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
-Mesopotamia was a REGION, not a civilization
Uruk
-In about 5000 BCE the city was founded
-had about 50-80k people-made it one of the largest cities
Nippur
-considered a sacred group, formed around 5000 BCE, peaked in 2500 BCE
-special place of worship to the Sumerian gods
Nineveh
-one of the oldest cities
-founded around 6000 BCE
-by 3000 BCE it became very religious--once an earthquake destroyed an important temple that was soon rebuilt
Tigris and Euphrates were very important rivers--deposited silt
-many early civilizations rose up in the valley between the two rivers
-Mesopotamia was situated between the Tigris and the Euphrates
-desert in the north, marshy in the south because of heavy rain
-animals were a main trade
-main clients were the Persians and ancient India
-all trading was done between 6000 and 4000 BCE
-cuneiform was the Mesopotamian way to write
-they invented the wheel through advanced mathematics
-only the sons of prominent people could go to school
-the Mesopotamians thought the world was flat with an overarching heaven, the sea surrounded this, and the universe was born from the oceans surrounding the earth
Sports: hunting, wrestling, polo, majore (rugby)
Government: monarchy
-wrote the first code of laws
-believed their rulers were descendants of gods
-broken up into city-state systems
Indus
- had deserts and mountains that protected them naturally
-the religion is uncertain--may have been similar to Hinduism
-People were born into social classes
-these classes didn't change
-women were valued because they made babies
-highly organized agriculture
Harappa
-one of the first cities
-three classes: religious elite, trading class, the poor workers
Mohenjo-Daro
-divided into two portions
-citadel (public bath)
-had sanitation systems
Yellow River Civilization
-Shang people needed walled cities because they were constantly waging war
-Rich people lived in timber framed houses in the walls, poor lived outside the walls in huts
-Yellow River got its name from the deposits of yellowish loess--nicknamed China's Sorrow because it can flood and destroy villages
-The civilization had limited trade early on because of its isolation
-Only 10% of China's land is suitable for farming
-Yellow river was the mother river
-Important because it provides the local population with drinking water, and without the river the grasslands would shrink and animals couldn't graze
-Supplies about 12% of present day China's population with water
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