Chapter 2 Early River Valley Civilizations

Section 1 City-States in Mesopotamia

Rivers are the basis for four great early civilizations to grow. Around rivers man could build farms and large cities.

The Fertile Crescent is the area in the Middle East that runs from what is now Turkey through Syria and Iraq.

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers run through this area. The plain that runs between these two rivers is known as Mesopotamia ( Greek for land between two rivers)

These rivers would flood and the silt left over would be so fertile that the farmers could raise surpluses of wheat and barley. Which allowed the area to develop villages.

People known as Sumerians populated this area known as Mesopotamia. The good soil attracted the Sumerians to the area but there were a few disadvantages of the area.

How did the Sumerians develop their solutions to the problems, it took organization, cooperation, and leadership.

Sumerians create city-states

            Five key characteristics set the Sumerians apart from other groups.

1.      Advanced cities

2.      Specialized workers

3.      Complex institutions

4.      Record keeping

5.      Advanced technology

Sumerians built several cities that acted much like a small country of today. This cities developed their own governments with their own leaders and rulers. The following are examples of the Sumerian city-states: Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur.

The priests controlled the earliest governments of the region. The farmers looked to the priests for the prayers that allowed the crops to grow in abundance. The priests also received part of each farmer’s crops as taxes.

In time of war, strong military leaders came to control the government. These rulers passed their control on to their sons and they onto their heirs. This is known as a dynasty.

As the Sumerians developed more cities they came into contact with other cultures and absorbed some of their ideas. The process of a new idea or a product spreading from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion.

Sumerians believed that many gods controlled the forces of nature. The belief in many gods is called polytheism.

The Sumerians wrote their myths and legends in a long poem called the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Sumerian women had more rights than other societies.  They could work as merchants , farmer, artisan, and lower ranks of the priesthood.  But women could not go to school, only the uperclass boys learne dto read and write.

Sumerians and technology

Sargon of Akkad controlled the northern and southern areas of Mesopotamia and created the world’s first empire. An empire brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler. Lasting for 200 years, it declined due to internal fighting, invasions, and a severe famine.

The Babylonian Empire took over the region in 2000 B.C. the most famous leader of the empire was Hammurabi, due to the code of laws he put together. This code included 282 laws to be followed by all member of society.  However the punishment was different depending on the social class of the offending person.

Here are two laws

• If a man has stolen an ox, a sheep, a pig, or a boat that belonged to a temple or palace, he shall repay thirty times its cost. If it belonged to a private citizen, he shall repay ten times. If the thief cannot pay, he shall be put to death.
• If a woman hates her husband and says to him “you cannot be with me, “ the authorities in her district will investigate the case. If she has been chaste and without fault, even though her husband has neglected or belittled her, she will be held innocent and may return to her father’s house… if the woman is at fault, she shall be thrown in to the river…

   

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Section 2 Pyramids on the Nile

The Nile River flows northward for 4100 miles.  Egyptian cities grew up along the river because of the fertile lands. This land of the Black land and the Red land was so easily seen that one could stand with one foot on each side of the line.

Just like the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile River would flood and bring fertile land to the desert and the following cycle would be started, flood, plant, harvest, flood, plant, harvest, flood, plant, harvest.

Using irrigation the Egyptians controlled the water in the desert. The Nile River was divided into the Upper Egypt and the Lower Egypt. Churning rapids called cataracts separated the two. The area north of the cataracts was very fertile the river entered the Mediterranean Sea and formed a delta. This are was home to many birds and animals.

The river current runs north-allowing movement along the river, and the winds blow from the north allowing sailing vessels to travel against the current. It was easy to travel and interact along the Nile River. Living along the river present problems similar to those faced by the Sumerians. Flooding or not enough water had devastating effects. Too little not enough fertile soil, too much and cities flooded. But the desert kept the Egyptians from being invaded from centuries.

Ideas were exchanged up and down the river and with traders from the Mediterranean Sea. Goods traded were gold, ivory, cattle, and granite blocks for the temples.

Upper and Lower Egypt were ruled by separate governments until King Menes united all of Egypt. The crown of Lower Egypt was a red crown and the crown of Upper Egypt was white. King Menes combined the two crowns. 

The rulers of Egypt were Pharaohs and were known as god-kings. The pharaoh is the center of the government as well as the religious leader.  When the leader is the divine figure that is called theocracy.

The pharaohs were thought to be able to live in the afterlife and they would rule in the afterlife so huge tombs were built for them, the pyramids. These pyramids reflected the success of the Egyptian government and way of life with the surpluses that made the building of great buildings and things possible.

The Egyptians were polytheistic worshipping over 2000 gods. The most important were the following

All people that died were mummified in order to preserve the human body for the afterlife.

Personal items of the person would be put in the tomb with him or her so they will have them in the afterlife.

Society king, queen, and royal family stood at the top.

Below them were the wealthy landowners, government officials, priests, and army commanders.   

Middle class included merchants and artisans.

Lower class was made up of the peasant framers and unskilled laborers.

And later slaves were introduced as the labor force of the Egyptians.

A person could work his way to a higher class, the highest positions in Egyptian society belonged to those that could read and write. Women held many of the same rights as the men in Egypt. Egyptians developed a writing that developed into the hieroglyphics, coming from the Greek terms hieros and gluphe meaning sacred carving.

They wrote on papyrus that grew on the marshy deltas along the river.

The Egyptians develop architecture and used geometry developed calendar to keep track of the floods.

Medical doctors improved during the length of time the Egyptians ruled.

The chariots were used invade and capture Egypt by the Hyksos.

Section 3 Planned Cities on the Indus

Modern India cultures can be traced to the early civilization of India.

