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Mesopotamia, Egypt and Harappa Mesopotamia was situated between two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It was established by the small farmers tribes that came to settle down on the river valleys. The floodplains provided them with peas, wheat and barley. They changed the banks of the rivers so that they could direct the water to lower regions.
Then summers came to Mesopotamia before 4000 BC. The origins of these people are unclear, they were not Semites, unlike most part of the people of this region, and they spoke another language. Major cities established by them were Eric, Lagash, Nippur, Ur, and Kish. These cities were different from the settlements established by the farmers. They comprised large land tracts, and these tracts were supposed to be the property of local gods. Priests were community leaders to organize the work of farmers to provide food for the whole community.
These cities existed up to 3500 BC, and they are defined as temple towns, because they surrounded the local god temples. The temples were established on ziggurat's, surrounded by windy stairs. Public institutions and markets were also placed around these temples. These small temple towns developed into so-called city-states, regarded by the historians as the sources of the first civilizations. In the described period the means of transportation and communication were primitive, so city-states were the most advanced form of people settlements. These states were ruled by ends, who controlled the systems of irrigation.
Farmers provided food for these leaders, as well as craftsmen and priests. Farmers of Egypt appeared in the Nile valley by 5000 BC. They made numerous inventions, established huge irrigation systems and developed a culture that brought many enigmas and masterpieces into cultural funds of the mankind. At first, there were small settlements, harvesting vegetables and grains, and raising animals. They transformed into larger settlements. It is supposed that they needed to gain control of the floodwaters of the Nile River, and this led to the rise of the authorities in this region.
Then Egypt divided into two parts Lower and Upper Egypt, with capitals in But and Hierakonpolis, respectively. Some ideas were brought to this civilization from Sumeria. By 3100 BC these two parts reunited and a new capital in Memphis was established. During this period the Egyptians invented a calendar, learnt how to use copper, and started to make buildings of stone.
Trade also was flourishing in this period. The leaders of the nation were pharaohs. These leaders were supported by a class of priests, they lived in luxury and were buried in the same splendor. Their tombs were designed like a households with all things necessary for living. This is how famous pyramids appeared. The early history of Egypt is divided into 3 periods the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.
Harappa civilization was established on two major cities Harappa and Mohenjo-do. These cities formed a complex of capitals over smaller towns on a huge territory, compared to Mesopotamia and Egypt. The historians found out that this civilization included many cities, and this was proved by the excavations. All these cities were built according to the same proportions and style. Both capitals were also much alike in their layout.
Both of them were surrounded by the walls. Due to a large amount of cities, trade was flourishing in this state. The samples of the craftwork and art made in this period were found far away from the state. Jades and jewels from various countries were found in the former Harappa cities. But regardless of numerous contacts with the outside world, the population of Harappa was conservative and resistant to various innovations from other parts of the world. They cast weapons and tools in bronze, although their tools and armament was more primitive than the samples of, for instance, Mesopotamian peoples.
These lacks are supposed to be the reasons for the decay of the civilization of Harappa. Inca Empire Inca Empire began as small tribe living in the Cuzco. Initially the population of Inca state consisted mainly of the farmers who took up arms in the emergency case. Their everyday life obeyed to agricultural cycle, and they turned the empire into the most outstanding center of harvesting the plants. They established a small town, Cuzco, with the leader of Manco Capac. Later another leader of the nation headed an expansion, which resulted in reorganizing of Cuzco empire into Tahuantinsuyu.
This was a federalist system, comprising central government and 4 local authorities with powerful leaders. Each local region had a leader who ruled officials of the local territories. Officials were also responsible for control over the contribution provided by each community family for community supply. These officials supervised the valleys of the river, mines and cities. Military institutions and religious institutions had their own independent power chains, which allowed them controlling each other and keep balance in the state. The basis of social pyramid of inca civilization was a type of a community.
it was formed of family clans that lived together on their territory, had animals and land in their ownership and divided the harvest among all of them. In fact, every citizen belonged to one and the same community during all his life. Communities were of various sizes some communities included whole cities. Inca were not aware of private land ownership, all the land could only be the property of community or, later, emperor, and there was a kind of rent, provided for community members. Every fall the land was divided into parts and redistributed. The parts could be enlarged or decreased depending upon family size.
