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The River Valley
Civilizations
We will examine 4 categories of the
River Valley Civilizations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
•
Geographical
Political
Social
Economical
Each of the characteristics of
civilizations will fit under one or more
of those categories (you’ll learn more
about that later.)
Defining…..
• Geography: Where is it? Is the land
mountainous? Desert? Oceanic?
• Political: Who controls what? What type
of government is there? Anything to do
with laws, government, rulers, or war.
• Social: Religious, intellectual, artistic,
cultural
• Economic: What type of economy? How
do people make a living?
4 Early River Valley Civilizations
We will look at
the
Mesopotamia
River Valley
Civilization.
The Fertile
Crescent was
located in
what modern
day countries?
The World’s First
Civilization developed
(approximately 3500 B.C.)
in a region called
Mesopotamia.
Geographical Information
Label your map
• Civilization developed between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
in present day Iraq and Kuwait
• Mesopotamia means “Land
between the rivers”
Tigris River
Current times
Euphrates River – current times
• Because Mesopotamia had no
natural barriers, it attracted many
raiders and conquerors.
Civilizations came and went amid
much warfare.
Summarize the geography of
Mesopotamia.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What was the water source?
Describe these 2 rivers.
Was the area mountainous?
In what ways, was this an unsafe and
unstable place to live?
Empires that came to power in
the
Mesopotamia region
Because there were so many
different groups of people
(conquerors) who lived in
Mesopotamia, we will look at
only a few things about each one.
But the things we look at, will be
one of the characteristics of
civilization.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mesopotamia
Sumer
Akkadians
Babylonians
Assyrians
Chaldeans
Phoenicians
Israelites
Persians
The cradle of
Civilization –
Sumer
Sumer
Political
• City-state
• Priest controlled government
in times of peace
• Warrior – king controlled
government in times of war.
Economical
• Made their living mostly by trade with other
civilizations (moved goods up and down the
river)
• Farmed
• Raised animals for food
Social
• Religion
– Polytheistic
– Ziggurats
– Believed the gods were mean and cruel
because of the unpredictable, violent
flooding of the rivers
Religious practice in Sumer
• Polytheistic
Ziggurat
Ziggurat
Cuneiform
• Ivory and
gold harp
found in
UR
Sumerian Characteristics and
contributions
•
•
•
•
•
Invented the arch
the dome
the wagon wheel
cuneiform
invented a number
system based on 60
So… what characteristics of
civilization did Sumer have?
•
•
•
•
•
Written language?
Religion or belief system?
Social classes?
Division of labor (or job specialization)?
Form of government?
Akkadians
Akkadians
• Conquered the
Sumerians
• Ruled by Sargon
who is credited
with ruling the
first real empire
• Conquered by
the Babylonians
Babylonians
• Hammurabi’s
Code of Law
Hammurabi’s Code
• History’s first known
written laws
• 300 laws
• An “eye for an eye”
• Punishments varied
according to social
status.
Examples of Hammurabi’s Code
• If a builder builds a
house for some one,
and does not construct
it properly, and the
house which he built
falls and kills it’s
owner, then that
builder shall be put to
death.
• If a son
strikes his
father, they
shall cut off
his hand
• If the woman has
not been careful
but has gadded
about, neglecting
her house and
belittling her
husband, they
shall throw that
woman into the
water.
• If a man put out the eye of another man,
his eye shall be put out.
• If he breaks another man's bone, his
bone shall be broken.
• If he puts out the eye of a freed man, or
breaks the bone of a freed man, he shall
pay one gold mina.
• If he puts out the eye of a man's slave, or
break the bone of a man's slave, he shall
pay one-half of its value.
Political Impact of Hammurabi’s
Code
• First written code of
laws,
– It created a sense of
order
– Established a coherent
“rule of law” which
was independent of
ethnic or tribal custom
or even familial or
monarchical whim.
• Until this law, what
passed for “law” was
simply custom or the
wish of whoever was
ruling at the time.
The law could
change from
generation to
generation – even
minute to minute.
Legal Impact of Hammurabi’s code
• For the first time, the
notion of a separate
judiciary as part of
the overall
government
– This is a modern
hallmark of modern
democratic
governments the
world over.
Babylonians were conquered by the
Hittites.
• Hittites were the first to use Iron
Weapons
• Hittites were conquered by the Assyrians
Assyrians
• Extremely well organized
military and government
• “Cruel Warriors”
• Blood thirsty
• Conquered by the
Chaldeans (with help
from the Medes and
Persians)
Battering Ram
Assyrian Contributions
• Established many permanent roads to
facilitate troop movement.
• Established the first postal system to
facilitate communications.
