Ancient Egypt and Early China

Ancient Egypt and Early China PDF

Author: Anthony J. Barbieri-Low

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2021-07-17

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0295748907

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Although they existed more than a millennium apart, the great civilizations of New Kingdom Egypt (ca. 1548–1086 BCE) and Han dynasty China (206 BCE–220 CE) shared intriguing similarities. Both were centered around major, flood-prone rivers—the Nile and the Yellow River—and established complex hydraulic systems to manage their power. Both spread their territories across vast empires that were controlled through warfare and diplomacy and underwent periods of radical reform led by charismatic rulers—the “heretic king” Akhenaten and the vilified reformer Wang Mang. Universal justice was dispensed through courts, and each empire was administered by bureaucracies staffed by highly trained scribes who held special status. Egypt and China each developed elaborate conceptions of an afterlife world and created games of fate that facilitated access to these realms. This groundbreaking volume offers an innovative comparison of these two civilizations. Through a combination of textual, art historical, and archaeological analyses, Ancient Egypt and Early China reveals shared structural traits of each civilization as well as distinctive features.

Ancient Egypt and Early China

Ancient Egypt and Early China PDF

Author: Anthony J Barbieri-Low

Publisher:

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9780295748894

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Although they existed more than a millennium apart, the great civilizations of New Kingdom Egypt (ca. 1548-1086 BCE) and Han dynasty China (206 BCE-220 CE) shared intriguing similarities. Both were centered around major, flood-prone rivers--the Nile and the Yellow River--and established complex hydraulic systems to manage their power. Both spread their territories across vast empires that were controlled through warfare and diplomacy and underwent periods of radical reform led by charismatic rulers--the "heretic king" Akhenaten and the vilified reformer Wang Mang. Universal justice was dispensed through courts, and each empire was administered by bureaucracies staffed by highly trained scribes who held special status. Egypt and China each developed elaborate conceptions of an afterlife world and created games of fate that facilitated access to these realms. This groundbreaking volume offers an innovative comparison of these two civilizations. Through a combination of textual, art historical, and archaeological analyses, Ancient Egypt and Early China reveals shared structural traits of each civilization as well as distinctive features.

Early Civilizations

Early Civilizations PDF

Author: Bruce G. Trigger

Publisher: American Univ in Cairo Press

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9789774243653

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"An important scholarly contribution not only to the study of early civilizations, but also to archaeological theory. . . . It should be required reading for any course on ancient civilization." --Kathryn A. Bard, Journal of Field Archaeology

Ancient Chinese Warfare

Ancient Chinese Warfare PDF

Author: Ralph D. Sawyer

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 0465023347

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty--indeed, war was the force that formed the first cohesive Chinese empire, setting China on a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity that continues to this day. In Ancient Chinese Warfare, a preeminent expert on Chinese military history uses recently recovered documents and archaeological findings to construct a comprehensive guide to the developing technologies, strategies, and logistics of ancient Chinese militarism. The result is a definitive look at the tools and methods that won wars and shaped culture in ancient China.

Writing and the Ancient State

Writing and the Ancient State PDF

Author: Haicheng Wang

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-05-12

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1107028124

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Writing and the Ancient State is a comparative study of the use of writing to create and maintain order in early states.

The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China

The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China PDF

Author: Mu-chou Poo

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-11-16

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 0567702030

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Considering the striking similarities between the treatment of the dead and conceptions of the netherworld in ancient Egypt and China, how can we compare the two traditions? Mu-chou Poo considers this question, and provides a new perspective on archaeological materials, including tomb structures and funerary texts, by addressing them in the context of universal human problems such as death, the future of the dead, and the search for happiness in life. Poo chronologically reconstructs the emergence of the idea of the netherworld and its evolution in both ancient Egypt and ancient China. He explores the relationship between religious beliefs and social ethics in these civilizations, considers why similar social and material conditions could have produced varied expressions of the afterlife, and what such variations reveal about each culture. Poo argues that a comparison between both visions of the netherworld and their relationship to life experience gives further insight into the nature of each civilization. Through this analysis, Poo shows that thematic comparison of ancient civilizations is not only possible, but also relevant to modern society.

Early Civilizations of the Old World

Early Civilizations of the Old World PDF

Author: Charles Keith Maisels

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-12-16

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13: 1134837305

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In this new paperback edition of Early Civilizations of the Old World, Charles Keith Maisels traces the development of some of the earliest and key civilizations in history. In each case the ecological and economic background to growth, geographical factors, cross-cultural intersection and the rise of urbanism are examined, explaining how particular forms of social structure and cultural interaction developed from before the Neolithic period to the time of the first civilizations in each area. This volume challenges the traditional assumption of a band-tribe-chiefdom-state sequence and instead demonstrates that large complex societies can flourish without social classes and the state, as dramatically shown by the Indus civilization. Such features as the use of Childe's urban revolution theory as a means of comparison for each emerging civilization and the discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline, make Early Civilizations of the Old World a valuable, innovative and stimulating work.

Artisans in Early Imperial China

Artisans in Early Imperial China PDF

Author: Anthony J. Barbieri-Low

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2021-10-07

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0295749881

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Early China is best known for the dazzling material artifacts it has left behind. These terracotta figures, gilt-bronze lamps, and other material remnants of the Chinese past unearthed by archaeological excavations are often viewed without regard to the social context of their creation, yet they were made by individuals who contributed greatly to the foundations of early Chinese culture. With Artisans in Early Imperial China, Anthony Barbieri-Low combines historical, epigraphic, and archaeological analysis to refocus our gaze from the glittering objects and monuments of China onto the men and women who made them. Taking readers inside the private workshops, crowded marketplaces, and great palaces, temples, and tombs of early China, Barbieri-Low explores the lives and working conditions of artisans, meticulously documenting their role in early Chinese society and the economy. First published in 2007, winner of top prizes from the Association for Asian Studies, American Historical Association, College Art Association, and the International Convention of Asia Scholars, and now back in print, Artisans in Early Imperial China will appeal to anyone interested in Chinese history, as well as to scholars of comparative social history, labor history, and Asian art history.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes