Emergence of River Valley Civilizations

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Emergence of River Valley Civilizations
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Walk Like an EgyptianHow do civilizations
(complex societies) develop?
Environmental determinism Your culture is
shaped by the way you adapt to your
environment Technology mans attempt to
overcome his environment
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Transition from Paleolithic to Civilization

• The Neolithic Age had set the stage for
  civilizations by developing systematic
  agriculture, which allowed early humans to give
  up their nomadic lifestyle and stay in one place.
  
• This led to the formation of farming villages,
  which gradually began to develop into more
  complex societies.
• As their wealth increased, these societies began
  to create armies and build walled cities.
• They built temples and started forming religions.
  
• By the beginning of the Bronze Age, large numbers
  of people were concentrated in the river valleys
  of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China.
• This would lead to a whole new pattern for human
  lifethe emergence of civilizations.

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4 River Valley Civilizations

• Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia
• Tigris
• Euphrates
• Egyptian Civilization
• Nile River Valley (upper and lower Nile)
• Indus River
• Harrapan
• Mohen-jo Daro
• Hwang He (
• Yellow River later civilizations focused on both
  Yangtze and Yellow River
• Langsho while first dynasty is Xia then Shang

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Nile River Valley

• Because of its geography Egypt developed to
  become a peaceful civilization with a higher
  standard of living. People as individuals were
  treated with more respect here than in other
  civilizations of the time.
• The Nile River Valley is Surrounded on Four Sides
  by Natural Barriers
• Red Sea to the East
• Desert to the West
• Mediterranean to the North
• Mountains to the South

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Nile River Valley has Natural Advantages

• Frost Free Climate

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Gifts of the Nile

• Predictable flooding
• Mild flooding therefore able to use river for
  irrigation
• Prevailing winds made trade possible both north
  and south on the river
• Rich deposits of clay, granite, sandstone
  limestone used for building
• Silt deposits rich for farming
• papyrus used for mats, rope, sandals, baskets,
  paper

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Major Pharaohs of Egypt

• Menes-
• United upper and lower Egypt in 3100 BC
• Ramses II
• Defeated the Hittites and returned Egypt to
  Egyptian rule.
• Nefertiti -
• influential wife of Amenhotep, mother-in-law to
  Tutkanamon.
• Amenhotep (later called Akhenaton)-
• moved the capital and changed worship from
  polytheism to monotheism. The main god became
  Amon Ra and only the royal family could worship
  him.
• Tutkanhamon-
• young Pharaoh found with his tomb intact.
• Hatshepsut
• female Pharaoh who stabilized Egypt, built many
  new structures which provided work for many.
• Cleopatra
• last Pharaoh of Egypt

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Rosetta Stone

• We didnt know as much about Egypt until the
  mid-1800s after the Rosetta Stone was allowed us
  to decipher the hieroglyphics of Egypt
• Napoleons officer discovered the Rosetta Stone
  (late 1700s)
• Deciphered by Champanion in early 1800s

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Fertile Crescent

• Deserts and mountains surround the Fertile
  Crescent to the north but because grass grew on
  these mountains it attracted wandering tribes who
  often attacked those living in the River Valley.
• City-states protected and isolated each group

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Natural Boundaries Unfavorable

• Both rivers overflow in an unpredictable manner
• The time of year could not be predicted.
• The magnitude of turbulence of the flooding could
  not be predicted.
• The area is called a "crossroad" because
  everyone who traveled or traded between Europe,
  Africa, and Asia traveled through this region,
  sometimes taking what they wanted

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Gave rise to multiple empires within the general
region that controlled different territory but
had similar culture
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Assyria and its rivals
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Sumerians Necessity is the mother of
inventionPlatos Republic

• Arch ziggurats
• developed the wagon wheel to help transport
  people and goods from place to place.
• Wheeled vehicles play a critical role in the
  world today to continue transporting people and
  goods.
• Sumerian achievements in mathematics and
  astronomy formed the basis for concepts we use
  today.
• In math, they devised a number system based on
  60.
• Geometry was used to measure fields and to erect
  buildings in much the same fashion that it is
  used for those purposes today.
• In astronomy, the Sumerians made use of units of
  60 and charted the heavenly constellations.
• The division of the modern hour into 60 minutes
  is a holdover from Sumerian astronomy.

