Early Complex Societies

1. Mesopotamia Egypt India China
Environment
(Geographic
location)
in between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers
(parts of modern day
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Turkey, Syria); known
as Fertile Crescent
NE Africa, Nile river Indus river valley
Indus and Ganges
rivers
Eastern Pakistan &
Northern India
fertile plains along
Huang He (yellow
river) in NE China
Advanced Cities
(Major
cities/Centers of
Trade)
Uruk, Ur, Babylon,
Nineveh
Cradle of Civilization
Alexandria
Memphis
Thebes
Harappa = first
settlement
Mohenjo­Daro
=
burial mound; Great
Bath (religious
center?); trade center
Anyang
Zhengzhou
Specialized
Workers (What
people group?
What did people
do?)
Sumerians and
Babylonians; Assyrians
farms (cucumbers,
leeks, dates, pears)
irrigate the land,
potters, weavers, metal
works
Egyptians
priests, nobles,
warriors, scribes,
merchants, craftsmen,
peasants, slaves
Harappans
farmers (barley,
wheat, dates, melons);
traders (traded with
Mesopotamia);
craftsmen (pottery, art,
jewelry)
Shang
(govt. owned slave
labor) farmers used
flood waters to make
soil fertile (grew
millet), craftsmen who
used bronze
Complex
Institutions
(Religion, Type
of Government)
city states, polytheistic,
rulers were often
priests=theocracy,
earliest written law
code (Code of
Hammurabi) ­first
organized
administration; taxes
Pharaoh was
king=absolute
ruler/like a god,
monarchy,
religion­bodies
preserved, tombs are
pyramids,
Archaeological
evidence tells us little
about the religious and
political structures of
Harappan society.
Trading seals with
pictures of gods tell us
they were probably
polytheistic.
govt= dynasty or
ruling family, like
Shang with help of
nobles.
King is the chief
priest. Sacrificed to
royal ancestors and
gods (Polytheistic)
(mandate of
heaven­Zhou)

2. Record Keeping
(What kind of
writing? Who
writes?)
Earliest writing system
(cuneiform) on clay
tablets; scribes were
important members of
society
Hieroglyphics Had their own
pictographic writing
system that we cannot
decipher
(Hindu like text)
writing with
pictographs known as
characters
Society (family
roles,
community)
Referred to by first and
the profession or
father’s last name;
Nuclear families;
children named after
cities where they lived;
Fluid population due to
migration;
Everything centered
around the Pharaoh.
The people thought he
would ascend to be a
god when he died. The
people wanted to make
sure he would treat
them well when he
ascended.
Peaceful (no
weapons);
Cities mostly had
traders and craftsmen
as inhabitants;
Families lived
together in 1­2
story
houses;
Great Bath used most
likely for public
baptisms
Emperor was the
supreme leader.
Centralized
government helped to
keep public works in
progress (levees,
canals, irrigation, etc.).
Families were
patriarchal in nature.
Advanced
Technology
(Significant
Contributions)
first city builders,
migrates=stepped
pyramids (temples),
wheel/sailboat/weapons
and tools out of copper,
irrigation canals,
calender (12 months),
the wheel
embalming,
Hieroglyphics,
pyramids, papyrus,
geometry, 365 day
calendar based on
astronomy
Advanced urban
culture and city layout
(grid); public sewers
and water supply
connected houses; city
layout; cotton cloth
highly advanced
bronzed technology,
weapons, art, religious
vessels.
Invented the pottery
wheel.