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Lecture Slides

Robert Tignor • Jeremy Adelman • Stephen Aron • Peter Brown • Benjamin Elman • Stephen Kotkin • Xinru Liu • Suzanne Marchand • Holly Pittman • Gyan Prakash • Brent Shaw • Michael Tsin

Lecture Slides

Chapter 4

FIRST EMPIRES AND COMMON CULTURES IN AFRO-EURASIA, 1250-325 BCE

Introduction

A new era of expansion

Conquest and assimilation of conquered people

A new era: states had broader ambitions

Warfare spurred by military innovations becomes a key element in shaping human development

Radical climate change drove leaders from fringes to central areas of power

Emergence of hybrid societies in Assyria, Persia, Zhou China, and Vedic parts of South Asia

Agricultural yields increased; populations grew

Military conquest led to larger states; foundations of first empires

Characteristics of New States

New imperial ideologies and religious beliefs elaborated in support of new states

Cities and hinterlands governed by a single ruler

Territorial power expands

“Microsocieties” once considered peripheral now acknowledged as having contributed to significant advances in human development

Seafaring people caused political upheaval in southeastern Europe, the Aegean, and eastern Mediterranean. Phoenicians provide Afro-Eurasia with a simplified alphabet. Israelites espouse a strict monotheism. Greek city-states rise and challenge the power of the Persian Empire.

Pressures Leading to Upheaval and the Rise of Early Empires

Four related pressures shaped development of early empires

Climate change

Migrations

New technologies

Administrative innovations

Empire as a new form of political organization: a group of states or different ethnic groups ruled by a single sovereign power. Empires connect distant regions through common languages, unifying political systems, trade, and shared religious beliefs.

Around 1200 BCE, another prolonged drought led to social upheaval and increased human migration throughout Afro-Eurasia. Population growth and soil exhaustion in other regions forced many people to leave their homes and look for food and fertile land. Two centuries of turmoil and economic decline.

Migrations led to incursions of nomadic peoples into urban societies. Warriors attacked capital cities and destroyed the administrative centers of kings, priests, and dynasties. Destruction of cities and administration centers paved way for new states. New political organization: the empire.

Afro-Eurasia, 1200 BCE—Urban Cores and Land and Sea Migrations

WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, 5TH EDITION

Map 4.1 | Afro-Eurasia, 1200 BCE—Urban Cores and Land and Sea Migrations

Nomadic incursions shattered the social and political status quo in Afro-Eurasia at this time. While destroying old polities, these migrations fostered a new social and political order in a variety of regions.

• Where did nomadic groups originate, and where did they migrate to?

• What is a major difference between the invasions of the Sea Peoples in this period versus pastoral invasions?

• Why do you think historians’ knowledge of these nomadic incursions is limited and sketchy?

New Technologies

Pack camels used for transportation

Two types: dromedary (one hump) and Bactrian (two humps)

Opened up new overland trade routes

Could carry heavy loads

Could cross deserts

New ships

Technological advancements, ships used on open sea as well as rivers and shorelines

Had larger, better reinforced hulls, stronger masts and rigging, more sails

Innovations in steering and ballast also advanced

Iron Tools and Weapons

Metalworkers learned to manipulate iron

Found almost everywhere in the world

Most important and widely used metal in world history from this time onward

Adding carbon to iron made an early form of steel

Changes in agrarian techniques

Iron-tipped plow could open up new regions for cultivation

Turned up new topsoil for better crop production

Administrative Innovations

Innovation in military and administrative control

Standing armies with advanced weapons

Deportations of local populations

Use of slaves in areas needing more labor

Roads, garrisons, and way stations constructed for moving troops

Organization of tribute from subject peoples

Organization of tribute from subject peoples: staples such as grain, raw materials, and luxuries.

