1. Science and Technology
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. the Sumerians developed an advanced math system and they would wright on clay tablets
1.1.2. a major part of there science was astronomy
1.1.3. medicine was a form of religion for them. They thought if they got a disease, it was god punishing them
1.1.4. the Sumerians are the ones that made a minute 60 seconds
1.1.5. Sumerian Astronomy Tablet
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. The Shang/Zhou often practiced human sacrifice
1.2.2. The Shang/Zhou mastered bronze technology
1.2.3. They made Hairpins and introduced the horse chariot
1.2.4. They made tools, weapons, elaborate jade, and high-fired ceramics
1.2.5. tt
2. Social Structure and Family Life
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. Most of the population in ancient Mesopotamia were farmers, working small plots of land. Above them stood a very small elite group made up of the ruling classes. Such as kings, priests, etc.
2.1.2. The cuneiform script had hundreds of symbols to master, which took long years of hard schooling. Access to such schooling was available only to the children of elite families.
2.1.3. Most marriages were monogamous, though concubines were fairly frequent, especially in wealthy families.
2.1.4. Women had a respected place in Mesopotamian society. A father had complete control over his children’s lives, even to the point of selling them into slavery, until they married.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. The Zhou had philosophical schools, such as Confucianism, Daoism and legalism
2.2.2. The Zhou had perhaps the most famous schools founded by Confucius
2.2.3. The Zhou believed in Daoism which is and eclectic group of popular beliefs in which humans were not seen as the dominating entity
2.2.4. The crux was a political system that emphasized the proper relationships between different members of society
3. Government and Leaders
3.1. Shang/Zhou
3.1.1. The Shang society was ruled by an aristocracy
3.1.2. Kings were the political,military and religious leaders
3.1.3. Shang had a well-organized government administration
3.1.4. Shang would often engage in warfare to ensure territorial boundaries
3.2. Sumerians
3.2.1. Each Sumerian city formed their own city-state. They were composed of the city itself and the miles of farmland that surrounded them.
3.2.2. The temple held center of public life.This meant that the temple controlled the productive land of the city-state.
3.2.3. It was thought of as a communist state. The people would bring what they farmed or made and received what they needed to live from the priests(This probably varied from city to city).
3.2.4. By the mid-third millennium, the dominance of the temples was greater decreased with the rise of kings. The rise of kingship in Mesopotamian Cities is thought to be because of endemic warfare that set in between city-states.
4. Economy and Trade
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. The Shang made clay tokens that were used for agricultural and manufacturer uses it acted like a modern day currency
4.1.2. The temples acted as a center of distribution. Scribes and accountants were needed to keep track of the goods being brought to them.
4.1.3. The Sumerian economy was very self-sufficient with the temples having most of the control over economic activity.
4.1.4. As time went on, Kings gained a lot of the economic power. They did this through taking land (the primary economic asset) from the temple, and diverting the work of scribes, craftsmen and workmen to his own purposes.
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. During the Western Zhou period goods circulated from gifts and tribute not from trade
4.2.2. During the Eastern Zhou trade expanded, money and goods circulated through commerce
4.2.3. Most of the people in their population were farmers
4.2.4. The Shang were skilled workers in bone, jade, ceramics, wood, shells, and bronze
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumerian
5.1.1. When the Sumerian civilization first arose, they spoke two main languages, Sumerian and those who spoke Semitic.
5.1.2. Their languages were the first to be written down in world history.
5.1.3. The first scripts to be used were called pictographs because they were based on pictures.
5.1.4. The first pictograph appeared around 3500 BCE, with the scripts evolving into “cuneiform”, writings, around 2500 BCE
5.1.5. A Sumerian Pictograph
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. During the Eastern Zhou period there was hundreds of diverse schools that created many different ideological traditions
5.2.2. The Shang were the first culture to fully develop a writing system
5.2.3. Most of the art the Shang made were in tombs or burial contexts
5.2.4. The Shang had a functional or religious purpose in all of the art they made
5.2.5. Art of the Shang
6. Religion
6.1. Sumerian
6.1.1. The Sumerians were polytheistic, worshiping over 2000 gods, depending on the period. The chief god for the Sumerians was Enlin, the Sky God
6.1.2. The Sumerians thought the perceived world was deeply intertwined with the divine.
6.1.3. They believed that everything man did was to serve the gods. In early Mesopotamian times this meant that the entire economic life of a city-state was geared to the service of the temple.
6.1.4. Later, with the rise of kings, the idea grew that, as representatives of the gods on Earth they were responsible for the people’s service to the gods.
6.1.5. The Sumerian Sky God
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. The Shang's first major religion was polytheism which means believing in many Gods
6.2.2. The Shang emphasized on ancestor worship and a belief in pantheon gods headed by a supreme Deity
6.2.3. The Shang's religion centered around the idea of worshipping their ancestors by giving them gifts and serving meals in their honor
6.2.4. Shang had ritual ceremonies to communicate with their ancestors
6.2.5. Art of the Zhou
7. Geography and Agriculture
7.1. Sumerian
7.1.1. the Sumerian were one the first societies to emerge from Mesopotamia.
7.1.2. Mesopotamia is a vast, dry plain, in between two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris.
7.1.3. The Mesopotamia region receives very little rainfall. However, the soil around the rivers are extremely fertile. With the use of irrigation, the land is some of the best in the world to grow crops.
7.1.4. As both of the rivers neared the sea, the land becomes marshy and wet with mud mud flats, lagoons, and reed banks.
7.1.5. Map of Sumeria
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. Shang principally cultivated millet as their food
7.2.2. Much of china is filled with mountains which help keep them from being attacked
7.2.3. The Shang in their southern territory planted rice plants and in their northern territory they planted wheat and millet
7.2.4. The combination of fertile soil and rivers available crops thrived in their territory
7.2.5. Map of Shang