1. The Four River Valley Civilizations

2. I. Tigris-Euphrates Rivers
Located in the Middle East (modern-day Iraq)
Often called Mesopotamia (“land between the rivers”)
First example of human civilization
By B.C.E.
Farmers were working with some metals, invented the wheel
Flourishing culture
Written language – cuneiform, developed by the Sumerians
Complex religious beliefs
Sumerians erected shrines and massive monuments, called ziggurats, to honor gods
Some ideas (gods’ creation of earth, floods) can be found in various religions

3. I. continued… Highly organized Lasting belief systems
Relied on city-states – small, autonomous regions ruled by a king
Developed strict class systems – kings, noble class, priests controlled most land
Regulated system of laws and courts
Babylonian leader, Hammurabi, set early code of law in stone
Lasting belief systems
Judaism – earliest monotheistic religion

4. II. Nile River Located in northern Africa, modern-day Egypt
3000 B.C.E.
Ruled by a pharaoh, or king
Considered to be directly descended from the gods
Complex religious and political rituals
Book of the Dead – guided the soul to the afterlife
Mummification of bodies – preserved those with elite status for eternity
Theocracy – ruled through laws based on religion
Development of writing
Hieroglyphics – comes from Greek words meaning “sacred carving”
More complex than cuneiform
Used papyrus reeds to make a paper-like writing surface

5. III. Indus River Located in modern-day Pakistan, near India’s border
2500 B.C.E.
Advanced cities
Sophisticated city planning, running water
Harappa, Mohenjo Daro
Traded with Mesopotamia, but developed independently
Developed system of writing, but never been translated
Thought to be a theocracy, religion a precursor to Hinduism
Environment and invasions a factor in disappearance
Monsoons, floods
Nomadic invaders (Aryan tribes)

6. IV. Huanghe (Yellow River)
Located in northern half of modern-day China
Flows from central China to east coast
About 2000 B.C.E.
Developed independently from other civilizations
Largely cut off from contact with outside world by geography (desert, mountains, ocean)
Developed sophisticated irrigations systems
Controlled flooding of Yellow River
Early pioneers in science and weapon/tool-making
Developed unique written language based on ideographic symbols
Early religious beliefs based on spirits, centered around family
Social classes divided society
Nobles and peasants
Established system of feudalism – nobles owned all the land that peasants worked
Rigid political system develops – paves way for dynastic system
Shang dynasty was earliest – 1500 B.C.E.

7. Key Vocabulary – Chapter 1 (Part 2)
Mesopotamia
Sumerians
City-states
Hammurabi
Pharaoh
Pyramids
Indus Valley
Harappa/Mohenjo Daro
Huanghe (Yellow River)
Ideographic
Shang
Monotheism