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River Valley Civilizations
Terms
Civilization: a complex culture with advanced cities, specialized workers,
complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology.
City: a center for trade for a larger area.
Specialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work.
Artisan: skilled worker who makes goods by hand.
Institution: a long-lasting pattern of organization in a community.
Scribes: Professional record keepers.
Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped,” a form of writing written in clay with a
wedge-shaped stylus.
Stylus: a sharpened reed with a wedge-shaped point.
Pictograph: symbols of the objects or things they represent.
Bronze Age: refers to the time when people began using bronze, rather
than copper and stone, to fashion tools and weapons.
Ur: one of the earliest cities in Sumer, standing on the banks of the
Euphrates River, housing about 30,000 citizens.
Barter: way of trading goods and services without money.
Ziggurat: a pyramid-shaped monument, meaning “mountain of god.”
Fertile Crescent: an arc of land that provides some of the best farming in
Southwest Asia.
Mesopotamia: a plain that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
meaning, “land between the rivers.”
Silt: a thick bed of mud.
Irrigation: the bringing of water to crop fields by means of canals and
ditches.
City-state: a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent
political unit.
Monarch: full-time rulers who later passed on their control to their heir.
Dynasty: a series of rulers from a single family.
Cultural Diffusion: the spreading of ideas or products from one culture to
another.
Polytheism: a belief in many gods.
Epic: long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendary or traditional
heroes
Epic of Gilgamesh: one of the earliest works of literature describing the
heroic adventures of Gilgamesh, a legendary king, and his unsuccessful
quest for immortality.
Social Structure: People are placed in different respects and class due to
their occupation and power.
Cataract: a waterfall or stretch of rapids in a river.
First Cataract: the point along the Nile where the rapids became too
strong for the riverboats to continue upstream southbound.
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Upper Egypt: Southern part of Egypt from the First Cataract leading up to
the part where the Nile spreads into many branches.
Lower Egypt: Northern part of Egypt consisting of the Nile delta region,
beginning about 100 miles before the Nile meats the Mediterranean.
Nile Delta: a broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of
silt at the mouth of the Nile River. The richness of the soil provides a good
home for many birds and other wild animals
Menes: King of Upper Egypt who united all of Egypt under one ruler.
Memphis: Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.
Old Kingdom: Lasting from 2,660 B.C. to 2,180 B.C.
Pharaohs: Egyptian god-kings.
Theocracy: type of government in which the ruler is a divine figure.
Ka: an eternal spirit
Pyramid: an immense structure serving as a resting place after death.
Great Pyramid of Giza: Largest pyramid consisting of 2 million blocks
spanning 13 acres and rising 481 feet.
Ra: the sun god.
Osiris: the powerful god of the dead who weighed each dead person’s
heart.
Horus: the god of light.
Mummification: embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from
decaying.
Book of the Dead: scroll that contained hymns, prayers, and magic spells
intended to guide the soul in the afterlife.
Hieroglyphics: “sacred carving,” an ancient Egyptian writing system in
which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds.
Rosetta Stone: polished black stone found in 1799 near the delta village
of Rosetta, it was inscribed in hieroglyphics, a simpler version of
hieroglyphics, and ancient Greek.
Papyrus: tall reed stalks that were dampened and then pressed into
paper-like sheets.
First Intermediate Period: Time between the Old and Middle Kingdoms
in which Egypt faced a period of weakness and turmoil.
Middle Kingdom: From 2080 B.C. to 1640 B.C., strong pharaohs took
control back by restoring law and order. They improved trade and
transportation by creating a canal from the Nile River to the Red Sea.
They conducted many other public projects to improve their irrigation and
farmlands.
Hyksos: “the rulers of the uplands,” the Asian nomads who came through
the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt with horse-drawn chariots and took control
from 1640-1570 B.C.
Indian Subcontinent: The mass of land including India, Pakistan, Nepal,
and Bangladesh.
Monsoons: Seasonal winds.
Khyber pass: Believed to be where northern migrants entered India in the
Hindu Kush Mountains.
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Harappa: One of the major cities settled near the Indus where many
archeological discoveries were made.
Mohenjo-Daro: One of the major cities settled near the Indus.
City Planning: Layout in Indus cities were of the grid system.
Citadel: a fortified area containing the major building of the city.
Grid System: Buildings laid out in an organized horizontal-vertical
fashion.
Indus Seals: Stamps and seals of carved stone were used to identify
where a good has come from, in this case, Indus.
Great Bath: In Mohenjo-Daro, it was probably used for ritual bathing or
other religious purposes.
Aryans: Nomads from north of the Hindu Kush Mountains may have been
the cause of the fall of the Indus civilization.
Huang He River: “yellow river.” Deposits large amounts of fertile loess
that is blown by the winds from the deserts to the west. “China’s Sorrow.”
Yangtze River: One of the major rivers in central China.
