They were no different than any other evolution, nix that fact that they would eventually inherit the earth.
Man didn't evolve from monkeys actually, they evolved from an ape-like species, that evolved over time from homo habilis some 2.4 million years ago.
Homo habilis eventually evolved even more. Homo neanderthalensis would eventually rise, which would be the last ape-like species next to man.
Homo neanderthalensis then evolved one last time into a homo sapien. 'Sapien' meaning 'intelligent', early homo sapiens are known today as 'cave men'. They are best known for discovering fire, which they may have used to cook food and keep warm, they are also known for inventing the wheel, but without proper tools, there would probobly be no use for a wheel.
Tools and Newer Ideas edit
The first tools were made of stone. They were the wheel, pebble tools, and choppers from simple strikes. The new use of tools was the beginning of the Old Stone Age. The Old Stone Age would extend to 10,000 BC.
A few more things that may have come into existance around this time is the use of language and art. Art was simply made by drawing pictures on stone walls or sheets of rock. Language may have evolved over millions of years, or it may have been the greatest discovery of 'cavemen'.
Culture is Created edit
Although 'culture' is much different now than it was then, homo sapiens began adapting differently to different areas if the world.
Though civilizations haven't come together, the cultures around the are a were the same. This may have been the time people began wearing clothings.
The Ice Age edit
The Ice Age, or the Pleistocene Epoch, was an era between 1.8 Million BC and 10,000 BC where 30% of the earth was covered in ice sheets. That's almost as much land that there is on earth.
The Ice Age also attracted many new types of animals, including Wooly Mammoths, Wooly Rinocerous, Ground Sloths, and many other animals flourished durning this time period.
In the fall of the Ice Age, much of these animals died off, the rest were hunted by man.
Man continues to gain intelligence throughout this era.
The First Civilization edit
The first civilization created by man, is known as Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was founded in 10,000 BC at the fall of the Ice Age. Man is finally becoming civilized, but is losing instinct, mainly relying on the help of others. Mesopotamia is only begnning, it is not a 'civilization' yet. It won't be for 5,000 years.
This will be the last you hear from man in a while. They will make discoveries, flourish, and expand outwards throughout the years.
What You've Learned edit
[x] The slow evolution process from ape to man.
[x] Man's first inventions and discoveries.
[x] The first tools.
[x] The creation of language and art.
[x] Culture is adapted.
[x] The epoch of the Ice Age.
[x] The rise and fall of Ice Age Beasts.
[x] The discovery of civilization.
Chapter 3: Greater Knowledge edit
As the world grows old, humans are becoming better at surviving. They are making tools, communities, exploring, gaining knowledge, and much more. Even religeon is getting a dim spotlight.
Note: This chapter is filling in humanity in between the rise of homo sapiens and the end of the Ice Age (10,000 BC). So there is jumping around in dates.
The First Wars edit
Prehistoric warfare goes back as far as historians can look. The beginning of war was raiding parties. With not many people, this consisted of twelve to twenty people raiding camps. The cause for these 'wars' was proboly the fight over recources.
Around 35,000 BC, clubs and spears were used for warfare. Around 12,000 BC, bows, maces, and slings were being used for warfare.
There is little known why war would be started surning this age of social reform.p
Exploring the World edit
This has happened long before 10,000 BC as well. China and the Asian Continents, were discovered somewhere between 1,000,000 BC to 120,000 BC.
25,000 BC, was the first that homo sapiens discovered Africa, but pre-evolutionaries of humans have been dated back to 3 Million BC.
Europe was first discovered sometime between 300,000 BC and 30,000 BC by a humanoid species.
The world has roughly 5,000,000 people living on it.
Growing Powers edit
Even as early as 10,000 BC, power was thirsted for. The greatest of the powers were in Europe and Asia. One power, was Britain.
Britain dates back over 250,000 years ago. It resided mainly in Europe.
The second power, Spain, which was at least 5,000 years old at the time. Spain may go back all the way to 380,000 BC, making it one of the oldest powers.
The last power, China, which was founded 10,000 to 1.37 million years ago.
The struggle for power will go on for milleniums to come.
Religion on the Rise edit
Religion. It's one of the oldest practices on earth. However, it came along a lot earlier than 10,000B BC. Religion practices were first practiced, even as we were still evolving.
