Early River Valley Civilizations

Chapter 2
Early River Valley Civilizations, 3500 B.C.–450 B.C.

Geography of the Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• Fertile Crescent arc of land between Persian Gulf and Mediterranean
• Includes Mesopotamia—“land between the rivers”—a fertile plain
• Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood once a year, leaving rich soil

Environmental Challenges
• Around 3300 B.C. Sumerians begin farming southern Mesopotamia
• Environment poses three disadvantages:
- floods are unpredictable; sometimes no rain
- land offers no barriers to invasion
- land has few natural resources; building materials scarce

Solving Problems Through Organization
• Sumerians work together; find solutions to environmental challenges:
- build irrigation ditches to control water, produce crops
- build walled cities for defense
- trade grain, cloth, and tools for raw materials—stone, wood, metal
• Organization, leadership, and laws are beginning of civilization

 

Sumerians Create City-States
Sumerian City-States
• By 3000 B.C. Sumerians build cities surrounded by fields of crops
• Each is a city-statean independent political unit
• Sumer city-states: Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur
• Each city has temple and ziggurat; priests appeal to gods

Priests and Rulers Share Control
• Sumer’s early governments controlled by temple priests
• Some military leaders become rulers; dynasties rule after 2500 B.C.
• Dynasty—series of rulers from a single family

The Spread of Cities
• By 2500 B.C. many new cities in Fertile Crescent
• Sumerians exchange products and ideas with other cultures
• Cultural diffusion—process of one culture spreading to others

 

 

 

Sumerian Culture
A Religion of Many Gods
• Sumerians believe in many different gods—polytheism
• Gods are thought to control forces of nature
• Gods behave as humans do, but people are gods’ servants
• Life after death is bleak and gloomy

Life in Sumerian Society
• Sumerians have social classeskings, landholders, priests at top
• Wealthy merchants next; at lowest level are slaves
• Women have many rights; become priests, merchants, artisans

Sumerian Science and Technology
• Sumerians invent wheel, sail, and plow; first to use bronze
• Make advances in arithmetic and geometry
• Develop arches, columns, ramps, and pyramids for building
• Have a complex system of writing—cuneiform
• Study astronomy, chemistry, medicine

 

The First Empire Builders
Time of War
• From 3000 to 2000 B.C. city-states at constant war

Sargon of Akkad
• Around 2350 B.C., Sargon from Akkad defeats city-states of Sumer
• Creates first empire—independent states under control of one leader
• His dynasty lasts about 200 years

Babylonian Empire
• Amorites, nomadic warriors, take control of region around 2000 B.C.
• Make Babylon, on Euphrates River, the capital
• Babylonian Empire at peak during Hammurabi’s rule (1792–1750 B.C.)

Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi creates a code of laws for the Babylonian Empire
• 282 laws on all aspects of life; engraved in stone and made public
• Set different punishments depending on social class, gender
• Goal is for government to take responsibility for order, justice
• Amorite rule of Fertile Crescent ends 200 years after Hammurabi

 

 

 

Pyramids on the Nile

The Geography of Egypt
Egypt’s Settlements
• Arise along the 4,100-mile Nile River on narrow strip of fertile land

The Gift of the Nile
• Yearly flooding brings water and fertile black mud—silt
• Farmers build irrigation system for wheat and barley crops
• Egyptians worship Nile as a god

Environmental Challenges
• Light floods reduce crops, cause starvation
• Heavy floods destroy property; deserts isolate and protect Egyptians

Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt
• River area south of First Cataract is elevated, becomes Upper Egypt
• Cataract—where boulders turn Nile River into churning rapids
• River area north, including Nile delta, becomes Lower Egypt
• Delta—land formed by silt deposits at mouth of river; triangular

 

Egypt Unites into a Kingdom
King Narmer Creates Egyptian Dynasty
• Villages of Egypt ruled by two kingdoms—Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt
• King Narmer unites them around 3000 B.C.; makes Memphis capital
• Establishes first Egyptian dynasty

Pharaohs Rule as Gods
• To the Egyptians, kings are gods; Egyptian god-kings called pharaohs
• Pharaohs control religion, government, army, well-being of kingdom
• Government based on religious authoritytheocracy

Builders of the Pyramids
• Kings believed to rule even after death; have eternal life force, ka
• Build elaborate tombs, pyramids, to meet needs after death
• Pyramids made with blocks of stone, 2−15 tons each; 481 ft. high
• Kingdom had leadership, government; economically strong

 

 

 

 

Egyptian Culture
Religion and Life
• Egyptians believe in 2,000 gods and goddesses—polytheistic
• Re is sun god; Osiris, god of the dead; goddess Isis is ideal woman
• Believe in life after death; person judged by deeds at death
• Develop mummification, process that prevents body from decaying
• Book of the Dead contains prayers and spells, guides soul after death

 

Life in Egyptian Society
Social Classes
• Society shaped like pyramid, from pharaoh down to farmers, laborers
• Few people at top have great power; most people at bottom
• People move into higher social classes through marriage or merit
• Women have many of the same rights as men

Egyptian Writing
• In hieroglyphics writing system, pictures represent ideas
• Paperlike sheets made from papyrus reeds used for writing

Egyptian Science and Technology
• Egyptians invent calendar of 365 days and 12 months
• Develop system of written numbers and a form of geometry
• Skilled engineers and architects construct palaces, pyramids
• Egyptian medicine famous in the ancient world

 

Invaders Control Egypt
Changes to Egyptian Society
• Power of pharaohs declines about 2180 B.C.; end of Old Kingdom
• In Middle Kingdom (2040 to 1640 B.C.), some pharaohs regain control
• Improve trade, dig canal from Nile to Red Sea, drain swamps for farms
• Hyksos move into Egypt from Palestine; rule from 1630 to 1523 B.C.

