McDougal Littel World History: Patterns and Interactions 

Chapter 2 

World history 

Chapter 2: Early River Valley Civilizations 

Chapter 2.1: City-States in Mesopotamia 

• A desert climate dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. 
  • Fertile Crescent: The region's curved shape and the richness of its land, it includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain called Mesopotamia. 
    • Mesopotamia: The word in Greek means "land between rivers" It was between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 
      • The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year and once the water receded, it left a thick bed of mud called silt. 
      • Farmers planted grain and irrigated the fields with river water and they were able to get large harvests. 
    • People first began to settle in Mesopotamia around 4500 B.C. 
      • Around 3300 B.C. Sumerians arrived due to the good soil that attracted them. 
        • There were disadvantages to coming however: 
          • Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little to no rain. The land sometimes almost became a desert. 
          • With no natural barriers for protection, a Sumerian village was nearly defenseless. 
          • The natural resources of Sumer were limited. Building materials and other necessary item were scarce.
      • To solve their problems, Sumerians dug irrigation ditches to help with crop production. 
      • For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks. 
      • They traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the peoples of the mountains and the desert. They did this in exchange for raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal. 
      • Sumerians needed leaders and laws and eventually they had a civilization. 
  • City-state: A city state functioned like an independent country does today. 
    • Sumerian city-states included Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur.
      • The center of all Sumerian states was the walled temple with a ziggurat in the middle. 
    • Sumer's earliest governments were controlled by the temple priests. 
      • Farmers believed that the success of their crops depended upon the blessings of the gods, and the priests acted as go-betweens with the gods. 
  • Ziggurats were also like a city hall. 
    • The priests manages the irrigation system and they demanded as portion of every farmer's crop as taxes. 
• In a time of war priests did not lead the city. 
  • The men of the city chose a tough fighter who could command the city's soldiers. 
    • After 3000 B.C. wars between cities became more and more frequent. 
      • Over time, Sumerian priests and people gave commanders permanent control of standing armies. 
      • Some military leaders became full-time rulers. 
        • The rulers passed their power to their sons, who passed it on to their heirs. 
        • dynasty: A series of rulers from a single family
• 2500 B.C. new cities were arising all over the fertile crescent which were now Syria, northern Iraq, and Turkey. 
  • Sumerians exchanged products and ideas, such as living in cities, with neighboring cultures 
  • cultural diffusion: The process in which a new idea or product spreads from one culture to another. 
• Polytheism: The belief in more than  one god. 
  • Sumerians feared Enlil, the god of storms and air and to them he was known as "the raging flood that has no rival" 
  • Sumerian described their gods doing as many of the same things that humans did such as falling in love, having children, quarreling, etc. 
    • They believed that they were both immortal and all-powerful. 
    • Humans were nothing but their servants. 
  • In an effort to keep the gods happy, they built impressive ziggurats for them and offered rich sacrifices of animals, food, and wine. 
• Social classes arose in Sumerian Society. 
  • Kings, landholders, and some priests made up the highest level in Sumerian society. 
  • Wealthy merchants ranked next 
  • The majority of ordinary Sumerian people worked with their hands in the fields and workshops. 
  • The lowest level of Sumerian society were the slaves 
    • The slaves were people who had been captured in war. 
    • There were some who had been sold into slavery as children to pay the debts of their poor parents. 
      • These slaves hoped that they would be eventually able to buy their freedom. 
  • Sumerian women could work as merchants, farmers, or artisans. They could also own property in their own name and join priesthood.
    • Some upper class women learned to read and write 
• Historians believe that Sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow and that they were among the first to use bronze. 
• Sumerians developed a number system with the base of 60
  • 60 secs= 1 min 
  • 360 degrees of a circle 
• Arches, columns, ramps, and the pyramid shaped the design of the ziggurat and permanently influences Mesopotamian civilization. 
• From 3000-2000 B.C. the city-states of Sumer were almost constantly at war. 
  • About 2350 B.C. a conqueror named Sargon defeated the city-states of Sumer 
  • Sargon was able to spread Sumerian culture even father beyond the Tigris-Euphrates valley.
  • Sargon created the world's first empire. 
    • Empire: An empire brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler.
  • The Akkadian empire loosely controlled land from the Mediterranean Coast in the west to present-day Iran in the east. 
    • It only lasted for about 200 years, and it declined due to internal fighting, invasions, and a famine. 
• 2000 B.C. nomadic warriors known as Amorites invaded Mesopotamia. 
  • Over time the Amorites overwhelmed the Sumerians and established their capitol at Babylon. 
    • The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of Hammurabi from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. 
      • Hammurabi recognized that a single uniform code of laws would help to unify the diverse groups within his empire. 
        • The code lists 282 specific laws that deal; with everything that affected the community, including family relations, business conduct, and crime. 
        • Many laws were related to property issues. 
        • The laws sought to protect women and children from unfair treatment. 
          • The code applied to everyone, but there were different punishments for the rich and poor and for men and women. 
            • It frequently applied the principle of retaliation. 
• Two centuries later the Babylonian Empire fell to the neighboring Kassites.           

