Studied by 50 PeopleTags & Description
specialization
development of different jobs because people had more time to create them
artisan
craftspeople who traded for their food
scribe
a person who copies out documents, especially one employed to do this before printing was invented; people who went to school to learn writing
cuneiform
Used to make records of taxes, payments, court decisions, military and government decisions
bronze age
approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC, that was characterized by the use of bronze, in some areas writing, and other early features of urban civilization.
barter
exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money.
ziggurat
Built in ancient Mesopotamia, a ______ is a type of massive stone structure resembling pyramids and featuring terraced levels. Accessible only by way of the stairways, it traditionally symbolizes a link between the gods and the human kind, although it also served practically as shelter from floods.
Cities Well-Organized Governments Complex Religions Job Specialization Social Classes Arts and Architecture Public Works Writing
characteristics of civilization
Fertile Crescent
(Mesop) the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the soil beds were rich with silt, which provided the necessary nutrients to establish agricultural communities
Mesopotamia
the land between the Tigris and Euphrates; site of several ancient civilizations
city-state
a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.
dynasty
a succession of people from the same family who play a prominent role in business, politics, or another field.
cultural diffusion
he spreading out and merging of pieces from different cultures
polytheism
the belief in or worship of more than one god.
empire
an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress
Hammurabi
Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia; made the the Code of Hammurabi so all would have fair rights
delta
the flat, low-lying plain that sometimes forms at the mouth of a river from deposits of sediments
pharaoh
a ruler in ancient Egypt; was considered the divine intermediary between the gods and Egyptians.
theocracy
a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god
pyramid
A group of huge monuments in the Egyptian desert, built as burial vaults for the pharaohs and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
mummification
the process of preserving the body after death by deliberately drying or embalming flesh
hieroglyphics
means "sacred carvings", symbols, used by Egpytians, used on tombs, sheets of papyrus
papyrus
paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks and Romans
monsoon
a seasonal change in the direction of the prevailing, or strongest, winds of a region
Harappan civilization
located in the Indus River valley; developed the first accurate system of standardized weights and measures
loess
an unstratified, geologically recent deposit of silty or loamy material that is usually buff or yellowish brown in colour and is chiefly deposited by the wind
Mandate of Heaven
used in China; established the idea that a ruler must be just to keep the approval of the gods. It was believed that natural disasters, famines, and astrological signs were signals that the emperor and the dynasty were losing the _______ __ ______.
Divine Right rule
It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God
dynastic cycle
each dynasty of China rises to a political, cultural, and economic peak and then, because of moral corruption, declines, loses the Mandate of Heaven, and falls, only to be replaced by a new dynasty.
feudalism
a social system existing in medieval Europe in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and land in return.
Agriculture was a big econmic activty in civilaztions. Many people in the agriculture industry would barter crops for other goods they needed. For example, they would need clothes and possibly weapons. Agriculture helped to have food surpluses, helped people do tasks not related to farming, and civilizations started to build around agricultural fields. Agricultures helped made civilizations thrive.
What economic activities take place in civilizations?
