Civilizations - Document

Mesopotamian Civilization

The Mesopotamian civilization is the land between two rivers.

 The earliest and the most advanced urban culture that flourished along the lower valley of
the Euphrates is known as the Sumerian civilization.

 On the north-western side of Sumer were regions called Babylonia and Akkad.

 Around 3500 BCE, the Sumerians developed the world’s first civilization. This civilization
flourished for about 1,500 years and was then absorbed by the Babylonians and Assyrians.

 Various civilizations, such as the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations, rose and fell in this
region. Hence, Mesopotamia is called the cradle and grave of many civilizations.

 For centuries, nomadic tribes from outside poured into this valley. This civilization
flourished from about 3500 BCE to 600 BCE.

The discovery of the Sumerian city of Ur tells us how the people of early Mesopotamia lived.

The cities were not as well-planned as the Harappan cities (about which you will learn later) but
followed a uniform pattern.

Excavations show that the city was divided into three main parts—the sacred area, a walled city on
a mound, and the outer town.

The sacred area had the temple-ziggurat dedicated to the patron god of the city. There were smaller
temples dedicated to their gods.

This area also had a storehouse and offices.

People lived in the walled city and the outer town. Houses were built along the streets. Each house
had a central courtyard with rooms around it.

The ancient Mesopotamians introduced architectural forms such as arches, columns, domes, and
vaults in the construction of buildings. These are believed to be some of the greatest contributions
of Mesopotamia in the field of architecture. Their temples and towers were monumental structures
made from sun-baked bricks.

The father was the head of the family and enjoyed special privileges.

The rights of women were protected. Children were brought up very strictly and boys were sent to
schools to study reading, writing, and arithmetic. Girls were trained in dance and music.

Agriculture was the main occupation of the Mesopotamians. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers were
their main sources of water supply.

Flooding was irregular. So they built an elaborate and highly developed irrigation system to ensure a
steady supply of water throughout the year. They also built dykes to control floods.
To increase agricultural flow, they invented the ox-drawn plough

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by King Nebuchadnezzar II.

Upper class Royal Priests High officials

Middle class Farmers Artisans Traders

Lower class Slaves

The Mesopotamians domesticated animals such as

 cows

 goats

 sheep

 donkeys.

Mesopotamians also had specialized skills such as pottery, weaving, and metalwork.

The discovery of metal objects, statues, gold and silver ornaments and pottery is proof of the
technical knowledge and skill of the artisans in Mesopotamia.

Every city had its own special god. The chief priest and the representative of God on earth. In later
years, the kings appointed priests to look after the temple of the ziggurat.

The Mesopotamians may have believed in life after death. Drinking vessels, ornaments, etc., have
been found in some graves.

The Mesopotamians invented and developed a system of writing known as cuneiform (wedge-
shaped). They wrote from left to right with a stylus (a sharp pen made of reeds, bone and
sometimes of metal). They wrote on the smooth, soft surface of clay tablets, which were then
baked in fire and hardened. Each tablet was like the page of a book. Several such clay tablets
comprised a complete book. The cuneiform script has been deciphered and, thus, we can get
important information about the Mesopotamians.

 The Mesopotamians were highly skilled mathematicians.

 They had a special sign for the number ‘one.

 ’ They also used the figure 60 as the unit to measure time.

 They counted in tens and sixties, and a minute was divided into 60 seconds.

 A year was divided into 12 months.

 Days and nights were divided into two halves consisting of 12 hours each.

Decline
The Euphrates River unexpectedly changed its course. The inhabitants abandoned the site. Winds
and sandstorms eroded the walls and monuments, burying the Mesopotamian civilization.

Egyptian Civilization

 The river Nile was central to the whole civilization and was a constant source of influence on
its development.

 The valley of the Nile was a narrow strip of fertile land stretching along the banks of the Nile

 . It was about 1,200 km long. The rest of the country was a desert of sand and stone.

 These deserts served as natural barriers to foreign invasions.

 So the early Egyptian settlers enjoyed many years of peace and security during which they
learnt to build towns, grow crops, domesticate animals and establish a society of their own.

