Museum Entrance Egypt Mesopotamia Chinese River Indus River The
Museum of Ancient Civilizations Ancient Civilizations Greece Utopia
Curators Welcome Rome Cita- tions
Slide 2
Curators Office Contact me at [Your linked email address] As
curators for this museum we have each gotten our skills in history
from Mrs. Jones Pre-AP World History class. Anthony Rhone is 15.
Wesley Short is 16. Joshua Wilson is 15. We each find history
fascinating for our own reasons. Wesley likes history because he
simply likes learning about the past. The reason Anthony Rhone
likes learning about history is because he believes by learning
about the past it can affect our future. The reason Joshua Wilson
likes history is because he likes to apply things he learned in the
past directly into his life. Wesley Short, Anthony Rhone, Joshua
Wilson Note: Virtual museums were first introduced by educators at
Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, Pennsylvania. This template
was designed by Dr. Christy Keeler. View the Educational Virtual
Museums website for more information on this instructional
technique.Keith Valley Middle SchoolDr. Christy KeelerEducational
Virtual Museums Return to Entry
Slide 3
Room 1 Return to EntryEgypt
Slide 4
Room 2 Return to Entry Artifact 5 Artifact 6Mesopotamia
Slide 5
Room 3 Return to Entry Artifact 9 Artifact 12 Artifact 10 Indus
River Valley Artifact 11
Slide 6
Room 4 Return to Entry Artifact 14 Chinese River Valley
Egypt had a massive civilization and obviously they had to take
care of a large amount of people. While the farmers were of a lower
social class than other jobs they were very important to the lives
of most of Egypt. Without these farmers who spent most of their
lives working the food supply of Egypt wouldve dropped. The farmers
like the rest of Egypt depended on the Nile river. It decided when,
where, and what they could plant. There were two main seasons, the
growing and the harvesting seasons. The farmers used large
irrigation ditches to water the plants in the desert area. They
grew such things as wheat, barley, different melons, and other vine
plants. Return to Exhibit Egypts Job Specialization
Slide 11
Egypt had a unique writing style used for record keeping that
still fascinates people today. It is called hieroglyphics. It
consists of many picture-like signs that each have a specific
meaning. While Egyptians also had a more everyday writing style
called didactic, this is more known and prominent. Egyptians had to
use record keeping like many other major civilizations of the time
did. It was used to keep track of many of the monetary situations
as well as crop records. Return to Exhibit Egypt's Record
Keeping
Slide 12
Most of Egypt was based along the Nile because of the resources
given to them from it. To build the cities itself they used a way
of making bricks out of mud. They used a mold for it and made a
mixture of mud and other fixings and filled the mold. They then let
the mud simpley bake in the hot sun and took them back out. They
then used the bricks to build everything from a farmers house to an
advisor to the Pharaoh. This form of brick-making for houses and
other shelters is still used today. Return to Exhibit Egypts
Cities
Slide 13
A lot of of Egyptian life depended on its geography. The Nile
River was literally its life source. Without it the Egyptian
civilization wouldve collapesed. The Nile gave it all of its
resources. It gave them water. The Nile even gave them farming. The
Nile left large areas of farmland when its waters receded after
flooding. And even still they used large irrigation ditches to
funnel the Niles water to the plants to water them in the arid
desert. The Nile truly was a source of life. Return to Exhibit
Egypts Map and Geography
Slide 14
Ancient Mesopotamian inventions. 14 Sept 2011.
http://www.ancientmesopotamians.comancient-
mesopotamian-enventions.html
http://www.ancientmesopotamians.comancient-
mesopotamian-enventions.html Major Inventions in Ancient
Mesopotamia. Ancient Mesopotamians. n.d. Web. 4 Oct 2011 The
Mesopotamian civilization was the first to build cities, and their
inventions and technology evaded urban life. Some of Mesopotamia's
most important inventions survived and continue to be used today.
Most of the earliest Mesopotamia technology was used for making
clay pottery. They used basic technology to build other raw
materials as well. Return to Exhibit Mesopotamias Technology
Slide 15
Writing emerged in many different cultures and in numerous
locations throughout the ancient world. The Sumerians of ancient
Mesopotamia are credited with inventing the earliest form of
writing in 3500 BC. The writings on the tablets are simple
pictures, or pictograms. They wrote in the clay by pressing into
it. The invention of writing was the dawn of the information
revolution. Return to Exhibit Mesopotamias Record Keeping Sharland,
Jason. Flashcards: Ancient Civilizations- Sumer. Quizlet. 28 Feb
2011. Web. 4 Oct 2011 Flashcards: Ancient Civilizations. Jason
Sharland. 28 Feb 2011. Quizlet. 14 Sept 2011.
