Urban Hearths

Mesopotamia, Egyptian, Indus River Valley, Huang He River, Mesoamerica

Basic Characteristics

• Advanced and Planned Cities

• Specialization of labor (social hierarchy or stratification)

• Complex Institutions (Governments and Religions)

• Record Keeping (Writing system)

• Advanced technology (agricultural and other areas)

When?

• Even though humans have been around for quite sometime, cities (urban areas) did not start to develop till 8000 years ago.

• The modern “city” is only about 200 years old

Mesopotamia Ziggurat

At its peak Ur was perhaps the greatest city of Ancient Sumer. The city was walled for protection, surrounded by protective canals from the Euphrates River. Ships involved in trading could berth in safe harbors. The Great Ziggurat could be seen from a great distance, symbolizing protection and rulership of the city over the surrounding countryside.

Mesopotamia

• Religious controlled and focused

• Social hierarchy-displayed by size and design of houses

• Palaces built for the ruling class, temples dominated the cultural landscape

• Lack of waste-disposal: go back to population unit and think of repercussions

• Formed around 3500BC-site of first civilization, first language, and first agriculture

-Ideal location to the Euphrates River-access to sea and freshwater -Favorable location allowed the city to develop commerce and political dominance -Center focus was the Ziggurat standing 70 feet above ground -Separate residential and commercial quarters

Nile River Valley

• Dates to 3200BCE

• Their was a social hierarchy that developed

• No walled cities which is strange for this time period

• Power was in the control of the irrigation canals

• Movement of people as the floods came in also made this civilization different than others

• Optimistic society

Key Tan=0-518/ sq mile Light green 518-1554 Lime 1554-2590 Dark Green 2590+

Indus Valley: c. 2200 BCE

• Mohenjo Daro and Harappa were major cities of the civilization

• The cities were made with a grid system

• Grid system ran the road North and South (widest) and East and West (half the size), smaller alleys came off secondary roads

• Zoned: Artisans separated from residential areas, Citadel-large platform area believed to be the administrative building

Indus Valley

• Often found statues at corner (religious) • Buildings, temples, and public baths other

structures • Indoor plumbing, wells (both private and

communal) • Organization: standardized bricks • Clear understanding of traffic with grid systems,

covered drains, and rounded corners • Houses were roughly the same size: egalitarian

society, 2 stories with indoor plumbing

Huang He Civilization

• Not much is left due to the materials (wood) for us to use as a reference

• We do have bronze cast, grave sites, and oracle bones

• It was a walled village with the urban elite, emperor/king, inside this structure

• It was complex because of the planning around the river and canal system, showed technology in irrigation/agriculture

Terra Cotta Warriors over 7000 UNIQUE men

Mesoamerica Maya

• Maya ran their cities with a priest/king approach

• Great astronomers and used this to help display their “power” and knowledge on citizens

• Polytheistic and bloody society

• Built great step pyramids for the center of cities

• Located on Yucatan Peninsula and surrounding Central American countries