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Civilization refers to the development of peaceful communities, with ancient civilization marking the first settled societies around 3100 BC, primarily in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Agriculture was the key factor enabling permanent settlements, leading to population growth and complex social structures. Major ancient civilizations emerged in the 4th millennium BC, with Mesopotamia being a significant region where city-states developed, contributing to advancements in writing, trade, and governance.

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16 views3 pages

ancient_civilizations[1]

Civilization refers to the development of peaceful communities, with ancient civilization marking the first settled societies around 3100 BC, primarily in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Agriculture was the key factor enabling permanent settlements, leading to population growth and complex social structures. Major ancient civilizations emerged in the 4th millennium BC, with Mesopotamia being a significant region where city-states developed, contributing to advancements in writing, trade, and governance.

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The term civilization basically means the level of development at which

people live together peacefully in communities. Ancient civilization refers


specifically to the first settled and stable communities that became the
basis for later states, nations, and empires.

Ancient history began with the invention of writing about 3100 BC and
lasted for more than 35 centuries. Humankind existed long before the
written word, but writing made the keeping of a historical record possible.
The first ancient societies arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the Middle
East, in the Indus valley region of what are now Pakistan and India.

All these civilizations had certain features in common. They built cities and
invented forms of writing. They learned to make pottery and use metals.
They domesticated animals, and they created fairly complex social
structures with class systems.
Apart from written records and carved inscriptions, the knowledge about
ancient peoples is derived from the work of archaeologists. Most of the
significant archaeological findings have been made in the past 200 years.

AGRICULTURE—THE BASIS OF CIVILIZATION

The single, decisive factor that made it possible for humankind to settle in
permanent communities was agriculture. A turning point in human history,
the invention of farming and the tremendous changes it brought about
have been called the agricultural revolution.
After farming was developed in the Middle East about 6500 BC, people
living in tribes or family units did not have to be on the move continually
searching for food or herding their animals. Once people could control
the production of food and be assured of a reliable annual supply of it,
their lives changed completely.
People began to found permanent communities in fertile river valleys.
They settled around rivers for a number of reasons. Rivers were an
important source of fresh water for drinking.

They could be used for transportation. Settlers also learned to use the
water supply to irrigate the land for farming. Sedentary settlement, or
being settled in one place, made it possible to domesticate animals in
order to provide other sources of food and clothing.

Farming was indeed a revolutionary discovery. It not only made


settlements possible—and ultimately the building of cities—but it also
made available a reliable food supply. With more food available, more
people could be fed. Populations therefore increased. The growing
number of people available for more kinds of work led to the
development of more complex social structures.

Farming the world over has always relied upon a dependable water
supply. For the earliest societies this meant rivers and streams or regular
rainfall. The first great civilizations grew up along rivers. Later communities
were able to develop by taking advantage of the rainy seasons.

The science of mathematics was an early outgrowth of agriculture. People


studied the movements of the Moon, Sun, and planets to calculate
seasons. In so doing they created the first calendars. With a calendar it
was possible to calculate the arrival of each growing season.

The use of various ways of measuring led naturally to record keeping, and
for this some form of writing was necessary. The earliest civilizations all
seem to have used picture-writing—pictures representing both sounds
and objects to the reader. The best known of the ancient writing systems
is probably Egyptian hieroglyphics, a term meaning “sacred carvings,”
since many of the earliest writings were inscribed on stone.
All the major ancient civilizations—in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus
valley, and China—emerged in the 4th millennium BC.
Historians still debate over which one emerged first. It may well have been
in the Middle East, in an area called the Fertile Crescent. This area
stretches from the Nile River in Egypt northward along the coast of the
historical region of Palestine, then eastward into Asia to include
Mesopotamia.

MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamia (from a Greek term
meaning “between rivers”) lies between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a region
that is today part of Iraq. As early as
6500 BC small groups of farmers made
their way to the river valleys.
The land of the Sumerians was
called Sumer. Sumerian towns and cities
included Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Kish, and
Ur. The cities differed from primitive
farming settlements. They were not
composed of family-owned farms but
were ringed by large tracts of land. These
tracts were thought to be “owned” by a local god. A priest organized
work groups of farmers to tend the land. The farmers provided barley,
beans, wheat, olives, grapes, and flax for the community.
These early cities, which existed by 3500 BC, were called temple towns
because they were built around the temple of the local god.
The temple towns grew into city-states, which are considered the basis of
the first true civilizations. At a time when only the most basic forms of
transportation and communication were available, the city-state was the
most governable type of human settlement. City-states were ruled by
leaders called ensis. They were probably authorized to control the local
irrigation systems. The food surplus provided by the farmers supported
these leaders as well as priests, artists, craftsmen, and others.
he Sumerians contributed to the development of metalworking, wheeled
carts, and potter’s wheels. They may have invented the first form of writing.

The Sumerians developed the first calendar, which they adjusted to the
phases of the Moon. The lunar calendar was adopted by the Semites,
Egyptians, and Greeks. Trade increased between Sumerian cities and
between Sumer and other, more distant regions. This led to the growth of
a merchant class.

The Sumerians organized a complex mythology. It was based on the


relationships among the various local gods of the temple towns. In
Sumerian religion, the most important gods were seen as human forms of
natural forces—sky, Sun, earth, water, and storm. Each of these gods was
originally associated with a particular city. The gods were worshiped not
only in the great temples but also in small shrines in family homes.
Warfare between cities eventually led to the rise of kings, called lugals,
whose authority replaced that of city-state rulers. Sumer became a more
unified state, with a common culture and a centralized government. This
led to the establishment of a bureaucracy and an army. By 2375 BC, most
of Sumer was united under one King.
The Sumerians were conquered by their Semitic neighbours. But their
civilization was carried on by their successors—
the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans.
The Babylonians made distinct contributions to the growth of civilization.
They added to the knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. They built
the first great capital city, Babylon. The Babylonian King Hammurabi set
forth the Code of Hammurabi in the late 18th century BC. This was the
most complete compilation of Babylonian law and one of the first
great law codes in the world.

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