The History Book

HISTTHOE RY BOOK



HISTTHOE RY BOOK

DK LONDON PRODUCER, PRE-PRODUCTION First American Edition, 2016 Robert Dunn Published in the United States by PROJECT EDITORS Alexandra Beeden, Sam Kennedy SENIOR PRODUCER DK Publishing Mandy Inness 345 Hudson Street, SENIOR EDITOR New York, New York 10014 Victoria Heyworth-Dunne ILLUSTRATIONS Copyright © 2016 James Graham, Vanessa Hamilton Dorling Kindersley Limited US EDITOR DK, a Division of Penguin Random House Christy Lusiak DK DELHI EDITORIAL ASSISTANT LLC PICTURE RESEARCHERS 16 17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Kate Taylor Aditya Katyla, Deepak Negi PROJECT ART EDITOR PICTURE RESEARCH MANAGER 001–283973–July/2016 All rights reserved. Katie Cavanagh Taiyaba Khatoon DESIGNER JACKET DESIGNER Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this Vanessa Hamilton Dhirendra Singh publication may be reproduced, stored in, DESIGN ASSISTANT SENIOR DTP DESIGNER or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means Renata Latipova Harish Aggarwal (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, MANAGING ART EDITOR MANAGING JACKETS EDITOR recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Lee Griffiths Saloni Singh MANAGING EDITOR Published in Great Britain by Dorling Coproduced with Kindersley Limited. Gareth Jones ART DIRECTOR SANDS PUBLISHING A catalog record for this book is available SOLUTIONS from the Library of Congress. Karen Self ISBN 978-1-4654-4510-0 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHING DIRECTOR 4 JENNER WAY, ECCLES, AYLESFORD, KENT ME20 7SQ DK books are available at special discounts Liz Wheeler when purchased in bulk for sales PUBLISHING DIRECTOR EDITORIAL PARTNERS David and Sylvia Tombesi-Walton promotions, premiums, fundraising, or Jonathan Metcalf educational use. For details, contact: DK JACKET DESIGNER DESIGN PARTNER Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Simon Murrell Natalie Godwin Street, New York, New York 10014 [email protected] JACKET EDITOR Claire Gell Printed and bound in Hong Kong JACKET DESIGN DEVELOPMENT original styling by A WORLD OF IDEAS: MANAGER SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW Sophia MTT STUDIO8 DESIGN www.dk.com

CONTRIBUTORS REG GRANT, CONSULTANT EDITOR PHILIP PARKER R. G. Grant has written extensively in the fields of military Philip Parker is a historian specializing in the classical history, general history, current affairs, and biography. and medieval world. He is the author of the DK Companion His publications have included the DK books Flight: Guide to World History, The Empire Stops Here: A Journey 100 Years of Aviation, Battle at Sea, and World War I: Around the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, The Northmen’s The Definitive Visual Guide. Fury: A History of the Viking World, and general editor of The Great Trade Routes: A History of Cargoes and FIONA COWARD Commerce Over Land and Sea. He was a contributor to DK History Year by Year and DK History of the World in 1000 Dr. Fiona Coward is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Objects. He previously worked as a diplomat and a publisher Anthropology at Bournemouth University, UK. Her research of historical atlases. focuses on the changes in human society, from the very small social groups of our prehistory to the global social SALLY REGAN networks that characterize people’s lives today. Sally Regan has contributed to over a dozen DK titles THOMAS CUSSANS including History, World War II, and Science. She is also an award-winning documentary maker for Channel Four Thomas Cussans, writer and historian, has contributed and the BBC in the UK. to numerous historical works. They include DK’s Timelines of World History, History Year by Year, and History: The PHILIP WILKINSON Ultimate Visual Guide. He was previously the publisher of The Times History of the World and The Times Atlas Philip Wilkinson has written many books on historical of European History. His most recent published work subjects, heritage, architectural history, and the arts. As is The Holocaust. well as bestsellers such as What The Romans Did For Us and widely-praised titles such as The Shock of the Old JOEL LEVY and Great Buildings, he has contributed to numerous encyclopaedias and popular reference books. Joel Levy is a writer specializing in history and the history of science. He is the author of more than 20 books, including Lost Cities, History’s Greatest Discoveries, and 50 Weapons that Changed the World.

6 CONTENTS 10 INTRODUCTION 40 Attachment is the 66 By this sign conquer root of suffering The Battle of Milvian Bridge HUMAN ORIGINS Siddartha Gautama preaches Buddhism 68 The city which had 200,000 YEARS AGO–3500 BCE taken the whole world 42 A clue to the existence was itself taken 20 At least as important as of a system of picture- The Sack of Rome Columbus’s journey to writing in the Greek lands America or the Apollo The palace at Knossos 70 Further events 11 expedition The first humans arrive 44 In times of peace, sons THE MEDIEVAL in Australia bury their fathers, but WORLD in war it is the fathers 500–1492 22 Everything was so who bury their sons beautiful, so fresh The Persian Wars 76 Seek to enlarge the Cave paintings at Altamira empire and make it 46 Administration is in 28 The foundations of the hands of the many today’s Europe were and not of the few forged in the events Athenian democracy of the late Ice Age The Big Freeze 52 There is nothing more glorious impossible to he Belisarius retakes Rome 30 A great civilization arose on the Anatolian plain who will try 78 Truth has come and The settlement at Çatalhöyük The conquests of Alexander falsehood has vanished the Great Muhammad receives the 32 Further events 54 If the Qin should ever get divine revelation ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS his way with the world, 82 A leader in whose then the whole world shadow the Christian 6000 BCE–500 CE will end up his prisoner nation is at peace The First Emperor unifies China The crowning of Charlemagne 36 To bring about the rule of righteousness 58 Thus perish all tyrants 84 The ruler is wealthy but in the land The assassination of the state is destroyed The Law Code of Hammurabi Julius Caesar The An Lushan revolt 38 All the lands have fallen 86 A surge in spirit and an prostrate beneath his awakening in intelligence sandals for eternity The founding of Baghdad The temples of Abu Simbel 94 Never before has such a terror appeared in Britain The Viking raid on Lindisfarne 96 The Roman church has never erred The Investiture Controversy

7 98 A man destined to become 112 Give the sun the blood 156 War has become master of the state of enemies to drink very different Minamoto Yoritomo The foundation of Tenochtitlan The Battle of Castillon becomes Shogun 118 Scarce the tenth person 158 As different from ours 100 That men in our kingdom of any sort was left alive as day and night shall have and keep all The outbreak of the Black The Columbian Exchange these liberties, rights, Death in Europe and concessions 160 My conscience The signing of the 120 I have worked to discharge is captive to the Magna Carta heaven’s will Word of God Hongwu founds the Martin Luther’s 95 theses 102 The most potent man, Ming dynasty as regards forces and 164 He began war in Bohemia, lands and treasure, that 128 Cast down the which he subjugated and exists in the world adversaries of forced into his religion Kublai Khan conquers my Christian people The Defenestration the Song The fall of Granada of Prague 104 I did not tell half of 130 I have newly devised 170 Royalty is a remedy what I saw, for I knew 28 letters for the spirit of rebellion I would not be believed King Sejong introduces The conquests of Marco Polo reaches Shangdu a new script Akbar the Great 106 Those who until now 132 Further events 172 They cherished a great have been mercenaries hope and inward zeal for a few coins achieve THE EARLY The voyage of eternal rewards MODERN ERA the Mayflower The fall of Jerusalem 1420–1795 174 We will cut off his head 108 The work of giants with the crown upon it The construction of Angkor Wat 138 As my city falls, I shall The execution of Charles I fall with it 110 He left no court emir nor The fall of Constantinople 176 The very being of the royal office holder without plantations depends the gift of a load of gold 142 Following the light upon the supply of Mansa Musa’s hajj to Mecca of the sun we left Negro servants the Old World The formation of the Royal Christopher Columbus African Company reaches America 180 There is no corner where 148 This line shall be one does not of talk shares considered as a The opening of the perpetual mark Amsterdam Stock Exchange and bound The Treaty of Tordesillas 184 After victory, tighten the cords 152 The ancients never raised of your helmet their buildings so high The Battle of Sekigahara The beginning of the Italian Renaissance 186 Use barbarians to control barbarians The Revolt of the Three Feudatories

8 188 I have in this treatise 243 Better to abolish serfdom cultivated mathematics so from above, than to wait far as it regards philosophy for it to abolish itself Newton publishes Principia from below Russia emancipates the serfs 189 As far as I think it possible for man to go 244 Government of the people, The voyages of Captain Cook by the people, for the people, shall not perish 190 I am the state from the earth Louis XIV begins personal The Gettysburg Address rule of France 216 Let us lay the cornerstone of 248 Our manifest destiny 191 Don’t forget your American freedom without is to overspread great guns, the most fear. To hesitate is to perish the continent respectable arguments Bolívar establishes The California Gold Rush of the rights of kings Gran Colombia The Battle of Quebec 250 America is God’s 220 Life without industry is guilt crucible, the greatest 192 Assemble all the Stephenson’s Rocket melting pot knowledge scattered on enters service The opening of Ellis Island the surface of the earth Diderot publishes 226 You may choose to look the 252 Enrich the country, the Encyclopédie other way, but you can never strengthen the military again say you did not know The Meiji Restoration 196 I built St. Petersburg The Slave Trade Abolition Act as a window to let in 254 In my hand I wield the the light of Europe 228 Society was cut in two universe and the power The founding of St. Petersburg The 1848 revolutions to attack and kill The Second Opium War 198 Further events 230 This enterprise will return immense rewards 256 I ought to be jealous of the CHANGING The construction of the Eiffel Tower. She is more SOCIETIES Suez Canal famous than I am The opening of the 1776–1914 236 Endless forms most Eiffel Tower beautiful and most 204 We hold these truths to wonderful have been 258 If I could, I would annex be self-evident, that all and are being evolved other planets men are created equal Darwin publishes On the The Berlin Conference The signing of the Origin of Species Declaration of Independence 260 My people are going to 238 Let us arm. Let us fight learn the principles of 208 Sire, it’s a revolution for our brothers democracy, the dictates The storming of the Bastille The Expedition of the of truth, and the Thousand teachings of science 214 I must make of all The Young Turk Revolution the peoples of Europe 242 These sad scenes of death one people, and of Paris and sorrow, when are 262 Deeds not words the capital of the world they to come to an end? The death of Emily Davison The Battle of Waterloo The Siege of Lucknow 264 Further events

