Professional Documents
Culture Documents
40001000 B.C.
Early Civilizations
The
Storyteller
Chapter Themes
> Relation to Environment The
Egyptians learn to control the
floodwaters of the Nile River upon
which their agriculture relies.
Section 1
> Cooperation The peoples of the
Fertile Crescent work together to
build irrigation systems and cities.
Section 2
> Cultural Diffusion Cities in early
India develop close trading and
cultural ties with the Fertile Crescent area. Section 3
> Innovation Early Chinese civilization excels in metal-casting. Section 4
44
History
& Art
Section
The
Storyteller
King Narmer
Uniting Egypt
CONN
TIONS
EC
Describe ancient ways of controlling rivers. How are the Nile and other
rivers tamed today? Why might people object to some modern methods
of river control?
Ancient Egypt
30E
35E
Cyprus
35N
SYRIA
a
Mediterranean Se
40E
N
Nile Delta
30N
E
S
Giza
Memphis
Lower Egypt
ARABIAN
PENINSULA
N
ile
ver
Ri
25N
Thebes
Re
ea
dS
Upper Egypt
20N
0
0
100
200 mi.
200 km
Map
Study
O. Louis Mazzatenta
PICTURING HISTORY
O. Louis Mazzatenta
he
mummy
of
Ramses the Great
(above) lies in a display case on the
second floor of the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo. For many
centuries before Ramses was
brought to Cairo, the great
pharaoh lay in his tomb near
Luxor in a richly decorated
coffin (left), embellished with
symbols of Osiris, god of the
afterlife. Ramses was nearly
90 when he died in 1237 B.C. His mummy has
remained intact for the last 3,000 years.
Egyptian Families
In the cities and in the upper class the husband,
wife, and children made up the family group.
Visualizing
Ramses II
holds an
offering tableone of
many great monuments
erected to honor the
pharaoh and Queen
Nefertari. What recent
discovery yielded more
information about the reign
of Ramses II?
History
Visualizing
History
Achievements in Science
Pyramids, temples, and other monuments bear
witness to the architectural and artistic achievement of Egyptian artisans. These works, however,
SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT
Main Idea
1. Use a chart like the one below
to show how the Nile River
affected life in ancient Egypt.
Cause
Effects
Nile River
Recall
2. Define monarchy, dynasty,
theocracy, bureaucracy,
pharaoh, empire, polytheism,
hieroglyphics.
3. Identify Narmer, Hatshepsut,
Thutmose III, Akhenaton,
Ramses II.
Critical Thinking
4. Evaluate Was Thutmose III or
Ramses II more successful in
handling conflict?
Understanding Themes
5. Relation to Environment
How did the ancient Egyptians
use the environment to meet
their needs?
Special Report
The
Egyptians
he Valley of the
Kings has seen
more than its
share of visitors.
For thousands of
years, travelers,
warriors, and
more recently, archaeologists have
descended on this area on the outskirts of what is now Luxor to marvel at the magnificence of ancient
Egypt. It was thought that most of
54 Chapter 2 Early Civilizations
Kenneth Garrett
Special Report
ordinary people who built the
pyramids. Within months they
uncovered the remains of
many mud-brick buildings,
including the oldest bakery
yet discovered in Egypt.
This was a significant find.
While the pyramids built
Egypt by drawing its provinces together in a unified
effort, it can be said that bread
built the pyramids. For thousands of workers, a loaf
of emmerwheat bread
washed down with beerwas
most likely the dietary staple.
At about the time the bak- Hosul Kang, based on a drawing by Mark Lehner
ery was discovered, searchers
also unearthed a cemetery of
600 graves of workers. Their
skeletons revealed years of
hard labor: Vertebrae were
compressed and damaged
from years of carrying heavy
loads. Some skeletons were
missing fingers and even
limbs. A few of the tombs
were adorned with minipyramids several feet high,
made of mud brick. Nothing
like these tiny pyramids had
been found before. In the
past, scholars believed that Kenneth Garrett
the pyramid form was invented as the shape for a royal tomb. A drawing of an ancient bakery
However, Zahi Hawass, director gen- (top) was used to build this replica
eral of the Giza Pyramids, thinks that of an ancient Egyptian bakery near
the pyramid form actually may have Saqqara, Egypt (bottom).
arisen among the common people.