Three Gorges Project: a project that will add a dam to China that would
provide electrical power equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants. It will
displace more than a million Chinese people.
Middle Kingdom: China, who felt they were the center of the world.
Loess: a fertile deposit of windblown soil.
China’s Sorrow: The Huang He River, which in 1887 killed almost a
million people.
Xia Dynasty: First Chinese dynasty started around 2,000 B.C., whose
ruler, Yu, had such flood-control and irrigation projects that controlled the
Huang He River and allowed settlements to grow.
Yu: An engineer and mathematician, who had great flood-control and
irrigation projects that conquered the Huang He and allowed settlements
to grow,
Shang Dynasty: Lasting from 1532-1027 B.C., was the first family of
rulers who left written records. They had elaborate tombs and palaces.
Anyang: A capital of the Shang Dynasty, the entire city was made of
wood because it was found in a forest. The wealthy lived in timber-framed
houses within the walls, while the poorer lived in hovels outside of the city
walls.
Shang Di: the supreme god of the Shang.
Oracle bone: animal bone or tortoise shell with questions scratched on
them by a priest for the gods. They would use a hot poker to crack it and
interpret the cracks to see the gods’ answer.
Zhou Dynasty: Lasting from 1027-256 B.C., they were first to introduce
feudalism. This meant, that lords or nobles were granted use of the land
legally owned by the king. These local rulers had to protect the people of
their area and would owe military service along with loyalty to the king.
Mandate of Heaven: Approval of the gods.
Dynastic Cycle: Cycle used to describe the patter of rise, decline, and
replacement of dynasties.
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Feudalism: a political system where nobles or lords are granted the use
of lands, which by law, belong to the king. In return, they must protect the
people of their land and owe military service and loyalty to the king.
Surplus
River Valleys
Fertile
Specialization
Civilization
(life in cities)
Record
Keeping
Culture
Government
Cooperation
Interdependence
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Trade
Characteristics
Tigris and
Euphrates
Advanced Cities
-population
-city planning
-name of cities
-Walled cities
-Ur
Specialized Workers
-types of work
-farmers
-artisans (metalworkers,
potters)
-scribes, scholars
-priests
-theocracy
-legitimacy- marry
goddess
-city-state
-temple servants run
government
-laws
Complex Institutions
-government
-religion and values
-polytheism
-Ziggurat
-temple servants (rituals)
-economy
-temple economy (temple
servants run
economy=farms, taxes,
etc.)
-trade
-surplus
-coins
-King......goddess
-Temple servants
-Merchants
-Artisans (skilled
-social structure
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Nile
-Memphis
-Thebes
-No walls (predictable
floods)
-Surrounded by desert
-farmers
-artisans
-scribes
-government ministers
-priests
-Sphinx
-King Tut
-Theocracy
-Pharaoh (King)
-Kingdom (Menes united
Upper and Lower Egypt)
-Dynasties
-Government officials
-Public Works (Pyramids
-Obelisk (symbol of
power)
-Hatshepsut (only female
ruler)
-polytheism (over 2,000
gods)
-Ra (sun), Horus (sky),
Isis (Ideal mother)
-Ka=the afterlife; Osiris
(weighs dead hearts)
-Pyramids and tombs
-Mummification
-Book of Dead
-Trade (Nubia and
Mediterranean Sea)
-Surplus agriculture
-Scribes kept records
-Public works (pyramids)
-Royal class (king,
queen, royal family)
-Upper class (gov.
officials, priests, wealthy
workers)
-Peasants (farmers)
-Slaves (P.O.W.,debt)
*Lived outside walls
Record Keeping
-writing
-calendar
-literature
-history
-education
Advanced Technology
-tools
-irrigation
-metals
-architecture
-math/science
-Cuneiform
-Epic of Gilgamesh
-Maps
-Pictographs
What caused the
decline of the
civilization?
-invasions
-natural disasters
-Sargon of Akkad
invades
-Population increase
causes overuse of land
-Wheel
-Irrigation
-Astronomy
-Chemistry
-Bronze
-Sail
-Plow
-Architecture
-Number system based
on 60
Characteristics
Advanced Cities
-population
-city planning
-name of cities
Specialized Workers
-types of work
Complex Institutions
-government
landowners, army
commanders)
-Middle Class
(merchants, artisans)
-Lower class (farmers,
unskilled workers)
-Slaves
-Social mobility through
marriage, success
-Relative gender equality
-Hieroglyphics
-Pictographsphonographs became
ideographs
-Papyrus
-Book of Dead
-Mummification
-Papyrus
-Numbers/math
-Geometry (engineering)
-Architecture (stone
columns)
-Calendar- floods
(inundation, emergence,
drought)
-Medicine (pulse, splints,
surgery)
-Hyskos (nomads) invade
on chariots
Indus
-Harappa
-Mohenjo-Daro
-Well planned (grid system)
-Citadel
-farmers
-artisans
-merchants
-traders
-priests
-strong central government- organized cities, uniform
constructions
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
-religion and values
-economy
-social structure
Record Keeping
-writing
-calendar
-literature
-history
-education
Advanced Technology
-tools
-irrigation
-metals
-architecture
-math/science
What caused the
decline of the
civilization?
