1. River-valley civilizations developed in Sumer, Egypt, China, and the Indus River Valley. After following the procedures in the Planning a Compare and Contrast Essay worksheet, write an essay comparing and contrasting these civilizations.
Did you know that the Indus valley invented indoor plumbing? Indus valley was actually the third civilization that started, at least in this group of four. The first civilization was Sumer, in around 4000 B. C, followed by Egypt in 3100 B. C. The final civilization (in this group of four) was China, which was started from as early as 1250 B. C.
There are many similarities and differences between these four civilizations. Some of the similarities are annual flooding that left fertile soil, which was great for farming. They all had a surplus amount of food, which allowed specialized jobs. They all used the river near them to trade, and all of them worshipped many gods, for which they built large temples.
In China, the people gained their power under Heaven’s mandate by creating very long dynasties until the Chinese people decided that the dynasty had lost favor with the gods. But, in the Indus Valley, priests were seen as high officials with various powers. In egypt, the pharaoh was considered a god to the people and was then granted supreme rule in the eyes of the people. In contrast, the kingdoms in Sumer were organized into cities and different kings ruled each city. Kings were helped by priests, nobles, and letter writers, but before the arrival of the kings, it was the priests who would rule over all of Sumer.