River Valley Civilizations Study Guide - The HW Helperthehwhelper.com/rokdownloads/Ninth...

Copyright Daniel Nissim 2006

River Valley Civilizations

Terms

Civilization: a complex culture with advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. City: a center for trade for a larger area. Specialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work. Artisan: skilled worker who makes goods by hand. Institution: a long-lasting pattern of organization in a community. Scribes: Professional record keepers. Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped,” a form of writing written in clay with a wedge-shaped stylus. Stylus: a sharpened reed with a wedge-shaped point. Pictograph: symbols of the objects or things they represent. Bronze Age: refers to the time when people began using bronze, rather than copper and stone, to fashion tools and weapons. Ur: one of the earliest cities in Sumer, standing on the banks of the Euphrates River, housing about 30,000 citizens. Barter: way of trading goods and services without money. Ziggurat: a pyramid-shaped monument, meaning “mountain of god.” Fertile Crescent: an arc of land that provides some of the best farming in Southwest Asia. Mesopotamia: a plain that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, meaning, “land between the rivers.” Silt: a thick bed of mud. Irrigation: the bringing of water to crop fields by means of canals and ditches. City-state: a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit. Monarch: full-time rulers who later passed on their control to their heir. Dynasty: a series of rulers from a single family. Cultural Diffusion: the spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another. Polytheism: a belief in many gods. Epic: long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendary or traditional heroes Epic of Gilgamesh: one of the earliest works of literature describing the heroic adventures of Gilgamesh, a legendary king, and his unsuccessful quest for immortality. Social Structure: People are placed in different respects and class due to their occupation and power. Cataract: a waterfall or stretch of rapids in a river. First Cataract: the point along the Nile where the rapids became too strong for the riverboats to continue upstream southbound.


Upper Egypt: Southern part of Egypt from the First Cataract leading up to the part where the Nile spreads into many branches. Lower Egypt: Northern part of Egypt consisting of the Nile delta region, beginning about 100 miles before the Nile meats the Mediterranean. Nile Delta: a broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the Nile River. The richness of the soil provides a good home for many birds and other wild animals Menes: King of Upper Egypt who united all of Egypt under one ruler. Memphis: Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Old Kingdom: Lasting from 2,660 B.C. to 2,180 B.C. Pharaohs: Egyptian god-kings. Theocracy: type of government in which the ruler is a divine figure. Ka: an eternal spirit Pyramid: an immense structure serving as a resting place after death. Great Pyramid of Giza: Largest pyramid consisting of 2 million blocks spanning 13 acres and rising 481 feet. Ra: the sun god. Osiris: the powerful god of the dead who weighed each dead person’s heart. Horus: the god of light. Mummification: embalming and drying the corpse to prevent it from decaying. Book of the Dead: scroll that contained hymns, prayers, and magic spells intended to guide the soul in the afterlife. Hieroglyphics: “sacred carving,” an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds. Rosetta Stone: polished black stone found in 1799 near the delta village of Rosetta, it was inscribed in hieroglyphics, a simpler version of hieroglyphics, and ancient Greek. Papyrus: tall reed stalks that were dampened and then pressed into paper-like sheets. First Intermediate Period: Time between the Old and Middle Kingdoms in which Egypt faced a period of weakness and turmoil. Middle Kingdom: From 2080 B.C. to 1640 B.C., strong pharaohs took control back by restoring law and order. They improved trade and transportation by creating a canal from the Nile River to the Red Sea. They conducted many other public projects to improve their irrigation and farmlands. Hyksos: “the rulers of the uplands,” the Asian nomads who came through the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt with horse-drawn chariots and took control from 1640-1570 B.C. Indian Subcontinent: The mass of land including India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Monsoons: Seasonal winds. Khyber pass: Believed to be where northern migrants entered India in the Hindu Kush Mountains.


