Humans settled in river valleys during the new stone age • Rich soil • Irrigation waters

for agriculture • Protection from

invasion

Ancient civilizations that developed in River Valleys

• Mesopotamia • Tigris and Euphrates River

• Egyptian • Nile River

• Indian • Indus River

• Chinese • Huang He River

Other early civilizations (around 2000 to 500 B.C.)

• Hebrew • Between Mediterranean Sea

and the Jordan river • Phoenicians

• Along the Mediterranean coast • Nubia

• Located on the upper (southern) Nile in Africa

SOL WHI.3 Early River Valley Civilizations

Located on the Lower Nile (predictable

flooding)

Hieroglyphics

Pharaohs

Pyramids and the Sphinx

Polytheistic Afterlife

Rigid class system where slavery was

accepted

Fertile Crescent • Tigris River • Euphrates River

• Flooding unpredictable

Sumer • Social Classes • Polytheistic • Cuneiform –

wedge shaped writing

• Ziggurats

Babylon • Code of

Hammurabi • Eye for

and eye • Gloomy

afterlife

Located between the Lebanon Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea • skilled at traveling on

the sea • Greatest traders in the

ancient world • colonies around the

Mediterranean Sea • No afterlife • Sacrificed children to

satisfy the Gods • Greatest contribution:

• Alphabet

Indus River Valley • Harappa • Mohenjo Daro

• Well organized cities

Huang He (Yellow River) Valley

Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea

Believed in one-all knowing, all-powerful God • Abraham • Moses and the Ten

Commandments

Torah – the sacred text of Judaism

The monotheism of Abraham became the

foundation of Judaism,

Christianity and Islam.

All people deserve kindness.

Judaism spread through exile and diaspora

Label the early river valley civilizations on the map

Review Questions

1. Why did ancient civilizations develop in river valleys?

2. Where were the earliest civilizations located?

3. When did the early civilizations exist?

4. What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations?

5. What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

6. What were the essential beliefs of Judaism?

7. How did Judaism influence Western civilization?

8. What forms of languages and writing existed in early civilization?

Define:

1. Mesopotamia 2. Pictograms 3. Hieroglyphics 4. Dynasties 5. Pharaoh 6. City-states 7. Empires 8. Code of Hammurabi 9. Polytheism 10. Monotheism 11. Judaism 12. Torah 13. Exile 14. Diaspora 15. Ten Commandments 16. Cuneiform