Planned Cities on the Indus

1. Planned Cities on the Indus Chapter 2 section 3 Page 42

2. Review- chapter 2 section 2 • Which country is the Nile River located in? • Egypt • Which sea does the Nile river empty into? • The Mediterranean • What do Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt refer to? • elevation

3. More review • Who built the pyramids? • Peasants • Kings were also considered gods and were called? • Pharaohs • How many days and months was the Egyptian calendar based on? • 365 days, 12 months

4. Geography of South Asia • In India, another civilization developed around 2500 B.C. • Don’t know much about it’s orgins, or why the civilization declined • But do know that many characteristics of the Indian culture today can be traced to early civilization

5. Geography of South Asia • A large wall of mountains separate South Asia from rest of the continent • Some geographers refer to this area (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh) as a subcontinent

6. Fertile plain formed by 2 rivers- the Indus and the Ganges (GAN-jeez) • 2 rivers and lands they water make up large area stretching 1500 miles across India called the Indus-Ganges Plain • Southern part of India is a peninsula- thrusting into the Indian Ocean

7. Monsoons • Seasonal winds dominate India’s climate • October-May, winter monsoons blow dry air from northeast across country • In June, winds shift, and spring monsoons bring moisture from the ocean

8. Indian Monsoons

9. Flooding in India

10. Environmental Challenges • Indus River, like the Nile and Tigris, had yearly floods • Spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area • But the floods were unpredictable, and sometimes the Indus river changed its course • Wet and dry seasons of monsoons posed problems

11. The Problem with Rain • If too much rain, floods swept away whole villages • If too little rain, plants withered in the fields and people went hungry

12. Worlds tallest mountain to the north, and large desert provided natural barriers from invasion • River allowed valley people to develop trade with different peoples, including the Mesopotamians

13. Civilization Emerges on the Indus • Indus valley larger area than Mesopotamia or Egypt • Nobody is sure how settlement began in India, can’t decipher writing system, but there is evidence of agriculture and domesticated sheep and goats dating to 7000 B.C. • By 3200 B.C. people were farming in villages along the Indus River

14. Planned Cities • 2500 B.C. people in Indus Valley were laying bricks for India’s first cities • Found the ruins of more than 100 settlements along the Indus • Laid out cities on a precise grid system • Featured a fortified area called citadel, holding major buildings of a city • Had separate residential districts

15. Toilets back then • Early engineers created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems • See page 44

16. Culture and Trade • Social divisions not that great judging by uniform housing • Clay and wooden toys suggest a comfortable society that could afford to produce non essential items

17. Religion • Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture • Religious figures found relate to: mother goddess fertility images worship of cattle representations of Shiva

18. Indus Seals • Stamps and seals made of carved stone were used by merchants to identify goods • Shows us that Indus people conducted long distance trade

19. Mysterious End • 1750 B.C. quality of buildings declined and cities fell into decay • No one is sure why • Some historians think : *Indus River changed course and floods no longer fertilizing the field * people overused the land, overgrazed, over farmed, over cut, etc * Residents may have abandoned the city after a natural disaster or an attack

20. End of Civilization