Sixth Grade Review

Early human population and adaptation

• Early humans crossed land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, entering Americas.

• nomadic hunter-gatherers migrated from place to place when food ran out.

• used stone tools at least 2 million years ago; could control fire around 500,000 years ago.

• Farming, slash & burn agriculture developed 8000 B.C.—when soil became poor, people migrated.

Major river systems supporting permanent settlement

• Two major river systems=Tigris and Euphrates.

• Region is called Mesopotamia—“land between the rivers”.

• Fertile soil, floodplains, semi-arid climate, flood & drought were part of life

• Irrigation (artificially bringing water to dry land) develops by 6000 B.C.

Religious, social & political order in Mesopotamia and Egypt

• Priests=leaders, controlled irrigation and wealth• Religions were based on polytheism (many gods)

and gods based around nature• Social classes develop with kings and priests at the

top followed by landowners, government officials, farmers and merchants with slaves at the bottom

• Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) created order through his code; supported fair treatment and the idea that government should provide protection and justice.

Egyptian art and architecture

• First rulers buried in underground tombs. Later replaced with pyramids

• Khufu’s great pyramid has 760-foot sides, 2.3 million stone blocks, took 20,000 people 20 years to build.

• Pyramids glorified pharaohs as gods on earth. City of Giza was built for workers.

• King Hatshepsut built obelisks and under Akhenaton, art began to show pharaohs as realistic, not perfect beings.

• Emphasized the idea of eternal life.

Judaism• Hebrews settle in Canaan became known as

Israelites and were the first to believe in one god (monotheism)

• Moses led Israelites from Egypt due to famine• God gave Moses 10 Commandments which

became basis for Israelite law/Judeo-Christian concepts are the basis for much of Western religious thought/cultural norms, moral teachings

• Rabbis=Jewish religious teachers; followed laws and customs found in the Torah

Tyranny to democracy in Greece

• Earliest governments were monarchies ruled by king or queen

• oligarchies were ruled by the few because of wealth and land, not birth

• Greeks invent citizenship; Pericles wanted to strengthen democracy, change balance between rich and poor and wanted equality in law and thought political participation was essential for people

Athenian (direct) democracy vs . Representative democracy

• In direct democracy all citizens can propose and vote on laws, in representative democracy elected representatives do that for the people

• Because of Athens’ direct democracy, heavy emphasis was placed on the importance of the individual citizen in the political process of the city-state.

Important Greeks in art & science• Hypatia: First noted female

mathematician/astronomer• Socrates: Famous philosopher who believed in

examining beliefs through questions• Plato: Socrates’ best student—wrote The Republic

and started The Academy• Aristotle: Plato’s best student. Applied logic to

science and tutored Alexander the Great• Euclid: mathematician. Provided basis for geometry• Thucydides: wrote history of Peloponnesian War and

set standards for first-person accounts of history

Buddhism in India & Central Asia

• Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha and began in India in 5th Century BC. • Based on Four Noble Truths and

Eightfold Path as road to nirvana (end of suffering).• Buddhism spreads through the trade

of silk, cotton and ivory.

Teachings of Confucianism & Taoism• Confucius lived from 551-479 BC (period of

great unrest). • Emphasized the Five Relationships

(father/son, older/younger brothers, husband/wife, friend/friend, ruler/subject), proper conduct, order, harmony, ethics and respect for elders

• Taoism (Daoism) emphasizes harmony with nature and acceptance of circumstances—concepts of yin/yang and balance.

The Han Dynasty in China

• The Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) began when Lui Bang ended the Chinese Civil War and unified China• Grew bureaucracy and established

offices by trusted people to expand roads, canals, irrigation• Expanded borders to south China,

North Vietnam, North Korea.

Government of the Roman Republic

• Roman government established:–concept of legislative,

executive and judicial branches–concept of veto, checks and

balances and Constitution–Major influence on U.S.

Government.

The spread of Christianity• Sacred writings promised Jews a Messiah

who would save them• Gospels are written by Matthew, Mark,

Luke and John and account for Jesus’ life (New Testament).

• Emphasis on the trinity (father, son and holy spirit) parables (stories) and living humbly.

• St. Paul was most influential in spreading the church.

Roman culture• Art blended with Greek style, created mosaics;

architecture: added to Greek style with arches, domes and vaults—influenced US Capitol

• technology: new stronger, lighter building materials

• Literature: invented epics like Odyssey and Iliad

• Language was Latin and spread across Western Europe—turned into Romance Languages like Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian