River Valley Civilizations

A Brief Overview

River Valley Civilizations

Mesopotamia

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Present Day: Iraq

Flooding: Floods once a year, unpredictably

Characteristics:

1. Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Fertile Crescent

2. Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between two rivers”

3. Low amount of rainfall

4. Open plains- no natural barriers from outside attack

Mesopotamia

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Nile River Valley

Present Day: Egypt (Africa)

Flooding: Floods the same time every year in

July. River recedes in October leaving fertile

soil.

Characteristics:

1. River flows NORTH for 4,100 miles

2. It is the worlds longest river

3. Egypt is considered to be the “gift of the Nile”, the

river gave them life

4. Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the west

Nile River Valley

Indus River Valley

Present Day: India- a tremendous peninsula

sometimes referred to as a subcontinent.

Flooding:

1. The Indus river floods unpredictably and sometimes

changes course

2. Extreme wet and dry seasons

Characteristics:

1. 3 water boundaries- The Arabian Sea, Bay of

Bengal, Indian Ocean

2. 2 mountain ranges- The Himalayas and Hindu Kush

3. Monsoons- seasonal winds that bring tremendous

amounts of rainfall to the valley

Indus River Valley

Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley

Present Day: China

Flooding: unpredictable flooding. The river ruined so many villages that it is called “China’s Sorrow”

Characteristics: 1. Called the yellow river because it deposits yellow

silt.

2. Many natural boundaries a. East: Pacific Ocean

b. West: Plateau of Tibet and Desert

c. South West: Himalaya Mountains

d. North: Gobi Desert

3. Mountains and desert dominate 2/3 of the land

Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley

Mesopotamia

Geography

Located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers

Fertile Crescent

Modern Day Iraq

Low amount of rainfall-needed a steady water supply

River floods annually- unpredictable

Open plains-no natural barrier from outside attack

Limited natural resources- no good supply of stone, metal, wood

Solutions to Natural Problems

Dug irrigation ditches

to control water

supply

Build mud walls

around the city for

protection

Traded with people in

surrounding areas for

natural resources

Government

Separated into City-States divided by swampy areas, acted as their own country City-States included a city, farms, and the villages around the

city

City-States controlled by Temple Priests-success of crops depended on Gods

City-States united under Sargon I

Sites such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu are considered to be some of the worlds first cities

During time of war men of the city picked a leader for the war As war became more common priests gave men permanent

control of the army

Some commanders became full time rules, called Monarchs

Map of City-States

Religion

Polytheistic-believed many gods controlled nature called Animism Each god controlled a specific natural

force or human activity

Gods could cause great misery in angered

Thought gods had little regard for the people

Built huge temples called Ziggurats to honor the gods

Believed in life after death

Sacrificed animals to the gods to ensure good growing seasons

Social Structure

Social Classes emerged

Highest: Priests and Kings

Wealthy merchants

Laborers and common people

Slaves

Women were not equal to men but had some rights

Could not attend school

Could own property and hold most jobs

Fall of the Civilization

Constant fighting between city-states led

to not being able to fight off outside

invaders

Contributions Cuneiform writing- system of 700 symbols that

represented sounds, objects, and ideas. Written on Clay tablets.

System of numbers based on 60, 360 degree circle

Architecture- Ziggurats

Contributions

Tax system to support the city states

Sumerians manufactured bronze

the use of the wheel

The use of the umbrella

Use of the metal plow

Written law code- Hammurabi’s Code of Laws

Hammurabi

Nomadic warriors

called Amorites

invaded Mesopotamia

and established their

capital at Babylon

Babylon reached its

height during the rule

of Hammurabi

Hammurabi’s

Code

Hammurabi collected existing laws and established a unified code of laws for the entire Empire, all city-states

Code had 282 laws dealing with all aspects of society: family relations, business conduct, crime, ect

Code applied to everyone but had different punishments for different classes of people and men and women

Had specific punishments for each type of violation

Code reinforced the idea government is responsible for what occurs in society.

If a man is robbed and the thief is not caught, government is responsible to compensate the victim.

Things I need to Know for the

Test Where do all early civilizations develop?

What river did the Egyptian develop next

too?

What did rivers provided?

Review on Neolithic Revolution.

Polytheism, pyramids, mummification

Hieroglyphics

Egyptian Civilization

Geography

Located on the Nile River in Northeast Africa

Settlement began around 5000 BC

River flows north 4,100 miles

Floods the same time every year, July

Egypt is considered ‘the gift of the Nile”, the river

gave them life

Farmers relied on the floods to irrigate crops

Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the

west

History and Government

Menses (Narmer) unites upper and lower

Egypt into one and established the 1st

dynasty

Established their capital at Memphis

From about 3000 BC to 332 BC, Egypt was

ruled by 30 dynasties

History and Government

Kings were considered gods called Pharaohs, this is a theocracy

Kings were the center of government and religion

Built pyramids during the Old Kingdom

Places to honor and bury their god-kings

Egypt had a population of about 5 million people at its height

Religion

Polytheistic- believed in over 2000 gods

and goddesses

Most important god Ra- the sun god

Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaton

and claimed to be equal to the sun god

Built huge temples to honor gods and

goddesses

Religion-

Pyramids

Believed that kings

continued to rule after

death, built enormous

pyramids as tombs

Pyramids were built

during the kings life to

show strength in his

dynasty

Religion

Osiris- The Egyptian god

responsible for life, death and

rebirth

Also known as the God of the Afterlife,

Weighed the heart of people

passing into the afterlife to judge

them.

If the heart was lighter than a feather

they passed through

If the heart was heavier- Devourer of

Souls would eat the heart

Religion Akhenaton- a Pharaoh who

founded a new and controversial religion

Kings were mummified to preserve the body and put into tombs with his belongings Also given “The Book of the Dead”

which contained prayers to go to next life

Akhenaton

Book of the Dead

The Empire

Narmer:

Conquered lower Egypt

Sets the capital of his

government in Memphis

Women- had the ability to

own property, testify in

court, and begin the divorce

process

The Hyksos The Hyksos were able to

invade and defeat the Egyptians because they had better tools and horse drawn chariots

Contributions and Achievements

System of numbers- to tax, farmers used geometry to survey the land after floods

Architecture- measurement, building of pyramids and palaces

Developed a 365 day calendar based on the flooding of the Nile

Medicine-pulse, circulatory system, splint broken bones, surgery-tonsils out

Numbers

Calendar

Writing System

Writing System-

Hieroglyphics, pictures

representing ideas

Wrote on Papyrus-

reeds that grew near

the Nile

Translated by the

Rosetta Stone- stone

had 3 languages on it

including Egyptian

Hieroglyphics and

Greek

Everyday writing was

called Hieratic

Hieroglyphics

Rosetta

Stone