River Valley Civilizations
Feb 23, 2016
River Valley Civilizations
Characteristics of Civilizations
CitiesCentralized government, law
codes, organized religionSystem of writingSpecialized jobs – Division of
LaborSocial Class StructureAdvanced Technology
Four Early River Valleys
How did they become civilizations?
Neolithic Revolution – domestication of plants & animals
Organized Farming & village life Food Surplus was created led to
specialization of labor Growth in population Creation of complex socieites
requiring complex institutions which governed large scale projects like irrigation
Population Growth & Development of Civilizations
Iron Age = new farms tools = food surplus Farming and Pastoral Nomads replaced
hunter-gatherers Domesticated animals = beasts of burden
= food surplus Increased, healthier population living
closer together in new urban areas Increased immunities based on close
proximity & better health
Population Growth & Development of Civilizations
Cultural connections increased through new trade routes
Developments of empires Development of Writing systems to
record taxes to pay for expanded governments
Development of great road building projects to encourage trade, uniform coinage, uniform weights & measurements(Lydian's & Persians)
Introducing Mesopotamia:(foundations)
Jereme Monette [email protected] Plant City High School Hillsborough County, Florida.
Mesopotamia - PersiaFor early Civilizations “Rivers Deliver”… Why are rivers essential for them?
Mesopotamia: “Land between the rivers”
Technology helps Mesopotamian societies thrive (How?)
Dikes and canals help tame floods
Agricultural technologies lead to food surplus
The Sumerian Civilization - the beginning of the whole
“Mess” Develop cuneiform as a system of writing
(Impact?)– Record laws, treaties, social & political
customs…– Via trade, written language spreads to other
Civs. Develop 12 month calendar and use geometry
to develop arches and columns. Polytheistic religion using Ziggurats to worship
Gods. Fell to invaders, but the culture did not die
(why?)
cuneiform
Ziggurats
Akkadians, then Babylonians, then Hitties, then… bla bla bla. The Akkadians develop the first known
code of laws using Sumerian Cuneiform. The Babylonian King Hammurabi
developed the Code of Hammurabi (impact?)
Babylonian bronze weapons fall to the Hittite’s iron weapons that fall to the Assyrian’s stronger iron that fall to the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar who rebuilds Babylon and falls to the Persains.
Code of Hammurabi
What language would the code of Hammurabi be in?
Persians:Biggest and Best of the “Mess” The Great Royal Road connects
Persia to the word (why?) The Lydians (coin money),
Phoenicians (alphabet), and Hebrews (Judaism).
Name 6 major contributions of the early Mesopotamian civs.
Describe how each society changes and cultures are preserved.
Early River Civilizations: EGYPT
3000BCEEgyptian Science and Technology
1. Irrigation – water from Nile River (god) to grow wheat & other foods2. Preserving the human body after death through mummification 3. Physicians diagnose illness & perform brain & body surgery
Egyptian Science and Technology
Accurate calendar Hieroglyphics: system of writing
called Advanced mathematical geometry
& engineering skills in the creation of the pyramids
irrigation systems
EGYPT
Monarchy – Kingdom/EmpirePharaoh God/KingDynasty – ruling familyPolytheisticAdvances in medicine, math,
calendars, irrigation, cosmetics, mummification, building & architecture, pyramids, jewelry,metal work
Social Class Structure: Pharaoh, Priest/Nobles, merchants/artisans (Middle Class), peasants, slaves
Ancient Egypt
MESOPOTAMIA – FERTILE CRESCENT
Sumerians 1st Civilization: 1st to build wheeled vehicles - 3500 BCE
built irrigation systems, dykes, and canals for better farming
Cuneiform system of writing – 1st Sumerian- algebra and geometry Sumerian: - city-states, Preist/Kings
polytheistic,
India2500BCE: First cultivation of rice,
cotton and tea built ships, navigated seas,
international commerce (Indian Ocean & overland)
well-planned towns, rectangular patterns
Art -copper, bronze, and pottery, including a large collection of terra-cotta toys
two-storied and spacious, lined the town streets; they had drainage systems that led into brick-lined sewers
Ancient IndiaSocial Class Structure: Caste System: Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders and agriculturists), and Shudra (workers). Person's occupation or group depended upon birth
Sanskrit: writing system
Early China Shang Dynasty: 2000BCE system
of writing pictographs - drawings of objects ideographs – thought or idea
Oracle Bone early writing:Zhou Dynasty:
Mandate of Heaven rise & fall of dynasties
Qin Dynasty: Shi huangdi - new technologies warfare, cavalry, Legalism – you will obey orders!Burned Confucian books
Ancient ChinaQin China: standardized the
language and writing of China
currency became standardized circular copper coin
Great Wall built in north to protect China
Roads and irrigation canals built –Burned books
Legacies of River Valleys Expanded populations & urbanization New networks – roads & trade routes
lined, sea routes Established systems of government,
laws, & religion Established patterns of culture &
cultural diffusion