Download River Valley Civilizations

Dates of Existence: 3200 BC – 2300 BC
This area was
part of the
Fertile
Crescent:
A fertile arc of
land from the
eastern coast
of the
Mediterranean
Sea, through
Mesopotamia,
to the Persian
Gulf
*Rich soil and a lot of crops led to the development of
civilization in Mesopotamia
Ancient Sumer
Impact of Geography
 Fertile
Crescent: the land between the Tigris
and Euphrates was supplied with fresh silt
yearly. Floods made irrigation necessary.
 Steppes: the lack of mountains within the
region allowed for waves of invaders and
conquerors to move in.
Mesopotamia: Politics
Government/Leaders:
The political system was a Theocracy –
religious authority by divine rulers
Divine Rulers – kings who got their
power to rule from gods and therefore
had god-like powers themselves; kings
were aided by priests
There was no central government.
Mesopotamia was divided into
independent city-states, which often
fought for control of land and water.
City-States:
A city and its
surrounding territory
(e.g., Ur, Uruk).
The cities were
surrounded by great
walls to offer protection.
Stone was scarce, so most
buildings were made of
mud bricks.
Empires in Ancient Mesopotamia
An EMPIRE is a large political unit, or state, with a single
leader.
The city-state of Babylon rose to power led by King
Hammurabi.
Hammurabi collected the laws of his region and
wrote them down for all to see. This is called
HAMMURABI’S CODE.
He wrote them down so everyone would know what
the laws were and could not use ignorance as an
excuse to escape justice.
The law code covered just about everything from
business to personal law and is seen as very harsh
now, but was pretty standard for its time.
An Eye for an Eye
and a Tooth for a
Tooth
What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and
kills the owner?
Code 229: If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its
construction sound, and the house which he has built collapses and causes
the death of the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death.
230 If it killed the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to
death.
231 If it killed a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the
owner of the house.
What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop
for a drink?
Code 110: If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living in a convent
opens a wine shop or enters a wine shop for a drink, they shall
burn that woman.
What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
Code 117: If a man be in debt and is unable to pay his creditors, he
shall sell his wife, son, or daughter, or bind them over to service.
For three years they shall work in the houses of their purchaser or
master; in the fourth year they shall be given their freedom.
What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
Code 195: If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand.
Miscellaneous:
196 If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
200 If a man knocks out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked
out.
21 If any one break a hole into a house (break in
to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole
and be buried.
22 If any one is committing a robbery and is
caught, then he shall be put to death.
Mesopotamia: Religion
The Sumerians were Polytheistic: believed in many gods
The Sumerians believed Gods controlled everyday life and it
was their duty to serve the gods. If the gods were not
happy then they would be punished by a flood or natural
disaster. The flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
was unpredictable and so the Sumerians lived in constant
fear.
Goddess
The Sumerians also believed in an underworld for the spirits
of the dead and in a bleak afterlife.
The most important building in the city state was
the Ziggurat, a massive stepped tower with a
temple in the top of it.
They were believed to be homes for gods and
goddesses. Only priests were permitted on the
ziggurat and it was their responsibility to care for
the gods and attend to their needs. As a result,
priests were very powerful members of Sumerian
society.
Mesopotamia: Society
Social Divisions:
Three social groups:
•Nobles – kings, priests, army officers
•Commoners – farmers (90% of people), merchants, fishers,
craftspeople
•Slaves – worked for nobles in the palace and on large farms
Sumerian Technology
The Sumerians were the first to do a lot of things:
•Invented written language (what was it called?)
•Ziggurats were place of worship; mud-brick primary building material
•Took the wheel and used it for carts to transport goods and people
•Invented the potter’s wheel for making pottery
•Made Bronze
•Used the arch in architecture
•Mathematics, astrology
•Epic of Gilgamesh
Sumerian Mathematics
The Sumerians invented a number system based on 60.
We still see the influences of this today in our time system and Geometry.
Art was primarily
used for religious
purposes
Ancient Sumer
Public Works
most agriculture, irrigation, and public
buildings were constructed through the
organization of government relying on
citizen labor
Development of Writing
Cuneiform
This was the first written language.
Its name means wedge shaped writing.
It was invented by the Sumerians.
Writing was originally created as a way to keep
records for agriculture and trade, but eventually
was used for art and literature.
No paper = characters were carved into clay
tablets using a tool called a stylus made from a
stick or reed.
Scribes were people who were trained to write.
Ancient Sumer
Decline/Downfall
Invaded by the Akkadians, under the
leadership of Sargon
Ancient Sumer

