Essay Questions
1. Childe equated civilization with urbanism. Other social scientists, while admitting a considerable overlap, distinguished between the cultural phenomena characteristic of urban areas and those of "civilized" societies. Childe identified 10 formal criteria that, according to his system, indicate the arrival of urban civilization. These are: increased settlement size, concentration of wealth, large-scale public works, writing, representational art, knowledge of exact sciences, foreign trade, full-time specialists in non-subsistence activities, class-stratified society, and political organization based on residence rather than kinship. He saw the underlying causes of the urban revolution as the cumulative growth of technology and the increasing availability of food surpluses as capital. Further archaeological evidence demonstrated that the formal criteria Childe proposed were, in reality, not universal. A core of basic structural trends, however, appeared to be essential as cities appeared in different areas at different times. Some of the problems that may arise with any given set of criteria(s) for defining civilization and the process in which they develop lie within things such as time frame, area, mental capacity of the peoples of the society, and material advancement. In reference to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, Childe’s criteria apply somewhat directly. This is said because both of these societies had some forms of sciences (i.e. mummification/Egypt), wealth or caste system, and a public works for buildings and city-states. Their only difference lies in that in ancient Egypt, the politics were balanced by kinship rather than residence.
2. Archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia, conducted since about 1840, have revealed evidence of settlement back to about 10,000 BC. Favorable geographic circumstances allowed the peoples of Mesopotamia to pass from a hunter-gatherer culture to a culture based on husbandry, agriculture, and permanent settlements. Trade with other regions, tribes, and chiefdoms also flourished, as indicated by the presence in early burial sites of metals and precious stones not locally available.
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent of its influence, this investigation will attempt to compare and contrast the role of geography in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, focusing on the civilizations’ various periods of development and settlement.
The first settlers of Mesopotamia learned to cultivate and harvest crops, which would provide a bountiful supply for food. This enabled the people to settle and create villages, which eventually led to larger communities and cities. People no longer had to move throughout the land hunting animals in order to feed but instead could live off the land and in turn learned to domestic their animals for multiple uses (Easeen, 12/2007).
The first civilization to rise was the Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Egypt, along the Nile River. It’s split in two ecological zones. In the south Babylonia (irrigation is vital) and north Assyria (agriculture is possible with rainfall and wells). By 4000 B.C.E., people had settled in large numbers in the river-watered lowlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Archaeologists have shown that large-scale irrigation appeared only long after urban civilization had already developed, meaning major waterworks were a consequence of urbanism (population). Mesopotamia cities were made of people called the Summerians in the land of Sumer located on the south of Babylonia. The Summerian city was one of
Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth.
In 6000 BC farming and irrigation were on the rise. Since there was little rain in Southern Mesopotamia they created irrigation which lead farmers to settle in Southern Mesopotamia. With the large increase in population in Southern Mesopotamia, things quickly changed. There were new inventions and ideas, which led to the exchange of those inventions and ideas- known as trade.
Mesopotamia was a great nation that influenced many other nations that surrounded it. When I began this research, I did not know much about Mesopotamia and its culture or historical background. I did keep in mind the different factors that influenced the culture of the people as well as how it compared to our culture now. It was a big commercial industry, that included metalworking. Metal was an important, but very rare so Mesopotamia was a hot spot for silver, copper, and gold. This meant that many foreigners would come in and out of the land. In this paper I will be comparing the cultural differences of our time now and the time back then. I will also compare the theology of the people, how families worked back then, how economy was a factor
Stone was the material that offered its name to these eras and a technological unison of prehistory is stone. Even though it may be suggested that prehistoric humans used other materials such as fur, wood, leaves, bone, and grasses before stone was presumed to be the major material of these eras.Starting around 7500 B.C.E. a number of human cultures progressively became reliant on domesticated animals and cultivated crops to ensure their food security supply. (Simmons, p 52) about 7000 B.C.E., sedentary crop growing was in a position to support urban areas with demographics of above 1,000, like Çatal Huyuk and Jericho. Later in the Middle East around 3500 B.C.E., the primary civilizations emerged. Changes in the climate were significant factors and conditions that triggered the transition from gather...
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into successful civilizations. One civilization the Egyptians developed was in the Nile River valley. Based off the "Mesopotamia and Egypt DBQ" packet, "Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization in many areas including religion, architecture, transportation, and trade. Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations that developed a form of government as well as organized people in political states." Based on the documents, Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful and advanced civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily.
Mesopotamia was the first primordial, and influential cradle of civilization. Nestled in the valleys of the vehement Tigris-Euphrates Rivers around the time of the Lower Paleolithic period
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt are a factor of the evolution of civilizations in present-day. Though, it wouldn’t occur if both of these ancient civilizations didn’t develop into successful ones. There are three similar components that led Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia to become prosperous. These are the locations, their way of life, and their beliefs. All of these elements will be explored more thoroughly throughout this essay.
Gates, Charles. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome. London: Routledge, 2003. Print.
Mesopotamian civilization exercised profound and cultural influence throughout west Asia and beyond for about 3,000 years. Mesopotamia had many independent city-states with its own government and ruler. Priests ruled these city-states with other administrators such as organizers and managers. Since turmoil and tension would often arise between the city-states, Mesopotamian Political Unification was rarely achieved. Mesopotamia was constantly invaded by foreigners who would incorporate their culture into newly society and form a new one by force.
Millions of years ago the procreant low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris was probably the home of some animal life, but no great civilizations. However, things change over time, and just a few thousand years ago the same fertile low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris became the home of a very rich and complex society. This first high society of man was located in what some still call "Mesopotamia". The word "Mesopotamia" is in origin a Greek name meaning "land between the rivers." The name is used for the area watered by the Euphrates and Tigris and its tributaries, roughly comprising modern Iraq and part of Syria. South of modern Bagdad, this alluvial plain was called the land of Sumer and Akkad. Sumer is the most southern part, while the land of Akkad is the area around modern Bagdad, where the Euphrates and Tigris are closest to each other. This first high, Mesopotamian society arose as a combined result of various historical, institutional, and religious factors. The reality of these factors occurring at a specific place within the fabric of space / time indeed established the basis for this first high civilization. Items like irrigation, topography, and bronze-age technical innovations played a big part along with the advent of writing and the practice of social conditioning (through the use of organized religion) in this relatively early achievement of man.
A civilization is compiled of eight features. 1. Cities 2. Well-Organized Central Government 3. Complex Religions 4. Job Specialization 5. Social Classes 6. Arts and Architecture 7. Public Works 8. Writings
Mesopotamia Civilization: The Mesopotamian civilization was developed 6000 years ago and is located in the Fertile Crescent which is now the modern day Iraq. In Mesopotamia, there is an existence of a social structure that was divided into four. The priests were considered to in the top of the pyramid while the slaves which came from the different cities that the Sumerians conquered were considered to be at the bottom of the structure. In Ancient Mesopotamian family, men had more power than women. Men were taught about the business of trading and while women stayed at their homes, cooking and taking care of their family. The men were considered to be the masters of their house, but women have also the right to divorce their husbands (Mark,