September 5- September 9

September 5 (Monday)- No School

September 6 (Tuesday)- Continue presentations. Notes are here.

September 7 (Wednesday)- Continued presentations. Notes below.

September 8 (Thursday)- Continued presentations. Notes below.

September 9 (Friday)- Finished presentations. Notes below. Talked about the test. Essay part: Talk about all 5 part

The Harappan Civilization:

Facts:

Indus River Valley Civilization
3300-1300 BC
James Lewis (army deserter) posed as American engineer noticed mounded ruins at a small town in Punjab called Harappa (which was the first city founded) that's how the civilization got named

Geography:

It's a large village presently on the province of Punjab in Pakistan
It was the earliest known civilization
Begun around 2900 or 2500 BC
Natural Barriers
- Hindu Kush Mountains
- Himalayan Mountains
- In the desert houses are made of mud bricks that are kiln dried to make it harder it is harder to be destroyed like that
- Protect against invasion and stop flooding
The Great Bath
- Is one of the best known structures among the runs of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan
It was the largest of the four ancient civilizations but it was least known about
The two largest cities are Mohenjo-Daro (Hill of Death) and Harappa
- Each of these cities was urban and had about 4-5 thousand people
The built some of the world's first planned cities
Created one of the world's first
Created one of the worlds first written languages (Dravidian language)

Economy:

Mainly urban
Lots of trade
People made a living by trading with Mesopotamia, Southern India, Afghanistan, and Persia
- Traded for gold silver, copper, and turquoise
Rich civilization
Rich people used gold instruments studded with jewels
Had their own weights and measures
Ate a lot of wheat, rice, and vegetables
Raised cows, bulls, buffalo, sheep, goat, and camels

Social:

Religion
- Polytheistic
- Worshiped goddess of fertility
- No temples at this point
- They buried objects with the dead
- Many taboos about cleanliness
- Nature worship
  - Seen in seals
Social Groups
- Ruling class- Priests
- Middle class- Artisans and craftsmen
- Lowest class- Laborers
Entertainment
- Dance
- Had a large heated pool know as the Great Bath (Public pool with dressing/private bathrooms
Art and Language
- Consisted of bronze statues, terracotta figures, bowls made of silver and bronze
- Many beads and ornaments were found
- Very literate people
- Used Dravidian language (Only some has been translated)
- Many pictograms and animal designs
Gender Roles
- Women were key to survival of the harappans , represented fertility
- Duties for women were to bare children and housekeep
- Men served as priests, warriors, and tribal leaders, could also inherit land
Technological Advances
- Seals were used on coins as currency
- Created beads from bone and other material
- Created weights for trade and tax

Political:

Control
- A class system divided into who controls what- Priests are the highest
Government
- Theocracy
  - Priest rules
- Lots of things they believed in were related to Hinduism but it wasn't around at this time
Laws
- 3 laws
- Kept a majority of the population
- Defined the classes
- Kept the order of the people
- Religion is a huge role in the laws and states their beliefs
- Dharma
  - Influenced by class, gender, occupation, and age
- Karma
  - Religious law of cause and effect everything will happen with consequences
  - "People choose their fate in the afterlife"
  - If you are a bad person you are reborn back into the body of a new person
- Cycle of Samsara
  - Cycle of birth, death, and rebirth
  - Influenced by one's action
  - Want to escape to achieve "ultimate bliss" (Nirvana)
- Wars
  - No evidence of armies taken over by force, or big weapons
  - Art didn't represent warfare
  - Peaceful civilization
- Rise to Power?
  - 3300 BC
  - People were tied to the environment
  - The Himalayas provided protection from invasion from the North
  - The waterways provided resource for trade
  - The people were farmers
  - Believed there was higher power that controlled food
  - Commoners harvested twice a year because of all the natural disasters
- When Did They Lose Power?
  - 1300 BC
  - No "real reason" just theories
  - They thinking the river dried out is the main reason
  - Other reasons
    - External Aggression
    - Unstable river system
    - National calamity
    - Climate change
    - Aryan Invasion
    - Earthquake
    - Dryness of river
    - Ecological imbalance

Ancient Egypt

Geography:

Egypt lies in Northern Africa
The countries that border Egypt are Gaza Strip, Israel, Libya, and Sudan
There were deserts to the East and West of the Nile River
Mountains to the South
Natural barriers included the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the east
Southern Egypt contains low mountains and desert
Northern Egypt contains wide valleys near the Nile
Nile Valley and Nile Delta, Western Desert, Eastern Desert, and Sinai Peninsula
Nile Valley and Nile Delta are the most important regions for these reasons:
- They support about 99% of the population
- Steep rocky cliffs rise along the banks of the Nile
- Some space was flat and then used for agricultural production
Sinai
- Triangular shaped peninsula
- Contains mountains
- The mammals that have adapted to life there are mainly nocturnal and only appear at night when it's least hot

Economy:

Making a living
- Worked around the Nile River
- Grew their own food
- Make mud bricks
- Farmers
- Craftsmen

