The document provides information on several ancient civilizations including the Indus Valley, Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek and Chinese civilizations. It discusses aspects of each civilization such as town planning, drainage systems, crafts and industries for the Indus Valley civilization, communication technologies, art and craft for the Sumerians, worshipping practices, mummification and pyramid building for ancient Egyptians, architecture, history and the war with Trojans for ancient Greeks, and technologies, ornaments and art forms for ancient China. The document highlights the significant achievements and innovations of these early civilizations that still influence modern society.
5. Introduction
• Indus Valley civilization also known
Harappan civilization developed on the plains
of Indus River from about 1700 BC to 2600 BC
& was one of the world's oldest and greatest
civilizations. Civilization of Indus Valley was
best known by 2 cities Harappa & Mohenjo -
Daro. The name of the Indian subcontinent is
taken from this river.
7. Town Planning
• These were divided into rectangles by broad
streets. The streets were quite straight &
meet each other at right angles & thus,
dividing the city into large rectangular
blocks. The rectangular planning was a
unique feature of the 2 cities. All the houses
were connected directly to the well - planned
drainage system of covered drains & soak
pits.
9. Drainage System
• It is one of the most impressive achievements
of the Harappan civilization. It shows some
kind of municipal organization. Drains were
made of well - baked bricks & were generally
covered with bricks which could be lifted
easily for cleaning the drain. It had an
excellent water supply.
11. Crafts & Industries
• Mohenjo-Daro was a great industrial centre.
Weaving was probably the chief industry.
Harappans were also acquainted with the
art of dyeing. Pottery was an important
industry. The Harappans also practised boat -
making, seal - making & terracotta
manufacturing.
15. Introduction
• Sumerians were an ancient civilization &
historical region in southern Mesopotamia,
modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic & Early
Bronze Age. Although the earliest historical
records in the region do not go back much
further than CA. 2900 BC, modern historians
have asserted that Sumer was first settled
between CA. 4500 & 4000 BC by a non –
Semitic people.
17. Communication
• Long before the earliest writings of the
Sumerians & the Egyptians were
developed, people communicated with
each other by a number of different
methods. Early humans could express by
means of speech or by signs or gestures.
They could signal with fire & smoke,
drums, or whistles.
19. Art & Craft
• The Sumerians were the first human race to
form a settlement & brought to an end the
nomadic existence of humans till then. With
settlement & forming of cities, the Sumerians
inventions changed the way all of us live
today; things that we take for granted today
like farming, calendar, & wheels were all
Sumerians inventions. Writing was
discovered & the Sumerian art & culture was
sophistication in itself.
21. Technology
• Example of Sumerians technology includes:
the wheel, cuneiform, arithmetic &
geometry, irrigation systems, Sumerian
boats, lunisolar calendar, bronze, leather,
saws, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails,
pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints,
arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, water
skins, bags, harnesses, armor, quivers, war
chariots, scabbards, boots, sandals,
harpoons, the Baghdad battery & bear.
25. Introduction
• Without the waters of the river Nile, the amazing
civilization of ancient Egypt might never had
existed. The Nile provided water for drinking & for
watering crops. Every year its floods left a strip of
rich dark soil on both sides of the river. Framers
grew their crops sin these fertile strips. The
Egyptians called their county Kemet, which means
‘black land’, after this dark soil. The Nile was also
important for transport, it was trade route for the
Egyptians.
27. Worshipping
• The ancient Egyptians worshipped more
than 1000 different gods & goddesses.
The most important god was Ra, the sun
god. People believed that he was
swallowed up each evening by the sky
goddesses Nut. During the night Ra
travelled through the underworld & was
born again each morning.
29. Making Mummies
• Making a mummy was difficult & skilled
work. First the brain, stomach, lungs & other
organs were removed, nut the heart was left
in place. Next, the body was covered with
salts & left to dry for up to 40 days. The dried
body was washed & filled the linen & other
stuffing to keep its shape. Finally, it was
oiled & raped in layer of linen bandages.
