The Persian Empire

Cyrus the Great(580-529 BC) was the one of Achaemenid Emperor who was upright, a great leader of men, generous and benevolent. He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian Tribes. Although he was known to be a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one of the greatest Empires ever seen, he is best remembered for his unprecedented tolerance and magnanimous attitude towards those he defeated.

-Babylonian welcomed Cyrus as a liberator; He freed a lot of Jews from Babylon. For this, Cyrus showed great forbearance and respect towards the religious beliefs and cultural traditions of other races. These qualities earned him the respect and homage of all the people over whom he ruled.
-He conquered the Mede’s and after that he founded a government for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median and Persian nobles as civilian officials.

-He founded a new capital city at Pasargade in Fars and also established a government for his Empire.
-He declared the first charter of human rights known to mankind.
-He invented the first postal system; adopted by the future emperors of the Achaemenian dynasty.

Darius the Great  (550 – 486 BCE) was the third king of Achaemend Emperor. Darius proved to be a strong and wise ruler. He was tolerant toward other religions and cultures, promoted learning, agriculture, forestation, and the construction of highways. He also built the great palace cities of Susa and Persepolis.

-       Revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage system.

-       Trade was extensive, and under the Achaemenids there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities among the far reaches of the empire; Persian words for typical items of trade became prevalent throughout the Middle East and eventually entered the English language; examples are, bazaar, shawl, sash, turquoise, tiara, orange, lemon, melon, peach, spinach, and asparagus.

-       codification of the data, a universal legal system upon which much of later Iranian law would be based, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis, where vassal states would offer their yearly tribute at the festival celebrating the spring equinox.

Xerces the Great was the grandson of Cyrus and the son of Darius. Like them an Achaemenid, Xerxes I was king of the Persian Empire. (520 - 465 B.C) Xerxes was not the first-born son of Darius, but he was the first son of Darius' wife Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, which put him in the succession. Xerxes suppressed a revolt in Egypt. He fought against the Greeks in the Persian Wars, winning a victory at Thermopylae and suffering defeat at Salamis.

-       When a storm destroyed the bridges he had built to cross the Hellespont, he had them rebuilt and for seven days oversaw the crossing of his army, numbering 360,000 troops by modern estimates, supported by more than 700 ships.

-       He began an extensive building campaign at Persepolis.

-       He killed his brother's family at the queen's demand. He was  murdered by members of his court.

      -    The beginning of the decline of the Achaemenid dynasty.

Mayan

The Maya lived in subtropical Mesoamerica in parts of the countries that are now Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, and the Yucatan peninsula area of Mexico. The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy, calendar and some of arts and architectures gave influence around near countries. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Guatemala, and Northern El Salvador and to as far as central Mexico. The ancient Maya were united by a shared religious system and language, although there are actually many Mayan languages. While the political system was also shared among the Maya, each chiefdom had its own ruler. Battles between cities and protective alliances were frequent. Mayan religion was characterized by the worship of nature gods (especially the gods of sun, rain and corn), a priestly class, the importance of astronomy and astrology, rituals of human sacrifice, and the building of elaborate pyramidical temples. Some aspects of Mayan religion survive today among the Mayan Indians of Mexico and Central America, who practice a combination of traditional religion and Roman Catholicism. Human sacrifice usually associated with Maya religion in that people are sacrificed to the gods. The Maya creation myth involved a sacrifice made by the gods that had to be re-enacted by humans from time to time. One of the occasions of human sacrifice was the ball game. It is not known how often sacrifice of the loser ended the game, but the game itself was often deadly. The rules were that the ball couldn't touch the ground and the players couldn't hit the ball with their hands and/or feet. The team that lost was killed and used a sacrifice. They created rubber balls that came in soccer and baseball size. You had to get the ball into a small gold ring. This bull game was one of Maya’s accomplishments that were a matter of life or death, literally. Maya made a lot of accomplishments including bull game, because they were very intelligent. First of all they had a number line that used the number 0 and also made pyramids with no metal tools.  And they could use soil smartly and knew how to crop such as corn and beans. They developed mathematics (including zero) and grew maize. They also made own calendar primarily.

