Ancient River Valley Civilizations
McKenna and Cassy
Mesopotamia
Overview
Mesopotamia was the birthplace of urban society. It was located in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley. The name “Mesopotamia” stands for “between the rivers” in Greek. Mesopotamia is seen as one of the most important regions of development and history in the world. They not only had successful agricultural settlements, but they were able to domesticate animals, and establish social structures.
Cities
Uruk
One of the first major cities in history. Around 2900 BC, the population had grown to 80,000 people, which made it the largest city in the world.
Akkad
The center of the world’s first empire, the Akkadian Empire. The people of this city conquered city-states of Sumerian, and also took over Mesopotamia.
Assur
The first capital and religious center city of the Assyrian Empire.
Babylon
Capital city and the center of the Babylonian Empire. During a time, Babylon was considered the largest city in the world, with 200,000 people.
Government
Mesopotamia had a combination of both a monarchy and democracy. Kings ruled over the people, but elected officials from the public ruled the people too. These were called the Assembly. The King often asked the Assembly for permission to do certain things.
One major contributions of Mesopotamia to government and law was the development of written law codes.
Social Structures
The Mesopotamian social hierarchy could be pushed into three classes: nobility, free citizens, and slaves
At the top was the King, the nobles, the priests, and the military leaders. Below them were the shop owners, merchants, farmers, and other normal citizens. At the lowest level were the slaves.
Culture-Religion
There are many variations of different religious beliefs, but in all creation stories, it always resulted in heaven and earth because the ancients saw that both existed.
They tied personal well being with worshipping of the gods. If one person, or a whole community, were to ignore worship, then the entire community would fall under plague, earthquake, fire, or some other disastrous and dangerous condition.
- Culture-Art
Mesopotamian art was made as a way to glorify rulers. The art they made was from multiple natural resources. These include stones, shells, and marble.
Artists often made cylindrical seals, steles, self reflective sculptures, and decorated tombs.
Writing
Invention of abstract writing
Cuneiform
A writing system of wedge shaped like characters. It was used to code key aspects of their social lives, such as legal codes, religious beliefs, and historical narratives
The creation of cuneiform helped improve bureaucracy and allowed governments to collect taxes. Also because of this, laws were created to keep citizens in place
Code of Hammurabi
- It was the most influential legal codes in world history. It was written on big stone stela in cuneiform script
Egypt
Overview
The Egypt civilization was located by the Nile River. This proved a great advantage for them. They were able to get plenty of water for themselves, for crops, and for the animals. They had very fertile soil and because of the abundance of grass that grew there, animals grazed in that area too. They were also protected by the natural barriers of the river. The Nile was the perfect way for easy trade. The Egyptians were unified by that river and it was the main provider for them.
Cities
Thebes
The capital city and the home of the ruling families during the Middle and New Kingdoms. It held the major temples of Luxor and Karnak.
Abydos
A very important ancient Egyptian city and also the burial place of the early Egyptian kings. Also the home of a sacred center of worship to the gods Anubis and Osiris.
Koptos
An important trading city and also a sacred religious center. The gods Isis and Horus were worshipped here.
Government
Egypt had one central government. They believed the king, or Pharaoh, was a god to the people. This allowed for the people to be more obedient and trusting of the king. The government controlled the resources of the state.
Social Structure
The women in Egypt had a dramatic difference in the amount of rights they had compared to other civilizations. There were still multiple things that women were not yet allowed to do.
- The most popular job was certainly agriculture. The Nile supplied the people of Egypt with plentiful resources and a waterway that allowed trade with other civilizations.
Religion
- The Egyptians were polytheistic, meaning that they worshipped multiple gods. The pharaoh was considered a god and had absolute power.
Culture-Art
The art in the Egyptian civilization was expressed through paintings and sculptures and was very symbolic.
Symbolism was a big part of their art style, as seen through the pharaoh head and the drawings of Egyptian gods and goddesses. Animals were also very symbolic, as were different colors, which all had meanings.
They often drew human beings and nature, as the artists wanted to capture the present time as clearly as possible.
