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Ancient River Valley Civilizations (Ancient Indus River Valley…
Ancient River Valley Civilizations
Ancient Indus River Valley Civilization
Theories for Decline
the Indus River Valley declined in 1700 BC suddenly and without record there are three major theories of why it dissipated.
The Saraswati River Dried Up
Another theory is that the Saraswati River dried up because of a earthquake. This earthquake might have caused the river to shift and change course. This would of caused a great flood that destroyed many cities. The River would have also dried up after the flood. The Saraswati River was a river that the people traded on and it was another large river in the Indus valley. If this river had dried up then the entire trading system would have been impacted and the civilization would of slowly dissipated into nothing.
The Aryans attacked
One of the most credible theories for the falling of the Indus River Valley civilization is the attack by the Aryans. The Aryans were a group of nomadic people who were Indo-Europeans who had advanced war technology. The Indus people were a really peaceful people who had almost no soldiers and war technology so they easily lost.
I believe in this theory
Geography
Rivers
Indus
the Indus River was the major river that enabled life in the Indus River Valley. Without the Indus River there would have been no way farming would have been able to be done. The Indus River was also considered a holy river. The farmable areas had to be directly watered by the river so that means farming occurred right next to the river. The river also changed course often during the monsoon season so it was difficult and dangerous living near the river.
Ganges
The Ganges River begins in the Himalayas and it runs through the eastern corner of the Indus River Valley civilization. It empties out into the Bay of Bengal in modern day Bangladesh. this river is not as important because it isn't centralized in the civilization.
Natural Barriers
The Indus River Valley is protected from almost all sides except the southeast where there are no more civilization. To the north and to the west there were the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush blocking India from advancement of China and Mesopotamia. To the south there was the Indian Ocean. Even though India was almost completely protected it was attacked several times by other people.
Monsoon Climate
In India there is a monsoon climate which causes monsoons annually with terrible strength. A monsoon is when there is rain for months on end. These rains both benefit and affect the Indus River Valley negatively. Some ways it benefits the valley is that this amount of rain leads a huge potential for the planting of rice and other watery crops. A negative part of monsoons is that they are unpredictable and if they bring to little rain soil becomes bad for farming and if rains too much then there floods that destroy entire villages.
Plains
The Ganges River also creates a plain called the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This plain is covered with silt because of the Ganges and it contains very fertile land just like the Indus River Valley.
Key Terms
Subcontinent
A large landmass that is similar in size to a continent.
Monsoon
A seasonal wind that brings huge amounts of rain that lasts up to a few months.
Planned City
A planned city is a that was originally planned when it was built
Harappan
The first Indus River civilization
Deccan Plateau
A flat, high area of land in the center of the Indian subcontinent.
Technology
Architecture
The architecture in India was way more advanced then any other civilization. They were the first people to plan cities before they built them and they also included plumbing systems and sewers in the planing as well. With these advancements people could live a lot more comfortably. The bath were still common between several people for the commoners while the priests and kings could have private baths. The baths were taken using a pot with water being dumped on the person head. The wastewater would run into the sewers using clay canals in direction of the sewers. They also raised the cities and created levees to protect the cities from floods
Inventions
Urban Sanitation Systems
They were the first to invent sewers. Most of the people had a private bathroom with a plumbing system . this plumbing system carried waste into sewers and out into the river to be dumped. This leads to the idea that personal hygiene was important to these people.
Uniform Weights and Measures
they were the first to invent a way to place bricks uniformly on top of each other. This way it was easier to plan cities and the building lasted a longer amount of time.
Farming Methods
the farming methods of the Indus valley were really similar to ancient Egypt's way of farming due to because they had the same tools and the same type of rivers and they both had a desert climate near them.
Important People and Places
Important Places
Mohenjo-Daro
Mohenjo-Daro is a huge city in the center of the Indus Valley. The city was entirely planned before construction. It was the largest city of the civilization. There were citadels and burial areas in the city.
Harappa
Harappa was one of the three large that was located in the northwest area of the civilization where farming was more plentiful. This city was likely where the trading of raw materials occurred.
