1. Government and Leaders
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. Government and religion went hand in hand for them.
1.1.2. Priests governed the city-states until war chiefs started fighting for dominance.
1.1.3. War chiefs then began to perform religious ceremonies to please the Gods and formed multiple dynasties.
1.1.4. A dynasty is when you keep a position of ruling in the same family throughout multiple generations.
1.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
1.2.1. There was a strong monarchy ruling over China at the top of the Shang's civilization consisting of a king and his court as well as a few far out governors in charge of smaller parts.
1.2.2. Shang civilization also had a huge army that took care of wars and rebellions while the rulers had free time to pursue hobbies and collections.
1.2.3. Zhou overthrew the Shang and justified it with a thing called "Mandate of Heaven" which meant that the government that had been overthrown had lost God's favor and become corrupt.
1.2.4. The Dynastic Cycle is the idea that every kingdom falls eventually and that fall is caused by the displeasement from God with the corruption that had taken place.
1.3. Sierra
2. Geography and Agriculture
2.1. Summerians
2.1.1. The Sumerian land was located in the Fertile crescent.
2.1.2. On each side of the fertile crescent are two rivers the Tigris and Euphrates. These rivers were very important because they provided a good place to plant crops.
2.1.3. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers would flood in the spring and leave behind a very rich soil called slit, which farmers used to grow wheat and barley.
2.1.4. The rivers would commonly overflow which was a major problem because it would wash away the majority of the crops that were planted near the rivers.
2.1.5. Fertile cresant
2.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
2.2.1. One of China's first civilizations started in the river valleys because of the fertile soil the rivers produced and the amount of loess that was there.
2.2.2. Even though most of China was fertile some the regions provided a better environment for a particular crop.
2.2.3. Most of China's land is mountains, hills and desert, which provides a barrier against conflicts between civilizations.
2.2.4. Typical flood from the Chang Jiang and the Huang gave rich soil to the flood plains of that river.
2.3. Brendan
3. Social Structure and Family Life
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. At the top of the food chain you had your kings, priests, and their immediate circle.
3.1.2. Following them would be large landowners and well-off merchants. Below them is the class with the average people of society, including farmers and other laborers.
3.1.3. And bringing up the rear, as usual, you have the slaves.
3.1.4. Distinct roles based from sex, including that women didn't typically receive an education unless they were very upper class such as a priestess.
3.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
3.2.1. China was ruled by a strong monarchy.
3.2.2. China's upper class citizens were some of the only groups of people who would have free time to pursue their hobbies.
3.2.3. Kings and other people of high importance were buried in tombs with their important earthly items as well as servants to serve them in the after life.
3.2.4. Servants were often prisoners of war.
3.3. Sierra
4. Economy and Trade
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Sumerians obtained many of the materials for their buildings and art through trade.
4.1.2. Sumerian men and women developed distinct roles as well.Men held political power and made laws while women took care of the children and home. A few upper class women received educations and served as priestesses in the temples.
4.1.3. At the top were the kings, priests and their principal agents. next were large landowners and wealthy merchants. Below them were the majority of the sumerians artisans,farmers,and laborers. At the bottom were slaves, many of whom have been captured in battle.
4.1.4. Sumer lacked many raw materials, such as wood and metal. To obtain these materials, Sumerians traded with people across the southwest asia and beyond, exchanging woven textiles for metals, timber,and stone.
4.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
4.2.1. The Chinese civilizations owe their existence to Fu Xi for being the first to organize groups of barbarians and taught them how to work together, capture food, etc.
4.2.2. The Chinese culture was built around their specialization of working with bronze.
4.2.3. The Shang were the first to use a form of currency.
4.2.4. The Zhou people introduced coins to China and extended the use of currency further from what the Shang had already started.
4.3. Emily
5. Science and Technology
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. People developed new tools and methods to make life easier.
5.1.2. Early farmers used hand tools such as hoes and sharpened sticks to prepare the soil for planting. Farmers scattered their seeds by hand and may have used animals to trample and loosen hard soil to work the seeds.
5.1.3. About 6000 BC, people began to use animals, such as cattle to pull plows. With the plow, farmers could till larger areas to produce more crops.
5.1.4. To prepare food such as grains, Neolithic people developed new tools such as pestles and grind stones. In addition, people learned to use clay to make pottery.
5.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
5.2.1. The development of Chinese writing was closely tied to the use of oracle bones. The earliest examples we have of Chinese writing were questions.
5.2.2. Actually written on the bones themselves, these early Shang texts used picture symbols to represent objects or ideas.
5.2.3. In addition to writing, Shang religion also led to great advances in working with bronze. Artists created highly decorative bronze vessels and objects many of which were used in religious rituals. These bronzes are among the best known artifacts of the Shang Dynasty.
5.2.4. In addition to the Shang learning how to use bronze, the Zhou learned to work with iron.
5.3. Emily
5.4. Picture
6. Religion
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. The Sumerians believed in polytheism, which is the practice or belief in many gods.
6.1.2. All the natural forces were said to be controlled by one of their many Gods.
6.1.3. Their Gods had the power to bless the Sumerians and also curse them.
6.1.4. The Sumerians build temples for their Gods to satisfy them and receive good fortune.
6.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
6.2.1. Shang religion surrounded around the the idea of ancestor worship.
6.2.2. The Shang gave gifts to their lost ancestors in order to keep them satisfied.
6.2.3. They would perform ritual meals for their ancestors and the family would eat the meal but save the steam because it was believed to nourish the ancestor spirits.
6.2.4. The Shang also believed that through oracle bones, the spirits would give advice.
6.3. Shang religion
6.4. Brendan
7. Arts & Education
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. Arches, ramps and columns were a few of the ways that Sumerian's had their architecture set up .
7.1.2. Their most famous works of art were their seals, which were done in very intricate designs and then stamped onto documents to show ownership.
7.1.3. Sumerians were very intelligent and made many scientific advances, including building the wheel and performing basic surgery.
7.1.4. Their people also developed a math system which we still apply to our daily lives today, 60 minutes in an hour and so on. They also made many elaborate things including detailed irrigation systems using basic geometry.
7.2. Shang/Zhou Dynasty
7.2.1. The Shang developed forms of writing beginning with writing questions that they asked their ancestors on oracle bones.
7.2.2. Shang civilization was most famously known for their decorative bronze vessels that they used in religious ceremonies.
7.2.3. The Zhou people invented the use of chopsticks.
7.2.4. Zhou civilization was the first group in China to use iron.