Chapter 2 Early River Valley Civilizations
Feudalism (ancient China)
a political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally belong to the king. In return, the nobles owe loyalty and military service to the king and protection to the people who live on their estates.
Mandate of Heaven
a political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source
Indo-Gangetic Plain
a rich, fertile and ancient land encompassing most of northern and eastern India, the most populous parts of Pakistan, and virtually all of Bangladesh.
dynasty
a sequence of rulers from the same family, stock or group
Ziggurat
a tiered or layered pyramid-shaped structure that formed part of a Sumerian temple
Family in Ancient China
" The family was central to Chinese society. The most important virtue was respect for one's parents. The elder men in the family controlled the family's property and made important decisions. Women, on the other hand, were treated as inferiors.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Writing in Ancient China
"The Chinese system of writing had one major advantage. People in all parts of China could learn the same system of writing, even if their spoken languages were very different. Thus, the Chinese written language helped unify a large and diverse land, and made control much easier" The disadvantage of the Chinese system was the enormous number of written characters to be memorized—a different one for each unit of language. A person needed to know over 1,500 characters to be barely literate. To be a true scholar, one needed to know at least 10,000 characters. For centuries, this severely limited the number of literate, educated Chinese.
China's environmental challenges
"The Huang He's floods could be disastrous. Sometimes floods devoured whole villages, earning the river the nickname "China's Sorrow." Because of China's relative geographic isolation, early settlers had to supply their own goods rather than trading with outside peoples. China's natural boundaries did not completely protect these settlers from outsiders. Invasions from the west and north occurred again and again in Chinese history.
Sumerian problem solving
"To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops. For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks. Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the peoples of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they received raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal"
environmental challenges in Mesopotamia
"Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little or no rain. The land sometimes became almost a desert. With no natural barriers for protection, a Sumerian village was nearly defenseless. The natural resources of Sumer were limited. Building materials and other necessary items were scarce.
Dynastic Cycle
rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the Mandate of Heaven
Monsoons
seasonal wind patterns that cause wet and dry seasons
Fertile Soil
soil that is rich in minerals and good for growing crops
Sargon of Akkad
A conqueror from Akkad, north of Sumer, who took over all of Mesopotamia and created the world's first empire.
Harrapan Civilization
Another name for the Indus River Valley civilization; known for advanced cities of Mohenjo-Daro
Narmer
Egyptian King who is believed to have brought 2 Egyptian Kingdoms together.
winter monsoon
the season when dry winds blow from the northeast across the Himalaya Mountains toward the sea from October through February, sometimes causing drought.
Environmental challenges of the Indus River Valley civs
"Yearly floods spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area. However, the floods along the Indus were unpredictable. The rivers sometimes changed course. The cycle of wet and dry seasons brought by the monsoon winds was unpredictable. If there was too little rain, plants withered in the fields and people went hungry. If there was too much rain, floods swept away whole villages. "
Huang He (Yellow River)
1st River valley civs in China were near this river Named for the muddy yellow silt in carries along its path through China. Second longest river in China.
Zhou Dynasty
2nd dynasty .... the longest lasting Chinese dynasty, during which the use of iron was introduced. Claimed the Mandate of Heaven and overthrew the Shang dynasty
Harrapan language
400 symbols believed to depict pictures, ideas, and sounds; scientists cannot translate b/c there are no inscriptions that are bilingual
Sumer
A region of city-states in southern Mesopotamia that is considered to be the first civilization.
Nile River
A river in Egypt - Africa (river valley civilization)
Indus River
A river in South Asia that flows from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea.
Indus River
A river in South Asia that flows from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea., the location of the first river valley civilization of India.
Civilization
A society with cities, a central government run by official leaders, and workers who specialize in certain jobs, leading to social classes. Writing, art, and architecture also characterize a civilization.
Loess
A wind-formed deposit made of fine particles of clay and silt
Hammurabi
Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.). He conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia and is best known for a code of laws, inscribed on a black stone pillar, illustrating the principles to be used in legal cases.
Reasons for Indus decline
Around 1750 b.c., the quality of building in the Indus Valley cities declined. Gradually, the great cities fell into decay. The fate of the cities remained a mystery until the 1970s. Then, satellite images of the subcontinent of India revealed evidence of shifts in tectonic plates. The plate movement probably caused earthquakes and floods and altered the course of the Indus River"
Irrigation
Bringing water to dry lands
Sumerians
Credited as the first civilization in Mesopotamia
Harrapan plumbing
Early engineers created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems. These systems could rival any urban drainage systems built before the 19th century. The uniformity in the cities' planning and construction suggests that the Indus peoples had developed a strong central government.
