CHAPTER 1
Part I
The Hunting and Gathering Periodfrom 200,000 to 10,000 Years Ago withHandheld (Tarp) Food Distribution andDefining the Nine Pillars for Humanity
Dear Reader,
(1) I offer you a challenge. In the following pages I will send youtraveling at a racing speed through history. You will start from thevery dawn of civilization until today and follow the human evolutionfrom a grunting animal walking on two legs to a modern citizen of ademocratic, open society, with freedom and equal rights for all
(2) I will start with a description of the genetically coded instinctsof the human cell in order to explain nine fundamental human rightsderived from these instincts. These nine pillars of humanity willbe defined from the hunting and gathering period, even if some ofthem can just be discerned at this time. The "Nine" will be followedthrough history, how they fared under different governments andhow eventually they evolved to become necessary for all modernsocieties.
(3) The government in Sumeria, historical Mesopotamia, ormodern Iraq, will be described first. After Sumeria I will not dwell onthe history of each Sumeric-like nation. The Sumeric-like countriesin Africa, Early America, China and Japan, despite their long andinteresting history, are, from this standpoint, not pertinent. Onlywhen they deviate from the first Sumeric Government formula arethey germane.
(4) Brace yourself! I will challenge any prejudices you mighthave. This has been fun for me to write; I hope it will be equally funfor you to read.
(5) I have to start with some technical medical talks but don'tpanic. It will be very short.
(6) Much of what everybody wants to accomplish in life comesfrom two basic instincts baked into our genes: the urges for theself-preservation and propagation, with the best possible chance ofsurvival for the offspring. These two fundamental instincts, we—humanbeings, the species Homo sapiens—have in common withall animals and even plants. It has been postulated that the originalmitochondrial DNA, for short mtDNA or the mitochondrial organ,was a bacteria that many millions of years ago invaded a cell and haspromoted its own survival by its evolutionary mutations just likeany modern virus invades cells, takes over and directs a cell's life.Evolutionary changes in the mitochondrial organ create new speciesor adaptation of the species to its environment. If a new species isefficient within its environment, the species will survive, if not, it willdie. If a new species is unable to adapt to changes in its environment,the species will die out over time. Evolution can therefore take twodirections: lead to totally different species or lead to different kindsof closely related species, like to different ape forms.
(7) The mitochondrial organ forms a rugby ball shapedmembrane that floats in the cell fluid around the nucleus of everyliving cell. Protein in the mitochondrion and proteins in the nucleusform genes that are chains of four amino acids: adenine, cytosine,guanine, and thiamine. The order in which these amino acids stackup within genes determines the chemical message for the activitiesin the cell. The mitochondrion is the organ that is transferred fromone cell to another in order to grow specific tissues for transplants,for in vitro fertilization, or to create clones.
(8) The main portion of the mitochondrion has remainedunchanged since 200,000-150,000 years back, unchanged fromgeneration to generation for at least some 6000 generations (allowing25 years for each generation) (Rebecca Cann et al: Nature 329, 1987).It can with confidence be stated that the basic physiological andpsychological security) needs of humans have remained the samesince that time.
(9) The mitochondrion ring has a neutral zone within whichmutations can occur without causing new species or diseases. Thesemutations occur more often and with some statistical regularity,on average, one every 10,000 years. This has been established byseveral different methods, but one is by simply counting mutationsin archeological finds of a known age, as in the 12,000-year-old findfrom the Gough's cave in Bath, England.
(10) The female sex chromosome (X) is part of the chromosome-setupof both the male (X+Y) chromosome and female (X+X)chromosome of the cell nucleus. Unique for the mitochondrial organis that it always follows the female sex chromosome (X), controllingthe species its germ cell will grow into for both its male or femalefertilized eggs. A germ cell is a fertilized egg during its first twenty-fourdivisions, before an embryo has been defined.
(11) The neutral mitochondrial area can be used to identify family-clans,that is, to determine both when the mutation first occurred inthat clan and where the original mother for that clan lived. The moremutations, the older is the clan with a given pattern; the more presentinhabitants with that mother's certain pattern of mutations that livewithin a certain area, the more likely the original clan-mother alsoused to live there, some thousands of years ago.
(12) Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics and his colleaguesat the Oxford University, have mapped out the origin and presentdistribution of the world population based on information fromthe neutral mitochondrial area in his fascinating book, The SevenDaughters of Eve (2001, ISBN 0-393-32314-5). He has identifiedthe universal mother, the "Mitochondrial Eve," for the clan thateventually populated the whole world. She might have livedsomewhere in Kenya or Ethiopia some 150,000 years ago. Of the13 clans that have survived in present Africa, only one moved outof Africa by Sinai 50,000 years ago, and formed new clans: sevenfor Europe between 45,000 and 15,000 years ago, four for America12,000 years ago, and nine for the rest of the world. The Nine Pillarsof Humanity will be tested from the time of Mitochondrial Eve,through history, until today.
