Ancient River Valley Civilizations

Mesopotamia Location: between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the FERTILE CRESCENT

Mesopotamia SPECIALIZED LABOR: Mesopotamia had many farmers, merchants, metal workers, and also priests, who were in charge of the Ziggurats (religious temples).

Mesopotamia TECHNOLOGY: Farmers used irrigation to move water from the river to their fields.

Mesopotamia ADVANCED CITIES: There were many cities that traded with one another. Jericho Aleppo

Mesopotamia INSTITUTIONS: Government & Politics : run by military leaders who had become kings Hammurabi’s Code – It was the first law code, written by a Sumerian king. It was engraved in stone and listed 282 laws.

Mesopotamia RECORD KEEPING: The Sumerian Kingdom of Mesopotamia invented CUNEIFORM, which was a form of writing on clay tablets.

This is CUNEIFORM carved into a stone tablet.

Ancient Egypt Location: North Africa, along the Nile River

Ancient Egypt SPECIALIZED LABOR: Farmers - Flooding of the Nile left Egypt with fertile soil called silt. Merchants – Egypt traded many things with other civilizations by 3200 B.C.

Ancient Egypt TECHNOLOGY: The Egyptians built canals and irrigation systems to move water from the Nile to their farms.

Ancient Egypt ADVANCED CITIES: The Egyptians built massive pyramids and monuments to honor the Pharaohs because they believed that the pharaohs ruled after death.

Ancient Egypt INSTITUTIONS: Pharaohs: rulers who were worshipped as gods Pharaohs ruled over everyone and were at the top of society Slaves were the lowest people in society

Ancient Egypt INSTITUTIONS: Religion: Ruled as a theocracy (government ruled by religious leaders) Polytheistic: belief in many gods Ra = Sun god (most powerful and important god) Horus = god of light Isis = fertility goddess, the ideal mother and wife

Ancient Egypt RECORD KEEPING: Hieroglyphics: Egyptian system of writing, done by scribes (educated me who knew how to write) Papyrus: earliest form of paper made by the Egyptians from reeds of the Nile

Chinese Civilization Location: Along the Yellow River (Huang He) in East Asia

Chinese Civilization SPECIALIZED WORKERS: ADVANCED CITIES: Economy – peasants would work in the fields and grow rice and wheat ADVANCED CITIES: Society was divided between rich (overlords) and poor (peasants).

Chinese Civilization INSTITUTIONS: Government & Politics – China was run by dynasties (families of royal rulers) after 2000 B.C. The first dynasty was the Xia

Chinese Civilization RECORD KEEPING – The Ancient Chinese developed a writing system based on PICTOGRAMS where each character represents an idea not a sound

Ancient India Location: The Indus River valley is located in South Asia on the Indian subcontinent

Ancient India ADVANCED CITIES (and technology): The two most famous cities were HARAPPA and MOHENJO DARO In these cities some households had indoor plumbing, and some even had working toilets No other civilization would achieve the same level of convenience until the 1800s!

Ancient India INSTITUTIONS (and Specialized Labor)– Caste System- rigid class system that controlled people and their social interactions and occupation (job) choice the Caste System even controlled who you could marry!

The Caste System in India: What job was MOST IMPORTANT to Indians?

Ancient Indians Religion: Like the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the Indus River Valley cities were polytheistic. Hindu god VISHNU

3 Main Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva Ancient India Later, these beliefs evolved into a complex religious system called Hinduism. 3 Main Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

OTHER RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Nubians Location – Africa along the Upper Nile Connected Egypt to rest of Africa

Nubians INSTITUTION Religion – Polytheistic, often following Egyptian gods Pyramids built to their emperors were often bigger than the Egyptian’s

Nubians INSTITUTION: Government & Politics – first kingdom of pharaohs was Kerma began around 2000 B.C. But was eventually conquered and ruled by Egypt

Nubians ADVANCED CITIES: Economy – traded up and down the Nile with Egypt Especially for pottery

Nubians Society – Eventually became known as the Kush after 1100 B.C. Successfully united the Nile civilizations after 751 B.C. under one king

Nubians Fun Facts – after the defeat of the Egyptians, the Kush saw it as their responsibility to keep their culture alive

Phoenicians Location – on the Mediterranean Sea, in present day Lebanon

Phoenicians INSTITUTION: Religion – polytheistic would sacrifice their first born children to please the gods

Phoenicians INSTITUTION: Government and Politics – never a united country, but separate city – states.

Phoenicians ADVANCED CITIES: Economy – relied mostly on sea trade Goods = wine, weapons, slaves, metals, ivory and purple dye from snails

Phoenicians Society and Writing – created an alphabet, where symbols make a sound (phonetic)

Phoenicians Fun Facts – the Phoenicians were known throughout the ancient world for their glass making skills

Hebrews Location – Middle East, present day Israel

Hebrews INSTITUTION Religion (Judaism) – first monotheistic people, believed in one God Founder = Abraham

Hebrews Institution Government–ruled by kings high taxes lead to division, and kingdom is taken over by Babylon and HEBREWS BECAME SLAVES

Hebrews Written law code– society was governed by the 10 Commandments, God’s law