Fluent Essays

Be ready to thoroughly answer each of the following, with plenty of details and facts.  Be SPECIFIC in your answers.  Remember, this is a proctored test: you can have no cell phones, notes, textbooks, or internet site besides Canvas to aid you in completing this test.  It’s all you and your brain!  Remember to TAKE YOUR TIME.  You have 30 whole minutes for each question! 1.   (refer to Chapter 4) Compare the following religions.  You’ll need to study all of your notes for them, making sure you know how many gods are worshipped, names of gods, central idea (philosophy) of the religion, what kind of afterlife that religion believes in, and how one attains some continued existence after death.   Hinduism Judaism Zoroastrianism 2.   (refer to Chapter 5) Discuss class inequalities in the following early civilizations.  For each, know who comprises the upper class and who the lower.  Be sure to know which occupations are venerated (raised high, looked up to) and which are reviled (looked down upon).  Explain why these occupations are either valued or lack value.  You’ll need to think for yourself a little on this one.   China India Roman Empire 3.   (refer to Chapter 6)  Describe the Meroe and Axum civilizations:  where were they, what were their principle trade goods, what religion did each have, and why did each of them ultimately fail?  4.    (refer to Chapter 6)  Describe the Bantu- who they were, why they were able to be more successful than other hunter/gatherers.  Understand the Bantu migration and how that changed Africa as a whole. New Religions World History I Chapter 4 China’s legalism As China was becoming an empire, there were entire centuries of unrest. The Era of Warring States ran from 500-221 BCE. During this time, Chinese scholars and philosophers asked themselves how peace and order could be restored. Legalism was an outgrowth of this. Legalism is government and culture led by a strict set of very specific laws, with equally specific punishments and rewards. Legalism treated the people more like cattle; as if they were stupid and needed to be led, therefore, only rulers knew what was good for the people. Under legalism, farmers and soldiers held more power than other workers, because they were necessary for the running of the empire. Scholars, merchants, etc. occupied a lower class- even the nobility were considered to be fairly useless. Because this system was fairly brutal, Legalism fell out of popularity quickly. Confucianism Confucius (551-479 BCE) was a member of nobility, who became a teacher and philosopher. After his death, his students published a book of his teachings, called the Analects. Confucius believed strict laws and harsh punishments were not usually necessary as long as people followed the natural order of things. I In Confucianism, the fathers were superior to the sons, the husbands to the wives, the older brothers to the younger brothers. If the superiors modeled correct behavior, the inferiors would naturally follow these examples, and everyone would live peacefully. Confucianism Confucius believed education was crucial to increasing the ren, what the text calls their “human-heartedness, benevolence, goodness.” People studied history, language, literature, philosophy and ethics. Scholars once more became revered among Chinese. Religion was not emphasized, as the point of living was to make this the best possible world by becoming the best possible person you could be- not focusing on life in the hereafter. Confucianism became the basis for Chinese culture. Daoism Another popular worldview in China around this same time was Daoism. Founded by Laozi, a librarian/historian. His book was the Daodejing, (meaning The Way and the Power). Whereas Confucius emphasized education and morality to improve human relations, Laozi believed that meditation among nature held the keys to happy, orderly living. Daoism focuses on the dao, which is basically the energy that creates the essence of life. Unlike Confucians, Daoists weren’t interested in striving to become educated to perform well on the civil exams from which all jobs flowed in China- they would rather leave civilization and wander among the natural world. Room for Both Although Confucianism and Daoism were very different, the Chinese believed there was room for both worldviews, and that they actually complemented each other, like yin and yang- two different parts that make up the whole, as shown to the right. Thus, one could work hard all day in the Confucian way, then come home to relax in nature in the Daoist way. Sound familiar? Hinduism A major religion growing out of India, Hinduism has no known founder. In fact, the term Hinduism is actually a made-up one given by non-Indians to encapsulate the many different kings of Indian culture and beliefs. Hinduism has many gods, many beliefs and many practices because the area of its birth has many different cultures. Hinduism The central idea of Hinduism is that of the brahman, the World Soul, “the final and ultimate reality,” as