Mini Essays on Early World History
_{(Winter 2015)}

Essays:

1. Cave Art

The art that has survived since prehistory is a sliver of what must be an unimaginably rich history of self-expression through the hundreds of thousands of years of Homo sapiens' existence. Cave art was not the typical medium used at the time, but certainly the more durable, and seems to depict primarily the life of the greatest hunters and tribulations of a people rather than their everyday life. There does seem to be a form of proto-writing found in Chauvet cave and elsewhere in France. (New Scientist) Awaiting the invention of the alphabet to standardize these attempts at communication, the proto-writing is composed of basic shapes (triangle, 1, 0, square, hand, et cetera) and is thought to convey a literal, pictoral, but surely evolving meaning.

Early prehistoric religion would have been superstition limited only by the imaginations of our prehistoric ancestors, where the world is governed by magic and much of the world is anthropomorphized in an attempt to understand and explain it. (HybridEdTech) In modern animist societies, presumably analogous to prehistoric ones, you wouldn't cross the plain and the river and the forest without appeasing the spirits or gods associated with them. To do otherwise could bring bad luck, possession, or again anything you could dream up because of the utter lack of any scientific understanding of the world. (HybridEdTech)

Shamans, then, are utterly indispensable as they serve to guide the tribe through the nuances of the natural world. They also served as healers, sometimes literally sucking a malady from the body of a patient. (HybridEdTech) Along the vein of anthropomorphization, animal gods could very well originate with a misunderstanding of the natural world. If something amazing happens, or something disastrous, or really pretty much anything beyond your everyday experience comes your way it seems totally reasonable to attribute it to the gods. Perhaps the frog god is angry so he unleashed a horde of frogs upon your crop.

Venus figurines have a few theories associated with them. The most oft-cited is the "mother goddess" or fertility figure, which leads directly into the idea that women were revered during prehistory because of their reproductive role; This veneration and equal place in society fades with the advent of patriarchal and agricultural Neolithic culture. (Brand pp 1-34) Soffer (et al) argued, supported by their findings that paleolithic societies had textiles by 27,000 BP, that the Venuses had more to do with women's place in the society. Perhaps they were marks of excellence for women whose textile work or otherwise was impressive. They also note that, as seen most easily in the Venus of Willendorf, the heads are actually hats made of woven textile. Furthermore, the Venuses are wearing the finery of their time. (Soffer, et al. 525) This suggests that women had an industrious place in their world, producing and working and carrying just as much prestige as their male counterparts. Perhaps they had even more, thanks to their ability to bear children.

Cited: Brand, C. Early World History: An Interactive Text. El Cajon, CA. National Social Science Press. HybridEdTech. Indigenous Religions Podcast. New Scientist. (February 17, 2010) Chauvet Cave and it's Palaeolithic art. Soffer, Adovasio & Hyland. (2000) The "Venus" Figurines: Textiles, Basketry, Gender & Status in the Upper Paleolithic. Current Anthropology, August-October 2000.

2. Mesopotamian Religion

Religion was a huge part of life for people in the ancient world, probably because of their lack of understanding of the world. In the Mesopotamian creation story, the gods created mankind to work the Earth and provide for them (British Museum); Their view of religion is clear and pessimistic, viewing all things in the hands of the gods and every catastrophe at their whim. People were molded from clay in order to feed the gods so that their lives could be easier. This probably stems from the difficulties they faced around them: The flooding of the rivers and other natural events that seem to be the will of a malevolent force.

The gods weren't only forces of destruction and chaos, however. One was supposed to protect women during childbirth (the demon Pazuzu) and others patrons of love, war, wisdom, life. (Religion in Mesopotamia) The gods represented the entire Mesopotamian society: Their values, their reverence for the Earth and also the destructive forces it brought to them.

The center of religious life was the Ziggurat, a huge stepped-pyramid structure where the priestly class pooled the resources of the entire society. This differed from an Egyptian pyramid in its purpose: The latter was a masoleum for the pharaoh and the former a place where active worship of the gods took place. One was about death, and the other about life.