Much larger than the Neolithic towns, Most cities rose in river valleys that could maintain large-scale farming needed to feed large populations
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Cities)
The first governments were created to manage the food supply and the building of walls to protect the cities, The first governments were ruled by warrior kinds who issued laws, collected taxes and organized defense, Over time departments were created to oversee certain government responsibilities, Power was usually hereditary and passed on within the royal family, The king was sometimes believed to be a god
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (government)
Polytheistic – belief in many gods, Religion began as a way to explain the existence and forces of nature, The gods were believed to control trade, war, birth and most aspects of human life, Priests performed rituals to keep the gods happy
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (complex religion)
Artisans were skilled craftspeople, Metalworking would begin to emerge around 4,000 BCE, Bricklayers, soldiers, singers, dancers and merchants are examples of specialized labor
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Job Specialization)
A hierarchy of society emerged in most early civilizations, ranking people based on their jobs, The Royal Family and Priests were at the top followed by a group of nobles, Wealthy merchants were in a lower class followed by artisans, Peasants composed the bulk of the population and were farmers, Some civilizations had slaves, who were usually captured women and children, Some families sold children into slavery to pay debts
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Social Class)
Allowed ancient civilizations to express their talent, beliefs, and values, Temples and palaces dominated the city landscapes and showed the power of a ruler or the religion
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Art and Architecture)
Government-organized projects such as the building of irrigation systems, roads, bridges or walls, Public works often required the mass organization of labor
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Public Works)
Writing may have begun by priests who needed to record information about rituals or to preserve information about the seasons, Early writing consisted of pictographs, simple drawings that looked like the object they represented, Scribes – trained people who could read and write
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (writing)
Some people remained nomadic but interacted with cities through trade, Environmental catastrophes could also cause movement of people, Cultural Diffusion – the spread of ideas, customs and technologies as civilizations interact with one another
Evaluate the importance of the characteristics of civilizations (Civilizations Change)
The writing was a key invention for both civlizations expand. It was used as a tool of order to helped the government to keep track of taxes for the people. Having a strong governmeny helped have a powerful civilzation. Faciliting agriculture would make it easier and quicker to make agricukture expand. having a writing plan of what they were going to do could make things go by quicker. It invented calendars so they could have an idea of what day it was, what month, what season, what week, and what year. It helped people create businesses to keep track of money, businesses would grow the bigger the civilization would get. It also helped them with trade. Communicating with other civilizations would help them gets things they needed. They could barter their crops/clothes/ tools for other resources.
Why was writing a key invention for the Sumerians? Egyptians?
They had an uncontrolled water supply problem. The Tigris and Euphrates would flood causing it to destroy planes. They solved this problem by using it to there advanagte. They built irrigation systems to help collect the water for their crops to grow in abundance, Built dams to contol the water flow so it wouln't overflood their land, and before they water flooded they plowed and tilled the field so they could use it for agriculture. The soil would become very moist and great for planting. They also built mud brick walls. This helped upper their defense and helped them protect themselves from other civilizations.
What major problems did Sumerians face? How were they solved?
Hammurabi's Code was one of the first sets of laws written for Mesopotamia civilization. It consisted of laws that were considered fair to all. it represents a concrete effort to unify its members and legitimize the governing ruler as a caretaker of the society. Unification meant the rulers were showing an effort to make the people come togthehr and have everyone be "equal". If they unified their members they would come and work togther to make their civilzation grow and develop.
Why is the development of a written code of laws important to a society?
Their interaction with the environment helped them make advances in civilizations. Instead of trying to get away from the flood, they used the flood to their advantage. They dug ditches and built irrigation systems to collect the flood water. So, every year when it flooded the water would flow to the fliers and helps the crops flourish. This helped them have a surplus of crops which is needed to have a civilization.
Using the River Valley civilizations that we have studied, How does interaction with the environment lead to advances in civilization?
Medicine is the most important Epyptian acheivement. The Egyptians learned how to check a person's heart rate; they felt for a pulse in different parts of the body, they healed broken bones with splints, they had effective treatments for wounds and medicines, and they had surgeries to treat some conditions. Doctors were crucial for the Egyptains espescially, because they exerted their body force for their harsh jobs. Many people worked in/near the Nile, worked on the pyramids, and farming put stress on joints. Their discovery in medicine helped us stay healthy today. Doctors now can treat many injuries and disease, with out their invention then our civilzation wouldn't be as developed.
Evaluate the most important achievements of the ancient Egyptians
The Nile River was the most influential to Egypt's history because they used it for mny reasons. The Nile provided food and resources. When the Nile flooded they would use their irrigation to feed their crops and use the nutrtious soil to plant the crops aswell. Having a food surplus meant more people and more poeple meant a civilization. They also used it for transport. If they could use the Nile River to travle they could conmunicate with other river valleys and travel meant tarde. IF they traded with other river vallets for resources they had little to no acess too. It would help their village to grow and develop to a civilzation.
