Final Post

The early modern era took place from the years 1450-1750. Throughout these years there are signs of what is to come in the modern era that we are most familiar with. Modern societies and the growing European precise in world affairs have been the most apparent elements of this time in history. The oceanic journeys of European explorers was amazing during this time. Maybe the biggest and most well known "discovery" and settlement for the Europeans during this period was that of Christopher Columbus in 1492 of the Americas. Networks were developing all around the world. Continents were trading goods and slaves now and also were sharing some unfortunate things also. The transfer of disease was devastating to small civilizations. Christianity began to be spread all throughout the world also. The list of Christian heavy nations included the Americas, China, Japan, the Philippines and central Africa. This is a very diverse religion during this period, especially since around a hundred years back it was just in Europe. With more countries and continents growing the world population skyrocketed. During this early modern era the population more than doubled. Europe finally started to recover from the Black Death and the world was able to feed bigger populations. The Americas were able to support large numbers with goods such as potatoes and corn and each area had their own resource that allowed them to grow in size. Africa did not have the luxury to grow as fluidly as the other continents sadly due to the slave trade that was happening. This era in time was allowing the world to get it's feet wet. They were learning how to grow, how to function and how to become and remain dominant. This period of growth would carry each continent, in their own manner, right into the modern era and then the snowball would grow for each of them at different rates depending on how they wanted to evolve as a people.

Thank you Professor Andrews for shedding such interesting light on our worlds history.

The Inca Empire

I found the Inca Empire to be so interesting. A state built along the spine of a mountain about 2500 miles in length. They were ruled by a divine emperor, though each region, about 80 or so, had its own govenor. They had inspectors to watch the emperor and govenors also. Births, deaths and marriages all were carefully recorded. The Inca did not require a tax of their conquered citizens rather they demanded a labor service called mita. What people did at home was theirs though all were required to work for the state also. Farming, construction, herding, mining and military service are how people served their state. Specialized skill people were sent to manufacture textiles, metal goods, ceramics and stoneworks. Women were the most specil of these spefic jobs. Young girls would be pulled from home and trained in Inca ideology. They later would be given to men of distinction or they would serve as priestesses in certain temples. The Inca lived a life of gender parrallelism. They were different but equal to their men, which is unlike many societies prior. The Inca people had an interesting way of leading their subjects, though they did not rule equally, they did rule as sapay Inca, or the Inca ruler, and the coya, his female consort. They goverend together and were said to have descended from the sun and the moon. It is so strange that they vanished so fast. They seemed to ahve a really good thing going for them during their 100 year history.

AN AMAZING 150 YEARS

For 1300 plus years the world evolved at a steady rate. Developing wonderful things such as writing, agruculture and language. The 100 years from 1350 and roughly 1500 brought forth some of the greatest empires and expansion achievements ever. Every region had their own impact and important events. In the Central and East Asia Region the great Ming dybasty rose to power, around 1368, and ruled for nearly 300 years. This region also started to explore the world and discover maritime routes of their owen. In the Middle East, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire was great as they conquered Constantanople. In Europe this period may have flourished the most. After the terrible Black Death, which killed around a quarter of western Europes people, the Renaissance emerged. The rebirth of the Classical era had begun. This brought forth so much great philosophical minds and amazing art, much of which still amazes the world today. Europe also saw the Portugese set out on their own maritime voyages along the Western African coast. With so many new beginnings in Europe being reborn, Europe also saw the end of the Byzantine Empire and the rule of the Mongols in Russia during this period. The Americas saw a very impressive growth also, especially in South America where the Aztec and Inca empires developed. These empires were very unique and structured. As all know in 1492 America was "discovered". Though there were alreadt settlers on the land, the introduction of Europeans to colonize this new land and the influence of the Renaissance brought over allowed America to develop into the nation it is today. With so much maritime travel and exploration the world was becoming more connected. Trade routes were being established, relationships were developing and the idea of building your society based on what others could provide was growing. Wealthy Europeans had so many goods and money, though they had no access to some of the beautiful, earthly goods that the empires in the Americas had an abundant amount of. The unfortuante part of all this travel and trade was that greed did settle in and eventually the bigger, stronger power wanted everything and massacared all of those who stood in the way of them getting it. No matter, this 150 years of world growth seems quite amazing.

