1. Geography and Agriculture
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. Lies in between Tigris & Euphrates Rivers in a place known as Mesopotamia
1.1.2. Invented irrigation systems in southern Mesopatamia
1.1.3. Farmed the rich soil and harvested timber
1.1.4. Small amounts of natural resources delivered a need for trade between cities
1.2. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
1.2.1. Located in modern-day eastern China
1.2.2. Large focus on land expansion and conquering of territories
1.2.3. Produced large-scale irrigation systems to help feed their armies
1.2.4. Began forming making large coal and salt mines
2. Science and Technology
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. Invented the seeder plow, which plowed and seeded fields at the same time
2.1.2. Irrigation systems for farming
2.1.3. Harnessed wind energy to create sails
2.1.4. Mathematical advances such as the Pythagorean theorem
2.2. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
2.2.1. During the reign of the Shang/Zhou it was known as the bronze age
2.2.2. Bronze was used to create weapons and parts of chariots
2.2.3. The Shang/Zhou used a method known as piece-mold casting to form their bronze tools
2.2.4. Jade carving also became popular during the era
3. Arts & Education
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. Used as a way of writing
3.1.2. Their language consisted of a few pictures to show what was currently happening.
3.1.3. Wrote on tablets of clay
3.1.4. Sculptures were also made, and have survived quite well still today
3.2. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
3.2.1. The Taotie was an animal-like mask made with bronze used for rituals.
3.2.2. Craftsmen used jade to make beautiful sculptures.
3.2.3. Bronze was a huge part of art in the Shang cuture.
3.2.4. Represented the afterlife with ceramics.
4. Economy & Trade
4.1. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
4.1.1. Most trade was actually circulated through gifts.
4.1.2. The Kings of Shang had more money than regular folkslook at ur phone.
4.1.3. Zhou developed a way of using coins to buy/sell things with.
4.1.4. The Shang even created shops for locals to buy goods they couldn't produce themselves.
4.2. Sumerians
4.2.1. The temples in Sumerian societies were an economic household, where many people traded from.
4.2.2. The King slowly began gaining more wealth than other citizens.
4.2.3. The King's closest allies also got their own land, which rose their amount of wealth
4.2.4. Trading was mainly used to obtain goods they couldn't make on their own from other tribes.
5. Sumerians
5.1. Polytheistic
5.2. Major deities were ones that controlled the universe, such as the sun god and air god.
5.3. Less important gods had control over certain professions and items.
5.4. Every person was said to have their own personal god, considered somewhat of a "guardian angel".
5.5. The Zhou introduced the idea of the ruler being the "son of heaven" who supposedly ruled with the mandate of heaven.
6. Social Structure and Family life
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. The social hierarchy started to form with the king on the top.
6.1.2. After the King, the King's closest allies were next down, creating the Middle-Class
6.1.3. On the bottom was the regular citizens, working to move up.
6.1.4. Plateau of Iran
6.2. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
6.2.1. Like most other cultures at the time, the Shang created a social pyramid.
6.2.2. The King was on the top of the social pyramid.
6.2.3. Military nobility, priests, merchants, and farmers were the middle class.
6.2.4. Social Structure was determined by where you were buried, closer to the surface being
7. Relligion
7.1. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
7.1.1. Polytheistic
7.1.2. Introduced "tian" or heaven.
7.1.3. The Shang / Zhou believed the worship and happiness of dead ancestors changed farming and family success.
8. Government and Leaders
8.1. Sumerians
8.1.1. Sumerian cities formed their own city-state that were controlled separate politically.
8.1.2. Kings ruled over seperate sumerian city states.
8.1.3. Their form of distribution followed a similar strategy as communism. Food and supplies were distributed equally among people of the city.
8.1.4. Kings often owned large estates on the outer reaches of the city.
8.2. Shang / Zhou Dynasty
8.2.1. Governments were divided by regional states.
8.2.2. Social pyramid started with the king then going down, went to military nobility, priests and farmers.
8.2.3. Leaders/ kings were said to have the authority to rule because of the mandate from heaven.
8.2.4. The emperor of the land divided the land into Fiefs that were ruled by Relatives. The relatives then owned the Farmers of their fief.