Bronze Age (for deletion, kept for Palestinian details)

The Bronze Age describes a technological stage where bronze replaces flint and stone as the chief material for weapons and tools. However, the discovery that copper could be hardened through the addition of tin, to form a bronze alloy, was secondary to the more fundamental one that moldable metal could be produced from copper ore. Whether standard bronze, having about one part of tin to nine of copper, was used in any particular region depended mainly on the availability of tin. It was possible, for instance, that a complex civilisation could flourish in Egypt despite a continued reliance on copper.

The period reflects the birth of "civilisation," in which the world saw city states arise in the most fertile areas. This development led to the rise of territorial states and empires. Trade increasingly became a source of power, as states with access to important resources or controlling important trade routes rose to dominance.

Palestine

At the beginning of the 3rd millenium B.C. the kings of the early dynasties of Egypt were sending expeditions northward to conquer the Asiatic coastland in order to control its commerce and obtain timber, metals, and other raw materials. It was in this area that the goods of Egypt and Babylonia were exchanged. By the middle of the 2nd millenium B.C. the admixture of these two civilisations, with some Minoan additions, had produced a rich, complex society along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Fortified towns were built and the best harbors on the coast were utilized; inland, along caravan routes, walled cities such as Jerusalem appeared. Inhabiting the area were nomadic and semi-nomadic Semites such as Amorites, Canaanites, Aramaeans, and Hebrews whose mode of life is best portrayed in the Old Testament.

Toward the end of the 2nd millenium B.C. the Egyptian, Hittite, and Mesopotamian governments became disorganized and weak, thus enabling the smaller geographic regions between them to enjoy more liberty of action and some independence. The patriarchs of the sagas in Genesis are legendary heroes. Some fo the Hebrew clans entered Canaan (the Levant coast) in the 14th century; others roamed in the wilderness. The Joseph tribes settled at Goshen, in the eastern delta of the Nile.

Between 1225-1200 B.C. Moses led a revolt of the Joseph clans in Egypt, after they had been enslaved by Ramses II. Moses brought them to the oasis of Kadesh Barnea in the Sinai, on the edge of the Wilderness of Zin and the northwest of the Land of Edom. The tribe of Reuben (one of the 12 tribes) settled east of the Jordan, where the tribe of Gad was already living. The tribe of Judah began to move northward from the wilderness south of the Dead Sea. The Joseph tribes, under Joshua, crossed the Jordan and occupied the Mountain of Ephraim. The other tribes of Israel were already in Canaan, which was an Egyptian province. (continued)

India

Prehistoric Age

The earliest inhabitants of the country probably were the Munda or Kolarians, who once covered a very wide territory—place names scattered throughout northern India show traces of their presence. Later, a darker people, the Dravidians, appeared in India and soon spread over the entire country. The drove the original inhabitants before them into lands farther east, or pressed them back into the mountains and jungles of central and eastern India, where they still linger. The origin and affiliations of these newcomers are not clearly established, although recent studies point to Asia Minor and the highlands of Iran as their earlier habitations.

The appearance in the early 2nd millenium B.C. of the Aryan peoples marked a turning point in the history of India, as in other lands such as Persia, Greece and Italy. They entered India from the northwest, apparently in several waves of immigration, pushed the Dravidians to the east and south, and gathered in some strength between the Indus and the Jumna rivers. From this region, they spread themselves more thinly over the rest of India, and then, about the beginning of the Christian Era, undertook the colonisation of lands across the sea in Indonesia and Indochina.

Vedic Times

The Rig-Veda, compiled in about 1500 B.C. by collecting much older hymns composed at different times and places, is an important literary monument to the Aryan settlers in the Punjab. It shows them organized in various tribes under elected kings who acted as guardians, priests and war leaders. The kings united at times against the black-skinned indigenes, but were by no means free from differences among themselves. Aryan society retained tradces of its ancient pastoral character; women occupied a high position in the family and even composed some of the beautiful hymns. The Aryans knew the uses of most metals, lived in villages and towns, fortified wherever necessary against enemies, ate beef and drank the intoxicating juice of the soma, which they offered sacrificially to their gods. At first they migrated in whole communities from one river valley to another, keeping their tribal and family organisation free from any large admixture of the pre-Aryan inhabitants. As the area of Aryanisation extended, a really mixed society and culture developed. In the south, the bulk of the population remained unchanged except for their acceptance of the new culture brought to them by Aryan adventurers and sages who came to trade and found asramas, or hermitages. While all the culture of North India and Maratha in the western Deccan are derived from the Aryans, the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam peoples retain their Dravidian character, even though largely influenced in various ways by Sanskrit literature and tradition.

China

China’s history groups itself naturally into two chronological divisions. First is a long period of beginnings, from an unknown date in the far past to about the 2nd millenium B.C. After comes a series of dynasties, theoretically commencing in 2205 B.C., but probably having its inception early in the 2nd millenium B.C. Each dynasty was founded by a successful warrior. The ruling lines so established endured for periods of varying length. In time each dynasty weakened and succumbed, periods of more or less prolonged civil strife followed, and eventually out of the rough and tumble of war a strong man succeeded in placing himself and his family on the throne. Each of the longest of these dynasties marked a distinct era in China’s cultural development. At first glance, Chinese history seems a weary and meaningless succession of unfamiliar names, and each major dynasty appears to be, except for the names, a repetition of its predecessor. As familiarity with the facts is gained, however, marked differences and forward moving and changing currents become evident. The contrasts between eras are not as marked as in the Occident, but they are there. From the 12th to the 13th centuries, the rate of change slowed down. Fewer new things were done. Old cultural patterns tended to persist and innovations became less frequent. Then came the third main division of Chinese history, the irruption of the Occident and the thoroughgoing revolution which it brought. This irruption overlapped the dynastic section of Chinese history. It began on a small scale in the 13th century and was renewed on a somewhat larger but still minor scale in the 16th century.

Beginnings

The older Chinese accounted for the beginnings of their history and culture by stories of mythical or legendary rulers. One of these latter, Sui Jen, is said to have produced fire by boring one piece of wood with another. Fu Hsi is accredited with teaching his people how to fish. Shen Nung is reported to have taught his subjects agriculture. To Huang Ti, the Yellow Emperor, is assigned the invention of bricks for buildings, the improvement of astronomy and the calendar, and the devising of ox-drawn carts and several musical instruments. His spouse is reported to have instructed their subjects in sericulture. Near the beginning of historical time are the sovereigns Yao, Shun and Yu, regarded by later generations as model emperors. Yu is said to have drained away the waters of a great flood and to have founded the first of the dynasties, the Hsia. Whether any of these rulers ever lived and whether the Hsia Dynasty existed are by no means certain.

The Shang or Yin Dynasty

Details regarding events taking place fairly early in the second millenium before Christ have become more generally accepted. The traditional dates are 1766-1122 B.C. The capital of the Shang was in the lower part of the valley of the Hwang Ho, where its territories seem to have lain. Writing was done by means of characters incised upon bones by sharp instruments. The culture produced some vigorous art, some of it in skillfully cast bronzes. Millet and wheat are grown. Money in the form of cowry shells was in circulation. There were buildings with wooden pillars. Chariots drawn by horses were in use. Society was aristocratic and ancestors of the upper classes were revered. Religion included divination and sacrifices, sometimes of human beings.

Continued in The Iron Age

See Also,
Ancient History
History
History The Chalcolithic Period