Intended to sate the gods' enormous appetites and secure favorable days to come, literally everything anybody produced was taken to the temple and given to the gods because, well, people are but their molded clay servants. This was then redistributed among the people, but the priests were in charge of this. (Podcast 4) After some time of watching huge feasts offered to the gods wither away on the temple floor, and some time of the weather totally disregarding their attempts to appease its master, someone seems to have noticed they could be amassing a wealth.

And so the priestly class emerged as the leaders and controllers of everything else. They were the only ones fit to communicate and interact with the gods, and the only ones fit to be within the sacred space of the Zigurrat, and thus had no competition for access to uh, well, every single thing the city had produced.

There were many deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon, and this led to many priests and many temples. (Podcast 4) Religion, again, was probably the overarching driving force in everybody's life; We're going to work today primarily to appease the god, and secondarily to keep ourselves alive to do it again tomorrow.

Cited: British Museum; Gods, Goddesses, Demons, and Monsters. (Retrieved from http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/gods/home_set.html) Religion in Mesopotamia. (Retrieved from http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/connections/class/ancient/mesopreligion.htm)

3. Zoroastrianism

Zoroaster was raised in a Bronze-Age, polytheistic culture which involved animal sacrifice and intoxicating rituals. He rejected the established Iranian religion in which Karvis and Karapans (princes and priests) controlled the population, and also opposed sacrafice and use of hallucinogenic Haoma plant. (BBC Religions)

He instead taught that there was one creator god, and therefore one god worth worshipping. (BBC Religions:) Zoroastrianism stressed duality, both cosmic and ethical; The former refers to the balance between and ongoing battle between Ahura Mazda (representing good) and Angra Mainyu (representing evil.) In this view, life is a mixture of these two opposing forces. The latter, moral dualism, refers to humanity's choice in the world: We can either choose to follow Ahura Mazda and lead righteous and "good" lives, or follow Angra Mainyu and be led to misery and ultimately, hell. (BBC Religions);

The Gathas are chock full of praise for Ahura Mazda, and mostly seem to concern themselves with righteous thought leading to a pure and happy life. They proclaim that violence is bad, and that the Right will overcome followers of the Lie. (Avesta Yasna)

Zoroastrianism seems to echo in our modern religions today: It's concepts of heaven and hell and the devil seem to have come directly from Zoroaster. (BBC Religions)

Cited: Avesta Yasna. (Retrieved from: http://www.avesta.org/yasna/yasna.htm) BBC Religions: Zoroastrianism. (Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/)

4. Ancient Chinese Philosophy

The three ancient Chinese philosophies which emerged during the Warring States period are starkly different from one another, but have one main theme running through them: They all attempt to bring peace to the population. After the first few dynasties fell apart, much violence took place destroying population and land and China advanced primarily in technologies of war. Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism are all responses to state China was in. (Brand 94)

Confucianism is all about proper actions, meaning adherence to three qualities: Ren, embodying courtesy, loyalty and diligence; Li, propriety as in following social norms; and xiao, which is filial piety, devotion/care towards elders and parents. (Feres Ch. 5) Confucians believe that only those people who exercised self-control and cultivated the qualities of ren, li, and xiao were fit to rule and act as examples to the rest of society; They thereby became a junzi, or enlightened man. (Brand Ch. 5) An ideal ruler under Confucian ideal would then maintain the proper hierarchy of society, the proper rituals and pay reverence to his father and ancestors and maybe predecessors within a dynasty.

The dao ("the way") in Daoism is a spiritual force that runs through and is a part of all things, and is the organizing force of the universe. They emphazied the cultivation of "wie wu wei" ("action without action,") where one should yield like a tree to the wind. In contrast to the Confucian focus on harmony between mankind and consideration of governmental or social problems, Daoists were interested in harmony with the natural world and promoted a disengagement from the world. (Brand 95) Religious Daoism emerges later during the Han dynasty, involving scared texts and life-extending elixirs/rituals, put philosophical Daoism lives on. (Feres Ch. 5) An ideal Daoist leader would not do anything rash that would upset the population, and would also try to be diplomatic in his relations in order to maintain peace throughout the nation.

Legalism, on the other hand, was founded on the belief that it cannot be left up to people to morally police themselves. Strong laws, harsh punishments implant the idea that something bad will happen to you if you do something undesirable. Under this system an ideal ruler would create a system of strong laws, protect themselves from being usurped in order to retain stability, and crush rival states.

