Chapter 2

Early River Valley Civilizations

Early River Valley

Civilizations

Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia

(Cradle of Civilization)
Between Tigris & Euphrates Iraq
Problems:

Unpredictable flooding
No natural barriers for protection
Natural resources limited

Mesopotamia cont.

Solutions:

Irrigation ditches
Mud brick defensive walls
Traded grain, cloth, tools with others for raw
materials (wood, stone)

Organized into city-states

Dynasty (single family of rulers)

Cultural diffusion spread of ideas to other
cultures

Other Empires

Polytheistic belief in many gods

Sargon Akkadians conquered Sumer
Adopted many aspects of culture
First empire brings several groups
under one ruler
Babylonians Hammurabi

Hammurabis Code eye for an eye

First written code of law

Egypt

Nile River gift of the Nile; regular

flooding left fertile soil
Predictable but changes led to
drought or flood
Upper & Lower Egypt

Flows north; delta

Unifying factor, transportation and
communication

Egypt

Pharaohs ruled as gods; theocracy

Belief in afterlife; built pyramids

Mummification

Economic strength, technology,

public works, strong government
Polytheistic

Egypt

Women had many rights

Writing hieroglyphics; developed
papyrus (paper from plant)
Calendar, engineering, architecture,
medicine, surgery
http://www.history.com/videos/howto-make-a-mummy

Egypt

Coroners Report King Tut http://www.history.com/topics/the-egyptianpyramids/videos#coroners-report-king-tut

Invaders weakened Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom (2,000 1,600 BC)
restored prosperity
Didnt last Hyksos took over
Rosetta Stone interpreted hieroglyphics

Indus Valley

Indian subcontinent
Indus River and Ganges River
Seasonal monsoons (winds) bring dry
air but also moist air flooding
Floods brought rich soil but were
unpredictable

Indus

Mohenjo-Daro
Harappa planned city; brick
buildings, grid pattern, plumbing,
sewage
Peaceful, no sharp class differences
Collapsed around 1500 BC possibly
earthquakes; changed flow of rivers

Section 4 - China

Isolated deserts, mountains, ocean

surround
Huang He (Yellow) & Chang Jiang
(Yangtze) Rivers; floods
Shang 1600 BCE 1000 BCE - first
dynasty to leave written records; used
wood, not mud-brick; walled cities;
bronze frequently at war

China cont.

Importance of group, not individual

Family & respect important
Writing symbols stood for ideas, not
sounds; so many different spoken
languages
Zhou dynasty 1000 200 BCE -took over
but adopted Shang features; 800 years
(longest), iron, use of slaves (Confucianism
and Daoism)

China, cont.

Mandate of heaven new theory that rulers got

authority to rule from heaven; divine rule
Dynastic Cycle rise, decline, replacement cycle (p.
54 chart)
Feudalism lords & nobles use kings land in
exchange for service
Nobles protected rulers & peasants got much
power over time and fought constantly
Zhou collapsed around; chaos & war; love or order,
harmony, respect, traditional values collapsed