Geography

=2nd semester by Will Egan, Will Rucker, and John King= = = = = = = = = = = =Geography= toc How does where you live shape your culture? What parallels do you see between cultures?

The Nile

 * Started as river valley society.
 * Lower Egypt (Kemet) formed around Nile river delta
 * upper Egypt (Deshret) formed around Nile valley
 * Nile deposits fertile silt annually for 100 days in a period called the inundation.
 * silt provided perfect conditions for farming after the river had receded
 * Pharaoh based taxes on height of flood each year.
 * If flood is high, taxes are high
 * if flood is too high, taxes are medium
 * if flood is low, taxes are medium
 * if flood waters persist to be low, taxes decrease
 * famine is a possibility
 * device to measure Nile called Nilometer.
 * used by priests to predict Nile's highest point.
 * Nile current flows south to north.
 * winds blow north to south, resulting in a two way river.

Natural Barriers

 * North= Mediterranean Sea
 * South=Cataracts
 * Cataracts are rapids along the Nile forcing boats to have to be lifted out of the water
 * seven cataracts
 * East=Desert
 * West=Desert

Expansion

 * conquered part of lower Nubia in the middle kingdom
 * conquered Sinai peninsula in the new kingdom
 * had some control over eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea

Effects on Culture

 * Fertile soil helped create specialized workers
 * Relative isolation led to few attacks and an increased sense of self importance
 * foreigners were disliked

The two rivers

 * Yellow river and Yangzi river
 * river valley civilizations formed around these two rivers
 * yellow river deposited loess on bottom of river and banks
 * causes the river to rise and change location over time
 * when mounds of loess sheer off destructive floods occur
 * dykes were created and towns often were deserted if the river changed course
 * Rivers deposited loess in the northern china plain
 * loess is very fertile type of silt
 * has yellow color
 * tendency to sheer off

Natural Barriers

 * North= deserts
 * West= mountains
 * China slopes from west to east
 * mountains divide north china from south china
 * South= oceans
 * East= oceans

Climate

 * North= dry, cold winds in winter, grows millet and wheat
 * South= more moist; summer monsoons, grows rice, teas,bamboo, and mulberry trees

Effects on Culture

 * Relative isolation

Kingdoms Conquered

 * consisted of Media, Lydia, Ionian city-states, Babylon, Egypt, mountainous regions in Eastern Asia
 * later conquered Macedonia, Thrace, and part of western India.

Natural Barriers

 * Not many natural barriers
 * always conquering

=__Greece__=

__Crete__

 * Island surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea

Climate

 * relatively mild
 * no harsh winters

Land

 * beaches and sea- people relied on these for food
 * hilly plains
 * not good farming land

Effect on People

 * Culture based on the sea
 * separated from other cultures, so there is little influence on their culture until later when trade picks up

__Mainland__

 * almost completely covered in mountains
 * very little usable land
 * mountains provided barriers between cities and Northern culture
 * Adriatic sea to the West, Aegean sea to the East, Mediterranean to the South

Climate

 * Same as Crete
 * very windy as well

Land

 * 80% mountains
 * rest is hilly plains
 * not good for farming
 * livestock is able to be raised (pigs in the plains, goats in the mountains)

Effect on People

 * mountains separate city-states, created autonomy (self governing)
 * largely farmed grapes and olives and fished for food

Conquered Lands
= = =__Rome__=
 * Egypt
 * Persia
 * Macedonia
 * As far East as the Indus River
 * As South as the Persian Gulf
 * Alps to the North
 * Mediterranean Sea to the West, Adriatic to the East

Climate

 * Northern Italy receives harsh winters with temperatures that get below freezing
 * Southern Italy is much more moderate and warmer climate year-round

Land

 * Mountains to the North
 * Hills and plains to the South
 * OK amount of fertile land in the South
 * City of Rome is situated along the Tiber River

Effect on People

 * Not enough farmland or food growth when Rome gets huge
 * food has to come from somewhere else
 * Mount Vesuvius erupts and destroys city of Pompeii

Conquered lands

 * Latins in Central Italy
 * Greek city states to the South
 * Etruscans to the North
 * Carthage
 * Greece and Macedonia
 * Jugurtha in Africa
 * Gauls to the North
 * Everything up to the Danube River
 * Egypt
 * Britain
 * Thrace
 * Mesopotamia
 * Dacia

=__Matching Maps__=
 * On map #4, paste the Shang Dynasty map
 * On map #5, paste the Western Zhou map
 * On maps #6 and #7, paste the Eastern Zhou
 * On map #8, paste the Qin Dynasty
 * On map #9, paste the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty
 * On map #10, paste Han