Transcript Early Civilizations

Edited by Mr. Barkhau
Shamelessly stolen from http://conaapwh.weebly.com/classpowerpoints.html
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Fertile Crescent =
moon-shaped strip of
land from the
Mediterranean Sea to
the Persian Gulf that is
excellent farm land
 Located in modern-day
Middle East
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Mesopotamia = located
within the Fertile Crescent,
between the Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers
 Rivers were NOT a reliable
source of water (unlike the Nile)
 Ran dry in summer; flooded in
spring
 Villages joined together to build
dams, canals, and ditches
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People from Asia arrived in
Mesopotamia
Formed 12 city-states = the
city and the land
surrounding it
 Considered the world’s 1st
cities
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Created ziggurats =
stepped pyramids with a
temple at the top
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Sumerians shared common culture,
language, and religion
City-states governed themselves
Were theocracies = kings served as both
government leaders AND high priests
Laws regulated the roles of women & men
 men had far more rights
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Cuneiform =
Sumerian
system of
writing
 The symbols
represented
complex
ideas
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Scribes were
trained to read &
write documents
and stories
 Epic of Gilgamesh
= oldest story in
the world
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Practiced polytheism
= belief in more than
one god
 Each city-state had its
own god
 Negative outlook on life
and the afterlife
 Believed gods were
selfish and had no
regard for humans
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Wagon Wheel
Arch
Potter’s Wheel
Sundial
12-month
Calendar
Metal Plow
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Empire under Sargon I
Kingdom was called
Akkad
Conquered & united all
of the Sumerian citystates
Empire fell apart after
his & his grandson’s
death
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Ruled by Hammurabi
Strict Code of Laws = Hammurabi’s
greatest achievement
 Rules and consequences that addressed daily
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life
Law code covered entire region of
Mesopotamia
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” type of laws
Government assumed the responsibility of
protecting its citizens
People now had laws to protect their rights &
didn’t need to resort to violence
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Social classes were similar to the Egyptians,
but they had far more slaves
Hammurabi’s empire fell apart after his death
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Civilizations of Egypt &
Mesopotamia greatly influenced
neighboring people in the Fertile
Crescent = the Aramaeans and
the Phoenicians
 Trading peoples
 Traveled by sailing ships & by caravan
 Spread languages, customs, and ideas
as they traded around the Fertile
Crescent
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Settled in central Assyria around 1200 BCE
Capital = Damascus
Gained control over the trade between Egypt and
Mesopotamia
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Because their caravans
crisscrossed the Fertile Crescent
nonstop, people learned their
language called Aramaic
 Main language of the region until
the 800s
 Closely related to Hebrew and
Arabic
 Many parts of the Bible were
written in this language
Canaan = land between ancient Egypt and Syria
Canaan = modern day Israel, Lebanon, and
Jordan
 Phoenicians settled in northern Canaan
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Sailed the seas for trade
 Made strong, fast ships using
timber in cedar forests
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Built a string of towns &
cities along their coast
 Grew to become city-states
 Built confederation (loose
union) of city-states
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Expert navigators
 Plotted voyages using the sun & stars
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Took charge of Mediterranean shipping and
trade
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Created an alphabet =
series of written symbols
that represent sounds
 Only 22 characters
 Each character represented
different consonant sound
 Basis for our alphabet we
use today
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To protect & re-supply their ships, the
Phoenicians set up a network of trading posts
and colonies along the coasts of the
Mediterranean
 Colony = settlement of emigrants
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Lived in Asia Minor
This area famous for its gold deposits
First group to develop a monetary system
with set prices using coins
 Everybody else still bartering = exchanging goods
 Soon the concept of money traveled to other
societies
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One of the world’s first
civilizations developed along the
banks of the Nile
 In northeastern Africa
 Nile = world’s longest river
People of the Nile relied on the
river’s yearly floods to bring
them water
 Green Nile Valley = stark
contrast to deserts surrounding
it on either side
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Rich black soil in Valley = good
for farming
 5000 BCE = farmers began to
settle down in the Valley
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 Grew cereal crops (wheat, barley)
 Hunted ducks & geese; fished
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Early Egyptians harvested
papyrus
 Used for rope, sandals, baskets, and
paper
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Early farming villages
prospered --> WHY??