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Hammurabis CodeBabylonian

• Stele or Stela Hammurabi
• 282
• Cuneiform

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Assyrian (1st Empire)911 BCE 612 BCE
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Early River Valley Civilizations
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(No Transcript)
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Name of China

• The Chinese call their empire Chung kwo (Middle
  Kingdom), a name first applied to Ho-nan, the
  country of the Chou dynasty a Chinaman is
  designated Chung-kwo-jen or man of the Middle
  Kingdom in diplomacy China is Ta-ts'ing Kwo (the
  great empire of Ts'ing, the present dynasty) as
  it was formerly Ta Ming Kwo (the great empire of
  Ming).
• Arab Empires called it Sin or Chin
• In the Middle Ages, Europeans made a distinction
  between Northern (Cathay) and Southern (Manzi)
  China.
• Called Ts'in dynasty (third century B.C.),
  reached the West by way of Burma and India.

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Huang He

• Himalayas, Kunlun Shan, Tian Shan
• Gobi desert
• Pacific Ocean to east

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Shang China
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Middle Kingdom

• Himalayas, Kunlun Shan, Tian Shan
• Gobi desert
• Pacific Ocean to east
• rivers
• Hwang Hu (Yellow),
• Chang Jiang (Yangtze),
• Xi Jiang (West)
• yellow silt (called loess) favorable climate
  make good farming

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Xia 2100 BCE 1800 BCE

• The Xia were agrarian people, with bronze weapons
  and pottery.
• The ruling families used elaborate and dramatic
  rituals to confirm their power to govern.
• The rulers often acted as shamans, communicating
  with spirits for help and guidance

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Ancient Dynasties Mandate of Heaven

• Xia (first) 2100 BCE 1800 BCE
• Shang 1500BCE- 1100BCE
• Zhou (longest) 1100BCE 256BCE
• Mandate of Heaven
• Confucianism during Axial Age (ca. 500 BCE)
• Qin (Chin)
• China gets its name from this dynasty

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Mandate of Heaven

• Zhou Dynasty
• Family of rulers that have the approval of the
  ancestors
• Dynastic Cycle has added element much like a
  divine monarch creates a theocracy yet as earthly
  events appear and have a negative impact then it
  is assumed that the emperor has lost the approval
  of the ancestors and they have created the
  environment

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Are you Sleeping?

• Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
• Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
• Sui, Tang, Song
• Sui, Tang, Song
• Yuan, Ming, Manchu
• Yuan, Ming, Manchu
• Mao Zedong
• Mao Zedong

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Confucianism and Scholarly-Gentry

• Creates balance
• Yin and Yang
• Filial piety is the final link in the chain of
  continuity of the civilization

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Shih Huang Ti

• In 245 BC , Ying Cheng became king of the Chin
  when he was only thirteen years old. As he grew
  in age, wisdom and power, he developed the dream
  of realizing the Confucian idea of the whole of
  China under one ruler.
• He declared himself Chin Shih Huang Ti, First
  Emperor, establishing the Rule of Emperors
  (called Huang Ti) that would last in China until
  1911 with the abdication of the last emperor, Pu
  Yi. The name China comes from the time of his
  rule, when Chin brought China from a feudal
  state into a powerful kingdom with a centralized
  government.
• To solidify his power, Chin Shih Huang Ti build
  a mobile army of cavalry and chariots armed with
  iron swords and bows.
• He moved the old aristocrats and feudal lords to
  the capital and demanded the surrender of their
  weapons.
• To defend agianst the barbarian invaders from the
  north, he built the Great Wall of China (later
  expanded to become 1500 miles long and the only
  man-made object visible from space).
• The creation of a central government was used to
  standardize weights and measures, coinage,
  roadways, legal codes and a standardized, written
  script that could be read not only by speakers of
  Chinas many regional dialects but later also by
  the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Vietnamese.
• To finance the building a operation of this
  central government, Chin Shih Huang Ti also
  begain national taxation.
• The adage the Power corrupts and that absolute
  power corrupts absolutly, however proved true
  and Chin became a totalitarian ruler. He
  created a system of spying through his military
  governnors and civil administrators in the
  provinces, and monopolized all basic goods.
• In an effort to produce intellectual conformity,
  in 213B.C. he ordered the burning of books,
  especially Confucian classics. But he saved
  works of medicine, legal philosophy, and magic,
  which relected his utlitarian attitude toward
  learning, ironically balanced with his interest
  in superstition.
• Soon he became a paranoid relcuse dodging
  assassination attempts on his life.
• The discovery in 1974 of his has unearthed 7,000
  life size terra-cotta soldiers.

