Transcript Early Civilizations Masterx

Early Civilizations
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 First developed along river banks in warmer
regions of the world.
 The rivers usually had predictable yearly flood
patterns that brought a thick, rich mud called silt.
Early Civilizations
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 This made agriculture possible and led to the
cultivation of stable crops.
 Stable crop production makes permanent settlement
possible, meaning people no longer had to live a
nomadic lifestyle.
Early Civilizations
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 The first four civilizations to develop:
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Mesopotamia
Egypt
Harappa
Shang China
River Valley Civilizations
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Early Civilizations
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 What did they have in common:
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Polytheistic – believe in many gods
Yearly flooding
Agriculturally based
Developed all 8 Characteristics of Civilization
Generally had powerful and ruthless rulers
Often a strong link between religion and government
Life in early civilizations was centered around religion
Mesopotamia
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 First known civilization
in the world
 Developed along the
banks of 2 rivers: the
Tigris and the Euphrates
 Mesopotamia is known
as “The Fertile Crescent”
or “The Craddle of Life”.
Mesopotamia
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 The word Mesopotamia, means the land between the
rivers
 Mesopotamia is located in modern day Iraq.
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Mesopotamia
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 Little or no natural protective barriers led cities in
Mesopotamia to develop protective walls
 Limited natural resources forced city-states to trade
for their needs
Mesopotamia
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 Mesopotamia developed as individual City-States, in
which each city operated as an independent country
 Eventually some city-states grew in power and
began to conquer nearby city-states creating Empires
Mesopotamia
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 Mesopotamia was the
first to develop empires
under Sargon of Akkad
 Rulers begin to pass
power down to their
heirs, usually father to
son. This system is called
a Dynasty and resulted
in a series of rulers from
one family line.
Mesopotamia
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 Ziggurat – a multi-tiered temple, often the center of a
cities religious, economic, and social life.
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Mesopotamia
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 King Hammurabi – a harsh but efficient ruler who
brought city-states together into an empire under his
rule.
 Famous for creating the Code of Hammurabi, the
first written code of laws.
Mesopotamia
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 The Code of Hammurabi consisted
of 282 very harsh laws…”an eye for
an eye.”
 Laws were inscribed on stone pillars
and placed in public places
throughout the empire.
Mesopotamia - Firsts
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 Empire
 Dynasty
 Irrigation
 Walled Cities
 Writing System –
Cuneiform
 Literature
 Wheel
 Plow
 Sail
 Bronze
 Alphabet – Phoenicians
 Code of Laws
Egypt
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 The Egyptian civilization developed along the banks
of the Nile River
 The civilization in modern day Egypt, is known as
the “Jewel of the Nile”
Egypt
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 Regular flood cycle allowed for predictable farming
patterns
 Deserts on both sides offered excellent protection
 Allowed the civilization to develop in isolation
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Egypt
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 Early in Egypt's development there were two
separate kingdoms – The Upper Kingdom, and The
Lower Kingdom.
 King Menes from the Lower Kingdom
defeats the Upper Kingdom and unites
them into one kingdom
Egypt
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 Egypt was ruled by an absolute ruler
called the Pharaoh
 The pharaoh was worshiped as a god
 He held total and complete power over
everything in Egypt
Egypt
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 He held total and complete
power over everything in Egypt
 The Pharaoh served both a
political and religious role
Egypt
 Pyramids were built as burial sites for the Pharaohs
 They were mummified to preserve the bodies for the
afterlife
Egypt
 The Egyptians used pictograms, or symbols
depicting objects, called hieroglyphics as their
writing system.
Egypt
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 They wrote on strips of dried reeds woven together
called papyrus
Egypt
 The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in allowed
hieroglyphics to be deciphered
Egyptian Firsts
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 Sophisticated engineering
 Building with stone columns
 Geometry
 Calendar
Harappa
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 Indus Valley Civilization called Harappa
 Developed on the banks of the Indus River
 Located in modern day India and Pakistan
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Harappa
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 Little is currently known about this recently
discovered civilization (1920’s)
 Thought to have been the largest of the four early
river valley civilizations
Harappa
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 Cities show evidence of organized city planners
(grid system)
 Sophisticated plumbing and sewer systems
 Engineering is evident
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Harappa
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 Peaceful people – little to no evidence of weapons
 Similarity in housing seems to show little difference
between the social classes
 Religious artifacts show link to Hinduism
Harappa
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 The writing system of the Harappan civilization has
yet to be deciphered
 Many questions abut this complex society remain
unanswered
Harappan Firsts
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 City planners
 Uniform brick sizes
 Sophisticated plumbing and sewer systems
 Other firsts yet to be discovered
China
 The river valley civilization, known as the Shang,
developed along the banks of the Yellow River (Huang He)
 Located in modern day China
China
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 Isolated from other civilizations by mountains,
deserts, and distance, the Chinese civilization
develops in isolation into the most unique of the
river valley civilizations
China
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 Writing on the worlds first pulp based paper, the
Shang Dynasty develops a writing system known as
calligraphy
China
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 The Chinese use wood as a
building material instead of stone
or dried mud bricks like other
civilizations
 While not the first, the Chinese
were by far the best bronze
workers
China
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 Shang Culture
-Developed the idea of the ‘group’ or community being
more important than the ‘individual’
-Emphasis on family or respect of elders
-family was emphasized in religion as well –
ancestor worship
-Oracle bones were used to consult the gods
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China
 The Chinese develop the idea of the ‘Mandate of Heaven’,
which was the idea that rulers got their authority from the gods
 This led to the rise and fall of dynasties known as the dynastic
cycle
Chinese Firsts
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 Paper
 Building with wood
 Iron tools and
weapons
 Feudalism
 Coined money