Ancient River Civilizations
The establishments of villages symbolized a
huge step in human history. Societies were
becoming more organized, and increasingly
complex.
I. Early River Civilizations:
• The earliest
civilizations to
develop were all
situated near major
rivers. These rivers
provided a regular
water supply and a
means of
transportation. The
animals that flocked
to the rivers to drink
were a source of food.
1. What are pros and
cons to living by the
river?
• Conditions in the areas
favored farming, especially
the spread of silt (tiny bits of
rock and dirt from the river
bottom).
• -With this increase of food,
communities were able to
save surplus (extra) food and
store it for the future. With
the increasing population,
some civilizations turned into
cities.
– In these cities, for the first
time, people were able to
work jobs other than farming.
2. What is a benefit of
allowing people to
specialize in different
jobs?
Six Basic Features that Define Civilizations:
1. Organized Governments:
Governments in
civilizations are complex
compared to early
villages. Population
increases, food increases
and resource increases
came to require a more
powerful, complex
government
Six Basic Features that Define Civilizations:
2. Complex Religions:
Most ancient people
were polytheistic
(believed in many gods).
People appealed to the
gods regularly, because
they believed the gods
had a hand in natural
forces (child birth, luck,
fortune, war).
Six Basic Features that Define Civilizations:
3. Job Specialization: People
living in cities developed
many new crafts, and found
it impossible for one person
to master them all. For the
first time, people began to
specialize in certain jobs.
• 4. Social Classes:
People began to be
ranked according to
their jobs, which led to
the growth of social
class.
• 5. Arts and
Architecture: Expressed
the talents, values and
beliefs of the people
who created them.
• 6. Public Works: Parks
(for the public goods)
Activity: Rank the six characteristics of civilization in order of what you
think is the most important, and why.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Civilizations Change Over Time
• 1. Environment affects
people’s lives-People
depend heavily on the
physical environment
• 2. Culture Changes hands
and Changes Shape
• Cultural Diffusion: The
spread of ideas, customs, and
technologies from one people
to another.
3. What could be an
environmental reason that a
civilization of people would have
to leave their homes?
4. What would happen
to a civilization if it was
taken by another
civilization through
war?
Fertile Crescent
• A number of early
civilizations arose
in the Fertile
Crescent, which
was a region in
the middle east
known for its rich
soils and golden
wheat fields.
5. What is the benefit to living along the
fertile crescent?
Mesopotamia
• A region in the Fertile
Crescent
• Literally means “ between the
2 rivers”
• Between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.
• The 2 rivers would frequently
flood, destroying crops and
nearby villages.
• Sumer, the world’s first
civilization developed in
Southeastern Mesopotamia.
6. Draw what you think Mesopotamia
Looks like
• Had few natural resources,
but made the best of what
they had.
• The lacked building
materials, so they built with
clay and water.
• Trade brought success to
Sumerian cities.
• Traders sailed along the
rivers
• Invented the earliest form
of writing
• Called cuneiform
• Had at least 12 different
city states:
• City State: A city that with its
surrounding territory forms
an independent state.
Sumer
Sumerian City States
• Each city state had its own
ruler who was responsible
for the people’s wellbeing.
• Each city state had a
distinct social hierarchy
(system of ranking groups)
• Polytheistic
• Ziggurat: large
stepped platform
thought to have been
topped with a temple
• Sumerians believed in
the afterlife
7. Illustrate what
Polytheistic means:
Lasting Legacy of Sumer
• Around 2500 BC, armies of
conquering peoples swept
across Mesopotamia and
overwhelmed the
Sumerian city-states.
• By 1900 BC, the Sumerian
civilization had been
replaced.
• Lasting legacy:
• Other people used cuneiform
• Other people used Sumerian
mathematics and astronomy
Hammurabi
• Brought much of
Mesopotamia under the
control of his empire
after the Sumerians lost
power.
• Hammurabi’s code
• Improved system of
irrigation
• Organized a well trained
army
Hammurabi’s Code
• Publication of a set of laws, which was the first
time a ruler had ever set laws and consequences
in writing.
• Most of the laws were meant to protect the
powerless (women and children).
• Section 1: Codified Civil Law (codified=set in
writing)
• This branch of law deals with private rights, and matters
dealing with businesses, taxes, marriage.
• Section 2: Criminal Law
• Deals with offenses against others, such as robbery, assault,
murder.
• By today’s standards, the punishments in
Hammurabi’s code often seem cruel
– “an eye for an eye”
– Ex. If a house collapsed because of poor
construction and the owner died as a result, the
house’s builder would be put to death.
8. Would you rather have
punishments too harsh, like
Hammurabi’s, or too soft?
1. The earliest civilizations were all situated near
what? Why?
2. What is silt?
3. What happened when these small civilizations were
able to save up food?
4. Explain what “organized government” means?
Egypt
Egypt: Religion
• A lot of the information we know about
ancient Egyptian religion comes from
paintings inside of tombs.
Gods and Goddesses:
Sun God (Amon-Re) Chief
God. The Pharaohs, whom
Egyptians viewed as gods, as
well as kings, were believed to
receive their right from AmonRe.
• Osiris: God of the Nile,
and underworld
• Isis: His wife
Afterlife
• Egyptians believed that
Osiris and Isis had promised
them all eternal life after
death.
• Each soul had to pass a test
to win eternal life.
• Worthy souls would pass into
the afterlife and live forever
in bliss, while those not
worthy would be fed to
crocodiles
• Book of the Dead: Contained
spells, charms, and formulas
to be used in the afterlife.
10. Create an illustration that
could be found in an Egyptian
cave portraying souls going to
the afterlife (either passing
into the afterlife, or being fed
to crocodiles)
Preparing for the Afterlife:
• Egyptians believed that the
afterlife would be very similar
to life on earth, so they
buried their dead with
everything they would need
for eternity.
• To give a soul the use of its
body in the afterlife,
Egyptians mummified the
dead.
• Preserved dead bodies by
embalming them and wrapping
them in cloth.
11. What are 3 things
you would need in
your tomb for
eternity?
Egypt: Organization of Society
• Pharaoh was at the top of the class system.
• Both a god and earthly leader.
• Government officials and High priests: served
the gods and goddesses
• Merchants, scribes and artisans
• Peasants: Most Egyptians were peasants who
farmed the land.
Egyptian Women
• Egyptian women usually enjoyed
a higher status and greater
independence than women
elsewhere in the ancient world.
• Women’s work was not confined
to the home, as in many other
ancient civilizations.
• Women could enter priesthood
(especially in the service of
goddesses)
Egyptians Make Advances in Learning
• Keep written records: Like many others, the
Egyptians developed writing.
• Hieroglyphics (a system in which symbols or pictures
represent objects, concepts or sounds)
• Furthering Science
• Especially in medicine, mathematics and astronomy
Class Website
• http://www.northampton.k12.nc.us/