31. Building Pyramids
• Each block used to build the Great
Pyramid weighed as much as two &
a half adult elephants! Labourers
used copper chisels & saws to cut &
shape the stones before dragging
them on wooden sledges to the
base of the pyramid.
35. Introduction
• Ancient Greece was a small country, but its
people had great ideas. From about 2000 BC,
they created a splendid civilization that
reached its peak between 500 – 400 BC. All
citizens contributed to a society that
respected people’s rights , encouraged the
best in human nature & lived in harmony
with the natural world. Today, we still admire
Greek sport, medicine, drama, politics,
pottery & art.
37. Architecture
• The architecture of Ancient Greece is the
architecture produced by the Greek-speaking
people whose culture flourished on the Greek
mainland and Peloponnesus, the Aegean
Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor and
Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the
1st century AD, with the earliest remaining
architectural works dating from around 600
BC.
39. History
• When the neighbours invaded, Greek
power collapsed. After 431 BC, Greek
cities were at war & the fighting
weakended them. In 338 BC, Philip II of
Macedonia (a kingdom north of Greece)
invaded with a large army. After Philip
died, his son, Alexander the Great ,
made Greece part of his mighty empire.
41. War with Trojans
• The Greeks could not break through
Trojan’s walls until they thought of a
clever plan. They made a huge, hollow,
wooden horse, hid warriors inside &
persuaded the Trojans to accept it as an
offering to the gods. The Trojans hauled
the horse into their city, then the Greeks
leaped out & defeated them.
45. Introduction
• China is one of the largest countries in the
world, the birth place of ancient culture and
civilization. In general, one may say that by the
influence of Confucius' philosophical thinking,
the Chinese have become more reserved or at
least the gestures expressing emotions are
comparatively less expressive. As the verbal
language, the nonverbal register of gestures
lasts for a long time, but in different historic
times, there are different gestures. From a
historical point of view we will distinguish
between dead and contemporary gestures.
47. Technology
• Around 2300 years ago, when no one in Europe or the
Middle East could melt even one ounce of iron the Chinese
were casting multi-ton iron objects. It was not until the mid-
1700's in Europe that such feats of metallurgy were achieved
in Britain, the technically most advanced country of Europe.
The early success in iron-casting in China was due to a
superior form of bellows that delivered a continuous stream
of air to a furnace instead of an interrupted stream as from
the type of bellows used in the West. No one beforehand
would have given much thought or attention to such a
seemingly unimportant device as the Chinese bellows, but it
turned out to be a crucial technological development.
49. Ornaments
• Ornaments are favored by many of China’s ethnic minority groups,
especially by the Miao community. They often functioned in
history as tangible examples of multi-cultural communication, and
the main materials were silver coins and silver ingots. The whole
process of creating Yao silver ornaments was done independently
by family workshops according to strict requirements. First, the
silversmiths transform the silver into slices or threads by melting
it, and then create different kinds of patterns using techniques
such as pressing, carving, and chasing; typically 12 working
procedures are applied to one silver ornament. The Yao ornaments
have many great varieties in unique styles including headgears,
chest & neck ornaments, hand accessories, clothes ornaments,
back decorations, waist pendant ornaments, and foot ornaments.
51. Art Forms
• One of the unique art forms that developed in
China during the first century was the art form
known as paper cuts. Since the Chinese were the
ones that invented paper they were the first to
develop an art form using the new found
material. This development took place during
the rule of the Tang dynasty. The paper cut art
work would be used to decorate the homes of
people and some women would even use them
in their hair. This is just one of the examples of
the various ancient art forms that were
developed in China.
53. • Theme – Where we are in place &
time
• Central Idea – The legacy of past
civilization can impact & shape
today’s system & technology.
• Line Of Inquiry – Ancient Civilizations
• Made By – PARV GARG
• Grade - 5