Nile River Valley
*Located in Africa and goes through Egypt*Necessary for farming and travel
*Longest river in the world (4,150 miles)
*The river flooded every year from July to November
-important because it brought rich soil for the farmers and washed away waste
*The surrounding seas protected them from war and disease
*The valley contained deposits of granite , sandstone, and limestone which were used for building materials
*The growing season was from October-Feb.
*They used hand soughs and had oxen pull larger soughs
*They used goats and other animals to walk on the ground after planting to pack the seeds down
*Harvesting was from March-May
*used sickles to cut grain
*papyrus reeds grew along the Nile--made into sandals, mats, baskets, paper
Culture- Polytheistic religion (multiple gods)
*built pyramids, traveled on large boats
*economy depended largely on farmers
Social Structure
King
Ruling Class
Craftsman
Farmers
Marginalized groups
Slaves
The Early River Valley Civilizations
The Babylonian Empire
*Powerful state- had fertile soil, capital=Babylon
*Jews were held there for 70 years
*Babylon means "gate of gods"
*Located between Tigris and Euphrates
The Nile
*First dynasty in lower Egypt--capital Memphis founded by Pharaoh Narmer (first pharaoh)
*Pharaoh Narmer was known for reuniting the two kingdoms of Egypt
*first dynasty has no definite ending
*2nd dynasty-capital was Thinis founded by Hotepsekhemwy
*last pharaoh was Khasekhemwy
*2nd dynasty ended when he married Nemathap
*the marriage strengthened the unity of the two kingdoms
*3rd dynasty- started the New Kingdom Period under Djoser, son of the last pharaoh of the 2nd dynasty
Indus
*arose in 2500 BC
*two major cities- Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
*unknown who developed the civilization
*advanced in technology-had irrigation and first known sanitation system
*strong, stable gov't
*their written language was never deciphered
China
*Shang Dynasty was formed in 1600 BC
*first family left written records-built palaces and tombs
*capital- Anyang
*had a monarchy gov't
*heavy on agriculture
*fought a lot of wars with neighboring settlements
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