Chapter 1:From the Origins of
Agriculture to the First River-Valley Civilizations
8000-1500 B.C.E.
Unit 1: Chapter 1
Section 1: Before Civilization
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
I. Stone (Lithic) Age
A. Paleo-lithic - Old Stone Age
B. Agricultural Revolution
C. Neo-Lithic - New Stone Age
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
A. Paleolithic Age
1. Communities – Hunter (men) & Gatherer (women)2. Tools – bone, skin, wood, & stone3. Food – vegetables, nuts & fruits - very little meat4. Family – women raised children, cooking, sewing5. Shelter – natural shelters or mobile tents6. Activities – art, tool making, religious practices,
social gatherings7. Religion – belief in afterlife, complicated deity
system8. Results – small, independent, nomadic populations
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
1. Domestication – plants & animalsa. Agriculture – cultivation- needed fertile
soil & riversb. Animals – transportation and ag. Purposesc. Americas – limited due to few suitable
species – llama S.A.d. Africa & Asia – cattlee. M.E. – camel & donkey
2. Result – Population increase & stable communities
B. Agricultural Revolution
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
What to Plant?• Mediterranean area - Wheat and
Barley
• Sub-Saharan Africa - Sorghum, Millet, Teff
• Equatorial West Africa - Yams
• Eastern and Southern Asia - Rice
• America - Maize, Potatoes, Quinoa, Manioc
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
C. Neolithic Communities
1. Culturea. Religion – ancestral worship & nature spirits
(earth, wind, fire); sacred places; deities – mother earth, sky god (male)
b. Astronomy – megaliths – burial chambers, calendar circles, astronomical observations
c. Language – societies began to spread and language began to diversify
2. Townsa. Villages – most people lived in small rural v.b. Cities – few lived in large cities – problem: needed
large food supply to support a large population
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
Jericho• Located on West Bank of Jordan River
(Israel)• Walled town with mud-brick structures• Dates back to 8000 B.C.E.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
Çatal Hϋyϋk
• Located in central Anatolia (Turkey)
• Dates to 7000-5000 B.C.E.• Center for trade in obsidian,
produced pottery, baskets, woolen cloth, beads, leather, and wood products
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
What does this mean?
• Jericho and Çatal Hϋyϋk tell us that there were the social organizations necessary to support non-food producing specialists such as:– Priests– Craftspeople– Had labor to build defensive walls,
megalithic structures, and tombs.• Unknown if labor to build was free or
coerced.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 1: Before Civilization
Due Friday!
•6 Glasses: Chapter 1•Unit 1: Part 1 Test - ch 1-3•World Map Rivers quiz
Due Monday•Reading #1 - Epic of Gilgamesh
Unit 1: FoundationsChapter 1: River Valley Civ.Section II. Mesopotamia
II. Mesopotamia
A. Agriculture & the Landscape
B. Cities, Kings & Trade
C. Society
D. Gods, Priests & Temples
E. Technology & Science
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
A. Agriculture & the Environ.
1. Plain around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.2. Difficult environment for agriculture:
Little rainfall, floods, rivers change course
3. Warm climate & good soil4. Used cattle-pulled plows and seed planter5. Built irrigation canals to bring water to fields6. + food & animals - no resources7. Early people - Sumerians
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
Crops and Natural Resources
• Date Palms• Vegetables• Reeds• Fish• Land for grazing
goats and sheep
• No significant wood, stone, or metal resources
• Draft Animals:– Cattle– Donkeys– Camels– Horses
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia Do not copy this
B. City, Kings & Trade1. City-State – urban center w/ ag.
territorya. Sometimes traded, sometimes fought
over resources
2. Temples were more important than Palaces
3. Large City-States – Sumer, Babylon, Akkad
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
C. Society1. 3 Social Classes (kings controlled most of the wealth)
a. Free Landowning classb. Dependent farmers & artisansc. Slaves – POW, minor part of economy
2. Power shift – women men (agriculture)3. Women – no political role
- Could: Own property, Control their dowry, Engage in trade
4. Rise of urban merchant class greater emphasis on male privilege and decline in women’s status.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
D. Gods, Priests & Temples1. Each city-state had its own gods
2. Gods were humanlike – anthropomorphic3. Priests were highly honored4. Temples were the 1st monumental buildings5. Ziggaruts were the major part of the temple
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
E. Science1. Technology=specialized knowledge that is used to transform the
natural environment2. Forms of technology - Irrigation systems, buildings
– Transportation, Bronze metallurgy, Brickmaking– Engineering, pottery & potter’s wheel– Military advances included:
• Paid, full-time soldiers, Horses, Horse-drawn chariot, Bow and Arrow, Siege Machinery
3. Writing: Cuneiform – Sumerians• Complex, hundreds of symbols, sounds, • Only scribes could read & write
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 2: Mesopotamia
Cuneiform Samples
Unit 1: FoundationsChapter 1: River Valley Civ.Section III. Egypt
III. Egypt
A. The Land
B. Divine Kingship
C. Administration & Communication
D. People
E. Beliefs & Knowledge
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
A. The Land1. The Nile - thin strip of land along the
river is good for ag.
