5 Characteristics Of Civilization

5 Characteristics Indicate the rise of human civilization Characteristics continue to define and shape our civilization The 5 characteristics are: Advanced Cities Specialized Workers Complex Institutions Record Keeping & Writing Advanced

1. Advanced Cities Not just large population centers Centers of religion, politics, & trade for larger areas Generally located near important landforms Ex. Rivers

1. Advanced Cities - Ur -Advanced city located in Mesopotamia along the Euphrates River -City state that operated as its own country -Population of 30,000 people (large during that time period) -Center for bartering (trading goods or services for other goods or services)

1. Advanced Cities - Harappa Indus River Valley Civilization – Located along the Indus River in what is modern-day Northeastern Pakistan Grew on the floodplains of a rich and life-giving rive

1. Advanced Cities – Mohenjo-daro -Picture details excavated remains of the city -Located in the Indus River Valley Civilization

1. Advanced Cities – Ancient Egypt -Located in Northern Africa/Modern-Day Egypt & along the Nile River -Pictures details the Sphinx & the pyramids of Giza -Thebes – center of artifacts Temple of Luxor Valley of Kings Valley of Queens Necropolis Giza – Sphinx & Great Pyraminds

2. Specialized Workers Surpluses of food = people specializing in jobs outside agriculture This lead to more artisans, traders, and soldiers. Allowed for stronger civilizations Contributed to expansion of certain civilizations.

2. Specialized Workers – Ancient Egypt The bronze needle was a medical instrument mainly used during surgical operations to close wounds by stitching. Its pointed tip ends with a small hole where the medical wire is tied while the other end has a round-shaped head to hold the wire.

2. Specialized Workers – Indus River Valley Necklace from Mohenjo-Daro made from gold, agate, jasper, steatite and green stone. The gold beads are hollow and the pendant agate and jasper beads are attached with thick gold wire.

2. Specialized Workers - Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Scribe - Scribes Educated – understood writing system and record transactions

3. Complex Institutions Complex institutions were ways for governments to organize themselves Examples include: Government, law codes, religion, and the economy Religion – Includes the existence of theocracies

3. Complex Institutions - Mesopotamia -The reconstructed facade of the Neo-Sumerian Great Ziggurat of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq -Ziggurat – city hall and temple. Priests managed irrigation and collected taxes. Polytheism – belief in many gods Gods controlled nature Gods behaved like humans, but all-powerful

3. Complex Institutions – Ancient Egypt Societal Structure

3. Complex Institutions – Indus River Valley -The Indus Valley worshiped animals to some degree and a mother goddess representing fertility. -The Harappa religion was polytheistic used cattle, elephants, and other animals to represent their Gods.

4. Record Keeping & Writing Institutions becoming more complex = need for organizing info Most civilizations developed writing to organize this info

4. Record Keeping & Writing – Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphic Alphabet

4. Record Keeping & Writing – Indus River Valley 4000 Indus symbols have been found on seals. Writings have been found in leaves, barks, wood, cloth, wax, animals skins, and in other material.

4. Record Keeping & Writing Cuneiform - is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium (the Uruk IV period), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. In the three millennia the script spanned, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract as the number of characters in use also grew gradually smaller, from about 1,000 unique characters in the Early Bronze Age to about 400 unique characters in Late Bronze Age

5. Advanced Technology Civilizations made new technology Helped accomplish difficult tasks quicker & easier Inventions include: Drainage Systems Wells Water Storage System Medicine Wheel

5. Advanced Technology – Indus River Valley

5. Advanced Technology – Ancient Egypt

5. Advanced Technology - Mesopotamia Able to transport goods much more quickly & efficently