Download Unit 2 India, China, Mesopotamia

Unit 2
Ancient Civilizations
Egypt, India, Middle East and China
Dates of Civilization
• India
• Middle East
– 4500 B.C.E.-331 B.C.E.
– 2500 B.C.E.-250 B.C.E.
• China
– 3000 B.C.E.- 300 B.C.E.
Major Rivers
• India
• Mesopotamia
– Tigris &
Euphrates
– Fertile Crescent
– Indus River
• China
– Yellow River
Geographical Setting and Natural
Barriers
• Middle East
– No large geographical
features
– Crossroads of the World
(of Life)
– Frequent Invasions
– Flooding not easily
predictable
Geographical Setting and Natural Barriers
• China
• India
– Arabian Sea
– Indian Ocean
– Monsoons
– Extremely Hot/Dry
• 120 degrees
– Bay of Bengal
– Himalayan Mtns
– Hindu Kush Mtns
– Well Protected
–
–
–
–
–
–
Gobi Desert
Himalayan Mtns
Monsoons
Rain Forests
Pacific Ocean
Well Protected
Civilizations
• Middle East– Power Cycle
– Sumerians
• Cuneiform –"wedge-shaped"
marks on clay tablets.
– Babylonians
• Hammurabi – 282 strict laws
– Hittites
• War like people
• Iron Weapons
• law codes (less harsh)
– Chaldeans
• Rebuilt Babylon
– Hebrews
• Moses - 10 Commandments
Civilizations
• India
– Indus River Valley - Harappans
– Aryan's – Tribal
• Raja's - Elected Chiefs,
military leader, law maker and
judge
– Caste System – Organizes division
of labor and money in society.
• China
– Dynasty
– Shang Dynasty
• First Dynasty
• Bureaucracy – Non-elected
officials make decisions.
– Zhou Dynasty (Joh)
• "Mandate of Heaven“
– Heavens would bless a just
ruler, but would overthrow
a dictatorial ruler.
– Han Dynasty
• Civil Service – centralized
system that runs day-to-day
business of government.
Religion
• Middle East
– Sumerians
• Ziggurats – temples
– Each City had its own God to protect it.
• Polytheistic
– Persians
• Zoroaster – founded the first world
religion.
• Influenced Judaism & Christianity
– Polytheistic
• Gods control nature
– Hebrews
• Monotheistic – God (Yahweh) had a
spiritual presence, not a physical.
– Phoenicians
• Believe in an afterlife
• Want to win favor of gods
• Extreme cases – sacrifice own kids
Religion
• India
– Indus River
• No temples found
• Believe they worshipped a great
god.
– Aryans
• Vedas
– Sacred Literature
– 4 Collections of prayers, magic
spells, instructions for rituals
– Recorded in Sanskrit
• Reincarnation
• Gods control nature - Polytheism
• Upanishads
– Oral Teachings written by
priests (form basis for Hinduism)
• No temples, rituals preformed in
open spaces.
• China
– Polytheistic
• Gods based on nature and
control human destiny
– Animism
• There are spirits in
everything
– Oracle Bones
• Questions carved into
bones, then heated
intensely, then priests would
read the cracks to tell the
future.
Written Language
• Middle East
– About 3000 BCE
• Pictographs
– Pictures of Objects
• Cuneiform
– Scribes used to record
religious ceremonies
– Wedge shaped
– Pressed into clay w/stylus
– Phoenicians
• Alphabet with 22 letters
• Later adopted by the Greeks
Language
• India - Indus River
– Pictographs
– Sanskrit
• Made of personal
symbols
• Still cannot accurately
read
• China
– Pictographs
– Ideograms
• Symbol that represents
an idea or concept.
Achievements
• Middle East
– Wheel and Sail
– Number system
• Compass & Watch
–
–
–
–
Alphabet – western alphabet
Iron
12 month Calendar, Astronomy
Architecture
• Arches, Ramps, Columns,
Inclined walkways
– Money Economy
• India
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Achievements
City Planning
Sewer System
Negative numbers
Infinity
1 – 9 ‘Arabic’ numbers
Calendar
Astronomy
• Viewed 7 planets
• Able to predict eclipses
• China
– Bronze Weapons
• Armor, Dagger, Spears
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Yoke and Harness
Spoked Wheel
Decimal System
365 1/4 Day Calendar
Fertilizer
Leveling – price controls
Paper
Acupuncture – used to stimulate and
correct imbalances of Natural
energy.
The End