1. Rethinking Civilization
Click on this link to watch the video!
As you watch John Green’s commentary on civilizations, answer the questions that appear in your packet.

2. The Earliest Civilizations
The next sections in our packet will focus on these different cultural hearths (early civilizations.)

3. The Earliest Civilizations
Historians specialize in the identification of cultural hearths: areas where civilizations first began to radiate ideas, innovations and ideologies that transformed the world
SW Asia, N. Africa, Asia, E. Asia, later C. America and
S. America

4. Why were river valleys important?
Farming - large amounts of people could be fed
Trade - goods and ideas to move from place to place
Cities - grow up in these valleys and became the centers of civilizations

5. Why is it important for people (especially farmers) to settle near rivers and streams?
Farmers need their villages near water because they need it for their crops.

6. …examine individual river valley civilizations!
Now it’s time to…
…examine individual river valley civilizations!

7. “the land between two rivers”
Mesopotamia
“the land between two rivers”
Crash Course!
Click on this link to watch the video.

8. Mesopotamia
The region between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River is known as Mesopotamia.
One of the first villages to emerge was Sumer. The villagers were called Sumerians.

9. The Fertile Crescent
In the spring, the rivers often flooded, leaving behind rich soil for farming. The problem was that the flooding was very unpredictable. It might flood one year, but not the next. Every year, farmers worried about their crops.

10. Irrigation
Over time, the farmers learned to build dams and channels to control the seasonal floods. They also built walls, waterways, and ditches to bring water to their fields.
This way of watering crops is called irrigation. Irrigation allowed the farmers to grow plenty of food and support a large population.

11. Irrigation ditches

12. Sumer
Sumer was neither a city nor a country. Rather, it was a collection of separate cities with a common way of life. They shared a common culture.
Historians believe that Sumerians built the world’s first civilization.
Right: Artistic view of what Sumer might have looked like

13. Food in Sumer
The Sumerians grew several kinds of crops. The most valuable one was barley, which was used to make flour and bread.
Dates were also very valuable to the Sumerians. They were eaten once ripe or else they were dried for future consumption. Dates also made an excellent wine.

14. Barley and dates

15. Fertile Crescent Disadvantages
Sumerian Solutions
Fertile Crescent Disadvantages
1. Water Problems- Unpredictability of floods and water dries up quickly.
1. Sumerians created irrigation ditches.
2. Defense Problems- Very flat land…there were no natural defensive barriers to prevent raids by nomads.
2. Sumerians built city walls with mud bricks to discourage raids.
3. Limited Natural Resources- Lack of resources to create tools. (Stone, Wood, Metal)
3. Sumerians created an extensive trade network with the surrounding people.

16. Sumerian Solutions are Still In Use Today!
Below: Irrigation ditches are still used today as a means of getting water to crops.
Above: Mud brick homes are still built today in the Middle East because of the lack of timber.