Slide 16
Uruk, Mesopotamia. Googleusercontent. 14 Sept 2011.
http://1h6.googleusercontent.com/-
yROD74R469U/TYAo2g9L7TI/AAAAAAAACrs/EFlWWZ 3gfkm/Uruk.jpg
http://1h6.googleusercontent.com/-
yROD74R469U/TYAo2g9L7TI/AAAAAAAACrs/EFlWWZ 3gfkm/Uruk.jpg Uruk,
Mesopotamia.googleusercontent.nd The cities in this area had three
parts, the inner city with temples of the gods, the middle city
with crops and farm animals to support the populations, and the
outer city near the harbor for trading. This city, Uruk, was the
civilizations capitol city-state. In these cities they built large
buildings called zigurats, temples of gods and goddesses. Return to
Exhibit Mesopotamias Cities
Slide 17
Ancient Mesopotamia was located in a piece of the Fertile
Crescent. It is also between two rivers, the Tigris and the
Euphrates River. Northern Mesopotamia is made up of hills and
plains. This land is pretty fertile due to seasonal rains and the
rivers and streams following from the mountains. In the South, its
more of a marshy area and wide plains. Both of the parts were both
important to all the people of Mesopotamia. Return to Exhibit
Mesopotamias Map and Geography
Slide 18
The Indus River Valley Civilization created the first urban
centers in the area. From examination of the cities and artifacts
it seems to be that they may have placed an importance on hygiene.
While other civilizations did care about this the Indus River
Valley civilization seemed to put this on a scale for much of the
population. They even had sewage and drainage areas around the
city. The reason it is said they had a high priority on hygiene is
because all of the houses had access to these areas. Return to
Exhibit Indus River Valley Cities Durga Puja.4to40.n.d..Web. Sept
17 2011
Slide 19
The Indus River Valley civilization had a lot to do with the
arts. This piece of pottery here is an example of that. Many things
have been found related to the arts such as statues and even gold
jewelry. To actually produce these things would take a skilled
craftsman that probably would have been known throughout the area.
Today these objects would be made with a machine mass-producing the
objects. Back then there were people trained to do this. Return to
Exhibit Indus River Valley Job Specialization Mohenjo-Daro.Jonathan
Mark Kenoyer. University of Wisconsin. Sept 26 2011. Kenoyer,
Jonathan.Mohenjo-Daro.mohenjodaro.n.d.Web. Sept 26 2011
Slide 20
Sadly, no one alive today knows how to actually read the style
of writing the Indus River Valley civilization had. They have
discovered however about four hundred to six hundred different
characters of their language. Most inscriptions of their language
are generally about 5 characters long. The longest one is about 26
characters long. Since we cannot read the inscriptions themselves
we cannot say for sure what the writing style was used for.
However, we can say that it could have been used for things like
religious ceremonies or average note-taking. Return to Exhibit
Indus River Valley Record Keeping Chico.California State
University. Sept 27 2011.
http://www.csuchico.comhttp://www.csuchico.com
Chico.Csuchico.n.d.Web. Sept 27 2011
Slide 21
The Indus River Valley civilization obviously depended on the
river it is based around but they also used the Arabian Sea and the
lush land around it. The rivers provided them with things such as
transportation, trade, food, and a water source. Rivers are
something that can provide practically everything a human being
could need. The valley surrounding the river was also suited for
people. The river brought in game and also left them with some
fertile ground. Return to Exhibit Indus River Valley Map and
Geography Indus Valley. The British Museum. 26 Sept 2011.
http://www.ancientindia.co Indus Valley. ancient india. N.d. Web.
26 Sept 2011
Slide 22
The geography around the Chinese River Valley civilization was
not very good to say the least. Even though 2 major rivers flowed
through it not much land was actually fertile for farming. They
couldnt even trade much because of the mountain ranges around them.
This obviously led to some disadvantageous things for the area.
