Silk Sand and Sea roads

The silk roads were trade and exchange routes across Eurasia and had impacts on everything from culture to disease. The goods transported on these routes where mainly silk and goods for the wealthy. They were transported by horseback and in small amounts so only people who had money could really benefit from these goods. The silk roads where beneficial to many and helped spread religion. Buddhism for example flourished along these routes. Monks would build monasteries along the roads and would provide places of rest and protection to travelers and traders.

The sea roads were similar to the silk roads but were sea based and linked people all across the eastern hemisphere by sea routes. They were able to transfer much larger amounts than the Silk roads or Sand roads because the ships could hold much more than camels or horses. The goods transported by ship on the sea roads were much more varied and benefited many people. Ship building and navigational improved greatly as successful journeys depended on good ships and good directions.

The sand roads were roads across the Sahara that linked North Africa and the Mediterranean to the peoples of West Africa. The main goods transported along these roads were gold, salt, and dates among other goods native to the area. The goods where mainly transported by camels as they were perfect for desert journeys where water was sparse; however in some spots small boats where utilized.

Rock Edicts

The Rock Edicts is a document in chapter 3, which talks about the rules and governing practices in the Classical Era. Ashoka is a ruler/emperor of the Mauryan dynasty in India. Ashoka was the typical emperor of that time and was ruthless and power hungry. After a bloody battle he “woke up” and realized there was more to his governing practices. He converted to Buddhism and focused on making rules and practices to provide a more peaceful way of life for his people. He placed these rules on rocks and pillars throughout his empire so that everyone would be reminded of the peaceful ways that should be practiced.

These rules are similar to the Law Code of Hammurabi in the document section of chapter 2.  Both of these documents show that the goal of these rulers was to bring righteousness to the land. This shows that in the beginnings of human existence there was a continuous strive to provide a peaceful way of life. Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism shows in some of his views, for example: “ All religions should reside everywhere for all desire self control and purity of heart”. Buddhists believe you can follow any religion and reach the after life. Ashoka’s rule about religion not only follows his beliefs; it also preaches acceptance of other people’s beliefs, which would help him reach his goals of peacefulness in his empire.

Document 2.2 Reflection.

Document 2.2

The Law Code of Hammurabi

This document shows an interesting view of the problems in an early society and how life was in the time of Mesopotamia. The Law Code seems to focus on fairness in regards to individual’s actions. In the laws on Crime, punishment, and justice, individuals that commit a crime or hurt someone will have the same done to them. It would be interesting to see more research on these laws to see if they worked or not. Knowing you will lose your eye if you take someone’s eye or that you will be put to death if you rob someone is a big deterrent to the crime. The consequences would probably prevent many problems and crimes. It also seems like they were not very tolerant of false accusations, charging accusers with death if they were wrong. It would be interesting to see how and why they came up with letting the river decide if the accuser was guilty or not. If the man who was accused could swim he could beat the system even if he was guilty.

In regards to the Economy the laws are once again directed to fairness and responsibility. The laws of Men and Women are strict. If a man and women say they are married but do not have intercourse then the law says they are not really married, and the laws against adultery result in death of the man and the women is not held responsible. The rules on divorce are similar to today’s society and it shows that not much has changed in that regard and since they very early days men and women have left their husband or wife for a new person.

Most of the laws are much more intense than our time and had harsh consequence including death.  I think there is much to learn from these practices and it would be interesting to see how these affected the crime rate of that time. Did people commit these crimes often with knowledge of the conscience? If these laws where instilled in today’s society we might see a lot less crime.

Chapter 1- Document Reflection

Chapter 1 Document Reflection

I realized right away that it is unfortunate that many historians ignore the early years of human existence like the Paleolithic Era simply because there is not written records. It could be considered one of the most important times of our history and it should not be ignored. If you where building a hotel you wouldn’t want to ignore the foundation because it is the most important part, the same goes with early years of our existence. It is the foundation and we can learn many things from this time period.

The first document stood out the most to me, and was about Nisa who was a member of the San people basically a tribe of the “bush”. We can get a similar picture of the Paleolithic era through her story because they live without contact to the outer world and have lived the same way without much advancement for a very long time. I don’t think we can base the San people’s stories or examples 100% on people of the Paleolithic era because over the years the San people themselves have made some advancement on their own. Basically the San people of the 1971’s, when Nisa was interviewed, have made their own advancements because they have fine-tuned their practices and have had more time to develop since the early years.

Although the San people are very secluded, it is interesting to see some of the similarities between them and our current society. When Nisa talked about giving and sharing with other people she said she would only give if the other person gave her something. This could be considered selfish in a way that is common in today’s society, however that is most likely how they survive in their environment. Nisa dealt with losing her husband, similarly to how many people do in today’s society. They blame God and ask him why he would do such a thing, which is a common thing to do. Nisa said affairs were very common and were common with the people that came before her. I find it interesting that we are still pretty similar in our behavior to people living in a Paleolithic type setting.

Chapter 1

The beginning of Chapter 1 points out, as our teacher did in class, that the Neolithic Age is one of the most important parts of history. A shown in the text many sources and Historians skip this section of our history, however it is one of the most important because it sets the foundation for our human advancement for example the Agricultural Revolution.

Africa was the birthplace of human existence.  As we look at the history of Africa we notice how slowly people are developing their practices of living. We can see how they develop hunting and gathering as well as tools and how they build their homes according to the migration and movement of animals.

About 100,000 years ago humans started migrating from Africa to Europe, Middle East, Australia, and the Americas. Along with this came more advancements in human interactions, tools, and improvements to ways of life.

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