Response to Andrews blog

Andrew brings up that the Mongols have no written records left behind because they had no written language. This is interesting because that means that the records of these people were written by others. Those are people that they conquered or did business with or had communication with. Interesting that there were so many "positive" things written by others, though very understandable why the things that are so terrible about these people is so heavily written. No one likes to be defeated, let alone destroyed in such a terrible manner as they did to most people. One has to wonder were this bad or were they maybe misinterpreted by those that they defeated? The Persian Empire maybe might sound similar if they did not have the formal written language that they did. It is so unfortunate that some of these great societies have no record because they did not have written language. If only we could find out what we do not know some how. Unfortunately what we know is what we will most likely ever know.

Those evil Mongols...???

The Mongols, the intimidating monters from the east. They terrorized and raided villages for whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. Taking it in gruesome manners. This is what history teaches us usually. I was shocked but some of the things that Strayer says about them. For example, they did not force religion upon their subjects, their rulers were humble men that looked to shamans for advice and guidance so to give their people the best chance to survive, and they were smart enough to salvage the people of specialty in order to use in their society rather than just kill them to prove they are the all powerful.

The Mongol nation were though who teachers tell their students about. The policy by Chinggis Khan exemplified that: Whoever submits shall be spared, but those who resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children and dependents...so that the others who hear and see should fear and not act the same. That is quite a message and one that all should believe unless they have a nation and an army so overwhelming in numbers that they do not have to be threatened.

I am impressed by the census taking that they did also. Khan was smart and wanted to know exactly what he had available to him in terms of military assisitance. He seemed to be a very intelligent leadr. Also impressive was the relay stations they set up to estabalish faster communications and trade. Inviting all faiths seems smart because it makes all your conquered citizens able to still follow their faith and not feel trapped by their conquerers religion of choice.

I also found very interesting the story or Khutukun. This women who wrestled men and defeated them all and then refused to marry a man because she was supposed to. It was cool to see she said she would marry a man that could defeat her and it never happened. Also the fact that she was on the battlefield right next to her father was awesome. For so long I have wondered if there was a society that gave women more freedom and equality anmd it seems that the Mongol nation did so a bit. When her father died it is said that he wanted her to take his place though with 13 brothers in line that was shot down. The fact that it was even an option speaks highly of her abilities in life to lead and on the battle field. The fact that it is unknown whether she died in battle or by assassination is weird though I would not doubt that it was assassination by one of her brothers who may have been jealous and feared her power.

I have found the Mongol empire very interesting and plan to look into it more to get a better understanding of these people.

response to Luis

  

 

Luis says in his chapter 9 blog that " it was nice to see a change once in awhile where history was not about fighting. The fact that every color was represented through the pilgrimmage makes it that much more special." I must agree that anytime there is minimal to no fighting that it is a nice thing to read or hear. Most of history has been built on fights though. Whether it be territorial one s or religious ones. The gathering of so many ethnicities at Mecca is a mazing but it is the bad Muslims that have left such a bad image in the mids of many when they think about Muslims. The attack on he twin towers rocked the world and especially this country and the label attached to it was Muslim, therefore Islam. These were men attcking on their own interpretation of what they believed their God wanted them to do. Silly. Though as an American I must admit I was not happy at first and blamed all Muslims but then realized that most are faithful kind people that would never wish this upon anyone. Those who acted on their own will get no love from their God when their time comes because their God will ask them what were you thinking. Hopefully this country and others can see that Islam is aniother religion, just like Christiaqnity and Buddhism that has its rules and its Gods and menas no harm to others. Again anytime there is no fighting is a good time.

response to Carly

I read Carlys ch.9 blog and I agree with the fact that understanding Islam is a bit easier because it is more like Christianity. The belief in one God is much easier to connect with. It is a huge problem I feel that there seems to be little to no distinction between the religious laws and the state or civil ones. America pushes that card a bit also with matters like swearing on a Bible, the pledge of alleginace, the words In God We Trust and so on. Religion is one thing and law is another or at least that is how it should be. People just can not seperate such strong emotions and when those two get intertwined it can get very ugly very fast.

I also have wondered at times about the restrictions on Muslim women as Carly has. Muslim women do sound as if they are to be obediant and silent but are the veils till necesarry? It would make sense if so because if the men are so concerned about the women being obediant and in the shadows then it makes sense to keep them covered up with only their eyes, the eyes that must focus on their duties, being visible. For the sake of these women and for the equality that all women have earned and deserve, I hope one day these veils become an option or choice and not  mandatory.