9 THE MODERN 302 The name of our 318 We shall defend it with WORLD state shall be Israel our blood and strength, The establishment of Israel and we shall meet 1914–PRESENT aggression with 304 The Long March is a aggression and evil 270 You often wish you manifesto, a propaganda with evil were dead force, a seeding-machine The Suez Crisis The Battle of Passchendaele The Long March 322 The Iron Curtain 276 History will not forgive 306 Ghana, your beloved is swept aside us if we do not assume country, is free forever The fall of the Berlin Wall power now Nkrumah wins The October Revolution Ghanaian independence 324 All power to the people The 1968 protests 280 This is not peace. 308 We’re eyeball to eyeball, This is an armistice and I think the other 325 Never, never, and for 20 years fellow just blinked never again The Treaty of Versailles The Cuban Missile Crisis The release of Nelson Mandela 281 Death is the solution to 310 People of the whole 326 Create an unbearable all problems. No man— world are pointing situation of total no problem to the satellite insecurity with no hope Stalin assumes power The launch of Sputnik of further survival or life The Siege of Sarajevo 282 Any lack of confidence 311 I have a dream in the economic future The March on Washington 327 Today, our fellow citizens, of the United States our way of life, our very is foolish 312 I am not going freedom came under attack The Wall Street Crash to lose Vietnam The 9/11 attacks The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 284 The truth is that men 328 You affect the world by are tired of liberty 314 A revolution is not a what you browse The Reichstag Fire bed of roses The launch of the first website The Bay of Pigs invasion 286 In starting and waging 330 A crisis that began in a war, it is not right that 316 Scatter the old world, the mortgage markets matters but victory build the new of America has brought Nazi invasion of Poland The Cultural Revolution the world’s financial system close to collapse 294 The Final Solution of The global financial crisis the Jewish Question The Wannsee Conference 334 This is a day about our entire human family 296 All we did was fly Global population and sleep exceeds 7 billion The Berlin Airlift 340 Futher events 298 At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the 342 GLOSSARY world sleeps, India will 344 INDEX awake to life and freedom 351 QUOTE ATTRIBUTIONS Indian independence 352 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and partition

INTRODU

CTION

12 INTRODUCTION T he ultimate aim of history into the truth of the past; they did sought to create a narrative of the is human self-knowledge. not differentiate between what had rise of Rome—a “big picture” that In the words of 20th-century really happened and the events would help to make sense of events historian R. G. Collingwood: “The manifest in myth and legend. on a large timescale. Although value of history is that it teaches restricted to the Roman world, this us what man has done and thus Ancient historical narrative was the beginning of what is what man is.” We cannot hope to It was the Ancient Greek writers sometimes called “universal history,” understand our lives without it. Herodotus and Thucydides in the which attempts to describe progress 5th century bce who first explored from earliest origins to the present as History itself has a history. From questions about the past through a story with a goal, giving the past earliest times, all societies—literate the collection and interpretation of apparent purpose and direction. or pre-literate—told stories about evidence—the word “history,” first their origins or their past, usually used by Herodotus, means “inquiry” At the same period in China, imaginative tales centering around in Greek. Herodotus’s work still historian Sima Qian (c.145–86 bce) the acts of gods and heroes. The contained a considerable mixture of was similarly tracing Chinese first literate civilizations also kept myth, but Thucydides’ account of history over thousands of years, records of the actions of their rulers, the Peloponnesian War satisfies from the legendary Yellow Emperor inscribed on clay tablets or on the most criteria of modern historical (c.2697 bce) to the Han dynasty walls of palaces and temples. But study. It was based on interviews under Emperor Wu (c.109 bce). at first these ancient societies made with eyewitnesses of the conflict no attempt at a systematic inquiry and attributed events to human Moral lessons agency rather than the intervention As well as making sense of events Those who cannot and actions of the gods. through narratives, historians in remember the past are the ancient world established the condemned to repeat it. Thucydides had invented one tradition of history as a source of George Santayana of the most durable forms of history: moral lessons and reflections. The the detailed narrative of war and history writing of Livy or Tacitus The Life of Reason (1905) political conflict, diplomacy, and (56–117 ce), for instance, was in part decision-making. The subsequent designed to examine the behavior rise of Rome to dominance of the of heroes and villains, meditating Mediterranean world encouraged on the strengths and weaknesses historians to develop another genre in the characters of emperors and of broader scope: the account of generals, providing exemplars for “how we got to where we are today.” the virtuous to imitate or shun. This The Hellenic historian Polybius continues to be one of the functions (200–118 bce) and the Roman of history. French chronicler Jean historian Livy (59 bce–17 ce) both Froissart (1337–1405) said he had

INTRODUCTION 13 written his accounts of chivalrous Renaissance Humanism became a familiar figure in elite knights fighting in the Hundred Whatever the undoubted merits circles, rummaging among ancient Years’ War “so that brave men of other civilizations’ traditions of ruins and building up collections should be inspired thereby to follow history writing, it was in Western of old coins and inscriptions. At the such examples.” Today, historical Europe that modern historiography same time, the spread of printing studies of Lincoln, Churchill, evolved. The Renaissance—which made history available to a much Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr. began in Italy in the 15th century, wider audience than ever before. perform the same function. then spread throughout Europe lasting until the end of the 16th The Enlightenment The “Dark Ages” century in some areas—centered By the 18th century in Europe, the The rise of Christianity in the late upon the rediscovery of the past. methodology of history—which Roman Empire fundamentally Renaissance thinkers found a fertile consisted of ascertaining facts by changed the concept of history in source of inspiration in classical criticizing and comparing historical Europe. Historical events came to antiquity, in areas as diverse as sources—had reached a fair level of be viewed by Christians as divine architecture, philosophy, politics, sophistication. European thinkers providence, or the working out of and military tactics. The humanist had reached general agreement on God’s will. Skeptical inquiry into scholars of the Renaissance period the division of the past into three what actually happened was usually declared history one of the principal main periods: Ancient, Medieval, neglected, and accounts of miracles subjects in their new educational and Modern. This periodization and martyrdoms were generally curriculum, and the antiquary was at root a value judgment, with accepted as true without question. the Medieval period, dominated The Muslim world, in this as in To live with men of by the Church, viewed as a time other ways, was frequently more an earlier age is like of irrationality and barbarism and sophisticated than Christendom travelling in foreign lands. separating the dignified world of in Medieval times, with the Arab René Descartes the ancient civilizations from the historian Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) newly emerging, rational universe railing against the blind, uncritical Discourse on Method (1637) of modern Europe. Enlightenment acceptance of fanciful accounts of philosophers wrote histories that events that could not be verified. ridiculed the follies of the past. Neither Christian nor Muslim The Romantic spirit historians produced a work on the In stark contrast, the Romantic scale of the chronicle of Chinese movement that swept across Europe history published under the Song from the late 18th century found dynasty in 1085, which recorded an intrinsic value in the difference Chinese history spanning almost between the past and the present. ❯❯ 1,400 years and filled 294 volumes.

14 INTRODUCTION The Romantics drew inspiration from Philosopher and social revolutionary accumulation of “facts” was its the Middle Ages, and instead of Karl Marx (1818–83) later adapted avowed purpose. A gap opened up seeing the past as a preparation for Hegel’s scheme into his own theory between “serious” history—often the modern world, as had previously (“historical materialism”), in which heavy on economic statistics— been the case, Romantic historians he claimed that economic progress, and the colorful literary works of tried the imaginative exercise of which caused conflict between the popular historians, such as Jules entering into the spirit of past ages. social classes, would inevitably one Michelet (1798–1874) and Thomas Much of this was associated with day result in the proletariat seizing Macaulay (1800–59). nationalism. The German Romantic power from the bourgeoisie, while thinker Johann Gottfried Herder the capitalist world order collapsed The rise of social history (1774–1803) burrowed into the past under its own inner contradictions. In the 20th century, the subject in search of roots of national identity Arguably, Marxism was to prove matter of history—which had and an authentic “German spirit.” the most influential and durable always focused on kings, queens, As nationalism triumphed in Europe of all historical “grand narratives.” prime ministers, presidents, and in the 19th century, much of history generals—increasingly expanded became a celebration of national Like other areas of knowledge, to embrace the common people, characteristics and national heroes, in the 19th century history under- whose role in historical events often veering into myth-making. went professionalization and it became accessible through more Every country wanted to have its became an academic discipline. in-depth research. Some historians sacred heroic history, just as it had Academic history aspired to (initially those in France) chose to its flag and its national anthem. the status of a science, and the disregard the “history of events” altogether, preferring instead to The “Grand Narrative” History is little more than study social structures and the In the 19th century, history became the crimes, follies, and patterns of everyday life, beliefs, increasingly important and took on and ways of thinking (“mentalités”) the quality of destiny. Arrogantly, misfortunes of mankind. of ordinary people in different European civilization saw itself as Edward Gibbon historical periods. the goal to which all history had been progressing and constructed The History of the Decline and Fall A Eurocentric approach narratives that made sense of the of the Roman Empire (1776) Broadly speaking, until the second past in those terms. The German half of the 20th century, most world philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich history was written as the story of Hegel (1770–1831) articulated a the triumph of Western civilization. grand scheme of history as a logical This approach was as implicit in development, which culminated in Marxist versions of history as in the end point of the Prussian state. those histories that celebrated the

