The document summarizes four ancient river valley civilizations: 1) Mesopotamian civilization along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians. 2) Egyptian civilization along the Nile river, known for pharaohs, pyramids, and hieroglyphic writing. 3) Harappan civilization in the Indus river valley, known for urban planning and undeciphered writing. 4) Yellow River (Chinese) civilization, including the Shang dynasty known for bronze casting, and later Zhou dynasty known for iron production and silk trade.

1. Ancient
River
Civilizations

2. 4 River Valley Civilizations
• Mesopotamian Civilization
Tigris-Euphrates Valley
(c. 3300 BC - c. 2000 BC)
• Egyptian Civilization
Nile Valley
(c. 3200 BC - c. 1000 BC)
• Harappan Civilization
Indus Valley (c. 3200 BC - c. 1300 BC)
• Yellow River (Chinese) Civilization
Yellow River valley
(c. 2000 BC - c. 200 BC)

3. Mesopotamian
Civilization

4. • Greek word:
"Land between two Rivers"
Situated in the Tigris-Euphrates valley.
Divided into 3 phases.

5. Sumerians
• They have the
distinction of being the
first people to form a
city-based civilization.
(c. 3300 BC.)
• Cities established: Ur,
Uruk and Lagash.
• Based in South
Mesopotamia.

6. • Developed the
cuneiform script:
The earliest known
writing system in the
world.
• Means:
"Wedge-shaped"

7. • The earliest Sumerian writing simply
evolved from these pictures baked on clay
tablets, which were turned into symbols.
• The region was vulnerable:
It was so flat that it was open to frequent
invasion.

8. Akkadian Empire
• From North
Mesopotamia.
• Conquered the
Sumerians (2350 BC)
and established the
world's first empire:
"Akkadian Empire"

9. • Straddled both Northern
and Southern
Mesopotamia.
Leader: Sargon of Akkad
-one of the world's
earliest empire builder.

10. Third Dynasty of Ur
• 2100 BC: Sumerians
appeared back as the
Third Dynasty of Ur.
• Ur III came to
preeminent power in
Mesopotamia after
several centuries of
Akkadian and Gutian
rule.

11. • Monument: Ziggurat
of Ur.
Type of stepped
pyramid with
successively
receeding levels.

12. • The dynasty lasted for only a hundred
years before being overthrown by nomadic
tribes, clearing the way for the later
emergence of the Babylonian Empire.

13. Egyptian
Civilization

14. • c. 3200 BC: King Menes formed a dynastic
kingdom by uniting Northern and Southern
Egypt.

15. • King Menes
Claimed to be the
"first" pharaoh to rule
Egypt.
Succeeded in uniting
Upper Egypt and
Lower Egypt.

16. • 3000 BC: the Egyptians had developed a
system of writing:
"Hieroglyphics"
based on pictures and symbols.

17. • Enigmatic among all the ancient
civilizations.
• These periods were interspersed with
periods of instability, known as the
Intermediate periods.

18. The Old Kingdom
• Lasted from c. 2700 BC to 2200 BC.
• Rule: centralized, with the title of Pharaoh
given to the monarch.
• Pharaoh: considered to be of divine origin.
Three pharaohs:
Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura.

19. Khufu
• Cheops, Egyptian king
who built the Great
Pyramid at Giza and ruled
as the second king of the
Fourth Dynasty.

20. • Base:13.1 acres
• Height: 481.4 feet
• Composed:
2,300,000
separate blocks;
2 1/2 tons.

21. Khafra
• Chephren, the builder of
the second pyramid on
the famous Giza Plateau
called: "Khafra is Great"

22. Menkaura
• He built the smallest
pyramid at the Giza
plateau, and is called:
"Menkaure is Divine"

24. PYRAMID
The most visible and magnificent symbols of the
Egyptian civilization.

25. Significance
• Pyramids acted as staircases for this
spiritual journey.
• The pyramids protected the king's body
and the goods that were to be taken to the
next world.

