The Rise of
Cities
& Civilizations
Aim: How do civilizations develop?
Do Now: What caused civilizations to develop in
the Neolithic Revolution?
Mr. Ott @ BETA
What are the Four (4)
Social Studies Categories




Geography:
Where is it? Is the land mountainous? Desert? Isolated
by Geographic Features?
Political:
Government -- Who controls what? What type of
government is there? Anything to do with laws or war.
Economic:
Trade -- What type of economy? How do people make
a living? It is NOT money!
Social:
Society & Culture – Religious, Art, Traditions, Social
Class
The Start of Ancient Civilization
We begin at about 9,000
years ago when village life
began in the New Stone Age.
Also known as the
Neolithic Revolution.
NEW STONE
What is the REVOLUTION?
A TOTALLY new way of living
From:
Hunter-Gatherers to Agriculture
& Herding
The invention of Agriculture
changed the way people lived.

Agriculture (Farming)

Growth of Cities

Division of Labor
(Job Specialization)
Surplus

Trade

Writing and Mathematics

Government

Laws
= Civilization
What traits are necessary in order for a
society to be a civilization?
Extensive and dense population (Surplus/Specialization)
 People not involved in food production (Specialization)
 Monumental public buildings (Government/Religion)
 Ruling class living off surplus (Government/Surplus)
 Systems of recording (Writing)
 Exact & predictive sciences (e.g. geometry) (Specialization)
 Full-time craft specialists (Specialization)
 Long distance trade (Specialization/Surplus)


State organization based on residence rather than kingship
(Government)
Geography of Mesopotamia
What does Mesopotamia mean?
The Land Between the Two (2) Rivers
What
are the names of these two rivers?
Tigris River

1.
Euphrates
2.
River
What is another name for the
Area Around Mesopotamia?
The Fertile Crescent
Why would we call it that?
Because it is shaped like a quarter moon and the
land is able to be farmed over and over. (Green
Area)
What is a Plateau?
An area of elevated
flat land.
Taurus Mountains
(In Present Day Turkey)
1. Water from Plateau
the melting
snow rushes 2. The Two
to the valley Rivers
form and
below.
run over
the
Elevated
Flat Land
The paths of the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers.
This creates Mesopotamia
and rich farming land.
Flood Plain
3. The Rivers flow
and flood the low
land making the
land fertile for
planting crops
Can you name the
current modern country Mesopotamia is
located in?
Persian
4. The Two Gulf
Rivers
Empty into
the Persian
Gulf
IRAQ
• Silt flows down
Tigris &
Euphrates
• Deposits mostly
down near Persian
Gulf (Southern
Mesopotamia)
Silt
Droughts
Irrigation
• Not much Rain
• Flood at Harvest
Time not at
Growing Time
• Create Canals and
Artificial Lakes
• Controlled Water
for use when
needed
Tigris River
March
16, 2005
Tigris River
February 7, 2005
Satellite
Image of the
Tigris River
Before &
After
Flooding
Iraq, 2005
Sumer
What is a
city-state?
A selfgoverning city
which also
governs
surrounding
villages.
Eridu
Most important citystates were: Ur, Uruk,
Eridu
Sumer
City-States
c. 3000 BC
• Same time as
Menes unified
Egypt
• Sometimes
fought for control
of neighboring city-states
•
Architecture (building) - Ziggurat
• Located in center of cities, large, towering
mud-brick building.
• Had a temple at the top, for religious
purposes.
Writing
• Cuneiform – System of writing invented in Sumer.
• Used for record keeping, laws, stories,
instructions, riddles, proverbs, education, math,
and science.
• Scribes – Mostly Boys, but some girls (rare)
City Life
• Huge city gates, with large walls.
• Often went to war with other city-states,
for resources such as river water.
• Food brought to cities by area farmers
Religion
• City revolved around temple & religion.
• Food brought to feed temple god and
priests and King.
• Each city-state worshiped a different
god or goddess. Polytheism (many gods)
(Ishtar – Love & War or Enki – Water)
Hammurabi
of Babylon
(1790-1752 BC)
was able to
create a
unified
kingdom over
all of southern
Mesopotamia
What are
codes of law?
It is a written
set of laws
that apply to
everyone
under a
government.
What is
the main
code
of law of
the United
States?
Code of
Hammurabi
Discovered in 1901 in Susa
• Pillar with over 200 laws
• One of the oldest code of
laws. (4,000 years old)
• Showed Slavery existed in
Babylonia.
• Not everyone was treated
the same. Different laws
for different groups of
people.
•
Why?
AIM: What were the major
contributions of Ancient Egypt?
Land of the Pharaohs
Egyptian Civilization
Ancient Egypt
GEOGRAPHY
Where in the world is Egypt?
Continent: Africa
Location: Northeast Corner
What is
Egypt’s most
visible &
Important
Geographic
feature?
It is
also the
lifeblood of
Egypt.
Why?
South to North
From
By looking at
the map
which way do
you think the
Nile river
flows?
(From what
direction to
what
direction?)
Lower
Upper
Egypt
Egypt
The Egypt is
divided into
two (2) parts.
What are
they called?
1. _____________
2. _____________
Where on the map
are they located?
Lower
Upper
Egypt
Egypt
The
rulers of
Lower & Upper
Egypt had crowns
to wear.
Why
would a
ruler wear both
crowns at the
same time?
Why
do you
think
we call
it a
delta?
GREEK
LETTER
DELTA
The
letter for
our “D”
What is the wide part of
the Nile River called?
Because the Nile
flows into the
Mediterranean
Sea it dumps this
into the
Nile Delta?
A tiny mixture of soil
and rock.
How do you
think the
Ancient
Egyptian
Farmer
watered their
fields?
What
technology
was used?
The
watering of land by
canals or pipes.
What is a Pharaoh?
A ruler of Egypt
What is unification?
Joining of separate parts into one
Name some ways a Pharaoh could
unify Egypt?
Life Under Pharaoh
Administration, Taxes, Judges
Government
Child of Sun God Ra
He Gives Life to Egypt
Religion
Economy
 Domestication
 Agriculture – Farming
 Surplus
 Specialization
 Trade
Pharaoh
Government
Officials
Soldiers
Scribes
Merchants
Artisans
Farmers
Slaves
AIM: What contributions
did Ancient Indian
Civilization have?
Subcontinent


A large land mass
geographically
separated from the rest
of the continent.
India is a subcontinent,
separated from Asia by
Himalaya Mountains.
monsoon
seasonal winds that
bring rain
Indus Valley farmers
depended on the
rains to irrigate their
land
Civilization Develops




Sophisticated
urban centers
Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
Dynamic trade
state - trade
with
Mesopotamia
and China
Monsoons
Cities very sophisticated with advanced
sewage systems & city grid system street planning

Decline due to
•
•
•
Degradation of
the ecosystem
Migration of
nomadic Aryans
Political collapse