Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Early Civilizations



Early Civilizations
Prior to 5500 years ago there were no civilizations. Early humans had existed for millions of years before they established permanent villages approximately 10,000 years ago. The size of these villages grew slowly, and it was not until about 5500 years ago that the first cities appeared. It was in these early cities that systems of writing, government, religion, and economic activity first became established. This makes it easy to understand why the words "civilization" and "city" come from the same origin. When we talk about civilizations of ancient history, we are really talking about the earliest cities in history.
The first cities and civilizations developed in four areas, all around major rivers.
    Tigris and Euphrates Rivers - Mesopotamia (Iraq) 3500 to 3000 B.C.
    Nile River - Nile Valley of Egypt - A few hundred years later
    Indus River - Indus Valley (Pakistan) 2000 B.C.
    Yellow River - Northern China 1500 B.C.
These earliest civilizations had very little contact with each other. Barriers such as mountain ranges or deserts separated them. The Himalaya mountains rose between the civilizations of China and India. The Syrian and Arabian deserts lay between Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Later Civilizations
    The Persian Empire - About 500 B.C.
    The Greek Empire- The Empire of Alexander the Great - 323 B.C.
    The Roman Empire - About 117 A.D.
Later civilizations did succeed in overcoming natural barriers. For example, Persia controlled an area covering Mesopotamia, Egypt, and even parts of the Indus Valley. This civilization lasted from about 550 B.C. to about 330 B.C.
Located just to the west of the Persian empire, the Greeks had managed to resist conquest by the Persians. In fact, by 323 B.C. under Alexander the Great, the Greeks were in control of all the lands of the Persian empire and had expanded their lands even farther. Alexander's conquests helped to spread Greek influence throughout much of the civilized world.
The Next great civilization of the later ancient world was that of the Romans. At the time of Alexander, the Romans controlled central Italy. Three hundred years later, Rome was the centre of a civilization that covered the entire Mediterranean world, stretching as far west as the Atlantic Ocean. It lasted until the sixth century A.D.
These later civilizations were able to use the resources of their environment more effectively than earlier ones. They developed better crops, had improved metalworking, and built roads.
We know considerably more about Greece and Rome than we know about older ancient civilizations. Because they were more recent, written records are more abundant, better preserved and more easily understood. Other evidence, such as buildings and pottery, is easier to find and has not been damaged by the weather and people to the same extent as earlier finds.
Questions
    1. Define the term "civilization".
    2. List the four earliest major civilizations of the ancient world and the three major later ones.
    3. Fertile land and transportation were important reasons why cities developed on rivers. Name three other ways a river would be important to a city.
    4. Why do you think writing is considered to be a necessary part of civilization?
    5. Why do you suppose later civilizations were able to overcome the natural barriers that had hindered the expansion of earlier civilizations?
    6. What might be some reasons why we study ancient civilizations? What benefit could this be to our modern world?
    Activity
    Draw the location of each of the 4 early civilizations on the map sheet. Use a legend and make sure that you label each correctly. Remember to colour your maps appropriately.
Source for this page: Text - Other Places, Other Times.
 
 
About 9,000 years ago, wandering tribes settled in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley in what is now Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. The land was called Mesopotamia, which means "land between two rivers." The Sumerians were the first civilization of people in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians built cities that held beautiful palaces and temples. They were masterful craftsmen, and created goods that were sold in neighboring lands. They built huge walls around their cities as protection from invaders.
The most powerful city-state in the region was Ur, a trade centre located on the Euphrates River near the Persian Gulf. Ur, as well as other Sumerian city-states, were ruled by a lugal or king. The most important duty of the lugal was to win wars, which were fought often. There were some wealthy aristocrats, but most of the people worked for the king, in the army, in the ziggurat temple, or at a trade.
Sumerians developed the first known written language, called cuneiform, which means "wedge-shaped." Thanks to ancient scribes, we can see cuneiform writing on hardened clay tables. The wedge-shaped symbols tell us about daily life in Sumer.
Like Ur, Babylon was another large city-state in Mesopotamia that became very powerful. Hammurabi, an important king of Babylon, conquered the separate city-state of Sumer to unite the two cities into a single nation. He also wrote down the laws stating the rights of the individual, known as the Code of Hammurabi.
The Babylonians were highly organized people. They studied astronomy and mathematics, and the developed the decimal system. The Babylonians designed the first calendar and divided years into weeks. They also divided the days into hours, minutes, and seconds.
The earliest records in Mesopotamia date back to around 3200 B.C. when Sumerians kept cuneiform accounts of their business dealings. Around 2350 B.C. the Akkadians conquered Sumer. Different Semite tribes, who were the ancestors of Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Arabians, ruled this region for almost 2,000 years. In 539 B.C., Mesopotamia was conquered by the Persians.
 
Geography
There is no country called Mesopotamia today. Seven thousand years ago it included the area that is now northern Syria, southern Turkey, and most of Iraq. It ranged from the Taurus Mountains in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south and from Zagros Mountains in the east to the Syrian Desert in the west.
The main section of this region was called the Fertile Crescent. If you looked at a map and drew an upside-down horseshoe starting at Israel, up through Syria, and down through Iraq, you would form the crescent. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run through the area and converge at the Persian Gulf. This area was called "fertile" because ancient farmers used the waters of the tigris to irrigate their crops, thus making the land fertile. The name Mesopotamia means "the Land between two rivers
The geography and climate varied in the region. Northern Mesopotamia was a plateau with a mild climate. Summers were long and hot in southern Mesopotamia. Its alluvial plains were flooded each year by the Tigris and Euphrates and refertilized by rich silt. It was the most valuable farmland in the area and many tribes fought over it.
 
Activity
Materials Needed:
Map
Colouring Tools
1.  Identify the following on your map (refer to a map of Mesopotamia)
 
  • Tigris River
  • Euphrates River
  • Red Sea
  • Persian Gulf
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Caspian Sea
  • Black Sea
  • Taurus Mountains
  • Zagros Mountains
  • Syrian Desert
  • Arabia
  • City of Sumer
  • City of Babylon
  • City of Ur
2.  Colour the water blue, the land tan, and the area included in the fertile Cresent light green.
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