the textbook says. The purpose of religion is to help on prepare the individual soul, the altman, to return to the brahman after death, to become one with it again. To do this, one had to improve in each life one is given. After many lives, if the person’s karma was good (in other words, if a person is good in this life, he or she is reborn in the next life to a higher social position- that’s what good karma really means) eventually the person’s altman gets to stop being reborn and rejoin the World Soul of the brahman. Hinduism It’s this idea of being a good enough person in this life to rise to a higher class, in the next one that makes the idea of caste so important in India. The lower castes are the farthest away from rejoining the brahman, and therefore are expected to be the most poorly behaved (because they are the least spiritually evolved). Women have an extremely subordinate role in early Hinduism, where they were seen as necessary evils for the sake of procreation, and where child marriage was common (and is still practiced in some areas). The Indian Women’s Wall protest movement. The women are protesting for equal rights. Buddhism Buddhism also began in India, founded by Siddhartha Gautama (566-486 BCE), a prince of a small state who left his rich privileged life to find the way to alleviate human suffering. He meditated intensively for 49 days, during which he achieved spiritual enlightenment, attaining the title of Buddha, meaning “the man who had awakened.” Buddhism Buddha taught that living a moral life and meditating would lead to nirvana, ultimate enlightenment. After achieving nirvana, one could eventually join the essential life force, as with Hinduism. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism had no rituals and few rules, and did not recognize the need for different classes or castes; all were considered equal, although gender inequalities still existed. Women could become nuns more easily under Buddhism. Being a nun didn’t mean more equality, but it did mean slightly more freedom than marriage. Buddhism As Buddhism spread through Asia, it changed from place to place. Enlightenment became more possible for any person to achieve, not just people who devoted their whole lives to the search for it. It could also be achieved in a single life rather than multiple lives. More emphasis was placed on helping others. The concept of bodhisattvas, enlightened people who put off their final journey into heaven in order to help people- a sort of Buddhist angel- grew. Buddha himself was eventually deified, and there would eventually become many different Buddhas one could pray to, just as there were many different levels of heaven and hell. Monotheism In other areas, monotheism, the concept of worshipping only one god, grew. One of the first monotheistic religions was Zoroastrianism, which evolved in Persia in 500-600 BCE. Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who taught that there was only one god, Ahura Mazda, who watched over people and fought evil in the form of Angra Mainyu. Ahura Mazda Zoroastrianism Zoroaster taught that a savior would come who would restore peace to the world. Those who worshipped Ahura Mazda would be reborn to live in Paradise eternally, but those who followed the path of evil would be punished eternally. Zoroastrianism gave the world the concept of a judgement day and life after death in either a heaven or hell, based upon choices we make of our own free will. Although Zoroastrianism died out, many of the concepts became absorbed by other religions such as Judaism. Judaism Judaism began among the Hebrews, who created a state that split into two parts, Israel and Judah, around 1000 BCE. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and its people were scattered throughout the Assyrian empire, mostly as slaves. Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BCE but were allowed to retain their culture and some were even allowed to return to their homeland in Jerusalem. Judaism The Jewish god was known as Yahweh. He shared a special agreement with the Jews, called the Hebrew Covenant. In the covenant, the Jews agreed to worship only Yahweh, and Yahweh agreed to name the Jews as his chosen people and protect and help them. Like Buddha, Yahweh told his people to be mindful of those in need and to help them. Many believe he also told them to protect the planet. Jews making a sacrifice to Yahweh Greek Rationalism 600-300 BCE While these new worldviews were growing, Greece was in its classical age. No new religions grew here but a new way of thinking did. Greeks began to de-emphasize the importance of religion in understanding the world. Instead, they began to use logic, argument and examination to achieve knowledge. This movement presaged the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, which will eventually lead to our modern age. Rodin’s “the Thinking Man” Greek Rationalists The most famous of the Greek rationalists was probably Socrates (469-399 BCE). He was an Athenian philosopher who