Chapter 3

Early African Societies and

the Bantu Migrations

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Development of African Agriculture

■ Sahara region used to be grassy steppe lands with

water (10,000 BCE)

❑Abundant hunting, fishing, wild grains

❑Domestication of cattle ca. 7500 B.C.E.

❑ Later, cultivation of sorghum, yams,

increasingly diverse

■ Widespread desiccation of the Sahara ca. 5000

B.C.E.

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The Gift of the Nile

■ People are driven

into river regions--

Nile

■ Annual predictable

flooding makes rich

soil for agriculture

■ “Gift of the Nile”

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Early Agriculture in Nile Valley■ 5000 B.C.E. people domesticate donkeys and cattle (from Sudan), and grow wheat and

barley (from Mesopotamia)

■ Adaptation to seasonal flooding of Nile through construction of dikes, waterways

❑ Villages dot Nile by 4000 B.C.E.

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■ As in Mesopotamia, a need for formal organization of public affairs

■ Need to maintain order and organize community projects

■ Egypt: simple, local irrigation projects, rural rather than heavily urban development, trade

networks develop

Impact on Political Organization

Unification of Egypt

■ Legendary conqueror Menes, ca. 3100, unifies

Egyptian kingdom

❑ Tradition: founder of Memphis, cultural and

political center of ancient Egypt

❑ Instituted the rule of the pharaoh

■ Claimed descent from the gods

■ Absolute rulers, had slaves buried with them

from 2600 B.C.E.

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The Pyramids

■ Symbols of the pharaoh’s authority and divine status

■ A testimony of the pharaohs’ ability to marshal Egypt’s resources

■ Largest Khufu (Cheops), 2.3 M limestone blocks, average weight 2.5 tons

■ Role: burial chambers for pharaohs

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Relations with Nubia

■ Competition over Nile trade

■ Military conflict drove Nubians to the south

❑ Established kingdom of Kush, ca. 2500 B.C.E.

■ Interaction through diplomacy, Nubian

mercenaries, and intermarriage

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Egyptian Urban Culture

■ Well-defined social classes

❑ Pharaohs to slaves

❑ Patriarchal societies, notable exceptions: female pharaoh Hatshepsut (r. 1473-1458 B.C.E.)

❑ Egypt: peasants and slaves (agriculture), pharaoh, professional military and administrators

❑Nubia: complex and hierarchical society

❑ Patriarchy in both but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia

❑Women act as regents, like female pharaoh Hatshepsut

❑Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes

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■ Nomadic horseman, Hyksos, invade Egypt

■ Used bronze weapons, chariots, and bows (Egypt does not have)

■ Captures Memphis in 1674 BCE

■ Assyrians with iron weapons invade from the north

■ After sixth century BCE series of foreign conquests

■ Trade along Nile River:

❑ More difficult in Nubia due to cataracts

❑ Sea trade in Mediterranean

■ Transportation: sailboats, carts, and donkey caravans

■ Trade networks

❑ Egypt and Nubia: exotic goods from Nubia (ebony, gold, gems, slaves) and

pottery, wine, linen, decorative items from Egypt

❑ Egypt and the north: especially wood, like cedar from Lebanon

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Hieroglyphs

■ “Holy inscriptions”❑ Writing appeared at least by 3200 B.C.E.

❑ Survives on monuments, buildings, and sheets of papyrus

❑ Hieroglyphs for formal writing, hieratic script for everyday affairs used from 2600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.

❑ Scribes live very privileged lives

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Development of Organized Religious

Traditions

■ Principal gods Amon and Re

■ Religious tumult under Amenhotep IV

(Akhenaten) (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.)

❑ Introduces sole worship of sun god Aten

❑ One of the world’s earliest expressions of monotheism

■ Death of Akhenaten, traditional priests restore the

cult of Amon-Re to privileged status

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Mummification and the Afterlife

■ Inspiration of the cycles of the Nile

■ Belief in the revival of the dead

❑ First: ruling classes only, later expanded to include lower

classes

■ Cult of Osiris

❑ Lord of the underworld

❑ Power to determine who deserved immortality

❑ Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death,

immortality

❑ Held out hope of eternal reward for those who lived moral

lives

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Bantu Migrations, 3000-1000 B.C.E.■ The dynamics of the Bantu

expansion

❑Bantu-language group

from west central Africa

❑Live along banks of

rivers; use canoes

❑Trade with

hunting/gathering forest

people

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■Early migrations of Bantu (3000-1000 B.C.E.)

❑Absorb much of the population of

hunter/gather/fisher people

❑By 1000 B.C.E. occupy most of Africa south

of the equator

❑Features of the Bantu

■Use canoes and settle along banks of

rivers; spread from there

■Agricultural surplus causes them to move

inland from rivers

■Become involved in trade

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Chapter 4 Early Societies in South Asia

15©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Harappan Society and Its Neighbors, ca. 2000 B.C.E.

Foundations of Harappan Society■ Major cities: Harappa (Punjab

region) and Mohenjo-daro (mouth

of Indus River)

❑ 70 smaller sites excavated (total 1500)

❑ Rich deposits but less predictable than

the Nile

■ Regional center❑ Layout, architecture suggests public

purpose❑ Broad streets, citadel, pool, sewage❑ Standardized weights, measures,

architectural styles, and brick sizes

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Harappan Society and Culture

■ Social distinctions, as seen from living styles

■ Harappan civilization: influence on later Indian culture

■ Harappan society declined from 1900 BCE onward

■Possibility: natural catastrophes such as floods or

earthquakes

■Population began to abandon their cities by about 1700

B.C.E.

■Almost entirely collapsed by about 1500 B.C.E.

■Some Harappan cultural traditions maintained

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The Early Aryans■ Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses,

cattle

❑ Cattle not sacred until many centuries

later

■ Religious and literary works called the

Vedas

❑ Sanskrit: sacred language

■ Development of iron metallurgy

■ Increasing reliance on agriculture

❑Tribal connections evolve into political

structures

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Varna: The Caste System

■ The meaning of caste: hereditary,

unchangeable social classes

❑ Brahmin, priest

❑ Kshatriya, warrior

❑ Vaishya, merchant

❑ Shudra, serf

❑ “Untouchables”

Untouchables

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Patriarchy in Ancient Indian Society

■ “Rule of the father”

■ A social order that stood alongside the caste

system, and varna hierarchy

■ Enforced in the Lawbook of Manu

❑ Women to be subject to fathers, husbands, sons

❑ Women’s most important duties to bear children and

maintain wholesome homes

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Teachings of the Upanishads■ Brahman: the universal soul

■ Highest goal: to escape reincarnation and join with Brahman

■ Karma: accounting for incarnations (good or bad deeds done in life)

■ Moksha: permanent liberation from physical incarnation

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