Contrasting Approaches to Empire Building in Southwest Asia

The Neo-Assyrians and the Persians

Neo-Assyrians ruled harshly, terrorized conquered peoples, enslaved them

Persian rulers encouraged assimilation and often embraced practices of subject peoples

Assyrians had a long tradition of ruling others, regarded conquered people as inferior

Persians had been nomadic and adopted practices of settled societies

Both empires created huge, profitable trading networks; used wealth to develop cities that demonstrated power of rulers

The Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–612 BCE)

A military state that relied on harsh punishments, large-scale deportations, and systematic intimidation to crush adversaries

Techniques for imperial rule became the standard model for many ancient and modern empires

Assyrian heartland centered on the ancient cities of Ashur and Nineveh on the upper Tigris River

Assyrian rule affected all Southwest Asia and North Africa, as well as parts of the Mediterranean region

The Neo-Assyrian Empire

WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, 5TH EDITION

Map 4.2 | The Neo-Assyrian Empire

The Neo-Assyrians built the first strong regional empire in Afro-Eurasia. In the process, they faced the challenge of promoting order and stability throughout their diverse realm.

• Where did the Neo-Assyrian Empire expand?

• Which parts of the empire were “the Land of Ashur” and which were “the Land under the Yoke of Ashur”?

• Why do you think expansion after 720 BCE led to the empire’s destruction?

Expansion into an Empire

Assyrians had several advantages

Armies of well-trained, disciplined, professional troops

Officers rose by merit, not birth

Perfected the combined deployment of infantry and cavalry (horse riders and chariots)

Excellent siege warriors, using siege towers and battering rams

Huge armies of 120,000 soldiers

Tiglath Pileser III reorganized and led second phase of imperial expansion

Took away the rights of the nobility to own and inherit land or other wealth

Abolished old system of hereditary provincial governors with annual appointments

Reinstated expansionist annual military campaigns

Policies intensified hatred of the Assyrians

In first stage of imperial expansion, the king participated in annual campaigns.

Integration, Control, and Labor

Structure of the Neo-Assyrian empire

Empire divided into two parts

The Core—the “Land of Ashur,” between the Zagros Mountains and the Euphrates River

The Land under the Yoke of Ashur

Reforms of Tiglath Pileser III

Deportations and forced labor

As army grew, non-Assyrians became part of the army

Needed huge workforces for agriculture and public works

The Core—the “Land of Ashur,” between the Zagros Mountains and the Euphrates River. King’s appointees governed lands. Responsible for supplying food for the temple of the national god, Ashur, labor, and officials.

The Land under the Yoke of Ashur. Ethnic groups under Assyrian control but not Assyrians. Local rulers held power as vassals of Assyria. Had to supply huge amounts of tribute in form of gold and silver. Wealth went to the king for his own court and military costs.

Reforms of Tiglath Pileser III brought more lands into “Land of Ashur,” eliminating need for inhabitants to provide tribute. Forced Assyrianization was harshly administered throughout.

As army grew, non-Assyrians became part of the army. Phoenicians provided ships and sailors. Medes served as the king’s bodyguards. Charioteers from Israel fought against rebels in western provinces.

Needed huge workforces for agriculture and public works. Recruited workers from conquered peoples. Relocated over 4 million people to support work projects. Relocation undermined local resistance efforts. Deported workers built ever more magnificent capital cities that glorified Assyrian rule.

Ideology and Propaganda

Integration and control of the empire

Structure of the empire

Assyrian ideology and propaganda

Propaganda supported and justified expansion, exploration, and pervasive inequality

Three types of propaganda were used

Propaganda supported and justified expansion, exploration, and pervasive inequality. Art showed a strong sense of divinely determined destiny. The national god, Ashur, commanded all Assyrians to support expansion of empire. King, with aid of Ashur, conducted holy war to transform the entire known world to a well-regulated “Land of Ashur.”

Three types of propaganda were used. Elaborate architectural complexes for state ceremonial displays of pomp and power. Texts composed to glorify the king and the empire. Assyrian literary form called annals; a milestone in human history. Images glorifying the king and the might of the Assyrian army were depicted on palace walls. Texts recited at state occasions, placed on monuments, written in annals.

