People move about looking for food
Women have rights and roles
Communism is a way of life - everyone contributes, everyone shares, no one owns anything
Elders run the Courts
Reputation is everything
War is Traumatic, Destructive and Constant
Mesopotamia and the Rise of the Urban Elite // Babylon and the Invention of the Cosmopolitan City // Hammurabi and the Law // Women as Children, Wife and Mother - No longer Worker-Citizen // Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Hating Cities and Trying to Live Forever
the chariot revolution makes rich people and societies more important than poor ones || the bronze age collapse is the first Apocalypse Armageddon // the Assyrians rise and conquer the world with violence, precision, professionalism, and terror - lots of terrorism // the world destroys the Assyrians
Cyrus is conquers the Middle East and is so Nice the Hebrews name him as a Messiah // Cambyses is so mean the Egyptians revolt against him // Darius builds cities and roads // The Persians create the first Imperial Army - where all are invited // and the Greeks ruin the Persian Imperial Party
The Deserts Protect Egypt, The Nile brings life // The Pharaohs create a Nation // Life is so good egyptians wonder if they even need a government // PYRAMIDS!
The Middle Kingdom recreates the glory, builds infrastructure, and tells great stories about itself // Mesopotamian pirates invade and wreck the place! // The New Kingdom needs a Hero! and gets them // Ramses II bestrides the World and inspires Walter White // Greek vikings wreck the party and inaugurate part of the Bronze Age Collapse
David Creates and Empire // Solomon Runs the Empire // The Assyrians Destroy Israel // The Babylonians Sack Judah // the Hebrews revolutionize their culture to survive the disasters
The Mountains and the Sea // The Rise of Liberty, Freedom, and Isolation // Homer teaches the Greeks how to be Men // The Tragedies teach the Greeks about Life