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Civilizations

Mr. Salinas - World History

September 2001

Early Civilization Museum Project (pairs)
Modern World History - 10Y
Mr. Salinas

Objectives
-Identify the location and physical characteristics of an early civilization
-Show evidence/proof of a civilization in the form of a 2 or 3 dimensional model

Each pair of students will create an Early Civilization Museum display of artifacts.
-All artifacts should be creative, colorful, and have typed explanations.

Make sure your names are on each artifact! Use the checklist box below.

-A Large Ancient Map - "Geography" - 2 x 2 feet (artifact #1)
*Show the major geographical features of the region
*Include a "key" or "legend"
*Explain the significance of all geographic features (paragraph format)

-The Model - "Evidence of a civilization" (artifact #2)
*Examples: Layout of a major city/village, a social institution, a significant "artifact" made or crafted by this civilization, to name a few
*Be creative and make it look "real"
*It must diagrammed and/or labeled with descriptions (paragraph format)

-Assessment (grading):
*Presentation Day (work is displayed - no oral presentation)
*Group grade (pairs)
*In-class peer assessment of each piece
*Teacher assessment (same as peer assessment)

Early Civilizations Paper (Individual Essay)
World History - Mr. Salinas

You will assume the role of an anthropologist and writer who has just had an encounter with an unknown civilization. You have been asked to write an essay for the New Civilization Times describing your experience.

You must write it from the following "perspective":
-As if you're living during that time period
-First-person narrative
-For example: I saw… I witnessed… I visited… I met… They have… etc.
-As if the readers know "nothing" about this civilization

You're trying to show how "they" meet the criteria of the five key traits of a civilization (listed in book and notebook).

The following are the requirements:

-Have a "catchy" headline related to your experience

ESSAY STRUCTURE:
-Paragraph One - Introduction:
`Provide a brief introduction to this new civilization
`Briefly mentioned the topics you will cover
`Have a "hook" that grabs the readers attention

-(C)Paragraph Two - Outline of a Body Paragraph
`Topic Sentence (introduces the main idea of the paragraph)
`Introduce Fact (Background or evidence)
`Analyze Fact- How does it connect to the traits of a civilization?
`Introduce next Fact (Background or evidence)
`Analyze the Fact
`Repeat the steps for each Fact
`Conclusion Sentence (ties together the main ideas of the paragraph and prepares the reader for the next paragraph)

-Paragraph Three - Body Paragraph
Repeat Step "c" (new topic)

-Paragraph Four - Body Paragraph
Repeat Step "c" (new topic)

-Paragraph Five - Body Paragraph
Repeat Step "c" (new topic)

-Paragraph Six - Body Paragraph
Repeat Step "c" (new topic)

-Paragraph Seven Conclusion
`Restate your main ideas (most important points only)
`Explain how you proved your points

World Civilizations Museum and Paper
World History - Mr. Salinas

Make sure you know the approximate geographic location for each civilization.

Sumerian Civilization: Case Study (reading)
The world's earliest civilization from 3500 B.C. Located at the meeting of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in lower Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). A city state with priests as secular rulers. Sumerian culture was based on the taxation of the surplus produced by agricultural villagers to support the urban ruling class. Trade with Egypt and the Indus Valley led to the formation of the ancient Egyptian civilization and the Indus Valley civilization. They built cities, raised enough food to have a surplus, and developed specialized jobs.

Aztec: Case Study (film)
Ancient Mexican civilization that migrated south into the valley of Mexico in the 12th century, and in 1325 began reclaiming lake marshland to build their capital, Tenochtitlan, on the site of present-day Mexico City. Under Montezuma I (reigned from 1440), the Aztecs, created an empire in central Mexico. The Aztec believed that the sun needed human blood to survive. Throughout the year, captives were led up the steps of the Great Temple to be sacrificed.

Phoenicians:
The Phoenicians, called Sidonians in the Old Testament and Phoenicians by the Greek poet Homer, were Semites, related to the Canaanites of ancient Palestine. Historical research indicates that they founded their first settlements on the Mediterranean coast about 2500BC.

