1. Social Structure and Family Life
1.1. Sumeria
1.1.1. They had distinct social classes. the different classes included farmers, kings, courtiers, officials, priests, soldiers, merchants and craftsmen.
1.1.2. Women were respected in the Sumerian society. They had rights and duties as citizens, they could be a witness in court and even own land.
1.1.3. The father had complete control over his children's lives, even to the point of selling them into slavery if necessary.
1.1.4. Most of the population worked as farmers on small plots of family owned land.
1.2. Shang/Zhou
1.2.1. They created a social pyramid with the king at the top, followed by military nobility, priests, merchants, and farmers.
1.2.2. The elite were buried in elaborate tombs with the various objects of wealth for the possible use in the after life
1.2.3. Warriors as well as kings, were very powerful. Yet overtime, the king lost power to high aristocrats.
1.2.4. Most peasants had very little, and were barely able to survive under the kings taxes ans the cost of life
2. Economy and Trade
2.1. Sumeria
2.1.1. Early in the Sumerian's history, Food surpluses and craft goods were exchanged for mineral resources.
2.1.2. Transportation of goods typically happened through caravans of donkeys or camels. Bulk items were send down the river, and there were eventually trade ships that usually went to northern ports of India.
2.1.3. Trade was based on a regulated system of exchange. Values of the various trade goods were put in the law codes
2.1.4. Temples acted as banks, merchants and landowners acted as lenders. Eventually three were written records of the exchanges.
2.2. Shang/Zhou
2.2.1. They were high priests of society
2.2.2. They had a large production of bronze vessels and weapons
2.2.3. Had a large workforce to do the miniing, refining, and transporting of copper, tin, and lead
2.2.4. Main source of money/income came from farming and agriculture
3. Religion
3.1. Sumeria
3.1.1. Religion was polytheistic . More than 2000 gods and goddesses have been identified to have been worshiped.
3.1.2. The common belief was that it was mans job in life to please the gods. This meant providing them with all their material needs.
3.1.3. They had a large collection of myths and legends reflecting their views on religion
3.1.4. Kings were viewed as patrons of the gods. This gave religious justification to their subjects.
3.2. Shang/Zhou
3.2.1. They believed polytheistic religion
3.2.2. They also believed in worshiping their ancestors to have successful crops.
3.2.3. They worshiped Shang Ti who was the "lord on high"
3.2.4. They made sure Shang Ti was happy with various rituals and prayers, offerings and sometimes human sacrifices.
4. Geography and Agriculture
4.1. Sumeria
4.1.1. The economy was based on agriculture.
4.1.2. They grew barley, wheat, onions, grapes, apples and dates. They also developed beer and wine.
4.1.3. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers made agriculture possible, as did irrigation.
4.1.4. Due to the importance of farming, the job was trusted to peasants rather than slaves.
4.2. Shang/Zhou
4.2.1. They farmed millet, wheat, rice and barley
4.2.2. They raised pigs, dogs, sheep, oxen and silk worms
4.2.3. They started off wandering as nomads, but then settled permanently on farms
4.2.4. It was divided into Eastern Zhou and Western Zhou
5. Arts and Education
5.1. Sumeria
5.1.1. They developed a writing system that was based on wedge like strokes
5.1.2. Their writing originated by pressing small objects into clay as a counting system, then developed writing.
5.1.3. The writing originated in the direction of up and down, but was changed to left to right for reasons unknown
5.1.4. Main forms of art included stone and clay sculptures and paintings. Sculptures started becoming very realistic
5.2. Shang/Zhou
5.2.1. They created an early Chinese writing system that was later found on bones
5.2.2. Art often had a functional or ritual purpose and was mostly found in tombs and burial contexts
5.2.3. Had philosophical schools, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.
5.2.4. They were taught that they needed to obey and respect their ruler, fathers, and family
6. Science and Technology
6.1. Sumeria
6.1.1. Developed horse drawn chariots for battle.
6.1.2. Elite soldiers were armed with bronze armor and weapons, the average solider was armed with a sling and bow and arrow.
6.1.3. Sumerians developed technologies such as the plow, sail, clay bricks, pottery wheel, writing, accounting, lamp making and weaving
6.1.4. They created a 12 month calender based on the cycles of the moon
6.1.5. Medicine was a large advance for the Sumerians. They had rational diagnosis, physical examination and prescriptions.
6.2. Shang/Zhou
6.2.1. They worked with bone, jade, ceramics, stone, wood, shells, and bronze
6.2.2. They made bronze chariots for battle
6.2.3. Used a bronze casting method that the Chinese did not master until the fifth century B.C.
6.2.4. They used a calender and were the first to develop the decimal system as well as a written language.
7. Government and Leaders
7.1. Sumeria
7.1.1. The center of each city-state was occupied by a temple, and from this the first bureaucracies were formed.
7.1.2. There were many city-states. These included a city, and miles of farmland surrounding it.
7.1.3. There was a rise of kingship around the mid-third millennium in each city-state
7.1.4. People who held power in Sumeria had the duty of maintaining law and order, but also maintain the canals and irrigation systems for successful agriculture.
7.2. Shang/Zhou
7.2.1. They were ruled by Kings
7.2.2. The Zhou and Shang coexisted alternating peace and war
7.2.3. Shang Zhou, the last Shang king, committed suicide after being defeated by the Zhou king
7.2.4. Kings were given their power by heredity