Prehistory and ancient history / Hermann Parzinger -- Introduction -- The emergence of modern humans -- Sedentism, a productive economy, and group identity -- Innovations, upheavals, and complex societies -- Areas beyond advanced civilizations -- On time axes and axial ages -- Early civilizations of the ancient Near East: Egypt and Western Asia / Karen Radner -- Introduction -- Early states -- Writing everywhere: bureaucrats, men of letters, and trading companies -- Chariots and glass: new toys for royal brethren -- A new beginning: petty states and great empires -- The world of classical antiquity / Hans-Joachim Gehrke -- Introduction -- On the way to a new world: the Mediterranean and its environs -- Persians and Greeks: the world divided -- The Roman Republic -- The Hellenistic world -- The zenith and decline of the Roman Republic -- The Roman Empire and global unity -- Ancient China / Mark Edward Lewis -- Introduction -- Geographic background -- The archaic state: Shang and Zhou -- The warring states transition -- The first empires: Qin and Han -- Early cities -- The great families: Wei and Jin -- The military dynasties: Song, Qi, Liang, Chen, and Northern Wei -- The institutional religions: Daoism and Buddhism -- Medieval cities -- Early Imperial China and the outer world -- Reunification and the fall of the Sui dynasty -- South Asia and Southeast Asia / Axel Michaels -- Introduction -- Harappan civilization -- The arrival of the Indo-Aryans -- Vedic culture -- State structures and ascetic movements -- Between the great empires: transregional connections -- The classical age and the formation of Hinduism -- India's influence in East and Southeast Asia.
Summary:
"From the History of the World series, Making Civilizations traces the origins of large-scale organized human societies. Led by archaeologist Hans-Joachim Gehrke, a distinguished group of scholars lays out latest findings about Neanderthals, the Agrarian Revolution, the founding of imperial China, the world of Western classical antiquity, and more"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.