Contents

1. I. Chapter 1 Prehistory

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Human Beginnings in Africa

   4. Agriculture and the "Neolithic Revolution"

   5. Summary

2. II. Chapter 2 Early Middle Eastern and Northeast African Civilizations

   1. Introduction: Defining Civilization

   2. Chronology

   3. Ancient Mesopotamia

   4. Sumerian City-States

   5. Mesopotamian Empires

   6. The Significance of Mesopotamia for World History

   7. The Israelites and Ancient Israel

   8. Early Israelites

   9. The United Kingdom of Israel

   10. The Importance of the Israelites and Ancient Israel

   11. Ancient Egypt

   12. Dynastic Egypt

   13. Nubia: The Kingdoms of Kerma and Kush

   14. Summary

3. III. Chapter 3 Ancient and Early Medieval India

   1. Introduction

   2. 1. Chronology

   3. What is India? The Geography of South Asia

   4. India's First Major Civilization: The Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BCE - 1700 BCE)

   5. The Long Vedic Age (1700 - 600 BCE)

   6. Transition to Empire: States, Cities, and New Religions (600 - 321 BCE)

   7. The Mauryan Empire (321 - 184 BCE)

   8. Regional States, Trade, and Devotional Religion: India 200 BCE - 300 CE

   9. The Gupta Empire and India's Classical Age (300 - 600 CE)

   10. India's Early Medieval Age and the Development of Islamic States in India, 600 - 1300 CE

   11. Summary

4. IV. Chapter 4 China and East Asia to the Ming Dynasty

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. 2. Pronunciation Guide

   4. Geography of East Asia

   5. China from Neolithic Village Settlements to the Shang Kingdom

   6. The Long Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 256 BCE)

   7. The Qin Dynasty and the Transition from Ancient to Imperial China

   8. The Han Dynasty, 202 BCE - 220 CE

   9. The Period of Division, 220 - 589 CE

   10. The Tang Dynasty and the Emergence of East Asia

   11. The Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 CE)

   12. The Yuan Dynasty

   13. Summary

5. V. Chapter 5 The Greek World from the Bronze Age to the Roman Conquest

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Geography and Topography

   4. Periods of Greek History

   5. Methodology: Sources and Problem

   6. From Mythology to History

   7. Archaic Greece

   8. The Classical Period

   9. Hellenistic Period

   10. Summary

6. VI. Chapter 6 The Roman World From 753 BCE to 500 CE

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Geography and Topography of Rome and the Roman Empire

   4. Basic Chronology and Periods of Roman History

   5. Sources and Problems

   6. Early and Middle Republic

   7. Fall of the Roman Republic

   8. The Early Empire

   9. The Third-Century Crisis, and Late Antiquity

   10. Conclusion: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages

7. VII. Chapter 7 Western Europe and Byzantium circa 500 to 1000 CE

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Successor Kingdoms to the Western Roman Empire

   4. Byzantium: The Age of Justinian

   5. Perspectives: Post-Roman East and West

   6. The British Isles: Europe's Periphery

   7. Byzantium: Crisis and Recovery

   8. Western Europe: The Rise of the Franks

   9. Global Context

   10. Daily Life in Western Europe and the Byzantium Empires

   11. Carolingian Collapse

   12. The Tenth-Century Church

   13. Byzantine Apogee: The Macedonian Emperors

   14. Conclusion and Global Perspectives

8. VIII. Chapter 8 Islam to the Mamluks

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Geography of the Middle East

   4. Rise of Islam

   5. The Expansion of Islam

   6. The Rashidun Caliphs

   7. The Umayyad Caliphate

   8. The 'Abbasid Caliphate

   9. The Fatimid Caliphate

   10. The Crusades

   11. The Mamluk Sultanate

   12. Conclusion

9. IX. Chapter 9 African History to 1500

   1. Introduction

   2. Chronology

   3. Writing the History of Ancient and Medieval Africa

   4. Aksum and Ethiopia

   5. The Western Sudanic States

   6. The Spread of Agriculture and Great Zimbabwe

   7. The Swahili City-States (East Africa)

   8. Conclusion

10. X. Chapter 10 The Americas

    1. Introduction

    2. Chronology

    3. Mesoamerica

    4. The Maya

    5. The Aztec

    6. Early Andes

    7. North America

    8. Conclusion

11. XI. Chapter 11 Central Asia

    1. Introduction

    2. Chronology

    3. Pronunciation Guide

    4. Geography of Central Asia

    5. Turkic Migrations

    6. Islam

    7. The Mongol Era

    8. The Khanate of Chagatai

    9. The Khanate of the Ilkhans (1265-1335)

    10. Timur

    11. Conclusion

12. XII. Chapter 12 Western Europe and Byzantium circa 1000 to 1500 CE

    1. Introduction

    2. 3. Chronology

    3. The Emergence of a Feudal Order in Western Europe

    4. Growth of Towns, Trade and Agriculture

    5. From Roman Empire to Secondary State Formation

    6. Expansion of Christendom and Church Reform

    7. The Crusades

    8. The Twelfth Century

    9. The Third and Fourth Crusades

    10. The States of Thirteenth-Century Europe

    11. Later Crusades and Crusading's Ultimate Failure

    12. 4. Scholasticism

    13. 5. Daily Life at the Medieval Zenith

    14. Fourteenth Century Crises and War

    15. Southeastern Europe in the Late Middle Ages

    16. The Late Medieval Papacy

    17. The European Renaissance

    18. Iberia and the Atlantic: New Worlds

    19. Conclusion