INTRODUCTION 15 progress of technology, enterprise, people in the West, although often The book begins with the origins and liberal democracy. It did not without putting any satisfactory of humans and “pre-history” and necessarily imply optimism—there alternative version in place of the then progresses through different were numerous prophets of decline old. For example, the puzzlement historical ages to the present day. and doom. But it did suggest that that resulted can be seen in the In reality of course there were no essentially history had been made, response to the 500th anniversary such clear breaks between epochs, and was still being made, by Europe in 1992 of Christopher Columbus’s and where there is an overlap on and European offshoots further first voyage to the Americas. It dates, entries are included in the afield. For instance, it was deemed would once have been expected most appropriate ideological era. acceptable for respected European to excite widespread celebration historians to maintain that black in the United States, but was in As this book illustrates, history Africa had no significant history at practice acknowledged with some is a process rather than a series of all, having failed to contribute to embarrassment, if at all. People are unconnected events. We can only the onward march of humanity. no longer sure what to think about speculate on how the events we traditional history, its Great Men, experience today will shape the Postcolonial revisionism and its epoch-making events. history of tomorrow. No one in the In the course of the second half early 21st century can possibly of the 20th century, the notion of a A 21st-century perspective claim to make sense of history, but it single, purposeful, historical “grand The content of The History Book remains the fundamental discipline narrative” collapsed, taking Euro- reflects this abandonment of “grand for anyone who believes, as the poet centrism with it. The postcolonial, narratives” of human progress. It Alexander Pope did, that “the proper postmodernist world was seen as aims to present a general reader study of Mankind is Man.” ■ requiring a multiplicity of histories with an overview of world history told from the point of view of many through specific moments, or events, We are not makers of history. different social identities. There which can act as windows upon We are made by history. was a surge of interest in the study selected areas of the past. In line of black history, women’s history, with contemporary concerns, this Martin Luther King, Jr. and gay history, as well as histories book also reflects the long-term narrated from an Asian, African, or importance of key factors such as Strength to Love (1963) American Indian standpoint. The population growth, climate, and marginal and oppressed in society the environment throughout human were reassessed as “agents” of history. At the same time, it gives history rather than passive victims. an account of matters of traditional popular historical interest, such as A riot of revisionism upturned the Magna Carta, the Black Death, much of the history of the world and the American Civil War. as commonly known to educated

HUMAN O 200,000 years

RIGINS ago–3500 bce

18 INTRODUCTION The first humans (Homo Paleolithic people start to A period of intense cold, Jericho (in the sapiens) emerge in East create art (sculptures known as the “Big modern-day West Bank) Africa; Neanderthals of animals and cave is settled; to this day it (Homo neanderthalensis) paintings) and artifacts Freeze,” occurs. People remains one of the oldest (jewelry and decorative and animals in northern continuously inhabited are living in Europe tools and weapons). and West Asia. regions die out or towns in the world. migrate southward. c.200,000 years ago c.40,000 years ago c.23,000 years ago c.9000 bce c.45,000 years ago c.35,000 years ago c.15,000 years ago c.7500 bce Humans have spread The first examples of Humans start to arrive in A settlement at across the globe and human figurines emerge, North America, either Çatalhöyük, central inhabit most of Eurasia across the land bridge Turkey, is established; and Australia, which they usually representing evidence of complex have reached by boat women and carved or connecting Asia and from Southeast Asia. sculpted from bone, ivory, North America (now the rituals indicates Bering Strait) or by sea. social cohesion. terracotta, or stone. I t is widely believed that the their way of life through the creation it left no documents for historians origins of the human race lie in of tools, languages, beliefs, social to study. However, in recent years Africa. By the usual processes customs, and art. By the time they a wide range of new scientific of biological evolution and natural were painting exquisite pictures of methods—including the study of selection, the genus Homo evolved animals on the walls of caves and genetic material and radiocarbon in East Africa over millions of years carving or sculpting figurines out dating of organic remains—have alongside the chimpanzees, its near of stone or bone, they had marked been added to the long-established relatives. By the same biological themselves out uniquely from other techniques of archaeology, enabling processes, Homo sapiens—modern animals. Their transformation was scholars to shine at least a flickering humans—evolved alongside other slow in the early years, but it was light upon the pre-literate era. hominins (the relatives of humans, set to gather incredible momentum including Neanderthals, who died over millennia. Humans had become The narrative of the distant out 40,000 years ago). the only animals with a history. human past is under constant revision as new discoveries and About 100,000 years ago or so, Discovering history research—its findings frequently the scattered bands of hunting and The early development of human disputed—create radical shifts in foraging humans would have been cultures and societies presents a perspective. The fresh investigation almost indistinguishable from the particular problem to historians. of a single cave, a burial site, or a other great apes. But at some point The first writing was not invented human skull can still throw large (precisely when is hard to define) until quite late in the human story— areas of accepted knowledge into humans began to change in a new about 5,000 years ago. Traditionally, question. However, in the 21st way, not by the process of biological the period before writing tended to century much of the history of early evolution but by cultural evolution. be dismissed as “pre-history,” since humans can be described with a They developed the ability to alter reasonable degree of confidence.

HUMAN ORIGINS 19 There is evidence of copper The Bronze Age Cuneiform script, one Stones are raised at smelting in Serbia and the begins in the Near of the world’s oldest Britain’s Stonehenge, at East, and the Indus writing system, is the center of an earthwork wheel is invented in the Valley Civilization invented in Sumer, in enclosure constructed 500 Near East, probably for the years previously; the stones production of pottery rather emerges on the southern Mesopotamia Indian subcontinent. (modern-day Iraq). are later rearranged. than for transport. c.5000 bce c.3300 bce c.3000 bce c.2500 bce c.4000 bce c.3100 bce c.2700 bce c.1800 bce Civilizations develop Narmer unifies Upper The first stone pyramids Alphabetic writing in Mesopotamia, in the and Lower Egypt, are constructed as (Proto-Sinaitic script, Tigris–Euphrates valley becoming king of monumental tombs based on hieroglyphs) (modern-day Iraq, Syria, and the First Dynasty; in Egypt; the Great emerges in Egypt; it Kuwait), where irrigated is the ancestor of most agriculture is established. Egyptian hieroglyphs Pyramid of Giza is built are prevalent. two centuries later. modern alphabets. Nomadic hunter-gatherers stage was not necessarily benign. obtainable without excessive effort, All historians agree that until about There is a disturbing coincidence and suffered very few diseases. 12,000 years ago humans were between the spread of human If this is true, it is not clear what hunter-gatherers, using stone tools hunters across the planet and the then motivated so many human and living in small, mobile groups. extinction of megafauna such as beings all over the world to settle This period is referred to as the woolly mammoths and mastodons. in permanent villages and develop Paleolithic Era (or Old Stone Age). Although human hunting is far agriculture, growing crops and Humans were a successful species, from being identified as the sole domesticating animals: cultivating expanding their numbers to perhaps cause of these extinctions—natural fields was grindingly hard work, 10 million and spreading to most climate change may well have been and it was in farming villages that parts of the Earth. Generally, they a contributing factor—from our epidemic diseases first took root. adapted well to the major natural modern perspective they can seem climate changes that occurred over to set a troubling precedent. Whatever its immediate effect tens of thousands of years, although on the quality of life for humans, they were temporarily driven out of The farming revolution the development of settlements and northerly areas, such as Britain and The hunter-gatherer lifestyle, which agriculture indisputably led to a Scandinavia, during the coldest can reasonably be described as high increase in population density. phase of what is popularly known “natural” to human beings, appears Sometimes known as the Neolithic as the Ice Age. to have had much to recommend Revolution (or New Stone Age), this it. Examination of human remains period was a major turning point in Humans existed in an intimate from early hunter-gatherer societies human development, opening the relationship with their natural has suggested that our ancestors way to the growth of the first towns environment, but their effect on usually enjoyed abundant food, and cities, and eventually leading that environment even at this early to settled “civilizations.” ■

20 TAAATSOPOLCALEMOLALEOSURT1MIC1ABASEUOXSIMPR’SEPTDOJHIORTEUTIOARNNNTEY THE FIRST HUMANS ARRIVE IN AUSTRALIA (c.60,000–45,000 YEARS AGO) IN CONTEXT Homo sapiens evolves in Africa. FOCUS Homo sapiens spreads After moving into southern Migration into the Near East but Asia, Homo sapiens groups retreats to Africa, only later BEFORE reaching Europe and follow the coastline to c.200,000 years ago Homo Southeast Asia. sapiens (modern human) western Asia. evolves in Africa. In western Eurasia, Homo sapiens Homo sapiens c.125,000–45,000 years ago encounters other hominin species, arrives in Groups of Homo sapiens the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Australia. expand out of Africa. All hominin species except Homo sapiens die out. AFTER c.50,000–30,000 years ago M odern humans are the particular, many researchers think Denisovan hominins are only truly global mammal that humans’ ability to exploit present in south-central Russia. species. Since evolving coastal environments was key in Africa around 200,000 years ago, to their rapid spread along the 45,000 years ago Homo Homo sapiens has rapidly expanded southern coasts of Asia. sapiens arrives in Europe. across the world—testament to our species’ curiosity in exploring Even the radically different flora c.40,000 years ago The its surroundings and creativity in and fauna of Australia proved no Neanderthals die out. Their adapting to different habitats. In barrier; humans may have arrived last known sites are on the on the continent as early as 60,000 Iberian peninsula. c.18,000 years ago Homo floresiensis fossils date from this time. c.13,000 years ago Humans are present near Clovis, New Mexico, but may not be the continent’s first humans.

HUMAN ORIGINS 21 See also: Cave paintings at Altamira 22–27 ■ The Big Freeze 28–29 ■ The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 Remains of Homo floresiensis were competition. By the time humans The human blitzkrieg across found on the Indonesian island of Flores reached Europe, Neanderthals America testifies to the in 2003. Some studies suggest that its had already been there for around small size was due to disease rather 250,000 years, having evolved incomparable ingenuity and than indicating a new species. from an ancestor they shared the unsurpassed adaptability with modern humans, Homo years ago, although the earliest heidelbergensis, and they were of Homo sapiens. dates are controversial. Small well adapted to life in the region. Yuval Noah Harari groups may have visited much earlier, but the bulk of the evidence Further east, at Denisova Cave Sapiens (2011) suggests widespread colonization in Russia’s Altai Mountains, there is of Australia only around 45,000 evidence of a mysterious species— from the c.13,000-year-old “Clovis years ago, at much the same time the Denisovans—known only from culture” were once thought to have as Homo sapiens arrived in Europe. their DNA. And on the island of belonged to the earliest humans Flores in Southeast Asia, fossils of in the New World. Older sites are Other hominin species another possible species—the short, now known, but many of the earlier Homo sapiens was the first hominin small-brained Homo floresiensis— dates, particularly in South America, to arrive in Australia. However, in date from just 18,000 years ago, remain highly contentious. parts of Eurasia, humans did face although some researchers believe these were simply modern humans The social network afflicted with some form of disease. Until more evidence is found, the fates of the Denisovans and Homo Of all these species, Homo floresiensis remain unknown, while sapiens is the only one to have the most recent research suggests survived and gone on to colonize Neanderthals died out around 40,000 the New World. Beringia, a land- years ago. Many researchers believe bridge between Russia and Alaska, the resourcefulness of Homo sapiens exposed when sea levels dropped was crucial to its success in other as a result of the Ice Age, allowed species’ home territories in the face humans to reach the Americas of climate change around the time of from northeast Asia. The exact date the Last Glacial Maximum. In remains controversial: stone tools particular, it is thought that they could also rely on more extensive Homo sapiens: the only remaining hominin social networks than those other species—an asset that would have There is no evidence of violence as the Ice Age progressed. proved crucial both to survival in between humans and other They developed new stone lean times and to helping them species. Indeed, modern human tools, as well as techniques colonize the unfamiliar environments DNA shows small traces of that made use of resources such they encountered as they expanded Neanderthal and Denisovan as bone and antler. They also across the globe, perhaps following genes, suggesting that a few established extensive networks animal herds. ■ individuals from each species of support, enabling various interbred, albeit rarely. groups to pool resources across large distances, enhancing Although Neanderthals were their chances of survival. This skilled manufacturers of stone cultural adaptability may have tools and excellent hunters, been what allowed humans modern humans may have been to outcompete their cousins quicker to adapt, and therefore for access to increasingly better able to cope with the unpredictable resources. rapid climatic changes occurring

