Ancient Civilization

1. Indus

1.1. Geography- The first civilization arose near the Indus River. When the Indus river flooded, it left behind rich soil. Farmers then had lots of crops, which made their population grow. Farmers also created channels that brought river water to their wheat and barley fields.

1.2. Government- We aren't sure what type of government Indus had. No royal statues or tombs have been found, this tells us that they probably didn't have kings ruling the Indus valley.

1.3. Language- Scientists are unsure what system of writing the Indus people used. There are just to few examples of the symbols to narrow down the meaning.

1.4. Unique Attribute- They are very successful with farming and planting crops.

2. Huang/Shang

2.1. Geography- A lot of china are mountains and deserts. Early people found mostly what they needed near river valleys. The Huang and Chang river provided water for farming. People also like to move goods along these rivers.

2.2. Government- The Chinese Dynasty was a family that ruled over many years. They organized farmers to clear and prepare land. Because of this they had lots more food to support their soldiers.

2.3. Language- They used a system of writing with Pictographs that represented their words and ideas. Lots of the pictographs they used back then are still used today in Chinese

2.4. Unique Attribute- They used oracle bones to record important events related to their questions.

3. Conceptual Question: How did the ancient civilizations adapt to the geography around them?

4. Sumeria

4.1. Geography- It is a wide open plain that is in between 2 bodies of water; the Tigris river and the Euphrates river. The Fertile Crescent has rich and fertile soil which allows the farmers to grow lots of grains and vegetables.

4.2. Government- The first leaders in Sumeria were priests, not kings. When wars happened, the priests had to chose someone to lead the armies.

4.3. Language- At first the Sumerian priests used pictures to record the amount of fish. Then later on they created something called cuneiform. This form of writing used triangular symbols to stand for ideas and things.

4.4. In times of war, priests helped chose the best leaders to lead their city-state into war.

5. Egypt

5.1. Geography- Egypt developed in a river valley with rich soil. A long time ago people started planting grains in the rich soil left from the Nile's floods. Over time they grew more and more food which expanded Egypt's population.

5.2. Government- Narmer was the first king/Pharaoh of Egypt. Pharaohs relied on the bureaucracy, which collected taxes from the farmers.

5.3. Language- The ancient Egyptians created a writing system called hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics is a drawing or symbol that represents a word or a sound. Scribe were the only people that knew how to read hieroglyphics.

5.4. The pharaohs relied on a Bureaucracy which taxed farmers to mainly form a food surplus.