1. Religion
1.1. Sumarians
1.1.1. They practiced polytheism, the worship of many Gods
1.1.2. They believed that Gods controlled all natural forces, so they worked hard to please them by offering them food in temples (Ziggurat)
1.1.3. Priests initially held high status, but eventually war chiefs ruled as kings
1.1.4. `They believe Gods were like humans, that they ate, drank, and had emotions
1.2. Shang / Zhou
1.2.1. They believed in afterlife because they buried rulers with riches and servants
1.2.2. They worshipped their ancestors and offered them gifts
1.2.3. Oracle bones (inscribed bits of animal bones) were used to get advice from ancestors, using hot metal to crack the bone and then having a priest interpret the meaning
1.2.4. Steam from food was believed to nourish ancestor spirits
2. Geography and Agriculture
2.1. Sumarians
2.1.1. The Sumerians grew chickpeas, millet, barley, and other types of food.
2.1.2. The Sumerians also raised cattle, oxen, sheep, goats and pigs.
2.1.3. The Sumerians hunted fish, gazelle, and fowl
2.1.4. The Sumerians depended heavily on their irrigation system. They used reservoirs, canals and other ways.
2.2. Shang / Zhou
2.2.1. They started to grow crops at 9,000 B.C.E. They grew things like, rice, millet and corn.
2.2.2. The lived in the Huang He Valley, right near the Yellow River
2.2.3. The Shang and the Zhou were isolated from the rest of China. This had some drawbacks because there was a lot of flooding caused by the yellow river. It was also harder because it's harder to trade with others because the were isolated from other civilization.
2.2.4. Although the Yellow River flooded their village, it also had easy access to water and the river helped the village prosper. As well as fertile soils and irrigation helped.
3. Social Structure and Family Life
3.1. Sumarians
3.1.1. The Sumerians had one of the first real distinct social hierarchies developed.
3.1.2. In the sumerian culture, Kings, nobles, priests, principal agents, and warriors were at the top of the social pyramid.
3.1.3. The 2nd class of the Sumerian social pyramid consisted of wealthy merchants and large landowners
3.1.4. 3rd in line were women and children (woman took care of the children and stayed home, while men worked on political affairs) along with the farmers, artisans and laborers, this category made up the majority of the Sumarian population
3.1.5. At the bottom of the social pyramid was where the slaves were, which many of them had been captured in battle
3.2. Shang / Zhou
3.2.1. The Shang and the Zhou civilizations were both monarchy, which means that they only had one king.
3.2.2. The kings of the Shang and Zhou civilizations appointed the Governors to rule the far parts of the land.
3.2.3. The kings of the civilizations were surrounded by Governors and many important people in a court
3.2.4. There were many large armies that the king could use whenever he felt it was needed.
4. Government and Leaders
4.1. Sumarians
4.1.1. Priests of the sumerian civilization held a high status and initially governed the city-state.
4.1.2. As the city-states battled for dominance, the war chiefs began to rule as kings.
4.1.3. Kings of the civilization, who were known as the God's chief resident, performed ceremonies to please the Gods.
4.1.4. In time the Sumerians began to form dynasties, a series of rulers from one family.
4.2. Shang / Zhou
4.2.1. During the Shang period, China was ruled by a strong monarchy.
4.2.2. To help keep order during the Shang period the king appointed governors to rule distant parts of the kingdom.
4.2.3. In order to gain acceptance and understand the dynasty cycle, the kings would use the mandate of heaven, which is that God would not let anyone who is corrupt to rule.
4.2.4. Conflict arose during the Zhou dynasty, clan leaders within China rose up against the king and as time passed, more local leaders turned against the Zhou.
5. Economy and Trade
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. Many of the Sumerian civilizations materials for art and building came from trade
5.1.2. The Sumerians lacked many raw materials such as wood and metals so the Sumerians traded woven textiles in return for the raw materials.
5.1.3. As the trade in Sumerian civilization enriched, a social hierarchy developed, placing kings and priests at the top.
5.1.4. As the Sumerians developed their civilization more and more, they started to write, cuneiform, using cuneiform to record business accounts, such as trade.
5.2. Shang / Zhou
5.2.1. During the Zhou dynasty, China underwent many changes, one of them being the construction of new roads and canals, and because of that, trade was increased
5.2.2. There is evidence from the Shang dynasty that they may have created one of the world's first systems of money.
5.2.3. Throughout the Zhou dynasty, they learned how to use iron, which could be cast more cheaply and is stronger, therefore iron became the backbone of their economy.
5.2.4. There were many different jobs within the Shang society, the majority of them being farmers, but another job was to be a noble, nobles of the civilization were there to support the government while collecting food, products and money from the peasants that worked under them.
6. Science
6.1. Sumarians
6.1.1. They had medical knowledge and could perform basic surgery.
6.1.2. They invented the wheel and used it to build vehicles and used it for pottery.
6.1.3. They learned to use bronze for stronger tools and weapons
6.1.4. Pyramid shaped structures called, Ziggurats, were built on top of temples in the center of the city
6.2. Shang / Zhou
6.2.1. They created a precise calendar based on the moon cycle
6.2.2. They learned to build big, stable structures and buildings
6.2.3. They used bronze and then learned to use iron, which could be cast more cheaply and quickly than bronze.
6.2.4. The created new weapons like the catapult and formed China's first cavalry.
7. Arts and Education
7.1. Sumarians
7.1.1. cuneiform, (a type of writing) using sharp tools called stylists
7.1.2. They created novels and documents
7.1.3. Sumarians sculpted sculptures with large open eyes
7.1.4. The Sumarians also created small objects out of ivory
7.2. Shang / Zhou
7.2.1. The Shang and the Zhou started to work with iron instead of bronze. Iron was faster, cheaper, stronger, and easier to find
7.2.2. The Shang and the Zhou started using chopsticks. We still use them daily.
7.2.3. When the leaders of the Shang and the Zhou passed away, their followers created beautiful coffins enriched with bronze and jade.
7.2.4. They created beautiful pictographs, (which is a word that closely resembles to the picture that was drawn.)