He believes that the mini-pyramids
evolved from sacred rectangular but that through the pharaoh the dimounds found in tombs even older vine nature of their society was expressed. Building a pyramid might
than the pharaohs pyramids.
have been an act of faith much as
Life for most ancient Egyptians
building a cathedral was in the
was hard. Society was built around a
Middle Ages.
preoccupation with the pharaohs
Such recent discoveries about the
immortality. But perhaps there were
life of the common people may lead
spiritual rewards for the common
to a new way of seeing ancient
people in this devotion to their
Egypt: not only as a brilliant civilizapharaohs. Some scholars think that
tion of the elite trickling down to the
ancient Egyptians believed not so
masses but also as a culture built
much that the pharaoh was divine,
56 Chapter 2 Early Civilizations
Kenneth Garrett
Kenneth Garrett
Kenneth Garrett
Section
The
toryteller
Sumerians honored the sun god Shamash as
a defender of the weak, giver of life, and even as a
judge of business deals, as in this hymn:
The whole of mankind bows to you,
Shamash the universe longs for your light.
As for him who declines a present, but
nevertheless takes the part of the weak,
It is pleasing to Shamash, and he will prolong
his life.
The merchant who practices
trickery as he holds the
balances
He is disappointed in the matter
of profit and loses his capital.
The honest merchant who holds
the balances and gives good
weight
Everything is presented to him in
good measure.
Sumerian
board game
Eu
Mediterranean
Sea
ph
ra t
es
R iv
er
er
Riv
35N
Pe
rsi
Fertile
Crescent
an
25N
ARABIAN
PENINSULA
ea
By 3000 B.C. the Sumerians had formed 12 citystates in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, including Ur,
Uruk, and Eridu. A typical Sumerian city-state consisted of the city itself and the land surrounding it.
M INO R
Gu
lf
dS
IA
45E
Re
35E
AS
ver
Ri
ile
N
r is
Tig
0
0
100
200 mi.
100 200 km
Map
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, people
Study first harnessed oxen and plowed
the land.
Human/Environment Interaction How did
these people control seasonal floodwaters?
Sumerian Government
Visualizing
History
30E
40E
45E
Ebla
Cyprus
Eu
ph
ra
tes
50E
ver
Ri
is
gr
Ti
ASIA MINOR
r
ve
Ri
35N
Mediterranean
Sea
Babylon
Dead
Sea
Ur
Uruk
Eridu
30N
Pe
rs
ARABIAN PENINSULA
ia
r
ve
Ri
ile
N
Red
Sea
100
0
0
100
ul
200 mi.
200 km
Scholars believe that the courses of both the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have
Map
changed greatly since the first Sumerian city-states were built.
Study 1. Location On what river is the ancient city of Babylon?
Sumerian Inventions
Visualizing
History
The Umbrella
1400 B.C.Umbrellas
actually originated under
the sunny skies of Mesopotamia. Sumerians used
palm fronds or feather umbrellas to shield their
heads from the harsh rays and scorching heat of
the Middle Eastern sun.
of the
Mesopotamia
For many centuries, beginning about
4000 B.C., enterprising civilizations rose
and fell in the fertile valley of the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers.
62
63
Babylonian Society
Visualizing
History
SECTION 2 ASSESSMENT
Main Idea
1. Use a chart like the one below
to explain Sumers achievements.
Political
Life
Cultural
Life
Inventions
Recall
2. Define city-state, cuneiform.
3. Identify the Sumerians,
Gilgamesh, Sargon I, the
Akkadians, Hammurabi.
