AP World History 2012-2013
  • Unit 1
    • 1.1.3: Tools and Adaptation>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.9 & 1.3.2: New Religions & Geographies of Early Civs.>
      • Early Religions>
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
        • Works Cited
      • The Early Civilizations>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
        • Works Cited
    • 1.1.2: Humans and Fire>
      • 1.1.4: Economic Structures>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.6: Arts & Record Keeping>
      • Arts and Artisanship
      • Systems of Recordkeeping
      • Case Study: The Phoenician Alphabet
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.1-1.3.3: Early Culture & Systems of Rule>
      • Culture's Effects
      • Systems of Rule
      • Case Study: Hammurabi's Code
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.1-1.4 Early Human Innovation>
      • 1.1.1: Human Patterns of Migration>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.2.1-1.2.3: The Climate & The Neolithic Era>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.2.5-1.2.6: Reliable Food Sources & Innovation>
      • Case Study - The Plow
      • Works Cited
    • 1.3.1-1.3.2: Pastoralists & Early Architecture>
      • Introduction
      • Monumental Architecture And Urban Planning
      • Pastoralist Weapon Dissemination And Transportation
      • Pastoralist Tools
      • Basic
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Works Cited
  • Unit 2
    • 2.2.5-2.2.7 Social Hierarchy and Gender Roles>
      • Gender Roles>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Social Hierarchies >
        • AGMSPRITE
    • 2.2.4 Cities>
      • Trade>
        • Trade AGMSPRITE
        • Trade Case Study
      • Religious Rituals>
        • Religious Rituals AGMSPRITE
        • Religious Rituals Case Study
      • Public Administration>
        • Public Administration AGMSPRITE
        • Public Administration Case Study
    • 2.2.2 Orchestration of the Persian and S. Asian Empires>
      • Persia>
        • Imperial Administration and Legal Systems
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economic Integration and Regulation
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • South Asia>
        • Imperial Administration and Legal Systems
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economic Integration and Regulation
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 2.2.2 Orchestration of Rome and China>
      • China>
        • Imperial Administration
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economics
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Rome>
        • Imperial Administration
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economics
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 2.2.1: Growth of Empires & States>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 2.1.6 Cultures Of Second Wave Civilizations>
      • Sculptures
      • Architecture
      • Literature
      • A.G.M.S.P.R.I.T.E
      • Sources
    • 2.1.1: Religions as a Bonding Force>
      • The Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Case Study
    • 2.1.4 Buddhism and Hinduism Impact on Gender Roles>
      • Buddhism
    • 2.1.2 The Emergence of Religions>
      • Christianity
      • Confucianism
      • Greco-Roman Philosophy
      • Daoism
      • AGMSPRITE
  • Unit 3
    • 3.1.1 Third Wave Global Trade Routes>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.2 The Impact of trade on emerging trading cities>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.3. Spread of Islam Through Afro-Eurasia>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 3.1.4 Inter-Regional Travelers >
      • The Basic Gist
      • Compare and Contrast
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.5. Cultural Interactions and Art>
      • The Basic Gist
      • Cultural Traditions AGMSPRITE
      • Art AGMSPRITE
      • Literature AGMSPRITE
      • Case Study
    • 3.1.6: The Impact of Newly Spread Technologies and Scientific Knowledge>
      • Basic Gist
      • Movement of Gunpowder from East to West
      • Movement of Printing from East to West
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.7 Inter-Regional Conflicts>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
  • Unit 4
    • 4.1.1. - Influence of Tools Upon Transoceanic Trade>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 4.1.2: Maritime Reconnaissance>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 4.1.3 World Economies>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE analysis
      • Case Study
    • 4.1.4 The Colossal Impact of the Colombian Exchange>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study on Sugar
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis of the East
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis of the West
    • 4.1.5 Government and the Arts>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 4.2.3 Forced Migration of Africans Cause and Effect>
      • Basic Gist
      • Causes of the forced migration of Africans
      • Effects/Developments of the forced migration of Africans
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 4.3.2 Impact of Technology on state consolidation and imperial expansion>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
  • Unit 5
    • 5.3.1 US and Latin American Revolutions >
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2b Hatian Revolution>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2a: Causes and Effects of French Revolution>
      • Causes of the French Revolution
      • Effects of the French Revolution
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2c Causes and Effects of the Mexican Revolution>
      • Basic Gist
      • Causes of the Mexican Revolution
      • Effects of the Mexican Revolution
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 5.3.3: The Winds of Change>
      • Case Study
      • The Conception of Nation-States
      • Nationalism on the Rise
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 5.3.4 Nationalism and Democracy >
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
      • 5.3.5 Enlightenment and European Despots>
        • Basic Gist
  • Unit 6
    • War and Peace in a Global Context>
      • Big Gist>
        • WWI vs WWII
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Changing Economics>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE
      • Case Study
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Demographic and Environmental Changes>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 20th Century Globalization>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Effects of Revolutions on Women>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • New Patterns of Nationalism >
      • Basic Gist
      • Independence of Vietnam Case Study
      • Effects of Communism Case Study
      • Chinese and Russian Revolutions
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Globalization of Science, technology and culture. >
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE

