This document provides an overview of early human history from prehistory to 3000 BC. It discusses key topics like the origins of humans in Africa based on genetic and fossil evidence. As humans spread out of Africa, they developed new stone tools and lived as hunter-gatherers. The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution led to permanent settlements and early civilizations along major river valleys in various regions including Africa, Asia, India, and China. Early civilizations had defining characteristics like cities, centralized governments, job specialization, and writing systems. Cultural diffusion helped spread ideas and technologies between civilizations. The document provides examples of important figures and developments in early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.

1. Part 1
Toward Civilization
(Prehistory–3000 B.C.)

2. Part 1: Toward Civilization
(Prehistory–3000 B.C.)
Section 1: Toward Civilization
Section 2: First Civilizations:
Africa and Asia
Section 3: First Civilizations:
India and China

3. Wadjet eye

4. Geography and History
• Geography is the study of
people, their environments,
and the resources available
to them.
• History uses written
evidence to tell us how
people lived in the past.
By showing how people lived in different times and places,
geographers have added to our knowledge of human history.

5. The Five Themes
of Geography Place
Region
The Human
Story
Human-environment
interaction
Movement
Location

8. Anthropologists & Archaeologists
Anthropology is the study of the origins and development of
people and their societies. Some anthropologists study the origins
of human life. Others focus on the variety of human cultures.
Archaeology is a specialized branch of anthropology.
Archaeologists study artifacts, objects made by human beings. By
analyzing artifacts, archaeologists learn about the beliefs, values,
and activities of early people.

14. Toward Civilizations (Prehistory–3000 B.C.)

16. Pangaea
•
ALFRED WEGENER AND PANGAEA
• In 1915, the German geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) first proposed the theory of continental
drift, which states that parts of the Earth's crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The fossil record supports and gives
credence to the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics.
Wegener hypothesized that there was an original, gigantic supercontinent 200 million years ago, which he named
Pangaea, meaning "All-earth". Pangaea was a supercontinent consisting of all of Earth's land masses. It existed from the
Permian through Jurassic periods. It began breaking up during the late Triassic period.
Pangaea started to break up into two smaller supercontinents, called Laurasia and Gondwanaland, during the late Triassic.
It formed the continents Gondwanaland and Laurasia, separated by the Tethys Sea. By the end of the Cretaceous period,
the continents were separating into land masses that look like our modern-day continents.
Wegener published this theory in his 1915 book, On the Origin of Continents and Oceans. In it he also proposed the
existence of the supercontinent Pangaea, and named it (Pangaea means "all the land" in Greek).

17. Beringia
• The term Beringia comes from the name of Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer for the Russian czar in
the 18th Century. Bering-Chirikov expedition explored the waters of the North Pacific between
Asia and North America. The Bering Strait, which lies between Alaska and Northeast Russia, and
Bering Island, in the Commander Islands, are named after him.
• It is a region of worldwide significance for cultural and natural resources. This area also provides
an unparalleled opportunity for a comprehensive study of the earth --its unusually intact
landforms and biological remains may reveal the character of past climates and the ebb and flow
of earth forces at the continents’ edge. Biological research leads to the understanding of the
natural history of the region and distribution of flora and fauna. As one of the world’s great
ancient crossroads, Beringia may hold solutions to puzzles about who the first people were to
come to North America, how and when they traveled and how they survived under such harsh
climatic conditions.

18. Beringia
• It is currently believed that the ocean levels rose and fell several times in the
past. During extended cold periods, tremendous volumes of water are deposited
on land in the form of ice and snow, which can cause a corresponding drop in sea
level. The last "ice age" occurred around 12-15,000 years ago. During this period
the shallow seas now separating Asia from North America near the present day
Bering Strait dropped about 300 feet and created a 1,000-mile wide grassland
steppe, linking Asia and North America together with the "Bering Land Bridge".
Across this vast steppe, plants and animals traveled in both directions, and
humans entered the Americas.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/parcs/atlas/beringia/lbridge.html
Bering Land Bridge Movie

19. The Land/Ice Bridge
People, with their languages, customs,
and cultures traveled across the land
bridge after the herds as hunter-gatherers.
Artifacts and fossils tell archaeologists
and anthropologists that they migrated to
all parts of North, Central, and South
America adapting their lives to the
available food, climate, and sheltering
materials.