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Ancient Egypt
Dates of Existence:
2700 BC – 1100 BC
Ancient Egypt
Location
Nile River Valley in modern Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Impact of Geography
 Nile River: Semi-annual flooding
made agriculture possible along this
narrow ribbon of green in the desert
 Deserts: served as barriers between
Egypt and outsiders allowing Egypt to
develop a unique culture
 Mountains: provided for cataracts
along the Nile River making contact
with people to the south difficult
Ancient Egypt
Government/Leaders
 United by the King Menes of Upper
Egypt
 Ruled by a series of dynasties
 divided into 3 different kingdoms, Old,
Middle, and New
 Pharaoh was considered a king and
god, specifically, the god Horus theocracy
Egypt: Politics
Egyptian kings came to be known as Pharaohs.
The Pharaoh was seen as divine, or godlike.
The Pharaoh was the absolute monarch (had
complete control of the land and resources),
but ruled with the help of advisors.
The Chief advisor to the Pharaoh was the
Vizier.
The Egyptian Pharaohs organized
a strong central government.
Decline
• Egypt fell into a period of
decline and foreign invasion
(this is a pattern we are going
to see A LOT)
• Egypt was ruled by many
different people and eventually
defeated by the Romans
• The last Pharaoh of Egypt was
Cleopatra VII, who committed
suicide rather than surrender
to the Romans
Ancient Egypt
Religion
 polytheistic
 pharaoh was king and god
 belief in the afterlife, elaborate tombs
were built to make the passage into the
afterlife easier
Egypt: Religion
•Religion was closely tied to daily life
•The Egyptians were polytheistic, worshipping many
different gods
•The most important god was Ra, the god of the sun
It was believed that each
person had a Ka, or soul. The
practice of mummification
began because it was believed
that the soul could exist in the
afterlife only so long as the
body was preserved.
Ra
Osiris
God of the afterlife, the
underworld, and the dead;
Mummification
A process completed to preserve the body
so that the soul could stay in the afterlife
Ancient Egypt
Job Specialization
abundance of food allowed people to
specialize in all sorts of jobs: brewer,
farmer, potters, weavers, soldiers,
scribes, etc.
Egypt: Economy
The Pharaoh controlled the economy
The economy was based on farming and trade
The Nile created fertile land for farming
The Egyptians traded gold and wheat to other
countries along the Mediterranean
Since a money system didn’t exist, trade was
done by bartering
Gold
Ancient Egypt
Social Classes
 Hierarchy:
 pharaoh and the
royal family
 high priests and
priestesses
 nobles
 merchants, scribes,
artisans
 farmers
 slaves
Daily Life
The people
had a positive
attitude
toward life.
Egypt had a hierarchical
social structure
Pharaoh
Priests
Nobles
Monogamy was
the rule, and
women had
more rights in
Ancient Egypt
than the rest
of the Ancient
world.
Merchant Class
Peasants and Slaves
Women could
own property,
business, and
request a
divorce.
Ancient Egypt
Arts/Architecture/Science/Technology
 mud-brick was used for common homes
and buildings
 great monuments and pyramids were
built out of granite
 hieroglyphic writing
 mathematics, astrology,
biology/medicine
Pyramids were built during the
Old Kingdom
They were designed to be tombs
for the Pharaoh
The sphinx is a mythological
creature in association with the
solar deities of ancient Egyptians
and is seen on architecture
throughout Egypt
Step Pyramid of Zoser
Obelisk of
Sphinx and Pyramids
At Giza
Hatshepsut
In Egyptian art the human body is usually
shown in profile or partial profile
Ancient Egypt
Public Works
slaves and peasants provided most of the
labor for major building projects,
including temples, pyramids, and
irrigation projects
Egyptian Advancements in
Math and Science
• The Egyptians used math to calculate area
and volume in building the pyramids and in
surveying flooded land for farming
• The Egyptians developed a 365-day calendar
• The practice of mummification led to
advances in medical knowledge
Ancient Egypt
Writing
 Hieroglyphics:
 picture writing, performed on stone or
papyrus
Writing began in Egypt around 3000 B.C.
There were different types of writing for different occasions
Hieroglyphics were ideograms used for formal writing
The Egyptians carved their writing on stone, or wrote on papyrus,
a form of paper made from a reed that grew along the Nile River
For a long time archaeologists were
unable to translate hieroglyphics
The discovery of the Rosetta stone
allowed for the translation of
Hieroglyphics
It contained the same passage in three
languages
1. Hieroglyphics
2. Greek
3. Demotic
Ancient Egypt
Decline/Downfall
weak leadership, poor crops, invasions
Ancient Egypt

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Indus Valley
Dates of Existence
2,500 BC – 1,500 BC
Indus Valley
Location
Northern India, Indus River Valley
India’s Geographic Features


The Indian
subcontinent is a
large, wedge-shaped
peninsula that extends
southward into the
Indian Ocean.
Subcontinent: A large
region that is part of a
continent, but is
separated from the rest
of the continent in some
way.
Identification of
Geographic Features in India
Indus River
Indus River
Ganges River
Ganges River
Peninsula
and/or
Subcontinent
Himalayan Mountains