Social Structure and Population

King topped hierarchical structure and served as the sole agent of the god Ashur

Rigid social hierarchy

Military elites highly rewarded and became noble class that controlled land and peasants

Most Assyrians were peasants who worked the fields of the elites

Most peasant families were small and lived on small plots of land

Assyrian women had little control over their lives

Inheritance passed through male line

Middle Assyrians introduced veiling in the thirteenth century BCE

Assyrian queens under same norms but had a more comfortable life than commoners

Most Assyrians were peasants who worked the fields of the elites. Those enslaved because of debt had rights to marry free partners, engage in financial transactions, and own property including slaves. Slaves acquired in conquest had no rights. Some peasants were relocated to work new lands.

Women in Assyria more restricted than in Sumeria or Old Babylonia. Assyrian women had little control over their lives. Inheritance passed through male line. Middle Assyrians introduced veiling in the thirteenth century BCE. All “respectable” women had to veil. Prostitutes would be beaten or killed for veiling. Assyrian queens under same norms but had a more comfortable life than commoners. Mother of the king gained some power and respect. Queen could serve as regent if son was not of age when he became king.

Instability in the Assyrian Empire

Imperial expansion led to overextended armies and subjects too distant to control effectively

Nobles became discontented

Subject peoples rebelled, which challenged Assyrian worldview of invincibility and led to the empire’s fall

In 612 BCE, Neo-Assyrian Empire collapsed when Babylonians and Medes conquer imperial city of Nineveh

Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire

Persians part of nomadic group that came to the Iranian plateau at the end of the second millennium BCE

Successor state to the Neo-Assyrians

Used persuasion rather than violence to subdue other peoples

Cyrus the Great (r. 559–529 BCE) united Persian tribes and defeated the Medes and other peoples in Anatolia

No urban tradition; borrowed ideology and institutions from the Elamites, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians

Cyrus the Great founded the Persian Empire. Traced his ancestry back to legendary king Achaemenes. A benevolent king who liberated his subjects from the oppression of their own kings. Freed Babylonians, including the Hebrews, who returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt their temple. Greeks saw Cyrus as a model ruler. Darius I succeeded Cyrus and put the empire on solid footing. Conquered territories held by seventy different ethnic groups. Introduced innovative and dynamic administrative systems.

The Persian Empire, 550–479 BCE

WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, 5TH EDITION

Map 4.3 | The Persian Empire, 550–479 BCE

Starting in the sixth century BCE, the Persians succeeded the Assyrians as rulers of the large regional empire of Southwest Asia. Compare the Persian Empire’s territorial domains with those of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in Map 4.2.

• Geographically, how did the Persian Empire differ from the Neo-Assyrian state?

• Analyzing the map, how many Persian satrapies existed, and what role do you think they played in the success of the Persian Empire?

• How does geography help explain why the Greeks were able to defeat the Persians twice?

Techniques of Persian Rule

Persians used central and local administration to rule a multicultural, multilingual empire

Exploited local traditions, economy, and rule rather than force Persian traditions and customs on subject peoples

The Persians believed all in the empire were equal

Used local languages, but Aramaic became the lingua franca of the empire

Established a system of provinces or satrapies, each ruled by a satrap (governor)

Promoted trade throughout the empire

Promoted trade throughout the empire; built roads; standardized currency, including coinage; standardized weights and measure; and formed a system of fixed taxation and formal tribute allocations.

Zoroastrianism, Ideology, and Social Structure

Ahura Mazda, the supreme god, was believed to have appointed the monarch as ruler over people and lands

Zoroaster (aka Zarathustra) taught after 1000 BCE in eastern Iran and was responsible for crystallizing the region’s traditional beliefs into a formal religious system

Zoroastrianism became the religion of the Persian Empire

The teachings of Zoroaster are in the Avesta

Avesta is a compilation of holy works transmitted orally by priests for more than 1,000 years

Written down in the third century BCE

Much in common linguistically with Vedic texts

Ahura Mazda, the supreme god, was believed to have appointed the monarch as ruler over people and lands. Drew religious ideas from their pastoral and tribal roots. Similar to Vedic texts of Indus Valley.

