1. Ancient River Valley Civilizations

2. Mesopotamia
Location: between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the FERTILE CRESCENT

3. Mesopotamia SPECIALIZED LABOR:
Mesopotamia had many farmers, merchants, metal workers, and also priests, who were in charge of the Ziggurats (religious temples).

4. Mesopotamia
TECHNOLOGY: Farmers used irrigation to move water from the river to their fields.

5. Mesopotamia
ADVANCED CITIES: There were many cities that traded with one another.
Jericho
Aleppo

6. Mesopotamia INSTITUTIONS:
Government & Politics : run by military leaders who had become kings
Hammurabi’s Code – It was the first law code, written by a Sumerian king. It was engraved in stone and listed 282 laws.

7. Mesopotamia RECORD KEEPING:
The Sumerian Kingdom of Mesopotamia invented CUNEIFORM, which was a form of writing on clay tablets.

8. This is CUNEIFORM carved into a stone tablet.

9. Ancient Egypt
Location: North Africa, along the Nile River

10. Ancient Egypt SPECIALIZED LABOR:
Farmers - Flooding of the Nile left Egypt with fertile soil called silt.
Merchants – Egypt traded many things with other civilizations by 3200 B.C.

11. Ancient Egypt
TECHNOLOGY: The Egyptians built canals and irrigation systems to move water from the Nile to their farms.

12. Ancient Egypt
ADVANCED CITIES: The Egyptians built massive pyramids and monuments to honor the Pharaohs because they believed that the pharaohs ruled after death.

13. Ancient Egypt INSTITUTIONS:
Pharaohs: rulers who were worshipped as gods
Pharaohs ruled over everyone and were at the top of society
Slaves were the lowest people in society

14. Ancient Egypt INSTITUTIONS: Religion:
Ruled as a theocracy (government ruled by religious leaders)
Polytheistic: belief in many gods
Ra = Sun god (most powerful and important god)
Horus = god of light
Isis = fertility goddess, the ideal mother and wife

16. Ancient Egypt RECORD KEEPING:
Hieroglyphics: Egyptian system of writing, done by scribes (educated me who knew how to write)
Papyrus: earliest form of paper made by the Egyptians from reeds of the Nile

17. Chinese Civilization
Location: Along the Yellow River (Huang He) in East Asia

18. Chinese Civilization SPECIALIZED WORKERS: ADVANCED CITIES:
Economy – peasants would work in the fields and grow rice and wheat
ADVANCED CITIES:
Society was divided between rich (overlords) and poor (peasants).

19. Chinese Civilization INSTITUTIONS:
Government & Politics – China was run by dynasties (families of royal rulers) after 2000 B.C.
The first dynasty was the Xia

20. Chinese Civilization
RECORD KEEPING – The Ancient Chinese developed a writing system based on PICTOGRAMS where each character represents an idea not a sound

22. Ancient India
Location: The Indus River valley is located in South Asia on the Indian subcontinent

23. Ancient India ADVANCED CITIES (and technology):
The two most famous cities were HARAPPA and MOHENJO DARO
In these cities some households had indoor plumbing, and some even had working toilets
No other civilization would achieve the same level of convenience until the 1800s!

24. Ancient India INSTITUTIONS (and Specialized Labor)–
Caste System- rigid class system that controlled people and their social interactions and occupation (job) choice
the Caste System even controlled who you could marry!

25. The Caste System in India:
What job was MOST IMPORTANT to Indians?

26. Ancient Indians
Religion: Like the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the Indus River Valley cities were polytheistic.
Hindu god VISHNU

27. 3 Main Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
Ancient India
Later, these beliefs evolved into a complex religious system called Hinduism.
3 Main Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

28. OTHER RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

29. Nubians Location – Africa along the Upper Nile
Connected Egypt to rest of Africa

30. Nubians
INSTITUTION
Religion – Polytheistic, often following Egyptian gods
Pyramids built to their emperors were often bigger than the Egyptian’s

31. Nubians
INSTITUTION:
Government & Politics – first kingdom of pharaohs was Kerma began around 2000 B.C.
But was eventually conquered and ruled by Egypt

32. Nubians ADVANCED CITIES:
Economy – traded up and down the Nile with Egypt
Especially for pottery

33. Nubians Society – Eventually became known as the Kush after 1100 B.C.
Successfully united the Nile civilizations after 751 B.C. under one king

34. Nubians
Fun Facts – after the defeat of the Egyptians, the Kush saw it as their responsibility to keep their culture alive

35. Phoenicians
Location – on the Mediterranean Sea, in present day Lebanon

36. Phoenicians INSTITUTION: Religion – polytheistic
would sacrifice their first born children to please the gods

37. Phoenicians INSTITUTION:
Government and Politics – never a united country, but separate city – states.

38. Phoenicians ADVANCED CITIES: Economy – relied mostly on sea trade
Goods = wine, weapons, slaves, metals, ivory and purple dye from snails

39. Phoenicians
Society and Writing – created an alphabet, where symbols make a sound (phonetic)

40. Phoenicians
Fun Facts – the Phoenicians were known throughout the ancient world for their glass making skills

41. Hebrews
Location – Middle East, present day Israel

42. Hebrews
INSTITUTION
Religion (Judaism) – first monotheistic people, believed in one God
Founder = Abraham

43. Hebrews Institution Government–ruled by kings
high taxes lead to division, and kingdom is taken over by Babylon and HEBREWS BECAME SLAVES

44. Hebrews Written law code– society was governed by the
10 Commandments, God’s law