Download Notes - AP World History

A.P. World History
Unit 2:
Second Wave
Civilizations
The First Wave Civilizations as the Second
Wave Started?
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?
Mesopotamia?
• “Fertile Crescent” of the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers/Middle
East
– After a series of empires
(Akkadian, Babylonian, etc…),
it collapses right as Unit 2
begins (c. 500 B.C.E.) due to
2,500 years of near constant
warfare and environmental
destruction of farm land due
to irrigation that salted the
fields.
Egypt?
• Lower Egypt in the Nile River
Delta
- By 600 B.C.E., the
Egyptians had been
conquered by the Nubians
in the south and then the
Assyrian Empire
(Mesopotamia).
- As Unit 2 begins, there is
still a pharaoh, but he is a
figurehead who answers
to the failing Assyrians (at
least until they collapse
around 500 B.C.E.).
Norte Chico?
• Andes Mountains in South
America
- Around 1,800 B.C.E.,
they went into a
period of decline.
Their cities were
abandoned.
- Why is not known.
No signs of
warfare… It’s a
mystery.
China?
• East Asia
- At the start of
Unit 2, the
Zhou Dynasty
is still in
control of
China.
The Indus Valley?
• Indus River Valley, South
Asia
- C. 1,800 B.C.E., the
population began to
abandon its cities.
Trade with
Mesopotamia stopped.
- Probably due to
environmental ruin…
too much salt in the
soil, air pollution, and
deforestation.
Amu Darya?
• Amu Darya River Valley,
Central Asia
- They are still
around at the
start of Unit 2. At
least until the
Persian Empire
shows up…
Olmec?
• Mesoamerica
- By the start of Unit
2, the Olmec are
collapsing. Why
is a mystery. Like
the Indus and
Norte Chico, the
reasons are
unclear.
- By 300 B.C.E., the
Olmec are gone.