Harappa: One of the major cities settled near the Indus where many archeological discoveries were made. Mohenjo-Daro: One of the major cities settled near the Indus. City Planning: Layout in Indus cities were of the grid system. Citadel: a fortified area containing the major building of the city. Grid System: Buildings laid out in an organized horizontal-vertical fashion. Indus Seals: Stamps and seals of carved stone were used to identify where a good has come from, in this case, Indus. Great Bath: In Mohenjo-Daro, it was probably used for ritual bathing or other religious purposes. Aryans: Nomads from north of the Hindu Kush Mountains may have been the cause of the fall of the Indus civilization. Huang He River: “yellow river.” Deposits large amounts of fertile loess that is blown by the winds from the deserts to the west. “China’s Sorrow.” Yangtze River: One of the major rivers in central China. Three Gorges Project: a project that will add a dam to China that would provide electrical power equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants. It will displace more than a million Chinese people. Middle Kingdom: China, who felt they were the center of the world. Loess: a fertile deposit of windblown soil. China’s Sorrow: The Huang He River, which in 1887 killed almost a million people. Xia Dynasty: First Chinese dynasty started around 2,000 B.C., whose ruler, Yu, had such flood-control and irrigation projects that controlled the Huang He River and allowed settlements to grow. Yu: An engineer and mathematician, who had great flood-control and irrigation projects that conquered the Huang He and allowed settlements to grow, Shang Dynasty: Lasting from 1532-1027 B.C., was the first family of rulers who left written records. They had elaborate tombs and palaces. Anyang: A capital of the Shang Dynasty, the entire city was made of wood because it was found in a forest. The wealthy lived in timber-framed houses within the walls, while the poorer lived in hovels outside of the city walls. Shang Di: the supreme god of the Shang. Oracle bone: animal bone or tortoise shell with questions scratched on them by a priest for the gods. They would use a hot poker to crack it and interpret the cracks to see the gods’ answer. Zhou Dynasty: Lasting from 1027-256 B.C., they were first to introduce feudalism. This meant, that lords or nobles were granted use of the land legally owned by the king. These local rulers had to protect the people of their area and would owe military service along with loyalty to the king. Mandate of Heaven: Approval of the gods. Dynastic Cycle: Cycle used to describe the patter of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties.


Feudalism: a political system where nobles or lords are granted the use of lands, which by law, belong to the king. In return, they must protect the people of their land and owe military service and loyalty to the king.

Civilization (life in cities)

River Valleys Fertile

Surplus

Specialization

Trade Government

Cooperation Interdependence

Record Keeping

Culture


Characteristics Tigris and Euphrates

Nile

Advanced Cities -population -city planning -name of cities

-Walled cities -Ur

-Memphis -Thebes -No walls (predictable floods) -Surrounded by desert

Specialized Workers -types of work

-farmers -artisans (metalworkers, potters) -scribes, scholars -priests

-farmers -artisans -scribes -government ministers -priests

Complex Institutions -government

-theocracy -legitimacy- marry goddess -city-state -temple servants run government -laws

-Sphinx -King Tut -Theocracy -Pharaoh (King) -Kingdom (Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt) -Dynasties -Government officials -Public Works (Pyramids -Obelisk (symbol of power) -Hatshepsut (only female ruler)

-religion and values -polytheism -Ziggurat -temple servants (rituals)

-polytheism (over 2,000 gods) -Ra (sun), Horus (sky), Isis (Ideal mother) -Ka=the afterlife; Osiris (weighs dead hearts) -Pyramids and tombs -Mummification -Book of Dead

-economy -temple economy (temple servants run economy=farms, taxes, etc.) -trade -surplus -coins

-Trade (Nubia and Mediterranean Sea) -Surplus agriculture -Scribes kept records -Public works (pyramids)

-social structure -King......goddess -Temple servants -Merchants -Artisans (skilled

-Royal class (king, queen, royal family) -Upper class (gov. officials, priests, wealthy


workers) -Peasants (farmers) -Slaves (P.O.W.,debt) *Lived outside walls

landowners, army commanders) -Middle Class (merchants, artisans) -Lower class (farmers, unskilled workers) -Slaves -Social mobility through marriage, success -Relative gender equality

Record Keeping -writing -calendar -literature -history -education

-Cuneiform -Epic of Gilgamesh -Maps -Pictographs

-Hieroglyphics -Pictographs- phonographs became ideographs -Papyrus -Book of Dead

Advanced Technology -tools -irrigation -metals -architecture -math/science

-Wheel -Irrigation -Astronomy -Chemistry -Bronze -Sail -Plow -Architecture -Number system based on 60

-Mummification -Papyrus -Numbers/math -Geometry (engineering) -Architecture (stone columns) -Calendar- floods (inundation, emergence, drought) -Medicine (pulse, splints, surgery)

