Geography & Rivers
This river, the longest in the world, flooded predictably every year and was the lifeblood of Ancient Egypt.
What is the Nile?
Ancient Egyptians used this system of writing that involved pictures and symbols.
What are hieroglyphics?
In Egypt, the king was not just a leader but was considered a living god called a...
What is a pharaoh?
This is the belief in many gods, which was common to all three of these civilizations.
What is polytheism?
Ancient Egyptians used this plant that grew along the Nile to make a type of paper
What is papyrus?
Mesopotamia was located between these two major rivers.
What are Tigris and Euphrates?
The Sumerians in Mesopotamia created this wedge-shaped writing, the first known system in the world.
What is cuneiform?
This Babylonian King is famous for creating the first written code of laws.
Who is Hammurabi?
Egyptians preserved the bodies of the dead through this process to prepare them for the afterlife.
What is mummification?
This famous structure in China was built over hundreds of years to protect the empire from northern invaders.
What is the Great Wall of China?
Ancient China developed around this river, also known as the "Yellow River" because of its silt.
What is the Yellow/Huang He?
This Chinese invention was originally used for silk making, but they are also famous for inventing this writing surface made from wood pulp.
What is paper?
This famous Egyptian statue has the body of a lion and the head of a Pharaoh, built to guard the tombs of the leaders.
What is The Great Sphinx?
In Mesopotamia, these massive stepped pyramids were built as temples to honor the gods.
What are ziggurats?
This is the term for a person whose job was to read and write in ancient times because most people didn't know how.
What is a scribe?
This term refers to the arc of rich farmland in the Middle East where the first civilizations began.
What is the Fertile Crescent?
To control river water for their crops, all three civilizations developed these systems of tunnels and canals.
What is irrigation?
Hammurabi’s Code was famous for this harsh principle, which meant if you caused an injury to someone, the same would happen to you.
What is "an eye for an eye"?
Ancient Egyptians believed that after you died, the gods would weigh this internal organ against a feather to see if you were a good person.
What is the heart?
These were the seasonal winds that brought heavy rains to the Indus Valley (often studied alongside these three).
What are monsoons?
Because of the natural barriers like the Gobi Desert and the Himalayan Mountains, this civilization remained more isolated than the others.
What is Ancient China?
The Babylonians are credited with this early mathematical concept, which is why we read time in this way.
What is the base-60 system?
These massive stone structures were built as grand tombs for the Pharaohs to show their power and wealth.
What are pyramids?
This famous Egyptian artifact was the key to finally decoding and understanding hieroglyphics.
What is the Rosetta Stone?
This was the social hierarchy of Ancient Egypt, where the fewest people had the most power at the top.
What is a social pyramid?