1. Must haves for the Foundations Civilizations Chart
If you already have these written in your chart, highlight them.
If not, write them in and highlight them.

2. Mesopotamia Community Development Form of Writing Organized Systems
Sumer, Babylon, Akkad…major city states/kingdoms
Trade with Mohenjo-Daro
Organized Systems
Sargon of Akkad
Hammurabi of Babylon
First written law code
The Assyrian Empire
Included Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, parts of Anatolia, & most of Egypt.
Complex Social Structures
Kings were viewed as offspring of gods.
Priests were elite…sometimes the kings.
Slavery was common
Was a Patriarchal society—Men dominated.
Form of Writing
Cuneiform—world’s first written language
“Epic of Gilgamesh”—best known example of Mesopotamian literature.
Artistic Achievements
Built temples known as Ziggurats
Developed Technology
Iron metallurgy
The wheel
Shipbuilding
Irrigation systems

3. Shang China Community Development Form of Writing Organized Systems
Mainly along the Yellow River
Organized Systems
Mandate of Heaven--justification for the Emperor’s right to rule.
Veneration of ancestors—Ancestor Worship
Complex Social Structures
Peasants were the majority of the population
Slaves were used as sacrificial victims
Form of Writing
Pictographic language
Early examples written on oracle bones
“Book of Songs”—most notable of the classic works.
Artistic Achievements
Developed Technology
Wood, bone, and stone tools before iron and bronze
Bronze metallurgy
Iron metallurgy

4. Mohenjo-Daro Community Development Form of Writing
Indus River less predictable than the Nile in Egypt
Wheat and barley were main staple crops.
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro possibly served as twin capitals.
Indo-European family of languages evolved from the original language.
Organized Systems
Complex Social Structures
Varied social distinctions/classes
The Caste System developed…probably brought by the Aryans
Form of Writing
Prolific record keepers, however the earliest language has not been deciphered.
The Aryans later brought Sanskrit to the Indus Valley.
Artistic Achievements
Developed Technology
Developed standardized weights and measures.

5. Egypt Community Development Form of Writing Artistic Achievements
Along the Nile
Predictable flooding
Organized Systems
Centralized state ruled by Pharaohs—God-Kings.
Polytheistic—Re, the sun god/Osiris, god of the afterlife.
Cult of Aten—first monotheism
Complex Social Structures
Form of Writing
Hieroglyphic writing
Artistic Achievements
Built enormous monuments and the Pyramids.
Developed Technology
mummification

6. Olmec Community Development Form of Writing Artistic Achievements
Staple foods—beans, chili peppers, avocados, squash, gourds, maize.
Lived in agricultural villages
Organized Systems
Rituals of human sacrifice
The “ballgame”
Complex Social Structures
Believed that civil conflict ruined their society and is the reason it died out.
Form of Writing
Did not leave written records
Artistic Achievements
Colossal human heads—possibly likenesses of rulers.
Developed Technology
Calendar

7. Chavin—rose around 1200 BCE
Community Development
Lived in the Andes Mountains— ancestors to the Incas
Domesticated llamas
Staple foods—potatoes, quinoa
Organized Systems
Shamans revered for having divine connections
Complex Social Structures
Very little warfare
Form of Writing
Artistic Achievements
Large temples and stone sculptures
Developed Technology