Critical Thinking
4. Making Comparisons
Contrast Hammurabis code
Critical Thinking
Classifying Information
Section
The Subcontinent
The
toryteller
For a long time, it had been known that the
mounds of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa contained
archaeological remains. But neighborhood construction workers actually used the ancient
mounds as sources for bricks, until practically
none remained above ground. As Sir Alexander
Cunningham, the first Director General of the
Archaeological Survey records, Perhaps the best
idea of the extent of the ruined brick mounds of
Harappa may be formed from the fact that they
have more than sufficed to furnish brick ballast for
about 100 miles of Lahore and Multan Railway.
adapted from Indus Valley
Civilization, Ashim Kumar
Ron N.N. Gidwani
(Cunningham, 1875),
1982 and Harappan
Civilization, Gregory
Possehl, 1982
Bounded by Mountains
Natural barriers separate the South Asian subcontinent from the rest of Asia. Water surrounds the
landmass on the east and west. To the north rise
two lofty mountain rangesthe Himalayas and the
Hindu Kush. Throughout history, invaders entering the subcontinent by land have had to cross the
few high mountain passes of the Hindu Kush.
Plains sweep across the landscape to the south
of the mountains. Across the plains flow three
rivers, fed by rain and melting mountain snows.
The Indus River drains into the Arabian Sea, and
the Ganges (GANJEEZ) and Brahmaputra (BRAH
muhPOOtruh) Rivers join and empty into the
Bay of Bengal, forming a wide delta. The GangesBrahmaputra Delta and the Indus-Ganges plain are
formed from soils left by the rivers. Like the Nile
Valley and Delta and the Tigris-Euphrates plains,
fertile river areas of South Asia have supported vast
numbers of people over the ages.
Seasonal Winds
Harappan jar lid
60E
70E
80E
90E
100E
110E
120E
AN
N SH
TIA
GOBI
(Desert)
N
W
Anyang
Yellow
Sea
HINDU K
USH
Harappa
us
nd
Mohenjo-Daro I
PLATEAU OF
TIBET
B ra
h m apu
R iv
er
3 0 N
Hu a n
KUNLUN SHAN
t r a R.
Ga
I M
A L A Y A S
a
Ch
ng
Ji a
ng
es
WES
South
China
Sea
Bay
of
Bengal
TER
Arabian
Sea
HA
N G
10N
YUNNAN
PLATEAU
MTS.
DHYA
N
I
V
DECCAN
PLATEAU
Xi Jiang
R.
20N
g He
TS
200
0
0
200
400 mi.
400 km
The urban Harappan civilization emerged in the Indus Valley about 2500 B.C.
Map
The Shang dynasty ruled China from 1700 B.C. to 1000 B.C.
Study Human/Environment Interaction What may have caused the
collapse of the Harappan civilization?
grew wheat, barley, rice, and cotton. Farmers planted at the beginning or end of the flood season and
relied on the drenched land to provide the necessary water for their crops.
Supported by a food surplus, Harappan city
dwellers engaged in industry and commerce. Some
artisans worked bronze and copper into tools,
while others made silver vessels and gold, shell,
and ivory jewelry. The Harappans also mass-produced clay pots, and they spun and wove cotton
cloth. Merchants who handled these goods used
soapstone seals to identify bundles of merchandise.
The discovery by archaeologists of Harappan seals
in Mesopotamia indicates that Indus Valley people
traded with the people of Mesopotamia as early as
2300 B.C.
Visualizing
History
Harappan Life
Most of the Harappan people worked the land.
In the fields of the Indus Valley floodplain they
Collapse of a Civilization
By 1500 B.C. the Harappan civilization had disappeared. Historians have many theories for what
caused this collapse. Evidence of floods, for example, suggests possible climate changes. In the
Mohenjo-Daro ruins are signs that some of its people may have met a violent end, possibly at the
hands of invaders.
SECTION 3 ASSESSMENT
Main Idea
1. Use a web diagram like the one
below to identify details about
the cities built by the people of
the Indus River valley.