Government and Culture
Religion
The people in the Indus River Valley civilization believed were polytheists. The religion that these people practiced is similar to the modern Hindu religion because they had at least two similar gods. They did not have any temples so priests prayed outdoors not in temples for floods not to destroy the villages. They also believed that the king had a right to rule from the gods.
Government
In this civilization the priest ruled and there were only regional kings who ruled cities instead of the entire civilization.
Language
Speaking
This ancient language is similar to a language now spoken in southern India.
Writing
The ancient Indians had a dialect that has not been deciphered. This language had up to 400 symbols that represented words and letters.
Social Aspects
Social Classes
The priests where at the top of the social structure then came the warriors and kings, then the merchants and landowners. In the lower classes there were the commoners, peasants, servants, and the untouchables.
Ancient Egypt
Key Terms
Theocracy
A government in control of religious leaders.
Cataract
A large waterfall
Pharaoh
The king of ancient Egypt
Afterlife
The belief in existence of life after death.
Delta
A land form made of sediment where a river washes out into an ocean. An example of a river that has a delta is the Nile River.
Old kingdom
A period in ancient Egypt's history from right after Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt became one until around 2200 BCE
Middle kingdom
A period in ancient Egypt's history from 2220 BCE to 1750 BCE. This time was when Egypt was filled with order and stability.
New kingdom
The last period of ancient Egypt from 1750 BCE to 1500 BC. This time was when Egypt reached it peak and become a world power.
Geography
Natural Barriers
Egypt is completely surrounded by natural barriers. To the west the Western Desert protects Egypt. To the east Egypt is protected by the Red Sea, Eastern Desert,and the Sinai Desert. to the North the protection is the Mediterranean Sea. With these natural barriers there were almost no wars between Egypt and other civilizations.
Rivers
Nile River
The Nile River is the largest river in the world and it runs through the center of all of Africa. The river deposits silt on its shore during the annual flood. The difference between the Tigris and Euphrates and the Nile Rivers are that the Tigris and Euphrates flood irregularly at different times of the year. The Nile River floods at only a certain time of the year which makes it safer to live near the river.
Mountains
The land in Upper Egypt is has more mountains and in Lower Egypt it is a plain area. In Upper Egypt most of the population lives in the Nile River Valley Area.
Important People and Places
Important People
Scorpion King
The Scorpion King was the other king suspected of uniting the two kings. There is more evidence that the Scorpion King did not develop the union.
Herodotus
Herodotus was a Greek Historian who is considered the father of history. He traveled to Egypt to collect information.
Narmer
Narmer was one of the two kings believed to have united the two kingdoms of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. There is more solid evidence that Narmer developed the union.
Hyksos
The Hyksos were a group of nomadic invaders who ruled Egypt from 1640 BCE to 1570 BCE. These nomadic invaders were from southeast Asia.
Important Places
Egypt
After the joining of the two kingdoms of Lower and Upper Egypt the area became Egypt. if it hadn't been for the joining then Egypt might of never grown so powerful.
Nile River
The Nile River is the river that ran through the heart of ancient Egypt. The Nile River supplied silt to the ground around the river. this silt caused the land to become fertile.
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt was the northern part of Egypt and it was the more populous area of Egypt. It also contained the Nile River delta which was crucial for farming in the desert climate.
Memphis
The capital of ancient Egypt for most of its rein. Memphis is located near the great pyramids that were constructed by the ancient Egyptians.
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt was the southern part of Egypt. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were originally two different kingdoms before their joining. Upper Egypt contained the important city of Thebes.
Thebes
The capital of ancient Egypt during the new kingdom. It was also where the center of worship of the god Amun occurred. There were many temples and structures in order to worship him.
Government and Culture
Government
The government of ancient Egypt was comprised by a pharaoh who was in charge of the entire civilizations. After the pharaoh stood the vizier who was basically the judiciary power. Below them were the general and the scribes.
Religion
Isis
Egyptian god of fertility. This god represented the ideal figure for a mother and women.
Book of the Dead
The scrolls that people collected when they knew they were going to die. These scrolls were believed to serve as a guide in the afterlife.
