Period four- Heliocentric Theory

The heliocentric model is a theory observed by Copernicus that places the Sun as the centre of the universe, and the planets orbiting around it. The heliocentric model replaced geocentrism, which is the belief that the Earth is the centre of the universe, as new invented technology allowed the scientists to approach new discovery.

The idea of sun instead of Earth is at the centre of universe challenged the Roman Catholic church, who had a powerful force at that time period and suppressed Copernicus’ thought. In opposition to the religious belief of geocentric theory, the heliocentric theory is an evidence that people were moving towards enlightenment thinking in which people began to stressed scientific evidences instead of vogue religious believes.

The heliocentric theory plays an important role in world history not only because of its significant discovery of the universe but also its challenge towards traditional ideas, which led to the later on period of enlightenment.

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Interation between human and the environment- technology: The discovery of the actual structure of the universe is a huge step-forward in the realm of astronomy. It also proves that the technology at that time period was advanced enough to support the observation of universe.

Cultural- Belief system: The biggest challenge faced by the Heliocentric theory was the opposition of Roman Catholic church, who believed in every everything claimed by God. However, the fact that the heliocentric theory eventually replaced geocentric proves that the era of scientific thinking had begun as religious influence weakened.

Left: heliocentric model

Right: geocentric model

Cessna, A. (2009, June 22). Heliocentric Model. Retrieved from

http://www.universetoday.com/33113/heliocentric-model/

Picture source: en.wikipedia.org

Period three- Epic of Sundiata

Sundiata Epic is an epic poem of the Malinke people and tells the story of the hero Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire and the rise of the Mali Empire in the thirteenth century. The influence of Islamic belief is extensively stated in the epic in which Mansa Musa, the successor of Sundiata,launched an elaborate pilgrimage to the holy city, Mecca. Although the arrival of Islam did not completely replace the existing religion, as a large group of merchants and rulers accepted the religion, Mali was placed within the network of Islamic nations and trade patterns.

The epic was handed down by the generations orally by griot poet,  unlike the ancient sumerian’s Epic of Gilgamesh, which was recorded in cuneiform on twelve stone tablets. This suggested the different methods of record keeping in Mesoamerica and Africa throughout the change of time.

The Sundiata Epic is an excellent example of the tension between the traditional religious role of West African king and the growing influence of Islam in Africa. The arrival of Islam is largely due to the increase of trade and commerce. It also reflects the changing views of the regional audience. As the region became more Islamic, so did the portrayal of Sundiata.

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Political- empires: the epic describes the process of the formation of Mali empire. The empire began to prosper when they came to control the gold and salt trade. An example that illustrated the wealth of the empire was Mansa Musa’s elaborate pilgrimage to Mecca, which accompanied gold, thousands of people and camels.

Cultural- religion: Due to Islamic influence brought by the merchants through interregional trade, and the adoption of Islam by the ruler of Mali Empire, the empire became one of the most powerful Sudanic empire. This artifact is important in which it demonstrates how influential a religion could be to affect the development of a massive empire.

Sullivan, M. (n.d.). The Epic of Sundiata. Retrieved from

http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/se/6204/620403.html

  Picture source: worldofthemerry.wordpress.com

Period three- Compass

The magnetic compass was first invented as a device for divination as early as the Chinese Han Dynasty (since about 206 BC) and later adopted for navigation by the Song Dynasty Chinese during the 11th century.The use of a compass is also recorded in Western Europe and in Persia around the early 13th century. Earlier compass was made of lodestones and later ones were made of iron needles.

Zhang He’s voyages during the early Ming Dynasty is an example that benefited from the compass. He reestablished the Chinese tributary states and elevated the Chinese maritime power. The invention eventually led to the later Age of Discovery by enabled the Europeans to travel across the Atlantic to the New World.

The significance of this artifact is that it proven the existence of scientific thoughts in which people began to study science, trying to apply science to technology. The largely increase maritime voyages followed up by the spread of compass is the best proof.

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Political- Empires: Colonies were set up by empires due to the sudden increased of oversea discovery. Thanks to the compass! People gained more understanding about the geography of Earth and the idea of maritime travel spread among the world.

Economic- trade and commerce: As oversea empires were created, the mother countries set up trading post in their colonies. Goods were exchanged between the Old and New World while cultures and ideas spread among different civilizations.

  

C. (2003). Four Great Inventions of Ancient China -- Compass. Retrieved from

http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_26519.htm

Picture source: commons.wikimedia.org

Period three- Printing

The evolution of printing began with the invention of woodblock printing to the movable type printing. Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns using carved stamps that was adopted widely throughout East Asia. Nevertheless, due to its time and energy consuming features, the movable type printing invented by a Chinese man called Bi Sheng eventually replaced woodblock printing. Each piece of movable type had one Chinese character on it, which was carved in relief on a small block of moistened clay. After the block had been hardened by fire, the movable type became hard and durable and could be used wherever required.