Which natural geographic features were most influential to Egypt’s history?
This showed how they cared about peoples health/sanitation because having a watse and plublimg system meant their waste wouldn't sit around and affect their air, this could cuase this to get sick because of the bacteria. It also shows their effincey. It shows they want to improve and they can do it quickly and when they want. Also, wanting them to improve soceity also makes them want to make civilzation grow. It showed the people they wanted to make improvements for them.
What does the attention the Indus people gave to the plumbing and sewer systems suggest about their culture?
Architectural and engineering skills would be needed to construct planned cities. Engineers would need to plan out the grid of streets, and set up plumbing, sewage system for health concerns, and irrigation ditches. They set up irrigation to help create food surpluses. Architects would design the houses and buildings. Construction workers would be needed to actually build the buildings.
What skills would the construction of planned cities require?
the development of written language helped unify China. This is because if everyone had the same written language then no matter where you were from and what dialect you speak you could understand anyones writing. Everyone would be able to communicate with eachother through writting.
How did writing help unite China?
The dynastic cycle is suppose to be a dynasty peace and proseprity; to represent good and the people of their civlization. They rise because of the poltical, cultural, and economic peak. Then the mandate of heaven would cause the dynasty to lose power because the God's thought they were not worthy
Explain the characteristics of the Chinese dynastic cycle. What role does the Mandate of Heaven play in the cycle?
The benefits were that the parents were respected. This showed the children that since the parents provided for them they should always respect them. Another benefit is that is the groupn is imporatant than every indivial in that group is. If you had less power in the family then you would still be somewhat respected. Drawbacks were how women were infeior to men. They were expected to obey their fathers, husbands, and even their sons. Men could disrepecet women and society would not care.
what are the benefits and drawbacks of the belief that the group was more important than the individual?
Food surplused resulted in larger populations. If there is more food from a scoeity than more poeple would have more children to be grown in that soceity. They know they would be able to provide for their children with food. Having the ability to support larger populations leads to the stronger ecnomic system and to civilzations.
What economic changes resulted from food surpluses in agricultural villages?
When more settlements started to grow, governments started to emerge. They emerged to support larger populations. They would organize taxes and laws. IF they could support a large population than they had a large food surplus.
What circumstances led to the beginning of organized government?
Egyptians built the pyramids to show power and for religious reasons. They were monemunets for pahrohs. The people in the higher social class were buried in pyramids. They also built the pyramid with sloping sides so that the dead pharaohs, symbolicall, can climb to the top of heaven and live forever. They also built it in that shape to have all the weight distributed throughout. Building the pyramids showed other river valleys that they had the power and resources to build such a big monument.
Why did Egyptians build pyramids
Compare- they were all polytheistic, all complex, and had their own sets of writing, believed in the afterlife
Sumer: their afterlife was considered miserable. It was considered miserable because there was nothing to celebrate in the afterlife. They left behind statues in a position of worship, which would pray continually to the gods on their behalf
Egpyt: They believed that they would be judged by their deeds when they passed. Anubis (guide of the underworld) would decide if they were pure to continue to the afterlife. Devourer of Souls would take them and demolish them but if they passed they would go into the Other World which is considered beautiful, they use Mummification which is when they would remove the brain and organs, keep the heart which symbolized intelligence, dry the body and wrap them up.
China: The ancient Chinese believed that life carried on after death. People believed they would continue to do the things they had done in this life in the afterlife. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are considered the “three pillars” of ancient Chinese society. As philosophies and religions, they not only influenced spirituality, but also government, science, the arts, and social structure.
Compare and contrast the religious beliefs of Sumer, Egypt, and China.
