Download Early River Valley Civilizations

Early River Valley Civilizations
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Mesopotamia (Slides 4-13)
Egypt (Slides 14-28)
Indus Valley (Slides 29-41)
China (Slides 42-54)
Summary (Slide 55)
Glossary (Slides 56-58)
Mesopotamia: Present-Day Syria,
Northern Iraq, Turkey
“Cradle of Civilization”
Irrigation Led
to an
Abundance of
Crops
The First Civilization in Human
History Sprang Up Next to the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Mesopotamians Learned How
to Supply Fields with Water
Through Irrigation
Mesopotamia was the First
Place that Agriculture and
Domestication of Animals
Occurred
Mesopotamia: Between the Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers
 Mesopotamia=Land Between Two Rivers
 Both Rivers Flooded Mesopotamia Once a Year
 Rich, New Soil Every Year After Floods
 Irrigation Ditches Carried Water to Fields (Modifying the Environment)
 Wheat & Barley Harvested Each Year (Surpluses)
Mesopotamia: The Fertile
Crescent
 Dry Region, but Very Rich Soil (Hence: Fertile)
 Farmland Covered with Silt After Floods
 Located Between Persian Gulf & Mediterranean Sea
Flooding
Leaves
Behind Rich
Soil for
Farming
Mesopotamia: Technological Advances
 Advanced Architecture (Ramps, Arches, Columns, Ziggurats)
 Oldest Wheel Ever Found
 Record Keeping (Cuneiform-Clay Writing Tablets)
 Math (Base 60 and Standard Operations)
 Improved Technology (Bronze=Tools and Weapons)
 Invented Sail, Plow, the Screw (Simple Machine)
Mesopotamia: Government
(Priests then Military Rulers)
 At the Start of Civilization, Temple Priests Were in Control
 Time of War: Military Leaders took Control Temporarily
 As Civilization Evolved, Military Leaders Assumed Control Permanently…and
Eventually Popular Leaders Would Pass Power
Down to Their Sons
Ziggurat
Human Sacrifice
was a part of
Mesopotamian
Culture
Mesopotamia: Religion
 Polytheistic (Human-Like, Immortal, All-Powerful)
 Epic Of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamian Myths, Legends)
 Worked to Earn Gods Protection
 Ziggurats Built for Sacrifices to Gods (Wine, Animals, etc.)
Early River Valley Civilization: Cloze Passages
Slides 4-6
Fill in the blanks using the words provided: fields, plains, landforms, Agricultural, culture, organized, civilizations, environment, region,
unstable, predict, cradle, classes, populations, parts, Nile surplus, hills, government, physical, wet, sediment, bring, dug, barley,
changed, flood, permanent, earlier, unpredictable, ditches, gathering, animal, hunting people, China, collect, villages, harvested.
The first history of human civilization took place in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates River, is modern-day Iraq, Syria,
Turkey and Iran. Mesopotamia has been called the _______ of civilization’ because agriculture, __________ herding and domestication
developed there ________ than anywhere else, almost 8,000 years ago. Though the early ___________ people lived in a complex,
_________ and frequently hostile ________ here, their civilization came into existence because; instead of ______ and ______ their food,
they began to rely heavily on agriculture. It was the development of irrigation agriculture that allowed their civilization to take root. Irrigation
_______ allowed for water to be delivered to ______ which led to an abundance of crops that could feed a large number of ______.
Mesopotamia developed in an ______ physical environment. It was the development of irrigation agriculture that would enable a _______
settlement to develop in this dry ______ . They were able to grow a ______ of wheat and _______ every year because the rivers would
__________ once a year. The problem however, was that they couldn’t _________ when the rivers would flood. Another problem was that
the rivers in the region sometimes ________ course taking precious ______ (water) away from settlements. To solve these problems,
irrigation ditches were _______ that would _______ water to their fields and water the crops. Flood ________ allowed for fertilization of
crops when new ___________ is deposited from higher elevations.
The land in Northern Mesopotamia is filled with plains and ______ whereas in Southern Mesopotamia the _______ environment is flat,
_____ and marshy. The climate, _______ , soil and vegetation are physical features that either allow civilizations to emerge and expand,
cause them to decline.
Early River Valley Civilization: Cloze Passages
Slides 7-8
Fill in the blanks using the words provided: evolved, manage, wheel, calendar, family, burials, City-States, multiplication, bronze,
population, kings, family, king, human, collectors, Priests, silver, wealth, Mesopotamia, metal, boundaries, laws, medicine, records,
education, fields, tablets, workers, cuneiform, payments, purposes.
Mesopotamia developed ________ which was a system of ________ performed on clay writing _____ . The first written texts were for
economic _______ . For example, lists were written that identified the ________ of crops harvested in certain ______ and by certain field
________ , as were lists that kept track of ________ for crops. Most reading and writing centered around the training of priests but
__________ was a big part of Mesopotamian ________ (society). Reading, writing, religion, law, _______ and astrology were important
educational fields and many city-states had a library at the center of their educational pursuits. They were among the first people to create
______ work with metals, study the stars, and keep written ________ . Large civilizations can be created and expand much easier if it has a
writing system that prevails across their _________ .
They created a number system, 12 month lunar _________ , 60 minute hour, and advanced ___________ tables. They also worked with
_______ and developed the _______ , and found many uses for it. For example, Assyria conquered Babylon through the use of chariots,
battering rams made of _______ and horses covered in bronze armor.
_________ were ruled by individual _______ who established alliances with other city-states inside of ________ . At first priests served as
these kings, but leadership evolved in Mesopotamia over time as power transitioned from ______ to military leaders. The _______ and
power that these kings held can be seen today in the elaborate ________ that have been unearthed. Some of these burials include
________ sacrifice as well as objects such as gold and ______ . Leadership would often stay in the hands of a particular _______ as power
would be passed down to the king’s son or another popular _______ family member.
As civilization ________ , a system of government developed under each ruler which relied on governors and tax ________ to manage the
economy of each city-state. They formed the skeleton of a huge government structure that could _______ and control a large ________ .
Early River Valley Civilization: Cloze Passages
Fill in the blanks using the words provided: Religious, communication, gifts, friendship, hero, ruler, city, angry,
Gilgamesh, own, many, disc, earth, heavens, death, connection, structures, actually, bricks, worship, ability,
leaders, life, evil, air, descended, mud, Sargon.
Slide 9
Mesopotamians believed the world was a flat ______ that was surrounded by space and above them was the ________ . They were polytheistic
meaning that they believed that there were ______ gods. They had 4 main gods: the god of heaven, god of ______, god of water, and the god of ____.
Each city-state in Mesopotamia had their _____ god and that god owned everything inside the ______ . They believed that their kings and queens
______ from the gods, but they did not believe that they were _______ gods. Kings were expected to look after the people and they often gave
themselves prestigious names like “great king.” King _______ is regarded as the greatest ________ and he was called “Sargon the Great”.
_________ is a long narrative poem that describes the deeds of a _______ in his quest for identity and the meaning of _____. Part man and part god,
Gilgamesh deals with such universal themes as the meaning of _________ ; fear of sickness, ______ , and the forces of ______ ;and the search for
immortality.
Ziggurats were built of ______ or clay ______ and were very high to help them establish a __________ between heaven and earth. It served as the
place of ______ and a training facility for priests. ______ events were also held here. As the religious ________ , only priests and priestesses had the
_____ to talk to the gods and constant __________ was important because Mesopotamians felt like the gods were often ________ at them. Thus, it
was important to lavish the gods with ______. Ziggurats and other religious _________ became bigger and more elaborate as time went on.