1. Social Structure & Family Life
1.1. Sumerians
1.1.1. Hierarchy (Four social classes)
1.1.2. Men were head of families
1.1.3. Men could have more than one wife
1.1.4. Slaves were the lowest social class but could purchase their freedom and marry free people
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. Zhou ruled with a Confucian Social Hierarchy
1.2.2. Women were of the lowest social class
1.2.3. If no son could be born than the newborn daughter would be abandoned or sold into slavery.
2. Economy & Trade
2.1. Sumerians
2.1.1. Job specialization (Farmers, pottery makers, bakers, metal smiths)
2.1.2. Trade centered around Persian gulf
2.1.3. Economy relied on agriculture
2.1.4. Had "shops" for different needs such as tool shops and bakeries
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. Economy relied on large work force of slaves
2.2.2. Silk production was specialized by Shang
2.2.3. Fishing was a big industry in China
2.2.4. Shang used cowrie shells as a form of currency
3. Science & Technology
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. Invented the wheel for chariots and pottery making
3.1.2. Believed to have invented the plow and irrigation for productive farming
3.1.3. Developed the concept of time, dividing units into 60 parts, which is the same system we use today.
3.1.4. Invented the first forms of writing
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. Industrialized Bronze casting
3.2.2. Developed Chinese calender
3.2.3. Used Acupuncture as a form of medicine
3.2.4. Developed war-technology such as armored chariots and iron weapons
4. Arts & Education
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. They copied the lessons on clay tablets
4.1.2. Complicated to make them unique and unable to be recreated
4.1.3. Made out of stone
4.1.4. Their art was about relationships between plants and animals and people and gods
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. Later they started using the bronze more practically, making things they could use for cooking
4.2.2. They made paintings on silk, some of which are still around today
4.2.3. painted to tell fictional stories
4.2.4. Used bronze to make sculptures and different vessels
5. Government & Leaders
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. Monarchy (King/Queens)/Democracy
5.1.2. Laws enforced by courts
5.1.3. Credited for creation of government
5.1.4. Kings had a sort of "Cabinet"
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. Had Dynasties (Line of hereditary rulers)
5.2.2. Dukes and Lords
5.2.3. Shang had Ministers
5.2.4. In Zhou the kind was said to be assisted by 3 dukes and 3 solitaires
6. Religion
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. Multiple gods for different aspects of nature
6.1.2. Worshiped multiple gods (Polytheism)
6.1.3. Believed that gods created them as servants
6.1.4. They worshiped in a temple dedicated to the god of the city
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. Zhou's and Shang's religions were different
6.2.2. Shang believed that the world was filled with spirits and spirit animals and ghosts while the Zhou believed in Celestial Deities and different realms
6.2.3. Zhou practiced human sacrafice
6.2.4. Shangs believed in ancestor
7. Geography & Agriculture
7.1. Sumerians
7.1.1. Located in Mesopotamia the "land between two rivers"
7.1.2. Sumerians located In the Fertile Crescent
7.1.3. Used shadufs, canals, channels, dykes, weirs, and reservoirs
7.1.4. Frequent floods of the Tigris and Euphrates caused for repairs.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. Natural barriers protected ancient China
7.2.2. Zhou dynasty had two capitals (Zongzhou and Chengzhou)
7.2.3. Shang dynasty had many capitals