The Super Summary of World History (8 page)

By way of illustration, from 1000 BC until about AD 1500 whoever controlled the area between China and Europe, astride the “silk road”, became fabulously wealthy. Empire after empire grew rich in this region by acting as middlemen between the riches of Asia and European consumers. These well positioned empires included Persia, Parthia, Kushana, the Mongols, Ottoman Turks, and the Caliphates of Islam. The overland route was necessary because a geographic feature stood in the way of an ocean route: Africa. After the Muslim defeat at the sea Battle of Du in 1508 the land route fell out of use. European seafarers captured the trade since ships moved cargo long distances at less risk and expense than land travel. Nonetheless, the merchants of Asia, and the middlemen, enjoyed a virtual monopoly on silk, spices, jade, and other oriental luxuries for about 2,500 years because of geography.
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Thus, we ascertain the significance of geography.

Security

Prior to settlement and farming, it appears people were relatively peaceful. Of course, it is hard to tell with few archeological sites, no written history, and immense expanses of time between the prehistoric era and ourselves. That much time erases a lot of evidence; nevertheless, we find no evidence of large battles. Even cave paintings only depict people hunting. After building large settlements, and investing time and resources enhancing the land with irrigation systems and permanent structures, people would naturally resist efforts to seize their improved territory. Because of this inherent problem of investment into land and permanence,
war
, which is fighting between organized groups of armed combatants, appeared in spades. It seems the creation of villages and cities led to warfare.

Throughout history we find groups of people coveting the property of others, especially if they believe they are tougher than the ones owning the prized possessions (that human nature thing). As groups organized into cities it seems some leaders decided taking the land, property, and women of their neighbors was a good thing—especially if they had a larger army. Villages or clans with small armies faced critical problems if a large army appeared; consequently, very early on, communities built protective enclosures such as stone walls or wooden stockades. Good walls can even the odds against a larger army. The city of
Jericho
near the Dead Sea was founded by 8500 BC, and its construction included a surrounding stone wall over twelve feet high with towers thirty feet tall. In front of the wall the inhabitants constructed a ditch cut out of solid rock. Whoever erected this citadel spent a lot of time, labor, and resources protecting themselves. Throughout history we will find that walls define good times or bad times. Many sturdy walls around every town in a region shouts danger, but open cities without walls whisper safety. Today we find people putting iron bars on the doors and windows of their homes. These are essentially walls, and tell us life is dangerous. Others have gone so far as to live in so-called gated (read walled) communities within our great modern cities. The walled communities are constructed because security is failing, and people feel a need for additional protection. Just like people ten thousand years ago, people today build walls when security is uncertain.

Of course, security needs go far beyond walls, and these needs consume countless resources. Good protection requires an army; thus, men of military age must be trained and be equipped for war. Walls, ditches, armaments, and time for the men to train are all necessary for resisting outside conquest—or internal trouble. Towns fearing a siege would allocate additional resources for the storage of extra food and water so the city could withstand these attacks. A considerable effort had to go into protection for an urban area to survive 8,500 years ago. Another form of protection is the gods. If the gods (or the god—singular) were on your side then your army would succeed. If the gods were against you then all your armies, weapons, walls, and storehouses would be useless; therefore, appeasing the gods and shamans was a major concern. During pre-history some of this is guesswork, but after writing allowed us to read the ancient’s thoughts we know security concerns were high.

Sumer
and
UR

The first civilization of note was located at the outlet to the sea of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near the Persian Gulf. A group of folks started to farm the very fertile land eventually establishing several large and well maintained cities on the alluvial plain by about
5000
BC
. These cities came together to form the civilization of
Sumer
about
3500
BC
. The city-states of Sumer, twelve in number, were involved in irrigating their abundant crops and needed a way to record the yields of the land. Thus, about
3300
BC,
Sumer developed what were probably the
first
written
records
, and they are (drum roll)—
receipts
and
tallies
of
crops
. (Huh?) In
Cuneiform
writing
the records were wedged shaped marks pressed into wet clay which became permanent upon drying. Why were records of grain deposits or land yields so important? Crops were the foundation of Sumer’s economy; accordingly, they probably decided to record the data because memories have a way of differing from year to year, or hour to hour for that matter. It is also probable that it had something to do with taxation (where there is government there is taxation). The why is lost to us but the records are there—warehouses full of them. From such monotonous undertakings our written language (and history) was inaugurated. Peculiarly, the language of Sumer was confined to the small area of the twelve cities, never expanding beyond them; however, the idea of writing spread swiftly throughout the world.

The Sumerians also made a beverage that is still popular today,
beer
. Moreover, they had many varieties of beer, most of them made from barley. The beer trade was important to the ancient Middle East, and went as far east as India. Egypt appears to be the ancient capital of beer brewing. The Egyptians processed something like 50 varieties of beer, ranging from red or white to premium. No wonder this area needed language and writing. How else can you order the right kind of beer all the way from India?

