Precolumbian African-Carribean Interaction

Ever Since high school, I've been vaguely aware of scholarly concepts that Africans discovered the New World before Columbus. A geologist named Mark McMenamin interprets the pattern on gold coins minted in the North African city Carthage around 350 and 320 B.C. I have included several versions for your deciphering.

His argument is based around evidence that the Carthaginians were culturally linked to contemporary Phoenicians and that both peoples had been widely regarded for their sailing and maritime accomplishments in the Mediterranean and the British Isles.

The image was simply overlooked as confusingly written, Phoenician script. However, this theory was discounted in the 1960's and has baffled anyone since.

My take: Why would you make something that intricate if it was going to be sloppy and unrecognizable? There probably is some credibility to McMenamin hypothesis yet it need not be standard operating procedure until more evidence is uncovered. Perhaps this is unlikely because, going back to the coin example: why would you plot a little-known land mass on a coin to be seen by many without plotting it on other documents?

I remember an article in a magazine a few years back about African traders bringing metal shipments to the Carribean during the 14th and 15th centuries yet I couldnt find any articles on that...if you can, let me know :)

Mayan Civilization

About a hundred years after the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe civilizations I mentioned in the last post, another empire was snuffed out on the other side of the globe. The Mayan Empire, which had withstood the test of time for over three thousand years, was destroyed in 1550's by Spanish greed. However, the Mayan peoples still live on today, integrated into the societies of numerous South American countries.

The Mayans began as an agricultural people that shared a common language in 2000 BCE. These people would come to occupy the land from southern Mexico to Western Honduras. They began with basic agricultural techniques to grow corn, beans, and cacao and raised domesticated dogs, turkeys, and ducks. They soon advanced to crop rotation and terracing and worshipped agricultural gods in villages run by chieftains. Even in this relatively primitive living arrangement, they had developed rudimentary astronomy as part of their religion. It was not long before the chiefs and nobles began constructing larger towns and monuments like pyramids. These larger towns held thousands of people, making the Mayan civilizations one of the most populous empires of the ancient world. They began developing the areas around their cities, turning them into stone urban centers, complete with palaces, water reservoirs, causeways, and covered with a limestone stucco, providing a uniform look in all settlements.

As time went on, society became more complex. The system of chiefs had developed into an entire social class of kings and nobles, who also doubled as priests during religious ceremonies. Each city was run by a king and his nobles and each city competed with each other and developed economically. Warfare was a part of Mayan life, but it was relegated into a ceremonial affair, waged on a much smaller scale than many of the empires around that time. The battles were mostly just raids by groups of nobles that did no real damage, other than some destruction to temples and the attempted kidnapping and sacrifice of rival rulers.

The people were divided into classes which included: Kings, Nobles, Merchants, Priests, Craftsmen, Farmers, and Slaves. These people believed in a polytheistic religion that required sacrifices. They also developed complex mathematics, astronomy, calendars, the concept of the number zero, and recorded their history on stone, pottery, and paper.

This society eventually began to deteriorate, as with all societies, and it began to breathe it's last when the Mayans abandoned the lowlands due to unknown reasons around late 800 CE. As of now, science has narrowed the cause to extended drought, disease, or warfare. Pretty much the standard we-don't-know-for-sure answer. This led to a weakening of Mayan society, economically, scientifically, and religiously. During this time, the Mayan civilization retreated into the Yucatan peninsula and focused their efforts their.

They rebuilt their civilization and began to flourish again until the Spanish arrived in 1511 CE. The Spanish Conquistadors and the colonists that followed soon began eradicating the Mayans through war, slavery, and disease, leading to total conquest of the area in 1697 CE. The Mayan civilization was no more, but remnants of it still survive in the hearts of many of its people, some of which have descendants still living in their homelands.

Oh, and by the way, nothing is going to happen in 2012.

Find out more at:
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576077_3/Maya_Civilization.html

The Other Civilizations

Mostly, when the history curriculum turns to the great empires and civilizations of the world, the most often fought of are Rome, China, and possibly the South East Indian civilizations. Perhaps Persia or Egypt gets a mention from someone. Since the aforementioned societies shaped modern politics, economics, and social thought to such a degree that they did, the other societies are often forgotten. What of the kingdoms and tribal influences of Africa? Surely the land that scientifically spawned humanity deserves a mention in the minds of the college student. Furthermore, what mention is there of the Native American populations? Why is it that the other empires are so remembered and these are so forgotten?