Osiris
The Egyptian god of the underworld and dead
Re
The Egyptian sun god
Belief in afterlife
The belief that all Egyptians had was that they would all go to the underworld when they died. In the underworld they believed that the god, Anubis would way their heart and if it was heavier than a feather than a beast go there and eat their soul. The weight of the heart was believed to be judged by how much sin there was in the heart. If the heart was lighter than the feather then the person would live forever in the beautiful other world.
Other beliefs
All people of all classes prepared for the day of their death so they could have the best chance of reaching the other world. The people of higher social classes prepared with building larger tombs such as pyramids while. While commoners prepared by building small tombs. The elite people and kings also were mummified when they died. These people were mummified because Egyptians believed the soul would return to the body easier. The Egyptians believed in over two thousand gods and there were temples built for the most important ones.
Anubis
The god that was believed to way the heart of the dead people and figure out whether it was filled with sin or with good deeds.
Language
Speaking
The language of Egypt hasn't differed much since 2000 BCE so the ancient Egyptian language is still similar to modern Egyptian language. The language of ancient Egypt is a type Afro Asiatic language.
Writing
Hieroglyphs
The hieroglyph symbols were very similar in the way they were built compared to cuneiform. Before the hieroglyph Egyptians used pictographs then it started getting more and more advanced.
Rosetta Stones
The Rosetta stone was the stone that allowed us to understand Egyptian writing. The Rosetta Stone was like a translation from Greek to a later form of Egyptian writing.
Social Aspects
Women vs. Men Ranking
The women in ancient Egypt could not only hold property but they could also be pharaohs. Women in Egypt had basically the same rights as men so they differed from the other civilizations.
Social Classes
The people of the highest social classes are comprised of pharaohs, priests, nobles, and viziers. The people of the lowest social classes are usually slaves and peasants. The social class pyramid is a very similar format to the Mesopotamian social class pyramid.
Technology
Farming
In ancient Egypt all the farming relied on the Nile River because there were no other sources of water near Egypt other than the occasional oasis which didn't supply much water. If it hadn't been for the Nile River the civilization would not have succeeded. the Nile river supplied silt which was essential for farming around the river. This silt has many minerals that make the land fertile. People that farmed near the river used irrigation methods such as canals and ditch to transport water to the fields. The farming methods of Ancient Egypt were slightly more advanced than ancient Mesopotamia.
Inventions
Mummification
Mummification is a process where you take out most of the organs of a person who is already dead and then you put them the organs in pots. After taking out their organs with the surgical instruments such as the hook you wrap them with cloth. After burying them in the tomb the tissue of these people could be preserve for thousands of years.
Calender
The Egyptians invented a incredibly accurate calendar that had 365 days and 12 months of 30 days. Our calendar has a leap year so it has 366 days every 4 years so ours doesn't become inaccurate over time. The Egyptians didn't know that there was supposed to be a leap year so their calendar eventually became inaccurate. Over time the calendar was corrected to having a leap year. The calendar was created so farmers could know when the floods were on their way and when the dry season and the wet season would happen.
Black Ink
The black ink that the Egyptians invented were made up of soot, beeswax, and vegetable gum. They could also make different color inks when they replaced soot with other types of materials. with the black ink there was a way to write records on papyrus sheets which made the records last longer.
Papyrus Sheets
These sheets are earliest paper-like materials and they where made up of a types of reed that grew near the Nile River. These sheets were used for over 3000 years until 700 CE. These sheets were so important because all the civilizations used rocks and clay tablets to write on which were really hard to transport.
Clocks
The Egyptians also invented two types of clocks. The two types were the obelisk and the water clock. The obelisk was just a stone that created a shadow that moved around at different times of the day. They could tell what time it was by looking at where the shadow was. The water clock is a basically a pipe that drips water into a tub every second. To establish the marked the places where the water reached after one hour and so on.
Surgical Instruments
The Egyptians invented surgical instruments in order to study the parts of the body and to save the lives of high ranking people. The invention of the surgical instruments were probably due to the process of mummification. Many of the instruments that were invented were also used for mummification. There are records of surgeries on the shoulder, head, neck, and the chest. Egyptians were also one of the first to study the brain of dead people.
