ANCIENT CIVILIZATION

IntroductionThis project is about earliest civilizations. The word civilizations comes from a Latin word which means ‘living in cities’.

The coming of civilization led to the invention of writing and wheeled transport, and advances in mathematics and medicine .It also meant the creation of large0scasle armies and growth of great empires by conquering other people’s land. Although these early civilizations ended long ago, what they did still affects us today; and every year we discover more about what they were like.

This project will give you the answers to some of the most important questions everyone asks about the past.

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Contents1. Sumerian Civilization2. Indus Valley Civilization3. Ancient China4. American Civilization5. Ancient Egypt6. Greeks7. Roman Empire8. Mayans9. Persians

Sumer ian CivilizationSumer, site of the earliest known civilization, located in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, in the area that later

became Babylonia and is now southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.

Sumer was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who did not speak the Sumerian language. These people now are called proto-Euphrateans or Ubaidians, for the village Al-Ubaid, where their remains were first discovered. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. After

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the Ubaidian immigration to Mesopotamia, various Semitic peoples infiltrated their territory, adding their cultures to the Ubaidian culture, and creating a high pre-Sumerian civilization.

Map of Sumer

MesopotamiaMesopotamia means ‘the land between the rivers’. The area was in present –day Iraq. The rivers were Tigris and the Euphrates, and the first city dwellers there were known as Sumerians. By 3000 BC there were powerful city-states, such as Ur and Uruk, which traded with and fought against each other. The cities had populations of up to 50,000 people and were often built around mud brick temples called Ziggurats.

Inventions of SumeriansThe Sumerians knew how to weave cloth, make things out of metal and make pots on a wheel. But the most important progress they made was in writing, mathematics and astronomy. Their discoveries in these areas enabled them to keep record of taxes and agreements, write down laws and work out a calendar.

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TabletsThe most important archaeological discoveries in Sumer are a large number of tablets written in cuneiform. The first writing was pictographic. This means that instead of using letters and words, the Sumerians drew pictures. Later, these pictures came to represent sounds rather than actual objects. Sumerian writing is called ‘’, which means ’wedge-shaped’, because they used sharp wedge to make marks in the clay tablets on which they wrote.

MathematicsThe Sumerians developed a complex system of metrology c. 4000 BCE. This metrology advanced resulting in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From c. 2600 BCE onwards, the Sumerians wrote multiplication tables on clay tablets and dealt with geometrical exercises and division problems. The earliest traces of the Babylonian numerals also date back to this period. The period c. 2700 – 2300 BCE saw the first appearance of the abacus, and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal number system. The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube

Sumerian ReligionSumerian religion is the mythology, pantheon, rites, and cosmology of the Sumerian civilization. The Sumerian religion influenced Mesopotamian as a whole, surviving in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other culture groups.

The Sumerians originally practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic deities representing cosmic and terrestrial forces in their world. During the middle of the third millennium BCE, Sumerian deities became more anthropocentric and were "...nature gods transformed into city gods] Deities such as Enki and Inanna were viewed as having been assigned their rank, power, and knowledge from An, the heaven deity, or Enlil, head of the Sumerian pantheon.

According to Sumerian mythology, the gods originally created humans as servants for themselves, but freed them when they became too much to handle.

Economy and TradeThe Sumerians used slaves, although they were not a major part of the economy. Slave women worked as weavers, pressers, millers, and porters.

Sumerian potters decorated pots with cedar oil paints. The potters used a bow drill to produce the fire needed for baking the pottery. Sumerian masons and jewelers knew and made use of alabaster (calcite), ivory, iron, gold, silver, carnelian, and lapis lazuli.

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TechnologyExamples of Sumerian technology include: the wheel, cuneiform, arithmetic and geometry, irrigation systems, Sumerian boats, lunisolar calendar, bronze, leather, saws, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints, arrowheads, swords,glue, daggers, waterskins, bags, harnesses, armor, quivers, war chariots, scabbards, boots, sandals, harpoons and beer.

The Sumerians had three main types of boats

clinker-built sailboats stitched together with hair, featuring bitumen waterproofing skin boats constructed from animal skins and reeds wooden-oared ships, sometimes pulled upstream by people and animals walking along the

nearby banks

MilitaryThe almost constant wars among the Sumerian city-states for 2000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Sumer to a high level. The first war recorded in any detail was between Lagash and Umma in c. 2525 BCE on a stele called the Stele of the Vultures. It shows the king of Lagash leading a Sumerian army consisting mostly of infantry. The infantrymen carried spears, wore copper helmets and carried leather or wicker shields. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the phalanx formation, which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Sumerians may have made use of professional soldiers.

