1. Religion
1.1. Shang/Zhou
1.1.1. Shang religion was centered on the idea of ancestor worship. They often asked their ancestors for advice using oracle bones and prepared ritual meals for them.
1.1.2. The Shang believed in an afterlife, which we can conclude from the many valuable items and sacrificed prisoners buried in the royal tombs.
1.1.3. When the Zhou took over China , they worried about not being accepted. To solve their problem, the introduced the idea that they ruled by the Mandate of Heaven, stating that they had won God's favor over the Shang.
1.1.4. Towards the end of the Zhou dynasty, people began to question nature and man's role in it. This lead to many new Chinese philosophies, or ways of looking at the world. Two of the most influential philosophies were Confucianism and Daoism.
1.1.4.1. Confucianism was based on the idea that people should express love and respect for others by practicing traditional manners and rituals.
1.1.4.2. Daoism focuses on improving society, unlike Confucianism. Daoism encourages people to retreat from society's laws and yield to the laws of nature.
1.2. Mesoptamia
1.2.1. These people practiced Polytheism, which means they they believed in many different gods. The gods they typically believed in where usually nature related.
1.2.2. Mesopotamian's had structures called Ziggurats. These Zigguarts were used to worship common gods.
1.2.3. The kings of the cities were considered to be gods' chief representatives.
1.2.4. The people believed that everything happened for a reason, whether it was good or bad. If it was bad it was believed that the gods were angry, and if good they thought the gods were happy.
2. Geography & Agriculture
2.1. The climate along the Huang He was cool and dry causing it to be suitable for grains such as wheat and millet
2.2. Much of China is covered in mountains, hills, and desert. This protected China from invaders.
2.3. Annual floods along the Huang He river deposited rich soil on the river's flood plains
2.4. Shang/Zhou
2.4.1. Shang farmers had a relatively advanced system including ploughs pulled by both buffalo and people. They grew mainly rice in the south, because of the hot conditions, and millet in the north.
2.5. Mesopotamia
2.5.1. Mesopotamia is were the Mesopotamians lived, as you can probably assume. This land was between the Euphrates and Tigris river.
2.5.2. The Fertile Crescent is where Mesopotamia is located. It is an oasis in the desert which gave good farm lands.
2.5.3. Living between two rivers, the water levels are unpredictable and could change based on the rain and snow-melt. The Mesopotamian's created ways to prevent problems. They created canals to carry water, dikes to control flooding, and water basins to hold water.
2.5.4. The Mesopotamia people had farmed for a food source. They had to farm in swampy like areas because of the rivers the lived between.
3. Social Structure & Family
3.1. Shang/Zhou
3.1.1. The Shang created a social pyramid with the king at the top, then military nobility, priests, merchants, farmers, and slaves at the very bottom.
3.1.2. The Shang tombs varied in size based on the social status of the tomb's owner. People of the lowest class were sometimes just tossed down wells.
3.1.3. During the Zhou dynasty, people valued family relationships and stressed the social status distinctions.
3.1.4. Approximately 200 years before the Zhou Dynasty's government began to collapse, it consisted of a network of extended family.
3.2. Mesopotamia
3.2.1. The Mesopotamians had a social class just like we have one today. The kings, Priests, and principal agents were at the top. Large landowners and wealthy merchants came next. Then came the common people who were artisans farmers and laborers. At the bottom of the class were the slaves, who a lot of times were captured for use of work.
3.2.2. Becoming a scribe was a way for people to advance in what class the were in.
3.2.3. The average amount of children born n a family are three to four.
3.2.4. The men usually did the working while the women stayed back to rise their children.
4. Government & Leaders
4.1. Shang/Zhou
4.1.1. During the Shang period, China was ruled by monarchy. The king appointed governors to rule distant parts of the country. These high officials had free time for leisure.
4.1.2. The Shang king also had a large army which fought opponents from the outside and prevented rebellions
4.1.3. After the Zhou introduced the mandate of heaven, many chinese leaders used it to describe the dynastic cycle, or the rise and fall of dynasties in China.
4.1.4. During the Zhou dynasty, the government took quite a turn. The central government lost its authority. The rituals and political obligations disintegrated which shifted the dynasty into what is now known as the Western Zhou Period.
4.2. Mesopotamia
4.2.1. The Priests had power to govern cities. The Mesopotamia people allowed high precisest to lead cities because of their close relationship to the gods they believed in.
4.2.2. City-States (city and farm-land) were ruled by different leaders.
4.2.3. They believed that their rulers where chosen to rule by the gods.
4.2.4. Men were always the ones that ruled because they were were thought to be stronger more powerful.
5. Economy & Trade
5.1. Shang/Zhou
5.1.1. The Zhou dynasty introduced the use of iron, which became the backbone of their economy.
5.1.2. The Zhou introduced coins to China. They also began the use of chopsticks.
5.1.3. Because of the Shang commoners' specialized jobs, they had a very complex trade system. They most likely traded at a market by either bartering or paying with cowry shells.
5.1.4. Slaves made up an important part of the Shang and Zhou economies. In most cases, they were owned by the state and worked for the state.
5.2. Mesopotamia
5.2.1. These people traded across Southwest Asia and exchanged things to build their homes with and to create arts with. They exchanged timber for stones and woven textiles for metals.
5.2.2. Trading has created a social class. Those who could trade nicer things were considered higher in the social class because of the things they had.
5.3. Money wasn't used very often with their trades. They traded things they had for things they needed.
5.4. When a trading ship came in the people in towns celebrated.
6. Science & Technology
6.1. Shang/Zhou
6.1.1. To guard against flooding, the Shang developed forms of irrigation and flood control.
6.1.2. Shang astronomers created a precise calendar based on the cycles of the moon.
6.1.3. During the Zhou dynasty, farmers learned new techniques that increased the size of their harvest. This created a surplus of food.
6.1.4. Population grew in China during the Zhou dynasty leading to the growth of cities. This lead to the building of roads and canals, allowing better transport and communication though out China.
6.2. Mesopotamia
6.2.1. The Mesopotamia's were able to figure out how to track the movement of the stars, planets, and moon.
6.2.2. By tracking the moon, the Mesopotamian created the first calender. People today use calenders all the time to tell what day it is.
6.2.3. These people were able to figure out equations for medicines to help people that were sick or in pain.
6.2.4. The Mesopotamian created inventions to help them get along easier. They created poetry wheel, irrigation system, and sewers.
7. Arts & Education
7.1. Shang/Zhou
7.1.1. The development of Chinese writing was closely tied to the use of oracle bones. Much of early Chinese writing is on the bones themselves.
7.1.2. Shang artists created highly decorative bronze vessels and objects, mainly for a religious purpose.
7.1.3. The Shang royal workshops were staffed with laborers who casted bronze to make tools such as musical instruments.
7.1.4. The nobles would most likely hire private tutors for their children. The commoner children were only taught the ways of their trade, with no proper schooling.
7.2. Mesopotamia
7.2.1. Their writing was called cuneiform. They used sharp tools known as styluses to write with.
7.2.2. Most women women did not get an education but stayed home to take care of the children. A few women did get educated and they were considered priestesses.
7.2.3. The Mesopotamia had created different kinds of art. They ranged from very big statues to tiny objects.
7.2.4. One thing that the Mesopotamia were known for were their cylinder seals. These were little cylinder stones that the Mesopotamian's put seal skin over. They used the cylinder seals to mark what was theirs. It's like a signature or a stamp.