They mainly had to rely on the food produced from their own
domesticated animals. It was a hard life indeed for these people.
Return to Exhibit Chinese River Valley Map and Geography
Slide 23
Religious-wise they believed that the family elders deserved
the most respect. They were considered the wisest sourced to go to.
They also depended on worship of their dead ancestors. They even
used oracles to seek information from their dead ancestors. This
style of religion also supported a male-dominant society. Return to
Exhibit Chinese River Valley Religion
Slide 24
During this time the King ruled under a system of feudalism.
This means that the King designated Warlords to rule over certain
areas. But the King was always in a place of ultimate power over
the civilization itself. The King could even replace Warlords if he
chose to and appoint another to their position. Even though the
Warlords ruled over their specific areas the King always had the
last say in things and was the absolute power. Return to Exhibit
Chinese River Valley Job Specialization
Slide 25
The Art of Literature was important to their civilization. It
was a literal treasure. One of the more known writers was Zhon. The
Chinese writing system is based off of characters. Each character
has a base form and you add other shapes to it to form what you are
going to say. It is very complex. This language is considered one
of the hardest in the world to learn. This writing system was used
for literature as stated earlier and for keeping city records or
anything else pertaining to the people. However, documents of any
of these are rare because they didnt have a writing system for
quite some time. Return to Exhibit Chinese River Valley Record
Keeping
Slide 26
The Civilization of Anthshortison was on the Fertile Crescent
so crops were a large part of their trade as well as their life.
Unlike many other nations farmers were treated with respect for the
jobs that they did. They were an integral part of their society.
Anthshortisons main crop export was rice. The marshy South area of
the Fertile Crescent was very much so fit for this difficult crop.
Farming and cultivating rice is backbreaking and exhausting work.
It is no wonder that farmers were respected. Return to Exhibit
Anthshortison Job Specialization
Slide 27
Anthshortison is a nation that originally from the Chinese
civilization and as such they carried a lot of their culture with
them. This artifact is an example of their record keeping and their
writing system. Like the Chinese they used a system of drawn
characters that each mean certain things. Each character starts
with a base form and then other things are added to that base form
to make it say what you want. In theory you could say an entire
sentence with 1 character. They used this writing system for things
ranging from market records to militarial needs. Return to Exhibit
Anthshortison Record Keeping
Slide 28
This artifact is an example of the monetary system used in the
Anthshortison government. They used a range of coins that each had
a specific amount. They seem to range from 1/100 th of their
equivalent of our dollar to 50 depending on the markings, size, and
materials the coin is made of. Some coins have been found of gold
and silver. These were no doubt very valuable during this
civilization's better years. Return to Exhibit Anthshortison
Government
Slide 29
The Anthshortison area depended on 4 major things to support
their lifestyles from the geography. These are the Fertile
Crescent, The Tigris River, the Euphrates River, and the
Mediterranean Sea. The Fertile Crescent provided them with an area
full of rich, fertile soil to plant in. This gave them crops. Then
the Tigris and the Euphrates gave them fresh water, a food source
of meat and/or game, as well as transportation for trade. The
Mediterranean Sea gave them another transportation source and food
source. Return to Exhibit Anthshortison Map and Geography
Slide 30
This is an ancient mural of the Anthshortison royal palace.
This is another example of their borrowed culture from China. They
took their architecture along with them when they defected and
rebelled. This palace is named after a Roman man who was well-known
throughout the nation. He was one of the Kings closest friends.
David Short helped design this palace from his knowledge of their
style of homes. Notice the red buildings, The sloped and tiled
roofs, as well as the sheer size of the area. Return to Exhibit
Anthshortison Cities
Slide 31
Anthshortison was years ahead of the other nations when it came
to technology. This is evident from the way they crafted their
weapons. This artifact is an example of their fine sword smiths.
While the Chinese were still barely discovering this way of forging
a sword the Anthshortisons had expounded on it and mastered it.
They layered different sets of metal on top of each other and then
pounded it into a sword. This drastically increased the strengths
of their weapons. Return to Exhibit Anthshortison Technology
Slide 32
The Roman Coliseum is an architectural masterpiece. It was a
center of entertainment, and death. The Coliseum was used as a way
to keep the citizens of Rome happy. Rome knew that happy citizens
led to a country in good balance. This is simply one example of
such a thing. It was a scene of fighting almost all of the time.