Despite their vastly different approaches, all of these ideas are about controlling the population and the rulers in some way. China desperately needed something to grab a hold of in order to find stability, and these three (plus one more undiscussed) philosophies paved the way to the next set of dynasties.

Cited: Brand, C. Early World History: An Interactive Text. El Cajon, CA. Nation Social Science Press. Feres, A. History 100 Lecture 5: Ancient China. Grossmont College. El Cajon, CA.

5. The Mayans, Super Briefly

The Mayan culture is fascinating because our understanding is constantly evolving, and we're slowly uncovering more about these mysterious people. While we can't really say it's a continuation of the cultures, they definitely borrowed a lot from their predecessors (Olmec, Zapotecs, Teotihuacans). Similarly, the Mayan religion became blended with Christianity, brought by the Spanish in the form of Catholicism, and lives on in modern Mesoamerica. (ReligionFacts.com, 2015)

The people that would eventually become the Maya started much like any other, in an archaic hunter-gatherer stage which began to develop agriculture and animal husbandry/domestication; These people had villages with a developed religion by ~2000-1500 BCE. A number of kingdoms/civilizations sprang and withered in the next few thousand years, including the aforementioned Olmec (giant stone heads, great stone cities); Zapotec (influenced by Olmec, propagated writing/math/astronomy/calendar); El Tajin (ball courts!). All of these would contribute to, but not add up to (by themselves) Mayan Culture.

This high Maya, or Classic Maya Period (250-950 CE) saw great cities as Chichen Itza and Uxmal, as well as furthering of the mathematics, astronomy, calendar architecture and arts that had been aggregated into their culture.

After coalescing a few hundred years BCE, the Mayan civilization survives a millenium and a half before the Quiche Maya are defeated in 1524 CE.

Mark (2015) continues to explain that Mayan cosmological view was central to their lives and understanding their actions. Their belief that the universe was divided into many levels, and afterlife involved navigating from the lowest to the highest to achieve eternal happiness, encouraged their human sacrafices. By being sacraficed (along with a few other possible shortcuts) you didn't have to navigate the afterlife and possibly have your soul destroyed forever, but instead got to go directly to Tamoanchan.

The pyramids found at many Mayan sites and the ball courts also involve their cosmology; Pyramids are replicas of the mountain of the gods, the Witzob, while the ball game is thought to have represented the way Mayans viewed existence. It's not clear whether the winners or the losers were given the quick death and instant passage to eternal happiness, but people definitely died at the poc-a-toc games. (Mark, 2015.) According to Brand (n.d.), a war captive may sometimes have been used as a "ceremonial ball." She also says that the movement of the ball was thought to reflect the movements of the sun, moon, and Venus.

According to Brand (n.d.,) other important aspects of Mayan culture were bloodletting/autolaceration, where one could achieve an altered state of consciousness and possibly appease the gods.

The Mayans were an awesome, but brutal, people. It's sometimes hard to look past the blood and see the amazing scientific, cultural and building achievements, but when you do it's hard to dismiss them as anything but remarkable.

Cited: Brand, C. (n.d.) Early World History: An Interactive Text. El Cajon, CA. Mark, J. (06 Jul. 2012) Maya Civilization. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu/Maya_Civilization/ ReligionFacts.com (10 Nov. 2015) "Mayan religion." Retrieved from www.religionfacts.com/mayan-religion

6. The Mongols, Also Briefly

Mongols were originally separate nomadic & pastoral bands led by a khan, fighting amongst themselves for turf and goods.

Temujin, the Mongol who would become Genghis Khan, rose in power around 1200; First among a few families, then working his way up the tribal hierarchy, eventually he was established as leader of a coalition, and took the title of Universal Ruler (Genghis Khan.) Those clans that supported his efforts were allowed to remain ethnically homogenous (Smitha, n.d. (a)), and others were broken up, allowing him a basis on which to build a single empire.

