river valley civilizations -...
TRANSCRIPT
First Civilizations• Sumer(4000-539 BCE): Modern Iraq
• Egypt (3150-332 BCE)
• Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (3300-1700 BCE): Modern Pakistan
• Shang China (1600-1046 BCE)
• Olmec (1500-400 BCE): Modern Mexico
• Chavin (900-200 BCE): Modern Peru
Geography
• River valleys were ideal for farming because of fertile soil and regular flooding
• Exception is the Americas: Coastal marshes and lower mountain ranges
Government
• States are organized systems of rule that can
mobilize labor and resources
• Increasingly complex systems of control and
defense
– Bureaucracies and armies
• Theocracy: ruler with divine source of power
– Sumer: ruler received orders from the gods
– Egypt: Pharaoh “God-king”
– Shang: Emperor was a link between heavens and
earth
– Indus: priestly class rules
Religions
• Polytheism: rituals directed
towards nature gods
• Ancestor worship in China
• Judaism: 1st monotheistic religion
(1200 BCE)
– Abstract God is just and orderly
– Moral law code derived from God
– Way of life
Social Structure
• Land is wealth = higher social standing
• Skilled workers (artisans, warriors, and scribes) higherthan peasants
• Prisoners of war used as slaves
– Could buy their freedom
• Women had higher status in Egypt than any other civilization
Innovation• Sumer: wheel, plow, astronomy, #
systems based on units of 10, 60,
360
• Egypt: Geometry, anatomy and
medicine, 24-hour day
• Indus: Urban planning, sewage
and water systems
• China: dikes and canals to control
flooding, silk manufacturing
• Chavon: Land-terracing
Writing
• Sumer: Cuneiform
– Used for recordkeeping
• Egypt: Hieroglyphics
– Religious writing
• Phoenicians: sea traders
with colonies in the
Mediterranean
– Introduced a 22 letter
alphabet
Culture
• Helped to unify regions
• Monumental Architecture
– Ziggurats: central religious site in Sumer
– Pyramids: tombs for pharaohs with extensive wall
decorations
– Olmec: stone heads and remains of temples
• Literature
– Epic of Gilgamesh: 1st heroic epic written
– Egyptian Book of the Dead
Trade
• Regional Trade: Egypt influenced Nubia (Kush)
to the south
– Kushites conquered Egypt
• Transregional trade: Indus Valley traded with
both Mesopotamia and China