Civilizations

Contents• Indus Valley Civilization• Sumerians Civilization• Egyptian Civilization• Greek Civilization• Chinese Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

Contents• Introduction• Town Planning• Drainage System• Crafts & Industries

Introduction• Indus Valley civilization also known

Harappan civilization developed on the plains of Indus River from about 1700 BC to 2600 BC & was one of the world's oldest and greatest civilizations. Civilization of Indus Valley was best known by 2 cities Harappa & Mohenjo - Daro. The name of the Indian subcontinent is taken from this river.

Town Planning• These were divided into rectangles by broad

streets. The streets were quite straight & meet each other at right angles & thus, dividing the city into large rectangular blocks. The rectangular planning was a unique feature of the 2 cities. All the houses were connected directly to the well - planned drainage system of covered drains & soak pits.

Drainage System• It is one of the most impressive achievements

of the Harappan civilization. It shows some kind of municipal organization. Drains were made of well - baked bricks & were generally covered with bricks which could be lifted easily for cleaning the drain. It had an excellent water supply.

Crafts & Industries• Mohenjo-Daro was a great industrial centre.

Weaving was probably the chief industry. Harappans were also acquainted with the art of dyeing. Pottery was an important industry. The Harappans also practised boat - making, seal - making & terracotta manufacturing.

Sumerians Civilization

Contents• Introduction• Communication• Art & Craft• Technology

Introduction• Sumerians were an ancient civilization &

historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic & Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest historical records in the region do not go back much further than CA. 2900 BC, modern historians have asserted that Sumer was first settled between CA. 4500 & 4000 BC by a non – Semitic people.

Communication• Long before the earliest writings of the

Sumerians & the Egyptians were developed, people communicated with each other by a number of different methods. Early humans could express by means of speech or by signs or gestures. They could signal with fire & smoke, drums, or whistles.

Art & Craft• The Sumerians were the first human race to

form a settlement & brought to an end the nomadic existence of humans till then. With settlement & forming of cities, the Sumerians inventions changed the way all of us live today; things that we take for granted today like farming, calendar, & wheels were all Sumerians inventions. Writing was discovered & the Sumerian art & culture was sophistication in itself.

Technology• Example of Sumerians technology includes: the

wheel, cuneiform, arithmetic & geometry, irrigation systems, Sumerian boats, lunisolar calendar, bronze, leather, saws, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints, arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, water skins, bags, harnesses, armor, quivers, war chariots, scabbards, boots, sandals, harpoons, the Baghdad battery & bear.

Egyptian Civilization

Contents• Introduction•Worshipping•Making Mummies• Building Pyramids

Introduction• Without the waters of the river Nile, the amazing

civilization of ancient Egypt might never had existed. The Nile provided water for drinking & for watering crops. Every year its floods left a strip of rich dark soil on both sides of the river. Framers grew their crops sin these fertile strips. The Egyptians called their county Kemet, which means ‘black land’, after this dark soil. The Nile was also important for transport, it was trade route for the Egyptians.

Worshipping• The ancient Egyptians worshipped more

than 1000 different gods & goddesses. The most important god was Ra, the sun god. People believed that he was swallowed up each evening by the sky goddesses Nut. During the night Ra travelled through the underworld & was born again each morning.

Making Mummies• Making a mummy was difficult & skilled

work. First the brain, stomach, lungs & other organs were removed, nut the heart was left in place. Next, the body was covered with salts & left to dry for up to 40 days. The dried body was washed & filled the linen & other stuffing to keep its shape. Finally, it was oiled & raped in layer of linen bandages.

Building Pyramids• Each block used to build the Great

Pyramid weighed as much as two & a half adult elephants! Labourers used copper chisels & saws to cut & shape the stones before dragging them on wooden sledges to the base of the pyramid.

Greek Civilization

Contents• Introduction• Architecture• History•War with Trojans

Introduction• Ancient Greece was a small country, but its

people had great ideas. From about 2000 BC, they created a splendid civilization that reached its peak between 500 – 400 BC. All citizens contributed to a society that respected people’s rights , encouraged the best in human nature & lived in harmony with the natural world. Today, we still admire Greek sport, medicine, drama, politics, pottery & art.

Architecture• The architecture of Ancient Greece is the

architecture produced by the Greek-speaking people whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland and Peloponnesus, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC.

History• When the neighbours invaded, Greek

power collapsed. After 431 BC, Greek cities were at war & the fighting weakended them. In 338 BC, Philip II of Macedonia (a kingdom north of Greece) invaded with a large army. After Philip died, his son, Alexander the Great , made Greece part of his mighty empire.

War with Trojans• The Greeks could not break through

Trojan’s walls until they thought of a clever plan. They made a huge, hollow, wooden horse, hid warriors inside & persuaded the Trojans to accept it as an offering to the gods. The Trojans hauled the horse into their city, then the Greeks leaped out & defeated them.

Chinese Civilization

Contents• Introduction• Technology• Ornaments• Art Forms

Introduction• China is one of the largest countries in the world, the

birth place of ancient culture and civilization. In general, one may say that by the influence of Confucius' philosophical thinking, the Chinese have become more reserved or at least the gestures expressing emotions are comparatively less expressive. As the verbal language, the nonverbal register of gestures lasts for a long time, but in different historic times, there are different gestures. From a historical point of view we will distinguish between dead and contemporary gestures.

Technology• Around 2300 years ago, when no one in Europe or the

Middle East could melt even one ounce of iron the Chinese were casting multi-ton iron objects. It was not until the mid-1700's in Europe that such feats of metallurgy were achieved in Britain, the technically most advanced country of Europe. The early success in iron-casting in China was due to a superior form of bellows that delivered a continuous stream of air to a furnace instead of an interrupted stream as from the type of bellows used in the West. No one beforehand would have given much thought or attention to such a seemingly unimportant device as the Chinese bellows, but it turned out to be a crucial technological development.

Ornaments• Ornaments are favored by many of China’s ethnic minority groups,

especially by the Miao community. They often functioned in history as tangible examples of multi-cultural communication, and the main materials were silver coins and silver ingots. The whole process of creating Yao silver ornaments was done independently by family workshops according to strict requirements. First, the silversmiths transform the silver into slices or threads by melting it, and then create different kinds of patterns using techniques such as pressing, carving, and chasing; typically 12 working procedures are applied to one silver ornament. The Yao ornaments have many great varieties in unique styles including headgears, chest & neck ornaments, hand accessories, clothes ornaments, back decorations, waist pendant ornaments, and foot ornaments.

Art Forms• One of the unique art forms that developed in China

during the first century was the art form known as paper cuts. Since the Chinese were the ones that invented paper they were the first to develop an art form using the new found material. This development took place during the rule of the Tang dynasty. The paper cut art work would be used to decorate the homes of people and some women would even use them in their hair. This is just one of the examples of the various ancient art forms that were developed in China.

• Theme – Where we are in place & time• Central Idea – The legacy of past

civilization can impact & shape today’s system & technology.• Line Of Inquiry – Ancient Civilizations• Made By – PARV GARG• Grade - 5

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