Warmup pg 18

• If you were stranded and needed to set up camp for survival, what resources would you look for? What resources are most important for survival? Please explain in at least 3-4 sentences

River Valley Civilizations

What is a Civilization?

• Like a City or Society
• Has a surplus of food
• Specialized Labor
• Usually has a government

Why River Valleys?

• Very fertile ground (easy to grow food)
• Easy to protect

The Indus River Valley

Location: India/South Asia

Indus and Swarthy rivers flooded regularly twice a year

After the floods, the rivers left behind Silt, which made the ground very fertile

This meant large food supplies, which lead to more advanced tools, buildings, and technology

Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

• Two sites in the Indus River Valley
• Had central drainage systems
• Great Bath
• Perfectly laid out streets

Mohenjo Daro even traded with Mesopotamia

How do we know?

• Indus River coins found in Mesopotamia
• Bronze found in Indus River

Indus River Valley Civilizations had a written language, as well as money

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Indus River Valley civilizations were also very peaceful, and we find very few weapons in the area

Around 1750 BCE, the Civilizations start to disappear

So what happened to them?
Spoiler: no one knows

A few theories

• Conquered
• Change in River
• Environemental disaster

Warm up Page 20

• Why are laws important for civilizations? Is it better to have more freedom, or more order?

Mesopotamia

Location: Southwest Asia
Between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

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Mesopotamia: "land between two rivers"

The Tigris and Euphrates flood, but not as regularly as the Indus

The ground is also much more difficult to work

which is one of the reasons the Mesopotamians relied on Slave Labor

Because the ground was not as fertile as the Indus River Valley, Mesopotamia relied on trade

Mesopotamia often traded bronze for crops like wheat, and textiles

The Mesopotamians developed a written language called Cuneiform

which was necessary to help with trade transactions

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Trade also leads to a rigid social class structure

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Community Shares

• Farmers collected harvests for everyone to share
• Farmers would also give a share of their crops directly to the government (*Taxes)

Mesopotamian Religion

• Gods Based on nature
• Very fierce
• Priests were one of the highest social classes
• Built Ziggurats

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Government

• Ruled by Dynasties: a single family that rules and passes its leadership

Ruled By Different Groups

• Sumerians (first)
• Akkadians
• Babylonians
• Assyrians

Each new group took power after the decline of a Dynasty

Hammurabi's Code

• One of the first written law codes
• Famous for it's "an eye for an eye" punishments

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