Sumeria: symbolic writing
The earliest Mesopotamian civilization, centered in the south, developed a symbolic writing system. Although they began as pictographs, Sumerian cuneiform evolved into a written language based completely on abstract symbols.

Military Empire
Mesopotamia's geographic exposure to its neighbors left it open to attack. The result was the development of militarized states, including the most brutal, that of the Assyrian Empire. This empire was destroyed in 612 BC by a combined force of Babylonians and Medes.

MESOPOTAMIA

Kings and law
Mesopotamian kings were mortals who needed to unify their rule through written law. One of the most famous collections of law is called Hammurabi's Code, which instituted punishments based on a person's rank in society.

Akhenaton
Egypt was polytheistic, with many gods. But one pharoah, in a combination of personal spirituality and an effort to destroy the power of the priestly class, developed a cult to the worship of one god, Aton. When he died, his nephew Tut (originally Tutankaton, then Tutankamen) became pharoah. He died young and was buried in extraordinary splendor.

EGYPT

Geography
Unlike Mespotamia, Egyptian geography was stable. The Nile River reliably rose and fell each year, leaving behind rich silt on either side for planting. This gave the Egyptians a benign view of the supernatural, with gods that helped humans. The afterlife was a pleasant continuation of life on earth.

God-kings
Egyptian kings were also part god, and thus had little need for written codes. If the pharoah said it was law, then it was law.

Stability
Egyptians relied on continuity to guide their lives, thinking of time as cyclical rather than linear. Change was seen as meaning discontinuity and strife. Although later creating an Empire of her own, originally Egypt relied on trade and diplomacy. An era of Nile droughts and unpredictability led to an era of empire.

PALESTINE

Monotheism
The Hebrews became a people when Abraham left Mespotamia for the eastern Mediterranean. Abraham and his followers believed in one god, and that the Hebrews had been given a special mission of worship.

Invisible God
Unlike the civilizations that surrounded them, the one God of the Hebrews was everywhere, thus there were no images of him. He was invisible, which made religion portable. This separated the ceremonies of worship (performed by priests) from prayer (performed by believers). The Jewish religion was the first loyalty of a Hebrew, regardless of where s/he was living.

Study of the law
Priests would gradually fade from Judaism as the emphasis grew on studying the laws of God. During the Babylonian Empire, Jewish priests and rabbis (scholars) had been forcibly relocated to Babylon. Prophets and scholars living in Babylonian codified the laws of Moses and provided a textual base for studying God's law and interpreting it for future generations.

Science
In looking at the natural world, Greeks developed techniques of rationalism. Instead of explaining natural phenomena as the acts of gods, Greek scholars created explanations based on natural laws and reason. This is seen as the origin of our modern scientific world view.

Limited Democracy
Athens during the 5th century BC created a system of limited democracy. Male adult Greek citizens were all able to take part in decisions. Argumentation skills were necessary to dominate politics. People look to Athens for the origin of modern democracy.

Sparta and Athens
Unlike cosmopolitan Athens, Sparta was a land-based militarized city-state. Its ideas of collectivism, state responsibility, and military virtue contrast with Athens' focus on trade and individualism. The "Golden Age" of Athenian trade empire ended with the Peloponnesian War against Sparta.

GREECE

Geography
Greek geography is dominated by rocky landforms and water. As a result, farming was limited and the sea became the source of products and trade. Geographic isolation produced competing city-states.

Philosophy
City-states like Athens, which relied on foreign trade, were open to the ideas of other peoples. They developed highly sophisticated societies, and philosophies based on the role and responsibilities of the individual person. Most people look to Ancient Greece for the origins of modern individualism.

HELLENISTIC ERA

Alexander's Empire
A Macedonian king, Alexander's love of 5th century Athenian culture motivated him to create an empire. Beginning by capturing Greece itself, his army went on to conquer the Persian Empire which had taken over Greek colonies on the coast of Asia Minor. Accompanied by scholars and scientists, Alexander proceeded to expand this empire all the way to the Indus River. His intention was to spread the culture of the Greek world.

ROME

At first just a city on the Italian peninsula, Rome began expanding in the 6th century BC. It overtook its neighbors to the north, the Etruscans, and adopted their form of government and technology. Conquest of Greek colonies to the south brought trade, religion and science.

