Download 7 Characteristics of Early Civilizations

7 Characteristics of Civilization
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Urban centers (cities)
Centralized government
Organized religion
Social classes
Writing or record-keeping
Monument building
Specialized jobs and occupations
Mesopotamia: The
World’s First
Civilization
(Began c. 3000 BC)
Geography
Literally “land between two rivers” (Tigris,
Euphrates)
-Soil is fertile
-Food supply is stable
-Flooding is unpredictable
-Few natural barriers
The Sumerians
By 3000 BC, villages grew into city-states (ex.:
Ur, Erech, Kish)
-Each was independent
-Controlled surrounding farmland
-Constantly battled w/each other for
resources and control
Sumerian City-States
Sumerian City-State of Ur
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Lugals (leaders)…
• were the representatives of the gods on
earth
• commanded absolute power
Religion
Sumerians believed…
-in many gods (polytheistic)
-that a council of gods and
goddesses ruled the earth
-that the gods decided the fate of
individuals and cities
-in an unhappy afterlife
Ziggurats- temples to
the gods of the city-states
Written Language
Need for accurate records led to the
development of writing
-System began with pictograms and
ideograms
-Later simplified with the use of
symbols to represent sounds
and syllables (cuneiform)
A stylus was
used to make
wedge-shaped
symbols on
tablets of wet
clay.
Legacy
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World’s first civilization
First to use the wheel, sail, and plow
Developed a base 60 number system
12 month calendar
Ziggurats may have influenced Egyptian
pyramids
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