Civilization	Geography	Political
System	Economy	Religion	Contributions	
Mesopotamia
Land of Two Rivers “Fertile Crescent”

Sumerians	Between the
Euphrates and
Tigris Rivers
Floods Fertile soil No natural
barriers

Desert-like conditions-gets dry	Developed city-
states with walls for protection

Temple priests are at the top of government

Kings ruled with power granted from gods.

Patriarchal society.	Based on
agriculture. Farmers.
Merchants/
traders	Built temples called
ziggurats to worship gods

Polytheistic-believe in many gods

Religion is a huge part of society	Invented the
wheel

Cuneiform-first writing system Pictures to represent ideas

Developed algebra and geometry

Calendar/clock

Irrigation systems

360 degrees circle	
Indus Valley

(Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro)	Peninsula

Monsoons- strong winds that brought rain. Monsoons
were important
to grow crops.

Hot and dry irrigations

Grid-like pattern cities	May have been
matriarchal

Council of businessmen, craftsmen, and farmers.	Based on
agriculture.

Specialization of jobs- merchants and traders.

Made cloth, pottery, jewelry.	Polytheistic

Performed bathing ceremonies	Sanskrit- written
language. Undecipherable to scholars.

Plumbing and drainage system.

Indoor bathrooms Sewage systems Use of wheel	
Ancient
China:

The Huang He
River Valley	Yellow River
and Yangzi
Rivers
Hot and dry Fertile soil Irrigation
canals

Very isolated because out mountains, deserts, and Pacific Ocean.

Known as the Middle Kingdom	st

Shang Dynasty- 1
ruling family in
China

Mandate of Heaven: right to rule comes from the gods and the gods will take away a dynasty’s right to rule if they are unfit rulers 

Kings were seen as gods

Use oracle bones to make decisions about future events.

Patriarchal society	Based on
agriculture

Merchants and traders

Made cloth, pottery, jewelry	Polytheistic

Worshipped ancestors

Yin-yang (balance)	Chinese writing
system of:
pictographs and ideographs- ideas

Bronze casting

Use of silk fabric

Porcelain

Made stone, jade jewelry.	

Nile River
Valley (Egypt)	Located near
the Nile River. Annual floods
Irrigation systems

Fertile soil

Hot and dry	Pharaoh was the
king. He was seen as a god.
Ruled by dynasties. When pharaohs
died, they were buried in pyramids.

Had slaves	Depended on
agriculture. Farmers.
Merchants/ Traders

Made cloth, pottery, jewelry	Polytheistic

Believed in Ka- spirit

Used mummification to preserve dead bodies.	Number system

Hieroglyphics- writing system.
Calendar Geometry Papyrus (paper) Rosetta Stone-
used to explain
hieroglyphics.