Ancient River Civilizations

WHI SOL Part II

Name the Civilizations

?

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Huang He

What is the time period in which these early river valleys

existed?

3500-1500 BCE

Since these river valley civilizations are the

birthplaces of civilizations, what is their nickname?

The Cradles of Civilizations

What did these river valleys have to offer for farmers

Rich Fertile soil

To help bring water to their crops farmers used this

method

Irrigation

Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was a fertile

plain known as

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia had advanced cities. Each of these cities were

independent with their own leaders. What do we call these

type of cities?

City-states

These city states had a centralized government. At

first they were run by people who had religious

authority. Who were these people?

Priests

Religion was a major part of life in all early civilizations. Each of

the civilizations believed in many gods. What is a term for

this?

polytheism

Military leaders would soon take over the city states. They would

come to be known as

Monarchs or Kings

Hereditary lines of kings would be known as

Dynasties

Around 3000 B.C. the scribes in Mesopotamia invented a

system of writing to record their business transactions. They wrote on moist clay

tablets with a stylus made out from a sharpened reed. What

do we call this writing?

Cuneiform

The people in Mesopotamia began using this metal rather than copper and stone to make tools and

weapons?

Bronze

By bringing together the peoples and nations of northern and southern

Mesopotamia, Sargon of Akkad created the world’s first-

Empire

What is an empire?

Several people from different lands, nations, or previously independent states

under the control of one ruler.

The Babylonian Empire would emerge in Mesopotamia. The first king of the

Babylonian empire inscribed laws on 8 foot tall stone tablets and placed them throughout his empire. Who was he?

Hammurabi

What were his laws known as?

Hammurabi’s Code

An important idea of law from Hammurabi's Code

was

Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth

This river flowed

through the

Egyptian civilization

The Nile

The area of the Nile River that emptied into the Mediterranean

Sea was rich in soil deposits. What was this land known as?

Nile Delta

The writing of the ancient Egyptians is

Hieroglyphics

Egyptians dominated these people to the south for 1000

years (2000 to 1000 BCE)

Nubia

As Egypt fell into decline around 1000 B.C., this Nubian kingdom began emerging as a

regional power?

The kingdom of Kush

After the Kushites lost Egypt to the Assyrians they retreated from

Egypt and prospered for several centuries in this city?

Meroë

Meroë would become a major center for the manufacture of weapons and tools made from

this metal

iron

What is the area highlighted in Green called?

What is the area highlighted in Green called?

The Fertile Crescent

According to the Jewish scriptures, this man was

spoken to by a God named Yahweh.

Abraham

Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit (covenant) between God and the Jewish people was established. (Gen. 12).

Yahweh told Abraham he was the one and only God. This was very different as all other people believed in many gods. What do you call people who

only believe in one God?

Monotheistic

The scriptures say that Yahweh then told Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and go to this

land

Canaan

Abraham left with his family for Canaan. Canaan was between the Jordan River and this Sea

The Mediterranean

Sea

Abraham had many descendants. His people

would become known as the

Hebrews

So, who is the “Father of the Hebrew People”?

Abraham

Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit (covenant) between God and the Jewish people was established. (Gen. 12).

The first five books of the Hebrew Bible are known as

The Torah

Due to a drought, the Hebrews would leave

Canaan and go to this land

Egypt

In Egypt, the Hebrews would eventually become

Slaves

The Hebrew scriptures said that Yahweh told this man to

lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt.

Moses

What was this event known as?

The Exodus

The Jewish celebration of the Exodus is called

Passover

During this time the Hebrew scriptures say that Moses received these moral and

religious laws from Yahweh

The Ten Commandments

Moses would lead the Hebrews through the desert

for 40 years until they would return to this

“Promised Land”

Canaan

The Hebrews would eventually return to Canaan, the land Yahweh had promised to

Abraham. The land would come to be known as

Israel

David, one of the first Hebrew kings, united the tribes of Israel and established this city as its

capital.

Jerusalem

Israel would eventually split into two kingdoms. Israel and

Judah. Based on the name Judah, the Hebrews would

come to be known as

The Jews

The Religion of the Jews would become known as

Judaism

The Babylonians took the wealthier Jews as prisoners, and then brought them to Babylon, where they could keep an eye on them. This period was known as the

Babylonian Captivity or this

The Exile

Who were the people that lived north of Israel?

The Phoenicians

The Phoenicians developed this writing system in which letters

represent sounds

The Alphabet

The color of the dye that the Phoenicians were famous for, came from this type of snail that lived in the waters off

Sidon and Tyre.

purple

The Phoenicians also were great sailors. What continent are they said to have sailed

around?

Africa

The Phoenicians also established many colonies along the coastlines of the

Mediterranean Sea. What was the most famous of all their

colonies?

Carthage