In reading about Islam I like that the Quran has remained a scared text in the way that it has not beeen translated into hundreds of languages, thus losing abit of its deep meaning. The book says that "Mulims claim when heard in its original Arabic, conveys nothing less than the prescence of the Divine." It the says that "its unmatched poetic, beauty, miraculous to Mulims convinced many that it was indeed a revalation from God." By keeping this sacred text in its natural form its beauty and holy feeling can shine through as it was intended. With religious texts such as the Bible, it has been translated so many times and for so many years that I feel many do not know at times what was really being said. Everyone has their own version ajnd input on the meaning of the lords words. I agree that books and storeis should be retold and translated but when it comes to powerful things like the Bible, the Quran or even historical pieces like the Constitution of the Magna Carta, they need to be left in their true state. Yes their words can be paraphrased in other languages so all can learn of it but others who do not truely understand the depth of something so powerful should not be able to interpret it for themselves as they see fit. If someone truely wants to learn it and convert to it the n they will take the time to learn to read it. Yes this seems harsh and time consuming but it also would secure the power and integrity of these revolutionary pieces.

Islam is the most structuredd and time committed religion I have learned about. Its structure through the Five Pillars really keeps its followers faith strong. By donating to the poor and praying five times a day in the direction of Mecca, this religion is not for the fair weather holy person who is seeking a new person to follow. Following Ramadan and then the possible pilgrimmage to Mecca are very intense practices. A person does not have the time to stray away from their faith. With many catholics they go to church once a week, with a prayer here or there. This gives many hours and days to stray off the path of ritcheousness and possibly hurt your chances of the eventual afterlife. In Islam the followers have such strong beliefs and discipline that they stay very regimented. Understanding where the religion was birthed is an amazing feature of Islam also. To go to Mecca and understand the true depth of this religion is incredible. Christians should take a trip to Galilee or Jerusalem or Buddhists to the tree of Siddhartha. These acts just show a deeper commitment and passion for the religion in which you are putting your faith and afterlife possibilitis.

Response to Meghan

I must agree with Meghan. She says in her blog that only the upper class in the Chavin society enjoyed the benefits of their rich civilization. Only the upper class enjoyed the artwork, ceremonies, housing structures and all the other wonderful natural resources they had. It has been a repetitive theme in this class that only the upper class enjoy the good stuff. In most societies the lower class were slaves or laborers and probably enjoyed little to nothing at all. I keep waiting for some society or civilization that threw the world a curveball and let all reap in the joys and wonders of life. A civilization that did not just  treat all based on class or wealth. I have a feeling that we are not going to be learning about that though anytime soon. The world we live in today has many shades of this same mentality. The poor in many areas of the world stay poor and miss out on the luxuries of life. Yes the government tries to help the homeless and sends food and aid to struggling third world countries but it is not enough and most likely never will be. I am blessed to be on the better side of life but I feel for those that are not. I hope some society we learn about gave the poor a chance at some time. Maybe even a poor peasant who learned to write somehow and then kept a record about what lie was like back then for them also. To understand a story one must understand both sides of it. 

response to Chad

I read Chads blog for Chapter 7 and he brought up some good points about the trade of this era. During my reading the trade of goods and disease caught my attention the most. Religion though was also traded. Though a religion did not go somewhere new just to bring their religion they did look to convert people over. Christianity, Muslims, Islam, Buddhists all traveled with many goods and with them they brought their faith. Not only is a trader bring goods and getting either money or other goods in return but they also are getting more followers to make themselves that much stronger. With a strong number of religious followers it gives a religion allies to continually trade with or to possibly fight along side if one day there is need to unite. Also a leader from Rome who may be spreading Christianity along with his goods may eventually conquer a country and already have it easy because most are already on the side of their religion. The trade of disease had a major impact on history and the trade of religion stills plays a major role in what religion may converted to centuries ago and still today may follow. A country in the middle east that converted so many years ago may now be fighting another country because of their religious beliefs and position in the world.

In Chapter seven there is a snapshot of the Economic Exchange along the silk Roads. It tells what were the major resources traded and moved along the the Silk Roads for specific countries. I found the information interesting. I like seeing what was important and accessible to different areas of this time. Things like silk, bamboo, ginger, chrysanthemums and paper make great sense. Things like mirrors and lacquerware are understandable though interesting. Obviously if the chinese had access to mirrors then they would want to spread these to further areas to share or trade them, though it is just interesting to hear about people of this time using mirrors. The Forrest lands of Siberia exchanged just animals and people pretty much along with basic needs for a forrest environment. Falcons, livestock, horses, furs and slaves were their big movers, but the one I found the most interesting was the walrus tusks. I would not think there would be many walrus' in the forrest areas of Siberia but I guess times were different then. If one were to make a chart of the United States today I wonder what it would look like? We live in a world where so much of what we have is imported...so what would we have? iPhones, certain cars, oranges, peaches, avocados, apples, vegetables, certain types of wood...that is a quick thought that I am sure is barely tapping into what we are really about.

