STUDY GUIDE: Unit 3 – River Valley Civilizations Name: ______________________________ Directions: Your test is on Friday, December 4th. STUDY! River Valley Civilizations How did people get food before the development of agriculture? Hunting and gathering Another word for farming Agriculture The first steps to becoming civilized are to settle down in permanent homes and to start farming. 4 Great River Valley Civilizations Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China All of the first civilizations developed near great RIVERS Two main reasons why rivers were important to early farming civilizations Fresh water Fertile soil Why did river valleys have fertile soil? Yearly flooding left behind silt -- This makes good farmland! What is irrigation? A way of supplying water to an area of land Mesopotamia (means land between the rivers) 2 rivers of Mesopotamia Tigris and Euphrates The arc-shaped area of land with rich soil many of the first civilizations began Fertile Crescent 1st civilization in Mesopotamia (They also invented the first writing!) Sumerian First known written language Cuneiform Great Babylonian king Hammurabi 1st set of laws written down Code of Hammurabi Group best known for their iron weapons and chariots Hittites – They hit people with iron weapons! Group best known for their fierce and organized soldiers Assyrians – the serious soldiers of Assyria Civilization that built ships and sailed all around the Mediterranean Sea to trade Phoenician The Phoenicians created the world’s first alphabet How did the Phoenician alphabet spread? It spread to wherever they traded. Cultural diffusion – the sharing of ideas between cultures. Religious temples in Mesopotamia Ziggurats Type of religion the Sumerians had Polytheism Egypt
The first pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt Narmer/Menes What protected Egypt from invaders Natural barriers Egyptian kings were called Pharaohs Define monarchy Type of government in which one king rules Type of government in which a series of rulers come from the same family Dynasty Period in which the pyramids were built Old Kingdom Period when Egypt had the most glory and power New Kingdom that invaded and took over Egypt during the Middle Kingdom Hyksos Type of religion the Egyptians practiced Polytheism Define polytheism Belief in many gods Define monotheism Belief in one god They made mummies to preserve bodies for the afterlife Purpose for building the great pyramids To serve as tombs (burial sites) for dead pharaohs Why did the Egyptians bury their dead with items such as food, treasure, and weapons? They believed people would need it in the afterlife! Ancient Egyptian writing Hieroglyphics What is papyrus? Paper-like material made from the reeds of a plant What is a scribe? Person who can read and write Continent that Egypt is on Africa Climate in Egypt Desert (hot and dry!) Significance of the Rosetta Stone It helped people learn to understand hieroglyphics River that contributed to the development of Egypt The Nile Indus Valley Major river in India Indus The first civilization in the Indus Valley Harappan Two well-planned cities of ancient India Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro They invaded the Indus Valley and took over Writing system that in ancient India Sanskrit People divided into groups based on their social standing Caste system Position was determined by wealth, occupation, or birth. How could you move to a higher level in this system? Live a good life and be reborn into a higher Major religion that started in India Hinduism The term for when a person dies and their soul is reborn into a different body Reincarnation Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. Define polytheism Belief in many gods China
China’s major rivers Huang He (Yellow) Like China, what other civilization had dynasties? Egypt Dynasty that unified ancient China Qin How did Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi unify China Made people start using the same forms of writing, money, laws, etc. Purpose of the soldiers To protect Emperor Qin in the afterlife What is the barter system? Trading without exchanging money Chinese writing developed from symbols Ideograms What are oracle bones? Bones with early Chinese writing on them – used for fortune telling! China’s most important export SILK! Purpose of the Great Wall of China To protect from invaders Inventions/Achievements/Contributions – List as many as possible for each civilization! Know at least one invention/achievement/contribution for EACH civilization for the constructed response! Mesopotamia Invented the wheel and plow, a tool used in farming Sumerians created the first writing (cuneiform) Built ziggurats (religious temples) to worship their many gods First set of written laws (Code of Hammurabi) from Babylon Hittites used iron Phoenicians traded and made the alphabet Built the pyramids as tombs Made mummies to preserve bodies for the afterlife Developed along the Nile River Used hieroglyphic writing on papyrus, a paper-like material made from plants The Rosetta Stone helped us understand hieroglyphics First instance of well-planned cities of Harappa and Developed Sanskrit writing People were divided into social classes on the caste system Religion of Hinduism supported the belief in reincarnation China Traded silk Invented paper, noodles, gunpowder, and fireworks Built the Great Wall of China 8,000 soldiers buried to protect Emperor Qin First writing appeared on oracle bones Writing – Ideograms developed into the Chinese characters used today