River Valley Civilizations

4 River Valley Civilizations

  1. Mesopotamia

  2. Egypt

  3. Indus River Valley

  4. China

Mesopotamia

-3500 BC - 1700 BC

Earliest known civilization

Land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

fertile crescent

city states had their own ruler

polytheistic - worship of more than one god

Theocracy - system of government where priests rule in the name of God or a god

Hammurabi’s Code - first set of laws

cuneiform - first form of writing (symbols)

Architecture & Innovations

  1. ziggurats - ancient massive structure

  2. Irrigation/wheel

  3. sailboat

  4. bronze weapons

  5. calendar

Indus River Valley

-7000 BC

-Located on the Indus River

-early Pakistan

-Also called the Harappan Civilization

-written language is still unknown

-They were city/urban planners and used a grid system for streets

-They had advanced plumbing system (sewers)

They had a strong central government still kind of unknown

Harappan Culture

-little division in society

-prosperous society (toys, art, clay pots)

-conflict was limited because of a small amount of weapons

-animals were very important

-Theocracy and Hindu connection

Indus Valley Culture Ends

-Earthquakes, flooding, (rivers stopped flowing into cities)

weakened society (disasters affected food)

Aryans take control

Egypt

-located in northeast Africa

The Nile River

-This river was primarily responsible for creating Egyptian civilization

-Effected Egyptian civilization by providing high quality water for life’s essentials

-important for agriculture for irrigation and fertile soil (SILT)

Pharaoh

-leader of ancient Egypt

-was a king (monarchy)

-people considered them as a god

-god + king = theocracy

Social Order

-hierarchy is always illustrated with a triangle (pyramid)

  1. Pharaoh

  2. Viziers

  3. High Priest and nobles

  4. Officials and scribes

  5. Craftsmen

  6. Slaves and laborers and peasants

-people from the Middle East invade Egypt via LAND

Egyptians use Sumerian’s invention of the wheel to build chariots to ward of foreign invasion

Cultural Diffusion

-sharing or borrowing your culture

-technological diffusion

-sharing or borrowing technology

China

-dynasty - a ruling family that passes control from one generation to the next for many generations

-Mandate of Heaven - belief that ancestors in heaven had chosen their leaders

-1st Dynasty - The Shang Dynasty

-feudal system - developed by the Chou Dynasty where the rulers appoint nobles to control the smaller parts of an empire

-Manchuria was the last dynasty of Ancient China

-Great Britain took control of China in 1841

Shang Dynasty

-first dynasty

-established civilization by establishing system of government where specialized work or jobs and written form of communicastion

Confucius

-he lived during the time called the Warring States

-developed belief system adopted as the “way of life”

stressed restoration of social order through “proper behavior”

-believed that order and stability could not be restored to China without good leaders

-Jen meant to have more men in society with knowledge and talent

-believed that society functioned best when officials earn jobs through education and talent rather than through family connections

Legalists

-believed that humankind was evil and that unless controlled that people would be concerned only with their own interests

-taught that strong government control and absolute obedience to authority was the way that society functioned best

-Shih Huang-ti burned books by Confucius and killed other scholars so people would be more likely to agree with them

The Great Wall

-built so they could have a good defense system

-more than 1500 miles long

-it is roughly 25 feet tall and 40 feet tall where the towers are

-it was wide enough for wagons to pass (13-16 feet)

Silk Road

-connected China all the way to Europe to help with trading

-roughly 4000 miles long

-exchanged items

  1. tea

  2. spices

  3. jade

-dangerous because merchants were usually robbed and killed

Terra Cotta Army

-to protect in the afterlife

-8000 soldiers measuring 170cm to 181 cm

Forbidden City

-built by the Ming and Qing dynasties

-found in modern day Beijing China

-roof tiles were yellow because yellow is the symbol color of royalty

-the movie The Last Emperor was filmed here