Systems of Recordkeeping

Cuneiform

Cuneiform writing was developed in Sumer, and is regarded as the first form of writing. There is evidence of cuneiform as early as the 30th century B.C.  It was written on clay tablets, and looked like “wedge-shaped’ symbols, representing objects, abstract ideas, sounds, and syllables.” Cuneiform was used for keeping records of business, trade, and administration, as well as for writing stories, religious documents, history, and poetry. Among the most well-known stories written down was the Epic of Gilgamesh, which some believe to be true because King Gilgamesh’s name was on an early Sumerian list of kings. Hammurabi's Code of laws was one of the first set of laws to be written down. It was written in cuneiform, and served as the base for the system of laws we have today.
Not everyone could read and write cuneiform. Most of the people living in Sumer were farmers, who spent their time growing food in order to support themselves and the small population of those who had other occupations, such as the king and the elite. Since farmers dedicated most of their time to their crops and animals, they did not learn cuneiform.  
Picture
Sumerian stone tablet in-scripted in cuneiform. This was their basic form of record keeping.
Picture
This was the area where Sumerian cuneiform tablets were found.

Hieroglyphs

It is has been said that hieroglyphics first appeared around 3,400 BC. They are the second oldest writing system developed by the First Civilizations. Hieroglyphics were invented by the Ancient Egyptians, who believed hieroglyphics were created by the god Thoth. Only the well-educated, like scribes and royal priests, could read and use hieroglyphics. They were used to write down prayers and stories, to write down guides of the after world on temple and tomb walls, to record royal documents and events, etc.  Hieroglyphs were also used to decorate jewelry, stones, and metals.
Picture
This is an image of Egyptian Hieroglyph. depicts the young King Tut

Pictographs

Pictographs was another form of recordkeeping used in the Indus River Valley and Sumer during the Neolithic Era and was composed of 400 to 500 symbols and simple pictures to represent objects, words, and/or sounds. The Sumerians were the first civilization to have a history and they used pictographs to record it. This is similar to the Dravadian language currently spoken in Southern India. A form of pictographs that was used in China during the Neolithic Era was the oracle bone script, which were stylized drawings, rather than just symbols, which had no phonetic meaning. The problem pictographs posed was that there weren't as many pictures as there are objects, which is why the system of recordkeping wasn't as successful as others.
Picture
Symbols used to communicate in an early civilization in order to keep track of trade and to later tell stories.

Alphabet

The alphabet is composed of letters intended to make words in order to express meaning. The alphabet was active in the Mediterranean basin and was used by the Phoenicians, who were influenced by Mesopotamian civilization and adapted Sumerian cunieform to an alphabetic system. This became the basis for Greek and Latin writing and is the form of recordkeeping that the vast majority of the world use today.
Picture
The alphabet system used by Phoenicians which eventually grew into the English system most people use today.

Quipu

Quipu is a complicated system of knots where length, type, color, and the location of the knots convey a mainly numerical meaning. Quipu was widely used by the Inca Empire in the Andes.
Picture
This photo shows how the Incas used the knots as a counting system, this was called Quipu

Works Cited:

"Palaeolithic Period (400,000-8000 BCE)." Lecture 1, History 101: From Prehistory to the Sumerians. Loyola University Chicago, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2012.
"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
Strayer, Robert W. "Chapter Three: First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal Soceites." Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources. 
                   Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 101+. Print.

"Ancient Egyptian Scripts." (hieroglyphs, Hieratic and Demotic). N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2012. <http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm>.
"Cuneiform, Ancient Written Language - Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids." N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2012. <http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/cuneiform.html>.



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