River Valley Civilizations

The Nile River

The Nile is the longest river in the world –
4,160 miles long
Runs from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean
Sea
Ancient Egyptians built their civilization
along a 750 mile stretch of the Nile
The Nile River
The Nile River offered Ancient Egyptians
very fertile soil which allowed for multiple
crops a year
The wind and the current on the river
allowed for easy travel and a pathway for trade
Allowed Egyptians to unite their civilization
into ONE kingdom instead of multiple pieces
Ancient Egyptians
The Egyptians had protective barriers from
the Nile River, as well as the Sahara Desert
The Desert was a great barrier from nomads
trying to invade their civilization
Ancient Egyptians
Originally inhabited the Nile River Valley
around 12,000 BCE
Made important discoveries and
advancements

Mined copper and discovered how to make

bronze-combination of copper and tin
Made tools and jewelry
Ancient Egyptians
Developed a written language called
hieroglyphics, around 3,000 BCE
Originally carved into stone, but later
developed paper to make it easier to write
Ancient Egyptians
Polytheistic – believed in many gods
Many villages had their own god or gods
Gods often had an animal symbol that the
people considered sacred (very special)
Symbols included cats, bulls, crocodiles,
and scarab beetles
Ancient Egyptians
Ruled by Pharaohs (kings) who created a
dynasty
A dynasty is a family of rulers
They dynasty allowed the right to rule to
pass from father to son or even father to
daughter
Ancient Egyptians
Lower class Egyptians served in the army
and worked on building projects
Including pyramids which were later used
to bury pharaoh’s
Upper class included the pharaoh, scribes,
priests - nobility
Ancient Egyptians
Used a numbering system based on 10,
similar to our decimal system today
Used fractions and whole numbers
Used geometry to build their pyramids and
rebuild fields after floods
Also made important discoveries in
medicine – had treatments involving herbs
and medicines
Ancient Egyptians
Women had many rights, were considered
equals of their husbands socially and in
business
Women could own property and leave it to
their daughters when they died
Ancient Egyptians
Farming was very important
Peasants did most of the work using crude
tool and wooden plows
Wheat and barley were the chief grain crops
Flax was grown and woven into linen fabric
Produced more food
than needed, growing
trade
Mesopotamia
“Land between Rivers”
Sits in between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers
The region was referred to as the Fertile
Crescent
Mesopotamia
An area full of very rich soil
Neolithic people settled in the city of
Sumer and farmed
Sumerians developed their own form of
writing using pictures called “pictographs”
Mesopotamia
Sumerian pictographs were different from
hieroglyphics
Involved using a wedge shaped tool and
pressing marks into clay tablets
Sumerian writing officially called cuneiform
Had about 600 different signs for cuneiform
Mesopotamia-Advancements
Sumerians may have been the first to
develop and use the wheel
Used a math system based on the number
60 – 360 degrees, 60 minutes, 60 seconds
Mesopotamia
Polytheistic – their gods were represented
by forces of nature and heavenly bodies like
the sun and moon
Did not believe in the afterlife or rewards
and punishments after death
Mesopotamian government
Around 1792 BCE ,a ruler named
Hammurabi ruled Babylon
Conquered Mesopotamia and was known as
a great military and political leader
Code of Hammurabi – collection of about
282 laws
Mesopotamian Government
Code of Hammurabi dealt with all aspects
of Mesopotamian life including: trade,
working conditions, and property rights
Punishment was harsh – “eye for an eye”
Punishments were not as harsh for the
wealthy – wealthy only had to pay a fine
The Phoenicians
Consisted of a loose union of city states,
each had a different king
Had very little fertile land and the Lebanon
Mountains made moving very difficult
Relied on sea trade
The Phoenicians
Developed their sea trade to become the
greatest in the ancient world
Sailed around the Mediterranean, possibly as
far as Britain and around the coast of Africa
City of Carthage in North Africa became a
major regional power
Established colonies around the
Mediterranean
The Phoenicians
Major exporter of lumber and purple dye
Became very skilled in working in metal
specifically gold and silver
Invented the art of glassblowing
The Phoenicians
Gave one major contribution to society:
Phoenician Alphabet – became the model
for Western alphabets, including what we
use today
Prime example of how commerce spread
this part of their culture
The Hebrews
Settled in part of the Fertile Crescent called
Canaan
The Hebrews
Founder of the Hebrew people, according
to the Bible, was Abraham
He led his people through the desert to
Canaan
Modern Jews trace their heritage through
Abraham’s grandson Jacob, also known as
Israel
The Hebrews
Descendants of Abraham left Canaan and
traveled into Egypt to escape drought and
famine
Were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians
for 400 years
Finally led out of slavery by Moses, was
known as the Exodus
The Hebrews
Moses gave the Ten Commandments to
the Hebrew people
First religion to be monotheistic -
believed in one god
The 1st 4 commandments established the
relationship with God, the remaining 6 were
a kind of code of conduct
The Hebrews
Hebrews had previously lived as 12 tribes,
but united under one king
First king was Saul, followed by David, who
occupied the city of Jerusalem (in Israel),
making it a religious center
Under King Solomon, David’s son, Israel
reached the height of its wealth and power
The Hebrews
Hebrew scriptures tell about the special
mission of the Hebrews
The 1st 5 books of the Old Testament in the
Christian Bible are known as the Torah –
the book of the Jewish people
Includes the Hebrew code of laws
Mosaic laws include the Ten
Commandments
The Hebrews
Mosaic Law called for an eye for an eye
Also demanded kindness towards the poor
and slaves
Allowed a death sentence for severe crimes:
adultery, kidnapping, treason, & sacrifices to
idols
Felt all people deserved kindness and
respect
The Spread of Judaism
The Hebrews were the only monotheistic
group at the time
Polytheistic groups did not like the claim
that there was only one God
The Hebrews
After King Solomon’s death, unity was
disrupted by a struggle for power
The weakened kingdom was conquered by
the Assyrians in 722 BCE
Hebrews were exiled from their homeland
and scattered around the Middle East –
referred to as diaspora
Nubia

Located on the upper (southern) Nile River in Africa

The people are mentioned in the Bible as being tall,
very black, and experts at archery
Located on the Nile, but completely different nation
than Egypt, nation is sometimes called Kush
295 BCE-320 CE
Nubia
With Nubia so close to Egypt, most of what
we know about the people comes from
Egyptian texts
Nubians were feared for their archery skills
in war
Like the Egyptians, built pyramids for their
dead
River Valley Civilizations
There is one more of the River Valley
Civilizations to cover…the Indus River Valley
We will learn more about that in our next
unit…
The 4 main civilizations are known as the
“Cradles of Civilization” Why?
River Valley Civilizations
These civilizations made major
contributions to future societies
Social – how did society organize into
classes and develop their culture?
Political – how were laws made and states
built? What similarities do you see today?
Economic – what jobs did people do? How
did they make money?
Social
During this time, people were born into
their class:
Nobility – upper class
Peasants – poorer, working class
Slavery – no rights in society
Could not change your social standing
Political
World’s first states began to organize
Settlements grew into cities, which grew
into city-states, which grew into kingdoms,
and finally empires
Most civilizations had a centralized form of
government – one ruler
Developed laws – Hammurabi’s Code, Ten
Commandments
Economic
Technology changed, making things better
and easier
Tools grew from stone into metal – better
and stronger
Developed a system of trade with other
civilizations – particularly a sea trade