Includes bibliographical references and index.

$a Each chapter begins with an introduction. I. THE ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATIONS. 1. The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization. Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers. Document: Tales of the Hunt: Paleolithic Cave Paintings as History. Agriculture and the Origins of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution. Visualizing the Past: Representations of Women in Early Art. In Depth: The Idea of Civilization in World Historical Perspective. The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization Global Connections: The Neolithic Revolution as a Basis for World History. 2. The Rise of Civilization in the Middle East and Africa. Setting the Scene: The Middle East by 4000 B.C.E. Civilization in Mesopotamia. Visualizing the Past: Mesopotamia in Maps. Document: Hammurabi's Law Code. Ancient Egypt. Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared. In Depth: Women in Patriarchal Societies. Civilization Centers in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. The End of the Early Civilization Period. Global Connections: The Early Civilizations and the World . 3. Asia's First Civilizations: India and China. The Indus Valley and the Birth of South Asian Civilization. Aryan Incursions and Early Aryan Society in India. Document: Aryan Poetry in Praise of a War-Horse. A Bend in the River and the Beginnings of China. Visualizing the Past: Mapping the Rise of Civilizations. The Decline of the Shang and the Era of Zhou Dominance. In Depth: The Legacy of Asia's First Civilizations. Global Connections: Contrasting Legacies: Harappan and Early Chinese Civilizations. II. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD IN WORLD HISTORY. 4. Unification and the Consolidation of Civilization in China. Philosophical Remedies for the Prolonged Crisis of the Later Zhou. Document: Teachings of the Rival Chinese Schools. The Triumph of the Qin and Imperial Unity. In Depth: Sunzi and the Shift from Ritual Combat to Real War. The Han Dynasty and the Foundatio

$a The primary goal of World Civilizations is to present a truly global history-since the development of agriculture and herding to the present. Using a unique periodization, this book divides the main periods of human history according to changes in the nature and extent of global contacts. This global world history text discusses both the developments of the world's leading civilizations and also emphasizes the major stages in the interactions among different peoples and societies. Presenting social and cultural as well as political and economic aspects of the human experience, the book examines all of the world's civilizations including those in the Western tradition but also those civilizations sometimes neglected in world history texts-nomadic societies of Asia, Latin America, and the nations and states of the Pacific Rim. World Civilizations balances this discussion of independent developments in the world's major civilizations with comparative analysis of the results of global contact.