Four River Civilizations

Four River Valleys• Tigris and Euphrates

• Nile

• Indus

• Huang

How does geography contribute to…

• Governmental structures (power, rulers)

• Economic structures (trade, agriculture)

• Infrastructure (buildings, canals, roads)

• Societal structures (religion, art, writing)

Sumerians and Mesopotamia

• 3500 BCE: Move into the fertile crescent.

• Present-day Iraq.

Government

• King – hereditary (passed down from father to son).

• Nobles – land owners from patriarchal families (power passes down through the male).

• “The People” don’t participate.

• Legal Code (see Hammurabi)!

Economy• Farmers and city-builders.

• Use rivers.

• Plow.

• Cuneiform for payments.

Infrastructure

• Arch.

• Canals and ditches.

Society

• Writing before 3000BCE.

• Clock, circle.

• Literature, hymns to the gods.

So…

• Sumeria has no natural barriers and is open to invaders.

• 1700 BCE Hammurabi (Syrian) brings Mesopotamia under one rule – Babylon.

• Writes the first known legal code.