River Valley Civilizations

Characteristics of Civilizations

CitiesCentralized government, law

codes, organized religionSystem of writingSpecialized jobs – Division of

LaborSocial Class StructureAdvanced Technology

Four Early River Valleys

How did they become civilizations?

Neolithic Revolution – domestication of plants & animals

Organized Farming & village life Food Surplus was created led to

specialization of labor Growth in population Creation of complex socieites

requiring complex institutions which governed large scale projects like irrigation

Population Growth & Development of Civilizations

Iron Age = new farms tools = food surplus Farming and Pastoral Nomads replaced

hunter-gatherers Domesticated animals = beasts of burden

= food surplus Increased, healthier population living

closer together in new urban areas Increased immunities based on close

proximity & better health

Population Growth & Development of Civilizations

Cultural connections increased through new trade routes

Developments of empires Development of Writing systems to

record taxes to pay for expanded governments

Development of great road building projects to encourage trade, uniform coinage, uniform weights & measurements(Lydian's & Persians)

Introducing Mesopotamia:(foundations)

Jereme Monette Jereme.monette@sdhc.k12.fl.us Plant City High School Hillsborough County, Florida.

Mesopotamia - PersiaFor early Civilizations “Rivers Deliver”… Why are rivers essential for them?

Mesopotamia: “Land between the rivers”

Technology helps Mesopotamian societies thrive (How?)

Dikes and canals help tame floods

Agricultural technologies lead to food surplus

The Sumerian Civilization - the beginning of the whole

“Mess” Develop cuneiform as a system of writing

(Impact?)– Record laws, treaties, social & political

customs…– Via trade, written language spreads to other

Civs. Develop 12 month calendar and use geometry

to develop arches and columns. Polytheistic religion using Ziggurats to worship

Gods. Fell to invaders, but the culture did not die

(why?)

cuneiform

Ziggurats

Akkadians, then Babylonians, then Hitties, then… bla bla bla. The Akkadians develop the first known

code of laws using Sumerian Cuneiform. The Babylonian King Hammurabi

developed the Code of Hammurabi (impact?)

Babylonian bronze weapons fall to the Hittite’s iron weapons that fall to the Assyrian’s stronger iron that fall to the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar who rebuilds Babylon and falls to the Persains.

Code of Hammurabi

What language would the code of Hammurabi be in?

Persians:Biggest and Best of the “Mess” The Great Royal Road connects

Persia to the word (why?) The Lydians (coin money),

Phoenicians (alphabet), and Hebrews (Judaism).

Name 6 major contributions of the early Mesopotamian civs.

Describe how each society changes and cultures are preserved.

Early River Civilizations: EGYPT

3000BCEEgyptian Science and Technology

1. Irrigation – water from Nile River (god) to grow wheat & other foods2. Preserving the human body after death through mummification 3. Physicians diagnose illness & perform brain & body surgery

Egyptian Science and Technology

Accurate calendar Hieroglyphics: system of writing

called Advanced mathematical geometry

& engineering skills in the creation of the pyramids

irrigation systems

EGYPT

Monarchy – Kingdom/EmpirePharaoh God/KingDynasty – ruling familyPolytheisticAdvances in medicine, math,

calendars, irrigation, cosmetics, mummification, building & architecture, pyramids, jewelry,metal work

Social Class Structure: Pharaoh, Priest/Nobles, merchants/artisans (Middle Class), peasants, slaves

Ancient Egypt

MESOPOTAMIA – FERTILE CRESCENT

Sumerians 1st Civilization: 1st to build wheeled vehicles - 3500 BCE

built irrigation systems, dykes, and canals for better farming

Cuneiform system of writing – 1st Sumerian- algebra and geometry Sumerian: - city-states, Preist/Kings

polytheistic,

India2500BCE: First cultivation of rice,

cotton and tea built ships, navigated seas,

international commerce (Indian Ocean & overland)

well-planned towns, rectangular patterns

Art -copper, bronze, and pottery, including a large collection of terra-cotta toys

two-storied and spacious, lined the town streets; they had drainage systems that led into brick-lined sewers

Ancient IndiaSocial Class Structure: Caste System: Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders and agriculturists), and Shudra (workers). Person's occupation or group depended upon birth

Sanskrit: writing system

Early China Shang Dynasty: 2000BCE system

of writing pictographs - drawings of objects ideographs – thought or idea

Oracle Bone early writing:Zhou Dynasty:

Mandate of Heaven rise & fall of dynasties

Qin Dynasty: Shi huangdi - new technologies warfare, cavalry, Legalism – you will obey orders!Burned Confucian books

Ancient ChinaQin China: standardized the

language and writing of China

currency became standardized circular copper coin

Great Wall built in north to protect China

Roads and irrigation canals built –Burned books

Legacies of River Valleys Expanded populations & urbanization New networks – roads & trade routes

lined, sea routes Established systems of government,

laws, & religion Established patterns of culture &

cultural diffusion