Slide 1
Before we begin…P-E-G-AS
Political: Who controls what? What type of
government is there? Anything to do with
laws or war.
Economic: What type of economy? How
do people make a living?
Geography: Where is it? Is the land
mountainous? Desert? Oceanic?
Advances/Social: Religious, intellectual,
artistic
Slide 2 Ancient River Valley
Civilizations
Slide 3 Early River Valley
Civilizations
Sumer
• Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable
• No natural barriers
• Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings
Egypt
• Flooding of the Nile predictable
• Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages
• Deserts were natural barriers
Indus Valley
• Indus flooding unpredictable
• Monsoon winds
• Mountains, deserts were natural barriers
China
• Huang He flooding unpredictable
• Mountains, deserts natural barriers
• Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations
Slide 4
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
Oldest known
civilization
Cradle of Human
Civilization
Old Testament
Nebuchadnezzar
Ziggurat (right)
Hanging gardens
Slide 5 Geography
This civilization rose
in the valleys between
the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.
Some say this Fertile
Crescent was the real
Garden of Eden.
It has few natural
barriers.
Slide 6 In what modern day country
was the Fertile Crescent?
Slide 7
Iraq
Slide 8 Ur, the capital city of
Mesopotamia
Slide 9
Sumerians
The Sumerians
invented writing
called cuneiform.
Babylonians wrote
using this “wedgeshaped” writing on
clay tablets.
Number system
based on 60.
12 month calendar
wheel, plow ,
sailboat
Slide 10 More cuneiform
writing
Slide 11 Ancient Mesopotamia
Social Classes
Kings,
Priests,
Gov’t
officials
Artisans,
merchants,
farmers, and
fishers
Enslaved people
Slide 12 More ziggurats
Slide 13 Hanging Gardens of
Babylonia
Slide 14 Babylon under King
Nebuchadnezzar II.
Herodotus (historian in 450 B.C.) was quoted as
saying the following: "In addition to its size,
Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the
known world."
Outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick
and 320 feet high. Wide enough to allow a fourhorse chariot to turn.
Inside the walls were fortresses and temples
containing immense statues of solid gold.
Rising above the city was the famous Tower of
Babel, a temple to the god Marduk, that seemed to
reach to the heavens
Slide 15 Another painting of the hanging
gardens with Tower of Babel in back
Slide 16 Economic: Trade and
Farming
Traditional Economy
Sumerians
(Mesopotamians) were
known to trade with
the Egyptians and the
Indus Valley
civilizations.
In later years, these
trade routes became
Silk Road.
Slide 17 Sumerians Invented
The Wheel
The wheel was
invented by 6000 BC
It helped military,
farming and trade.
At right, this is made
of wood.
Slide 18 Political:
Mesopotamian Law
Code of Hammurabi
“eye for an eye
tooth for a tooth”
Slide 20 ANCIENT
EGYPT
Nile River
Mummies
Pharaohs
Rameses
King Tutankhamen
Hieroglyphics
Slide 21 Egyptian Civilization
Egyptian
civilization arose
after
Mesopotamia.
Geography: It
was centered
around the Nile
River.
The Nile River
Slide 21 Nile River
Provided fish
Supported plants and animals
Two rivers, Blue Nile and White Nile, join
to make the Nile River.
World’s longest river
Flows south to north
Floods watered the land and provided fertile
soils for crops to grow.
Slide 22 The Sahara Desert.
Largest desert in
the world.
Egypt is naturally
protected from
enemies because
it was surrounded
by deserts, rivers,
deltas, and
cataracts (rapids).
Slide 23 Pyramids
Pyramids were tombs
for the kings.
The most famous are
the Giza pyramids
(shown to left).
These were built in
3500 B.C.E.
How old are they?
Slide 24 Political: Egyptian
Pharaohs
Egyptians were led by
Pharaohs, who were
priest-kings.
The most famous pharaoh
is King Tut.
Using computers, this
image was reconstructed
using his remains.
Eventually, Egypt was
divided into 2 kingdoms
(Upper and Lower).
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamen on the throne
Abu Simbel was built by
Ramseses II
Slide 25 Egypt’s Religion
They believed in many gods and goddesses
and in life after death for the pharaohs.
Hapi – main god
Isis – main goddess
Book of the Dead
Slide 26 Mummies
Egyptians who could
afford to do so would
have themselves
mummified.
They believed in a
better afterlife if their
body was preserved.
Slide 27
Mummification
Process
Took out all of the internal organs, except the
heart because it was believed to be the intelligence
and emotion of the person.
Organs were put in canopic jars, that were put in
the tomb with the mummy.
Brain was taken out through the nose because it
had no significant value.
The body was packed and covered with natron (a
salty drying agent). Then the body was left
for 40-50 days.