taught the youth of Athens to question everything, even their current form of government. He asked whether there should be class divisions and whether wealth should automatically equal power. He told them “the only true knowledge is in knowing that you know nothing.” He was sentenced to death by the Athenian Council for corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates famously died by drinking hemlock. Socrates, teaching to the last breath, prepares to drink the poison Other Greek Rationalists Thales discovered that the moon had no light of its own but was instead lit by the sun. He was able to understand and predict eclipses. Democritus discovered atoms. Pythagoras mad many mathematical discoveries Hippocrates made may discoveries about the human body; he is considered the father of modern medicine Herodotus witnessed and wrote about the Greco-Persian wars, becoming the father of the study of history Plato wrote many works on government and politics Aristotle did many things, including cataloging hundreds of species of animals. He was a noted philosopher. Christianity Another major world religion was founded around 4 BCE with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity and Buddhism became two of the world’s largest religions. Neither Jesus nor Buddha set out to start a new religion; instead, both wanted to increase interest and understanding of their existing religions. Neither Jesus nor Buddha claimed divine status, but both were eventually considered to be divine, and both are worshipped directly by many followers. Christianity Jesus’ death by crucifixion might not have meant the foundation of a new religion had it not been for the faithfulness of his disciple, Paul, who traveled the Eastern Roman Empire to tell Jews and non-Jews about Jesus’ teachings. He was later canonized as Saint Paul. Although Jesus’ mother, Mary, became an important part of the religion for the original Christians, the part women in general were allowed to play in the Christian Church got smaller as women became increasingly identified with sin in church dogma. Stained glass from a cathedral- St. Mary, St. Paul, St. Peter Christianity Christianity slowly spread through the Roman Empire over the next 300 years after Jesus’ death. Eventually about 10\% of the empire’s inhabitants were Christian. At times, Christians were singled out for abuse such as crucifixion by emperors because they refused to worship Roman gods or give sacrifices to venerate former Roman emperors, as was required by law. Triumph of Faith Christian Martyrs in the Time of Nero by Eugene Romain Thirion “ Christianity Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 300 CE. In 380 CE, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, largely because of the religion’s message of loving one another and living peacefully, which helped the Romans keep order in their far-flung empire. Emperor Theodosius finally outlawed polytheism and forbade the worship of Roman gods and former emperors. Emperor Theodosius I, declaring that all other religions except Christianity are now outlawed Modern Christianity and Buddhism Missionaries helped to spread Christianity throughout Europe and Africa, and eventually Asia. Today both Christianity and Buddhism contain various sects within them who have slightly different beliefs than the others. In Christianity, for example, some followers believe Jesus was the son of God, others believe he was God Himself on earth, and still others believe he was just a human being whom God spoke to. Buddhism has these same arguments to some extent, also. SOCIETY and INEQUALITY in EURASIA World History I Chapter 5 Class Inequality in China China’s social system has nearly always been based upon its civil service administration. Boys were trained almost from birth to study hard in order to pass the civil service exam that would give them a revered job and bring honor to their family. It cost money to take these exams, though, so often only the wealthier families could afford the tests for their sons. Another higher class in China were the landowners- as with nearly every civilization, the more land you owned the more wealth you could obtain, and this usually meant a higher rank in society. One exception, though, was China’s merchant class- merchants were looked down upon as a kind of necessary evil within China. They were considered “unclean” because they did not produce anything, they merely bought and sold things other people produced, which diminished their worth as people in the eyes of the Chinese. Merchants were not allowed to wear silk or ride horses or carry weapons, nor could they sit for civil service exams. Class Inequality in China Even the peasants, who were much poorer than the merchants, were often considered to be in a class above them, since the peasants labored all day to produce food for the nation. The peasants had a much worse life, though, working constantly and still living on the brink of starvation. Consequently, peasant rebellions were an accepted aspect of