20. Culture
A shared way of living

21. Hallmarks of Culture—a shared way of living
• 1. spiritual-shaman
• 2. food
• 3. economics
• 4. governmental organization-clan,
tribe, kinship network, sachem
• 5. language
• 6. clothing
• 7. healthcare
• 8. housing
• 9. division of labor—
matriarchal=female;
Patriarchal=male
• 10. family ties
• 11. recreation
• 12. warfare

34. Numbers are thousands of years before the present.

36. Australopithecus
afarensis,
"Lucy"
Australopithecus Afarensis, Lucy,
adult female, Uganda, Mitochondria
DNA Habilus Skull Side
It is a well known fact that life
originated in the continent of Africa,
and the oldest strain of
mitochondria DNA originated in
Uganda. This strain of DNA is shared
by females only, and it is traced back
to the first female whose origin
happens to be African. She is known
to scientists as Mitochondria Eve.
Genetic Eve from who we all
originated lived in East Africa around
the rift valley 3.2million years old
according to Dr. Leakey.

37. • All of the earliest hominid remains have been found in Africa.
Specimens of a species called Australopithecus afarensis appear in
deposits dating about 3.3 million years ago. An almost complete
skeleton of this species is a young female dubbed "Lucy". Lucy
differed from her primate forebears by always walking upright. We
know this because of the way in which her legs were attached to her
hip girdle and the fact that her backbone was attached to the base of
the skull rather than at its back as it is in four-legged mammals. To
clinch the matter, fossil footprints have been found that show that A.
afarensis walked upright.

38. • In 1987, a group of geneticists published a surprising study in the journal
Nature. The researchers examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) taken
from 147 people across all of today's major racial groups. These
researchers found that the lineage of all people alive today falls on one of
two branches in humanity's family tree. One of these branches consists of
nothing but African lineage, the other contains all other groups, including
some African lineage.
• Even more impressive, the geneticists concluded that every person on
Earth right now can trace his or her lineage back to a single common
female ancestor who lived around 200,000 years ago. Because one entire
branch of human lineage is of African origin and the other contains African
lineage as well, the study's authors concluded Africa is the place where this
woman lived. The scientists named this common female ancestor
Mitochondrial Eve.

39. Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy)

41. How Do Historians Reconstruct the Past?
• Historians rely primarily on written evidence to determine how
people lived in the past.
• Recorded history began about 5,000 years ago, when people
began to keep written records.
• Today, historians study such evidence as photographs and film,
as well as written documents such as letters and tax records.

43. Section 1 Assessment
Which of the following is not an example of an artifact?
a) clothing
b) weapons
c) rivers
d) tools
What do historians look at to learn how people lived in the past?
a) They focus on the environments in which early people lived.
b) They primarily look at written records.
c) They primarily dig for artifacts.
d) They primarily look at landforms.

44. Section 1 Assessment
Which of the following is not an example of an artifact?
a) clothing
b) weapons
c) rivers
d) tools
What do historians look at to learn how people lived in the past?
a) They focus on the environments in which early people lived
b) They primarily look at written records.
c) They primarily dig for artifacts.
d) They primarily look at landforms.

45. During the Old Stone Age, people lived as nomads, in
small hunting and food gathering groups. These people:
• made simple tools and weapons out of stone, bone, or
wood;
• developed a spoken language;
• invented clothing;
• used caves and rocky overhangs for shelter;
• learned to build fires for warmth and cooking.

46. Early people left evidence of their belief in a spiritual world.
Animism is the belief that the world
Is full of spirits and forces that might
reside in animals, objects, or dreams.
Cave paintings may have been
part of animist religious rituals.
Stone statues are believed to have had
religious meaning. Statues of pregnant
women suggest that early people
worshiped earth-mother goddesses.
Early people began burying their
dead with care, suggesting a belief
in life after death. They provided the
dead with tools and weapons for the
afterlife.

49. The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
The change from nomadic to farming life led to changes in the way people lived and to
the emergence of civilizations.
PEOPLE BEFORE PEOPLE AFTER
Learned to farm and were able
to produce their own food.
Settled into permanent villages.
Learned to domesticate, or
tame, animals.
Relied on hunting and
gathering.
Nomads lived in small hunting
and food-gathering groups.
Waited for migrating
animals to return each year.

54. Catal Huyuk is in
present-day Turkey.
The oldest city found
so far is Jericho.

57. Section 2 Assessment
Which of the following suggests that early people held religious beliefs?
a) They buried their dead with tools, weapons, and other items needed in the
afterlife.
b) They learned to produce their own food.
c) They developed a spoken language.
d) They lived in caves or under rocky overhangs.
Which was an advance of the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution?
a) Early people learned to gather nuts and berries.
b) Early people learned to hunt.
c) Early people learned to produce their own food.
d) Early people became nomads.