Architecture
Pyramids
The pyramids are made of huge stone blocks that were transported huge distances by just manpower. It took around 170 slaves to move these stone blocks. Some of the people threw water in front of the stone to make it easier to move the stone. It took decades to create the immense pyramids of Egypt
All the buildings in Egypt were built out of stone or dried mud because it was one of the strongest materials for building that existed. Several people who were of the middle-class also had a courtyard in the center of their dwelling.
Ancient China
Key Terms
Loess
A deposit formed by wind made by fine particles of salt and clay.
Dynastic Cycle
The historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties in Chinese civilization.
Order of Chinese Dynasties
The order of the Chinese dynasties were the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, and the Han
Period of Warring States
The period of the warring states was when the Shang dynasties relied to much on feudalism and many different states in China formed. This period occurred from 403 - 221 BCE and it divided China.
Important People and Places
Important People
Sun Tzo
Sun Tzo was a person who lived during the Zhou dynasty. He lived from 544 BC to 496 BC. He was a legendary military general who was able to make peace treaties and he was also really good at war strategies.
Confucius
Confucius was somebody from a middle-class family who fell into poverty after his father died. He then went to work in the fields and as a bookkeeper. After becoming a bookkeeper he became passionate for reading and he decided become a teacher of philosophy. His teaches later became known as a the Confucianism teachings. These teachings were important because it impacted the entire civilization of China.
Important Places
Xian
Xian was the city where the terracotta warriors were buried and discovered. It was also the capital of 13 imperial dynasties.
Nanjing
Capital of the southern states during the Warring States period of the Zhou dynasty. It was one of the cities that had a huge wall built around it.
Geography
Rivers
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He was located in the north of Ancient China and it was called the Yellow River because it deposited a yellow silt when it flooded. When there floods on the Yellow River it destroyed entire villages and cities. The silt that the river deposited was one of the most fertile in the world. This river also created some of the most fertile river valleys in the world.
Yangtze
The Yangtze was the river located in central ancient China. The silt the Yangtze deposited wasn't nearly as fertile as the Yellow River's silt. The floods around the Yangtze were also not that deadly because it wasn't a very violent river. The Yangtze was the longer of the two rivers and it was one of the longest rivers in the world.
Mountains
China was also bordered by huge areas of mountains which didn't provide much use other than the springs where the major rivers of China start.
Deserts
More than 50 percent of modern China is desert so ancient China expand much into the desert. They didn't expand much into the desert because the land there was not suitable for farming or most of the needs that people needed. A positive of Gobi and Taklamakan deserts were that it protected China from almost all of the attacks from the nearby civilizations.
Technology
Inventions
Silk
Silk was invented almost 6,000 years ago so it is one of the first materials humans learned how to use. For the first hundreds of years it had almost no use but then people started getting ides to use it cloths. Quickly this item became precious for trade with Europe and the silk Road was created.
Tea Production
Tea production was probably invented around 2,700 BC. It was invented my accident when supposedly Emperor Shen Nung when he boiling water then tea leaves fell into the water which caused a pleasant sent so he drank it.
Alcohol
Alcohol was fist used in 2100 BC as a wine that was only drunk as a sacred liquid. It was only drunk during sacrificial offerings to Heaven and the ancestors. Alcohol stayed a sacred drink for thousands of years in ancient China.
Architecture
Terracotta Army
The terracotta army is a group of 7,000 sculptures built for the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang Di. He ordered the 700,000 people to build these sculptures to guard his tomb. Each sculpture was unique there was no exact same as the other. It took over 40 years to finish the work. After the workers finished the sculptures they were all sentenced to death because the emperor didn't want any grave robbers to find his tomb.
Great Wall of China
The first part of the Great Wall of China was built during the Period of the Warring States. This part of the wall was built in sections and not in a continuous patch. The wall was built by workers who did not want to work on the wall and they had almost no pay. This part of the wall was built to keep nomads away and other enemy states of China from attacking them
Almost all of the buildings in ancient China were made of wood. Most of the rooms in the buildings were held up by wooden posts because they wanted to spread the weight out between the walls and the posts.
