Friday, September 12, 2014

World History - week of September 9

Coach Smith
World History

Monday


Development of river valley civilizations:
  • Four early major river valley civilizations developed
    • Tigris and Euphrates
    • Nile
    • Indus
    • Huang He Rivers
  • Mesopotamia/Fertile Crescent (3500 BC-1600 BC)
    • Settlement on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around 4500 BC
    • Sumerians arrive in 3500 BC and begin irrigation
    • Sumerian city – states established around 3000 BC and initially controlled by temple priests
    • Polytheistic religion – Ziggurat (temple) center of each city-state
    • Scientific achievements – wheel, sail, plow, bronze, cuneiform
    • Babylonian Empire reaches its peak under Hammurabi (1792 BC-1750 BC), who established a written, uniform code of laws (Hammurabi’s Code).
    • Babylonian Empire ended around 1500 BC and other civilizations in this area, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews, adopted ideas first developed by early Sumerians.

Tuesday


Egypt (3000 BC-2000 BC)
  • Earliest settlement along the Nile River began in 5000 BC
  • Irrigation along the Nile led to Egypt being known as “The Gift of the Nile.” Flooding was on a regular yearly cycle.
  • Ruled by pharaohs who were considered god-kings; theocracy established as form of government
  • Polytheistic religion
  • Religious features – pyramids built as tombs for pharaohs; belief in the afterlife; mummification of the dead to prevent bodies from decaying
  • Stratified society – royal family followed by upper class (priests and nobles), followed by middle class (merchants and artisans), and then the lower class (peasant farmers and unskilled laborers); slavery later became a source of labor
  • Writing system – hieroglyphics; writing done on papyrus
  • Scientific achievements – written numbers, geometry, stone columns, calendar for flooding cycle, advanced medicine
  • Empire declines as other civilizations invade Egypt after 1200 BC


Wednesday


Indus River Valley Civilizations (2500 BC-1700 BC)
  • First major cities include Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa that were developed on grid systems and had sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems
  • These early cities declined around 1750 BC due to a possible change in the course of the Indus River
  • Indo-European people known as Aryans settle in the Indus Valley around 1500 BC
  • Caste system developed under Aryans to separate Aryan from non-Aryan


Thursday



Chinese River Valley Civilizations (3950 BC-1000 BC)
  • Huang He (Yellow) River Valley
  • Shang Dynasty (2000 BC) – division of classes; importance of family
  • Writing system where each symbol represents an idea
  • Technology and science – bronze-working, silk

Friday

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