Mesopotamia
Egypt
China
Similarities in Ancient River Valley Civilizations
100

This was the name of the writing system in Mesopotamia, usually engraved on clay tablets.

What is cuneiform?

100

Egyptians settled near this major river that flows from south to north and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. 

What is the Nile?

100

The name of the second dynasty of ancient China. 

What is the Shang Dynasty?

100

The people of ancient Egypt and the Shang Dynasty of China believed in this as part of their religion.

What is the afterlife?

200

These are the two rivers of the fertile crescent that allowed for good farming.

What are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?

200

A series of rulers from a single family is known as this.

What is a dynasty?

200

Metal artisans used to create many items used in the Shang Dynasty.

What is bronze?

200

The lowest social class in river valley civilizations was made of these types of people.

What are farmers and slaves?

300

A temple in Mesopotamia.

What is a ziggurat?

300

Many people could not afford the expensive process of mummification, so they buried the dead here to preserve their bodies for the afterlife. 

What is the desert?

300

What religious men wrote on to get answers from the gods. 

What are oracle bones?

300

River valley civilizations worshiped many gods meaning they were...

What is polytheistic?

400

The first "book" ever written.

What is The Epic of Gilgamesh?

400

These were grand tombs built for some of the wealthiest pharaohs for the afterlife. 

What are pyramids?

400

This was the belief the Chinese king was given the right to rule from the gods.

What is the Mandate of Heaven?

400

Flooding was predictable in these two river valley civilizations.

What are Mesopotamia and Egypt?

500

Invented this important item that we still use today to help us with transportation. 

What is the wheel?

500

This is a government based on religious authority.

What is a theocracy?

500

The Yellow River was called "China's Sorrow" for this reason.

What was its unpredictable floods?

500

Used this to get river water to their crops.

What is irrigation?

600

This man created a code of laws in the city-state of Babylonia in Mesopotamia. Hint: "Eye for an Eye or a tooth for a tooth." 

Who is Hammurabi?

600

The Egyptian system of writing was called this.

What is hieroglyphics? 

600

The reason they call their main river the yellow river.

What is loess or yellow, fertile soil?

600

Name two types of geography that protected the people living in river valleys from invasion.

What are mountains and deserts?

700

The ancient Mesopotamians where this, meaning, they believed in more than one god. 

What is polytheistic?

700

Paper sheets made from reeds.

What is papyrus?

700

They used this as their currency.

What are cowrie shells.

700

Six characteristics needed to be considered a civilization.

What are geography, religion, achievements, politics, economics, and social classes?

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