2013 History of Civilization - An Intro
- 2. TOPICS What is Civilization? Timeframe: from Big Picture to Here and Now Why bother studying? History of History From What Happened? to Why It Happened? How it is done How we will proceed
- 3. WHAT IS CIVILIZATION ? Easier to describe than to define Culture, Society, State ?.. “Culture” has more than one meaning From “Band” to “Society” State: sedentary society and social stratification Civilization (1) = complex society with identity Civilization (2) = influential culture of society Civis (latin) - citizen
- 4. CIVILIZATION TRAITS Culture Records Technology Science Cities Religion Rules Also: Society Arts Division of labor Trade & Money
- 5. CULTURE Culture meant “improvement” Cultura (latin) - cultivation Polychrome cave painting of bison Altamira, Spain, ca. 15000 BCE
- 6. RECORDS Animals use communication Advanced communication means use of language Recorded language needs symbols Use of symbols requires abstract thinking Jiahu proto-writing symbols Henan, China, ca. 6600 BCE Records mean accumulation of knowledge
- 7. DO’S AND DON'TS, RULES, LAWS Social animals’ behaviour is complex, they learn and follow rules Human language can be used to codify the rules Authority teaches and enforces the rules, i.e. passes the law Band evolves into society, rules and laws become the legal system Important abstraction: Ma’at represents truth and justice Egypt, before 2400 BCE Hammurabi Code clay tablets Babylon, ca. 1772 BCE
- 8. CITIES Social animals’ agglomerated dwellings are complex, and rely on division of labor From dwellings to settlements to towns to cities Natufian culture: stone age, before agriculture, sedentary (Fertile crescent, 11000 – 8000 BCE) How city is different from a huge village? Social stratification, government, services Jericho: 1000 inhabitants ca. 7000 BCE Babylon: 60000, ca. 1700 BCE Alexandria: 300000, ca. 200 BCE Rome: 1 million, ca. 1 CE London: 6.5 million, end of 19th century Tokyo: around 20 million, 21st century City as microcosm: Map of Jerusalem (XII century CE)
- 9. TECHNOLOGY Tools are used by primates, elephants, dolphins Control of fire: before 100’000 BCE Transition from wooden, bone, stone implements to metal tools: ca. 6000 BCE From making of dwellings to construction to engineering From invention of wheel (ca. 4000 BCE) to transportation Production of energy: from sails and harnessing rivers to combustion engines to electricity to nuclear power In communications: from drums to satellites TOPIO 3, 2011 τέχνη (greek) - skill, craft
- 10. SCIENCE Science is a system of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the world Science requires abstract thinking Science is different from technology: until XV-XVIth centuries CE there was little direct influence of science on practical life tasks Ancient science roots: astronomy, geometry, agriculture, mechanics Science evolved by 1600-s from proto-science (alchemy, astrology) by experiment and reasoning Scientific method (observation, explanation, prediction): from Aristotle to Renaissance Scientia (latin) - knowledge If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. — Francis Bacon (1605)
- 11. RELIGION Religion is a system of beliefs about the world Religion requires abstract thinking Religion evolved from cults of spirits and ancestors, with use of rituals Organized religion emerged as a part of Neolithic revolution Religion provided means in establishing order and stability: historically was no society without one; it maintains peace and justifies authority Religion is related to establishing values Can be theistic or atheistic, theocratic or anarchic Religio (latin) - obligation to gods Anselm of Canterbury (1033 - 1109)
- 12. CIVILIZATION IS COMPLEX “Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock” “Civilization is a race between disaster and education” Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) H. G. Wells (1866 – 1946)
- 13. CIVILIZATION AS IDENTITY Identity: Telling “close” from “foreign” Link between individual person and larger group (whole family/community/society) Rooted in individual desire to belong Difference between ancient Greeks and Romans: City (Polis) vs. State (Republic, then Empire) Modern nationalism: since 19th century – national state vs. empire Family/Clan, Language, Culture, Nation, Religion, State, Empire, Civilization Identitas (latin) - sameness From Punch (1907)
- 14. THE COSMIC CALENDAR 13.7 Billion years since the Big Bang represented as one year: The last 28 sec of the last day…
- 15. 12 200 YEARS FROM NEOLITH TO PRESENT Around 10200 BCE: Neolithic Era, or “New Stone” Age begins Single species of Homo Sapiens remains Emergence of farming ca. 3500 BCE: Invention of writing ca. 7500 BCE: Urban settlements in Fertile Crescent RECORDED HISTORY ca. 5500 BCE: Copper smelting Modern Time: 500 years 1000 1 CE 1000 2000 ca. 2000 BCE: Domesticated horses in Fertile Crescent 1000 CE: Leif Ericson lands in North America ca. 1000 BCE: Bronze Age Collapse bef. 4000 BCE: Myths (Creation, Flood)
