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Ancient Civilizations
I. Dawn of History
A. Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)
What are the
characteristics
of the
Paleolithic
Era?
1. When - 2 million BCE to 10,000 BCE
2. First people lived more than 2 million years ago in East Africa
3. Hunters and Gatherers
a. People ______________________________________
b. Men would hunt game animals and fish
c. Women would collect fruits, berries and other edibles
4. Adapting to their environment
a. Tools
1. ____________________________- digging sticks, spears
and axes out of stone, bone or wood.
2. Clothing - skins of animals
b. Shelter – caves
c. Fire - people learned to build fires for warmth and cooking.
5. Paleolithic Societies
a. Groups numbered _____________________________
b. Developed spoken languages
1. Allowed people to communicate during a hunt
6. Early belief systems
a. Polytheistic – early forms of animism
b. People began burying the dead
1. _________________________________________
_________________________________________
How did
people obtain
food during
the Neolithic
Era?
2. The dead were buried with their tools and weapons
7. Migration
a. People migrated from Africa to Asia, Europe and North America
b. Led to cultural diffusion
1. Also occurred through warfare and trade
8. Scarce resources
a. Hunting and gathering sustained human life for millions of years,
but people barely survived.
b. People moved from place to place because resources were scarce
c. People needed a more reliable way of obtaining a supply of food
B. Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution (New Stone Age)
1. When: 10,000 BCE
2. Important discoveries
a. __________________
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Why was the
Neolithic Era
considered a
revolution?
Why were
rivers valleys
important to
early
civilizations?
1. People learned to plant seeds to grow food
2. Led to permanent settlements
3. Sedentary agriculture – Farm in one place
b. ______________________________________
1. Tamed animals they had been hunting
2. Herded and penned the animals
3. Used for food, clothing, labor and transportation
3. Impact of Neolithic Revolution
a. Farming led to a more reliable source of food
b. As food supply increased, so did the population
1. Population of settlements numbered in the hundreds to
thousands
2. _________________________________________
c. New Technologies – people needed new tools in order to meet
their new needs
1. Calendars – helped determine when to plant and harvest
crops
2. Metal tools – built bronze and then iron plows that were
pulled by animals
3. Irrigation systems – brought water from rivers to farms
4. Metal weapons – developed bronze and then iron weapons
to defend their resources and villages
C. Rise of Civilizations
1. Rivers valleys - home to the first civilizations
a. Fertile Land – the yearly _________________________
____________________________________________
b. ___________________________– gave people water source
c. Transportation – Used the river as a means of transportation
d. Trade – as the civilizations grew and expanded, more people
came into contact with one another (leading to
_________________________________ )
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How did the
Nile allow
Egypt to
centralize its
government?
2. Characteristics of a Civilization
a. Cities – populations grew into the thousands due to increased
food supplies
b. _________________________________– provide order,
organization and protection
c. __________________________________________– based on
farming and other skilled crafts such as pottery, clothing and
other goods
d. Organized religion – polytheistic, where priests would perform
ceremonies to ensure plentiful crops and protection
e. Specialization of labor - increased food supplies allowed people
to perform different jobs in society
f. _____________________________________ – based on one’s
occupation
1. Priests, warriors, craftsmen or artisan, and farmer
2. Chiefs - emerged as leaders
3. Women’s status declined as men took lead roles as warriors
4. _________________________________________
________________________________________
g. Systems of writing – Used for record keeping. Early writing
used pictures and then developed into symbols
h. Art and architecture – Built temples and palaces to honor
religious and political leaders.
i. Public works – built infrastructure such as roads, bridges and
walls for protection
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II. River Valley Civilizations - (4000 BCE - 1650 BCE)
A. Nile River Valley – Egypt (North Africa)
1. Geographic Setting
a. Region – North Africa, Middle East
b. Topography – Mostly Desert
1. Natural barrier – provided protection from invasion
2. Lack of arable land
c. Nile River - River flows from South to North
1. ________________________________________
_______________________________________
2. Used as a highway for travel and trade
3. Villages merge to form cities along river becomes into one
kingdoms: Upper Egypt (South) and Lower Egypt (North)
4. Nile Delta - in Lower Egypt, where the Nile emptied into
the Mediterranean Sea
2. Government
a. Pharaohs – ruler of Egypt that _____________________
____________________________________________
What Egyptian
contribution
would you
consider the
most
important to
today’s
society?
