African daily life: Mary and Jesus, from Ethiopia (ca. 1500 AD) (Now in the J. Paul Getty Museum) Inequality in African society Ancient African society didn't have the huge differences between rich and poor people that plagued Europe and Asia. North Africa, being part of the Mediterranean community, was an exception. But south of the Sahara [...]
West Asian people: Ur-Nanshe, the king's chief musician in Mari, 2400s BC Oppression of women What we notice most about the way people lived in West Asia is the widespread oppression of women. As compared to their neighbors in Sudan, Egypt, Central Asia, the Roman Empire, or even India, West Asian women were [...]
Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu fight a monster, on an Assyrian cylinder seal from the 600s BC Friends were very important to people in the ancient and medieval world. Because there were not so many police or lawyers or judges then, people often had to rely on their friends to protect them or [...]
A Pueblo family with a donkey in 1885 (Detroit Publishing Company) Since 1500 AD North American people's relationships to one another have seen big changes. In the 1500s, most kids lived in small villages with their families. Many kids grew up in longhouses or pueblos, with their cousins and aunts and uncles sharing their house. Nobody went to [...]
Duryodhana (Cambodia, ca. 900s AD) We don't know very much about friendships among poor people in ancient India, or among women. But the stories that Indian people told had examples of strong friendships between powerful men. In the Mahabharata, which was first written down about 300 BC, Karna and Duryodhana are famous for their friendship. Early Indian [...]
Greek friendship: People call this "After the Party": the boy's puking on a slave. Greeks thought that was funny. Greek friendship Among the Greeks, teenaged boys and young men often became very close friends. This was a way for teenaged boys to learn how to behave around grownups, and it was a way [...]
Places Damon and Pythias might have been: The Greek theater at Syracuse in Sicily Best friends in Sicily According to the Greek story, Damon and Pythias grew up in Sicily, and they were always best friends. One day when the two of them were visiting the city of Syracuse Pythias said some things [...]
