WW: Chapter 7: Classical Era Variations

Ways of the World : Chapter 7

Classical Era Variations

Africa and the Americans

Africa during the classical era  =  the land mass, rather than the cultural identity. Africa was home to many different societies, cultures & civilizations. Many of the differences stemmed from the different climates. As the climates varied so did the people.

Africans location was ideal for trade with Eurasia and Arabia. East Africa became a port for Egyptain, Roman and Arab merchants.

Meroë was a country neighboring Egypt.They borrowed many ideas from Egypt but remained a separate entity. They were ruled by a king and the dead were buried with human sacrifices. Unlike Egypt, they didn't have to rely on a river as their only water source as they often got rainfall.

Axum was the start of a new way of African civilization. It was founded on a plow based farming system. The other major difference between this civilizations was the introduction of christianity to a Islam dominate society. Christianity was introduced through the Red Sea trade and connections with the roman. King Ezana adopted the new religion. Although Christianity would always be the minority, it did remain a dominate part of modern day ethiopia. Azum's decline was brought about due to  enviormental changes. They eventually imreged into a smaller country.

Niger River:
Along the niger river emerged small urban artisan communities, independent of a higher government. They were essentially cities without states. Because of this they were free from an unfair social system. These were clusters of specialized settlements, each city focusing on a specifiic trade, i.e. iron, weaving, farmers. These middle Niger cities were alternatives to living under a states rule. West African commerce helped stimulate the economy. Supplies from even as far as 200 miles away could be traded.

Mesoamerica: 

Mesoamericans had less influence from neighboring countries, in part because there wasn't as much around them. They were at a disadvantage in many ways because they didn't have large domestic animals or iron technology. However, despite all this, they still managed to give birth to very advanced civilizations. The region itself was very diverse and bound together by a strong sense of common culture.

The Maya:
Dated back to 2000 BCE and the intellects developed a complex mathematical systems including the number zero as a place holder. They used math to calculate the solar year, plot the cycles of the planets and construct calenders. They were also responsible for creating an elaborate writing system, that kept records of nearly everything.

Their landscapes were an engineered one, molded to reap the land's full benefits. This included drained swamps, terraced hillsides, flattened ridge tops as well as a complex irrigation system. Their culture flourished, rich with agriculture and intellect. It's no surprise that scholars originally believed Mayan society to be a peaceful one.

We now know that this was not the case. Their government was highly dysfunctional with no central authority, and the act of human sacrifice took place. Each city-state was ruled by a king, but there was no  stable connection between these city-states and thus a unified Mayan empire seemed far from possible. After a long term drought, the civilization rapidly felt -- fanime, epidemic and warfare brought 85 percent of the Mayan empire to the grave. The great cities were deserted and all art and intellectual work abandoned.

Teotihuacán: America's Greatest City
Existing around the same time of the Maya, was Teotihuacán, which stood in the North Valley of what is modern day Mexico. It was one the largest city of it's time period with an occupation around 100,000 - 200,000 people. However, not much about Teotihuacán is actually known other than what is to be find in historical remnants and not even the original name is known.

The city itself was extensive, with large boulevards, plazas, marketplaces, temples , drainage systems, murals and even slums.  The homes of the elite were located on the Street of the Dead, along with a series of temples and two giant pyramids. One of them is the Temple of the Sun and was supposedly the birth pllace of the sun and the moon. The other is the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which seemed to be the location of a great human sacrifice of over 200 (unwilling) victims.

The art of Teotihuacán, unlike the Mayan art was not self serving, and did not say much about actual people or events.