Firstly, according to Robert Strayers textbook Ways of the World, A Brief Global History the lack of domesticated animals plays a large role in the power of societies. Unless water buffalo, zebra, and elephants count, Africa has slim pickings on animals it could domesticate. Now the great kingdoms ans cities of Africa did have access to the Roman markets as they continued to expand, however even at the height of the markets' involvements it was not enough to overcome this inherent disadvantage. Mesoamerica was likewise void of pack animals that could raise its empires to new heights. Without these creatures, transportation could not reach the same level as it did in Rome, nor could animals be used in an agricultural sense.

However, Mesoamerica and Africa managed to develop agriculture despite the domestication set back. According to Strayer, Mesoamerica was a "'totally engineered landscape'" in which the natives terraced mountains, constructed irrigation systems, and drained swamps. They were masters of their environment. The African societies cropped up after a large drought formed several large cities in the Southern Saharan region and consequently smaller villages formed up to supply the population with crops.

The cities of both continents also differed from the classic 'big' empires by their forms of governance. Quite a few of the African cities were noted to be 'cities without citadels' in that they had few distinct governments ruling the areas. Mesoamerica often relied on the elite families to rule over its people. Although many different ruling ideologies existed these helped differentiate between the great empires of the East. The differences between these empires helped form distinctive cultures that would never be seen in the same light. Due to the political and economic differences of these cultures, some would be forever remembered and others left as footnotes.

The Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Historic and Political Impacts

It's already that day of the week, the last day to post a few blogs. Six days of procrastination and here I am again, at the edge of another deadline. Well, time to get to work I guess.

The Ruins of Great Zimbabwe have been an area of controversy ever since the empire that built it collapsed. Tribes from all over the area claim to be the descendants of the people that built the ruins. Europeans argue amongst themselves about the identity and race of the people that constructed Great Zimbabwe. It has been used in the political agendas of the people in charge and has been the rallying point of both racists and minorities. It is often in the center of conflicting ideas, so it would be best to know the facts about this ancient ruin.

The empire that first raised the walls of Great Zimbabwe reached its height between 1100 to 1450 CE and encompassed an area slightly larger than its modern descendant, Zimbabwe. It was a trading center that had ties quite far from its location in inland Africa, including Chinese artifacts. Near the end of the 1400's, the empire collapsed. The reason is unclear, but the common theories of drought, disease, famine, and poverty have been thrown around. For a time, the Shona people lived inside the ruins and continued its legacy as a trade hub until the Portuguese conquered them in the early 1600's and Great Zimbabwe sank into obscurity.

In 1867, a European hunter rediscovered the ruins and in 1871, a German geologist named Carl Mauch surveyed the ruins and proclaimed them to be connected to a biblical city of riches led by a Queen Sheba or the site of King Solomon's gold mines. Subsequent archaeologists deemed the site to have been a colony by white settlers, because they believed that the African population were too primitive to construct such a permanent structure. Some of these first archaeologists also caused damage to the site in their quest to prove that white settlers constructed the ruins. The white settler belief was not discredited until David Randall-Maciver came in 1905 and suggested that locals had built Great Zimbabwe and Gertrude Caton-Thompson's expedition supported that idea.

Up until that point, Great Zimbabwe was being used by the white colonists to cement their dominance over the African populace, by saying that Whites were there before the Africans, and that the Whites were superior to them. These discoveries were covered up until 1980, when these discoveries weakened the racist stranglehold of power, and would cause Africans rally behind this new symbol of African legitimacy over their own lands.

The Great Zimbabwe ruins have shown that the African populace was far more advanced than they were given credit for and have given the Africans their freedom back. The African citizens of Rhodesia changed their country's name to Zimbabwe in honor of the ruins that granted them their lands and freedom. Today, the Great Zimbabwe ruins are still part of a political agenda, but now, it is a symbol that unites people, instead of proving one's superiority over another.

More information can be found at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A21025513

All Roads Lead to Cuzco

When we think of roads of ancient empires we think of the Persians or especially Rome. However, the impressive roads of the Inca Empire normally do not come to mind. The Inca Empire was based in the Andes Mountains and covered a distance of 2500 Miles, from modern day Ecuador into Chile. The Incas used their roads to connect their large empire. In all the Inca Empire had 40,000 kilometers of roads.