BSEVEEORAYTUFHITNRGIEFWAUSSLHSO CAVE PAINTINGS AT ALTAMIRA (c.40,000 YEARS AGO)



24 CAVE PAINTINGS AT ALTAMIRA IN CONTEXT T he Altamira cave complex, Spain. They include not only near Santander on the finely detailed images of animals, FOCUS northern coast of Spain, but also engraved and painted Paleolithic culture comprises a series of passages signs, symbols, and handprints. and chambers extending for nearly Archaeologists remain divided over BEFORE 984ft (300m) that boast some of the meaning and function of Stone c.45,000 years ago Modern the best examples of Stone Age, or Age art. One explanation is simply humans arrive in Europe. Paleolithic, cave art yet discovered. that these people appreciated the So impressive are the paintings that aesthetic qualities of art—just as c.40,000 years ago The when the cave was discovered in their descendants do today. Others earliest currently known 1880, they were widely considered suggest that the incredible detail of examples of art in Europe are fakes and took nearly 20 years to be some of the images—the sex of the made, such as the sculpture of accepted as the genuine creations animal or the season in which it was the Lion Man of Hohlenstein- of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. observed can still be determined, for Stadel, Germany. Some of the early artistic activity example—may mean the paintings here may date from more than were a means of conveying vital AFTER 35,000 years ago, although most of survival information, such as which c.26,000 years ago the famous paintings were probably animals to hunt, and when and how A triple burial is carried out created much later, around 22,000 they could be found and targeted. at Dolní Veˇstonice, in the years ago. These include the images Czech Republic. in the famous Bison Chamber: Hunting rituals here the low ceiling is covered in Alternatively, cave art might c.23,500 years ago The representations of animals including be linked to the world views or Arene Candide “prince” is multicolored, lifelike images of religions of Paleolithic people. buried in Italy, richly adorned bison, expertly painted across the Even today, many societies still with dentalium shell jewelry. natural undulations of the rock in living mainly by hunting and such a way as to make them appear gathering share animistic beliefs, c.18,000 years ago The last almost three-dimensional. meaning they believe entities such Ice Age reaches its height. as animals, plants, and parts of the landscape have spirits with which The artistic impetus humans interact during their daily Other stunning displays of cave life. Many such societies’ religious art are also known, concentrated specialists, or shamans, believe in southwest France and northern Foraging lifestyles Humans develop an Beliefs and practices rely on the hunting and intimate knowledge emphasizing gathering of natural of animal and plant connectedness and resources. species and their communication start to develop. environment. The need The first examples to exchange of art, such as the information with cave paintings at other groups grows Altamira, appear. stronger.

HUMAN ORIGINS 25 See also: The first humans arrive in Australia 20–21 ■ The Big Freeze 28–29 ■ The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 The undulating structure of the rock cave at Altamira enhances, rather than detracts from, the art, with the animals in the Bison Chamber acquiring an almost three-dimensional quality. with only a lamp filled with animal fat might have been a form of initiation test for young people— one that would have required a great deal of courage to endure. they are able to communicate also often thought to be able Burials and the afterlife with these spirits to help sick or to transform themselves into More evidence of human beings injured people, and historically, animals to encourage them to engaging in religious or ritual rock art has been created by give themselves up to the hunter, practices at this time comes shamans during states of altered which could also explain depictions from burials. At the site of Dolní consciousness, or trances, as part combining human and animal Veˇ stonice, in the Czech Republic, of this communication, leading characteristics, such as the Lion for example, three bodies were some researchers to suggest that Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel, in buried together in a sexually Paleolithic societies may have Germany, or the Sorcerer of Les suggestive pose, with one of the had similar beliefs. Shamans are Trois Frères Cave in France, a male individuals flanking a female human-like figure with antlers. skeleton reaching toward her Handprints in the cave of Fuente del pelvis, and the male on the other Salín, in Spain’s Cantabria region, were Creating images of animals side buried face down. A red probably left by youngsters, suggesting may have also been part of “magic” pigment known as ochre had that venturing underground might have rituals designed to improve the been sprinkled across their heads been a coming-of-age ritual. chances of success during hunting. and across the female’s pelvis. For societies dependent on animal Interestingly, all three individuals ❯❯ resources for a significant part of their diet, the importance of such People everywhere rituals cannot be overstated. and throughout time have shared the basic instinct Initiation ceremonies to represent themselves Other researchers have noted and their world through that many of the handprints and footprints found beside the images and symbols. art in the caves seem to belong Jill Cook to quite young individuals. Traveling down into dark, damp, Ice Age Art (2013) and potentially dangerous caves

26 CAVE PAINTINGS AT ALTAMIRA share the same rare skeletal widespread until much later. It is People thought of themselves deformities and may therefore have clear, however, that for the first as part of a living world, where been related. Although the reasons time, people were now increasingly why these bodies were arranged concerned with what happened animals, plants, and even this way will probably always be a after death, and about how the dead landmarks and inanimate mystery, it is clear that there was should enter into the afterlife. objects had lives of their own. more to this burial than just the functional disposal of remains. Marking territory Brian Fagan Other researchers note that most At other sites, some individuals “classic” Paleolithic cave art is Cro-Magnon (2010) were buried with many “grave concentrated in southwest France goods”—for example, the complex and northern Spain. This region borders, territories, and group jewelry made from dentalium shells would have been a relatively identities, so European Paleolithic at Arene Candide, in Italy, and the favorable place to live: even at the groups may have decorated caves striking spears fashioned from height of the Last Glacial Maximum, for similar reasons at a time when mammoth ivory at the burial site more southerly, warmer climates there was the potential for intense of two young children in Sunghir, and hence more productive habitats competition for resources. in Russia. Some researchers have attracted dense herds of animals. suggested that these richly adorned As a result, people may have lived Cooperation to survive individuals—especially the young here in fairly large numbers, packed Such complex social interactions ones, who would not have had closely together, leading to greater may help explain how Homo sapiens time in their short life to establish social tensions among groups vying was able to survive in the harsh a reputation that might account for territory and resources. environments of Ice Age Europe. for special treatment in death— Hunter-gatherers probably lived in imply that hierarchies and status Just as human groups today— small groups scattered at relatively distinctions were beginning to whether it be football supporters low densities across the landscape. develop in some groups. However, or nation states—use symbols such Most archaeological sites from they do not appear to have become as flags, costumes, and markings of this time do not demonstrate any evidence of complex buildings or Historians are still unsure whether or not there are precise structures, suggesting that people meanings behind the majority of cave art. Their best guesses are moved around a lot, according that they may relate to any one or more of several possibilities: art to the weather and the local for art’s sake; spirituality; initiation rites; the marking of territory; environment, often following large and a method of imparting valuable information about hunting. herds of animals like reindeer as they migrated with the seasons. Hunting information Homo sapiens’ ability to forge new relationships readily allowed Spirituality groups of hunters to combine as and when necessary. When resources Art for Marking were plentiful, they would hunt art’s sake territory together—for example, intercepting Initiation migrating herds of reindeer at places in the landscape where they rites were most vulnerable, such as in

HUMAN ORIGINS 27 Hunting tools, such as this spear- thrower, were often carved in the shape of the animals they were used to kill, probably as a sort of “magic ritual” to improve chances of success in the hunt. narrow valleys or at river crossings. over which a spear could travel animal skin and fur with much more In leaner times, these groups would and the force with which it hit its care than their predecessors, and split up again and range far across target. These tools were crucial to they made many other items—from the landscape to find enough wild hunting success, so it is no surprise jewelry finely crafted from animal resources to sustain themselves. that some of these atlatls were teeth and shell, to figurines carved beautifully carved and decorated, from stone or sculpted from clay. Early technologies often with representations of the Many of these may also have been These hunter-gatherers expended animals being hunted. Similarly, traded, gifted, or exchanged with considerable effort on hunting they also painstakingly carved individuals from other groups as technology, since it could spell complex barbed harpoons from part of large-scale social networks. the difference between life and bone and antler for fishing. death. They hafted elaborately The unpredictable environments worked stone tips on to spears that First seeds of a society of Europe during the Last Glacial were then launched at the target Delicately worked bone awls and Maximum meant sharing resources using atlatls, or spear-throwers, needles suggest Stone Age humans with other groups in times of plenty designed to increase the distance also made warm clothes out of could pay off significantly at a later date: if a group struggled to find resources in one area, others elsewhere who had previously benefited from their generosity would be more inclined to return the favor. These kinds of exchange relationships probably linked even very far-flung groups together into complex networks of individual and group relationships that were fundamental to survival in such a tough environment. ■ Venus figurines Figurines of women carved or have played a symbolic role as sculpted from stone, ivory, or a charm relating to childbirth clay are a type of Paleolithic or, more generally, fertility. art found widely across Europe. These figurines share many Some researchers believe striking similarities. While that the figures represent a details such as facial features “mother goddess,” but there and feet are largely ignored, is no real evidence for such feminine sexual characteristics an interpretation. Others have (breasts, belly, hips, thighs, and focused instead on the fact vulva) are often exaggerated. that the figurines demonstrate The focus on features related to widely shared cultural ideas sexuality and fertility, and the and symbols. These would round body shapes depicted have been crucial to social (during the Ice Age fat would interactions and exchanges have been a precious commodity) of resources, information, and suggest that the figurines may potential marriage partners in the Ice Age world.