Temujin, now Genghis Khan, was not just an effective military leader but also improved the domestic situation. He had his own young wife kidnapped from him, a practice that often caused feuds among Mongols: He would outlaw it as Great Khan, along with making other laws to improve the lives of all Mongols. (Smitha, n.d. (a))

Smitha continues, saying that Genghis went to secure his borders with a marriage to the south and conquest to the north; He fended off a threat from the Northern Chinese emperor, Weishaowang, by invading with superior diet, conscripted labor in attacks, and terrorizing those who failed to surrender. (The Chinese being at civil war between North/South exacerbated their situation.) After six years of beating on the Jurchen Dynasty, Genghis returned to Mongolia with learned and skilled Chinese to supplement his army and culture, as well as a steady flow of Eastern goods and finery.

In the West, according to Smitha, the Mongolians attempt to trade with the Khwarezmian Empire in Persia, only to have the caravan leader killed and the other merchants' beards burned. This obviously incited an invasion, expanding their borders even further. In these campaigns, the Mongols used fear to their advantage: Any town that resisted would be utterly crushed, and those who surrendered would be spared. In this way, the Mongols saved their strength and numbers while invading during the coldest months of the year.

Genghis Khan himself died at age 65, after supposedly falling off of his horse while fighting the Tangut. In the last few years his empire ruled from the Caspian Sea to Beijing; He had established an efficient communication system within empire; And he had declared religious freedom, wanting to avoid internal strife. (Smitha, n.d. (a))

The third son of Genghis was chosen to succeed him, and Ogedei certainly aimed to live up to his mandate as ruler of the world: He conscripted agricultural people into his infantry, and "tent-dwellers" into his cavalry, campaigning into China and Russia and expanding his borders into both. (Smitha, n.d. (a)) Ogedei was something lesser than his father, though, and spent too much money and drank himself to death.

The next heir, Guyuk Khan came and died mysteriously in the span of a year. He did have time to send word to Rome that God had empowered the Mongols, and not the Pope. (Smitha, n.d. (a))

Mongke Khan, according to Smitha, elected four years after Guyuk's death, attempted to return efficiency to an empire that had become somewhat bloated and lazy: He cleared up the postal system (jammed from personal use by elites,) established predictable taxation, curbed the power of local officials, centralized power, and interestingly ended the 'scorched Earth' policy. Military campaigns should now not destroy cities or agricultural land, which later would be necessary to sustain the empire. The punishment for even minor offenses, however, was death.

Eventually, after sacking Baghdad and marching on Egypt, a Mongolian army was defeated by the Mameluks, the first time in history a Mongol advance had been stopped. (Smitha, n.d. (a)) Mongke himself died a year earlier while invading China, and he would be the last Khan to rule over a unified Mongolia. (Smitha, n.d. (a))

Smitha goes on to say that Mongke's successor, Kublai Khan, didn't come to the throne unchallenged: Others declared themselves Great Khan, dividing the empire. Kublai nevertheless spent sixteen years campaigning in southern China, then proceeded his attempt to invade Japan. A huge force was repelled twice thanks to the Japanese position, protected by ocean and hurricanes.

Mongolian rule in China faded away over the next century; Their downfall was myriad, with nonideal rulers, Chinese/Mongolian racial strife, plague, poverty. Soon a rebel army would return China to Chinese rule, establishing the Ming Dynasty. (Smitha, n.d. (b))

Cited: Smitha, F. (n.d. (a)) Genghis Khan and the Great Mongol Empire. Retrieved from http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm Smitha, F. (n.d. (b)) China from Mongol Rule to the Ming. Retrieved from http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h12china.htm

7. Roman Aqueducts

Everybody has heard of the Roman Baths, but how many think about how these ancient people fueled their thirsty endeavors?

The towering aqueducts of Rome (see The Aqueduct of Segovia) are actually pretty well known. They represent, however, only a small portion of the aqueduct network: 30 miles, with the other 230 lying underground. (UNRV) This was primarily done to protect the water supply: Hiding it underground makes it almost impossible for an invader to leave Rome dry. Where it was possible they would avoid building large aqueducts across valleys even, sometimes using higher-pressure pipes to create a siphon, forcing water up a hill using the pressure of it gathering at the bottom. These pipes have been found to be made of either terra-cotta, lead, clay, or wood/leather. Pipes were either plastered together, or soldered in the case of lead. (Aquaclopedia)

This was all necessary because the few springs that were naturally available within Rome quickly became unusable. Water could easily become contaminated, and ancient people were well aware of the need for water quality. One of the more effective methods of purifying their water was to use a settling tank, one where the rate of flow is lower and solid particles are able to fall out of solution. (Aquaclopedia) The delivery of huge quantities of usable water via these aqueducts was certainly one of the reasons Rome was able to grow to its million-person population.

