Early River Civilizations Nile River Valley Civilization The

Early River Civilizations

Nile River Valley Civilization • The Nile River is the longest river in the world. It stretches 4, 187 miles to the Mediterranean Sea. • The source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake itself has feeder rivers of considerable size.

The Nile Delta • The Nile Delta, created by deposits of sediment at the mouth of the river, was important to the people of Egypt. • The Nile River flooded every year bringing silt, finely ground soil, to fertilize this area.

Farming Along the Nile • The farmland was divided into large estates: however the peasants did most of the farming. • They used crude hoes and wooden plows.

Crops • Wheat and barley were the main grain crops. • Flax was also grown and then spun and woven into linen. • Farmers also grew cotton to weave into cloth.

Buildings • The Nile Valley contains minerals such as granite, sandstone, and limestone which were used for trade and building of religious facilities pyramids, the pharaoh’s tombs.

Climate • The climate was sunny and frost-free which made it ideal for farming. • The North wind made it easy for ships to travel upstream to southern Africa with the wind or downstream to the Mediterranean Sea with the current.

Egyptian Government • The government was controlled by Pharaohs who had absolute power. They kept a strict control over the government and people. • Egypt created a strong army and gained land along the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

Hieroglyphics • They had a developed writing system called hieroglyphics. • Hieroglyphics used more ant 600 signs, pictures, or symbols to represent words and sounds. • They used papyrus that grew in the delta to make paper. • Egyptians used ink made from soot, water, and plant juice.

Education • The Education focused on scribes or clerks. • Scribes learned to read and write so that they could work for the government. • Schools were usually attached to temples • Most people in Egypt believed in many gods, polytheism.

Sumerian River Valley Civilization (Mesopotamia) • Mesopotamia is also called the Fertile Crescent because of the regions curved shape and richness of the land.

Geography • The land was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. • The Fertile Crescent was surrounded by the Taurus Mountains (Turkey) to the northwest, the Zagros Mountains (Iran) to the east and the Syrian Desert to the south.

The Rivers • Like the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flood each year, providing silt to fertilize the soil. • The source for both rivers is the Taurus Mountains. • They both flow into the Persian Gulf in what is today Iraq and Kuwait.

Cuneiform • Sumerian writers used a wedgeshaped tool called a stylus. • This writing is called cuneiform. • There were 600 signs.

Buildings • The Sumerians built large temples called ziggurats. • They were made of baked bricks placed in layers. • Ziggurats could be up to 150 feet high and the top served as a shrine to a Sumerian god.

Sumerian Arch • They also invented the arch, a curved structure over and opening. • It is the strongest form of building. • By combining several arches the Sumerians built rounded roofs in the shape of domes.

Trade • Sumerians farmed and traded goods around the world. • They grew dates, grains, flax, and vegetables.

Cities • The Sumerians forms city-states, city and surrounding land controlled by the same government. • A city-state functions like a separate country today.

Babylon • In about 1792 B. C. Hammurabi conquered most of the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley became a ruler of Babylon. • He combined a collection of 282 laws. • These laws contain some ideas that are still in our laws today.