Civilizations

Intro: Major agricultural regions had more permanent settlements Catal Huyuk: modern day Turkey; founded around 7000 BCE Mud homes Religion Self-sufficient Linked to smaller communities Developed politics

Ancient Civilizations Mesopotamia – Tigris-Euphrates River Egypt – Nile River India – Indus River China – Huang He

Mesopotamia Developed from scratch 3500 BCE Occupied by Sumerians – main city was Sumer Developed cuneiform – first human writing Arts, science, and religion System of numbers Ziggurats – massive towers polytheistic

Their religious texts had an influence on later Jews, Christians, and Muslims Afterlife of punishment… City-states Kings, nobles, and priests controlled the land work on by slaves Fertilizers Silver for currency

Conquered by the Babylonians – under King Hammurabi Followed by future conquests from Assyrians and Persians…

Egypt 3000 BCE Benefited from Mesopotamia but developed differently Isolation helped preserve its culture Pharaohs Economy was government directed Irrigation important feature Pyramids – tombs for the pharaohs

Egyptian influence spread north to Kush – known as Sudan… More advanced mathematics than the Sumerians Belief in afterlife Hieroglyphics – Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone… In 1799, near the village of Rosetta, French soldiers found a tablet… 3 languages on the tablet, the first was hieroglyphics, the second was a simpler form of hieroglyphics, and the third was Greek By 1822, a French scholar, Jean Francois Champollion broke the code of hieroglyphics

The stone weighs over 1700 pounds 45 inches high 28 inches wide 11 inches thick Made of some form of granite

India Indus River 2500 BCE Several large cities – Harappa and Mohenjo Daro Developed an alphabet – writing not deciphered – similar to hieroglyphics

China Huang He River Developed in isolation – 1500 BCE Organized state – managed the floods Domesticated horses, skilled in pottery Bronze and iron use Ideographic symbols…. By 1500, a line of Kings – the Shang began to rule