Zoroastrianism, ideology, and social structure. Zoroaster’s teaching converted Iranians from earlier, animistic beliefs. Promoted monotheism. Persian belief in a dualistic universe. Ahura Mazda was capable only of good and Ahiram was deceitful and wicked. Both gods were in a cosmic struggle for control of the universe. Zoroastrianism not fatalistic; rather, treated humans as independent actors capable of choosing between good and evil. Human choices had consequences and would be rewarded or punished in the afterlife. Strict rules of behavior determined the fate of each individual. Animals were to be treated with respect. Intoxicants were forbidden. The dead were to be left to the elements.

Religion and Imperial Ideology

Persian kings enjoyed absolute authority

Kings had to embody justice and fairness; demonstrate ability to distinguish right from wrong

Kings had to display physical superiority through horsemanship and weapons handling

Persians divided social order into four large, diverse groups

Ruling class of priests, nobles, and warriors

Administrative and commercial class of scribes, bureaucrats, and merchants

Artisans

Peasants

Nobility and merchants close to the king

Darius tried to diminish the power of the nobles through reforms

Kings were expected to follow moral and political tenets that reflected Zoroastrianism notions of ethical behavior.

King was expected to marry a woman from the noble families, and royal gifts solidified the relations between king and nobles.

Public Works and Imperial Identity

Massive building projects unified the empire and consolidated imperial identity

Royal Road facilitated trade, communications, and military endeavors

Other infrastructure built to connect periphery to center of empire

Cyrus led way in building monumental architecture

Darius forged uniquely Persian visual and physical expressions of empire

Persians borrowed from other groups to design their architecture

Persian method for creating empire very different from Assyrians’

Royal Road facilitated trade, communications, and military endeavors. Way stations with fresh mounts and provisions placed along the way. Other infrastructure built to connect periphery to center of empire. Canal linking Red Sea to Nile River. Qanats, underground tunnels for water.

Darius forged uniquely Persian visual and physical expressions of empire. Capital at Persepolis. Craft workers from all over empire built Persepolis; their distinct styles melded into a new Persian architectural style. Persepolis was an important administrative hub. 30,000 tablets written in Elamite cuneiform script have been found by archaeologists.

Persians borrowed from other groups to design their architecture. Reception rooms were grand, columned halls. Large spaces allowed people from all over the empire to gather. Elaborate architectural decoration was form of propaganda. Propaganda of Persians showed gladly obedient peoples, contrasted with Assyrian propaganda.

Environmental Crisis

Drought swept away most of the dominant states

Communities were smaller, technically simpler, impoverished, illiterate, and more violent

Low Nile floods forced the pharaohs to spend their time securing food and repelling invaders

Hittite’s pleaded for grain

Forced to move their capital to northern Syria for more plentiful food source

The empire collapsed

Mycenaean culture disintegrated

Greek mainland experienced a 400 year period of economic decline

Imperial Fringes in Western Afro-Eurasia

Cultures that emerged on the edges of empires shaped imperial developments while remaining independent

Developed own political and cultural systems

Migrations and upheaval

Around 1200 BCE, demographic upheavals and migrations of peoples in the Danube River basin and central Europe

Used iron technologies to arm populations and invaded southeastern Europe, Aegean, and eastern Mediterranean

Invasions of the migrants caused collapse of developed societies, including Hittite Empire

Moved political, military, and technological power to the fringes of these former territories

Around 1200 BCE, demographic upheavals and migrations of peoples in the Danube River Basin and central Europe. Rapid rise of population and development of local natural resources.

