AP Themes Project

Theme: Social

Name: Minkyu Han

(Era 1) Human Beginnings 600 BCE

Africa -Pharaohs were god-like kings who owned all the land and was the absolute ruler of Egypt -Tuthmosis III built an empire -In Egypt, peasants and slaves worked on agriculture, the pharaoh ruled the land, and others were divided up into a professional military and administrators -Nubia was a complex and hierarchal society -A patriarchal society, in Egypt women acted as regents, and in Nubia, women were queens, priestesses, and scribes

Central Asia

SW Asia -Women and children gathered while the men hunted wild animals -Lived in small clans, thirty to forty people -Neolithic women cultivated plants, while men domesticated animals after agriculture emerged -Specialization of labor caused an emergence of new classes -Social classes included kings, which were hereditary, priests and priestesses who ruled temples, peasants and dependant clients with no property, who payed tax and did labor, and slaves who were mostly domestic servants -A patriarchal society, where men were the head of the families

South & SE Asia -Aryans introduced the caste system, which divided individuals to a certain class -Varna, the Sanskrit word meaning color, referred to the social class -Four main varnas: Brahmins (priests), kshatriyans (warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas (artisans and merchants), and shudras (peasants and serfs) -A more elaborate system called jati emerged, which were determined by occupation -The jati system also allowed foreigners to find a place in Indian society -The Law book of Manu described the moral behaviors of men and women: men were expected to treat women with honor and respect, and women were advised under the guidance of men.

East Asia Oceania/Americas -Made up of dynasties, which were hereditary -Shang relied on allies and did not centralize their government -Zhou had a decentralized administration, where they used princes and relatives to govern certain regions, but it caused a weak central government and a rise of regional powers -Elites included hereditary aristocrats and administrative and military offices -Artisans and craftsmen worked for the elites -Merchants were important because they traded with roads connecting to the west and south -Majority of the population were peasants who lived in small, subterranean houses

Europe

Bentley = Eras 1,2,3 Tignor = Eras 4,5,6

1) Social: Development and transformation of social structures (gender roles and relations, family and kinship, racial and ethnic constructions, social and
economic classes)