Download Chapter 2- Early River Valley Civilizations

EARLY RIVER VALLEY
CIVILIZATIONS
CHAPTER 2 (P. 26-57)
FERTILE CRESCENT
• Fertile CrescentBest farming in
Southeast Asia,
including lands
facing the
Mediterranean Sea
MESOPOTAMIA
• “Land between the
rivers”
• Tigris & Euphrates
• Sumer
SUMERIAN CITY STATES
• City-State- city and the surrounding land it
controlled, functions much like an
independent country today
• Ur, Umma
• Spread of city-states = CULTURAL DIFFUSION
• Process in which a new idea or product
spreads from one culture to another
SUMERIAN CULTURE
• Polytheistic- believing in many gods
• Social Classes
• Advances in:
• Arithmetic & Geometry
• Architectural Innovations
• Cuneiform
EMPIRE BUILDERS
• Empire- Brings together several peoples,
nations, or previously independent states
under the control of one ruler
• Babylonian Empire- 2,000 BCE
• Hammurabi- Leader at empire’s peak
HAMMURABI’S CODE
• A single, uniform
code of laws that
helped unify the
diverse groups of
Hammurabi's empire
• Engraved in stone,
displayed
• Harsh punishments
• Different punishments
for social status
NILE RIVER VALLEY
• Regular flooding =
fertile farmland
• Reliable
transportation =
unified villages &
promoted trade
KINGDOM
• Egypt united by Narmer
• Theocracy- government in which rule is
based on religious authority
• Pharos- Egyptian god-kings
• Pyramids
EGYPTIAN CULTURE
• Hieroglyphics
• Papyus
• Science, Technology, & Medicine
INDUS RIVER VALLEY
• Geography led to
isolation
• Mountains & Ocean
• Monsoons
dominate climate
• Seasonal winds
• Powerful storms
HARRAPAN CIVILIZATION
• Cities: MohenjoDara, Harappa
• Sophisticated city
planning
HARAPPAN CULTURE
• Written language (not deciphered)
• Peaceful
• Egalitarian
• Active Trade
CHINA
• Geography led to
isolation
• Ocean, mountain
ranges, desert
• River flooding =
fertile soil but
sometimes disaster
DYNASTIC CYCLE
Strong
DynastyMandate of
Heaven
New
Dynasty
Dynasty
Declines
Dynasty
Overthrown
Disaster
Mandate of
Heaven Lost
CHINESE CULTURE
• Family central to society
• Patriarchy
• Sharply divided social classes
• Writing
• Technology- roads, canals, coined money,
cast iron