life in China. Caste Systems in India Like China, people in India were born into their class and there was little chance to improve one’s class. India’s class system – or caste system, which is a more appropriate term – is unique in the world. India had four classes, or VARNAS. The top varna were Brahmins, Hindu priests. They were the only ones who knew the sacred rituals needed to keep the world working properly. Next came the KSHATRIYA, the warriors and rulers who protected India. Then was the VAISYA class, the farmers. Together these three classes were believed to be especially pure and noble, so were given the additional distinction of being ARYAN. India’s Caste System Below the Aryans came the SUDRAS, which were basically everybody else. Sudras didn’t have the same rights as the other classes and were not well protected by laws or society. As time went on, medicine men and “sorcerers” became part of the Brahmin class, Merchants became part of the Vaisya and a lower class, the Untouchables, emerged. The Untouchables had to perform tasks other castes felt were beneath them, such as disposal of the dead (whether human or animal) and executioner. Eventually, as industrialization occurred, the caste system enlarged to include many different occupations within each of the castes. Ancient Slavery How did slavery begin in the world? We aren’t sure but we do know it is a very old practice, dating back to the Paleolithic era. It’s probable that the first slaves were women captured in warfare. Men were usually killed but women were often raped and then made into concubines, which is in essence a sex slave. As man began to grow labor intensive crops and more hands were needed for work, slavery probably grew from there. A slave is defined as someone who worked without pay, could be sold, was owned by someone else and lived on the bottom rungs of society. Most slaves had no rights or even personal identity. All early civilizations and most later civilizations used slavery. An early Roman fresco showing slaves working for their masters Ancient Slavery In some areas, slaves could earn their freedom or were set free if they adopted the local religion, or got to old to work, etc. In some cases, slavery was hereditary- if you were a slave, your children were too. There was no absolute set of rules for slavery. People were not only enslaved through warfare, but could become slaves as punishment for crimes or to pay their debts, or a family members’ debts. Whether or not slaves had any rights or were protected by any laws differed from civilization to civilization. In areas like India and China, where slaves were never heavily relied upon for economic benefit, slaves were usually protected legally against abuses by their owners. Slaves being brought before the Chinese Emperor. Slavery in Greece In the Mediterranean world, slavery was huge, though. In Athens, about one third of the population were slaves- which is ironic, since that area is considered to be where democracy got its start. Even poor families in Athens usually owned a slave or two, and although it was common for slaves to be given their freedom, they could never become full citizens nor could they marry citizens, so they never had the same rights as free Athenians and always remained in a lower class. Slavery in the Roman Empire In the Roman Empire, about 40\% of the population at any time might be slaves. As with the Greeks, slave ownership meant social status- the more you owned, the higher up you were. Freed slaves could own other slaves. Because Roman men were so often off fighting the wars of empire, slaves were needed on the farms in and in businesses to do the labor and keep things running. As the Romans conquered an area, the conquered were often made slaves also. When Carthage was conquered after the Punic Wars, 55,000 people were enslaved. Still more slaves were purchased from slave traders from Africa and Northwestern Europe. Children born to enslaved women were also slaves. Even homeless orphans or abandoned children could be enslaved. Slavery in the Roman Empire Unlike slavery in America much later, the Romans were equal opportunity enslavers- race did not matter- pretty much anyone could be enslaved. Slavery was so ingrained into Roman culture that even the advent of Christianity did not stop it in the Roman Empire. Slaves could be doctors, teachers, gladiators in the arena- pretty much any job could be held by a slave. The only jobs a slave could not hold was that of being a soldier in the military. Slaves in Rome really had no rights. If they earned money, their owner could take it at any time. Any property they had really belonged to their masters. In Rome, a slave who was freed could become a citizen, with all of a citizen’s rights. If a slave killed his or her master, ALL of the master’s slaves were executed as punishment. This made slave rebellions really rare, as you can imagine. Spartacus One notable exception was the slave SPARTACUS, a gladiator in 73 BCE who led 70 other gladiators in a slave revolt