28 FOTTOHOFREDTGAHFYEOE’DSULNIAENDTUTAERTHOIIECPOEEENVASWEGONEEFRTSE THE BIG FREEZE (c.21000 bce) IN CONTEXT Climate change results from shifts in the earth’s position and orientation relative to the sun. FOCUS Climate change The Big Freeze Habitats change, expands ice caps, and plant and animal BEFORE lowering sea levels. species’ ranges alter c.2.58 million years ago The Pleistocene, or Ice Age, for survival. begins. Animals and humans Human groups are c.200,000 years ago Homo colonize newly exposed faced with new sapiens emerges as a species. low-lying land, only to be opportunities isolated when sea levels and constraints. AFTER c.9700 bce The Pleistocene rise again. ends, marking the beginning of today’s relatively warm and S cientists have only recently (interglacials). However, toward stable climates—the Holocene. begun to appreciate how the end of the Ice Age, these shifts the two-way relationship became more pronounced and c.9000–8000 bce Agriculture that exists between humans and occurred at shorter intervals, becomes established in the our environments has affected culminating around 21000 bce in Near East. the development of our societies. a “Big Freeze,” a period of intense Humans evolved during the last cold known as the Last Glacial c.5000 bce Sea level reaches Ice Age, living through periodic Maximum. People and animals near-modern levels; low-lying shifts between very cold climatic living in northern regions died land is submerged. conditions (glacials) and warmer out or retreated south as ice caps periods more like those of today expanded to reach southern c.2000 bce The last mammoths are thought to have died out, on Wrangel Island, Russia.

HUMAN ORIGINS 29 See also: The first humans arrive in Australia 20–21 ■ Cave paintings at Altamira 22–27 ■ The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 ■ The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 The forests and wetlands of the Few humans have ever new post-glacial world offered lived in a world of such humans many new opportunities. extreme climatic and They hunted large forest animals environmental change. such as red deer and wild boar, as well as smaller mammals like Brian Fagan rabbits, and they foraged for a range of aquatic and coastal food Expert in human prehistory sources. Migratory fish like salmon, An entire mammoth was unearthed sea mammals such as seals, and in Siberia, Russia, in 1900—the first shellfish, seasonal wildfowl, and complete example ever found. A cast a range of fruits, tubers, nuts, of it is on display in St. Petersburg’s and seeds all became important Natural History Museum. dietary staples. England. Such huge amounts of sea Changing lifestyles plant and animal species to thrive. water froze that sea levels dropped, In areas that were particularly They started to select and care for exposing low-lying land such as rich in natural resources, human productive plant species and sowed Beringia, the continental shelf that groups may not have settled in the seeds of favored strains, while connects North America and one place, sending small bands managing and controlling certain Asia—and the route by which on forays further afield to target animals. This manipulation led to humans first reached the Americas. specific resources. The Natufian these species becoming ever more communities of the Eastern reliant on human input—and to Rising temperatures Mediterranean, for example, were the development of agriculture, a Temperatures eventually rose able to exploit abundant stands radical change in the human way again, and today’s relatively warm of wild cereals in the Near East. of life that has since resulted in and stable climate had become Some groups began to manipulate even more dramatic human impact established by around 7000 bce. their environments, burning on the environment. ■ The ice caps melted, and rising sea vegetation and cutting down levels separated Eurasia from the trees to encourage their preferred Americas, turned Southeast Asia into an archipelago, and made Ice cores and past environments islands out of peninsulas such as Japan and Britain, thereby isolating Paleoclimatologists study the in the shells of foraminifera, in many human groups. The impact elemental composition of the roughly equal ratios. However, on ecosystems was particularly sediments laid down over time in cold conditions most of the severe for the large animals known on ocean floors to understand evaporated 16O does not return as megafauna—mammoths, for how climates have changed in to the ocean but freezes as ice, example. The open glacial steppe the past. Tiny sea creatures so sea water contains more 18O grasslands in which megafauna known as foraminifera absorb than 16O. When foraminifera die, thrived were replaced by expanding two different forms of oxygen, their shells sink to the ocean forests, and across the globe the 16O and 18O, from sea water. floor, building up over time. combination of environmental Because 16O is the lighter of the Paleoclimatologists drill into change and human hunting drove two, it evaporates into the air the ocean floor to extract cores many species to extinction. more easily, but during warmer of sediment and study the periods it falls as rain and drains changing proportions of 16O and back to the sea. So 16O and 18O 18O in different layers to see how exist in sea water and appear climates have changed over time.

30 AAARNGOARTSEOEALTOIANCNITVPHILLEIAZIANTION THE SETTLEMENT AT ÇATALHÖYÜK (10,000 YEARS AGO) IN CONTEXT Hunter-gatherers interact The climate and closely with animal and environment stabilize FOCUS plant species. Neolithic revolution after the Ice Age. BEFORE Humans start to manage Human populations 11000–10000 bce There is and control some begin to grow. evidence of cultivation of crops and domestication of animals animals and plants, in West Asia. domesticating them. c.9000 bce Maize farming The cultivation of land People build larger begins in Mesoamerica. and crops and the settlements, such c.8800 bce Farming lifestyles stockpiling of harvests as the one at are well established across reduce mobility. Çatalhöyük. West Asia. T he Neolithic town of Since its discovery, several other AFTER Çatalhöyük on the Konya large settlements across West Asia 8000 bce Cultivation and Plain in Turkey was have been found that attest domestication begin in discovered by James Mellaart in to the growing scale of human East Asia. the 1960s. It has become one of the communities during the shift from most famous archaeological sites foraging to agricultural lifestyles, 7400–6000 bce The town of in the world due to its size, density or “Neolithic revolution,” that Çatalhöyük is established. of settlement, spectacular wall occurred between around 10000 bce paintings, and evidence of complex and 7000 bce. Whether rising 7000–6500 bce Agriculture religious and ritual behavior. populations forced people to find spreads west into Europe via Cyprus, Greece, and the Balkans. 3500 bce The earliest cities are built in Mesopotamia.

HUMAN ORIGINS 31 See also: The first humans arrive in Australia 20–21 ■ Cave paintings at Altamira 22–27 ■ The Big Freeze 28–29 ■ The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 This illustration shows the way in which humans lived and worked close to each other at the Çatalhöyük site, with their domesticated animals also kept nearby. more stable means of subsistence remained in the community even humans. It is not clear whether or farming allowed people to have when they died; they were buried these decorated skulls, statues, more children, the sizes of many under the floors of the houses. and figurines represent specific settlements increased substantially Sometimes they were later dug up individuals or heads of households and became more permanent. New and their skulls removed; facial or lineages, or perhaps mythical ways had to be found to resolve features were molded on some in ancestors or gods, but they may social stresses such as disputes plaster and painted with ochre for have been part of the communal between neighbors. display. At sites like Ain Ghazal in ideologies, rituals, and social Jordan, large statues made of lime practices that helped smooth over Early villagers invested time and plaster have been found, and there tensions between individuals and effort in planting and cultivating are many examples of clay figurines broader regional groups, who were crops, then in storing the harvest of animals and (mainly female) establishing more formal links with to last the year, so they could no one another for long-distance trade longer simply move as foragers had. Farming and health and exchange of goods. Some of the success of Çatalhöyük may Community cohesion The adoption of farming have been due to its role as a center It is thought that the development of established a plentiful and for the large-scale trade of items more formal religious organization stable long-term source of food, made from the obsidian, or volcanic and group ritual practices may have allowing for population growth. glass, of Hasan Dagˇ. helped community cohesion. At However, there were negative many sites, buildings were set consequences, too. Farmers The many dramatic social and aside for such purposes; these were may have had to work harder economic changes that came with larger than domestic structures, at times than hunter-gatherers the Neolithic revolution have helped with unusual features such as lime did, and their more limited shape both human history and the plaster benches and more evidence diets—focused on just a few world’s ecosystems ever since. ■ of symbolic and representational crops and animal species—led art: Çatalhöyük boasts murals and to nutritional deficiencies. animals meant that some animal figurines of a range of subjects diseases spread to humans—for including wild animals such as The health of early farmers example, smallpox, anthrax, bulls, leopards, and vultures. At also suffered in other ways. tuberculosis, and the flu. Larger many sites, some inhabitants Living at close quarters with communities living at higher densities allowed for such diseases to be more easily passed around. It also caused problems in disposing of human and animal waste and thus a rise in intestinal complaints and waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, while irrigation created breeding grounds for mosquitoes and parasites, infecting humans with diseases like malaria.

CAINVCILIEIZNATTI 6000 BCE–500

IONS CE

34 INTRODUCTION Hammurabi, one of Egyptian pharaoh Democracy is The start of the Persian the great kings of Ramesses II builds two introduced in Athens Wars between Greece and the Persian Empire; Mesopotamia, writes vast temples at Abu by Cleisthenes. All a law code—the Simbel to glorify the Athenian citizens are military successes pharaohs and assert allowed to vote directly influence the development earliest known written dominance in Nubia. on Athenian policy. of classical Greek identity. legal system in history. 1780 bce 1264 bce 507 bce 490 bce 1700 bce 650 bce c.500 bce c.334 bce Knossos palace is built The high point of a Celtic Siddartha Gautama Macedonian king on Crete by the Minoans— culture, which developed (known as Buddha) Alexander the Great the first civilization in Europe around Halstatt, Austria, rejects material life to seek enlightenment invades Asia Minor to produce a system of and spread to France, and creates a vast writing (known as the Romania, Bohemia, and preach empire; Greek culture Buddhism in India. spreads eastward. Linear A syllabary). and Slovakia. A bout 5,000 years ago, exploitation as the basis of society, by bronze (the Bronze Age) and humans began to form leading to larger-scale warfare as then predominantly iron (the Iron societies of unprecedented states expanded into empires. Age). In the Americas, where the complexity. These “civilizations” Olmec and Maya developed the typically had state structures and Emerging civilizations civilizations of Mesoamerica, the social hierarchies, they built cities The earliest civilizations developed use of stone tools persisted and and monuments such as temples, in areas where it was possible most of the epidemic diseases that palaces, and pyramids, and used to practice intensive agriculture, plagued Eurasia were unknown. some form of writing. The basis for usually involving use of irrigation the development of civilizations was systems—for instance, along the Writing and philosophy progress in agriculture. When only rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates From around 1000 bce, Eurasian part of the population was required in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the civilizations found an innovative to work in the fields to produce food, Nile in Egypt, the Indus in northern momentum. The use of writing the rest could inhabit towns and India and Pakistan, and the Yangtze evolved from practical record- palaces, performing a range of and Yellow rivers in China. Although keeping to the creation of sacred specialty functions as bureaucrats, these civilizations of Eurasia and books and classic literary texts that traders, scribes, and priests. The North Africa seem to have been embodied the founding myths and invention of civilization undoubtedly founded independently of one beliefs of different societies, from raised human life to a new level in another, they developed multiple the Homeric tales in Greece to the many ways—in technology, the contacts over time, sharing ideas, Five Classics of Confucianism arts, astronomy, the measurement technology, and even diseases. All in China and the Hindu Vedas in of time, literature, and philosophy— followed a pattern in which stone India. Forms of writing using an but also established inequality and tools (the Stone Age) were replaced alphabet developed in the eastern