Chapter 2.2: Pyramids on the Nile 

• Egypt's settlements arose along the Nile on a narrow strip of land mad fertile by the river.
• Egypt was known as the "gift of the Nile"  
• Unlike the unpredictable Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile river was like clockwork, which worked in the favor of Egyptian farmers. 
  • Egypt had its risks for the farmers however: 
    • When the Nile's flood waters were just a few feet lower than normal, the amount of fertile land was significantly reduced. Which led to thousands of people starving. 
    • When the floodwaters were higher than usual, the water destroyed homes, granaries, and the precious seed that farmers needed for planting. 
    • Egyptians had to live on very small portions of the land and they had little interaction with other peoples. 
• Egypt due to its location on the fertile crescent did not have much to deal with the constant warfare. 
• Ancient Egyptians lived alone the Nile from the mouth well into the interior of Africa. 
  • River travel was common, but it ended at the point in the Nile where boulders turn the river into churning rapids called a cataract. 
    • It was impossible for riverboats to pass, and continue into Africa. 
  • The river area in the south is called Upper Egypt. 
  • Lower Egypt includes the Nile delta region. 
    • The delta begins about 100 miles before the river enters the Mediterranean
    • delta: a broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the river. 
• Nile served as a reliable system of transportation. 
• Egyptians lived in farming villages as far back as 5000 B.C. 
  • Each village had its own rituals, gods, and cheiftan. 
  • 3200 B.C, the villages were under the rule of two separate kingdoms- upper Egypt and lower Egypt 
    • Eventually the two kingdoms were united . 
  • The king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown, and the king of Upper Egypt wore a tall white crown shaped like a bowling pin. 
  • King Narmer was who united the two regions of Egypt. 
    • It was sad he was seen wearing the crown of both upper and Lower Egypt on his head.
      • Some believe that a carved piece of slate known as the Narmer Palette celebrates the unification of Egypt around 3000 B.C.  
  • Narmer settled his capital in Memphis which is where both upper and lower Egypt met. 
    • Here, he established the first Egyptian dynasty. 
      • Eventually, the history of ancient Egypt would consist of 31 dynasties, spanning 2600 years. 
• The role of the king was different between Egypt and Mesopotamia. 
  • In Mesopotamia kings were to be considered representatives of the gods. 
  • To the Egyptians, the kings were the gods 
    • pharaohs: Egyptian god kings that were thought to be almost as splendid and powerful as the gods of the heavens.
    • theocracy: The type of government in which rule is based on religious authority.
  • Egyptians believed that the pharaoh bore full responsibility for the kingdom's well-being. 
