Ancient River
Civilizations
WHI SOL
Part II
Name the Civilizations
?
?
?
?
Huang He
What is the time period in which
these early river valleys existed?
3500-1500 BCE
Since these river valley
civilizations are the
birthplaces of civilizations,
what is their nickname?
The Cradles of Civilizations
What did these river valleys have
to offer for farmers
Rich Fertile soil
To help bring water to their
crops farmers used this method
Irrigation
Between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers was a fertile plain known as
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia had advanced cities.
Each of these cities were
independent with their own
leaders. What do we call these
type of cities?
City-states
These city states had a
centralized government. At
first they were run by people
who had religious authority.
Who were these people?
Priests
Religion was a major part of life in
all early civilizations. Each of the
civilizations believed in many gods.
What is a term for this?
polytheism
Military leaders would soon take over
the city states. They would come to
be known as
Monarchs or Kings
Hereditary lines of kings would
be known as
Dynasties
Around 3000 B.C. the scribes in
Mesopotamia invented a system
of writing to record their
business transactions. They wrote
on moist clay tablets with a stylus
made out from a sharpened reed.
What do we call this writing?
Cuneiform
The people in Mesopotamia
began using this metal rather
than copper and stone to make
tools and weapons?
Bronze
By bringing together the peoples and
nations of northern and southern
Mesopotamia, Sargon of Akkad created
the world’s first-
Empire
What is an empire?
Several people from different lands, nations,
or previously independent states under the
control of one ruler.
The Babylonian Empire would emerge in
Mesopotamia. The first king of the
Babylonian empire inscribed laws on 8
foot tall stone tablets and placed them
throughout his empire. Who was he?
Hammurabi
What were his laws known as?
Hammurabi’s Code
An important idea of law
from Hammurabi's Code was
Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a
Tooth
This river
flowed
through the
Egyptian
civilization
The Nile
The area of the Nile River that
emptied into the Mediterranean Sea
was rich in soil deposits. What was
this land known as?
Nile Delta
The writing of the ancient
Egyptians is
Hieroglyphics
Egyptians dominated these
people to the south for 1000
years (2000 to 1000 BCE)
Nubia
As Egypt fell into decline around
1000 B.C., this Nubian kingdom
began emerging as a regional
power?
The kingdom
of Kush
After the Kushites lost Egypt to the
Assyrians they retreated from Egypt
and prospered for several centuries
in this city?
Meroë
Meroë would become a major
center for the manufacture of
weapons and tools made from this
metal
iron
What is the area highlighted in Green
called?
The Fertile Crescent
According to the Jewish
scriptures, this man was spoken to
by a God named Yahweh.
Abraham
Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit
(covenant) between God and the Jewish people was
established. (Gen. 12).
Yahweh told Abraham he was the one
and only God. This was very different
as all other people believed in many
gods. What do you call people who
only believe in one God?
Monotheistic
The scriptures say that Yahweh
then told Abraham to leave
Mesopotamia and go to this land
Canaan
Abraham left with his family for
Canaan. Canaan was between the
Jordan River and this Sea
The Mediterranean
Sea
Abraham had many
descendants. His people would
become known as the
Hebrews
So, who is the “Father of the
Hebrew People”?
Abraham
Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit
(covenant) between God and the Jewish people was
established. (Gen. 12).
The first five books of the
Hebrew Bible are known as
The Torah
Due to a drought, the
Hebrews would leave Canaan
and go to this land
Egypt
In Egypt, the Hebrews would
eventually become
Slaves
The Hebrew scriptures said that
Yahweh told this man to lead the
Hebrew people out of Egypt.
Moses
What was this event known
as?
The Exodus
The Jewish celebration of the
Exodus is called
Passover
During this time the Hebrew
scriptures say that Moses
received these moral and religious
laws from Yahweh
The Ten Commandments
Moses would lead the Hebrews
through the desert for 40
years until they would return
to this “Promised Land”
Canaan
The Hebrews would eventually
return to Canaan, the land Yahweh
had promised to Abraham. The
land would come to be known as
Israel
David, one of the first Hebrew
kings, united the tribes of Israel
and established this city as its
capital.
Jerusalem
Israel would eventually split into
two kingdoms. Israel and Judah.
Based on the name Judah, the
Hebrews would come to be known
as
The Jews
The Religion of the Jews
would become known as
Judaism
The Babylonians took the
wealthier Jews as prisoners, and
then brought them to Babylon,
where they could keep an eye on
them. This period was known as
the Babylonian Captivity or this
The Exile
Who were the people that
lived north of Israel?
The Phoenicians
The Phoenicians developed this
writing system in which letters
represent sounds
The Alphabet
The color of the dye that the
Phoenicians were famous for,
came from this type of snail that
lived in the waters off Sidon and
Tyre.
purple
The Phoenicians also were great
sailors. What continent are they
said to have sailed around?
Africa
The Phoenicians also established
many colonies along the coastlines
of the Mediterranean Sea. What
was the most famous of all their
colonies?
Carthage