Chapter 1:iii Emergence of Civilization
Civilization from the Latin word civitas, meaning “city”
Most historians equate the rise of civilization with the rise of cities. [Image source:
Cities formed at different times in different parts of the world. [Image source:
Because many city dwellers learned how to write, the development of cities also marks the beginning of history... [Image source:
Archaeologists believe the first cities emerged along the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia circa 3500 B.C.
Cities arose from farming settlements along the Nile River Valley in northeast Africa.
The first cities in the Indus River Valley emerged circa 2500 B.C.
The first urban communities in East Asia appeared in the Huang He Valley circa 1500 B.C. [Image source:
economy an exchange of goods, money or services to provide for the needs of individuals or a community.
Cities served as centers for commerce, religion, art, military forces, and politics.
Early farmers were able to produce grain surpluses through the use of irrigation systems.
[Image source: Artisans were people who were skilled in a craft.
[Image source: you.com/ancient/early_civilizations.htm] Many pieces of artwork had significance in religious ceremonies or to identify the status of the owner.
Trade, or the exchange of goods, often allowed cultures to exchange knowledge, language, art, customs, technology, religion, and writing. [Image source:
Cultural diffusion, the process where goods and ideas are exchanged when cultures come in contact with each other, occurs as a result of trade, marriage, and settlement.
cities [Image source: The complex nature of cities led to the development of social classes.
Social classes a hierarchy of positions within a society that were established by the status, job, or connections of the parents
[Image source: otamia.html] Writing may have originated with records priests kept of the items they received as religious offerings.
Sumerians
myths
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