Creating History: The World Before 1500

Part One: Finding Lost History

Introduction to Part One
Before the Written Record
Filling in the Gaps in the Written Record
Creating Historical Narratives
Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty
Conclusion
Notes on this Text

Chapter One: Archaeology and Prehistory
When Did Archaeology Begin?
Where did the Past Go?
Prehistory
Ground-breaking Archaeological Excavation
Technological Developments in Archaeology
Ethnoarchaeology
Environmental and Ecological Archaeology

Chapter Two: And Then There Was One: Modern Humans And Then There Was One African Eve
The Levant
The First Modern Europeans
Becoming Human

Chapter Three: The First Agricultural Revolution Slow Transition from Foraging to Farming
The First Agricultural Societies
Unexpected Consequences
Social Stratification and the Rise of the State
Gender Inequalities
Primary Sources: Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi
Excerpts from NRSV Bible (2 Kings 17:22–4, 2 Kings 24:10–14, and Ezra 1:1–7)
English Translation of the “Cyrus Cylinder”

Part Two: The Axial Age

Introduction to Part Two
The Written Record
Philosophical and Religious Thought
Revising the Axial Age Theory: More Questions than Answers
Placing the Axial Age in Historical Context

Chapter Four: Religious Change In the Indian Subcontinent
Shifting Population in the Subcontinent
The Vedic Indians
The Vedic Religion
Brahmins
Brahmanism
Buddhism
Ashoka and the Spread of Buddism
Hinduism
Buddhism beyond India

Chapter Five: Historical Preservation and Destruction in East Asia
The First Dynasties of China
Xia Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
Shang Leadership in the Eyes of the Opposition
Western Zhou Dynasty
Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period
Early Religious Ideology and the Hundred Schools of Thoughts
Pre-Axial Religious Thought
Confucianism
Daoism
Legalism
Unification and the Qin Dynasty

Primary Sources:
Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching
Excerpts from The Analects
Excerpts from The Essays by Han Feizi

Chapter Six: The Silk Roads
Nomadic People of the Steppes
The Xiongnu and the Han Empire
Xiongnu and Han Relations Under Emperor Wu
The Wall
The Kushan Empire
Semitic Nomads
Collapse of Major Empires and Rise of Central Asian Powers
The Silk Roads Today

Chapter Seven: Ancient Greece
The Aegean Bronze Age
The Aegean Dark Age (1100-800 BCE)
Archaic Greece (800-500 BCE)
Sparta
Athens
Attempts at Domination
Greek Culture: Religion, Philosophy, and Drama
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World

Chapter Eight: Ancient Rome
The Origins of Rome
Rome’s Conquest of the Mediterranean
Collapse of the Roman Republic
Augustus and the Principate
The Roman Imperial Economy
The Roman Army and Imperial Frontiers
Philosophy and Religion in the Roman Empire
Imperial Crisis and Recovery

Primary Source:
Excerpt from NRSV Bible (Mark 1:1-45)

Part Three: Deconstructing Historical Narratives

Introduction to Part Three
The Medieval World
Historiography
Historiography in America
Deconstructing the Narrative

Chapter Nine: American Indians: Changing Historical Paradigms
Introduction
The Origins of a Flawed History
First European Accounts of the Americans
English Perspective
People of the Andes
Mesoamerica
Diversity in North America
New Discoveries
The First Americans
“Uninhabited” Jungle

Chapter Ten: “The Dark Ages” In the Mediterranean and Middle East
Defining “Dark Ages” and “Medieval”
The Former Roman Empire
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
East of the Former Roman Empire
The Prophet and the First Muslims
The Caliphates

Chapter Eleven: Clash of Cultures – The Crusades
Primary Sources:
Excerpts from “Pope Urban II’s speech at the Council of Clermont”
The Alexiad by Anna Comnena
The Complete History by Ali ibn al-Athir
Senseless Violence in Context
Geopolitical Shifts in the Middle East
The Crusade
Motive
Reverse Prognostication
Results

Chapter Twelve: West Africa and the Trans Saharan Trade Routes
West Africa before the Trade Network
Peoples of North Africa and the Trans Saharan Trade Routes
The Empires of West Africa
The Empire of Ghana
The Empire of Mali

Chapter Thirteen: Prosperity and Betrayal in East Asia
The Dynastic Cycle Theory in Practice
The Butterfly Effect: East
The Butterfly Effect: West
The An Lushan Rebellion
The Mongol Invasion

Chapter Fourteen: The Great Mortality
Changing Fortunes in the Fourteenth Century
Diagnosing a Medieval Illness
Uncertain Origins
Short-Term Effects
Long-Term Changes
Power Dynamics

Chapter Fifteen: Trade Wars of the Fifteenth Century
“The Victors”
Means
Opportunity
Opportunity Delayed: The Hundred Years’ War
Iberia
Motive
First Steps of Colonization

Resources