Writing
- The Egyptians believed that it was very important to record and communicate information about their religion and government. In order to do so, they developed written scripts. An example of this script are hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were a combination of picture and letter characters.
Indus River Valley
Overview
- Located around the Indues River
- The Indus civilization spread from southern India into what is now Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan, as well as west to the border of modern Iran and north to the Himalayas.
- At its peak, this civilization was larger than the slightly older civilizationsmsuch as Egypt and Medopotamia
Major Cities
- More than 100 cities have been discovered
- More are still being excavated such
- The total population of the Indus Civilization is estimated to have been around 5 million
- The larger cities of the Indus people all possess the same basic, two-section layout
- One section apparently contained houses and shops along streets carefully laid out in a grid
- The houses had baths and fresh water pumped in from artificial wells
- Wastewater was disposed of through an elaborate drainage system
- Fresh water was collected in large reservoirs inside the city
- The second typical section consisted of buildings constructed on a mound
- The artificial platform may have been for if the rivers were to flood
- On the mounds there are large pools of water for public baths as well as large containers to store grain
- Major cities include Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, and Dholavira
- The cities are very uniform and planned
- The craftsmen created pottery, fine ceramics, tools, agate and onyx beads, and gold and silver jewelry.
- Beaded necklaces, bangles, and belts have been found, and there is evidence that the women may have worn elaborate headdresses.
- Even toys have been found: monkeys that slide up and down a string, small animals with heads that nod, and tiny wheeled carts.
Writing
- Short inscriptions made up of characters have been found on seals pottery and other objects, but scholars have yet to decipher their writing
- Some of what is known comes from the civilization Mesopotamia, which had similar writing styles
- Relgion is also a mystery to scholars
- No palaces, monuments, or temples have been found
- However, some seals seem to depict gods or ceremonies
- There are also some statues that may have represented gods or goddesses
- There are very few cemeteries, and the bodies in them were buried simply in wooden coffins
Government
- Not much is known in the government of the Indus Valley either
- Because of the planned cities and regulates economic system, it is concluded that there was some government, just the form of government is unclear
Social Structure
- The Indus River Valley Civilization had a caste system which had four main classes:
- Brahmans (Priests and kings)
- Kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats)
- Vishyas ( cultivators, artisans, and merchants)
- and Sudras (peasants and serfs)
- The social class a person was born into could not change
- The fact that women had the ability to produce offspring and nurse made them valued
China
- China is geographically isolated
- Although the Shangtraded with other civilizations, their limited contact with others produced an ethnocentric outlook
- They called their land the Middle Kingdom, an assertion that implied that other people were on the periphery of the civilized world
- Their land was fertile and supported a surplus of agriculture without complex irrigations systems
Government
- Most rule was local, consisting of a network of walled towns whose leaders were loyal to the king
- These local leaders comprised the bureaucracy, a group of aristocratic chieftains who could be removed at the kings will
Society
- The family was the most important social institution
- Men had most all of the authority
- Women had very little authority and typically tented to the houses and the children
- As villages became more productive, social classes became more distinct
Religion
- The honor and respect given to family elders was related to the worship of ancestors
- Dead ancestors were summoned for advice through oracle bones and other means
- Thus religion both drew from and reinforced patriarchy
Art/craft
- Early in the Shang period artisians began to manufacture very high-quality jars and plaques
- often inscribed with the names and titles of clans and rulers, that were buried in their owners' tombs
- Beautifully carved jade objects
- woven silk, glazed ceramics
- and lacquerware also first appeared in the Shang and were found in tombs, as well
- towns were enclosed by a rectangular wall complexs
- Within the major wall system, Chinese cities were further subdivided into smaller sections, creating inner cities and separate complexes
- the establishment of cities was part of the formal strategy of asserting the dominance of the monarch and securing political, economic, and military force throughout the kingdom
- The walled cities built under the auspices of the Shang ruler acted as fortresses throughout the heartland of the kingdom, as both real centers of military power and powerful symbols of the military dominance of the king
- The capital city of the Shang king varied with shifting political currents