KEY VOCABULARY

• Neolithic Revolution—food gathering to

food prod., farming, animals domesticated

• Slash-and-burn farming—cutting

down/burning clearing a field ashes act as

fertilizer

• Nomads—group of people…following food

source.

KEY VOCABULARY• Civilization – form of culture, live in cities

have complex social institutions, writing, law,

gov. soc. class

• Empire – group of nations ruled by a single

ruler or govnt.

• Theocracy – govnt led by relig. leaders or/and

regard as a god

• Polytheistic – belief in many gods

• Monotheistic – belief in only one god

QUESTIONS TO KEEP IN

MIND:

• How did geography impact the first

civilizations?

• How did changes in the Neolithic

Revolution lead to the development of

River Valley Civilizations?

THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION

• Arose in 4 separate river valleys around

3500 B.C.

• Fertile soil, mild climate, waterway for

transportation, water for crops & drinking

• Provided for abundant crops and food

What is civilization

River Valley

Civilizations• 3500 to 500 BC

The “Cradles of Civilization”

Where did the earliest

civilizations develop?

• River valleys

Why did ancient civilizations

develop in river valleys?

• They had rich soil for agriculture because

periodic flooding left silt which made the soil

rich in nutrients

They were protected by geographic

barriers (mountains, deserts, seas,

jungles, etc.)

Where were the earliest civilizations

located and when did they exist?

E M I C

River Valley Civilizations

• Mesopotamia in Southwest Asia

• Egypt in Northeast Africa

• India in South Asia

• China in East Asia

• From west to east “EMIC”

(3500 BC to 500 BC)

What were some characteristics

of the Ancient River Valley

civilizations?

Mesopotamia: SumerGeography

•Mesopotamia was a region located in the

part of the Fertile Crescent that lies between

the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

• Present-day Iraq

(Middle East).

• Protected on three sides by mountains, deserts and the Persian Gulf (but vulnerable to invaders from the north)

• Sumer was the first known civilization

• It arose in southern Mesopotamia

Sumerian Government

Sumer• Sumer was made up of 12 independent city- states

each ruled by its own king.

• City-state: A city and the surrounding land

Cuneiform:

• the first written

language (wedge

writing)

Irrigation:

• brought water from the rivers to the fields

during the dry summer months

Bronze

• Smelted from

copper and tin

Other Sumerian

Accomplishments• Plow

• Ziggurats

• Wheeled vehicles

• Number system

based on 60

Babylonian Empire• The 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

Mesopotamia

Ancient Egypt

What will we learn?

1.Geography of Egypt

2.The Old Kingdom

3.Egyptian Culture

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom1. Setting the Stage

a. Mesopotamia was home to the first civilization

b. Egypt will be one of the first empires: unity, stability, and cultural continuity

Egypt is in Africa

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom2. The Geography of Egypt: The Nile

a. The Nile River is the most important resource

b. Used for transportation, irrigation, defense, agriculture

c. The Nile is the longest river in the world at 4,100 miles long

d. Yearly flooding brought rich soil that would be left as the water receded

e. The Egyptians worshipped The Nile as a god

f. The Nile flooded like clockwork each year; unlike Mesopotamia

g. The Nile flows north, unlike most rivers

h. The Nile valley is surrounded by sun parched desert

The Nile

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdomi. Three disadvantages:

i. If flooded a few feet less than normal, thousands would starve

ii. If flooded a few feet more than normal, homes & property destroyed

iii. Desert on each side of river forced Egyptians to live on small strip of land on

the river- however, this also acted as a natural barrier against invaders

j. Upper and Lower Egypt (see map on p.36 or next slide)

k. Nubia to the south was rich in gold and was subject to Egypt’s authority

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom3. Egypt Unites into a Kingdom

a. A king named Narmer united Upper and Lower Egypt into one empire in 3000 BC

b. Narmer Palette depicts with hieroglyphics how Narmer unified Egypt

c. Narmer is sometimes called the Scorpion King

d. Narmer created the first Egyptian dynasty

e. Ancient Egypt would see 31 dynasties spanning 2,600 years

The Scorpion king…NO!

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom4. The Old Kingdom

a. Old Kingdom or “Age of Pyramids”

b. 2660-2180 B.C. when many patterns for Egyptian Civilization were

established

c. Most of the pyramids were built in this time period

d. Pyramid: immense stone structure often built as tombs

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdome. Djoser built the Step Pyramid

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdomf. Snefru built the Bent Pyramid

g. Snefru built the Red Pyramidh. Eventually the power of the pharaohs declined and ended Old Kingdom

Geography Culture, & The Old

Kingdomi. Khufu built the first of the Great Pyramids at Giza

Never happened…

Tourism + Egypt = Money

Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom5. Egyptian Culture

a. Pharaohs: Egyptian pharaohs ruled absolutely

b. The pharaohs stood at the center of Egyptian culture, government, and religion

c. This type of government in which rule is based on religious authority is a

theocracy

d. Polytheistic: belief in many gods

e. Re (sun god), Osiris (god of the dead), Goddess Isis (represented ideal mother

and wife)

f. Believed in afterlife and built burial chambers and tombs

g. Mummification: embalming and drying of corpses to prevent decay

Mummies

The Mummy

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom6. Egyptian Society

Pharaoh's most trusted

advisor

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdomb. Not locked into social class

c. Women held many of the same rights as men i. Could propose marriage

ii. Often married between ages 14-16

iii. If granted a divorce, she was entitled to one-third of the couple’s property

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdomd. Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics or carvings of symbols and pictographs

e. Symbols stood for ideas instead of words

f. Invented a writing surface out of papyrus reeds

g. Egyptians created a 365 day calendar with 12 months of 30 days

h. Egyptian doctors knew about human pulse, how to set broken bones, and even

used surgery in some cases

Geography, Culture, & The Old

Kingdom• Result: The Egyptians had accomplished something

no one had ever done: Built one of the first truly

unique united empires on the planet.

