Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And Shang Dynasty

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Mesopotamia and the Shang and Zhou were two very successful early civilizations. Mesopotamia was a civilization that emerged from the fertile lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Chinese people called the Shang took over a portion of northern China located near the Huang He, and began to develop their dynasty. The Zhou dynasty took over the Shang, but both dynasties succeed in bringing China new achievements. Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” in Greek. The land was given the name Mesopotamia because it lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia was home to the Sumerian, and invaded by many groups of people who built great empires, including the Babylonians and the Persians. Around 3200 …show more content…

The Mandate of Heaven is simply the right to rule, and used this reasoning to explain the dynamic cycle. The people who were allies to the Zhou dynasty were given control for different regions. Zhou had a feudalism type of government; where as the people of Mesopotamia had kings that controlled most of the land that was marked at theirs. Just as both Mesopotamia, and the Shang dynasty, the Zhou brought China economic growth. The book states “During the Zhou period, China’s economy grew. As iron axes and ox-drawn plows replaced stone, wood, and bronze tools, farmers produces more foods. Peasants also began to grow new crops, and feudal lard would sometimes organize large scale irrigation works making farming more productive and a surplus of food. The Chinese also began to use money for the first time. Chinese cooper coins had holes in the center so that they could be strung onto cords.” Zhou dynasties also help the merchants by building new roads and canals. Both the Shang and Zhou dynasties brought great achievement to China including the first to discover how to make silk thread from the cocoons of silkworms. By being the first to make silk they were able to increase trade and once again increase economic growth. Under Zhou rule, Chinese were able to make the first books. “By 256 B.C., China was a large, wealthy, and highly developed center of