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First Civilizations

First Civilizations. Cities, States, and Unequal Societies. Stonehenge 2500 BCE. What can you assume about this society??. “To produce works like these, a civilization needed…”. A. Emergence of Civilization. Civilization was a global phenomenon Earliest civilizations

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First Civilizations

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  1. First Civilizations Cities, States, and Unequal Societies

  2. Stonehenge 2500 BCE What can you assume about this society??

  3. “To produce works like these, a civilization needed…”

  4. A. Emergence of Civilization • Civilization was a global phenomenon • Earliest civilizations • 3500-300 BCE-Sumer, Mesopotamia • Nile River Valley, Egypt • 3000-2000 BCE-Indus Valley, present day Pakistan • 2200 BCE- First Chinese Dynasty • Relied on highly productive agriculture • Population density created competition less land available, losers absorbed as lower class • Urban revolution • Cities at the heart of the first civilizations (political, economic, and cultural centers) • Greater specialization led to inequality

  5. B. Erosion of Equality • Hierarchies of class • Vast inequalities in wealth, status, and power • Major turning point in history • Upper class: greater wealth, avoided physical labor, finest goods, top political, military, and religious positions, distinguished by clothing, burials, treatment under the law • Free commoners: majority of population: artisans, lower-level officials, soldiers and police, servants, and farmers • Slaves: POWs, criminals, debtors, work in fields, mines, shops, sometimes sacrificed, varied from place to place, differed from American slavery (children of slaves were free, not primarily agricultural force,, not defined by race or color of skin)

  6. Sumerian Classes War Peace Standard of Ur

  7. Hierarchies of Gender • Undermined earlier, more equal relationships • Patriarchy gradually emerged in first civilizations • More intensive agriculture plows and large herds • Product of growing social complexity • Men less important to household=available to assume power • Used authority to shape values and practices=benefits males at expense of females • Increased warfare • Association of women with nature due to reproduction • Private property and commerce--> female slaves, concubines, and wives part of exchange

  8. C. The Rise of States • States central to stability of civilizations • Coercion and consent • Coordinated and organized: public works, defense • Served upper class: protection of privileges, requirements of farmers to give up portion of products, demanding labor • Force when needed but no always needed ordained by GODS known as DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS • Writing and accounting • Accurate records, calendars, prestigious job for elite, standardize weights, propaganda • Functions beyond state: literature, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and history • Grandeur of kings • Source of authority, temples, dress, elaborate burials

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