Water and Classical Civilizations: Crash Course World History 222, YouTube, (11 minutes)
John Green teaches you about water! So, we talk about resources a lot on Crash Course, and today is no exception. It turns out people can’t live without water, which means it’s absolutely necessary for civilization. Today John talks about water in the context of classical civilizations, but not like Greece or Rome or something. We’re talking about the Maya civilization in Central America and the Khmer civilization in what is now Cambodia. So this is an awesome video, OK? Source is Steven J. Mithen and Sue Mithen, Thirst: Water and Power in the Ancient World, Harvard.
Video Link 2:
African Pantheons and the Orishas: Crash Course World Mythology, YouTube (11 minutes)
Today we’re talking about African pantheons. Now, you might say, That’s ridiculous. Africa isn’t a single place with a single pantheon, and we’d be fools to try and cover all that in an eleven-minute video. You’d be right. Instead we’re going to focus on Yoruba religion from West Africa and the Orishas that populate Yoruba stories. The many, many Orishas cover all aspects of life and can be pretty specialized. We’re going to focus on a dozen or so.
Video Link 3:
Virtual Field Trip (Optional)
Do you have time to visit a museum? AfricaMuseum is in Belgium. Feel free to browse its online exhibits. You might find something you can use in your discussions this week.
This virtual field trip is optional. Feel free to browse as your time permits.
About us: “The AfricaMuseum is a center for knowledge and resources on Africa, in particular Central Africa, in a historical, contemporary, and global context. The museum exhibits unique collections. It is a place of memory on the colonial past and strives to be a dynamic platform for exchanges and dialogues between cultures and generations.”
Web Link:
Chapter Overview
Chapter 6 Overview
Nearly every year, what we know about the early history of Africa changes. A thirty-year-old textbook, for example, shows no awareness that sub-Saharan Africans had any knowledge of ironworking technology before European contact—the contrast to our current text is obvious. Similarly, the recent discovery of book caches in Timbuktu promises to transform our understanding of medieval West Africa. A basic question is, “How do we know” what we now know about African istory?” We need a basic introduction to archeology and linguistic research in Africa. Then, we can explore how archeologists wrest meaning from physical remains. From there, we can explore what we can know—and what we can’t know—about complex societies that have left us no written records.
A good place to start is with European stereotypes about Africa. Paul du Chaillu’s account of his travels in Africa in 1868–1870 is a good example of assumptions of European superiority. Archaeology has transformed our understanding, but the field still has to fight stereotypes. For example, Great Zimbabwe (and the decades-long argument that it must have been constructed by Europeans), the rediscovery of Meroë and Axum, the ongoing excavation of Jenne-jeno, the Nok culture of Nigeria, whose existence was only recognized in 1943, and how linguists have teased out evidence of cultural change, especially from the many strands of Bantu.
This week, we also explore the variety of human experiences in the Americas between 600 B.C.E. and 1200 C.E. Think about the types of culture that developed in the Americas in relation to the cultures discussed in Chapters 2 to 5. What was the role of religion in state formation? Why did only a few small regions develop civilizations, while a few others established agricultural villages? We have seen the stages of social development already in Eurasia—from gathering and hunting societies to Neolithic villages to first civilizations to empires. What makes progression to the next step possible or desirable?
Now, apply these lessons to the Americas. Consider the case of the Ancestral Pueblo. How well does Chaco Canyon culture fit the image of Neolithic life laid out in Chapter 1? A key element is the number of Chaco Canyon settlements. Are they better described as a first civilization, like Sumer or the Indus Valley? Most people would say “no”; examine the level of sophistication of the Ancestral Pueblo culture as a way to pin down what makes it different from the First Civilizations, such as evidence of social stratification, monumental public works, trade specialization, and written language. We already saw two American First Civilizations, those of the Olmecs and Norte Chico. Can the Mound Builders, especially the people of Cahokia, be regarded as having reached a similar stage of social development? What about the Hopewell and Cahokia people, including the artifacts that have been found in their mounds, the complexity of their geometrical earthworks, the size of the Cahokia pyramids, the settlement patterns around Cahokia, and the evidence available about social stratification?
Interestingly, the Americas did not create any second-wave-era empires, in the political sense, of the size and scale seen in Eurasia, but they did produce areas of broad cultural hegemony that can perhaps be compared to classical-age Greece. This is an opportunity to explore the creation of cities—or even empires—in terms of ceremonial or ritual centers. Use the Chavín culture as a starting point to consider why urbanization occurred in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Explore theories that American cities originated as cultic space, a view borne out by the centrality of great ritual spaces at Teotihuacán, in Maya cities, and elsewhere.
The Maya are the most well-known and accessible of the cultures covered in this chapter. You should be able to gain a sense of the texture of daily life in Mesoamerica, to compare the Maya with the more well-known civilizations of Europe, and to pose questions about what elements are common to all organized urban life and what elements are dependent on a particular culture.
Some historians take an archaeology-based approach, focusing heavily on the interpretation of physical remains. Others are more comparative, contrasting life in a single Maya city (such as Tikal) to a single city of another culture. Still others emphasize social values, which gives us an opportunity to discuss Maya religion and come to grips with human sacrifice.
This chapter also explores the similarities and diversity within Oceania. You should be able to gain a sense of the various cultures of the Pacific islands, to learn about the interaction of economic, political, and religious practices, and to consider the connections between the widespread island archipelagos of the Pacific. Maps of the Pacific sometimes seem to show the region as “empty” water, but this can be contrasted with maps that show the thousands of islands in the ocean. It is possible to put the islands into the ethno-linguistic groupings. A more careful tool can show the historical development of human settlement, with special attention to the environmental impact of the arrival of humans in these ecosystems. Finally, maps can show trade routes and the flow of various goods throughout the Pacific.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|