Study Guide: Unit 2 - River Valley Civilizations

Characteristics of a Civilization

1. Ancient civilizations developed along rivers for water and other resources.

2. List the 5 characteristics of a civilization (from Unit 1).

   • advanced cities

   • special workers

   • complex institutions

   • record keeping

   • advanced technology

Mesopotamia

3. Mesopotamia had the first writing system called cuneiform. Describe its characteristics:

4. A government with religious leaders is called a theocracy (written as "theodracy").

5. City-state - self-governing entity that includes a city and the surrounding lands.

6. List the 3 challenges that Sumerians dealt with: hard to defend, limited natural resources

7. A system of religion that believes in more than one god - polytheism

8. What is the image to the right? Ziggurat What was it used for? religion, honor gods, etc.

9. List examples of of Mesopotamian advanced technology: plow, wheel, sail, irrigation, math & geometry based on 60

10. What was the importance of the priests in Mesopotamia? communicate with gods

11. What river(s) was/were important to the Mesopotamian civilization? Tigris & Euphrates

12. Irrigation - used to bring water to fields to grow crops.

13. Silt - fertile soil

14. Hammurabi's Code - 1st written code of laws.

15. Famous written works from Mesopotamia: Epic of Gilgamesh

Egypt

16. Egyptian leaders were called pharaohs and they were believed to become gods in the afterlife. This was the reason they built pyramids and used the process of mummification when burying the dead.

17. Egyptian writing is called hieroglyphics and it is based on pictographs.

18. King Menes is remembered for: uniting Upper & Lower Egypt

19. dynasty - a series of rulers from the same family.

20. List Egyptians advancements and technologies: mummification, surgery, medicine, 365 day calendar

21. Explain the difference between the flooding in Egypt vs the flooding in Mesopotamia:

    • Egypt: predictable

    • Mesopotamia: unpredictable

22. What river(s) was/were important to Egyptians? Nile River

Indus River Valley

• 23. Explain why our knowledge of the Indus River civilizations is limited:

  • Answer: their writing was hard to decipher (figure out)

• 24. What are some examples of natural barriers that isolated the Indus River Valley?

  • Answer: Himalayan Mtns, Hindu Kush Mtns, Indian Ocean

• 25. Describe the advancements of the Indus River Valley cities:

  • Answer: Well planned cities, sewage systems, plumbing, separate housing

• 26. What are the two major cities of the Indus River Valley?

  • Answer: Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa

• 27. India is considered a Sub-continent because it exists below the rest of Asia. The monsoons are the winds that bring the wet season and the dry season.

• 28. What river(s) was/were important to the Indian people?

  • Answer: Indus & Ganges

• 29. What information about the Indus River Valley can be assumed since very few weapons have been found?

  • Answer: they were peaceful and did not experience conflict.

Ancient China Civilizations

• 30. Mountains, deserts, seas, and distance resulted in Chinese civilizations remaining isolated.

• 31. Oracle bones - used to consult the gods; the ancient Chinese also worshipped ancestors.

• 32. Very few Chinese learned writing because:

  • Answer: it was complex and very long

• 33. What mountain range is a natural barrier between India & China?

  • Answer: Himalayan

• 34. What river(s) was/were important to early Chinese civilization?

  • Answer: Yangtze & Huang He (Yellow)

• 35. The Huang-He River gets its name from the color of the loess, which is a fertile soil. (Note: The printed word "Chang-He" was crossed out and replaced with "Huang-He")

• 36. The first dynasty to leave written records was the Shang. It was overthrown by the Zhou dynasty.

• 37. The belief that a ruling dynasty has been blessed from the gods to rule the people: Mandate of Heaven

• 38. The pattern of the rise and fall of dynasties is called: Dynastic Cycle.

• 39. A major trade item that came from the cocoon of a worm: Silk.

Hebrews and Phoenicians

• 40. Hebrews brought about the first Monotheistic religion, called Judaism. The sacred scriptures are called The Torah and the rules to live by are called 10 Commandments.

• 41. Exodus - time period when the Hebrews were led out of slavery by Moses.

• 42. King David made Jerusalem the capital city of Israel.

• 43. The Phoenicians were skilled at ship-building, a phonetic (using sounds) alphabet, and using a purple dye extracted from a Mediterranean snail.

• 44. Since the Phoenicians were considered sea people, they had more contact with other civilizations and tended to be very skilled at navigating the sea.