Battle formations on a fragment of the Stele of the Vultures

The Sumerian military used carts harnessed to onagers. These early chariots functioned less effectively in combat than did later designs, and some have suggested that these chariots served primarily as transports, though the crew carried battle-axes and lances. The Sumerian chariot comprised a four or two-wheeled device manned by a crew of two and harnessed to four onagers. The cart was composed of a woven basket and the wheels had a solid three-piece design.

Sumerian cities were surrounded by defensive walls. The Sumerians engaged in siege warfare between their cities, but the mud brick walls were able to deter some foes.

DownfallEach Sumerian city state had its own defense in the way of armies and city walls but Sumer did not have a central, unified defense arrangement. It was, therefore, easier for invaders to break

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down the structure of Sumer. Sumer was invaded by many invaders. In around 1720 BC the last Sumerian King was defeated by Hammurabi and Sumer became part of the Babylonian empire.

Indus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley stretches from Tibet, through Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. The River

Indus flows through these valley. Many ancient towns have been discovered there.

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization. Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and of the three the most widespread, covering an area of 1.25 million sq km. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which once coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.

Two major cities, called Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, have been found in this area, along with the sites of over 100 other towns. From these ruin scientists have been able to discover many things about this ancient civilization. However, archaeologists have not been able to read the type of writing used by the Indus people at this time.

People of Indus relied on the annual flooding of rive to provide mineral-rich silt that made the farmland fertile. Owing to this, all the major towns and cities were built close to the river.

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Mohenjo DaroMohenjo-daro is an archeological site in the province of Sind, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements. The city was laid out on a rigid street plan and had the world’s first known sewer system with drains and man holes. There were wide streets and large granaries for storing food in case the harvest failed. Houses were made out of bricks that were the same size, rather than oddly-shaped pieces of stone. Each house also had its own bathroom and toilet.

HarappaHarappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, eastern Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied over 100 hectares (250 acres) at its greatest extent during the Mature Harappan phase (2600–1900 BC), which is considered large for its time.

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Arts and crafts Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, and anatomically

detailed figurines in terracotta, bronze, and steatite have been found at

excavation sites. A number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of

girls in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance form. Also,

these terracotta figurines included cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs.

The animal depicted on a majority of seals at sites of the mature period

has not been clearly identified. Part bull, part zebra, with a majestic

horn, it has been a source of speculation. As yet, there is insufficient

evidence to substantiate claims that the image had religious or cultic

significance, but the prevalence of the image raises the question of

whether or not the animals in images of the IVC are religious symbols.

Many crafts "such as shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed steatite bead making" were used in the making of necklaces, bangles, and other ornaments from all phases of Harappan sites and some of these crafts are still practised in the subcontinent today. Some make-up and toiletry items (a special kind of combs (kakai), the use of collyrium and a special three-in-one toiletry gadget) that were found in Harappan contexts still have similar counterparts in modern India.

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Authority and governanceArchaeological records provide no immediate answers for a

center of power or for depictions of people in power in Harappan society. But, there are

indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented. For instance, the extraordinary

uniformity of Harappan artifacts as evident in pottery, seals, weights and bricks. These are the

major theories:

There was a single state, given the similarity in artifacts, the evidence for planned

settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near

sources of raw material.

There was no single ruler but several: Mohenjo-daro had a separate ruler, Harappa another,

and so forth.

Harappan society had no rulers, and everybody enjoyed equal status.

Technology

The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and

time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A

comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus territories. Their

smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately

1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan

engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the

measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights

Indus Valley seals, British Museum10

Trade and transportationThe Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by major advances in transport technology. The IVC may have been the first civilization to use wheeled transport. These advances may have included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail. However, there is secondary evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and what they regard as a docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal in western India (Gujarat state). An extensive canal network, used for irrigation, has however also been discovered by H.-P. Francfort.

Writing systemBetween 400 and as many as 600 distinct Indus symbols have been found on seals, small tablets, ceramic pots and more than a dozen other materials, including a "signboard" that apparently once hung over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira.

