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Features of Civilization. Cities Organized Central governments Priest-kings were followed by military leaders who were followed by hereditary monarchs Bureaucracy - government organized into departments Complex Religion Polytheistic – belief in many gods that control the forces of nature
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Features of Civilization • Cities • Organized Central governments • Priest-kings were followed by military leaders who were followed by hereditary monarchs • Bureaucracy - government organized into departments • Complex Religion • Polytheistic – belief in many gods that control the forces of nature • Most gods behave like humans
Features of CivilizationContinued • Job Specialization/Social Classes ~ Hierarchy • Priests • Nobles • Wealthy Merchants • Government Workers • Artisans (skilled craft workers) • Soldiers • Peasant Farmers • Slaves
Features of CivilizationContinued • Public Works • Irrigation Systems • Roads • Bridges • Defensive Walls • Arts & Architecture • Writing
River Valley Civilizations • Sumer: 3500-2300BCE • Ancient Egypt: 2700-1100BCE • Indus Valley: 2500-1500BCE • China: • Shang 1650-1027BCE • Zhou 1027-256BCE
Sumer had no barriers, which led to cultural diffusion (the spreading of ideas). Egypt, India, and China all had barriers, which led to geographic isolation.
Benefits of Rivers • Rivers provide drinking water, fish, game, and transportation for people, armies, and products. • Flooding deposits a layer of silt – rich soil. • To control floods and store water for the dry season – dikes, reservoirs, and irrigation canals were constructed.
Sumer • Cuneiform – 3200BCE • First-Known Writing • Wedge-like shapes made on clay tablets
Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphics
Indus Valley • Seals have not been deciphered.
Shang China Ancient Characters Modern Characters
Sumer • Tigris and Euphrates rivers – unpredictable floods • Fertile Crescent: Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea • Mesopotamia (between the rivers) • Modern-day Iraq • City-States constantly fought
Ancient Egypt • Nile River – 4160 miles – longest in the world. • Center of a ten-mile wide strip of fertile land. • The desert protected against invasion, but limited settlement and the acquisition of new ideas.
Indus Valley • Indus River • modern-day Pakistan • Barriers
Shang & Zhou China Huang He River aka Yellow River aka River of Sorrows
Sumerian Religion • Goal was to keep gods happy with sacrifices and ceremonies. • Each city-state had a special god or goddess. • Fear of natural disasters led to a pessimistic world view. • At death, people went to a huge cave filled with dust and silence. • Inanna and Dumuzi
Egyptian Religion • Village gods • Afterlife = Good go to Happy Field of Food – Bad go to crocodile-shaped eater of the dead. • Mummification to provide a home for the soul. • Wealthy entombed with everything needed for eternity. • Pharaoh considered a god – son of Amon-Re.
Indus Valley Religion • Figurines representing a mother goddess and a three-faced god have been discovered. • Sacred animals included the bull. • Certain trees were revered.
Chinese Religion & Philosophy • Shang Ti ruled over the other gods. • Priests acted as intermediaries between humans and the gods. • Veneration (respect) of ancestors because deceased relatives would intervene with the gods on your behalf. • Household gods oversee activities in the home. • Taoism/Daoism • Confucianism • Legalism
Zhou Government • Mandate of Heaven – gods grant the right to rule to a dynasty • Dynastic Cycle – rise and fall of dynasties (ruling families)
Sumer’s Accomplishments • First Writing – Cuneiform • First Wheeled Vehicles – carts and war chariots • Basic Algebra & Geometry • Number System based on 6 ~ 360-degree circle & 60-minute hour • Accurate 12-month Calendar tracked seasons • Ziggurats • First to use arches, columns, ramps • Complex Irrigation Systems
Egypt’s Accomplishments • Old Kingdom – 2700-2200BCE – Pyramid Age • Pharaohs,Mummification, Pyramids • Middle Kingdom – 2050-1800BCE – Turbulent Age • Major Construction – land drainage, canal to Red Sea, templesat Luxor & Karnak • New Kingdom – 1550-1100BCE – Empire Age • Empire at its largest – from Kush to the Euphrates • Famous Rulers: Akhenaton, Hatshepsut, Ramses II
Egypt’s AccomplishmentsContinued • Women had high status • Education for wealthy males • Geometry • Astronomy • Engineering • Painting, Sculpture, Literature • Best medicine in the ancient world
Tutankhamen • Son-in-law (maybe son) of Akhenaton ruled 1333-1323BCE. • Died at 19. • Tomb discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. • Curse: many associated with the opening of the tomb died soon after – fueling the legend ~ true cause = mold.
Rosetta Stone • Written in Hieroglyphics (important and religious documents), Demotic(everyday script), and Greek (rulers at the time). • Written in 196BCE and discovered by one of Napoleon’s men in 1799.
Indus Valley Accomplishments • Discovered in 1922 • Cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and farming villages over 950 miles • First city planning: grid pattern, uniform building style, rectangular city blocks, plumbing • First to cultivate and weave cotton
China’s Accomplishments Shang Zhou • Small kingdoms • Silk Making • Bronze Tools • Characters • Oracle Bones – Questions written on bones or tortoise shells • Astronomy • Feudalism • Iron Tools & Weapons • Use of Money • First Books • Soybeans
