Transcript Indus Valley

River Valley Civilizations
Indus Valley and Huang He
Essential Questions
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What was the layout of the Indus Valley
civilization?
Why do we not have a lot of information about
the Indus Valley civilization?
What is ancestor worship?
What is the mandate of heaven?
What is the dynastic cycle?
Location/Geography
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Indus Valley
south of Himalayan
Mountains
Indus and Ganges Rivers
Deccan plateau
monsoons (seasonal winds)
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Huang He
isolated from other
civilizations because of natural
barriers
Plateau of Tibet
Himalayan Mountains
Yangtze and Huang He Rivers
Religion
Indus
• artifacts indicate links to
modern day Hinduism
• worship the God Shiva
• worshiped cattle
Chinese
• family was strongly linked to
religion
• spirits of ancestors determine
fortune
• spirits demanded attention
and respect
• used oracle bones to
communicate with the gods
• carved questions bones,
heated them up, and observed
the cracks
• Mandate of Heaven – divine
approval for a just ruler
Indus
China
Writing
Indus
• has not yet been deciphered
China
• each character represented
an idea, not a sound
• there are no links between
spoken and written Chinese
• should know 100,000
words to be a scholar
Indus
China
Government/Law
Indus
• strong central
government (because of
planned cities)
• limited conflicts (because
few weapons have been
found)
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China
Xia dynasty was the first, cities
grew
Shang dynasty: first to leave
written records, built elaborate
palaces/tombs
constantly raging war so they had
walls around their cities for
protection
dynastic cycle – the rise, decline,
and replacement of dynasties
Feudalism – a political system in
which nobles use lands that
belong to the king, provide
loyalty to king, protection to
workers
Science/Technology
Indus
• domestication of sheep and
goats
• sophisticated city planning
• cities in grid system
• citadel = fortified area with
major buildings inside
• plumbing /sewage systems
China
• craftsmen made weapons,
jewelry, religious items
• produced silk cloth
• built roads and canals
• coined money
• iron used for weapons
Social Classes
Indus
China
• social divisions were not great
(because of common residential
areas)
• prosperous society that
produced nonessential goods
• two groups: nobles and
peasants
• warrior-nobles were at the
top with kings and owned the
land
• peasants workers had no
tools because metal was too
precious, used for weapons
• grew millet, rice, wheat