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Ancient River Valley Civilizations Notes
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Vocabulary Hunter-gatherer Animism Paleolithic Agriculture
Look up these vocab words and write the definitions in your notebook. You can find these words in the glossary of your textbook. Hunter-gatherer Animism Paleolithic Agriculture Neolithic Nomad
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Dawn of History Old Stone Age or Paleolithic Age
“Lucy” 1959 by Leakey's in Tanzania First people were hunters and gatherers Animism – spirits in everything
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One of the oldest debates in the study of human evolution centered around the question of which came first: big brains, or walking upright? Discuss how the discovery of "Lucy" provided evidence for one side of this debate.
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Neolithic Agricultural Revolution :farming and domestication of animals
Lead to cities and civilizations Civilizations grew along rivers
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4 Oldest River Valley Civilizations
Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia (Sumer and Babylon) Ancient China Ancient India
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WHAT IS A CIVILIZATION??? CIVILIZATION- group of people living and working together for the purpose of creating an organized society.
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EIGHT BASIC FEATURES OF A CIVILIZATION:
Writing Systems (2) Infrastructure- public works such as bridges, roads etc. (3) Government / Laws
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*NOTES* (4) Art / Architecture 5) Social Classes 12
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(8) Development of Cities
*NOTES* (6) Organized Religion (7) Job Specialization (8) Development of Cities 13
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Features of Civilization
Organized Government Religions Job Specialization Social Classes Arts and Architecture Infrastructure Writing
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Sumer and Babylon Fertile crescent – Tigris and Euphrates
City-states ruled by hierarchy Built ziggurats for religion Cuneiform – wedge writing Sargon – 1st empire builder Hammurabi – code, 1st written laws Phoenicians create the alphabet
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India Grew around Indus River Valley Polytheistic with mother goddess
Aryan society: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas Vedas – story of early Indian civilizations Priests, Warriors, everyone else
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Egypt Along the Nile River with yearly floods
Pharaohs seen as gods, ruled in dynasties Religion – polytheism, gods for nature Afterlife – Osiris, mummification, tombs Pyramids used as tombs Hieroglyphics written on papyrus
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China Grew around Huang He (Yellow) River Dynasties – Shang, Zhou
Religion – polytheism, ancestor worship Mandate of Heaven – divine right to rule Feudal state Silk making, first books
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