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 35 Qin Shi Huangdi unites Julius Caesar is The Maya Classical Rome falls to the China, previously a assassinated in Period begins; many Visigoths; the Roman Rome by senators cities, temples, and region of warring states, who believe he is monuments are built Empire shrinks and begins major projects, becoming increasingly throughout Mexico and much of Europe including building the power-hungry. and Guatemala. is invaded by Terracotta Army. Barbarian tribes. 221 bce 44 bce 250 ce 410 ce 218 bce 43 ce 312 ce 486 ce Military commander A Roman army led by Roman emperor Clovis, leader of the Hannibal, from Carthage General Aulus Plautius Constantine adopts Salian Franks, defeats (north Africa), crosses the Christianity after victory the Romans in Gaul invades southern at the Battle of Milvian Alps to invade Italy. England; later, Roman Bridge; Christianity rapidly and unites France Unable to capture Rome, rule extends to Wales north of the Loire and the Scottish border. gains popularity. under his dynasty. he returns to Africa. Mediterranean region and were number were under the governance a major factor, leading to political spread by the Phoenicians—a race of the Roman Empire, which had fragmentation and a decline in the of traders and sailors. extended its rule to the shores of quality of government. But perhaps the Atlantic and the borders of most crucial was the geographical The Greek city-states became Persia. In large part, the empires limitation of the civilized areas of a test-bed for new forms of political were successful because of efficient Eurasia. Both the Roman and Han organization, including democracy, communications by land and water, empires built walls to mark and and the source of new ideas in the and the ruthless deployment of defend the borders of their empires, arts and philosophy. The influence military power. Long-distance trade beyond which lived mostly nomadic of Greek culture spread as far as routes linked Europe to India and or semi-nomadic “barbarian” tribes. northern India, while India itself China, and cities had expanded to The civilized societies had little or was the birthplace of Buddhism— a great degree—Rome’s population no military advantage over these the first “world religion,” winning was estimated at over 1 million. peoples, who increasingly raided or converts beyond its society of origin. settled within their territories. The Civilizations in decline eastern part of the Christianized Growing populations The causes of the decline of these Roman Empire survived until 1453, The ancient world reached the peak powerful classical empires from and Chinese civilization revived to of its classical period around 2,000 the 3rd century ce have long been full vigor under the Tang dynasty years ago. The world’s population disputed among historians. Bred in from 618, but Western Europe had grown from around 20 million overcrowded cities and transmitted would take centuries to recover the at the time of the first civilizations along trade routes, epidemic levels of population and organization to an estimated 200 million. About diseases certainly played a part. that it had known under the rule 50 million of these lived in a united Internal power struggles were also of Rome. ■ Han China, while about the same

36 IRTTNHOIGTEBHHRRTEUIENLLOGAEUNSAODBNFOESUST THE LAW CODE OF HAMMURABI (c.1780 bce) IN CONTEXT Agriculture, Local networks population, and break down and FOCUS mechanisms for dispute Origins of civilizations urbanization resolution weaken. increase. BEFORE c.5000 bce Copper and Hammurabi writes a new code of law gold smelting is common in to cement his control over the region. Mesopotamia and beyond. Need grows for Cylinder seals (to control c.4500 bce Uruk in tools of governance: transactions), writing, judicial Mesopotamia is the first laws, permanent records, settlement large enough institutions, and written to be called a city. and judiciary. laws develop. c.3800 bce Upper and Lower I n 1901, a six-foot-tall slab of Bronze Age Revolution Kingdoms of Egypt established black stone was found in the Mesopotamia, which means along the Nile Valley. ruins of the city of Susa. Carved “between two rivers,” lies between onto its face were 280 “judgments,” the Euphrates and the Tigris, and it c.3500 bce Development of or laws, constituting the earliest is considered to be the first human the Indus Valley civilizations. known written legal code in history. civilization ever. Its writing, math, The slab had originally been erected and astronomy were also the first c.3350 bce Stone circles in Babylon, in around 1750 bce, by known, and its cities arguably the erected in west and Hammurabi, one of the greatest world’s first true examples. Growth north Europe. kings of ancient Mesopotamia. of its population and wealth led to c.2000 bce Shang dynasty builds the first cities in China. AFTER c.1500 bce Rise of Olmec culture in Mesoamerica. c.600 ce Emergence of the Mayan civilization.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 37 See also: The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 ■ The temples of Abu Simbel 38–39 ■ The palace at Knossos 42–43 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The foundation of Tenochtitlan 112–17 Hammurabi the In around 2000 bce, the Amorites Nineveh, and as far up the Law-Giver (Westerners), a semi-nomadic Euphrates as Tuttul, on the people from Syria, swept across junction with the river Balikh. Mesopotamia, replacing local He personally supervised the rulers with Amorite sheikh construction of many temples dynasties in many of the city- and other buildings. states. By the early 18th century bce, the three most powerful The prelude to his code, a Amorite kings were pre-eminent tribute to Hammurabi, and Shamshi-Adad in the north, a long historical record of his Rim-Sin in Larsa in the south, conquests, boasts that his and Hammurabi in Babylon in the leadership was divinely center. Over the course of his long sanctioned by the gods who reign, Hammurabi consolidated all passed control of humanity to of southern Mesopotamia into his Marduk (deity of Babylon), and kingdom and eventually extended so to its king. It also reveals he his power as far up the Tigris as saw his role as the guarantor of a just and orderly society. the emergence of a hierarchy in Mesopotamian unification distinguished by the reach of his society, led by rulers, courtiers, For much of the 4th to the 2nd empire, and by the fact that they and priests at the top, through millennia bce, Mesopotamia was were inscribed on stelae (stone merchants and artisans, to servants a mosaic of competing kingdoms slabs), and so recorded in perpetuity. and laborers at the bottom. This is and city-states such as Uruk, Isin, often referred to as “specialization”: Lagash, Ur, Nippur, and Larsa. Hammurabi’s laws and their members of society having different Hammurabi, the Amorite king of detailed prelude reveal much about tasks, rather than all producing Babylon, unified the region through life in what is known as the Old food as had been the case in a combination of guile, diplomacy, Babylonian Period. They contain previous subsistence societies. opportunism, military might, and judgments on matters ranging from longevity. As was traditional with property disputes and violence Mesopotamian communities conquering kings, Hammurabi against the person, to runaway coordinated manpower to build used previous edicts as the basis slaves and witchcraft. large structures such as defensive for his laws, but these laws were walls and huge temples, and to Hammurabi’s legacy mobilize armies. They utilized When Marduk sent me Although Hammurabi’s laws seem hydrological engineering to divert to rule over men... [I] brought to have carried little weight and river water and irrigate the alluvial were rarely followed at the time, floodplains. Administrative needs about the well-being and despite the fact that his empire such as bookkeeping led to the of the oppressed. disintegrated soon after his death, development of cuneiform writing, Hammurabi his reign was a turning point for the first known script, and of southern Mesopotamia. He firmly complex mathematical concepts established the ideal of a unified such as fractions, equations, and state, centered in Babylon, and his geometry. Sophisticated astronomy laws were copied by Mesopotamian developed for calendric purposes. scribes until at least the 6th century Sometimes called the Bronze Age bce. They show many points of Revolution, this great step forward similarity with, and may have can be seen as the most important influenced, laws of the Hebrew change in the human world before Bible, which in turn influence laws the Industrial Revolution. in many societies today. ■

38 AFFBAOLELLNRLETEEAHTNTEEHPRLRHNAOIINSTSDYTSSRAHANTADEVAELS THE TEMPLES OF ABU SIMBEL (c.1264 bce) IN CONTEXT A round 1264 bce, the pharaohs for the next three Egyptian pharaoh millennia. For instance, Narmer FOCUS Ramesses II (c.1278–1237 is shown holding an enemy by Pharaonic Egypt bce) had two mighty temples hewn the hair, about to smite him, and out of the cliffs on the west bank Ramesses II was often depicted BEFORE of the Nile in southern Egypt. The in the same way—military might c.3050 bce Narmer unifies entrance was guarded by four vast and supernatural strength were the kingdoms of Upper and statues of the pharaoh, seated in hallmarks of Egyptian kingship. Lower Egypt. glory and wearing the symbols The pharaoh, like the gods, was of divine kingship, including the frequently shown much larger c.2680 bce Khufu begins double crown that signified his than ordinary mortals. construction of the Great authority over Upper and Lower Pyramid in Giza— it is the Egypt. The temples were designed The geographical situation of largest pyramid in history. to signify and embody the unique Egypt—with its stark contrasts status, ambition, and power of the between the fertile Nile Valley and c.1480 bce Thutmose III ancient Egyptian pharaohs. its delta, which empties in the conquers Syria, extending his empire as far as the Euphrates. The pharaonic tradition The magnificent temple complex at Ramesses II inherited a tradition Abu Simbel was, remarkably, moved AFTER that was already very ancient: 656 ft (200 m) inland and 213 ft (65 m) c.1160 bce Ramesses III about 1,800 years earlier, King higher up in 1964–68 to rescue it from fights off invasions of Egypt Narmer (called Menes by the the rising waters of the Nile during the by Libyans and raiding tribes ancient Greek historian Herodotus) construction of the High Aswan Dam. known as the Sea People. first unified the kingdoms of the Upper (southern) and Lower c.1085 bce Collapse of the (northern) Nile. Narmer’s deeds New Kingdom; Egypt is were recorded on a stone palette, divided with Libyan rulers in which was recovered from a temple the north and Theban priest- at Hierakonpolis in the 19th century kings ruling in the south. and provides one of the earliest known depictions of an Egyptian 7th century bce Egypt is king. The palette is inscribed with invaded by Assyrians and many of the symbols and traditions then Persians. that would come to typify the