Constructive Response Questions

1. Summarize the geography of Egypt and its

surrounding lands:

2. Describe Egyptian culture including details

on their government, religion, and social

structure.

Nile Delta• The delta was located

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.

•

EgyptGeography

• Nile Delta and

Nile River Valley

(Northeast Africa)

Protected by deserts and seas

View from space shuttle

Egyptian Government

• Pharoahs were rulers

thought to be gods. They

had absolute power

(complete control) over

the Egyptian Empire.

• They were thought to be

responsible for making the

sun rise, the Nile flood,

and crops grow.

• Egypt, had a rigid class system and

slavery was accepted.

Egyptian Religion

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

Egyptian Writing

•Hieroglyphics: Pictures stood for sounds as

well as ideas

India (Indus

River ValleyOutcome: Geography & Early

Civilization

Constructive Response Question

1. Describe the geography of the Indian

Subcontinent:

2. Trace the development and significance of

the civilization that developed in the Indus

River Valley.

What will we learn?

1. Geography of India

2. Indus River Valley cultures

3. End of the Indus River Valley cultures

Geography & Early Civilization

1. Setting the Stagea. Historians know less about the origins and eventual decline of early Indian cultures because the

language of the culture has not been translated yet.

Indian

Sub-Continent

Geography & Early Civilization

2. The Geography of the Indian Subcontinenta. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh make up the landmass of the Indian Subcontinent

b. This region is separated from Asia by several mountain ranges, some of the tallest in the world

i. Hindu Kush, Karakorum, & Himalayas

Indian

Sub-ContinentMountain

Ranges

Geography & Early Civilization

c. Indus River

i. Farming is only possible in the areas directly watered by the Indus

ii. Much of the lower Indus Valley is occupied by the Thar Desert

Geography & Early Civilization

d. Ganges River

i. The Ganges flows from the Himalayas and flows across

northern India

ii. It joins the Brahmaputra River as it flows into the Bay of

Bengal

Indian

Sub-ContinentRiver

Systems

Geography & Early Civilization

e. Together these rivers make up a large area called the Indo-Gangetic Plain which was great for

agriculture, transportation, and irrigation

f. Seasonal winds called monsoons dominate India’s climate

g. Environmental challenges

i. Yearly floods- unpredictable

ii. The rivers sometimes change course

iii. Monsoons brought unpredictable cycles of wet and dry seasons

Indian

Sub-ContinentIndo-Gangetic

Plain

Monsoons

Early

Civilization

Along the Indus

Geography & Early Civilization

3. Civilization Emerges on the Indusa. Historians have yet to decipher the Indus system of writing

b. Still unclear when civilization began but evidence shows that people were using

domesticated goats and sheep around the year 7000 B.C.

c. The Indus Valley civilization is sometimes called the Harappan Civilization because of

many archeological discoveries made there

d. City planning was one of their most remarkable achievements

e. They used a grid system unlike Mesopotamia’s maze of winding streets

f. Engineers used an advanced plumbing system that rivaled 19th century plumbing

g. This uniformity suggests that the Indus people had a strong central government

Grid System

Mohenjo-Daro

Plumbing

Geography & Early Civilization

4. Harappan Culturea. Housing separations suggests divisions in society were not great

b. Artifacts of toys and clay pots suggest a relatively prosperous society

c. Few items of warfare found suggesting that conflict was limited

d. Animals were very important

e. Historians believe that Harappan civilization used a theocracy, Hindu connection?

Geography & Early Civilization

5. Indus Valley Culture Endsa. Evidence found in the 1970s suggests that a shift in tectonic plates may have caused

earthquakes, flooding, and caused the Indus to change course

b. Some cities survived the disasters but other cities food supplies were affected

c. Later a group of people called the Aryans would sweep into the area and take control

Constructive Response Question

1. Describe the geography of the Indian

Subcontinent:

2. Trace the development and significance of

the civilization that developed in the Indus

River Valley.

India: Indus Valley Civilization

Geography• Located 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 Government• Made up of independent city-states including

Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro (and 2500 other

sites)

Indus Valley Achievements• Plumbing

The great bath at Mohenjo-Daro

Cotton Cloth• first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers

into cloth (textiles)

Writing• has not been deciphered

Indus Valley

ChinaGeography

• Huang He River

•Also called the Yellow River and the River of

Sorrows (yellow silt caused flooding)

Flooding of the Huang He• Satellite images

before after

• Protected by the Gobi desert,

Himalayan Mountains, Pacific Ocean,

dense jungles

Chinese Government

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

China

• Chinese rulers

were

considered

divine (god-

like).

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

rule was just

Dynastic Cycle:• Explains the rise and fall of families of rulers

Ancestor Worship• The 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

• Silk cloth (made from the cocoons of

silkworms).

Early Chinese Achievements

Writing:

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

• Characters stood for ideas, not sounds.

Irrigation:

• Water wheels

were used to

bring river water

to the fields

• Bronze

Bronze vessel used for sacrificial food

Shang Dynasty