Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley - Chapter 1

     In modern Iraq, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the Fertile Crescent - aka Mesopotamia - started to use irrigation to water plants, oxen to pull plows, and other animals for herding during the First Agricultural revolution. The people who lived there were called Sumerians, and they spoke Semitic languages (such as Hebrew). self-governing city-states farmed or specialized in production and were ruled by priests an kings. King Sargon (2350 BCE) united these smaller kingdoms into one kingdom. A new city at Babylon was formed and ruled by a later king named Hammurabi, who set up early laws. Trade was essential in these cities.
     Three social classes emerged - the free (such as the kings and priests), the farmers and merchants (less free because of ties to others) and the slaves. Scribes began to write down records, and women were treated as second-class citizens.
     Sumerian gods represented forces of nature and were worshiped in temples with ziggurats (pyramid like structures) at the center. Sacrifices were common, and many people wore amulets to protect themselves from demons or magic.
     Mesopotamians began to write around 3300 BCE in cuneiform (a wedge shaped alphabet). They also began to make bronze, clay dishes, horse drawn chariots for war, and invented a number system.

     Egypt formed along the Nile river, whose flooding left behind dirt that was great for farming. Egypt spread to encompass a large area in a few thousand years. It had many natural resources like clay, stone, and papyrus, and a gradual change in climate allowed parts of the Sahara desert to be farmed.
     Thirty dynasties of kings formed the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. Pharaohs (kings) were buried in pyramids or the Valley of the Kings, since they were believed to be a human form of Horus, the son of Ra (aka Re, the main god, who controlled the Sun). Gods came and went according to who was in charge at the time. People were mummified in an attempt to preserve them for the afterlife, and they were given copies of "The Book of the Dead", a helpful handbook to getting through the challenges of the afterlife (such as lakes of fire...).
     Memphis and Thebes were the capitals in the Old (Memphis), the Middle, and New (Thebes) Kingdoms. Scribes there kept records in heiroglyphics (picture writing) on papyrus paper. Fighting over the next king often occured and separated the country.

     The Indus Valley civilization centered in Pakistan and parts of India, with the important cities at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. More tools were made here than in Egypt and Mesopotamia, which both preferred to make jewelery (and had more gold). Trade was widespread and even went as far as Mesopotamia.
     People in the Indus Valley were advanced in ceramics, irrigation and the construction of uniform cities. Not much is known about their religion or political systems, but in 1900 BCE, towns in the Indus Valley began to decline, possibly due to natural disasters or climate change.

     Review Q's:

• How did religion control Egyptian life?
• How was Mesopotamia governed?
• Why do you think the Indus Valley collapsed?