Government and Culture
Language
Speaking
The spoken language of Chinese had no connection to the Chinese written language. This was a benefit because there were several different spoken language but only one national written language. When people traveled between areas they didn't have to change the way they write.
Writing
Oracle Bones
Earliest writing in Chinese history. It was a
Chinese ritual activity.
The Chinese writing had over 25,00 symbols and you were badly literate if you knew less then 1,500 symbols. Noble-person's children had to go to school to learn the symbols while peasant's children didn't have to. The write language of China was used in all of China while there were several spoken languages.
Government
Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty was a dynasty that lasted from 2200 BC to 1766 BC. The joining of ancient China occurred because the king was the first person to be able to stop a flood of the Yellow River. There are not many records of this dynasty because there was no form of writing during this time.
Shang Dynasty
the Shang Dynasty was a dynasty that lasted from 1700 BC to 1027 BC. This was one of the most important dynasties of Chinese history. These kings built palaces, tombs. The people of higher classes lived inside the city and the people of the lower classes lived outside the city. The city was protected by a wall that could be up to 8 meters tall. They built these walls because they were constantly at war with other people.
Feudalism
Feudalism was the division of land of the kings to nobles. The nobles became the owners of the land and they had to create a government and take care of it.
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven was a political theory that suggested that the people who were kings had a right to rule from heaven. When a flood happened or another natural disaster it was believed that the king had angered the gods or the ancestors and that he had lost the right to rule. This caused a change in the dynasties.
The Chinese government comprised of a king that came from a dynasties which several rulers from one family. This king had total power over the country.
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a dynasty that lasted from 1027 BC to 256 BC. The Zhou Dynasty expanded China to farther then all the other dynasties had so they needed a way to keep track of the farthest parts of the civilization. They invented the Feudalism method to solve this problem. Due to feudalism the Zhou gradually lost power until China broke up into states that started fighting each other. This period was called the period of Warring States.
Religion
Chinese people were closely linked to religion. They believed that the ancestors of their family who had died could give them good fortune or bad fortune. These ancestors were believed to demand attention and respect. They also believed in one powerful god, Shang DI and several weak gods.
Social Aspects
Social Classes
The social classes were divided sharply between commoners and nobles and kings. The commoners were practically slaves to the people of the upper classes
Men vs. Women Ranking
The women in China had less rights then men. there was a notion in China that men had more value then women so women had less rights. The women could only improve their social status by marrying somebody in a higher social class.
Ancient Mesopotamia
Government and Culture
Religion
Mesopotamians did not believe in live after death and they believed that there were thousands of gods. These polytheists believed their gods controlled nature such as the floods. To keep the gods happy they committed animal sacrifices. They also believed that kings ruled in the gods favor.
Social Aspects
Social Classes
At the highest level of the social pyramid are the kings and next are the important priests that worshiped in the largest city-states and the nobles. Below them were less major priests, scribes, and government officials. Below them were the craftsmen such as blacksmiths and pottery makers. In the next levels were the low classes and the slaves. (SocialClassesMesopotamiaPyramid)
Women vs. Men Ranking
In the first empire of Mesopotamia which was Sumer men had the same rights as men but then their rights gradually began to disappear. By the time of Babylonian Empire and the Assyrian Empire they had virtually no rights.
Language
Speaking
Mesopotamians spoke languages similar in structure to Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian. The actual words in speaking had no relations to any other ancient or modern languages.
Writing
The Mesopotamians way of writing is cuneiform. Cuneiform is a form of writing that used pictograms which is a series of shapes that represent words. The people who studied cuneiform were scribes.
Government
Hammurabi's Code
Hammurabi's code was a law code put into effect by Hammurabi in 1754 BCE. Hammurabi created the law code to the establish standards for law punishments.
All of the Mesopotamian empires were ruled by kings. These empires were the first civilizations to use a monarchy way of governing. Within the first centuries of Mesopotamia city-states were all ruled by specific kings and there was no central king of all the city-states.