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 39 See also: The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■ The palace at Knossos 42–43 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The assassination of Julius Caesar 58–65 I, [the creator], give you and the Mediterranean. In the Old 1550 bce, with the XVIII dynasty— Ramesses II, constant Kingdom the predominant gods arguably the greatest and most harvests... [your] sheaves were Ra, the sun god; Osiris, the important—coming to power and are as plentiful as the sand, god of the dead; and Ptah, the establishing the New Kingdom. By your granaries approach creator. In the Middle and New this time, immortality was believed heaven and your grain Kingdoms that followed, which to be available not just to the heaps are like mountains. were ruled by families from Thebes, pharaoh, but to priests, scribes, and Inscription in temple at Amon became the main deity. As others who could afford offerings, Abu Simbel, c.1264 bce supreme ruler, the pharaoh was spells, and mummification, and closely associated with the gods, many tombs were dug into the north into the Mediterranean Sea, and was believed to be the living Valley of the Kings to be filled with and the surrounding expanses of incarnation of certain deities. extraordinarily rich grave goods. uninhabitable desert—gave rise to the kingdom’s unique culture and The New Kingdom Under expansionist pharaohs, civilization. The pharaoh was In the 23rd century bce, the Old such as Thutmose III and Ramesses viewed as a living god who could Kingdom collapsed. After what is II, Egyptian control was extended control the order of the cosmos, known as the Intermediate Period, into Asia as far as the Euphrates including the annual flooding of the the Middle Kingdom dynasties River, and up the Nile into Nubia. Nile, which brought fertilizing silt restored unified control of Egypt It was no coincidence that to replenish the soil. Pharaohs were from 2134 bce until around 1750 bce, Ramesses built Abu Simbel in also often depicted as farmers in when they were invaded by the Nubia: as well as representing the agricultural scenes, representing Hyksos (probably Semites from divine glory of Egypt’s pharaohs their role as guardians of the land. Syria). The Hyksos, in turn, were generally, the temple was a symbol expelled from Egypt in about of Ramesses’ control over the The Old Kingdom recently conquered territory. ■ The Old Kingdom that followed Narmer was ruled by a succession The Nile Valley is bordered by inhospitable desert, of dynasties that were led by but is highly fertile because the longest river in powerful pharaohs, who channeled the world flows through it and irrigates it. the bureaucratic and economic might of the unified kingdom into A sophisticated, Trade and conquest monumental building projects, such coherent, and unified boost the economy and as the construction of the pyramids. civilization develops over a These, in turn, stimulated scientific, vast stretch of terrain. population levels. technological, and economic A large, prosperous development, increasing trade with kingdom emerges. other kingdoms in the Near East Vast monuments, such as the Abu Simbel temple complex, are constructed, reflecting Egypt’s power, wealth, and belief systems.

40 ARTOTOATCOHFMSENUTFFIESRTINHGE SIDDARTHA GAUTAMA PREACHES BUDDHISM (c.500 bce) IN CONTEXT Siddartha rejects Ashoka the material life and preaches Great conquers FOCUS India and unifies The spread of Buddhism Buddhist philosophy. the empire. BEFORE 1200 bce Vedic (aka Aryan) Ashoka makes Buddhism the state religion culture extends across and spreads it across South and East Asia. northern and central India. After the collapse Buddhism flourishes 1200–800 bce Oral Vedic of the Mauryan Empire, in Sri Lanka, Southeast traditions are written down Buddhism declines Asia, China, Japan, Tibet, in Sanskrit as the Vedas. in India. and Central Asia. c.600 bce The Mahajanapadas, the 16 S iddartha Gautama, better the material world. Siddartha competing kingdoms of Vedic known as the Buddha, was developed a similar philosophy India, emerge. born at the end of the Vedic based on mystical Hinduism, but Age (1800–600 bce) into a South he also rejected the increasingly AFTER Asia in transition. In the country’s rigid strictures of Vedic ritual and 322 bce Chandragupta Maurya caste system, the priestly Brahmins the inherited piety of the Brahmins. founds the Mauryan Empire. and the warrior-elite Kshatriyas Renouncing material possessions, ranked highest, and it was into he sought and eventually found 3rd century bce Sri Lanka this latter group that Siddartha enlightenment, and became the converts to Buddhism. Gautama was born. Buddha. He preached in northeast India and founded the Sangha—the 185 bce The Mauryan Empire India was then a ferment of sects monastic order of Buddhism—to collapses. and new ideologies, some of which continue his ministry. espoused a philosophy renouncing 1st century ce Buddhism arrives in China and Japan. 7th century Buddhist missionaries are invited to establish a monastery in Tibet.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 41 See also: The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The Indus Valley Civilization collapses ■ The construction of Angkor Wat 108–09 ■ The conquests of Akbar the Great 170–71 Given that separation He extended Mauryan control and, Stone reliefs depicting the life of is certain in this world, his Buddhism proving a powerful Buddha decorate gateways of The Great is it not better to separate unifying force, succeeded in joining Stupa at Sanchi, commissioned by the oneself voluntarily for all of India, except the southern tip, emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century bce. into an empire of 30 million people. the sake of religion? including Zen Buddhism, Theravada Siddartha Gautama A world religion or Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Having established Buddhism as Buddhism, and Varayana Buddhism. For the next two to three centuries, the state religion, Ashoka founded Buddhism remained one among monasteries, and sponsored The first religion to have spread several minor sects but, under the scholarship. He sent Buddhist widely beyond the society in which Mauryan emperor Ashoka the Great missionaries to every corner of the it originated—so the first “world (304–232 bce), it became India’s subcontinent and abroad as far as religion”—Buddhism is also one of state religion. Ashoka’s reign had Greece, Syria, and Egypt. His the oldest, having been practiced proceeded initially through bloody missions established Buddhism since the 6th century bce. ■ conquest, but in around 261 bce he initially as an elite pursuit, but the had a change of heart. From then he religion went on to take root at all embraced a new model of kingship levels of society in Sri Lanka, and religious philosophy based on a Southeast Asia, along the Silk Road creed of tolerance and non-violence. in the Indo–Greek kingdoms (in modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan), and later in China, Japan, and Tibet. In India—its birthplace—Buddhism started to decline after Ashoka’s death in 232 bce, affected by a resurgence of Hinduism and then the arrival of Islam. Outside India, however, its tradition and scholarship flourished, evolving into multiple strands The Buddha The life history of Siddartha six years wandering and Gautama is obscured by the myth meditating, he achieved and legend that has grown up enlightenment and became around him. Different traditions the Buddha, but instead of give different chronologies for his ascending to nirvana, the birth and death, but many agree transcendent state that is the on 563–483 bce. Said to have been goal of Buddhism, he chose born miraculously through the to remain and preach his new side of his mother, Siddartha was message, the dharma. raised in luxury in the palace of his father, King Suddhodana Gathering followers who Tharu, leader of the Shakya clan. formed the Sangha, a monastic order, the Buddha pursued his Aged 29, Siddartha rejected ministry until he died, at age 80. this luxurious life and left his wife He urged his disciples to follow and child, renouncing material the dharma, instructing them: things to seek enlightenment “All individual things pass through asceticism. Having spent away. Strive on, untiringly.”

42 IOEANXFCITPSLHIUTCEEETNGTUCROREEETEO-HKWFELRAAISTNIYDNSSGTEM THE PALACE AT KNOSSOS (c.1700 bce) IN CONTEXT Minoan society becomes I n the 1890s, British historian highly prosperous through Arthur Evans came across FOCUS agriculture and trade. some ancient clay seals for sale Minoan Crete in Athens. They originated from the Social stratification relatively unexplored Mediterranean BEFORE develops, with a wealthy island of Crete, and for Evans they c.7000 bce Initial colonization offered a tantalizing hint at the of Crete. elite controlling trade. existence of the first writing system Elaborate palace in Europe. c.3500 bce Beginning of the Bronze Age in Crete. complexes are built Following the seals to their to store commodities Cretan source, Evans decided to AFTER excavate a promising parcel of c.1640 bce Massive eruption for redistribution. land at Knossos, in the north of the of volcano Thera devastates The need for record- island, where he uncovered a vast Minoan colonies and coastline. keeping gives rise to palace complex. The iconography “writing” in the form of of the palace centered on a bull-cult, c.1500 bce Deeper including frescoes that depicted the stratification of Minoan hieroglyphs. sport of bull-leaping. Evans named culture; local administration the civilization “Minoan” after the is devolved to large villas. Hieroglyphs evolve mythical Cretan King Minos, who— into Linear A according to Greek legend—built a c.1450 bce The Mycenaean labyrinth to contain the Minotaur: a invasion of Crete. syllabary at Knossos. fearsome half-man, half-bull creature. In the process, Evans discovered c.1100 bce The Sea Peoples that the Minoans had indeed terrorize the Mediterranean invented an early type of alphabet, world, leading to the final which he called Linear A. decline of Minoan civilization. The Palatial Period 1900 ce Arthur Evans begins The Minoans were a people of the excavation of Knossos. unknown origin (possibly from Anatolia), who settled on Crete in 1908 Italian archaeologist the Neolithic era, in about 7000 bce. Luigi Pernier discovers the They farmed crops, herded sheep, Phaistos disc.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 43 See also: The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 ■ The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■ The Persian Wars 44–45 ■ Athenian democracy 46–51 ■ King Sejong introduces a new script 130–31 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 and worshipped in caves, on top of controlled trade with other Bronze The Phaistos disc mountains, and at springs, but by Age civilizations around the 2400 bce they had begun to build Mediterranean, such as Byblos in Found in 1908 in the ruins of large palace complexes. By 1900 bce, Phoenicia (now Lebanon), Ugarit the Minoan palace at Phaistos, in what is known as the Palatial in Syria, pharaonic Egypt, and southern Crete, the Phaistos Period of the Minoan civilization, Mycenaean Greek settlements in disc (shown above), made palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, the Cyclades and further afield. from fired clay and about 6in and Chania had been constructed (15cm) across, is printed with in broadly similar forms, with the Linear A script symbols in an unknown script. one at Knossos being the largest. The Minoans developed their own Although dated to 1700 bce, it It was destroyed, possibly by fire or script, probably initially for record- was made using the technique perhaps a tsunami, around 1700 bce, keeping and administration of woodblock printing, which but it was rebuilt soon after on the purposes. It began as hieroglyphic was not thought to have been same site. At its peak, in about picture-writing, but later evolved invented for another 2,000 1500 bce, Knossos palace and the into the Linear A syllabary, in which years or so (in China), making city that grew up around it covered symbols denote syllables (rather the disc one of the great 185 acres (75 hectares) and had a than letters, as is the case with the archaeological mysteries. The population of up to 12,000. alphabet). The Minoan language as symbols, many of which are recorded in Linear A script remains recognizable as everyday The Minoan palaces all had large undeciphered to this day, but in objects, are arranged in a central courts, flanked by many- around 1450 bce the Minoans were spiral and divided into words chambered buildings, and were invaded by the Mycenaeans from by vertical lines. Some scholars highly decorated with frescoes of mainland Greece, who adapted the have drawn parallels between flora and fauna. In the extensive Minoan script into Linear B, which certain symbols in Cretan magazines (storehouses), the rulers— was used to write archaic Greek. hieroglyphics and Linear A, who may have served dual roles as suggesting that the writing on priest-kings or priest-queens— Not long after the Mycenaeans the disc may be an elaborated gathered many commodities for invaded Crete, Minoan civilization form of an existing Minoan redistribution. Minoan rulers also collapsed completely. However, the script. There are many theories legacy of Minoan writing lives on about the disc’s significance— This bull-leaping fresco in the through its connection with the some consider the inscription palace at Knossos in Crete is the most Phoenician alphabet, which in turn is a hymn to a goddess, others completely restored of several taureador would come to form the basis of the that it tells a story, or that the stucco panels. Bull-handling was a Latin alphabet that is used in many disc is a calendar or a game. common theme in art at this time. parts of the world today. ■ Some experts even believe the disc to be a clever fake.

