Meaning of Civilisation

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CHAPTER TWO
At a Glance

• Meaning of Civilisation
• Factors leading to the rise of civilisation
• Features of life in ancient India, China and
  Southeast Asia
• City culture, government, social structure,
  writing, religion, pottery, use of metal, trade

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What is a Civilisation?

• Latin word civitas city
• Civilisation Requires a group of residents
  living together in cities
• It means having to do with people who live in a
  city
• History An advanced stage of human development
  where cities exist

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What is a Civilisation?

• Early days people roamed around to search for
  food and water
• Some realised they could actually grow their own
  food and settle in one place origins of farming
• Soon these small groups grew into larger groups
  called villages

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What is a Civilisation?

• When there was enough to eat and life became
  comfortable, people spent time on other
  activities like trading and painting
• Some system is needed to manage these big
  villages
• So we say that they are on their way to becoming
  CITIES

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What is a Civilisation?

• First cities 5,000 years ago
• Along Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of ancient
  Sumer (Iraq)
• 500 years later, other ancient civilisations also
  grew along the banks of rivers

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Indus Valley PAKISTAN

• A civilisation developed along the Indus River
  around 2500 B.C.
• Two major cities Mohenjo-daro Harappa
• Settled by Dravidians
• Today Indus Valley in Pakistan

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Indus Valley PAKISTAN
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Huanghe Valley CHINA

• Cradle of Chinese Civilisation
• Shang Dynasty one of the earliest dynasties
  that historians have information about

Shang Ritual Vessel
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Southeast Asia

• People settled along rivers during prehistoric
  times
• Scattered all over SEA
• One of the first kingdoms Funan which had
  become an important port by A.D. 1
• Srivijaya in Sumatra A.D. 7

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Factors Affecting the Rise of Civilisation

• Suitable Climate
• Fertile Soil
• Food
• Water
• Transport
• Security
• Building Materials

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Features of A Civilisation

• City Culture
• Government
• Social Structure
• Writing
• Religion
• Use of metals
• Pottery
• Trade

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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
The Indus River
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
Most of the artwork from this civilization was
small and used as personal possessions. The first
objects unearthed from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
were small stone seals.  These seals were
inscribed with elegant portrayals of real and
imagined animals and were marked with the Indus
script writing.  The seals suggest a symbolic or
religious intent. Stone sculptures carved in
steatite, limestone, or alabaster depict a male
figure who may have represented a god. Pottery
figures were shaped into humans and animals. Very
few bronze figures have been recovered.
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
The central area of Mound A/AB was continuously
rebuilt in ancient times. Behind the curved wall
is a well and below it what may have been a
public bathing area.
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
The so-called "Great Granary" in Mound F. Its
earliest levels date to 2450 B.C. Influenced by
European precedents, early archaeologists quickly
identified the buildings as granaries. At
Harappa, two sets of 6 rooms are aligned on
either side of a central passageway.
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
City View
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
The Great Bath
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
Street with covered drain
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION
Source http//www.wsu.edu8000/wciv/b/ba/bab/bab
09.jpg
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City Culture FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• Source http//www.wsu.edu8000/wciv/b/ba/bab/bab
  08.jpg

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Government FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• India
• Priests controlled society
• Took charge of both religion govt
• Religious rituals
• Great bath
• Collected fees from farmers for storing grain in
  granaries

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Government FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• China
• King ruled during the Shang Dynasty
• People obeyed the king
• Peasants served the king in whichever way he
  wanted

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Government FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• Southeast Asia
• People lived in small settlements
• These were later developed into small kingdoms
• Kingdoms ruled by leaders
• Assisted by religious leaders and loyal supporters

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Social Structure FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• INDIA
• Priests and nobles at the top
• Common people
• Farmers
• Craftsmen
• Weavers
• Jewellers
• Potters
• Masons

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Social Structure FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Upper class King noblemen
• Lower class Ordinary people
• Mostly peasants or farmers

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Social Structure FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE Asia
• Upper class Rulers, religious leaders and
  nobles
• Lower class Ordinary people
• Mostly peasants

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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• India
• Not much writing left behind
• Only discoveries of writing are on clay seals
• 2.5cm2 pictures of animals engraved on them
• No one able to read the writing
• Probably used by farmers to mark bags of grain

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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• China
• First form of writing Shang Dynasty
• Pictograms simple drawings of objects
  represented by pictures
• Appeared on ORACLE BONES
• ie animal shoulder blades turtle shells
• Recorded all types of activities war, hunting,
  farming, life in the imperial household and ONE
  MORE THING?

