Download Packet #3 River Valley Civilizations PART II: Indus, China and the

Packet #3
River Valley Civilizations PART II:
Indus, China and the Americas
8,000-600 B.C.E.
Packet #3
This packet includes information on the following topics:
 Indus Valley Civilization
 The first two Chinese dynasties (Shang and Zhou)
 The Americas
Indus:
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India is vastly diverse in people and geography.
Early river valley civilization is called “Harappan Civilization”
Early civilization covered 600,000 square miles from the Himalayas to the
coast of the Indian Ocean.
Developed on the Indus River-highly unpredictable flooding
Major cities: Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
The language has not been deciphered so less is known about their culture
Political:
 The center of power was the city of Harappa, surrounded by brick walls over
40 feet thick at the base
 Cities had a grid plan
 Not a centralized monarchy with a theocratic base but a collection of over
fifteen hundred towns and cities loosely connected by ties of trade and
alliance and ruled by a coalition of landlords and rich merchants.
 Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, in Indus civilization there were no royal
precincts or imposing burial monuments, and stone cut outs do not represent
kings, priests, or military commanders
 No evidence survives concerning the Harappan political system
Economy:
 Primarily agricultural society
 Wheat, barley, rice, and peas were apparently the primary crops
 Cotton seeds at various sites suggests that the Harappan peoples may have
been the first to master the cultivation of this useful crop
 Extensive trade network that extended to Sumer and other civilizations to
the west. Textiles and foodstuffs were imported from Sumer in exchange for
metals and lumber, stones, and luxury goods. Trade conducted via ships in
the Persian Gulf (and some by land)
Culture:
 Architecture was purely functional – not for art
 However, pottery and sculpture is of high artistic quality.
o Sculpture was the highest artistic achievement 
 One of the great mysteries of Harappan civilization is how it came to end
 Archeologists working at Mohenjo Daro have discovered signs of first a
gradual decay and then a sudden destruction of the city and its inhabitants
around 1500 B.C.E.
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o Many ruins of skeletons show people in postures of running or hiding,
reminiscent of the ruins in Pompeii. It could have been environmental
or an attack – earthquake, change in the river flow to create flood etc.
Social Distinctions: no pyramids, palaces, or tombs but there were large
citadels where ruler wielded authority
o Homes had different styles—enabling historians to differentiate
between poor and wealthy
Strong concern for fertility – venerated gods and goddesses whom they
associated with procreation which continues with the beginning of Hinduism
o Polytheistic
Aryans: pastoral people from Indo-Europe. Inhabited Central Asia and
Siberia. The settled in India and abandoned their nomadic way of life in
exchange for agriculture. They used iron (probably came from interaction
with the Middle East)
o Most of what is known about the early Aryans is based on oral
traditions passed on in the Vedas, or collections of sacred instructions
and rituals. The Vedas was composed of numerous poems and songs.
They preserved extensive collections of religious and literary works
by memorizing them and transmitting them orally from one
generation to another in their sacred language, Sanskrit.
o The most important of the four Vedas is the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is
a collection of 1,028 hymns addressed to Aryan gods. Veda means
wisdom or knowledge. From 1500-500 in India is known as the Vedic
Age.
o As Aryans settled they evolved more formal political institutions.
Councils of elders won recognition as the principal sources of political
authority. They directed the affairs of small republics—states
governed by representatives of the citizen. They developed into
regional kingdoms, which became the most common form of political
organization throughout most of India.
o Caste System: unlike the political structure, the social structure was
strict and well-defined. Social structure rested on hereditary
distinctions between individuals and groups, according to their
occupations and roles in society. Those distinctions became the
foundation of the caste system, which largely determined the places
that individuals and groups occupied in society.
 Major continuity through time
 Will look at more deeply when we study Hinduism.
Patriarchal Society: strongly patriarchal social order on the basis of gender
distinctions. Women rarely learned the Vedas and formal education in
Sanskrit was for men.
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SOCIAL
ECONOMIC
POLITICAL
Indus
Valley
ENVIRONMENTAL
China: Ancient China 2200 – 256 BCE
 Agricultural society developed on the rivers of China- the rivers are the
Yangzi and the Yellow Rivers.
o Like the Indus River the Yellow River is boisterous and unpredictable.
o Yellow River gets name from the yellow loess soil that it picks up.
Loess is an extremely fine, powder like soil that was deposited on the
plains of northern China. Very fertile.
 The rise and success of the Shang Dynasty is attributed to technology—
bronze metallurgy transformed Chinese society during Shang times and
enabled Shang rulers to displace the Xia dynasty.
 Had horse drawn chariots, carts, wagons
 The ancient years of China are dominated by the Xia (briefly) then the Shang
and Zhou dynasties. Shang had bronze, Zhou had iron and were able to
conquer their predecessors.
o Zhou started to fail when bureaucrats became more independent of
the Zhou dynasty itself. Occasionally they refused to supply military
support and favored their own region over the greater whole.
Political:
 Not a highly centralized state
 Rather, their authority rested on a vast network of walled towns whose local
rulers recognized the authority of the Shang kings.
 Little information survives to illustrate the principles of law, justice, and
administration by which Shang rulers maintained order.