Middle Kingdom
Economy based on trade
Trade
Exchange of goods and services
Mesopotamia
First civilization located between the Tigris & Eurphrates Rivers in present day Iraq; term means "land between the rivers;" Sumerian culture
Theocracy
Government based on religion, leader is a political and religious leader. Leadership is often divine in origin.
Eye for an eye
Hammurabi's code; an equal punishment to fit the crime
Permanent Settlement
Humans began building homes near their crops and villages developed in the most popular locations.
Irrigation
To supply (dry land) with water by means of ditches, pipes, or streams
The Middle Kingdom (China)
In the Chinese view, people who lived outside of Chinese civilization were barbarians. Because the Chinese saw their country as the center of the civilized world, their own name for China was the Middle Kingdom.
Sumerian achievements
Invented the wheel, the sail, the plow; First to use bronze; Developed system of writing on clay tablets, cuneiform; Built irrigation systems, buildings; 12 month calendar; math and geometry.
Mesopotamian social classes
Kings, Priests, Upper class, Farmers, Slaves
Papyrus
Material Egyptians used to keep records on
Old Kingdom
Memphis - Capital Construction of Pyramids 1st Dynasty
Warring States Period
Period in China from 403 to 221 B.C.E. that was typified by disorder and political chaos after the fall of the Zhou dynasty
Egyptian Government
Pharaoh - Absolute power Hierarchy/Bureaucracy Theocracy
Egyptian Religion
Pharoah is an indirect link to the gods polytheism - over 2000 gods Afterlife - Land of the Dead Ka - eternal spirit that leaves the body
Harrapan religion
Priests likely prayed for good harvests and safety from floods. Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture. Figures show what may be early representations of Shiva, a major Hindu god. Other figures relate to a mother goddess, fertility images, and the worship of the bull. All of these became part of later Indian civilization. Archaeologists think that the culture was a theocracy. But no site of a temple has been found.
Egyptian Defense
Protected by surrounding desert Professional army, empire builders
Egyptian Achievements
Pyramids, temples, artists, sculptors, math, 365 day calendar, practice of embalming bodies,
Mummies
Religious practice in preserving the human body
Zhou improvements in technology and trade
Roads and canals were built to stimulate trade and agriculture. Coined money was introduced, which further improved trade. Blast furnaces that produced cast iron were developed.
Shang Dynasty
Second Chinese dynasty (about 1750-1122 B.C.) which was mostly a farming society ruled by an aristocracy mostly concerned with war. They're best remembered for their art of bronze casting.
tectonic plates
Sections of the Earth's crust that move due to convection currents. The Indian plate crashed into the Eurasian plate and formed the himalayas
Social Classes in ancient China
Shang society was sharply divided between nobles and peasants. A ruling class of warrior-nobles headed by a king governed the Shang. These noble families owned the land. They governed the scattered villages within the Shang lands and sent tribute to the Shang ruler in exchange for local control.
Harrapan achievements
Sophisticated city planning. The people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. Sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems
Hieroglyphics
Style of writing Egyptians used
cuneiform
Sumerian writing system made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool (or stylus) into clay tablets
Delta
a nearly flat plain of alluvial deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river, often, though not necessarily, triangular
Harrapan cities
The people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city. Buildings were constructed of oven-baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the simpler, irregular, sun-dried mud bricks of the Mesopotamians.
city-state
a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit.
Fertile Crescent
a large arc or "crescent" shaped area of rich farmland in southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea
surplus
an amount that is more than what is needed
region
an area with one or more features that make it different from surrounding areas
silt
fine soil found on river bottoms- the Nile river deposited it when it flooded which led to very fertile soil
River Valley
first civilizations are all located here (Nile, Tigris & Euphrates, Indus and Huang He)
Why river Valleys were great locations to start a civilization
irrigation, annual flooding, transportation, food supply
Epic of Gilgamesh
is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature
agriculture
the practice or business of farming
cultural diffusion
process of spreading ideas, languages, and customs from one culture to another
River Valley civilizations
the earliest civilizations that developed around rivers for the fresh water supply and the fertile land ex-: Tigris-Euphrates (Mesopotamia), Nile (Egypt), Indus (India), Huang He or Yellow River, and the Chang Jiang River (China)
Indian Subcontinent
the landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
Summer monsoon
the season when winds blow from the southwest across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia, from June through September, with winds stirring up powerful storms and causing severe flooding.
Tigris and Euphrates River
the two rivers that surround Mesopotamia. These rivers would flood and provide silt that made the soil fertile.
culture
the way of life for a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs
Harrapan culture
uniformity in religion, praise and respect for animals, no significant divide in social class, peaceful, not a lot of warfare weapons