Part 2: The AP World History Review - Chapter 6 -8.24.08-

Chapter Six, Ancient Stuff: Around 8000 B.C.E. - 600 C.E. This chapter covered a lot of history starting with the Nomads. Nomads (early people) they didn't know how to farm, they hadn't yet built cities. The only thing they focused on were there two basic needs shelter and food. There was the hunter-gather clans, they traveled in small groups to find animals and plants, they never built permanent shelters because they were always moving. Next it talks about settling down. From about 8000-3000 B.C.E. groups of people changed lifestyles from nomadic to agricultural lifestyles and town, city life. This is often called the Neolithic Revolution or Agricultural Revolution. But these towns and cities are nothing like big civilizations, people still lived in small groups or independent communities. People started to work together, (a few people farm food for everyone and the others build towns, develop systems of writing, ext.). People learned to use metal for different things.
Now onto the big civilizations. The river valleys are where some of the world's great early civilizations were. But major early civilizations became dominant starting around 3000-2000 B.C.E. located in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, and Americas.
Some major things this chapter focused on was how a civilization became big and powerful started to fall apart because they got to big, their own people got restless or foreign threats came into the picture. Also if a civilization became so dominant that they had no rivals they were able to have some peace and prosperity for a while, able to focus on things like sciences and arts. Another big thing was how civilizations grow when everyone's not always focused on the same thing like wheres their food going to come from, so they can spread their influence through trade routes and conquests.
Major people in this chapter were Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king who rebuilt Babylon. King Menes, who built his capital at Memphis and lead efforts to manage flood waters and build drainage and irrigation systems. Queen Hatshepsut, the first female ruler who ruled for 22 years during the new kingdom. Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the Mauryan Temple. Also his grandson, Ashoka Maurya, who took the empire to great heights. Alexander the Great, conquered the Persian Empire. Qin Shihuangdi, was the first emperor. Huns, a large nomadic group from northern Asia. Wu Ti, an emperor ofter called the Warrior Emperor. Draco and Solon two aristocrats who worked to create the democracy in Athens. Pericles, a leader who brought Athens to a great powerhouse. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Homer a poet who wrote The Illiad and The Odyssey. Hannibal, a Carthaginian general. Caesar. Octavius. Constantine who ordered the Edict of Milan. Diocletian, Visigoths, Attila.
Things people came up with over these years, paper, sundials, a form of gunpowder, calendar, systems of writing and numbers, and lots of other stuff.