1. River Valley Civilizations

2. Egypt Nile River Center of Egyptian economics and culture
Annual, predictable flooding irrigates and replenishes the soil. Gives consistent harvest
Connects them to other cultures - Without this river there would be no Egypt.
Natural Barrier prevented frequent invasions

3. Egypt History Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms
3100 BC King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
Pharaohs (monarchs) were very powerful and considered divine.
When things went bad, it must have been due to the subjects not obeying the god’s representative on earth.
Pharaohs would appoint a “vizier” would be responsible for the government bureaucracy.
Egypt had 42 provinces, each with a governor

4. Egypt Religion- Beliefs about death: Burial practices: Mummification
Belief in two bodies: physical and spiritual (ka) and they needed each other, even after death.
Elaborate 70 day process to preserve the body

5. Pyramids Pyramids Tombs to honor the pharaoh
Cities of the Dead: The pyramids are just part of the complex of the overall burial site.
The pyramids are an engineering marvel
Size: tallest structure on earth for 43 centuries/ covers 13 football fields
Complexity: 2 million precisely cut 2-ton blocks

6. Mesopotamia Fertile Crescent Tigris River Sumerians
Unpredictable flooding
Sumerians
Begin irrigation
City-states
Polytheistic religion
Ziggurat (temple) is the center of city

7. Mesopotamia Hammurabi Scientific achievements
Established 1st written code of laws
(Hammurabi’s code)
Scientific achievements
Wheel, sail, plow, bronze, and first alphabet

8. Indus Valley Indus and Gange Rivers Harappa Civilization
- Language has not been translated
- Two major cities
-Harappa and Mojendaro
- Advanced cities with bricked walls up to three stories, bathrooms, and drainage

9. Indus Valley
Due to physical diversity of Indian sub-continent, many forms of economic development took place:
Farming
Herding
Trading

10. Aryans Invaded the area, creating the modern Indians Developed:
Sanskrit- non translated writing system
Caste system- rigid system of five social classes based on economic and social position
Hinduism and Buddhism

11. China Yellow (Huang He) River Valley
Numerous dynasties rise and fall in China due to military
Shang dynasty
the Chinese begin the veneration of ancestor (or ancestor worship)
Chinese developed filial piety, where all are subordinate to the head of the family and all members know their place
noted for the bronze works of art

12. China
Zhou Dynasty
- the Mandate of Heaven gave the king authority from heaven as long as he ruled the proper way. If the dynasty fell, it was because he was no longer ruling in the proper way
- Also developed a pictographic written language, terrace farming methods

13. China Three philosophies:
Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. Legalism believes that man is evil by nature and has to be controlled through harsh laws and punishments
- The Chinese created printing 700 years before the Europeans and begin the first Civil Service Exam to be used by a government

14. Japan
Developed differently from China due to geography. Island vs. continent
The Samurai warriors and their code of Bushido (Way of the Warrior)
Shoguns(general) who were the actual power of Japan. Unlike most island nations, trade was slow to develop and the people relied primarily on farming