1. Economy and Trade
1.1. Sumarians
1.1.1. The priests of the Sumerian society designed and perfected the first number system, to help control the economy more effectively .
1.1.2. Before currency and the numerical system, they had a very crude barter system which sustained their society for several years.
1.1.3. They got many of their building and art materials through trade. They lacked in wood and metals, so they would trade with people across Southwest Asia and further and trade woven textiles for metals wood and stone.
1.1.4. As the king granted lands and wealth to his officials and supporters, and so created a private market for goods and services separate from either king or temple. Traders, craftsmen and laborers worked on their own account.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. The Zhou learned how to use iron, which became the backbone of their economy.
1.2.2. Farmers learned new techniques that increased the size of their harvest, thereby creating food surpluses.
1.2.3. The growth of cities led to the building of roads and canals, which allowed better transportation
1.2.4. Zhou introduced coins to china and began the use of chopsticks.
2. Government and Leaders
2.1. Sumerians
2.2. Early civilizations created laws and established systems of justice. The officials would supervise food production and and building projects. Priests had government authority over the city.
2.3. In early civilizations, families, warriors and wise elders had power over the small cities.
2.4. Officials gathered taxes and organized defense. This included building a wall to protect the families and the city's wealth,if they had any.
2.5. Later on, many of the city-states' kings formed dynasties which where a series of rulers from one family.
2.6. Shang/Zouh
2.7. A Royal Family ruled over the entire city. Descendents upon descendents took over the throne, keeping the family bloodline in power for many generations.
2.8. The King is assisted by Three Dukes, The Grand Preceptor, The Grand Mentor, and the Grand Guardian. Also, the Three Grands were assisted by Three Solitaries or lieutenants.
2.9. The officialdom was divided into three ranks, Ministers, Grand Masters, and servicemen.
2.10. The permanent warfare made it necessary to build strong armies and create a centralized state.
3. Science and Technology
3.1. Sumarians
3.1.1. Invention of the Wheel 4 millenium B.C
3.1.2. Invented developed arithmetic. May have even know the Pythagorean theorem and pie.
3.1.3. they Invented a calendar by using the phases of the moon.
3.1.4. Created a sophisticated accounting system for trading.
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. They where one of the first people to use bronze for tools.
3.2.2. Created the cyclic lunar calendar.
3.2.3. Invented Chinese scripts. They also used turtle shells for writing.
3.2.4. The brush pen was invented 6 or 7 B.C. made of bamboo and wolf/rabbit hair. Ink is stored as a solid so they used water and an ink stone.
4. Social Structure and Family Life
4.1. Sumerains
4.1.1. The men and women of the Sumerians had very distance roles. The men held political powers and made laws while women took care of the home and the childeren.
4.1.2. A few of the upper-class women received education and served as priestesses in the temples.
4.1.3. The top ranking in the civilization were the kings, priest and their principal agents.
4.1.4. The large landowners wealthy merchants were the second ranking and below them were artisans, farmers, and laborers.
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. From time to time, farmers were called to fight in the army or to work alongside slaves on building projects like tombs, palaces, or walls.
4.2.2. Wealthy members of the elite would enjoy collecting exspecive things made of bronze or jade.
4.2.3. To keep parts of china in order the kings would appoint governors to rule distant parts of the kingdom.
4.2.4. The army was responsible for preventing rebellions.
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. They used arches, ramps, and columns, all visible on the ziggurats.
5.1.2. Their sculptures includes statues with large, wide-open eyes, and small objects carved out of ivory.
5.1.3. The Sumerians most famous art work was the cylinder seals, small stone cylinders engraved all around with detailed designs.
5.1.4. Most of the Sumerians art work was sculptures and men had the large eyes and long beards and women had the big eye.
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. Around this time was China's Bronze Age, therefore most of the art was sculpted bronze, but that did not limit them from painting or poetry or pottery as other various art forms.
5.2.2. During this time period, the main form of education was different schools of thought, as they were said to season your mind for intellectual debate, and make you a seasoned thinker.
5.2.3. They made ornaments, some of them handle shaped, to show that they had lots of detail in their work.
5.2.4. When they brought the wheels (which were made out of bronze) it helped make pots more efficiently.
6. Geography and Agriculture
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. Their flat, swampy region was well suited for agriculture. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers often flooded there in the spring.
6.1.2. When the rivers flooded, it left behind a fertile mud called slit, which enriched the soil, which then made better framing soil for crops.
6.1.3. They dug basins to store rainwater, canals to carry rainwater to the fields, and dikes to control flooding of the rivers. They controlled their water because the climate was very dry so they had to conserve the water.
6.1.4. Structures in these cities where made of mud bricks because other building materials where scarce.
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. Often the Chang jiang and the Huang He river would flood, which gave them rich soil on the river's flood plains.
6.2.2. Some areas where better to grow different crops then others like in South China and the chang jiang is warm and received plenty of rainfall and along the Huang He river in the north is much cooler and drier.
6.2.3. Planting food with good soil allowed the chinese the thrive and do better in certain areas like planting food on the sides of hills and mountains.
6.2.4. The Chang jiang river and the Hung He river supplied plenty of water for the people of Shang/Zhou areas.
7. Religion
7.1. sumerians
7.1.1. Their gods were human-like and had human behavior, they ate, drank, fell in love, and fought all at the same time, just like humans.
7.1.2. The Sumerians practiced polytheism, or the worship of many gods. They believed that the gods controlled all natural forces.
7.1.3. Because of their beliefs they always worked hard to please god. the Sumerians built ziggurats and temples where priests and priestesses offered the goods food and drinks and also held ceremonies.
7.1.4. The Sumerians also believed that a god protected each city-state.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. Bronze artwork was commonly worshiped in the civilization.
7.2.2. Worshipping ancestors was also a common practice.
7.2.3. People thought the success of crops, health, and well being of people depended on the health of their ancestors.
7.2.4. They believed in an afterlife in which a ruler would still need his riches and servants so they would berried the rulers riches and servants with the ruler's when they passed.