Ancient Civilizations Flashcards
Indus Valley Civilization Time Period
3300 BC - 1300 BC
Which area did the Indus Valley civilisation occupy geographically?
Located in the Indus River Valley as well as the Ghaggar-Hakra river basin spanning over modern day north-eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India
Indus Valley civilization trade
A standardized trading system was used identified by the use of a trade seal and trade was done with Mesopotamia as early as 3500 BC
Indus Valley civilization primary trade resource
Cotton
Indus Valley civilization scripture
The Indus Valley civilization did in fact have a scripture, one that hasn’t been deciphered.
Indus Valley civilization war mongering
The Indus Valley civilization was remarkably peaceful as no evidence of weaponry was discovered on any of the excavation sites
Indus Valley civilization architecture
Cities were designed to catch wind and had an elaborate drainage systems
Indus Valley civilization decline
The decline of the civilization can be attributed to climate change, specifically the onset of drought (at about 1800 BC) and a series of earthquakes (in the 2nd Millennium BC) which led to the drying up of the rain-fed Ghaggar-Hakra river basin, which consequently drove its people to migrate eastwards
Where did the Mesopotamian Civilization lie?
Between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, modern day Iraq.
What were the first cities of Mesopotamia and when were they established?
The cities of Uruk and Ur were established as early as 3500 BCE in the south of modern day Iraq.
Who was the first king of Mesopotamia and what was his legacy?
Sargon the Great of Akkad (1 pt), who reigned between 2300 and 2200 BCE (1 pt) and united the Sumerian city-states in the north of Mesopotamia extending his empire as far west as South East Turkey (1 pt).
Sargon standardized weights and measures and thus improved trade massively (1 pt).
He introduced ‘plundering’ allowing the soldiers of his armies to feed themselves in this manner (1 pt).
The Fall of the Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian empire fell 2200 BCE to Persian raiders
The Government Form of early Mesopotamia
As more and more settlements began to occupy the valley, these settlements grew into city-states, each with their own king and patron god or goddess.
The Wage System of Early Mesopotamia
armers contributed their harvests to public store houses, from which workers would get paid uniform wages, in the form of grain
The Amorites
The Amorites were nomadic people with barbaric customs who lived in the north-west of Mesopotamia around 2100 - 1700 BCE. The Amorites adopted the Sumerian culture and integrated themselves into the population.
Hammurabi was of the Amorite dynasty.
Hammurabi and his Legacy
Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon and was from the Amorite dynasty, and started reigning in 1792 BCE (2 pts).
When he came to power he rather suddenly decided to campaign against neigbouring factions and his conquest ranged from the Persian Gulf to Syria (1 pt).
Following his reign Mesopotamia became known as Babylonia (1 pt).
He established his famous code, a sophisticated and complex collection of laws governing commercial, family and propery laws and slave regulations (1 pt).
The Assyrians
North Mesopotamia was inhabited by the Assyrians who lived between 2500 BCE and 600 BCE.
The Curse of Babylon
In 700 BCE, the Assyrian king Sennecherib besieged and burned down Babylon after his son was killed by an invading army in the protection of the Babylonians (1 pt).
He burned the city and had his soldiers destroy all temples and statues of god, cursing the city and declared that it cannot be rebuilt for 70 years (1 pt).
Legend has it that he was killed by his other son who wished to rebuilt the city, but feared that he would not outlive the curse (1 pt). He went to see a priest who solved his dilemma but turning around the tablet on which the curse was engraved making it read ‘11’ instead of ‘70’ (2 pts).
The World’s First Library
In 669 BCE, Sennecherib’s son Ashurbanipal took the throne and expanded his empire to span from Egypt to Persia.
He ordered his scribes to catalogue around 20 000 - 30 000 stone tablets from all across the kingdom and archive them in place. Archaeologists discovered this site in the mid 19th century and most of it works are now housed in the British Museum in London.
The Library of Alexandria
Following Alexander the Great’s death in 323 B.C., control of Egypt fell to his former general Ptolemy I Soter, who sought to establish a center of learning in the city of Alexandria. The result was the Library of Alexandria, which eventually became the intellectual jewel of the ancient world.
It may have contained over 500 000 scholarly works and had attracted scholars from all across the Mediterranean.
