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Goal 2 Early Empires The First Empires • Between 3000 and 2000 BC, there were several city states in Sumer and they were almost always at war with each other. • In 2350 BC a conqueror names Sargon defeated the city state states of Sumer. • By taking control of all the city-states, Sargon had created the worlds first empire. • An Empire is when several independent states are under the control of one ruler. Early River Valley Civilizations • Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers” It is the area where the civilization of Sumer was. • Mesopotamia is between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. • This area is known as the Fertile Crescent because it created large harvest of food. • To provide water, the citizens dug irrigation ditches to carry water from the rivers to the city. • For defense they built city walls with mud and bricks. • They traded their hand made goods for raw materials with people in the mountain regions • By 2500 BC new cities were arising all along the Fertile Crescent and the Sumerian culture was spreading. • 500 years after Sargon had united the citystates into an empire, a group of nomadic warriors known as the Amorites took over the Empire. • Sumer became known as the Babylonian Empire. Its most famous ruler was King Hammurabi • Hammurabi is most famous for having the first set of written laws. The law code was carved in stone and placed around the empire. • About 200 hundred years after the Babylonian Empire fell, another empire was forming on the Nile River Hammurabi’s Law Code Ancient Egypt • The Egyptian Empire started like the Sumer with many different villages. By 3200 BC, the villages became 2 separate kingdoms. • The Egyptian Kingdoms formed along the Nile River. The Nile was much more dependable than the Rivers of Mesopotamia. • Eventually Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt united to form an Empire that would last for about 3000 years. • In Mesopotamia the Kings were considered representatives of the gods but in Egypt the were gods. • The Egyptian God Kings were called Pharaohs. They were the head of religion and the government. • This type of government is called a Theocracy. • They believed their kings ruled even after their death and had eternal life, therefore their tombs were very important. • The final resting place, or tomb for the Pharaohs were called Pyramids. • The Egyptians were polytheistic and had more than 2000 gods. The main god was Re, the sun god. • Egyptians believed in an afterlife. To make sure that their bodies reached the other world they preserved the body by mummification • They developed a system of writing known as Hieroglyphics. • At first they wrote on stone and clay but eventually they developed papyrus reeds which was like paper. • Egyptians also developed a calendar with 365 days and 12 months. • They Egyptians did have social classes and slavery, but people could move from one social class to another with hard work. Assignment # 1 • Use the chart on the next screen to write your name in Hieroglyphics Assignment #2 • In the World History text book, answer questions 1 – 5 on page 41 about ancient Egypt. • Put your answers on the same paper as your name in hieroglyphics and turn it in at the end of class. Indus Valley Civilizations • While Egyptians were building the Pyramids, bricks were being laid for India’s first cities. • Civilizations in the Indus Valley started about 2500 BC, however less is known about it than Mesopotamia and Egypt because the language has not been translated. • This civilization first formed along the Indus River and took up a larger area than Egypt and Mesopotamia. • One of the biggest achievements of the Indus Valley people were their well planned cities. • They built strong levees to keep water out, man made islands to raise the cities above flood waters • While the cities in other civilizations were a jumble buildings and winding streets, the Indus cities were on a grid system. • Houses featured bathrooms with plumbing. Waste water ran through the streets in drainage ditches and then into sewage pits. • There were not great social differences and few weapons were found which suggest that they were mostly peaceful. • Around 1750 BC the Indus cities declined. It is believed that earthquakes and floods caused this decline along with droughts possibly invaders. River Dynasties in China • About 1,000 years after the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and India started, China’s first cities started. • Unlike the others, these civilizations still thrive today. • The river that China’s first cities formed along was the Huang He, also known as the yellow river. • About the time the other major civilizations were falling to invaders, a group of people known as the Shang rose to power in China. • The Shang were the first to leave written records and lasted from 1700 BC to 1027 BC. • They built many elaborate palaces and tombs, but unlike other civilizations they built their cities mainly of wood. • Each city was surrounded by walls of earth 118 ft. wide circling an area 1.2 sq. miles. • In the ancient Chinese culture, marriages were arranged for girls when they were between 13 and 16 years old. • The Shang society was divided into 2 main social classes. Nobles and Peasants. The nobles on the land and lived inside the walls. • The main god was Shang Di. To consult with him, kings used oracle bones. • In Chinese writing each character was a symbol. There was no links between the spoken language and the written. • A person needed to know 1500 symbols to be barely literate. • Around 1027 BC people called the Zhou overthrew the Shang and started a new dynasty. • They claimed that the gods told them to do this. This is called a Mandate from Heaven • While they kept many parts of the Shang culture they also brought new ideas and inventions • Under the Zhou many roads and canals were built and the first coined money was made. Assignment • Get a world History book and answer questions 9 – 17 on page 56. • You do not need to write the questions. Pyramid Foldable • You will each make a pyramid with 3 sides. • For the outside choose 3 out of the 4 river valley civilizations that we talked about this chapter and decorate one side for each one • On the inside, give detailed information about the civilizations that are on the outside of the pyramid. • Include information about geography, culture, religion and time period. • This will count as a project grade so make it neat, colorful and full of information.