Research shows that our nearest relatives exhibit traits that may have something to do with the evolution of religion.
Burial practices were first started 130,000 years ago, but there is no sign that this was a religious practice. It is shown though, that whatever this religion was, it evolved over the centuries and eventually became Christianity.
In the World... edit
In 10,000 BC, the world was a very cruel unforgiving place if you were alone. However, you had a very good chance of survival living in a community or civilization.
In 10,000 BC, the world was coming up with very good ideas:
Art edit
The first art was cave paintings of hunts and wars. Homo sapiens are now finding other ways to express their creativity. Portable art was created. Jewelery was created from fossils, teeth, shells, and bone, by drawing lines over the bone.
To see a full list of portable art, click here.
Pottery edit
The first known civilizations to use and make pottery were the Japanese. The Japanese were thought to have hand-made them and fired in bon-fires. They were made with clay, and were easy to make.
Shipmaking edit
The first ships date back to 10,000 BC. These vessels were limited, and could only move on water, and that was it. Ships were mainly used for fishing and hunting, and that was it. They were made from logs and simple stone tools.
Hunting and Fishing edit
Hunting began well over 1 million years ago. Hunting may have began around the discovery of fire, language, religion, and domestication of the dog (15,000 BC). Bows and spears were mainly used for hunting.
Fishing dates back to 40,000 BC. Fishing was started with the use of a spear, by stabbing the fish. Eventually, humans discovered bone fishhooks, and began using fishhooks around 14,000 BC.
What You've Learned edit
[x] The first wars and the weapons used.
[x] How the eastern continents were founded.
[x] The three main powers of the world.
[x] The history of religeon.
[x] The evolving of Christianity.
[x] Art in 10,000 BC.
[x] Pottery in 10,000 BC.
[x] Shipmaking in 10,000 BC.
[x] Hunting and Fishing in 10,000 BC.
Chapter 4: Europe's Affairs edit
Britain, Spain and France were all large powers at the time. This is a full history of the powers.
Britain's History edit
Britain has been occupied by humanoids for huntreds of thousands of years. Homo sapiens have lived in Britain for tens of thousands of years, there is not an exact year when Britain was founded. However, it is known that there was an era in between year 180,000 BC and 40,000 BC where nobody occupied Britain.
In 40,000 BC, Netherlandmen came into Britain. They left once again because of a cold snap. In 12,000 BC, man returned again at the end of the Ice Age. At the thawing of the tundra, Britain was left a treeless valley.
Foliage grew back, and population grew in Britain by 10,000 BC.
Spain's History edit
Homo spaiens first entered Spain around 35,000 BC. Colinizers were not alone in coming into Spain. Many invaders also entered Spain to try and control it. Spain's history wasn't looking very good right then.
After Spain had fought off invaders, the Spanish people found refuge in caves. Cave art has been found dotted over Spanish caves.
Spain started a trade-route, which they lived off of until 5000 BC.
France's History edit
France was first occupied 300,000 years ago. It was occupied by a member of the homo genus, but these died off, presumably from cold wheather. Homo sapiens appeared in France 40,000 years ago.
There is not much known information on the time period between 40,000 BC and 10,000 BC in France. But homo sapiens did live in France at 10,000 BC.
End of an Era edit
The Upper Paleolithic is the end of the Old Stone Age. It's the end of the Old Stone Age, end of the Ice Age, and End of Peace. Peace will be no longer, and warefare will begin.
However, homo sapiens will make new discoveries, gain more knowledge, and meet new feats that they never imagined.
Behind the Curtain edit
Before the era is over, there is one final peice of buissness those Norwegions need to take care of.
Note: This is just a theory not an absolute fact.
A group of Norwegians explore the East. They come to one of the last remnants of the Ice Age. The land bridge. They cross the land bridge into North America, where they flourish. They will become what we call, Indians.
This will be the last time you will hear of these for a long, long time.
What You've Learned edit
[x] The History of Britain.
[x] The History of Spain.
[x] The History of France.
[x] The end of the Upper Paleolithic era.
[x] The land bridge.
[x] The first colinization of the Americas.
Chapter 5: Africa, Asia, and More edit
Africa and Asia are some of the most diversely populated places on earth. What has happened to those places? I will answer that. This is a fairly short chapter, because I want to wrap up 10,000 BC and move on.