Sea Peoples

Migrations and upheaval

Migrants adopted boats for transportation around the Mediterranean Sea

Attacked the Egyptians and other kingdoms

Settled along the southern coast of the Levant

Economic downturn from 1100 to 900 BCE affected empires and kingdoms

Rapid transformation was both destructive and creative

Economic downturn from 1100 to 900 BCE affected empires and kingdoms. Arts, large-scale construction, writing, trade all declined or disappeared. Sea Peoples shook the social structure of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. As empires declined, individual warrior-heroes emerged. Iliad based on oral tradition from this time. Trojan War about 1200 BCE.

The Mediterranean World, 1000–400 BCE

WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, 5TH EDITION

Map 4.4 | The Mediterranean World, 1000–400 BCE

Peoples on the fringes of the great regional empires of Southwest Asia and North Africa had strong influences beyond their borders, despite their political marginalization. Though politically dwarfed by the Neo-Assyrian and Persian Empires, various groups in the Mediterranean basin displayed strong cultural and economic power.

• What were the borderland communities, and what did they trade?

• How far did their trading networks and settlement patterns extend?

• Why were such small communities able to flourish in terms of trade and settlement?

Persia and the Greeks

Greeks emerged on the fringe of the Persian empire

Joined with other Mediterranean peoples to revolt

Persia could not put down the rebellion on the mainland

Athenians defeated Persians in 492 BCE at Marathon

In 479 BCE, Athenians defeated Persians and began to expand into Persian territory

Athens becomes a major sea power

The Phoenicians

Some people living on borders of imperial states cultivated productive relationships with large empires while preserving political and economic autonomy

Chanani (Canaanites) were known by the Greeks as Phoenicians

Worked with the Assyrians as imperial vassals and became trading partners and suppliers

Competition between Greeks and Phoenicians led to innovations and transfer of culture

Phoenicians developed alphabet and writing revolutionized communication

Less need for professional scribes

Chanani (Canaanites) were known by the Greeks as Phoenicians. Phoenicians (“Purple People”) traded purple dye. Innovators of shipbuilding and seafaring. Traded throughout the Mediterranean with boats made from inland cedar trees. Established trading colonies on southern and western rim of Mediterranean.

Competition between Greeks and Phoenicians led to innovations and transfer of culture. Phoenicians developed alphabet and writing revolutionized communication. Less need for professional scribes.

The Israelites

Israel and Judah

Small region on edge of Egypt

Hybrid society merged local cultural traits with social, economic, and religious forms found throughout Southwest Asia and Egypt

The Israelites

Origins unknown, established around 1000–960 BCE

United by King David and his son Solomon who established capital in Jerusalem

Quickly fragmented into two kingdoms, Judah (in the south) and Israel (in the north)

Hebrews deported by Assyrians to Babylon until collapse of Babylon

Returned to Judah under rule of Persia and rebuilt temple

The Israelites’ origins are unknown; established around 1000–960 BCE. Shared Mesopotamian flood story. Hebrew law principles similar to Hammurapi’s Code. Movement out of Egypt under Moses.

United by King David and his son Solomon who established capital in Jerusalem. Central temple organization, priesthood, scribal elite, new monarchy.

Monotheism and Prophets

The Great Temple in Jerusalem became most important shrine in region

Emphasis on one god: YHWH

To effect the shift to worship and acceptance of one god, there arose a group of freelance religious men of power called prophets

Because they were constantly threatened and displaced, their ideas spread rapidly throughout Mediterranean world

Ideas were a major influence on Christianity and Islam

To effect the shift to worship and acceptance of one god, there arose a group of freelance religious men of power called prophets. Opposed power of the kings and priests at temple in Jerusalem. Central to formation of monotheism and Israelite culture: Isaiah, Ezra, and Jeremiah. Established strict social and moral codes enshrined in the holy text the Torah.

