Human Evolution, the Neolithic Revolution, and “Civilization”
(Chapter 1)
Charles Darwin
Natural Variation & Natural Selection
Inherited Characteristics
Australopithecus
Homo erectus (or ergaster)
“Out of Africa” (The first time)
Neanderthals
Homo sapiens
“Out of Africa” (Again)
Paleolithic
Hunter/Gatherer
Culture
Custom
Animism vs. Organized Religion (Burials)
Language
Neolithic “Revolution”
Domestic Agriculture
Sedentary Lifestyle
“Riverine” Cultures & “Cooperative effort”
Rise of States
Complexity
Specialization and Hierarchy
Urban (City-States)
Writing (Cuneiform)
Monumental Architecture (Ziggurat)
Long(er) Distance Trade (Surpluses)
Nomadic Pastoralism
Indo-European
Mesopotamia
(Chapter 2)
Fertile Crescent
Sumer
Potter’s Wheel
Cuneiform Writing
Ur & Uruk
Sumerian Religion:
Chaos v. Cosmos
Polytheism
Nature and Patron Gods (Ziggurat)
Akkadian Empire
Sargon
Babylon
Apsu and Tiamat vs. Marduk
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Uruk)
Death and the Afterlife
Hammurabi’s Code
Cosmos in Human Society
