Chapter 1, Section 2

FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION

REVIEW• We have briefly traced the development of humans

from – Ardipithecus-begins to walk upright– Australopithecus-walks upright– Homo Habilis-makes stone tools-Paleolithic Age begins– Homo erectus-makes & uses fire, hunts, migrates from

Africa into Asia – Homo sapiens (Neanderthal & Cro-Magnon)-migrates much

farther; much larger brain; beginnings of religion; beautiful art in caves

– Mesolithic Age-much more advanced tools– Neolithic Agricultural Revolution starts the Neolithic age-

farming (planting crops & herding animals, settling in villages & towns.

•WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP????

4000BC-3000BC: CIVILIZATION!• Many people around the world continued to

live by hunting and gathering. • However, those who had shifted to farming

and settled in permanent villages and towns, began to advance more rapidly.

• In 4 regions around the world, cultures became more complex, and reached the point we call “civilization”.

4000BC-3000BC: Civilization!• These places were: – 1)Valley of the Tigris & Euphrates rivers (southwest Asia); – 2) The Nile River valley (Egypt-North Africa);– 3) The Indus River valley (Pakistan-southern Asia);– 4) the Huang River valley (China)

CIVILIZATION

• Civilization is a complex culture that has at least 3 characteristic, and many historians add * 2 more. Characteristics: – 1) surplus (extra) food; – 2) towns or cities with governments; – 3) job specialization (people perform different

jobs) – *4) writing – *5) calendar

River valleys: advantages and problems• Many early farmers wanted to live near a river:

water to drink, water for crops, fish to eat, transportation.

• The river valleys of the Tigris & Euphrates, Nile, Indus & Huang have a common feature: – The rivers rise and flood their blanks periodically. – Except for these rainy periods, the climate is (at least

somewhat) dry• Early farmers had to deal with these challenges: – getting water to crops during the dry season and – protecting their crops and homes from floods.

Surplus food-irrigation & dikes• To get water to crops in the dry

season, they developed irrigation: digging ditches and canals to move water to fields.

• To protect their homes and crops from floods, they built dikes: walls along the banks of the rivers

• These projects led to more food, which caused population to grow

• These projects required coordination & cooperation, and so helped promote the development of governments.

Cities with government

• Larger numbers of people require more rules to keep order and settle disputes, and carry out common projects. Strong leaders were needed to make & enforce these rules. This led to governments.

• These governments – kept order & settled disputes, – carried out common projects such as

irrigation & dike building, and – protected the people from attack by

outsiders.

JOB SPECIALIZATION (DIVISION OF LABOR) • Job specialization, or division of labor, is when different

people perform different jobs. • Job specialization came about because the surplus of food

made made it was possible for some people to perform tasks other than producing food.

• Therefore some people became artisans: workers skilled at a craft, such as making pots, making baskets, carpentry.

• Others became merchants or traders, who bought goods from farmers or artisans, transported them and sold them.

• As they transported goods from place to place, they also spread ideas.

• Cultural diffusion is the spread of ideas and other aspects of culture from one place to another.

* The two additional requirements for civilization

• Some form of writing• Calendar

Calendars• Early in their histories, the river valley civilizations

developed calendars. • They needed to know when to expect the yearly flood,

and when to plant crops. • Two types of calendars– Lunar calendar divided time into months, from one full moon

to the next-29 ½ days. – Solar calendar divided time into solar years, about 365 ¼ days

(we know this is the time it takes for the earth to go around the sun. • This was more difficult to determine accurately. • In cultures in which the river flood was highly predictable, they

counted from one flood to the next. Soon they started using the position of stars.

Calendars

• 12 lunar months equals 354 days (11 less than 365 days).

• They wanted a way to make the lunar calendar and solar calendar work together.

• Each culture did this differently. Some counted 12 lunar months, plus an 11 day festival.

Development of writing

• Civilized society was more advanced, and needed a way to keep records.

• Earliest records were often records of taxes collected or goods traded. Later they needed to write laws and contracts, the words of religious rituals and prayers, and the deeds of great leaders.

How writing developed

• Writing developed differently in different civilizations. This is an outline of how it often developed:– A picture is drawn to represent a thing– The picture comes to represent an idea as well as

thing. – The picture comes to represent a sound. – The picture is simplified into a symbol.

Writing

• The earliest known writing was developed about 3100BC in Mesopotamia (valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is called cuneiform

• The next form of writing was developed about 3000BC in Egypt (valley of the Nile River). It is called hieroglyphics.

• History (“real history”) began with writing.

Development of the use of metals• The use of metals is not a requirement for civilization,

but most civilizations did begin to use metals. • The first metal used was copper—began about 6000

years ago, in the valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates & Nile rivers

• The next metal used was bronze , a mixture of copper and tin. – Began about 5000 years ago, also in the valleys of the Tigris-

Euphrates & Nile. – This began the “Bronze Age”

• Finally they began to use iron– Began about 3,200 years ago probably in what is now

Turkey. – This began the “Iron Age”.

Family and religion-generalizations• Both before & after the invention of farming

and the beginning of civilization, women took care of children & prepared food, and did other tasks

• Before the invention of farming, men hunted and women gathered. Female goddesses seem to have been important: they represented life.

• After the invention of farming, at first, women did much of the farming. Female goddesses continued to be important.

• After the plow was invented, men took over much of the farming. Male gods became more important. The status of women seems to have declined.