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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Intro

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Intro

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Mesopotamia, which in Greek means "land between the rivers", and in this case refers to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is located in the Fertile Crescent, an arc of fertile land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, where modern day Iraq and Syria are. The rivers are key, because when they flood, they cover the land in silt or fertile soil, which contributes towards food surpluses, which lead to the development of civilisation through the specialisation of workers.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Environment

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Environment

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As well as helping the people, the environment in this area brought with it some challenges. The biggest of these being: unpredictable flooding, no natural barriers to protect the people from attack, and no natural resources to build things with. Though, through organisation, cooperation and leadership, the Sumerians managed to overcome these difficulties. They built irrigation ditches to collect flood waters in that could be used to irrigate crops with; they built walled cities to defend themselves from invaders; and they traded their grain, cloths, and crafted tools, for stone, wood and metal.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - City-States

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - City-States

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Mesopotamia was made up of city-states: similar to Singapore today, city-states were like countries and cities at the same time. They were at first led by priests, because of their importance in appealing to the gods for the people, but soon were to be governed by military leaders, as wars became more frequent. These military leaders started dynasties by passing their power on to their sons when they died.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Religion

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Religion

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Sumerians, the people living in Mesopotamia, were polytheistic, meaning they believed in lots of gods. They believed that these gods were similar to humans, just more powerful and immortal. To gain the favour of the gods and receive protection and help from them in this life, they offered sacrifices of animals, food, and wine. They didn't believe they had much chance in the after-life though, thinking it to be a sad gloomy existence.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Social Classes

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Social Classes

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With surpluses and the starts of civilisation, came the beginning of social classes. Kings, landholders and some priests came at the top of this order, followed by wealthy merchants, other workers, and at the bottom - slaves.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Technology

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Technology

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The Sumerians made many advances in technology and science. They needed maths and geometry for building and planning, and came up with a number system from which some modern units have been developed. Their architecture consisted of many arches, columns and ramps, and they constructed some quite impressive pyramid-shaped ziggurats. They developed a form of writing - cuneiform, which was used to record transactions and more complex trades. IT was also used to keep record of some of the first ever scientific investigations in fields including astronomy, chemistry, and medicine. Sumerians also are thought to have invented the wheel, sail and plough, all which helped the growth of civilisation considerably.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Akkadian Empire

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Akkadian Empire

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Continuous fighting between the Sumerian city-states eventually worked its toll, and weakened the area as a whole. The Akkadians, led by Sargon were the first to take advantage of this when they defeated both north and south Sumer in 2350 B.C., and created the first empire in doing so. He controlled land from the Mediterranean coast to where present day Iran is. Sargon's empire lasted for 200 years, coming to an end due to a combination of internal conflicts, famine, and invasion.

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Babylonian Empire

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Ieuan/Section 1: City-States in Mesopotamia - Babylonian Empire

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In 2000 B.C. a group of nomadic warriors called the Amorites invaded and overwhelmed the Sumerians. They made Babylon, a city on the Euphrates river, their capital. The empire peaked from 1792-1750 B.C., when King Hammurabi was in power. Hammurabi made a law code  called Hammurabi's Code to unify the diverse peoples of his empire. It consisted of 282 laws, and gave specific punishments which differed depending on social status. Famously, the law code states that the punishment for taking an eye, is for an eye to be taken. Nearly 200 years after Hammurabi's reign, the Babylonians were defeated by the Kassites.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - The Nile River

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - The Nile River

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The Geography of Egypt:

The Nile River flows northward across Africa for over 4,100 miles, making it the longest river in the world. Egypt's settlements arose along the Nile on a narrow strip of land made fertile by the Nile.

Yearly flooding from the Nile River brought th land rich soil. Every year in July, rain and melting snow from the mountains caused the river to spill over its banks, leaving behind a rich deposit of fertile black mud called silt.

Environmental Challenges:

Although the Egyptian settlers knew just when the Nile River would rise and flood, there were some environmental challenges. When the Nile's floodwaters were just a few feet lower than usual, the amount of silt was greatly decreased and this cause thousands of people to starve. On the other hand, when the floodwaters were just a few feet higher than regular, it destroyed houses and seeds that farmers needed for planting. Another difficult factor for the ancient Egyptians were the deserts on both sides of the Nile. It acted as a barrier between Egypt and other lands, making the Egyptians having to live on a small portion of land. However, these deserts protected them from invaders and they rarely had conflict and warfare.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt

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Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt:

River travel along the Nile ended at the point where boulders turned the river into churning rapids called a cataract. This spot was called the First Cataract, and it made it impossible for riverboats to pass it and continue traveling upstream south. Because of this, Egypt was divided into two strips of land, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. The river area in the south was called Upper Egypt because its elevation was higher, and the river area in the north was called Lower Egypt.