58. Section 2 Assessment
Which of the following suggests that early people held religious beliefs?
a) They buried their dead with tools, weapons, and other items needed in the
afterlife.
b) They learned to produce their own food.
c) They developed a spoken language.
d) They lived in caves or under rocky overhangs.
Which was an advance of the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution?
a) Early people learned to gather nuts and berries.
b) Early people learned to hunt.
c) Early people learned to produce their own food.
d) Early people became nomads.

61. What Are the Basic Features of Civilizations?
Farmers began cultivating lands along river
valleys and producing surplus, or extra, food.
Surpluses helped populations expand.
As populations grew, some
villages swelled into cities.

62. The first cultures appeared in river
valleys.
The land was fertile from flooding
and the alluvial silt left behind.
Slash and burn tactics faded
because the settlement could not
move.
Animals provided fertilizer.
Egypt=Nile River
Mesopotamia=Tigris and
Euphrates
India=Indus River
China=Huang He (Yellow River)

63. What Are the Basic Features of Civilizations?
A civilization is a complex, highly organized social order. Historians
distinguish eight basic features found in most early civilizations:
5. Social classes
6. Arts and architecture
7. Public works
8. Writing
1. Cities
2. Well-organized central gov’ts
3. Complex religions
4. Job specialization

66. Civilizations Spread and Change
Civilizations spread when ancient
rulers gained more power and
conquered territories beyond the
boundaries of their cities.
Powerful rulers created city-states
and empires.
A city-state included a city and
its surrounding lands and
villages.
An empire is a group of states or
territories controlled by one
ruler.
Civilizations change when the
physical environment changes.
Example: A tremendous volcano may
have wiped out Minoan civilization.
Interactions among people also
cause cultures to change.
Cultural diffusion is the spread
of ideas, customs, and technologies
from one people to another. Cultural
diffusion occurred through migration,
trade, and warfare.

70. Section 3 Assessment
Which of the following is not a feature of early civilizations?
a) cities
b) well-organized central government
c) cultural diffusion
d) public works
Cultural diffusion occurs through
a) hunting and gathering.
b) migration, civilization, and warfare.
c) migration, trade, and warfare.
d) religion, trade, and warfare.

71. Section 3 Assessment
Which of the following is not a feature of early civilizations?
a) cities
b) well-organized central government
c) cultural diffusion
d) public works
Cultural diffusion occurs through
a) hunting and gathering.
b) migration, civilization, and warfare.
c) migration, trade, and warfare.
d) religion, trade, and warfare.

84. First Civilizations: Africa and Asia (3200 B.C.–500 B.C.)

89. Hatshepsut
Queen (c. 1508 BCE–c. 1458 BCE)
Hatshepsut was the longest reigning female
pharaoh in Egypt, ruling for 22 years in the 14th
century B.C. She is considered one of Egypt's most
successful pharaohs.
She served as queen alongside her husband,
Thutmose II, but after his death claimed the role
of pharaoh while acting as regent to her nephew,
Thutmose III. In 1473 BC, however, she took the
remarkable step of having herself crowned
pharaoh. This translated directly as "king". There
wasn't even a word in the language for a reigning
female. That did not stop Hatshepsut from
assuming the full titles and regalia, including the
ureaus headdress and ceremonial false beard. She
reigned peaceably, building temples and
monuments, resulting in the flourish of Egypt.
After her death, Thutmose III erased her
inscriptions and tried to eradicate her memory.
The Uraeus is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian cobra (asp,
serpent, or snake), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity,
and divine authority, the cobra image of Wadjet with the vulture.

91. Cleopatra's family ruled Egypt for more
than 100 years before she was born
around 69 B.C. The stories and myths
surrounding Cleopatra's tragic life
inspired a number of books, movies and
plays, including Antony and Cleopatra
by Shakespeare. Cleopatra has become
one of the most well known ancient
Egyptians.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator, known to history as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ancient Egypt,
only shortly survived by her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion as pharaoh.

92. Cleopatra was brilliant woman and devoted to her country. She was a quick-witted woman who was fluent in
nine languages, however, Latin was not one of them. She was a mathematician and a very good
businesswoman. She had a genuine respect for Caesar, whose intelligence and wit matched her own. Antony on
the other hand almost drove her insane with his lack of intelligence and his excesses. She dealt with him and
made the most of what she had to do. She fought for her country, bore children to powerful men, and
manipulated them. She had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch who
deserved better than suicide.
She would not live as a prisoner/slave, so she
had an asp, which was an Egyptian cobra,
brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She
died on August 12, 30 BC at the age of 39. The
Egyptian religion declared that death by
snakebite would secure immortality. With this,
she achieved her dying wish, to not be
forgotten.

