Dbq Essay On Ancient Civilizations

As a soccer player, I oftentimes have to go away to different towns to play other teams. I then have to adapt to this new environment and the severity of it. Some things I may have to adapt to are the fans for the other team, the other team themselves, and especially the field. This situation is similar to three of the ancient river valley civilizations, because they were also forced to adapt to their surroundings and environment. They had to create the civilizations nearby a water source, so they were not able to be picky about the rest of the area. They had to get used to the new environment and overcome it to thrive as a civilization. Our civilization today was strongly influenced by ancient civilizations, specifically 3 of the river valley …show more content…
They had many policies and beliefs that other civilizations adapted and/or slightly differed. One of the most well known and famous parts of ancient Egypt are the great pyramids. According to Document 3, “Egyptian kings in the Old Kingdom are best known for the huge structures they built, pyramids.” (Document 3) These pyramids were and possibly still are the greatest and most intricate man made structures in the world. The idea of pyramids and honoring dead people of great importance spread through cultural diffusion, and many other civilizations took after the Egyptians and built pyramids or similar structures. The Egyptians were also very influential by means of language and writing. They had a system of writing that was one step better than the Cuneiform of the Sumerian people. Therefore more people could understand and the language was more widely used. When referred to Document 4, “These records were kept in hieroglyphics, a system of writing that was based on pictures. Unlike Sumerian Cuneiform writing, hieroglyphics represented ideas or objects but could also stand for sounds.”(Document 4). Sumerian Cuneiform writing could not stand for sounds, so there was a completely different language for speaking. This obviously complicated social activities and projects throughout the city-states, as one would have to learn and remember two different languages to communicate. …show more content…
China was very well known for industrial or innovative influence and also the “correct ways to live your life.” One of the most popular and famous prophets from China was Confucius. Confucius cared about order and respect, and he impacted the lives of a majority of the Chinese population. From Document 5, “In China, Confucius wrote down his philosophy which explained how people should live their lives. Confucianism teaches that each person should accept his or her role in society. Confucianism became the basis for order and respect and was central in governing China.” (Document 5). Confucianism was adopted all around the world and many other civilizations and cultures had philosophies similar to the principles of Confucianism. To the innovative part of ancient China, it was one of the most helpful civilizations from the river valley areas. This civilization invented many things that would soon be used around the world and were some of the most useful inventions that we still use today. When looking at Document 6, “China invented porcelain, paper, ink, and gunpowder (which was used in fireworks).” (Document 6). Gunpowder just may be the most important product on this list, because of all the usage throughout all of the wars in the world leading up to now. This could also be thought of as a very unhelpful product because it made killing much easier in war, but even if gunpowder and guns didn’t exist humans would still