1. PART 1 EARLY CIVILIZATION

2. Toward Civilization How did the first civilizations evolve?
Wanderers who hunted & gathered
Learn to make simple tools
Settle into tiny villages (Neolithic Period)
Developed agriculture
Tiny villages become city-based civilizations

3. Beginnings of Civilization
Eight basic features for early civilization
Cities
Well-organized central gov’t
Complex religion
Job specialization
Social classes
Arts & architecture
Public works
Writing

4. Organized Govt’s
Farming in river valley contributed to development of city govt’s
Why? People had to work together to build dikes, canals & irrigation ditches
Leadership is needed
Bureaucracy

5. Social Classes Based on jobs Empire
Priests & nobles at top (Writing develops)
Artisans or skilled craftworkers
Peasant farmers
Slaves
Empire

6. Section 2 – Africa & Asia Egypt 5,000 years ago
River valley (Nile) of North Africa
Rich farming civilization
Pharoahs – Egyptian rulers organized strong central states
Pyramids serve as tombs
Polytheistic
Believed in an afterlife
Had a class system
Cultural Diffusion – new ideas, customs & technologies spread from one people to another

7. City-states of Ancient Sumer
5,000 years ago
Fertile Crescent – an arc of soil-rich land between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Region is known as Mesopotamia
City-state – political unit made up of a city & surrounding lands
Ziggurats were popular
Social hierarchy developed (priests highest)

8. City-states of Ancient Sumer Continued
Mesopotamia – geographical crossroads
Invaders (Sargon the Great)
Hammurabi – king of Babylon
Published code of laws – 1st major collection of laws in history
Warfare & trade in Mesopotamia spread ideas & technology in the Mediterranean world
Ironworking became common
Assyrian king founded the 1st library
Phoenicians created an alphabet
Persians improved trade by using coins

9. Roots of Judaism Hebrews lived in Fertile Crescent region
Monotheistic religion
Recorded events & laws (Ten Commandments, in the Torah)
Prophets – spiritual leaders who urged Hebrews to obey God’s law
Code of Ethics – moral standards of behavior
1,000 B.C. Kingdom of Israel established
King Solomon built a temple dedicated to God
Many invasions of Hebrew kingdoms
Diaspora – scattering of people, sending Jews to different parts of the world

10. Roots of Judaism Con’t Today considered one of the major religions
Influenced Christianity & Islam
In the West known as Judeo-Christian tradition

11. Early Civilization in India
India’s 1st civilization emerges in Indus Valley 2600 B.C.
Two main cities: Mohenjo-Daro & Harrapa
Planned cities
Plumbing systems to include baths, drains & water chutes
Severe floods will lead to decline & cities abandoned
People will migrate from central Asia in NW India (Indo-European people called Aryans)

12. Early Civilization in India
Vedas – collection of prayers, hymns & other religious teachings tell us info about the Aryans (Polytheistic)
Brahman – single spiritual power beyond many gods of the Vedas & in all living things
Mystics – devote their lives to seeking spiritual truth
Social classes (leads to a Caste system)
Priests
Warriors
Herders, farmers, artisans & merchants
Farmworkers, servants & other laborers
Dalits (Untouchables)

13. Early Civilization in China
Isolated due to distance & physical barriers
Believed they were center of the Earth
History began in Yellow River (Huang He) valley
1650 B.C. Shang came to power in N. China
1027 B.C. Zhou overthrew the Shang
Established a dynasty
Promoted the idea of Mandate of Heaven (divine right to rule)
Religion – complex set of beliefs (polytheistic)
Believed universe reflected a balance between two forces, yin (linked to Earth) & yang (Heaven & male forces)

14. Early Civilization in China Con’t
Science & Technology
Study movement of planets
Recorded eclipses
Created an accurate calendar
Developed bronzemaking & silkmaking
Made books