1. Economy and Trade
1.1. sumerian
1.1.1. Had many of the things they needed but lacked things like wood and metals. So,they traded with people across west east Asia
1.1.2. They Exchanged woven textiles for metals, timber and stone
1.1.3. relied heavily on agriculture. Agriculture provided people with food made from different crops such as Lettuces, beans, and onion.
1.2. shang/zhou
1.2.1. During King Tang's reign helped lead to wealth and growth in the countries economy and culture
1.2.2. Like all pre-modern economies, The Shang kingdom was based on agriculture. (practice of farming, the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, etc.)
1.2.3. Shang traders tended to avoid foreigners, but when they did trade, they traded bronze. Bronze was used to make chariots, vessels, weapons, and even instruments
2. geography and agriculture
2.1. sumerian
2.1.1. The area was flat and swampy. It was good for agriculture.
2.1.2. map
2.1.3. The domesticated plants that were most common were wheat and barley.
2.1.4. This was in the fertile crescent, between the Euphrates and Tigris river.
2.2. shang/zhou
2.2.1. The area was in isolated valleys with long rivers and fertile soil.
2.2.2. Some areas where better for wheat and millet and some rice.
2.2.3. Map
3. Social Structure and Family Life
3.1. sumerians
3.1.1. As trade enriched, ranking developed.
3.1.2. ranking: first were kings, priests. and their principal agents. after them were landowners, and wealthy merchants. Below them were artisians, farmers and laborers. And lastly, slaves
3.2. shang/zhou
3.2.1. The shang's had a social structure of 4 groups; the king and aristocracy, the military, artisans and craftsmen, and peasants
3.2.2. To the Shang people, Homes and families were nearly sacred
3.2.3. During the Shang/zhou, women were inferior to men. There was no respect from anyone in their families, their sons, their husbands, their in-laws, and even their own parents.
4. Shang/Zhou
4.1. Shang dynasty was polytheistic, meaning the people worshipped many gods.
4.2. Ancestor worship was very important to Shang. they thought that the success of crops and the health and well being of people was because of the happiness of dead ancestors.
4.3. The god the people mainly worshipped was Shang Di. This It was believed he had control over nature and control over the destiny of people.
4.4. dksjlkfjla
5. government and leaders
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. The priest held high status in sumer and governed city-states.
5.1.2. War chiefs began to rule and be kings. They served as the gods' chief representatives.
5.1.3. The kings preformed ceremonies for the gods. Around this time the kings formed their dynasties.
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. During the shang period, China was being ruled by a monarchy. The kings were surrounded by a court.
5.2.2. The Zhou leaders introduced the mandate of heaven because they were worried of not being accepted by Chinese people. It was a principle that stated that the gods would support a just ruler but not a corrupted one. They said the Shang lost the gods favor so they were overthrown.
5.2.3. Later the mandate of heaven was used to explain the rise and falls of dynasties.
6. Religion
6.1. Sumarians
6.1.1. The summaries practiced polytheism, which is the worship of many god's.
6.1.2. Believed that the god's controlled all forces of nature and watched over each city-state
6.1.3. The people built temple's and other structures to worship the god's in and hold ceremonies. They offered things like food and drinks as offerings.
7. Arts and education
7.1. Sumarians
7.1.1. small clay objects in abstract shapes, called clay tokens, but later they stopped using clay tokens and impressed the symbol of the clay tokens on wet clay surfaces.
7.1.2. They could go to school to become a scribe, who would write documents. Being a scribe required years of schooling.
7.1.3. cylinder seal
7.1.4. Cylinder seals were used to "sign" documents, show ownership.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. Piece-mold casting, a model is made of the object to be cast, and a clay mold taken of the model
7.2.2. taotie, is a motif(decorative design or pattern) commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels
7.2.3. Jade and Bronze were used a lot, especially in art around this time.
7.2.4. Knowledge was taught orally by the elders to the young in the primitive society.
7.2.5. Artifact
8. Science and Technology
8.1. Sumerians
8.1.1. The wheel was originally a pottery wheel but was soon after used for vehicles and mill wheels.
8.1.2. Cuneiform, was the first form of the writing system.
8.1.3. They learned to use geometry, which was important for the irrigation system.
8.1.4. The wheel
8.2. Shang/Zhou
8.2.1. They created a precise calendar based on the cycles of the moon.
8.2.2. They learned how to use iron, which had a big impact on their society/ back bone of their economy.
8.2.3. Oracle Bones, The earliest form of Chinese writing was written on them, in picture symbols.
8.2.4. Zhou iron