1. Welcome Back Objective: I will be able to Agenda: -Bell Ringer
-Notes: River Valley Civilizations
- Project
Vocabulary: Civilization, theocracy, polytheistic, monotheistic, cuneiform, Code of Hammurabi, hieroglyphics

2. Ancient River Valley Civilizations

3. Civilization
A form of culture, characterized by cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record-keeping and advanced technology

4. Civilization
To be a civilization, society must have a majority of these:
Cities Specialized labor
Government Science & tech
Religion Art
Taxes Social classes
Written language

5. Civilization Government Social Structure Technology Organized Religion
Economic Structure
Technology

6. River valley Civilizations
Tigris & Euphrates
Nile River Valley
Huang He River Valley

7. Tigris & Euphrates Located in modern Iraq
Known as Mesopotamia (land between 2 rivers)
Known as Fertile Crescent
Look for the only green in the brownish Middle east on the map
Rivers empty into Persian Gulf

8. Tigris & Euphrates The geography does not help Unpredictable flooding
No natural barriers to invasion
Plenty of fresh water for farming and drinking
Access to trade/travel & cultural diffusion
Silt deposited by rivers

9. Gilgamesh Epic Tablet: Flood Story
The Story of Gilgamesh is similar in that it includes a tale of a global flood to punish man for his wrongdoings. Sound familiar?

10. Tigris & Euphrates barley & wheat
Surpluses produced led to development of different civilizations in the region
Geography does not help, but problems solved
For defense, walls of mud bricks were built
Trade of grain, cloth and tools brought in natural raw materials like stone, wood and metal

11. Tigris & Euphrates Sumer Polytheism Run by soldiers
Temples called Ziggurats
Invented sail, plow, wheel & 1st to use bronze
Developed geometry & arithmetic
Developed arches, columns, ramps
Developed cuneiform (wedge writing in wet mud which was allowed to dry)

12. Tigris & Euphrates Babylon Based on Euphrates river
Empire hit peak under Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s Code
Needed single, unified code of law to unify people
Written in stone
Placed throughout the empire
“eye for an eye”
Law applied to everyone, but applied differently to men/women & rich/poor

13. Nile River Valley Geographic Issues
Floods predictably (develop calendar)
River deposits silt on banks
Access to travel/trade
Grow papyrus (turn into paper)
River flows north into Mediterranean Sea
Egyptians forced to live close to river (little cultural diffusion)

14. Nile River Valley Egypt = “gift of the Nile”
Without the river there is no Egyptian civilization
Silt very fertile
Desert very harsh
Irrigation ditches to water crops
Surpluses led to civilization

15. Nile River Valley Egypt Polytheism Kings (pharaohs were god-kings)
Egyptian government was theocracy (based on religious teaching/rules)

16. Nile River Valley Egypt Pyramids were actually tombs for pharaohs
Pharaohs were mummified
Bodies dried and preserved for use in the afterlife

18. Nile River Valley Egypt Writing developed called hieroglyphics
Glyphs are symbols/pictures
First written on stone
Hieroglyphics written on early paper made from papyrus

19. Nile River Valley Egypt Developed very accurate calendar
Developed arithmetic & geometry
First to use stone columns
Developed early medical procedures for broken bones, wounds & fevers

20. Seasonal monsoons caused summer rains & floods
India began along the Indus River, which flooded & left behind fertile soil
Seasonal monsoons caused summer rains & floods
The people were well protected on the Indian “subcontinent” by the oceans, mountains, & deserts that surrounded the Indus River Valley

21. Lasting Contributions
Early engineers also created sophisticated plumbing, sewage, and bath systems.
Advanced cities:
Indus cities were laid out in a grid system with high walls & citadel of major buildings
Two of its most famous cities were Harrappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city. Buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the irregular mud bricks of the Mesopotamians.
One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their sophisticated city planning. The people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city. Buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the irregular mud bricks of the Mesopotamians. Early engineers also created sophisticated plumbing, sewage, and bath systems.

24. Lasting Contributions
Government:
Little is known about Indus government other than they were ruled by kings

25. Lasting Contributions
Writing:
Indus writing has not been fully translated so much of Indus life is still a mystery
Writing contained about 400 symbols that were both pictograms & phonetic characters
Unlike cuneiform and hieroglyphics, the writing of the Indus people has not been translated. Historians believe that Indus people used about 400 symbols in their language. Scientists believe the symbols, like hieroglyphs, are used both to depict an object and also as phonetic sounds. Some signs stand alone and others seem to be combined into words.

26. Early civilizations developed
The Huang He, or Yellow River,
- silt/loess/ yellow
- unpredictable
- abundance rain
Natural barriers isolated China
Known as “the river of Sorrows”
China’s geography has isolated it
Chinese developed belief that China was the center of the Earth & source of all civilization
China to south & southwest surrounded by Gobi Desert & Himalaya mountains
China’s history began in Huang He Valley
People learned to farm during the Neolithic Age
The yellow soil particles in the river give it its name “Yellow”
Also known as “China’s Sorrow” because of the unpredictable flooding
The flooding is due in part to the loess in the water that raises the level of the river
Flooding has often been disastrous

27. Huang He River Valley
First Chinese in the valley to develop were the Shang
Zhou overthrew the Shang
Developed Mandate of Heaven idea

28. Huang He River Valley
Mandate of Heaven says that the gods allowed a dynasty to rule until that dynasty got old & corrupt
New dynasty was given new Mandate of Heaven to over throw old
This changing of dynasties is called the Dynastic Cycle

29. Huang He River Valley By 1000 BC Chinese had develop silk production
Chinese also produced first books under the Zhou
Also produced porcelain, writing, coined money and cast iron

30. Final Thoughts How are these groups similar? How are they different?
What did they contribute to the world?
What impact did geography have on each society?