This peninsula is
surrounded on the north
and northwest by huge
mountains, the
Himalayan Mountains.
This has often limited
India's contact with other
cultures. This is known
as cultural isolation.
You decide! How would
isolation impact the
people on Ancient Indus?
Seasonal winds known as monsoons bring rain every summer.
India is dependent upon monsoons to grow their crops. Not
enough rain brings drought. When there is too much rain,
rivers rise and cause deadly floods and destruction of crops.
Indus Valley
Impact of Geography
 Himalayas: Mountains to the north; barrier
between India & China
 Northern Plain: Indus & Ganges Rivers make
agriculture here possible
 Deccan: plateau; arid (dry); sparsely populated
 Coastal Plains: fertile land due to heavy
seasonal rains (monsoons); fishing is
important source of food
 monsoons: seasonal winds; brings much
needed rains in the summer to supply water to
crops
Indus Valley
Government/Leaders
 well-organized government
 priest-kings helped ensure a steady
supply of grain
Civilization in the
Indus River Valley Begins
 About 2500 BC, about the
time when the pyramids
were rising in Egypt, the
first Indian civilizations
were forming in the Indus
River Valley.
 Little is known about these
civilizations, but Harappa
and Mohenjo-Daro were
most likely twin capital
cities.
Purpose of Early Cities
 Each city was large in
area and contained a
large structure located
on a hilltop.
 Many believe these
structures could have
served as a fortress or
even a temple.
Complexities of the Cities
 The most historically striking
feature of these two cities were
the way in which they were
both well planned.
 Each city was laid out in a grid
pattern, the blocks similar to
those seen in modern cities.
 The homes seem to have been
built with bricks and in a pattern
repeated throughout the city.
Plumbing In the Cities
 In addition, these cities
seem to contain houses
with plumbing
systems, including
baths, drains and water
pipes.
Trade with Sumer
 Most of the people of the
Indus valley were farmers.
They were the first people
to grow cotton and weave
it into cloth.
 There is early evidence of
trade with other
civilizations including
Sumer.
Indus Valley
Religion
 polytheistic
 worshipped a mother goddess
 worshipped sacred animals
Indus Valley
Job Specialization
 Eventually became very specialized –
developed a caste system (see pyramid
in next activity)
Indus Valley
Social Classes
can not be determined by the artifacts, no
clear evidence can be seen until the
Aryan civilization emerges c. 1,500 BC.
Indus Valley
Arts/Architecture/Science/Technology
archaeologist have been unable to find
much
Indus Valley
Public Works
plumbing / sewage projects
Indus Valley
Writing
writing existed, but has yet to be
deciphered
Aryans Take over Indus Valley
 Just like not much is known about the
development of this region, not much is
known about its decline.
 For unknown reasons, around 1750 B.C. the
Indus Valley began to decline. Then about
1500 B.C., nomadic warriors known as the
Aryans conquered the Indus Valley.
Indus Valley
Decline/Downfall
 Several theories exist:
 environmental problems
 earthquake
 invaders
Indus Valley

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
Ancient China
Dates of Existence
1650 BC – present
Ancient China
Location
Modern China, along the Yellow river

China’s Geographic Features
Huang He or
HuangRiver
He or
Yellow
Yellow River
Yangzi River
Yangzi River
~ Chinese civilization grew up
in the river valley of the Huang
He River (a.k.a.the Yellow
River) and the Yangzi River.
Ancient China
Impact of Geography
 Mountains, Ocean, &
Deserts: kept China
isolated and protected
from invaders, has allowed
it to develop a unique
culture
 Yellow River: “China’s
Sorrow” annual floods are
necessary to provide
needed silt but too much
or too little a flood could be
disastrous
Ancient China
Government/Leaders
 until recently, ruled by a series of
dynasties who claimed divine power
through the Mandate of Heaven
Zhou Dynasty
 Dynasty overthrew the Shang. Ruled from
1122 BC to 256 BC.
 Used the Mandate of Heaven, or divine
right to rule, to justify their rebellion.
Xia Dynasty
 Platoons of clay
soldiers were
buried with
China's first
emperor, Qin
Shi Huang Di,
to accompany
him during his
eternal rest.
Ancient China
Religion
polytheistic, based on ancestor worship
Polytheistic Peoples
 Early Chinese people
were polytheistic, and
prayed to many Gods
and nature spirits.
 They also looked to
dead relatives to help
them in daily life and
to help them please the
Gods.
Yin and Yang
 Many Chinese also
believed that the
universe held a delicate
balance between
opposing forces.
 The Yin and Yang must
be in balance for
prosperity and happiness
to occur in one’s life.
Ancient China
Job Specialization
 farmers
 artisans
 merchants
Ancient China
Social Classes
 royal family & noble warriors
 artisans and merchants
 peasants
Ancient China
Arts/Architecture/Science/Technology
 delicate silk
 poetry
 calligraphic writing
 books
 paper
 astronomy
Ancient China
Public Works
a form of tax was labor, each family would
be forced to provide a male to contribute
to public works each year
Ancient China
Writing
calligraphic ideograms
Ideogram:
a graphic symbol that
represents an idea or
concept
Early Writing System
 The Chinese civilizations made achievements in early
writing systems that include both pictographs and
ideographs and is now as one of the earliest writing
systems (consisting of thousands of characters)
Ancient China
Decline/Downfall
 dynasties fell due to the passing of the
Mandate of Heaven from one family to
another, all in accordance with the
dynastic cycle

Ancient China

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