Egypt Unites into a Kingdom:

By 3200 B.C., the villages of Egypt were under the rule of two different kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, but eventually, the two kingdoms were united. More solid evidence points to a king called Narmer. The king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown, and the king of Upper Egypt wore a tall, white crown shaped like a bowling pin. Narmer created a double crown from the red and white crowns and it symbolized a united kingdom. He established the first Egyptian dynasty.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Pharaohs

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Pharaohs

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Pharaohs:

The Egyptian kings were called pharaohs. To the Egyptians, the pharaohs were gods and they were thought to be almost as powerful as the gods in the heavens. The pharaohs were responsible for the kingdom's well-being, including its government, religion, and army.

Egyptians believed that their kings ruled even in the afterlife. They believed that he had an eternal life force, or ka. Since the kings were expected to reign forever, their tombs were more important than their palaces. A structure called a pyramid was built for them to rest in after death.

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Ca/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Religion & Culture

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Ca/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Religion & Culture

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Religion:

The early Egyptians were polytheistic, believing in many gods. They worshiped more than 2,000 gods and goddesses. They believed in an afterlife and that they would be judged for their deeds when they died. The god and guide of the underworld, Anubis, would weigh each person's dead heart. If you wanted to win eternal life, your heart had to be no heavier than a feather, but if it was, your soul would be eaten up by a fierce beast known as the Devourer of Souls. If you were rich enough, you could have your corpse preserved by mummification.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Social Classes

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Social Classes

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Social Classes:

The Egyptians were divided into social classes. At the top of the pyramid stood the king, queen, and royal family. Below them were the members of the upper class and included wealthy landowners, priests, army commanders, and government officials. The middle class included the merchants and artisans. The lower class is the largest class and consisted of peasant farmers and laborers. Lower and middle class Egyptians could gain higher status through marriage or success in their jobs. Women had many of the same rights as men.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Writing & Technology

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Writing & Technology

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Writing:

The Egyptian scribes developed a flexible writing system called hieroglyphics, meaning sacred carving. In the earliest form of hieroglyphic writing, a picture stood for an idea, but in time, the system changed so that pictures stood for sounds also. Hieroglyphs were first written on stone and clay, but the Egyptians soon used papyrus reeds for a better writing surface.

Science and Technology:

The Egyptians invented many things. They developed a calender to help them keep track of the time between floods and to plan their planting season. Priests observed that just before floods came, the same star, Sirius, appeared above the eastern horizon. They also developed a system of written numbers for counting, adding, and subtracting. Egyptian doctors also invented medicine.

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Invaders

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Carnia/Section 2: Pyramids on the Nile - Invaders

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The Old Kingdom:

The power of the pharaohs stopped at about 2180 B.C., marking the end of the Old Kingdom.

The Middle Kingdom:

Strong pharaohs regained control during the Middle Kingdom. They improved trade and transportation by digging a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. They also created thousands of new acres of farmland by draining the swamps of Lower Egypt. Unfortunately, the Middle Kingdom did not last for long. A group from an area around Palestine moved into Egypt. They ruled much of Egypt from 1630 to 1523 B.C. Eventually, Egypt rose again for a new period, the New Kingdom.

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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The Geography of the Indian Subcontinent:

The Indian Subcontinent includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalayan ranges, separates this region from the rest of the Asian continent.

The tallest mountains in the north and a large desert to the east helped protect the Indus Valley from invasion. The mountains guard a fertile plain formed by the Indus and Ganges River. The Indus River flows southwest from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Farming in the Indus Valley is possible only in the areas directly watered by the Indus River. The Ganges River flows down from the Himalayas and flows eastward across northern India.

The Indus and Ganges make up a large area that stretches across northern India and is called the Indo-Gangetic Plain. These rivers carry silt, producing rich land for agriculture.

Monsoons are seasonal winds, that dominate India's climate. These monsoons blow eastward from the southwest, carrying moisture from the oceans in rain clouds. The powerful storms bring so much moisture, usually causing floods. When summer monsoons fail to happen, drought would often cause crop disasters.

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the  Indus

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the  Indus

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Civilization on the Indus:

It is unknown how human settlement began in the Indian Subcontinent. Around 2500 B.C., people in the Indus Valley were buliding India's first cities. Archaeologists have found the ruins of more than 100 settlements along the Indus and its tributaries. The largest cities were Kalibangan, Mohenjo - Daro, and Harappa. Indus Valley civilization is sometimes called Harappan civilization, because of the many archaeological discoveries made at that site. An achievement made by the Indus Valley people were their city planning. The people of the Indus Valley laid out their city on a grid system. Cities featured a citadel, and buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks. They also created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems. The city planning suggests that the Indus peoples had developed a strong central government.

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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Harappan Culture

Harappan culture spread throughout the Indus Valley.

Language:

The Harappan culture created a written language that is impossible to decipher. About 400 symbols make up the language. The Harappan language is found on stamps and seals made of carved stone used for trading pottery and tools.