Important People and Places
Important People
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad was the first king of an empire. He became the first ruler of an empire when he defeated the city-state of Sumer.
Hammurabi
Hammurabi was an Amorite ruler of Mesopotamia who conquered the city states of southern and northern Mesopotamia. He was also the creater of the famous Hammurabi's Code which were hundreds of laws.
Gilgamesh
A legendary Sumerian king who ruled sometime between 2800 and 2500 BCE who was a hero in several battles.
Important Places
Akkad
Akkad was the capital of the Akkadian empire.
Babylon
Largest and most important city in Mesopotamia.
Sumer
Sumer was the world's first civilization which was founded in Mesopotamia. The civilization lasted for over 3,000 years.
Ur
Ur is the first city in the world. It also became a city-state later.
Geography
Rivers
Tigris
The Tigris River was the northernmost river of the two and it was located near Agade.
Euphrates
The Euphrates River is the southernmost river of the two rivers and it was located near Babylon.
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Both rivers flooded annually at unpredictable times of the year. When the rivers receded after the floods there was silt left behind which made the land fertile for farming.
Mountains
There were no mountains near the Fertile Crescent so it was a plain area of the Middle East.
Climate
Desert Climate
The entire Fertile Crescent was located in the desert. Some periods of the year it rained almost nothing. The lack of water led to a lack of natural resources such as wood.
Technology
Architecture
Most of the houses built in Mesopotamia were made by mud bricks. If the houses were made of wood then it was a luxury. Even the bricks deteriorated quickly so almost none of the foundations of the ancient cities survived until now.
Ziggurats and Temples
Ziggurats were places where priests worshiped and made sacrifices. Ziggurats were simply large temples that only were built in the largest cities of the civilization The ziggurats looked like square pyramids.
Catal Huyuk Architecture
Catal Huyuk was the first village in the world and there were no streets between the houses. The entrances of the houses were all by the ceilings . With this architecture there was almost no privacy between people
Inventions
Chariot
The chariot was invented at about 3000 BCE. It was first invented for personal transport then it was put into use as a tool of war. Eventually the chariot became so important in war that battles were won by only the number of chariots each side had.
Plow
The plow was invented after the human harnessed the ox. The earliest plow was made of wood and it was pulled by ox. The wood plow broke easily and it couldn't plow through thick grass. these first wood plows were not very beneficial to farming.
Sailboat
The sailboat was invented in 1500 BCE because the Mesopotamians wanted to go fishing in the middle of rivers and also farther offshore in the ocean. The first sailboat looked like a basic canoe with a sail. They also eventually used the sailboat for travel and trading between the city-states.
Metallurgy
To use a piece of iron you need to extract the iron from the ore. For this to occur the metallurgy is required. The invention of the metallurgy was at about 1200 BCE. The metallurgy propelled the world into the Iron Age. (MetallurgyImageSource)
Wheel
The first wheel was invented at around 3500 BCE. The first wheels were actually not used for transportation they were used as pottery wheels. After around 400 years after the invention of the wheel somebody figured out that it could be used for chariots.
Farming
To get water from the rivers to the fields they used canals, dikes, ditches. A problem with this method was that it left salt from evaporated water on the soil and overtime there was no way to farm on the land.
The farmers in Mesopotamia mainly planted wheat and barley. The tools the farmers usually used sickles, hammers, hoes, and axes to farm. After 3000 BCE the plow and plow seeder were invented and the farmers started using them.
The farming in Ancient Mesopotamia relied on the floods that left silt behind. After the land was used several times then it couldn't produce anymore so they burned the land to make the soil fertile again.
Key Terms
City-State
A state of an empire that acts independently from its empire.
Dynasty
A series of rulers that are all part of the same family.
Cultural Diffusion
The spread of culture and ideas to other areas of the world.
Polytheism
Believing in several gods.
Ziggurat
A temple in ancient Mesopotamia that was used for worshiping gods and for sacrificing animals.
Fertile Crescent
An area of fertile land in the Middle East surrounded by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
