WORLD HISTORY

Key points of this chapter: "The Worlds of Islam": The many faces of contemporary Islam reflect earlier history of this newest of major religions. The world of Islam took a central position in the larger international arena interacting with other civilizations.  The burgeoning Islamic world thrust the previously marginal and largely nomadic Arabs into a central role in world history. "The Birth of a New Religion": Christianity and Islam emerged from the margins of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations. "The Homeland of Islam": Recognized a variety of Gods, ancestors, and nature spirits, valued personal bravery, group loyalty, and hospitality.  Mecca came to occupy a distinctive role in Arabia.  Mecca was the site of the Kaaba, the most prominent religious shrine in Arabia which housed representations of some 360 deities and was the destination for many pilgrims.  "The Messenger and the Message": Muhammed had ...

For this blog Ive decided to do the main point and key ideas of each section: This chapter addresses the role of exchanging goods and its effects on human history, for example: trade diminished the economic self- sufficiency of local societies even as it altered the structure of those societies as well. trade had the capacity to transform political life. trade became a vehicle for the spread of religious ideas, technological innovations, disease-bearing germs, and plants and animals.  Silk roads: exchange across Eurasia: The growth of the silk roads: Eurasia gave rise to one of the world's most extensive and sustained networks of exchange among its diverse peoples.  products of the forest and semi-arid northern grasslands were exchanged for the agricultural products and manufactured goods of adjacent civilization. silk road trading networks prospered most when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers.  the Mongol empire b...

I am going to approach my blog a little differently this time and put the main points of each section that I found interesting. The first section, "Continental Comparisons" Human cultures evolved in quite similar fashion around the world.  Almost everywhere hunting, gathering, and fishing remained the sole basis for sustaining life and society.  The absence of most animals capable of domestication meant that few pastoral societies developed in the Americas.  Eurasia, Africa, and America had the momentous turn of the Agricultural revolution.  The next section, "Civilizations of Africa" Africa was the most tropical of the worlds three supercontinents.  Climate conditions spawned numerous diseases. "Meroe" A Nubian civilization almost as old as Egypt.  Queens appeared in sculptures as women with prominence and power equivalent to their male counterparts.  Meroe had a reputation for great riches. Declined because of deforestation c...

The first section of the chapter is . This section was interesting because it was beneficial to learn how Chinese society was set up. Chinese society was seen as unique in the ancient world and had immense political power and social prestige. In all societies there are officials. The officials in China were a big deal and established its authority in 200 BCE. Chinese rulers were required to send men of promise to the capital and from there the new officials would be selected. This system of choosing officials became the first professional civil service and was a leading example for other civilizations. The process of becoming an official was a difficult one and involved many exams and a certain wealth to pass. Apart from the officials, Chinese society had many classes. The Landlord class was made mostly of officials and since wealth in China meant land, they were called the landlord class. This class was often able to avoid paying taxes which put a tax burden on peasants. The landlord ...

http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=940 This article talks about "helping" and "serving". Helping someone is creating an inequality in a relationship and makes the person you're helping have less strength. People feel an inequality when being helped. The solution to "helping" is "serving". When serving someone, instead of putting yourself on a different level as that person, you are collaborating and responding to that person. I didn't love this article while reading it because I feel like it is a subject looked to deep into. When you're helping someone you are doing a GOOD thing but I feel as though it was putting a bad light on something that really has no harm. I understand the meaning the article is trying to convey between helping and serving but I feel as though it is made into a problem that isn't a true one.

The first main section this reading opens with is "China and the search for order". This reading was interesting. Through this I learned that China was one of the first civilizations and that their royal court was weakening. This reading stems from Chinas downfall of power and from that emerged classical traditions. One of the solutions to Chinas fall is legalism. Legalism provided inspiration that would help with the reunification of the civilization. The next solution to emerge was with Confucius. Confucius' answer to Chinas problem was a moral example of superiors. Confucius watched many relationships of superiority and saw that if the superior could act with sincerity and had concern then the inferior would be obedient. In opposition to Confucius, the Daoist idea made fun of Confucius ways and encouraged behavior that was spontaneous, individualistic, and natural. The central concept of Daoism was nature. Though many ideas were not shared between the two, both daoism ...