1. Early River Valley Civilizations

2. Mesopotamia Fertile Crescent-Curved Shaped, and rich soil
Also called the “Cradle of civilization”
Tigris and Euphrates river
Mesopotamia means- Land Between the Rivers

3. Summerians Create City-States
City-State-Functions much as an independent country does today
i.e own government and rulers
Power of the Priests-Earliest rulers were religious leaders
Monarchs Take Control
Dynasty-series of rulers from a single family

4. Cultural Diffusion
The process of a new idea or product spreading from one culture to another

5. Polytheism The Belief in Many Gods Enlil-god of clouds and air
Udugs- god of disease, misfortune

6. Hammurabi 1792 B.C to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi’s code
Although applied to all, set different punishments for rich v. poor, and men v. women. Frequently applied the principle of retaliation (i.e. an eye for an eye)

7. The code’s greatest hits
If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. [ An eye for an eye ]
If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.
If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [ A tooth for a tooth ]
If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.
If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.
If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels in money.
If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.

8. Egypt
Unlike Mesopotamia Egypt was united into a single kingdom for over 3000 years
Located along the Nile River
Unlike Tigris and Euphrates, the Nile flooded predictably.
This caused their world view to be very different from Meso.

9. Pharaohs Rule as Gods Polytheistic Pharaohs were Egyptian god-kings
Ra the sun god
Horus the god of light
Isis the goddess of mothers and wives
Pharaohs were Egyptian god-kings
Was in charge of both government as well as its religion
This type of government is called a Theocracy

11. 1st Age of Empires

12. Assyria Dominates the Fertile Crescent
Around 850 B.C Assyria conquers a large area through a sophisticated military and advanced weapons
Look at pg 89.

13. Decline and Rebirth of Babylon
In 612 B.C. Assyria had expanded so large that it begins to crumb.
Nebuchadnezzar restored Babylon more than 1000 years after the reign of Hammurabi.

14. Persia Reading Activity
Read pages 92-94
Then Create a Venn Diagram to show the similarities, and differences between Darius and Cyrus. Then explain which of the differences do you consider the most important and why.
Answer: How did Darius’s methods of administration give stability to his empire.
Consider how the structure of the empire, policy of tolerance, and the satrap system played a role