Chapter 3 Lesson 1

Objectives

 Locate the major river systems where the earliest civilizations developed  Describe the physical settings that supported permanent settlements and early civilizations

Vocabulary

 Tributary – rivers that flow into larger rivers  Plateau – a high, flat area of land  Alluvial Plain – a low, flat land formed from fine soil left behind by streams  Silt – soil and tiny rocks carried or deposited on the land by floodwaters

Importance of Major River Systems

 Many early civilizations formed in the valleys of major river systems See page 95 in textbook for early river valley civilizations  People used the river water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and fishing  The land in river valleys was good for farming and raising livestock

The Tigris and Euphrates

 One of the earliest civilizations formed in Sumer in an area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers called Mesopotamia  Sumer arose in southern Mesopotamia

The Need for Irrigation

 The hot dry climate of Mesopotamia made farming a challenge, and rainfall was unreliable  Farmers in southern Mesopotamia solved this problem by developing increasingly sophisticated systems of irrigation  Access to water from the Tigris and Euphrates allowed permanent settlements to thrive in the south

Ubaid Culture

 Ubaid culture was based on farming  Formed in 5000 BC in southern Mesopotamia  They built irrigation systems, larger homes and temples; produced surpluses; had leaders; created pottery, and traded

Summary

 Like some other major rivers systems, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers gave rise to an early civilization  Between these rivers in southern Mesopotamia, the Sumerians developed new ideas for more complex cultures there  This led to one of the world’s first civilizations in Sumer