6. Different Styles of Civilization Mesopotamia and Egypt 1

Outline 1) Possible causes of the hierarchical state – Presupposes agriculture and its early development 2) Causes of the first states: 3) Plusses and minuses of kinship societies and hierarchical states – L or U theories continued 4) Why do people tolerate states? – geography of the Civilization Trap 2

Slash and burn agriculture Hunting becomes more and more precarious, unsuccessful – due to climate change Cooperative social relations continue Hoe agriculture, women’s work Use of ash -- limitations Nomadic way of life continues – Life is difficult Today: Brazil – Amazon rain forests (and hamburgers) 3

Flood plains of great rivers Simple tools (hoe) Natural, regular fertilization of soil by flooding rivers Abundant harvest –> surplus of grain – Stored in granaries – Life is easy (easier) Social level: Continuation of ancient cooperative kinship system 4

Hymn to the Nile Praise to thee, O Nile, that issueth from the earth, and cometh to nourish Egypt.... That maketh barley and createth wheat, so that he may cause the temples to keep festivals.... If he be sluggish... millions of men perish. Offer is made to every other god as is done for the Nile... 5

Location of Garden of Eden “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.... And the fourth river is Euphrates.” Genesis 2:8 From slash-and-burn poverty to abundance of paradise? 6

What caused the “fall”? Rise of the hierarchical state – 1) requirements of large populations? – 2) military necessity? – 3) requirements for organizing irrigation systems? – 4) exploitation of the majority by a minority? 7

1) Large Populations without States Difficulties of uniting different kinship societies. But not impossible Hunter-gatherer assemblies of local groups Tiv people in Africa united 1 million Iroquois Federation united separate tribes Hence: large populations can be organized without a “state” 8

2) Military necessity? 1) Traditional system of military: armed men of the kinship group – American Indian military power: not separate army 2) “State” = military power over the people (Gilgamesh) Hence: defense is possible without a “state” 9

3) Social problems of organizing irrigation Separate villages multiply along river Population growth > move away from river > need for cooperation between kinship groups It is possible to have cooperation without a “state” – Iroquois voluntary union of five nations – Maintains democratic constitution 10

4) Exploitation of surplus 1) Production of surplus – based on higher productivity of simple labor – Due to natural fertility of flooding river 2) Surplus as target – From the outside > military protection needed – From within the village > from the military protectors themselves 3) Chief chosen by people > rules over them 11

Rise of the hierarchical state Two paths 1) Traditional system of community control – Military leader is subordinate to community – Iroquois: women elders in charge 2) Conquest of the community – From within the community: the military leader seizes control, overthrows the old kinship order (Legal state of the West—positive law replaces kinship traditions) – From outside the community: another kinship community takes over, conquers the first (neo-kinship state of the East) 12

Pluses of H-G societies 1) relative equality, – including gender equality 2) democratic organization 3) harmony with nature – But recall ecological catastrophe at end of last ice age. Are we returning to these features? – L theory or U theory? 13

Minuses of hunter-gatherer communities 1) Small groups divided from one another – Sporadic wars 2) Simple technology 3) No scientific knowledge of the larger ecological laws 14

Pluses of “civilization” 1) Unifies people into larger and larger groups – Importance of trade 2) Development of technology (often through requirements of warfare) – Technology can save nature—as in the Global Warming Catastrophe of 11,000 BCE 3) Possibilities of scientific knowledge 15

Minuses of Civilization Unification also takes place through wars, – War is systematic, not sporadic Social-economic, ethnic, gender inequalities The state as instrument of power separated from people Technology as a means of enrichment (of the few) overlooks destructive effects Scientism (exaggerated view of the authority of science and scientists)? 16

Problems with Kinship Groups First stage of history: kinship groups Basic problems of this stage – Separation of groups – Sporadic wars Second stage: uniting of separate kinship groups – Growing populations – More frequent interaction, conflicts Two methods of unification – cooperation – force: hierarchical state Hence: a choice between two methods 17

Why do people tolerate oppressive states? (1) Religious beliefs (2) Military force (3) Geographical conditions 18

(1) Religious revolution Because of religion? Kings are god-like – Gilgamesh: 2/3 god – Pharaoh: 3/3 god (Why is Pharaoh more god-like?) Animism > Anthropomorphic Polytheism – Natural evolutionary process of consciousness? Is AP an improvement over Animism? – > Old religion of participation in the Life-Force (animism) had to be forcefully overthrown. > Creation of fear-based, slavish religion 19

(2) Fight or flight? Military: Powerlessness of people to fight back. Gilgamesh has a specialized, standing army But people can always run away, right? 20

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(3) Civilization Trap Where to run? Desert, Warrior herders in hills Geography of Tigris/Euphrates, Nile river valleys (S., p. 45) Expelled from paradise, or trapped within it? > “Civilization Trap” 22

Kinds of Civilization Traps Flood-plains of Mesopotamia and Egypt Loess soil (air-borne silt) in China Well water in Mexico (Mayas) Mountain rivers for Peru Contrast with sub-Saharan Africa 23

Sub-Saharan Africa: history of migrations to 19 th c. Location of African kingdoms, 112 = Trading kingdoms Wealth not based on peasant agriculture Map 113: Spread of Bantu Peasants can move away from tyrants! No civilization trap (except for Egypt) > Bantu migrations: kinship, communal democracies until 19 th c. King Shaka 24

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State formation? “Could the settlements of the Middle Niger at Jenne-jeno be an example of early urbanization without a strong centralized government? Without a state? It is possible.” (Spodek 114) = No state where there is freedom to move elsewhere. But possibility of trade-based urbanization. 27