1. Absolute power – claimed divine right
2. Centralized Government – Strong central
government/leaders
3. Bureaucracy – Run by a Vizier to help run government
business, such as collecting taxes
b. Dynasty – Ruling family of Egypt; When the pharaoh died,
power was passed onto the another family member
c. Menes – Pharaoh (3100 BCE) - United Upper and Lower Egypt
to create the first dynasty
1. Used the Nile to link Upper and Lower Egypt
3. Religion
a. Polytheistic – Worshipped many gods
1. Amon-Re – The Sun God and the Chief God
2. Osirus – God of the Nile, controlled the Nile’s annual flood
b. Afterlife – Egyptians prepared the dead for life after death
1. Pyramids – Tombs and monuments used ________
__________________________________________
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4. Society
a. Social Classes
1. Upper Class – Pharaoh, Priests, Nobles
2. Middle Class – Merchants and artisans (skilled workers)
3. Lower Class – Peasants (Farmers)
4. Slaves
b. Role of Women:
1. _________________________________________
2. Run business
3. Divorce
c. Contributions
1. ________________________________________
2. ____________________________– Writing system that
used pictures to represent words and ideas
a. Rosetta Stone- Helped ____________________
_______________________________________
3. Literature - poetry, songs, hymns and fiction
4. Surgery and Medicine
a. Mummification preserving the dead helped them
diagnose illnesses and perform surgery
5. Calendar – based on 365 days (solar)
6. Number system - based on 10 (10, 100, 1000, etc)
B. Tigris & Euphrates Rivers – Mesopotamia (Middle East)
1. Geographic Setting
a. Region – Middle East
b. ___________________________ – a crescent shaped region of
________________________________________________
___________________________________________ that
stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
c. Mesopotamia – The land between the rivers
d. Few natural barriers
1. Cultural diffusion – exchange of goods and ideas
2. Invasion – lack of barriers allowed for several invasions
Why were
irrigation
systems
important to
the
development of
2. Sumerian Civilization – (3000 BCE)
a. Government
1. City- States – Sumer was divided into independent areas that
included a city and the surrounding land
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civilizations?
What are the
characteristics
of
Hammurabi’s
Code?
2. Rulers – seen as the chief servant to the gods
a. Role – Enforced laws, collected taxes, led armies into
war, kept records, maintained city walls and irrigation
systems
b. Religion
1. Polytheistic – Gods had human qualities and were tied to the
forces of nature
2. Each city-state had their own God or Goddess
3. Ziggurats - Stone temples made out of sun-dried bricks that
were used for religious purposes
c. Social Classes
1. Upper Class – Ruling family, officials and high priests
2. Middle Class –Merchants and artisans (skilled workers)
3. Lower Class – Peasants (Farmers)
d. Contributions
1. Inventions
a. Sailboat
b. Wheel
c. Plow
d. Walled cities
2. Architecture
a. Ziggurats – step like temples (organized religion)
3. _______________________________ – a network of
canals that provided water for those away fro the river
banks
4. ___________________________– Writing systems that
used wedged shaped marks to keep records
5. Math contributions
a. basic algebra
b. geometry
c. number system - based on 6
6. Literature - The Epic of Gilgamesh
3. Babylonian Civilization
a. Government
1. Centralized government – strong central government
2. Hammurabi – (1792-1750 BCE) God-like king
3. Code of _____________________ - ____________
________________________________________
a. Criminal Law – robbery, assault, murder
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Why are
written records
important to
understanding
history?
b. Civil law – business contracts, property, taxes,
marriage and divorce
c. Specific punishments for specific laws
d. Harsh punishments – “_________________”
e. Unequal enforcement – Lower social classes vs.
nobles, men vs. women, adults vs. children – laws
were harsher for lower classes, women and
children)
b. Contributions
1. Contract - written agreement
2. Astronomy – Study of universe
a. Lunar calendar (12 months, 7 day week, 24 hr
day)
3. Number system - based on 60 (60 minute hour, 360
degree circle)
4. Map makers – cartographer
C. Indus River Valley – Indian Subcontinent (India and
Pakistan)
What are the
positive
impacts of
natural
barriers?
What are the
negative
impacts of
natural
barriers?