Cities of Indus
River Valley
Recall
2. Define subcontinent, monsoon.
3. Identify the Harappans.
Critical Thinking
4. Analyzing Information
What do archaeological clues
suggest about the decline of
the Indus Valley civilization?
Understanding Themes
5. Cultural Diffusion How
might the Indus Valley civilization at Mohenjo-Daro and the
civilization at Harappa have
been influenced by the
Mesopotamian city-states and
empires?
Section
Early China
Read to Find Out
Main Idea Early Chinese civilization made
major cultural contributions.
>Terms to Define
mandate
>People to Meet
Yu the Great
>Places to Locate
Huang He valley, Anyang
The
toryteller
What would the oracle say this time? Tang
tried not to lean too far forward to watch as the
fortune-teller began to apply red-hot coals to the
turtle shell. A man of his station should not
appear too anxious: his confidence in divine
support should be seen by all. On the shell was
inscribed a question known only to him: Shall I
attack before harvest? So much depended on the
answer. There was nothing to do now but wait for
the fire to work on the brittle shell covered with
scratchings, containing the destiny of China.
adapted from
Ancient Records
of Assyria and
Babylon, Volume 1,
edited by Daniel
David Luckenbill,
1968
Chinas Geography
Chinas varied geography has affected its historical development. Mountains make up about
one-third of Chinas area. The Himalayas close off
China to the southwest, and on the western border
rise the Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan ranges. To the
east of the Tian Shan lie the vast desert wastes of
the Gobi. These rugged physical features hindered
cultural diffusion both into and out of China for
many centuries.
On the east, Chinas coastline touches the
Pacific Ocean. Although some Chinese became
devoted seafarers, they mostly focused on developing the agriculture of eastern Chinas fertile river
valleys and plains. Unlike the land to the west with
its forbidding terrain, the east welcomed life. For
centuries large numbers of Chinese have farmed in
the regions North China Plain.
Three major rivers drain eastern China: the
Huang He (HWONG HUH); the Chang Jiang
(CHAHNG JYAHNG), known also as the Yangtze
(YANGSEE); and the Xi Jiang (SHEE JYAHNG),
also called the West River. The Huang He flows
more than 2,900 miles (4,640 km) from the northern
Chapter 2 Early Civilizations 69
Visualizing
History
Chinese Myths
Over the centuries the Chinese developed
many myths to explain their remote past. One myth
70 Chapter 2 Early Civilizations
Early Religion
Though the Shang kings were political leaders,
they also performed religious duties. As high
priests, they could communicate with nature
deities on behalf of the people. They prayed, made
offerings, and performed sacrifices to gain a good
harvest, a change in the weather, or victory in battle. Kings also had special powers for calling upon
their ancestors. To do so, they had a priest scratch a
question on an animal bone or sometimes on a
(AHNYAHNG). Their excavations reveal the general layout of Anyang. A palace and temple stood at
the center of the city, as in the cities of other early
civilizations, and public buildings and homes of
government officials circled the royal sanctuary.
Beyond the citys center stood various workshops
and other homes.
Important Achievements
The priests writing on the oracle bones used a
script with many characters. These characters represented objects, ideas, or sounds and were written
in vertical columns. To use the script with ease, a
writer had to memorize each character. Because
only a small percentage of the population could
master all the characters, few people in ancient
China could read and write.
Not only did the Chinese of the Shang period
develop a written script, but they also perfected
their metal-casting skills and produced some of the
finest bronze objects ever made. These included
bronze daggers, figurines, and ritual urns. They
built massive ceremonial cauldrons that stood on
legs. Bronze fittings adorned hunting chariots, and
warriors carried bronze daggers. Artisans also
carved beautiful ivory and jade statues. They wove
silk into elegantly colored cloth for the upper class
and fashioned pottery from kaolin, a fine white clay.
