Islam

After September 11th, it seemed that America's perceptions on the Islam and Muslim community became very negative. Most of these negative perceptions arose from fear and ignorance. After looking at the religion more closely, there is evidence that proves some of the false ideas wrong. In history, the Quran has played a big part in people's daily lives. It was not just a religion or philosophy however, it was a way to live. For instance, it helped shape the personality of peoples by establishing guidelines and laws on proper behavior. However, there was unfair treatment towards women. Women were seen as inferior to men and were expected to be covered from head to toe in order to prevent men from acting out their sexual instincts. However, men were not allowed to touch a women unless she was his wife. In some sense, this could be seen as respectful. In addition, women were allowed to choose their husbands and could divorce them if they wished. Although in some way Islam philosophy mistreats women, so did many other religions. Further, in some Christian communities women were to be submissive to their husbands and were not aloud to speak in the church setting. Unfortunately, it is not only religion that treats women this way, in history there were many examples of treating women disrespectfully. 

Fifteenth Century

Streyer emphasizes that although Columbus' voyage was important to history, it was not the only important voyage that was going on. For instance, in the fifteenth century, Islam spread in Southeast Asia, civil war among Japanese warlords broke out, the rise of Hindu state of Vijayanagara in southern India, the European renaissance was happening, and African states such as Ethiopia, Kongo, Bennin, and Zimbabwe flourished. Also, Chinese maritime voyages were taking place. Not only was Europe experiencing a renaissance but some say that China was as well. In the Ming dynasty, seminal thinkers began to arise and spread their philosophies. An example of this is the philosophy of Confucian. In addition, important writers and artists were responsible for challenging old fashioned thought.

Christendom

Christianity began as a religion in the Roman Empire which became so popular that it was later supported by the entire Empire. Christianity became the principal religion of the empire. The spread of Christianity and everything that came with it is referred to as Christendom. Once Christianity was supported by the Empire the religion, along with religious authorities, became protected under the Empire. Non-believers were then seen as heretics. Unfortunately, heretical belief was a punishable crime against the Empire. It was now up to the state to change pagan beliefs and convert non-believers to Christian followers. Christendom became so prevalent that it was no longer just religious practice, it became the way of life.

Socrates

Socrates the Athenian philosopher constantly questioned logic and challenged his students to question conventional ideas about the importance of wealth and power.  He noted that his preferred manner of teaching was to question the assumptions and logic of his students’ thinking. Socrates can be compared to a humanist because of the interest he took in studying the human mind and human reasoning. Socrates would agree on the humanist philosophy that the human mind is capable of changing a human’s fate. The idea that people can take their future into their own hands is a philosophy shared by both humanists and Socrates.

The Silk Road

The silk road made it possible for a diverse group of people from different parts of the world, such as China and India, to communicate and exchange ideas and goods. The silk road trading networks prospered most when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers. Flourished when Byzantine Empire, the Muslim Abbasid dynasty and the Tang dynasty in China created an almost continuous belt of strong states across Eurasia. Just like Christianity, the more it expanded the stronger and more prominent it got. By the sixth century the knowledge and technology for producing silk had spread beyond China. Silk began being used as religious clothing and altar covers in the Christendom world. Other silks were even inscribed with Quran passages. In addition, the silk road became a channel for the spread of culture and ideas. One of the major ideas spread was the philosophy of Buddhism. Slowly, Buddhism then became a huge part of the Chinese culture. Unfortunately, the silk road also contributed to the spread of diseases such as measles and smallpox which ravaged the Roman and Chinese Empire.

I find it amusing that some people in the first century were shocked and disgusted by the silk clothing. Seneca the Younger said "I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes... wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outside or foreigner with his wife's body". I find this statement interesting because history begins to repeat itself. As the fashions change, and clothes become more or less provocative, there will always be old fashioned thinkers that will be opposed.

China

China experienced a renaissance like Europe did. Not only beneficial to the Chinese but their ideas and technologies spread to Eurasia and many other parts of the world. China's seminal thinkers created sets of philosophical ideas that were supposed to, in their eyes, benefit society. Some of these included Daosim and confucianism. Unfortunately, these philosophies only benefited men. As a result, women were treated as property and did not have much control over there own lives. On another note, China's revolutionary inventions such as silk, printing, the compass, the mirror and gunpowder reached and benefited the rest of the continent. The invention of gunpowder and the receiving of the fire cannon strengthened China's military. In relation to religion in Europe's renaissance, the Chinese culture also adopted the religion of Buddhism as a principal religion.      