Typical Indus inscriptions are no more than four or five characters in length, most of which (aside from the Dholavira "signboard") are tiny; the longest on a single surface, which is less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) square, is 17 signs long; the longest on any object (found on three different faces of a mass-produced object) has a length of 26 symbols.

ReligionThe religion and belief system of the Indus valley people have received considerable attention, especially from the view of identifying precursors to deities and religious practices of Indian religions that later developed in the area. However due to the sparsity of evidence, which is open to varying interpretations, and the fact that the Indus script remains undeciphered, the conclusions are partly speculative and largely based on a retrospective view from a much later Hindu perspective.

In contrast to contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, Indus valley lacks any monumental temples or palaces.

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DECLINE OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

By 1800 BCE, the Indus Valley Civilization saw the beginning of their decline: Writing started to

disappear, standardized weights and measures used for trade and taxation purposes fell out of

use, the connection with the Near East was interrupted, and some cities were gradually

abandoned. The reasons for this decline are not entirely clear, but it is believed that the drying

up of the Saraswati River, a process which had begun around 1900 BCE, was the main cause.

Other experts speak of a great flood in the area. Either event would have had catastrophic

effects on agricultural activity, making the economy no longer sustainable and breaking the civic

order of the cities.

Around 1500 BCE, a large group of nomadic cattle-herders, the Aryans, migrated into the

region from central Asia. The Aryans crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and came in contact

with the Indus Valley Civilization. This was a large migration and used to be seen as an

invasion, which was thought to be the reason for the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization,

but this hypothesis is not unanimously accepted today. 

Thus, the Indus Valley Civilization came to an end.

Ancient ChinaChina has the oldest continuous civilization in the world. The country was ruled by different royal families known as dynasties. Little is known about the earliest part of

Chinese history

The Yellow River is said to be the cradle of Chinese civilization, although cultures originated at

various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze valleys millennia ago in

the Neolithic era.

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Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1200 BC under

the Shang dynasty (c. 1700–1046 BC). . Much of Chinese literature and philosophy further

developed during the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BC). The Zhou dynasty began to bow to

external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart

into smaller states, beginning in the spring and autumn period and reaching full expression in

the Warring States period. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese

dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far

as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang united the various warring

kingdoms and created for himself the title of "emperor" (huangdi) of the Qin dynasty, marking

the beginning of imperial China. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that

enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. China's last dynasty was

the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912 and in

the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Dynasties in Ancient China

o Xia dynasty (c. 2100 – c. 1600 BC)o Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC)o Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC)o Spring and Autumn period (722–476 BC)o Warring States period (476–221 BC)

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Xia dynasty (c. 2100 – c. 1600 BC)The Xia dynasty of China (from c. 2100 to c. 1600 BC) is the first dynasty to be described in

ancient historical records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian and Bamboo

Annals

Although there is disagreement as to whether the dynasty actually existed, there is some

archaeological evidence pointing to its possible existence. Sima Qian, writing in the late 2nd

century BC, dated the founding of the Xia dynasty to around 2200 BC, but this date has not

been corroborated. According to mythology, the dynasty ended around 1600 BC as a

consequence of the Battle of Mingtiao.

Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC)

Remnants of advanced, stratified societies dating back to the Shang found primarily in the Yellow River Valley

Archaeological findings providing evidence for the existence of the Shang dynasty, c. 1600–

1046 BC, are divided into two sets. The first set – from the earlier Shang period – comes from

sources at Erligang, Zhengzhou, and Shangcheng. The second set – from the later Shang or

Yin (殷) period – is at Anyang, in modern-day Henan, which has been confirmed as the last of

the Shang's nine capitals (c. 1300–1046 BC) The findings at Anyang include the earliest written

record of Chinese past so far discovered: inscriptions of divination records in ancient Chinese

writing on the bones or shells of animals – the so-called "oracle bones", dating from around

1200 BC.

31 Kings reined over the Shang dynasty. During their rein, according to the Records of the

Grand Historian, the capital city was moved six times. The final (and most important) move was

to Yin in 1350 BC which led to the dynasty's golden age. The term Yin dynasty has been

synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although it has lately been used to specifically

refer to the latter half of the Shang dynasty.

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Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC)The Zhou dynasty was the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, from 1066 BC to

approximately 256 BC. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty began to

emerge in the Yellow River valley, overrunning the territory of the Shang. The Zhou appeared to

have begun their rule under a semi-feudal system. The Zhou lived west of the Shang, and the

Zhou leader had been appointed "Western Protector" by the Shang. The ruler of the Zhou, King

Wu, with the assistance of his brother, the Duke of Zhou, as regent, managed to defeat the

Shang at the Battle of Muye.

