Rise of the Early River Valley Civilizations

What do these regions have in common?

Rivers

Sumerian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia)

Egyptian Civilization - Nile River

Harappan Civilization - Indus River

Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River

Key Definitions

a) climatic: resulting from or influenced by the climate rather than the soil

b) geographic: belonging to or characteristic of a particular region

c) environmental: the conditions that surround someone or something : the conditions and influences that affect the growth, health, progress, etc., of someone or something

Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary

Elizabeth Meyer

How do the following societies demonstrate the 8 Features of Civilization?

DO NOW:

- Take out your homework for a check

- Be prepared to talk about common environmental, power/authority, and science/technological themes among the 4 river valley civilizations

Mesopotamia comes from Greek words meaning "land

between the rivers."

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia: Geography

- The climate in southwestern region of Asia (i.e. the Middle East) is typically arid and lacking available water sources except an arable region between Tigris / Euphrates rivers known as Mesopotamia

- Mesopotamia was located between the two rivers in an area called the Fertile Crescent because of the region’s shape and the richness of its soil

- The rivers flood at least once a year and leave a thick bed of mud and silt.

Tigris and Euphrates

The Tigris is rough and fast flowing.

- The upper course in particular is difficult to pass.

- The river cuts deep in the surrounding land and the water flow can hardly be used for irrigation.

The Euphrates is a lifeline.

- It can more easily be used by ships.

- The banks are lower, suitable for irrigation, with less violent floods.

Question:

Based on this information, what were some of the environmental challenges facing the Sumerians?

How did the Sumerians confront these environmental challenges?

Environmental Challenges

Sumerians were first to settle in this region, attracted by the rich soil.

Three Disadvantages / Environmental Challenges

Unpredictable flooding / dry summer months

No natural barriers for protection -small villages lying in open plain were defenseless

Limited natural resources - especially lacking stone, wood, metal

Solutions

Irrigation ditches

Built city walls with mud bricks

Trade with people around them for the products they lacked

Irrigation Systems

The earliest irrigation system emerged around 6000 BCE

Sumerians used a system of dikes, dams and canals to irrigate the land

Required a high level of organization of the society for the construction, maintenance, supervision and adjustments of the irrigation network.

Irrigation network stimulated the foundation of new settlements and cities.

Question

Imagine you were an Ancient Sumerian tasked with organizing the irrigation system in Mesopotamia....

Who would be in charge?

How would the necessary tasks/responsibilities be delegated?

How would you ensure that the systems in place remained reliable?

Initial Governmental Structure

•Early gov’t controlled by temple priests

•Priests controlled food production and irrigation systems

•Priests took portion of every farmer’s crops as taxes

Do Now:

Please take out the handout from yesterday, read the second source document, and answer the questions in your groups.

Please be prepared to share your responses with the rest of the class.

The City-State Structure of Government

Although all the cities shared the same culture …

Each city had its own government comprised of rulers, warriors,

its own patron god, and functioned like an independent country

including farmland surrounding its city walls.

Examples include Sumerian cities of Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh

At center of each city was the walled temple with a ziggurat – a massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped structure.

City-States in Mesopotamia

City-States of Mesopotamia

UR: The Ziggurat at Ur was first excavated by British archaeologist Woolley in 1923.The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities restored its lower stages in the 1980s

Make some predictions, why did priests gradually lose power/influence? How did kings emerge as the centers of power?

Question

Rise of the Sumerian Kings

•Men chose a tough fighter to lead city in war

•Power ended at end of war

•Some military leaders became rulers and would pass power on to their son, forming a dynasty

Epic of Gilgamesh

Story of King Gilgamesh of Uruk- a ruthless and oppressive leader

The gods punish his prideful behavior by killing his best friend (Enkidu)

Gilgamesh undertakes a quest for immortality

Travels to the home of Utnapishtim, the only mortal saved from the Great Flood and granted immortality

Very similar to Homer’s Odyssey

How the epic was discovered?

Originally written in cuneiform script in Sumerian legends/poems and later gathered into a longer Akkadian poem preserved on 12- clay tablets

The so-called “standard” Akkadian version, consisting of twelve (damaged) tablets written by the Babylonian scribe Sin-liqe-unninni some time between 1300 and 1000 BCE

Discovered in 1849 in the library of the 7th Century BCE Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, in Nineveh, the capital of the ancient Assyrian empire (in modern-day Iraq)

Gilgamesh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrfrHys8g8

While you view the clip, please generate a list of how you’d describe Gilgamesh as a leader.

The Story of the Flood

God saw how great wickedness had become and decided to wipe mankind from the face of the earth

One righteous man among all the people of that time, Noah, found favor in God's eyes

With very specific instructions, God told Noah to build an ark for him and his family in preparation for a catastrophic flood that would destroy every living thing on earth

•Invented wheel, sail, and plow

•Developed number system in base 60, which is used for modern time and measuring a circle

•Architecture

•System of writing called cuneiform

Achievements

Social classes

•Kings, landholders, and some priests were highest level

•Wealthy merchants were upper class

•Most Sumerians worked in fields or workshops and were middle class

•Slaves were lowest level

•Slaves were prisoners of war or Sumerians sold as children to pay of debts of their poor parents

Mesopotamian Society

Decline of Status of Women

Women had more rights than in many later civilizations

lower class women not allowed to attend schools (could not read or write)