Cultural Hearths Birthplaces of Civilizations

Cultural Hearths Defined: center where cultures developed and from which ideas and traditions spread outward. EPIC

Common Factors All settled in –mild climate zones –Next to rivers –Fertile land –Why was it important for these civilizations to settle next to rivers?

Surplus food set the stage for the rise of cities and civilizations With more food less people needed to farm Specialization of Labor More creativity & jobs

E - Egypt Nile River Valley in northern Africa Hieroglyphics, 365 calendar; Pyramids

P - Pakistan Indus River valley Aryans cross thru Khyber Pass

I - Iraq (Fertile Crescent) Mesopotamia- Land between 2 rivers –Tigris and Euphrates Rivers –Sumerians (cuneiform- first form of writing, it was wedge shaped) Akkadians (empire) and Babylonians (first law written– Code of Hammurabi) Phoenicians created the first alphabet

C - China Chinese culture first began 5,000 years ago near the Yellow River Valley Chinese culture eventually spread to Korea, Japan, and beyond