that eventually grew to 120,000 slaves. When they were finally defeated by the Romans, about 6,000 captured slaves were crucified, their crosses spread out over the Appian Way (the main road) for about one hundred miles. Gender Inequality in Greece Regarding that other great class of the nearly enslaved- women, gender inequality continued to exist in most cultures at this time. The textbook looks specifically at the differences between Athens and Sparta in Greece. The Athenians, who today are recognized as the fathers of democracy (government by the people) denied most rights and freedoms to their women. Lower class women were expected to do their jobs among the public, but upper class women were supposed to remain sequestered within their houses. Their jobs were to birth the next generation and keep the households running smoothly. The Athenians thought it was a near criminal idea to educate a woman, as women were basically seen as a necessary evil. Gender Inequality in Greece In Sparta, a culture which many modern people deride because of their militarism, women were more equal than in Athens. Their job was still to birth the next generation, but they were expected to learn and to train as well as the men (although not as hard) in order to raise more worthy Spartans. The statuette at right was found in the ruins of Sparta, and depicts a Spartan woman running a race. When a Spartan woman died in childbirth, she was lauded just as a Spartan warrior who died in battle would be. Homosexuality in Greece Homosexuality was readily accepted in Greece, and in the case of Sparta, even expected in order to develop the bonds of warriors. In Athens, older men were often expected to take younger men as their lovers, until the younger men could take their places as adults in Athenian society and politics. Other Second-Wave Civilizations World History I Chapter 6 Second-Wave Civilizations In Western history, we usually focus on the better- known second-wave civilizations such as the Greeks, Romans and Chinese, but there were many other peoples that were creating civilizations which were in many ways like these mega-cultures, but still unique. The three main population centers around this time (600 BCE-1200 CE) were Eurasia, which harbored 85\% of the world’s population, Africa, with about 10\%, the Americas, with about 5\%, and Oceania, which held less than 1\%. The fact that Eurasia had by far the most people – and still does today - is the main reason why their civilizations are given the most focus in survey courses such as these. Population Centers Eurasia Africa Americas Oceania 0.85 0.1 0.05 0.01 Why did some areas lag behind? The cultures developed differently according to their natural surroundings. For example, Eurasia and Africa had lots of larger animals that could be domesticated to pull plows and wagons, or to ride in battle- but the Americas had almost none at first, until the Spanish brought horses and cattle in the 1500s. Working metals (metallurgy) wasn’t as far advanced in the Americas, nor was writing. These are milestones of growth in civilizations, and the civilization tends to stay fairly primitive until these things are mastered. Another reason the Americas and Oceania stayed primitive longer was the distance between them and the civilizations of Eurasia. In Africa’s case, it was relatively near Eurasia, so those things the Eurasians learned could be transferred over to Africa more quickly than the Americas or Oceania, which were thousands of miles of ocean away. Africa Africa, with its wide variations in climate and geography, grew many civilizations that were very different from each other. Some people lived in mountainous areas with frequent rainfall, some in dense jungle, some in desert, some in grasslands- all lived in tropical climates with plenty of insect born diseases and parasites they had to contend with. Meroë One lesser known African civilization was the Nubians, who lived in the Nile Valley, south of Egypt. Their kingdom was Meroë, which survived from 300 BCE-100 CE. Their ruler was all powerful, and at least ten times was a female. As with Egypt, the people were adept at working with iron, weaving, masonry, pottery and agriculture. It was a trade center, and well known for its iron weapons, cotton cloth, and access to gold, ivory, tortoiseshells, ostrich feathers and other luxuries. Eventually, Meroë declined, as timber used to stoke the ironworks declined, and trade moved away from inland routes to water routes. It was conquered by Axum, and eventually became part of the Islamic empire. The ruins of Meroe are shown at left. Axum Axum grew in the area of what is modern day Eritrea and Ethiopia. Unlike most African civilizations, Axum was able to use plows to grow massive quantities of grains, which were then traded throughout the Red Sea and Indian Ocean areas. They erected obelisks that were the largest man made structures hewn from a single rock at the time. The largest port on the East African coast at the time, Adulis, was in Axum and the