1. Government and Leaders
1.1. Sumerian
1.1.1. The sumerians leaders were kings and priests.
1.1.2. The sumerians also had a government system that was a mix of democracy and monarchy.
1.1.3. Priests in the sumerian culture held a very high status.
1.1.4. Before 3500 bc the priest ruled the sumerian government.
1.2. Shang/ Zhou
1.2.1. The Shang and Zhou civilizations were governed in a monarchy setting with a King and royal family.
1.2.2. The king also was surrounded by a court of noble wealthy figures so it wasn't only him doing government work
1.2.3. Within the dynasty there were distant cities that he couldn't single handedly control so he appointed governors for those cities
1.2.4. The Zho Mandate of Heaven stated gods support a just leader but not a corrupt leader so religion was intertwined the government.
2. Geography and Agriculture
2.1. Sumerian
2.1.1. The sumerians believed that the gods controlled food.
2.1.2. The land area where the sumerians farmed was flat and also very swampy.
2.1.3. The floods from the tigris river and the euphrates river brought in dirt that was great for farming.
2.1.4. The sumerians planted crops for god so that he would stay happy.
2.2. Shang/ Zhou
2.2.1. There were two major rivers taht supplied water Chang Jiang (yangzi) and the Huang He (yellow river).
2.2.2. Noteable geography at the time consisted of rivers, fertile soil, temperate climates, mountains.
2.2.3. Isolated geography prevented Invasions from other dynasties because of the mountains, hills and deserts.
2.2.4. Because of river flooding it lead to fertile soil but the rivers were also very unpredictable and dangerous so they caused fatality.
3. Arts and Education
3.1. Sumerian
3.1.1. The sumerians used a writing system named cuneiform.
3.1.2. They used sharp tools called stylist to wedge shapes into the clay slabs.
3.1.3. The sumerians kept some of the earliest records of business and other records.
3.1.4. The sumerians also wrote poems, stories and songs.
3.2. Shang/ Zhou
3.2.1. The earliest confirmed forms of writing from the civilization are Oracle Bones which are just normal bones with engraved text.
3.2.2. They worked a lot with bronze in a decorative manner that were also in a religious setting.
3.2.3. The shang actually created a precise calendar because of their early astronomers.
3.2.4. These civilizations built a wide variety of structures such as tombs, palaces, or walls.
4. Social Structure and Family Life
4.1. Sumerian
4.1.1. The sumerian culture had four main classes #1 nobles #2 commoners #3 clients #4 slaves.
4.1.2. People who owned a lot of land were mostly the rich families.
4.1.3. In the sumerian culture men where the head of the family.
4.1.4. Sumerians men where able to have multiple wives.
4.2. Shang/ Zhou
4.2.1. These civilizations had a social hierarchy with the at the top was the king then nobles/priest, soldiers, crafts people, merchants, farmers, then at the bottom it was slaves.
4.2.2. The majority of the population were farmers and working class.
4.2.3. Lower class worked a lot while upper class had plenty of time for leisure activities like sport hunting and collecting.
4.2.4. Slaves were soldiers of war that spent their time building great thing for the civilization.
5. Economy and Trade
5.1. Sumerian
5.1.1. The sumerians got all of there materials for building through trade.
5.1.2. The sumerians lacked wood and metal so they traded to them.
5.1.3. The sumerians traded primarily with southwest asia.
5.1.4. The sumerians economy was mostly based on agriculture.
5.2. Shang/ Zhou
5.2.1. The Shang dynasty was largely a agricultural society with most people working in farming wheat and millet.
5.2.2. One great advancement that helped their economy and trade was learning how to use iron which supplied them with that even better advantage.
5.2.3. The Shang introduce one of the worlds first systems of money.
5.2.4. The great advancements made trade easier and boosted the economy because of great vessels and what not.
6. Science
6.1. Sumerian
6.1.1. The sumerians invented the wheel which helped with a lot of tasks like farming.
6.1.2. The sumerians also invented the plow for farming which improved the crops they farmed.
6.1.3. The sumerians used bronze for tool making also for weapon making so that they could have stronger products.
6.1.4. The sumerians also preformed basic surgeries on the sick and wounded people of the city.
6.2. Shang/ Zhou
6.2.1. Most notable the Shang were well known for their great skill with working on bronze.
6.2.2. The Shang had great astronomers that managed to make a calender based on studies from space.
6.2.3. The Shang worked very well with bronze but often people forget to credit their great works and invations with pottery and ceramics
6.2.4. The Zhou invented the first ever kite which was used for communication, catch food and entertainment.
7. Religion
7.1. Sumerian
7.1.1. The sumerians religion was polytheism which is the worship of many gods.
7.1.2. They also believed that the gods controlled all natural forced like rivers flooding also storms.
7.1.3. They believed that there gods protected each city from floods and people worked hard to keep the gods happy.
7.1.4. Sumerians believed that the gods were very much like humans in ways as they ate, drank and loved.
7.2. Shang/ Zhou
7.2.1. The Shang believed in an after life because leaders were buried in tombs with servants and valuables.
7.2.2. The Shang also centered their beliefs on the idea of ancestor worship and would sacrifice gifts for them.
7.2.3. They tried to communicate with the dead through writing questions on Oracle Bones and then would burn it with hot metal until it cracked and then a religous leaders would translate the cracks.
7.2.4. Zhou incorporated religion into the government with the Mandate of Heaven believing that gods would take care of the dynasty.