The unfortunate thing that was exchanged along the silk road was disease. Smallpox and measles wiped people out. Through simple contact and communication people were infecting one another and killing many. On that chart nowhere is there medical care or vaccines. I guess that is a major one the US could put on theirs today also. It is hard to imagine a world in which disease is incurable. It is hard to fathom that living to 30 would be considered old. That children die daily because they are not strong enough to fight this new strain of sickness that has attacked people. As crazy as our country can be our medical fields are amazing. People today can be cured of so many diseases that once killed many. Measles, mumps, smallpox, syphilis, polio all are gone. Cancer is being cured and fought as is AIDS, amazing. In history we learn of all the great minds and inventors, the great warriors and leaders, but think of how many the world lost because there was no cure for a unknown disease.

Response post

I saw this post on the class site today and had some similar feelings. I have also found the history of the Americas and the African cultures very interesting. Typically world history lets us into the world of Eurasia. This chapter talks about all of the great ideas, inventions and ways of these once great civilizations. Like Carly, I fond it very resourceful and productive to make books out of the deer skin. If you are going to kill an animal for food it is smart to get use out of the bones and skin also. She then mentions a not so smart move by the Anasazi people. To build a house floor that is a level lower than that of the earth itself is a bit silly. The flooding aspect seems so obvious but I would assume that they felt they were expanding the size of their home rather than making their living situation much worse when the weather gets bad. 

The last comment that Carly makes is about the little treasures that the mound builders put with their dead. She wondered if they thought the stuff stayed with the dead and I would assume that was exactly why. They probably felt that the dead would be in heaven and have all of these little goods with them. The treasures could also have been payment at the gates of heaven. Maybe they felt it was a payment to the gods for their acceptance into the aftyerlife. I have left things in a family members casket before. They are memories that they could have to look at and remember in their new life of eternity. It is a nice way to feel that life goes on and our connections are not forgotten. 

The Minds of the Americas

As I found it intriguing how the mind of Neolithic peoples evolved to discover that great invention of agriculture I find it almost equally as impressive the creation of place notation and the concept of zero. The Mayas did this between 250 and 900. These concepts are huge parts of our mathematical lives today. I know that everything had its day off creation and all were slowly developed but when you think back to the lack of communication and resources they had to develop something so monumental it is that much more impressive a intellectual task. The Mayas did not just come up with these ideas and leave it at that, rather they also then combined these mathematical ideas with their observations of the night sky in order to plot the cycles of the planets, predict eclipses of the sun and moon, to come up with calendars and to the n come p with the length of the calendar year.  All of these things are greatly used today and are usually a part of or daily lives. Amazing to me.

The Maya people thogh were not jst mathematicians and scientists, thogh they also created the most elaborate writing system in the Americas their langage inclded both pictographs and phonetic elements. They kept written records of religious ceremonies and astronomical data. These people were described as a peaceful society that was led by a star gazing priest that was devoted to temple building and intellectal pursuits. It is a shame that more countries are not led by people like this. It is amazing that such a pt together society loaded with so many great minds could not maintain strength and quite rapidly came to its demise.

Along the lines of being impressed, I am pretty impressed by the city lay out and set p of TEOTIHACAN in Mexico. It is said to have had relete boad avenes, spacious plazas, enormous markets, temples, palaces, apartments, ghettos and slums, drain systems and even art along the way. Their even was an elitist part of town and a couple of pyramids. These people and their city mysteriously collapsed around 650CE. Thus making its time to be established and its time in development to get to being established that much more impressive. Cities like New York City are based on the grid system and have extravagant markets, slums, temples or churches and of course many grand aveneues. The people of Toetihacan, as were the Mayans were with their mathamatical concepts and writing skills

Women in History

I have a daughter that is two and a half now and I am so glad that things are not as they were so many years ago for woman as it was for Ban Zhao for example. To lay your new born daughter on the floor to tell her in a sense that she is lowly and weak to me is absurd. Woman today have earned so much equality as they probably deserved back then. I would and have never given my little girl the thought that she could not do or be more than she could ever dream. Then to hand her a broken piece of a pot to say now you must grow into your life of servitude and chores. Woman by all means can do chores and be a stay at home mom who loves to cook and clean, but by no means should that be what they are limited just moments after birth. Writers, artists, engineers, singers, even warriors all disregarded from birth because of their sex. For a society with such bright thinkers and forward thinking leaders they really botched this concept. At this time in history though they were not the only ones though.

