Soc 43 Study Guide for Midterm

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stratified social system (power hierarchy and pronounced division of labor)

all Mesopotamian cities were theocracies, ruled by a priest-king who controlled and protected the area around the city

In return for protection, the commoners had to give up something (share of their crops, wheat, barley, etc); to give up something was a form of “tax pay”

system of writing, law

monuments, public buildings, religion played an important role; in order to maintain their empires, each set of rulers tried to develop their cities as much as their culture and technology would permit (inventions, innovations, and ideas brought forth from trade and people of different backgrounds)

Egypt:

Egyptian cities were less clear bc:(1)buildings were made of unbaked brick and other materials that crumbled over time (2)early Egyptians built and abandoned their cities with some frequency which led to none of them maintaining its dominance long enough to reach a very large size

Egyptian civilization revolved around the ruling pharaoh who was seen as a God and had his own city

Egyptian cities maintained distinctive urban traits including a clear power structure and division of labor, social inequality, and an administrative organization to oversee public needs and maintain the pharaoh’s control

During the Old Kingdom, pharaohs used their wealth and captured slaves to build cities and palaces. After the old kingdom collapsed, families spread, and rioting the cities was rampart.

Indus/ Mohenjo-daro and Harrappa

1. Indus

. Two important cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

a. A river which contributes to the favorable ecology in the area, ecology-fertility of the soil to help sustain a larger population

b. Located near rivers- for natural elements

c. Connection between Mesopotamia and Indus, trade contacts

d. Cities functioned more for the common good, not just for the power elite

i.Shown through archaeological remains

ii. Grid-pattern streets

e. Sanitation system was good,

f. Sharp distinction between elite and the common people was not present.

2. -Moenjo-Daro was situated on the Indus River about 175miles from the Arabian Sea; Harrappa was about 350 miles further north. Each had a population as high as 40,000.

-Moenjo-Daro does not show evidence of a single, all-powerful leader or a preoccupation with temples and god-monuments, but it does show evidence of extensive “good living”.

-Moenjo-Daro had a physical layout similar to the pattern common to Western cities. Its structures of mud-baked bricks and burnt-wood framing were up to two stories high and included an elaborate, well-built bath area with a layer of natural tar to keep it from leaking. Other city features included a central marketplace, a large common well, and a citadel or administration center, possibly with a granary for storage of food surplus.

-The most remarkable discovery of the Moenjo-Daro city was its well-constructed sanitation system. Along the streets were brick-lined, open sewers that carried away house drair

nage. Archaeologists also discovered several bathrooms with sit-down toilets, indicating an urban luxury not commonly found in European cities until the nineteenth century.

-Within the city, there were numerous craft specialists in operation, including potters, weavers, brick makers, and copper and bronze metal workers.

-The residential areas displaying a uniformity of mud-brick houses, streets, and drainage system suggests the extensive existence of a comparatively high standard of living. This made Moenjo-Daro one of the first cities to provide such a widespread of state of well-being- a kind of middle class lifestyle-among its citizens.

Meso-American and South American (including your research):

Mesoamerica: present-day Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Guatemala and in South america

In contrast to other parts of the world where cities arose, this area was not well suited to the production of large surpluses

Rocky, mountainous terrain

Inhabitants lacked domesticated animals

In Mesoamerica, never embraced farming in the sense that other regions did

Had mixed economy: hunting and edible wild plants, cultivated maize(corn)

Early villages of mud-walled houses appeared, but moved freq because of hunting

In some, elaborate ceremonial centers were built by Olmec and Mayan tribes, soon became cities

Also occurred in current-day Peru and Bolivia

Caral, the oldest known city in the Americas

Inca Empire: famous in the region

Capital in the city of Cuzco

Columbus would land in the New World and urban empires would fall to the Spanish and Portuguese

Despite conditions unique to the hemisphere, cities arose indigenously in the Americas were as highly sophisticated and equal in complexity to those found elsewhere

Mayans

Aztecs

Athens

Golden Age of Athens: Athens (5th century BCE) – The Golden Age of Athens was the Athens in its glories, with many city states, rivalry and warfare.

Athenian Democracy: the concept of democracy originated in Greece though different, not at its fullest, at its limited form it was better than any other system around. The political leadership is different, a city built for one is no city at all. City focusing towards more than just the individual.

Mind, body,