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River Valley Civilizations
A Brief Overview
River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Present Day: Iraq
Flooding: Floods once a year,
unpredictably
Characteristics:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers in the Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between
two rivers”
Low amount of rainfall
Open plains- no natural barriers from
outside attack
Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Nile River Valley

Present Day: Egypt (Africa)
Flooding: Floods the same time every year in
July. River recedes in October leaving fertile
soil.
Characteristics:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
River flows NORTH for 4,100 miles
It is the worlds longest river
Egypt is considered to be the “gift of the Nile”, the
river gave them life
Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the west
Nile River Valley
Indus River Valley

Present Day: India- a tremendous peninsula
sometimes referred to as a subcontinent.
Flooding:
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1.
2.
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The Indus river floods unpredictably and sometimes
changes course
Extreme wet and dry seasons
Characteristics:
1.
2.
3.
3 water boundaries- The Arabian Sea, Bay of
Bengal, Indian Ocean
2 mountain ranges- The Himalayas and Hindu Kush
Monsoons- seasonal winds that bring tremendous
amounts of rainfall to the valley
Indus River Valley
Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley

Present Day: China
Flooding: unpredictable flooding. The river
ruined so many villages that it is called
“China’s Sorrow”
Characteristics:
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1.
2.
Called the yellow river because it deposits yellow
silt.
Many natural boundaries
a.
b.
c.
d.
3.
East: Pacific Ocean
West: Plateau of Tibet and Desert
South West: Himalaya Mountains
North: Gobi Desert
Mountains and desert dominate 2/3 of the land
Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley
Mesopotamia
Geography
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Located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Fertile Crescent
Modern Day Iraq
Low amount of rainfall-needed a steady water
supply
River floods annually- unpredictable
Open plains-no natural barrier from outside
attack
Limited natural resources- no good supply of
stone, metal, wood
Solutions to Natural Problems

Dug irrigation ditches
to control water
supply
 Build mud walls
around the city for
protection
 Traded with people in
surrounding areas for
natural resources
Government

Separated into City-States divided by swampy areas,
acted as their own country
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City-States included a city, farms, and the villages around the
city
City-States controlled by Temple Priests-success of crops
depended on Gods
City-States united under Sargon I
Sites such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu are considered to be
some of the worlds first cities
During time of war men of the city picked a leader for the
war
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As war became more common priests gave men permanent
control of the army
Some commanders became full time rules, called Monarchs
Map of City-States
Religion

Polytheistic-believed many gods
controlled nature called Animism
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Each god controlled a specific natural
force or human activity
Gods could cause great misery in
angered
Thought gods had little regard for the
people
Built huge temples called Ziggurats
to honor the gods
 Believed in life after death
 Sacrificed animals to the gods to
ensure good growing seasons
Social Structure
 Social
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Classes emerged
Highest: Priests and Kings
Wealthy merchants
Laborers and common people
Slaves
 Women
were not equal to men but had
some rights
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
Could not attend school
Could own property and hold most jobs
Fall of the Civilization
 Constant
fighting between city-states led
to not being able to fight off outside
invaders
Contributions

Cuneiform writing- system of 700 symbols that
represented sounds, objects, and ideas. Written
on Clay tablets.
 System of numbers based on 60, 360 degree
circle
 Architecture- Ziggurats
Contributions
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Tax system to support the
city states
Sumerians manufactured
bronze
the use of the wheel
The use of the umbrella
Use of the metal plow
Written law codeHammurabi’s Code of
Laws
Hammurabi

Nomadic warriors
called Amorites
invaded Mesopotamia
and established their
capital at Babylon
 Babylon reached its
height during the rule
of Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s
Code

Hammurabi collected existing laws and
established a unified code of laws for the
entire Empire, all city-states

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Code applied to everyone but had
different punishments for different
classes of people and men and women

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Code had 282 laws dealing with all
aspects of society: family relations,
business conduct, crime, ect
Had specific punishments for each type of
violation
Code reinforced the idea government is
responsible for what occurs in society.

If a man is robbed and the thief is not
caught, government is responsible to
compensate the victim.
Things I need to Know for the
Test
 Where
do all early civilizations develop?
 What river did the Egyptian develop next
too?
 What did rivers provided?
 Review on Neolithic Revolution.
 Polytheism, pyramids, mummification
 Hieroglyphics
Egyptian Civilization
Geography

Located on the Nile River in Northeast Africa

Settlement began around 5000 BC
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River flows north 4,100 miles
 Floods the same time every year, July
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Egypt is considered ‘the gift of the Nile”, the river
gave them life
Farmers relied on the floods to irrigate crops
Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the
west
History and Government
 Menses
(Narmer) unites upper and lower
Egypt into one and established the 1st
dynasty


Established their capital at Memphis
From about 3000 BC to 332 BC, Egypt was
ruled by 30 dynasties
History and Government
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Kings were considered gods called Pharaohs, this
is a theocracy

Kings were the center of government and
religion
Built pyramids during the Old Kingdom

Places to honor and bury their god-kings
Egypt had a population of about 5 million people at
its height
Religion
 Polytheistic-
believed in over 2000 gods
and goddesses
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Most important god Ra- the sun god
Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaton
and claimed to be equal to the sun god
 Built
huge temples to honor gods and
goddesses
ReligionPyramids

Believed that kings
continued to rule after
death, built enormous
pyramids as tombs

Pyramids were built
during the kings life to
show strength in his
dynasty
Religion
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Osiris- The Egyptian god
responsible for life, death and
rebirth
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Also known as the God of the Afterlife,
Weighed the heart of people
passing into the afterlife to judge
them.
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If the heart was lighter than a feather
they passed through
If the heart was heavier- Devourer of
Souls would eat the heart
Religion
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Akhenaton
Akhenaton- a Pharaoh who
founded a new and controversial
religion
Kings were mummified to preserve
the body and put into tombs with his
belongings

Also given “The Book of the Dead”
which contained prayers to go to next
life
Book of the Dead
The Empire
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Narmer:
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Conquered lower Egypt
Sets the capital of his
government in Memphis
Women- had the ability to
own property, testify in
court, and begin the divorce
process
The Hyksos
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The Hyksos were able to
invade and defeat the
Egyptians because they had
better tools and horse drawn
chariots
Contributions and Achievements
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System of numbers- to tax,
farmers used geometry to
survey the land after floods
 Architecture- measurement,
building of pyramids and
palaces
 Developed a 365 day
calendar based on the
flooding of the Nile
 Medicine-pulse, circulatory
system, splint broken bones,
surgery-tonsils out
Numbers
Calendar
Hieroglyphics
Writing System

Writing SystemHieroglyphics, pictures
representing ideas
 Wrote on Papyrusreeds that grew near
the Nile
 Translated by the
Rosetta Stone- stone
had 3 languages on it
including Egyptian
Hieroglyphics and
Greek
 Everyday writing was
called Hieratic
Rosetta
Stone