Ancient Civilizations
LOCATION
EGYPT: Was near North Africa. Along the lower reaches of the Nile River. Situated in the place that is now the country Egypt.
INDUS VALLEY: The Harappan civilization was located in the Indus River valley.
LANGUAGE/SCRIPT
INDUS VALLEY: The Harappan language.
MESOPOTAMIA: Cuneiform (Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic)
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
EGYPT
DOCTORS
ROYAL FAMILY
RICH LANDOWNERS
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
IMPORTANT PRIESTS
ARMY OFFICERS
MIDDLE CLASS
UPPER CLASS
MANUFACTURERS
ARTISANS
MERCHANTS
LOWER CLASS
POOR FARMERS
SERVANTS
CHINA
There were four social classes in ancient China including noble, farmers or peasants, artisans or craftsmen, and merchants.
ARCHITECTURE
CHINA: Ancient Chinese architecture is mainly timberwork. Wooden posts, beams, lintels and joists make up the framework of a house.
INDUS VALLEY: Most were built of fired and mortared brick; some incorporated sun-dried mud-brick and wooden superstructures. Another aspect of the architecture is they often built walls around their entire cities.
RELIGION
MESOPOTAMIA: Mesopotamians were polytheistic; they worshipped several major gods and thousands of minor gods.
EGYPT: Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian society.
CONTRIBUTIONS/INVENTIONS
MESOPOTAMIA: It is believed that they invented the sailboat, the chariot, the wheel, the plow, and metalurgy, cuneiform and games like checkers.
CHINA: Papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass.
KINGS
CHINA: Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) was the longest-reigning emperor in the history of China. There wer many more like, Qing Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, etc.
INTERESTING FACTS
CHINA: China is the world's longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 B.C. as the dawn of Chinese civilization.
The oldest form of the Chinese written language was found in the Oracle Bone inscriptions carved on tortoise shells and mammal bones during the Shang dynasty.
INDUS VALLEY: Harappa was, in fact, such a rich discovery that the Indus Valley Civilization is also called the Harappan civilization.
The first artifact uncovered in Harappa was a unique stone seal carved with a unicorn and an inscription.
VIDEO LINKS FOR ALL 4 CIVILIZATIONS
INDUS VALLEY:
MESOPOTAMIA:
CHINA:
EGYPT: