Ancient Civilizations 
Mesopotamia
Ancient Egypt
Location: On page 6, it said ancient Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris and Euphrates which is now mostly in modern day Iraq. Mesopotamia was located between two rivers flowing through the MIddle East. (Steele) 
Writing: In the text it said the Sumerians first used picture symbols to represent object instead of words. The text also said that there was about 700 different symbols or pictograph used in the writing. (Steele 12) 
Architecture: The author wrote "The word ziqqurat is Assyrian and means "height" or "pinnacle." The ziggurats were made mud and straw which formed into bricks that they would moved by hand for years. (Steele 24) 
Art: On page 26, it said "The ancient Mesopotamians were lovers of poetry, art, and music." Art was big in Mesopotamia because there was artwork on every street and music playing during festivals and special events(Steele) 
Government: In the text it said that rulers or kings would right the laws on clay tablets called king lists or steles found on the side of roads. The kings would get there laws from the gods and they believed that the gods had the most knowledge of all people. (Steele 10) 
Religion: The author wrote "They believed that the stars traveling across the night sky were the cows of Sin or Nanna, the horned Moon god." The Sumerians were said to believe in spirits,ghosts, and demons. (Steele 14) 
Religion: On page 24, it said, "Many of the gods are represented by animals." I also know that the Egyptian made lots of sculptures that they use to represent the gods. (Hart) 
Architecture: In ancient Egypt they were known for their large pyramids such as the Step Pyramid. On page 20, it said that many people in the 19th century felt like climbing the Egyptian Pyramids even though there was a law forbidding it. (Hart) 
Art: In ancient Egypt there would be paintings of boys playing soldiers and girls holding hands and dancing. In the text it said Egyptian kids would play board games like snake. (Hart 52) 
Location: Ancient Egypt was located on the Nile River. In the test it said the only reason that the ancient Egyptians first settled there is because of the rich silt over by the Nile after floods. (Hart 8) 
Writing: In ancient Egypt the Scribes were the experts at writing hieroglyphs. In the text in said, "Hieroglyphs were used on states monuments, temples, tombs, and religious papyri." (Hart 34) 
Government: In ancient Egypt the king or pharaoh would live in the "great house" or palace. In the text in said "Often the ruling pharaoh would adopt his heir as "co-regent" to enable a smooth takeover when he died." (Hart 10) 
Ancient China
Location: On page 40, it said, most of China's cities have walls built around the outside of them for protection from others. The cities were built in a grid format that had sections called wards. Also there was 2 main rivers in China, the Yellow River in the north and the Yangzi River in the south. Both rivers supply many resources for those parts of China. (Cotterell) 
Writing: On page 11, it said that oracle bones were tortoiseshells or ox bones, which were burned. The Shang kings used the oracle bones to answer important questions. The burnt shell created cracks which answered the questions presented. (Cotterell)
Art: On page 56, it said, ancient China had many prized possessions such as bronze, jade, silk, lacquer, and porcelain. These valuables helped China trade for raw materials and connected China to many other countries. Along with precious valuables the Chinese also created many plates and bowls from clay and mud. (Cotterell)
Architecture/Technology: On page 58, it said, the Silk Road was being used the most or at its peak during the Yuan dynasty. The Silk Road was one the most most famous man-made structures of all time and it was used by the Chinese for trading protection. The items that were traded the most along the Silk Road were silk, spices, tea, and porcelain which were luxurious at the time. (Cotterell) 
Trade/Commerce: On page 58, it said the Silk Road was used to transport and trade many valuables. These valuables consisted of silk, spices,teas,porcelain, and lacquerware. The Chinese would use camels to transport the valuable good to trade with other far away. (Cotterell)
Government: On page 16, it said that often times when emperors died they would have a terracotta army in their tomb to protect them in the after life. Also I found that China's first emperor and his fellow government leaders ordered for a wall (The Great Wall of China) to be built to protect them from the Mongols (Xiongnu). (Cotterell) 
Religion: In the text, it said, during the Zhou dynasty Confucius believed that there needs to be peace and harmony. After gaining popularity more people start to believe him and began teaching it in their villages. As a result of the belief of Confucius, China became a more peaceful country. (Cotterell) 
Indus Valley
Location: I read in the text that people started to develop a civilization about 5,000 years ago in the Indus Valley because it had very fertile soil. In addition to that the Indus River Valley covers most of present-day Pakistan. Now archeologists are finding the remains of the 4,000 year old city. (Source https://sites.google.com/mccsc.k12.in.us/history-of-south-asia/home/3300-bc-1500-bc-indus-river-valley-civilization/location) 
Writing: According to the text, the writing used in the Indus River Valley region was one of the most confusing to understand and very hard to decipher. Many people to this day still question if the writing system was a proper writing system. Due to the lack of being able to understand the writing there is very little to no knowledge of their government and politics. (Source https://sites.google.com/mccsc.k12.in.us/history-of-south-asia/home/3300-bc-1500-bc-indus-river-valley-civilization/writing) 
Architecture/Technology: In the text it said, people living in the Indus Valley would put much time into planning where certains things would be in the city. We also found that the people of the Indus Valley would build large walls on the outside of the city to protect them from floods and outside intruders. In many houses there were rooms that would to drains which would carry waste water out out of the city. (Source https://sites.google.com/mccsc.k12.in.us/history-of-south-asia/home/3300-bc-1500-bc-indus-river-valley-civilization/architecutretechnology) 
Religion: The author states that much of what we know about the Indus River Valley comes from Vedas or sacred text. In addition to that Vedas were most commonly used to describe famous victories by the Aryans. The religion of Brahmanism which eventually became Buddhism was what the majority of people in the Indus River Valley followed. (Source https://sites.google.com/mccsc.k12.in.us/history-of-south-asia/home/1500-bc-aryans) 
Government: In the text it states, the people of the Indus River Valley would use the caste system as a form of government. This government system would have many different social groups which people were born into. Your wealth and occupation determined what group you and most of your family would be put into. (Source https://sites.google.com/mccsc.k12.in.us/history-of-south-asia/home/1500-bc-aryans) 