Tweety Tuesday

Topic:
Geographic features

Ex: #mountainhigh
Early Civilizations
 Where did Civilizations begin?

Most civilizations
began near rivers
and lakes. The
people needed the
water for drinking
and growing plants,
a skill learned
during the
Neolithic
Revolution.
 River Valleys
There are 3 reasons River Valleys were ideal locations for cities

1- Nutrient rich land surrounding the river

due to annual flooding

2- Easy transportation using boats and rafts

for people and goods
(Cultural Diffusion)

3- Steady supply of fresh water

Cultural Diffusion:
The spread of ideas,
beliefs, technology, and
goods
 River Valleys
River Valleys became ideal locations for cities and settlements because of
the fertile land surrounding the river beds.

There are 4 main River Valleys where cities and civilizations began

1) Tigris Euphrates River- Middle East

2) Nile River- Egypt

3) Indus River- India

4) Huang He- China

 River Valley Map
Using colored pencils or markers label the 4 early river valley civilizations
located on the map; Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, and the Indus.

Egypt
Mesopotamia
Indus Valley
China

Make sure you fill in the Map Key.

 Ancient Egypt
Geography-
Egypt is a desert with 90% of the population
living on 10% of the land

The Nile River was the giver of life,

providing drinking water,
irrigation for crops, and a
means of travel and trade.

The Delta- the triangular

area where the Nile River
deposits large amounts of
silt, nutrient rich soil
Egypt from Space

90% of Egypt’s
population lives on
10% of the land
 Egypt from Space- at night
Africa
 Ancient Egypt
Government- Pharaoh’s had more power than
traditional
The Egyptians were kings because
ruled by dynasties of they were
Pharaohs. This means
viewedthe throne would of
as leaders passthe government
from family member to family member
and religion.

The Pharaoh was also a god, which gave

him power over religious and political decisions
God king= more powerful
 Ancient Egypt
Religion-
The Egyptians worshipped many gods,
they were Polytheistic. They believed gods
controlled nearly all aspects of life

Amon-Ra- Sun god

Osiris- Controlled annual floods of the Nile

Egyptians believed in the afterlife, and buried

their dead with tools, food, prized possessions
and even pets. Pharaohs were Mummified to
preserve their bodies and buried in huge
pyramids
 The MUMMY’s Curse
Ancient Pharaohs were mummified to preserve their bodies for use in the
after life.

These tombs were packed with gold, material goods, food and comfort items
 Ancient Egypt
Society-
Ancient Egypt’s social pyramid was
topped by the god king, the pharaoh.

At the bottom of the pyramid were

the unskilled workers and slaves.
Many people in Ancient Egypt were
slaves.
 Ancient Egypt
Writing-
Ancient Egyptian scribes wrote in
Hieroglyphics, a form of picture
writing.

Vast records were written on

monuments, tombs and papyrus scrolls
(like paper).

Historians were not able to translate the

hieroglyphics until the discovery of the
Rosetta Stone
 Ancient Egypt
Contributions-
-Pyramids- tombs for great Pharaohs. They took years
to complete and were filled with treasure

-Surgery and medicine

-Monuments and art work

-Rosetta stone and hieroglyphs

-irrigation systems
 Hieroglyphs
Try it for yourself…
 Think about it
The Nile impacted everyday life for the Egyptians. They worshipped the
God Osiris, believed to control the Nile’s floods, they used it as a source
of water and food. The Nile was the main form of transportation, and few
roads were built to connect the empire.

In what ways would a drought have affected the Ancient

Egyptians?
-What might people do to get rain?
-How would everyday life change?
-Would people be scared? Why or why not?
 Ancient Mesopotamia
Geography-
Located between the Tigris and
Lack of natural boundaries
Euphrates Rivers

led to frequent
No natural boundaries to stop invasions
invasion, so many empires will rise and
fall.
and cultural diffusion.
Cultural Diffusion is the
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood
spread of….
unpredictably

Nicknamed “The Cradle of

Civilization” and “Fertile Crescent”
 Ancient Mesopotamia
Government-
Hereditary governments with strong
kings