Mummies
Slide 28 Egyptians wrote in
hieroglyphics
Made up of
sound and
picture
symbols
Only scribes
(men) were
taught to
write
Hieroglyphics
Slide 29 What did Egyptians
write on?
Papyrus
Also used to
make baskets,
sandals and river
rafts
The Great Sphinx is
located on the Giza
plateau, about six
miles west of Cairo.
Slide 30 Egyptian Social
Classes
Slide 31 Egyptian Economy
Although Egypt looks
really sophisticated, the
economy is a traditional
economy based on
farming and trade.
Egyptians traded up and
down the Nile, with
Mesopotamians and
sometimes with the Indus
Valley (in Pakistan)
Indus Valley Civilization
Slide 33 The Land of India
Subcontinent
Himalaya Mountains
Five nations of today:
India,
Pakistan in the NW,
Nepal,
Bhutan, and
Bangladesh in NE
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48
Slide 34 Fertile River Valleys
2 river valleys: Ganges and Indus
South is dry and hilly (Deccan Plateau)
Eastern and Western coasts are lush, fertile
plains.
Monsoons
Winter – cold, dry air from mts
Summer – warm, wet air from
the Arabian Sea
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49
Slide 35 Indus River Valley
This civilization is still
mysterious.
The writing has not
been translated.
Slide 36 Indus River
Civilization
We do know the cities
were sophisticated
enough to have brick
walls surrounding
them for protection
against flooding from
the Indus River.
Slide 37 India’s greatest advancements
were in mathematics.
Invented the zero and the symbol for it
(another for infinity)
They invented the number system we use
today (1-9)
Algebra
Set algorithms
Roman
XXV
-XIII
Indian-Arabic
XX IIIII
- X III
XX IIIII
- X III
X II
25
-13
12
Slide 38 Ancient India’s
contributions
Farmers raised cattle, made the cow sacred
and could not be killed.
Grew wheat, millet, barley, and rice
Developed iron plow
Developed a written language – Sanskitt
Slide 39Ancient India’s
religions
Hinduism-Many gods, reincarnation(Birth-Death-Rebirth), and Dharma is their
law
Buddhism-Nirvana, 4 Noble Truths, No
material possessions
Slide 40 Indus Economy
Just like the other river
valley civilizations, the
Indus river valley people
were mostly farmers.
Traditional economy
They traded with the
Chinese, with the
Sumerians
(Mesopotamians) and
sometimes with the
Egyptians.
Slide 41 Ancient India rulers
Dynasty – a series of rulers from the same
family.
1st dynasty – Mauryan family
Gupta dynasty
Mahabbarata
Slide 42 ANCIENT
CHINA
Great Wall
Began 2000 B.C.
Mandate of Heaven
Dynasties
Silk
Astronomy
Slide 43 Yellow River Civilization
Ancient China was
formed around the
Yellow River.
The color yellow
symbolized
“centrality”, as in
China is the center
of the world.
Huang He
(Yellow River)
Slide 44 Chinese
Accomplishments
During the Zhou and
Shang periods
achievements in
astronomy and
bronze work
learned to make silk
create books
developed a complex
system of writing.
Slide 45 The Chinese Language
3 examples:
1. Pictographs-Pictures that represent
things.
2. Ideographs – join together two or more
pictographs to form an idea.
3. Chinese Calligraphy
Most characters in their language
represent whole words and not sounds.
Slide 46 Example of Chinese
Calligraphy
Slide 47 Ancient Chinese Social
Classes
Landowning
aristocrats
Peasant
farmers
Merchants
Slide 48 E:Chinese Invented
Silk
Silk was exotic and
expensive, so it was
good for trading with
the rest of the world.
It is made from silk
worms.
Silk also makes
“paper”
Slide 49 Silk worm
Slide 50 Ancient China
Economy
•Farming and trade
•Traditional economy
•First to develop terrace
farming-Solution for
farming on hillsides.
People use Terraces or
different levels for
farming.
•This method is still used
today for rice and other
crops.
Chinese Rice Terrace
dyn
Slide 51 Dynasty
Dynasty-A family or group that
maintains power for generations
Xia dynasty -1st dynasty
Shang dynasty – built first Chinese cities
1750 B.C. – 1045 B.C.
Slide 52 Confucius’ ideas
Restore family order and social harmony:
Fathers should display high moral values to inspire
their families.
Children should respect and obey their parents.
All family members should be loyal to each other.
Government:
Moral leadership, not laws, brought order to China.
A king should lead by example, inspiring good
behavior in all of his subjects.
The lower classes would learn by following the
example of their superiors.
Slide 53 Ancient Chinese
Religion
Believed in gods and spirits
Had to keep them happy by offerings of
food and other goods
Angry gods and spirits may cause a poor
harvest or armies to lose a battle
Kings received power and wisdom from
them
Ancient China
The Great Wall of China was
built to keep the Mongols out.
Many died building it, and their
bodies were used as filler for it.