Settlement of Africa edit
Humanoids settled Africa 3.4 million years ago. When the Ice Age was over, homo sapians colonized in Africa again. These were the first Colinizations in Africa. However, these coloninations would fall when North Africa's climate becomes hot and airy.
Africa would not see a great settlement for 7,000 more years.
Asia's Exploration edit
Analysis of mtDNA dates the immigration of Homo sapiens to South Asia to 70,000 to 50,000 years ago. These populations spread further to Southeast Asia, reaching Australia by 40,000 years ago.
Cave sites in Sri Lanka have yielded the earliest record of modern homo sapiens in South Asia. They were dated to 34,000 years ago.
For finds from the Belan in southern Uttar Pradesh radio carbon data have indicated an age of 18-17 tya. Palaeolithic rock art is also well-known.
Taken Directly From Page South Asian Stone Age
New Discoveries edit
Even though people aren't quite 'civilized' yet, they are beoming smarter, and gaining more knowledge of the world around them. About this time sheep, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. Giving a start to weaving, more food, and better hunting. Goats are also domesticated, giving milk to people for the first time.
Wild wheat is also found useful, but bread has not been discovered yet. Chili peppers and beans are also found good for eating.
The people of Jericho found a way to make clay bricks and dry them in the sun.
People began settling on the Mediterranean Isles, and Jericho has 2,000 inhabitants in brick homes. Jericho build large brick wall surrounding the city.
Peace is at an End edit
The coming of age is upon the earth, meaning that war is almost upon the earth, and peace will be over. In chapter 7, you will learn as much as I know about the first war. We are leaving the year 10,000 BC, and moving forward.
There are only 3,000 years of peace left in the world at this time.
In the next chapter, we will be in 8,000 BC, learning of what happened in between 10,000 BC and then.
What You've Learned edit
[x] How Africa was settled.
[x] The immigration to Asia.
[x] Newly domesticated animals.
[x] New foods and milk.
[x] Jericho, and it's brick walls.
[x] The end of 10,000 BC.
Chapter 6: The Coming of Age edit
We are advancing from 10,000 BC to 8,000 BC. This chapter will just be showing how the powers have changed.
Europe edit
Europe was a growing place at this time. With only 5,000,000 inhabitants of the earth, Europe was one of the most bustling. Greece, is beginning its rise to fortune, by people living in caves. Turkey and Norway are also being transformed, as well as Scotland and Ireland.
As Europe transforms itself into the center of the world, we will see it more and more in history. Britain remains the same, as it was 2,000 years ago, as well as Spain and France. These powers will not become power-hungry again for several thousands of years.
Advances & Discoveries edit
In this time period, agriculture is rising, so people are growing crops instead of hunting and fishing. Farms are founded in Greece.
The first use of obsidian tools was in 8000 BC, from the Mesapotamian area. Nonporable grinding tools for wheat where first invented in Africa. Houses, kilns, pottery, turquoise carvings, tools made from stone and bone, and bone flutes China. Decorating pottery in Japan became a norm. The first form of knitting is invented in Israel.
In Asia, rice, millet, soy beans, and yams are domesticated. Cereals are invented in Europe.
In Egypt, the cat is domesticated for the first time, and the sheep in south Asia. More dogs are domesticated. In the Middle East, the cow is domesticated.
Men also begin wearing fur for clothing in Asia. In Asia 'counting tokens' are first made, possible the first type of money in the history of the world. Beekeeping is founded for honey. Gold and copper begin to be used.
A Changing World edit
After the Ice Age was over, all the glaciers began to proceed back into the ocean. This caused sea levels to rise durastically. With rising sea levels, today's UK was separated from Ireland, allowing Ireland to become one Civilization. These rising sea levels also destroyed the land bridge inbetween Russia and Alaska.
Durning this time period, over 40 million animals died because of the massive climate change.
