Foundations+Theme+2

The foundation period was polytheistic then eventually developed to be monotheistic. For example the Egyptians believed in many different gods. The tribe leader acted as a mediator between the deity and the people. That is common throughout much of early history. Their deities were in the form of animals then developed over time to resemble humans. They believed in life after death and that just dying would not get you to the land of the two fields, you had to earn your place. The greeks also had a system of myths based on multiple deities. They believed in the 12 Olympians, they prayed to their gods in hopes of being heard. Like the Egyptians the Greeks believed in the after life, they thought that a person's spirit would never reach the underworld and would haunt the world as a ghost forever. Greek religion was tempered by Etruscan cult and that formed much of the later ancient Roman religion. When the Roman Empire conquered the Greeks they followed much of the Geeks polytheistic culture. In time the Roman influences spread, it gained other gods from cultures that it conquered. Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and the oldest to survive to present day. Judaism's texts, traditions and values also directly influence later Abrahamic religions including Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i faith. Unlike ancient eastern gods the Hebrew god is portrayed as unitary and solitary. His main relationship is not with other gods, its with the world and the people he created. They believed that god is one and were concerned with the actions of human kind. Mesopotamian religions consisted of the beliefs and practices of the Sumerians and Akkadians which were polytheistic and used mythology and cultic practices. Confucianism is a Chinese philosophical system and originated as a teaching then developed metaphysical and cosmological properties in the Han dynasty. After the fall of legalism confucianism became the official state ideology. Christianitywas started in constantinople which was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. It was a monotheistic religion that believed there is only one god, who is omnicient and omnipresent. Islamic theology developed before its philosophy which was directly developed from the greeks.Their concerns were realistic "the legitimacy of political succession in Islam, the nature of God and the Qur'لn, the relationship between faith and works (for people who said they were Muslims--including Caliphs--were sinning), and the relationship of free will to predestination". The Kharijites believed that a true Muslim could not sin; his deeds had to meet the high expectations of his faith. So sinners were unbelievers who had to be converted. Legalism is a Classical [|Chinese] philosophy that emphasizes the need for order over anything else. The political doctrine developed during the brutal years of the Fourth Century BCE. Legalists believed that government could only become a science if rulers were not deceived by ideals such as tradition and humanity. The most important principle in this way of thinking was that humans are evil and would favor criminal and selfish behavior. They assumed that if people were allowed to engage in their natural tendencies the world would end up with conflict and social disorder. So they came up with a solution to this problem, the ancient sage-kings invented morality. "Since morality does not exist in nature, the only way of making humans behave morally is through habituation and harsh punishment" Confucianism was a social and political philosophy not so much a religion As an ethical, social, and political belief system it was compatible with and tolerant of other religions. peopl were allowed to practiceBuddhism. Confucianism was embraced by Han, Tang, Song, and Ming Dynasties. Daoism/ Taoism which was founded by philosopher Lao- Tzu meant "the way" and non doing. It regarded harmony with nature, consisted of enternal values, being passive, yielding and to be like water strong yet shapimg. it was the counter to Confucian activism but co existed with it. Daoism added to the comlexity of chinese culture. Foundational tools were simple like daggers, arrows, fire, digging sticks spears, hammers, and the bow. When people start to use agriculture, they started to make pots because they were needed for cooking and storage. so making pottery was probably one of the first crafts to develop. Then people discovered that designs could be etched into the clay before it hardened, so pottery became a medium for artistic expression. [] The Islamic philosophy is a search for Hekam (Wisdom). The Judeo-Islamic philosophies, the oldest Jewish philosophical work. The book of beliefs and opinions is a work where Saadia discusses the questions that interested Mutakallamin like the creation of matter, the unity of God, the attributes, and the soul. Saadia criticizes other philosophers. The early development of civilization in China combined the succeeding phases of improvements of mesopotamian history with the duration of Egyptian civilization. Civilization in China came together around 1500 B.C. Chinese civilization proceeded increasingly out of the Neolithic farming and potterymaking. Most of the foundational architecture were big monumental structures, but the Chinese structures were not so big or monumental. Chinese architecture is an important part of world architecture. During its long development it formed into a style that features timberwork that has stone carving, rammed earth construction, bucket arch buildings and a lot of other techniques. Industrious Chinese laboring people created many architectural miracles like the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

The Romans were strongly influenced by Greek architecture, Ancient romen took certain aspects of architecture from the greeks. they used hydraulics an arches and domes. The Roman architecture was in two different eras the first was the Roman Republic where the Roman architecture is traced to Etruscans, the Etruscans copied the Greek and Phoenician traditions of building large temples to honor their Gods. Romans built roads and the roads provided faster travel. The main Islamic architectural types are the Mosque, the Tomb, The Palace and the Fort. After Muhammad's time is when their architechtual style started to emerge. It was inspired by islam with adaptations of the former Sassanid and Byzantine models. the Germanic Visogoths also made a good contribution to islamic architechture. They invented the horeshoe arch and used it as one of the main features.