1. { Early Civilization The Rise of Civilizations along River Valleys

2.  City-states  First empires- In Sumeria, Sargon of Akkad  Centralized government  Hereditary Dynasty  Written Code of Law- Babylonia, Hammurabi Government

3.  Bronze Age  Increasing agricultural surplus  Increased trade by land and sea  Trade Routes- Routes for what else? Important Developments

4.  Mostly polytheistic  Monotheistic Hebrews Religion

5. King Priests Merchants/Traders Artisans/Workers Slaves Class System

6.  Pictograms- pictures represented ideas  Hieroglyphics- Egyptian writing system that used symbols to represent ideas and sounds  Cuneiform- First writing system, developed by Sumerians  Alphabet- Developed by Phoenicians. Symbols represent sounds – like phonics Writing and Language

7.  What do we know about Judaism? Judaism

8.  Abraham, who lived in the Sumerian city of Ur, was commanded by his God to move to Canaan (modern-day Israel).  Abraham’s descendants believe in only one God- the God of Abraham.  Belief in one god is called Monotheism.  The Torah is religious beliefs and records Judaism

9.  They migrated to Egypt, possibly with an invading Hyksos army  After the Hyksos were kicked out, the Hebrews stayed behind, and became slaves.  Moses led them out of bondage in Egypt, back to Canaan. He received the Ten Commandments, a moral and religious code. Migration to and from Egypt

10. Phoenicia

11.  The Phoenicians extracted a purple dye from sea snails.  This dye was highly prized because it never faded (actually got brighter with exposure to sunlight)  Sought after throughout the ancient world- in fact the name Phoenician comes from the Greek word for “Purple”  Trade in this dye expanded and the Phoenicians ended up being the most important sea traders of the ancient Mediterranean  Connecting the ancient world, and allowed cultural diffusion Phoenician Trade Empire

12.  The Phoenicians most long lasting invention may have been the alphabet (they adapted it from Egyptian hieroglyphics)  Used symbols to represent units of sound instead of entire words. Allowed for rapid written communication.  The Greeks later adopted this alphabet to their own language. Phoenicians invent the alphabet

13.  Lived in the Upper Nile region (South of the Egyptians)  Often at war with the Egyptians. Usually the Egyptians dominated and ruled over the Nubians. The Nubians did conquer the Egyptians and rule over them occasionally, too. Nubia