Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations

Sumerians • Located in the Mesopotamia, or the Fertile Crescent,in what is now Iran/Iraq as early as 5,300 B.C. • Fertile Crescent- River Valley of the Tigris and Euphrates • Eridu is believed to be the first city • Made of city states

Agriculture • First to create a large irrigation system (bring water to fields) • Accomplished through use of shaduf, canals, channels, dykes, weirs, and reservoirs • Grew barley, chickpeas, lentils, wheat, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks, and mustard

Written Language • Created by the need to keep record of farming • Cuneiform- Wedge shapes used to show syllables • First written language to do so • There was writing before, but mostly pictures to indicate things, not syllables

Religion • Due to Cuneiform we are able to know exactly what they believed • Created massive temples called Ziggurats • Polytheistic (many gods) religion, which included An, the god of “heaven” and Enki, the goddess of the Earth

Indus Valley • Also known as the Harrapan Civilization • Dates back to 3300 B.C. • Located along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and India • Major cities are Harappa and Mojenjo-daro • Written language is still indecipherable

Religion • Many seals show signs of swastikas • Uses many animal symbols • Especially the bull- Jainism • Precursor to many Eastern Religions • No large temples

Ingenious Indus • City planning and sewage/drainage • Indoor plumbing • First evidence of dentistry • Bronze!!

Decline • There is a theory that they were attacked and slowly destroyed by of group called the Aryans • Most people believe that their decline was due to droughts and tectonic activity

Egotistical Egyptians • One of the most studied ancient civilizations • Also very stereotyped • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgTPH5y1-ZI • Found along the Nile River

Divine Dynasties • Egypt was split in two kingdoms at first The Lower Kingdom in the North and theUpper Kingdom in the South • Believed to have been united by the pharaohNarmer

The 3 Periods • The Old Kingdom 2686 – 2181B.C. • This was when the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx were built • The Middle Kingdom 2134 – 1690 B.C. • Restoration of a unified state • Expansion • New Kingdom 1549 – 1069 B.C. • Hatshepsut- Great ruler that grew trade during peace • Ramesses II- Lead to greatest expansion of the empire

Language/Religion • Written language- Hieroglyphics • A hieroglyph can represent a word or a sound and can serve different purposes in different situations • Believed that Pharaoh was a god king • Believed in many gods who each had their own cult

Is it Halloween? • Everyone is usually knowledgeable on their burial rites • Mummies! • Dissected the body and put organs into jars • Buried with many riches and things they would need for the next life

Why Are They Important? • Created massive monuments without cranes • Huge advances in math, astronomy, and architecture, and medicine • Created first “paper” made out of strands of papyrus • One of the most well preserved

Decline • Their huge expansion in the New Kingdom left the empire vulnerable • This mixed their reputation as wealth made them targets for several nations across Africa and the Mediterranean

Mellow Yellow River • Earliest evidence of writing dates back to 13th century B.C. • They are not talked about a lot because the things they accomplished happened earlier elsewhere in the world • Why are they important? • This was the foundation in which China and most of Southeast Asia came from

Ancient Civilizations