The Start of Civilization
Christian S., Luke C., Sujay A., and Rudy R.
Mesopotamia
Religion.
Mesopotamians were people who based their religion based on animist ideas.
Social Structure
The Mesopatamian Social Structure is as follows:
1. King
2.religious powers
3. Warriors/nobles
4. Specialized workforce (artists, merchants, blacksmiths, ect)
5. Common workforce
6. Peasants
7. Slaves
Cities
Mesopatamia was a large civilization that contained numerous cities. Notable civilization towns include Babylon, Ur, and Larsa.
Govenrment
Because mesopatamians were ruled by a king, their government fell under a monarchy.
Writing
Mesopatamians wrote in cuneiform, a pictogram language that was written on clay tables. This writing was well known, and allowed for the exchange of personal and business correspondence adn everyday items.
Egypt
Cities
Anciet Eygpt contained many cities. Those noteworthy include Thebes, Karnack, and Giza.
Government
The people of anciet Egypt were ruled under a monarchy.
Social Structure
The social structure in Egypt want the most organized or fair. It basically fell in this order: The king (pharaoh), those who worked for the king, and everybody else.
Religion
Anciet Egyptians were animist who believed in many gods. For example, there was Anubis, the god of the dead. A half man, half jackle creature that watched over those who passed.
Writing
Egptians wrote in hieroglyphics. A writing that was solely dependent on pictures that made communcating that mcuh easier.
Art
The first kind of art in Eygpt were life sized satues. This art form had 2 purposes:
1. To ensure an ordered existence.
2.To defeat death by preserving life into the next generation.
Indus Valley (2500 - 1700 BCE)
Cities
There were more than 100 civilization towns discovered in the Harrapan settlement. Notable towns include Mohenjo-Daro, Lothal, and Dholavira. An extremely organized city structure and very fertile soil allowed for a very stable food supply. Also, this civilization had one of the most hygienic and organized sewage system.
Government
Little is known about the government that the harappan natives followed under, due to the lack of historical text backing the matter. However, the aryans introduced the federal republic when they invaded, along with the social structures, religion, and writing.
Social Structue
Because the type of government is so unclear, historians arn't too sure what the social structure looked like either. On the opposite side however, historians have a wealth of knowledge reagrding this structure post-invasion. The aryans originally had a structure where at the top where priests, next were warriors, following were the merchants/artisans, and at the bottom where the laborers. This then later involved into the groundwork for what would be the caste system today.
Religon
Like the government, the religion of the harappan natives is truly unknown, due to the lack of historical documentation. But, the aryans provided the foundation for what would be hinduism, along with the original vedas (a collection of religous rituals).
Art
The native harappan's art lived in all of the crafts made they made in this era. Archaeological evidence has shown all the fine ceramics, jewelry, and fashion that was crafted and evntually traded for necessary goods.
Writing
Before the Aryan invasion, the harappan civilization natives used a writing heavily dependent on pictures. Historians describe it as a mixture between hieroglyphics and cuniform. After the invasion however, the aryans introduced sanskrit as the dominant language and their writing conformed to that.
China
Shang Dynasty (1722-1122 BCE)
Government
Art
Social Structure
Religion
Writing
Zhou Dynasty
The cities were surrounded by walls for protection, and were divided in neighborhoods by social class. The nobles would live with each other, the aristocrats would live in a different area, and the farmers would live outside the city walls because that was where their crops were located.