The Chinese built their first cities under the
Shang. Archaeologists today have identified seven
capital cities, including the city of Anyang
SECTION 4 ASSESSMENT
Main Idea
1. Use a chart like the one below
to show the major contributions
of early Chinese civilization.
Culture
City
Planning
Artistic
Military
Recall
2. Define mandate.
3. Identify Yu the Great, Xia
dynasty, Shang dynasty,
Mandate of Heaven.
Critical Thinking
4. Making Comparisons Compare the Mandate of Heaven
from
Gilgamesh
retold by Herbert Mason
ike people today,
ancient Sumerians
loved adventure tales
featuring extraordinary heroes battling
the forces of evil. Many Sumerian
myths featured a king, Gilgamesh, who
lived around 2700 B.C. The earliest
known written accounts of Gilgameshs
adventures date from about 1850 B.C.,
making them the oldest surviving
examples of epic poetry. An epic is a
long poem recalling the exploits of a
legendary hero. Gilgamesh, after the
death of his friend Enkidu, searched for
the secret of eternal life, which he hoped
to share with his departed friend. In the
following excerpt, Gilgamesh, hoping
to learn how to escape death, listens to
a mysterious elderly man,
Utnapishtim, recount how he survived
a great flood.
Visualizing
Gilgamesh subdues a
lion. By the 700s B.C.
Gilgamesh had become a mythological
hero. The real Gilgamesh ruled over
ancient Uruk. What blessing did the war god
give Gilgamesh and his family?
History
RESPONDING TO LITERATURE
1. How did Utnapishtim of Shurrupak survive
the great flood?
2. How were the reactions of the gods and of
Utnapishtim similar?
3. What questions would you ask Utnapishtim if
CHAPTER 2 ASSESSMENT
Self-Check Quiz
Visit the World History: The Human Experience
Web site at worldhistory.ea.glencoe.com and click
on Chapter 2Self-Check Quiz to prepare for the
Chapter Test.
bureaucracy
city-state
cuneiform
dynasty
empire
hieroglyphics
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
mandate
monarchy
monsoon
pharaoh
polytheism
theocracy
Technology Activity
Using E-mail Search the
Internet for the E-mail
address of an Egyptologist
from an international museum or university.
Compose a letter requesting information about
various aspects of ancient Egyptian culture such
as architecture, religion, hieroglyphics, or medicine. From your response, write a short report of
your findings. Share your report with the class.
Reviewing Facts
1. Government Use a diagram like the one
below to summarize important details about
Hammurabis Babylonian empire.
Hammurabis
Babylonian
Empire
CHAPTER 2 ASSESSMENT
Critical Thinking
Skill Practice
Harappan Life
Occupations
Artifacts
Theories of Decline
Geography in History
1. Location Refer to the map below. What is the
relative location of the Sinai Peninsula? Find
this peninsula on the Middle East map in the
Atlas. What is its absolute location?
2. Place Why was most agricultural production
in ancient Egypt and in that nation today
found along the Nile River?
3. Movement Why would travel in ancient
Egypt have been easier for a person who
was going from south to north than for a
person going from east to west? What might
make travel from east to west less difficult
today?
Egypt
Med i t e rranean Sea
Understanding Themes
1. Relation to Environment What flood-control
methods of the ancient Egyptians and other
river valley peoples are still in use today?
2. Cooperation In what areas of city life today is
cooperation as important as it was when the
Sumerians built the earliest cities?
3. Cultural Diffusion What advances in the twentieth century have made cultural diffusion easier and faster than in ancient times?
4. Innovation Why would you consider each of
the following developments in ancient China
an innovation: a writing script with many characters, bronze vessels and tools, pottery, and
silk cloth?
Nile Delta
SINAI
PENINSULA
QATTARA
DEPRESSION
Gulf of
Suez
dS
ea
ERT
DES
Lake
Nasser
Re
IAN
AB
AR
EGYPT
r
ve
Ri
ile
SAHARA
LIBYAN
DESERT
Gulf of
Aqaba