CHAPTER 3
LESSON 3:
EARLY
CIVILIZATION
AND THE RISE
The word civilization comes from the Latin
word civis, which refers to a person who
lives in a city; and civets, which refers to
the urban community in which one dwells.
As defined by anthropologists, civilization
refers to societies in which large numbers
of people live in cities.
The inhabitants of the cities are socially
stratified and governed by a ruling elite who
work through centrally organized political
systems called states.
2
Neolithic villages grew into towns, the
world’s largest first cities developed,
happed 4500 and 6000 years ago, first in
Mesopotamia (Iraq), then Egypt’s Nile
Valley, and Indus Valley (Pakistan and India)
In China, civilization started 5000 years ago.
Independent of these developments in
Eurasia and Africa, the American and Indian
cities appeared in Peru approximately 4000
years ago and in Mesoamerica about 2000
years ago.
3
What characterized these
first cities?
Why they are called the
birthplace of civilization?
4
*first feature of cities
*the large size in terms of
land area and population
Cities are more than just
overgrown towns.
5
People traversed the roofs
of neighboring houses and
dropped through a hole in
the roof.
House walls were covered
with all sorts of paintings,
and bas reliefs.
Houses were structurally 6
No known public architecture
existed.
People grew crops and
tended livestock
They also collected
significant amounts of food
from wild plants and animals
7
By contrast, archeological
evidence from early urban
centers demonstrates organized
planning by a central authority,
technological intensification, and
social stratification.
*flood control
*protection were vital
components of great ancients
8
Mojenhodaro- an urban center at
its peak approximately 4500
years ago with a population of at
least 20 000, built on an artificial
mound, safe from flood waters.
Furthermore, the streets of this
densely populated city were laid
out in a grid pattern and
9
Ancient people incorporated their
spiritual beliefs and social order into
their cities they built.
*they layout of the great
Mesoamerican city Teotihuacan-
translated the solar calendar into a
unified spatial pattern.
*The Street of the Dead- a grand
north-south axis running from the
Pyramid of the Moon and bordered by
the Pyramid of the Sun and the royal 10
Rise of Cities
*If a person who grew up in a rural
village in Mindanao decided to move to
Makati, he or she would experience a
different way of life.
Four basic changes mark the transition
from Neolithic village life to life in the
first urban centers:
1. Agricultural innovation
2. Diversitification of labor
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[Link]
Innovation
> Changes in farming methods distinguished early
civilization from neolithic villages.
*the early Sumerians built an extensive system like
dikes, canals, and reservoirs to irrigate their farmlands.
>Through an extensive water infrastructure, they were
able to control water resources at will-water could be
held and then run off into the field as necessary.
>Irrigation was an important factor that increased crop
yield.
>Freedom from seasonal rain cycles allowed farmers to
harvest more crops yearly.
13
> Increased crop yields, resulting from the agriculture
innovations, contributed to the high population densities
of ancient civilizations.
>When farming became permanent, populations in
farming villages rose.
14
2. Diversification of
Labor
>Diversification of labor was also characteristic of early
civilizations.
>Every member of the family participated in the planting
crops.
Babylonian city of Lagash listed artisans:
*coppersmiths *carpenters
*silversmiths *spinners
*sculptors *barbers
*merchants *cabinetmakers
*potters *bakers
*tanners *clerks
*engravers *brewers
*butchers 16
>Through specialization came the expertise
that led to the invention of new ways of making
and doing things. In Eurasia and Africa,
civilization ushered during the Bronze Age, a
period marked by the production of tools and
ornaments made of bronze.
>Metals were great demand for the
manufacture of tools used by artisans and
farmers, as well as weapons.
>The Aztecs and Maya used the same soft
metals for making ceremonial and ornamental
objects while continuing to rely on stone for
their everyday tools.
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3. Social Stratification
>People ranked according to the kind of work
they did or the family into which they were
born.
>People who stood or near the head of
government were earliest holders of high
status. As time passed by, the possessions of
wealth and the influence it could buy became in
itself a requisite for high status, as it is in
some contemporary cultures.
>Graves excavated at early Neolithic sites are
mostly simple pits dug in the ground containing
grave goods. These goods consisted of
different things, such as utensils, figurines, and
19
>The graves of important persons contain not
only various artifacts made from precious
materials, but sometimes, as in some early
Egyptian burials, the remains of servants
evidently killed to serve their masters in the
afterlife.
20
4. Central
Government
>Governments of the past ensured that cities
were safe from their enemies by constructing
fortifications and raising an army.
>They levied taxes and appointed tax
collectors so that construction workers, army,
and other public expenses could be paid. They
saw to it that merchants, carpenters, and
farmers who made legal claims received justice
according to standards of the legal system.
>They guaranteed safety for the lives and
property of ordinary people and assured them
that any harm done to one person by another
would be justly handled.
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Earliest Forms of
Government
>A king and his advisors typically headed the
earliest city governments. Of the many ancient
kings in the world, it was Hammurabi ( the
Babylonian king who lived in Mesopotamia
between 3700 and 3950 years ago) who issued
a set of laws now known as the Code of
Hammurabi.
Code of Hammurabi
*It prescribed the correct form of legal procedures
and determined penalties for perjury and false
accusations.
*It contained laws applying to property right,
loans, and debts, family rights, and even damages paid
for malpractice by a physician. 24
Code of Hammurabi
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>In Inca Civilization of Peru surpassed every
other civilization of the Americas and most of
those of in Eurasia. An Emperor, regarded as
the divine son of the Sun God, headed the
government.
>Under him came the royal family, the
aristocracy, imperial administrators, and lower
nobility, and below them the masses of
artisans, craftsmen, and farmers.
>The Inca empire was divided into four
administrative regions, the further subdivided
into provinces, villages, and families.
>Agricultural and Tax officials closely 26
>The growth of early cities in the ancient times
and the presence of strong central authority
have improved human civilization that evolved
for millennia.
>The next section will discuss the emergence
of democratization as the peak of human
civilization development.
Societies and Governments
Social Hierarchy of Indian
Caste System
27
