Early River Valley Civilizations 3500 B.C.E.-450 B.C.E.

Chapter 2Section 1

Do Now: Name as many countries in Europe as you can

Obj: Explain why the Fertile Crescent was able to support civilizations

Understand the function of City-states

HW: Active Reading pg. #35-41; Main Ideas #3-5; Critical Thinking # 6

Vocabulary Fertile CrescentMesopotamiasilt City-stateDynastyCultural diffusionPolytheismEmpireHammurabi

Four River Valley CivilizationsMesopotamia

Egypt

Indus River Valley (India)

China

Mesopotamia Fertile Crescent

Great farm land in Southwest Asia, surrounded by desert

Mesopotamia- “land between the rivers” (Greek) Tigris and Euphrates rivers surround Mes. Rivers flood the land every year and leave behind

silt

Environmental ChallengesSumerians (3300

BC) faced with 3 challenges:Unpredictable

floods

No protection

Low natural resources

Solutions Through Organization:Irrigations ditches

from river to crops

High city walls made of mud bricks (lots of mud)

Trade: surplus food for raw materials

Sumerians Create City-States3000 BC several

city-states emergeSame culture

different rulersAct as independent

countries

First ruled by priestsFarmers pray for

crops to growDuring war, elected

strong fighter to leadAfter a while

fighters kept control permanently

Led to dynasty

Sumerian CulturePolytheism

Belief in more than one godDescribe gods are doing “human” things; i.e.

falling in love, having children, quarreling However; viewed as immortal and all-powerful-

humans are servantsBuilt large ziggurats to offer sacrifices to the

gods

Sumerian CultureLife in Sumerian Culture: Social Class

Kings, priestsWealthy Merchan

ts

Slaves

Sumerian CultureScience and Technology:

The wheel, the sail, plow, and among the first to use bronze

Arithmetic: number system based on 60; still used for measuring time (60 seconds=1 minute) and 360* in a circle

Architectural: arches, columns, rampsCuneiform: writing system carved into clay

tablets. Some oldest written records of astronomy,

chemistry, and medicine

Building Empires3000-2000 B.C.E. Sumerians city-states

plagued with warLeft Sumer weak and vulnerable to outsiders

Sargon of Akkad:2350 B.C.E. Sargon led his Akkadians to

victory over Sumer Control over both North and South Mesopotamia

created the world’s first empire Akkadians maintained strong Sumerian culture

Babylonian Empire2000 B.C.E. nomadic tribe called Amorites

invade Mesopotamia Gradually overwhelm the Sumerians and

establish capital in Babylon on the Euphrates River.

Hammurabi and his CodeBabylonian Empire reached its peak under

the rule of Hammurabi. (1792 B.C.E. – 1750 B.C.E)

Hammurabi’s Code:Attempt to unify diverse people of his empire

Code consisted of 282 specific laws Dealt with everything that affected the community Protected women and children from unfair

treatment Code was copied onto stone tablets and spread

throughout the empire.