The Nine Building Blocks of CivilizationBy: Cynthia ShoeHumanities-ColonB-3

Technology- Mesopotamia

Technology was evident in Mesopotamia because they could make arid plains into farming lands easily by building irrigation systems. They also made more efficient tools out of flint and they created the pottery wheel which made the production of pottery go up a lot. A couple more things they did was they used casting metals to create other technologies and spread human-environmental interaction throughout the land which changed natural made things to man made things.

Monuments- Olmec Colossal Heads

There is not a lot known about the Ancient Olmec civilization, but they did find some colossal heads near the Olmec site. Archeologists don’t really know what the heads are for, there are about 4 different interpretations for what archeologists think they were for. The Olmec heads were made out of basalt rock from the side of a mountain and carved by hand. They weighed tons and took thousands of people to make them. They were truly huge.

Law, Art, and Religion- Mesopotamia and Egypt• Law:

• In 2000 BCE, women could own property, sue in court, and work many jobs.• Laws then started making women dependent and restricted to their homes.• In 2800 BCE, slavery spread across Mesopotamia.• Laws were supported by religion and strengthened by the army.

• Religion:• Religious ideas influenced behavior.• Egypt afterlife depended on divine judgment, the deceased lived a good

life.• Grave goods ensured comfort.• They organized and carried out rituals that celebrated and made requested

favors from Gods.• They supervised public worship and impressive events.

• Art:• Around 3000 BCE art styles appeared in Egyptian towns.• After that Egypt started importing expensive wood, copper, ivory, and

marble.• Pottery was also a very important art.

Specialized Jobs- Olmec

Like I said in the Monuments slide, there is not a lot known about the Olmec civilization. They have found most if not all of the Olmec jobs though. The social hierarchy is kind of made out of perspective, but from some information, you can figure out where some of the jobs go. In the social hierarchy that I made up, the upper class includes rulers, priests, and ball players. The middle class includes farmers, merchants, artists, sculptors, and engineers. The lower class includes laborers and textile workers.

Great Minds- Mesopotamia and Egypt

In Mesopotamia and Egypt, the use of the environment was increased, animals were made into multi-use animals instead of just a one time source and the first multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural empire was established. Kind of like what they call a giant melting pot. Also, the most important contribution was ideas.

Writing- Egyptian

In Ancient Egypt, the people made an alphabet called Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were a form of writing that used symbols. Hieroglyphics were used to record information and to keep records. They used Hieroglyphics like we use the English alphabet here. They were very used to it and good at drawing it so it was easy to read their Hieroglyphics, unlike us.

Cities

Cities were more than enlarged villages, the first cities did not emerge until the populations increased and then the first cities emerged. In the early cities, the rulers collected the goods in storage places that were guarded and controlled. Cities were centers of manufacturing and big hubs in the trade networks. In one early city-state, women's mouths were crushed for speaking disrespectfully. The early cities, were laid out the same way but the different cities often had wars over territory.

Government• Villages spread out the less easily formed areas

like river valleys.• Fast resources grew and so did the populations.• The differences in wealth led to conflict.• Many empires crumbled.• A main leadership existed in the early Harrappan

civilization in the Indus Valley.• Mesopotamia’s afterlife had a loss of identity and

ended in a shadowy world of sadness.

Trade• Trade happened along edges of intensively farmed

areas.• Trading with sedentary people was often.• Sumer imported timber, marble, metals, and

semi-precious stones.• Evidence shows sea trade connected

Mesopotamia to the Indus Valley.• There was thriving trade between Mesopotamia,

Anatolia, and Iran.

Bibliography• Papers that Ms. Colon gave us.• Hawass, Zahi. “Who Was He?” Who Was He? N.p.

2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2012. www.kingtut.org/about-king-tut/king-tut/who-was-he

• "King Tut Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 1996- 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. www.biography.com/people/king-tut-9512446