In The World... edit
In this time, this is how a few things are changing:
Agriculture edit
Developed independently by geographically distant populations, systematic agriculture first appeared in Southwest Asia with the bulk of domesticated neolthic crops and livestock now being traced to Turkey via DNA studies. The first grains of domesticated Turkish emmer wheat are found at Abu Hurerya dated to 13,500 BC. The only exceptions to this are barley, domesticated in two sites; in Israel, and East of the Zagros mountains in Iran. The eight so-called founder crops of agriculture appear: first emmer and einkorn wheat, then hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax.Bitter vetch and lentils along with almonds and pistachios appear in Franchthi Cave Greece simultaneously, about 9,000 BC. Neither are native to Greece, and they appear 2,000 years prior to domesticated wheat in the same location. This suggests that the cultivation of legumes and nuts preceded that of grain.
Copied Directly from Page Agriculture.
Money edit
The use of proto-money, may date back to at least 100,000 years ago. Trading in red ochre is attested in Swaziland. Shell jewellery in the form of strung beads also dates back to this period,[2] and had the basic attributes needed of early money, such as being scarce in inland areas, and not easily counterfeited. Also they were 'worked' to be made into something using a technique... or workmanship, into an attractive object, that may have been considered then, valuable.
In cultures where metal working was unknown, shell or ivory jewellery were the most divisible, easily storeable and transportable, scarce, and hard to counterfeit objects that could be made. It is highly unlikely that there were formal markets in 100,000 B.P. (any more than there are in recently observed hunter-gatherer cultures). Nevertheless, proto-money would have been useful in reducing the costs of less frequent transactions that were crucial to hunter-gatherer cultures, especially bride purchase, splitting property upon death, tribute, and inter-tribal trade in hunting ground rights (“starvation insurance”) and implements.
In the absence of a medium of exchange, all of these transactions suffer from the basic problem of barter — they require an improbable coincidence of wants or events. Overcoming this without money requires some system of in-kind "credit" or "gift exchange", restricting trade to those who know one another.
Copied Directly From Page History of Money.
Art edit
According to archeological evidence, the Jōmon people in ancient Japan were the first to develop pottery, dating to the 11th millennium BCE. The Jōmon people were making clay figures and vessels decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks with a growing sophistication.
Free standing sculpture had already begun by the Neolithic, the earliest being the anthropomorphic figurines, often embellished by animals from the very beginning of the Neolithic discovered in Nevali Cori and Göbekli Tepe near Urfa in eastern Turkey, dating to ca. 10th millennium BCE. The Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate, Serbia date to the 7th millennium BCE and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish.
Copied Directly from Prehistoric art.
The Final Days of Peace edit
The end of the Paleolithic era is over, and it is time to move on to 5,000 BC, the Neolithic era. The Prehistoric era in time is almost over, which means once we get to about 2000 BC, we will see new nations arise, and countires go power-hungry for the first time.
Ultimately, we will learn of the first actual wars in history, and the rise of new civilizations.
What You've Learned edit
[x] The transforming Europe.
[x] The rise of agriculture.
[x] New inventions, ideas, and animal domestications.
[x] The rising sea levels changed the world's climate.
[x] The changing agriculture.
[x] The changing currencies.
[x] The changing art.
[x] The final days of peace in the world.
Chapter 7: Peace no More edit
It's 5,000 BC, and the first war is being faught. Not much is known about it, but it's called Cemetary 117. After this, the world is no longer innocent. Things are about to change.
Cemetery 117 edit
Cemetery 117 is the first known battle to be archeologicaly discovered. Cemetery 117 was thought to be from the first war ever fought in in history.
It is unknown who the battle and war was faught between, but it is recorded as Cemetery 117, and the first known war. Cave paintings only suggested camp raids instead of actualy battles and wars.
Back in Europe edit
Europe is advancing with earth, here is a list of advances made in Europ between 8000 BC and 5000 BC in Europe:
First neolithic settlements with ceramics, in Crete, Aegean Sea — Greece. Advanced agriculture and a very early use of pottery by the Sesclo culture in Thessaly, Greece. Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Inhabitants traded obsidian. The volcano Puy-de-Dôme in France erupts. Brick building was taking place at Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An lastly, wine is created for the first time in Persia.
China's Empire edit
Like Europe, China is also greatly changing. Although it won't be a communist, power-hungry nation for years to come, it is expanding and is coming across some of the worlds greatest discoveries. China changes over the years, and is slowly becoming civilized.
China will become civilized in about 2500 years from now, until now, China remains a barren place with little to no mercy on those who live alone.