    • It was the pharaoh who caused the sun to rise, the Nile to flood, and the crops to grow.. 
    • The duty that the pharaoh had was to promote truth and justice. 
• Egyptians believed that their king ruled even after his death. 
  • He had an eternal life force, or ka which continued to take part in the governing of Egypt. 
    • For the kings of the Old Kingdom, the resting structure after death was a pyramid. 
• Religion played an important role in the lives of Egyptians. 
  • Early Egyptians were polytheistic. 
    • The most important gods were Re, the sun god and Osiris, the god of the dead. 
    • The most important goddess was Isis who represented the ideal mother and wife. 
    • In all, Egyptians worshiped more than 2000 gods and goddesses. 
      • Huge temples were built to honor the major deities .
  • Egyptians believed in the afterlife . 
    • They believed that they would be judged for their deeds when they died. 
    • Anubus, god and guide of the underworld would weigh each person's heart. 
      • For eternal life the heart could weigh no more than a feather.
• mummification: involves embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying.
• Attendants placed the mummy in a coffin inside a tomb. 
  • The tomb was then filled up with items the dead person could use in the afterlife such as clothing, food, cosmetics, jewelry. 
• The Egyptian society formed a pyramid. 
  • The king, queen, and royal family stood at the top. 
  • Below them were the other members of the upper class which were wealthy landowners, government officials, priests, and army commanders. 
  • The next class was the middle class which were merchants and artisans. 
  • At the bottom of the pyramid was the largest class, the lower class which consisted of peasant farmers and laborers. 
  • Egyptians were able to gain higher status through marriage or success in their jobs. 
  • To win the highest positions, people had to know how to read and write. 
• Writing was one of the keys to the growth of Egyptian civilization
  • Pictographs were the earliest form of writing in Egypt. 
  • hieroglyphics: term comes from the Greek words "hieros" and "gluph" meaning sacred carving. A picture stood for an idea. 
    • A picture of a man stood for the idea of a man. 
  • papyrus: a better writing surface, that was made of plants 
• Egyptians developed a calendar to help them keep tack of time between floods and to plan their planting season. 
• Egyptian doctors knew how to check heart rate in different parts of the body, as well as treat wounds and broken bones. 
• The power of the pharaohs declined about 2180 B.C. which marked the end of the Old Kingdom.
• Strong pharaohs improved trade and transportation by digging a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. 
  • This was during the Middle Kingdom with was between 2040-1640 B.C 
    • The Middle Kingdom did not last as a group from the area of Palestine moved across the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt. 
      • This group were the Hyksos. 