All the agricultural activities were carried out by all community members together. Quechua, Incas language, has little in common with the language of the Indians, who lived near. It has not been found out what was Inca language before Pachacuti in 1438 established it as the state language. Due to expansions and migration Quechua spread on the whole territory of the empire, and many Indians of Peru speak it now. Incas religion was closely connected to state governing. They had the supreme god, who was praised as the lord of all existing on the earth, and there were many minor gods, sun god, corn god etc.
Worship of the sun god became the symbol of Inca culture, and it had an official character at that time. Inca religion included multiple decentralized god cults, symbolizing natural forces. Besides, Inca worshipped magic and scared objects, for instance, river, mountain, temple, stones etc. Religion had its practical implementation and influenced the whole life of Inca people. Agriculture was regarded as the sacred activity, and everything connected to it became sacred. Inca believed in immortality of a human soul.
It was supposed that aristocracy goes to the Sun abode after the death, despite of the behavior; as far as ordinary people were concerned, only righteous men were accessed to the Sun abode, while sinners were taken to hell, where they were suffering with cold and hunger. Thus, traditions and beliefs affected human living and behavior. Ethics and morality of Inca people can be reduced to one main principle do not steal, do not lie and do not be lazy. After the decay of Tahuantinsuyu, the Spanish invaders repressed the population and destroyed culture and tradition of the state. This process deleted many aspects of Inca living, which was harmful for their nationality and their state. Many unique elements of Inca culture were annihilated, including their unique system of farming.
The Spanish rulers reorganized the system of mita (service for the community needs), making people work to death in the mines. People started to die often, and each family was obliged to provide a replacement for each person who died of working hard. Cyrus and Darius Cyrus the Great is one of the most remarkable figures in the history. His origin is unclear, as well as some facts of his biography. He started building up his great empire as the leader of a smack tribe. At first he became a ruler of Persian settled tribes.
The center of the states was the capital of one of those tribes. Some other settled tribes, as well as other migrant tribes were conquered by him later. Major part of his life was devoted to conquering of new lands, and shaping the great empire. It is supposed that he started to work out the system of administration that was later reconsidered and used by Darius. Cyrus invented and implemented principally new system of administrative governance. The state was divided into satrapies, with satraps at the head.
The system of governance was worked out by Cyrus in the end of his life after he created a huge empire consisting of small conquered states. One of the most successful predecessors of Cyrus the Great was Darius, who made the system, invented by Cyrus more perfect. In spite of the fact that Darius added much to the conquest of previous rulers, his major contribution to Persian history was done in the sphere of administration and governance. He completed the activity started by Cyrus the Great, dividing the empire into administrative elements, satrapies, and he also fixed a tribute, provided annually by each of the provinces. Within the period of his reign, trade and commerce developed by means of various far-sighted and ambitious projects. Land routes and sea routes were made more perfect, measures and weights were standardized.
Various expeditions were delivered down the river of Indus, the sea route to Egypt was investigated, and a canal, which is supposed to be established by Egyptian lords from Nile to the Red sea, was finished and repaired. Darius followed the traditions of Cyrus the Great in delivering measures to join various peoples included into empire by a single administration. He also respected religious institutions of various communities. For instance, he supported Egyptian gods cults in Egypt, controlled building a temple of the god Amon Ra, made donations to building of the Edfu temple and financially helped to carry out the works on restoration in many sanctuaries. He authorized the people in Egypt to establish medical institutions in Sais temple, and he ordered to systematize old laws of Egypt to examine and consult them. In Egypt he was respected as one of the greatest legislators of the country.
He was supposed to be a ruler who made much to countrys prosperity. In 519 BC Darius empowered the Jews to restore the temple in Jerusalem, because this was prescribed in one of earlier orders of Cyrus. Although Darius supported many religious institutions, he was devoted to the religion of Zoroastrianism. It is supposed that it was he who attributed this religion as the state religion of Persia.
Empire and its functions Empire is a political system, uniting heterogeneous ethnic, administrative and territorial communities on a basis of subordinate relations by means of strict and centralized power. Another definition of this term is that empire is a monarchy or despotism, having colonial domains or including heterogeneous elements. One more definition adds that empire unites various elements under the aegis of some idea of religious, social or ideological character. In all definitions of this term it is connected to severe power implementation directed from the center.
