Bellringer

• Have out your homework!• On the back of your Indus Valley Notes, write “Sumer

Warm-Up September 19, 2011” and please answer the following questions in complete sentences: 1. What is the difference between the Fertile Crescent,

Mesopotamia, and Sumer?2. What were the three geographic weaknesses of Sumer?

• Bad Joke of the Day: What did the alien say to the gardener?

Objective

• The students will be able to draw comparisons and contrasts between Sumer and Indus and log onto turnitin.com.

Indus River Valley Civilization

Geography

• Indus and Ganges Rivers form 1500 miles of a river valley– Indus: Link to the

sea=trade• Residents of the Indus

River Valley depended on unpredictable flooding for crops

• Residents must also deal with monsoons– Seasonal winds that dominate the climate

• October-May: dry winter air• June-September: wet moist air

• Geographical barriers– Hindu Kush Mountains– Karakoram Mountains– Himalayan Mountains– Thar Desert

• Geographical barriers provide protection

Civilization Emerges on the Indus

• As early as 3200 BCE—farming villages• Historians to date cannot decipher the writing

system

Planned Cities

• 100 settlements along the Indus by 2500 BCE

• City planning took place along a precise grid system– Fortified area=citadel– Residential areas—all buildings made of bricks– Sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems

Economy

• Definition of economy: • Based off of

agriculture and trade– Evidence of trade with

Sumer– Products with Indus

seals found in Sumer and Sumerian objects found in Indus (2350-2000 BCE)

Government and Religion

• Stable society without much conflict or rigid class system– Mostly egalitarian

• Religious artifacts indicate connections to Hindu society of today– Polytheism

• Gods, like in Sumer, based on nature– Mother goddess: nature, agriculture– Fertility: plants, children

Mysterious End to Indus Valley Culture

• 1750 BCE: period of decline and decay• What happened? No one knows for sure,

but some ideas exist:1. Indus changed course and failed to fertilize

fields surrounding cities2. Over-farming of the land

Compare/Contrast Indus and SumerArea of Comparison

Indus Sumer Similar/Different/Both

Geography

Economy

Religion

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• Task: To create a poster advertising life in Indus or Sumer.– You need to include the following:• Geography: what is the land like, are there natural

barriers, and how do these factors influence life• Religion: what is the basis of religion, what are some

characteristics of the religion• Economy: what is the economy based on, how does it

impact daily life