Women who then got passed the embarrassing life placement after birth did grow up and they were then expected to follow four qualifications. The first was womanly virtue, which meant to be ordinary, as a woman, do not stand out, just be ordinary. The second qualification was womanly words, which meant to talk ordinary, no humor or clever talk, just ordinary. The third qualification was womanly bearing, which meant to be ordinary in appearance, no need for beauty just be ordinary. Then the last qualification was that a woman follow woman work, which meant do your job, no need to work harder than others but simply do what you are required to do. These four qualifications are appalling in today's society. Woman enjoy looking beautiful and are capable of working hard, in many cases harder than men, so they do. They also are funny and intelligent and the world deserves to know that. Again I am so glad that the world has changed. I raise my daughter in the complete opposite manner of what Ban Zhao witnessed in her time.

The women in Rome seemed to do as they were directed also though they did speak their mind when they felt wronged. After Hannibal invaded the Italian peninsula the Roman authorities looked to restrict women's use of luxury goods so to preserve the resources for the war to come through the Oppian Laws. Twenty years later the women wanted these laws repealed. They protested and demanded change, thus bringing Roman officials to the center of the issue. These women fought hard and won. The law was repealed and one of the first great signs of women's power in this world shined. Though just momentarily it was a big deal in history for women to have their voice heard in such a bold, brave, strong manner. I want the courage of these women to be taught to my daughter. I want her to aim for what she believes in and to fight on until she gets it.

History teaches us so much and I am glad that I read this piece on the Roman women. The Chinese women were a bit discouraging to read about when thinking of if women ever obtain power or a voice in this time. I do not know how much of a voice the Roman women continued to have but they at least had one for a period of time and that voice benefitted future little girls that would later grow up to be women themselves.

          With no readings for the week I was not sure what to blog on or if we were even to blog. I was thinking about the last chapter after I had done my mid term test. I was thinking of the big rush of the seminal thinkers during the years around 500 BC to around 500 AD. We were blessed to get Saddhartha, Jesus, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, the creators of Hinduism and I am sure there may be a few that I am forgetting or do not know of. What has happened since? There obviously have been great minds: Martin Luther King, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Da Vinci, Einstein, etc. Though these minds were great they did not have the dramatic philosophical following the past seminal thinkers had. why? People have only gotten smarter and more intelligent as time has gone on so why has no great mind shown up? Gandhi is pretty close to these seminal thinkers I feel but I do not know much of him. Have all the great ideas been touched on? Has everything been answered or solved by a past man of great intelligence? How about a great woman? There must have been one at some point in our worlds history. I know woman for so long were in the background, unequal, and basically unheard but how about those that were heard... where was their great genius? Is it possible that one of the great thinkers or a later thinker may have been directed by a woman? Maybe she knew she would never be heard and she passed along greatness through a man that she knew would be heard and followed.

        I hope that we learn about so modern day great thinkers at some point this semester. I would really like to hear about a woman that had a great following and had some very meaningful words that would go on to impact the world. The world we live in today is to driven by social media and power and respect. A great mind today would be caught p doing TV interviews, tweeting, blogging or whatever in order to pass along their message. The great minds never intended for themselves to be followed or talked about centuries later. They talked, preached and educated because it is what they felt was right and the people that they talked to felt that their words were so meaningful and amazing that they ensured the words were recorded and made sire to be passed on for all to one day be a part of.

      The Reflections from Jesus in Document 4.4 was interesting. Like Buddha, Sadhartha, and Confucius, Jesus never wrote any of his own material. He preached, healed and educated all for a greater cause as did Confucius and Sadartha. These great wise men were so meaningful and impactful that their followers felt that the words they uttered and the acts they committed needed to passed on from generation to generation. A question one can raise about these later written texts about these great men is how true and accurate are they? They are obviously written by those who these people deeply impacted so who is to say that these people were not seeing the positive and embellishing them just a little bit? A word change here and a message altered there and you have a hero to all. With a bias opinion and view of these influential people it is sometimes hard to know what to think. If there was anything at all written by these men themselves then maybe their words could be pinpointed to their message and their actions. Rather it is a later retelling of these words and message that we the world have to go to today. 