1. Geographic Setting
a. Region - South Asia
b. Mountain ranges
1. Hindu Kush
2. Himalayan
a. Limits cultural diffusion
b. Provided protection
c. Climate - Hot dry
d. Monsoons – seasonal winds that brought rainfall to the
Indian Subcontinent
e. Indus River - Floods brought rich soil and destruction
(______________________________________________)
2. Mystery
a. Little is known about the Indus river valley because
historians and archaeologists have not been able to decipher
the writing system.
b. All that is known comes from archaeological finds
3. Government
a. Centralized government –
_____________________________
1. Well-Planned Cities – Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
2. Streets with grids
3. Uniformed Systems - weights and measures
4. Religious buildings
5. __________________________________________
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The belief that
your culture is
superior to
others is
known as?
What
European
theory is
similar to the
Mandate of
Heaven?
4. Contributions Of the Indus River Valley Civ
a. Plumbing systems –
_________________________________
b. Buildings made of brick
c. irrigation ditches and flood barriers
d. ____________
D. Yellow River Valley (Huang He) and the Yangzi River –
China (3000-2500 BCE)
1. Geographic Setting
a. Region – East Asia
b. Natural barriers – mountains, deserts, rainforest, ocean
1. Isolation
c. River Valleys
1. ______________________ ______________________
a. ________________ - yellow matter in river that
brings nutrients to soil
b. Floods – given the nickname, “River of Sorrows”
2. Yangzi River
2. Government
a. Decentralized government
1. Shang Dynasty – 1650 BCE
2. Dynasty – Ruling family of China; when the emperor
died, another family member took over
3. Kings controlled small areas of land
4. City-states – ruled by groups of families
3. Religion
a. Polytheistic – worshipped many gods and nature spirits
b. Early form of Daoism
1. Yin and yang – opposing forces that held nature in
balance
c. Ancestor Worship – honored ancestors with sacrifices and
shrines
4. Society
a. Social Classes
1. Upper Class - Royals family and nobles
2. Merchants and artisans
3. Peasants – farmers
b. “______________________________” - Due to isolation,
early ___________________________________________
________________________________________________
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5. Contributions
a. Writing system
1. _____________________________________________
2. Pictographs – drawings of objects
3. Ideographs – Drawings of thoughts and ideas
What was a
positive impact
that
Confucianism
had on Chinese
society?
III.
Classical Civilizations
A. Zhou Dynasty – China (1027 BCE-221 BCE)
1. Government
a. Overthrew the Shang Dynasty
b. Mandate of
heaven__________________________________; used to
explain the dynastic cycle
c. Dynastic Cycle – cycle that___________________________
__________________________________________, based
on the mandate of heaven
What are the
similarities
between the
Qin’s Legalism
and
Hammurabi’s
Code?
d. Feudal government – Zhou emperors granted control of
large areas of land to their supporters. The local lords
controlled their own areas, but owed military service to the
emperor
2. Economy
a. Trade – increased as a result of new roads and canals that
were built (____________________________________)
b. Money –Chinese used copper coins as a form of currency
c. Agriculture – _____________________________________
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________________________________________________
_
3. Contributions
a. Confucianism – Belief system that
____________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Why is it
important to
have an
educated
government?
How is the Silk
Road similar
to the internet?
Best government was educated
b. Daoism – Belief system that stressed harmony in nature,
based on the Dao and concepts of the yin and yang; best
government, governed least
c. Literature – “Book of Songs” – poems that describe farming,
government, ceremonies and love
d. Astronomy – Studied planet movements and ellipses to
create a 365 day calendar
e. Silk – Fine clothing material that was China’s most valuable
export
f. Iron – used for weapons and tools
B. Qin Dynasty – China (221 BCE – 206 BCE)
Even though
Civil Service
Exams helped
provide China
with a stable
government,
how did they
also promote
in unequal
society?
1. Government
a. Overthrew the Zhou dynasty – Shi Huangdi claims to be
China’s “First Emperor”
b. Centralized government
1. abolished feudal states
2. created military districts with an official heading each
area
c.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Used to jail, torture and kill those who imposed the emperor.
Would target nobles and Confucian scholars.
d. Burned books – ordered the destruction of all books of
literature and philosophy
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2. Economy
1. standardized weights and measures
2. created national coins
3. repaired canals and roads
3. Contributions
a. Great Wall of China
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
__________________________________________
(Mongols)
1. Thousands of workers died building the wall due to
harsh conditions.