Chapter 2.3: Planned Cities on the Indus

• The landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is referred to as the Indian subcontinent.
• The world's tallest mountains to the north and a large desert to the east helped protect the Indus Valley from invasion. 
  • The mountains guarded an enormous plain of flat land formed by the Indus and the Ganges rivers. 
    • Farming was only possible in the areas that were directly watered by the Indus. 
  • The Ganges drops down from the Himalayas and flows eastward across northern India. It joins the Bay of Bengal and the Brahmaputra River. 
• monsoons: Seasonal winds that dominate India's climate from October to February. 
  • The winter monsoons from the northeast blow dry air westward across the country. 
  • From the middle of June to October, the winds blow the opposite way. 
    • The storms bring so much moisture that they often cause flooding. 
• The civilization that emerged along the Indus River faced many of the same challenges as the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. 
  • Yearly floods spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area. However, the floods were unpredictable. 
  • The rivers sometimes changed course. 
  • The cycle of wet and dry seasons brought by the monsoon winds was unpredictable. If there was little to no rain then the plants withered in the fields and people starved.  If there was too much rain villages were washed away. 
• Historians have not yet figured out the Indus system of writing. 
  • It is possible that floods washed all evidence away. 
• No one is sure how human settlement began in the Indian subcontinent. 
  • It is possible that people who arrived by sea from Africa settled the south. 
  • Northern migrants may have made their way through the Khyber Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains. 
  • Archaeologists have found evidence in the highlands of agriculture and domesticated sheep dating to about 7000 B.C. 
    • By about 3200 B.C. people were farming in villages along the Indus River. 
  • Around 2500 B.C. people in the Indus Valley were laying the bricks for India's first cities. 
    • They built strong levees to keep water out of their cities. 
      • When these were not enough, the constructed human-made islands to raise the cities above possible floodwaters. 
    • The largest cities were Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa. 
    • The cities of early Mesopotamians were a jumble of building connected by a maze of winding streets. 
    • The people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. 
      • Cities included a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city 
      • The buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the simpler irregular, sun-dried mud bricks of the Mesopotamians
      • Early engineers also created sophisticated sewage systems.  
• Harappa itself is a good example of city planning. 
  • The city was partially built on mud-brick platforms to protect it from flooding. 
  • A thick brick wall about 3 and a half miles long surrounded it. 
    • Inside it was a citadel, which gave protection to the royal family and served as a temple. 
  • The streets in the grid system were as wide as 30 feet. 
  • There were walls that divided the residential districts from each other. 
  • Narrow lanes separated rows of houses which were laid in block units. 
• Harappan culture was based on agriculture. 
  • The Harappan language has been impossible to decipher.
    • It is found on stamps and seals made of carved stone used for trading pottery and tools. 
    • Around 400 symbols make up the language. 
    • Scientists believe the symbols are used to both depict an object and also as phonetic sounds. 
  • The housing suggest that social divisions in the society were not great. 
    • Artifacts such as clay and wooden children's toys suggest a relatively prosperous society that could afford to produces nonessential goods. 
    • Few weapons of warfare have been found, suggesting that conflict was limited. 
  • The presence of animal images on many different types of artifacts suggests that animals were an important part of the culture. 
    • Animals are seen on pottery, small statues, children's toys, and seals used to mark trade items. 
      • Some of the seals portray beasts with parts of several different animals, for example the head of a man, an elephant trunk and tusks, horns of a bull, and the rump of a tiger.  
  • Archaeologists think that the culture was a theocracy. 
    • No site of a temple has been found. 
    • Priests likely prayed for good harvests and safety from floods. 
    • Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu cultures. 
      • Figure show what may be early representations of Shiva, a major Hindu god. 
      • Other figures relate to a mother goddess, fertility images, and the worship of the bull ~ all of which became part of later Indian Civilizations. 
  • The Harappans conducted a thriving trade with peoples in the region. 
    • Gold and silver came from the north in Afghanistan. 
    • Semiprecious stones from Persia and the Deccan Plateau were crafted into jewelry. 
    • The Indus River provided excellent means of transportation for trade goods. 
      • The Indus River provided a link to the sea and it allowed Indus Valley inhabitants to develop trade with distant peoples.
    • Brightly colored cloth was a desirable trade item since few people at the time knew how to grow cotton. 
    • Trading began as earl as 2500 B.C. and continued until 1800 B.C. 
• 1750 B.C. the quality of building in the Indus Valley cities declined. 
  • Overtime, the cities fell into decay and the fate of the cities remained a mystery until the 1970s. 
    • Satellite images of the subcontinent revealed shifts in tectonic plates, which likely caused floods and earthquakes that altered the course of the Indus River. 
      • Some cities suffered and survived and others were completely destroyed. 