(13) The evolutionary hominid species (human-like individualswalking on two legs) was created some five to seven million years ago.Four fundamental pillars or primary instincts of any hominid speciesmay be established already from this time: to live close to water andfood resources, to build shelters for their offspring, to communicateby simple sounds, and to live in groups for security and commondefense (Richard Klein). All four of these needs we, Homo sapiens,have in common with all ape-like societies.
(14) The genome-mapping project has identified a gene for speech.When this female mutation occurred is not known but now a humanbeing could name things, name things to do, develop systematicthoughts, transfer experiences from one generation to another, builda first memory bank, and form a social culture. This was the birth ofthe human society and the birth of the Nine Historical Pillars. Theoriginal generic instinct, the instinct for sexual propagation that wehave common with anything living, has to be reviewed separately.
(15) The male sex (Y) chromosome has also a neutral zone thatcan be used for markers from generation to generation. The firstsettlers left descendants at each place they populated, or, maybemore often, children from the first settlement moved on to formnew ones. A marker from the first male settlers can still be foundin present day male populations. The frequency of markers in thepresent population can be used to estimate the time for the originalsettlement and also to follow the whereabouts of the earliest Homosapiens bands. Professor Sykes suggests that people from 33 clans havepopulated the whole world of today.
(16) The personal identification based on genes makes nonsenseof racial and national classifications. Professor Sykes suggests afirst name, a surname, and a `matriname' based on the individualgene-pattern as a specific, personal ID. Using this system for theroutine issuing of international passports would be useful in trackinginternational terrorists, drug dealers, and repeat law offenders. Itwould be more specific than fingerprints. Done as a routine procedureit would not interfere with privacy conflicts; only persons with badintentions would have reason to refuse.
(17) I am postulating that the invention that allowed the formationof an organized communal band-society was the "tarp." The word"tarp" is used for lack of a better word, with the understanding thatthe tarp, at this time, might have been a hide or a fiber-woven mator maybe even a basket (www.mnsu.edu/emuseum, Olga Soffer).There were definitely other stone and bone tools, but the tarp allowedthe band to collect and transport enough food for family meals forseveral days and even for several families; in other words, to tradeand to divide food between the members of the band. The inventionof the tarp could be the reason for the successful behavioral changethat took place around 40,000 years ago, and became the social basisfor Late Stone Age and the world migration of the bands. A hide orbasket is very fragile for time exposure. Archeological support forthis postulate is equally fragile, but still, a reasonable assumption.
(18) The hide, or material replacing the hide, eventually becamenot only a carrying tool, but, when the environment called for it, alsobedding, extra clothing, shoes, tent, rope and so on, just as the hideor woven material is being used in modern times by such huntingsocieties as the Eskimos in the north and the ancient !Kung San tribesin South Africa. (The "!" sign in front of the letter expresses a clickingsound of the tongue). One should look at this ancestral life not asbrutal, but as satisfying, with intelligent people making the most oftheir knowledge and their environment.
(19) We can establish the first basic pillar of our ancestors. Theyneeded food, clean water, and clean air. These are physiologicalneeds and cannot be compromised for long periods of time. The sunprovides the ultimate energy for all food production throughout allof history. They had a need for propagation and developed socialrules for the best survival of their tribe. Here the morality of theGolden Rule, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" starts toevolve.
(20) The second basic pillar need was a shelter with protectionfor the family from the weather, hostile tribes, and animals. Someused caves, if available, but more commonly simple huts coveredwith hides or leaf. Eventually, the huts were enhanced with fire forwarmth and cooking. The frame of the huts had to be built from localmaterials. A village with house frames entirely of mammoth bone hasbeen found in Ukraine and dated to be 25,000 years old.
(21) During the Late Stone Age or Bronze Age, one often findsdesignated areas for waste. This points to a third, maybe not yet apillar need, but at least a preference for cleanliness. Cleanliness willeventually develop into a third pillar need.
(22) Among early tools were combs carved from bones. An ivorycarving of a woman's head from Brassempouy shows a sophisticatedhairstyle. The carving is exquisite. The fine hair-do shows there wasa desire for the woman to look, what she and her friends possiblyperceived as, beautiful. Individual beauty may be a sex signal and asign of good physical health for propagation. The carving is 25,000years old.
(23) From about 40,000 years back there was a flourishing trend todecorate the cave walls with paintings, to make stone-carved formsof the female body, and to design musical instruments. Whetherthis art was created for enjoyment, or to emphasize religious orhunt rituals is not clear. In any case, it is still beautiful art. Art maynot be a life essential need, but it is a working force already amongthese early people. We now have another pillar need for humansociety, a fourth: a perception of art in the beauty of both body andsurroundings.