• Hired many of its soldiers from foreign
lands and paid them based on success
(Mercenaries)
Chaldeans
• Famous for the
Hanging
Gardens
• Most famous
King was
Nebuchadnezzar
• Studied
astronomy
• Conquered by
the Persians
Did you notice the
ziggurat, huh?
Huh? Did you?
Phoenicians (coast of presentday Lebanon and Israel)
• Prominent traders
• Seafarers
• Developed an alphabet that was
passed on to the Greeks
• Famous for “purple”
• Absorbed into other cultures
Trading took the Phoenicians as far
as Britain and Africa’s west coast.
I’m
hooked on
Phonics!
• The Phoenicians
needed a way of
recording
transactions clearly
and quickly.
• So they developed
a writing system
that used symbols
to represent sounds.
Greece
• As they traveled around
the Mediterranean, the
Phoenicians introduced
their writing system to
their trading partners.
• The Greeks adopted the
alphabet although they
changed the form of
some of the letters.
Purple was made from snails
(Took 60,000 snails to produce
one pound of dye)
Contributions of the
Phoenicians
• They disperse
ideas as well as
goods, including
their written
language
• (cultural
diffusion)
Hebrews
• Abraham
• Moses
• Saul
• David
• Solomon
Abraham and his clan lived in UR,
probably around the time of
Hammurabi
Abraham leads his clan of bedouin sheep-herders
out from Ur
Abraham and his clan, travel into
different kingdoms where some of
his relatives live
But eventually, he, his wife Sarah,
and their clan settle in Palestine
Abraham has 2 sons
• Ishmael is the
firstborn; son of
Sarah’s maid
• Ishmael is
eventually
abandoned in the
wilderness, along
with his mother
Abraham’s 2nd son was Isaac
• Isaac had 2 sons:
Jacob (Later named
Israel) and Esau
• Jacob had 12 sons
(and four wives)
These 12 sons (and their families) later
migrated to Egypt, probably due to
famine.
Eventually, their descendants were
enslaved by the Egyptians (and remained
slaves for over 400 years)
Moses
Hebrew who
was raised as an
Egyptian
Set about to free
the Hebrews
from Egyptian
captivity
• After Moses’ death, Joshua
leads the Israelites into
Canaan, slaughtering
everyone and everything in
their path.
• After Joshua, Israel is
ruled by judges, but
eventually, Saul, is
appointed king.
After slaying a
Philistine with a
slingshot, David,
a shepherd boy,
later becomes
Israel’s 2nd, and
most beloved
King
Solomon
• Known for his wisdom
• He built a new palace out
of Phoenician lumber
• Built a temple to house the
ark of the covenant of
which only one partial wall
remains (The Wailing Wall)
• After the death of Solomon, the
kingdom was split into 2 independent
and individual kingdoms
– North: Israel or Samaria
– South: Judea or Judah
• Eventually, both kingdoms were
overrun by other groups
(Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Babylonians, then Persians)
Hebrew Legacy
• Ethical monotheism
• 10 commandments
• Torah
Hebrew Legacy
• “Promised Land” which they
still claim to be their’s
continues to influence the
Middle East
• Messiah, who they say will
come eventually and deliver
them from their enemies
(“like King David”)
Hebrews – which characteristics
were covered here?
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•
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Government?
Religion?
Form of writing?
Arts/architecture?
Advanced technical skills?
Social classes?
Persians
• Originally
located in
present-day Iran
• Largest empire
until Alexander
The Great
Persian government became a
model for future governments
• Established a tax collection system
• Allowed locals to keep customs
and religions
• built a system of roads that are still
used today
• Established a postal system
• Persian empire
ended when it was
overrun by
Alexander the
Great in 331 B.C.
Overview of river valley
civilizations
• The river valley civilizations develop
from small farming villages.
• The civilizations create laws, centralized
governments, writing systems, and
advanced technologies.
• The process of trade spreads new ideas
from one civilization to another.
Interaction with Environment
• Seasonal flooding and a limited
growing area were challenges faced by
early river valley civilizations.
• To deal with these problems, people
created irrigation systems, which
produced surplus food.
• Surpluses supported the rise of cities.
Power and Authority
• Projects such as irrigation systems
required planning, leadership, and laws
– the beginnings of organized
government.
• In some societies, priests controlled the
first governments.
• Over time, power and authority shifted
to military leaders and kings.
Science and Technology
• Early civilizations depended on
breakthroughs in science and technology,
including bronze tools, the wheel, the
sail, the plow, writing, and mathematics.
• These innovations spread from one
civilization to the next through trade,
wars, and the movement of peoples.
Questions
1. In what ways did the geography influence
the development of the Mesopotamia
civilizations?
2. What ways did it influence their religions?
3. In what way did it influence their
government?
4. In what way did it influence written
language?