- 16. OUR TIME: THE LAST SECOND OF COSMIC YEAR Before: Climate cools, population of Europe is stable at low level after losing half to Black Death in 1350-s, then picks up again Money are the new focus of economy Byzantium’s millennium ends in 1453 Renaissance: classical heritage absorbed Cities, Guilds, Universities Moveable type printing: books circulate Portuguese go far into Atlantic 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Conquest of America 30 years war Turkish war 7 years war Napoleonic Wars WWI WWII Steam Engine American Independence, Speed of Light measured French Revolution New World Discovery Electric Telegraph Bell’s Telephone TV broadcast Copernicus, Machiavelli, Sack of Rome Dutch Republic Telescope Luther’s Theses Commonwealth of England
- 17. OUR PERSPECTIVE Western civilization’s roots are Ancient Greeks and Romans (democracy, legal system, philosophy) Christianity (which in turn has roots in Hebrew Bible) So it is said that Western civilization sources are “Athens and Jerusalem” Notions like Renaissance, Modernity, etc. are not universal, they relate mostly to Western world Ἀριστοτέλης משה
- 18. WHY BOTHER ? Prediction: What lies ahead1 Education: Values, Models, Examples11 Inspiration and Entertainment111 “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” George Santayana (1863 – 1952) “Generals are always prepared to fight the last war” Saying popular in 20th century “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history” Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963)
- 19. THE ORIGINS Ancients had stories of heroes and kings Epic narratives existed before the records ἱστορία (greek) - inquiry Ἡρόδοτος 484 – 425 BCE Traveler, Writer “Father of History” (..or “of Lies”) Θουκυδίδης 460 – 395 BCE General, Researcher Impartiality, Fact checking
- 20. ANY PROGRESS ? Civilization is definitely moving… but where? Hesiod (Ἡσίοδος, ca. 750 – 650 BCE): from Age of Gold to Silver to Bronze to Iron – decline in happiness With passing of time there seemed to be always more things and more people around Bible: (1) Fall of Man (2) Kingdom to come After Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Industrial Revolution : Era of Optimism, ending in 20th century with World Wars Progressus (latin) - an advance
- 21. THE CYCLES ָּלכ יןֵא ְו-ׁש ָּדָּח,תַּחַּתׁשֶמָּשַּה(ֶתלֶהֹק) And there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9) 1377 1776 1918
- 22. FROM WHAT TO WHY From facts to explanations From surface to inner workings Comparison of size between ships of Zheng He (1421) and Christopher Columbus (1492) 1997 Why some civilizations are more successful than another? The Rise of the West by W. McNeal (1963)
- 23. HOW IT WORKS Sources: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Establishing Chronology Comparisons and generalizations Use of Language and other evidence Archaeology and excavations Artifacts (art, buildings, implements, junk) Dating by Radiocarbon method DNA analysis Anna Comnena (1083-1153) and Alexiad (1148)
- 24. HISTORY AROUND US January 19, 2013, Saturday
- 25. IMPORTANT UNDERSTANDINGS Everything is changing: primarily our grasp on facts and interpretation of what is going on Evolution: humanity (societies and cultures, science and technology) evolves, civilizations raise, compete, and fall Moreover, our understanding of all these things also evolves All periods and definitions are imprecise (the devil is in his usual area) We have our position but we are not judgmental Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis — attributed to emperor Lothair I (795 – 855)
- 26. HOW WE WILL PROCEED Prerequisites: Open mind Some geography Basic perspective Questions “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please” Go with timelines, by cultures Focus on most durable: the art, also on fields where the progress is undeniable: science, technology Ars longa, vita brevis Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)
- 27. SUMMARY Civilization, or rather civilizations, are complex societies (and their cultures) defining life of humankind for more than last five thousand years Learning more about history of civilization is important for understanding of what is present and what may lay in the future History starts with facts and progresses to questions of civilizations’ evolution Questions?
- 28. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Global spreading of Homo Sapiens Beginnings of agriculture Cradles of civilization The Fertile Crescent From stone to metals The Ancient Sumerians
- 29. Thank You