1. Book-keeping was a feature of Sumerian life, and very described/explained records were kept on clay tablets.
2. The era of the Shang and the Zhou dynasties is generally known as the Bronze Age of China.
3. Religion
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. The Sumerians practiced polytheism which meant the worshiping of more than one God.
3.1.2. They believed that a god protected and watched over each city-state
3.1.3. They believed that the gods controlled all of the natural forces.
3.1.4. They believed their gods were like humans in every way. In looks and personality.
3.2. Shang and Zhao
3.2.1. They believed in life after death and buried their people with items to help them in the after life
3.2.2. They used Oracle bones to ask for advice from ancestors. They burned the bones which made them crack and could tell the future based on the cracks.
3.2.3. They worshiped their ancestors and praised them.
4. Social Structure and Family Life
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Education was connected with the priesthood and happened in temples.
4.1.2. Sumerians made slaves of other Sumerians they had captured in their wars with each other.
4.1.3. Wars with distant people were fueled by the greed and desires to do great things of kings.
4.2. Shang and Zhao
4.2.1. Woman were not free. Men ruled women as they were physically stronger.
4.2.2. Merchants and craftsmen plied their trades and went home to their mud huts.
4.2.3. The oldest male held authority over the household, and everyone else followed his orders under the risk of extreme punishment.
4.2.4. The social scale was extremely hierarchical and male run.
4.2.5. Poor farmers lived in nearby villages and scraped out their very simple living on land owned by kings.
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. The Sumerians were clever, and are probably responsible for the development of the first writing.
5.2. Shang and Zhao
5.2.1. One of the most distinctive images decorating Shang-dynasty bronze vessels is the taotie.
5.2.2. Third Dynasty of Ur solidified the Sumerian’s place in history as the creators of civilization as we know it.
5.2.3. First culture in China to have a fully developed writing system.
6. Government and Leaders
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. The Priests were held high up in the Goverment in the society of Sumer and Mesopotamia
6.1.2. The Priests initially Governed the city states
6.1.3. The Sumerians formed dynasties
6.2. Shang and Zhao
6.2.1. They believed in the Mandate of Heaven, which meant they believed that the Gods would support a Just leader.
6.2.2. Dynastic cycle
6.2.3. They had a court of wealthy nobles to make decisions
7. Economy and Trade
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. In order to obtain materials such as wood and metal they traded people across southwest Asia.
7.1.2. They would exchange woven textiles for metals and wood for stone and clay
7.2. Shang Zhao
7.2.1. They had jade and copper so they had valuable things to trade
7.2.2. they would trade metals and house materials for copper to make weapons out of
8. Geography and Agriculture
8.1. Shang and Zhao
8.1.1. they primarily had small farming villages in Europe with grew wheat and barley
8.1.2. they had lots of small farming villages on the wei river in north china and grew rice as well as wheat and barley
8.2. Sumerians
8.2.1. In southwest Asia there is a reign of land called the feral crescent where some of the richest soil in the world lies
8.2.2. earlier farmers in this area grew wheat and barley but as time grew on the land got wet and they started growing rice
9. Science and Technology
9.1. Sumerians
9.1.1. The Sumerians developed a system of writing whose wedge strokes would influence the style of scripts for the next 3000 years.
9.2. Shang and Zhao
9.2.1. The early Chinese made bronze by using the method piece metal mold casting.
9.2.2. Shang Zhou had long rivers, fertile soils, temperate climates, and isolated valleys.
10. Sumerian Pictures
10.1. Early Mesopotamian Writing (technology)
10.1.1. Sumerian Religion
10.1.1.1. Sumerian Art
10.2. Sumerian Map
11. Shang/Zhao Pictures
11.1. Shang/Zhao Art
11.1.1. First evidence of writing in china (technology)
11.1.1.1. Shang/Zhao map
11.1.1.1.1. A Shang/Zhao ritual vessel