Bellringer
• Have out your homework!• On the back of your Indus Valley Notes, write “Sumer
Warm-Up September 19, 2011” and please answer the following questions in complete sentences: 1. What is the difference between the Fertile Crescent,
Mesopotamia, and Sumer?2. What were the three geographic weaknesses of Sumer?
• Bad Joke of the Day: What did the alien say to the gardener?
Objective
• The students will be able to draw comparisons and contrasts between Sumer and Indus and log onto turnitin.com.
Indus River Valley Civilization
Geography
• Indus and Ganges Rivers form 1500 miles of a river valley– Indus: Link to the
sea=trade• Residents of the Indus
River Valley depended on unpredictable flooding for crops
• Residents must also deal with monsoons– Seasonal winds that dominate the climate
• October-May: dry winter air• June-September: wet moist air
• Geographical barriers– Hindu Kush Mountains– Karakoram Mountains– Himalayan Mountains– Thar Desert
• Geographical barriers provide protection
Civilization Emerges on the Indus
• As early as 3200 BCE—farming villages• Historians to date cannot decipher the writing
system
Planned Cities
• 100 settlements along the Indus by 2500 BCE
• City planning took place along a precise grid system– Fortified area=citadel– Residential areas—all buildings made of bricks– Sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems
Economy
• Definition of economy: • Based off of
agriculture and trade– Evidence of trade with
Sumer– Products with Indus
seals found in Sumer and Sumerian objects found in Indus (2350-2000 BCE)
Government and Religion
• Stable society without much conflict or rigid class system– Mostly egalitarian
• Religious artifacts indicate connections to Hindu society of today– Polytheism
• Gods, like in Sumer, based on nature– Mother goddess: nature, agriculture– Fertility: plants, children
Mysterious End to Indus Valley Culture
• 1750 BCE: period of decline and decay• What happened? No one knows for sure,
but some ideas exist:1. Indus changed course and failed to fertilize
fields surrounding cities2. Over-farming of the land
Compare/Contrast Indus and SumerArea of Comparison
Indus Sumer Similar/Different/Both
Geography
Economy
Religion
Advertisement
• Task: To create a poster advertising life in Indus or Sumer.– You need to include the following:• Geography: what is the land like, are there natural
barriers, and how do these factors influence life• Religion: what is the basis of religion, what are some
characteristics of the religion• Economy: what is the economy based on, how does it
impact daily life