Mesopotamia was the first place where government was created. They also invented the Pythagorean Theorem. Mesopotamia is Greek for the land of two rivers. They would build long docks across the rivers so they could trade. Euphrates was the calmest of the two rivers, the other one being Tigris. There were many grazing animals along the river banks. The rivers could change courses without notice and the farmers would have to adapt. There were floods which caused people to have to abandon the cities. Mesopotamians believed in many gods. They buried people with personal items. They believed the gods decided what crops would grow well that year and how the people would farm. They had the first religion to ever be recorded. They believed the world was a flat disc and that water covered the earth. They had monthly festivals based of different things like the phases of the moon. Mesopotamia was located in the Fertile Crescent. People lived there because of the water, warm climate and fertile soil. There are few trees, very little rainfall and they traded their surplus for stone, wood and metal. The world's first cities began around 4000-3500 BC in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia started with the emergence of ancient urban societies. Cities are Babylonia, Ashur, Nippur and Nineveh.
The Nile River is located in Africa and it flows through Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The Nile River is important because it provided resources. The Nile was looked at as a highway of transportation. The people who lived along the Nile were called Egyptians and they lived along both sides of the Nile Valley and in the delta region. There were three classes of society. Their religion was based on nature and their gods were Sun God and God of the Nile. The Egyptians believed in life after death. They preserved people (mummies) so their bodies would not decay. Three civilizations were formed (Nubia, Kemet and Kush).
The Yellow River, or Huang He, flows from central to eastern China. Named after yellow clay called 'loess' that blows across northern China. Approximately 3000 mild long. Begins in central China in the Bayan Har Mountains. Before the invention of dams, there were a lot of floods some of which were the most deadly natural disasters in China. 10% of the land in China is suitable for farming. Geography - consists of maintain ranges and river valleys which made it hard for people to sell or trade for crops and livestock. People became self-sufficient. Culture - called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", believed in supernatural powers, and women were unable to own property. Leader - Shang King ruled the civilization from the city of Anyang. Military leaders ruled over separate territories. Father was the head of the family and arranged all of the marriages and chose son's jobs.
Little is known about the Xia Dynasty. Shang Dynasty is the most well known of the Chinese dynasties. They created most objects out of bronze and liked human sacrifice. If a king died, more than 100 slaves would join him in the grave. Western Zhou used the father son kingdom passing unlike the Shang who used brother younger brother. Eastern Zhou was the Zhou dynasty after they had been relocated after the Western Zhou collapsed. The Mesopotamia River Valley is between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Babylon nation and dynasty was a small and powerless nation until the first dynasty got them going in the right direction. Hammurabi was the ruler but he died. The city of Babylon is 55 miles south of Baghdad. Babylon means the Gate of God(s). Egyptian Kingdoms - the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.
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