Other features of the waterways were a number of basins, 247 within Rome alone, serving various functions. The simplest stored water for later use; That given the most attention is the distribution basin, where a central aqueduct line is split among its various destinations throughout the city. Their use of a ‘waterfall' was probably to drop the aqueduct line vertically without introducing excessive kinetic energy. (Aquaclopedia)

The basin given the most attention by ancient people was, of course, the streetside basin: The fountain. This is where the average person could come to get water for drinking, cooking, and for lack of a bath, washing.

The water would also be distributed to baths and to private homes, and to naumachia. The latter were pools for mock naval battles, an event that was actually pretty popular in Rome. Excess and wastewater was used to flush latrines, streets, and sewers. (Aquaclopedia)

While their understanding was far from perfect, Roman engineers had a truly amazing system in its scale and complexity. Maybe it wasn't infallible, since the Goths came by and just cut all the lines, but it kept Rome flowing for a few hundred years.

Cited: "Aquaclopedia: a picture dictionary of Roman aqueducts." Retrieved from http://www.romanaqueducts.info/picturedictionary/framepicturedictionary.htm [UNRV] United Nations of Roma Vitrix. (n.d.) "Roman Aqueducts" Retrieved from http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-aqueducts.php

Images: Settling Basin: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/metzcastellum_fahlbusch.jpg Distribution Basin: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/lijnteknimes.jpg & http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/nimescastellum6.jpg Waterfall Basin: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/foto/lijnteksteepchutes.jpg

8. Justinian's Reign in Byzantine Empire

According to Brand (n.d.), Justinian, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, inherited the empire from his uncle just after Julian had caused a Christian backlash. Beginning to tolerate them less with time, Julian ultimately caused a period of supression of non-Christians in Byzantium, with the exception of the Jews. Justinian attempted to reconcile this as well as the Chalcedonian disagreement over the divine or corporeal nature of Jesus Christ.

Brand (n.d.) continues: Justinian fell in love with Theodora, whom as a circus performer was not a preferable empress to the conservatives in government. Her role in government was unusual in how outspoken she was, and her equal power to Justinian. Further, she had common origins which offended the elites in power. Whether or not due to her role in the Empire, women in general held some basic protections despite being considered inferior by the Church.

Theodora and Justinian are known for their efforts at building in Constantinople. Brand (n.d.), again, elaborates: Using money from the lands Justinian was conquering, he and Theodora proceeded to lavishly rebuild the city of Byzantium. They created roads, baths, bridges, forts, palaces, and churches. The latter included the magnificent Hagia Sophia, which upon being conquered by the Muslims became a mosque. Under Justinian, Byzantium expanded its economic power and its importance as a trade center. He is also known for reforming government and reviewing all Roman law, eventually compiling law, Church text and other materials into his Code of Justinian.

The Holy Roman Empire experiences something of a decline after Justinian, where the next couple emperors fizzled out without accomplishing much and losing most of the territory that had been regained. This downward trend was turned around in the Macedonian Dynasty, where Basil exerts more trade control, and has more wealth and prestige than under Justinian, despite controlling less land. (Brand, n.d.)

Cited: Brand, C. Feres, A. (n.d.) Early World History: An Interactive Text. National Social Science Press, El Cajon, CA.

9. Viking Weapons and Armor

The Vikings, Scandinavian pirates who raided Europe during the 8th-11th centuries, struck terror into the hearts of their victims. This is in part due to their disregard for the sanctity of Christian monasteries normally left undefended (James, 2011); But their concept of death as a predetermined and fixed event may have fueled their immense courage, leading Vikings to be ferocious to the very end. (Hurstwic, n.d.) With nothing to lose (no risk of dying when you otherwise wouldn't have) and an honor-based society to impress, these Scandinavians were natural and excellent pirates.

While the warships that brought them to their victims, able to sail over open ocean as well as shallow water, are equally fascinating, I would like to discuss the weapons and armor in the Viking age. First I'll briefly discuss the significance of weapons and armor to the Vikings. Then I will introduce a few of the everyday tools of these Norse fighters, for the laws expected all free men to own weapons (James, 2011) and reprisal laws meant one could be attacked at any time without knowledge (Short, n.d.)