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Shang China
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Indus River Valley

• Harappan
• Mohenjo-Daro
• subcontinent of Asia water on east and west,
  mountain ranges on north
• Hindu Kush and Himalayas
• southwest monsoon brings heavy rain and flooding
• enriched soil, but sometimes great erosion

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Ancient Geographic Divisions in South Asia
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Cities of the Indus
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Mohenjo-DaroMound of the Dead
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Indus River Valley

• destruction
• well-planned, citadels, grid of streets
• clay brick houses, plumbing with sewer system
• bronze and copper tools, gold and silver jewels,
  clay pots, spun and woven cloth

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Development of Region

• Early Food Producing Era (ca. 7000-5500 BC)
• Regionalization Era, (5500-2600 BC)
• regional cultural development
• subdivided into various eras
• emergence of an Early Indus state ca. 2800 BCE
  and urbanization ca. 2600 BCE

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Drains Sewer Systems
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Successors to the regionVedic Era - Hinduism

• Aryans
• Rajas
• Indo-Europeans
• Caste System - called Varna which translates to
  color in the ancient language)
• Jati sub-castes

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Aryan Invasion Theory

• Sometime between 2500 and 1800 BCE
• Aryans began moving into India
• Apparently NOT the cause of the fall of Indus
  Civilization
• Farmers without written language
• Used Khyber Pass

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Political and Social Systems

• Tribe led by chief and tribal council
• Tribes formed small states
• Each state ruled by king and council of warriors

• Aryans looked down on conquered people
• Laws against marriage of Aryans with original
  valley dwellers
• Men permitted more than one wife
• Sons expected to be warriors and perform ritual
  at fathers funeral

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Economic System

• Mostly farmers
• Barley major crop
• Most owned their land
• Handicrafts in villages
• System of barter for goods
• Cattle later used as money

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Historical Geography

• Environmental determinism the manner in which
  humans and the environment interact.
• Man and his culture are shaped by their
  environment and while technology allows them to
  adapt, their underlying characteristics have
  already been shaped by their environment
• Systems within a civilization are influenced by
  the environment
• Humans change and adapt their environment with
  technology
• Technology are methods that are used by man or
  mans attempt to overcome his environment
• Possibilism is a different theory that holds that
  there is an interdependence between humans and
  their physical environment and that while the
  environment sets certain constraints, culture is
  shaped by man

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Olmec- 3500-2500 BCE- site La Venta

• Two environments Agricultural methods
• Slash and burn agriculture- forested uplands
• Irrigation riverine agriculture- riverine
  lowlands- u-shaped stone drain lines.
• 2 or more crops per year
• Maize, beans, squash
• Lowland riverine populous became the elite
• Chiefdom societies- with centers populated at
  circa 1000 each- rulers, elite, craftspersons
• Writing system but un-deciphered though
  indications of counting system- Maya used same
  counting system so this aspect is translatable.
• Items of trade
• Highlands- obsidian, jade and Magnetite, cacao
  (drink for nobility)
• Lowlands- mollusk, turtle shell, sharks teeth,
  and pottery
• 4 major redistribution/ceremonial centers-
• San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapates, and Laguna
  de los Cerros
• Classic Maya- 2000- 800 BCE- sites Copan
  Palenque

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Classic cultures of the Americas
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Yin and Yang

• The light color area which indicates more
  sunlight is called Yang (Sun).
• The dark color area has less sunlight (more
  moonlight) and is called Yin (Moon).
• Yang is like man. Yin is like woman. Yang
  wouldn't grow without Yin. Yin couldn't give
  birth without Yang.
• Yin is born (begins) at Summer Solstice and Yang
  is born (begins) at Winter Solstice.
• Therefore one little circle Yin is marked on the
  Summer Solstice position. Another little circle
  Yang is marked on the Winter Solstice position.
• These two little circles look like two fish eyes.

http//www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/yinyang.htm
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The Spread of Bantu
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Cultural hearths

• These four areas become the center for
  development of many cultures
• They interacted and ideas, new technologies and
  items of trade were exchanged
• Silk Road later connects these 4 areas
• This exchange connects nomads, merchants,
  missionaries, priests, soldiers, pilgrims, to the
  urban areas
• Population
• growth