Because they were
protected from foreign
invasions by deserts and
cataracts (waterfalls) in the
Nile
Strong leaders united the
farming villages into
kingdoms or monarchies
ruled by a king
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By 4000 BCE, Egypt had 2 large
kingdoms
 Lower Egypt (in the north)
 Upper Egypt (in the south)
 3000 BCE = Narmer (king of Upper
Egypt) attacked Lower Egypt and
united the 2
▪ Capital = Memphis
▪ 1st of the Egyptian dynasties
▪ Egyptian dynasties divided into 3
periods: Old, Middle, New
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People saw their kings as gods
 Called a theocracy = same person is
the political AND religious leader
 King gave many responsibilities to a
bureaucracy = groups of government
officials
 King controlled trade & taxes
 King supervised building of canals,
dams, grain storehouses
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Egyptians built
pyramids as burial
places for their
kings
 Great Pyramids in
Giza
 King’s bodies were
mummified for
preservation
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Old Kingdom ended with violence & a new
dynasty reunited Egypt
Capital moved to Thebes
Theben kings = seized new territory & added
thousands of acres to their civilization
Built canals and irrigation systems
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Local leaders began to
challenge the kings’ power,
which threatened peace
 At same time = 1st real threat to
Egypt = invasion by Hyksos
(people from western Asia)
 Hyksos swept through with new
tools for war --> bronze weapons
& horse-drawn chariots
 Easily conquered the Egyptians &
set up a new dynasty (for about
110 years)
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Egyptian prince named
Ahmose raised an army &
drove the Hyksos out
Ahmose & those that
came after him used the
title pharaoh
 Rebuilt Egypt & conquered
more land
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1480 BCE = Queen Hatshepsut
came to power in Egypt = 1st
female pharaoh
 After her death, her stepson
Thutmose III took over
 Thutmose III created an army,
conquered neighboring Syria, and
expanded the Egyptian empire
 Empire = many territories under one
ruler
 Egyptian empire grew rich &
benefited from cultural diffusion
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1370 BCE = ruler named
Amenhotep = created new
religion with just 1 god
 Changed his named to
Akhenaton = “spirit of Aton”
 Aton = sun-disk god = only 1
to be worshipped
 Controversial, so after his
death the priests went back to
old religion
 King Tut took over for him
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1200s BCE = Ramses II
(Ramses the Great)
 Built large statues of
himself, temples, and
tombs
 After his death, Egypt
weakened under
attacks from invaders
& was taken over by
foreigners
Upper class = kings,
nobles, priests
 Middle class =
artisans, scribes,
merchants
 Lower class (majority
of Egyptians) =
farmers, poor
 Lowest of the low =
slaves
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In cities & upper class
= husband, wife,
children
Outside the city &
poor families = also
included
grandparents & other
relatives
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In the beginning =
property of their
husbands
By the time of the
Egyptian Empire = they
could own property and
divorce their husbands;
had more rights
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The ankh =
symbol of life
Very important to early
Egyptians
Polytheistic = believed in
more than one god
Gods were often half
human, half animal
Believed in an afterlife –
burial rituals reflect this
Ra = Sun
God
Osiris = God
of the Dead
King of the
Gods
Horus =
Son of Iris
& Osiris
Anubis =
God of
Embalming
Iris = Queen
of the
Goddesses
Used hieroglyphics (picture
symbols) for writing
 Few people could read or write
 Language remained a mystery
until discovery of the Rosetta
Stone in 1799
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 (Greek writing matched the
hieroglyphs on the Stone)
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Developed a number system
Used geometry to calculate
volume and area
Created a 365-day calendar
Developed medical expertise
 used splints, bandages,
etc.
