Ancient Civilizations 
Mesopotamia
Ancient Egypt
Architecture: On page 24, the text says ziggurats are like giant terraced platforms made up of brick. It is said that the ziggurats were meant to be a mountain stretching from Earth to the heavens. They were like the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, but with steps. And their purpose was not to be a tomb. Their purpose was thought to be an Earthly dwelling place for the gods. (Steele)
Art: In the text, it says that around the 8th millennium, Mesopotamians were starting to mold clay into simple pots. Then metalworking had developed in Anatolia, and people would pour molten copper into molds, creating things such as necklaces. (Steele 28)
Writing: On page 12, it said how Sumerians had devised or created the world's first writing system. People would write on moist clay tablets with sticks.They had first used picture symbols to represent cattle, grain, or fish. Uruk then developed around 700 different symbols. (Steele)
Government: In the text, it is stated that Babylon was first a city of the Akkadian empire. Around 1900 BCE, it was taken over by Amurru. None of them knew much about farming or building, but they adapted to the urban way and Babylon was then one of the most civilized cities, with the ruler Hammurabi, and he created many rules, which he reigned from 1792 to 1750 BCE. At the time, Babylon was likely the largest city with a population of more than 200,000 people. (Steele 30)
Religion: In the text, it says that they had different gods for each of the 42 different districts, though the Sun god was the dominant deity throughout Egyptian Religion. A lot of their gods were also represented by different animals. (Hart 24)
Location: Egyptians lived on the banks of the Nile River or beside the canals that extended from the river. It was known as the "Black Land," which it was named from the dark silt that farmers would use to grow their crops. Without the fertility of the silt, there would be no civilization in Egypt. (Hart)
Writing: In the text, it says that the Egyptians form of writing was called Hieroglyphics. It was a form of picture writing with about 700 different signs in total. Hieroglyphics were written on things like monuments, temples, tombs etc. (Hart 34)
Government: On page 12, it says that in Egypt there would be Great State Occasions like jubilee celebrations or giving gifts. When people would approach the king, they would kiss the ground at his feet. (Hart)
Architecture: On page 20, it says the first pyramid was built as a burial place for King Djoser. It was built to represent a giant stairway so the king could climb up and join the Sun god in the sky. (Hart)
Religion: In the text, it says that the Sumerians worshipped many gods and goddesses, meaning they were polytheists. They worshipped many gods/goddesses of things such as fertility, the moon, love and war, water and wisdom, etc. The Sumerians also had believed in things such as spirits, demons, and/or ghosts. (Steele 14)
Art: In the text, it says that the earliest picture of a loom in Egypt is on a pottery bowl that is dated to 3000 BCE. Flax was also used 1000 years after that. (Hart 54)
Ancient China
Trade/Commerce: On page 58, it says that trade started during the Mongol/Yuan dynasty. The Mongol emperors ruled China from 1279 to 1368 and they were the ones who permitted trading in the empire to the merchants. These merchants controlled a large amount of the Silk Road and other trade routes. On these routes, goods such as silk, spices, tea, and porcelain were exported for lots of money. (Cotterell)
Writing: The author wrote that a tortoise shell would be burned and cracked to answer important questions from the people to their ancestors. They believed that the answers were written on the bone after being help over the fire. During this time, the Shang kings used the different bones to talk to their ancestors.(Cotterell 11)
Architecture/Technology: Lots of Chinese inventions came based off of items traded along the Silk Road. The Silk Road impacted the way that people would make items and some of them improved. They created things like magnetic compasses with boats to help them travel.(Cotterell 22)
Government: In the text, it says that the first Chinese Empire was formed in 221 B.C. It also says that the Qin soldiers had defeated their enemies and brought the "warring states" together. Zheng wanted to show his power, so he took the title of First Sovereign Qin Emperor, also known as Qin Shi Huangdi. Before he died, he had ordered for thousands of life-size terra-cotta soldiers to be sculpted and put around his tomb.(Cotterell 16)
Art: On page 56, it says that in China, they used to make tea cups carved out of jade. People believed that jade was a gemstone with magical properties. They also made statues of bronze and covered them in gold leaf for a bright finish. (Cotterell)
Religion: On page 26, it says that religion in China started as being divided into "three ways." The three groups were Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Through lots of history, China was accepting of all the religions. Some people disagreed, but very few people were judged for their beliefs.(Cotterell)
Location: On page 38, it says that China is surrounded by two main rivers. The Yellow river, and the Yangtze river. The Chinese believed that the Yin and Yang caused natural disasters and they taught children all about it and how it affected the two rivers. These two rivers caused China to have very rich and fertile soil, starting China's first civilization which lasted a few centuries. (Cotterell)
Indus Valley
Location: In the text, it says that many people started to settle down around the Indus River and areas surrounding it. The Indus River Valley currently covers most of Pakistan and small portions of India and Afghanistan. The Indus River has lots of fertile soil around it, good for agriculture, therefore explaining part of the reason why people may have started settling around it. Source
Writing: This writing is one of the most confusing aspects of this ancient civilization. The reason for this is because their writing still cannot be deciphered. There are over 400 symbols and they have been put onto many things like seals and pots.
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Architecture/Technology: In the text, it states that people in The Indus Valley created cities that are very well planned. The author also wrote, "the cities show remnants of the sanitation system." That was really advanced in their time of life. Source
Religion: Much of what we know about their religions comes from what they called the Vedas. They are mainly religious texts, and they also describe the Aryans victories of invading India. The religion of Aryans was called Brahmanism and it was influenced later on by Hinduism development.
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Government: The government was built up of a caste system. The caste is a social group that people are born into and they cannot change their roles. The caste system was originally called varnas because of the Aryans, which had 4 social classes.
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