Gladiators fought things ranging from lions to other gladiators.
Return to Exhibit Roman Cities
Slide 33
The job of a Roman Gladiator was a harsh job. It was fraught
with danger obviously from what the job entails as a fighter. This
job did not have many men. It took a large amount of both time and
money to actually train a gladiator. Not to mention not many people
were willing to die in a fighting ring. The Gladiators were
certainly skilled with what they did however. They fought for
glory, respect, and the happiness of the crowd watching. Return to
Exhibit Roman Job Specialization
Slide 34
Roman and Greek religions are some of the most well-known and
studied mythologies today. They are closely related when it comes
to the Gods themselves. Romes religion was polytheistic. This means
they believed in multiple gods. This statue is an artifact of
Apollo. He was the god of the sun, light, healing, music, and many
more things.. Rome had many other gods such as Ares, Pluto, and
Neptune. Return to Exhibit Roman Religion
Slide 35
Rome had a unique way of record keeping. While today many
languages like Chinese, English, Spanish, and French have a similar
number system the Roman system is very different from anything we
might find today. It is based off of the letters/symbols I, V, X,
L, C, D, and M. The combinations of these symbols led to the number
itself. For example IXX would be 20. If the smaller numbers are
before a larger one you subtract them from the larger one. And
vice-versa if you have the smaller numbers after the larger ones
you add them to the larger one. Return to Exhibit Roman Record
Keeping
Slide 36
The roman empire encompassed an enormous territory even by
todays standards as seen by this map. Although it isnt seen on this
map Rome was also known for their roads that carved all throughout
the land and geography. Rome depended on these roads for travel,
trade, and simply people. Rome was also based around the
Mediterranean Sea for good reason. The Mediterranean is a literal
plethora of resources because of everything it houses inside its
waters. It is a way of trade, transportation, food, militaristic
purposes, and tourism. No matter where you go people always use the
Earth for our basest needs. Return to Exhibit Romes Map and
Geography
Slide 37
Rome came to power because of its exemplary military might.
During their time of reign its soldiers were literally unmatched.
It is no wonder. The weapons and armor that they had were
ingenious. While they preferred not to resort to their swords they
certainly used them to their fullest. Roman swords were what was
included in their names short swords. They were intended purely for
close- quarters fighting. The soldiers mainly depended on spears
and their brute force with their shields before resorting to a
sword. Return to Exhibit Roman Technology
Slide 38
Linked citation goes here Text goes here. Return to Exhibit
Back Wall Artifact
Slide 39
This artifact is an ancient Greek acting mask. Like the Romans
the Greek made sure that their people were happy. Plays normally
came in three main types in the Greek empire: Drama, tragedy, and
comedies. Each was special in their own right and helped create all
that we have today in the theatre aspect. In ancient Greece women
were not respected at all. They were not even allowed to see plays
or major events. Thus being, men even played the womens roles. They
put on a mask made to look like a woman and went to work. Return to
Exhibit Greek Job Specialization
Slide 40
Ancient Greece was made up of many city-states. Some of these
are Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. Although many of these city-states
warred and bickered they still united as Greece in times of great
stress. This mural of the Acropolis is in Athens. This was and is
the capitol of Greece. Athens was one of the greatest city-states
and was known for its place as a city of learning as well as
commerce. The ancient Greek religion was very prominent during this
time of Athens and the city was well-enriched in it. The Acropolis
is an example of this for it is a temple. Return to Exhibit Greek
Cities
Slide 41
Greek had a writing style that has stood the test of time and
exists down to this very day. It exists of 24 different letters
such as alpha, beta, and gamma. These are the first 3 letters in
the Greek alphabet and are the equivalent to our letters A, B, and
C. Greece had many places of learning and colleges. This writing
was taught their. This writing was used for generally anything they
would need to take notes for. Return to Exhibit Greek Record
Keeping
Slide 42
Surrounded by the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Ionian
Sea Greece had a virtually endless supply of resources that the
water could give them. While many people think of the advantages
that water can give nations materially they dont think of the
tactical advantages in naval battles. Near the Spartan Battle of
Thermopylae a naval battle was taking place to keep the Persians
from attacking the lone Spartan army even harder. This was known as
the Battle of Arrtemisium. Return to Exhibit Greeces Map and
Geography
Slide 43
Greek mythology is famous throughout the world for its
complexity, beauty, and sheer mass of beliefs. This artifact is a
statue of the God Zeus. He was the God of the Sky and Thunder. He
was known for carrying a literal lightning bolt as a weapon. Greek
religion is polytheistic, this means they believed in multiple
gods. The Greeks had gods for everything from music to drinking and
wine. The God of music is Apollo and the God of wine and drinking
is Dionysus. Greek religion has continued to fascinate people for
centuries and will more-than- likely do so in the future as well.
