river valleys

Term

Definition

Mesopotamia

Region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; means "land between the rivers"; modern-day Iraq

Tigris and Euphrates

The two rivers Mesopotamia was located between

Fertile Crescent

Arc of fertile land in the Middle East where Mesopotamia developed

Silt

Rich, fertile soil left behind after a river floods

Unpredictable flooding

Why Mesopotamian floods were a bigger problem than Egyptian floods — they came without warning and could destroy crops and villages

Sumerians

People who ruled over parts of Mesopotamia in its early history and built the first city-states

City-state

A city and the surrounding land it controls, with its own government and gods

Ziggurat

A stepped temple in Mesopotamia; the place of worship and center of city life

Polytheism

Belief in many gods

Cuneiform

The wedge-shaped system of writing developed by the Mesopotamians

Hammurabi

The first Babylonian ruler to write down laws for all to see

Hammurabi's Code

A written code of laws — one of the first; it set clear punishments and applied to everyone

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Mesopotamian piece of literature that gives clues about their views of death and the afterlife

Afterlife (Mesopotamia)

Land of no return"" — a gloomy place; Mesopotamians believed in an afterlife but did not view it positively"

Nile River

The river Egypt was located near; it flows north

Upper and Lower Egypt

The two kingdoms Egypt was originally divided into

King Narmer

The ruler who united Upper and Lower Egypt

Pharaoh

The ruler of Egypt; seen as a god on earth

Theocracy

Form of government in which religious and political power are held by the same person

Pyramids

Massive stone tombs built for pharaohs; engineering achievements showing Egyptian skill and organization

Hieroglyphics

The picture-based system of writing developed by the Egyptians

Mummification

The process of embalming a body to prevent it from decaying

Egyptian afterlife beliefs

Polytheistic; they believed in an afterlife and had a positive view of it

Papyrus

Paper-like writing material made from reeds along the Nile

Huang He (Yellow River)

China's Sorrow"" — called yellow because of the loess (yellow silt) it carries; flooding killed many people"

Yangtze River

The second river near which Chinese civilization emerged

Loess

Fine, yellow, wind-blown soil that gives the Huang He its color and makes the land fertile

Shang Dynasty

Early dynasty that ruled China; known for oracle bones and bronze work

Zhou Dynasty

The dynasty that overthrew the Shang

Mandate of Heaven

The idea that the gods give a ruler the right to rule — and take it away if the ruler is unjust

Dynastic Cycle

The rise, decline, and fall of dynasties: a new dynasty gains the Mandate of Heaven, ages, loses it, and is replaced

Oracle Bones

Animal bones or shells with questions carved on them, heated until they cracked; used to ask the gods for guidance

Middle Kingdom

What the ancient Chinese called themselves — they believed China was the center of the world

Chinese geography

Huang He, Yangtze, Gobi Desert, Taklamakan Desert, Himalaya Mountains, Pacific Ocean, Yellow Sea, East China Sea

Indus River

One of the two rivers near which the Harappan civilization emerged

Ganges River

The second river near which the Harappan civilization emerged

Subcontinent

A large landmass that is part of a continent but is separated by geographical features (like the Himalaya)

Monsoons

Seasonal winds that bring heavy rain in summer and dry air in winter

Harappa

One of the famous cities of the Indus River Valley civilization

Mohenjo-Daro

Major Indus city known for its planned layout, grid streets, and drainage systems

Grid system

How city planning in Mohenjo-Daro differed from other civilizations — streets laid out in an organized pattern

Citadel

A fortified building or high area that protected the city and its important structures

Decline of Harappa

Caused by flooding, drought, famine, or invasion — historians are not certain which

Why we know less about Harappa

Their writing system is undeciphered, and they left behind no royal or religious structures to study

Indus geography

Indus and Ganges rivers, Himalaya Mountains, Deccan Plateau, Thar Desert, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal

Indus contributions

Planned cities with grid streets and drainage, a system of weights and measures, and undeciphered writing

Geography's impact (positive)

Fertile soil from river silt

Geography's impact (negative)

Unpredictable flooding

River valley civilizations

The four earliest civilizations — Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and the Indus Valley — all grew up along major rivers

Why rivers mattered

Rivers provided water, fertile soil for farming, transportation, and trade — which allowed surplus food and the growth of cities