Sumer gave the world another item easily recognizable today, a numbering system based on 60, the sexagesimal system (!!—are they kidding?). Never heard of it? Recall that our time base is 60—sixty seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour. The number of degrees in a circle (360) is also from the base of 60. Therefore, the basis of modern time and writing came from the long ago land of Sumer.

The Bronze Age replaced the Stone Age about 3500 BC in Mesopotamia. Metallurgy made remarkable advances and became a mainstay of urban civilization. Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin, which makes bronze much harder than copper alone. Bronze Age tools were superior to Stone or copper tools. Craftsmen turned out better plows, needles, tools for tending crops, and weapons. Such useful knowledge and materials quickly reached other areas. Bronze weapons gave the city folks an edge over nomads persistently battering at their gates. In China, the Bronze Age began earlier than the Middle East, and it seems each area independently developed its metalworking expertise. How is it that two widely separated civilizations both discovered that tin mixed with copper produced a harder metal? Can it be that humans think along similar lines no matter where they are located?

Figure 3 Sargon of Agade—first conquer

Human beings are endlessly competitive it seems, and that bit of human nature immediately caused trouble. As originally constituted, the cities of Sumer comprised twelve independent city-states. Then a fellow named
Sargon
of
Agad
e
invaded and conquered the cities in 2334 BC, thereby establishing himself as the ruler of them all. It is said that Sargon was the world’s first conquer, although Menes of Egypt seems to have been ahead of him. He expanded his empire, but it did not last, and the city-state system returned with the city of
Ur
being the big dog of the pack for a few hundred years. Ur fell around 2000 BC to other invaders, and the story of the Middle East—and the world—has not changed since. One empire after another conquered the area of Sumer, or part of it, only to be overthrown by another in due time. The Middle East is a key starting point for urban civilization, and war and conquest emerged instantly thereafter. It seems civilization got off to a bad start and never recovered.

These early wars were horrible. Imagine you live in a walled “city” of 8,000 people (men, women, and children), meaning you can field an army of less than 2,000 maximum. The normal figure for fighting men would be twenty percent of the population, or about 1,600 men in this instance. Assume an army of 5,000 well-armed invaders appear demanding that your city send out wagonloads of copper and grain, plus all the girls between the ages of ten and fourteen. Your choices are: (1) give them what they want, knowing a similar bounty will be required every year, moreover, your girls will suffer rape and slavery in a faraway land; or (2) fight, knowing defeat means burning your city, slavery for your young men, slaughter for the older citizens, and rape and slavery for your all your girls. These were the hard choices faced by the city’s leaders. The city’s army was like a college football team; the biggest, strongest, and most athletic young men the city can muster will fight the invader, probably within sight of the city.
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If your young men lose, you get to watch them butchered as you contemplate your own demise. A “win” still requires the death and wounding of many of the city’s young men; however, you keep your independence and your property. Nevertheless, the invaders may regroup and return. As one can see the choices were anything but good.

Abraham

Around 2000 BC a man left Ur with his wife and traveled west, eventually settling in the land of Canaan which we now call Israel or Palestine.
This
one
man
was
to
be
the
father
of
the
world’s
three
great
monotheistic
religions.
Abraham would begin the Jewish religion, and through the Jews the Christian religion. By his handmaiden he was to father of the Islamic religion. As you know from our present-day headlines it was also the start of a LOT of trouble. The amazing thing about the religions Abraham originated is that many other religions, with abundant adherents, were around at the same time; however, they all faded away. Thousands followed the religions of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Greece, and many others, while those following the one God of Abraham were very few. Yet, 4,000 years later, it is the religions spawned by Abraham that enjoy billions of adherents, while the other religions from his time are extinct.

When Abraham moved to the land of Canaan no one would claim this was a supernova event in history; and, at his death, no one would have thought this man had forever changed the world. As students of history we should note that events so breathlessly watched and reported on today will be meaningless in a hundred years, and perfectly erased in five hundred. Yet, events are taking place at this moment that will substantially impact the world one thousand years hence, but they will go unnoticed during our time. Ask your friends what they know about World War I. If they know anything it would be surprising, and that conflict was only 96 years ago. The current “newsworthy” happenings are actually very un-newsworthy. Who would have thought, at the time, the American Revolution would change the world, or a few men guarding a bridge against a small unit of English troops would trigger that change? Who knew in 1960 that computers would shrink to tabletop and then pinhead size and take over our world so completely? The birth and death of Jesus Christ went utterly unnoticed. That is why history must take the
long
view
as I call it, because what seems important today will most likely be nothing at all in one hundred years.

Egypt