93. King Tut is chiefly known for his intact tomb,
discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in
1922. Since then, his remains have held
millions in awe over the mystery of his life
and death.
Probably one of the best known pharaohs of
ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun was a minor figure
in ancient Egyptian history. The boy king of 18th
Egyptian dynasty was the son of the powerful
Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, and
most likely one of Akhenaten's sisters. His short
reign of eight to nine years accomplished little,
but the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in
1922 has led many to unravel the mysteries to
his life and death.
The ancient name for the
Eye of Horus was “udjat”.
It was also known as the
Wadjet, symbolizing
healing, restoration,
protection and sacrifice
http://www.biography.com/people/king-tut-9512446#king-tuts-tomb-discovered

94. http://www.virtual-egypt.
com/newhtml
/glyph/glyph.cgi

95. Ramses II

105. http://sumer2sargon.blogspo
t.com/p/history.html

110. The original "Stairway to Heaven". The grand staircase of the great ziggurat at Ur. The temple was dedicated to Nanna, the
moon god.

119. Clock face
The base-60 counting system survives today
in the 60-minute hour and the 60-second
minute, as well as in modern geometry.
Eclipse
Astrologer-priests could accurately
predict when eclipses of the Sun
would occur. Eclipses were signs of
bad omens.
Mud-brick arch
The
Mesopotamians
pioneered the
use of arches
and columns in
buildings, a
practice that
soon spread.
This ancient
mud-brick arch
is in Thebes in
Egypt.

120. Potash, thyme, sunflowers,
saffron, dates, and
pomegranates, pistachios,
and pine nuts were used as
food and medicines

121. The end came quickly, and catastrophically, in 2004 B.C.
All the cities of Sumer were sacked and plundered by the
Gutians and the Elamites. Ibbi-Suen, the last of the
Sumerian kings, was led in chains to the Elamite capital.
He was later executed.
At the time, despite the totality of their defeat, the
Sumerians probably didn’t realize that the show was
finally over. They had been conquered several times
before, but they had always risen again to their former
glory. This time, there would not be a Sumerian
resurrection.
A period of internecine warfare followed the Fall of
Sumer as local lords battled for regional supremacy.
Eventually the Akkadians gained the ascendency. The few
surviving Sumerians were assimilated into the Akkadian
kingdoms. The Sumerians were no longer a distinct and
independent people. After 1900 B.C., Sumerian ceased
to be a spoken language.
Mural from the Akkadian city of Mari, circa
1800 B.C. The details of the painting are given
in the Images section. The painting is typically
Sumerian in its subject matter and appearance
(except for the clothes). The picture shows the
continuing influence of the Sumerian
civilization two centuries after it was destroyed.
The Akkadians later became known as
Babylonians.

122. Potter’s wheel
The Mesopotamians invented the potter’s
wheel sometime before 3500 BCE. This
device made pottery production far more
efficient.
This bull, from Babylon’s Ishtar
Gate, is made from glazed bricks.

123. Gold
Skilled goldsmiths in
the Assyrian city of
Ashur took raw metal
and worked it into
delicate gold chains
for necklaces into fine
gold settings to hold
precious stones and
set gemstones, like
carnelian.
They were also believed to ward off sickness
and protect against evil spirits.
Alabaster cylinder seals
Cylinder seals, such as these alabaster examples made around 2000 BCE, were often
expertly carved. They could be rolled over wet clay to leave an impression.

124. Hittite chariot
The Hittites were famous for their use of wheeled chariots. Their attack on Babylon in
1595 BCE led to the fall of the first Babylonian Empire.

125. Mud-brick house
Ordinary
Mesopotamians
lived in mud-brick
houses with flat
roofs. The same
basic house design
was used across
the Middle East for
much of its history.
Babylon
Mesopotamian cities, such as Babylon, were
protected by massive walls. At the center
were temples, ziggurats, and palaces. Around
these were offices, workshops, and housing.

127. Baghdad market
Under the great caliph Harun al-Rashid, Baghdad became a world
center for art and learning. Merchants made the city wealthy and
craftworkers made it splendid.

128. Seljuk tribesmen
The Seljuk Turks took control of Baghdad in 1055—just
one of many waves of invaders that poured into
Mesopotamia from Central Asia.
Mosque
As Islam spread, mosques
appeared throughout the Middle
East. This beautifully decorated
arch is part of the Masjid-i-Shah
mosque in Isfahan, central Iran.

