1. Government and Leaders
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. Priests held high statuses in Sumer and initially governed the city states.
1.1.2. City-state kings formed a dynasty which were series of rulers from one family .
1.1.3. In the temples and ziggurat priests and priestesses offered gods food and drink and held ceremonies.
1.1.4. When city states battled for dominance, the war chiefs began to rule as kings.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. Kings were surrounded by a court who preformed rituals to strengthen the kingdom and keep it safe.
1.2.2. King appointed governors to rule distant parts of the kingdom.
1.2.3. Farmers were called to fight in the army or work along side slaves on building projects (tombs,palaces or walls).
1.2.4. Wealthy members collected expensive objects made of bronze or jade.
2. Arts and Education
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. Archetectures: arches, ramps, and columns all visable in ziggurats
2.1.2. Their sculptures were statues with large open eyes with small objects carved out in ivory.
2.1.3. They used a writing called cuneiform, to produce this writing they used styluses to make wedge-shaped symbols on clay tablets.
2.1.4. They learned to use geometry, which was necessary to build elaborate structures and irrigation systems.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. Some of the bronze objects found in tombs had first Chinese characters ever written.
2.2.2. Ancient Chinese priests used tortoise shells and cattle bones to answer questions about the future.
2.2.3. Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism are established.
2.2.4. Development of music temperation by pipes and bells.
3. Economy and Trade
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. They traded with people across Southwest Asia and beyond exchanging textiles for metals, timber, and stone.
3.1.2. Jobs included pottery makers, stonecutters, bricklayers, metal smiths, farmers, fishers, shepherds, weavers, leather-workers, and sailors.
3.1.3. The Sumerian economy was based on their agriculture.
3.1.4. The Sumerians used slaves. Slave women worked as weavers, pressers, millers, and porters.
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. Engaged in the large-scale production of bronze-ware vessels and weapons.
3.2.2. Army equipped itself with an assortment of bronze weapons as it became increasingly more available.
3.2.3. Bronze and Jade
3.2.4. Bronze was used for the fittings of spoke-wheeled chariots.
4. Religion
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Sumerians worked hard to please the gods, so they built ziggurats and temples.
4.1.2. They practiced polytheism or the worship of many gods.
4.1.3. One of their gods Enilil ruled air and storms.
4.1.4. They believed that gods protected each city-states and acted like humans.
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. Each tomb held remains of hundreds scarified prisoners of war who were buried with the ruler.
4.2.2. Believed that in afterlife a ruler would need his riches and servants.
4.2.3. Offered gifts to the deceased ancestors.
4.2.4. They asked ancestors for advice through oracle bones.
5. Geography and Agriculture
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers supplied most of the Sumerians water for farming.
5.1.2. The sediment and silt was left behind from the rivers made the area very fertile, which allowed them to farm there.
5.1.3. The weather was extremely hot and rarely rained.
5.1.4. When the Tigris and Euphtares rivers flooded which was usually once a year leaving just silt. To get the water they needed for their crops, they dug irrigation ditches and for defense, built city walls with mud bricks.
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. Fertile soils, temperate climates, and isolated valleys.
5.2.2. Flow east from the plateau of Tibet to the Yellow sea.
5.2.3. Climate was cooler and drier; more suitable for grains like wheat and millet.
5.2.4. Covered with mountains, hills, and deserts.
6. Social Structure and Family
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. Their social hierarchy was at the top were kings,priests and their principal agents. The middle class were large land owners and wealthy merchants. Below them were the artisans, farmers, laborers . And at the bottom were slaves.
6.1.2. The men in the sumer society held the political power and the made laws.
6.1.3. The women took care of the home and the children.
6.1.4. A few upper class women got educations and got to serve as priestesses in temples.
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. Social pyramid
6.2.2. Burials were a way to distinguish social class.
6.2.3. Some people of the lower classes were tossed down wells after death.
6.2.4. Offered gifts to their deceased ancestors.
7. Science and Technology
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. Sumerians invented the wheel, which they used to make pottery and build a variety of vehicles.
7.1.2. They also invented the plow. Which they used for farming.
7.1.3. Used bronze to make stronger tools and weapons.
7.1.4. They collected and cataloged lots of information on medical knowledge and even preformed basic surgery.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. Developed complex forms of irrigation and flood control.
7.2.2. Gold and silver inlays in metal and wooden/ lacquered objects.
7.2.3. Start of iron casting.
7.2.4. Regular observation of the sky lead to the recording of irregular astronomical events.