River%20Valley%20Civilizations

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River Valley Civilizations

• 3500 to 500 BC

The Cradles of Civilization
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Where did the earliest civilizations develop?

• River valleys

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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

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They were protected by geographic barriers
(mountains, deserts, seas, jungles, etc.)
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Where were the earliest civilizations located and
when did they exist?
C
M
I
E
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River Valley Civilizations
(3500 BC to 500 BC)

• Mesopotamia in Southwest Asia
• Egypt in Northeast Africa
• India in South Asia
• China in East Asia
• From west to east EMIC

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Evidence of Early Civilizations
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• What were some characteristics of the Ancient
  River Valley civilizations?

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Mesopotamia SumerGeography
Mesopotamia

• Mesopotamia was a region located in the part of
  the Fertile Crescent that lies between the
  Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

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Mesopotamia

• Present-day Iraq (Middle East).

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

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Sumerian Government

• Sumer was the first known civilization
• It arose in southern Mesopotamia

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Sumer

• Sumer was made up of 12 independent city- states
  each ruled by its own king.
• City-state A city and the surrounding land

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Cuneiform

• the first written language (wedge writing)

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Irrigation

• brought water from the rivers to the fields
  during the dry summer months

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Controlling the Rivers
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Bronze

• Smelted from copper and tin

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Other Sumerian Accomplishments

• Plow
• Ziggurats
• Wheeled vehicles
• Number system based on 60

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Sumerian Inventions
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Babylonian Empire

• The first empire to arise in Mesopotamia
• Empire several peoples, nations, or previously
  independent states under the control of one ruler.

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Code of Hammurabi

• First set of published laws
• Based on the principle of an eye for an eye
• Laws differed based on class

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Sumer
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EgyptGeography

• Nile Delta and Nile River Valley (Northeast
  Africa)

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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.

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• Protected by deserts and seas

View from space shuttle
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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.

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• Egypt, had a rigid class system and slavery was
  accepted.

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Egyptian Religion

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

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Egyptian Writing

• Hieroglyphics Pictures stood for sounds as well
  as ideas

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Egypt
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India Indus Valley Civilization
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Geography

• Located on the Indus River in present-day
  Pakistan (Indian subcontinent).

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Indus River Flood Plain
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Natural Barriers

• The Himalayan and the Hindu Kush Mountains as
  well as the Indian Ocean protected the Indian
  subcontinent from invasion.

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Indus Valley Government

• Made up of independent city-states including
  Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro (and 2500 other sites)

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Indus Valley Achievements

• Plumbing

The great bath at Mohenjo-Daro
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Cotton Cloth

• first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers
  into cloth (textiles)

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Writing

• has not been deciphered

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Indus Valley
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ChinaGeography

• Huang He River

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

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Flooding of the Huang He

• Satellite images

before
after
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• Protected by the Gobi desert, Himalayan
  Mountains, Pacific Ocean, dense jungles

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Chinese Government

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

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China
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• Chinese rulers were considered divine (god-like).

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

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Dynastic Cycle

• Explains the rise and fall of families of rulers

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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

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Early Chinese Achievements

• Silk cloth (made from the cocoons of silkworms).

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Writing

• Characters stood for ideas, not sounds.

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

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Irrigation

• Water wheels were used to bring river water to
  the fields

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• Bronze

Bronze vessel used for sacrificial food
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Shang Dynasty