Mesopotamia: They uesd the Tigris and Euphrates River for their geographic influence. They were able to develop agriculture with drip irrigations systems and using the fertile soil when the rivers flooded. This led to food surplues of their crops. This led to population growth. They also used the rivers to make mud brick shelters and walls. Having shelters proetcetd them from rain and preadators and walls helped them stay away from war. Since they didn't have many natural resources, they used the rivers to travel and trade with other river valleys.
China: China used the Pacific Ocean and Himilyain Mountains to protect themseleves. They protetced them from war and invaders who wanted to take over their land. The Himilyain Moutains and Pacific Ocean hindered trade beacsue they were hard and not worth to cross, but many settlements setteled near water for fertile soil. This caused them to have an abundance of crops/food surplus.
Egpyt: They prefered to settle in flat plains to make farming easier, but the main geography source was The Nile River. Evey year the river would flood and cause the soil to be fertile which leads to foodsurples and to population growth. They used it for trade and travel. It was convient to travel up and down the stream for resources they did not have acess too.
Compare the different ways that geographic issues influenced the settlement, trading networks, and sustainability of the early River Valley civilizations.
Similar: They all had a higher class and lower class, each had a type of ruler, each had slaves, all had workers and government officials.
China: They first had empors who ruled the dynsatys. Were treated the best. They were chosen by the gods because of the mandate of heaven. Then came the goverment officals and the immediate family of the emporer. The gov. officals helped keep the civlization in line with laws. Then they had the working class which cosnisted of peasents, workers, and merchants. and then lastly they have the lower class (common people). This consisted of slaves, servants, and protitutes, enterainers. They were treated the worst out of all the the.
Mespotamia: They consisted of the highest class with the kings and noblity. They were treated with respect and authority. Then they had the pristes because religion was a big part of their culture. Then they had the upper class which consisted of government officals and scribes because the gov. officals kept track of laws and the sribes wrote them. then they had the lower class which consisted of farmers and merchants. and the slaves. They were treated the worst and considered weak and useless.
India: They have the caste systems which consits of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, Dalits. The Brahmins were considered the descendants of the gods and had priets because religion was a HUGE part of their cultural. The Kshatriyas are the second best case system. This had warriors and kings. The warriors proetced them from outside forces and the king ruled over the city. Next is the Vaishyas who were merchants and landowners. The Shudras who were not treated with respect which had slaves and peasents and the lowest class is the Dalits. They were the cleaners who cleaned waste and trash and were treated with so much disrespet. They often got sick and people could physically harm them.
Egypt: The upper class consisted of the royal family, rich landowners, government officials, important priests and army officers, and doctors. These people were considered most important to soceity The middle class was made up chiefly of merchants, manufacturers, and artisans. The lower class, the largest class by far, consisted of unskilled labourers.They were the most useless and direspected
Compare and contrast the social and class structures of the ancient River Valley civilizations.
Governments helped them thrive because they oversall the civilzation. They kept track of taxes and laws that kept people in line. The government can also protect the people when things go awry. Having a strong and stable government is crucial for a civilization.
How did governments help civilizations thrive?
It aided them to keep track of taxes and laws. Being able to write these things out helped them organize them. It helped with communication to trade for resources the valley didn't have. It helped them keep track of time by inventing calendars. Calendars helped them what time of day it was and what season it was depending on when they should plant crops. It helped them communicate over long distances since they lived far away from each other.
How did the development of a writing system aid in the development of civilizations?
Many used water sources around them to build mud brick walls to protect themselves from intruders like Mesopo. and Egypt while others used their surroundings like Oceans and Mtns like China. Many fought for power over the land so their civil. could grow and get bigger. Mespo usally went to war for land/water rights.
What was the impact of warfare on early civilizations?
religion influenced the government and social classes because the priests were pretty much in charge of the civilization and they were on top of the social classes. Each river valley civil., religion is a main component in their culture. It affects their way of life and how they do things, what they eat/wear, and many more. When religion affects your faith, life, and even when you die...it's most likely the person who makes those things possibly will be at the top of social class and influence the governent.