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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• Q Can you see the pictographs? Can you guess
  what oracle bones might be used for?

They were used to communicate with their
ancestors.
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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• The Shang kings would ask a question
• The priest would then carve the kings question
  on the back of the bone. Then he would heat a
  bronze pin and hold the hot pin to the bone.
• This would create a pattern of cracks over the
  bone
• Priest studies the cracks to find the answer to
  the question.

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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• The Shang kings ask questions like If we
  sacrifice 10 men or 5 oxen, will it rain
  tomorrow?
• Sacrifice The offering of something to a god
• The Shang kings sacrificed a great deal of people
  to talk to their ancestors
• Can you guess who they would sacrifice?

Ans Captured enemies, slaves, sick or deformed
people, those who had upset the nobles or the
king
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Writing FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• Written history only in late 2nd A.D.
• Adopted a script called Pallava
• Done on sugar palm tree leaves, metal or on stone
  as inscriptions
• Found in Borneo, Java and South Vietnam
• These were usually edicts (or orders) by kings to
  their subjects

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Religion FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• INDIA
• Indus Valley Mother Goddess
• Hoped she would grant a plentiful harvest
• Also worshipped animals that they associated with
  power
• Bulls, tigers and elephants
• Unicorn
• Tree spirits

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Religion FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Shang people worshipped gods of the sun, moon,
  stars, mountains, rivers and forests
• Supreme god was Shangdi
• In later dynasties, known as Tian or Heaven
• Also worshipped the spirits of the dead for
  protection (ancestor worship)

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Religion FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• Animists Worshipped spirits that were found in
  nature stones, hills, trees
• Believed that spirits could both help and harm
  them
• Practised ancestor worship
• Hope that souls of the dead would protect them

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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• INDIA
• Necklaces, bracelets, bangles, earrings, rings
  have been found
• Suggests that women wore jewellery as decorative
  items
• Some toys and statues found show use of bronze
• Blacksmiths made axes, knives and razors using
  copper and bronze

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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Shangs known for intricately designed bronzes
• Use moulds to cast bronze
• This method of piece-mould casting was very
  sophisticated

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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Bronzes mainly farm and handicraft tools
• Also vessels used for religious ceremonies
• Some were animal shaped and had inscriptions on
  them

This is a cauldron (deep basin) for offering
incense
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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Fine jewellery fashioned from bronze combined
  with shells, bones and ivory
• Bronze also used for making weapons
• Some weapons had inscriptions

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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• Used bronze to make bracelets, tools and drums
• Drums spread over a large area of SE Asia, down
  the Malay Peninsular through Sumatra and Java to
  Sulawasi and Moluccas
• Drums probably used by leaders as symbols of
  power and high position to control their
  subjects

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Use of Metals FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• People of Funan made images of bronze
• Evidence from writing of a Chinese visitor to
  Funan

The Funanese make bronze images. Those that
have two faces and four arms, and those that have
four faces with eight arms.
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Pottery FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• INDIA
• People of India shaped their pots using a
  potters wheel baked them in kilns
• Mohenjo-daro Storage pots, cooking bowls,
  drinking cups
• Clay figures were found Toys?

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Pottery FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• CHINA
• Shang potters also made use of potters wheel
• Added a coat of glaze to give it a shine
• China or porcelain became even more famous in
  the dynasties after the Shang
• Chinese pottery International fame today

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Pottery FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• People made pots with patterns on them
• Pottery and designing pots is one of the oldest
  arts in SE Asia

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Trade FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• INDIA
• Trade helped ancient Indian civilisation to
  flourish
• People in Indus Valley traded within India and
  with Mesopotamia and Egypt
• Used caravans and travelled long distances
• Goods traded were impressive
• Copper tools, timber, cloth, pearls and monkeys
• From Mesopotamia tin, woollen cloth, oil and
  food

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Trade FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• SE ASIA
• Trade important in the growth of ancient maritime
  kingdoms
• Over time, more trade links devloped between
  India, China and SE Asia
• Traders used land and sea routes
• More details in Chap 6

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Trade FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• Eastern part of the ancient world accessible to
  travelers in the first century A.D.
• Source http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/trade/hg
  _d_trade_d1map.htm

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Did you know? FEATURES OF A CIVILISATION

• Last Shang king was very cruel and oppressive
• The king of Zhou (neighbouring state) overthrew
  the king of Shang
• The unhappy slaves who were forced to fight for
  the Shang king led his enemy troops into the
  capital
• The Shang king burned himself in the palace

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• a
• christ
• church secondary
• history production
• 2002