     Jesus was very similar to Confucius. Jesus talked to women and the poor. Confucius may or may not have interacted with women or the poor though his overall messages were definitely directed to all. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."Jesus loved all and looked to share his message with anyone looking for salvation and a path to God. Sadhartha did the same as he went about his way and stayed with the others seeking enlightenment. 

     Jesus seemed to already have enlightenment as did Confucius. Sadhartha was in search of it and did find it. Was any mans level greater or deeper? Is there one level of enlightenment? I feel that the enlightenment of Jesus was easier to obtain. Those who believed in God and his son achieved this. They also got to live with it. Unlike Hinduism where you must live and die over and over in order to hopefully one day achieve this enlightenment. The depth in which people can believe these written historical words is the toughest part of learning about these historical figures. 

     For so many years I have heard about this wise man named Confucius. Now I am understanding more who this man really was. Confucius spent most of his life looking to find a solution to Chinas problems of disorder. He never found such a solution. His followers after his death compiled all of his sayings and teachings and put them together into the Analects. Confucius said things such as, "if the ruler is not a ruler, the subject not a subject, the father not a father, the son not a son, then even if there be grain, would i get to eat it?" Little bitts of knowledge and wisdom like this made people think deep and outside the box. People heard  his words and felt enlightened and better for them. I feel that the longer it had been for these sayings to age the more they made sense to Chinas people and the more that they shed light on what they were acknowledging in life. Confucius saw education as the key to moral betterment.

     Hinduism based their fundamental beliefs on the human soul. The end goal was liberation. A great example from the text was, "a bubble in a glass of water breaking through the surface and becoming one with the surrounding atmosphere. To achieve this was no easy task. It took many lifetimes. The cycle of rebirth and reincarnation were the basis of breaking to the surface of liberation. Karma dictated ones good and ones bad. To be born into a higher caste, one would have proven to lived a full life with absolute good karma. This would earn them another better reincarnated life and another chance to prove their worth. The should would then have to reach elite karma in order to continue on in this extreme cycle. A person that has poor karma may be left stagnant in their life and be reborn into the caste that they are currently in or they may be demoted a caste and must continue to work at achieving good karma. Lifetimes may papa and pass with the hope to end the pain of rebirth. Three paths to this ultimate liberation were: knowledge or study, detached action in the world, doing ones work without regard to consequences or passionate devotion to one god or deity. This sounds like an absolutely tiring process though the ultimate prize I'm sure seems to be so worth it. 

     The establishment of the Roman and Chinese empires was quite impressive. Both covered great distances and had much power. Both empires invested heavily in aqueducts, bridges, roads, canals and protective walls, all so they could have a stronger more superior way of life. The Romans are said to have felt that "almost the entire world" must be under their control while the Chinese felt that "all under heaven" must be theirs. These were two very confident and powerful empires will equally powerful and confident leaders marking the way into the future. 

     The Chinese empire decided to look to Buddhism as their religious background. They took the teachings of Buddhism from India. This mentality meant that all would come to one common agreement to unify and become a stronger empire. The Chinese leaders offered an assimilation process for all those who were not Chinese though were living in Chinese run territory. These non-chinese were integrated in language, culturally and also through intermarriage. The assimilation of all of these "barbarians" or non-chinese allowed those foreign to their new powerful leaders to find a way to fit in and feel as if they belong and want to be a part of this new world. 

     The Roman empire offered an assimilation process also though it was a little different than the Chinese. The Romans offered citizenship to those that offered their service to the empire or that recognized the empire on their own. Becoming a Roman citizen allowed all to become men of public office, to serve in the Roman military, and to wear a toga even. The Romans though did this in terms of legal status and still saw others as being what they are and not necessarily Roman. Greeks were still Greeks and Egyptians were still Egyptians. 

     Another assimilation factor for both empires is that of written language. The Roman empire had their roots of written language in Latin. The Latin writings gave specific sounds that could be used in such languages as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian. The Chinese on the other hand had just one standard set of written symbols that had no actual sounds attached to them. These written symbols though could be understood by all literate people that could speak a dialect of Chinese. This would allow for more of the Chinese empire to communicate with one another thus giving a chance for a brighter and bigger future. The Romans, limited by all the diversity in language, cold hit a few speed bumps when in the process of looking to communicate with a fellow countryman, though they may not actually be of the same country as, thus not allowing for any wave of fluid communication. 