Chapter 2.4: River Dynasties in China 

• Natural barriers somewhat isolated ancient China from all other civilizations.
  • To China's easy lay the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. 
  • Mountain ranges and desert dominate about two-thirds of China's landmass.   
• China's first civilization developed in a river valley
  • The Huang He's floods could be disastrous. Sometimes floods devoured whole villages, earning the river the nickname "China's Sorrow.'"
  • Due to the geographic isolation, early settlers had to supply their own goods rather than trading with outside peoples. 
  • China's natural boundaries did not completely protect the settlers from outsiders. Invasions from the west and the north occurred again and again in Chinese history. 
• Only about 10% of China's ;and is suitable for farming. 
  • Most of the land lies within the small plain between the Huang He and the Chang Jiang in eastern China. 
    • This plain is known as China's heartland. 
• Fossil remains show that ancestors of modern humans lived in southwest China about 1.7 million years ago. 
  • In northern China near Beijing a homo erectus skeleton was found. 
• Even before the Sumerians settled in southern Mesopotamia, early Chinese cultures were building farming settlements along the Huang He. 
  • Around 2000 B.C. some of the settlements grew into China's first cities. 
    • The first Chinese dynasty, the Xia dynasty emerged around this time. 
      • It's leader was an engineer and mathematician named Yu. 
      • His flood control and irrigation projects helped tame the Huang He and its tributaries so that settlements could grow. 
• The Shang dynasty lasted from around 1700 B.C to 1027 B.C
  • It was the first family of Chinese rulers to leave written records. 
  • Shang kings built elaborate palaces and tombs that have been uncovered by archaeologists. 
  • The oldest and most important city was Anyang, which was one of the capitals of the Shang dynasty. 
    • It was built mainly of wood and it stood in a forest clearing. 
    • The higher classes lived in timber-framed houses with the walls of clay and straw. 
      • These houses lay inside of the city walls. 
      • The peasants and craftspeople lived in huts outside the city.
  • The Shang surround their cities with massive earthen walls for protection. 
    • The archaeological remains of one city include a wall of pack earth 118 feet wide at its base that encircled an area of 1.2 square miles
      • It likely took 10,000 men more than 12 years to build such a structure.  
    • Shang peoples needed walled cities because they were constantly waging war 
    • In the Chinese view, people who lived outside of Chinese civilization were barbarians. 
    • The family was central to Chinese society. 
      • The most important virtue was respect for one's parents.
      • The elder men in the family controlled the family's property and made important decisions. 
      • Women were treated as inferiors. 
        • They were expected to obey their fathers, husbands, and later their own sons. 
      • When a girl was between 13-16 years old, her marriage was arranged and she moved into the house of her husband.
    • Shang society was sharply divided between nobles and peasants. 
      • A ruling class of warrior-nobles headed by a king governed the Shang. 
        • These noble families owned the land. 
        • They governed the scattered villages within the Shang lands and sent tribute to the Shang ruler in exchange for local control.
    • The Chinese believed that the spirits of family ancestors had the power to bring good fortune or disaster to living members of the family.
      • The Chinese did not regard these spirits as mighty gods, they were more so like troublesome or helpful neighbors who demanded attention and respect.
      • Through the spirits of their ancestors the Shang consulted the gods through the use of oracle bones. 
        • oracle bones: animal bones and tortoise shells on which priests had scratched questions on the bone, a priest applied a hot poker to it, which caused it to crack. 
          • The priests interpreted the cracks to see how the gods had answered. 
• In the Chinese method of writing, each character generally stands for one syllable or unit of language. 
  • There were practically no links between China's spoken and written language. 
    • Someone could read their language without knowing how to speak it.
    • The disadvantage of the Chinese system was the enormous number of written characters to be memorized. 
      • A person needed to know over 1,500 characters to be barely literate. 
      • To be a true scholar they needed to know at least 10,000 characters.
      • Around 1027 B.C. a people called the Zhou overthrew the Shang and established their own dynasty. 
        
        
        

        • The Zhou had adopted much of the Shang culture. 

        • The change in the dynasty did not bring sweeping cultural change. 

        • The Zhou leaders declared that the final Shang king had been such a poor ruler that they gods had taken away the Shang’s ru;e and given it to the Zhou. 

          • Mandate of Heaven: a ruler had divine approval 

            • It became central to the Chinese view of government. 

      • Historians describe the pattern of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties as the dynastic cycle. 

      • Feudalism: A political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally belong to the king. 

        • In return for this land they owe loyalty and military service to the king and protection to the people who live on their estates. 

      • The Zhou Dynasty produced many innovations 

        • Roads and canals were built to stimulate trade and agriculture 

        • Coined money was introduced, which further improved trade. 

        • Blast furnaces that produced cast iron were developed. 

      • The Zhou used to create iron weapons,especially dagger-axes and swords. 

        • They also used it for common agricultural tools such as sickles,knives, and spades. 

        • Iron tools made farm work easier and more productive. 

      • 771 B.C. nomads from the north and west sacked the Zhou capital and murdered the Zhou monarch