Chapter 8 was about the power contained within China, due to their he population and their massive trade surplus.  China had a Golden age that allowed them to regain their unity after the collapse of the Han Dynasty.  Which included the strong establishment of arts, literature, landscape paintings and much more. In order to keep the civilization under control the Censorate had revived the examination process, by making it more elaborate books were invented and cheating was not allowed.  Those who passed this exam became a part of the upper-class and China soon became known as the best ordered state in the world.
In the Song Dynasty during the golden age women were given more freedom to participate in the social life rather than earlier times. Although women were mainly viewed as a weakness and distraction to men they had managed to be seen a little more equal.  Insanely, women who wanted to be seen as beautiful, had to bind their feet. Which was a painful procedure that meant a breakage of the bones and deformation. A woman's foot should not be the definition of her beauty. 
China was also well known for their ability to trade with different civilizations and they received many wonderful things from Islam.  The religion Buddhism was by far the most important gift they had received, through the silk road.  Many believed that Buddhism had the access to magical powers and created miracles. 
With time things have definitely evolved and there are numerous religions practiced everyday. Whether you are judged for what you believe in it is nice to know that there are people out there in the world with your same mindset willing to help.  Sometimes it make take a leap of faith to find salvation but it is never impossible.

Chapter Ten was a focus on the religious belief of Christianity that spread through multiple civilizations. A Chinese women speaks about her experience in finding faith in Christianity due to the affair her husband was having and it allowed her to find peace. This was rather remarkable because there are many women out there going through the same thing and with the help from God they to can find help.
 In Egypt Christianity became the major religious belief and was practiced daily.  Crusaders from Europe and Mongol invaders had threatened Egypt, which led to destruction of churches and due to the fear many switched over to the Islamic beliefs. For the very few strong believers they moved away from the main lands and continued their practice. They were dedicated to Christianity, That's awesome!
 Religion has always been a huge part of discrimination to many people and countries. Many people believe in different gods and practice different traditions but no one should be punished or discriminated for it.  It's empowering to read about the Christian beliefs and the hatred towards it because today many people are strong believers and continue to be.  In many human lives it can take one bad experience to help them find salvation no matter their background or race, that is the beauty of any religious belief.

Chapter Seven was very informative on how many civilizations interacted with one another, which allowed many of their cultures to exist in today's society.  Trading was important in the first civilizations because it was a way to sell goods for different goods.  Today we purchase goods for money, but it is still very similar to trading. One good for another. Culture, religion, technology, diseases, plants and animals have are some of the most significant outcomes of the third-wave civilization. Silk roads were created to help transport goods from China, India, Middle East, Siberia, Central Asia and the Mediterranean basin, most of the time it was very dangerous. It makes me appreciate the hard work that was done by the beginning eras because it is apart of how our society became to be.  Fashion, foods, tools, languages, agriculture, writing, technology are all qualities we have from the first civilizations and it is amazing to see how history has evolved throughout the years.  Also its incredible to know that the world is still improving and creating new things and with more time to come there will be an even bigger change.

The beginning of the common era generated a total population of 250 million people, which has multiplied throughout the years.  Eurasia was home to many of these people a long with Africa, but there were many differences between the two.  Africa was bisected near the equator and due to the warm weather it caused poorer fertile soil and less productive agriculture unlike in Eurasia.
Mesoamerica and the Andes were also a set of civilizations during the common era and they housed the vast majority of the American population.  In Mesoamerica people shared an agricultural technology to raising crops, practiced religion, and human sacrifices. Human sacrifices sounds outrages because if that were done today someone would be facing life in prison. It's interesting to learn about the different eras and the beliefs these civilizations had because with time the world has definitely changed.

It amazed me to read chapter 5 and learn about the different social classes and how men were seen to be the only ones to contain power.  It's so sad to hear that people known as the "untouchable" were treated so little, almost as if they didn't exist.  The Hammurabi law code was also very shocking how slavery became a practice to different societies.  Slavery still exist in our society today.  The president, body guards, working families we all are slaves to something in our life.
In China women weren't given a voice they were expected to follow the "three obediences" ranked by, her father, her husband, and her son. I enjoy the fact that women today have a voice, we are able to make our own decisions and many don't need a man to get things done.  Similar to the Spartans women had the authority over the household. The world has changed so much overtime, and lets not forget we have a woman running for president !

It was amazing to read about what happened after the first civilizations because hundreds of years later much did not change in the civilizations.  Of course the population increased rapidly and Monarchs still continued to rule. Technology was still not invented until a few years after, but with more population civilizations began to expand.  I thought it was interesting to hear that China was one of the primary sources of technological change because they are still very important today.

It was honestly nice to learn about how civilizations came to be and how we evolved.  With years came more roads, bridges, and buildings similar to the ones we see on a daily basis.  Its crazy to think that if we lived thousands of years ago we to could have been apart of the first civilizations.

Epic of Gilgamesh portrayed the gods and their relationship to humankind as a way of controlling their after life. Many believed that you could not understand the gods because they have their own plans for us. In Egypt the pyramids and the rebirth of the sun and river everyday gave them hope that people will have a better after life.  Larger groups of people besides the pharaohs thought they could access the afterlife if they lived the proper morally upright life.