(24) The spread of the Homo sapiens bands across the worldstarted 50,000 years ago. It has to be considered the most successfulland conquest in history. The conquest was completed some 12,000years back. Its success was due to human's ability to communicateand assemble into groups for hunting, defense, or for a goal of theH/G bands. To communicate and assemble into a group became thefifth and sixth basic pillars for the success of human society.
(25) The earth's population was only four or five millionpeople at this time. It stayed fairly stable at this number duringthe 190,000-year-long H/G-time because of the limited food supplyand limited food transport. Rapid population growth belongs to thecoming agricultural and industrial eras, both with more food andbetter food transport.
(26) Hunting and gathering (H/G) bands never had, and evennow living H/G-bands never have, elective leaders in the modernsense. The band could grow to a maximum of 40 to 50 individuals,but no one was allowed to dominate. This is the ultimate descriptionof local control and individual freedom, the ultimate and originaldemocracy.
(27) The yearly rebirth of nature impressed the early humans. Inthe regularity of nature, they saw a higher power in charge. The H/G-peopletend to be monotheistic and according to Collin Turnbull'sbook The Forest People in 1961 the illiterate pygmies in Africa stillbelieved an inactive (otiose) god had created the surrounding jungle.Typically, H/G people don't have priesthood or worry about anafterlife in heaven or hell.
(28) In the random irregularity of nature people saw opposingpowers fighting it out. A multi-spiritual world was born. This beliefbecame particularly strong during the agricultural period. Naturalevents were identified as spirits or gods influencing the outcomeof harvest, or eventually, for the protection of any other means ofmaking a living. In later time different saints protecting specifictrades are an expression of this trend.
(29) Mythical stories were spun to support social rules, oftenimportant to that particular society. The Indians in the jungle ofUruguay still have a rule that the hunter cannot eat his own kill;it would bring him bad luck. His own food had to come from hiscomrades. By this holy rule the whole band was always assured of food.
(30) Early humans asked themselves: "Could the weather oranimal gods be swayed to assure good food supply by gifts?" TheAztecs thought the sun got tired each evening and must be fed heartsand blood to recover for its work the next day. Leaders or shamanspronounced how the gods' needs could be satisfied with offersand ceremonies. Ceremonies were an important part of the offer;professionals, "priests" (generic term), performed them accordingto a given script in a given place, a "temple" (generic term). Offer-ceremonieshave therefore been defined and given a special genericterm—dogmas.
(31) The priesthood was the messenger between the superpowered spirit, "the transcendent" (Joseph Runzo), and the people.The priesthood became very influential and was closely connectedwith leadership. A community or state mythical religion became anintegral part of the society as it slowly transformed itself from an H/Gto an agricultural society.
(32) The need for religion seemed to appear early in humanity,maybe soon after humans had learned to speak. What seemed a logicalstory to the benefit of both the individual and society was created."Religion" as a generic term for a "belief system" has remained anessential "Seventh Pillar" all through humanity.
(33) "Gods" and "religious administrations" have varied withpeople's insight and education. The gods may have different namesin different cultures, sometimes only due to different languages.In modern times, the 3000-year-old Jewish "YHWH" gave ideas tothe 2000-year-old Christian "God" and the 1500-year-old Muslimgod "Allah." All three churches pray to a one, same, single creator.Relative to society, all major world religions, from the oldest 4000 to5000-year-old Hinduism to the youngest 1500-year-old Islam, claimto hold to the original, moral social truth of the Golden Rule:
(34) Hinduism:One should not behave towards others in a way thatis disagreeable to oneself. Anusasana
(35) Confucianism:Do not do to others what you do not want themto do to you. Analects
(36) Buddhism:A state that is not pleasing to me, how should Iinflict that upon another. Samyutta Nikaya
(37) Judaism:You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus
(38) Christian:You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mathew
(39) Islamism:Not one of you is a believer until he loves for hisbrother what he loves for himself. According to early traditions thebooks of Hadith were first written down in the 900s when Islamhad conquered large areas of land with jihad and Islam needed aperpetual social rule to live by.
(40) All religions have to relearn from the ancient Golden Rulewhat is originally meant with brother, neighbor and democracy.The Golden Rule is a much older concept than any religion. TheGolden rule is the original concept for any social life. A democraticsociety can only survive with the Golden Rule in its nucleus.Without the Golden Rule all societies have to be Sumeric and liveoff beliefs with made up church dogma. This was of course easier inold time when few could read. Nowadays, with an educated reality,the Public is different in much of the world.
