Western Civilization - history - Assignment Example

1. Describe the basic elements of civilization and identify which element changed early human life and early human communities the most. Thebasic elements of civilization are reason, individual rights, religion, science and technology, advanced cities, language, agriculture, art and literature. Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle employed reason to advance their arguments. Reason was again employed many hundred years later, in the western world, during the scientific revolution and the age of Enlightenment. Though the movement for individual rights, another basic element of the civilization, has been on since times immemorial, they were guaranteed in some modern democratic states in as late as the twentieth century. The foundation of the modern civilization was laid with the advent of science of technology during the age of Enlightenment. Man understood the laws of nature and could put them to use to create goods and services for his comfort and necessities. Agriculture was the basis for the founding of ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Chinese, European, and American Civilizations. The nomadic societies gave way to agricultural societies as people started to grow crops and own cattle while living on the banks of major rivers. The agricultural communities slowly gave way to emergence of cities during the time of city-states. Though, the movement for art and culture began in the ancient civilizations, it got buried in the layers of time in the Dark Ages. The Renaissance in Europe was chiefly a movement for revival of art, culture and literature. Today, these elements are integral to the modern civilization. However, the element that most influenced the early human communities was the development of language. With the development of language, people could share ideas, communicate; develop knowledge and share, store and retrieve information and maintain records. The Sumerians maintained records through clay tablets. Vast libraries were created to store human knowledge. Similarly, there is evidence of use of language in ancient European, Chinese, and the American civilizations. How did the Nile River and geography (location of Egypt) impact the Egyptian civilization? Give specific examples. Due to the low lying topography of Egypt, the river Nile flowed from the mountains, with an average height of 6000 ft, in the south, to the Mediterranean in the north. The river deeply impacted the life and culture of ancient Egypt and the country was rightly called the gift of Nile by Herodotus. The Pyramid Texts declare Nile as the canal of happiness. Every aspect of the people of Egyptian civilization was influenced by the Nile. A large number of beliefs and myths were woven around Nile. Nile was also deified and worshipped. Animals found in Nile waters like frog, crocodile, and hippopotamus were also deified and worshipped. God Hapy was the personification of floods and ensuing fertility. The Nile Delta spanning 8,500 square miles represented 63 percent of the inhabited area of Egypt. The 1 to 12 metres high mounds in the Delta were inhabited during the Pre-dynastic and Early dynastic civilizations. The ancient civilization flourished in the rich delta, which was fit for agriculture and habitation. The annual deposition of minerals and silt on the plains of Lower Egypt by Nile rendered the land highly fertile and agriculturally prosperous. Too high a flood in Nile destroyed the villages and too low a flood led to dust and famine. The river was also used for transport and travel. The ancient Egyptian calendar based on three seasons of the river Nile i.e. akhet, Inundation, peret, the growing season, and shemu, the drought or harvest season. When the Nile was in spate and inundated the lands, the farmers built Pyramids and repaired temples, monuments and tombs. What part did the Hebrew bible, Hebrew law, and the prophets play in the development of Hebrew religion and society. According to the Bible, the early history of Hebrew people, organized around a loose federation of 12 tribes, can be traced to Prophet Abraham and his sons Issac and Jacob. It is woven in patriarchal legends about the three. The society was divided into tribes. Each tribe was bound to its chief or the prophet through covenants that are now enshrined in the Hebrew bible. The entire history of Israel was viewed as the history of God’s relations with one clan. The history of Hebrew people and their religion, thus, are one and the same. Since it is also believed that one lived through one’s descendents, the Hebrew religion and society are living embodiment of the ideals of its founders. The Hebrew bible, a compilation of different texts written for varying purposes, and in different languages, is bound together in one single narrative, lends cohesion to Hebrew religion and society. The Hebrew law, or the P text, was written by a group of priests in Babylon, when Israel was under occupation of the Mesopotamians, and Jerusalem was destroyed. When Hebrew people didn’t have a central place of worship, and a land to live, this text was a source of motivation that kept them together. The ‘book of law (torah)’ or ‘the set of directions’, the first five books of the Bible ,which Ezra claimed to be the ‘law of Moses’ helped assemble the Hebrew people after the Persians freed them from the Babylonian subjugation. It is the foundation on which Jewish law, religion and society rests. Discuss the possible influences and interrelationship between Judaism and Zoroastrianism including the impact of both upon Christianity and Islam. Zoroastrianism and Judaism, the two revealed religions, profoundly impacted each other with both having commonalities in angelology, demonology, and