Golden Ages

Golden Age is:

A period of success in a culture/society. This

usually means that they have success in math,

science, literature and medicine.

Considered the high point of a society.

Chinese Dynasties

Shang: 1650-1027 BC

Zhou: 1027-256 BC

Han: 206 BC- 220 AD

Tang: 618-907

Song: 960-1279

Ming: 1368-1644

Government

Dynastic Cycle: Mandate of

Heaven- When a dynasty went into

decline and began to abuse its

power, it was said to lose the

Mandate of Heaven and a new one

would take over.

With the Han Dynasty they created

Civil Service.

This is getting the best person

to do the job based on taking a

test dealing with Confucianism.

Religion/Philosophy

Confucianism and Buddhism

Art and Architecture

Han: Carvings of jade,

wood and ivory.

Building of elaborate

temples.

Produced Silk.

Developed the Silk Road.

Song: Build pagodas

(Buildings with curved

roofs), calligraphy and

porcelain.

Literature

Tang: Block printing.

Zhou: 1st books by binding long thin strips of

wood, bamboo.

Ming: Detective stories.

Math and Science

Han: Wrote texts on zoology and botany.

Astronomers: were able to create clocks that

were accurate.

Tang: Created gunpowder.

Medicine

Han: Acupuncture and herbal remedies.

Tang: Smallpox vaccine

People

Wudi: Emperor during

the Han Dynasty.

Created the Civil Service

Reform.

Zheng He: Chinese

explorer who explored

Africa, Asia and the

Arabian Peninsula.

Golden Age of Islam

From the 8th to 13th Century under the Abbasid

Dynasty.

Government

Tolerant of conquered people and welcomed

people to the conversion of Islam.

Followed the Koran as a way to govern.

Religion/Philosophy

All people must be Muslim and must be able to

read Arabic to be able to read the Koran.

Sharia Law:

Book of laws guiding life based on the Koran.

Art and Architecture

In mosques they used geometric shapes and

patterns.

Wrote in calligraphy.

Dome of Rock (Famous mosque in Jerusalem)

Literature

Koran was great literature.

Thousand and One Nights

Math and Science

Study of algebra.

Studied ellipses.

Medicine

Physicians/Pharmacists had to pass exams.

Set up hospitals for trauma cases.

Treatment for cataracts.

Sweet tasting syrup for medicine.

People

Al-Khwarizimi- studied algebra.

Ibn Sina- Wrote Canon on Medicine which was

used as a text for medicine for hundreds of

years.

Mesoamerica

Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas.

In North America until Europeans came to the

New World in the 1400s.

Mayans and Olmecs

Inca Civilization

Aztec Civilization

Religion

Polytheistic

Art and Architecture

Mayans: large elaborate palaces and pyramid

shaped temples.

Aztecs: Pyramid temples, aqueducts for water,

large stone carvings and colorful paintings.

Incas: Elaborate road system and terrace

farming.

Math and Science

Mayans: Numbering system using the concept of

zero.

365 day a year calendar.

Irrigation system.

Medicine

Aztecs: Setting broken bones, filling cavities.

Incas: Performed surgery, herbal remedies.

African Trading Kingdoms

Ghana, Mali and Songhai in the 1400-1500s in

western Africa.

Government

All of them were influenced by Islam.

Religion/Philosophy

Influenced by Islam which was brought by

Mansa Musa.

Art and Architecture

Often religious in nature.

Religious statues and masks carved from ivory,

wood and bronze.

Literature

Used both oral and written literary traditions.

Histories/folktales passed from generation to

generation orally.

Trade

Became powerful because of the vast trading

networks.

Major product being gold and salt.

People

Mansa Musa

Emperor of Mali. Converted it to 1st African Islamic

Empire.

The Renaissance/Enlightenment

1300-1600 in Europe

Government

Enlightenment looked to explain the purpose of

government and describe it in its best form.

Religion/Philosophy

Humanism

Movement based on the life in the present.

Individual is the most important rather than religion

(afterlife).

Art and Architecture

Perspective: 3 dimensional appearance.

Columns, domes and arches from Rome and

Greece.

Idea of Realism in which everything looks

realistic.

Literature

The Social Contract: Rousseau

Two Treatise of Government: Locke

Leviathan (Hobbes)

Spirit of Laws (Montesquieu)

People

Michelangelo: Painted Sistine Chapel and statue

of David.

Leonardo da Vinci

Painted the Mona Lisa

Jean Jacques Rousseau

People are good, government is for the people.

If government doesn’t do what the people want

they have the right to change it.

John Locke

Believed in the natural rights of people which

included Life, Liberty and Property.

Thomas Hobbes

People are bad so they need government control

and the best government would be one that has

absolute control.

Voltaire

Believes in freedom of speech.

The best way to control the government was to

give people the ability to speak.

Montesquieu

Believed that there should be 3 branches of

government and that each branch should check

each of the other two and balance them out.

Japan

From 1603-1868 under the Tokugawa

Shogunate.

Government

Tokugawa Shogunate: Isolated Japan.

The Shougun not the Emperor had the power.

Religion/Philosophy

Buddhism/Confucianism

Art/Architecture

Kabuki theatre.

Tea ceremonies.

Landscape gardening.

Literature

Haiku poetry.

Cultural Diffusion

Borrowed a lot from China by using the Korean

land bridge.

Greece

5th Century BC-3rd Century BC

Government

City-states of Athens and Sparta.

Athens was the 1st democracy.

Alexander the Great was the Emperor who

controlled a large empire (Hellenistic)

Religion/Philosophy

Famous philosophers of Socrates, Plato and

Aristotle.

Art and Architecture

Paintings and sculptures show humans in perfect

form.

Created columns.

Literature

Plays: Tragedies and Comedies.

Were the 1st historians.

Math and Science

Pythagoras: created a formula for the right

triangle.

Euclid: Modern geometry.

Eratosthenes: Said the earth was round.

Archimedes: Lever and pulley system.

Medicine

Hippocrates:

Standards for doctors. (Hippocratic Oath)

Roman Empire

509BC to 476 AD

Government

Rome: Republic

Patricians: Senators.

Plebeians: Lower class.

Led to the Law of 12 Tables which showed the

Plebeians what they were being charged with.

Art and Architecture

Copied Greek statues.

Arch and domes (like the US capital building)

Math and Science

Roads, harbors, bridges.

Aqueducts (water)

Ptolemy: Earth was the center of the universe.

People

Julius Caesar: Emperor

August Caesar: Grandnephew of Julius who

started the Pax Romana.

Guptas

320-550 AD in India.

Government

Strong central government with some local

control.

Religion/Philosophy

Follow Hindu beliefs.

Follow the Caste System

Literature

Fables and folktales written in Sanskrit.

Math and Science

Concept of zero and decimal system.

Number system (Arabic numbers)

Medicine

Herbal remedies.

Plastic surgery.

Smallpox.