     A major problem for both empires seems to be the pollution they both lived in. THe Romans lived in areas of mining operations, and the crazy amount of smelting metals. These led to smoke and noise all throughout the cities. THe Chinese had large scale ironworks and the mass amount of agriculture and logging deprived the land of its rightful nutrients. An empire may be great but that does not mean that all within the empire is great. 

          The other day in class it was mentioned that many of the ancient historical writings were done by the wealthy and by those of hierarchy power. If the poor regular person had no say how can we actually believe what we are reading? Any story told by one side has a great bias towards the good they did or the power they had. Rarely will they say the bad they did or the pain and hurt they caused and if they do tell so, they will spin it as them having done some good. I am quite sure the Nazis would tell their side of the Holocaust in a much different manner than would those who suffered or anyone else for that matter who would give their take on the incident. Slave owners from the South would brag of how good a life their slaves had it and how good an owner they were. The owner would speak of how this is the way things are and that they are giving their slave a chance at life and blah blah blah. If one were to take the side of the slave it is a guarantee that a much darker and different story be told. So if the poor and regular people of ancient Mesopotamia could not read or write how could they ever share their story. 

          History tells the story of the past though with these ancient times, as with the Paleolithic people it seems a lot of holes need to be filled in with assumption. Assumptions that just aren't right when learning about what was. Obviously we can not go back and interview the deceased poor of these societies but it sure would be nice to have something. To just have some equal light shed on how these civilizations really grew and were managed. They say it takes two to tango and unfortunately this dance is incomplete. As we learn about these civilizations I can not wait to read about the lives of all those in a society. To understand and picture what all life was like way back then. I enjoy having complete understandings of things rather then just a partial story. To hear perspectives from all aspects of life will allow you to close your eyes, sit back and really get your mind into what the life and times of the ancient civilizations were like. 

         With so much mental development in these days, it wold be impossible for the poor or underprivileged to have learned to read or write. Typically those that learn are taught from someone else who is up the ladder and the is passing along this gift. Since the poor usually continued on in tat negative chain there is no way that they would ever be able to step out of this box. Unfortunately with that said it is highly unlikely that there ever be a discovery of any other point of view. The wealthy told the story their way and they shall forever be immortalized in the way in which they shared it.

        The Law Code of Hammurabi was on to something and had a good idea of what it wanted to get across to its people, but there seemed to be quite a few silly mistakes within it. Law #2 says that if any man accuse another and the accused then survives his forced jump into the river, that the accuser now must die and surrender his home to the man he accused. This is quite silly. If I accused a man of stealing from me and he then jumps into the river and survives, mainly because he is an excellent swimmer, though did in fact rob me, I must now give my home to him and then die. This seems rather insane and would seem to have more keep quite so as to not risk your own fate. Laws #22, #196 and #197 are all laws today that you can still find apparent in some foreign countries, such as in the Middle East or possibly in the criminal underworld of America. Robbing or hurting another does not legally lead to death these days in the US but in some foreign or seedy walks of life these laws have remained strong.

        Laws #122, which says that if anyone hands over gold, silver or anything else that a contract should be drawn up as proof, and law #271, which says that a certain payment be paid for the rental of an oxen, cart and driver, are both alive today. Having contracts protecting ones goods is like taking out insurance on expensive personal belongings and paying a daily fee to use goods is found all over. People rent cars, equipment, tools, etc constantly and they must pay a daily fee for the use of these items. The Laws of Hammurabi were not always so extreme. As I mentioned in my last blog, the developing mind of these ancient people is intriguing. Whether extreme or rational these laws had deep thought and consideration behind them. 

         Law #117 was the original mindset of slavery. The law states that anyone who can not afford a debt be sold of into slavery, along with wife and kids and then would have to work for set amount of years in order to work off their debt. Though this is not a good law nor did it reappear at a good time in history, it did still appear still some centuries later. Also the laws that acknowledge slaves, but do not count them as equals is very similar to the rules and laws of the days of slavery and even as recent as the years before the civil rights movement.

         The laws that  deal with the relationships of men and women are all quite interesting. Law #128 says that if a man marries a woman but she will not sleep with him then they are not married. Wow thats saying what relationships were based around at this time and who had the power in a relationship. Law #129 says if a man finds his wife cheating on him then both cheaters shall be thrown in the water. This is quite drastic. Good thing for Nisa and her people these rules did not apply for them. I do like law #148. This law says that if a mans wife be seized by disease that he can get another wife though he m,must house his first wife and take care of her till she dies. At least this law shows some love and compassion. I am surprised it did not say that the husband could dump the sick wife in the water though. Overall these laws are a bit ridiculous though they had the right ideas in many cases. 

