Week Two Blog

This week's readings were quite intense, as there were many chapters to read and so much information, and as mentioned before reading history is not my strong point.

Chapter Three, to begin with, was interesting as it is based on the evolution of the Neolithic period into the Ancient period. This was where changes in agriculture were being progressed and the method and technology were being promoted in the journey of human development. The Persians, the Greeks, the Roman Empire, the Chinese Empire, and the Indian Empire were all introduced in this chapter. The features of the Second-Wave Eurasian Civilizations were something that had caught my attention in the reading (page 120). The four civilizations have three features pertaining to them; political, cultural, and social.

The Chinese were a unified empire under two dynasties; Qin and Han, where their cultural features were Confucianism/Daoism and socially they used class hierarchy. The South Asian were apart of the Gupta and Mauryan Empires, believing in Hinduism and Buddhism, and had looked at their individuals through a caste system. The Middle Eastern was the Persian Empire, believing in Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, where the minorities were toward the Persian empire. The Mediterranean was the Greek city-states and Roman Empires, where the Greek had spread Christianity and had the prominent role of slavery. I think reading about slavery in this chapter was interesting, as known in the present day with the African Americans were slaves. Salves were highly skilled craftsmen and in some ways doctors.

Chapter Four, bringing in religion and culture, was a fascinating chapter to read. What intrigued me the most what the section of Cultural Traditions of Classical India. My ancestors are from North India when the British had ruled over them, so reading about cultural development and influence they had as a developing country is interesting. "'Hinduism' was never a single tradition at all, and the term itself derived from outsiders -- Greeks, Muslims, and later the British-- who sought to reduce the infinite variety of Indian cultural patterns into a recognizable system (page 174)."  I was able to understand the vigorous doing with spirits, beliefs, god, rituals, and philosophy behind the religion. The South Asian civilization had a deep influence of Hinduism, like viewing the law of karma. The action of a person that in this and the previous lifetime is viewed of the future and fate in the future.