How did religion influence the establishment of governments and social classes in early civilizations?
Trading was important because it developed the civil. of the Sumerians. They tradered because they lacked natural resoureces including metals whcih were used for weapons and many more. Having metals brought important goods like copper and limber to Sumer and led to greater wealth. Learning was very important because it got Sumerians ready for future jobs in the society. For example maybe a doctor, scribe, or gov. official. Learing helped kids become jobs that were crucial to daily life.
Why were trade and learning important to the ancient Sumerians?
The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice. It was the first set of laws that were successful and encouraged others to do the same. He made foe the people so they stay in line and so it was fair for all. his code established stability, allowing the ancient Babylon Empire to flourish.
Explain a lasting legacy of Hammurabi’s Code.
It provided a food surplus because it would flood every year making the soil very fertile for plating crops. It provided trade and travel to other societies. They could get resources they didn't have acess too and have intertactions with other communities. The Nile River even helped build the pyramids because the stones would be brought down by the river since they were to hard ro travel by land.
How did the Nile influence life in Ancient Egypt?
The king was the supreme head of state. Next to him, the most powerful officer in the hierarchy was the vizier, the executive head of the bureaucracy (a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.) The government was there to assits the pharohs in his or her rule.
Describe the government bureaucracy of Ancient Egypt.
They had a god for everyday things; it was to explain their surroundings, such as the annual Nile flooding. Daily happenings such as the sun setting and rising, were also explained through religion. It aslo effected how they acted in their life. They believed in the after life their hearts would get weighed on how pure theywere so if theywere pure they would be sent to the other world but if it wasn't than the devoured of souls would gobble him it. This encourgaed people to be kind to others and society.
Describe how religion shaped the lives of ancient Egyptians.
Women in Egypt had more rights than other civil. did. They were wife and mother and around the house they prepared food, cooked meals, cleaned the house, made clothing, and took care of the children. Women's professions consisted of weaving, perfume making, and entertainment. Egptian women could have heir own businesses, own and sell property, and serve as witnesses in court cases, which many women in over civil. couldn't do. Women could also become pahorhs..although rare they coudl do it.
Discuss the role of women in Egyptian society.
The egptians helped learning with these many examples, mathematics, geometry, surveying, metallurgy, astronomy, accounting, writing, paper, medicine, the ramp, the lever, the plow, and mills for grinding grain. Math and gemoetry helped them build the pyramids and the buldings in their society. Astronomy helped with the calendar. Medcinie hlped many of them not get sick and helped them stay not injured. Accounting kept track of tazes. Paper were used for literature and writig. There hierglyphics on the walls describe their culture and history.
What advances did Egyptians make in learning, the arts, science, and literature?
The Indian subcontinent is a 2000-mile-long triangle that is suspended off the landmass of Central Asia. Bounded on the north by the Himalayas, the land is accessible from that direction only through a number of northwestfacing passes. The Arabian Sea forms the western boundary and the Bay of Bengal the eastern one.
Describe the Indian subcontinent’s geography.
The large land was isolated from much of the rest of the world by dry deserts to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and impassable mountains to the south. This caused China tto be indpendent and keep away from intruders.
How did the geography of ancient China influence the development of its first dynasties?
Shang: the invention of writing; helped the government with taxes, they used it write history and China communicated with it. the advancement of bronze technology; they used bronze weapons in warfare because bronze was strong.
Zhou: made significant cultural contributions to agriculture, education, military organization, Chinese literature, music - They could express themselves and their cultural through songs, philosophical schools of thought, and social stratification as well as political and religious innovations
What are some of the contributions both the Shang and Zhou dynasties made to the growth of China’s classical civilization?
