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Sumeria is the earliest known civilization of Mesopotamia. It was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the area that later became Babylonia. Sumeria was in a fairly hostile area, and they ultimately fell in 1900 BCE when they were invaded. -
Menes was the first king of a unified Egypt. It is said that Menes unified upper and lower Egypt into a single centralized monarchy. -
King Khufu was the second king of the fourth dynasty of Egypt. He was notable for building the The Great Pyramid at Giza, which became the largest single building of that time. He died in 2566 BCE and was laid to rest in one of the pyramids. -
Snefru was the first king of the 4th dynasty of Egypt. Historians guess that Snefru wasn't born into his position, but instead married the royal heiress. While king, he fostered the evolution of the highly centralized administration. This would mark the climax of the Old Kingdom. -
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2,540 BCE. This was one of the many pyramids that were built in Egypt. These pyramids were used as tombs for pharaohs. Because of their size, they were prime targets for grave robbers, so the Egyptians stopped building pyramids and started making tombs that were harder to find and rob. -
Mohenjo-Daro was one of the two indus river civilizations that was found. It was believed to have been a prosperous civilization that relied on the river for food and trade. It was also believed to have been a very peaceful civilization due to holding very few weapons. -
Harappa was the other Indus Valley civilization. It was very similar to Mohejo-Daro in it relied very much on the river for food and trade. It was also presumed to be a peaceful civilization. -
Babylonia was a civilization in Mesopotamia that was built in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This civilization had a really strong influence on the culture of the area and the culture there was generalized as Babylonian culture for centuries. -
Hammurabi was the best-known ruler of the 1st dynasty of Babylon. He is notorious for his collection of laws known as the Code of Hammurabi. -
The Code of Hammurabi was the complete collection of Babylonian laws. They were developed during the reign of Hammurabi. The code was inscribed on a stone in Cuneiform consisting of 282 different laws. -
The Shang Dynasty was the first ever recorded Chinese Dynasty. This dynasty had a highly developed 360-day calendar system of 12 months and 30 days each month. This allowed the king to give pronouncements as to when to plant crops because they had an accurate way to keep time. Architects of the Shang period built houses out of wooden walls with earth floors. -
Tang was known as the guy who overthrew the Xia dynasty and founded the Shang dynasty. He was said to have been a generous ruler during his time as emperor. -
The valley of kings is located just west of the Nile River in upper egypt. The valley of kings was made as a resting place for pharaohs. The idea was that instead of making giant pyramids that were relatively easy to rob, these tombs would be more hidden and not as easy to rob. One of the most notorious tombs here was King Tutankhamun. -
King Tutankhamun (more commonly known as King Tut) was the boy king of Egypt. When archeologists found his tomb, it was one of the very few intact tombs and it was discovered in the Valley of the Kings. Most other tombs of pharaohs had been raided for the riches they contained. Archeologists found that King Tut died when he was 19 years old, and they found out that he probably died from malaria combined with a degenerative bone disease. -
Wuwang was the first emperor and founder of the Zhou dynasty. While emperor he consolidated his rule (with the help of his brother) by establishing a feudalistic government. This meant he gave the territory to relatives and vassals who were willing to acknowledge Zhou's suzerainty. He was later considered to be the wise king. -
The Zhou dynasty ruled from 1045 - 256 BCE. This dynasty established political and cultural characteristics that were used in China for the next two millennia. The Zhou dynasty did coexist with the Shang dynasty for multiple years, and their relations were peaceful at times, but during other times they fought. Eventually, Zhou planned to conquer Shang, and soon Zhou ruled all of China. -
Qin Shi Huang (also known as Zhao Zheng) was the first emperor of the Qin dynasty and became the creator of the first Chinese empire. While the emperor, Qin moved all of the aristocratic families to the capital and divided the rest of the country into 36 different military districts, each with its own military. -
The Qin dynasty lasted only from 221-207 BCE. During this dynasty, the first Great Chinese Empire was established. Approximate boundaries were drawn up and a basic administrative system was drawn up. These would be used in the millennia to come. -
The Great Wall of China was built during the Qin dynasty to protect China from the northern people. It was built by connecting previous smaller fortifications. Even after the wall was built, people from the north still gave China trouble. -
The terracotta army was built to be put in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. The belief around the army is that they would protect him in the afterlife. The cool thing about the army is that each statue looks different because they were individually carved.