Two-house governing
The Roman Republic is the origin of our two-house government, where the Senate was controlled by land-holding patricians and the Council by plebeians.

Roman Victories
Rome expanded from the Italian peninsula to take over the Carthaginian empire, most of the Hellenistic empire, and beyond. One reason was the Roman legion, superior to the phalanxes and formations used by other armies. Gradually, soldiers' loyalty to Rome would be replaced by loyalty to individual commanders.

BARBARIAN EUROPE

Migrations
Roman sources consider the migration of Germanic tribes an invasion which destroyed Roman civilization. The people who came from the 4th century onward were seeking land, and had no interest in the cities of the Roman Empire. They destroyed the infrastructure, and until they were Christianized by the Roman Church, sacked churches and towns alike.

The Roman Church
The division of Europe in tribal kingdoms left the Bishop of Rome as the only person who could claim any authority over all of Europe. Eventually separating from the other Christian bishops to the East, he became Pope, or father of the Church. This meant little until the tribes were Christianized.

CAROLINGIAN EUROPE

In AD 800, a Germanic king of the Frankish tribe became ruler of the first unified empire since Rome.

Charlemagne's people had formed an alliance with the Pope to achieve this end. The Church supported the Christian Franks, and in turn the Franks supported the Church. This led to the expansion of Christianity throughout Europe and the institution of civic authority.

Crusades
As the invasions quieted down, Europe was left with a highly militarized feudal society. The result was numerous wars amongst the lords. At the same time, bishops in the east were pleading for support against the expansion of Muslim kingdoms in Palestine. Popes saw an opportunity to channel the violence of European knights and unify Europe under the cause of Christianity, not coincidentally also increasing their own power. The Crusades were not always successful, but they provided an outlet for Christian culture and the opportunity of possessing lands to the east.

Chivalric culture
The cult of knights and ladies emerged into its own culture, creating a foundation for our modern ideas of romantic love. It also put women on a pedestal. While this might have been an improvement from women being derided by Church fathers as the founders of evil (because of Eve's transgression in the Garden of Eden), it did not increase rights for women.

MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Viking invasions and feudalism
During the 9th century, Europe again experienced invasions. From the north, Vikings began raiding coastal towns, eventually moving into the regions and setting up farms. From the east, Magyars and other eastern tribes threatened, and from the south, Muslim Saracens from north Africa raided Italian and Spanish ports. The result was decentralized government, since kings were unable to respond quickly to such threats. A feudal system developed, with kings partitioning their land among lords loyal to them. These lords in turn partitutioned their areas. Those receiving land pledged military service to their lords.

Trade and Towns
Once the invasions had settled down, markets emerged to trade the new surpluses of agriculture. Most historians agree these markets became the basis of towns. Medieval towns were controlled by merchant guilds, with craft guilds controlling the production of goods.

Townswomen
Unlike aristocratic women, townswomen might experience considerable independence as part of a guild or running a business. The most independent vocation for females was that of midwife, a woman who cared for pregnant women and delivered their children.

LATE MEDIEVAL CRISIS

Famine
Around 1300, the climate of Eurasia became cooler and wetter. Crops unused to these conditions began to fail, and famine resulted. Poor nutrition and cooler climate led to a decrease in people's immunity, and many caught colds.

Black Death
In 1347, bubonic plague arrived in Italy. A blood-borne disease from Central Asia, it was brought in the belly of fleas who lived on Eurasian Black Rats. These rats travelled on ships from the east, living happily among people and nesting in crowded port towns. Although plague was deadly, it was not usually easy to catch. But the respiratory problems of the population turned the plague into a pneumonic form, easily communicable through coughing and sneezing. An epidemic ensued which killed off 1/3 to 1/2 of the entire population of Europe, and changed its culture.

RENAISSANCE ITALY

Classicism
Around 1350, a scholar named Petrarch revived the classics through his letters to dead classical figures like Virgil. Petrarch bemoaned the terrible times he lived in (this was during the plague years) and longed for the days of the classical past. Classicists recovered the works of Greek and Roman writers, and translated them into vernacular languages.

