6-History-History-Invention-Asia-Middle East

wild grain grew

Wheat precursors {wild grain} grew like grass.

pottery Mesopotamia

Potters hand-formed and sun-dried pottery.

wild grain gathering

Wheat precursors grew like grass {wild grain gathering}.

copper bead

Natural copper {copper bead} needed no smelting.

sea trading

Phoenicians traveled Mediterranean Sea {sea trading}.

barley Near East

Barley is native to Near East.

dog Mesopotamia

Dog domestication did not include breeding.

olive Near East

Olive is native to Middle East.

pea cultivation

Plants {pea, cultivation} can be native to Middle East.

farming Near East

Agriculture began in Fertile Crescent from Nile River mouth to Caspian Sea. Wild barley, emmer wheat, and grasses grew on lightly wooded hills.

goat Iraq

Animals {goat, herding} can be native to Iraq.

sheep herding

Animals {sheep, herding} can be native to Iraq.

fertility cult

male and female gods {fertility cult}.

grain grinding

People gathered, threshed, and hand ground precursors to wheat {grain grinding}.

grain storage

People stored precursors to wheat and kept them dry {grain storage}.

bread invented

Natufian culture baked unleavened bread {bread}.

chickpea

Plants {chickpea} can be native to Turkey.

copper natural

Natural copper needs no smelting {copper, use}.

mead invented

Honey fermented naturally.

pig Mesopotamia

Pig is native to Mesopotamia.

flax Arabia

Plants {flax, cultivation} grew near Red Sea and Black Sea.

copper Anatolia

Copper hammering spread to Cyprus and Aegean Sea.

farming Egypt

Planting and cultivating went from Near East to Nile Valley and west Europe. Wheat, barley, pea, and lentil farms {farming, beginning} were in cleared areas.

boat

wood planks with sealant {boat}.

cat domestication

Animals {cat domestication} had domestication, but no breeding.

chufa

Sedges {chufa} can have small edible tubers and be native to Egypt.

cow Mesopotamia

Cows are native to Mesopotamia.

irrigation invented

River water ran in channels to fields.

sycamore fig

Plants {sycamore fig} can be native to Egypt.

barley Egypt

Barley came from Middle East.

copper Sumer

Melting copper ore extracts copper, and melting and cooling copper strengthens it {copper, annealing}.

wheat Egypt

Plants {wheat, development} developed from wheat precursors.

gold jewelry

Hammered gold can make jewelry {gold jewelry} or money.

calendar Egypt

Egyptian solar calendar {calendar, Egypt} had 12 months of thirty days, with five extra days. 10-day periods had constellations {decan}. 12 decans were in the sky at Nile-River annual flooding, marking 12 hours {temporal hour}.

opium invented

Poppies are native to Sumer {opium production}.

fig cultivation

Plants {fig cultivation} can be native to Middle East.

reflex bow

Curved bows {reflex bow} began.

sundial invented

Pointer shadow shows time of day.

walled town

Towns {walled town} became fortified with walls.

wax seal

People folded documents and sealed them with wax {wax seal}.

nickel-iron

Meteorite smelting can make alloy {nickel-iron}.

Botai horse domestication

Botai domesticated and rode horses {horse domestication}.

wheel

Black-Sea area had potter's wheels {wheel}, solid three-plank wood wheels, and axles.

hieroglyphics invented

Picture writing began.

bronze Sumer

Bronze has copper and tin.

alcohol invented

People can make drinks {alcohol, invented} from fermented barley.

apple

Plants {apple, cultivation} can be native to Sumer.

arch invented

Rounded parts {arch} can curve from column to keystone.

ass domestication

Animals {ass, domestication} can carry loads.

barley Sumer

Alcohol can come from fermented barley.

candle invented

Reeds soaked in tallow {rushlight} can burn at tip. Later, Romans used wicks rolled in tallow and possibly beeswax {candle} [-3000].

date cultivation

Plants {date, cultivation} can be native to Sumer.

flax Sumer

Plants {flax, Sumer} can be native to Sumer.

grape Sumer

Plants {grape, cultivation} can be native to Sumer.

millet Sumer

Millet is native to Sumer.

onager

Asia had draft-animal domestication {onager}, but Americas had no such domestication.

ox domestication

Asia had draft-animal domestication {ox domestication}, but Americas had no such domestication.

papyrus

Paper {papyrus}| can use stripped and crossed reeds and have sheets pasted at edges to make scrolls.

plow Egypt

Crook plow developed from hoe. Spade plow developed from digging stick. Men plowed, but women used hoe or digging stick. Early sub-Saharan Africa and New World had no plows. Plows improve soil fertility by bringing up buried nutrients, and they control weeds. People, oxen, horses, or cattle can pull plows. Animals produce manure to make ground more fertile.