The Social System of the Aryans

1.     Explain the origins of the caste system

-    The origins of the caste system in India and Nepal are shrouded, but it seems to have originated some two thousand years ago. Under this system, which is associated with Hinduism, people were categorized by their occupations. Although originally caste depended upon a person's work, it soon became hereditary. Each person was born into an unalterable social status.

2.     What does the Aryan term “varna” means?

-       The meaning of the word "Varna" is not class or status but skin color.

3.     Briefly explain or identify who was in each of the four main varnas

-      The Brahmins: scholars, teachers, priests and sages.

-      The Kshatriya: kings, soldiers, and rulers.

-      The Vaishyas: merchants, cattle herders and agriculturists

-      The Shudras: laborers, craftsmen and artisans.

4.     What was the fifth varna that was eventually added and what was their role in society?

-    The people of this "fifth varna" are now called Dalits (the oppressed) or Harijans; they were formerly known as "untouchables" or "pariahs". However, this last addition social stratum is not a part of the religion of Hinduism.

5.     What does the term “jati” mean?

-     Jati means that a Hindu caste or distinctive social group of which there are thousands throughout India; a special characteristic is often the exclusive occupation of its male members.; A Hindu caste system; also, any of the subcastes of this system.

6.     What were some of the general rules of jati?

-    The jati was effectively a system similar to guilds, and was associated with occupation or tribe or sect. For example, as a general rule goldsmiths, carpenters and barbers form separate communities could, and cannot intermingle. Along with this, members of Jati are forbidden from changing from their caste, or community to another.

7.     What was the punishment for violating these rules?

-    Expelled from the jati

8.     What was the believed benefit of having castes and jatis in Aryan society?

-    Caste system served as an important instrument of order in a society in which mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled^; where the ritual rights as well as the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste. Also caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities and ensuring the division of labor.

9.     What were the “Upanishads”?

-    The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion.; The Upanishads form the core of Indian philosophy. They are an amazing collection of writings from original oral transmissions, which have been aptly described by Shri Aurobindo as "the supreme work of the Indian mind

10.   Explain the term “Brahman”

-    In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being. Brahman is conceived as personal ("with qualities"), impersonal ("without qualities") and supreme depending on the philosophical school.

11.   Explain the term “samsara”

-    Sansara is a Sanskrit and Pali term, which translates as "continuous movement" or "continuous flowing" and, in Buddhism, refers to the concept of a cycle of birth, and consequent decay and death, in which all beings in the universe participate, and which can only be escaped through enlightenment.

12.   Explain the term “karma”

-    Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies.

13.   What was “moksha” and what two things were required in order to attain it?

-    The spiritual goal of a Hindu is to become one with Brahma. This freedom is referred to as moksha. Until moksha is achieved, a Hindu believes that he/she will be repeatedly reincarnated in order that he/she may work towards self-realization of the truth; the release of the soul (Atman) from the cycle of rebirth. The individual soul (Atman) unites with Brahman the universal soul. There are different ways to Moksha.

-    1. Spiritual - involves acquiring spiritual knowledge through yoga and meditation. devotion to god

-    2. Working selflessly for the good of society.

14.   Briefly explain how the Upanishads explained the caste system.

-    Upanishads Closely connected with the caste system was the idea, derived from Hindu religious beliefs, that the individual soul would be reincarnated, or reborn into a new life in this world.

Compare and Contrast of Ancient Cultures

1.     Religious beliefs

-       All of these were the polytheistic

-       Babylonians professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates from what may be regarded as the dawn of history.

-       Egyptian focused on afterlife, life after death and this led to the invention of mummification that was done to pharaohs.

-       Phoenician religion was inspired by the powers and processes of nature.

2.     Writing systems

-       Phoenician writing system can be classified as an abjad, because it records only consonantal sounds, with the addition of matres lectionis for some vowels.

-       Babylonian writing system called Cuneiform script and it began as a system of pictographs and written on clay tablets, by means of a blunt reed for a stylus.

-       Egyptian writing system called Hieroglyphics that consisted of a series of pictures that represented letters and words.

3.     Geography

-       All of them were located near the source of water.

-       Phoenicians occupied a string of cities along the Mediterranean coast.

-       Babylonian was located in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates River.

-       Egyptians were located near the Nile River.

