River Valley Civilizations

Chapter 1 Notes

First Civilizations• Sumer(4000-539 BCE): Modern Iraq

• Egypt (3150-332 BCE)

• Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (3300-1700 BCE): Modern Pakistan

• Shang China (1600-1046 BCE)

• Olmec (1500-400 BCE): Modern Mexico

• Chavin (900-200 BCE): Modern Peru

Geography

• River valleys were ideal for farming because of fertile soil and regular flooding

• Exception is the Americas: Coastal marshes and lower mountain ranges

Government

• States are organized systems of rule that can

mobilize labor and resources

• Increasingly complex systems of control and

defense

– Bureaucracies and armies

• Theocracy: ruler with divine source of power

– Sumer: ruler received orders from the gods

– Egypt: Pharaoh “God-king”

– Shang: Emperor was a link between heavens and

earth

– Indus: priestly class rules

Religions

• Polytheism: rituals directed

towards nature gods

• Ancestor worship in China

• Judaism: 1st monotheistic religion

(1200 BCE)

– Abstract God is just and orderly

– Moral law code derived from God

– Way of life

Social Structure

• Land is wealth = higher social standing

• Skilled workers (artisans, warriors, and scribes) higherthan peasants

• Prisoners of war used as slaves

– Could buy their freedom

• Women had higher status in Egypt than any other civilization

Innovation• Sumer: wheel, plow, astronomy, #

systems based on units of 10, 60,

360

• Egypt: Geometry, anatomy and

medicine, 24-hour day

• Indus: Urban planning, sewage

and water systems

• China: dikes and canals to control

flooding, silk manufacturing

• Chavon: Land-terracing

Writing

• Sumer: Cuneiform

– Used for recordkeeping

• Egypt: Hieroglyphics

– Religious writing

• Phoenicians: sea traders

with colonies in the

Mediterranean

– Introduced a 22 letter

alphabet

Culture

• Helped to unify regions

• Monumental Architecture

– Ziggurats: central religious site in Sumer

– Pyramids: tombs for pharaohs with extensive wall

decorations

– Olmec: stone heads and remains of temples

• Literature

– Epic of Gilgamesh: 1st heroic epic written

– Egyptian Book of the Dead

Trade

• Regional Trade: Egypt influenced Nubia (Kush)

to the south

– Kushites conquered Egypt

• Transregional trade: Indus Valley traded with

both Mesopotamia and China

Invasion and Empire

• Pastoral groups influenced civilizations by

introducing horseback riding and chariots to

warfare

– Hittites introduced iron weapons to Mesopotamia

• Empire Building in Mesopotamia

• Sumer Akkadians Babylonians

– Sargon I of Akkad

– Hammurabi: 1st law code