Unit 10: Early civilizations

Ancient
Mesopotamia

Ancient
Egypt
1. The beginning of History

Writing appeared in Mesopotamia

over 5,000 years ago. This invention
was so important that it marks the
end of the Prehistory, and the
beginning of History

As villages grew into towns, writing

was a way of storing information
about taxes, trade and population
 2. What were the first civilizations?

Which are the four River Valley Civilizations?

 Four early River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Egyptian Civilization - Nile River
Indian Civilization - Indus River
Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River
Sumerian Civilization:Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

City-States in Mesopotamia
 Euphrates River

Mesopotamia means: land between rivers

Mesopotamia was a very dry area. However, irrigation canals

allowed agriculture to develop.
Cuneiform writing was essential, it consisted of signs drawn on
clay tablets.
 City-States in Mesopotamia

Although all the cities shared the same culture

Each city had its own government, rulers, warriors,
it’s own patron god, and functioned like an
independent country
Mesopotamian cities were Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh
At center of each city was the temple: a ziggurat (a
massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped structure).
What was the ziggurat made from?

Mud brick
Where was the temple?
 Mesopotamian religion

They believed in many gods - polytheism

Mesopotamian warrior-god, gold figurine. Marduk, the Dragon god

(2.400-2.500 B.C.)
Mesopotamian King and nobility
Society
Priests

Scribes

Craftsmen and Peasants

Slaves
 Mesopotamian Society
Three social classes
a. Priests and aristocracy (kings)
b. Civil servants: scribes
c. Ordinary workers: Craftmens, Merchants and
Peasants
Slaves: were not free citizens
Women had more rights than in many later
civilizations, but not allowed to attend schools
(could not read or write)
 Mesopotamian Society
Powerful priests held much political power in the beginning.
Military commanders eventually became monarch creating a
new structure of government called a Dynasty.
Dynasty is a series of rulers descending from a single family
line
The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years, 2350–2150
B.C.
 Babylonian Empire
They overtook Sumerians around 2000 B.C.
And they built capital, Babylon, on Euphrates river
 The most famous king of Babylonian Empire was
Hammurabi [1792-1750 B.C.]

Famous Code of Law

“the punishment fits
the crime” and “eye
for an eye”

He took all the laws of the region’s city-states and unified

them into one code. This helped unify the region.
 Mesopotamian culture
One of the first writing systems - Cuneiform
 It's one of the most important
civilizations in History. It
emerged more than 5,000 years
ago, along the River Nile in the
north-east of Africa

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians lived near the

River Nile, because the land was
fertile there. Each year, water from
the Nile rose and flooded the area.
When the water went back, it left
mud which made the fields fertile.
Egyptians called their king a
pharaoh. The pharaoh was all-
powerful:
● He passed laws,
● He ruled the country,
● He owned most of the land,
● He controlled trade and led the
armies

Egyptians believed that

the pharaohs were gods.
Ancient Egyptian society
Egyptian religion

Egyptians
were
polytheistic:
they
worshipped
many gods
Egyptians believed
there was an afterlife,
as long as the body
was preserved.
Consequently, a dead
body was dried to make
a mummy, which was
put in a sarcophagus.
A wealthy person's
tomb contained the
things which were
necessary in the
afterlife, such as food,
jewels or statues of
servants.

Mummies and afterlife

Mummies and
sarcophagus
The biggest tombs were the spectacular pyramids which
were built for the pharaohs
Egyptian art Temples

Statues

Paintings