C. Han Dynasty – China (206 BCE - 220 CE)
1. Government
a. Dynastic Cycle - People despised the Qin’s dynasty’s harsh
laws and heavy
taxes;_______________________________, the Han
Dynasty would take control of China
b. Han Dynasty – Reduced taxes and repealed Legalism
c. _____________________________ Exams – Emperor
Wudi improved China’s government
by______________________
___________________________________________; this
would assure Chinese officials were given jobs based on
merit, not their family influence
2. Economy
a. Infrastructure – improved roads and canals to improve trade
b. Monopoly – set up an
_______________________________
________________________________________________
_ _____________________________________on peasants
c. Silk Road – Wudi opened a trade route to the west that
expanded from china to the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
China would capitalize on its silk production ($$); New
goods were introduced to China
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3.
Society
a. Scholar gentry – ___________________________________
________________________________________________
b. Women – Confucian principles had women subordinate to
men; women were not allowed to take the exams and could
not take a government job
4. Contributions
a. Technology
1. ______________________________ from wood pulp
2. wheel barrow
3. fishing reel
4. _____________________– device to help steer ships
5. Suspension bridges
6. __________________________________
b. Science
1. ___________________________– needles are
inserted under the skin to relieve pain and to treat
illnesses
c. Arts
1. Temples and palaces
2. Jade and Ivory carvings
3. Bronze artworks
4. Silk
5. Literature – “Lessons for a Woman” – Roles for men
and women
5. Fall of the Han Dynasty
a. Political Causes – Weak rulers after the death of Wudi;
unable to control powerful warlords
b. Economic Causes –_________________________________
______________which were vital for trade to prosper; ____
_____________________________________, led to a
revolt
c. Military Causes –__________________________________
___________________________in 22 CE, the empire was
split into several kingdoms; __________________________
__________________________ and set up their own
kingdoms
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Ancient Civilizations (part II)
D. Greece (1750 BCE – 133 BC)
1.
Geographic setting
a. Located in southeast Europe, it consists of many mountains
m isolated valleys and small islands
b. This _________________________________________
_____________________________________________like
the Egyptians or Mesopotamians
c. The Mediterranean and Aegean Seas were an important link
to the outside world
d. The Greeks became _______________________________
_______________________________________________
________________________________________ where
they exchanged goods and ideas (technology)
1. They adopted the Phoenician alphabet for their own
use.
2. Early civilizations
a. Minoans – 1750 BCE the first Greek civilization was
established.
1. The Minoans traded with Egypt and Mesopotamia
3. The Rise of City States
a. Due to the rugged mountains and isolated valleys, Greek
civilizations revolved around the small city-state or polis.
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b. Between 750 BCE and 500BCE the city states had several
different types of government
1. Monarchy – first form of government
2. Aristocracy - landowning nobles gained power
c. Sparta – A _____________________________________
1. At ________________________________________
__________________________________________
2. They trained hard and faced rigid discipline
3. _______________________to strengthen their bodies
4. ___________________________________________
5. Sparta was an totalitarian state that produced an
excellent military
6. But______________________________, create
products, nor were they scholarly; so _____________
___________________________________________
7. Spartan inability to change, would lead to its decline
d. Athens – A Limited Democracy
1. Under the leadership of Pericles (460BCE – 429 BCE
2. ______________________ - all “citizens” participated
in government by debating all political actions.
3. To be a citizen you must be: ____________________
___________________________________________
4.
5.
Athens

 Laws made by
assembly
 Only male
citizens in
assembly
 Trade with other
city states
 Education for
boys
 Women
considered
inferior
Women were seen as needing male guidance and were
not allowed to participate.
Slaves and foreign born also did not participate
Sparta
 Common
language
 Shared heroes
 Olympic games
 Same gods and
religious beliefs
 Relied on Slave
labor
 Monarchy with 2 elected
kings
 Military society
 Trade and travel NOT
allowed
 Military training for all
boys
 Girls trained to be mothers
of soldiers
 Women were expected to
obey men
 Women could own
property
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4.
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic age
a. Macedonia was a mountainous region in the kingdom of
northern Greece.
b. Alexander the Great built an empire that included the Egypt,
Persia and parts of India
c. A new __________________________________ arose that
blended _______________________________________
_____________________________________________life.
d. This culture gave more rights and opportunities to women.
