UNIT 2: The Four River Valley Civilizations



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UNIT 2: The Four River Valley Civilizations

Today, we are beginning a new unit on the 4 Ancient River Valley Civilizations. The 4 civilizations we will learn about throughout this unit are:

1) Mesopotamia, which developed between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers and includes present day Iraq.

2) Egypt, which developed along the Nile River.

3) India, which developed along the Indus River and Ganges River.

4) China, which developed along the Yellow River.

You will notice that all of these civilizations developed along rivers. This is because rivers provide a stable supply of water, rivers flood and put nutrients into the soil thus allowing for farming, and rivers were great for transportation. Today we will start learning about the first of these 4 civilizations called Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia (4500-2300 BC)

Mesopotamia is the first civilization we will be learning about over the next two class periods. Mesopotamia literally means “in between rivers”. As you might have guessed, Mesopotamia is located between two rivers, the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. This land is where Iraq is presently located.

Mesopotamia is a general terms referring to the land in between these two rivers. Mesopotamians is a general term for anyone who lived within these two rivers. However, Mesopotamia consisted of many different peoples and different cultures. The people of Mesopotamia are referred to as Sumerians or Babylonians (not Mesopotamians), as one of the first groups of people to settle in Mesopotamia created the city of Sumer. Later on, the Babylonians conquered the Sumerians. It is important to remember that we all referring to both groups of people when talking about Mesopotamia.

1) GEOGRAPHY of Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia is located within the “Fertile Crescent,” which is a crescent-shaped region of good farmland created by the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. This land was good farmland because periodic flooding from the rivers left rich soil, which was ideal for farming. However, there were some problems with this location as well. One problem was that floods did not happen regularly so the land could become hot and bake into clay without a proper irrigation system (meaning a system to distribute water to the land). A second problem with the land was that there were no natural barriers to protect the land from being invaded (which helped the Babylonians to conquer the land). Since there were no natural barriers, there was also frequent migration (people moving to the land) and travel through the land. This are became a crossroads where people mingled and shared customs and ideas (called cultural diffusion). In order to protect this land from invasions, the Sumerians build walls around the city. The walls were made of mud bricks. They took mud, molded it into the shape of a brick, and let it bake in the sun until it dried hard. They were able to build many things with these mud bricks.

2) SOCIAL STRUCTURE of Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia was organized into hierarchical social classes; meaning people were ranked from the highest (or best) at the top and the lowest members of society at the bottom.

o Highest Class – ruling family, officials, and high priests

o Middle Class – merchants and artisans

o Lower Class – peasant farmers, slaves

3) GOVERNMENT of Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia was separated into city-states. Each city-state had its own ruler who was seen as the chief servant of the gods. Rule was passed down hereditary lines (meaning rule was passed down through family lines from fathers to sons). Rulers enforced laws, collected taxes, and maintained the city walls and irrigation systems. Rulers of city-states also fought each other for land and water.

4) THE FIRST CITY of Mesopotamia: The first city in Mesopotamia was called Sumer and the people that lived in Sumer were called Sumerians. Sumerians made many important contributions to civilization. First, they build the first wheeled vehicles. Second, they had irrigation systems to provide protection from floods as well as water for crops. Third, they invented cuneiform, which is a type of writing formed by pressing a pen-like instrument into clay.

Fourth, Sumerians contributed to the creation of the first collection of written laws in history. These laws were called the Hammurabi Code. The Hammurabi code created harsh punishments for crimes. It was an "eye for an eye" system of justice, meaning that if you poked someone's eye out, your punishment was to have your own eye poked out. If you killed someone, your punishment was to be killed. The Hammurabi code favored higher classes over lower ones, but it did establish laws, punishments, and standards of justice for all classes. All societies have laws. Can you name 5 of the laws that we have in America? Which of these laws do you think would have existed in Mesopotamia?

During today's activity, you will explore the harsh system of justice established by the Hammurabi codes. You will compare the laws and punishments in the Hammurabi code to our system of government, and make some inferences about what this system of laws reveals about the values in Mesopotamian culture.

Tomorrow, we will continue to explore some other aspects of the Mesopotamian civilization.

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