The Mongols

Debate question for next time: The Mongols got a bad rap from historians. In fact, they deserve respect for creating a civilization with a long- term impact on world history. 

Debating this question in class was difficult because I had originally argued for the Mongols deserving respect because although they were barbaric, they did invent, influence and persevere. However, I was assigned the opposing side. Although difficult, I believe it was a good change for everyone to understand the opposing side. I am still on the fence about this question, especially since the term "respect" could be defined from different perspectives however, I have more to say opposing the statement and frankly the evidence is fresh in my mind. Although Mongolian men valued other Mongolian men forming a brotherly bond, they did not value the life of others. They suppressed and enslaved people. Simply, they were barbaric. Modern day society does not respect this behavior in fact as a society we condemn such behavior. We did learn from people like Mongolians on how not to act, however. Because they were nomads constantly assimilating with other civilizations, many of their ideas were borrowed. In addition, many of their achievements were achieved through instilling fear. Although they did conquer much of Afro-Eurasia, they did not establish their own sense of identity nor did they last long as a civilization so they could not have contributed to a long term impact on world history. In addition, Mongols were associated with the source for the disease, the Black death. Instead of creating their own unique civilization, they continued to destruct their own along with members of other civilizations. In conclusion, the Mongols were not creative enough to form their own civilization for us to learn positive aspects from, nor did they contribute to the establishment of a civilization, instead they destructed them.  

Chapter 5 (summary)

In chapter 5, "Society and Inequality in Eurasia/North Africa" important historical points were highlighted. In fact, some of those points are still true about our modern world. In China, there was a social structure that consisted of 4 main classes; the elite class, the landlord class, the peasants, and the merchants. The elite class consisted of officials that were of high prestige. This class was selected through the civil system. The landlord class was able to own large amounts of land and were able to not pay taxes. Wang Mang, a high court official of the Han dynasty who became emperor sought to reform the landowning situation. The scholar-gentry was the name for the large landowning class that owned homes in both urban and rural areas that lived luxuriously. This class' wealth largely benefited from estate and education. Peasants were the backbone of the labor work and were paid large amounts of taxes. Evidently, understood as unfair treatment, the peasants rebelled. One of the rebellions named the Yellow Turban, consisted of 360,000 followers who and were unified through Daoism. Daoism preached peace and social equality. In addition to Daoism, the rebellions also strived for social harmony and common ownership. Similarly, the merchant class was disrespected discriminated against and was considered as shameful profit. The interaction between South Asia's many cultures and developments of economic and social differences could be seen as the cause the the social classes. By 500 B.C.E, the idea that society would remain separated by 4 classes, also known as varnas, was established in Indian history. The Brahim class, the top of the latter, consisted of priests who performed rituals. Kshatriya consisted of a class of warriors. Vaisya consisted of the class of commoners and Sudra was the lowest class. Jati was the concept that there were subclasses within classes and each had separate duties and responsibilities. If an elite member came into contact with a lower member they were considered contaminated.

Chapter 3 Documents

It was interesting to compare the differences between our modern day democracy and the leadership ideals portrayed in chapter 3 documents. For example, the Roman Oration in chapter 3 documents portrayed an "ideal society" where Rome was the place to be no matter your social status. The document goes on to list how significant the Roman Empire is with all it's benefits provided to it's citizens. In comparison, in our modern day society citizens witness a similar thing. Appointed officials claim that America, the place of opportunity and the land of the free is the greatest place to be. This message is heard across the world however, those who live in America are not always treated as promised. For example, privileged families with money and status tend to have more opportunities and special recognition. On the other hand, the lower and middle class work hard in struggle to pay for living expenses, their children's expenses and food. Research shows that the wealthy keep getting wealthier while the poor and middle class continue to get poorer. Similar manipulative strategies are used by Roman officials in the upper class towards the lower classes to convince them that everything is perfect the way it is. Furthermore, Pericles preaches democratic ideals at a funeral oration in order to down play the cause of fatality. The irony is that Pericles gives this manipulative speech in order to enhance his own power.