 3rd civilization on the
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rise = Indus River
Valley in South Asia
Arose on the
subcontinent of Asia
= landmass that is
part of a continent
but is distinct from it
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3 modern nations there
today = India, Pakistan,
and Bangladesh
Mountains separate it
from the rest of Asia =
Himalayas & Hindu Kush
Indus River drains into the
Arabian Sea
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Mountains block cold air & give the
area a warm climate
Monsoons = seasonal winds that
affect the climate and way of life
Summer monsoons bring heavy
rains, causing flooding that helps
the soil
People depended on monsoons to
grow crops
Monsoons sometimes unpredictable
- Unusually heavy rains drowned
people, animals, whole villages
- Late or light monsoons caused
poor crops & starvation
Often called Harappan
Civilization
 Major cities: Harappa &
Mohenjo-Daro
 Cities were carefully planned –
used a grid pattern
 A fortress built on a brick
platform overlooked each city –
probably the center of
government and religion
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Houses were made of
oven-baked bricks
1) Each house had at
least one bathroom with
plumbing to sewers
2) Houses rose to
several stories and had
enclosed courtyards
Most people farmed
Trade = bronze and copper tools;
jewelry out of gold, shells, ivory;
clay pots; woven cloth; silver
containers
 Used pictograms – still haven’t
been deciphered
 Not much is known due to a lack of
written records
 Collapsed around 1500 BCE
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4th civilization on the rise = Yellow River
Valley in China (Huang He River)
Oldest continuous civilization in the world
1/3 mountains
Vast deserts – Gobi Desert
These factors isolated
China from other early
civilizations
 Prevented cultural
diffusion
 Promoted strong sense of
national identity
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1st dynasty (line of rulers
who belong to the same
family) from which there are
written records in China
 Kings were also high priests
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 Performed special ceremonies
for good weather, crops, etc.
 Had special powers to call upon
their ancestors
 Used oracle bones
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Had a writing system
 Characters represented
objects, ideas, or sounds
 Had to memorize each
character to understand
script
 Few people could read &
write in ancient China
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Produced some of the
finest bronze objects ever
made
Wove silk into beautiful
colored cloth for the
upper class
7 capital cities
 Palace and temple stood at
the center of each city
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Collapsed under attack
 Shang Dynasty lacked strong
leaders
 1000 BCE = ruler from the
north named Wu marched in
his armies and killed the Shang
king
 Set up his own dynasty called
the Zhou Dynasty that ruled
China for 800 years
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Paved the way for many other
dynasties to rule China
 Dynasties ruled China until the
early 1900s under the Mandate
of Heaven
▪ If rulers were effective, they received
the authority to rule from Heaven
▪ If not, they were overthrown & lost
this mandate to someone else who
started a new dynasty
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Meso = means
middle
Refers to any
cultures that lived
in present-day
Mexico & Central
America
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One of the earliest Mesoamerican
civilizations
Located near Gulf of Mexico
Knowledge of them comes from excavations
of 2 main sites = San Lorenzo and La Venta 
both discovered in the 1930s
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Olmec = known for gigantic stone heads
carved from basalt (volcanic rock)
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Some more than 9 feet tall
Some weighed as much as 40 tons
Heads of rulers
Built without wheels or “beasts of burden” 
Olmec moved these heads about 60 miles from
the mountains to the sites where they were
found
 Think about the giant head from Legends of
the Hidden Temple! His name was Olmec!
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Religion played an
important role in the lives
of the Olmec
 Many carvings found of the
main Olmec god = a being
with a human body and the
catlike face of a jaguar
 Olmec believed the jaguar
god controlled the harvests
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Early Olmec farmers
used slash-and-burn
farming = farmers cut
down trees to clear land
& burned whatever was
left
 Planted maize and other
crops among fertile ashes
 Problem = soil became
exhausted after about 2
years
 Farmers then shifted fields
& repeated the cycle
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Because of the influence that the Olmec
civilization had on future civilizations within
Mesoamerica, it is often referred to as the
“Mother Civilization” in Mesoamerica
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A ritual ball game =
rubber balls were
batted back and forth
across a walled court
 Symbolized the back &
forth struggle between
this world and the next
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Olmec rulers = BOTH political leaders AND
spiritual leaders
 Performed rituals and ceremonies to satisfy the
gods
 Temples and pyramids built where thousands
could gather for special religious ceremonies and
festivals
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Bloodletting
Sacrifice of humans, animals, and valuable
objects
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Tools used:
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Blades
Stingray spines
Sharks’ teeth
Obsidian flakes
Rope with
thorns
 Jade “spears”
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We don’t really know what happened to
them, however the most popular theories
are:
 Food Shortage– the Olmec’s relied on only a
handful of crops and all of them were susceptible
to climate change (Sever Drought/Volcanic
Eruption etc)
 External conflict with neighboring tribes
 Internal conflict between Olmec cities led to a
decline in their culture