Major characteristics of this political system are as follows: monarchic form of government; variety of economies, languages, cultures (clerical, feudal, city, peasant, ethnic, ancient etc); hierarchy of scraps (ethno's, economies, cultures, languages etc); distinctness (insularity) of the region, based on ethno-cultural links, political and economical expediency, closeness or identity of social development; necessity to resist cultural or military attacks from the outside; nationalities as the transitive form of ethno's; lack of free lands; existing economical links; unique universal law; syncretic philosophy, accepting some other viewpoints (alchemy, mystics); common religion; presence of aggressive religion; common calendar; common historical background; ideological control; key role of agriculture; using traditions as a factor of regulation; specific culture; ambivalence of the conscience; defining legitimacy of the state and society with references to the past Functions of the empire are as follows: organizing barter and product exchange; organizing joint defense; organizing joint expansion; organizing a single religious and cultural system, resistant to challenges from inside and outside; uniting the region, as empire is the mechanism of organizing the space in struggle with various internal and external enemies; organizing regular trade and culture links; organizing joint ideological space; spreading one religion; keeping traditions; working out a universal law; forming church institutes; working out social doctrines; keeping territorial union; creating universal system of education; maximal development of religious ideas. As soon as imperial system is a permanent process of transformation of a city state system, it has integrated possibility, danger and inevitability of its collapse. This is connected to the fact that its elements that (city states, federal states, joined territories) get unprecedented possibilities to grow and develop. Historically they are faster in transition to a new level of development, for instance, tribes transform into nationalities, nationalities transform into peoples, peoples transform into nations. In addition, the process of transformation means crash of previous ethnic, political, social and economical structures, religious disarmament takes place as well. Historical perspective and experience show that decay or collapse of imperial political system is inevitable, but there are some variants of how this may happen, depending upon the stage of empires development.
Decay of imperial system has two variants: the first is when empire has time to carry out its mission and prepare detached regions to independent life. The second alternative is when some external factors interfere; empire crashes and definite regions are to live under control of some other state. Natural selection The basic idea of natural selection theory is that nature, or physical environment chooses individuals that possess variant features, improving reproduction and ability for survival. Thus nature gets rid of the individuals that possess traits that are not favorable for reproduction or survival. Individuals that possess the unfavorable features may die before reproduction or produce weak ancestors. As long as the conditions of environment remain unchanged, or similar, favorable features will also remain the same, and in cases when they are inherited by the ancestors, they become common for all the individuals of the same species and will be inherited by the generation.
On the contrary, unfavorable features will appear more and more rarely to disappear. In case environment will suddenly or gradually change, favorable features may be changed or adopted to the new demands of the natural environment. Charles Darwin, an English traveler and naturalist invented this genial concept. The essence of his idea is that nature doesnt necessarily need to analyze and understand the situation for making fortunate creations. It is possible to act at random. Nature should just create a wide range of various species, and those who appeared to be more fortunate and healthy would survive and thus produce healthy generations.
According to the concepts of Darwin, nature creates an individual with new, occasional characteristics. Then this individual turns or does not turn out to be capable to produce posterity, depending on its characteristics. Finally, of the result of the previous stage was positive, it produces the posterity, and its ancestors inherit its characteristics. Then these characteristics will be given to all future generations.
Of course, initial ideas of the scientist were partly reconsidered in the field of the modern sciences. For instance, Darwin stated that such changes need much time to be carried out. But at present the mechanisms of natural selection are explained by the means of genetics, which partly changes the whole view. Gene mutations, that work on the first stage of the process, described above, are discrete, which results in jumping character of formation of new characteristics.
At present, genetics points out various mechanisms that produce genetic differences that are further inherited by new generations. But it is clear that the essence of Darwin's theory remained the same. Major directions of the natural selection are as follows: Survival of the most physically strong organisms, because physical struggle for resources is the inherent part of existence. Survival of the most sexually active organisms, because syn genesis is the predominant way of reproduction. Survival of the most adopted organisms, for instance, species that have gills, survive in the water, because suitability helps winning the struggle for survival.
However, all the cases that were described above are special cases, and the major purpose is survival in long periods of time. Thus, these directions are sometimes given up for the main purpose. There are the cases that seem to violate the laws of the natural selection. All living organisms are mortal, which seemingly contradicts to the principles of survival. But this is not so.
If the individual produced enough amounts of ancestors, its personal existence will not be significant for keeping the species in time. Moreover, this parental individual will compete with the children for the resources, so it should die. Natural selection is opposed to artificial selection, which refers to the human culling, while natural selection is related to culling carried out by the environment and natural forces. But the mechanisms of these two types of selection are similar, and some remarkable samples of artificial selection, like cases with dogs were taken by Darwin as the examples to demonstrate the results of selection in evolution.
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Research essay sample on Mesopotamia Egypt And Harappa