helped the civilization to grow even more prosperous, so much so that the Romans considered the Axum empire to be of major importance, rated third after the Persian empire and Roman empire itself. As with Meroë, Axum became heavily Christian, but unlike Meroë, and Egypt, both of which became largely Islamic, the area of the Axum empire has stayed largely Christian to this day. As with Meroë, the Axum civilization began to decline as a result of environmental changes such as soil depletion and erosion. Niger Valley Peoples The Niger Valley civilization began around 300 BCE, when drought forced people from other areas to travel into the Niger Valley in search of water and grassland for their cattle, sheep and goats. These people never banded together into an empire, or even into kingdoms. Instead, they developed complex urban centers, each specializing in a certain trade such as ironworking, cloth weaving, potters, leather workers, etc., that surrounded a larger central town, which nevertheless seemed to have no form of government. Though these areas lived peacefully and prosperously for centuries, they eventually became swallowed up by what would become the nations of Ghana, Mali and others. MesoAmericans In the Americas, the mountainous terrain kept many civilizations isolated from each other. This meant that Mesoamerica – the areas between central Mexico to northern Central America - would have many different languages, ethnicities and cultures. Most of these had no larger domesticated animals or ironworking technology, with the exception of those living in the Andes, who domesticated the llama and alpaca, which provided them with food, clothing and transportation for trade with other areas. In almost all cases, Mesoamericans grew maize, beans, chili peppers and squash, both for consumption and trade, since these items could not readily grow in many other places. They had a pantheon of gods and goddesses and used ritual human sacrifice. Interestingly enough, despite not being near each other geographically, they still traded with one another enough to use the same calendar, with a 260-day year, such as the one below, and the same kind of writing. They even used the same goods to display their wealth- jade, obsidian, ceramic pottery, stingray spines and more. Mayans The Maya are probably the most widely known of the Mesoamericans. They are certainly one of the oldest civilizations in the Americas. Mayan culture dates from 2000 BCE in what is now Guatemala and the Yucatàn area of Mexico. The zenith of their civilization, when their most noted achievements were made, dated from 250-900 CE. During that time, Mayan mathematicians (priests, most likely) produced the idea of zero, and place notation for larger numbers, allowing for more complex calculations. They used mathematical formulas to plot the earth’s cycle, predict solar and lunar eclipses, and calculate the correct length of a solar year, used in making their calendars. Their writing was a complex mixture of pictographs, phonetics and symbols and many people seemed able to write; there are many, many Mayan writings still in existence about everything from their history to their religion to astronomy and more. They built temples, pyramids, and many other structures, drained swamps, cut terraces into hillsides for irrigation, etc. They had social classes from nobles and priests, to artisans and merchants, down to peasant farmers and slaves. Mayans Despite all of these advances, the Mayans were war-like and fought among themselves frequently, as kings rose and fell from power. No one king ever rose to combine the Mayans together into one empire. In 840, a drought began that, along with warfare, decimated the Mayan population, which had fully collapsed by 910 CE. Scholars are still trying to understand exactly why the collapse was so relatively quick and so profound. Mayan ruins like those pictured here continue to be valuable sites full of information. The Aztec The Aztec, who lived in Mexico, were similar to the Mayans in many ways. Their civilization was equally impressive, including huge cities such as Teotihuacàn, that were laid out according to plans rather than added to here and there as many other cities are. In addition to palaces and temples, there were multiple marketplaces, apartments, buildings to house the government, and giant ziggurat-shaped pyramids. The city even had two small areas for foreigners (probably merchants) to live. Like the Mayans, they used human sacrifices to their gods and as grave offerings when a leader died. As with the Mayans, there was a division of labor, with some people specializing in farming, others in metallurgy, weaving, etc. Crocodiles, Jaguars and other animals decorate the face of this temple in Teotihuacan Teotihuacan The Aztecs who lived in Teotihuacán directly controlled an area outside the city of about 10,000 square miles, and more loosely controlled areas even farther away. The Aztec empire grew so powerful that it conquered at least one Mayan city (Kaminaljuyù), which