1. EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS - AN OVERVIEW
Dr. Afxendiou
Sachem North High School
AP World History - 9

2. First civilizations Developed about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago
They began as small agricultural villages in the river valleys – first in the Middle East

3. MESOPOTAMIA Site of first river valley civilizations
Located between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers
Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers”

4. The Fertile Crescent

5. MESOPOTAMIA GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS
The floods of the Tigris-Euphrates rivers were unpredictable and as a result the Sumerians believed that their gods were angry gods.
The valley was surrounded by deserts and hills but they were relatively easy to cross and so the peoples of this region were constantly conquered and re-conquered

6. MESOPOTAMIA The first people to settle there were the Sumerians
The Sumerians created city-states (a city and its surrounding lands)
Each city-state had its own government
Sumerian city-states were built around a ziggurat

7. Ziggurat

8. MESOPOTAMIA
The Akkadians defeated the city-states of Sumer and gained control of northern and southern Mesopotamia
Created the first empire which lasted about 200 years

9. MESOPOTAMIA
Amorites overtake the Akkadians and establish a capital at Babylon which gives its name to their empire – The Babylonian Empire.
Most important and most famous ruler was king Hammurabi who created the first written legal code.

10. MESOPOTAMIA
Traditional Economy – an economy that has its foundation in agriculture. Skills are passed down from one generation to the next
FAT- farmers, artisans, traders
Agriculture and farming allowed for great economy, had irrigation.
Grew wheat and barley.
Traded with Indus and Egypt. (Hittites created iron tools and they were found in Indus)

11. MESOPOTAMIA ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Developed a system of writing called Cuneiform, which were wedge-shaped characters pressed into a clay tablet
In engineering and architecture - Built ziggurats and arches with sun-dried clay bricks
Created statues of gods for the ziggurats
Developed the wheel and the plow
Hammurabi's Code was constructed by the Babylonians and was an early form of written laws (an eye for an eye)
Had mathematics

12. MESOPOTAMIA Religion was a major part of the civilization.
Polytheistic- belief in many gods
try to explain the unknown.
Built pyramids called ziggurats- place of worship.
Priests preformed rituals. Believed in afterlife. If you were bad in life you had a bad after life.
Hebrews established first monotheistic religion- Judaism

13. MESOPOTAMIA Had many social classes, was a hierarchy.
Women were not treated equal to men.
Ruling family, high ranking officials, nobility, and important priests
Artists, merchants, lesser priests and scribes.
Farmers and peasants
Slaves

14. EGYPT
Soon after civilization began in Mesopotamia, similar developments were taking place in Egypt along the Nile River.
Question: Why is Lower Egypt above Upper Egypt?
Answer: Upper Egypt is at a higher elevation

15. EGYPT GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS
The Nile River provided predictable floods and a stable food source
The River flows northward and empties into the Mediterranean but the winds blow south This enabled river travelers to move north or south along the river, which promoted trade and unity in Ancient Egypt
Deserts and seas surround the valley and offered some protection from invasion

16. EGYPT Egyptian kings were called Pharaohs
In Mesopotamia kings were thought to be the representatives of the Gods. The Egyptians believed that their kings WERE Gods!

17. EGYPT
Egyptians believed that pharaohs ruled even after they died so they built magnificent tombs, the pyramids.

18. EGYPT Old Kingdom (3200- 2200 BCE) Middle Kingdom (2100-1650 BCE)
New Kingdom ( BCE)

19. EGYPT Traditional economy Grew wheat and barley.
Nile used for trade and agriculture.
Business was dependent on the Nile.
Trade was government directed
Traded with Mesopotamia and Nubia.
Irrigation and predicted flooding by calendar.
FAT

20. EGYPT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Hieroglyphics-Wrote on sheets of dried papyrus plant
Used geometry to survey fields and build canals as well as pyramids as tombs for the pharaoh
Knew astronomy and produced a calendar of 365 days
Knowledge of medicine and surgery because of mummification
Metal weapons, pyramids, and irrigation
Built pyramids and statues of god.
Sarcophagus had artistic paintings on them.
Sculptures, paintings, carvings, and architecture.

21. EGYPT Polytheistic religion
Believed in afterlife (Amen Rah- sun god, Osiris- God of Nile).
Mummified kings and nobility, preformed by priests.
Pharaohs mummified and buried in the pyramids.
Most sophisticated polytheistic religion of its time—“Book of the Dead”

22. EGYPT
Social classes
Women were not treated equal to men but had more rights than in other societies.
Several queens, women pharaohs, Nephrititi being the first.
Pharaoh and high priests
Artists, merchants, lesser priests
Farmers
Slaves

23. INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION
Located on the Indian subcontinent
Mountains isolated this area – surrounded by various mountain ranges – the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush both very raged and nearly impossible to traverse.
Offered protection from invaders

24. INDUS RIVER VALLEY
Not much is known about them – language has not been deciphered
One of their greatest achievements was sophisticated city planning
Cities were built on a grid system
Structures were made of baked bricks
Had indoor plumbing – even in the smallest houses!

25. The city of Mohenjo Daro

26. INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION
There is evidence that the civilization began to decline around 1750 BCE. A number of reasons have been suggested:
Tectonic plates may have moved causing earthquakes
There may have been extreme floods
The River may have changed course due to an earthquake
Perhaps natural resources were used up

27. CHINA

28. CHINA
Natural barriers isolated China from other civilizations – mountains and Gobi Desert
Led to ethnocentric thinking
Two major rivers, the Hwang He and the Yangtze Rivers.

29. CHINA
The first dynasty to rule China was the Xia dynasty which arose around 2,000 BCE. Left no written records
Second dynasty the Shang – developed writing, built palaces and tombs

30. CHINA
ACHIEVEMENTS
Developed a 360-day calendar based on the moon (priests added days when needed)
Predicted eclipses
kept a written history

31. SIMILARITIES OF FOUR ERV CIVILIZATIONS
Water:
Mesopotamia – Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Egypt – Nile
Indus Valley – Indus and Ganges Rivers
China – HuangHe (Yellow) and Yangtze River
Agriculture and domestication of animals

32. SIMILARITIES Planned Economies Industry Construction
Ziggurats, pyramids, planned cities, irrigation systems
Farmers sold surplus food
Community labor
Overseeing by central authority
Use of soldiers
Industry
Pottery, textiles, woodworking
Luxury items
Development and improvement of metal - Bronze

33. SIMILARITIES Religious states Theocracies “God ruled” states
Priests function as organized central government (later replaced by warriors)
King regarded as a god or god’s representative on earth

34. SIMILARITIES Social Classes Priests Aristocrats (nobles)/warriors
Common people (peasants, artisans)
Slaves

35. SIMILARITIES Architecture – big structures Writing
Ziggurats, pyramids, big cities
Writing

36. SIMILARITIES Organization of knowledge Learning is cumulative
Leads to new knowledge and new achievents
LANGUAGE
SHARED IDEAS
LEARNING
NEW IDEAS