 The ancient Egyptians strongly believed that there was life after death and devoted all their
energies to preparing for eternity.

 They believed that a dead person lived in his tomb, which was his eternal home.

 The more beautiful it was, the more splendid would be the afterlife.

 This belief inspired ancient Egyptians to build giant pyramids, magnificent temples,
monuments, and tombs.

 This was how one of the earliest and most enduring civilizations in history was born, which
flourished for more than 2,000 years.

Archaeological excavations, inscriptions, and official documents have helped historians to

Some Egyptian cities—like Memphis and Thebes—grew organically. Cities were planned in proximity
to a water source (Nile). Cities were divided into Upper (Southern) and Lower (Northern) regions.

There were two types of buildings in Egypt:

 Dwelling houses

 Public buildings

 Houses were built around the crossing of major roads. They were made of sun-dried bricks.

 Almost all the houses had the same number of rooms in each house. Most people lived in a
one or two-room house without bathrooms.

 The rich lived in two-storeyed houses, usually made of as many as thirty rooms, with
bathrooms, gardens and pools.

 An average house had three rooms, a courtyard, and a kitchen. A narrow staircase led to the
roof.

 The upper rooms were small and placed high on the walls, close to the ceiling, to keep out
the heat and let the daylight enter.

 The royal palaces were enclosed by high walls and separated from the rest of the city. They
were surrounded by moats for added security.
Public Buildings
Temple districts were better planned and surrounded by high walls. The layout was symmetrical. The
temples were massive structures with huge gateways.

Architecture and Engineering

 Families in ancient Egypt were close-knit.

 The relationship between the husband, the wife, and the children.

 The father was the head of the family.

 Women were treated with respect and their property rights were protected.

 They were more or less equal to men in the eyes of the law.

 Children enjoyed carefree and happy lives. The boys were sent to school and the girls stayed
at home and learnt housework.

Wealthy families lived lives of luxury and pleasure. Family outings and recreation included hunting,
fishing, swimming, and sailing on the Nile.

Bread made from wheat and beer made from barley formed the staple diet of the people. They also
ate vegetables, fruits, meat, and dairy products.


The Egyptians dressed simply.

 Their dresses were made of white linen.

 The men wore a loin cloth and the women wore long, tight-fitting dresses with shoulder
straps.

 Later, their dresses became more complex.

 Both men and women wore elaborate jewellery, cosmetics, and wigs.

 Men paid as much attention to their hairstyles and complexion as women did.

 The chief occupation of the Egyptians was agriculture.

 The fertile soil, the abundant supply of water from the Nile, and a vast irrigation network
enabled them to grow crops throughout the year.

 Their chief crops were wheat, barley, and millet. Vegetables and fruits such as dates, apples,
peaches, and figs were also grown.

 The Egyptians built several magnificent temples with pillared halls. The walls and pillars were
decorated with beautiful paintings of humans, animals, and birds.

 Animals such as cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, camels, and birds such as doves and geese
were domesticated.
  Craftspeople worked very hard to satisfy the demands and expensive tastes of the
aristocratic and priestly classes.

 There were skilled craftspeople such as potters, goldsmiths, carpenters, weavers, sculptors,
and painters.

 The sculptors carved large statues of kings and gods, while the artists decorated the tomb
walls with exquisite paintings.

 These paintings tell us a great deal about the lifestyle of the early Egyptians.

 Trade was carried on both land and sea routes.

 For internal trade, goods were transported by boats and barges along the Nile and by road
on camels and donkeys.

 For foreign trade, the Egyptians built the world's first seafaring ships. They exported linen,
wheat, glassware, jewellery, and furniture.

Egyptian doctors and surgeons were renowned for their skills. The advanced technique used in
mummification or embalming an Egyptian corpse showed that the Egyptians had a deep knowledge
of the human body and its systems. Doctors, mainly priests, specialized in the treatment of eyes,
teeth, etc.

They imported gold, ivory, copper and cedar wood. The king controlled foreign trade. The barter
system was used and the medium of exchange was usually grain, silver and copper.The Egyptians
developed a form of writing called hieroglyphic script (sacred writing).