2. 2 Parts - Upper (south) & Lower (north)
3. Floods – regular, left fertile silt, good timing
4. Resources – reeds, animals, fish, birds, stone, clay, copper, turquoise, gold
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
B. Divine Kingship
1. Unification: 3100 BCE – Lower & Upper Nile
2. 3 Periods: Divided into 30 Dynasties
a. Old Kingdom – Pyramid Ageb. Middle Kingdom – Agricultural Agec. New Kingdom – Empire Age
3. Pharaohs – regarded as gods, death was seen as his journey back to the gods
• Funeral/burial rites were very important
4. Pyramids – not all Pharaohs are buried in pyramids!• Early times – flat topped tombs, then stepped pyramids• Great Pyramids of Giza – 2550-2490 BCE – Old Kingdom• Valley of the Kings – tunnels cut into the side of cliffs
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
C. Administration1. Bureauracy – system of provincial admin.
• Tracked: labor, taxes, & people
2. Tax Collection: support the govt, temples, buildings
3. Writing: Hieroglyphics & Demotic (cursive script)• Wrote on papyrus with reed “pens” (paint brushes) • Were able to decipher with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 – 3 languages:
Greek, Demotic & Hieroglyphs
4. Power struggles with provincial governors• Strong central govt – loyal prov. gov.• Weak central govt – autonomous prov. gov.
5. Foriegners – seen as enemies 6. Traded with Levant, Nubia & Punt
• Exported papyrus, grain, and gold• Imported incense, Nubian gold, Lebanese cedar, African ivory, ebony, and animals.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
C. Administration
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
Rosetta Stone
D. People1. Population: 1 – 5 mil.; some darker, some lighter2. Social Classes
a. Kings & high ranking govt. officialsb. Lower level govt. officials, & priestsc. Peasants (majority)
3. The Working Class – Peasantsa. Farming villages, paid taxes, source of govt. laborb. Slavery – limited scale, well treated
4. Women – more rights than Meso. women
a. Subordinate to menb. Right to hold, inherit, and buy propertyc. Retained rights over dowry
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
E. Beliefs & Knowledge
1. Beliefs based on cyclical view of naturea. Re – Sun godb. Osiris – god of the underworld
2. Religiona. Wealth & resources went into monumental buildingsb. Regular offerings were made to the godsc. Believed in magic and in an afterlifed. Beliefs led to mummification and burials ritualse. Tombs built outside of city in order to save ag. Landf. Contained: food, pictures, transportation, wealth
3. Knowledge• Chemistry, anatomy, mathamatics, astronomy, calendar, irrigation,
engineering, architecture, transportation
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 3: Egypt
Grab a Senteo & Sign in!
Monday• Chapter 1 – Practice Test online• Complete CSG Section 4: Indus
R.V.• Objectives/Short Answer Questions
Tuesday Night: Chapter 1 Test
Unit 1: FoundationsChapter 1: River Valley Civ.Section IV. Indus River Valley
http://mstreitwieser.com/civilization/indus.php
2600 – 1900 B.C.E.
IV. Indus River ValleyUnit 1: Chapter 1: Section 4: Indus RV
A. Environment
B. Culture
C. Transformation
A. Environment1. Present day: Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh
2. 2 regular floods a year3. Carries a lot of silt4. Irrigation allows 2 crops per
year
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 4: Indus RV
B. Culture1. Don’t know much about civilization because scholars have not
deciphered their writings2. Evidence suggests standards in city planning, architecture
and even the size of bricks3. 2 Largest Sites: Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa4. Both were surrounded by brick walls, had streets laid out in a
grid pattern and were supplied with covered drainage systems to carry away waste.
5. Had access to more metals than Egypt or Meso.6. Technology – irrigation, potter’s wheel, bricks, bronze,
writing7. Trade – North – Iran, Afghanistan, Meso.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 4: Indus RV
Harappa
Mohenjo-Daro
C. Transformation1. Declined because of natural disasters and
ecological change.2. These changes included:
1. Drying up of the Hakra River2. Stalinization3. Erosion
3. When urban centers collapsed, so did the way of life for the elite, but peasants probably adapted and survived.
Unit 1: Chapter 1: Section 4: Indus RV
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