Persia:
The Iranian plateau was settled about 1500BC by Aryan tribes, the most important of which were the Medes, who occupied the northwestern portion, and the Persians, who emigrated from Parsua, a land west of Lake Urmia, into the southern region of the plateau, which they named Parsamash or Parsumash.

Japan:
Traditionally, Japan dates from 660 BC. The earliest surviving records of Japanese history, aside from Chinese accounts, are contained in two semimythical chronicles, the Koji-ki and the Nihon shoki (or Nihongi), the former compiled in AD 712 and the latter in AD 720. Archaeological and historical research has shown that the first modern inhabitants of Japan were the Jômon people, who lived in the area from about 10,000 to 300 BC and whose name is taken from the distinctive pottery artifacts found from this era.

Egypt:
The Old Kingdom (about 2755-2255 BC) spanned five centuries of rule by the 3rd through the 6th dynasties. The origins of ancient Egyptian civilization, which many regard as one of the fountainheads of Western culture, cannot be established with certainty. Archaeological evidence suggests that early dwellers in the Nile Valley were influenced by cultures of the Near East, but the degree of this influence is yet to be determined.

Mali Empire:
Established in Northwest Africa during the 7th-15th centuries. It reached its peak in the 14th century under Mansa Musa (reigned 1312-1337), when it occupied an area covering present-day Senegal, Gambia, Mali, and South Mauritania. Mali, a Mandingo word means "where the king lives".

Songhai Empire:
Former kingdom of Northwest Africa, founded in the 8th century, which developed into a powerful empire under the rule of Sonni Ali (reigned 1464-1492). It superseded the Mali Empire and extended its territory, occupying an area that included parts of present-day Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria.

Ancient Ghana:
Trading empire that flourished in Northwest Africa between the 5th and 13th centuries. Founded by the Soninke people.

Ancient India:
Indus Valley Civilization (circa 2500-1700BC), earliest known civilization of South Asia, corresponding to the Bronze Age cultures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete (Kríti). The remains of settlements belonging to this culture have been found throughout the Indus River valley in Pakistan, westward along the coast to the Iranian border, in India's northwestern states as far east as New Delhi, and on the Oxus River in northern Afghanistan. The Indus Valley civilization encompasses one of the largest geographical areas covered by a single Bronze Age culture.

China: Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty ruled the territory of the present-day north-central Chinese provinces of Henan, Hubei, and Shandong and the northern part of Anhui. The capital, from about 1384 BC on, was situated at Anyang near the northern border of Henan. The economy was based on agriculture.

Maya:
Member of a group of Central American Indians who lived in agricultural villages in and around the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemalan highlands from at least 3000 B.C., and who developed a civilization of city-states that flourished from about A.D. 300 until 900.

Inca:
An Ancient Peruvian civilization of Quecha-speaking Indians that began in the Andean highlands about 1200; by the time of the Spanish Conquest in the 1530's, the Inca ruled from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south.

Olmec:
An indigenous people of Mesoamerica, who established one of the region's first major civilizations. They lived along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, just west of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the swampy jungle river basins of the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Over time, they extended their influence through the highlands of Mexico; the Valley of Mexico; Oaxaca; and westwards to Guerrero. The Olmec flourished between about 1500 and 600 BC.

Ancient Rome:
A civilization based in Rome that lasted for about 800 years. Traditionally, founded 753 B.C., Rome became a republic 510 B.C. From then, its history is one of almost continual expansion until the murder of Julius Caesar and foundation of the empire under Augustus and his successors.

Greece: Hellenic Period
The Greek peninsula has been culturally linked with the Aegean Islands and the west coast of Asia Minor since the Neolithic Age. The many natural harbors along the coasts of Greece and the multiplicity of close-lying islands led to the development of a homogeneous, maritime civilization. But cultural homogeneity did not induce political unity. Mountain ranges and deep valleys cut the peninsula into small economic and political units, each little larger than a city with its surrounding territory. After the conclusion of the great migrations in the Aegean, the Greeks developed a proud racial consciousness. They called themselves Hellenes, originally the name, according to Homer, of a small tribe living south of Thessaly.

Resources:
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation
Webster's NewWorld Encyclopedia, © 1993 Prentice Hall

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