Values: family, advice from gods (taking advice from the gods was a big part of their religion), and children respecting their parents (showed children that parents provided for them)
features: advances in math, astronomy, artwork and military technology.
What were the three features of Shang culture? Three values?
members of the royal family and other nobles the rights to large areas of land. This showed equality between royals and nobles. Them both having rights to large land was a step into the right direction
What are two significant changes brought about by the Zhou?
Some positives were; agriculture impacts society in many ways, including: supporting livelihoods through food, having surpluses of food can help a population grow and develop; the food helped support many people, habitat, and jobs, it caused for people to be farmers and work in that field; providing raw materials for food and other products; and building strong economies through trade. Since some valleys didn’t have resources others did. They traded for food, natural resources (bronze, copper, stone)
Negs: It brought environmental challenges; And as far as the planet is concerned, agriculture has been a big loser – without it humans would never have changed the environment so much, clearing forest, moving rivers, building dams to create and prevent floods, drilling wells for agriculture, and in the 20th and 21st century drilling for oil to process into fertilizer.
What changes did the development of agriculture bring to humanity? Were these changes positive? Negative? Explain.
Cities - The Sumerians built their cities out of sun dried mud brick because they had little to no wood or stone. They had to use and adapt to the resources they had. They built a ziggurat for their most important chiefs, gods, and goddesses.
Well-Organized Governments - had a theocratic monarchy. This government was based on everyone looking up to Pharaoh as a ruler because he was able to communicate with Gods. Whenever the Pharaoh makes a law, that law is said to be from a God who directs the pharaoh on how to rule the country.
Complex Religions - Egypt was polytheistic but the supreme god was Amon-Re The pharaoh was viewed as being linked to Amon-Re and Egypt was a theocracy, where the ruler is connected to a god. Egyptians believed in the afterlife. They believed that they would be judged by their deeds when they passed. Anubis (guide of the underworld) would decide if they were pure to continue to the afterlife. Devourer of Souls would take them and demolish them but if they passed they would go into the Other World which is considered beautiful
Job Specialization - There were four major job specializations in China. Those professions were scholars (which included doctors and warriors), farmers, artisans (artists and craftsmen), and merchants. These jobs were considered on the more important side so they encourage kids to study them in school.
Social Classes - Brahmans – highest social class, priests, they were in charge of the religious ceremonies, Kshatriyas – they were the warriors and rulers, Vaisyas - Merchants and artisans, Sudras – most of the Indian population, they were manual laborers who held limited rights, Untouchables – not considered a caste, Untouchables collected trash and moved dead bodies, they were not considered human, they lived in separate areas
Arts and Architecture - Egypt has many historical architecture landmarks, including the pyramids of Giza and The sphinx. The pyramids were built because the pyramids represented the strength of Egyptian civilization, pyramids were built for powerful emperors, built with slant so the emperors could travel to heaven with ease.
Public Works - The Sumerians built sewer drainage systems, public baths, private baths. This showed that they cared about hygiene and health of their people. It also showed how complex they were as a civilization. Having a sewage systems was a big development of society which made their cities grow larger.
Writing - Chinese calligraphy was invented by the SHang dynasty. This writing system was the same throughout CHina so they could all communicate with each other. This led them to keep track of history. China kept track of their advancements, wars, and rulers.
Writing was the most important characteristic of a civilization. Writing helped them keep track of record keeping. As civilizations become more advanced and complex; they need to keep records. It helped the government keep track of files; they documented taxes and laws. Writing helped priests keep track of calendars for important rituals so the gods wouldn’t get angry and harm the land and or the civilization. It helped merchants record their clients and debuts as wells. They also kept track of history, like important historical events. They kept records of war, natural disasters, and rulers. Writing helped cities become more developed because it made the government stongert and helped people do their jobs with more ease.
What are the characteristics of civilizations and give a historical example from an early river civilization for each? Assess which ONE characteristic is MOST IMPORTANT and defend your choice.