1. Religion
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. Sumerian religion has its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water.
1.1.2. The Sumerians regarded the universe as consisting of heaven and earth
1.1.3. Sumerian theologians believed that every intricacy of the cosmos was controlled by a divine and immortal being.
1.1.4. The Sumerians believed that the dead descended into the nether world, also known as the under world.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. Believed that the world was divided into 3 parts: Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld
1.2.2. Every family traced its origin to the Yellow Emporer
1.2.3. Believed that the human body had 2 souls, one that ascends at death, and one that stayed with the corpse
1.2.4. offering of sacrifices to their counterparts in heaven
2. Geography and Agriculture
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. West Asia
2.1.2. Rich, fertile soil
2.1.3. Located near modern day Iraq
2.1.4. Sumeria is located in Mesopotamia, in the fertile Cresent.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. Lived south of the Gobi Desert
2.2.2. had its core area in the middle course of the Yellow River,
2.2.3. There were agricultural villages from the Wei River Valley eastward parallel with the great Yellow River
2.2.4. people were free of forest and had access to water they grew millet, while they continued to hunt deer and other game and to fish and gather food.
3. Science and Technology
3.1. Shang/Zhou
3.1.1. Clothes made from hemp
3.1.2. Used arrow, spears, daggers, and clubs for weapons
3.1.3. Made/ perfected the calender
3.1.4. Used acupuncture to heal
3.2. Sumerians
3.2.1. Used Irrigation to water crops
3.2.2. House built of home made bricks
3.2.3. Domesticated animals for plowing and goods
3.2.4. Made tools by smelting copper with tin
4. Social Structure and Family Life
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Men made the decisions for the whole society
4.1.2. kings were chosen by the warriors, with the king as the leading warrior
4.1.3. A Sumerian teacher, called an ummia, taught students mathematics, cuneiform writing, grammar, and scribing
4.1.4. Accountants cataloged grain and foodstuffs and recorded taxes owed by leased parcels of lands; dancers and musicians entertained, artists sculpted pottery and ritual idol statues for temple worship, servants and cooks prepared meals and cleaned.
4.2. Zhang/Zhou
4.2.1. Lived in partailly underground houses
4.2.2. Women were not respected by their families
4.2.3. The King, or wang, had supreme power over everything else
4.2.4. Warriors were also very powerful
5. Economy and Trade
5.1. Shang/Zhou
5.1.1. Main income was from the crop harvest
5.1.2. Artisans formed their own group of the economic structure
5.1.3. The serfs and slaves preformed all economic functions of society
5.1.4. Main income came from farming or the harvest of crops
5.2. Sumerians
5.2.1. Jobs included pottery makers, stonecutters, bricklayers, metal smiths, farmers, fishers, shepherds, weavers, leather-workers, and sailors.
5.2.2. The Sumerians used slaves, although they were not a major part of the economy.
5.2.3. The economy that sustained the people of Sumer relied on agriculture and trade.
5.2.4. transportation of textiles and crops by Sumerian merchants to other lands, such as Asia-Minor and Iran, where these goods were exchanged for stone, metals, and timber.
6. Arts and Education
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. used symbols for "language"
6.1.2. Most of the art they created had a religious theme
6.1.3. tablets made of dried mud and many were sealed in clay envelopes and signed using cylinder seals.
6.1.4. Clay was their most abundant native material, and its qualities determined their style of baked-mud building and the nature of their fine-textured pottery.
6.2. Shang Zhou
6.2.1. Wrote inscriptions on bones
6.2.2. Bronze was used to fashion their weapons, chariots, and ritual vessels
6.2.3. Developed schools to teach the youth
6.2.4. Also used bronze to make fish hooks, bells, and pins