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Early Agrarian Societies (6000 BCE to 100 CE): Unit 3 Overview
Early Agrarian Societies (6000 BCE to 100 CE): Unit 3 Overview
Thanks to farming, humans built cities, empires, and long-distance trade routes. What can the story of a boy named Iddin-Sin tell us about these changes?
As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
Think about the following questions as you watch the video
Why does this video begin with a letter Iddin-Sin?
How did agriculture change human societies in this period?
How did urbanization help create long-distance trade routes?
What are states, and why were they important to early agrarian societies?
: [Music]
: I'd like to introduce you to a boy named
: Adin Zin. Adin Zin was a real person. He
: was a student from a wealthy family
: 3,800 years ago. He lived in the
: Mesopotamian city of Larsa, part of the
: Babylonian Empire. His father worked for
: King Hammurabi. Adin Zin was studying to
: become a scribe, or a priest, or maybe a
: government official like his father. He
: wrote this letter on a clay tablet and
: sent it home to his mom: May the gods
: Shamesh, Mardok, and Ilabrat keep you forever
: in good health, for my sake. From year to
: year the clothes of the young gentleman
: here become better, but you let my
: clothes get worse from year to year.
: Indeed, you persisted in making my
: clothes poorer and more scanty. At the
: time when in our house, wool is used up
: like bread you have made me poor clothes.
: the son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is
: only an assistant of my father, has two
: new sets of clothes, while you fuss even
: about a single set of clothes for me. In
: spite of the fact that you bore me, and
: his mother only adopted him, his mother
: loves him while you, you do not love
: me! Adin Zin's letter is evidence that
: there are some constants in human
: societies, like the importance of looking
: good, and the relationship between
: children and parents. But it's also
: evidence of several changes underway, at
: the time he was
: writing. At the beginning of this period
: there were no cities, no states, and no
: long-distance trade. Yet, by 100 CE,
: societies across much of the planet had
: changed radically. Cities, states and
: long-distance trade networks
: spread across many regions. How did these
: complex political and economic systems
: develop? How did they impact the people
: who lived in and near
: them? The Agricultural Revolution
: transformed human societies. Some
: communities began to settle in permanent
: villages. Many continued to forage. But
: increasingly, people relied on farming.
: Agrarian societies could create surplus
: food, that meant that they produced more
: than they needed, so not everyone had to
: farm. Eventually, some Villages became
: densely populated, covered larger areas,
: and became more urbanized. They became
: cities like the one Adin Zin called home.
: Bigger populations meant that new forms
: of leadership were needed to make
: decisions. Specialists like soldiers,
: scribes, priests, and administrators,
: including Adin Zin's father, assisted
: rulers in maintaining control. Cities
: transformed the production and
: distribution of goods. Some farmers
: stopped farming and became specialists,
: making goods like leather, parchment, iron
: tools, or clothes, like Adin Zin's mother.
: Life in cities offered many benefits,
: such as protection from raiders, a
: reliable food source, and in some places,
: even running water.
: Yet these comforts came at a cost. Early
: cities were dirty, and ruled by kings and
: elites. Residents had to pay taxes, and
: when a famine or war struck, the results
: were often
: catastrophic. As cities grew, so did
: networks of trade. The most important
: networks were local. Different villages,
: cities, and nomadic communities produced
: and needed different things. They traded
: with nearby communities who had access
: to different types of food and goods, but
: over time, trade routes grew and spread
: across longer distances. People began
: trading for things they wanted, rather
: than only things they needed.
: Long-distance trade routes moved luxury
: goods to wealthy people who could afford
: them, like Adin Zins family and the
: king they served. As with life in cities,
: long-distance trade came with benefits
: and drawbacks. It made some people very
: rich, but that created inequity. Trade
: moved ideas and technologies to new
: places, improving life for many, but
: sometimes carrying the risk of disease
: and
: conflict. As cities and the networks
: connecting them grew, states developed.
: Larger populations required stronger
: governments to manage them. Often priests
: religions emerged to support rulers. There
: are lots of definitions for state, but
: the term refers to the organized way a
: territory is ruled. States make and
: enforce laws, levy taxes, and manage
: armies. Some rulers of states, like King
: Hammurabi, conquered other cities and
: other states and created the first
: empires, like the one Adin Zin called
: home. Adin Zin's life, and the things he
: cared about, help us understand his world.
: He lived in a city. He believed in gods.
: He hoped to serve the king, rather than
: grow crops. As a member of a wealthy
: class, his social status depended on
: fancy clothes. Unlike most people at the
: time, he could read and write. Writing
: added complexity to human society, and
: made the job of historians possible,
: preserving information for us to read
: 3,800 years later, telling us a story of
: about a world that was very different
: from ours in some ways, but eerily
: similar in others. When future historians
: read what you've written, what will they
: learn about your life?
: [Music]