Introduction to Impacts of Ancient Civilizations

1
Introduction to Impacts of Ancient Civilizations

• Mesopotamia
• India
• China
• Egypt

2
What does impact mean ?

• Influence or effect
• Lasting achievement
• Foundation of knowledge we use TODAY
• Articles/ideas that have stood the test of time
• Contribution
• Legacy

3
Lasting Civilizations
4
GEOGRAPHY of Mesopotamia

• called Fertile Crescent
• present day Iran Iraq
• between Tigris Euphrates

5
Impacts of Mesopotamia

• Hammurabis Laws
• Eye for an Eye
• Laws applied to everyone
• Cuneiform
• Recorded on clay tablets
• Symbol writing
• Scribes combined symbols (wedges and lines)

6
Impacts of Mesopotamia

• Irrigation
• Built ditches for watering crops
• Plow
• Pulled by an ox
• Wheel
• Calendar
• Based on the moon and stars
• Levee
• Walls built to prevent flooding

7
Geography of Egypt

• Along the Nile River
• Corner of northeast Africa
• Upper and Lower Egypt
• West and East protected by desert
• Cataracts to Mediterranean Sea

8
Impacts of Egypt

• Science
• Performed surgery
• Used natural remedies
• Architecture
• Pyramids
• Math
• Used addition, multiplication, subtraction and
  division
• Fractions
• Geometry
• Hieroglyphics picture-like symbol writing on
  papyrus
• translated by the Rosette Stone in 1799

9
Impacts of Egypt

• Science
• Surgery
• Natural remedies
• Architecture
• Pyramids

• Math
• Addition
• Multiplication
• Subtraction
• Division
• Fractions
• Geometry

Hieroglyphics picture symbols written on
papyrus translated by the Rosette Stone in 1799
10
Achievements

• Nile River and Delta
• Unified Egypt
• Created trade and wealth
• Irrigation
• Flood control
• Shadouf
• Bucket/weight system to lift water from Nile

11
Geography of Ancient India

• Subcontinent
• Peninsula
• Himalayas Divide
• South Western Asia
• 2 Great Rivers
• Ganges
• Indus

12
Impacts of Ancient India

• Religions
• Hinduism Buddhism
• Martial Arts
• Arabic Numerals
• Mathematics

- Algebra - Decimals - Negatives and ZERO?
13
Geography of Ancient China

• Southeast Asia
• 3 Rivers
• Yangtze
• Huang He
• Xi

14
Impacts of Ancient China

• Silk Road
• 4000 Miles of trade routes between China / Europe
• Silk
• Developed by the Chinese carried over Silk Road
• Philosophy
• Confucius taught
• respect for others, especially elders
• family was key

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Impacts of Ancient China

• Technology
• Paper (wood)
• Iron plow
• Boat Rudder (boat steer)
• Compass
• Wheel barrow
• Seismograph measured earthquakes

• Arts
• Porcelain
• Silk Weaving
• Jade Carving
• Block Printing
• Temples