129. Ottoman soldiers
From 1534 to 1918 Mesopotamia
was part of the Ottoman Empire,
which was centered in Istanbul. The
Ottoman armies conquered the
much of Middle East, North Africa,
and southeastern Europe.
Mongol cavalry
Mongol horsemen devastated Mesopotamia in
1229 and returned to Baghdad in 1258,
killing 800,000 people.

130. Slaves dragging a lamassu
When roughly shaped, the huge
stone winged bulls were hauled
overland from the quarries using
ropes, levers, and wooden
rollers. They were finished off at
the palaces.

131. Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel
described in the Bible may
have been inspired by the
seven-story ziggurat in
Babylon known as the
Etemenanki.
Bulrush baby
Sargon, the Akkadian ruler, is said to have
been abandoned as a baby in a reed basket,
just like Moses in the story from the Biblical
book of Exodus.
The Akkadian empire
The land to the north
of Sumer was called
Akkad. At its greatest
extent, the Akkadian
Empire stretched from
the Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea.

132. Assyrian assault
Assyrian tactics were to assault the most important cities in
enemy territory, using battering rams, ladders, and high
wooden siege towers.
Mastiff dog
The Mesopotamians
bred mastiff dogs for
patrolling the hunting
park during the royal
lion hunt. They were
also used to bring
down onagers (wild
asses).

133. Lion hunting
Lions were ritually hunted for the pleasure of the king. The animals were killed
with arrows and then offered up to the gods.

134. Ishtar gate
Babylon’s broad Processional Way passed the ziggurat
and Nebuchadnezzar’s grand palace, before leaving the
city via the deep-blue towers of the Ishtar Gate.
Nebuchadnezzar
Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became a
spectacle of glazed bricks and colorful tiles,
decorated with lions, bulls, and dragons.

135. First Persian empire
The first Persian (Achaemenid) Empire stretched from Libya, Egypt, and Thrace in the west
to Central Asia, Afghanistan, and India in the east. To label, see p. 56.

136. Palace at Persepolis
Persepolis, or Parsa, was an important civic and
religious center built by King Darius I and his
successor Xerxes. This is the ceremonial stairway
leading to Darius’s palace.
Persian chariot and soldiers
Led by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian army forced the Medes out of Persia, defeated the
Babylonians, and established Persian supremacy throughout western Asia.

143. George Gordon Byron, 1788 - 1824
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the
sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath
blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the
blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and
chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew
still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his
pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the
turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his
mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the
sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
The Destruction Of Sennacherib
https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=T
-PiGVS6Idg

144. 2 Kings 19:35 King James
Version
35 And it came to pass that night,
that the angel of the LORD went
out, and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians an hundred
fourscore and five thousand:
and when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were
all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of
Assyria departed and returned
home, and lived at Nineveh.…
Isaiah with
messengers
from
Hezekiah

145. Slaves dragging a lamassu
When roughly shaped, the huge
stone winged bulls were hauled
overland from the quarries using
ropes, levers, and wooden
rollers. They were finished off at
the palaces.

146. Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel
described in the Bible may
have been inspired by the
seven-story ziggurat in
Babylon known as the
Etemenanki.
Bulrush baby
Sargon, the Akkadian ruler, is said to have
been abandoned as a baby in a reed basket,
just like Moses in the story from the Biblical
book of Exodus.
The Akkadian empire
The land to the north
of Sumer was called
Akkad. At its greatest
extent, the Akkadian
Empire stretched from
the Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea.

147. Assyrian assault
Assyrian tactics were to assault the most important cities in
enemy territory, using battering rams, ladders, and high
wooden siege towers.
Mastiff dog
The Mesopotamians
bred mastiff dogs for
patrolling the hunting
park during the royal
lion hunt. They were
also used to bring
down onagers (wild
asses).

148. Lion hunting
Lions were ritually hunted for the pleasure of the king. The animals were killed
with arrows and then offered up to the gods.

149. Ishtar gate
Babylon’s broad Processional Way passed the ziggurat
and Nebuchadnezzar’s grand palace, before leaving the
city via the deep-blue towers of the Ishtar Gate.
Nebuchadnezzar
Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became a
spectacle of glazed bricks and colorful tiles,
decorated with lions, bulls, and dragons.

150. First Persian empire
The first Persian (Achaemenid) Empire stretched from Libya, Egypt, and Thrace in the west
to Central Asia, Afghanistan, and India in the east.

151. Palace at Persepolis
Persepolis, or Parsa, was an important civic and
religious center built by King Darius I and his
successor Xerxes. This is the ceremonial stairway
leading to Darius’s palace.
Persian chariot and soldiers
Led by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian army forced the Medes out of Persia, defeated the
Babylonians, and established Persian supremacy throughout western Asia.