The end of the Classical Era.Between 200-850 CE many of the classical

states and civilizations of the world experienced severe disruption, decline or collapse:Han ChinaRoman EmpireGupta IndiaMeroeAxumMaya Teotihuacan

An Age of Accelerating Connections

Post-ClassicalMedieval

Middle Ages**Third wave civilizations**

Each of the TWC were culturally unique, but like their predecessors, they featured states, cities, specialized economic roles, sharp class and gender distinctions.

All of them borrowed heavily from their predecessors.One of the largest TWC = Islam

Began in Arabia 7th century CE – projecting Arab peoples into a prominent role of builders of an enormous empire – all while offering a new religion.

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, interior West Africa, coast of East Africa, Spain, SE Europe, and more…

Came closer than any other civ to unite all mankind under its ideals.

Patterns of TWC

Older/classical civilizations that persisted or were reconstructedByzantine Empire (E ½ of the old RE)

continued the patterns of Mediterranean Christian civilization and persisted until 1453. (was overrun by Turks)

China – Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties restored China’s imperial unity and Confucian traditions.

Indian civ retained its ancient patterns of caste and Hinduism amid vast cultural diversity.

Ghana, Mali, Songhay sustained long distance trade (Niger River civ).

Another pattern of TWC

Byzantine Empire (east)

Following the collapse of the Maya and Teotihuacan about 900 CE it opened the way for other peoples to give new shape to this ancient civilization. AztecsIncas

Pattern continues in MesoAmeria and Andes

The RE collapsed – kings and church leaders sought to maintain links with the older Greco-Roman-Christian traditions of the classical Med civs.

With no empire, new, decentralized societies emergedGermanic peoples – N and W EuropeFor 5 centuries this region was weak when

compared to the vibrant and powerful civ of the Islamic world and China

However after 1000 CE, W Europe will emerge rapidly and build expansive states…

Change in human societies was the product of contact with strangers, or at least with their ideas, armies, goods, or diseases.

The pace of such interaction accelerated considerably during post-classical/TWC period.

TradeEmpires grew largerResult: large scale empires and long distance

trade spread ideas, technologies, food and germs

Long distance trade became more important than ever in the Post Classical age.A network of exchange and communication

extending all across Afro-Eurasian and separately in parts of the Americas as well.

Trade altered consumption, encouraged people to specialize in particular products.

In short – Trade diminished the economic self sufficiency of local societies.

Commerce and Culture500-1500 CE

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=crash+course+world+history&view=detail&mid=ED39313F6C5839F32A88ED39313F6C5839F32A88&first=21&adlt=strict

Euroasia gave rise to one of the world’s most extensive and sustained networks of exchange among its diverse people.

Silk Road – a reference to the most famous product.

Silk roads

For 2000 years, goods, ideas, technologies, and diseased made their way across Eurasia on the several routes of the Silk Roads.

Large camel caravans traversed harsh, dangerous steppes and deserts – most goods were luxury products destined for the elite and wealthy.

SILK came to symbolize the Eurasian exchange system – generally moved from East to West. (China)CurrencySymbol of high statusAssociated with world religions

Map of Silk Road

The volume of trade on the Silk Roads were small yet it had important economic and social consequences.

Trickled down to affect the lives of ordinary farmers.

Buddhism spread widely throughout Central and East Asia.

Buddhism had appealed to merchants throughout India who admired and appreciated its universal message to that of the Brahmin-dominated Hinduism.

To the west Persian Zoroastrianism largely blocked the spread of Buddhism but in the oasis cities of Central Asia, Buddhism took hold.

Thousands of Buddhist texts found in Dunhuang where many Silk Roads joined.

Spread more slowly through pastoral societies in Central Asia.

Transfer of Culture-Buddhism

Transfer of disease – Bubonic Plague

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQWhen contact among human communities occurred, people were exposed to foreign disease for which they had little immunity.

Athens – 430 BCE – afflicted new and unidentified infectious disease that entered Greece via seaborne trade from Egypt that killed 25% of its army.

Small pox and measles devastated both the RE and Han China contributing to their collapse – strengthened the appeal of Christianity and Buddhism.

Between 534-750 CE there were intermittent outbreaks of bubonic plague that ravaged the coastal areas of the Med Sea as black rats arrived by boat from India. Constantinople = lost 10,000 people per day during a 45 day

period in 534 CE.

Transfer of Disease

Most well known spread was associated with the Mongol Empire which briefly unified much of the Eurasian landmass during the 13-14th centuries CE.

Interaction spread the Black Death – bubonic plague, anthrax or a package of epidemic diseases from China to Europe.

Between 1346-1350, 1/3 or more of the pop of Europe perished from the plague.

Immunity occurred over time in Eurasia – not in the Americas.

The Indian Ocean represented the world’s largest sea-based system of exchange.

Desire for goods-porcelain from China, spices from Southeast Asia, cotton and pepper from India, ivory and gold from Africa drove commerce.

Transportation costs were lower on sea.In the era of TWC (500-1500) this trade led to

two things: (maritime culture)Economic and political revival of China – Tang and

Song dynasties, unified state, Chinese products Rise of Islam

Sea Roads (maritime silk roads)

The western side of the IO gave rise to an East African civilization known as Swahili-8 century CE (Somalia to Mozambique).

An African merchant class emerged due to demand for gold, ivory, quartz, leopard skins, and slaves.

Thoroughly urban – politically independent, governed by its own king. No unification.

Stratified by sharp class distinctions between mercantile elite and commoners.

Traded with Arabs, Indians, and Persians merchants.Cosmopolitan societyQuickly became Islamic – introduced by Arab tradersSharply divided Swahili cities from their western African

neighbors.

Sea Roads – East Africa and Swahili

N. Africa = cloth, glassware, weapons, booksSahara = copper, salt (dates)South Sahara = agricultural peoples grew

crops, textiles, mined goldSub-Saharan = 2 ecological zones

Savanna grasslands – grain (millet)Forest – yams and nuts

Sand Roads

Long distance trade fostered new political structuresCentral Sudan = b/t forest and Sahara developed new

states/empires500-1600 CE = Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem and

HausaMonarchies with elaborate court lifeWealth attained through sub-Saharan tradeSlavery took root in W. AfricaMost came from states farther southSlave trade began across Sahara1100-1400 CE, 5,500 slaves per year made trekNot until 1440s did Africans become the major source

of slaves for Europeans

Thriving civilizations

Developed separately from the Eastern Hemisphere

No sustained contact between two great landmasses

No equivalent to the trade of the Silk, Sea or Sand Roads of the East took place in the West.

No cultural traditions spread like Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam had in the East

However, there was a loose interactive web – maize

Western Hemisphere