Kings were the servant of the Gods,

chosen to lead the nation

The area had many empires

rise and fall
-Sumer
-Babylon
 Ancient Mesopotamia
Religion-
The Ancient Mesopotamians were
Polytheistic and built large temples to
please the gods
 Ancient Mesopotamia
Society-
There were strict social classes

Merchants, people who buy and sell

things, were in the middle class

Mostly Low level farmers In Ancient

Civilizations,
what determined
your social class?
Your job which was determined by birth:
A farmer’s son would become a farmer
A Noble’s son would become a Noble
 Ancient Mesopotamia
Contributions-

Cuneiform- a style of writing with

wedges and shapes

Ziggurat- step-pyramid temples for the

gods

Hammurabi’s Code- First law code

Algebra

First wheeled vehicles

 Empires Empire:
Territories
controlled by
Empire- group of territories controlled by one ruler. one ruler
Mesopotamia had many groups of people living throughout the
valley, but they were difficult to unite under one leader. It was not
until warlike rulers seized power that we see empires grow.
 How did the lack of natural
boundaries affect Mesopotamia?

How does Irregular flooding impact

the Mesopotamian societies?
 Ancient Sumer
Sumerians-
The Sumerians were one of the first civilizations
of the Fertile Crescent
How does the irregular flooding of the Tigris and
The Sumerians created large Ziggurats to
Euphrates
worship and affect
honor their gods. Mesopotamia?
( Polytheistic)

Cuneiform was the writing of the Sumerian

people. It is a mix of symbols and pictograms

What other geographic feature affects

development in the Fertile Crescent?

The Epic of Gilgamesh-

tale of a man’s struggle
against the gods
 Ancient Babylon
The Babylonian Empire was ruled by
one ruler, the most powerful was
Hammurabi

The Babylonian Empire was short

lived, but united lands from Egypt to
India

Most powerful ruler was Hammurabi

who created the Code of Hammurabi
 Hammurabi’s Code
Law Codes are a set of rules to live by

Hammurabi’s code was the first collection of

laws in history

The code was written on stone for ALL to

see

Very harsh “an eye for an eye, a tooth for

a tooth”
 Impact of Hammurabi’s Code
Crime Punishment
The code dealt with BOTH murder
criminal and civil laws. Civil
laws deal with arguments theft, burglary, stealing
between the people.
hitting a parent
lying in court
kidnapping DEATH

hiding runaway slaves

conspiracy-planning
to commit a crime

offending the gods

READ and
answer the
questions
Seignior-
A man of importance
and rank (noble)
Is the code fair
among the Social
classes? Why or
why not?

What would
happen if a slave
was injured?

What if a seignior
knocked out a
commoner’s
tooth?
 Ancient China
Geography-
Varied geography includes mountains,
deserts, jungles and ocean coast line.

The mountains and ocean keep China

isolated, and it creates a unique
culture

They used Terrace Farming to grow

crops on the mountains

Terrace Farming-
cut out flat areas to stop the
crops from washing away
Ancient China
 Ancient China
Government-
Dynasty system of ruling families,
began with Shang family

Early china was ruled in different

areas by clans or groups of families.

Difficult to unite china because of

the various geographic features
 Ancient China
Religion-
Polytheistic belief in many nature
spirits

Worship dead ancestors

Yin Yang- universal balance between

peace and prosperity. If it is not
balanced it will break
 Ancient China
Society-
the land is owned by noble warriors
who ‘rent’ to peasants

Peasants work the land

Not unified as a country due to

geographic barriers
 Ancient China
Contributions-
Developed written Chinese for the
upper classes and Scribes

Access to the Ocean allowed for far

ranging trade all the way to the
middle east
 Ancient India
Geography-
the Indus River floods twice a year
predictably
The Himalaya Mountains in the North
and Northeast
India is a Peninsula of India create a
with the Himalaya
mountains in natural barrier.
the North What
and NE (a impact does
natural barrier)
this have on the Indus River Valley?

Monsoons bring rain

The mountains keep out invading
forces, which creates relative peace and
safety
 Ancient India
Government-
Little is known about the governments

Well planned cities- Mohenjo Daro

and Harappa

Roads in a grid with a dominate fortress

in the middle
 Ancient India
Religion-
Each city had a large temple to pray to
the gods.