plow Mesopotamia

Wooden plows, pulled through ground, broke soil surface, so seeds went underground.

plum Sumer

Plants {plum, cultivation} can be native to Sumer.

sesame Sumer

Sesame is native to Sumer.

wheat Sumer

Wheat came from Egypt.

glass invented

People used natural glass pieces, with no sand melting.

stone temple

Groups built houses {stone temple} of worship to local gods.

bronze Egypt

Bronze has copper and tin.

iron smelting Egypt

Iron smelting began.

post-and-lintel

two vertical supports and horizontal beam {post-and-lintel}.

square-rigged sail

Square sails {square-rigged sail} turned on mast.

wine invented

Wine can come from fermented fruit.

mummification

Life after death needed a body, so embalming began {mummification}.

metal alloy

Bronze and brass {metal alloy} began.

metal annealing

Metal heating and cooling {metal annealing} strengthens it.

metal casting

Melted iron hardened in sand molds {metal casting}.

metal joining

Melted metals can stick together {metal joining}.

smelting metal

Heating metal ore {smelting metal} can extract metal.

work hardening

Pounding metal {work hardening} can make it stronger.

petroleum Mesopotamia

Heating surface asphalt can remove petroleum.

pictogram invented

Pictograms pressed into clay with reed showed human processions, heroes fighting two beasts, and war.

silver money

Precious metal was in coins {silver ingots for money}.

chariot invented

two wheels and horses pull it.

iron Assyria

Strong metal {iron from ore} came from Egypt.

beer invented

Beer can come from fermented barley.

brass invented

Alloys {brass} can have copper and zinc.

coin Sumer

Metal coins had images.

glass bowl

Melted sand cooled to glass {glass bowl}.

irrigation by water wheel

People and animals turned wheels to move water.

merchant travel

Traders went all over Middle East {merchant travel}.

mercury

Cinnabar can separate into mercury {mercury} and sulfur by heating.

pewter invented

Pewter is tin with some lead.

solder invented

Tin and lead {solder} melts easily and can join metal pieces.

spinning invented

Twisted plant fibers {spinning} can make string.

sulfur purified

Cinnabar can separate into mercury and sulfur by heating.

aqueduct Egypt

Aqueduct carried water to palace.

shadoof

Aqueducts {shadoof} were for irrigation.

alphabet Phoenicia

Letters {alphabet, Phoenicia} can be sounds, with no pictures.

canal

A waterway {canal} went from Nile River to Arabian Gulf.

ship

Large boats {ship} began.

camel Arabia

Camel is native to Arabia.

linear measurement

Linear measurements {linear measurement} began.

positional notation began

Assyria used base-60 number system and positional notation. Arithmetic included multiplication and division. Fractions and ratios included common denominator. They found squares, cubes, and square roots.

steel Near East

Iron mixed with carbon at high heat can make steel. Steel is stronger and rusts less than iron.

ships sealed decks

Ships {ships with sealed decks} had wood planks with sealant.

dye

Water or alcohol can extract plant pigments {dye from plant}.

enamel

Oil with pigment {enamel, oil} can bake on surfaces.

glass tinting

Melted glass can have pigment {glass tinting}.

gold fusion

Gold can mix with other metals {gold fusion}.

oil extraction

Squeezing or heating plants can extract oil {oil extraction from plant}.

astronomy Babylonia

They knew Sun, moon, and planet paths and predicted lunar eclipses.

triangle and circle

Babylonians studied triangle geometry and gave circle 360 degrees {triangle and circle geometry}.

mathematics tables

Babylonians calculated mathematics tables {mathematics tables} for arithmetic.

sixty-minute hour

Babylonia divided day into time units {sixty-minute hour}.

azimuth invented

Assyrians used mathematical astronomy to measure azimuth.

calendar Assyria

Lunar calendar {calendar, Assyria} had 12 months.

iron tools

Iron tools {iron tools} began.

coin Phoenicia

Metal discs {coin} had images.

cheese

Domesticated cows, sheep, and goats make milk that can ferment {cheese}.

wine from grapes

Wine can come from fermented grapes.

silk Byzantium

Monks smuggled silkworms to Constantinople from China {silkworm smuggling}.

Callinicus

Byzantine army used flammable liquid {Greek fire}, first in battle of Cyzicus [673] during reign of Constantine Pogonatus [648 to 685].

perfume

Pressed roses form perfume {perfume}.

soap Iraq

Soap is animal fat mixed with lye.

sugar Iraq

Processing plants can extract sugar with water {sugar refining}.

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Date Modified: 2022.0225