Early River Valley Civilizations PDF

**Early River Valley Civilizations** **Babylonian Empire - Hammurabi\'s Code** -**Hammurabi\'s Code**: A set of laws in Babylon made people take responsibility for what they did. These laws were carved in stone and put up all over the empire so everyone could see them. **Fertile Crescent & Mesopo...

**Early River Valley Civilizations** **Babylonian Empire - Hammurabi\'s Code** -**Hammurabi\'s Code**: A set of laws in Babylon made people take responsibility for what they did. These laws were carved in stone and put up all over the empire so everyone could see them. **Fertile Crescent & Mesopotamia** -**Geography**: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed from Turkey to the Persian Gulf, creating rich soil that allowed farming to thrive over 6,000 years ago. -**Mesopotamia**: Means "land between the rivers." Its rich land earned it the name \"Fertile Crescent.\" -**First Settlers**: People started farming in southern Mesopotamia by 4500 B.C., with the Sumerians arriving around 3300 B.C. **Sumerians** -**Challenges and Solutions**: -**Irrigation**: Dug canals to bring water to crops. -**Defense**: Built mud-brick walls around their cities. -**Trade**: Exchanged goods for materials like wood and metal. -**City-States**: By 3000 B.C., Sumerians built independent cities, like Uruk and Ur, that acted like small countries. -**Religion**: Worshipped many gods (polytheistic), like Enlil, god of storms. -**Society & Inventions**: \- Social classes: Kings, priests, and merchants at the top; most people were farmers. -**Inventions**: Created the wheel, sail, plow, and a writing system called cuneiform. **Egyptian Civilization** -**Geography**: The Nile River, which flows north for 4,100 miles, provided fertile land for Egyptian settlements. \- **"Gift of the Nile":** Annual floods left rich soil for farming, which Egyptians relied on and even worshipped. -**Upper and Lower Egypt**: -**Upper Egypt**: Located in the south, higher ground. -**Lower Egypt**: The Nile Delta in the north, where the river meets the Mediterranean. -**King Narmer**: United Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 B.C., shown on the **Narmer Palette**. -**Pharaohs**: \- Pharaohs were seen as god-kings who ruled Egypt's government and religion. \- They were believed to control events like the Nile flooding. -**Afterlife & Pyramids**: Pharaohs had an \"eternal life force\" (ka) and were buried in pyramids with items for the afterlife. -**Mummification**: \- Egyptian elites were mummified to preserve their bodies for the afterlife, with tombs containing clothing, food, and scrolls to help them in the afterlife.