The king of Zhou at this time invoked the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to legitimize his

rule, a concept that would be influential for almost every succeeding dynasty. Like Shangdi,

Heaven (tian) ruled over all the other gods, and it decided who would rule China. It was

believed that a ruler had lost the Mandate of Heaven when natural disasters occurred in great

number, and when, more realistically, the sovereign had apparently lost his concern for the

people. In response, the royal house would be overthrown, and a new house would rule, having

been granted the Mandate of Heaven.

The Zhou initially moved their capital west to an area near modern Xi'an, on the Wei River, a

tributary of the Yellow River, but they would preside over a series of expansions into

the Yangtze River valley. This would be the first of many population migrations from north to

south in Chinese history.

Bronze ritual vessel (You), Western Zhou dynasty

Spring and Autumn period (722–476 BC)In the 8th century BC, power became decentralized during the Spring and Autumn period, named

after the influential Spring and Autumn Annals. In this period, local military leaders used by the Zhou

began to assert their power and vie for hegemony. The situation was aggravated by the invasion of

other peoples from the northwest, such as the Qin, forcing the Zhou to move their capital east

to Luoyang. This marks the second major phase of the Zhou dynasty: the Eastern Zhou. The Spring

and Autumn period is marked by a falling apart of the central Zhou power. In each of the hundreds

of states that eventually arose, local strongmen held most of the political power and continued their

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subservience to the Zhou kings in name only. Some local leaders even started using royal titles for

themselves. China now consisted of hundreds of states, some of them only as large as a village

with a fort.

The Hundred Schools of Thought of Chinese philosophy blossomed during this period, and such

influential intellectual movements as Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and Mohism were founded,

partly in response to the changing political world.

Chinese pu vessel with interlaced dragon design, Spring and Autumn period

Warring States period (476–221 BC)After further political consolidation, seven prominent states remained by the end of 5th century BC,

and the years in which these few states battled each other are known as the Warring States period.

Though there remained a nominal Zhou king until 256 BC, he was largely a figurehead and held

little real power.

As neighboring territories of these warring states, including areas of modern Sichuan and Liaoning,

were annexed, they were governed under the new local administrative system

of commandery and prefecture. This system had been in use since the Spring and Autumn period,

and parts can still be seen in the modern system of Sheng & Xian.The final expansion in this period

began during the reign of Ying Zheng, the king of Qin. His unification of the other six powers, and

further annexations in the modern regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi in 214 BC,

enabled him to proclaim himself the First Emperor (Qin Shi Huang).

RELIGION China has long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism, plus Buddhism, constitute the "three teachings", philosophical frameworks which historically have had a significant role in shaping Chinese culture. Elements of these three belief systems are often incorporated into the traditional folk religions. Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand exclusive adherence, allowing the practice or belief of several at the same time.

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First Emperor of ChinaIn 221 BC the cruel and ruthless Qin Ruler, Cheng, began to call himself Emperor of China. The Qin had overthrown the Zhou in 225 BC and rules the biggest empire seen in history up to that time. Cheng also built the great wall of China.

Great Wall of ChinaThe Great wall is the longest wall in the world. It is 3460 km long, stretching from the coast to

the Gobi Desert. It was meant to k eep out invaders from the north, but didn’t always do so. The wall was built between 221 BC and 206 BC, and strengthened by later emperors. Most of the present wall was rebuilt during Ming Period (1368-1644).

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Chinese Inventions

Chinese discovered many different things, including how to make paper and porcelain, kind of fine pottery. They also discovered that the resin of lacquer tree could be used to coat wooden bowls so they could hold hot foods and liquids, such as soup. Wheelbarrows were in use a thousand years before they became common in Europe.

Contribution to ScienceWang Chong, who lived in the first century AD, showed that eclipses and the movements of the stars and the moon could be predicted. Zhang Heng made the world’s first seismograph, used to detect and record earthquakes. The Chinese also invented a kind of medicine, called acupuncture, which cures people by sticking needles in them

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American CivilizationPeople migrated from Asia to the American mainland about30, 000 years ago. Sea levels

were lower then, and North America was joined to Russia by land bridge. The first advanced civilizations grew up in Central America.

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