Structure of Early Civilization h 69Shang society was stratifi ed, with classes of ruling elites, artisans, peasants, and slaves.
Families were patriarchal, and the veneration of ancestors was common. The matrilineal
society that characterized China before the rule of the Shang gradually eroded until women
held positions subordinate to those of men.
The Shang dynasty eventually succumbed to the Zhou about 1122 b.c.e. The Zhou
claimed that they overthrew the Shang by the will of the gods, which they termed the
“mandate of heaven.” Under the rule of the Zhou, the tradition of central authority that
fi rst took root under the Shang continued.Mesoamerica and Andean South America
Civilizations in the Americas rose later than the river valley civilizations. The civilizations
of Mesoamerica and the early societies of the Andes Mountains of South America did not
develop in the valleys of major rivers, but rather in a region of smaller rivers and streams
near ocean coastlines. Furthermore, the people of the Americas did not know the use of
the wheel, nor did they possess large animals to serve as beasts of burden or work animals;
the llama of the Andes Mountains was the largest work animal in the Americas from the
time of the earliest civilizations until the arrival of the Europeans in the fi fteenth century.
Human muscle accomplished physical labor in the Americas.
Early Mesoamerican people such as the Olmecs, and later the Maya, constructed lavish
pyramids and temples. Like the inhabitants of the river valley civilizations, the people of
the Americas were polytheistic, worshipping many gods of nature. Society was stratifi ed,
with distinctions among the elite classes of rulers and priests and those of commoners and
slaves.
Early Mesoamerican societies provided numerous examples of cultural diffusion. In
addition to the transmission of the cultivation of maize, terraced pyramids were com-
monplace. Regional inhabitants fashioned calendars, the most elaborate being that of the
Mayan civilization. The Mayans also had a ball game played on a court. The societies of
Mesoamerica also shared the legend of Quetzalcóatl, a god who would someday return to
rule his people in peace.
In South America, geography and the lack of large pack animals largely prevented
communication between the Andean societies and those of Mesoamerica. The cultivation
of maize did spread to the Andes, however, while copper metallurgy traveled northward to
Mesoamerica. About 900 b.c.e., the Chavín civilization arose in the Andean highlands of
present-day Peru. Characterized by a religion that worshipped gods representing crocodiles,
snakes, and jaguars, the Chavín built complex temples to honor their gods. Their civiliza-
tion was located along trade routes that connected western coastal regions to the Amazon
rain forest. For a few centuries, Chavín religious unity and trade connections provided a
degree of cultural identity to Andean peoples. The rugged terrain of the Andes, however,
prevented a central government from unifying the Andean states.The Hebrews
Along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea lived the Hebrews, another people who
profoundly infl uenced the course of world history.
The concept of monotheism, or the worship of one god, is attributed to the Hebrews,
or Jews. The Hebrews traced their origins back to Abraham, who is said to have migratedhttp://www.ebook3000.com