During the first 'Viking Age,' raids were on relatively small scales and weren't centrally organized. Raiding raised a man's status in society by bringing him wealth and fame, and the weapons that could be acquired were very much status symbols. (Short, n.d.) These raids initially were a few dozen men on a couple of ships, and the raiders represented a small portion of Norse society. (Short, n.d.)

Short continues, noting that because iron was extremely expensive, few men would own a sword let alone mail armor. The average Viking fought simply: A spear was the most common weapon, or an axe. Every man had a shield. A sword was worth 12 milk-cows, only one of which was needed to keep a man alive through the winter. Those with more money, perhaps spoils, could find ornate replacements for their sword and shield, and perhaps arm themselves with a sax (short sword) as well. The absolute most wealthy would have a full array of weapons: The axe, spear, sword and sax; Mail armor, a helmet, and ornate decorations on everything. This was uncommon, however: 61% of contemporary graves which held any viking weapons had only one, while 15% had three or more. The poorest Norseman would fight with the farm axe.

According to Short, Vikings had two defensive options: The helm and mail armor. A Viking helmet, essentially a cap with a noseguard, would have been a family heirloom passed down through generations and repaired as needed. For any practical purpose, a helmet did not have horns, although there is some evidence of horned helms being ritual tools. Helms could sport a spike on the top for a weaponized headbutt, and chainmail curtains around the neck and throat for a cost-effective alternative to the mail shirt.

Mail armor, an iron fabric created from interlocking rings, was another thing altogether: The 12kg of iron in a mail shirt would have been a fortune in the Viking age, although that would have bought you thigh and mid-arm length protection.

Short continues, discussing the four main (known) Viking weapons: Spear, axe, sword and sax.

The spear was actually the most common weapon in the Viking age (mostly those that couldn't afford something better.) They were primarily used in one hand with a shield in the other. In the "Second Viking Age," where Scandinavian Royals sponsored large-scale raids with the object of extortion (James, 2011,) spears could be used effectively during mass battles: A spear could easily reach over an advancing shield-wall from the second rank to poke the enemy.

The axe is the archetypal Viking weapon and were also usually one-handed weapons, as a Viking likes a shield. Battle axes, though they seem heavy and cumbersome, were light fast and very well balanced. Later axes were designed to be used with two hands, and some smaller ones could easily be thrown.

The sax, a short sword, was usually more crudely created than a proper sword and thus less expensive/more attainable. Single edged and sporting no crossguard, the sax was conveniently concealed underneath a cloak or behind a shield, or quickly unsheathed to finish a battle. Occasionally the sax was crafted with precision, pattern-welded in the same way as the finest swords, but rarely.

The Viking sword was difficult to make and therefore rare and expensive. Due to the low quality of iron available at the time, a process known as pattern welding was required to obtain the desired properties of metal. Even after a better source of iron was available, and homogenous steel could be produced, many Viking smiths preferred the older technique of melting bricks of multiple alloys together, possibly for the beautiful patterns it produced. Once purchased, a Viking sword was named and passed down as an even more valuable heirloom than the helm. These swords were double edged and tapered slightly, and apparently were prone to dulling and chipping.

Although only the minority of Norsemen could ever obtain such ornate pattern-welded swords and mail outfits, most men probably dreamt at least a little of owning them. Perhaps these men, hardly biologically different from us at all, were driven to pillage Europe in their desire for fancy material objects? Why not, after all.

Cited: James, E. (2011) Overview: The Vikings, 800-1066. BBC History. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/overview_vikings_01.shtml Roberts, J. (n.d.) The Age of the Vikings. Retrieved from http://www.judsonroberts.com/?page_id=1127 Short, W. (n.d.) Viking Age History. Retrieved from http://www.hurstwic.com/history/text/history.htm

Contents:

Essays:

1. Cave Art

2. Mesopotamian Religion

3. Zoroastrianism

4. Ancient Chinese Philosophy

5. The Mayans, Super Briefly

6. The Mongols, Also Briefly

7. Roman Aqueducts

8. Justinian's Reign in Byzantine Empire

9. Viking Weapons and Armor