What makes the Inca roads impressive is the engineering feat to create them. The roads had to be built in all terrains, such as deserts, jungles, and the mountains. Many of the roads had drainage systems that protected them from erosion. In the mountains the Incas used bridges to span great canyons. Some of these suspension bridges were 150 feet long, made out of strong fibers. The Inca roads do not resemble the roads of today or of Rome. They were designed for walking, because the Incas had not wheeled transportation or horses. Many roads, especially in the mountains, were more like stair cases. Local workers built and maintained the roads as service to the emperor.

The road network not only served for transport and travel but also for communication. This communication was carried out by messengers called chasqui, who were stationed every three kilometers. This system resembles the Pony Express created in the United States to connect the east and west. Also, on the roads were settlements each at a days walk apart, to serve as a resting spot for the night.

The Inca roads were a huge engineering feat. They connected the Inca Empire from one end to the other, and were built in challenging terrains and climates. In the mountains the engineers used suspension bridges that were more impressive than any other bridges in the world to date. Many roads still survive today and are even used.



For more information

http://archaeology.about.com/od/iterms/qt/inca_road.htm

http://transportationhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_inca_and_their_roads

http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N24/bridges.html

Profiles in History: Confucius

Hey, let's get another one of these things going.

Confucius or K'ung-fu-tzu, was a Chinese Philospher whose views on politics and wise proverbs still affect many countries and billions of people. He preached a family based government and how to act correctly, and his views, labeled Confucianism, eventually overtook Legalism and Taoism as the primary political view.

Confucius was born in 551 BCE into a lower-middle class family, called Shi, who are a group of commoners that rose up through the ranks because of skills and talents, and are ranked just below nobles. However, Confucius's family was in the lower strata of that social level, and that situation definitely did not improve when he lost his father at the age of three. His mother raised the family during this time of poverty and died when Confucius was 23.

Confucius worked many odd jobs such as herding and accounting until he attained a position in the Lu government as a Justice Minister at the age of 53. He stayed at this position until he felt that Lu was not the place to be and traveled all over China, preaching his philosophical views and trying to get a job as a government official. It's kind of funny how jobs were hard to come by back then too. Anyways, back to Confucius.

What Confucius preached was basically the same unified government format as the old days, but with a few key changes. One of the main changes was that the rulers would be chosen by morals, ability, and merit instead of who their parents were. By choosing people such as this to rule, the people could learn from their proper morals, instead of having proper behavior forced onto them with laws. Other things that Confucius proposed was to develop the self through self-reflection, learning about the World, and proper morals. He was also a big supporter of the Golden Rule, Don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you.

As he traveled, Confucius explained his ideas to the royalty, but none of his ideas were placed into effect in his lifetime. Disappointed by the lack of work, Confucius moved back to Lu at sixty-eight and began to teach his philosophy to disciples and students. There are no texts anywhere that are proven to be written by Confucius himself, but his students and followers recorded much of his teachings and collected them in The Analects. At the age of seventy-three, Confucius died and left behind a legacy that still affects us today.

If you want to find out more about Confucius, feel free to click on this link.http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/

Thanks for reading this all the way, and if you skip/skim it, that's cool too.

The Death of Alexander

After class on Friday, I was curious what exactly was the cause of death of Alexander the Great. Our professor mentioned he essentially partied himself to death. I thought that there must be extenuating circumstances or some conspiracy of assassination. I found an article by Cameron Battersby titled "What Killed Alexander the Great?" To my surprise, Battersby said that Alexander essentially partied himself to death.

Without raking over any more academic coals, it seems reasonable to conclude that modern medical knowledge seems to suggest that Alexander died from the effects of a surgical catastrophe resulting from excessive alcoholic consumption and Antipater and Cassander had no input into that. There can be little doubt that Alexander came to replicate so many of the attitudes and actions of his father, Philip. ‘In the warrior society, epic toping was a source of admiration’.

This surprised me. Battersby mentioned the prevalence of the culture of alcohol in the time of Philip II. I never expected The Great Alexander was one to succumb to alcohol. I would have thought that such a famous instance of death by alcohol would be a common argument for the evils of drinking in excess. In any case, I found it interesting that surgical historians can issue diagnoses based on the description of events thousands of years ago.

For this reason, Boerhaave’s Syndrome may be the likely diagnosis. It would fit in with the onset of pain described by Diodorus in the middle of an alcoholic binge with repressed vomiting. Philip’s son could hardly be seen to vomit his liquor!