Eventually, Hinduism, a polytheistic

religion will grow
 Ancient India
Society-
Like other ancient civilizations, ancient
Indians were mostly farmers

Merchants traded as far as the Middle

East and Egypt
 Ancient India
Contributions-
The first to grow cotton and weave
into clothing
 Geographic impacts

What are some ways the geographic features

impacted the people of the following
civilizations?
Egypt
Mesopotamia Egypt
Nile River, Mediterranean sea
Mesopotamia
Lack of natural barriers
= Increased trade. Only
= Lots of invasion and Nile River,
live on 10% of land
Lack of natural
Cultural barriers
Diffusion Mediterranean
near water sea
India
India China
China
Peninsula and Himalayan Mountains, Desert, River, and
mountains. Indus River Ocean
Peninsula and
=isolation and =Mountains, Desert,
isolation but trade
Himalayan mountains
predictable floods River,routes
and Ocean
 Geographic feature impacts

Isolation and
protection
mountains

Trade and cultural

diffusion
Waterways
Rivers/seas

-Isolation and
protection
Deserts -difficult to live
 Geographic impacts

What are some ways the Ancient people

adapted to their environment, changing it to
meet their needs?

-irrigation
-terrace farming
Crash Course: Indus Valley

340-552
Crash Course: Egypt

141-6
Crash Course: Mesopotamia

116-?
Organize the following terms into the
correct river valley
Nile Tigris and Euphrates
Indus Huang He
Mesopotamia Egypt India China Babylon

Sumer Pharaohs Delta Polytheistic Yin yang

Predictable Irregular Shang Dynasty Isolated by Terrace farming

flood flooding Himalaya Mts
Isolated by Cuneiform Hieroglyphics No natural Hammurabi
Himalaya Mts barriers Code
Lack of Rosetta Stone Fertile Harappa Hindu
boundaries Crescent
 Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was located along
the Nile River in North East Africa.

Cities were dotted along the

Nile throughout the Egyptian
kingdom.

*Thebes
*Alexandria
*Cairo
*Giza

Feature 1: Cities. Ancient Thebes population 20,000

 Ancient Egypt

To maintain power over Egypt, the Pharaohs claimed to be gods

themselves, ensuring both a political and religious power

Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom

This is the time period A time of great cultural During this time Egypt
when pharaohs built the diffusion as a result of built a vast empire
pyramids trade and invaders reaching
to the
Euphrates
river

Feature 2: Organized government lead by divine pharaohs

 Ancient Egypt
The Egyptians worshipped many gods (Polytheistic). The people believed
in gods for nearly all aspects of life and made sacrifices to them.

Even the pharaohs

were considered Gods

Feature 3: Complex Religion- Polytheistic

 Ancient Egypt

There were countless jobs for the people of

Ancient Egypt. Most people were farmers, but
there was demand for engineers, artists,
sailors, scribes, and many other positions.

Like many ancient civilizations, people were

often born into their position.
Farmers breed farmers.
Scholars breed scholars.
Pharaohs breed pharaohs.

Feature 4: Job Specialization- Pharaoh, scribes, farmers,

merchants. Everyone has a place
 Ancient Egypt

Feature 5:Social Classes- Slaves made up the lowest class.

 Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was full of art. From the giant pyramids, to wall paintings in
tombs, and even statues. Egyptian art often depicted everyday life, religious
ceremonies or showed victories in battle.

Feature 6: Arts and Architecture- history told on huge

buildings or monuments
 Ancient Egypt
Egypt’s civilization covered a large area of land, but was heavily dependent
on the Nile. Fertile lands could only be found an average of 10 miles on
either side of the Nile. To expand livable area, the Egyptians created
irrigation channels to increase food production.

Feature 7: Public Works- irrigation systems for annual floods

 Ancient Egypt
Like many ancient civilizations the Egyptians left behind written
stories and accounts of their time. The scribes in Egypt wrote in
hieroglyphics.

Feature 8: Writing- hieroglyphics

 Think about it
The Nile impacted everyday life for the Egyptians. They worshipped
Gods believed to control the Nile’s floods, they used it as a source
of water and food. The Nile was the main form of transportation,
and few roads were built to connect the empire.

In what ways would a drought have affected the Ancient

Egyptians?
-What might people do to get rain?
-How would everyday life change?
-Would people be scared? Why or why not?