River Valley Civilizations
A Brief Overview
River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Present Day: Iraq
Flooding: Floods once a year, unpredictably
Characteristics:
1. Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Fertile Crescent
2. Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between two rivers”
3. Low amount of rainfall
4. Open plains- no natural barriers from outside attack
Mesopotamia
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Nile River Valley
Present Day: Egypt (Africa)
Flooding: Floods the same time every year in
July. River recedes in October leaving fertile
soil.
Characteristics:
1. River flows NORTH for 4,100 miles
2. It is the worlds longest river
3. Egypt is considered to be the “gift of the Nile”, the
river gave them life
4. Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the west
Nile River Valley
Indus River Valley
Present Day: India- a tremendous peninsula
sometimes referred to as a subcontinent.
Flooding:
1. The Indus river floods unpredictably and sometimes
changes course
2. Extreme wet and dry seasons
Characteristics:
1. 3 water boundaries- The Arabian Sea, Bay of
Bengal, Indian Ocean
2. 2 mountain ranges- The Himalayas and Hindu Kush
3. Monsoons- seasonal winds that bring tremendous
amounts of rainfall to the valley
Indus River Valley
Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley
Present Day: China
Flooding: unpredictable flooding. The river ruined so many villages that it is called “China’s Sorrow”
Characteristics: 1. Called the yellow river because it deposits yellow
silt.
2. Many natural boundaries a. East: Pacific Ocean
b. West: Plateau of Tibet and Desert
c. South West: Himalaya Mountains
d. North: Gobi Desert
3. Mountains and desert dominate 2/3 of the land
Yellow (Hwang Ho) River Valley
Mesopotamia
Geography
Located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Fertile Crescent
Modern Day Iraq
Low amount of rainfall-needed a steady water supply
River floods annually- unpredictable
Open plains-no natural barrier from outside attack
Limited natural resources- no good supply of stone, metal, wood
Solutions to Natural Problems
Dug irrigation ditches
to control water
supply
Build mud walls
around the city for
protection
Traded with people in
surrounding areas for
natural resources
Government
Separated into City-States divided by swampy areas, acted as their own country City-States included a city, farms, and the villages around the
city
City-States controlled by Temple Priests-success of crops depended on Gods
City-States united under Sargon I
Sites such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu are considered to be some of the worlds first cities
During time of war men of the city picked a leader for the war As war became more common priests gave men permanent
control of the army
Some commanders became full time rules, called Monarchs
Map of City-States
Religion
Polytheistic-believed many gods controlled nature called Animism Each god controlled a specific natural
force or human activity
Gods could cause great misery in angered
Thought gods had little regard for the people
Built huge temples called Ziggurats to honor the gods
Believed in life after death
Sacrificed animals to the gods to ensure good growing seasons
Social Structure
Social Classes emerged
Highest: Priests and Kings
Wealthy merchants
Laborers and common people
Slaves
Women were not equal to men but had some rights
Could not attend school
Could own property and hold most jobs
Fall of the Civilization
Constant fighting between city-states led
to not being able to fight off outside
invaders
Contributions Cuneiform writing- system of 700 symbols that
represented sounds, objects, and ideas. Written on Clay tablets.
System of numbers based on 60, 360 degree circle
Architecture- Ziggurats
Contributions
Tax system to support the city states
Sumerians manufactured bronze
the use of the wheel
The use of the umbrella
Use of the metal plow
Written law code- Hammurabi’s Code of Laws
Hammurabi
Nomadic warriors
called Amorites
invaded Mesopotamia
and established their
capital at Babylon
Babylon reached its
height during the rule
of Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s
Code
Hammurabi collected existing laws and established a unified code of laws for the entire Empire, all city-states
Code had 282 laws dealing with all aspects of society: family relations, business conduct, crime, ect
Code applied to everyone but had different punishments for different classes of people and men and women
Had specific punishments for each type of violation
Code reinforced the idea government is responsible for what occurs in society.
If a man is robbed and the thief is not caught, government is responsible to compensate the victim.
Things I need to Know for the
Test Where do all early civilizations develop?
What river did the Egyptian develop next
too?
What did rivers provided?
Review on Neolithic Revolution.
Polytheism, pyramids, mummification
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian Civilization
Geography
Located on the Nile River in Northeast Africa
Settlement began around 5000 BC
River flows north 4,100 miles
Floods the same time every year, July
Egypt is considered ‘the gift of the Nile”, the river
gave them life
Farmers relied on the floods to irrigate crops
Protected by the Sahara desert that lies to the
west
History and Government
Menses (Narmer) unites upper and lower
Egypt into one and established the 1st
dynasty
Established their capital at Memphis
From about 3000 BC to 332 BC, Egypt was
ruled by 30 dynasties
History and Government
Kings were considered gods called Pharaohs, this is a theocracy
Kings were the center of government and religion
Built pyramids during the Old Kingdom
Places to honor and bury their god-kings
Egypt had a population of about 5 million people at its height
Religion
Polytheistic- believed in over 2000 gods
and goddesses
Most important god Ra- the sun god
Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaton
and claimed to be equal to the sun god
Built huge temples to honor gods and
goddesses
Religion-
Pyramids
Believed that kings
continued to rule after
death, built enormous
pyramids as tombs
Pyramids were built
during the kings life to
show strength in his
dynasty
Religion
Osiris- The Egyptian god
responsible for life, death and
rebirth
Also known as the God of the Afterlife,
Weighed the heart of people
passing into the afterlife to judge
them.
If the heart was lighter than a feather
they passed through
If the heart was heavier- Devourer of
Souls would eat the heart
Religion Akhenaton- a Pharaoh who
founded a new and controversial religion
Kings were mummified to preserve the body and put into tombs with his belongings Also given “The Book of the Dead”
which contained prayers to go to next life
Akhenaton
Book of the Dead
The Empire
Narmer:
Conquered lower Egypt
Sets the capital of his
government in Memphis
Women- had the ability to
own property, testify in
court, and begin the divorce
process
The Hyksos The Hyksos were able to
invade and defeat the Egyptians because they had better tools and horse drawn chariots
Contributions and Achievements
System of numbers- to tax, farmers used geometry to survey the land after floods
Architecture- measurement, building of pyramids and palaces
Developed a 365 day calendar based on the flooding of the Nile
Medicine-pulse, circulatory system, splint broken bones, surgery-tonsils out
Numbers
Calendar
Writing System
Writing System-
Hieroglyphics, pictures
representing ideas
Wrote on Papyrus-
reeds that grew near
the Nile
Translated by the
Rosetta Stone- stone
had 3 languages on it
including Egyptian
Hieroglyphics and
Greek
Everyday writing was
called Hieratic
Hieroglyphics
Rosetta
Stone