  First developed along river banks in warmer regions of the world.  The rivers usually had predictable yearly flood patterns that brought a thick, rich mud called silt. Early Civilizations

  This made agriculture possible and led to the cultivation of stable crops.  Stable crop production makes permanent settlement possible, meaning people no longer had to live a nomadic lifestyle. Early Civilizations

  The first four civilizations to develop:  Mesopotamia  Egypt  Harappa  Shang China Early Civilizations

 River Valley Civilizations

  What did they have in common:  Polytheistic – believe in many gods  Yearly flooding  Agriculturally based  Developed all 8 Characteristics of Civilization  Generally had powerful and ruthless rulers  Often a strong link between religion and government  Life in early civilizations was centered around religion Early Civilizations

  First known civilization in the world  Developed along the banks of 2 rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates  Mesopotamia is known as “The Fertile Crescent” or “The Craddle of Life”. Mesopotamia

  The word Mesopotamia, means the land between the rivers  Mesopotamia is located in modern day Iraq. Mesopotamia

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  Little or no natural protective barriers led cities in Mesopotamia to develop protective walls  Limited natural resources forced city-states to trade for their needs Mesopotamia

  Mesopotamia developed as individual City-States, in which each city operated as an independent country  Eventually some city-states grew in power and began to conquer nearby city-states creating Empires Mesopotamia

  Mesopotamia was the first to develop empires under Sargon of Akkad  Rulers begin to pass power down to their heirs, usually father to son. This system is called a Dynasty and resulted in a series of rulers from one family line. Mesopotamia

  Ziggurat – a multi-tiered temple, often the center of a cities religious, economic, and social life. Mesopotamia

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  King Hammurabi – a harsh but efficient ruler who brought city-states together into an empire under his rule.  Famous for creating the Code of Hammurabi, the first written code of laws. Mesopotamia

  The Code of Hammurabi consisted of 282 very harsh laws…”an eye for an eye.”  Laws were inscribed on stone pillars and placed in public places throughout the empire. Mesopotamia

 Mesopotamia - Firsts  Empire  Dynasty  Irrigation  Walled Cities  Writing System – Cuneiform  Literature  Wheel  Plow  Sail  Bronze  Alphabet – Phoenicians  Code of Laws

  The Egyptian civilization developed along the banks of the Nile River  The civilization in modern day Egypt, is known as the “Jewel of the Nile” Egypt

  Regular flood cycle allowed for predictable farming patterns  Deserts on both sides offered excellent protection  Allowed the civilization to develop in isolation Egypt

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  Early in Egypt's development there were two separate kingdoms – The Upper Kingdom, and The Lower Kingdom.  King Menes from the Lower Kingdom defeats the Upper Kingdom and unites them into one kingdom Egypt

  Egypt was ruled by an absolute ruler called the Pharaoh  The pharaoh was worshiped as a god  He held total and complete power over everything in Egypt Egypt

  He held total and complete power over everything in Egypt  The Pharaoh served both a political and religious role Egypt

 Pyramids were built as burial sites for the Pharaohs  They were mummified to preserve the bodies for the afterlife Egypt

 The Egyptians used pictograms, or symbols depicting objects, called hieroglyphics as their writing system. Egypt

  They wrote on strips of dried reeds woven together called papyrus Egypt

 The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in allowed hieroglyphics to be deciphered Egypt

  Sophisticated engineering  Building with stone columns  Geometry  Calendar Egyptian Firsts

  Indus Valley Civilization called Harappa  Developed on the banks of the Indus River  Located in modern day India and Pakistan Harappa

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  Little is currently known about this recently discovered civilization (1920’s)  Thought to have been the largest of the four early river valley civilizations Harappa

  Cities show evidence of organized city planners (grid system)  Sophisticated plumbing and sewer systems  Engineering is evident Harappa

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  Peaceful people – little to no evidence of weapons  Similarity in housing seems to show little difference between the social classes  Religious artifacts show link to Hinduism Harappa

  The writing system of the Harappan civilization has yet to be deciphered  Many questions abut this complex society remain unanswered Harappa

  City planners  Uniform brick sizes  Sophisticated plumbing and sewer systems  Other firsts yet to be discovered Harappan Firsts

 The river valley civilization, known as the Shang, developed along the banks of the Yellow River (Huang He)  Located in modern day China China

  Isolated from other civilizations by mountains, deserts, and distance, the Chinese civilization develops in isolation into the most unique of the river valley civilizations China

  Writing on the worlds first pulp based paper, the Shang Dynasty develops a writing system known as calligraphy China

  The Chinese use wood as a building material instead of stone or dried mud bricks like other civilizations  While not the first, the Chinese were by far the best bronze workers China

  Shang Culture -Developed the idea of the ‘group’ or community being more important than the ‘individual’ -Emphasis on family or respect of elders -family was emphasized in religion as well – ancestor worship -Oracle bones were used to consult the gods China

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 The Chinese develop the idea of the ‘Mandate of Heaven’, which was the idea that rulers got their authority from the gods  This led to the rise and fall of dynasties known as the dynastic cycle China

  Paper  Building with wood  Iron tools and weapons  Feudalism  Coined money Chinese Firsts