RAMESES III

River Valley Civilizations3500- 500 B.C.

The “Cradles of Civilization”

SOL Standards Essential Questions

Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys?

Where were the earliest civilizations located?

When did these civilizations exist?

Where did the earliest civilizations develop?

River valleys

Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys?

They had rich soil for agriculture

Periodic flooding left silt which made the soil rich in nutrients

Geographic Barriers (mountains, deserts, seas, jungles,etc.)

Helped protect many early civilizations from nomadic invaders

Where were the earliest civilizations located and when did they exist?

E M I C

River Valley Civilizations

Mesopotamia in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys. (Southwest Asia)

Egypt in the Nile River Valley and Delta (Africa)

India in the Indus River Valley in South Asia China in the Huang He Valley (East Asia). From west to east “EMIC”

(3500 BC to 500 BC)

What were the geographic, social, political, and

economic characteristics of the Ancient River Valley

civilizations?

MesopotamiaThe land between two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)

Part of the Fertile Crescent

Fertile Crescent •Arc of fertile land stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Present day Iraq (Middle East).

Sumer The first of many civilizations to

arise in Mesopotamia Protected by mountains, deserts

and the Persian Gulf

Sumer Sumer was made up of 12 independent city- states

City-state: A city and the surrounding land it controlled

IrrigationMesopotamia had a dry climate

Irrigation was required to bring water from the rivers to the fields during the dry

summer months

First WritingInvented the first written language: cuneiform (wedge writing)

Invented Bronze

Smelted from copper and tin

Other Sumerian Accomplishments

Plow

Ziggurats

Wheeled vehicles

Number system based on 60

Babylonian EmpireThe first empire to arise in Mesopotamia

Empire: several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the

control of one ruler.

Code of Hammurabi

First set of published laws

Based on the principle of an “eye for an eye”

Laws differed based on class

EgyptNile Delta and Nile River Valley (Northeast Africa)

Protected by deserts and seas

Nile DeltaLocated in Lower Egypt (northern Egypt - lower in elevation)

Delta: broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river.

Lower EgyptView from space shuttle

Hieroglyphics

•Pictures could stand for sounds as well as ideas

PharaohsThey had absolute power (complete control)

Thought to be responsible for making the sun rise, the Nile flood, and crops grow.

•Egyptian god-kings

ReligionLike other River Valley peoples, Egyptians were polytheistic (believed in many gods).

Class SystemEgypt, had a rigid class system and slavery was accepted.

India•Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley CivilizationLocated on the Indus River in present-day Pakistan (Indian subcontinent).

Indus River Flood Plain

Natural Barriers The Himalayan and the Hindu Kush Mountains as well as the Indian Ocean

protected the Indian subcontinent from invasion.

Indus Valley CivilizationMade up of independent city states including Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro

(and 2500 other sites)

Indus Valley AchievementsPlumbing

The great bath at Mohenjo-Daro

Cotton Cloth

Indus valley people were the first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into

cloth

Written Language

has not been deciphered

ChinaHuang He River

Huang He

•Also called the Yellow River and the River of Sorrows (yellow silt caused flooding)

Flooding of the Huang He Satellite images

before after

Geographically IsolatedGobi desert, Himalayan Mountains,

Pacific Ocean, dense jungles

Shang Dynasty

China was ruled by a succession of ruling families called dynasties (Early dynasties: Shang and Zhou)

Divine Rulers

Chinese rulers were considered divine (god-like).

Mandate of Heaven

They served under a mandate of heaven (approval of the gods) only as long as their

rule was just

Dynastic CycleExplains the rise, decline, and replacement

of families of rulers

Chinese SilkThe Chinese invented silk cloth (made from the cocoons of silkworms).

Writing

The earliest evidence of Chinese writing is found on oracle bones.

• Characters stood for ideas, not sounds.

Ancestor WorshipThe Chinese believed that the spirits of family ancestors could bring good

fortune or disaster

They paid respect to family ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor

Bronze vessel used for sacrificial food

IrrigationWater wheels were used to bring river water to the fields