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River Valley Civilizations

River Valley Civilizations. RAMESES III. 3500- 500 B.C. The “Cradles of Civilization” . SOL Standards Essential Questions. Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys? Where were the earliest civilizations located? When did these civilizations exist?.

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River Valley Civilizations

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  1. River Valley Civilizations RAMESES III • 3500- 500 B.C. The “Cradles of Civilization”

  2. SOL Standards Essential Questions • Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist?

  3. Wheredid the earliest civilizations develop? • River valleys

  4. Whydid ancient civilizations develop in river valleys? • They hadrich soil for agriculture • Periodic flooding left silt which made the soil rich in nutrients

  5. GeographicBarriers (mountains, deserts, seas, jungles,etc.) Helped protect many early civilizations from nomadic invaders

  6. Where were the earliest civilizations located and when did they exist? C M I E

  7. River Valley Civilizations (3500 BCto 500 BC) • Mesopotamia in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys. (Southwest Asia) • Egypt in the Nile River Valley and Delta (Africa) • India in the Indus River Valley in South Asia • China in the Huang He Valley(East Asia). • From west to east “EMIC”

  8. What were the geographic, social, political, and economic characteristics of the Ancient River Valley civilizations?

  9. Mesopotamia • The land between two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) • Part of the Fertile Crescent

  10. Fertile Crescent • Arc of fertile land stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea Mesopotamia

  11. Mesopotamia • Present day Iraq (Middle East).

  12. Sumer • The first of many civilizations to arise in Mesopotamia • Protected by mountains, deserts and the Persian Gulf

  13. Sumer • Sumer was made up of 12 independent city- states • City-state: A city and the surrounding land it controlled

  14. Irrigation • Mesopotamia had a dry climate • Irrigation was required to bring water from the rivers to the fields during the dry summer months

  15. First Writing • Invented the first written language:cuneiform (wedge writing)

  16. Invented Bronze • Smelted from copper and tin

  17. Other Sumerian Accomplishments • Plow • Ziggurats • Wheeled vehicles • Number system based on 60

  18. Babylonian Empire • The first empire to arise in Mesopotamia • Empire: several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler.

  19. Code of Hammurabi • First set of published laws • Based on the principle of an “eye for an eye” • Laws differed based on class

  20. Egypt • Nile Delta and Nile River Valley (Northeast Africa) • Protected by deserts and seas

  21. Nile Delta • Located in Lower Egypt (northern Egypt - lower in elevation) • Delta: broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river.

  22. Lower Egypt • View from space shuttle

  23. Hieroglyphics • Pictures could stand for sounds as well as ideas

  24. Pharaohs • Egyptian god-kings • They had absolute power (complete control) • Thought to be responsible for making the sun rise, the Nile flood, and crops grow.

  25. Religion • Like other River Valley peoples, Egyptians were polytheistic (believed in many gods).

  26. Class System • Egypt, had a rigid class system and slavery was accepted.

  27. India • Indus Valley Civilization

  28. Indus Valley Civilization • Located on the Indus River in present-day Pakistan (Indian subcontinent).

  29. Indus River Flood Plain

  30. Natural Barriers • The Himalayan and the Hindu Kush Mountains as well as the Indian Ocean protected the Indian subcontinent from invasion.

  31. Indus Valley Civilization • Made up of independent city states including Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro (and 2500 other sites)

  32. Indus Valley Achievements • Plumbing The great bath at Mohenjo-Daro

  33. Cotton Cloth • Indus valley people were the first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth

  34. Written Language • has not been deciphered

  35. China • Huang He River

  36. Also called the Yellow River and the River of Sorrows (yellow silt caused flooding) Huang He

  37. Flooding of the Huang He • Satellite images before after

  38. Geographically Isolated • Gobi desert, Himalayan Mountains, Pacific Ocean, dense jungles

  39. Shang Dynasty • China was ruled by a succession of rulingfamilies called dynasties (Early dynasties: Shang and Zhou)

  40. Divine Rulers • Chinese rulers were considered divine (god-like).

  41. Mandate of Heaven • They served under a mandate of heaven (approval of the gods) only as long as their rule was just

  42. Dynastic Cycle • Explains the rise, decline, and replacement of families of rulers

  43. Chinese Silk • The Chinese invented silk cloth (made from the cocoons of silkworms).

  44. Writing • Characters stood for ideas, not sounds. • The earliest evidence of Chinese writing is found on oracle bones.

  45. Ancestor Worship • The Chinese believed that the spirits of family ancestors could bring good fortune or disaster • They paid respect to family ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor Bronze vessel used for sacrificial food

  46. Irrigation • Water wheels were used to bring river water to the fields

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