They used pictorial symbols of various objects and creatures to denote letters. Each picture stood for
a separate word. About 2,000 picture signs have been found on ancient pyramids and temples.
Later, they developed a simplified alphabet which had 24 consonants and no vowels.

The Egyptians worshipped many gods and goddesses connected with nature. Ra, the sun god, was
one of the most important gods. The pharaohs were also worshipped as gods. Each god had his/her
temple and priest. Every city, town and village had its favourite god. Certain animals and birds such
as the jackal, the crocodile, the bull and the hawk were also worshipped.

At first, the Egyptians wrote on stone, walls and clay tablets. Later, they used paper which they
made from papyrus, a water reed. The Egyptians wrote from right to left using a reed sharpened at
the end. They used ink made of soot, gum and water.

The Egyptians introduced the world's first solar calendar.They found that the average time between
two annual floods was 365 days.The year was divided into 12 months, each consisting of 30 days.
The remaining five days were used for celebrating religious festivals.

A highly advanced system of mathematics was developed by the Egyptians to aid the construction of
pyramids and other monuments, land surveys and the calculation of revenue.The need to calculate
the time of the annual floods led to the development of astronomy. The Egyptians were the first to
make an instrument to observe the movements of stars and planets as well as a water clock to read
the time at night.

The Egyptian mummies, prepared thousands of years ago, are still well preserved. This is proof of
the advanced knowledge of medicine and human anatomy. They are also credited with having the
world’s first medical diagnosis.
The decline of the Egyptian empire set in with the collapse of the New Kingdom. By 1000 BCE, the
glory and splendour of the Egyptian empire had declined. Foreign invasions and internal revolts
weakened the empire and reduced it to a shadow of its former self. Egypt was repeatedly invaded by
the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, and finally, by Alexander the Great.

Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. It later became one of the greatest cultural centres of the
ancient world during the reign of one of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy, founder of the last dynasty
of Egypt.

Herodotus, writing in the 5th century, observed, "There is no country that has so many wonders, nor
any that has such several works which defy description."

Indus Valley Civilization

The discovery of the ancient ruins of Harappa by Dayaram Sahni in 1921 and of Mohenjodaro by
Rakhaldas Banerjee in 1922-23, both officers of the Archaeological Survey of India, exploded an age-
old myth. It was earlier believed that the history of India began with the coming of the Aryans. The
excavation of the ruins of the highly planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro pushed back the
history of India by almost 2,000 years.

It proved beyond a doubt that a highly advanced urban civilization flourished in India about 4,500
years ago.

This civilization belonged to the Bronze Age and no traces of iron have been found.

It is estimated that the Indus Valley civilization flourished between 2500 BCE and 1500 BCE.

The discovery of Indus Valley seals and pottery among the ruins of ancient Sumerian cities shows
that India had trade links with Mesopotamia, which was a contemporary civilization of the Indus
Valley civilization.

Mohenjodaro means ‘mound of the dead’ and is located on the banks of the Larkana district of Sind
(now in Pakistan).

Harappa is situated on the Ravi in the Montgomery district of Punjab (now in Pakistan).

For many years after the discovery of the sites, it was believed that the Indus Valley was the cradle
of civilization.

However, later excavations proved that civilization was not confined to the Indus Valley.

The principal cities of this civilization were first discovered around the river Indus and its tributaries,
it is referred to as the Indus Valley civilization.

It is also called the Harappan civilization because Harappa was the first site to be unearthed and the
features of the other sites resemble those of Harappa.

Some major sites of the Indus Valley civilization are Lothal and Surkotda (Gujarat), Ropar (Punjab),
Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Banawali (Haryana).

The two newest sites are Rakhi Garhi (Haryana) and Dholavira (Gujarat).

