If John Green’s Crash Course World History videos were not enough, here’s more for you “WHAPpers” (World History AP students).
While Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Indus Valley may not be the places that human beings, Homo sapiens, originated, but they are where the first human civilizations rose. So, let’s start our crash course here.
Before I go on, allow me to explain what “civilization” actually refers to. Civilization refers specifically to people who live in cities. This differs from a society, in which a social hierarchy, political organization, economic system (organization of labor), development of arts and culture, and surpluses (of food, technology, etc.) must exist. Surplus is a big defining condition; surplus of food will maintain a large population, but it also encourages trade.
Geography
All four civilizations started near rivers. Water was essential to life, but a luxury as they could not store it with the technology they had at the time. Their solution was to live by the water. In China, the Huang He and the Yangzi River Valleys were home to many. In Egypt, it was the Nile River, Mesopotamia had the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, and Indus River Valley had… surprise! The Indus River.
Settlements and Cities
These civilizations were different from those of the past. This was the first time nomadic hunter-gatherers shifted to agriculture. Agriculture requires a lot of work, time, effort, and it was something that couldn’t be achieved through a nomadic lifestyle. Families began to settle down, and these settled families eventually came together to make cities, for various reasons:
- Settlements required more organization, especially a division of labor. Guilds were founded to do different types of work. These continued to exist until the Renaissance Reformation.
- Security was another reason why people chose to settle together. The shift to agriculture kindled competition between different settlements. This increased warfare. Larger settlements were better defended, and hence the reason why cities were desirable.
Rulers
Kings and emperors of these ancient civilizations legitimized their rule by associating themselves with their god or gods. In China, the emperor was thought to have the “Mandate of Heaven,” and in Egypt the people believed that the pharaoh was one of their gods in human form.
Religion
Three of these civilizations, with the exception of China, had polytheistic religions. The Egyptian gods and goddesses is not something unknown to many; Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles is a best seller after all. The Chinese civilization technically never had a religion in which the followers believed in a god or gods, but it had certain belief systems like Daoism.
Mesopotamia (3750 – 333 BCE) Overview
Sumerians – possibly the first civilization, S Mesopotamia
Uruk – first Sumerian city
Babylon – political shift from Uruk to Babylon
Land – nearby rivers (frequent torrents), open plains and marsh, surrounded by hills and desert
People – nomads from Arabia, Amorites from deserts, Kassites from mountains
Egypt (3100 – 343 BCE) Overview
Pharaoh – god-like; his word is the law, justice, and truth
Land – rich delta region (N), long narrow green land (S), surrounded by sea, desert
Agriculture – Nile’s predictable flooding provide fertile land
Indus River Valley (2500 – 1900 BCE) Overview
Harappa – first excavated city
Trade relations – with Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia
Location – east of the Fertile Crescent
China (– 207 BCE) Overview
The Yellow Emperor – last of the Three Sovereigns, first of the Five Sage Emperors
Xia Dynasty (2205 – 1766 BCE) – existence yet to be proven
Shang Dynasty (1600 – 1050 BCE) – had slavery, ritual human sacrifices
Zhou Dynasty (1050 – 256 BCE) – divided into two periods (Western, Eastern)
Qin State (221 – 207 BCE) – dominated northern China
Source:
Bulliet, Richard W., Pamela K. Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, Steven W. Hirsch, Lyman L. Johnson, and David Northrup. “New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 2200 – 250 B.C.E.” The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History. 5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. 52-79. Print.