1. Social Structure and Family Life
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. It was common for most families to worship a god or goddess at their home. This god/goddess would watch over them and protect them.
1.1.2. Women were mainly raised to be mothers. They were taught to cook, clean, and care for children. After they go through puberty they are ready to be married.
1.1.3. In a family the man had the power over the home, the children, and his wife. Only a man could divorce a woman. A woman back then was not able to divorce the man.
1.1.4. Back then people were ranked by how wealthy they were. Wealthier people got more education and had better life styles.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. The ruling didn't go from dad to son it went from brother to nephew for example.
1.2.2. The oldest man in the family was the top of the family.
1.2.3. Farmers were taken into the military away from their family during the winter when they weren't farming.
1.2.4. If one person in the family did something wrong then the whole family looked bad.
2. Economy and Trade
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. They had employees that made goods or did labor. They traded goods through the temples or went long distance with a group of people.
2.1.2. They were some of the first people to use wide spread irrigation systems. They were expanded as they used more land for planting crops.
2.1.3. Farming was usually done by lower class people or slaves. Many of them farming plantations owned by the king.
2.1.4. In long distance groups called caravans merchants and traders went to trade items that they had bulk of in exchange for items that they didn't have.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. They traded a lot of their jade art work for things like food and wool.
2.2.2. They traded cereal grasses like wheat and rice.
2.2.3. Making stone tools and breeding animals made the economy stronger.
2.2.4. Planting and growing the cereal grasses also helped out with the economy.
3. Religion
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. The Sumerians were polytheistic and they worshiped over 2,000 Gods and Goddesses. Each city had a god that protected it.
3.1.2. They had temples to worship these gods. They made sacrifices on food and goods. The king of their town was run the sacrifices to the gods.
3.1.3. Not only did they believe that their world was controlled by gods and goddesses they also thought it was ruled by demons and monsters
3.1.4. Demons could be good or bad. They looked like a mixture of animals and humans.
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. They were polytheistic meaning they believed in many Gods.
3.2.2. Worshiping their ancestors was very important to them.
3.2.3. The God they worshiped during the Shang dynasty was Shang Ti or "lord on high".
3.2.4. To make sure Shang Ti was happy they performed human sacrifices.
4. Geography and Agriculture
4.1. Sumerian
4.1.1. They lived on a plain with two rivers running through it. The two rivers were the Euphrates and the Tigris.
4.1.2. The land they lived on did not give much rainfall so the land couldn't grow crops. Generally most who lived there herded animals.
4.1.3. By the rivers and the sea shore the soil was very fertile lots of crops were able to grow there.
4.1.4. This land was not only by two rivers there was a sea and various mountains by the rivers.
4.1.5. Map of Sumeria
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. Map of Shang Zhou
4.2.2. City was based along a main river called the yellow river.
4.2.3. With the good soil they grew millet and rice.
4.2.4. The Shang/Zhou had buffalo to help with the tilling of the farm.
4.2.5. They had seasonal monsoons which made the soil very nutrient rich.
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. They developed a writing system known as cuneiform. It was based off of symbols. it was used to record daily events.
5.1.2. They made sculptures of all sizes and of many different things. They also painted these sculptures.
5.1.3. Most of the sculptures were of animals, gods, and goddesses. They were usually put in front of temples and palaces.
5.1.4. They developed one of the first forms of writing. They used it over a long period of time and it slowly became cuneiform.
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. Jade and bronze was the highest achievement in the bronze age.
5.2.2. Jade was used as sacrificial offerings towards Gods.
5.2.3. Early Chinese bronzes were made with the method called piece-mold-castings.
5.2.4. Some of the most important Schools in China were created during this time Daoism,Confucianism,and Legalism.
6. Science and Technology
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. They created many things from metal armor and weapons to glass and lamps.
6.1.2. The Sumerians also had a calendar with 7 days in a week. They contributed they had number systems and were able to measure things by doing math.
6.1.3. When someone fell ill they would write down symptoms and they had developed rough cures for some sicknesses.
6.1.4. With the mathematics they used they helped develop number systems and equations for later generations.
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. The bronze age made a lot of new tools for farming such as shovels and hoes.
6.2.2. The Shang/Zhou also made better irrigation systems to get water to crops without having to go out and manually water the plants.
6.2.3. After creating schools and having mostly men educated they started making more tools and planning a better irrigation system.
6.2.4. They invented bronze casting for when you broke something or if something were to break they could easily fix it.
7. Government and Leaders
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. After a while of the temple being a source of leadership that controlled the purpose of the land kings arose.
7.1.2. Temples served not only as a place to worship but a place of trade. People would leave stuff for the gods and trade with other people. Some people were hired to physical labor and work at the temple. They were like employees.
7.1.3. Some states would go to war and take over the states next to it. States were constantly fighting for land next to them.
7.1.4. Mesopotamia had a written law system enforced by the king. The king was allowed to bring people into a trial to be judged.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. The first person of the Zhou was called King Wen.
7.2.2. King Wen was a live standard for wisdom and kindness.
7.2.3. Wen's supporters gave the Shang gifts so they freed Wen.
7.2.4. King Wen's second son named King Wu built a new capital named Haojing.