The excavations carried out at various sites prove that around 4500 years ago, highly civilized people
lived in this region and gave the world its earliest cities, its first town planning, its first architecture in
stone and clay and its first example of sanitary engineering and a drainage system.
The Indus Valley cities were very well planned and followed a grid system. The main streets ran
parallel to each other and at right angles by smaller streets, dividing the cities into rectangular blocks
or grids. The main roads were straight and very wide (about 30 feet) and curved at the corners to
allow carts to pass easily. The streets were often paved with baked bricks.The Indus Valley people
were skilful builders.

The buildings were of two types—dwelling houses and public buildings. The houses, many of them
double-storeyed, had flat roofs. They were different sizes. Some were like palaces while others had
only two small rooms. They were made of baked bricks of very good quality (they have lasted for
4,500 years). An average house had a courtyard surrounded by rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a
well. A staircase led to the rooms upstairs.

The Great Granary at Harappa was a public building. Historians believe that it was used to store
surplus food grains.

Another important building was the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro which resembled a swimming pool.
It had 6 entrances, a large bathing pool, galleries, and dressing rooms. Two flights of steps led to the
bottom of the pool. The floor and walls of the pool were made of burnt bricks and made watertight
with a lining of bitumen. The Great Bath was probably used during religious ceremonies

The Assembly Hall was another important building in Mohenjodaro. It resembled a prayer hall or
palace. It was a pillared hall with thick walls and 20 pillars made of burnt or baked bricks.The Indus
Valley had an excellent, well planned drainage system. The kitchens and bathrooms had drains
connected to street drains which ran along the sides of the streets, and usually covered. The
drainage system had manholes for inspection and cleaning which shows that Indus Valley people
paid attention to sanitation and cleanliness.

The Harappan society consisted of many social groups - rulers, merchants, traders and artisans,
farmers, and manual labourers.

Wheat was the staple food. Farmers also grew barley, mustard, fruits and vegetables. Milk, meat,
fish and eggs formed a part of their diet.

People wore cotton and woolen garments. Two piece dresses were worn by both men and women.
The men wore dhoti, while women wore skirts. The upper garment was a shawl worn around the
shoulder. Both men and women wore ornaments. They wore necklaces, amulets, and finger rings.
Women wore a headdress, earrings, bangles, girdles, bracelets and anklets. Rich wore ornaments
made of golf, silver and ivory, while poor wore shell, bone, and copper jewellery.

The men kept beards. Their hair was cut short or coiled in a knot on top the head. Women tied their
hair tightly and used hairpins and combs. They also used cosmetics.

Indus Valley people preferred indoor games to outdoor activities. They spent free time dancing,
singing, or playing board games with dice. They also played a game similar to modern chess.Children
played with toys such as wheeled carts, dolls, animals with movable heads, sliding monkeys, rattles,
or whistles. They were made of baked clay or terracotta.

The chief occupation of Indus Valley was farming. Farmers grew wheat, barley, fruits, and
vegetables.They were the first to cultivate cotton. The land was fertile, and had surplus food.

Animals like goat, sheep, buffaloes, elephants, and humped bulls were domesticated, while cats and
dogs were kept as pets.
The Indus Valley people were excellent potters, and skilled craftspeople.They made terracotta
female figurines which were symbolic of the Mother Goddess. They also knew the art of using
metals.

Trade was conducted within and outside India. They traded with Mesopotamia, Persia, and
Afghanistan.The mesopotamian seals in the Indus valley cities proved they had trade relations.Trade
was carried out by barter system. Trade had taken place both on land and on sea.

More than 2000 seals have been found. They are generally small, flat, rectangular, or square
shaped.They are made of clay, soapstone, and copper. They are carved with figures of humans and
animals, like the unicorn, humped bull, goat, tiger, elephant, etc.

Seals are a valuable source of information, and tell us about the life and culture of the people and
their religious beliefs, artistic skills, trade contacts, address, and ornaments.

Numerous smoke-stained clay figures of a female deity have been found. This was probably the
Mother Goddess. A three-faced figure, seated in a yogic posture and surrounded by various animals
is engraved on some seals. This is known as Pashupati. The pipal tree is regarded sacred and
worshipped. The Harappans also believed in life after death.

The decline of the Harappan civilization was caused by natural calamities, invasion from foreign
tribes, and a change in the course of the river Indus.