Foundations of Vedic Culture in South Asia (1500–600 BCE)

Language and belief systems helped unify peoples of South Asia

Vedic culture associated with nomadic peoples who did not have older surviving urban centers to draw on; interactions with local inhabitants of regions to which they migrated

Became skilled cultivators of rice and cotton

Social and religious culture

Brought cultural traits from European nomadic communities

Encountered indigenous peoples with knowledge of the land

Social and religious culture. Brought cultural traits from European nomadic communities. Rituals conducted by priests. Composed rhymes, hymns, and explanatory texts called Vedas. Vedas oral, and then written in Sanskrit. Encountered indigenous peoples with knowledge of the land. Exchange between Vedic people and indigenous peoples. Region became more unified because of the shared culture of the Vedas. Did not create a single, unified kingdom.

Social and Religious Culture

The Vedas

Foundation of strength and knowledge as nomadic peoples assimilated to new circumstances

Rituals involved sacrifices, banquets, ceremonies conducted by priests

Practices and knowledge eventually recorded in Sanskrit and became sacred texts

Migrants and local people made alliances

Vedic migrants maintained original language and rituals, but also absorbed local languages and deities

Material Culture

Early trade centered on horses, not luxury goods

Vedic people settled and cultivated the land

Splintered states

The region remained politically disintegrated

Created regional oligarchies and chieftainships

Fought among themselves and reinforced the importance of warriors

Warriors emerged as the elite

Early trade centered on horses, not luxury goods. Drove creation of long-distance trade routes. Vedic people settled and cultivated the land. Used iron plow to grow crops. Urban settlement developed. Trade developed as agricultural surpluses grew.

Fought among themselves and reinforced the importance of warriors: Indra, the god of war and Agni, the god of fire.

Splintered States

Chieftainships merged into kingdoms tied to kin and clan structures

Two main lineages: lunar lineage and solar lineage

Society expanded

Solar lineage clans stayed together in same area

Lunar lineage clans split into branches and migrated east and south

Although the two main lineages disappeared over time, their presence lived on in two epic tales

Mahabharata

Ramayana

Epics legitimized the regimes’ claims to blood links

Emergence of Caste Distinctions

Differences between those who controlled land and those who did not

Castes (inherited social classes) associated with specific lineages

Kshatriya, warriors and controlled land

Vaishya, worked land and tended livestock

Shudras, of non-Vedic lineages, were laborers or slaves in the fields

Brahmans, priestly caste, ranked highest

Powerful monarchies emerged around kings (rajas)

Brahmans, priestly caste, ranked highest. Performed rituals and communicated with gods. Guided society in the proper relationship with the forces of nature as represented by the deities.

Powerful monarchies emerged around kings (rajas). Laws of Manu guided the king and regulated king’s subjects.

Unity through the Vedas and Upanishads

Vedic culture

Brahman caste unified the people through a common culture

Vedas contained sacred knowledge of the people and helped unify them

Brahmans, the priests of Vedic society, memorized the Vedic works

Main Vedic literature includes four Vedas

Evolving ideas led to a new collection called the Upanishads or “the supreme knowledge”

Brahmans, the priests of Vedic society, memorized the Vedic works. Brahmans compiled commentaries on old works and created a new set of rules and rituals. Established full-scale theology that explained their newly settled farming environment. Some parts of the Veda incorporated ideas of non-Sanskrit–speaking peoples. Atharva Veda includes charms and remedies from indigenous traditions.

Evolving ideas led to a new collection called the Upanishads or “the supreme knowledge.” Dialogue between disciples and a sage. Social and religious order intertwined. Concept of atman, an eternal being that never perishes but is reborn. Reincarnation becomes a cornerstone of the late Vedic belief system.