Where did early man get his ideas

     
       It is quite interesting to think about how the minds of the first civilizations evolved. For centuries before Paleolithic and Neolithic people survived with little to no resources or ways of communication that we know of. Their cultures and societies were kept small due to their limited resources and capabilities. Then agriculture was invented and this allowed for the growth of societies. Now people could grow vegetables and breed animals. People could feed more people thus more people entered societies. What is it that sparked something in the minds of these simple people that gave them the thought of agriculture? With the limited to no modes of long distance communication, how is it that societies of different countries and continents come up with similar ideas? Had the brain evolved enough since mans origin? Had God decided to bless his people with this bit of knowledge? Obviously we will never actually know what the discoverers were thinking but it is interesting to wonder about.

     
         More intriguing to me is the development of the worlds first civilizations. As with the world changing thought of agriculture, who thought up such concepts as writing, numbers, grid plans for cities, engineering, builders and so on. The agriculture boom gave the ability for these societies to grow but what caused them to flourish in so many new and unique ways? It intrigues me to think that one day a man or woman one day said here are X amount of symbols and with these we will all be able to communicate what we are thinking or trying to say. We will now be able to tell stories and tales and keep track of our history. The discovery of brain power and intelligence is equally as important than that of agriculture. Agriculture allows people to survive and a society to grow but these newly found bits of intelligence allow them to flourish in their own unique ways. 

    
        With the invention of writing by the Mesopotamian peoples, how is it that the Egyptians then began to write? Had they somehow seen this writing and decided to imitate it and create their own form? Did a Mesopotamian person make the travel? Did an Egyptian man or woman also just one day come up with a form of communication and history tracking as did a random Mesopotamian? Obviously over time people evolve and as does the mind. With the development of agriculture came an awareness of what one was capable of that had never been there before. I am thinking that this new eye opening experiences led to thoughts of other things closely related. This thought snowballed into another and so on and so on. Nowadays we get discoveries and progression through countless trial and error, though tests and experiments, so is this what the ancient Mesopotamian' s did? Did they write out hundreds of symbols and see which were the best to communicate with? Again we will never know, though however they did it, it is know at least nice to read about what was actually starting to happen through history. The period of time before involved so much speculation and assumption that it is sometimes hard to get into.

                      Chapter one in the text book talks a great deal about the way things were during the Paleolithic times and then the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic times. I understand that historians have ways to date things that are written down or artifacts that were created or even possible cave drawings, but I am having a hard time understanding how they can assume what life was like dur ing mostly unrecorded time of the Paleolithic people. Obviously one can assume. There obviously were no cars or phones and there was for the most part no technology. To know what they ate and how their society was ran I do not get. Obviously there were certain plants, fruits and animals common to the countries in which these people date back to but what proof is there that they actually indulged in there foods? Who is to say that a small group that was set up in the lands around parts of Africa were not vegetarians? They obviously would not be called vegetarians but they may have followed the idea that they did not indulge in meat, if they even had the chance to ever come across any.
                   
                      Strayer mentions that "Paleolithic societies had rules and structures." How does he or any historian know this? Much of this so distant history is assumed and based off of the periods that follow. Periods in which they do have more recorded history and may offer clues into how things were before them. The future civilizations had to come from somewhere in order to evolve and become what they were. Another topic that interested me during my reading was the concept of how agriculture came about. I understand that it must have been a slow evolving process though. It's not like one day a nomadic hunter found some seeds and had the brilliant idea that he should put them in the ground and then water it in good soil as to grow enough corn for him and all his newly established community. There obviously was a long process of trial and error and figuring what is the best way to msake things work. This must be the case for the establishment of law, security, engineering, building, weapon making, building storage units and so on. Since nothing prior had been developed it is pretty crazy how humans minds all of a sudden started to think a different way.

                      It is interesting to think what qualified someone of this time to make decisions. During the Paleolithic times it is believed that there was no hierarchy, genders were equal, there was no wealth or status. Now with the ability to grow food and domesticate animals, things such as power, wealth, status and an overall hierarchy begin to flourish and most likely cause problems. When deciding who to put in certain positions, were the bigger, stronger people put in positions of power or were the smarter more intelligble one? Were women still as equal as men? Was sharing still as common? It is great there is so much recorded history out there but it is truely amazing to relly sit back and think about what things amy have actually been like back in these Paleo and Neo lithic days.

First post...done.