Post on 22-Feb-2016
description
RAMESES III
River Valley Civilizations3500- 500 B.C.
The “Cradles of Civilization”
SOL Standards Essential Questions
Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys?
Where were the earliest civilizations located?
When did these civilizations exist?
Where did the earliest civilizations develop?
River valleys
Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys?
They had rich soil for agriculture
Periodic flooding left silt which made the soil rich in nutrients
Geographic Barriers (mountains, deserts, seas, jungles,etc.)
Helped protect many early civilizations from nomadic invaders
Where were the earliest civilizations located and when did they exist?
E M I C
River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamia in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys. (Southwest Asia)
Egypt in the Nile River Valley and Delta (Africa)
India in the Indus River Valley in South Asia China in the Huang He Valley (East Asia). From west to east “EMIC”
(3500 BC to 500 BC)
What were the geographic, social, political, and
economic characteristics of the Ancient River Valley
civilizations?
MesopotamiaThe land between two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)
Part of the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent •Arc of fertile land stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Present day Iraq (Middle East).
Sumer The first of many civilizations to
arise in Mesopotamia Protected by mountains, deserts
and the Persian Gulf
Sumer Sumer was made up of 12 independent city- states
City-state: A city and the surrounding land it controlled
IrrigationMesopotamia had a dry climate
Irrigation was required to bring water from the rivers to the fields during the dry
summer months
First WritingInvented the first written language: cuneiform (wedge writing)
Invented Bronze
Smelted from copper and tin
Other Sumerian Accomplishments
Plow
Ziggurats
Wheeled vehicles
Number system based on 60
Babylonian EmpireThe first empire to arise in Mesopotamia
Empire: several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the
control of one ruler.
Code of Hammurabi
First set of published laws
Based on the principle of an “eye for an eye”
Laws differed based on class
EgyptNile Delta and Nile River Valley (Northeast Africa)
Protected by deserts and seas
Nile DeltaLocated in Lower Egypt (northern Egypt - lower in elevation)
Delta: broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river.
Lower EgyptView from space shuttle
Hieroglyphics
•Pictures could stand for sounds as well as ideas
PharaohsThey had absolute power (complete control)
Thought to be responsible for making the sun rise, the Nile flood, and crops grow.
•Egyptian god-kings
ReligionLike other River Valley peoples, Egyptians were polytheistic (believed in many gods).
Class SystemEgypt, had a rigid class system and slavery was accepted.
India•Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley CivilizationLocated on the Indus River in present-day Pakistan (Indian subcontinent).
Natural Barriers The Himalayan and the Hindu Kush Mountains as well as the Indian Ocean
protected the Indian subcontinent from invasion.
Indus Valley CivilizationMade up of independent city states including Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro
(and 2500 other sites)
Indus Valley AchievementsPlumbing
The great bath at Mohenjo-Daro
Cotton Cloth
Indus valley people were the first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into
cloth
Written Language
has not been deciphered
ChinaHuang He River
Huang He
•Also called the Yellow River and the River of Sorrows (yellow silt caused flooding)
Flooding of the Huang He Satellite images
before after
Geographically IsolatedGobi desert, Himalayan Mountains,
Pacific Ocean, dense jungles
Shang Dynasty
China was ruled by a succession of ruling families called dynasties (Early dynasties: Shang and Zhou)
Divine Rulers
Chinese rulers were considered divine (god-like).
Mandate of Heaven
They served under a mandate of heaven (approval of the gods) only as long as their
rule was just
Dynastic CycleExplains the rise, decline, and replacement
of families of rulers
Chinese SilkThe Chinese invented silk cloth (made from the cocoons of silkworms).
Writing
The earliest evidence of Chinese writing is found on oracle bones.
• Characters stood for ideas, not sounds.
Ancestor WorshipThe Chinese believed that the spirits of family ancestors could bring good
fortune or disaster
They paid respect to family ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor
Bronze vessel used for sacrificial food
IrrigationWater wheels were used to bring river water to the fields