Mesapotamia edit
Mesapotamia is finally a civilization. It is beginning the Ubaid period. Ubaid culture is characterised by large village settlements, characterised by multiroomed rectangular mud-brick houses and the appearance of the first temples of public architecture in Mesopotamia, with a growth of a two tier settlement hierarchy of centralised large sites of more than 10 hectares surrounded by smaller village sites of less than 1 hectare. Domestic equipment included a distinctive fine quality buff or greenish coloured pottery decorated with geometric designs in brown or black paint; tools such as sickles were often made of hard fired clay in the south. But in the north, stone and sometimes metal were used.
In The World... edit
The world is still changing at this time, here are a few things that are changing:
Art edit
Megalithic monuments are found in the Neolithic from Portugal, through France, and across southern England to most of Wales and Ireland. They are also found in northern Germany and Poland, as well as in Egypt in the Sahara desert (at Nabata and other sites). They start in the 5th millennium BC, though some authors speculate on Mesolithic roots. Because of frequent re-use, this is difficult to prove.
Taken Directly from Page Prehistoric art.
Shipmaking edit
About 5,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians already knew how to assemble planks of wood into a ship hull. Woven straps were used to lash the planks together, and reeds or grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams.
At about the same time, people living near Kongens Lyngby in Denmark invented the segregated hull, which allowed the size of boats to gradually be increased. Boats soon developed into keel boats similar to today's wooden pleasure craft.
Taken Directly from Page Ship
Government edit
Government is not yet so. There are hunter-gatherer communities, but there is no government yet. The beginning of government will happen in about 3000 BC.
What You've Learned edit
[x] The first battle.
[x] Advances in Europe.
[x] China's status in 5000 BC.
[x] How Mesapotamia is changing.
[x] How art is changing.
[x] How shipmaking is changing.
[x] How government is changing.
Chapter 8: 2,000 Year Later... edit
It's 3,000 BC. We've seen alot change in the world. It's finally time for us humans to grow up. After this chapter we will move to 2,000 BC, where we will stay for quite some time.
Governments Arise edit
For many thousands of years when pepole were hunter-gatherers and small scale farmers, humans lived in small, "relatively non-hierarchical" and mostly self-sufficient communities. However, the human ability to precisely communicate abstract, learned information allowed humans to become ever more effective at agriculture, and that allowed for ever increasing population densities. David Christian explains how this resulted in states with laws and governments:
As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in a striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field.
—David Christian, p. 245, Maps of Time
The exact moment and place that the phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time; however, history does record the formations of very early governments. About 5,000 years ago (3,000 BC), the first small city-states appeared. By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: the Indus Valley Civilization, Sumer, Ancient Egypt and the Yellow River Civilization.
States formed as the results of a positive feedback loop where population growth results in increased information exchange which results in innovation which results in increased resources which results in further population growth. The role of cities in the feedback loop is important. Cities became the primary conduits for the dramatic increases in information exchange that allowed for large and densely packed populations to form, and because cities concentrated knowledge, they also ended up concentrating power. "Increasing population density in farming regions provided the demographic and physical raw materials used to construct the first cities and states, and increasing congestion provided much of the motivation for creating states."
Copied Directly from Page Government.
In The World... edit
3000 BC's World:
Art edit
One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the standing stones were erected around 2200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC.
Domesticated Animals edit
Many animals have been domesticated over this time period, a few that were domesticated were the donkey, Egypt, the water buffalo, India and China, the horse, central Asia, the camel, Arabia, the silkworm, China, and the goose, Egypt.
Knowledge edit
From their beginnings in Sumer (now Iraq) around 3500 BC, the Mesopotamian peoples began to attempt to record some observations of the world with extremely thorough quantitative and numerical data. But their observations and measurements were seemingly taken for purposes other than for scientific laws.
Talen Directly from Page History of science in early cultures.
Ancient Egypt edit
By about 5500 BC, small tribes living in the Nile valley had developed into a series of unique cultures demonstrating firm control of agriculture and animal husbandry. The earliest were established in Lower Egypt at el-Omari, Merimda, and in the Faiyum. At the intersection of routes from the Sahara, the Nile valley, and the Near East, the Faiyum Neolithic culture displayed characteristics of each and was noted for advanced stone tools which shaped the prehistoric lithic industry in Egypt. Merimda was one of the largest northern communities, and was unique for its sophisticated forms of vases and pottery ring-stands and ladles, and the stone maceheads that became popular during the Old Kingdom.