The Early Zhou State in East Asia (1045–771 BCE)

Climate change a major factor in fall of Shang and rise of Zhou

After allying with Shang, Zhou turned against them in 1045 BCE

Integration through dynastic institutions

Zhou continued Shang’s attempts at state building through unified dynastic structures

Set up a patrimonial state centered on ancestor worship

Continued and expanded on the Shang state’s tribute system

Integrated parts of China through cultural symbols and statecraft

Foundations of Zhou State

Zhou takeover of Shang gradual

Employed the term Huaxia, or Chinese, when referring to their subjects

Named lands Zhongguo, or “the Middle Kingdom,” the term still in use today

Rewarded allegiance to state with lands that could be inherited

Regional lords required to supply military forces

New colonies consisted of garrison towns with Zhou colonizers

Paid tribute and appeared at the imperial court to pledge allegiance to king

Technological Developments

Occupational groups and family structures

Technological development

Plows enable farmers to increase farmland

Crop rotation improved soil

Regional states began to construct infrastructure to control waterways

Canals became trade routes linking north and south

Irrigation works became so elaborate that they needed powerful state control, such as Zhou dynasts, to manage system

Canals linked two breadbaskets: wheat and millet fields in north, rice in south

Agrarian revolution dramatically increased the Chinese population, est. 20 million in the late Zhou Era

The Zhou Mandate of Heaven

The Zhou “Mandate of Heaven” and the justification of power

Ideology to support a morally correct takeover of the Shang

Mandate of Heaven was a compact between the people and their god

Became a political doctrine rather than religious

A way to defend continuity of political structure or to argue for overthrow

Zhou expanded on writing system employed by Shang

Used for divination and a variety of political practices

King Mu (r. 956–918 BCE)

Mandate of Heaven was a compact between the people and their god, Book of Odes.

Zhou expanded on writing system employed by Shang and used for divination and a variety of political practices. Royal speeches and grants of official offices. King Mu (r. 956–918 BCE) restructured the court and military and instituted a formal legal code. Pool of scribes and scholars controlled record keeping and created archives.

Expansion of Writing System

Zhou expanded on writing system employed by Shang

Creation of a revised calendar important for legitimacy of the court

Advances made in astronomy and mathematics for better calculations

Lunar month, solar year, and leap year

Material culture also indirectly gave Zhou legitimacy

Emulated Shang’s large-scale bronzes

Used Shang artisans to make objects because of their superior skills and technology

Revered predecessors and worshiped ancestors, formalized in the practice of writing

Social and Economic Controls

Social and economic transformation

Hierarchical social structure of nobility

Zhou ruler and royal ministers

Hereditary nobles served as regional lords with landholdings

High officers at the Zhou court

Military caste

Occupational groups and family structures

Ladder of occupational strata served as class structure for commoners

Patrilineal society

Strict hierarchies for men and women

Wealth trumped gender to a certain extent

Rich women had high status in Zhou aristocracy

Hereditary nobles served as regional lords with landholdings and supplied warriors to fight in king’s army.

Limits and Decline of Zhou Power

Zhou state important but not a superpower like Assyria or Persia

Zhou ruled larger area than Shang, but with little increase in centralization

Used military campaigns and persuasion to keep subordinates loyal

To control regional lords, ritual reforms introduced in eighth century BCE

Invaders from north forced Zhou to flee capital in 771 BCE

Zhou model of government became the standard for later generations

Conclusion

Upheavals in the territorial states of Afro-Eurasia led to great changes in the earlier kingdoms in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China

Rise of two regional superpowers: Assyrian Empire and Persian Empire

Other models of integrated but not politically centralized states

Borderland peoples near the large empires were able to carve out their own cultures through trade and common language

Religious texts and the rapid spread of monotheism mark this period

Upheavals in the territorial states of Afro-Eurasia led to great changes in the earlier kingdoms in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China. Rise of two regional superpowers: Assyrian Empire and Persian Empire. Led way through technology, trade, and administrative strategies of expanding states beyond their ethnic or linguistic homelands. The two empires, while operating differently, ably and systematically exploited human and material resources at great distances from the imperial centers.

Other models of integrated but not politically centralized states: Vedic people in South Asia and Zhou dynasts in China. Borderland peoples near the large empires were able to carve out their own cultures through trade and common language: Sea Peoples, Greeks, Phoenicians, and People of Judah.

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