Wealth from trade
The trading families of Renaissance Italy became very wealthy, but medieval standards did not value monetary wealth. In increasing their social status, the wealthy merchant classes spent much money on patronizing the arts and sciences. Renaissance artists became famous creating commissioned works incorporating the new values and scientific perspective.

REFORMATION

The group that would be called Protestants advanced medieval mysticism and Christian humanism by claiming that all Christians should read the Bible for themselves.

Luther
A monk, professor, and translator of the Bible into German, Martin Luther had a personal crisis in which he concluded that salvation occurred by faith in God alone. Good works and sacraments did not instill faith.

His Ninety-Five Theses (1517), presenting his reasons and denying the power of the Pope, started the Protestant Reformation. Because of its start in the support of competing German princes, Lutheranism stayed a predominately German phenomenon.

Calvin
A French lawyer, John Calvin developed ideas of predestination (if God is all powerful, he already knows the destiny of every soul). Calvin codified Protestantism and created a community in Geneva, Switzerland. Calvinism achieved an international focus: French Calvinists were called Huguenots, English Calvinists were called Puritans.

DISCOVERY

Iberian Expansion
In 1453, the Ottoman Turks took Constantinople, the cross-over city between Europe and Asia. It was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and had been Christian-controlled under the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans became wealthy taxing all those who passed through the city, which they renamed Istanbul. Portuguese explorers began to look for ways to sail around Africa to get the goods they wanted from Asia.

In fighting the Muslims and pushing them out of Spain, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) brought Catholic ideals to the fore. Spain would sponsor voyages to compete with Portugal in trying to find a sea route to Asia. After being rejected by several courts due to his faulty geographic ideas, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus was finally sponsored by Spain for a voyage to sail west. Although he thought he'd found islands near India (the latitude was the same), he'd actually discovered a New World.

RELIGIOUS WARS

Catholic vs Protestant
Internally, Europe was torn apart in the 16th and early 17th centuries by wars of religion. Catholics and Protestants fought for religious and political control of principalities and kingdoms. Battles often took place in the streets and villages, and civilians were often involved.

Thirty Years War
Between 1618 and 1648, most European countries were involved in alliances against each other. Though at first it was strictly Protestant against Catholic factions, by 1648 the motives had shifted. Nationalism became more important than religion, for example when Catholic France allied with Protestant Sweden to prevent the expansion of German and Spanish Habsburgs.

EARLY MODERN ERA

Scientific Revolution
Concepts of rationalism and empiricism (knowledge gained through the five senses) will combine to create the scientific method. We use this all the time: develop a hypothesis (or thesis), gather data, and reach conclusions.

Enlightenment
Applying scientific rationalism to society will bring us to the Enlightenment of the 18th century, which will give birth to ideas like political liberalism. Several of today's economic and political philosophies will have their origins in this era.

MODERN ERA

Industrialization
The application of cheap coal-based fuels to run steam engines will create a power and technology revolution. This will lead to steam-powered pumps, railroads, and steamships.

American and French Revolutions
Enlightenment concepts of political liberalism will create movements for independence and freedom. The American and French Revolutions, based on the natural rights of man, will set precedents for the world.

Victorianism
The new industrial classes, who own the factories, will attempt to create social status for themselves through the application of moral and ethical standards. These will include the separation of male and female spheres of life.

World War I
The Great War will begin in 1914 as a result of secret alliances and a political assassination. Millions will lose their lives, and the aftermath will leave Europe scarred for generations.

Russian Revolution
During the war, Russia will become a communist country through two revolutions.

Fascism
In the midst of post-war depressions, fascism will become a nationalistic, militaristic alternative to more socialist programs. Emerging first in Italy, fascism will become the policy of the Nazi government of Germany.

World War II
The expansion of the fascist powers will lead us into World War II, where the nations and colonies of the Allied powers will fight Italian fascists, German Nazis, and Japanese imperialists.

CONTEMPORARY ERA

Cold War
Allied during World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States will face each other during the Cold War, which lasted from 1945-1989. Soviet Communism and American Capitalism will face off at several sites throughout the world. The Korean and Vietnam Wars will demonstrate the power of Asian communism as well.

Decolonization
In the post-World War II depression, Europe will lose many of her colonies to nationalist revolutions. These revolutions will be based on the same Enlightenment ideas of earlier revolutions, but will be impacted by Cold War rivalries as well.

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