Political:

The Pharaoh highest of class system
Decisions are made by state instead of elected Representatives
Before the Old Kingdom (Before 2686 BC)
- Economy was a barter system
- Paid taxes in form of:
- Crops
- Livestock
- Jewelry
- Precious Stones
Old Kingdom
- Government became more centralized
- Pyramids started to be built
- Pharaoh's remained dominant
- During the 5th and 6th Dynasties, the Pharaoh's began to lose strength
- District governors, nomarchs started ruling their territories
- When the Pharaoh's lost control of the districts the central government collapsed
First Intermediate Period (2181-2055 BC)
- Each kingdom was followed by an intermediate period
- During these periods, Egypt was not unified
- There was no centralized government
Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC)
- Pharaoh added more officials to the government
- Central government became a part of each nome (district)
- Determined what people paid in taxes
- Pharaoh appointed people to oversee each nome
- Weakened the nomes by making the towns a basic unit of government
- Mayors of each town came to power
- Second Intermediate Period (1650-1550 BC)
New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC)
- Decreased size of nomes and added more nomes
- Created a standing army and created military positions
- Used to enlist people into an army
- Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC)

Social:

Religion
- Polytheism (Many gods)
  - 200 gods all with different meanings
- Temples (Worship places)
  - Prayed everyday
- High priest (Fulfilled all gods needs)
- Gods (Male or female, part animal)
- Daily praying rituals
- They created myths to explain life
- Mummification gave your soul life forever
Education
- Girls
  - Most stay with mom and learn motherhood
  - Only wealthy went on to school- most doctors
- Boys
  - Most at age 4 went with father's trade
  - But wealthy at age 7 went to school for example a scribe, writers, or artists
Art
- Had lots of art like sculptures, paintings, etc.
- Most of what we know is from their art
- Artwork was connected to their religion
- Funeral masks and tombs
Entertainment
- Board games and sports
- Team uniforms and neutral referees
- Maintain a healthy body and mind
- Boys were more physical than the girls
- Adult games- Dice, knuckle-bones, and checkers
- Children- Played with balls animals, dolls and spinning tops
- Some shoot arrows, wrestle, or play piggy-back
Gender Roles
- Men
  - Dark skins
  - Works outside
  - Inherit father's job
  - Provide for family
  - Writers, artist, farmers, etc.
- Women
  - Responsible for children
  - Worked home doing domestic work
  - Some had paying jobs (Music, doctor, or mouner, domestic worker)
  - Light skin
Inventions
- Hieroglyphics (Form of writing)
- Papyrus (Paper)
- Ink
- Calendars (Based on 12 month lunar cycles/ start of Astronomy)
- Clocks (Determined by position of the sun)
- Ramp and lever (To make building easier)
- Glass and beads (Used for trading)
- Ox-Drawn Plow (To grow crops)
- Furniture (Beds, tables, and stools)
- Medicine (Their knowledge of anatomy with their mummies
- Dental Hygiene (Eat lots of bread which destroyed their teeth invented toothbrush and paste)
- Makeup (A fashion statement)
Pyramids
- Most known invention
- Made of rock/stones
- Built tombs (Pharaohs and Queens)

Sumer Civilization

Geography:

Southwest of Asia and is part of the Mesopotamia
Natural Barriers
- Arabian desert
- Zagros Mountains, Caussus Mountains, Tigris river, Euphrates river

Political:

Individual Complex City States
First "Burdens"
First Scribes
There was a king of every city state
Laws
- The Code of Ur-Nammu
- One of the crazy laws was the son said his father was not his father and it turned out he was the son could get his hand chopped off (very strict)
- Sargon the Great/Sumer
- 3000 to 2215 BC
Great Leaders
- Jushur leader of Kish
- Enmerkar leader of Uruk
- Mesh-Ane-Pada leader of Ur
- Enhengal leader of Lagash
Losing Power
- Sargon the Great
  - 2334-2279 BC
  - Unified of Sumer into big country
- Soil Salinity
  - Soil gets salty not good for agriculture

Social:

Religion
- Polytheistic, believed in several gods and goddesses. Inanna, Queen of Heaven

Schools
- Priests
- Boys
  - Tough on them
- Girls
  - Would be homeschooled unless rich
  - Learning reinforced by beating- sore, not crippling
Art
- Ornate
- Used a lot of complex marble
- Temples and Palaces- Elaborate and Intricate
Entertainment
- Festivals
  - Drums
  - Lyres
  - Flutes
  - Harps
  - Tops
  - JUmp ropes
  - Boxing
  - Wrestling
- Board Games
  - Backgammon
Gender Rules
- Gender equality
- Woman were highly respected
- Men and women the same
- Men and women were both priests, rulers, and kings
- Women were usually singers and weavers
Technology Inventions
- Time- 60 minute hour, 60 second minute
- Wheel
- 360 degree circle
- Geometry
- Children's toys
- Writing
- Irrigation
- Dentistry
- Medical Advancements
- Urbanization
- Sailboats

Blogs

September 5- September 9

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