WW Part 3
Chapters 9, 11, 12

Picking up where I left off at the last post, it is important to note here as well the importance the women played in the nomadic lifestyles of the pastoral societies. The book mentions, more times then one, how both men and women played very equal parts in every day life. How women could ride horses, tend to animals, take care of home life just as well as men and what stuck out to me was the quote from Han Kuan, a Chinese Confucian, " made no distinction between men and women."
Something that stood out to me as well was the differences in the pastoral peoples and the agricultural people. While at first glance you may think that there is many similarities, it is not the case. Nomadic peoples often relied on agricultural societies for a variety of foods. Furthermore they also needed manufactured goods and "luxury items". Pastoral communities also tended to be smaller and lack the surplus of the agricultural societies. Pastoral societies began to turn into nomadic states through there impressive horseback riding and hunting skills. These "warrior like" skills allowed them to take over through " raiding, trading, or extortion through agricultural civilizations such as China, Persia, and Byzantium."
Nomadic civilizations were able to master the environment completely, inhabiting hostile desert and arid grasslands. They also invented such things as complex horse harnesses, amor, new types of swords, and saddles with iron stirrups just to name a few.

Week 4; Chapter 7-10

One of the most notable themes in these chapters was globalization or the beginnings of it. Countries were now starting to trade with other countries which in turn allowed for the spread of different spices, ideas, religion and unfortunately, disease. Large bodies of water such as the Mississippi and the Indian Ocean Basin acted as transporters of good, immigration of people, and the spread of ideas. Furthermore, empires and cities became more diverse because they offered a safe and stable place for those diverse communities and goods to flourish. For example: Religions such as Christianity spread throughout Europe and into Russia, China's silk industry spread to the Mediterranean and Italy and India was able to contribute the concept of zero and crystallized sugar. The advancements in trade also played a large part in political, family, and financial change.

I very much appreciate the fact that the author did not fail to mention the importance of women during this era. While it is important to note that much of this change may have been, for the surface, led by men, women too  played a very important role. The book states that women were leaders of the family and helped to sustain that while the men were away fighting or trading and a they are key factors in the passing down of language, religious rituals, group knowledge and local history. 

Part 2

The amount of change that happened between the first and second-waves of civilization has really blown my mind. The time lines for the class are constantly shocking to me (especially when they put world history into the calendar year). Furthermore, it is hard to believe that such ideas and inventions that occurred thousands and thousands of years ago are still effecting us today.
The section in part two that really stuck out to me was "The Greek Way of Knowing". While I have heard so much about these philosophers and classical Greek thinkers, I had no idea of the actual impact they have on us currently; how there way of thinking is still used. Most notably would be Socrates. He questioned everything and found that the most value was to be in virtue and wisdom and not wealth and power in living well. These ideas, I believe, are just as important today.
As a whole, however, I am impressed by not only the rapid change but also how the world was becoming more modern all at the same time; how it wasn't just one country changing but the whole world was changing.
How humans began to enslave their own people is also quite fascinating and disturbing. While it is clear there is no hard evidence to support an event that caused humans to enslave one another, class, wealth and punishment all seem to be a common factor. Moreover, slavery seemed to be common across most cultures, although some more promenade then others. Although the Greeks may have had some powerful knowledge and were able to discover many important things about the world and logic, the dependency on slavery seems to push them back. The book stated that nearly one third of the population in Athens was enslaved (shocking).