was made a colony. The Mayan city of Tikal was likewise conquered at some point, but not permanently. The city of Teotihuacàn collapsed around 650 CE, and the Aztec empire never completely recovered. Archaeologists still aren’t certain what caused the collapse. The Moche In the Andes, other second-wave civilizations grew, including the Inca, and before them, the Moche. The Moche lived in the high mountain peaks of the Andes, but in many ways their culture resembled the Aztec and Mayans. For example, priests and rulers held power, workers specialized in their tasks, slavery was an important part of culture, and prisoners of the frequent wars were often used as human sacrifices. The Incas rose as the Moche and other Andean civilizations began to dwindle, around 1000 BCE. A Moche burial of a high-ranking official Bantu In Africa, in the areas of modern- day Nigeria and Cameroon, came groups of people known collectively as the Bantu. These were people who shared some common characteristics, but never banded into a single group, probably largely because of geography and often scarce food resources. Collectively, the Bantu spoke over 400 different but similar languages. Over hundreds of years, the Bantu migrated further south, bringing with them agricultural methods that gradually replaced the hunter/gatherer way of living that had existed previously. The Bantu Migration The Bantu had three advantages over the hunter/gatherers: 1. They used agriculture, so there was a more reliable food supply, that could also support a larger population. This allowed the Bantu to outnumber many groups they came across- through sheer numbers, they typically assimilated the other groups. 2. They had increased immunity to animal borne illnesses and parasites, since they had domesticated cattle, etc. Therefore, they could overcome some of the diseases animals bring with them, while the hunter/gatherers were more likely to die when they became exposed to these diseases. 3. They had learned to work iron, which not only gave them stronger, more lethal weapons, but allowed them to make vessels that could carry water, cook food, etc. Bantu Customs Bantu religions, dance, music, and beliefs spread throughout most of Africa eventually, and influenced most of the groups already in existence. Rather than sacrificing humans, as Mesoamericans did, the Bantu sacrificed cattle to their gods. They had systems of ancestor worship, believing that failure to show the proper respect to ancestors could result in evil deeds befalling one. They believed also in witchcraft, seers who could divine what was happening in the next world and either curse you or protect you from harm from the dead. A Bantu “witch-doctor” The Anasazi In America, second-wave civilizations included the Anasazi, or Ancestral Pueblo, of modern-day southwestern US. The Anasazi were some of the first humans to learn to grow maize, which took about 2000 years of growth and change to become the worldwide staple crop it is now. Originally, an ear of maize was less than an inch long. They built their homes first in pit-like structures called kivas, (see picture at right) and later in cave-like high rise structures known as pueblos. The Anasazi civilization as a whole came to a fairly abrupt end, possibly due to climate change, but some survived, becoming the Pueblo people of today. The Mound People Further north in America were the mound people of modern-day Ohio and Missouri. The Cahokia built a city near modern day St. Louis that was the largest man-made structure north of Mexico. Cahokia was a trading hub for the Americas. Oceania In the Pacific, the people of Oceania also created second-wave civilizations. In the case of Oceania, most of the people came to the islands from Southeast Asia. The new arrivals often completely changed the environment of the islands, causing extinction of species like the moa, a giant flightless bird (at right) that was hunted for food. Entire islands were denuded of forests and soil was allowed to erode away. In many cases, islands had to be abandoned in favor of others that had not yet had their ecosystems destroyed by human habitation. Oceania Although these various civilizations had many differences, there were commonalities as well. Many languages were spoken, thousands in fact, but they often had their roots in the Austronesian family. Many islanders used tribal tattoos, each of which was distinctly different than that of other islands and their people. They depended heavily on the ocean for food and used sea- shells as currency. Oceania They also farmed, raising basically the same crops from island to island, especially sweet potatoes, which became a staple in Oceania akin to maize in the Americas. They shared similar religions and concepts of right and wrong and had massive trade networks that often stretched through thousands of miles of open water. Because they were so isolated by water, they were able to live for hundreds of years in relative peace without interference from outside civilizations. .