-invasions
-natural disasters
-Little/no military (natural barriers)
-Polytheism
-Baths=purity
-Bulls- cow=sacred
-Yoga meditation
-Mother Goddess
-Afterlife
-Wheel (reincarnation)
-Trade (Mesopotamia)
-Seals
-Surplus (granaries)
-Priestly class
-Aristocrats
-Traders, merchants, teachers
-Artisans
-Farmers
-Probably no slaves or poor
-Relative equality (uniform housing)
-Seals
-Pictographs
-Plumbing
-Sewage systems/toilets
-Engineering
-Standard bricks, weights
-Chess, dice
-Cloth, cotton
-Pottery (glazed tiles)
-Unpredictable river changed course
-Over population led to overuse of land
-Sudden catastrophe
-Aryan (nomads) invasion
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Characteristics
Advanced Cities
-population
-city planning
-name of cities
Specialized Workers
-types of work
Complex Institutions
-government
-religion and values
-economy
Yellow I
Xia and Shang
Dynasties
-Anyang
-Wooden
-Walls
-Peasants outside walls
-farmers
-irrigation builders
-artisans
-warriors
-civil servants, scribes
-Emperor, royal court
-Strong central gov.public works projects
(irrigation, palaces,
tombs)
-ancestor worship (family
important)
-oracle bones
-Middle Kingdom
-Polytheism
-Surplus agriculture
-social structure
-Emperor
-Warrior class/nobles
-Artisans, merchants
-Peasants
-Women (inferior)
Record Keeping
-writing
-calendar
-literature
-history
-education
-Characters
-Pictographs to
ideographs
-Oracle bones
-Standard written
language (unifies China),
many spoken languages
-Jade carving
-War chariots
-Bronze (weapons,
vessels, not tools)
-Silk
Advanced Technology
-tools
-irrigation
-metals
-architecture
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Yellow II
Zhou Dynasty
-Hao and Luoyang
-farmers
-irrigation builders
-artisans
-warriors
-civil servants, scribes
-Feudalism
-King
-Lords
-Peasants
-Mandate of Heaven and
dynastic cycle concepts
begin
-Mandate of Heaven
-Ceremonies
-Increased economic
activity
-More trade, larger cities
-Emperor
-Lords
-Civil servants (gov.
workers)
-Merchants, artisans
-Peasants
-Ideographs
-Scholars- education
important
- Iron (weapons, tools)
-Coined money
-Roads
-math/science
What caused the
decline of the
civilization?
-invasions
-natural disasters
-Replaced by feudal lords -Zhou monarch killed
-Overthrown by Zhou
(nomads)
-Capital moved east
-Period of chaos- Era of
Warring States (lords
fighting)
Feudalism of the Zhou Dyansty
Emperor
Military
Land
Loyalty
Taxes/crops
Lords
Use land
Crops
Protection
Loyalty
Peasants
Accomplishments of Old Sumer
• Alcohol
• Tile
• Temples
• Palaces
• Coins
• Pottery
• Wheels
• Arch
• Astronomy
• Literature
• School
• Maps
• Time
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Advantages and Disadvantages of Geography
Civilization
Mesopotamia
Advantages
-Fertile land
Nile
-Predictable flooding
(cycle)
-Natural irrigation
-Silt
-Winds (Easy transport)
-Natural barriers (Desert,
cataracts)
-Tropical climate
-Monsoon rains
-TRADE!!!
-Natural barriers
(mountains)
-Protection
Indus
China
-Fertile Loess
-Protected by natural
barriers
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Disadvantages
-Unpredictable flooding
(destructive)
-Travel difficult
-Man-made irrigation
-barriers
-No natural barriers
-Cataracts
-Tropical climate
(diseases)
-Monsoons unpredictable
(famine)
-Monsoons->flooding
=destructive
-River unpredictable
-Suspended river (have
to build walls)
-Destructive flooding
(“China’s Sorrow”)
-Isolated by barriers
-Middle Kingdom
-Unpredictable River
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006
Be able to label: Tigris River, Euphrates River, Persian Gulf, First Cataract on
the Nile River, Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, Nubia, Nile Delta, Red Sea,
Mediterranean Sea, Indus River, Hindu Kush Mountains, Himalayan Mountains,
Khyber Pass, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Wet (Summer) Monsoons, Dry
(Winter) Monsoons, Yellow River, Taklamakan Desert, Gobi Desert, Yangtze
River, Yellow Sea, Plateau of Tibet, and Pacific Ocean.
Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006