resurrection. The Jewish idea of heaven and hell, good and evil, End of time and messianism developed during its contact with Zoroastrianism. These similarities came into existence with the co-existence of two faiths in Iran after the liberation of Israel from the Babylonian occupation. Both religions consider God as omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and creator of the universe. It is also speculated that the Jewish idea of afterlife arose after the period of Exile. Cosmic and ethical dualisms exist in Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Zoroastrianism influence is visible in Book of Daniel and the books of the Maccabees. Similarly, there is the parallel of Six Days of Genesis of Judaism with that of Zoroastrianism. The Zoroastrian concepts of the holy court of the Yazatas find an echo in Jewish inter-testamental writings. Similar is the case with angels, demons, and apocalypse. The Flood story of the Bible is almost identical to the winter story of Avesta. The Jewish idea of Last Judgment is largely owed to Zoroastrianism. These similarities, in turn, played a crucial role in the birth of Christianity. The concept of Devil and angels as messengers of God, in Christianity and Islam is borrowed from Zoroastrianism. The roots of the book of revelation can also be traced to distant Iran. Zoroastrian Spenta Mainyu is the Christian ‘Holy Spirit’. Similarly concepts of messiah and the resurrection of the dead are common to the three faiths. All three faiths propagate that Satanic domain will be destroyed in the end by the force of God. Mashya (man) and Mashyana (women) are the Iranian parallels to Adam and Eve. Discuss the organization of the Athenian democratic system. Was it a democracy? In what ways is Athenian democracy similar to AMerican democracy? In what ways is it different? The word ‘democracy’ is derived from Greek ‘demokratia’. Its etymological root is demos, ‘the people,’ and ‘kratos’, ‘power.’ The Athenian democracy, based on Solon’s constitution, was a direct democracy, where all issues of public interest were put to direct vote of the people. Athenian democracy flourished in Greece between 508 to 322 B.C. Athenian democracy was different from the modern democracies, as there was no universal suffrage, and only male citizen above the age of 18 had the right to vote. Foreigners, women, and slaves did not have the right to participate in the government. A person was considered citizen of Athens only if both their parents were Athenians. The Athenian Assembly ‘demos’ represented the supreme will of the people. It is Cleisthenes, an Athenian citizen, who is believed to have laid the foundation of the Athenian democracy. He created 139 demes or democratic units centered on geography. The citizens of Athens participated in the Council of 500. In both American and Athenian democracy all decisions were made by the collective will of the people. However, unlike the modern American democracy, the Athenian democracy was not prevalent in the entire Greece but was limited to only one city state—Athens. Athenians made little effort to replicate their model elsewhere. On the other hand, the American democracy is not a direct democracy but is an indirect democracy where decisions are made by the elected representatives. The American democracy, unlike the Athenian democracy, has universal franchise where all citizens above the age of 18 participate in the formation of the government. Whereas, the Athenian democracy was restricted to represent the will of 30,000 citizens of Athens, the American democracy represents the will of millions of Americans. In Athens, democracy only existed at one level, the city level, whereas the American democracy exists at the city, state and the federal levels. What do historians mean by the phrase "The age of Pericles?" What were the characteristics of this period that made it distinct? The age of Pericles represents an era of Athenian splendor spanning a hundred years from 439 BC to 338 BC. It begins with the capture of Samos by Athenians and ends in the defeat of the Greek army by the Macedonian King Philip II of Macedon. It is also called the ‘Golden age of Athens’ and is said to be the zenith of classical Greece. The age is known for its high standard of living. The eponymous personality of orator, politician, and general, Pericles shines forth in this era. Pericles patronized art, culture, history, philosophy architecture and literature. Pericles began and executed a large number of public works that improved the life of the citizenry. During this period, Athens was governed by strategoi that were elected by 10 clans of citizens. All matters were decided by the Assembly, a get a together of citizens, which was organized forty times in a year. The Magistrates that administered the Athenian state were chosen by draw of lots. The Council consisted of 500 members with 10 from each tribe. The Council members, apart from overlooking the daily administrative affairs, also looked after the external affairs and studied legal projects. The Athenians had a modest lifestyle and the economy chiefly rested on maritime commerce. Education, and specially the physical education, was stressed upon. Effort was made to develop the youth as able bodied warriors. Students got the opportunity of learning from great philosophers and grammarians. However, women were left to manage the home. It was an age of glory for art, architecture, sculpture, ceramics and theatre. Phidias the great sculptor, Democritus, the philosopher-scientist, Anaxagoras, the philosopher, Herodotus, the historian, and Hippodamus, the architect were towering personalities of the age of Pericles. The age of Pericles, finally, came to an end with the Macedonian conquest of Athens. Read More