 Shang was succeeded by the Zhou
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o Mandate of Heaven – in justifying the deposition of the Shang,
spokesmen for the Zhou articulated a set of principles that have
influenced Chinese thinking about government and political
legitimacy over the long term. The Zhou theory of politics rested on
the assumption that earthly events were closely related to heavenly
affairs. Heavenly powers granted the right to govern – the ‘mandate of
heaven’- to an especially deserving individual known as the son of
heaen. The ruler then served as a link between heaven and earth. As
long has he ruled in harmony and order, the heavenly powers would
approve of his work. If a ruler failed in his duties, however, chaos and
suffering would afflict his realm. The cosmos would be out of balance.
The mandate to rule would move on to somebody else- another
dynasty.
Political Organization: Zhou rulers depended on decentralized
administration. They entrusted power and responsibility to subordinates
who in return owed allegiance, tribute and military support to the central
government.
Dynastic Cycle: The constant rise and fall of dynasties
Cultural:
 Royal families and allied noble families occupied the
most honored position in Chinese society.
 Resided in large palatial compounds.
o They lived on the agricultural surplus and taxes
delivered by their subjects
 Specialized workers- a small class of free artisans and
craftsmen plied their trades in the cities of ancient China.
 Peasants—large class of semiservial peasants populated
the Chinese countryside. Continuity through time until Mao Zedong
industrializes. Women in charge of wine making weaving and cultivation of
silkworms
 Slaves—mostly enemy warriors captured in battles. A sizable population.
Performed hard labor. Some were sacrificed during religious observances.
 Patriarchy was VERY important in Chinese culture. The principal institution
for the socialization of children and preservation of cultural traditions.
o Ancestral Veneration: one reason for the pronounced influence of
the Chinese family is the veneration of ancestor.
 In the absence of organized religion or official priesthood in
ancient China, the patriarchal head of the family resided at
rites and ceremonies honoring ancestors’ spirits. As mediator
between the family’s living members and its departed relative,
the family patriarch possessed tremendous authority.
 Chinese society vested authority principally in elderly males
who headed their households
 Women were in the shadow of men.
 Organized religion did not play a prominent role in ancient China.
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Oracle Bones: the earliest writing served the interest of rulers not traders.
One medium employed by ancient Chinese scribes has survived the ravages
of time to prove beyond doubt that writing figured prominently in the
political life of the Shang dynasty. Inscriptions on oracle bones have thrown
light on ancient China. They were used as a principal instrument of
fortunetellers in ancient China. Bones were prepared and heated. Once the
bones cracked, fortunetellers studied the patterns of the cracks to answer
questions.
Chinese Writing: like Egypt and Sumer, Chinese writing was pictographs- a
conventional or stylized representation of an object
Economic:
 Based largely on agricultural economy
 Merchants and Trade—there is little information about merchants and trade
in ancient china until the later part of the Zhou dynasty. Archeological
evidence shows that there was long distance trade (i.e. chariot technology
comes from central Asia and Mesopotamia)
SOCIAL
ECONOMIC
POLITICAL
Chinese Ancient
ENVIRONMENTAL
Valley
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The Americas
Olmecs:
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The “Rubber People”
Political: Authoritarian in nature
o Ceremonial Centers were not as residential as the cities in the eastern
hemisphere. They had a complex of temples, pyramids, altars, stone
sculptures, and tombs for rulers. Mostly where the elite, priests,
artisans, and rulers lived. Commoners would go to centers to observe
rituals but then leave to go home to small village.
Colossal Heads (front page): the most distinctive artistic creation of the
Olmecs. Sculpted from basalt rock. Most likely represented rulers.
Economics: Olmecs spread their influence by military force and trade.
Produced objects from jade and obsidian. No metal technology. Jade and
obsidian were imported from the Gulf Coast.
Culture: made astronomical observations and created a calendar to help them
keep track of seasons. Invented a system of writing. Had ritual sacrifices of
humans and invented a ball game. The Mayans would adapt all of these.
Olmecs were the foundation.
Located in Mesoamerica: the region from the central portion of modern
Mexico to Honduras and El Salvador
Cultivated crops like maize, chili peppers, beans, squashes, avocados etc.
Their domesticated animals included turkeys and barkless dogs- neither
used for anything but food
They had no cattle, sheep, goats, or swine so less protein was available to the
people. Most large animals in the western hemisphere were not susceptible
to domestication, so Mesoamericans were unable to harness the energy of
animals like horses and oxen in the eastern hemisphere.
Disappearance: many scholars who have studied the ceremonial centers note
that the Olmec civilization was systematically destroyed. Probably due to
civil conflicts. At about 400 b.c.e. Olmec society fell to hard times and were
taken over by greater civilizations like the Mayans. Mayans have a greater
appearance in the next unit during the classical period.
SOCIAL
ECONOMIC
POLITICAL
Olmecs:
Americas
ENVIRONMENTAL
Packet #3
Vocabulary
Mohenjo Daro
Harappan
Vedas
Rig Veda
Sanskrit
Caste
Ancestral
Veneration
Mandate of
Heaven
Dynastic Cycle
Oracle Bones
Pictographs
Mesoamerica
Olmec
Colossal
Heads
Definition