Early River Civilizations

1. Early River Civilizations

2. Neolithic Revolution • The first agricultural revolution – the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement.

3. Civilization • Advanced cities • Specialized workers • Complex institutions • Record keeping • Improved technology

4. Mesopotamia Also known as the Fertile Crescent or the Cradle of Civilization. People settled here in 4500 BCE.

5. There were LOTS of disadvantages to living here… • Unpredictable flooding and droughts • No natural barriers for protection, defenseless against attack • Limited natural resources, building materials were scarce

6. …but, they were problem solvers! • Dug irrigation ditches that brought water to crops • Built city walls with mud bricks • Traded their grain, cloth and crafted tools with people of the mountains and deserts and as a result, got the raw materials that they needed: stone, wood and metal

7. Mesopotamia - CIVILIZATION • 1st Civilization – advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and technology. • 4500 BCE

8. Mesopotamia - CONTRIBUTIONS • Hammurabi’s Code, Wheel, Sail, Plow, geometry, 60 seconds in a minute (units to measure time), 360 degrees in a circle, cuneiform (written language), architecture (arches, columns, ramps) • CHOOSE THREE TO WRITE DOWN

9. Mesopotamia - GEOGRAPHY • Present day Iraq • Awesome farming • Limited natural resources • Flooding and drought • No natural barriers

10. Nile River • Yearly floods made the land surrounding the river fertile, predictable • However, there were still risks • Low river – crops reduced and thousands of people starve • High river – floods destroyed homes, granaries, and seeds • Deserts surrounding region isolated people, reduced interaction with other people

11. Egyptian Culture • Polytheistic – belief in many gods • Believed in ka, or eternal life • Theocracy – Pharoahs were rulers and were thought to be almost as powerful as gods themselves • Social classes

12. Nile - CIVILIZATION • Theocracy • Pyramids • Social Classes

13. Nile - CONTRIBUTIONS • Hieroglyphics, papyrus, 365 day calendar, system of numbers used for counting, adding and subtracting, pyramids, measuring heart rate, first surgeries, set bones • CHOOSE THREE TO WRITE DOWN

14. Nile - GEOGRAPHY • Egypt • Predictable weather • isolated

15. Indus and Ganges Rivers • Area between Himalayas and Arabian Sea • Mountains in the north and desert in the east help prevent invasion

16. Annual monsoons – June-October - winds blow eastward from the southwest carrying massive amounts of rain • Environmental challenges existed • Yearly floods deposit rich soil, but unpredictable • Rivers changed course • Cycle of wet and dry seasons unpredictable

17. Indus and Ganges - CIVILIZATION • Indus River was key trade route • Theocracy – links to modern Hinduism • No social divisions • Had excess • Peaceful • Written language – has not been deciphered

18. Indus and Ganges - CONTRIBUTIONS • Domesticated sheep and goats, bricks were oven-baked and uniform in size, plumbing and sewage systems, strong central government, three-story buildings. • CHOOSE THREE TO WRITE DOWN

19. Indus and Ganges - GEOGRAPHY • Indian subcontinent • Natural barriers for protection – mountains and deserts • Monsoons

20. Yellow and Yangtze Rivers • Huang He (Yellow River) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) • Like all of the other river civilizations, they faced challenges as well • Flooding • Geographic isolation – had to provide everything for themselves • Consistent invasions from the west and north

21. Dynasties • Family was the center of culture – respect for elders • Women were considered inferior, but could boost their status by bearing sons • Social divisions • Believed in spirits of ancestors, a supreme God, and lesser gods • Written language – characters – consistent throughout China • Feudalism

22. Yellow and Yangtze - CIVILIZATION • Dynasties • Feudalism • Social divisions

23. Yellow and Yangtze - CONTRIBUTIONS • Horse drawn chariot, coined money, blast furnaces produced cast iron and the emergence of weapons – daggers, swords, farm tools, etc. Construction of roads and canals to stimulate trade. • CHOOSE THREE TO WRITE DOWN

24. Yellow and Yangtze - GEOGRAPHY • China • 10% China suitable for farming • Geographic isolation • Susceptible to attack

25. Map • Using your “BYOD” or the green geography books: • Label the seven rivers we discussed • Indus • Ganges • Tigris • Euphrates • Nile • Yellow • Yangtze • Highlight/shade the four ancient river civilization regions and label them.