The earliest cultures in southern Egypt, the Badari, were established a few centuries after their northern counterparts. Contemporaneous with the Maadi, Buto and Heliopolitan cultures to the north, the Badari culture was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools, and its use of copper. Badarian burials, simple pit graves with signs of social stratification, suggest that the culture was coming under the control of more powerful leaders. In the north, Maadian pottery was occasionally decorated with birds and serekhs bearing the first Horus names, a sign of increasing cultural sophistication. Maadi was also the main source of basalt vessels, whose distribution becomes more widespread in the south after northern Egypt falls under the control of the Upper Egyptian rulers.
In the south, the Naqada culture gradually developed into a civilization along the Nile by about 4000 BC. It had power centers at Nekhen and Abydos and it expanded its control of Egypt northwards. The people of Naqada manufactured painted pottery, high quality decorative stone vases, cosmetic palettes, and jewelry made of gold, lapis, and ivory. They also engaged in trade with Nubia, the oases of the western desert, and the Levant. Naqada developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last phase of the predynastic, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that evolved into a full system of hieroglyphs for writing the Egyptian language.
The ancient Egyptians chose to begin their official history with a king named "Meni" (or Menes in Greek) who they believed had united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. The transition to a unified state actually happened more gradually than the ancient Egyptian writers would have us believe, and there is no contemporary record of Menes. Scholars now believe, however, that the mythical Menes may have actually been the pharaoh Narmer, who is depicted wearing royal regalia on the ceremonial Narmer Palette in a symbolic act of unification. The third century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs following Menes into 30 dynasties, a system still in use today.
In the Early Dynastic Period about 3150 BC, the first pharaohs solidified their control over lower Egypt by establishing a capital at Memphis, from which they could control the labor force and agriculture of the fertile delta region as well as the lucrative and critical trade routes to the Levant. The increasing power and wealth of the pharaohs during the early dynastic period was reflected in their elaborate mastaba tombs and mortuary cult structures at Abydos, which were used to celebrate the deified pharaoh after his death. The strong institution of kingship developed by the pharaohs served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization.
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3,000 BC edit
This is an overview of 3000 BC, this covers everything we haven't discussed:
The previous millennium had seen the emergence of advanced, urbanized civilizations, new bronze metallurgy extending the productivity of agricultural work, and highly developed ways of communication in the form of writing. In the 3rd millennium BC, the growth of these riches, both intellectually and physically, became a source of contention on a political stage, and rulers sought the accumulation of more wealth and more power. Along with this came the first appearances of mega architecture, imperialism, organized absolutism and internal revolution.
The civilizations of Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia became a collection of volatile city-states in which warfare was common. Uninterrupted conflicts drained all available resources, energies and populations. In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, and conquerors grew in stature until the great Sargon of Akkad pushed his empire to the whole of Mesopotamia and beyond. It would not be surpassed in size until Assyrian times 1500 years later.
In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Egyptian pyramids were constructed and would remain the tallest and largest human constructions for thousands of years. Also in Egypt, pharaohs began to posture themselves as living Gods made of an essence different from that of other human beings. Even in Europe, which was still largely neolithic during the same period of time, the builders of megaliths were constructing giant monuments of their own. In the Near East and the Occident during the 3rd millennium BC, limits were being pushed by architects and rulers.
Towards the close of the millennium, Egypt became the stage of the first popular revolution recorded in history. After lengthy wars, the Sumerians recognized the benefits of unification into a stable form of national government and became a relatively peaceful, well-organized, complex technocratic state called the 3rd dynasty of Ur. This dynasty was later to become involved with a wave of nomadic invaders known as the Amorites, who were to play a major role in the region during the following centuries
What You've Learned edit
[x] The rise of the first governments on earth.
[x] How art is changing.
[x] How domestication of animals is changing.
[x] How knowledge is changing.
[x] Ancient Egypt is becoming more sofisticated.
[x] The rise of the first monarchs in Ancient Egypt.
[x] The first written language.
[x] Everything else in 3000 BC!
Chapter 9: Another Era of Change edit
TBA