Egypt Sickle FARMING TOOLS Ancient Egyptians had simple farming tools such as winnowing scoops, hoes, rakes, flint-bladed sickles and plows (See section for definition). They had both hand plows and ones pulled by oxen. The plows were used to turn the soil. Another piece of equipment used by farmers was the Shaduf. A shaduf is a machine used to bring water from the canals to the crops The majority of the tools were made entirely out of wood, or a combination of wood and stone, however, some copper tools have also been found, so they had some metal tools, too. Oxen Plow Shaduf Hand Plow Tools for Sowing Early plows were made from wood. Later plows had copper parts, which broke up hard soil better. Sowing, or planting, of the seeds was originally done by digging holes in the ground with sticks. Understandably, this took a long time, so farmers searched for ways to plant even faster. Soon the sticks were given handles and arranged in a V-shape. The bottom of the V would scrape into the ground so that a long ditch could be dug. The seeds would fall into the ditch. This new device was the earliest form of the plow. Tools for Harvesting When it came time to harvest, farmers would use a sickle to cut down sheaves, or bundles, of wheat. A sickle is a curved blade attached to a handle. It can cut down dozens of stalks of grain with one stroke of the arm. Some of the first sickles had blades made out of flint or polished stone. Later, farmers learned how to mold metals like copper and bronze.
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS Egypt Once the floods receded and the fields dried, the plants would wither and die. The mud that the Nile left behind needed lots of watering in the hot sun. The ancient Egyptians tried to trap as much flood water as possible, so they did not have to constantly get water from the river. They built mud-brick reservoirs to trap and hold the water. They also had a network of irrigation canals that filled with water during the flood and were refilled from the reservoirs. To lift the water from the canal they used a shaduf. A shaduf is a large pole balanced on a crossbeam, a rope and bucket on one end and a heavy counter weight at the other. By pulling the rope it lowered the bucket into the canal. The farmer then raised the bucket of water by pulling down on the weight. He then swung the pole around and emptied the bucket onto the field. had two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, to use for irrigation, or to supply their plants with water. They used canals, or man-made waterways, as irrigation tools to channel water from rivers to crops. Irrigation helped keep the soil moist, and the river water delivered nutrients to the soil. Once ns had a surplus of food, they began to use the canals for trade with other civilizations, offering up their food surpluses for other food and materials that were not available in their own land. A chinampa plot was constructed by staking out a rectangular enclosure, about 30 m in length and 2.5 m in width, into the marshy lakebed. The enclosure would then be fenced in by joining the stakes with wattle. After that, the fenced in area would be filled with mud and decaying vegetation. In order to prevent the roots from becoming water-logged, it was important that the fill brought thechinampa plot above the lake level. While constructing the next plot, which would be parallel to the first, a narrow canal for the passage of canoe would be left in between these two chinampa plots. The canals surrounding the chinampa plots formed an illusion that these agricultural lands were floating on water, hence its misattribution as floating gardens. To further stabilise these plots of land, willows were planted around the perimeter. This is due to the dense root system which, over time, anchored the retaining walls of the structure and reduced the effects of erosion. Shaduf
WRITING SYSTEMS Egypt Only 1 out of every 100 ancient Egyptians could read and write. Scribes were the few Egyptians who knew how to read and write. Being a scribe was an extremely difficult job because in total, there were hundreds of different hieroglyphs to remember. It took as long as twelve years to train as a scribe, and only boys could study to be one. The scribes used a kind of paper called papyrus, which was made from reeds otherwise known as the papyrus plant. A scribe recorded in writing the everyday life and extraordinary happenings in ancient Egypt. Their jobs were varied and included: writing letters for fellow villagers who couldn't write recording the amount of crops harvested calculating the amount of food needed to feed the tomb workers keeping accounts and ordering supplies for temples and the Egyptian army Shang China The oracle bone inscriptions are the oldest known form of Chinese writing (Chinese Paper has decomposed). By comparing and equating the inscriptions to modern Chinese characters, scholars have shown that the Shang had already developed all the principles of the modern writing system used today. In fact, Chinese writing has undergone relatively few changes since it was first developed 3,500 years ago. Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of c. 3500-3000 BCE. The name comes from the Latin word cuneus for 'wedge' owing to the wedge-shaped style of writing. In cuneiform, a carefully cut writing implement known as a stylus is pressed into soft clay to produce wedge-like impressions, making it the first symbolic writing systems, using symbols instead of pictures to represent words. Indus Valley Thousands of clay tablets indicate that the people of the Indus River Valley developed a writing system that may be even older than Sumerian writing. Archaeologists have not yet deciphered the writing of the Indus River Valley civilization, so their form of government, their religious beliefs, and the social structure of their society remain a mystery. Insect, dart tip, corn, corn, throne, beetle, shucked corn. Vertical fish, eyes, skin, bivalve..and corn. Huh? That's what anthropologists and archaeologists alike are asking after the discovery of the Cascajal Block, an ancient slab of writing which is thought to be the oldest known writing system in the Western Hemisphere. The block features linear arrangements of certain characters that appear to be ancient depictions of tribal objects, such as animals, insects, tools and food (especially corn). Writing
Shang China The Use of the Chariot and Bronze Weapons in Warfare The advancement of bronze technology and the use of bronze weapons gave the Shang military great advantage over their enemies and completely changed the way they fought wars. They used newly-developed weapons like the bronze-tipped halberd and spear, the compound bow; and most importantly, they used horse-drawn chariots. WEAPONS The chariot, which had most likely been introduced from western Asia, completely changed the way battles were fought. Chariots allowed commanders to supervise their troops efficiently and across great distances. They also gave soldiers a significant edge over their opponents by making them highly mobile and fast. Since war was central to life during the Shang Dynasty, these developments in weapons were very important in allowing the Shang to maintain its military supremacy. The tombs of Ur from the First Sumerian Dynasty were excavated in years 1922-1934. In the tombs of royalty, excavators found many weapons that perfectly resembled weapons from Sumerian iconography including: a giant gold dagger, multiple copper daggers, spike-like javelins, broadheaded spears, and socketed axe-heads. In the common tombs, 58 spears, 171 daggers, and 301 axes were found. Perhaps the most iconic artifact from the Royal Tombs is the Standard of Ur (picture below). It was found in one of the largest gravesites (PG 779) next to the body of a soldier. War: In the top row, the king (center) stands with his troops and chariot while prisoners are paraded before him. The middle row depicts Sumerian soldiers on the attack. There is a brief battle and the enemy runs away. The last row depicts an attack of Sumerian war chariots, with the bodies of the enemy being trampled beneath the horses' hooves. Peace: The king (top row, third from the left) drinks and celebrates his victory while listening to the music of a bull-headed lyre (see below). The bottom rows show his subjects in a ceremonial victory procession.
MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES Ziggurats were ancient towering, stepped structures made of mud brick that appear to have served as temples to the ancient gods of. Ziggurat bases were square or rectangular. Their walls were sloping. To build a ziggurat, builders stacked squares of diminishing size, like a step pyramid, but unlike a step pyramid there were stairs to climb to the next higher level. With a base of about 50 feet to a side, ziggurats may have been as high as 150 feet. At the top was a small room assumed to be a religious place. Ziggurats may have been conceived of as homes for the ancient gods. Egyptian Pyramids Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king died, part of his spirit (known as ka ) remained with his body. To properly care for his spirit, the corpse was mummified, and everything the king would need in the afterlife was buried with him, including gold vessels, food, furniture and other offerings. The pyramids were build as a place for the King to live after his death. Their riches would provide not only for him, but also for the relatives, officials, priests, and even pets who were sacrificed and buried near him. Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone (averaging about 2.5 tons each) had to be cut, transported and assembled to build only Khufu s Great Pyramid in Giza. Records show that it took 20 years to build and required the labor of 100,000 men, but later archaeological evidence suggests that the workforce might actually have been around 20,000. Though some popular versions of history held that the pyramids were built by slaves or foreigners forced into labor, skeletons excavated from the area show that the workers were probably native Egyptian agricultural laborers who worked on the pyramids during the time of year when the Nile River flooded much of the land nearby. Seventeen heads have been discovered to date, 10 of which are from San Lorenzo and 4 from La Venta; two of the most important centers. The heads were each carved from a single basalt boulder which in some cases were transported 100 km or more to their final destination, presumably using huge balsa river rafts wherever possible and log rollers on land. The principal source of this heavy stone was Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains. The heads were sculpted using hard hand-held stones and it is likely that they were originally painted using bright colors. The fact that these giant sculptures depict only the head may be explained by the widely held belief in Mesoamerican culture that it was the head alone which contained the emotions, experience, and soul of an individual. Some historians believe that the heads were portraits of leaders, some wearing helmets for battle. Other believe these figures were ball players, competing for the chance to be sacrificed to the gods.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT Walled Cities Cities in, the Indus Valley, and Shang China were walled for protection from invaders. Indus Valley Harappa and Mohenjo Daro were expertly planned cities built with a grid pattern of wide, straight streets. Thick walls surrounded the cities. Many people lived in sturdy brick houses that had as many as three floors. Some houses had bathrooms and toilets that connected to the world s first sewer system. An irrigation system of canals provided a reliable source of water for growing wheat and barley. There is also evidence that people herded sheep, cattle and goats. The ancient people of the Indus River Valley had a highly advanced knowledge of mathematics and a sophisticated system of weights and measures. The bricks even those used in different cities are the same size, suggesting that the cities may have had the same government. Archaeologists have also found evidence of musical instruments, toys and games, and pottery. The people of the Indus River valley were very interested in cleanliness. Excavators have uncovered evidence of combs, soaps, and medicine. The cities were also practicing some form of dentistry. We know this because archaeologists found a gravesite with the remains of people whose teeth had been drilled. Trade Between the Indus Valley and The Indus River Valley cities traded with distant foreign cultures. Archaeologists have found jewelry made in Harappa as far away as. Traders also sold cotton cloth and hardwood from the teak trees that grew in the valley. Once ns had a surplus of food, they began to use irrigation canals for trade with other civilizations, offering up their food surpluses for other food and materials that were not available in their own land. Evidence of San Lorenzo s high culture includes the presence of mound structures, possibly an early ball court, carved basalt drains through one of the manmade mounds and the Red Palace structure with painted red floors and workshops. The three sites of San Lorenzo, La Venta and Laguna de los Cerros all had a bilateral symmetry in their planning and at La Venta the first pyramid in Mesoamerica was constructed. It is the premeditated architectural layout of the religious centres of these settlements that is most striking, for example, at La Venta the buildings are placed symmetrically along a north-south axis with four colossal heads facing outwards at key points, seemingly acting as guardians to the complex. Many of these urban centers were deliberately deconstructed by the Mayans in 400-300BCE.