4.     Agriculture advances

-       The Phoenicians were not an agricultural people, because most of the land was not arable; therefore, they focused on commerce and trading instead.

-       Agriculture formed the economic base of Babylonian civilization. People did a lot of farming from the river.

-       Egyptians were very successful in agriculture, because they were able to farm the fertile soil around the Nile and produce their own food and cloth.

5.     Social structure of Society

-       Phoenicians where divided into three classes that citizens of Phoenicia were divided into. Social class was the top class which included priests, government officials, and land owners. The middle class included merchants, craftspeople, farmers, and fishermen. The working class included slaves and servants.

-       For Babylonians, King was at the top, nobles (the free citizens) were at the middle and slaves were at the bottom.

-      Ancient Egyptian’s social structure (right picture).

6.     Technology advencement and inventions

-       The Phoenicians first invented alphabet and they also built ships and the vessels that came to be known as the ships of Tarshish.

-       Babylonian technology and invention: The zodiac; and eclipses of the sun and moon could be foretold, Mathematics, metalworking, copper-working, glassmaking, lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, and water storage, as well as irrigation.

-       Egyptian technology and invention: pyramid, mummification, shadoof, locks, paper, plows, medicine, and eye make-up.

7.     Trade routes

-       Phoenician trade routes in the Mediterranean. They also sailed out through the Pillars of Hercules, the Strait of Gibraltar up the coast of Europe to Britain.

-       The main foundation for Babylon's economy was trade routes between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as agriculture fed by the rich Euphrates River.

-       Egyptians exported goods from several neighboring countries and they traded overseas such as Nubians.

Assignment for Sept.27

Uruk,on an ancient branch of the Euphrates River in Iraq now is the first major city in Sumer built in the 5th century BC, and is considered one of the largest Sumerian settlements and most important religious centers in Mesopotamia. It was continuously inhabited from about 5000 BC up to the 5th century AD.

Artistic- Uruk dominated by monumental mud-brick buildings decorated with mosaics of painted clay cones embedded in the walls, and extraordinary works of art. They first started to make a sculpture for representing of human faces. Large-scale sculpture in the round and relief carving appeared for the first time, together with metal casting using the lost-wax process. Also stone sculptures were created.

Society- Social classes began to emerge based on increasingly entrenched differences in wealth, power, and access to resources; the more stratified society became, the greater the coercive power its rulers could exercise over those beneath them in the social hierarchy.The difference of social statuses were implied by monumental architecture which was temples or halls and fancy goods that only rich people own. However we cannot recognize it with burials, because burials were scarce.

Politic- Gilgamesh who was king at this time ruled the city of Uruk at around 2750 BCE. He gradually grew in importance and increasingly sought luxury materials to express his power. These often spread from abroad, which caused to acquire either by trade or conquest. Further, Gilgamesh became the hero of many later stories and epics.

intelligence- Uruk people used simple labels and lists with pictographic symbols to use clay tablets; it helped to development of writing.

Religious: There was no organized set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. The Sumerians were probably the first to write down their beliefs, which were the inspiration for much of later Mesopotamian mythology, religion, and astrology.

Inanna, the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk.

Economy- people in numbers larger than had ever before been possible, could be marshaled and deployed to build their city's infrastructure—monumental buildings, defensive walls, and irrigation systems; to produce the economic surpluses necessary to support their rulers and others, including artists and artisans, who were not directly engaged in subsistence activities; and, when necessary, to fight in their city's army.

Assignment for cooking video

Cooking is very important for human. Even long years ago people cooked their food by fire. This video shows us why human have cooked and importance of cooking. Australopithecus is quiet similar to modern apes that eat raw food and just chew. However Homo erectus started to create fire and cooked food. from 2 million years people usually cook food until now. Why do cooked foods more important than raw foods? As following the research that snake is eaten both raw meat and cooked meat, it digest cooked meat much more quickly than raw meat. Furthermore, the rat that eats cooked carrot consumes their energy and spins whirl more time than before. Because cooked foods have more calories so that people gain more weight. These mean that getting more energy and digest food easily by break food and spread it into body. Also these give people more taste. From that reason people continue to cook food until our generation and people could develop brain such as creativity.