Comparing Four River Valley Civilizations, India, Egypt, Sumer

There were four River Valley Civilizations, India, China, Egypt, Sumer, and each had a way to thrive. Each of them had their own different technique of doing things, but they all had a common goal. So, I am going to compare and contrast their writing and trading systems.

The four River Valley Civilizations had writing systems to communicate; each used writing to communicate not only with their fellow neighbors, but with other civilizations. They each used writing for trade, and this kept all the four civilizations running.

The only difference between the writing systems was what they wrote it on and where they wrote it. First, India drew pictures (pictograms) and wrote it on seals for trade; they were so fund of trading that a seal appeared all the way in Mesopotamia’s; sadly, India’s form of writing has still not been deciphered today. Next, Egypt used many different styles of writing like, pictograms, hieroglyphics and Greek letters. Scholars used something called the Rosetta stone to decode their writing. Third, China used oracle bones as writing; but, unfortunately, literacy was limited only to the upper class. Last, Sumer used pictograms and cuneiform and wrote them on clay. Obviously, they each used writing, but they used it in different forms.
They each traded to import things that they needed to thrive. All four of the civilizations depended on others because of trade. The thing that they had in common was using writing to communicate to the other civilizations for what they