Ancient Civilizations

India, China, & Mesoamerica

Indus Civilization• Developed between 3000-

2500 BCE• Two largest cities were

Harappa and Mohenjo Daro• Well planned cities

• Running water, sewers, and brick buildings

• Grid pattern

• Pictographic writing (still undeciphered)

• Has 400 symbols• Clear social classes

• Different types of houses: wealthy 2-3 stories, common people one room

Economics• Advanced Agriculture

• Wheat, rye, peas, rice (maybe)• Domesticated animals: chickens, cattle, goats, sheep• Abundant crops led to job specialization in cities (like E&M)

• Craftsmen less skilled than Mesopotamia (stone arrows, poor spears)

• Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro• Connected by villages• Major trading centers with China, SE Asia, Southern India, and

Mesopotamia• Jade and jewels from SE Asia and China• Wheeled carts for transportation• Mesopotamia for olive oil, wool, and leather

• Persia for gold, silver, and copper

End of Indus• By 1500 BCE civilization had declined

(unsure as to why: drought, earthquakes changed course of river, overuse of land, disease…)

• 1500 BCE a Indo-European group, the Aryans, overtook India

• Culture of Aryans blended with the Indians

• Sanskrit; literary language of India• Vedas became major books of Hinduism• Placed native Indians into inferior class

• People divided into 4 Varnas and each Varna into sub-classes called Jati

• At the bottom were the Pariahs or Untouchables

Scholars and priests

Rulers and warriors

Professionals

Servants

Pariahs

Huang He Civilization• Most isolated of the river

valleys• Huang He (Yellow River) and

Chiang Jiang (Yangtze) rivers flood quite often

• Xia (shah) Dynasty 4000 Years ago

• first, legendary dynasty• Ruler Yu• Irrigation and drained

floodwaters• Beginning of Chinese

civilization• No written records – existence is

by legend

Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BCE)

• first to leave written records• Writing: Oracle Bones

• Written on bone and used to foretell future

• Farming society ruled by a king and an aristocracy

• bronze metallurgy• Central rule to oversee

irrigation and flood control • Walled citied, elaborate

palaces and tombs• Ancestor worship developed

Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BCE) • Pronounced “joe”• 800+ years, longest dynasty• Mandate of Heaven

• Claimed they overthrew Shang by will of gods

• Took steps to centralize government, but local leaders ignored central government

• Set up an agricultural system (nobles & peasants) A.K.A. feudalism

• Culture • Mandarin is standardized as language• Laozi and Confucius both lived

during Zhou• Emphasis on veneration of ancestors• If you honored family, society would

function wellConfucius asking Laozi about etiquette

More Zhou

• Technology:• Chopsticks• Iron Metallurgy• Use cavalry & crossbow• Expanded Chinese territory to

Yangtze River Valley (wheat & rice growing areas added)

• Increased food production and use of iron

• Lost control of western half of empire, last two centuries known as “era of warring states”

Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.)• Ruler: Qin Shi Huangdi (1st

Emperor) – brutal ruler• Qin name applied to country’s

name• Unified the Chinese world• Legalism – favored

government force; viewed human nature as evil

• A highly centralized government

• Standardized coinage, weights, and measures

• Irrigation

Qin Shi Huangdi• Uniform writing system, & a law

code• Manufacture of silk cloth is

encouraged• Nucleus of the Great Wall is

constructed• Burned books and attacked culture• National census, tax, and labor

service• Downfall: high taxes, attacks on

intellectuals, killed men, brutal punishments, & revolts after Qin’s death

Mesoamerica

• Not a river valley, small rivers and streams near ocean• Did not have wheel or large animals for labor, llama biggest

animal• Olmecs

• 1500 BCE settled around Gulf of Mexico• Made figurines out of jade and dressed based on status• Polytheistic• Built Colossal Heads • Don’t know why they declined

• Chavin, early civilization in the Andes• Ceramics, textiles, gold• Constructed religious shrines