Mesopotamia:
- written language
- Agriculture: mainly farming grains
- Did not believe in life or anything beyond death
- Realized city states required authority and order
- Hierarchy
- Gender inequality
- Men owned land
- Military forces




Olmec:
- written language
- Agriculture: mainly maize, beans and squash
- Ceremonial Centers: temples, tombs for rulers, alters, pyramids. Partook in ritual sacrifices
- Realized city states required authority and order
- Hierarchy
- Men owned Land

A Paleolithic Woman in the Twentieth Century

1.     Through Nisa’s personal account, one is able to get an idea of how gather-hunters might have lived in the Paleolithic era. She speaks of egalitarian gender roles, hardships, and her spiritual beliefs. Although modern day society is much more advanced, it seems as though some things have not changed. Like Nisa’s society, most of our society too believes in the power of God, couples have affairs that lead to conflict, gender roles exist, and the emotional aspects of love and loss are equivalent to how one would feel today.

2.      Nisa describes her attitude towards sex in a liberal and casual way through speaking about her multiple husbands and affairs. One can relate these actions to our modern day “hook ups” where sex is a casual pleasure. In relation, our modern day philosophy about affairs is very much like Nisa’s where affairs are perceived in a negative way however, many people, even those who are married, still partake in this action. She had mentioned that many have killed others because of affairs. In modern day society, we constantly hear of cases where people kill over affairs. On the contrary, some couples might both be having affairs while both accepting that they are like Nisa did and many other couples do today. In addition, the concept of re-marrying is accepted in Nisa’s society as well as accepted by many in ours. Though, like Nisa’s first marriage one can be completely in love and decide to stay loyal to their significant other. In both societies, a marriage can go in many different directions.

3.     Nisa seems to believe that God is an all ruling all-powerful God that can control life situations. Through the many tragedies and heartbreaks Nisa had to withstand, she begins to question Gods motives and believes she is being targeted. To Nisa, curing rituals are sacred and honored. She enthusiastically describes her experiences. Through the way the healing rituals are described, it seems as though a drug, equivalent to our modern day hallucinogens, is used in order to awaken the senses and have a new understanding of oneself and their environment.

4.     From my perspective, Nisa’s overall assessment of San life is short and somewhat vague to a modern day busy urban resident. Although Nisa’s account seems to be mostly critical, it is realistic. Nisa describes tragedy where the death of soulmate and children took a great toll on her. Here, we see an example of a life without modern day medicines. In addition, through modern technology, urbanization and diversity modern day society has become more entertaining with a multitude of options to choose from. While in Nisa’s Paleolithic- like society it seems that most entertainment comes from tragedy, sex and spiritual healing rituals, similar to what we see in our modern day soap operas.

Chapter 1

In chapter one, I learned valuable information about the origins of human life and human nature. The hominid species were the first to walk up right. Walking up right was very valuable in many different ways. After imagining all the possibilities an individual can do when they are walking up right, I then began to wonder how long it took for them to begin to run. I imagine that the quicker the group learned to run, the more their hunting strategies improved. In addition, running could have made it easier for individuals to escape from danger. On the contrary, the more they ran the more calories they would burn causing them to require more caloric and protein rich foods, like meat, in order to survive. Another point I found interesting was that women were respected and equal. If not, possibly viewed as divine. As the community grew and became more spiritual, it was found that there was a special interest in fertility and the cycle of life. Given that women are able to bear life, our ancestors could have respected women at a much higher level than they do today. Stone artifact female figures, Venus Figures, could have been proof that women were honored.  However, I can imagine that the more the individuals practiced their running the more meat they would need to consume putting a special emphasize and dependency on the males who hunted. This could have possibly been one of the many reasons men were began to be seen as "superior".  In addition, the migration and traveling of different groups across harsh lands tell us that curiosity, restlessness, and courageousness is human nature. The human instinct to follow food along with the restlessness and curiosity of our human nature gave rise to agricultural intensification. Agricultural intensification allowed us as human beings to grow in numbers and being to dedicate our time to exploring and discovering. This led to the diversification of languages and the exchange of different crops and cattle with other regions. However, along with the good, there was also a bad. Not only did groups benefit from exploration and exchange, but they were negatively affected. Through exploring different regions, different diseases and climates came into play resulting in the death of many. If a member of your community suddenly dies it is traumatic and painful. A situation like this one could have given rise to the blaming and discrimination of another group for the killing of a community member. Also, they could have thought that there was a certain "evil" lurking within that region. Fear can generate a multitude of feelings and ideas. It is interesting to look at examples throughout history and ponder on the idea that along with the good, bad must come too.