India is a subcontinent because the mountain ranges of Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and the Himalaya separate India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh from the rest of Asia.

Two rivers form a huge flat fertile plain, the Indus and the Ganges. The Deccan Plateau separates northern India from the rest of India. Monsoons dominate the climate in India. During the winter, from October to May, dry winds blow across India. In June, the winds blow from the southwest and bring moisture and rain into the interior of the continent.

The civilizations that grew up around the Indus and the Ganges faced the same problems as the Egyptians and the Sumerians. However floods in the Indus and the Ganges river valleys were not predictable. This caused the rivers to change course from one monsoon season to the next.

The desert to the south and the mountains to the north created natural barriers that protected the valleys from attack. With the rivers flowing to the sea, the Indian civilization developed trade with other people including the Sumerians.

The people who inhabited this area are thought to have come from the north entering the region the Khyber Pass through the Hindu Kush Mountains. 7000 B.C. these people were herders keeping sheep and goats and by 3200 B.C. they moved to the river valleys and started farming.

Kalibanga, Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa.  This civilization has been called the Harappan Civilization due to the amount of discoveries made at that site.

Planned cities of the Indus river valley were more thought out than those of the Sumerians. More than 100 cities along the valley show us the planned cities. The cities were laid out with precise grids so the streets were square. The center of the cities was a walled area known as the citadel where the major buildings of the town were protected. The buildings were built with standard sized bricks that were oven-baked. Surrounding the citadel were the residential areas of the cities. The plumbing and sewage of this civilization was as good as any before the 1800s.

With all of the organization, historians have concluded that this civilization must have had a strong central government.

Toys found in the ruins of the cities suggest that the people did not have to spend all their time in hunting and gathering food. And few weapons were found. A major god of the civilization may have been Shiva. Stamps and seals of the Indus civilization have been found in the ruins of the Sumerians and visa versa.

These early civilizations along the Indus and Ganges Rivers suddenly ended. Unburied bodies have been discovered suggesting a natural catastrophe. 

Section 4 River Dynasties in China

The last of these early river civilizations to be established were those along the rivers in China. Natural barriers isolated China from all other civilizations. (pacific Ocean on the east, Taklimakan desert and Plateau of Tibet to the west, Himalaya mountains to the southwest, the Gobi Desert and the Mongolian Plateau to the north) between these barriers two rivers flowed. (Huang He in the north and Yangtze in central China)This area was known as China, or the Middle Kingdom.

Chinese civilizations grew around the rivers. The Huang He (Yellow River) left huge deposits of Loess, which was dirty yellow dirt that was very fertile. (Sometimes deadly floods 1887 killed 1 million people)

The Chinese being isolated developed their own goods rather than trade with outsiders. The barriers didn’t totally protect the area; china was attacked over and over through the centuries.   

The first Chinese dynasty was the Xia Dynasty. The leader was Yu who created irrigation ditches and flood control.

The Shang Dynasty was the first dynasty to develop and leave written records of their civilization. The oldest city of the Shang Dynasty was Anyang built mainly of wood. The leaders had the city protected by walls 118 wide at the base and surrounding 1.2 square miles.  The wall was needed because they were constantly waging war.

Farmers used wooden digging sticks, hoes and sickles made out of stone. The upper classes said that the metals were too precious to be used by the farmers. Even with the use of the primitive tools, the soil was so rich two crops a year of rice, millet, and wheat could be harvested.

Their family and their king or emperor governed the Chinese lives. Family was the center of Chinese society. The oldest member of the family controlled the family’s property and made the important decisions. Women were inferior expected to obey fathers, husbands and then later their sons. Between 13 and 16 marriages were arranged for the women, and only by bearing sons could she improve her status.  After family came the obedience and respect given to the ruler of the Middle Kingdom.

They worshipped their ancestors. The supreme god of the Shang dynasty was Shang Di. The Shang kings consulted the gods using oracle bones. The questions were written or scratched on the bones and then a hot poker was put on the bone and the priest would interpret the cracks.

Chinese writing resembled the items the letters stand for.  One needed to know 1000 characters to be barely literate. As a general rule the noble’s child learned to read but the peasant’s son did not. Craftsman made jewelry, weapons, and religious items for the city’s nobles. Bronze and silk items were made during this time period.  Silk shoes were the definite look of the upper class.

The Shang dynasty ruled until the Zhou overthrew them. The Zhou followed many of the cultural ideas of the Shang but did bring in new ideas to the Chinese civilization. The leaders of the Zhou claimed that the final Shang leader had been a poor leader and the gods had taken away the ability to rule and had given it to the Zhou.  This became known as the Mandate of Heaven.

Strong dynasty established peace and prosperity; it is considered to have Mandate of Heaven   New dynasty gains power, restores peace and order, and claims to have Mandate of Heaven   In time, dynasty declines and becomes corrupt; taxes are raised; power grows weaker.   Dynastic Cycle In China     Role of Mandate of Heaven   Dynasty is overthrown through rebellion and bloodshed; new dynasty emerges.   Disasters such as floods, famines, peasant revolts, and invasions occur.   Old dynasty is seen as having lost Mandate of Heaven; rebellion is justified.   Historians describe the pattern of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties as the dynastic cycle.

Feudalism is 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.

The Zhou introduced coined money, and to run the day-to-day operations of the city a new class of civil servants or government administrative workers, emerged.

The Zhou developed blast furnaces that produced iron.  They used iron to create weapons, plows, swords, sickles, knives, and spades. Iron farm tools enabled the farmers to produce more food thus creating surpluses.

The later years of the Zhou are known as the warring years.