This printing technique contributed enormously to the increasing educated rate of common people in which more books were printed and reading was no longer a privilege limited to the elite class. Besides its social impact, the printing technique also accelerated the spread of culture and ideas, which eventually led to the later on development of enlightenment thinking. The invention of printing is a huge step forward in the process of evolution of record keeping, which transformed the ancient stone carving, quipu and oral tradition to a more convenient form.

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Social- social and economic classes: The increasing amount of population that were able to read shorten the social gap between the upper and lower class citizens. The easier access to knowledge promoted further education of common people.

Cultural- religion and ideology: The printing technique caused the mass production of books including the Bible. This led to the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther in which people could now gained access to the Bible and they began to question the authority of priests. Moreover, the invention of printing also promoted cultural diffusion that spread among the world.

C. (2003). Four Great Inventions of Ancient China -- Printing. Retrieved from

http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_26509.htm

Picture source: www.absolutechinatours.com

Period two- Lateen ship

Lateen sail, the triangular sail that was of major importance to medieval navigation. The ancient square sail permitted sailing only before the wind; the lateen was the earliest fore-and-aft sail. The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the mast and angled to extend aft far above the mast and forward down nearly to the deck. The sail, its free corner secured near the stern, was capable of taking the wind on either side, and, by enabling the vessel to tack into the wind, the lateen immensely increased the potential of the sailing ship.

Based on the theory, lateen ship was most likely originated from Persia or Arab in which Muslim sailors were responsible for introducing the lateen sails to the Mediterranean. Following its widespread in Mediterranean, it endured a massive diffusion in the Indian Ocean Basin. Commerce and trade were boosted by the sail that cooperated with the monsoon wind. The invention of lateen ship represents the new discovery of technology and the further understanding of the environment. Human could now expand on the structure of the lateen sail and process it into a more advance transportation tool.

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Interaction between human and the environment- technology: the unique structure of the lateen sail that allows it to go against the wind combined with the advantage of the monsoon wind enabled the sail across the ocean to be more convenient.

Cultural- science and technology: The lateen sail fixed the flaws of the earlier square sails in which now sail towards any direction without being disturbed by the wind.

Economy- trade and commerce: Lateen ship contributed to the prosperity of the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade commerce by enabled more efficient sailing.

Lateen sail | sail. (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/331395/lateen-sail

Picture source: oarnorthwest.com & www.britannica.com

Period two- The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall was built since 300BCE on the northern border of the country as the great military defence project of successive Chinese Empires, with a total length of more than 20,000 kilometres. It was initially built by the legalist emperor Shi Huangdi during the Qin Dynasty and was continuously built by his successors. The Great Wall begins in the east at Shanhaiguan in Hebei province and ends at Jiayuguan in Gansu province to the west. Its main body consists of walls, horse tracks, watch towers, and shelters on the wall, and includes fortresses and passes along the Wall.

Its main purpose during ancient Chinese era was to defence the empire against the nomadic invaders. Demonstrating the empire’s military might is another reason of this mass construction that took away many peasant workers’ lives.

The Great wall is one of the most significant architecture in world history that served for different purpose throughout the change of time. Not only did the Great Wall secured the Chinese Empire, it represents an outstanding example of the superb military ,architecture, technology and art of ancient China. The Great Wall is currently an UNESCO site that attracted hordes of tourists throughout the year.

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Political- Empires: The Great Wall shows the military might of the Chinese Empire in which the government could afford to construct such a massive architecture that stretches throughout the empire.

Cultural- architecture: The Great Wall is the only work built by human hand on this planet that can be seen from the moon. Being well-designed, the Great Wall consisted of  walls, horse tracks, watch towers, and shelters on the wall, forcefully defend the empire.
Economic- The Great Wall is one of the most popular tourist site in China that brought economic prosperity to the surrounding area.

U. (1992). The Great Wall. Retrieved from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/438
picture source: favload.com & www.1uptravel.com

Period two- Domestication of Camels

Camel was the most important animal for the development of the long-distance overland trade across Asia. It was first domesticated between 4000 and 3000 BCE, either in southwest Arabia or northeast Africa. The Bible indicates that by 1000 BCE camels were considered to be valuable animals in the Near East, and by around 100 BCE the Chinese had become aware of camel's value.

The most paramount advantage of camels is that they can survive without drinking water for a long period of time. Moreover, using camels for transportation does not require roads and camels can carry loads of 500 pounds in average. These factors made camels the most dominant animal used to travel across the Trans-Saharan route and Silk Road.

The used of camels for trade signified the start of domestication. Human began to recognize animals as not only a food resource but as transportation tools. The development of camel saddle is a technological advance that came along with the arrival of camel domestication.

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Interaction between human and the environment- technology: the invention of camel saddle and camel caravan are both new technologies that made the trans-regional trade easier.

Economic- trade and commerce: The long duration of camel enabled long distance trade to take place. Moreover, camels carry a larger load of goods compare to earlier domesticated animals.

 

Picture source: www.superteachertools.net & www.britannica.com

Waugh, D. C. (2002). Silk Road Seattle - Animals. Retrieved from

https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/culture/animals/animals.html