1. Four Cradles of Civilization
Compare & contrast
How are they similar?
How are they different?

2. Tigris-Euphrates River Valley (Mesopotamia– Iraq)
Nile River Valley (Egypt)
Indus River Valley (India)
Yellow River Valley (China)

3. Expert Groups - PRIMARY SOURCE DOCS
Sit in your expert/specific civilization group
DO NOT write on the documents.
Pair up in sets of 3
Write all three of your names on the top of ONE answer packet
Every TRIPLE needs to complete an answer packet
All TRIPLE answer packets will be collected & graded
Add information to your civilization charts after each document is completed
Compare your charts for features of civilization information

4. CIVILIZATIONS CHARTS Fill in your chart as items are reviewed.
You are responsible for all the underlined vocabulary terms

5. Ancient Civilizations (Cradles of Civilizations)
Mesopotamia = Ancient Sumer and Babylon = Tigris and Euphrates River Valley (Middle East/Modern Day Iraq)
Ancient Egypt = Nile River Valley = Nile River (Egypt)
Harrapans = Indus River Valley = Indus River (Pakistan/India)
Shang Dynasty = Yellow River Valley Civilization = Huang He/Yellow River (China)

6. peasant farmers, herders
Social Structure
Artisans
Workers - Farmers
Slaves
Egypt: Pharaohs held the highest position in society, Vizier: advisor to pharaoh, then priests, nobles, artisans (skilled workers) and merchants, peasants (farmers), and slaves had no rights.
Sumer (Mesopotamia), Indus River Valley Civilization (Harappa), and the Shang Dynasty: Monarchs held the highest position, then priests and nobles, then warriors, artisans and merchants, then peasants, slaves at the bottom
Artisans, merchants,
peasant farmers, herders
WARRIORS
SLAVES
Nobles
King
Priests

7. Organized religion Polytheistic: believed in many gods
- All ancient religions were:
Polytheistic: believed in many gods
Gods were based and revolved around nature.
Egypt: Ra, Horace, Osiris, Isis,
Shang: Shangdi 上帝 or Di
Mesopotamia: Hundreds of gods, goddesses, demons & monsters, bulls
Indus: Mother goddess

8. Ancient Sumer Mesopotamia: “Land B/W two rivers”
Government
Monarchy (Kings or Queens rule)
Infrastructure/Rise of Cities
City states, Ur, emerged as population increased in Mesopotamia.
Ziggurats (temples) were built in the middle of every Sumerian city.
Three functions:
To hold grain
Religious ceremonies
Governmental purposes
Written Language
Cuneiform: wedge shaped writing

9. Technology/Advancements (brain pop link):
Sumer con’t.…….
Technology/Advancements (brain pop link):
Sumerians recorded sophisticated math: geometry
# system based on 60 (60min in an hour & 360’ circle)
Invented the wheel
Brick molds sun dried for constructing buildings
Bronze weapons- melted tin & copper
Sumerian writers wrote famous works of literature
(i.e. Epic of Gilgamesh: story of the flood)
Dug irrigation canals to divert water, & used the shaduf because of the unpredictable flooding
First written laws = Hammurabi’s Code/Code of Hammurabi (Babylon)

10. Ancient Egypt (Nile River Valley)
Government
Egypt: Pharaoh’s ruled as God kings (Theocracy: religion and political leader same person)
Dynasty- family rule
Vizier: advisor to pharaoh
Infrastructure/Rise of Cities
Egyptian cities were built near the Nile River, because the river provided silt: rich black fertile soil, when it annually (yearly) & predictably overflowed. “Gift of Nile”
Delta: fan shaped mouth of a river
Egyptians built pyramids: tombs for the Pharaohs
for their Pharaohs, because they believed in an afterlife; built at city of Giza & capital of Memphis

11. Ancient Egypt Written Language
Hieroglyphics: picture & symbol writing of Ancient Egypt
Rosetta Stone: Archaeological discovery which deciphered/translated Hieroglyphics using Greek and demotic -abbreviated hieroglyphics for everyday use
Papyrus – Reed from the Nile used to make paper

12. EGYPTIAN Technology/advancements (brain pop Link):
Mapped the constellations (astronomy) & planetary movements
Calendar: 365 days long. The year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, plus a five day week at the end of the year.
Geometry – to survey the land & build pyramids
Shaduf: A lever tool used to fill irrigation channels
Mummification: wrapping a human body in order to preserve it for the afterlife.
Helped Egyptians learn about the human body, which led to diagnosing illnesses and performing surgeries.

13. Indus valley civilization
Government
Highly organized but uncertain: monarchy or democracy?
Infrastructure/Rise of Cities
Grid patterned cities:
Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro
Houses had the first indoor plumbing with baths & sewers
Every city had granaries (storage areas for grain) in the center.

14. Technology/Advancements (Indus Crash course link start at 3 min)
Written Language
Seals: Ancient clay tablets we’re unable to read
Sanskrit: symbols  modern day Indian language
Sanskrit started as a spoken language, but evolved into a written language
Technology/Advancements (Indus Crash course link start at 3 min)
Grid patterned cities
Sundried bricks for constructing buildings
Sanskrit
First indoor plumbing, baths & city sewers
NO weapons

16. Shang Dynasty (Yellow River Valley Civilization)
Infrastructure/Rise of Cities
Walled cities: capital of Anyang
Written Language
First script of characters: Chinese symbols for words
Oracle bones: Use to ask the gods or ancestors for help or prophesize the future. Earliest form of written records in China.

17. Government Shang Dynasty Dynasty- family rule
- Dynastic cycle: explains the rise and fall of ruling families in China
- Mandate of Heaven: The right to rule from the God’s
- Families must have the Mandate of Heaven in order to rule.

18. SHANG Technology/advancements (Crash Course Link -) APSummary
between 1766 and 1045 B.C. — Shang Dynasty Bronze Face Mask
Chinese characters
Bronze casting work such as: bells, urns, axe heads, pots, & jewelry
Jade carvings
Oracle bones: Questions were written on bones (often flat shoulder blades of cattle or tortoise shells). The bones were then heated until they cracked. Answers came from the interpretation of the cracks.