44 IIBNNUTWRIYMARTEHSIETOIIRFSFPTAEHTAEHCEFERATSSHOEBNRUSST WHO BURY THEIR SONS THE PERSIAN WARS (490–449 bce) IN CONTEXT L eonidas of Sparta A hoplite—or Greek citizen-solider— stood before his band vanquishes his Persian adversary in FOCUS of 300 warriors facing the this decoration inside a 460 bce wine The Persian Empire mightiest army the world had cup. The winged horse Pegasus adorns ever seen. The envoy of his enemy the victor’s shield. BEFORE demanded that he lay down his 7th century bce The Medes arms at the feet of the Persian Turkey), which brought the Ionian establish a powerful kingdom god-king. “Come and take them” Greeks under Persian rule. Cyrus’s in modern-day Iran. was Leonidas’s laconic reply. successors Cambyses II and Darius extended the empire into Egypt c.550 bce Cyrus the Great The Persian Wars (490–449 bce), and the Balkans, where Thrace and rebels against Median rule also known as the Greco–Persian Macedon gave the Persians and founds the Achaemenid Wars, pitted a vast and cosmopolitan a foothold in Europe. Persian Empire. empire against a small band of city-states in the south of Greece. The Achaemenids established c.499 bce Greek city-states The conflict profoundly influenced Persian rule as a model for later rebel against Persian control, the development of Classical Greek empires. Despite its vast size, the but their revolt fails. identity and culture, leaving a vivid state embraced a degree of multi- trail in Western literature and myth. culturalism, allowing conquered AFTER By contrast, the story of the Persian peoples to keep liberty of religion, 431 bce Athens and Sparta Achaemenid Empire remains language, and culture. There was clash for supremacy in Greece comparatively neglected, belying investment in infrastructure—like in the Peloponnesian War. the significance of that great Middle Eastern civilization. 404 bce Artaxerxes II becomes ruler of the Achaemenid The Achaemenids Empire. The first Persian Empire, ruled by the dynasty known as the 331 bce Alexander the Great Achaemenids, grew rapidly. At its defeats Darius III and conquers height it may have ruled over half the Persian Empire. the world’s population. It began in around 550 bce, when the Persian 312 bce Persia becomes part of king Cyrus the Great overthrew the the Seleucid Empire, founded ruling Medes, going on to conquer by one of Alexander’s generals. Babylonia, and Lydia (now in

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 45 See also: The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■ Athenian democracy 46–51 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The Peloponnesian Wars 70 ■ Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 the Romans, the Persians built a All other expeditions... Persia, leaving a large force to carry network of roads to hold their empire are as nothing compared on the fight, but at the Battle of together—and the military, and with this. For was there Plataea in 479 bce the Greeks, led by devolution of administration to the Spartans, crushed the Persians, local provinces. Under the a nation in all Asia who also lost to the Spartans at Achaemenids, the Middle East was which Xerxes did Mycale. Greek success can probably united under a single umbrella not bring with him be ascribed to Xerxes’ difficulties culture for the first time. against Greece? in keeping his vast army supplied and supported after naval defeat, Conflict with the independent Herodotus although Herodotus ascribed it to Greeks arose after the city-states the moral superiority of their cause. of Athens and Eretrea supported of 1,700,000 men—but modern an unsuccessful revolt by the historians believe the maximum The Delian League Ionians against Persian rule in figure to be closer to 200,000. The Greeks now began to go on the 499 bce. Darius responded by offensive, forming the Delian League invading mainland Greece, but was The second Persian invasion, to oppose Persia. In 449 bce, the defeated by the Athenians and in 480 bce, was held up by the Persians finally concluded peace, their allies at Marathon in 490 bce. heroic defense of Leonidas and his conceding the independence of the He planned an even larger invasion, 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, Ionian states. but it was only after his death that and by Greek naval resistance at his son Xerxes began mustering a Artemisium. Later the Athenian The Persian War had reinforced huge army to execute the plan. navy lured the Persian fleet into a Greek identity and bolstered trap at Salamis. Xerxes returned to cultural and military confidence, Father of Lies most significantly in Athens. The The main source for the Greco– country’s rising power sparked Persian Wars is the ancient conflict with Sparta, leading to the Greek historian Herodotus of Peloponnesian War of 431–404 bce. Halicarnassus, known as both The Persian Empire had reached the Father of History and the Father the limits of its expansion, but of Lies. Herodotus estimated that remained strong until defeated by Xerxes’ land army was made up Alexander the Great in 331 bce. ■ Cyrus the Great The founder of the Achaemenid diverting the Euphrates and Empire was Cyrus II, later known marching his army along the dry as “the Great.” In around 557 bce, riverbed into the great city. This he became king of Anshan, victory brought him the lands of a vassal of the Median king. the neo-Babylonian Empire, including Assyria, Syria, and According to legend, he won Palestine. He liberated the Jews the Persian army’s support by from their Babylonian bondage making them spend one day and allowed them to rebuild the clearing thorn bushes, and the Temple in Jerusalem. The Greek next banqueting, then asking writer Xenophon saw him as an why they remained slaves to the example of the ideal ruler. Medes when, by backing his revolt, they could live in luxury. Cyrus died in 530 bce while on campaign in Central Asia. Some ten years later he had He was buried in a great tomb conquered Media, and Sardis and inside the royal palace he had Lydia in Asia Minor. He conquered built at Pasargadae in Persia. Babylon seven years after that by

THE MANYIASDIMNITNHIESHTARNADTSIOONF AND NOT OF THE FEW ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY (c.507 bce)



48 ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY IN CONTEXT T he term “democracy” To the Athenian the comes from the Greek fruits of other countries FOCUS words demos (people) and are as familiar a luxury Greek politics kratos (rule). The democracy that and philosophy developed in ancient Athens as those of his own. around 507 bce and flourished in Pericles BEFORE its purest form from 462 to 322 bce, 14th–13th centuries bce albeit with some interruptions, machinery of state, appointing Mycenaean settlement at provided the model for what has officials and serving as a civil Athens, with fortification become the dominant form of court, while the lower classes of the Acropolis. government in the world: by 2015, (thetes) were excluded from office. 125 of the world’s 195 countries c.900 bce Political union of were electoral democracies. The However, the development of the small towns in Attica into a democracy of ancient Athens, “hoplite” model of citizen-soldiery in city-state centered on Athens. however, differed from its modern the 8th to 7th centuries bce proved form, reflecting the history of disruptive to those who were in c.590 bce Reforms of Solon Athens and the warring Greek power, as it led to a certain level of open the political machinery states of the age. egalitarianism. Hoplites were men of Athens to all citizens, in the heavy infantry, mainly free regardless of class. Oligarchs and hoplites citizens, whose primary tactic was After the chaos of the ancient the phalanx—a military formation AFTER Greek Dark Ages—a period that in which soldiers stood in tightly 86 bce Athens sacked by followed the breakdown of packed ranks, with each man’s Romans under General Sulla. Mycenaean civilization around shield protecting the hoplite to his 1100 bce and lasted until about left. Any man who could afford the c.50 bce Beginning of the the 9th century bce—most of the arms and armor would be putting Roman philhellenic movement; emergent city-states evolved into his life on the line to defend the Athens becomes the focus of oligarchies, with powerful nobles state. As a result, a kind of middle imperial benefactors. monopolizing government and class emerged, which declared that serving their own interests. In service should bring full citizenship 529 ce Christian Emperor Athens, the Areopagus—a council and political representation. At the Justinian I closes Plato’s school and law court consisting of men of same time, the lower classes were and drives out pagan scholars. aristocratic birth—controlled the also making demands, and tensions between them and the higher Pericles He is also believed to have orders over key issues, such as land helped drive Athens’ assertive reform and debt slavery, threatened Pericles (c.495–429 bce) became foreign policy as the city sought to lead to civil breakdown. Athens’ most famous democrat to exploit its dominance of the and the leading man of the Delian League. During the Solon and Cleisthenes city-state for about 30 years. In Athens, some of these tensions He came to prominence around 440s and 430s bce, Pericles were eased around 594 bce by the 462 bce, when he helped the was involved in an ambitious reforms of the statesman Solon. He politician Ephialtes dismantle public building program that the Areopagus—the last bastion provoked controversy at home, of oligarchic control. After where he fought off revolt, and Ephialtes’ death, Pericles abroad, where he was undertook further reforms, condemned for requisitioning including the introduction of pay money from the Delian League for those serving in the courts, to pay for the Parthenon. making it possible for even the Nonetheless, he was popular poorest citizen to have his say. and was elected as general every year from 443 bce.