Return to Exhibit Greek Religion
Slide 44
Greece was a world power in its prime years. It achieved such
strength through not only its cunning and manipulation of the world
but the pure power of its army. Greece has created some of the
finest warriors ever to grace this planet. Take the example of the
Spartans. They literally trained their entire lives to be soldiers.
In turn with having good soldiers they had good weapons. Like Rome
they tended not to rely on their swords too much. They preferred to
use their finely engineered spears. These spears consisted of a
wooden shaft and a hardened iron tip. These if used properly could
deal a large amount of damage because of its sharpness and the
skill of the forger. Return to Exhibit Greek Technology
Slide 45
To the ancient Egyptians religion was a large part of their
lives. It was a very important part of them. It was largely based
off of tradition handed down throughout their lives. For example
that of Pharaoh: the Pharaoh was considered a god to them.
Everything he said was absolute and lawful. This is considered
divine kingship. Meaning that whoever the king is, he is the
equivalent of god. Return to Exhibit Egypts Religion
Slide 46
The job specialization used in the artifact is a scribe.
Scribes were more or less note-takers for the leaders and other
high-ranking officials. Literacy back then like many other
civilizations was very rare, this meaning that most scribes came
from wealthy families. They learned their literacy in a place
called the Edubba it means Tablet House. They used clay tablets and
pressed into them to write. This left indentations to read. Return
to Exhibit Mesopotamias Job Specialization
Slide 47
These tools are wood-working tools. Strangely enough, the
techniques used by todays craftsmen were used back then by Egypt
and other civilizations. Since they didnt have the advanced forges
and major companies like we do today one of the resources they did
have was wood. Once again, like today there is plenty of it. Egypts
other technology included things like war chariots that they built
after seeing another nations and the basic tools of today like
ramps and levers that they used to build the pyramids. Return to
Exhibit Egypts Technology
Slide 48
The ancient Mesopotamians created a government that was
combination of monarchy and democracy. Kings ruled the people.
Meanwhile, elected officials who served in the assembly also ruled
the people. Even Kings had to ask the assembly for permission to do
certain things. Return to Exhibit Mesopotamias Government
Slide 49
During this civilizations reign they had two main religions
that they used that are still practiced in this region today.
Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that
believes in many, many gods. You essentially pick a god to serve
and that is the one you believe in and practice for. Buddhism is a
monotheistic religion that believes in one god. This involves the
worship of Buddha. Depending on how you worship him it can bring
you things from good luck and fortune to a terrible life. Return to
Exhibit Indus River Valley Religion
Slide 50
Text goes here. The city was based on an ideal of family.
Family is one of the most important and sacred institutions.
Ironically, even though they put so much focus on the importance of
a good family it was a patriarchal society. This means that males
held almost all of the power in the city itself. Women had little
to no power in the society itself. The cities were based on a
feudalism and were each ruled by 1 Warlord. These Warlords in turn
were under the King who ruled over all. Return to Exhibit Chinese
River Valley Cities
Slide 51
The Indus people were advanced when compared to other
civilizations when it came to technology. They even developed the
first precise measuring and weighing system. They, like the
Egyptians, created large irrigation ditches for agriculture. This
was where the large part of their technology was focused. They also
developed things like boats and carts as seen in the artifact.
Return to Exhibit Indus River Valley Technology
Slide 52
Their technology was dependent on metallurgy. Meaning they used
different earth metals to form everything they needed form farming
tools like hoes or shovels to weapons of war. The prevalent metal
used was iron which was renounced for its strength. They also built
a road that was used to trade and the economy. It was called the
Silk road. People traveled on this road to reach wherever they were
going to. This boosted their economy since they were surrounded by
mountains which hindered their trade system. Return to Exhibit
Chinese River Valley Technology