26. • Scholars: The pyramids, along with other
smaller structure, were monuments
dedicated to the dead.

27. • Mummification
-which involved
processing the dead
bodies by filling the dried
corpses with spices,
wrapping in linen and
sealing in cases. The
mummies were then
placed in the
monuments, the
pyramids reserved for
the pharaohs and their
family.

28. The Middle Kingdom
• Stretched from c. 2050 BC to 1650 BC.
• This period saw the beginning of
expansion of Egyptian empire through
conquests.
• Invasions from western Asia by a warring
group called Hyksos put an end to this
kingdom.

29. The New Kingdom
• Covered the period from c. 1565 BC to 1085
BC.
• The Pharaohs expanded the empire to make
Egypt the most powerful state in south-west
Asia.

30. • Hatshepsut: first woman
pharaoh.
The longest reigning
female pharaoh in Egypt,
ruling for 20 years in the
14th century B.C.
• Considered one of
Egypt's most successful
pharaohs.
• Built temples and
monuments, resulting in
the flourish of Egypt.

31. • Akhenaton, whose wife was Queen Nefertiti,
built magnificent buildings and temples
constructed during this period.
• Amenhotep IV Akhenaton
• Amenhotep
(“Amun is Pleased”)
to Akhenaten
(“Servant of the Aten)”

32. • Queen Nefertiti
-She encouraged and
supported her
husband in his
revolutionary ideas
and together they
took on the religious
establishment.

33. • The civilisation lost its way as external
powers dominated over Egypt, till, in the
1st century B C, it became a province of
the Roman empire.

34. Harrapan
Civilization

35. • Situated mostly in the Indus valley, there
are no pyramids or ziggurats.

36. Uniform brickwork structures and buildings.
The uniformity of the excavated sites is
overwhelming.

37. • Came down to a regular grid pattern.
1. The bricks were of standard
dimensions.
2. The width of main roads, streets and
lanes were standardised too, and most run
either north-south or east-west.
3. The house followed the same plan, and
the drainage system was advanced.
Very high degree of organisation and
centralisation of governance.

38. • The world's pioneers in the spinning and
weaving of cotton.
• They had trade relationships with the
Mesopotamians.

39. • They used a form of
pictographic script,
which, unlike the
cuneiform script of
Sumerians and the
hieroglyphics of
Egypt, has not yet
been deciphered.

40. • The Harappan civilisation just faded and
blinked out of existence, replaced by an
entirely different culture – the Vedic
culture.

41. Yellow River (Chinese)
Civilisation

43. Shang Dynasty
• 1700 BC: Shang dynasty came to power
and it held sway till c.1027 BC.

44. 1. They built large
palaces and tombs.
2. Their cities were
built mostly of
wood, and were
surrounded with
massive earthen
walls for protection.

47. • King and his family: at
the top of the social
hierarchy, helped in
administration by
aristocratic families.
After death, their
bodies were buried in
tombs.

48. • The Shang dynasty was famous for the art of
bronze casting.
• Ruins of Yin
Eleven major Yin royal tombs and the
foundations of palaces and ritual sites containing
both weapons of war and the remains from
animal and human sacrifices.

49. • Developed a unique system of writing, in
which there was no link between the
written and spoken language.
- people in different regions could learn
the same set of characters, yet speak in
very different ways.

50. Zhou Dynasty
• Ruled till 256 BC.
Dynasty was the longest-lasting dynasty in
Chinese history.

51. • Carried on the culture of the Shang
dynasty.
1. Cast iron production- started in China,
and the iron was used to create weapons
and agricultural tools.
2. Large scale water projects for irrigation
were undertaken.
3. Silk became the most important item of
trade, and was traded with dominions as
far away as Greece.

52. • 771 BC: an invasion by the north nomads
broke this dynasty.
• Finally ending in 256 BC.

53. Arigato Gozaimasu