What caused the decline of the civilization? -invasions -natural disasters

-Sargon of Akkad invades -Population increase causes overuse of land

-Hyskos (nomads) invade on chariots

Characteristics Indus Advanced Cities -population -city planning -name of cities

-Harappa -Mohenjo-Daro -Well planned (grid system) -Citadel


-farmers -artisans -merchants -traders -priests


-strong central government- organized cities, uniform constructions


-Little/no military (natural barriers)

-religion and values -Polytheism -Baths=purity -Bulls- cow=sacred -Yoga meditation -Mother Goddess -Afterlife -Wheel (reincarnation)

-economy -Trade (Mesopotamia) -Seals -Surplus (granaries)

-social structure -Priestly class -Aristocrats -Traders, merchants, teachers -Artisans -Farmers -Probably no slaves or poor -Relative equality (uniform housing)


-Seals -Pictographs

Advanced Technology -tools -irrigation -metals -architecture -math/science

-Plumbing -Sewage systems/toilets -Engineering -Standard bricks, weights -Chess, dice -Cloth, cotton -Pottery (glazed tiles)


-Unpredictable river changed course -Over population led to overuse of land -Sudden catastrophe -Aryan (nomads) invasion


Characteristics Yellow I Xia and Shang

Dynasties

Yellow II Zhou Dynasty

Advanced Cities -population -city planning -name of cities

-Anyang -Wooden -Walls -Peasants outside walls

-Hao and Luoyang


-farmers -irrigation builders -artisans -warriors -civil servants, scribes

-farmers -irrigation builders -artisans -warriors -civil servants, scribes


-Emperor, royal court -Strong central gov.- public works projects (irrigation, palaces, tombs)

-Feudalism -King -Lords -Peasants -Mandate of Heaven and dynastic cycle concepts begin

-religion and values -ancestor worship (family important) -oracle bones -Middle Kingdom -Polytheism

-Mandate of Heaven -Ceremonies

-economy -Surplus agriculture -Increased economic activity -More trade, larger cities

-social structure -Emperor -Warrior class/nobles -Artisans, merchants -Peasants -Women (inferior)

-Emperor -Lords -Civil servants (gov. workers) -Merchants, artisans -Peasants


-Characters -Pictographs to ideographs -Oracle bones -Standard written language (unifies China), many spoken languages

-Ideographs -Scholars- education important

Advanced Technology -tools -irrigation -metals -architecture

-Jade carving -War chariots -Bronze (weapons, vessels, not tools) -Silk

- Iron (weapons, tools) -Coined money -Roads


-math/science


-Replaced by feudal lords -Overthrown by Zhou

-Zhou monarch killed (nomads) -Capital moved east -Period of chaos- Era of Warring States (lords fighting)

Feudalism of the Zhou Dyansty

Emperor

Lords

Peasants

Accomplishments of Old Sumer • Alcohol • Tile • Temples • Palaces • Coins • Pottery • Wheels • Arch • Astronomy • Literature • School • Maps • Time

Land

Use land Protection

Crops Loyalty

Military Loyalty Taxes/crops


Advantages and Disadvantages of Geography

Civilization Advantages Disadvantages

Mesopotamia -Fertile land -Unpredictable flooding (destructive) -Travel difficult -Man-made irrigation -barriers -No natural barriers

Nile -Predictable flooding (cycle) -Natural irrigation -Silt -Winds (Easy transport) -Natural barriers (Desert, cataracts)

-Cataracts

Indus -Tropical climate -Monsoon rains -TRADE!!! -Natural barriers (mountains) -Protection

-Tropical climate (diseases) -Monsoons unpredictable (famine) -Monsoons->flooding =destructive -River unpredictable

China -Fertile Loess -Protected by natural barriers

-Suspended river (have to build walls) -Destructive flooding (“China’s Sorrow”) -Isolated by barriers -Middle Kingdom -Unpredictable River


Be able to label: Tigris River, Euphrates River, Persian Gulf, First Cataract on the Nile River, Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, Nubia, Nile Delta, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Indus River, Hindu Kush Mountains, Himalayan Mountains, Khyber Pass, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Wet (Summer) Monsoons, Dry (Winter) Monsoons, Yellow River, Taklamakan Desert, Gobi Desert, Yangtze River, Yellow Sea, Plateau of Tibet, and Pacific Ocean.

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