 

 

Planned Cities on the Indus

The Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
Indian Subcontinent
• Subcontinent—landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
• World’s tallest mountain ranges separate it from rest of Asia

Rivers, Mountains, and Plains
• Mountains to north, desert to east, protect Indus Valley from invasion
• Indus and Ganges rivers form flat, fertile plain—the Indo-Gangetic
• Southern India, a dry plateau flanked by mountains
• Narrow strip of tropical land along coast

Monsoons
• Seasonal winds—monsoons—dominate India’s climate
• Winter winds are dry; summer winds bring rain—can cause flooding

Environmental Challenges
• Floods along the Indus unpredictable; river can change course
• Rainfall unpredictable; could have droughts or floods

 

Civilization Emerges on the Indus
Indus Valley Civilization
• Influenced an area larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt

Earliest Arrivals
• About 7000 B.C., evidence of agriculture and domesticated animals
• By 3200 B.C., people farming in villages along Indus River

Planned Cities
• By 2500 B.C., people build cities of brick laid out on a grid system
• Engineers create plumbing and sewage systems
• Indus Valley called Harappan civilization after Harappa, a city

Harappan Planning
• City built on mud-brick platform to protect against flood waters
• Brick walls protect city and citadel—central buildings of the city
• Streets in grid system are 30 feet wide
• Lanes separate rows of houses (which featured bathrooms)

 

 

 

Harappan Culture
Language
• Had writing system of 400 symbols, but scientists can’t decipher it

Culture
• Harappan cities appear uniform in culture; no great social divisions
• Animals important to the culture; toys suggest prosperity

Role of Religion
• Priests closely linked to rulers
• Some religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture

Trade
• Had thriving trade with other peoples, including in Mesopotamia

 

Indus Valley Culture Ends
Harappan Decline
• Signs of decline begin around 1750 B.C.
• Earthquakes, floods, soil depletion may have caused decline
• Around 1500 B.C., Aryans enter area and become dominant

 

River Dynasties in China

The Geography of China
Barriers Isolate China
• Ocean, mountains, deserts isolate China from other areas

River Systems
• Huang He (“yellow river”) in north, Yangtze in south
• Huang He leaves loess—fertile silt—when it floods

Environmental Challenges
• Huang He floods can devour whole villages
• Geographic isolation means lack of trade; must be self-sufficient

China’s Heartland
• North China Plain, area between two rivers, center of civilization

 

Civilization Emerges in Shang Times
The First Dynasties
• Around 2000 B.C cities arise; Yu, first ruler of Xia Dynasty
• Yu’s flood control system tames Huang He (“Yellow River”)
• Shang Dynasty, 1700 to 1027 B.C., first to leave written records

Early Cities
• Built cities of wood, such as Anyang—one of its capital cities
• Upper classes live inside city; poorer people live outside
• Shang cities have massive walls for military defense

 

The Development of Chinese Culture
Chinese Civilization
• Sees China as center of world; views others as uncivilized
• The group is more important than the individual

Family
• Family is central social institution; respect for parents a virtue
• Elder males control family property
• Women expected to obey all men, even sons

Social Classes
• King and warrior-nobles lead society and own the land

Religious Beliefs
• Spirits of dead ancestors can affect family fortunes
• Priests scratch questions on animal bones and tortoise shells
• Oracle bones used to consult gods; supreme god, Shang Di

Development of Writing
• Writing system uses symbols to represent syllables, not ideas
• People of different languages can use same system
• Huge number of characters make system difficult to learn

 

Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle
The Zhou Take Control
• In 1027 B.C., Zhou Dynasty takes control of China

Mandate of Heaven
• Mandate of Heaven—the belief that a just ruler had divine approval
• Developed as justification for change in power to Zhou
• Dynastic cycle—pattern of the rise and decline of dynasties

Control Through Feudalism
• Feudalism—system where kings give land to nobles in exhange for services
• Over time, nobles grow in power and begin to fight each other

Improvements in Technology and Trade
• Zhou Dynasty builds roads, canals to improve transportation
• Uses coins to make trade easier
• Produces cast iron tools and weapons; food production increases

A Period of Warring States
• Peaceful, stable Zhou empire rules from around 1027 to 256 B.C.
• In 771 B.C., nomads sack the Zhou capital, murder monarch
• Luoyang becomes new capital, but internal wars destroy traditions