Welcome to the ancient era (3500 to 500 BCE)
First Legacy -Early Bantu Migrations (3000 BCE - 1000 BCE)
- Different Bantu languages were spread all over the areas in which they migrated to - created ethnic communities
- Spread agriculture and displaced the hunter-gatherer peoples by their agricultural surplus and means of cultivating
- This created an increased population and the extension of new cultivated foods, as well as flourishing agricultural societies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa
- Spread iron production. Without the Bantu, the facilitation of the spread of iron metallurgy throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa would not have been so successful and rapid
second legacy - mesopotamia (4th millenium bce)
- Distinctive political administration - governmental institutions that were established to provide order when disputes arose
- Evolved into empires
- Economic advancement included the invention of the wheel, shipbuilding, and the production of iron and bronze and also involvement in trade that extended cultural diffusion
- Agriculture brought specialized labor and accumulated wealth, which in turn created social classes with patriarchal aspects including Hammurabi's code
- Mesopotamia is remembered with its advanced writing system, cuneiform, and its literature
- Mesopotamia should be thought of as a legacy from the ancient era because of its major distinctive characteristics that created prosperous and advanced societies.
third legacy - Egypt and nubia (3000-2000 BCE)
- Politics - Both had centralized political authority invested in the absolute ruler and imperialist expansion with their armies
- Society - One of the first appearances of highly stratified and patriarchal societies based off of their agricultural societies
- Economy - With this included the development of transportation, extensive trade networks and industries which facilitated economic growth and the diffusion of cultural traditions
- Culture - There were also exquisite writing systems and organized religious traditions that included the worship of Gods and the mummification of the dead.
fourth legacy - the dravidians, harappan society (3000 BCE)
- Society/Economy - with cities and marketplaces, public buildings and temples
- Standardized weights, measures, brick sizes and architectural styles
- Cultivation of cotton, wheat, and barley in the river valley
- Society/Culture - Social distinctions, with religious beliefs that strongly emphasized the importance of fertility
- This society of the Harappans was very impactful because, later on, Dravidian and Aryan cultures were mixed together, creating a distinctive Indian society
- Without the Harappan society, the distinct Indian society would not have been the same, for aspects of their economy, society and culture would not have been influenced.