e. Although the empire fell soon after his death, ____________
____________________________in the regions he had ruled
5. Greek and Hellenistic Contributions
a. Philosophy
1. Greek thinkers tried to use observation and reason to
understand why things happened
2. The word philosopher means “lover of wisdom”
3. Socrates - Developed the scientific method: leaning
about beliefs and ideas by asking questions; Government
put him to death
4. Plato - Believed government should control the lives of
the people; Divided society into three classes; workers,
philosophers and soldiers
5. Aristotle - Believed on strong and good leader should
rule; Believed people ruled through reason
b. Literature
1. Famous for plays - tragedies and comedies
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2. Famous poet: Homer
a. Iliad - Set in the Trojan War - the ten-year siege of
Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the
battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel
between King Agamemnon and the warrior
Achilles
b. Odyssey – a sequel to the Iliad, The poem mainly
centers on the Greek hero Ulysses and his long
journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes
Odysseus ten years to reach home
3. The first true historian: Herodotus
a. Considered the “father of history” for his careful
historical writing
c. Art and Architecture
1. Greeks believed in beauty, balance, and order in the
universe
2. Greek paintings and sculptures were life-like, and
_____________________________________________
The Discus Thrower
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3. The most famous Greek building is the Parthenon
A modern copy of what the Parthenon looked like
b. Use of _____________________
c. Symmetry
a. Science
1. Aristarchus discovered that the earth rotated on its axis
and moved around the sun
2. Archimedes explored the principals of levels and
pulleys
3. Hippocrates, a Greek ______________________,
studies the causes of illness and looked for cures
b. Mathematics
1. Pythagoras; the formula of a ___________________
2. Euclid: wrote a book that became ________________
____________________________________________
c.
Rome (509 BCE – 476 CE)
1. Geography
a. Italy – located in the center of the Italian peninsula
b. Mediterranean Sea – helped the Romans trade and expand
into an empire that spanned three continents (Europe, North
Africa and the Middle East)
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2. Government
a. The Roman Republic – established a government where
_________________________________________________
b. Senate – most powerful governing body of the republic
c. Roman Law – Rome’s greatest achievement
1. ______________________________________________
that guaranteed the right to all Roman citizens
2. Basic principles –________________________________,
right of the accused to face the accuser and defend one’s
self, idea of being innocent until proven guilty
3. Males had authority over his wife and family
3. Society
a. Patricians – Upper class, landowning Roman citizens that
made up the Senate
b. Plebeians – Social class made up of farmers, merchants,
artisans and traders who had little power
c. Women – were subordinate to men, but gained right to hold a
prominent public role and own businesses
4. Roman Empire
1. Conquering an Empire – By 270 BCE, __________________
____________________ the Italian peninsula and then used
the Mediterranean Sea to conquer _____________________
_________________________________________________
1. Europe (including present day England, France,
Germany, and Greece)
2. North Africa – Mediterranean Coast
3. Southwest Asia (Middle East) - Asian Minor
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2. Civil War – Rome erupted into civil war as ambitious
generals (including Julius Caesar) tried to conquer Rome for
themselves. After the murder of Caesar in 44 BCE, Octavian
(Caesar’s Grandnephew) emerged the victor.
3. Emperor – by 31 BCE, Octavian changed his name to
Augustus and ruled Rome with absolute power
_______________________________________________
_________________________________
4. Strong Central Government
1. _______________________________ – ensured a well
educated government officials
2. Reformed tax system
3. ______________ coins – made ___________________
4. _____________________________– expanded and
protected the empire
d. Pax Romana – “______________________________” was a
time of peace and prosperity or a golden age.
1. Trade - Roman influence, through vast road networks
and the Mediterranean Sea. People freely traded with
others in the empire and with other parts of the world,
such as China and India, via the Silk Road.
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2. Goods – grain from Nile River Valley, ivory and gold
from Africa, spices and gems from India and silk from
China
e. Religion - 313 CE Emperor Constantine legalizes
Christianity - Edict of Milan
f. Engineering
1. Roads – allowed for trade and military expansion
2. Arches – engineering technique that allowed Rome to
create large buildings
3. Concrete – material used for large buildings
4. Aqueducts – bridge-like structures that used the Roman
arch to carry water from the hills to the cities
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5. Dome – a half, sphere-like roof
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The Pantheon – a temple to all the Roman Gods
6. Coliseum – Stadium built in Rome that was used for
Gladiator fights, chariot races and executions
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5.
Fall of the Roman Empire
a. Political Causes
1. Government becomes too strict
2. People stop supporting the government
3. Corrupt officials
4. Divided empire becomes too weak
b. Economic Causes
1. Heavy taxes
2. Use too much slave labor
c. Military Causes
1. Constant invasions
2. Borders become too big to defend
3. Forced to hire foreign soldiers to protect the borders
d. Social Causes
* Gap between the rich and the poor widens
* People become selfish and lazy
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