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

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Culture:

Harappan cities show a similarity in religion and culture. The appearance of animal images on many types of artifacts suggest that animals were an important part of the culture. Animal are seen on pottery, small statues, and seals used to mark trade items. Some of the seals portray beasts with parts of several different animals. The meaning has remained a mystery.

Religion:

No site of a temple has been found. Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture. Figures show what may be early representations of a major Hindu god, called Shiva. Others relate to a mother goddess, fertility images, and the worship of the bull.

The figure below might be a Harappan god, or maybe a priest king.

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Annella/Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

Trade:

Trading began as early as 2600 B.C. The Harappan created a trade within the region. Gold and silver came from the north in Afghanistan.The Indus River provided good transportation for trade goods. Overland routes moved goods from Persia to the Caspian Sea. Cotton cloth was a desirable trade item since few people knew how to grow cotton at the time. The Indus River allowed the Indus Valley people to trade with distant peoples, including the Mesopotamians. Trading continued until 1800 B.C.

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Annella/ Section 3: Planned Cities on the Indus

Indus Valley Culture Ends:

Around 1750 B.C., the great cities gradually fell into decay. What happened remained a mystery until the 1970s, when satellite images of the subcontinent of India revealed evidence of shifts in tectonic plates. The plate movement probably caused great calamities, destroying the cities.

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China-- Geography 

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China-- Geography 

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River system:

Natural barriers like ocean, mountains, deserts isolate China from other places. There are two rivers that flow throught China, and those rivers are huang he or yellow river and Yangtze river. The reason why yellow river is called in that name is because there are lots of deposits in the river, and that turned the river yellow. Between two rivers is a north china plain, and it is called as the heartland of China.

Environmental Challenges:

Huang He floods can destory the whole villages, and could not predict. The isolation made China lack of trade and be self-sufficient.

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  First dynasties, and Shang dynasty

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  First dynasties, and Shang dynasty

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The Shang Dynasty:

Around 2000 B.C. Xia Dynasty. After Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty got in power from 1700 to 1027 B.C.  They were the first dynasty to first to leave written records. One of shang dynasty's capital city was called Anyang, and the city was located in forest clearing.  Most of their  houses were bulit in woods, and rich people live in the city, other poor people live outside of the city. They also made huge walls for defense.

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Development of Chinese Culture

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Development of Chinese Culture

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Family:

Family is very important in Chinese society, and the elder family member took control of the family. In family respecting the elder was important, and everybody in the family had to obey the oldest man in the family.

Religious belif:

Chinese families believed that spirit of dead ancestors could affect their family. They used an oracle bones to recieve answer to their question. Priests would scratch the question then the priest will heat the Oracle bone. When the bones cracks then the priest looks at the crack to answer their question.

Picture below is a painting of a chinese family.

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Development of Chinese Culture

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Development of Chinese Culture

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Social Classes:

Society could be divied into two classes, peasants and nobles. Nobles could own land and even govern some places, but rights for peasants were very less. The different between noble and peasant was a lot.

Written language:

One of the important invention was written language. Unlike from other written language Chinese written language was seperated from spoken language, so even though you can't speak their language you could read their language. That helped the big kingdom to be unified, because people from different area would speak differently. However some of the bad part is that there were more than 1500 characters to memorize, so only the noble's children got to learn the writing, and some peasant that could afford it. However, lots of peasant could not afford it to learn them.

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Zhou dynasty

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Zhou dynasty

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Zhou dynasty:

In 1027 B.C., Zhou Dynasty takes control after shang dynasty. When they overthrew the shang dynasty they made a thing called Mandate of Heaven. It was a belief that a just ruler had approval to ruler the area. And they said that the gods thought that shang dynasty was not fair so they gave it to us.

Dynastic cycle:

After Zhou dynasty other people keep overthrowing each others dynasty and this repeated way is called dynastic cycle. Dynastic cycle is starts when a strong dynasty is made, then the dynasty starts to decline and becomes corrupted. Then natural disasters comes to the dynasty, and people start to form a rebellion. So they overthrow the dynast and a new dynasty comes in place.

Feudalism:

When Zhou dynasty was in power a syatem called feudalism came to work. It is when nobles use land for goods that belong to king, and then they share the income with the king. So the king let them do what they want to do on the land. However the bad thing is that as years past the noble got stronger so they got less dependent to

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Improvement and decline

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John/ Section 4: River Dynasties in China--  Improvement and decline

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Improvements:

Zhou dynasty made some good inventions and improvements. Some of the inventions are that they used coins for trading, and bulit roads and canal to transport things easier. And some improvements are that they produced cast iron tool and weapons. This improvement helped the people to farm easily and fight easier. So they produced more crops and won more battles.

Decline:

Zhou dynasty stays peaceful and stable, and they rule until 1027 to 256 B.C. In 771 B.C. nomads started to attack Zhou dynasty's capital, and kills the king. So they other royal family runs away and bulits a new capital, but they had lost all there power. Therefore new dynasty come in place.